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avatar: mai

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Who: Mai (

maipokerface) & OPEN
What: Exploring around Wyver, adjusting to a new town and working.
When: Later half of October.
Where: Various locations within Wyver.
Warning(s): None at the moment, will update if needed.

I. Hunting & Gathering in the Undergrowth
[Mai isn't exactly the sort of girl who's thrilled to go venturing deep into a jungle but work is work. Without Shades Darker to give her an income she's piecing one together through various resources. Despite her distaste for getting dirty, she's been quick to find that earning one's own living requires it more times than not. And it's typically a lot more dirt than just potting plants and arranging bouquets.

Today she's mostly gathering versus hunting, not really in the mood to run down any animals she might see in favor of something far more easily picked or gathered. There's a basket strapped to her back. She's been given a crash course on the types of vegetation to look for by various merchants but honestly she's working on little know how here.

That's part of why she's paused looking at this... thing. It's purple? Either way she's turning it over in her hand with a brow raised as she tries to decide what the heck it actually is.]

II. The West End
[After spending so much time in Shades Darker these past few months, Mai can't help but feel somewhat familiar with another entertainment district. She doesn't precisely go looking for local brothels because her work in Olympia was simply to fulfill an information need but hey, here she is standing outside one again. She'd never been around these kinds of places back home but somehow, Wyver reminded her a lot more of the Capital City than Olympia had.

She huffs in amusement at herself. Her voice is derisive.]

Now I'm going to start standing around outside all brothels feeling nostalgic.

III. Thesa Station
[Mai isn't exactly a new face within the station or within the area housing all of the pods either. She shows up every now and then, her daily visits having turned into weekly somewhere within the time she's spent awake so far. With the taste of nostalgia still lingering though, she's made an extra trip this week to settle at the feet of those she so often visits.

Her expression is one stuck between sadness and deep thought. She wants to talk aloud but even if this area is chiefly empty, it still feels more than a little ridiculous to give into the urge. Who babbles on at the feet of sleeping people who may or may not be able to hear you at all?]

IV. Dragon Cove
[Honestly it's just the talk of dragons that's piqued Mai's curiosity enough to venture down into the Cove most locals tend to avoid. Dragons were a source of stories and myth in the Fire Nation after all, the original fire benders who were eventually subjugated much like the dragons in Wyver. Eventually of course the dragons in her own world were killed, the last one by General Iroh himself.

She pauses just within sight of the clear spring situated so deep into the cove itself. The rest of the place is pretty ominous but this is something like a reprieve... even if there is a pretty big skull there in it.

The woman breathes out a sigh, not having realized she'd been holding her breath until now.]

... It's a little intimidating.

[Does she mean the skull or the cove itself?]

V. WILDCARD
[OOC: Mai can be caught anywhere in Wyver after the evacuation date so if one of these prompts doesn't suit you, feel free to come up with something. PMs are always open for questions or plotting as well!]

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[It's a good thing Mai hadn't started talking to herself since someone happened to be passing by after all. Shima had been finding himself up here more often recently, perhaps out of some quiet resentment or poorly considered masochism--he hasn't really decided.

He stops a ways away when he sees her, recognizing her as the pretty girl he'd flirted with at that beach party. For a while he considers just letting her be, but some of his own mood--emotionally bruised and maybe mourning more than he'd admit--prompts him to approach, shoes purposefully tapping against the floor as he comes up next to her so he doesn't take her off guard.]

Ya visiting someone?

[She would be somewhat grateful for the obvious footfall if she were in a better mood. She tips a look up to him, then cocks a slight grin. It's not a happy one but she doesn't look thoroughly depressed at least.]

Family mostly. And a few others.

[Right now she's sat at the foot of a brunette who shows off absolutely none of her peppy attitude asleep like this.]

[Studies the girl in the pod with some curiosity, though it's a little like looking at a museum display, someone only tethered to reality because of the girl sitting in front of it.]

...Why do ya visit? I mean I'm up here myself, but I'm curious.

Why?

[Well there's the first time anyone has asked her that. The surprise on her face says it all.]

Why wouldn't someone visit their family and friends?

[Ah crap--he let down his guard...]

Ah, was that a weird question?

[He could swear he's usually better about not saying things that seem unempathetic on accident.]

A little.

[She's blunt about that but then she leans back against the pod behind her, arms crossed as she studies the man.]

Then again, not everyone has people they care about. Or particularly want to see. So is that your story then?

[Seems a little awkward now, like he's not sure if he regrets bugging her at an odd time, or asking a question that should have had an obvious answer.]

It's not really like that, I guess... It just kinda feels like staring at 'em isn't gonna wake 'em up any time sooner if they're not already up so I don't know why I keep bothering...

[Ah, an awkward guy. Their last interaction had told her that much but perhaps not quite to this depth.]

You've got a point. I don't know why I keep coming back either.

[... No, that's probably a lie. She knows why she does but admitting it is a little like admitting a lot of her other emotions. She's not very good at it. Her frown deepens and she glances askance to some of the other pods nearby. Zuko's own is not far off and it strikes her now as much as it did down in those family crypts with him asking her to come back.]

I guess I miss them.

[At her admittance, near-lie and reluctant and all, a little knot in Shima's chest loosens, at least for the moment. He's not quite prepared to say it out loud so directly, but hearing her say it he can at least admit it to himself that that's why he even figured out where everyone was in the first place. He's not sure if it all stings more or less now, but at least there's some comfort in not being alone with it.]

...

Ya wanna see mine?

[It's an impulsive offer]

... Sure.

[She answers before she really thinks it through, impulsive for once in her life in a situation that doesn't involve knives or combat. At least she looks as akward as she suddenly feels.]

[pff] They're less loud 'n actively annoying like this, I promise.

Uh, bad joke, sorry. This way.

[He waves her along, heading back in the way he came. There are so many pods here that it took him a few tries before he could walk it without having to teleport back to a more familiar part of the station and retry, but he knows the way now.]

[In the first weeks of her arrival, Mai had walked near the whole area where they kept the pods. She looked at row after row after row of unfamiliar faces, realizing as she went that they all had to be connected to some place. Even if no one from their worlds were awake, they belonged somewhere.

The people he takes her near are no more familiar to her than the rest. Still she speaks in an almost distracted way as she walks, her voice lightening at some points in something like a joke.]

A lot of them are quieter like this. Some of them I've never seen look that peaceful.

[Mostly Zuko. Seeing him asleep wasn't exactly a daily activity for her but even then he never looked quite as peaceful as he did now.]

Weird, right? Makes ya kinda want ta knock on their windows or leave 'em rude letters.

[Or maybe that's just him.]

[Mai huffs out a breath.]

I don't like leaving letters but hey, shaking them awake doesn't seem like a bad idea.

I still might glue some googly eyes ta their pods. If I'm gonna have ta stare at 'em all the time, they may as well be entertaining.

[He stops at one section, giving the pod a little knock. There's a bleach-blond idiot sleeping inside]

What are googly eyes?

[Sure, her world does have some advancements. Just not quite to googly eye level.]

Oh, uh... they're like.. just silly fake eyes, I guess. Plastic--bead eyes that jiggle around? [That's mostly understandable no matter what level of technology, right?]

... Technology really is strange.

[Her voice is flat and humorless.]

It just basically gives people more time ta kill so ya end up with more weird novelties like that.

Anyway... these jerks here are my family. [He goes around the pods, giving a tap to each one that has someone he recognizes--there are a lot of them, honestly, a good chunk of them all gathered together. One might think there'd just be four or five but it keeps going]--Juu-nii, Gou-nii, Kin-nii... mom and pops over there, Jun-nee and Yumi, in-laws, nieces and nephews, Mamushi-neesan, Nishiki-neesan, Ao-neesan, Hojo-san...

[He drifts toward the center of the rows of pods, where a broad young man with an undercut and a smaller boy with stylish cat-eye glasses are sleeping.]

[She's rather amazed honestly. Sure she knows a good few of the ones in her own lineup of pods too. Her mother, her father, her baby brother and all the way down to Katara's brother Sokka. There were more people though she didn't recognize at all - a tanned girl in blue, others dressed as Fire Nation royalty that confused her a good bit.

She pauses near the broad young man with his undercut.]

You know a lot of people, huh.

Right?? There's so many! And that's just my family. Everybody was home at a wedding ceremony, last I remember, so maybe that's why they're all together here instead of split up...

[Looks at that pod.]

This here's the young master, Suguro Ryuji, and Koneko-san...

Ah. Sorry if this is weird. or boring...

Edited 2017-11-05 05:21 (UTC)

[Mai quirks a brow up at him like somehow it's the stupidiest thing to apologize for.]

It's not weird. I mean everyone here has someone in here so it can't be that strange.

[Plus... she looks back to the pod, her lips set in a line. She doesn't look angry or upset. It's hard to tell what her expression is at the moment, even if internally Mai understands she's a little wistful.]

I don't have much family here. My father, my mother, my baby brother. Everyone else is friends... or exes.

[Her grandparents were all gone and she had no cousins or anything like that. Not that she knew about anyhow.]

Haha, that's true. Little morbid though.

[Almost involuntarily, Shima looks farther down the row when Mai mentions exes. A good distance away, separate from his family's unit but still plainly visible is a pod that's been decorated--paper flowers have been glued to the pod and a string of letters have been hung around it, showing only "--y --thday" from the angle they're standing at...

He rubs the back of his neck before glancing back at Mai.]

Mai-san, right? Ya feel like introducing your people when we're done here or... [he shrugs] save it for next time 'n find something else ta do?

[At the questions Mai's brows raise. And then she looks... conflicted. She doesn't mind introductions but somehow, speaking their name out into the open air and hearing nothing back just--]

Sure, if you want to.

[She says it in a softer tone. She can't be dismissive about it because somehow it weighs down her heart, just like coming up here to visit always does.]

If I wanna... which? [He sounds gently teasing here about her not really specifying, still pretending the mood is light, even if it's mostly as a counter-weight to the somberness that naturally tries to take hold just being here.]

'Cause I mean, I wouldn't mind going ta catch a .. ah, 'recorded play' instead for a bit? I think they have some in the lounge.

[... look he wouldn't be himself if he didn't at least ask once.]

[Pff. Okay, she can give him credit for that. She cocks a bit of a grin, a nice change from the more somber mood.]

Why not both.

[It's only fair after all. He cheered her up in his own way and an amused Mai is more likely to agree to other things that may entertain her as well.

Here she turns back to her own row of people. The ones she doesn't know she skips but she lightly taps the surface of individual pods as she goes down the line. The first are an older man and woman side by side.]

These are my father and mother. And Tom-Tom, my brother.

[The little boy in the pod can't be more than five years old at most. A bit down are a bald boy with a blue arrow running over his head, two teenagers in blue, another in green...]

These are Avatar Aang, Katara, her brother Sokka, Toph...

[There's someone else in green but her outfit is decidedly different from the Earth Kingdom sort Toph may be in. And near her is quite a few pods of very similar looking girls.]

Ty Lee. The rest of them are her sisters - Ty Lin, Ty Lat, Ty Lao, Ty Liu, Ty Lum, and Ty Woo.

[The next she pauses at... well, she more glances over it before she moves on quickly. She isn't trying to hide her discomfort at this particular pod.]

Azula.

[And then the last one she pauses near is another teenager, what can be seen of his clothes not so dissimilar from the ones she tends to wear. The scar may make him stand out a little.]

And her brother, Firelord Zuko. His uncle Iroh is a little further down, as well as his mother and another sister, Kiyi.

[She didn't know Kiyi at all, beyond that she was Zuko's sister. She huffs a breath there and gives Renzo a slight and honestly genuine smile.]

I guess introducing his family for him isn't too rude, right?

[It's something of a light joke. She's being more open here than she usually would be, partially due to weariness. She would never have imagined she could miss so many people but here she is doing just that. Maybe that makes her weak, just like she suspected when she decided relationships worked best if she kept tight control over her heart.]

"Should I come back in a bit?"

He's trying to be polite, since it's obvious she's struggling with this, not entirely different from him he figures though he tries to keep an open mind. After all, there's more than one reason to visit someone in a coma state.

Like him. Because as much as he's definitely here to check in on people, there's a part of him that wants to shake every capsule and wake everyone up just to... to talk to them about this. To deal with the fact that somehow, they managed to fail somehow. And that he's the only one to wake up is messing with him more than a little.

He could really use Karen about now, that's all he's thinking.

But none of that really matters, does it? He keeps having to remind himself of the flat reality of the situation. He's awake, they're not.

None of which has ANY bearing on his interaction with Mai except that, perhaps, he's not all that rushed to do his check in for another disappointment. He can wait.

At the question Mai waves a hand dismissively, not looking over at first.

"It's fine. I'm just visiting."

That much was obvious but she just restates it, possibly for her own ears. This isn't like visiting graves at all - it's something she's repeated to herself over the last few months. Sure she's playing nice down on the planet and with the Natha themselves to protect everyone . There's some part of her though that has begun to wonder... would any of them every wake up? And if they didn't... well.

"Same here, but I can get lost if you want some privacy," he offers, because, well, his aunt and Wes had always taught him to be polite and that didn't change now that they were on another world and everything he'd ever known had been destroyed.

"You can't exactly expect it out in public." Not that many people were around the pods day in and day out but one had to figure a person or two might wander by.

"Besides, I'm just visiting a troublesome guy here." She's apparently indicating the guy in the pod just behind her. She huffs a little in amusement, glancing up at the peacefully still face.

"That's probably the most peaceful I've ever seen him."

He glances in and has to agree that the guy looks pretty peaceful. It has him looking around for someone, finally pausing as he comes to a nearby pod.

"I don't think I've ever seen him stay still for five minutes, let alone as long as he has here. And-"

Right next door. Of course.

"And this guy is going to be peeved he slept through anything. He's a little type A, if you know what I mean."

He realizes that maybe he's going a little too far, being a little too public, but he's so used to being around people he's known forever, eternal superheroic pillars that he'd never really imagined could go down for any real amount of time. It's made his 'getting to know people' skills rusty, which is why it's only after that that he holds out a hand.

"Ahh, sorry. Sanderson Hawkins. I... figured do introductions, if we're both going to be visiting."

The same could be said for them both in a way. Mai's never been that great with new people, though the years since the end of the war have drawn a new sort of patience and slight softness from her. She gives him a slight smile, casting a glance first to one pod and then the other as each of it's occupants are mentioned. She huffs a breath as he describes them.

"Sounds like some people I know too."

She takes the offered hand.

"Mai."

"Pleasure to meet you," he says easily enough and, before glancing once at the man in the tube she'd been visiting, his smile softens a little. "He's lucky to have you.

"How long you been 'up', if you don't mind me asking?"

She doesn't mean to smirk at that but she can't help it. He's lucky to have you. "Make sure you're still here if he wakes up." If. She's already come to that point where she slap that sort of label on whether any of them wake up again.

"I guess I was part of the first group that woke up. They dropped us near Olympia without much notice or support."

How long then? She rolls the time over in her mind before she looks a little surprised, "Four months, I think."

"About a month in a half," he explains for his part, "and still trying to get my hands around the place, if you catch my meaning."

He breathes in and out for a moment, looking down at the tubes with something a little different than the reverence that he'd had for the two he'd talked about but he shakes it off.

"Guess the multiverse decided I'd already paid my dues. How've you liked it, so far I guess?"

"It's alright. I mean besides everything that happened in Olympia. It was pretty peaceful once everyone got into town before that."

She says it with a slight shrug of her shoulders. She looks like the type of girl to be unaffected by most things and roll with the punches - at least outwardly anyhow.

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III. Thesa Station

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Thesa Station

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