tushanshu_logs | Better nate than lever

Characters: Aang and...you?
Date: *cough*January*cough*
Location: Outskirts of the Metal Sector
Situation: Aang has just arrived, his memory is a bit fuzzy.
Warnings/Rating: None yet, but we'll keep you posted

"Tell me, then. What are the terms of your agreement?" he asked the other Avatar seated across the table from him. Not just any other Avatar, but Yang Chen the Air Nomad that had preceded him in the cycle.

"First," she started to respond, but was cut short when the earth beneath them moved. No, that wasn't right. It didn't move, it jolted. And not like any earthquake that Aang had ever felt before. Something was wrong. Very very wrong, and he didn't need Yang Chen's expression to tell him so.

There was a loud crack and then....everything around Aang went white.
Something had pulled him from the Spirit World and thrown him back into his body...hard.

His eyes hurt as he opened them, the light of day blinding his vision until he adjusted. The ground...wait, why was there light of day at all? He was in a restaurant with the Air Acolytes. Why ground? Where were the floorboards?

Aang's mind reeled. None of this was right. His first attempt at sitting up resulted in a wave of nausea that kept him down for another ten count. Steeling his resolve, as well as his stomach, he finally managed to sit, and then eventually stand.

The world around him was not the one he started from. This wasn't the town or the refinery.
Maybe this was a glimpse of the future?

"Yang Chen?" he called to no one in particular...

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"Oh right...money," he says, punctuating his thought with a hmmm. "What kind of stuff would they need me to do? OH! Do they need help at the hospital? I used to volunteer there."

Sokka grimaces a bit when Aang asks that question, backpedalling just a little bit. "Well... jobs in the city... are... a little... hard to come by... right now." There really is no good way of saying this. "The kedan don't really seem to feel like they owe us all that much for getting rid of the Creep Lord for them, so... I'm working at the Hotel without pay until I find something."

"So...wait, what are you telling me: That they're actively not hiring people? How are we supposed to live? It...it's not like we asked to come here, we're brought here without permission!"

"Hey, the political situation has... kind of changed since you've been gone. Since all of us have been gone," Sokka clarifies, making it slightly closer to the mark. "We were caught in the Dreaming for an entire year, and without an emperor, the kedan kind of woke up... and forgot that we'd ever interfered into their lives. Until we came back. And now... well..."

Sokka just sighs a little bit. "They're even charging us more for things than their own selves. Which seems a little backhanded since they're not hiring us either."

Aang sighs right along with him, even going so far as to pinch the bridge of his nose while he does so.

"They're trying to keep control of us using the only means they have available."
If Aang has to sit through ANOTHER trade treaty negotiation, someone is going to pay.

~~Trade negotiation? Sounds fun. So glad you're the Avatar instead of Sokka right now. Besides, Sokka doesn't need any more luck with the ladies now that he's got Suki.~~

"Yup, that about sums it all up. In short, even without the Creep Lord, nine out of ten foreigners agree that Keeliai remains one of the worst places to live! Now booking permanent vacation packages back home for the low, low price of free."

Sokka coughs at that and just brings up a grimace. "If only they weren't sold out of tickets..."

~~It's adorable how Sokka doesn't think he'll be one of the SWT representatives involved in trade negotiations, while his girlfriend is the personal body guard of the Fire Lord.~~

Aang's shoulders slump and he begins dragging his feet as they walk.

"I get pulled out of one war into another one, then returned to the first war. Now I spend more time than I'd like in meetings in the aftermath of that war only to get pulled back here to have to deal with a whole other kind of aftermath."

He looks over at Sokka, lip protruding in a rather spectacular pout.

"I really hate waking up in strange places."

~~I'm just saying, Sokka might be a little more counterproductive at some of the earlier meetings, that's all.~~

"You and me, both, Aang. You and me both," he says with a similar sigh. "It's all because we're living on just a turtle. That should have been the first thing that clued me that I should have just gone back to bed."

But still, Sokka shrugs it all off. "Thankfully, I think your meeting duty has been assigned to me for the moment, so I'll do my best not to drag you into it. We're working through it. Slowly."

He turns towards Sokka surprised, eyes wide.

"Really? Do you really mean that Sokka?"
Please don't toy with his emotions!!!

Well, at least Aang's excited about that?

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. I'm already on the job trying to fix things. Or at least prevent everyone else from making things worse."

Aang...just smiles.

"I look forward to helping you any way I can, Avatar Sokka. Especially if the kind of help you need comes in the form of a field trip."

Avatar... Sok...ka...

He hasn't heard that in a long time.

"Well, if you insist, servant Aang." Sokka just grins, knowing that this might just put Aang back in his place. "Just remember that you'll have to put in a fair bit of work if you want to upgrade that vacation time into a life-changing field trip!"

Servant. Aang.
Servant. Aang?
Yeah...no. Not again.

"Oh really? How many hours does saving the world earn me, just...out of curiosity."

The answer will dictate just how much of a rock will be dislodged right in front of where Sokka's left foot will next land.

Well, hey, if Aang was just going to pass off all of his Avatarly duties off to Sokka, them's the breaks, bub.

"Oh, I'm willing to be generous. I suppose we can start you off with a four hours, and you can work your way up from there."

Of course he's kidding. Right? Sokka is only kidding, right? Don't take it out on him just because he's making this an elaborate joke.

Take what out on him? Aang's not doing anything. That stone just ahead jumped out of its own volition. Strange how it's just high enough to catch an unwary traveler's foot too.

Curious even.

"Wow. That is generous," Aang deadpans.

Quite curious.

And that means Sokka is suddenly flying forward, hellbent on making good friends with the pavement. With plenty of gratuitous flailing until he manages to catch his fall ever so slightly before impacting.

"Okay, I get the message. No servant bit. And free field trips whenever you want to go."

"Even if it's a crazy field trip to ride a dangerous animal?"

Sokka folds his arms across his chest. There were lines in the sand, after all. "Or I can just let you be the Avatar and let you have free field trips to attend boring trade meetings."

Aang shrinks down into his robe a bit.

"Keeping the dangerous animal rides to a minimum, got it."

"We have got ourselves a deal!" Sokka says, suddenly back to bouncing on his heels.

"Avatar... Sokka..." he adds with a sigh of satisfaction. Yeah, he could get used to that.

Better nate than lever

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I'll let you decide if you want to keep going on. :D