Bo nodded at Akane's reply. Truthfully, it wasn't very helpful, but he wasn't going to complain so long as they ended up somewhere warm and with food. It didn't even need to be good food, necessarily. He followed close behind his friend, keeping an eye out for any restaurants that looked good. But there weren't many options, and most of what he saw was outside of his price range. Eating out at expensive places was great, but he also liked having money. Hopefully they'd find something cheaper soon.

Luckily, Akane seemed to have some sort of idea of where she was going. She led the way to a section of the city that wouldn't bankrupt them. As they entered the first restaurant they saw, Bo felt a welcome blast of warm air. It was nice, not feeling like he was going to freeze to death anymore. Once he had stopped shivering, he looked around to see where they were. Akane had brought them to a ramen shop. It was small, with only a few tables available. A couple tables were taken, but there were still a few options. Bo looked over at Akane and nodded. "Yeah, this'll work."

A menu hung above the front counter, and Bo studied it for a moment, considering his options. Then, he approached the counter and ordered a simple pork ramen bowl. After paying, he turned back to Akane. "I'll grab us a table while you order."

It wasn't hard to find a table, given how few the place had. He ended up sitting at a two-seater by a window. As he waited for Akane to order her food, he gazed out the window, watching various Republic City dwellers hurry by. Hair and scarves flew in the wind, and though he had managed to escape the chill for now, it was not so distant of a memory that he couldn't still understand how those outside must be feeling. He usually could tolerate cold weather, but even a Firebender like himself had his limits.

He turned away from the window as Akane sat across from him. He chuckled as she commented on her poor decision making. "Yeah, you probably could've chosen a better day," he agreed with a shrug. "But hey, least you found what you were looking for, right? Now you don't have to worry about what to get Yuri anymore. That's worth freezing a bit, I think."

Their food arrived shortly, and Bo was quick to dig in. The ramen was delicious, but even if it hadn't been, he would've been content with just the feeling of warmth settling in his stomach and spreading through the rest of his body, thawing him out. "Yeah, I didn't know this place existed," he replied when Akane spoke, talking through a mouthful of noodles. "There are way too many restaurants all over the city that I haven't tried yet. One of these days…you know, when it's not cold and terrible…we should explore, see what else we can find."

Bo nodded when Akane mentioned her hope for Yuri's Probending team. "Yeah, that sucks," he agreed. "I'd think it'd be easy to find a Waterbender who wanted to join the team…although maybe not, after what happened to Liang Wulong." He grimaced. He had managed to push recent events to the back of his mind; it was not pleasant to think about that kind of stuff while out with a friend. But there was no denying that, between Liang Wulong's disappearance and the police chief's murder, a dark cloud hung low over Republic City. In times like these, it was more important than ever that Probenders do their best to distract people from their worries. But knowing that they could be taken from their homes at any moment would make people think twice about joining a team, Bo figured.

"Yeah, I tend to stick to a few places too," Bo said. "Never been a very adventurous person. It'd be good to see Akira outside of practice more, though. I don't remember the last time I talked to him about anything other than tactics or foot placement. That does get old." He ate some more ramen in the silence that followed. It was great, and as he ate, he thanked the spirits that Akane had found what had turned out to be the perfect restaurant for a day like this. Winter wasn't so bad when combatted with good company and good food.

"Hey Akane," he said after a moment. "I've been wondering, what's it like living with your ex? I dated a couple guys when I was younger to appease my parents, but both of those relationships ended badly, and I couldn't imagine living with either of those guys. You and Akira seem pretty good, though."

OOC: Sorry this is so short.

Bo continued eating as Akane answered his question. He wasn't sure what he had expected her to say, but her answer was pretty simple. It made sense when he thought about it. Just because his romantic history was something he preferred not to think about, that didn't mean everyone was in the same situation. "It's great that you two get along so well," he replied after swallowing his food. "Makes working with you pretty easy.

"Hey," he continued after slurping some more noodles. "How's work going, by the way? Last time we saw each other you said something about meeting one of the writers at the paper, right? Anything happen with that? It sounded like a pretty exciting opportunity. You done any writing?"

It was exciting, thinking that one day, hopefully soon, he might see Akane's name on a column in the Republic City Times. Who better to analyze Probending matches, he figured, than someone who knew exactly what it was like to stand in the arena? He did wonder, though, how that would actually work. Was is a conflict of interest to analyze your own team's matches?

“I guess I’ve just never thought about it before,” Bo shrugged in answer. “Like I said, I’ve never considered living with anyone I’ve dated. You’re the first couple I’ve met that split up and stayed good friends. It’s good to see that that’s possible.” Hopefully his question hadn’t bothered her. He wasn’t usually one to pry—other people’s business was theirs to share or not, as they wished—but after knowing Akane and Akira for a couple years now, he realized how little he actually knew about either of them. Most of their time together was spent training, and that didn’t offer much opportunity to discuss their lives. Something like this, and unexpected shopping trip, was good for that. They’d have to arrange more of these in the future.

As Akane spoke about work, Bo polished off his food. He set his chopsticks down gently before replying. “I get you. It would be a bit weird to talk to her without having an example of your writing. But you said nothing seems good enough…I mean, how do you know?” He shrugged again. “It’s not like the first thing you show her will be printed right then and there. Might as well show something, just to prove you’re seriously interested. And maybe if you show her something, she can help you make it better. Seems like a pretty good opportunity.”

He grinned slightly as Akane brought up the potential conflict of interest of her being a Probender. “I was wondering about that too,” he agreed. “But now that I think about it, wouldn’t readers be interested to hear a personal perspective on Probending, to hear what it’s ‘really like,’ and all that? It might be weird to analyze yourself, but it might be helpful, too.”

“I get that,” Bo replied when Akane mentioned her comfort zone. “It’s gotta be pretty nerve-wracking, thinking about showing your writing to someone who’s had a successful writing career for years now. But the worst thing that can happen is that she turns you down. And even if she does, hopefully she can give you advice for how to make your writing better. Sounds like it’s worth taking that chance just to see what happens.”

As they spoke, Bo realized that he hadn’t really put any serious thought into what he would do once his Probending career was over. It was a question that needed answering. He had his job at the factory, but while that might be satisfying as a career for some people, it wasn’t for him. Factory work was a means to an end—that end being that he had the freedom to do what he actually wanted to do, like Probending and dancing. He loved dancing, and had considered auditioning for any of several small dance companies that travelled around the United Republic. But honestly, did he have the skill for that? He wasn’t sure.

“You know, if you’re going to this fancy party Ren’ai’s parents are throwing…” he began. “You think maybe anybody there would be able to put in a good word for you at the paper? That way you’d have a way in even without that editor’s help.”

He was intimately familiar with the self-doubt that Akane was expressing. He too struggled with the feeling often, especially when it came to his dancing. For Akane to consider parleying a new interest into an entire new career path was brave, and it was important that she understood that. It would be easy to fool themselves into thinking that Probending would last forever, that they didn’t have to worry about the future, but she was being smart by trying to plan ahead. And she already had a foot in the door too…it was hard not to admire her.

“You’ll figure it out,” he told her with a smile. “You’re smart; your writing’s gotta be good. And if it’s not what the editors are looking for at first, maybe they’ll give you advice on how to make it better. That’d be helpful, right?” He was trying to be encouraging, but past a certain point he wasn’t sure how else he could be helpful. At the end of the day, this was Akane’s decision to make, and her success or failure would depend almost entirely on how much effort she was willing to put into pursuing this new path. It didn’t sound like it would be easy, but he was sure she could make it happen if she really tried.

His smile grew when Akane thanked him. “You’re welcome,” he replied. “What are teammates for, if not this? I can’t always just be throwing fireballs at you for practice, you know. Gotta mix it up a little sometimes. If you do need someone to throw fireballs at you while you write, though, just for old time’s sake, you can give me a call. I’m here to help.” He winked at her.