It was nearly quitting Time for Taizen and he was exhausted. All he wanted to do was go home and go to bed, but fate had other plans. On his way out his superior handed him a file and told him to deal with it.

He did not enjoy investigating robberys especially not in the middle of the night. But hey when the robber runs straight past you no one on the Force complains. He stopped the man and sent him off to the station but not before the man hit him a few times stopping his bending ability.

Taizen decided to head off to the tea shop that got robbed and return the teapot that had been stolen. He arrived and overhead the owner muttering to himself. "Hello my name is detective Xiaolong I'm here about a stolen teapot." He held up the teapot as he stumbled through the door. "Gah! Stupid chi blockers can't even feel my left foot anymore."

Just as he finished complaining to himself, Johar saw a shadow darken his doorway. He looked up to see a man whose clothes clearly identified him as a member of the Republic City Police Department. Bad as this night had quickly become, his expression brightened a little. At least one of the teapots was safe; it wasn't a complete loss. "I'm Johar," he replied to the detective's greeting. "I'd say it's nice to meet you, but given the circumstances..." He shrugged.

Johar's eyes widened as the detective stumbled through the doorway. "Are you okay?" he asked. The detective was quick to explain, saying something about chi blockers. Johar stepped forward, eyes on the man's left leg. "Um..." he began. "If you got hurt getting my teapot back...I might be able to help you feel better." He rubbed his neck, not meeting the detective's gaze.  "I know some healing techniques, and it's the least I could do, really."

Taizen was glad to hear that he was in the presence of a healer. However given the mans rather plain clothes he was wearing he denounced the idea of a waterbender almost immediately, this did not however give him any doubt to the mans skill. After all Taizen had been all over the world and he'd seen things some people wouldn't believe so the idea of a skilled non bending healer wasn't entirely out of the question.

He responded quickly to the mans offer with a grateful smile he noticed the man running his neck and looking away "Don't be nervous, being a healer is a very admirable skill and I would be happy to receive your services. Now just tell me where I need to go and what I need to do." He stood up and accidentally wound up towering over the mans hunched figure.

Taizen set the mans teapot on an empty shelf near him and pulled out about 50 yuans the average price for most healing services in the city and awaited his response, "also I don't know if it matters but the guy hit me on my back a few times."

Johar waited for Detective Xiaolong to respond to his offer, holding his breath. Was it rude of him to assume that a police officer might not be able to easily shrug off a fight with a common thief? He hoped he hadn't accidentally caused offense with his offer.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case. Johar smiled a bit as Detective Xiaolong accepted his offer and called healing 'admirable.' Healing was many things to Johar—a passion, a career, a way to help others—but he'd never thought of the work as being worthy of admiration. Hearing that from someone else was nice.

Johar nodded his thanks as the detective set his teapot down on a shelf, but then shook his head vigorously when the man pulled out money—a decent amount of money. "Oh, no, you don't have to pay me," he said, holding up his hands. "You got hurt getting my teapot back—it's only fair that I do what I can to repay you."

Detective Xiaolong said that he'd been hit on the back, and Johar nodded. "Okay, that's good to know. If you'll follow me back to my living space, Detective, I should be able to make something to get you feeling normal again." He turned, and began leading the way toward the back of the shop and the doorway to his living space behind the shop front. He turned back, though, after a couple steps. "Oh, um…I'll need you to take your shirt off—just so I can see where the guy hit you!" he quickly explained.

It wasn't particularly cold in the tea house so Taizen had no problem being shirtless. His back had a series of small bruises on it from where the chi blocker had hit him, directly underneath the scar left on his back from the time he'd been pinned to a wall by a mining cart. It stretched from his right shoulder to his lower back running diagonaly across. It was fairly wide since he had grown a good few inches and gained a great deal of muscle mass since then.

He set his shirt on one of the tables near the back of the shop and placed Ten yuans next to it Taizen couldn't bring himself to accept healing for free from anyone especially a nonbender who'd studied hard to master it.

As he entered the living space that Johar had mentioned he noticed that there was a set of metal knitting needles on a table with an incomplete scarf or something sitting next to them. "Sorry that your robber interrupted your knitting Johar. Now what do you need me to do?" He placed his hands on his hips and waited for further instruction. His towering figure was waiting for a signal or some instruction to do something.

Johar led the way back behind the shop, and by the time he stopped and turned back to make sure the detective had followed, the man was shirtless. Johar found himself staring right at the other man's muscular chest. He blushed, and it took him a moment to react when the detective spoke. "Huh? Oh!" He shook his head to bring himself back to reality. "Don't worry about the knitting; it'll be there later." He gestured to a chair. "Sit down, please—not with your back against anything. I'll just get my supplies."

He walked out of the room they were in and into a short hallway, to the cupboard where he stowed his medical supplies. He retrieved a large leather case, which he lugged back over the table where Detective Xiaolong was waiting. Opening the case, he immediately began identifying and grabbing the ingredients he'd need, along with a mortar and pestle. "I don't have too much experience with chi blockers," he admitted as he began grinding herbs together to form a paste. "If you're a bender, I don't think I'll be able to get your bending back right away; that you'll have to wait for. I should be able to put the feeling back into your limbs, though."

He continued his work, frowning down at his creation until it seemed the right consistency. Once satisfied, he picked up the mortar and pestle and approached the detective, circling around to see the man's back. He gasped at the sight of the scar, but stopped himself from asking about it. The detective had a right to his privacy. Instead, he focused on his targets: several small bruises, bright enough to be new. Scooping up some of the herb paste, he gently smeared it on each of the bruises. "Sorry if my hands are cold," he apologized as he worked. "They usually are."

It didn't take him long to finish with the paste. Once done, he wiped his hands on his pants and dove back into his bag, this time emerging with bandages. These he taped into place over the bruises, smoothing each down. "There, all done," he announced, smiling. "You might want to sit for just another few minutes to let the medicine start to work before you go chasing down any other criminals." He packed up his supplies, carefully putting everything back into its place. Eventually, he couldn't help but speak again.

"Detective…I hope you don't mind me asking, but I was wondering how you got that scar? It's just…it's so big and…" He was blushing again, and his words came out in a rush. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, though!"

Taizen sat down in a chair as instructed and made sure the back of it was facing his chest so that his doctor could do his work. He couldn't help but notice Johar staring at his chest and was tempted to flex a little for him but he opted against it. He felt a cold hand touch his back followed immediately by an apology about cold hands. He could also hear the audible gasp Johar had made and assumed it was about his scar.

Taizen had no problem talking about it but he decided to give Johar the oppprtunity to request the info. It took a little longer than he expected but he eventually heard the request after he had been told to remain seated.

"It's no problem at all, my village was a mining town, I used to work in the mines, a metal support beam gave out, and a mine cart pinned me against it and the wall. I'm not going to lie it was pretty terrifiying waiting until rescuers came and got me. And now I'm a detective and I solve crimes to help people who didn't survive situations like mine find justice."

After telling his story Taizen felt a little tense so he stretched his arms and legs out muscles expanded against his pants and bandages. That feels much better now thank you." He said. He heeded the mans words and chose to remain seated once again.

Taizen began to look around and noticed quite a few souvenirs decorated the wall. "Have you done a lot of traveling? Most of these you can't find amywhere in republic city, believe me I've tried."

His supplies securely stowed, Johar took hold of a chair and sat facing Detective Xiaolong. His mouth fell open as the man told the story of his scar, and he raised a hand to cover his slightly horrified expression. "That sounds awful," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I get scared in tight spaces, and to be stuck and in pain like that…" He shook his head, unwilling to continue that line of thought. "It's good that that didn't cause permanent muscle damage. That you would use that terrible tragedy as motivation to help others…" He offered the detective a smile. "That's very noble of you. I didn't know police officers could be so inspiring." Or so attractive… his mind whispered. He did his best to ignore that, feeling his face grow hot.

Fortunately for him, the detective spoke, giving him something to focus on. "You—you're welcome," he stammered at the man's thanks, still a bit distracted. He nodded when the detective asked about his decorations. "Yes, I have. Before I came to the city a few months ago, I spent a few years traveling the United Republic. I grew up on a farm, and never left it when I was a child. So when I was eighteen I left to see the world. I found someone to teach me healing along the way, and now…" He shrugged. "Here I am."

He was silent for a moment, lost in his memories. Then, he refocused. "I should thank you, Detective, for chasing the thief and retrieving my teapot. I know it's technically your job to help people, but I still appreciate it. And I'm sorry that helping me got you hurt. Let me make it up to you." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I could…treat you to dinner sometime, maybe?"

Taizen let a long silence hang in the air before he responded. It had been a long time since anyone had offered to take him out to dinner, not many men are interested in other men. Even fewer of the ones he met were interested in police officers. "I'd be glad to enjoy your company over a good meal sometime." Taizen stretched his back out again he felt significantly better afterfeeling the wonderful touch of a healer. "AAAHHH it feels so good to be able to feel my feet again!" he roared as he stood up.

He watched as his host became nervous once again, he felt pity for the man. He always seemed so nervous to voice how he felt about anything. The man was even hesitant to offer his services to Taizen. He never let this feeling show upon his face, he was a detective after all. "You know, there was never anything for you to be worried about. If that dinner of ours goes well ill be sure to teach you what a poker face is." he shot a wink at the man as he stood up.

His leg felt significantly better, he looked at a small statue on a shelf of a badger mole, "you know these are my favorite animals, they stumble through the world completely blind and they use their gifts to make their way through the world." he looked knowingly at Johar and his medicine cabinet. He took a second to think about what he was about to do, he debated and eventually just decided to do it. His thought process showed quite clearly on his face.

He slid his feet on the floor, and raised his hands he felt the pull of one the larger loos stones on the floor, it was about the size of the figurine and he'd thought it would be a decent enough for what he wanted to do. "All right i know you said that you didn't want any payment but i want to do this for you since you've been such a wonderful host and healing me." Taizen lifted the stone off the ground and turned it into a cloud of sand, packed it together and turned it into stone he molded it with several fine details that almost made it feel alive. at the end of the whole process he handed Johar a small statue of a Badger Mole. "I once saw a man who could turn this to glass by superheating the sand using friction from the air but i cant do that."

The detective didn't answer right away, and in that agonizing wait Johar regretted every decision he'd made that had led him to this point in his life. He'd known he was taking a risk by extending the offer; he wasn't well-versed in relationships by any means, but understood the basic concepts well enough. Typically, he was pretty sure, asking someone you'd just met out to dinner was moving a bit too quickly. But the detective seemed like a kind man, and since his job likely kept him busy at odd hours, dinner seemed like a good way to get to know him and repay his kindness. But the more time passed without an answer, the clearer it became to Johar that he had entirely misjudged the situation. "It's okay," he began. "You don't have to—"

Detective Xiaolong interrupted him, and it took him a moment to fully process what the man had said. "O-oh," he stuttered, relief clearly visible on his face. He knew he should say more than that, but before he could, the detective roared, catching him completely off-guard and making him jump almost out of his skin. Then the man winked at him, and he felt his face grow so hot he was pretty sure he was actually on fire. "I…I wasn't worried," he lied, eyes on the floor. "I was just…" he sighed, raising his head to meet the detective's gaze. "Was it that obvious? Sorry. I'm not the best at expressing things with words." He flexed his fingers. "I usually just let these do the talking for me." It took him exactly five seconds to realize how that sounded. "I mean, with my healing! Not…any other way."
He wished desperately that the detective would say something to stop him from sticking his entire foot into his mouth. Fortunately, the man obliged him, commenting on of the statues on a shelf. He looked like he was making up his mind about something, so Johar didn't say anything to distract him. Then the detective said something more about payment, and Johar opened his mouth to protest again. His mouth remained hanging open as the detective performed an incredible feat of Earthbending, turning a small stone into a statue much like the one he'd been looking at. Johar gaped at the man as he took the statue, turning it around and around in his hands to admire its detail. "This is amazing," he managed to mutter. He looked up at the detective, smiling fully. "Thank you. I don't anyone's ever given me something this special before" He cradled the statue for a moment. Then, he looked up as a clock hanging on his wall chimed. He glanced over at it, and his eyes went wide.

"Oh, spirits, I didn't realize how late it was! I've kept you here, and you probably just want to go home and sleep. I'm sorry!"

"Its perfectly alright sir, believe me i've been out later than this." Taizen went to put his shirt back on, but he decided to leave the front unbuttoned as he' d rather not deal with the bandages getting in the way. He didn't really have anything waiting for him at his home, his home would sometimes feel just a bit to empty and often he'd considered getting a pet otter-dog at times. a small look of loneliness shot across his face.

"I mean i'm not in any real hurry if you dont mind i think i'd like to try some of the tea from the shop that healed me." he looked at Johar and flashed his signature kind smile. He took his first real look at the man standing in front of him, he noticed that he was still nervous and he couldnt help but feel sorry for making the request. He wanted to get to know the man but he couldn't bring himself to impose any further, after this he would go home. The man was kind and nice, and he was... fairly attractive. 

what are you thinking?!?!   I don't know, i really like him he seems nice.  WE CANNOT BE INTERESTED IN NICE, NICE GETS KILLED IN OUR WORK!!     well i don't care were doing this and you can deal with it because your not real.

"hey if you want we could go get that dinner tomorrow i'm off all day."

Johar fidgeted a bit as Detective Xialong called him sir. He understood that police were supposed to formal and polite and all that, but being called 'sir' by a man who towered over him and who had spent the last few minutes standing in his home shirtless was strange. He didn't say anything about it, though; the detective was just being polite.

"Of course!" Johar replied when the detective mentioned wanting tea. He mentally berated himself for not thinking of offering some. What kind of host was he, owning a tea shop and not offering a guest tea? He could hear his mother's voice in his head telling him off. Looking sheepish, he stepped toward the kitchen to grab his teapot.

The detective spoke as Johar reached for the cupboard where he kept his teapot and cups. Retrieving these items, he nodded to Detective Xialong before filling the pot with water and setting it to boil. "Tomorrow is great," he replied. "You already know where I live, so you could meet me here, maybe, whenever you like?"

While he waited for the water to boil, Johar returned to where the detective stood. "What kind of tea do you like?" he asked. Steeping toward the doorway leading back to the shop, he gestured at the shelves. "All of my tea is organized by region. You can pick whichever one you want."

Taizen looked around and saw a series of teas all over the walls, he always loved a type of tea he would make on the road. he took a small number of leaves from a bin and mixed it with a series of other leaves, "here try this and yes your free to sell this brand if you want."

Taizen pulled out two chairs for him and Johar he looked at his host and thought back to the men who worked at his mine growing up, they were nothing compared to Johar, yes they were strong and muscular but johar had something special in him it was intriguing and new. Taizen was not an idiot he could easily tell what the man was thinking he thought to himself as johar set about making the tea.

He dug around in his coat for a moment and pulled out a deck of cards. he started setting up a card game on the table and when Johar had returned he was sitting and waiting with a game of war waiting for his host, "hope you like a good card game with tea."