From looking up at Anhyue to looking down at her. Naota grinned, both at the height difference and at her response to what he’d said about wanting to spend time with her. It was easy to see that his words had had the desired—and expected—effect. It was no wonder that he was good at flirting. To him, it was just another kind of magic. He used words the way he used cards, only instead of making a little money he was getting girls to fall in love with him. A much nobler goal, in his mind—and unfortunately, the more successful of the two tricks. If he were half as skilled in magic as he was in flattery, he’d be rich. Unfortunately, his frequently empty pockets proved time and again that wasn’t the case.

The magician couldn’t stop himself from grinning slyly as Anhyue tried to calm herself down. Apparently he had a talent for getting her flustered. First the card trick and now this; he was on a roll. If he kept this up, he might just get to show Anhyue a lot more than a magic trick before the day was through.

But all that would have to wait. Naota laughed as his stomach growled, demanding food soon lest it devour itself for lack of sustenance. ”Yeah, we should probably find something soon,” he remarked sheepishly. ”I haven’t eaten much today.” By that he meant he’d had an apple when he’d woken up that morning. He’d meant to grab lunch, but then a small group of kids had wanted to see a magic trick, and that had wiped all thoughts of food from his mind. He was a sucker for children, especially the kind that were interested in magic—which really was almost all of them. He was paying for it now—his stomach’s complaints were almost incessant—but he didn’t regret the decision he’d made. He’d become a magician to share his love of tricks with the world. That took precedence over his own desires, important as they might be.

Anhyue’s question elicited a smile, but not much thought. The man shrugged as he spoke. ”I’m not sure. I don’t really pick favorites when it comes to food. As long as I can eat somewhere and not get sick from the food, I like it.” Realizing that he was being less than helpful, the shirtless wonder wracked his brains until a name finally came to him. ”Only place I can think of is Narook’s. The noodles there are pretty good…though they are also an odd shade of green. Still, I’ve eaten there plenty of times and I haven’t died or anything, so I think it’s worth a shot. What do ya say?”

Something was wrong. Despite her enthusiasm for his story and her ability to ignore his verbal slip-up, Jin's demeanor changed, if only for a moment. He seemed to tense, and Sashu had reason to believe his fists were tightening, though she didn't look. The waterbender busied herself by staring up through the leaves, closing her eyes to feel the sun sparkling through them. To be on a mountain... Perhaps not as dangerous as a boat on stormy seas, but infinitely more... stable.

Still, the feeling beside her passed, and she looked back at him to see a smile on his face. She couldn't help but return it. There... That's better. She wasn't going to comment. If they were to be teammates and friends, it was always better to not bring up anything that could cause anguish. She watched him move away from her a bit. "You're right about one thing," he conceded, and fireballs flickered to life in his hands, "it's not really juggling. At least, not the way most people see it."

He began to toss them back and forth, as if they were real balls. She stood back and crossed her arms, knowing he would impress her. Jin was withdrawn in his movements at first, but he quickly gained more confidence and skill. As he did this, he spoke of the differences between himself and regular jugglers. The balls began to move through more complicated routines, ones that went above his head and behind his back. Sashu nodded, not able to stop a smirk from coming to her face.

They continued and Jin closed his eyes, demonstrating his last words. "The fire is forever a part of us, and we will always know where it is." Sashu spoke up. "Just like waterbending," she said randomly, but it was true. Except for the times when she was a little girl, she'd always been able to feel where the water she bent was. Like knowing where her toes or fingers were, the water was, as Jin stated, a part of her. She couldn't imagine earthbending would be any different. In fact, it would probably be easier to sense. Airbending, on the other hand, would be much easily less felt, she believed. Airbenders could guide, but she'd never seen one pluck a ball of wind from the sky and hold it in their hand.

He finished his display with a clap and opened his eyes. A few people had come to watch, but dispersed when they realized he was finished. Still, the modest group had spooked Jin, she saw, as he edged back to her side. Was it the people that bothered him or their appraising whispers, their hidden, jaded thoughts? Sashu knew the feeling personally, not that she'd show it as physically as the firebender did. She looked up at him, unfolding her arms to touch his bicep gently. "That was really great," she beamed, even as he sighed and stood tall again.

She couldn't tell if he was pleased or upset... Maybe it was a desire to improve? Though Sashu liked his ability, he didn't seem exactly happy. And suddenly he turned towards her. "That was what my mother taught me, and you —" he said, hesitating for a moment. "You gave me a great idea."

Confused, Sashu opened her mouth, but was interrupted when he gathered his arms around her and pulled her body off the ground. Trapped, she squeaked around his chest, feeling instantly too warm, his face less than inches from her head. And then he set her back down. A horrible feeling crawled along her spine and made her step back, upset. "Er... sorry," he apologized feebly. She didn't look at him. "Got a little worked up."

It wasn't enough. Sashu's skin was itching where she'd made contact with him, even her breasts and stomach. She struggled to bite back her emotions. "Um, that's fine," she said, with a half-hearted tone that came rarely to her. She took another step back, avoiding his face, and looked out from the leaves to the park beyond. "I just really should be getting back, now. My father will be home soon and I'll need to help him."

She took another few steps away and still couldn't bring herself to look at him. Jests and jeers gone, Sashu's stomach began to roil, feeling hot. He shouldn't have done that. "I'll talk to you later, okay? We can meet up sometime." Hiding her face with her disheveled hair, she moved back onto the path.

And then the worst came to pass. Jin could literally knock himself out for his own impulses, and he knew what they had done. He was so accustomed to elusiveness, and this entire time she hadn't acted in any other way — until now. He sighed, he didn't speak, just listened. His stomach rolled around, butterflies had taken residence. Rubbing the back of his head he looked toward the ground, waving her off. "Um...yeah. See you around."

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Jin didn't normally pay attention to his impulses, because they're not normally there. He's typically calm, evasive, and to himself, and nothing ever causes impulses. You could only hear the small screech of his teeth grinding against one another. Like nails on a chalkboard the way she spoke to him at the end. It was a horrible feeling, but he needed to also get away from there. He once more clenched his fist tightly, placing both in his pockets. He didn't want to calm down either, he wanted to feel the anger, to feel his own idiocy potentially ruin something he didn't have in a long time.

He stormed off from the tree, mumbling to himself, going in the opposite direction heading back to his own home. Maybe by then he'd actually worked out his aggression and a new way to apologize.

[OOC: Exit stage right]

Tadashi's head snapped around as they were joined by another young man asking about the one thing that could distract him from Ichi--er, Ren'ai and Yuri. He couldn't tell by garb or mannerisms whether this guy was a bender, particularly a waterbender; but even if he wasn't, a little publicity with some leading statements wouldn't hurt, right? Or so he could convince himself, anyway. He stole another glance at the girls, smiled a little bit at the attention they were gathering around the rest of the park, and then quickly addressed the question that the newcomer had asked.

"That's the Dragon Hawks," he said, the name coming more readily to his tongue than he expected. It was like he was already officially the Team Manager. Hey, maybe if I help to land a waterbender, Ren'ai really will let me be, he thought. Not wanting to stay quiet too long, he added for the other guy's benefit, "They're trying to stay in shape for the probending tournament coming up, even though they recently lost their team waterbender."

On the last word, he almost started looking at Ichiro, but he was able to keep himself under control. Ichiro was not going to be a probender, and that was that. Plus, Tadashi realised as an afterthought, if he had glanced obviously at Ichiro, that might have implicated him as the waterbender that left. Tadashi hadn't met the bender that Ren'ai had mentioned — he'd only known that there was a personality clash and the bender quit. He'd have to keep that in consideration if he was sizing up potential waterbender applicants.

He chewed his lip for another second, and then decided to throw a few more chips onto the table. "Their captain, that firebender there? She's tough. She holds the team to high standards — not that they have to be prodigy benders," he caught himself, "just that they have to work together and practise regularly." He pulled his gaze away from the girls and looked at the guy, even though the guy's eyes were still glued on the sparring match. "You a big fan?"

Kala became aware of herself as the light grew stronger in her small bedroom. She opened her eyes slowly, her gaze meeting the small red candle set on the altar before her; its flame was small and weak. The girl pursed her lips and sharply breathed in through her nose, re-lighting the dying flicker. This meditation session was not a complete failure. Although she had not been able to soothe herself by any means, something had been determined. Kala was weak as long as she did not know how to fight. It was true that she was a fire bender, and could do spectacular things with fire, but as a dancer her technique was nothing close to offensive, or even defensive. Classical fire bending was something Kala was not necessarily impressed by, though. Her father had been a fire bending soldier for part of his life, and was a hard and often cruel man. At least, he was cruel to her. Not that she wasn't a fan of bending! In fact, she often caught matches with her friends. But the idea of fighting herself had never appealed to Kala.

She stood, and then effortlessly touched her toes to stretch. Whether she was interested in fighting or not, Kala increasingly understood the grim fate she could face if she didn't learn. Stepping into her boots and fastening them, she made the decision to begin her search today. Suddenly, the quiet girl thought this was going to be more challenging than it seemed. Unfortunately she was too old to enroll in most bending schools, but that was not the problem. Surely finding a fire bender would not be difficult in this city. However it wasn't going to be as easy as walking up to a random person and asking them to teach her to fight. The person would have to know what they were talking about, for one. Kala hoped to find a thorough instructor, as this was not a pursuit she took lightly. On top of being quite skilled, this person would also have to be willing to work with her hectic schedule. She sighed. Although Kala was confident in her area of bending, she was also nervous to learn something new from somebody she hadn't even met yet, especially with the stereotype of fire benders that she had in mind. How hard could it be, really?

The park was a good place to watch people bend, she thought. There was a chance that someone there would be willing to help her. With a glance around the room, Kala wondered if she needed anything. Her eyes landed on her wallet. Of course. She imagined she would have better luck finding a teacher if there were payment involved. Reluctantly, the girl grabbed her wallet and took to the streets. Kala hated traveling on foot with money on her person in this part of town. As she walked, she thought of a few occasions where she had narrowly avoided combat with non-bending gangsters and thieves alike, simply by slipping the name of her brother, Kalei. The first time was lucky, but after a while she realized that her brother was becoming more involved with the non-bending community on this street, which happened to be heavily populated by non-benders. Changing residences was certainly added to her list of things to do. She quickened her pace to get out of the dangerous area as soon as possible.

The sun blazed high as she finally approached the park and at once she felt at ease. The park was bright and bustling: happy couples strolled hand in hand, children laughed and shouted, and benders manipulated the elements in nearly every corner. The urge came over her to simply flop down in the grass and soak in the sun, however this was one of her rare days off, and she didn't have much time to waste relaxing. However she couldn't help but stand and stare for a while because she was fascinated by the displays of the benders. Some were smooth and others where fast. This one glided and that one was practically smashing everything in sight. Her sight stuck on two girl fighters, opposing each other but wearing the same uniforms. But this was not what was most eye catching about them. They were locked in a spar, sending hot punches and sturdy blows at each other. The fire bender perked her interest, of course. The woman was tall and appeared to be quite forceful with fire. thus Kala became aware of how intimidated she truly was by strong benders. This made her come to the conclusion of simply observing- for now. Perhaps there was something she could learn by just watching. At this point however, she was mostly entranced by the fight between the girls. Choosing a shady spot close enough to observe the benders, the young woman crossed her legs in the grass and watched.

Tadashi blinked a couple times at the enthusiasm his new acquaintance showed. His excitement was growing little by little, although (thanks in large part to his training at Air Temple Island) he was able to keep it completely under control and maintain a degree of professionalism. While sitting lazily in the grass next to a cute half-naked waterbender. "Professionalism."

Before he could go on about Yuri and Ren'ai's team any more, the fellow spoke up again, trying just like Tadashi to remain calm and conversational. Well, that wasn't a fair assumption really; Tadashi was probably projecting his own inner excitement onto the other man. Maybe he really was calm and conversational.

Tadashi had to laugh a little at his question, though — "Which slot did you say was open again?" He looked pointedly at the battle, where Ren'ai was throwing fireballs and Yuri was tossing small boulders around. "The waterbending position," he answered with a slight smirk. It was a second or two before the real import of the exchange hit him. This guy was... probably a waterbender! Interested in probending! Might want to join the team! And, most importantly, was able to at least act level-headed enough not to get his rock knocked off by Ren'ai in a snit!

"If you're interested," Tadashi went on, still keeping any hint of over-excitement out of his voice, "I can take you over and introduce you; I think they're about to take a break since they're practicing short rounds of the type they'll be fighting in the tournament." Ren'ai, I hope you forgive me for taking the liberty, and the title, he thought to himself as he went on out loud, "I'm their manager." He stood up as he said to Ichiro, "Ichiro, nice to meet you. Hopefully we can hang out again soon." Flashing a smile to the seated waterbender, Tadashi brushed off the seat of his Air Acolyte robes before sticking out his hand in greeting to the other fellow and saying, "I'm Tadashi Kimura. What's your name?"

Oh gosh don't shrug. Don't shrug, don't shrug, don't shrug...he shrugged. But at least it was with a smile. If only she weren't so indifferent in these types of situations. If only there weren't so many damn indifferent people on earth. It would make deciding on a place to eat so much simpler and pain free. If she didn't get a breeze on her soon that rash was going to break out. How was she going to explain hives to Naota? The thought was embarrassing enough. Meet a guy, break out in hives, live happily ever after. If only that ACTUALLY HAPPENED. With a grin Anhyue took a few steps out of the sunlight and into the shade. There she listened closely to the words that followed his unwanted shrug.

Didn't have a favorite food? Of all the men she could have nearly decapitated today Anhyue had to pick the one who didn't have a favorite meal? Strike me now spirits please. His finish to that stream of consciousness left Anhyue standing in the shade with a gaping mouth and two neatly furrowed brows. She looked dumb, she knew it, but she couldn't help herself. "People usually like it when their food doesn't kill them." She smirked. "I'm glad we can agree on that. Come on Naota think." Her little push must have given Naota the confidence he needed because now they had a place to go, Narook's.

"Green noodles?" she repeated rubbing her forehead as she took a step forward. It took her a second, but then the actress got it. "Oh! Seaweed noodles! I haven't had those in so long. I'm in. Let's go." She moved up beside Naota indicating that he lead the way. It was obvious that she had never been to this joint. Also she waited in hopes to see if Naota would offer his arm now that it was healed and all.

His initial response was obviously not what Anhyue had been looking for. He couldn’t stop himself from laughing at the goofy expression that stole across the woman’s face. She looked shocked that he didn’t play favorites. He was used to the girl picking places on dates—which this was, in his mind—and so this was unusual for him. Luckily, after the Waterbender urged him to think, he came up with something.

”Is that what they are then?” he mused upon learning the name of the strangely-colored noodles. ”Didn’t know that. I just know that I like them, even if they are kind of strange to look at.” Whatever his feelings on the food, the idea seemed to please Anhyue, and so they had a destination. That was good. As much as he enjoyed relaxing in the park, he was starving, so the sooner they got food the better. Of course, he did wonder how he was going to pay for his meal, what with his failure at earning anything from his time spent sitting in the marketplace. He had a small amount of money on him, but he didn’t know how much the noodles would cost. Hopefully he’d have enough. If not…well, his honor as a man wouldn’t allow him to let Anhyue pay for his food. Maybe he could perform a trick or two and earn his meal that way. That strategy had worked before. Perhaps it would again.

Remembering his earlier offer, the magician stuck out his arm, assuming that Anhyue would take it. ”Ready when you are,” he confirmed.

She grinned. "I know. They are a little strange at first, but after a while you learn to forget that they are green." A few of Anhyue's most vivid memories of home at the North Pole included images of various bowls filled with steaming seaweed noodles, and sea prunes. Something about Water Tribe cuisine unnerved those outside of the tribes. Not many people found it appetizing, like her brother Liko, who would fake a spell of the flu just to get out of eating Suyin's rare, home-cooked meals. It really did upset their mother when Liko refused to eat her food and because of him, Anhyue and Taka were always coerced into eating his share. The actress never argued since she enjoyed seconds, but Taka was not as appreciative. Was Naota a person who enjoyed seconds? If so, the actress would happily order seconds for the both of them. She was pleased to know that they at least shared a common interest in food. Just avoid eating too much, she warned herself. This is not the time to get a bloated gut.

Unsure of what to say next since she was waiting to see if Naota's offer still stood, Anhyue lifted her fingers to her bag strap and dug her manicured nails into the tough fabric. She was about to give up on the whole thing and ask him to lead when a tan arm shot out in front of her. She wrapped her slender arm around his with a speed that surprised the actress. Standing there beside him she felt as if she were on stage with a fellow cast member and she was itching to move to the next scene. Anhyue had somewhat of a hard time forming her next sentence since her mind was focused once more on the warmth that was emanating from Naota's skin. She swallowed before replying. "I'm ready. Let's go."

OOC: Feel free to jump to Narook's Tenshio ^^

OOC: So sorry, I didn’t realize that you were waiting on me!

The training session between Ren’ai and Yuri carried on for a bit. The two of them were fairly evenly matched, which worked well on a Probending team. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Tadashi talking to someone. She wasn’t looking too carefully, but she didn’t want to let her Earthbending friend get in a cheap shot because she wasn’t paying attention. Upon a second glance, she realized that it was not Ichiro whom he was talking to, but someone else whom she didn’t know. She couldn’t pay any closer attention to what was going on. It was starting to bug her, though, and she wasn’t sure why. Upon another quick glance, she could tell that whoever it was happened to be excited about something. What was it, though?

Ren’ai held up her hands. “Let’s stop for now, okay?” It was a suggestion, really. Yes, she was the Team Captain, but this wasn’t a real training session. Normally, she’d be much harder, but it was just her and Yuri. Catching her breath, she took a couple steps forward towards her best friend. “Look at that.” She gave a quick nod of her head towards Tadashi and the other man he was talking to. “Tadashi’s found a new friend, and it’s not Ichiro.” Their boss’s son seemed to still be there, but was no longer talking to their Air Acolyte friend. She noticed, however, that as soon as he stopped, he got up and went back to training. What was annoying her was the fact that their friend was talking to someone, who was excited about something. She could tell that, even form this distance. What was going on?

Was it possible that this was a Waterbender? One besides Ichiro? Had it been that easy, just a little practice and someone had seen them who wanted to be a member of a Probending team? No, it wasn’t possible. “What do you think’s going on?” she asked her. “I suppose we should go and find out, huh?” The Firebender kept all of her feelings in check, as much as possible. It was hard for her to do, as she was such an emotional person. She was struggling with her critical doubts that they would never find a Waterbender, that any doubts her parents had about her competing in the Probending Championships was true. Her parents were not nearly as judgmental as Yuri’s. She could only imagine what they would tell their daughter if all their hopes and dreams failed. It wasn’t something that she was looking forward to.

Ren’ai walked towards Tadashi and the stranger. “Enjoy the show?” Her blue eyes were fixed on her Air Acolyte friend. She figured that Yuri would have followed her. “Who’s your friend?” Was he a Waterbender? He definitely had the typical Waterbender look, but nowadays, that didn’t amount to much. After all, she was a Firebender, and she did not have the typical firebender look. After all, her eyes were blue, like her mother, and not amber like her father’s. Her heart began to beat faster in her chest as a myriad of thoughts ran around in her mind. Was this it? Was this the Waterbender that would stick with their team, if he truly was a Waterbender? If he was, would he end up leaving just like everyone else?

Tadashi happily led his new acquaintance — Kamil, that was a name he'd never heard before — cautiously toward Yuri and Ren'ai, letting the waterbender ask a couple questions as his mind wandered around between fears, concerns, planning, peacemaking, accidental random thoughts of Ichiro, and a growing notice of the time. Not that it was so late that he had to back at his grandmother's, but that he would need to be able to get to her small house between two large tenements quickly when his curfew approached. Of greater import and immediate concern were the plans and peacemaking. This was important, to his friends and also to him personally. Tadashi felt like, if he succeeded in bringing a waterbender to Ren'ai and Yuri's team that would actually stay, he would be proving to them and to himself that he had what it took to manage the team, and he could participate with them despite not being a bender.

Semi-occupied in his own mind, he looked up and noted with some surprise that Ren'ai and Yuri were, as he predicted, taking a break and were in fact coming their way. He kept his step up, Kamil by his side, and met them halfway. "I always enjoy the show," he stuck his tongue out at Ren'ai. "It comes with having to control my insatiable jealousy that you can actually do that." Then he took half a step back and indicated his "traveling companion." "This is Kamil. He's an avid fan of probending and is interested in the open waterbending position. Kamil, this is Ren'ai, team captain and firebender; this is Yuri, the team earthbender."

As he made the introductions, he met Ren'ai's eyes and let his left eye, away from Kamil, twitch a little bit, like he was really tempted to wink. He wanted to say, "I told you so," but that was quite premature (and immature) at this stage. Kamil had to pass whatever vigors of an interview Ren'ai decided on, plus he had to go through a few practices to see how strong his bending skill was and whether he was good at the teamwork aspect of probending. Still, Tadashi was filled with a bit of smug satisfaction that his and Yuri's idea to find a waterbender here had worked. Out loud, he continued, "Ren'ai and possibly Yuri will probably have some questions for you, of course."

OOC: I...really am very sorry I took so long to get back to this orz;;;

This guy sure seemed occupied with his own thoughts. Not that he thought his questions were being ignored, or that he expected them to get answered. They weren't travelling this ridiculously large distant to who knows were, so making attempts at small talk wasn't all that necessary. They weren't exactly friends either, but... Oh well, he'd just keep his mouth shut until he actually needed to talk.

Once they were all close enough to talk Kamil continued to smile sheepishly and just listen to the manager and Firebend talk, finding mild amusement in listening to them. When they were introduced more formally, he simply waved at the girls before placing the same hand on his hip. When Tadashi mentioned that there'd be questions he laughed slightly. He didn't think they would just take him just like that anyway.

He nodded. "Pleasure meeting you, too." He'd be lying if he said her constant staring didn't make him nervous at all. He was nervous, just a little, but his constant smiling could make it seem otherwise. He also had to bite his tongue to keep himself from making a comment that could be deemed as inappropriate right now. An interview was not the time to be making mock passes at someone.

His gaze shifted upwards in thought at the first question. "Level? Hmm, I'd say intermediate?" Maybe a little higher than that. Just a little. If he spent more time on his own element rather than trying to find different ways to incorporate other bending styles he'd be a bit more advanced, but he did what he did. "Can't say I've had experience with a team, though," he confessed sheepishly, "It's mostly just listening to the radio and the occasional watching of a match live. I have attempted the Probending style a few times, though." Nothing he'd tell his grandmother ever. He'd demonstrate, but he figured that the time to demonstrate would come soon enough. "I'd like to think that I'm a quick learner." At least, that was what his grandmother told him. His biggest drawback was that he was trying to learn more styles than he had to, not to mention the occasional bouts of laziness.

The captain earned a nice head tilt from him with that 'adaptable' question until she further explained herself. Here Kamil had to think a little harder, mostly back to previous fight experiences he's had. "...I'm pretty quick to react. The only real freezing I do is my water." He laughed sheepishly. If there's one thing training with his grandmother and friend was that in the middle of combat, freezing up is not something you do. Not to say that he was completely amazing and calm that he never froze up ever, but just that it was highly unlikely that he did. Always be on your guard, even if you have the upper-hand, was it?

At her last question he crossed his arms, pushing his lower lip out in thought before smiling. "Depends on the person and my relationship with them maybe? I'm pretty laid back and don't let things or people get to me too much, which isn't always a great thing, I suppose. Still, a little forcefulness in a person isn't going to get me all worked up and call it quits with them. If it did I'd be out of a waterbending master years ago." He wasn't sure how well he'd answered her question. He mainly thought back to his grandmother and friend who were pretty forceful in their own ways and his grandmother was still teaching him waterbending. And he was still friends with Saya despite her seeming perpetual annoyance with him. "Anything else?"

OOC: Godmoding done with permisison, and sorry about the wait, I've been sick


Ren’ai couldn’t deny that hearing Kamil speak was giving her false hope. He was saying everything she wanted to hear. It seemed too good to be true. Blue eyes flickered with a myriad of emotions. The Firebender was conflicted right now. Part of her was sure that it would all be a trick somehow, that eventually he would leave just like everyone else had. The other part of her held onto hope that somehow, this Waterbender would be the one that would take them to the Probending Championship. That this was it, all they needed was to wait for the right time and the right place and somehow, it would all work. That part of her said that this time was it, Kamil was that Waterbender. It was all working out, and the Dragon Hawks were officially a team now – her, Yuri, and their newest member, Kamil. She would prove her parents wrong, even though they didn’t outright discourage her.

Ren’ai pushed back her doubts and her hopes, and concentrated on the moment at hand. Nothing was for certain yet. She wasn’t the most logical person in the world, but even she knew that if she got too excited about the prospecting of finding a Waterbender that would actually stay, she’d be more depressed if he turned out not skilled enough for her and Yuri – or even too skilled, which she supposed was possible. They weren’t the most skilled, but they were good. The dark-haired woman doubted that anyone who was bordering on Advanced would be considering Probending seriously, though anything was possible. The Firebender also knew that if she got too pessimistic – as was usually the case with her – she would be even more depressed if and when he left since she would probably believe then that it would never happen.

Ren’ai smiled at Kamil. “No, I think you’ve answered everything pretty well,” she said, glancing at Yuri to make sure that she saw no outright disagreements. When she saw none, the Captain glanced back at their prospective new member. “There’s just one thing left.” She turned around, and walked a few paces before turning back to face him. “Yuri and I need to test your skills. You understand that we can’t have anyone that’s either weaker than us or more powerful than us. All three of our skills should be on par. Now, obviously, Yuri and I’s are, but you… we don’t know, so it’s something that we need to find out.” A smirk crossed the Firebender’s face. “So, let’s test out your skills, Kamil.” With that, she and Yuri walked back where they had been fighting before, so they were away from Tadashi. She and Yuri turned and waited for the Waterbender to get position. If he did, they would be in a triangle formation.

OOC: 'ts'ight! Welcome back!

Tadashi was practically leaping with joy and excitement; despite his involvement with his friends' team really only having started that afternoon, his gambit had paid off and Ren'ai and Yuri had a waterbender on their team! Well, in theory. Kamil was definitely friendly enough, easy-going enough, to shrug off Ren'ai's snits and help to weave the team together. He had a good working knowledge of and interest in the probending circuit, and sounded like a competent waterbender.

This was the moment of truth, though. Tadashi had been waiting for this. Ren'ai (and Yuri) had to test out their potential teammate's abilities. He watched happily as Ren'ai and Yuri stepped away from him, keeping him (again) safely out of harm's way. The manuever, though well-intentioned, made Tadashi start thinking. Even though he wasn't a bender, couldn't he learn to spar, indirectly? At least he could be defensive, maybe learning to dodge projectiles and jump around a bit. He was flexible, mostly slender except for his somewhat broader shoulders, good leg and arm strength. Hadn't he seen some of the Acolytes practising some sort of acrobatic, martial-artish sort of thing? The Air Acolytes continued the teachings of the Air Nomads, after all, and airbenders had been adept at defensive martial arts as it provided a suitable conduit for their unique bending style. If he did that, he could help them practise.

It was an idea worth considering. Perhaps he could speak with Master Tenzin, or (more likely) one of the older monks, and see if he could begin taking sessions in the athletic arts. In the meantime, his talent was okay but insufficient to try and be involved in the benders' spar right now. He glanced back at the pond where Yuri and Ren'ai's friend Ichiro was still practising waterbending. Go back there and talk with him? Eh, maybe not right now. He had to let Ichiro get his own classical practice time in, and anyway they'd just met. He'd just stay here and watch the girls spar with Kamil. Brushing off the seat of his pants prematurely, he looked around at the grass around him and then had a seat, meditation-style with his legs folded in, in the hopes that he might glean some sort of universal truth by sitting around like a extra piece of luggage for his friends' team.