Mugen didn't bother to hide the look of shock on his face when Lanfen suggested lying to his mother.
"Even the most vile and base villains have a certain code of ethics. Some won't harm children. Some women. I have two. I do not prey upon the poor and I CERTAINLY do not lie to my mother. I owe her a great deal, the least of which is to not insult her by lying directly to her."
Upon speaking it, it sounded like a rather odd code to live by.

Lanfen's grin at the prospect of free dumplings made Mugen remember how happy free food had made him in the past.
"Free dumplings within reason. I have been on the wrong end of a mixing spoon before when I have literally eaten into company profits." Getting the occasional rap with a mixing spoon was another thing Mugen would not admit to a fellow criminal.

The mystery of women deepened even further when Lanfen didn't take his jacket. Typically women did that without question. Then again, typically he was trying to manipulate women as opposed to getting to know them.

"Do you enjoy theater, Lanfen? Would you like to see a show?"
He looked at Lanfen for a long moment and paused.
"Now that I think of it, I know little about you while I have been far too forthcoming. What do you do in your leisure time? How do you make your living?"

Unconsciously, Mugen put his jacket back on and slowly edged towards a nearby playhouse where even if nothing was showing there would be some form of entertainment.

She shrugged. "Whatever. But you know...it doesn't necessarily have to be lying if you simply withhold the truth." She paused to allow him to think, then listened to his next question

"Theater?" She put a finger to her chin. "I guess I've never really seen a performance. You probably find that hard to believe."

When he asked about her, Lanfen frowned. She didn't like talking about herself. "Well, in my free time I... eat when I can, sleep, bend, and sneak into pro-bending matches. I really don't have too many pastimes. As for a living," Lanfen paused. She walked a little, trying to think of what and what not to say. "I mean, I've stolen a couple things in my past... But that's only when it gets really rough," she added. "Beisdes that, I just try to pick up jobs where I can, even if it's only temporary."

"If you haven't been to the theater then it is well past time for you to go. Follow me."

While walking Mugen attempted to make conversation and finally found out a little more about his blind date. The revelation that during a rough patch she would steal made Mugen feel a bit more at ease with having shared his own criminal leanings. Thieves were often people he saw as low class criminals but he could never begrudge a person who stole out of basic necessity.

What was most intriguing was Lanfen's interest in professional bending.
"I try to catch every match that I can but I don't really follow the progress of teams like some. Who wins or loses doesn't matter to me, I just enjoy the bending. The Fire Ferrets have a unique advantage with having the Avatar but I'm not sure it will do them much against a team like the Wolfbats."

Not far from the park was an old playhouse. The sign up front was not lit but Mugen knew that the actors were inside preparing for their next performance. He led Lanfen to an iron door at the side and gave it three swift bangs with his fist. A slit opened and closed almost at the same time before the door opened.

On the other side of the door was a man dressed in traditional Fire Nation garb. Traditional female Fire Nation garb. What stood out most for Mugen was the odd look on the cross-dressing man's face when he saw Lanfen.
"My date. Keep your comments to yourself."
As was the case with many actors the man could not do so.
"Someone owes me ten yuans. Mugen brought a date. A woman."

A group of colorfully clad thespians gathered around which made Mugen more than a little bit uncomfortable.
"My..." he wasn't quite sure how to refer to Lanfen. "Friend has never seen a play. Perform something for her."
A man with a shaved head and a bright blue arrow painted on his forehead rolled his eyes. "Well, since you asked so nicely..."
Mugen could easily read the grin on the bald actor's face and saw either a melodramatic love scene or a bawdy one in his future.
"An action scene, if you don't mind."

The bald man nodded and yelled. "Avatar Aang and Yakone. You up for it, Shi?" The man in drag raised his right thumb and disappeared into a dressing room. Soon Mugen and Lanfen were left alone.
"I saw these men perform as a child and marveled at how they could fake emotion so effortlessly. I used to sweep the floors and paint sets in exchange for lessons. Alas, I found that acting is no way to make money. Skill does not always equal income, I am sorry to say."

Lanfen glared at the man who opened the door, folding her arms across her chest. "Of course I'm a woman," she grumbled.

She turned her disgruntled face to look at him while he spoke. "I couldn't act. That would require being peppy, I'm sure." She adjusted her Fire Nation band self-consciously, inexplicably upset with the way the actors were treating them, even though she had been taunted before. These men and women didn't seem to be very spiteful, but something about their jests disquieted her.

Instead, she decided to go along with their jokes to make herself feel better. She grabbed Mugen's hand and pulled him inside. "Come on," she urged. "Do you want to miss it?" Lanfen sat in the front row and sat him next to her. After she was satisfied enough of the people setting up on stage had seen, she released his hand and tried not to make a show of rubbing it on her pants to banish the sensation of contact.

"So what is this about Aang and that other person they mentioned? Yukki or something?" She tried to change the subject before he could question her holding his hand. She couldn't really explain it to herself if she had tried, much less him.

Mugen was acutely aware of the running joke around the theater that his sexuality was no small source of speculation. He assumed that showing up with a woman lost someone a few yuans.

Lanfen's comment about her lack of pep made Mugen think about his own disconnection from his own emotions.
"You just need to fake enthusiasm, not actually experience it."

His date's sudden taking of his hand and then the wiping after confused Mugen. Was she shy? Did she simply not like touching? Normally, reading people was not a difficult task but there seemed to be a void between himself and Lanfen that deflected any sort of understanding.
Answering theater questions was a much easier task than deciphering the code that was Lanfen.

"Yakone. Past crime lord. Bloodbender." Naturally, Mugen could not resist critiquing a fellow criminal's methods. "He was very good but I think he did not compose himself well at his trial. This scene is the confrontation between Yakone and Avatar Aang. I thought you would enjoy that the most. No singing or dancing, just action."

The lights went down and Shi, the man formerly in drag strode upon the stage in a suit across from the man with the shaved head. Both men projected their voices loudy as they dramatically declared they would beat the other man
Mon, the man playing Avatar Aang put on an acrobatic floor display while men in black ran through the aisles of the theater holding perforated fans and waving them about creating the sound effect of air being bended.
Shi, the man playing Yakone seemed to fly up into the air and back until he was off-stage. He returned with bright red stripes of stage blood on his face and clothes.

At the back of the theater behind Lanfen and Mugen was a man gently hitting a large taiko drum to mimic the sound of a heartbeat.
Mugen smiled. Watching Mon in a stage fight was always a joy.
"Watch Monzaemon," he said as he pointed to the man playing Aang.
Shi, returned to the stage making sweeping dramatic movements to symbolize Yakone's bloodbending.
Mon's arms twisted at every joint as he screamed in pain. Once more the men in black ran down the aisles this time twisting rods that sounded like cracking bones.
The angles of the man's arms looked impossible which they were for a man not double-jointed.

The whooshing sound came again and a light shone on Mon lighting up the airbender tattoo on his head. The same make-up on his eyelids made it appear as if his eyes glowed with power.
What transpired next was, to Mugen, an overy dramatic and drawn out fight scene with no historical accuracy whatsoever. He doubted the real fight had so many blocks, dodges and acrobatics. Wires attached to both actors simulated flying and airbending attacks until Shi, the actor portraying Yakone fell to his knees and made a speech about getting revenge.

The lights on stage flickered as the man playing Aang reached to the other actor and pulled out long blue streamer painted with the same glowing paint as the Monzaemon's tattoos supposed to symbolize Yakone's bending ability.
Then the curtain fell.

"So, what did you think?"

She listened to his explanation intently, then shrugged. "I do love action."

The lights dimmed and Lanfen settled back to watch. Throughout the beginnig of the performance, she watched with a curious expression: her eyes were slightly squinted, her nose scrunched and her mouth twisted to the side. She wasn't even consciously aware she was making the face, otherwise she would have stopped.

She did jump, however, when the fan wavers rushed between the seats. She stared at them, her muscles flexed, still unsure of who they were or what they were doing. Her initial thought was Equalist chi-benders, based on their black clothing. Panic flooded her, and she turned to glare at Mugen, who was sitting calmly, with hurt and fear in her eyes. Her thought was that he had set up a trap so Amon could come take her bending away. But when they did nothing but wave the fans, the initial fear left her and she understood. Lanfen leaned back uneasily, cursing her stupidity. It was hard to pay attention for the rest of it.

At the end, Lanfen was forced to smile when he asked her what he thought. "it was good, I liked it." she lied easily.

Mugen sighed at Lanfen's muted reaction. Though not emotional himself Mugen could tell when a person was tense...and lying. He thought about making a joke about seeing that same reaction from people he collected money from but kept it to himself.
Normally, he didn't care about impressing people but Mugen had an art form to defend.

"Would you like to see something else?"
The actors Monzaemon and Shi gave one another a "can you believe this guy?" look.
The look did not go unnoticed. Mugen tried to think of something to entertain Lanfen while not inconveniencing his thespian associates.
Something came to mind but it was a last resort and to be kept to himself unless circumstances
dictated it necessary.
"Sing to her while we take a break, Mugen," Monzaemon yelled from the stage. Suddenly, burning down the theater came to mind.

It was one of the infrequent times Mugen Yuan actually felt nervous. Damn that woman!
"If you wish I can sing for you."

Mugen sighed and stepped into the aisle. It felt too odd to sing sitting down. Romantic songs were out of the question. Too obvious for a date and since Lanfen had some sort of observation blocking aura about her Mugen chose something less like a declaration of desperation.
"Come to silver, come to gold, come to any old thing, sell you body and soul. Make you kill a man...it'll ruin your soul. Come to silver, come to gold..."
It was jazz song his former boss was fond of. Mugen hadn't sung that song since his boss had fallen from a street curb and broken his neck. It was catchy, but Mugen wasn't fond of it. Singing it was part of his job and he wasn't fond of the message. People who complained about the corrupting power of money tended to be those that didn't have to worry about where their next meal was coming from.

After finishing his song he found it difficult to look Lanfen in the eye. Bashfulness was not something Mugen was used to.

Lanfen looked surprised when he got up on stage. She settled back, crossing her arms and smirking a little. If it was going to happen, she might as well enjoy herself.

She listened intently, meditating on the meaning behind the words. The firebender had not heard many people sing, so she didn't have much to compare it too. There was a certain harmony to his voice that she liked though, so Lanfen deemed the performance well done.

She herself always sounded like a dying turtle-duck whenever someone forced her to sing. The other children used to mock her, so she stayed well away from singing. From the arts in general, actually. Lanfen was about as artistic as rotting log, if even. The only art she liked was bending, and even that came as a challenge.

When the performance was over, she clapped, grinning at his embarrassment. Lanfen stood, still applauding, before cupping her hands to mouth and calling, "Encore! Encore!" She could appreciate, even enjoy, his humility for a little longer.

Mugen couldn't be too sure if Lanfen's enthusiasm was due to his singing prowess or his obvious embarrassment. For some reason he found performing in front of this one woman much more difficult than a crowd. He assumed it was due to it being easier to ignore a crowd because he could not focus on one person's focus on him.
The only way it could have been worse, Mugen thought, was if his mother showed up with her shamisen and forced him to sing an encore.
When Lanfen yelled for just such a humiliation Mugen's mind went to work.

He extended his hand to his date and waved his fingers up and down, gesturing her over.
"I have something better." At that moment he wondered if he had the same smile he wore when about to do something sadistic to someone he disliked and hoped he did not.

Just off the stage to Mugen's left was a harness connected to wires. It was that which helped simulate airbending feats, flight and added a sense of awe to the fight scenes.
"How would you like to fly, Lanfen?"
Not waiting for an answer, the criminal/actor called over his associates Shi and Monzaemon to work the cables attached to the harness he intended to persuade Lanfen to don.
"I have read that some firebenders can stay aloft for a few seconds and can control their descent. Here, you can stay up as long as arm strength allows and your descent is controlled on how much the people pulling the cables like you."
He hadn't intended to make it sound so dangerous but there was a desire to get Lanfen back for making him sing.
"I remember when I first did this. I wanted to stay suspended in the air forever. They had to take shifts on keeping me up there before they decided to let me down."

He held up the harness for Lanfen to slip into like a gentleman would for his lady.

((I'm so so so sorry I was gone so long! I really didn't intend to be, it just sort of happened. So sorry!))


She narrowed her eyes at him, knowing she was caught. If she refused, it made her play right into his trap. However, if she accepted she would be playing right into his trap. Lanfen sighed inwardly, then pulled the harness on.

She felt a flutter of nervousness. Not because she was afraid of heights. When people claimed to be afraid of heights, Lanfen got irritated. After all, one is not afraid of the physical height, rather the prospect of falling. Lanfen was not afraid of heights. She was afraid of falling.

This fear was made worse by the fact that she was placing her well being in the hands of dolled up men and women who pranced around on stage for a living. On top of that, she had just met them. She still couldn't trust Mugen, and for all she knew these actors were in league with him.

Despite all of that, she showed no fear when the wires tightened and she was flying up, up, up.

It wasn't so bad not being the one in the harness. There was a certain pleasure to be found in watching some else temporarily escape the bonds of gravity.
Mugen remembered his first time flying and how Monzaemon liked to "accidentally" let the rope slip several times. Once the young man had displayed a certain amount of skill in bone breaking that joke seemed to leave the older actor's repertoire.
"One time," Mugen said in a hushed voice.

The rope slipped a bit, but enough to make a person hovering above nervous, Mugen knew that from experience. He hoped that Lanfen took it better than he did at first and kept her bladder in check.
"Apologies," he said with a smile. It was a different kind of cruelty than he was used to. It didn't involve money or some kind of trauma. Idly, he wondered if people would be more likely to pay their debts to him if he dangled them from high places.

Mugen cupped his hands over his mouth to amplify his already projected voice.
"If you owed me money would you pay it if I refused to let you down?"

After a few more minutes of lifting and swinging the rope began to slack and gently eased the harness and person it held to the ground.
"Sometimes I think they would make more money if they simply sold harness rides."

After simulated flight Mugen had no idea where a date could go once it reached it's apex. A pro bending match? A fight, perhaps? There was already dinner but there was also a chance it would end up on the stage after Lanfen's time in the air.
"What would you like to do now, Lanfen?"

Once she was airborne, Lanfen looked down at the ground, surprised to see she hadn't left her stomach there. She closed her eyes for a moment, then, realizing it showed weakness, snapped them open again. She focused on Mugen, kindling her indignation at his smug expression to distract her from the rapidly shrinking stage.

The rope jerked suddenly and she fell about a foot. Lanfen let out a startled, girly squeak, followed by a less than girly curse. She watched Mugen's grin grow, and cursed even more, though this time under her breath. Lanfen tried counting, to alleviate the intensity of her nervousness, but it did little to help.

She distantly registered that he was talking to her, but the blood was roaring in her ears and she couldn't make out any words. Finally, finally, finally the rope began to slacken, and Mugen, the stage, and the seats gradually grew until her feet touched the ground. However, her legs were so weak that she could hardly stand.

She stumbled into Mugen, one hand on his arm and one on his chest. Lanfen could easily have saved herself, or held onto the ropes for support instead, but she figured it would make him uncomfortable and that would be pay back for making her endure that, if only a little vengeance.

She intentionally lingered, dragging out the awkward moment, then straightened herself. In response to his question, she said, "That depends. What is there to do this late at night?" Without waiting for an answer she barreled on. "What do you criminal type do for fun?"

Mugen smirked at Lanfen's "criminal" comment.
"You cut me to the quick, milady," he said with a polished accent of someone higher born than himself before lapsing back into his usual brusque tone with a hint of Foggy Swamp drawl.
Extra-legal dealings are my business and I don't mix business and pleasure."

There were no bending matches at such a late hour and the library and bookstores were closed. Most nights that didn't involve work he spent reading at home and that hardly seemed like a viable date option. He felt like might personally shatter the myth that dangerous men were interesting.
Then it struck him.
"I'm going to show you the most peaceful part of Republic City...something only a criminal would know about."

Once out side Mugen grunted as he thought.
"You will have to hold my hand for this. I don't feel like repeating 'she's with me' to every hood and ne'er-do-well we come across."
While he walked with Lanfen Mugen pointed out which of the triad's territory they had entered and the businesses that were fronts along with the ones that were popular hangouts. Some required running past.
Lanfen in tow, Mugen ran past territories of the Red Monsoons as well as the Triple Threats. He stopped at graffiti covered alley and slid his back against its wall with a sense of relief. He was still small-time enough not to be noticed by any gangs as anything resembling a threat but being noticed at all had its drawbacks.

"This is the DMZ. The demilitarized zone. This dirty swatch of rat vipers and other vermin is the center of peace and civility in Republic City. Air Temple Island can't hope to compare."
Mugen smiled wistfully and pointed to the varied gang tags brushed and bended onto the walls.
"There are a few more in the city but this is where I first learned that there is honor among criminals. My..." he wondered how he should refer to the man who chisled away at the petty con artist that was Mugen Yuan to show the contemplative breaker of laws that lied beneath.
"My mentor brought me hear and told me that for as long as there has been gang activity in Republic City there have been these DMZ's. It is a sacred ground where everyone is equal and bloodshed is forbidden. Truces to gang wars that could have razed the city have been settled here. Even the bitterest of nemeses call one another brother here. Places like this are the true City Hall, for this is where fate is decided."

Lanfen stayed silent throughout their whole adventure. She listened intently, trying to imagine what it would be like if she were to join a gang and hang out here. Despite the obvious dearth in aesthetics, there was a certain appealing atmosphere to the DMV; like finding oneself in the arms of a homely, yet talented lover.

She waited for him to finish. "Can I meet your mentor?" she asked bluntly. Lanfen had never been one for subtlety, that much was apparent. She also had little knowledge of, or at least no regard for, the social norms of Republic City life. Such a question could easily be off-limits in the gang world. Perhaps Mugen's teacher was a shady, independent man who never let a living soul see his face. Or perhaps he only dealt with the powerful gang lords with the million yuans lining their silk pockets. Either way, Lanfen didn't care.

She waited expectantly for a reply, studying his features with barely concealed impatience. Another thing Lanfen lacked was patience, especially when it came to subjects in her interest. She had always bothered her father by asking him the same question repeatedly when he refused to answer immediately, which only angered him and made them fight. The firebender shoved the thought away, a slight crease forming between her eyebrows at the recollection.

"Can I meet your mentor?"

It wasn't often that Mugen genuinely laughed but when he did it came out in a sudden guffaw and ended his a hissing chuckle through his teeth.
"I think you'll find the conversation a trifle one-sided...unless you have a direct line of communication to the spirit world." He chuckle-hissed again.
"Unlike a lot of men in our line of work his death was purely an accident."
It wasn't totally a lie. Officially, the man had stepped into traffic and was hit by a car. He wasn't such a beloved man that people questioned his demise.

"Honestly, he was the type of man people preferred to avoid meeting. He taught me quite a lot but he was too quick to resort to cruelty. Unfortunately, it's a common malady among people in my profession." He paused and had a rare need to clarify himself. "I prefer to temper myself."

"I suppose I collect father figures," Mugen said with an odd tone. Self-reflection wasn't something he typically practiced. "Several men who had something to teach me I adopted as surrogate fathers for a time. I assume most boys did the same growing up."

"And what about yourself, Lanfen? Who was the man who inspired you the most? Surely there was a man out there who shaped your development for good or ill."

She listened quietly as he spoke about his mentor's death. "I'm sorry...?" she offered weakly. Lanfen never knew how to deal with comforting others. She reached out and patted his arm awkwardly, suddenly feeling very foolish. She let her arm drop.

The firebender scowled a little bit when he posed the question regarding her upbringing. "Well, I don't know if you could call my father an inspiration, really, but he certainly influenced my upbringing." She folded her arms across her chest, exuding reluctance and apprehension. "it's a long story, I wouldn't want to bog you down in the details."

She was suddenly very interested in her shoes, apparently, as she refused to lift her eyes from them. Lanfen cleared her throat, and, without lifting her gaze, spoke. "So if I cant meet your mentor, what about if I meet a few of your cronies? I might as well know who I'm going to be hanging out with." She paused, then added quickly, "If you let me in, anyway."

Mugen felt like grinning.
"Perhaps you should be a criminal considering your penchant for keeping information to yourself." He laughed softly again.

"My cronies are hardly interesting. An alcoholic healer and an annoyingly boisterous Equalist. They were...inherited from my deceased boss, I suppose you could say. I make it a point not to keep too many people around me very long. One can't be betrayed if one has no people."

"My mother, on the other hand, is interesting. She came here from the Foggy Swamp as a young teenager after she was swept off her feet by some city slicker. All she had was two kimonos, one she was married in, and a shamisen made by her father. She can't read but she can tell what part of the city a person hails from by their smell and accent and if they can bend or not. She's the sweetest woman in the world yet when I was a child I once saw her bite off a man's finger who threatened me."

He paused for a moment to bask in the pleasant memory of his first witnessed act of violence. He swallowed and inhaled slowly through his nose before adopting his mother's thick accent and the cadence of her voice.
"'Mugen, never threaten a child and never bite a man who wears rings,' she told me. To this day I have done neither."

What few defenses Mugen had up around Lanfen suddenly came down. He closed his bright blue eyes briefly. "It bothers me that someone that smart and that insightful lives in poverty."
He groaned, embarrassed. "But I digress.

"Now..." Mugen said while studying Lanfen. "Your taciturn manner has me quite interested in your parentage. You already know that I boast swamp and wretched scum in my blood. I'm at a disadvantage. What of your upbringing?"

Lanfen sighed a little with frustration when he denied her the opportunity to meet his cronies. She grumbld under her breath, but her disgruntled demeanor faded as he told her more about his life.

This boy certainly was strange. He, like her, had grown up with a dysfunctional family. He, like her, hated his father. And he, like her, had to resort to criminal means to get by. She was perplexed by his openness about his criminality, while still holding a very odd and completely unrelated code of honor. For instance, it's okay to snap a man's arm, but you can't bite him if he wears rings? What does that even mean? Was he messing with her? Lanfen looked for signs of insincerity in his face and was surprised to find none. Was he just crazy?

Her train of thought was derailed when he asked her, yet again, about her life. She immediately shut down. The reaction surprised her. Normally, she had no reason to shut down, as she trusted herself not to betray anything. But Mugen had so far managed to wriggle past her defenses several times and it made her nervous. She didn't want to make it uncomfortable though, so she went with the only reasonable option without letting him on the source of nearly all her insecurities. Lie.

"I grew up in the Fire Nation," she began. And that was all it took. The concept of lying dissolved under the flood of heavy, black truth and it was pouring from her mouth like rain from the sky and there was nothing she could do and panic rose inside her chest like a shadowy bird and tore from her lungs and tinged her voice with fear and desperation and longing. Longing for comfort, longing for attention, longing for a sense of fitting in and longing for understanding. She just needed someone to understand.
"My family was harassed by thugs when I was younger. One day I stood up to them and burned them with my bending. Not badly. But enough that they swore revenge. So we fled in the dead of night. Leaving everything and everyone behind and riding hard for Republic City. But one of our horses died so we had to slow down, and then my mother grew ill on the road. She died, nd my father blamed me. When we finally got here he was so mad all the time and he yelled at me and drank so I ran here, to this side of town, to live on my own. I've been alone ever since and oh, god..."

Then Lanfen did something she hadn't done since her mother passed. She broke down and cried.