Business was relatively good. Any story about the Avatar tended to sell papers like hotcakes, and her forays into Probending had doubled even that. Hyuk-jae had had a hard time keeping issues in hand that day. Not that he minded! The young man could do with a good extra pay and he knew how to get it: keep selling. He was on the second load of papers now and even those were almost gone. He had three issues left out of all the ones he'd taken.

The squealing noise coming to Hyuk-jae's ears was an abomination. The newspaper boy grimaced, head turning in search of the horrible sound. It sounded like a broken electronic device, and there were few things more painful to him than the sound of broken things begging to be fixed. Finally, he spotted her — a short woman, obviously of Fire Nation heritage. Idly he wondered how much trouble she got into for sporting such an allegiance so openly. Weren't most people past that these days?

Annoyed by the squealing sound, he finished selling a paper to a customer and yelled across the street at the girl: "Hey! You! Are you gonna stand there lettin' that radio scream all day?" Spirits! It was horrific! "Do something about that, will you?"

A passerby chuckled and asked to buy a paper. Hyuk-jae handed it over, muttering about the awful noise.
"She must be looking for a repairman," said the customer.
"I hope so," said Hyuk-jae fervently.

Hotaru frowned and blushed at the attention the paperboy had thrust upon her. She wondered for a moment whether or not he was indeed a boy before finally deciding her original assumption was correct. She jingled the radio a bit in an attempt to silence the beast but to no avail. Hotaru needed to get to the handyman fast. She really could use some hot tea right about now. Hotaru could survive a monsoon and keep levelheaded if she had tea with her. Just the thought of its herbal scent made Hotaru's mouth water.

The paper boy whispered something to a patron. She had an inkling that they were talking about her, but she paid it no heed. If she cared about every person that made a passing comment about her she'd have hidden away from society long ago.

'Besides,' she thought, 'I have to remember to expect the best from people. Perhaps they are merely talking about something in the news'[/i]

Hotaru looked over at the paperboy and caught a glimpse of an ad in the paper.

'Maybe there's an ad for a cheaper handyman in there.[/color]

Any extra yuan was good news for her, she didn't like to consider herself cheap but when it came to her dream, Hotaru left petty thoughts like that to the wayside. She walked over to the paperboy, bringing her squeaking abomination with her.

Hotaru bit her lip and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry," she couldn't give the boy her usual customary bow due to the monster in her arms, but she sufficed with a low dip of her head, "How much is a paper?"

Hyuk-jae frowned when the woman brought the squealing monstrosity over. It was an affront to his engineering senses. He itched to take it away from her at once and make it shut up.

He stared at her as if she had lost her mind when she bowed to him. Who bowed to a paperboy? No one, that's who. Next to him and his stompy-soled boots, she was quite short indeed. Hyuk-jae was a tall person, but the boots made him even taller.

"Sorry, how much is a paper?"

"Don't be sorry," he said, "it's my job to sell them." He quoted the price to her and waited. No doubt she wanted to find someone to fix the wretched radio. Hyuk-jae ground his teeth in response to the squealing sound. It was getting unbearable. For someone who loved to fix things, having something broken just waved in around, begging for help, this was torture. She was taking a while in answering whether or not she wanted to pay for the paper, and finally it just became too much for him.

"Give me that thing," he demanded suddenly, holding out the arm wearing a bright red leather bracelet. "Come on. It's — I really can't take that sound any more."

Hotaru felt almost belittled by the boy's height. She had to keep herself from laughing at his expression when she bowed. Hotaru had had many similar reactions over the years, but that never stopped her from continuing the habit. Her father had ingrained the teaching in her head.

"Respect all living things, Hotaru," he would say in his booming voice, full of Fire Nation pride, "Everyone deserves honor."[/i]

It would have made no difference to Hotaru whether the boy was a giant or a withered old hobo, she bowed to everyone all the same.

The boy told her the price and she bit her lip. She weighed the coin in her pocket and tried to decide whether it was worth it to spend her money on it. Maybe she should just go to the other handyman. What was the point on spending yuan looking for an ad and then spending more on the actual repair?

He suddenly demanded the radio from Hotaru. She blinked in confusion, what could he want from such a thing?

"Come on. It's — I really can't take that sound any more."

He wanted to repair it for her? Hotaru was about to protest, but the boy appeared moody and she didn't want to anger him further. She hated to cause trouble for him, but she had no other choice. She would just have to repay him later.

She smiled and offered the radio towards him, "You are very kind, good sir, my thanks."

Fix it for her? For free? As if. Hyuk-jae liked to fix things, and the radio was an affront to him on a personal level, but he certainly wouldn't fix it for free. Hyuk-jae didn't carry tools about with him, so he wouldn't have been able to repair it on the side of the road, anyhow. It was just that the noise was so offensive...

"You are very kind, good sir, my thanks."

Kind? Hyuk-jae laughed. "No," he said, taking the radio from her hands, "I'm not. I'm just sick of hearing this." He popped open the back and disconnected a speaker connection. That done, he put the back on the device again and thrust it towards the woman.

It wasn't fixed, just silenced. All he'd done was make it shut up. The radio was still broken — in fact, it might be considered more broken as he'd disconnected the speaker and now it wouldn't make any noise at all. However, he considered this a vast improvement. "There. Now it won't make that noise." Or any noise at all, actually, but he conveniently didn't tell her that. She might get mad. But she needed to get a repairman for it anyway, so what harm did it do? Anyone who could fix the darn thing would see what he'd done and fix that, too.

Hyuk-jae smiled serenely. "Much better," he said, and then turned to wave a paper again, calling out the headline of the day. Hey, he was working. He had rent to pay, and thus, papers to sell.

Even though he refused to believe it, Hotaru thought he was kind. She expected the best of people until they decidedly proved her wrong. And even then, she was more than likely to just smile and bow all the same. She had little care for misdeeds done against herself. In Hotaru's mind, she came last.

Hotaru was none the wiser to the boy's thoughts. To her, what he had done was simply magical. Her ears felt a terrible burden lift itself after he had "fixed" it. Her eyes were aglow with gratitude towards the boy. Her humble impression was quite humorous next to the boy's cut-and-dry attitude.

"Thank you!" she bowed her head yet again. She took the radio back and rested it between her body and her arm while her other arm searched inside her pocket for some spare change to repay the boy. What came out was five yuans. "It's not much, but please accept this," Hotaru offered.

The young Firebender stared at her. That expression of gratitude was unnerving. She thought that's all it took to fix an electronic device? He hadn't even checked it over thoroughly! Some people.

"Oh no, sweetie," said Hyuk-jae, waving her money away and brushing inky hair out of orange eyes, "I didn't repair it, I just made it shut up. Now I think you'll find the speaker's been disconnected so it won't make any noise at all — including radio broadcast." He quickly sold a paper to a person passing before continuing to pay attention to her.

"You'll need some actual tools to fix that," said the newsie, "it looks like you broke it pretty well, so it'll need a bit of fixing. I obviously —" he paused to sell another paper and thank the person buying "— don't have time to do that right here, right now." He cast her a glance as if to say 'really? you thought so?' She could find a repairman on the street somewhere, he was sure. There were shops for that kind of thing all around, right? And anyway, Hyuk-jae still had papers to sell and all his tools were at home in the Dragon Flats district.

"Save your money to get it repaired for real," he said.

Hotaru listened carefully to the boy as he explained. She felt quite foolish right then.

'Foolish, Hotaru! Foolish!'

She inwardly cursed herself and pocketed her money quickly, her face burned a bright red. Still, she considered herself lucky that he hadn't taken advantage of her not so proud moment and taken her money before she could even reconsider. [color=red"Oh, thank you, good sir. You really are very kind,"[/color] Hotaru managed to fluster out, "If I might trouble you a bit more, good sir, would you happen to know anything on the work of Mr. Bouey?"

Hotaru had heard Mr. Bouey's name once or twice in passing and it was the first name that came to her mind when the radio crashed to the floor. She wasn't entirely sure if this boy could help, he seemed to be quite streetwise from what she could tell. Hotaru felt a bit bad at distracting him from his job further, she could tell he was getting a bit annoyed with her.

'And rightfully so,' Hotaru added internally.

"If not, pardon me for bothering you, good sir," she added, with a slight nod.

He was not a 'sir'. Being called so was very unnerving. He didn't like it.

"If I might trouble you a bit more, good sir, would you happen to know anything on the work of Mr. Bouey?"

The young man sighed. "Don't call me sir," he said. "Seriously. My name is Hyuk-jae. And yeah, Mr. Bouey knows how to fix stuff, sure, but he'll charge you double what it's worth. His shop's on Tenth Street." He trusted she knew how to follow street numbers. Though... if she wanted to wait, he could fix it. He could always use the money, after all, and if she'd let him fix it in her house, he'd have a space to work in.

Obviously he wasn't going to fix it in the closet he called his bedroom.

"Look, if you don't mind waiting, I can fix it." He blew a piece of hair out of his eyes and scanned the street. "I have to finish selling these, but I can get my tools and come to your place if you want." A businessman pulled up and bought a paper, so Hyuk-jae once again paused in his conversation. Turning back to the woman, he sighed. "I won't charge you more than my time is worth."

Which, frankly, isn't much, he added silently. Well, not if he wasn't providing 'services', that is.

"I don't live in a good area so I'm not willing to take it home with me. It's up to you. Bouey's shop's on Tenth. I can do it at your house." He hoped she took him up on it — he could use a night in, and repairing something was a joy even when he wasn't paid to do it. Getting paid even a small amount would be completely fine.

Hotaru bit her lip, it seemed that nobody like to be called "sir" anymore. She couldn't help herself of course, it was another one of her habits. She said his name in her head a few times to make sure she wouldn't make the mistake of calling him "sir" again. Hyuk-Jae offered to fix her radio for much less than Mr. Bouey. Again, Hotaru's never-ending quarrel with money rose. Then again, she expected nothing less, she had lived in the city her whole life. Hiring Hyuk-Jae was, in her mind, the best option. He had already proven himself trustworthy by pointing out her mistake, and he had offered to do the job with fair pay.

The only thing keeping her back was the fact that Hyuk-Jae would see her home, and the less than savory shape it was in. She brushed that thought aside quickly. If that was the only con to the situation she was willing to bear the consequence. If she could learn to let Byakko into her small home, she could learn to let others in, too.

"I'd be glad to take you up on your offer, Hyuk-Jae," Hotaru smiled. She proceeded to give the boy her address, a small apartment in the downtown of the big city, "Would you like to meet there, or for me to just wait for you here?" Hotaru had to take a step back to allow an incoming customer for Hyuk-Jae. She felt a bit of envy pass through her, this boy had much more customers than she did at her own little shop.

Hotaru quickly brushed that thought away, 'Not every day can be as busy as this, Hotaru, he works just as hard as you.'[/color]

Her thoughts kept sounding more and more like her father everyday. Hotaru had yet to decide whether that was a good thing or not.

Hyuk-jae listened carefully as the girl gave him her address. She lived in an area ten times better than his, but what did he expect? It might be nice to see what her apartment looked like. Sometimes Hyuk-jae liked to walk around and look through windows, just to see. He dreamed of an apartment of his own, even though he knew he'd likely never have one.

"Would you like to meet there, or for me to just wait for you here?"

"Oh no —" he waved her off. "Please don't wait. I'm pretty busy. I'll meet you there in a few hours, okay?" He needed time to sell the rest of his papers and go home for his tools, after all. Hyuk-jae didn't want to return to Mr. Gil's office with any papers still in hand, because the wretched old man would hit him in the face again if he did. No, he had to sell them all. And he had to turn in the money before he went home.

It took three hours to sell the rest of his issues, and then thirty minutes to get back to the Dragon Flats district where he rented an apartment's closet as a bedroom with more people than were allowed by fire codes. He slipped past his roommates who, as usual, ignored him. Picking up a rather battered black bag, Hyuk-jae put his tools in — they were small types, meant for repairing delicate things. He didn't have the money for larger tools or anything like a workshop. But for a radio, or clocks, or watches, or things like that, his tools would do. Satisfied he'd gotten them all, he made his way back out and to downtown Republic City, headed for some apartments.

Knocking on the designated door, Hyuk-jae waited quietly. Well, almost — he was nervous, and so tapped the toe of one stompy boot against the floor absently. He was always nervous when alone with people, especially people he didn't really know. Thankfully he'd be repairing a radio soon and would have it to distract him. He looked forward to working with a small machine.

She nodded when Hyuk-Jae told her to wait for him at home, as she had noticed before, he was very busy. Hotaru went home again with her broken radio, this time no ungodly noises erupted from its bowels. She took her key out from her pocket and swung open the door to her small apartment. Anyone entering the place was greeted with a small kitchen and living room, cramped together due to small living space. The essentials were all there, a fridge, a table, two chairs, but not much else.

Hotaru's parents had recently come back from a Fire Nation festival and had sent her some gifts to decorate her place with, so the walls were no longer bare, a Fire Nation calendar marked the days and a bright red mask watched over the place. She had a couple of hours before Hyuk-Jae would arrive so she needed to kill some time. Now that her radio was decidedly not usable, she considered going up on her roof for some training. Hotaru set the radio on the table and headed up to the roof.

Time flew by for Hotaru as she stood up on the roof, perfecting her bending. Once in a while someone would look up and shout something at her, but she was too engrossed in her activity to pay them any heed. Hotaru looked down and saw that Hyuk-Jae had arrived. She quickly ran back down into her apartment from the fire escape. Hotaru answered the door, panting and a bit sweaty, swinging it open for Hyuk-Jae.

"Hello, sorry about the wait," she smiled, moving out of the way so Hyuk-Jae could enter.

“Um, that’s fine,” said Hyuk-jae, stepping in. Her whole apartment screamed Fire Nation, which he found amusing. His own family was pretty much all Fire Nation blood, but he’d never been raised on those specifics. It was interesting to think that some people chose to hold on to allegiances like that.

“Just show me the radio,” he said, “and I’ll get right to it.” Hefting his bag, the thin young man smiled a little. “I brought everything I need, unless it needs parts. I’m afraid you’ll have to foot the bill if it does.” He wasn’t honestly going to charge her very much in the first place, anyway.

Sitting down on the floor, the Firebender took the radio and slowly began taking it apart, examining it for the major malfunction. He’d reconnect the speaker last, of course. Hyuk-jae quickly became absorbed in the task, the tinkering very comforting to him. Halfway through taking it apart, he seemed to pause for a moment, not moving. Then, as if nothing had happened, he continued with what he was doing – but repeating the task he’d just done.

Hotaru shut the door behind Hyuk-Jae, who immediately set to work. She admired the boy's diligence. Even if he spent most of his days selling papers, it was clear to her that this was his natural element. He was the most focused she had seen all day, even a little bit happy.

“I brought everything I need, unless it needs parts. I’m afraid you’ll have to foot the bill if it does.”

Hotaru nodded, she was willing to pay him back generously. But she was not going to be foolish this time, she had learned her lesson. She needed to keep focused on saving for her dream, even if that meant shirking a little on other aspects of her life.

"Would you like some tea?" Hotaru asked, getting out the kettle and pot. She had planned to make some for herself, regardless. After training, it always felt nice to slow her passionate blood with a nice cup of tea. "It's my famous herbal tea," Hotaru smiled. She looked up and saw that the boy had paused momentarily. Hotaru momentarily wondered if Hyuk-Jae became paralyzed for a moment. Then, as if someone had rewinded him, he repeated his previous task.

"Is...everything alright, Hyuk-Jae?" Hotaru walked over to where he was working, looking concerned. Something wasn't right, but Hotaru couldn't quite articulate what it was.

Suddenly, the light bulb in the lamp above them began to flicker. Hotaru frowned and went to search for another bulb in the apartment. The light sporadically lit up the apartment before darkening it once more.

" I should have another bulb around here," Hotaru muttered from her kitchen. She ducked inside a cupboard and found nothing inside it. Again, another downside to her cheap living style. As if to add insult to injury, the light finally flickered out. Hotaru sighed, she had no candles either, she would have to resort to bending.

She walked back over to Hyuk-Jae and snapped her fingers, sparking a small flame on her fingertip.

"I'm sorry about this. Is this enough light?" Hotaru asked, holding the flame near Hyuk-Jae's working space.

When she asked if he’d like tea, Hyuk-jae said he would take some only if it had no sweetener or anything of the type in it. He worked carefully on the radio, taking it apart gently. The problem seemed to be with bad wiring. Well, he didn’t have spare. He’d have to either go out with Hotaru or send her to get some. “I think you need wire,” he said, ignoring her asking if he was all right. He pulled a piece of the wiring out of the back of the radio just as the light began to flicker.

The flickering light bulb was disturbing. Flashing lights often set off fits, and the young man glanced nervously at the bulb before slowly putting his tools down and pushing the radio a little bit away. He began to experience a curious sensation of tiny bugs crawling across the skin of the left side of his face.

It seemed like it wasn’t real — Hyuk-jae's mind pulled away from reality, but not from awareness. The mask on the wall glared at him, growling, and Hyuk-jae turned his head to the side without meaning to. The fingers of his left hand flicked against each other almost as if snapping, over and over, then the forearm began to jerk. The jerking spread to the upper shoulder and then his head drew down towards the left shoulder. After the head movement, Hyuk-jae's left leg pulled up. While he remained conscious, the young man was unable to prevent his muscles' response to the excessive stimulation they are receiving from his brain.

As quickly as it had come, it was gone. By the time Hotaru had come to him and sparked a flame, the partial seizure had passed.

"I'm sorry about this. Is this enough light?"

“Take the bulb out now,” he said, voice angry. He flinched away from the open flame. Uncalled-for anger usually followed a partial seizure for Hyuk-jae. He gritted his teeth. If the bulb kept flashing it would just get worse and he didn’t want to have to explain himself to her. It was beyond annoying. Why couldn’t he just do this one simple thing? Why did everything always have to go so wrong?

Another wave of uneasiness passed through Hotaru as she watched Hyuk-Jae. It was almost as if he was containing something inside himself. When he snapped at her she quickly turned off the flame, rearing back. He had changed from the quiet boy she was speaking to just moments ago. He demanded that she take out the bulb and she didn't question it. She stood up on the other chair in order to reach the spasmodic light. Hotaru quickly turned the bulb and got about halfway before the heat from the light traveled from her fingers to her brain.

"Ah!" Hotaru cried as her hand instinctively leaped back as she felt her fingers start to burn. The bulb hung loosely from the lamp for a minute before falling to the ground with a small shattering sound. Hotaru was left in total darkness, blowing on her red hand. It was a small burn, one that would clear up very soon, but she couldn't firebend with it for the time being. After a moment of silence she struck up another flame with her undamaged hand. Luckily, the bulb hadn't broken into too many pieces, she could clean it up easily. She stepped off the chair, avoiding the shards, and moved towards the kitchen to get a broom.

She returned quickly to the bulb's corpse with the broom and began to sweep the remains into a small container.Hotaru wondered how Hyuk-Jae was fairing, it was difficult to see him in this darkness, "Are you alright?" Hotaru called out blindly.

"I am fine," Hyuk-jae snapped again. While he rarely used his Firebending normally, now that he was emotionally out of balance and annoyed and really ready to just finish and get the heck out of there, it seemed like a good idea. With his right hand he struck up his own flame and worked a little with his left. Hyuk-jae was left-handed, so it was easier than it might have been — but he still really needed both hands.

Did she not have a candle or a lamp? Frowning, Hyuk-jae tried to focus on the radio. "You're going to need wiring, like I said," he told her. "I can't fix it completely without." It looked like once the wiring was replaced, he could put the radio back together and it would work as normal for her. Letting out a soft sigh, he extinguished the flame from his hand. The anger was beginning to go away, replaced with a desperate sadness.

Mood swings after seizures were such a pain. Even though he sort of knew that the emotions would just run their course, he really only knew that when it wasn't happening. At the time it was devastating. He didn't know what to do. Should he offer to go and pick up wiring? Should he try to send her? Should he say they ought to go together? He shivered a little while thinking.

"Do you — want to go pick up wiring? Or...?"

All of a sudden her flame had a twin by where Hyuk-Jae was working. "Oh! I didn't realize you were a firebender as well," Hotaru observed. She had earlier noted his Fire Nation heritage, but that didn't always guarantee bending abilities.

'That might explain his temper,' Hotaru thought jokingly. She didn't really mind his attitude, he was helping her and had already proved himself to be trustworthy. Besides, ever since the light bulb went out Hotaru sense that there was something else that was bothering him. Not being one to pry, she merely dealt with the situation at hand rather than badgering him with questions or accusations.

Hotaru finished sweeping away the rest of the bulb when she heard Hyuk-Jae inform her about wiring. She thought about it for a moment. Hotaru wasn't fully comfortable in leaving Hyuk-Jae alone in her house, so the best course of action would be to travel together. She turned back to Hyuk-Jae, her flame still aglow. His expression had changed into a very sad one. Hotaru was at a loss for words. Just a moment ago he had been about ready to bite her head off, now he was shivering with a despairing look on his face.

"Do you — want to go pick up wiring? Or...?"

Hotaru shook her head, brought back from her thoughts, "I think it best that we go pick it up together. I think along the way I can get a new bulb as well."