Probending Circuit - Round 3 - Stealing addiction
Team: Laogai Lion Vultures
Position: Firebender (no element bonus again T.T)
Prompts: Easy: (dialogue) "Don't look at me like this!", Medium: (character) Asami
Word count: 2837
"I won!" Ikki yells as she lands smoothly on her feet, a broad grin plastered across her face. Jinora speeds second through the gate marking the finish line, Meelo close behind her. Kai comes in dead last, a fact he'd usually be miffed about, but this time, he can't find the energy to care. Lucky for him, his body knows what to do even though his spirit is dazed; he dissipates the air scooter and stands, feet firmly planted on solid ground. It clears his head in a way the race couldn't. An airbender he may be, but he's still Earth Kingdom born and (self-)raised.
"You're unbeatable, Ikki!" he compliments with a laugh. Even the acting part he has still down, Ikki doesn't notice that his good mood is forced. Not in the least.
Kai listens with only half an ear while she brags about how even Jinora's arrows won't ever help her beat her little sister in an air scooter race. Ikki even beats Korra unless the Water Tribe teen abuses the Avatar State for a boost, and that really says something, considering the raw power the Avatar possesses.
"I'm so happy we have you now!" And Ikki is still babbling. Somehow that's not one bit surprising. "Racing only Jinora and Meelo is so boring!"
"Yeah, I'm sure we're the most boring siblings in the world," Jinora cuts in. "How about you go ask Dad if we can organize a big race with all the new airbenders?"
"Yeah!" Meelo whoops and creates a new scooter. "Whoever finds Dad first wins!"
"You're so going down!"
And just like that, Kai is alone with Jinora. The relief is immeasurable. "You know how to handle your siblings."
"Not really." Jinora chuckles awkwardly. "It's the circumstances most of the time. A large-scale race really would be fun, wouldn't it?"
"Sure, but I don't think anyone apart from me would want to learn the air scooter. Opal maybe, but the rest are still struggling with the basics."
"Oh, Meelo will make them learn it. We'll have our race by the end of the week, just you wait and see."
Kai groans, sympathizing with his peers in advance. "I'm sure glad I can do it already. Meelo should get an award for being the most awful teacher alive."
Jinora snickers. "We can ask Korra to make one when she comes back."
It's been two weeks since Korra left for the South Pole for her recovery. Half of the planned time is up. Kai is looking forward to seeing her again, maybe getting to race her, too. They didn't spend much time together, but she saved him from jail, which puts her up very high on his list of favorite people. Speaking of jail, though...
"Are you okay?" Jinora asks, yanking Kai back to reality. She's switched from idle chat to we-need-to-talk mode, and Kai can't pretend he didn't see it coming. Sometimes he feels like just another book to Jinora, one she can open and read at will.
"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" he tries anyway, and Jinora narrows her eyes. Her facial expressions stand out extremely since she went bald, and Kai realizes he's not going to wriggle out of this one. Jinora has latched onto something, and she won't let go until she's satisfied. He sighs. "Geez, don't look at me like this! I'm fine! Just a little distracted is all."
He doesn't say that the distraction came in form of Buttercup Raiko accompanying her husband to have a conversation with Master Tenzin. Seeing her – or rather her jewelry – almost ripped his air scooter apart. He composed himself just enough to finish the race, but all ambitions of winning were gone.
He thought he had it under control by now, the urge to steal money and various shiny things. There is nothing of this sort around the Air Temples, as keeping valuables goes against Air Nomad beliefs, and the lifestyle suits Kai. He doesn't miss money or gold.
Which makes the whole stealing thing ten times worse. He doesn't have a word for it, though Jinora probably would if he dared to ask her. A word so fancy that an uneducated street rat such as himself couldn't even dream it up.
But he doesn't dare. It's his problem, no need to burden Jinora with it. Besides, what would she think of him if she knew he didn't steal only for survival reasons, but for the thrill? A thrill so powerful it developed into something stronger as time went on, something he can barely control?
The question is how he'll get her to let him off the hook. She can be pretty persistent if she so chooses.
It's quite a surprise when Tenzin, of all people, is the one to give him an excuse. "Kai!"
The two kids turn towards the airbending master making his way towards them. Kai's thoughts immediately fly back to Buttercup Raiko and her jewelry. Cold sweat bathes his skin; he automatically stands up straighter, trying not to let it show. They didn't see him falter, right? But what else could Tenzin possibly want from him?
"What is it?"
"Asami called. She needs an airbender over at Future Industries."
"Asami?" Kai repeats, thoroughly nonplussed.
Jinora shares the sentiment. "What would she need an airbender for?"
"She didn't say, only that she wants to test something."
Kai doesn't like the sound of that. So Tenzin wants to throw him at Asami as bait, or what? Maybe she wants to test some weird machine. You never know what kind of stuff the mechanic and CEO of Future Industries comes up with.
"Why me?"
Tenzin rubs his face in exasperation. "You're the best out of the new airbenders. Asami tends to forget the time, and missing a lesson would hurt your progress the least. I would send one of my children, but they're needed here. Please check on her."
Kai shares a wide-eyed looked with Jinora. He can barely believe his ears. He was so afraid of being reprimanded by Tenzin, and instead he gets praise and the permission to cut lessons? Is the world ending?
"Okay then. I'll fly over and see what she wants. See you later, Jinora!"
And with that, Kai zooms off into the general direction of the Air Temple, pondering briefly if he should take his glider or Lefty. Lefty wouldn't mind the exercise, but Asami would probably mind a baby bison running rampant in her lobby. So the glider it is, leaning against the wall in his room.
Kai picks up a glass of lychee juice along the way, not wanting to show up completely parched. He makes up for the lost time by jumping directly out of his window and before long, he's flying across Yue Bay, headed for the Future Industries Tower. Republic City bustles beneath him as he navigates the skyscrapers, occasionally waving at a baffled secretary or flying a loop to show off for a child looking out the window. Every now and again, he bursts into laughter, simply relishing his newfound ability to freewheel like this, an ability he wouldn't have dared hope for just a few months ago. He could easily fly above the skyscrapers, oh so easily, but where would be the fun in that?
When he finally arrives at Future Industries, all misgivings about Buttercup, Jinora's probing and Asami's weird tests are forgotten, but they flood right back the very moment the doors close behind him. The lobby of Future Industries is chock-full of business people. Probably lots of rich ones among them, and Kai catches himself scanning the crowd for the most lucrative target.
"No," he orders himself under his breath and grabs his staff with both hands, his itchy fingers clenched so tightly that his nails dig into the wood.
Just one, a tiny, treacherous voice seems to whisper. Just one little wallet. He could drop it somewhere for the owner to find later. Nobody would figure it out. Airbenders refuse money; nobody would suspect him. No harm done.
"No!" Of course there would be harm done. Someone else could pick up the wallet. Someone could suspect him anyway. Asami would definitely know, and it's not just about him anymore. If something disappeared, it would fall on Future Industries. If he was found out, it would shine a bad light on the Air Temple.
But he hasn't been found out in a long time. Why would he be found out now? It can't hurt, and the itching would finally stop... The thrill he craves, the thrill he hasn't had since he decided to join the Air Nomads for good... It would go away.
Kai claps, loud and vigorous. He doesn't care that people look his way, think he might be crazy to clap in a place like this. They aren't completely wrong now, are they? They drive him crazy, carrying their valuables for everyone to see. It's their fault he's fighting this... thing, this itching, in the first place. It's people like them who left him in the streets, who didn't care he was starving. If there hadn't been any need for him to steal, it never would have spiraled. The least they can do is bear with him clapping, with the sound to pierce this dangerous train of thought, with the impact to replace the itch in his hands with a burn.
No, the craving won't go away if he gives in to it. It will only come back stronger, and he'll have to live this nightmare all over again.
Kai refuses. He forces himself to relax, to hold his staff in one hand like a normal person and walk up to the reception desk.
"Hello!"
The woman behind the desk smiles. "Hey there, little fella! Did you get lost?"
Kai curls his lips. Is this lady trying to make fun of him? "This little fella is here to see the CEO, Asami. Master Tenzin got a call from her asking for an airbender, so here I am."
The receptionist's eyes almost pop out of their sockets. "So you're a real..." She cuts herself off. Kai raises his brows, wondering what else he would be in this outfit. A fan of Avatar Aang, perhaps.
"I'm sorry," the receptionist finally continues. "What's your name?"
"Kai."
The lady picks up a handset, and from what Kai gathers, she makes sure Asami knows him. She calls her Miss Sato, and it vexes Kai for a moment that he missed that detail, proving him to be just the little kid the receptionist treated him as. But then she sends him upstairs to Asami's workshop, and he has no time to spend on second-guessing himself. He's just glad to get into a safe zone.
He can't see the CEO right away, but he follows the sound of hammering and finds Asami in the seat of a biplane. Or rather, beneath the seat. For a moment, he's content to stand on the wing of the plane and lean over the rim to watch and listen, but Asami's lower half doesn't hold much in terms of interest, and the unchanging rhythm of the hammer quickly grows stale. Time to draw attention to himself.
"You know, my piloting skills work for bisons only."
He can hear Asami falling into a coughing fit as she twists and turns to work herself back into daylight. She wears her usual outfit, but it's covered in soot and oil and her hair is pulled back in a low ponytail. She sits up, wipes her hands on her pants and pushes up her safety goggles.
"Hey, Kai! Glad you could make it! Kei Li didn't give you too hard a time?"
"Who's Kei Li?"
"The receptionist."
Kai shrugs. "She mistook me for a lost Avatar Aang fanboy, but she was nice enough, I guess. So, what do you need me for? I hope it's got nothing to do with this biplane, I'm not going to fly this thing. Not even close to it."
Asami chuckles. "Don't worry, you'll fly something else for me."
Kai tilts his head. He'd been joking; he didn't expect to be told to fly anything. He expected being asked to make some notes on traffic from above or something, to help rebuilding the streets efficiently. But now his curiosity is piqued.
Asami smiles meaningfully and climbs down a ladder. Kai simply jumps off the biplane's wing and lets the air do the rest. He stumbles a little when his feet touch the ground. He underestimated the drop by an inch or so, nothing major, but his brows knit with annoyance. The misadventure in the lobby took a greater toll on him than he thought.
"Are you okay?" Asami asks. "You seem a little out of it."
"I'm fine, just tired. Tenzin's been pushing us real hard since Korra left."
Asami studies him, forehead wrinkled with concern. Then she relaxes. "Alright, if you say so. But tell me if you don't feel well, okay?"
"I will."
Asami nods and walks over to a table, where she takes off her gloves and pours a glass of water. She hands it to Kai. "Here, you look like you need it."
Kai doesn't protest. He takes the glass and downs its content in one go, grateful for the water's cool freshness. "Thank you."
"I can have someone come over with food if you want."
"I'm fine, Asami! You don't need to fuss over me!"
Asami snickers into her hand. "Sorry. Let's see if we can make you fly then."
She heads for one of the many many shelves filling up the room, and Kai is about to traipse after her when he notices something on the table. Something he'd rather unsee.
"Asami!" he calls out, red-faced and frantically trying to dig his hands into pockets that aren't there. "Your wallet!"
"Don't worry about it! Nobody steals it here!"
Kai hisses. Now this is beyond cruel. "I just might!" he yells, realizing only afterwards that he screamed out his frustration without meaning to. Marvelously, now that the words are out, the wallet lost all its appeal. There is nothing to a theft already confessed to. And yet...
Kai crosses his arms, shoulders squared and jaw set. Whatever Asami's response is, he'll face it.
He expects her to yell. To call Tenzin and kick him out. Instead, she asks simply: "Why do you want my wallet?"
"I don't want it! That's the problem!" And then, like a breaking dam, the whole story sputters out. What does he have to lose? Kai explains everything, the thrill he craves, the urges to steal which sap his strength like nothing else, his fights against himself, especially the one he just experienced in the lobby. Asami doesn't interrupt, not even once. When Kai is finally done, he feels like he just ran across the whole Si Wong desert – exhausted, but oddly content.
"I don't know what to do..." he mutters, posture slouched and head hanging low. Asami places a hand on his shoulder.
"You'll be fine, Kai. This itching will fade, I promise."
Kai looks up, hope shining in his eyes. "How do you know?"
Asami's own eyes glaze over at the question, and a distant, somewhat self-deprecating smile spreads on her lips. "I used to bite my nails. Like, a lot. I'd gnaw at them until there was nothing left to gnaw, and I'd still find a way to bite off just a little more. Eventually, I started wearing gloves."
"Well, my problem can't be gloved away."
"No, but I'm sure you'll pull through. The most important thing in getting rid of an addiction is willpower, and I know you have plenty."
Addiction. That's the fancy word Kai's been looking for. "How long until it stops?"
"A couple weeks. Considering how long it's been since we picked you up, I'm pretty sure you're as good as clear. Hang in there for a few more days, okay?"
"I will," Kai promises. Following a sudden impulse, he steps up and throws his arms around Asami's midriff. "Thank you!"
"That's what friends are for, right?"
"True." Kai never actually thought of Asami as a friend. Most of the time, she was just kind of... there. Perhaps it's time to change that view.
He may have held onto Asami for a little longer if it hadn't been for the pungent smell of her suit. Wrinkling his nose in distaste, Kai pulls back and looks down at himself. He's pretty sure his orange robes are not supposed to have black smudges on them.
"Great, now I'm all oily."
Asami laughs. "That happens in a workshop. Come on, I want to show you something. I had this idea of making wingsuits..."
Addictions.
Weirdest. Topic. Ever.
Sometimes, I think I'm a little too obsessed with stuff making canonically sense for this competition, but okay. This one actually kind of fits.
I got to write about Kai again, and I even managed to sneak in his verbal tic about saying bisons instead of bison. Me happy. ^-^