"Easy does it..." Lian mumbled to herself as she carefully lifted a new pot up to the top shelf. Of course, she was carrying the piece with her Earthbending, not actually putting it up herself. Using her bending abilities for such a menial task was, unfortunately, common for the short girl. Not owning a proper ladder or a tall enough stool was quite a maddening fact, one that she intended to fix as soon as she felt she had enough surplus money.

Wiping her bangs away from her right eye, she lowered her hands slowly. The clay pot gently rocked back and forth before settling nicely on the wooden shelf. Lian sighed with relief. Looking around her shop, she nodded with approval. Her displays were exactly the way she wanted them to be, and her supply of pots was completely stocked. She had spent many hours creating pieces she felt worthy of selling; this was Republic City, after all. Tourists came here much more often than her village back in the Earth Kingdom. She had to be careful to have extra pieces to sell, otherwise risk losing potential customers. But before that, she had to make sure her store would attract people to begin with.

Unlike many of the markets here, hers was smaller in comparison and not as open. Lian's shop had no huge glass window to showcase her best work, or a flashy sign to announce her opening hours. And many of the shopkeepers enjoyed going outside and yelling their wares to the world, personally inviting people to come take a closer look at their souvenirs. Lian wasn't quite so open. She preferred to remain indoors, which clearly took a toll on her sales. All she really did was leave a handwritten sign that said, "Open." The only glass around here was on her door, so she had to make sure her more colorful pieces were closest and simply hope they would catch someone's eye. But for the few people who were able to find her humble store, she made up for the lack of flamboyancy with her friendliness and conversation. With that, she was able to sell a few pots to some nice tourists, but definitely not as often as she would've liked.

"Maybe I should've set up somewhere with less competition..." she brooded. Still, she was lucky enough to even find this place. It was better than being in Triple Threat Triad territory, where some poor souls were forced to open their stores in and pay rent to the notorious gang. She almost felt sorry for them; with Amon's most recent stunt at the Probending Arena, the Triads were shaken up, and might be getting more violent and demanding of whoever was unlucky enough to be in their debt. But Lian shook it off. She didn't want to think about what would come of all this chaos.

Suddenly, her tiny, old, sorry excuse for a bell rang, signaling the entry of a customer. Perking up in surprise, she immediately fumbled with her words and spoke much faster at the unexpected visit. "We-Welcome to my pottery shop, howmayIhelpyou?" As if on cue, the bell at the top of the door fell off its hinges and clattered onto the floor.

Lian smiled, trying to brush off her less than professional greeting. "Um... I'll get that. It happens all the time." While she managed to avoid dangerous territory, her place of business was clearly deteriorating. Even her painted pottery couldn't hide that fact. "Feel free to browse my wares, and let me know if you see anything you like."

It wasn’t every day Naota found himself face to face with a man yelling at him to buy his plants. But, it wasn’t every day that he was in this section of the city, and there was little he could do about anyway, so he let it be. Sellers had to hawk their wares, and screaming was certainly a valid way to get the attention of passers-by, annoying as it might be. He might not engage in the practice himself, but could certainly see its benefits from the way several stalls near him were surrounded by people eager to spend what money they had. He would have been among them if he’d had much money to spend.

But as it was, he consigned himself to just walking down the street. “Window shopping,” some would call it. If something caught his eye he might stop to take a look, but otherwise he was content to stroll. Though he was his own boss and could set his own hours as he liked, he hadn’t much time off from work lately. So, even if he didn’t plan to buy anything in the shops, he could enjoy what they had to offer all the same.

As he walked, the magician kept his eye out for anything of interest, but, finding little, decided to just stroll into the next open shop he found and see what there was to see. He had nothing else to do, and would enjoy getting the chance to talk to someone else for a bit, even if the conversation was likely to revolve around an attempt to part him from his money. He was bored, and would take what he could get.

So, when a small sign caught his gaze, he allowed it to beckon him to a door, which opened with the ring of a small bell hanging above him. It took only a second to realize where he was: a pottery store. Well that was…interesting, he supposed. Pottery had never been his thing. Sure, it was pretty and took great skill to make, but it didn’t do anything. Naota had never understood the logic behind putting art in one’s home. You put up a painting or a vase, and then you went about your life, maybe glancing at the thing every once in a while. Really, decorations were meant to impress others, and he didn’t need that. If he wanted others to like him, he had his tricks and his charm. His words were more effective at landing him dates than a lump of clay could ever be.

His attention was directed away from the colorful pottery in front of him by a voice, which he found to be issuing from a young woman further in the shop, who identified herself as the owner and spoke a bit too quickly. He was about to respond when a clattering sound let them both know that the bell above the door was attempting to escape. When the shop’s owner said she would get, Naota smiled and reached down to grab the bell himself, moving forward to hand it to the woman. ”No need,” he told her. ”I’ve got it.” As he offered her the bell, he couldn’t help noticing how pretty she was. The last girl he’d met had been gorgeous, but also taken. Perhaps here he’d have better luck.

”I’m Naota.” He glanced around the shop, taking in the various pieces that cluttered the place. ”You made all these? You’re good.”

Lian nodded her thanks as she gently took the bell from the man. All the while, she did her best to avoid staring directly at her newest customer. Truthfully, her quick greeting and issue with the bell kept her from getting a good look at him. But as he picked up the tiny object, the first thing that she noticed was that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Unused to the exposure, she couldn't contain her slightly widened eyes, flushed cheeks, and stiffened posture. Even the boys at her village didn't remove their shirts when farming under hot weather! Well... No, they actually did, but she usually remained indoors with her clay and pots. So it's not like she ever had much of an opportunity to sit and giggle at the sight like her other friends used to.

Now she was faced with a man who wore only a green vest on his torso. She tried to focus somewhere else. His unusually distinct ears? No, not that! The scar on his cheek, perhaps? She mentally let out a frustrated groan at how flustered she was, as well as the strength of her curiosity. She could only hope she didn't look like a fool, or look insulting in any way. Thankfully, his own introduction and compliment snapped her out of her momentary confusion.

"Thank you. Yes, all of these are handmade by yours truly," she answered as coolly as possible, smiling and playfully curtsying. Her eyes settled on whatever pieces he decided to look at, if anything to repress her curiosity for a little longer.

She learned in the past how some people didn't really take to the idea of an Earthbender making pots. She was often criticized by customers telling her that her craftsmanship was somehow inferior to a nonbender's, or treated her work as though she was cheating the art form by taking advantage of her abilities. While she was not ashamed of using her Earthbending for pottery, Lian chose to keep that fact hidden since some customers couldn't seem to wrap their head around the idea. Except now, she kept her bending a secret for fear of an Equalist finding out. She never knew if she was dealing with one, anyway. Better to be safe than sorry.

"Oh, I'm Lian, by the way," she added, turning to Naota. Again, she attempted to avoid staring at him directly. She was simply facing his direction while looking at some stray hair from her bangs. Hopefully, her blushing wasn't so obvious now.

Naota could see the effect his appearance had on her, and his smile widened. The last “date-like” outing he’d gone on had not ended well, so it was reassuring to know that his charm was still working for him. Not that he was making an active attempt to woo the woman…at least, not yet, anyway. He would see how things went for now.

She confirmed that all the pottery was hers, and the magician turned his attention to the shelves once more. Even if he wasn’t much of an art person, he could appreciate the effort that had gone into making all of what the shop owner had to offer. There was a lot to see, though, which made him wonder how well business was going for her. But of course, he wouldn’t ask. Besides, it’s not like he could brag about great business success. She had a shop; all he had was a deck of cards and his body—which, to be fair, was very attractive. Still, with all that had happened in the city lately, was there much demand for pottery nowadays?

So, the woman had a name. Lian. That was pretty. ”Nice to meet you, Lian,” Naota responded, nodding. ”If you don’t mind my asking, how do you make all of this? Are you a bender?” He hoped he hadn’t overstepped any boundaries with his question. After Amon’s attack on the Probending Arena, bending was a touchy subject for everyone. As someone who lacked that particular talent, Naota didn’t have as much to worry about as most in the city, but he was just as worried as the rest of them.

Here he was, in a pottery shop worrying about what was happening all over the city. He shook his head to bring himself back down to Earth, holding up his hands as he looked apologetically at Lian. “Sorry, I, uh…I shouldn’t have asked that. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

As Naota spoke, Lian turned to put the bell down on a nearby desk. She had gotten used to making these repairs herself, opting to save money rather than hire someone to make improvements. Unfortunately, her skills were less than decent, which was probably why she kept having these issues. Perhaps she'll just leave the darn thing on her desk for people to ring themselves when she's not there to welcome them. It would save her the trouble of having to screw it back into the wall.

He, like many others before him, asked about her craftsmanship, as well as her bending ability. By now, Lian had practiced her edited backstory for several nights in order to appeal to what she thought an Equalist would deem harmless. The amount of fear and paranoia she already possessed combined with Amon's newest threats made her determined to avoid their radar. Still, the memory of hearing the entire event through the radio made her freeze in her steps, an action she hoped he wouldn't notice. A flash of insecurity overtook her expression for but a moment before she opened her mouth to answer.

Yet, before she could, Naota apologized before dismissing his question. The young girl blinked. No one really did that before, and he seemed sincere in his actions. Well, in light of the recent events, almost everyone in the city understood the danger benders were in now...

Lian mentally scolded herself. She had gone over this several times. It could be a trick: sort out the benders by making them let their guard down and admit their abilities, then take them to Amon to remove their bending permanently.

"No no, it's fine. I'm a nonbender. I made all these with my own two hands." Maybe she was over-thinking, or way too paranoid for her own good. But then again, there were worse cases, ones in which bending families have either locked themselves up in their homes or attempted to escape the city for good. Lian, herself, could do neither. Her work was her livelihood, her only way of surviving in this city. Earthbending gave her an edge and helped make pieces faster, meaning more stuff to sell. But with the recent slow business, that also meant she had just enough money to get by, but not leave completely. No surplus money meant no way to board the quickest ship back home. Besides, she was the most unthreatening, spineless Earthbender she knew; taking away her bending wouldn't really help the world. Still, she doubted the Equalists would hear her out. She wasn't about to risk getting caught by being honest with a stranger.

Pushing those bad thoughts back, she continued the conversation. "Honestly, I'm somewhat new to this city. I don't know many of the areas around here, so I don't go out a lot. I spend a lot of time in my studio, if you can't tell," she laughed, gesturing to the amount of pots surrounding them. She hoped that was a decent justification for the number of her wares; it wouldn't give away the fact that her Earthbending helped with the speed of their creation, and she wouldn't verbally admit that business wasn't doing so well. Doing that would give her a bad image. She crossed her fingers and hoped that he'd believe all that.

"...Heh, I picked out a really bad time to move here, huh?"

”Wow…” Naota let out a low whistle of admiration. ”That’s amazing.” He wasn’t just trying to be nice; he really was impressed. He knew Earthbending could be used to make pottery, and that it must make the process faster and easier, so the fact that Lian had accomplished what she did without that gift was incredible, and it spoke to her dedication to her craft. Though he wouldn’t admit it, the magician found himself feeling a twinge of jealousy. Neither of them were benders, but Lian was more successful than he would ever be, just because she found something she was good at and turned it into a profitable business. Why couldn’t he do the same? Sure, his magic tricks were good—he thought—but by no means guaranteed him a steady flow of income. Lian looked as though she was the same age as he was, but in terms of worldly success she had already surpassed him without even trying.

But they were having a conversation. He should focus on that. Naota nodded as Lian told him about being new to the city, giving her an encouraging smile. “You’ll get used to it,” he told her. ”I can show you around sometime, if you like.” That was smooth, and of course Lian would accept the offer. If there was one thing he was better at than his magic tricks, it was talking to girls. He could get Lian out of her shop, they could get to know each other better…it was perfect. Naota couldn’t help but smile at how pleased he was with himself.

Lian’s next statement was more to herself than to him, but he responded all the same. ”Things are pretty…not great right now, yeah. But I’m sure it’ll get better in time. Besides, you’re not a bender, so you don’t have to worry about the Equalists coming after you.” Being a nonbender didn’t guarantee complete safety, of course—which was why much of the city’s nonbending population had chosen to join the Equalists for protection—but it put you in a better spot than the benders in the city. Naota took some comfort from that, even if he felt bad for those who had already suffered at the hands of Amon and his soldiers. Republic City was a strange, unnerving place for everyone right now. All they could do was hope that things would get better with time.

Lian gave a small smile at his compliment and a mental sigh of relief. He bought her nonbender story. Good. That was how she wanted it, and yet there was this nagging voice in the back of her mind that reprimanded her for lying. There was absolutely no problem in claiming to be a nonbender; she was sure many more were doing just that, perhaps even going so far as changing their identities altogether. She couldn't afford to mix up her stories now should anyone question her background. Besides, there was no harm in telling a small lie to a customer she was unfamiliar with, and one that she would probably never see again after this.

But then he offered to take her around the city. Now that was definitely unexpected, but enough to get her undivided attention. It warranted a surprised raise of her eyebrows; her eyes filled with hope and excitement, and she opened her mouth slightly to accept. But just as soon as it came, it disappeared. Lian glanced away and cleared her throat, silencing herself. She was supposed to keep a low profile and not trust anyone. Especially a guy she just met and barely knew.

And yet she couldn't fully contain her desire to see the sights the city was so famous for. It was one of the main reasons why she moved to Republic City in the first place. No one ever offered to show her around when she mentioned she was new. Normally they'd either welcome her to the city life, or nod their head in acknowledgement and nothing more. Now this strange half-naked man was handing her this chance on a silver platter. She tilted her head and chuckled nervously. "That's very nice of you. I'll... I'll think about it." Lian tried her best to not totally commit to Naota's offer. At the same time, no matter how much she knew she should've declined him, she couldn't bring herself to do so. She was throwing out all her previous thoughts of suspicion just for the chance to have a guide around the city. "What's wrong with you, Lian?! Remember the risks!" she mentally reminded herself. A part of her hoped that Naota would interpret her half-answer as a subtle rejection of some sort. Staying in her personal safety bubble was the most logical choice in her current position as a bender, but really, she was going to go stir crazy if she stayed cooped up in her shop during her entire stay in Republic City!

As Lian debated with herself, Naota's comments just barely brought her back. "Yeah..." she absentmindedly answered. His words had some truth to them. So long as she played the part of an innocent nonbender and made sure to not slip up with her fabricated stories, she had nothing to worry about. Still, with everything that Amon managed to accomplish until now, and just how much his power and network was growing by the day... Well, that's enough to put the smallest seed of doubt into the most foolproof plans any bender could come up with.

With all this talk about Equalists and benders, she was lucky she wasn't having a panic attack right now. Wanting to change the subject as smoothly as possible, Lian focused on her customer and shopkeeper duties again. She was here today to sell pots, not brood over current events.

"How long have you lived in Republic City?" Shoot. That wasn't what she wanted to ask. But the curiosity and wonder that came with her arrival wouldn't leave her alone. If Naota lived in the city for some time, he's bound to know the nicest, and probably the safest places to see. If she wouldn't allow herself to go out right away, perhaps just knowing this information and acting on them later would be better.

Lian’s response to his offer was unexpected, and puzzling. She hadn’t said yes, but she hadn’t said no either. He really wasn’t sure how to respond when she said she’d think about it, especially since he had no way of seeing her again to hear her thoughts short of visiting her shop again. He wasn’t lucky enough to own a phone, and even if he had been, life as a street magician meant that he was rarely at home anyway. He’d certainly be willing to visit Lian again if it meant she had accepted his offer, but to know that he might come back only to be rejected seemed pointless. He could certainly understand why she would be hesitant to go anywhere with him, a stranger, half-naked and asking to her to come out alone with him in an unfamiliar city, but his intentions were honorable, even if he couldn’t figure out how to make that clear. He was pretty sure a casual “don’t worry, I’m not planning to kill you” wouldn’t do the trick. So maybe Lian’s answer was completely justified; it still left him confused.

But, unsure as he was, he did his best not to appear so, nodding. ”I get that. Well, I can always stop by again some other time, and maybe then we can go out.” There, that was settled. That was also the perfect time to leave the conversation and shop and go about his day, but given how dull his day had been so far, Naota figured he might as well stick around and keep talking to Lian. He had certainly enjoyed their conversation thus far, and saw no reason to leave just because his offer had (most likely) been rejected. He did feel a little bad about the fact that he was taking up the woman’s time without planning to buy anything from her, though. Maybe he could scrounge up enough to buy something small, just so this interaction wouldn’t end up being a complete waste of time for her. She deserved that.

Luckily for them both, Lian’s question moved them past the awkward stage of the conversation and onto a subject he was much more comfortable with. “I’ve lived here all my life,” he answered. ”To be honest, I’ve never left the city.” It was something he didn’t like to admit, but Lian had asked. He wanted to travel, was sure that reaching a wider audience with his magic would be good for business, but had never had the opportunity. He was trapped in a bit of a rut. He wanted to travel to make money, but he needed to make money in order to be able to travel. Not for the first time, the man found himself wondering why he was so against taking a second, more stable job just so he wouldn’t have to worry about money all the time. But that was a thought for another time, not when he was in the middle of a conversation with a pretty woman.

He turned the question back on her. “What about you? How long ago did you move here?”

Lian tilted her head a bit to the side, briefly thinking about her interactions with her newest customer. Out of all the citizens who had visited her shop, he was the only one who stayed longer than needed. He was different than the customers who would dismiss her shop the moment they realized she had nothing they wanted; by now, they would've left, back into the sea of merchants who had more practical or special wares. He didn't show any particular interest in a single piece of hers, yet here he was, still in her store. It somewhat piqued her interest. For a few moments, she allowed herself to push past her initial suspicion, and see what she thought of him then. She admitted to herself that Naota's responses have been, overall, very respectful so far. And there was a certain charm to his personality as a whole that she couldn't quite pinpoint, but it's what made her keep wanting to talk to him for reasons other than to just keep him coming back as a customer. And if she wasn't so shy about it, she'd also admit that he wasn't too bad on the eyes. If she didn't focus so much on his mostly exposed upper body. But, as mentioned before, she was too embarrassed to fully appreciate his appearance. As a whole, Naota was by far one of the friendliest people she'd met since entering Republic City. And one who seemed more willing to just talk rather than worry about which store to go spend their money on instead of hers; the citizens in general were always on the move. At least back home, people were able to slow down and take their time talking to each other. She was curious to see where this meeting would lead them. And she met someone around her age group, for once. That was already something they had in common, besides their Earth Kingdom heritage. If all went well, he could turn out to be one of the few people in this crazy city she could trust.

Letting her walls down for those few seconds was extremely refreshing, and without even thinking through her answer first, she gave a genuine grin. "I think I'd like that." Then she paused. Wait. She didn't want to confuse him, what with her unclear answer, and now this! She began to fumble with her words, trying to explain her thoughts while adding unnecessary hand gestures. "I-I mean, I'd like to, um, to get to to know you more. Because. Because you're the most conversational customer I've had so far--and really really nice and--Um. And. Sure, m-maybe we can go around the city, someday. Just not today. Because of my work. But someday. Maybe. Yeah..." Ah, here was the fidgety, overreacting part of her personality that her friends at home teased her about so much. Yeah, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to let her walls down. If she was wearing a cap like Naota did, she'd have pulled it down by now to hide her face. Since she obviously didn't, she chose to do a full turnaround and nervously walk behind her desk where her register was. She kneeled behind it and pretended to look busy, opening and closing shelves as though she were looking for something. At least it provided some sort of cover for her.

Speaking of home, that was a good topic to switch to. "O-Oh, I used to live in a farming village on the western regions of the Earth Kingdom," she replied quickly, "If you ever find yourself outside the city, I suggest going to Omashu or Ba Sing Se. If you can afford it, that is. It's pretty boring where I'm from. That's part of the reason why I decided to come here." And boy did she get what she wanted. She shyly peeked over the counter. "...Do you have plans of leaving the city?"

As he waited for Lian to fill in the silence, Naota once again cast his eyes out to her wares so he wasn’t just staring right at her. He might welcome stares—particularly those from pretty girls—but most people found that kind of thing discomforting, and he didn’t want to creep Lian out. So far, he liked her, and wanted her to like him. It had been far too long since he’d been out with a girl. He was determined not to scare this one off.

On that front, though, it was looking like she was going to do his work for him. The magician did his best to hide his smile, but couldn’t help laughing just a little at how flustered Lian got when trying to clarify her response to his offer. She wasn’t making much sense at first, but then…success! She had said yes! Not right away, but it was a yes all the same. Naota let his smile show at that, glad that he had secured what he had already decided to call a date. As Lian ducked behind her desk he spoke, laughter still ringing in his voice. ”Well then I’ll definitely be coming back to show you around. It’ll be great, I promise.”

Already his mind was racing with possibilities. It was a shame what had happened to the Arena; it had always been so pretty lit up at night. But even if that wasn’t an option, there were plenty of others. Narook’s had great food at decent prices, and the top of the Radio Tower was a great spot from which to look out over the city. Or they could just wander the streets and see what they found. He’d spent plenty of time doing that, and knew which streets were safe and which weren’t—though that balance was shifting thanks to recent gang activity. Wherever they went, he would make sure Lian had a good time and that she got a good sense of the city’s layout and feel. Just thinking about it got him excited.

It look Lian’s response to his question to bring him back to the present. It made sense, then, why Republic City might seem intimidating, given that she had come from a small village. Naota had spent his whole life here, so he was used to it, but even he had to admit that the city was big, and it would be easy for someone unfamiliar with its streets to get hopelessly lost. He wondered if that had happened to Lian, but didn’t ask. He didn’t want to embarrass her.

She asked if he planned to leave the city, and he couldn’t stop a small sigh from escaping as he shook his head. ”Not any time soon. Leaving requires money, and I don’t have anywhere near enough to be able to support myself. And my family’s all here in the city…even if I could leave, I don’t think I could stay away from them for too long before I got homesick.” It was strange telling Lian what he had trouble admitting to himself, but now that the words were out there he knew they were true. Maybe one day he’d get to leave, but for now he had too much tying him to the city.

Hearing Naota laugh at her little episode made her face heat up. Lian felt embarrassed, but couldn't stop herself from appreciating his laughter. The last time she made someone happy with her blunders and stutters was when her family and friends were seeing her off on her trip. Only reason why it didn't happen again in the past two months was because she barely spent enough time with anyone and gave little opportunity to display her more "energetic" side. Naota's confidence in his voice calmed her down a bit. Maybe going around the city with someone she just met wouldn't be such a bad idea. He seemed enthusiastic enough, if nothing else. Besides, one of the lessons her closest friends had "bestowed" upon her was to live a little. Why not find a bit of fun amidst the growing discord? All she had to do was keep her bending in check, which wasn't a difficult task at all.

Slowly but surely, Lian was growing a little more daring. At least by her standards. She could only hope she wasn't making a big mistake. "It's just a friendly tour around the city. Just a tour around the city... A tour, that's all." She repeated that in her mind like a mantra. She'd just walk around with Naota for a few hours, look at some places, then return to her home safe and sound. Just don't do anything stupid enough to cause trouble. Simple. Definitely not up to par with her friends' crazier standards, but a good starting point for her.

Her hands stopped aimlessly searching through her drawers, but she remained kneeling and peeking. This time, she didn't avoid looking at Naota so much and tried to relax a little. If she was going to be checking out the city with him, she might as well start acting less paranoid and shy. Or at least attempt to. "Ah. I understand. Traveling's tough if you're not prepared; it's good to know your limits." Lian could relate all too well. It took years for her to save enough money to board a ship, secure an apartment and shop, and still have enough to buy any necessities like food and clay! Granted, her Earthbending helped with making some decent clay, but it was far from the more quality ones she could order from the market.

"But leaving your family is definitely tougher than saving up yuans," she continued, "Took me a long time to muster up the courage to come here without mine... If I had enough money to bring them here, I would've." She paused before scoffing. "Then again, now's not the most ideal time to visit, but we had no way of knowing what would happen." She shrugged, trying to downplay the situation before it turned into a heavy subject again. But just to be sure, she decided to take on a new topic and get to know her city expert instead.

"What do you do for a living, Naota?" In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder if his missing shirt had anything to do with whatever his profession may be. There had to be reason for that strange way of dressing. Other than flustering girls like her, of course.

He wasn’t quite sure what to focus on at the moment. It was very strange to be having a conversation with someone who was peeking over a desk at him. But Lian did seem a little shy, so maybe kneeling behind the desk was the most comfortable position for her. He was enjoying the conversation, so he wouldn’t comment, but it was still funny. The more time he spent with Lian, the more he liked her.

It was good to know that she understood his feelings on traveling. Though he wouldn’t admit it, he was glad she hadn’t just dismissed his concerns. He thought often about leaving the city to explore the world—there was so much of it out there, and he wanted to see as much of it as possible—but it just wasn’t possible, which frustrated him to no end. But then again, Lian’s current situation seemed to indicate that leaving one’s home didn’t always guarantee happiness. Maybe he should be happy with where he was for now. His family was here and he had a job that allowed him to interact with the people of the city. Certainly that was good enough—for now, at least.

Naota smiled when Lian asked what he did for a living, and reached for a pocket on the inside of his vest to produce the deck of cards that were always on his person. ”I’m a street magician,” he told her, absentmindedly shuffling the cards. ”Basically, all that means is that I sit on the sidewalk and hope that people toss money into my cap while they watch me move cards around. It’s not very exciting, and it doesn’t make me much money…” He shrugged. ”But it’s all I’m good at.”