[ Closed; If you can read this the bender fell off ]

[amonfire]

Characters: Amon and Asami Sato
Date: After the storm.
Location: Fire Sector
Situation: Amon continues to be a lying asshole hellbent on stalking his brother; Asami continues to start conversations with traffic accidents.
Warnings/Rating: None.

[ Tarrlok's rekindled fixation in sticking his hands in every minutiae of the turtle's daily political affairs was as expected as it was problematic. His little brother might have been popular in the political arena back home, but the reception his inflated head had gotten with those here was cause for concern. That ambition of his was a beacon bound to attract trouble.

It was for those reasons that when the storm passed, Amon found himself regularly biking out to the Fire Sector. Routinely checking in to shadow his brother's day-to-day activity was how Amon had always shown his more protective nature. It was a miracle that Tarrlok never once questioned why a Councilman could just traipse through the city safely, or why any threats sent his way never got too close. Ignorance was bliss.

Amon had rolled into the heart of the sector after an hour of fruitless attempts to find Tarrlok. It was entirely possible that he wasn't even out today, or not in the sector at all. Undeterred, Amon then decided it would be best to hoof the last leg of his patrol. He chained his rented bike outside one of the public parks before crossing into the street.

Never found anything by just sitting around and expecting it to just run in to you. ]

Comments

[stickshift]

[Weathering the storm outside of town was interesting, to say the least. Getting to spend time with Cassandra and Steph was great, and fixing the car afterwards was... an adventure (or something like it) but getting back in the city where she was needed felt good too.

Which is why she was on her bike, heading for Korra's place in the Water sector. She knew that the Avatar, of all people, would be fine in a storm, but she still wanted to check on her and the two of them would be able to do a lot more good for the clean-up effort than they could by themselves.

The streets of the Fire sector were almost as familiar now as the ones in Republic City, and she knew them like... well the back of her hand. However, that knowledge didn't account for the storm debris littered across the street, and though she dodges most of it quite handily (bikes are great for mobility) she certainly wasn't expecting to round a corner and find half of one bioluminescent street-sign blocking the road at about waist-height. She slammed on her brakes, controlled the inevitable slide as best she could, but the front wheel hit a pothole and she (and the bike) hit the sign.

She actually wasn't sure what happened next, beyond trying instinctively to go limp for the inevitable fall.

From there it was all scrapes and bruises and one very sore ego. She must have hit her head, because when she put her gloved fingers against her cheek they came away slick with blood.]

[amonfire]

[ Amon noticed the lack of action on the part of the kedan before he had even checked to see just who it was that crashed ass over tea kettle.

The few kedan nearby were either too preoccupied with the clean up, or content to be indifferent. The Fire sector permeated with a practiced apathy among its populace that rubbed Amon in the worst way. Were it not for his brother, he wouldn't have made the trek into this sector in the first place for that very reason. The divide between the sectors reminded him of the caste-like tiers within places like Ba Sing Se, and of course, his own little revolution back home.

He pushed past the scarce few onlookers who at least had the decency to see there was body that needed removal less genially than he probably should have. When it became apparent just who it was at the center of the accident was an unexpected coincidence. The daughter of his former ally, and ally herself to the Avatar; Asami Sato wasn't the last person he ever wanted to run into here, but certainly not someone he planned to go looking for by choice.

Amon had known she was here for awhile. He heard of her and the Avatar's presences through the grapevine, or more accurately, by listening in on any public conversation over the communication systems. There was a lot about the aftermath of the siege in Republic City he learned through Asami's public bull sessions. Including her father.

That alone sent a pang of guilt that rested in his chest like a lead weight, and the incentive to meander over to Asami in the guise of a concerned passer-by. Amon knelt down by Asami and what was left of the road sign. ]

Ms. Sato? Ms. Sato, are you alright?

[stickshift]

I--

[She blinks a little, reaches up to pull her helmet off. Lucky she was wearing it, really, even though the clasp is a little harder to undo than normal.]

I'm all right. Just a little-- um, startled. I'm pretty sure that sign wasn't there a few days ago.

[that's a bit of self-deprecating humour for you, Amon Nanuq.]

I'm sorry, have we met?

[amonfire]

Ah; no, I'm afraid not. It's not everyday you met the heir to Future Industries this far away from home.

[ Of course she wouldn't expect to be recognizable here, but it was a relief that she hadn't been so in the loop she could spot him for who he was. What he was. 'Nanuq' feigned a sheepish smile as he offered her a hand. ]

We should get you somewhere with water. You wouldn't mind if I looked at those scraps, would you? I'm, well I was, a healer from the city.

[ At least this latest lie was becoming easier to fall into. Like any other mask. ]

[stickshift]

[She just isn't up for dealing with that comment about Future Industries right now. As much as it's hers and she intends to remake it to better reflect her legacy, the idea of discussing it with a stranger is exhaustive.]

I-- no, I don't mind at all. I'd be very grateful, and I'd be happy to pay.

[EXCUSE HER, SHE'S A LITTLE OVERWHELMED RIGHT NOW. She takes his hand with only a slight note of hesitation, and even that's more because she's not sure if 'moving' sounds like a good idea at the moment.]

Did you have a practice in Republic City?

[amonfire]

A free clinic near the docks.

[ That wasn't a complete lie; he did work out near the docks and was one of those in his ranks with medical training. It was just that it was in an underground sprawl of a terrorist base and not something Asami would likely take well. Details.

He made no comment on the matter of paying; without question it was he that owed her a great deal more than he would even admit. That wasn't something he wanted to think about when his brother's welfare still took precedence, but that he felt a pang of guilt over what happened with Sato was only scratching the surface.

Unbeknownst to her, he was also busy burying the idea of taking Asami hostage as leverage against the problem concerning an Avatar still at large on the turtle. The thought occurred to him again when he lead her to an open fountain in a nearby park where he started working water into a thin rope, and pulling out the impurities as it started to glow a deep-blue.

His own guilt and the harsh reality his fight was over stopped him. Right now he just needed to concentrate on healing. ]

Show me where it hurts, please.

[stickshift]

[She sits tentatively on the edge of the fountain, brushes her hair away from the worst of the scrapes.]

Just here.

[... she pauses, watching him manipulate the water.]

I'm sorry, I didn't ask your name.

[MANNERS!!!]

[amonfire]

Nanuq.

[ He had always been more brusque without a mask to facilitate his bombastic Amon persona. There was no middle ground between acting the master orator or the eerily quiet outcast.

The rope of water pooled into his hands as he worked the dull glow over her scraps like a caress. Waterbending wasn't magic, as most people seemd to believe, and the most he could do was take the sting out and expedite the natural healing process. ]

The damage is superficial. Do you think you strained anything?

[stickshift]

I think I might have a concussion, but if I do it's really mild.

[She's hit the mat often enough in her training sessions to know what quantifies a mild head injury. She's also sore all over, but that should clear up well enough without waterbending. A nice hot bath would do wonders.

She gives him an uncertain little smile.]

I guess that's what helmets are for, huh?

[amonfire]

Let's have a look. That 'mild' is still followed by the words 'brain trauma.'

[ He moved the water through his hands to feel the lines of chi that ran the course of her neck and up into the crown of her skull. Nothing felt disrupted, but perhaps a little rattled by the crash.

It was surreal using his waterbending again, and in a capacity that was the polar opposite to what he was used to. All because he felt a little guilty, but healing someone was easier than apologising on behalf of their prick father. For that she had his sympathies. Even if they weren't worth much. ]

You'll have a headache, obviously. Nothing to write home about, though; it's just the scrapes and bruises that need time to mend.

[stickshift]

[Waterbending always feels so strange to her. Maybe it's because she's a non-bender-- maybe it's because her father preferred to use doctors who used other methods. At the time, she thought he was being philanthropic. Supporting a relatively new industry, trying to give non-benders a foothold in a world that looked down on medicinal applications that weren't backed by waterbending, but now she knows the real reason.

She starts to nod, thinks better of it.]

Thank you. It's very kind of you to go out of your way for a relative stranger. Are you sure I can't repay you somehow?

[amonfire]

[ It was hard to describe as someone who had not utilized this school of waterbending in quite some time, but it was as though he could feel her confusion in the water itself. Subtle differences in her own homoeostasis compared to that of someone who had regularly been exposed to healing.

Unbeknownst to either of the two, they were on the same train of thought. Sato had been one of Amon's closest allies in the past, and the one who facilitated the Equalists into becoming the militarized powerhouse it was known as today. So of course his own daughter wouldn't be accustomed to waterbending. In the beginning, he fully backed Sato in how he shielded his daughter from involvement; thinking he was doing right by her. Giving her the very thing he valued above all -- a choice.

Hello, guilt. ]

I'm sure, Ms. Sato; this is just what I'm trained to do and nothing more. How are you feeling now?

[stickshift]

Better. Much better now, thank you so much.

[Her smile is warm and sincere as she reaches to gingerly prod at the light scrapes. They aren't healed fully, of course, but the skin feels... brighter somehow, and what little pain there was has abated.]

Do you have any special instructions on aftercare?