Airi's smile wavered for only a second, her attention being pulled away from her happiness and to the person that now sat next to her. Not that happiness and attention to something else couldn't co-exist but she hadn't expected anyone to sit next to her, it was surprising - that's all! "I don't think it works that way," she thoughtfully told the woman, her lips pursing and brow knitting together slightly as she tried to figure out if someone could rub off happiness like it was butter on bread. Without even another moment to spend thinking on the maybe-plausible idea, the new woman threw back her head, drinking everything down in one go.

A hand moved to her neck, wondering how that might feel. Painful, she guess. Her golden eyes returned to her own drink. Airi could only sip. Anything felt too weird and it was only done once. She had learned her lesson. Nope, wouldn't be doing that again.

Then it dawned on her. "Ooooh, you didn't mean that... literally... ha," she awkwardly added, her hand moving from her throat to her face to scratch her cheek. "Tough day, huh?" the renewed firebender asked inquisitively as she resisted the urge to lean towards the newcomer. "I'm Airi. And you...?"

Airi nodded with understanding. This year had been rough and not just for the individual and their problems. The Equalists made a mess of a lot of things. She could remember well when Tarlock's task force enforced curfews and shut down power or took over where they thought an Equalist rally might be. A big reason she remembered that was that her dad wouldn't let her go outside very often during that time. Back then she had the trouble of getting lost or repeating tasks which took up time. As benders, she could only suppose he was worried Equalists would come after her. The ironic thing was, in the end they didn't get her on the street but in her own home.

She blocked off the thought; that wasn't at all why she was here. At Ling's question, the brunette shook her head with a smile. "No, not my birthday... though now that I think of it, that's getting pretty close. Huh, I must've forgotten about it," she mused, spinning her glass again while she thought. How could she have forgotten about her own birthday? To be honest, the recent events hadn't left her with a need or want to look forward. "No, I'm just... happy I guess?"

The woman contemplated telling the stranger why she was so happy but she had no way of knowing how the woman would react. Maybe she had been an Equalist supporter or sympathizer and what Airi had gone through would just seem whiny. She mentally shook her head. Why not talk to this lady? It was a bar, for spirit's sake! They'd probably never meet again so what would be the harm in it.

"Do you read," she began, swinging her legs, "the papers? I... had been one of the few benders that the Equalist took. I had my firebending taken from me, but after the whole thing came to a close and Korra came back from the South, she returned bending to those who had it taken from them, including me." Her eyes focused on her drink and then back at Ling with a passive grin. "I'm just happy because I choose to be."

Ling's response was very, very surprising. Never would she have expected that kind of reaction, but judging on the amount her bar companion had drunken it might just be the drinks talking rather than the stressed woman who walked into the bar just a few minutes ago.

"Thanks," Airi said before turning to the barkeep and asking for a glass of shochu. Now she had two glasses (or one and a half at this point) to drink - not that it wasn't unwelcome, it just meant that she would be taking her time here. Though the 'celebration' idea wasn't really needed, it was nice. She hadn't come to the bar to celebrate anything but rather to do things while she could. Not that she was going to be reckless or anything! No! She only meant to take life's pleasures as they came. Besides, her memory-retaining skills were getting better. Might as well treat herself out for something like that!

She lifted the glass to sip on her first drink some more, tempted to finish it off but quickly abandoned the idea after she took too large of a sip and her eyes began to water up. "Gah," the noise came from her throat. Yeah, better take it slowly. Still, she made her best effort to listen to Ling's problems as Ling had done for her. "That's terrible!" she exclaimed when the story was done. "You would think people would get the idea the first few times." And as childish as it sounded, she even said, "No means no!"

"I'm just a baker, but like... if someone kept asking me to make them a loaf the size of this bar and I said no, you think they'd get the clue that maybe I'm not willing to make something with so much time and effort and stuff, right?" Oof, her head began to feel light and like little bugs were tickling her skin. Or a better way to put it, when her leg would fall asleep from sitting on it too long. Was this being buzzed? But this was her first drink! Maybe... maybe some food would do her well. She asked for a bowl of nuts.

"Well enough, I suppose," she said, a few nuts in her cheeks. "I used to play with my brother and a few homeless people - uh... that's a long story, really." A sip to finish off her first drink, a few more nuts and then she asked, "Why?"

"Cards?" Airi mused back. She didn't see anything wrong with helping out someone. "Sure, I'm in." All she would have to do is keep people drinking? While it sounded easy, she didn't know how someone did that. Just kept ordering the drinks or dared them to drink more? Pour it down their nose? Constantly asking for more so they never ran out? She looked down at her gift-given drink. It's not like she could drink with them if she wanted to stay focused.

"But a fifty-fifty split is too generous," she told the woman. Airi had little need for money. After all, she worked in a family business that always had a long chain of customers. She didn't get paid excatly, her mom took care of the finances or Aisen would. She never needed to pay bills or keep the kitchen cupboards filled with food. Whenever she needed money, she'd just ask for it. "How about I just take twenty, you take eighty?" the brunette counter offered. Doing something like this would just be for the fun of it, not to actually make money off of it. And after hearing about Ling's problem with her own customers she figured the money would be better used there.

She reached for the nuts, downing a few before turning her attention back to Ling. "Where would we be playing?"