Anya sat by herself at a table in Narook's Seaweed Noodlery, attentively listening to the radio. She hung off of every word the announcer said, playing out the Pro-bending match in her own imagination. Anya wouldn't have been able to afford a ticket to tonight's match even if she had wanted to. Her mother's medicines took a great a portion of her income, and the rest went towards food for the family. But, on her way home, Anya was was quite happy to hear the sound of the match on the radio from the noodle shop and decided to stop in.

Narook wasn't to keen on letting someone who wasn't a patron hang around, so Anya bought a cup of ginseng tea to save her spot. She wasn't really hungry for noodles, unlike the man at the table next to her. He had piles of empty bowls in front of him, and more noodles besides. Quite frankly, Anya was a little worried about him.

Forgetting about the man for the moment, Anya settled further back in her seat. She took a sip of her tea and closed her eyes, listening to the announcer describe the valiant stand of the Rhino's Firebender. Ducking, weaving, he determinedly held his place for the rest of his team. Anya's mind began to drift as she imagined herself in his place. The announcer sang her praises as she dodged around clay discs and flumes of water that flew in her direction.

Just then, the bell rang. The Firebender, or Anya as she imagined herself, had preserved his team's place in the game. Anya flung her fist into the air, giving a rather high pitched "Yes!" of excitement. Several other patrons made similar shows of support for the Komodo Rhinos. But, Anya's celebration was soon interrupted by a "splat" sound from the adjacent table.

The Firebender girl looked over to where the sound had come from and saw the same man as before. Only now, he was face down in his bowl of noodles. Fear leaped suddenly into Anya's heart. Did he faint, or did he just eat to much? Either way, he was going to choke in his own food. Anya jumped up from her seat, nearly upsetting her tea, and rushed over to the hapless fellow. Disregarding the attention they were most likely getting from fellow patrons, Anya attepted to seize Riku and hull his face out of his bowl. "Are you alright sir?" she asked the Waterbender, her tone laced with worry, "what happened?"

Waiting for evening to come was equivalent to torture. Jin Ho had swapped a shift with another policeman who had given him no small amount of hell for "finally having a date to go on". His fellow officer had regaled the poor man with tales of how there were bets on that Jin Ho was gay, but now that he was finally going on a date, that betting pool would be closed, wouldn't it? Jin Ho had stammered and flushed his way out of that chat, neither confirming nor denying the rumours about his sexuality.

But it was frustrating to think that everyone already knew. Did his parents know? Were they just waiting for him to confess? Or could they possibly be blind to it even now?

Jin Ho spent his morning playing with Sweeper and cleaning his house to pass the time. In a panic around three in the afternoon, he went to Hoshi's apartment where they chatted about what you shouldn't do on a date with a young man and how Jin Ho should try to just "be himself".

He took an extremely long shower and took forever picking out clothing before finally settling on a high-collared forest green undershirt and black trousers. His jacket was an almost black shade of green with warm gold buttons and trim, carefully mended but showing some wear. He'd had it for years and usually wore the sleeves rolled up in mild weather. The same went for his black boots, which were close to knee-high and laced up the front. After careful consideration, the young man chose a warm, earthy-herbal oil to add to his normal plain hair oil. It all got combed through before he braided it into a flat and somewhat complex five-strand braid, different from the normal and plain three-strand he usually used. He doubted, quite honestly, that Mizu would noticed the difference at all (unless the man had already spent time looking at his hair, which was not likely) — but Jin Ho knew the difference. He felt... fancier. It was nice.

He got to Narook's Noodlery a bit earlier than he had expected, but passed a bit of time chatting with the Water Tribe man about business. As was polite, Jin Ho waited for Mizu to arrive before he was willing to order. He drank water in the meantime.

Rajit, the olive-skinned Earthbender, seemed to take forever to show up for his part of the day's shifts, but when he arrived, the sun was halfway down the declining part of its arc across the sky, and a full moon shone faintly in the eastern part of the sky.

Mizu got home as fast as he could, and he spent the better part of an hour bathing and selecting his outfit for their...dare he say it?...date. After another twenty minutes, he selected a black pair of pants, a plain collared button-down shirt, and a black jacket lined with blue silk on the inside. He'd acquired the various pieces of the outfit over the last two years, and tonight felt like the right time to wear it. The jacket's part made an elegant, narrow swoop down to his navel, where the two sides came together and hung casually.

Something's missing.

He walked over to his modest dresser and picked up a red bottle; Mr. Chien had given it to him as a gift. It happened to be a bottle of cologne he probably wouldn't buy himself, but a few sprays on his neck and wrists made him feel complete. Giving himself one last once over in the mirror, he stepped out of his apartment and onto the street below.

Once on the sidewalk, he raised an arm and hailed the cab; with a few quick instructions, he was on his way to Narook's.

When he entered the establishment, he felt a bit out of place. This was more upscale than he was used to his life being, but part of him, a small part, wanted this; felt like he deserved it.

The maitre'd, also the owner, approached him.

"Welcome to Narook's Seaweed Noodlery. I'm Narook. How many?" The man clutched menus in the crook of his arm.

"I'm actually here to meet someone." He looked around the restaurant and spotted Jin Ho. "He's right over there." He gestured with a finger.

"Very good, sir. Come this way."

They both walked toward the table and Mizu sat down, thanking Yue that Jin Ho's back was turned to him. He blushed as he sat down, and Narook set a menu down in front of him. The Waterbender thanked the man before looking at Jin Ho and blushing as he walked away.

"Hello." He smiled as he adjusted himself in his seat.

The more time went by, the more nervous Jin Ho became. The young man straightened all the dishes on the table, refolded his napkin, drank an entire glass of water, and fidgeted with the end of his braid. The thick, flat five-stranded braid sat comfortably over his shoulder, shiny black and wide as his wrist. Jin Ho had a habit of fussing with it when nervous or bored.

The thought that Mizu might not be coming after all did not actually enter into his mind — because Jin Ho thought of everyone as a Good Person, for the most part. It never occurred to him that his date might not show. He tended to give people plenty of time when waiting, because Jin Ho himself never drove or took a vehicle of any kind, preferring to walk, and so he often thought others might simply be walking, too.

Jin Ho was just fussing with the water glass again, lining it up with the edge of his menu, when Mizu sat down. A wave of relief washed over him and the policeman smiled. After taking the other man's clothing in, he cleared his throat. "You look really nice," he said, his eyes appreciative. He liked the blush on the Waterbender's cheek. Of course, he had already thought Mizu looked nice anyway, so it wouldn't have much mattered what the other man wore. Jin Ho dropped the tassel of the end of his braid as Mizu looked over the menu.

"You've been here before, right?" he asked. "I always get the same thing. Not — not that I come here often, because I usually eat at home. I like to cook. It's just, I usually stick to one thing when I know what I like..." he was nervously talking. Hoshi had said not to nervously talk at his date. Look at what had happened last time he had kept talking! Mizu had gotten uncomfortable and Jin Ho had been extremely embarrassed and it had all been so awful...

Jin Ho shut up. He shifted in his seat a little, still nervous. When asked, he ordered the normal noodle bowl he usually got, and another glass of water. He looked all around the restaurant in an attempt to be more polite. When he realized he was fussing with the cuff of his sleeve, he sat on his hands.

"Um," he said, when their order was taken and they were basically alone again, "how was your day?"

The Waterbender was still blushing when Jin Ho complimented his attire, and he mumbled his gratitude as he shifted in his seat. From an outsider's perspective, they boh probably looked elegant.

"As do you." He picked up the glass by his place setting and took a drink. Even the water seemed fancy, and he swallowed some before setting his glass down.

Jin Ho muttering and stuttering elicited a chuckle from Mizu. Although it was endearing, his date sounded like he felt on the inside, and he cleared his throat.

"I've been here a few times, but most days, it's out of my budget." He picked up a menu and glanced at it; just because he didn't go there very often didn't mean that he didn't know exactly what he wanted and, when Narook showed up to take their orders, he asked for a tart plum wine and seaweed noodles, a Water Tribe specialty. In school, he'd learned about the Water Tribe as it was in the days of Avatar Aang, and how the Fire Nation tried to eradicate the Waterbenders. Was there really a time when people like him were in danger of becoming extinct? Then again, with these new people he'd been hearing about, he might be in more danger than he thought.

"My day? One word: slow." He laughed. "What about yours?"

Narook showed up with their drink orders and he refrained from picking up his glass. The wine was meant to bring out the natural saltiness of the noodles, not his...personality...for their date.

He looked nice? Jin Ho smiled. Thank goodness for that! He had, after all, tried to look nice. The man stayed sitting on his hands though, because he knew he'd nervously start picking at something if he didn't.

Jin Ho had no need to avoid his glass, as he was having only water. When Mizu asked about his day, he laughed. "I spent it cleaning my house," he said, "and walking Sweeper. I went to see my best friend. That's about it." He looked down at his cup. Really he'd cleaned everything a few times and gone for a run and showered and braided his hair and had tea... but those were all such mundane occurrences. Did they count for anything? Probably not.

"I was really nervous," Jin Ho confessed, "and I guess I am still really nervous." More than anything he wanted to avoid saying something that would make Mizu leave again. If that happened this time, Jin Ho had resolved to never, ever try again. It was too embarrassing. Even now the shadow of their evening at The Den hung over his mind, reminding him to talk less and 'be normal'. The policeman's feelings were still very hurt if he thought about it too much.

Relax, Jin Ho. Relax. He took a breath.

The best thing to do was to have Mizu talk. That was what Jin Ho had decided. He could listen to the Waterbender without going all word-vomity and then the other man might feel more comfortable. It was a good plan! He smiled again. "Tell me about yourself," the man said. "You know much more about me than I do about you. That's hardly fair, is it?"

Had it really been that long? He hadn't ever really been on a date, but he'd still managed to pick up the base rules of courting (even when the other man's ultimate goal was to get him in bed).

"Hey, it's okay to be nervous." As much as he wanted to put his hand on Jin Ho's, he didn't. For some reason, the contact seemed...inappropriate. He settled for taking a sip of his wine and, when he'd done that, Narook showed up with their dinner orders. The smell of his noodles was something he'd sure even the best writers in Rebublic City would have trouble describing: a salty, tart odor, it could most be described as the ocean. The salinity tanged in his nostrils, and a licked his lips when the bowl was set in front of him. He thanked Narook and turned back to Jin Ho.

"About me? What's there to tell?"

Really, his life had been comparatively boring. He'd done some things he wasn't proud of, yes, but what could he say?

"Well, I guess my parents were never really as hard on me as yours are on you. They wanted me to be a great Waterbender," he took this moment to roll his eyes, "but they never really cared. I haven't heard from them since I was sixteen." He let an acrid chuckle out and picked up some seaweed noodles with his chopsticks. The salt bit his tongue and he felt a warm comfort filling him. The wine added an extra pop to the meal, and he made sure that there was nothing in his mouth before he continued.

"Anyway, I've pretty much lived in the City my entire life. What else do you want to know?"

Jin Ho smiled as Mizu told him it was all right to be nervous. He almost reached for the Waterbender's hand, but their food distracted him momentarily.

"Not heard from your parents since you were sixteen?" Clear green eyes widened, obviously surprised. Jin Ho obviously had a very close-knit family, so of course he might have assumed the same for Mizu. Obviously, he had been mistaken.

"Anyway, I've pretty much lived in the City my entire life. What else do you want to know?"

What else did he want to know? Everything, really, but that was hardly the thing to say. "Well," said Jin Ho, thinking for a moment, "what about.. things you like? Do you have a favourite song? Colour? Do you like to read?" He leaned his chin in one hand, watching the other man. Mizu was very... attractive. Jin Ho could have looked at him for quite some time.

Feeling a little bold, he caught at the Waterbender's hand the next time the man reached for his glass. "Why did you decide to ask me to dinner in the first place?"

((Sorry for the short; dates are hard aren't they??))

"Yep." He nodded, taking another sip of his wine. He was happy to note that there was a spoon lying next to his bowl on the plate his dinner was served on. "I decided that I didn't need to have them telling me what to do, and they decided to stop. We just parted ways, I guess."

He took another bite of his noodles as he thought of the two people who had raised him. Now that he looked back, he realized that they became less and less interested in his future as he grew up, and it had turned out that he needed to be out in the world to learn the lessons that needed learning. He knew how to make a few things out of metal, and he knew how to pick someone's pocket, but none of those skills were any that his parents would have looked favorably on; not that it mattered.

"My favorite colour? Reading?" He chuckled again and took another sip of wine; the combination of it and the noodles' salt made him wish he could have lived in the Northern Water Tribe. "I guess I like blue, but I don't really read; not anymore. I used to like to read the old military officers' accounts of the War, though." He'd heard of the attempted eradication of the Waterbenders, the genocide of the Airbenders, and the ploy to rule the world by the Firebenders. "It was interesting to think that we were all trying to kill each other before Avatar Aang." He paused when Jin Ho asked him another question.

Why did you decide to ask me to dinner in the first place?

"You made me notice you, I guess. The cops and I...we don't have the best relationship. You go around treating people like they're people and someone's bound to notice."

It was fair to offer information once it was given. "My father is a retired policeman," said Jin Ho. "My mother kept a shop with the Jeons. My favourite colour is grey. And I do... like to read, I mean." Jin Ho liked to read romance novels and history accounts and fanciful stories about spirits and demons. His flat had a large bookcase in the living room. He often spent time at home just sitting in the window, reading.

I guess I like blue

Blue. Of course. What else would a Water Tribe man pick? The young policeman smiled a little. "Historical accounts are nice." He thought about young Mizu, whatever he must has looked like, enthralled with historical accounts of warriors. The mental image was adorable.

"You made me notice you, I guess. The cops and I...we don't have the best relationship. You go around treating people like they're people and someone's bound to notice."

"Yeah?" Jin Ho turned Mizu's hand a little in his, running his thumb along the pulse point. "You're the only person who's noticed me so far. And to be fair, I think I noticed you first." He wanted to ask how Mizu had known that Jin Ho was.... different, but at the same time, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

"Why don't you have a good relationship with the police?" Jin Ho asked. Personally, he'd like to have a very good relationship indeed with Mizu, but he didn't feel it appropriate to say it in those words. "Are you a murderer and you're not telling me?" he smiled a little, joking.

Eventually Jin Ho ordered a little wine as well, trying to keep Mizu talking so they could get to know each other. He told the man about going to the police academy and how his parents were very proud. He told him about how Hoshi had said not to talk nervously because Jin Ho had a habit of being nervous.

Like father, like son, eh? It made sense. He'd heard of military officers' sons doing the same thing, so it made sense that the same went with police. Someone had to uphold the law, right?

Then, the only thing that mattered was him noticing that his hand was in Jin Ho's. His heart jumped, and he swallowed a lump in his throat.

And then Jin Ho asked him about his history with the police. Did he have a few days? Weeks, even? Then, something else occurred to him: would that change the officer's opinion of him? He blushed.

"No, I'm not a murderer, but I've seen the inside of the Repbulic City Jail. A few times." He grabbed his glass and took a swig. No. He couldn't do this. Not now. "I got into stealing a while after I went out on my own. With my parents not there, I guess I figured that I could get away with that sort of thing, even though the police didn't think so." He took another sip of wine. "But I don't steal. Not anymore." He chuckled. "There I go, blabbering on. That's old news." He took another hearty bite of his noodles.

"So what's your story? Do you really want to be a cop?" Jin Ho seemed to be fine with his role as a police officer, but doing one thing for too long made people bored. And when people got bored, they start craving change.

Stealing? Well, that was hardly the worst crime. Jin Ho knew many people stole because of circumstance. He was not blind to need. He smiled a little as Mizu quickly added that his stealing was a past, not present, tense activity.

"That's all right." The man's skin was warm under his thumb. "What did you steal? Food? Random things?" Jin Ho laughed a little. "People change. So does circumstance." He did not seem terribly affected by Mizu's admission.

"So what's your story? Do you really want to be a cop?"

Ahhh. Now he was going to sound like a fool again, wasn't he? Jin Ho blushed a little, the colour bright on his pale skin. "Yes," he said, "I actually do really want to be a cop. I know you're going to think this is stupid and naive, but I actually really love what I do. I really believe in keeping the people of this city safe." He paused, glancing away for a moment. "I... want to help people. To do my best for them."

When he looked back at Mizu, Jin Ho laughed again. It was a nervous laugh, meant to disperse tension. "Silly, right? What an idealistic thing to say. It's okay if you think that's weird. I'm not foolish enough to think that my fellow officers all feel the same way. But that's how I feel."

He shrugged. "I like getting to know the people I serve, and I like going into the shops on my beat. And I love going home at night and feeling like I made a difference some times." These were very private feelings he didn't often admit to people — certainly not his co-workers, who would have laughed at him. Only Hoshi, his best friend, was really privy to many of the emotional workings of Jin Ho.

Not that he didn't want that to change.

What did you steal?

"Money. That was all I ever stole." He'd become quite good at it, too. He'd stolen enough to make sure that he never went without, plus enough to cover any court fines.

He didn't think Jin Ho actually wanting to be a cop was stupid at all; normally, he'd mock someone for being so gung ho about police work, but Jin Ho's enthusiasm endeared the man to him. How often did you find someone in Republic City that loved their job, let alone doing something like enforcing the law? He had to give his date major props for that one. Personally, he hated his job, but he stayed there because he owed Mr. Chien a debt; not a life debt or money, but a debt of gratitude. The man had taken him in, given him steady work despite his less than savory background, and allowed him to get away with things his parents never would have. So, yes, he would continue to work at the bar.

'Well, I guess the citizens of Republic City can rest easy knowing they have someone like you protecting them." He broke out into a smile and wrapped his fingers around Jin Ho's hand. "I know I do." He looked down at their hands, swallowing yet another lump in his throat. "So tell me, when you mean no experience, do you mean no experience whatsoever?"

Money? The Metalbender smiled. Of course. Didn't all people want more money? "Well, that's hardly the worst crime I can think of." If Mizu were a rapist they'd have a problem, but he liked to think the man was confessing the bulk of his crimes at that time. It was possible for Jin Ho to just go look at the Waterbender's record, of course. He'd never do that, but it was certainly possible.

Jin Ho screamed a little with happiness — only on the inside, of course — when Mizu wrapped his fingers around his hand.

"So tell me, when you mean no experience, do you mean no experience whatsoever?"

Ah, crap. That happy feeling deflated a bit almost instantly. Hadn't talking about his inexperience before made Mizu run away? Jin Ho really didn't want to talk about it now. But the man had asked, and Jin Ho tried not to lie.

"I... know how to please a woman, I guess," he said hesitantly, "but just one woman. And I kissed a boy when I was nineteen, does that count for anything?" Chuckling nervously, he looked away. "I haven't... been physical with anyone since then, though. Since I was nineteen." Embarrassing.

How old was Mizu, anyway? Jin Ho hadn't asked, and the other man hadn't said. Granted they hadn't talked about the policeman's age, either. "So I guess," Jin Ho finished lamely, "that it depends on what you mean by none whatsoever."

Please don't run away, please don't run away, please don't run away...

The policeman took another drink of his wine and concentrated on his noodles so that he wouldn't start nervously pulling on his hair.

He made nineteen sound so long ago. Though he didn't know Jin Ho's age, he knew that the other man was younger than him.

"I mean with this whole dating thing. I've never actually gone out before like this, but I guess it's one of those things you just have to do." Admittedly, he'd received his share of dating advice from Mr. Chien, and it made sense that the man would be so invested in helping his employee find happiness with someone else. His wife had passed a few years after the Serpent's Head opened, and he'd poured himself into the bar, making it what it was now. Mizu was just happy that he was able to find a niche.

"Anyway, it's nothing to worry about. I've heard that if you find the right person, everything just kinda...happens. I know that might sound stupid to some people, but I'd like to think that it's true." He took another sip of wine and ate some noodles, no longer interested in his meal; somehow, he'd managed to find a truly honest, good man who happened to have overbearing parents. He didn't think he'd ever find someone like that in Republic City, let alone be out with someone like that.

"So tell me, if you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?" He'd heard of so many legendary vacation spots in school, like Ember Island and Ba Sing Se. The places back then seemed so fantastical that they almost couldn't be true, but if people were going to pass down lies as history, they did a damn good job of it.

”I mean with this whole dating thing. I've never actually gone out before like this, but I guess it's one of those things you just have to do."

“Oh,” said Jin Ho, “yeah, no. I have hardly any experience with dating. Hoshi and I used to go on dates sometimes, but it mostly just felt like hanging out with a friend. It certainly wasn’t like this – and that’s not a bad thing.” He smiled. Being out with Mizu was totally different. He liked it. He liked the nervous butterflies, so different from his usual cramped nervousness.

What Mizu said sounded just like what Jin Ho thought. The young man smiled a bright, cheerful smile. “That’s just exactly what I’ve always thought! I would meet someone and I would just know it was good, I guess. If it does sound stupid to people, I’m not one of them…”

So tell me, if you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?

Mmm. Good question! He’d want to go somewhere totally different. Somewhere far off and exciting. Green eyes looked thoughtful as Jin Ho stayed silent for a while before answering. “I… would want to go to the ocean. To the North Pole or the beaches of the Fire Nation. I’ve read about them!” Jin Ho looked excited and gestured with a long-fingered hand. “They have islands with vacation houses I read, and in the North Pole everything is made of ice. Can you imagine an ice city? I bet it’s beautiful.” He sighed.

“What about you? Where would you go?” Jin Ho sipped a little more of his wine. He wasn’t ignoring the noodles on purpose, but after a moment’s thought, he took a bite or two.

“What do you want to do with your life?” he asked. “Do you have dreams?” The Metalbender wanted to know everything about the man in front of him. Jin Ho found Mizu captivating and beautiful, but he wanted to know more about him as a person. The policeman wanted to know what made him tick, what he was afraid of, what kind of life he’d always dreamt about. He wanted to find someone to share himself with, and part of that was finding a person willing to share themselves with him.