tag: Open

With delicate hands and unwavering concentration Nuori slowly lifted the lid off of the steam pot. She ignored the mass of steam that rose quickly out of the pot and turning at the waist she carefully set the polished lid down atop an adjacent, unlit burner. With fingers crossed behind her back she turned again to the pot and leaning forward with her shoulders peered expectantly into its belly. Upon surveying her work the Acolyte’s eyes brightened and with a flutter in her heart she drew her rosy lips back into a triumphant grin. Her vegetable dumplings were done, and they looked delicious.

“You’re a genius,” she muttered under her breath as she reached for an unusually large spoon. She scooped out a handful and let some water drain out of the punctured spoon before laying the dumplings down on a dry plate. She repeated this process, cleared her workspace, and then went about arraigning the dumplings into neat rows. She wiped her hands against her stained apron once she was satisfied with her design, then she went about collecting a few pairs of chopsticks. Surely there were some hungry Air Acolytes sulking about the dining hall. News of Amon had recently placed everyone in a funk, and nothing worked better to sooth funky moods than some dumplings and a freshly tossed and seasoned salad.

The island flower worked carefully to load the edibles, some bowls, and the chopsticks onto a rolling kitchen cart. Before taking off she removed her apron, dusted off her attire, and tossed her frizzy braid over her left shoulder. Then with small and steady paces she pushed the cart out of the kitchen and within a few minutes she arrived at the dining hall. She entered the spacious room quietly and cleared her throat before raising her voice to what sounded like an almost whisper. “I’ve brought some food for whoever’s hungry.” Patiently, she waited for a response.

He’d been spending a lot of time in the Dining Hall lately. He wasn’t eating more than normal, he came in here to just sit and be. There was something about the room that calmed him in a way that nowhere else, not even the Meditation Pavilion, did. And recently, calm was something he had been lacking. The news that Amon had attacked the Probending Arena had come as a major surprise, and to put it simply, Akio was scared. He knew he probably wasn’t in much danger, seeing as he wasn’t a Bender, but he was still worried. Amon might have very specific methods, but his followers didn’t. The Acolyte didn’t listen to the news that much—living on the island as he did, not a lot of what he heard related to him—but he had heard reports of clashes between Benders and Equalists. Tempers were high, and that led to violence. And violence always worried him.

But there was nothing he could do about the present situation of the city, and he knew that. So until something changed, he would keep sitting here. Maybe if he was lucky someone or something would show up to distract him from his thoughts. Most of the Acolytes had been keeping to themselves lately—understandable, given all that had happened—but maybe someone would wander in and take his mind off of things for a bit.

A dull rattling noise entered the room, and Akio turned his head toward the door, sightless eyes working with his ears to try to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. He couldn’t figure it out, though, which was annoying. Luckily, a voice followed the rattling, and he instantly identified its owner. “Nuori.” He smiled. He didn’t know the other Acolyte all that well, but he liked her. She was nice, and the few times they’d met she’d provided some fun conversation. Given that she’d brought food with her—he realized now that the dishes she’d wheeled in were the source of the rattling—it seemed like she was in the mood to socialize. He would be happy to talk to her, and to be honest, he was a little hungry. This was already proving to be a fortuitous encounter.

”Hey Nuori!” Akio called, waving an arm in the general direction of the door to grab her attention.

tag: Akio/ Open

The Acolyte's eyes instantly brightened at the sound of his voice. "Akio!" she cried sweetly, waving her hand before she remembered that waving her hand was futile. Her forgetfulness was astounding sometimes. Blushing the island flower lowered her arm and sauntered toward him. She wouldn’t tell him openly, but she was really glad that he was here. For a second there she thought she’d be serving herself–and only herself–dumplings, which was kind of sad, kind of. Reaching Akio she considered extending her hand to pat him on the shoulder, but then she remembered how he didn’t really like being touched, so she settled with sitting across from him.

For a second she allowed herself to delight in the strange beauties that were Akio’s cloudy eyes before breaking out into a smile. She was so glad her fellow Acolyte couldn’t see, and so mad at herself for being so glad about the fact that he couldn't see her stupid grin. “Hey,” she said softly hoping Akio realized that she had taken a seat opposite him. The teen wasn’t sure whether to begin the conversation with questions pertaining to his current emotional state, his family, Amon, or the food she had just prepared. Why so many thoughs were occupying space in her brain baffled Nuori, but she decided to mention food first. Food was always a great conversation starter.

“So,” she continued drawing out the oh sound, “I have freshly steamed dumplings that are begging to be devoured, sort of.” She paused. “Oh! And a salad, I have salad too. Would you like some, or no? Also how yah feeling today?” Well, that took care of everything, right?

[tag:Nuori/open]

She had heard his greeting. Akio smiled as he heard his friend coming over to where he was sitting. It would be nice to have some company, especially if it was someone he already knew and liked. He wasn’t really in the mood for meeting new people at the moment worried as he was. Nuori was easy to talk to, though, and so he welcomed her presence. And she’d brought food with here. That was a definite plus.

Akio listened carefully as the other Acolyte approached, then was momentarily confused when the sounds he’d been using to locate her—the rustling of her clothes and her footsteps—ceased. Fortunately, Nuori was aware of his disability, and she spoke, letting him know that she’d sat down across from him. His eyes, which previously had been wandering around the general space of the room, focused on the space from which the girl’s voice had come. ”Hey,” he replied, not saying more because he was unsure of what he should say. Much had happened since the last time they’d spoken. What were they supposed to talk about?

Luckily for him, Nuori stated things off asking if he’d like some of the food she’d brought. He nodded with a grin. ”Sure, I’ll take some off your hands.” The second question she asked was difficult to answer, and he sighed, not sure how much he was comfortable saying about his current emotional state. ”I’m…I’m all right, I guess. Mostly worried about what’s been going on in the city lately. It sounds like things aren’t going too well right now.” What he didn’t say was how worried he was about his family. His parents and sister were all Benders, and if Amon and the Equalists were trying to rid the world of bending, they were in as much danger as anyone else, and there was nothing he could do to keep them safe. He’d thought of asking Master Tenzin if he could move his family to Air Temple Island to get them out of the line of fire, but knew that that wasn’t fair to all of the other Acolytes who were worrying about their friends and family. It was frustrating, but he’d just have to deal with things as they were.

tag: Akio/ Open

It didn’t take a genius–and Nuori was no genius–to see that Akio was a little out of sorts. He looked pretty calm and collected, but the island flower noticed a slight tension in his posture. She hoped it wasn’t physical pain he was experiencing, then again emotional pain kind of sucked too. She immediately regretted asking the teenager how he was, but then Akio grinned at her and agreed to try some of her food. The small gesture soothed Nuori’s nerves and she was just about to stand and bring him a plate when he sighed. Oh no, she thought, here it comes.

But his words weren’t anything too serious, or at least the young Acolyte didn’t think they were. Unfortunately, the frizzy haired youth wasn’t as up to date on Amon related news as she apparently ought to be. There was that one time the lunatic hijacked the radio station and stuff, oh and the arena, right? But those incidents probably had nothing to do with Akio’s remark. What was going on in the city? Why weren’t things too well? Surely her mother would have visited her if things had gotten worse? Nuori had visited her mum only a week or two ago and although everyone seemed a bit skittish, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. What was she missing? What news hadn’t she heard?

Nuori felt it her duty to ask these questions of Akio, but she figured she had better do it while he ate, that way at least his stomach would be happy. “Hold on,” she muttered excusing herself from the table. Moving quickly she placed a handful of dumplings and some salad on a plate, collected a pair of chopsticks, and then made her way back to Akio. She nearly tripped on her dress as she took her seat. “Here,” she said as she slid everything in front of him. “If you get thirsty or anything just let me know and I’ll get you some water.” She gave herself a minute to compose her thoughts then she spoke as she twirled the end of her braid with a thin finger.

“Akio, what’s going on in the city?”

[tag: Nuori/open]

He felt bad, just a little. Nuori had entered the Dining Hall offering food to whoever was hungry, and had just had the bad luck to run into him when he was feeling gloomy. True, she had asked how he was feeling, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to deal with listening to him worry about things he couldn’t control. She probably was just as worried as he was, and here he was forcing her to sit here with him, down as he was. She didn’t deserve that.

Maybe food would improve his—and hopefully the conversation as well. He accepted the plate with thanks, waving away her offer to get him anything else with the assurance that he was perfectly capable of doing the same. In the silence before Nuori spoke again, he tried the food, and was pleased to find that it was, quite frankly, fantastic. ”Did you make this? It’s amazing!” The dumplings had definitely done the trick. He was feeling better already.

Then, unfortunately, the other Acolyte asked what he had been talking about earlier. He stopped eating and put his chopsticks down, cloudy eyes staring off into space as he considered his answer. How much had Nuori heard? He didn’t how often she listened to the news, or if she did at all. ”Well, you heard about what happened at the arena, right?” That she had to know. An explosion at one of the city’s major hotspots had to reach even the most uninformed ears. If not, well, he had a lot of talking to do. ”Ever since then, the news has had more and more reports of Benders and Equalists fighting in the streets. And just the other day I heard that five people were found tied up outside a police station, and all of them had their bending taken away. I don’t think they were famous or anything…the Equalists are going after ordinary people now, and that’s not good.” He sighed again. Voicing his worries made them that much worse. Hopefully he hadn’t ruined Nuori’s day by being the bearer of bad news.

tag: Akio/ Open

She was really glad that he liked her cooking, and she would thank him for his kind words, but right now her mind was focused on other things. Things she had absolutely no idea about, and that worried her. It worried Nuori because she had her mother to think about. If there was something going on in the city, did her mother need rescuing? But where would I rescue her to? the island flower thought sadly. Surely, she couldn’t bring the poor woman here? It just wouldn’t be fair to anyone else. Akio was probably thinking the same thing, and he had more family members to look after.

When he mentioned the arena Nuori quickly nodded her head. She had only heard bits and pieces of the news, but she knew that it had been destroyed thanks to Amon. Luckily, her mother lived nowhere near that arena. She prayed that whatever followed wouldn’t be too bad, but it was. It was so much worse. Fights, kidnappings, bending taken away, what had this world come to? Her doe eyes became even larger from shock and she had to draw her hand up to her rosy lips in order to keep them from trembling. “Akio, that’s awful,” she said pushing her voice past her fingers. “I can’t believe…” She started to tremble. “I can’t believe it’s gotten that much worse. And I didn’t know anything about it.”

She slowly folded her hands into her lap and tilted her head to one side. “It’s not good at all,” she sighed. “Excuse me, for just a second.” She stood up and when she returned her body was no longer quaking and in her hands was a plate of dumplings. “I’m sorry,” she said as she took her seat again. “I don’t think I can talk about these things on an empty stomach.”

[tag: Nuori/Open]

At first, Nuori was silent in response to what he said, which worried him. Was she that ignorant about what was happening in the city? Sure, the island was somewhat secluded, making it easy for less sensational news to be avoided, but he would think that she at least would have heard about the kidnapping. Apparently not, though.

He nodded when the other Acolyte said things weren’t good, not sure what else really needed to be said. The situation in the city was pretty awful, there was no denying that. Things were somewhat better here, removed from the conflict as they were, but that didn’t make thinking about recent events any less distressing. Nuori seemed to be handling it worse than he was, though that was understandable, seeing as she’d just learned about all of it.

As grim as their current discussion was, Akio couldn’t help but smile when Nuori interrupted to get food, nodding in understanding. As he resumed eating, he wondered how he might lighten the mood a bit. Nuori had just happened to come into the Dining Hall offering food, and he had ruined what might have been a perfectly fine day for her. He was not happy to be the bearer of bad news, even if she had asked him to tell her what was on his mind.

”We could not talk about that stuff,” he suggested. ”Talking about depressing subjects is a great way to ruin a meal.” He paused for a moment, then went on. ”How have you been? I haven’t seen you—or, technically, anybody—lately.” He felt his face heating up and knew he must be blushing when he realized what he had said. Not the best choice of words. Well, at least he’d changed the subject.

tag: Akio

She popped a dumpling into her mouth before Akio spoke, which only delayed her response. The young Acolyte also couldn’t help delaying her reply due to how good her dumplings were! She couldn’t believe she had managed to make something so delicious! However, to remain polite Nuori kept those thoughts to herself. Swallowing she nodded her head in agreement to Akio’s suggestion and hoped he could hear the faint rustling of her frizzy hair as she moved her head up a down. She knew it would have been best to agree verbally, but that dumpling was still half in her mouth.

Noticing the rise of blush in her fellow Acolyte’s cheeks caused Nuori to grin widely like a cat. The world–as of right now and according to Akio–seemed to be crumbling into chaos, yet Akio blushing could make anyone smile in the face of bad news. She adored him for that magical quality, but she would never tell him that, ever.

“Well, up until now I’ve been alright,” she said slightly teasing. “I haven’t really done much since the last time I saw you. Mostly cooking.” She raised a dumpling to her lips but before parting them she remembered something. “Oh!” she said a little too loudly. “Sorry about that, but your sister, how was her birthday? Did she like my present?” Hopefully, Akio had not forgotten to give his little sister the doll Nuori had instructed him to use as a gift. It had been her favorite toy to play with as a child, and Michi’s. A slight pain crossed her chest at the thought of her twin, but Nuori pushed the pain aside. She needed to know if her gift was a success.

[tag: Nuori]

It was strange, making a joke at his own expense. That was not something he ever did, particularly where his handicap was concerned. But now, given what he had just told Nuori and the tension that information had created, it felt appropriate, if only to lighten the mood a bit. He couldn’t see the other Acolyte’s reaction, but hoped she appreciated the effort. He did not enjoy being the bearer of bad news.

He could hear the grin in Nuori’s voice when she spoke, but couldn’t help wincing and muttering ”Sorry,” in response to what she said. He knew she was teasing, but he probably had ruined her day with his revelations. Well, at least now she was aware of what was going on. That was a good thing, right? He hoped so.

”Well no wonder these dumplings are so good, then,” he said with a smile. ”You’ve had a lot of practice, and it shows.” He continued eating for a bit, then jumped when Nuori uttered her loud “Oh!” His eyes fixed on her—or as close as he could get—concern clear on his face. Was something wrong?

But then the other Acolyte continued and he smiled, the expression lighting up his entire face. He was honestly surprised that Nuori had remembered Emi’s birthday, but was glad that she had. ”She loved it,” he told her, remembering his little sister’s excited squeal when he’d presented her with the doll. ”She told me it was the prettiest doll ever.” Emi certainly had a talent for exaggeration, he thought. Though, given that he had no way of verifying her claim about the doll, perhaps it actually was true. Whatever the case, the gift had definitely been a success, and he thanked Nuori again for her help. He was sure he could have found a gift for his sister on his own if he had had to, but it had been great to have help. He wasn’t very good at figuring out what young girls liked.