The sun was high and the streets were pretty sparsely populated which made him pretty confident he was going in the wrong direction. Somehow it was possible for him to still get lost around here despite having lived here for the past couple of years. Gang was actually pretty ashamed of himself at the moment, his shoulders sagging and his typical scowl was deeper than usual.

If he was going to get into the police force he would need to know these streets like the back of his hand. And as a man looking for work, getting lost certainly would not be helping his cause. He had gotten a small in with a restaurant as a dish washer, but now he guessed they would not want him around. 'And on top of that it's so hooot.' he thought to himself, sweat rolling down his cheeks.

Maybe he should ask someone if they knew how to get out of here. At least, Gang thought, at least then I could find my way home. Looking around he spied a woman who looked a bit frustrated. He did not want to think about bothering her if she was having a bad day but... she was kind of the only other person besides himself. "Miss," He straightened up as he approached her, dark eyebrows still drawn low on his brow.

He hesitated and stared as he considered what to say. She was obviously uncomfortable with something and it would be kind of rude of him to just come at her with his problem. It might be ironic if he did it anyway... Gang crossed his arms and boldly ignored the temptation. "Do you need help? You look kind of confused."

"Miss."

The idea that someone was talking to her did no occur right away. Instead, she stood there, repeating in her head the message that she needed to head home for a new list before she went off on her way. Repetition always helped, somehow. The doc' said it was her short term memory that was affected most, so repeating things made them somehow less... short term? She had no idea what went on in her head and didn't expect others to. She just expected a teeny bit of understanding. She worked hard and would always did what she could to help, it was just something out of her control that made her different.

The man kept on talking and she snapped her head to look at his face -or more specifically: his eyes- and listened to him whilst figuring out what she was going to say in response. But then words just began to spill from her mouth in a way she couldn't even comprehend what she was trying to convey. "Yes! I mean, yes as in I need help; not like "I've got a problem and need help!, but just a bit of assistance. And, uh, no, I'm not confused, I'm just forgetful. Um... That sounded weird, right? Sorry,"

The woman was rather talkative, much to Gang's surprise, and she quickly began rambling off about her situation. A memory problem plagued her apparently, forcing her to endlessly repeat her actions constantly. He could see how that would prove to be a difficult thing to overcome and Gang had already made up his mind to help her as she asked, he couldn't turn her down even if he wanted to. "No worries, I'll help you."

Gang did not know the exact severity of her problem but if it was to the point it drove her in circles normally, she'd be stuck out here for hours by herself. He wouldn't be able to sleep at night if he left so joining her was the easy choice. But he could only imagine the awkward moments awaiting them down the road, like that moment when you have to reintroduce yourself. Which, come to think of it he had not done.

"I'm Gang Zhao, by the way." He paused and briefly wondered if she would remember his name 5 minutes from now. And he almost asked her that same thing but chose wisely not to. Somehow it felt like he would be taking advantage of her predicament if he was rude as usual considering he knew she would most likely forget later. In fact, with him silently following her like this, if she forgot she asked him to come along wouldn't it freak her out to just turn around and see him?

Some stern-faced stranger casually walking close behind her?

Maybe, he thought, if I make small talk she won't forget me and thus, won't freak out. There was no way he could deal with her freaking out or something, and he was pretty confident he was not over exaggerating at all. "So," he said, distractedly, "How do I know when to remind you of where you're going?" Gang crossed his arms behind his head, diligently following his new companion. "Which is Home by the way." he added.

"Thank you! she happily exclaimed, a small bounce in her hair and the items in her arms shifting. Oh boy, wouldn't that have been embarrassing if she had went all out to ask him that - and having explained everything, as well - only to have him say that he couldn't do that or he wasn't interested in dealing with someone with a mental condition. Some of her friends were surprised on how often people didn't want to be around her because of it! So rude, right? AND she was getting better at keeping track of stuff, so holding her to it was totally unfair!

"I'm Airi Hitomi,"

Small talk seemed to have the right effect and Gang was silent as the odd woman rambled on. He learned a lot from it, however, and it seemed he was in luck. It seemed she had no issue with finding her way home and they would not have to worry about getting lost. As long as Gang managed to keep her on the right track they would reach "Hitomi Bread and Goods" soon, which meant he had a job opportunity.

"So you own a bakery, do you?" Gang asked, looking interested. "My mother used to bake all the time," he smiled for a second and then frowned.

When he was a child his mother would bake the best cookies, even his friends could not resist. Gang had quite the business going when he sold her confections to the public and now he regretted it. If he knew then that there would be a time when she would stop baking, he would have never sold those cookies.

"Actually, I am kind of looking for a job," he said, changing the subject. "Do you need any extra hands around the bakery?" Gang walked a little ahead of Airi and turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. "I don't know if you noticed, but," He stopped and struck a flexing pose, his muscles, if anything, looking smaller as he did so. "I'm pretty strong. You leave the heavy lifting to me." he smirked.

Dropping the silly pose he resumed walking, fiddling with the brim of his cabbie hat. "If you know anyone looking for workers, that would also be very helpful." It never seemed like his pursuit of work would ever end. No matter what jobs he took or how much he made, it never seemed enough. He tried not to let it show but the stress was actually sucking all the energy out of him. It did not help his jobs never lasted more than a few weeks at a time.

"I'll take what I can get." he sighed.

The woman nodded her head happily. "Yeah, well, it's my parents. I haven't inherited it just yet."

Apparently this women was in line to gain ownership of the Bakery they were headed toward, instead of already owning it like Gang had assumed. It was not much of a difference to him and he said nothing, merely nodding as she talked. His own parents had little for him to inherit but he had never expected anything like that in the first place. After his father passed his main priority became talking care of his mother instead of the other way around.

He was much too old for her to "take care" of him anyway, not that that stopped her from trying. Gang suppressed a smirk as he recalled how, to this day, she still tried to baby him. It was just awkward for both parties and kind of silly considering he was always out finding work to baby her.

Gang perked up when Airi's words reached him through his thoughts, "No worries," he said quickly, "Cleaning or running errands; I've done them all." he smirked, feeling assured. Even though she mentioned she would not be able to pay him much, Gang did not care. Something was definitely better than nothing and if he had to choose, he would take simple errands with meager pay over wandering around the city for another couple of hours with no job at all.

He did, however, pause at the forgetful woman's suddenly blunt tone. Somehow he had been expecting the question of if he were a bender or not. With people like the Equalists running around, every one had to be careful of who they associated with. After all, you can not tell if someone was a bender merely by looking at them although some benders worn their powers as a badge, so to speak.

You also could not tell if someone was a supporter of the Equalists by looks alone and Gang was no stranger to losing a job immediately after revealing his bending. The question now had become if Airi was a supporter herself or if she was making sure he was not. He could not blame her for being cautious, whichever one she turned out to be. But still..."You a cop?"

Gang, of course, was not taking it too seriously himself. As badly as he needed this job, he seriously doubted this women would turn him away if he were a bender. Asking him as directly as she did, she deserved get an honest answer out of him, even if he had to say something stupid first. "I'm an Earth Bender," he said, crossing his arms. "And what about you?" he leaned toward her for a closer look.