Well, I've gone and done it. It looks like I'm committed to a multi-chapter Dai Li romance fic, no matter what! I'm going to try to keep it relatively short, but also well worth the reading.
Anyhow, enjoy Hong and Rajata's first date together in this chapter!
"So dig deep (dig deep)
Deeper than the image that you see (dig deep)
Lift the veil and let your true self breathe (dig deep)
Show the world the beauty underneeeaaaattthhh!"
Amanda Marshall, Everybody's Got A Story.
Oh boy, Hong thought in annoyance as the carriage he'd hired for the evening passed through a yawning gap in the Upper Ring wall at one of the designated gates. I should've informed those fool royal guards about Rajata meeting me!
It wasn't the guards on the inner side of the gate that were the problem of course. They'd opened the gate for his driver right away, no questions asked.
It was the other pair of men in plumed, close-fitting helmets, dressed in uniforms of green leather and cotton cloth, who had the nerve to be hassling Rajata, fists held outward in preparation to bend out and drive her away with a few big boulders if need be.
"Again mam," one of them was saying, "if you don't have a valid passport or chaperone with you, I request that you stop loitering around this gate and conduct your business elsewhere."
"It's already suspicious enough that you are wearing the garb of an Upper Ring lady," his partner added sternly as Hong told his driver, "Stop right there," and stepped from the cab.
"I told you both already," Rajata replied, "I'm supposed to meet my date for the evening here."
"A likely story," the first royal guard scoffed. "Why would a man of the-"
"It's quite true actually," Hong said as he strode towards the trio, Rajata's brown eyes widening with delight to see him as the guards jerked around to face him, startled by the low, calculated tone of his voice.
"Who are you exactly?" the second guard asked skeptically. Understandable, Hong supposed. Both his hands and arms were bare of any bits of rock for this occasion, and instead of stone boots, he wore a pair of teal green silk shoes, lined with gold leather and beautifully embroidered on each side with the rainbow figure of an iguana-parrot.
Then too, the formal shenyi he'd donned, shamrock green silk with black borders, lacked the distinctive coin symbol. All the same, Hong had a real surprise for them.
"Agent Hong Yan of the Dai Li," he replied as he pulled a stiff rectangle of lacquered silk from behind his green-black sash with his right hand. The guards got a good look at the seal of the Dai Li he displayed, depicting a pair of agents in the form of immense, black, pouched sabertooths, pacing in front of the Earth King with shoulders hunched and teeth bared. With his left hand, Hong twisted around the end of his queue, showing the green silk hair tie that only the secret police could wear.
"Great, unequaled protector of our city and culture," the guard gasped in horror as he dropped to his knees and prostrated himself along with his partner, "forgive us for our mistake!"
"May we be struck voiceless if we ever say a challenging word to one of you again!" his partner added as he looked up with fearful eyes.
"Especially my date for the night," Hong droned.
"Why of course!" the first guard grinned as both men warily stood up and turned to face Rajata, who was now standing at Hong's right side. "We apologize for such an uncomfortable misunderstanding, good mam. Enjoy your time in the Upper Ring!"
"I shall," Rajata replied coolly. "And with luck, I may think twice about having your behavior and names mentioned to Minister Long Feng."
"Oh, there's no need for-"
"Back to your stations," Hong cut in, before helping her into the carriage and gesturing to the driver to get his beast of burden moving.
Once the gate had shut behind them, Hong began to chuckle.
"Impressively done," he said approvingly as he took a seat on the front bench, closest to the driver. "Not every day you see a citizen put two royal guards in check like that."
"Well, having you to back me up definitely helped," Rajata gratefully replied as she sat down on a side bench not far away, facing him at an angle. "But yeah, I guess we gave them a real shake-up, didn't we?"
"They'll certainly think twice before being rude to the next Lower Ring 'peasant girl.' But forget them. Is there any particular place you'd like to go eat?"
As soon as Hong said it, he realized what a moronic question he'd just asked, and slapped his forehead, part of him very thankful that he wasn't currently wearing the stone gloves.
"I'm sorry, that was dumb, especially since you've never even laid eyes on this area. Maybe a better question is, what do you feel like eating? Pick anything you've heard of, even if you've never actually eaten it, and I can steer us to a good place for it."
She lowered her head, thinking for a time.
It gave Hong the chance to better appraise her looks. The qujupao of course, just as Lanying had assured him, looked gorgeous on her. The brass and white quartz stud he'd seen in the right side of her nose had been switched out for a silver ring, several crystals of rose quartz gleaming along its outer edge. Her eyes were framed with a larger amount of kohl than before, and carmine colored her lips. Anklets of colored glass glittered in the fading light.
He'd had one of the witlessly grinning, always rather too eager to help Joo Dees lightly treat his long hair with coconut oil before braiding it, making it shine like obsidian. Rajata's hair also shone with oil-from the odor, he figured it was almond-but it was her own variant of a braid that Hong found appealing.
Formed from double braids, it arched tightly across her crown in a seamless strip. Every few finger widths, a dandelion blossom embedded between the plaits seemed to glow against the black backdrop.
"That's a unique hairstyle," he commented. "Looks good on you."
"Thanks," Rajata smiled as she raised her gaze to him. "It's called a milkmaid braid. Like Radha might've worn," she added, lightly laughing at her own joke.
"Those flowers are a nice touch too."
"Glad you like them." She suddenly seemed embarrassed. "I know that dandelions are basically just weeds, but there's no way I could ever afford a fresh peony or even chrysanthemum for my hair like a real lad-"
"Rajata. Don't be so insecure. They suit their purpose quite well. Anyway, what would you like for dinner?"
"Shrimp with garlic sauce," she replied. "I've heard shrimp tastes even better than fish, and this is my moment to try it! Oh, and hot pot. With the simmering soup stock. That sure has always sounded pretty good."
"I can confirm that hot pot is excellent," Hong agreed. "Better then s-well, you know," he amended as Rajata giggled. "You'll love shrimp too, and I know a great place for both. Driver, take us to The Emerald Moon."
Although they recognized and knew him from previous visits, and he was in formal clothing instead of uniform, the wait staff of The Emerald Moon practically tripped over themselves as soon as Hong and a marveling Rajata took their first steps inside, eagerly treating them like a lord and lady.
And sucking up to them like an anteater-capybara at a termite mound with their flattery.
"How marvelous to have you, Agent Yan!"
"You do us a great honor to return to my restaurant," the manager proudly said as he greeted them himself.
"What a charming lady you've brought with you to grace our tables tonight!"
"Right this way, Defender of Order with your exquisite friend!"
Soon though, after they took their seats, and a waiter set up the simmering pot of broth over a brazier of coals on their table with plates of raw meats, fish, vegetables, and other foods to dip and heat with chopsticks before eating, he and a rather overwhelmed Rajata were thankfully more or less left in peace.
(Of course, that probably had something to do with the slightly parted lips, set jaw, and other subtle signs Hong was starting to display about how all their fawning was wearing thin.)
They dunked in and ate slices of pigeon-chicken, deer-goat, shucked river mussels, fish cake, tofu, udon and buckwheat noodles, blanched clumps of watercress, spinach, peapods and cabbage, dipping the treats in hoisin sauce or chili oil before eating.
The quail eggs were too difficult to hold between a pair of chopsticks-but the waiter had given each of them a flat-bottomed spoon, just the thing to drop them into the stock and when ready-she could almost hear her mother cautioning her about food poisoning-scoop them out before Rajata crunched the dappled shells in her back teeth.
It was very good dining, and all the while, Rajata was intrigued and amazed by everything, by the unimagined opulence of the place and their fellow diners.
Most meals she'd had in her life had been prepared either by her mother or by herself, and eaten at home. Still, it wasn't like she'd never had lunch or dinner out on the town before.
All those places though, had been taverns, cafes, noodle houses, and yes, tea shops in the Lower or Middle Ring. The eateries in the Lower Ring tended to be shabby, quite frankly, even squalid.
Their counterparts in the Middle Ring were quite a bit more pleasant-but they couldn't compare to this establishment. The rectangular wooden hairpieces of the other female diners, adorned with real flowers. The fans they held. The filigreed bone chopsticks she held in her callused fingers. The plates of fine porcelain, ringed with green, fruit-bearing grapevines on the rims.
She thought of the gold roofing tiles, the enormous homes, the magnificent trees, the jewelry. Even as she continued eating and speaking with Hong, she suddenly inwardly cringed, painted eyes darting about.
In Vishnu's name, who am I fooling? I'm just a nobody lamely trying to mimic one of the highborn, trying to pass myself off in this fancy silk robe and makeup, she thought dejectedly. She reflexively touched one of the cheap jasper earrings that dangled from each lobe. I feel cheap.
Hong, whose very occupation demanded instant perception of the emotional state of others, immediately noticed her troubled expression, her downcast eyes and sudden silence.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, even as he already had good reason to suspect she wasn't.
She shook her head.
"Well, what's wrong? I'm sure I can fix it."
"Not that simple," she said at last. "I'm just not used to…all this wealth…this fanciness…these important people with more money in their purses right now then I've probably ever seen in my entire life. I feel like a pauper, even in these clothes-like I don't belong here."
Her brown hands flew to her mouth in shock as the enormity of her outrageous blunder crashed down on her, and she briefly considered bending herself deep into the floor.
"Great Bhumi," she meekly half-squealed, "I'm immensely sorry! Who am I to ever express discontent concerning the actions of any officer of the Dai Li?!"
If I'm lucky, she thought in horror as she looked into the impassive jade eyes, he'll merely have me turned into one of those mindless Joo Dees for such an insult to his generosity. If I've really angered him though…
"Especially," she babbled on, "when he has been good enough not only to even notice someone of my station, but take me to a fabulous place like this, where I get to literally feast royally? After all, even I know that for his coronation feast, Our Majesty Kuei had four hundred and thir-"
By some miracle though, instead of hardening with fury, Hong's chiseled, weather-toughened features actually did the opposite and softened. Not by all that much, but it was enough to give her some prospect of maybe getting off lightly.
"Calm down," he told her. "You spoke out of turn, but it's all right. And I think I understand."
"Are the other diners staring at me? They must be."
"None of them are staring at you. And if they're glancing at you now and then, they're doing it in a good way, trust me. Besides," he added as the green eyes knowingly shone, "who in Ba Sing Se would dare give a dark look to any woman at the side of a Dai Li officer?"
"Some might, I think," Rajata replied.
"They would have to be impudent to the point of madness to do so," he said levelly. He got up and switched to a chair at his right, gesturing to Rajata to do the same, so that the scorching hot pot wasn't between them. She did so, dimly aware that that the closest of their fellow diners had slightly stiffened and briefly given her date either awed or nervous looks the instant he rose from his seat before deciding to resume their activities.
"You were bold enough at Pao's to actually give me an ardent stroke with your hand," he pointed out with a small smile. "You don't find many people willing to be that sociable with us, to say the least. Surely, you're not going to suddenly clam up on me now over some baseless sense of inferiority? You deserve to be here, Rajata."
He paused, considering. "If this is all too much for you, maybe I should just take you home."
"Absolutely not! I'm enjoying this, I really am. Its just-I feel so out of my depth here," she whispered. "These are all things you take for granted, and I get that. Hells, you've probably been familiar with them all your life."
"Not the case, actually," he replied. "I was talking about that with Mushi before you caught my eye, ironically, and to make a long tale short, I'm no highborn noble's or merchant's son, but just a farm kid from the Lower Ring who hit it big," he told her, lips parting in a small, awkward grin.
"Looks like we have a lot in common then," she presumed, warming that much more to him.
"No doubt," he agreed with a quick nod.
"Being drafted into the Dai Li must've been as much of a fish-out-of-water experience for you then as this evening is for me then," Rajata guessed as her eyes once more scanned the room.
"Quite a culture shock to suddenly be exposed to what the people at the top of the ladder live like," Hong said simply. "It certainly didn't help matters when I was already having to study hard, and train hard. There's a good reason why not just any earthbender who's been chosen to attend the Dai Li's academy will graduate, after all."
"How did you cope? With feeling out of place, I mean."
His sculpted shoulders lightly shrugged underneath his robe. "Habituation, for one thing. Getting used to the fanciness, in other words," he added, seeing the puzzlement in her soft eyes. "I also just soon decided that I'd not only earned the right to be among high society types due to being a keeper of order and peace, but that I had every bit as much of a right to be walking the streets, standing in the courtyards, and sitting down in the businesses of the Upper Ring as I did anywhere else in Ba Sing Se. And you have every right too Rajata," he told her.
His words touched her, and she smiled. She had the sense that, being a Dai Li agent after all, it took some effort for someone as stately and deadpan as Hong to speak his mind to her, to say nothing of going as far to tell her something encouraging.
Yes, here was a man who cared. Cared for her.
The storm of self-conscious panic ebbed away.
"I'm glad to hear that. You're right, I should just chill out. Again, I can't believe this kindness."
"Kindness has little to do with it. I just plain relish your company," he admitted. "Besides," he added with a leisurely smile, "it beats spending my evening seeing how many animal shapes I can bend from a handful of stone chips or pebbles in my garden again, taking my cousin Kenji out drinking for the hundredth time to chuckle over his utter inability to hold his liquor, or doing yet more deathly boring paperwork in my office."
Rajata burst out laughing. "I've done that same thing with bending pebbles too! The shapes of animals with thinner bodies, like weasel-cats, are always the hardest for me. So are ones with lots of legs, like mantis-spiders."
His lips curved upward knowingly before he regarded her with interest.
"You're an earthbender too then?"
Since there was no hot pot with scalding stock and hot coals currently between them, Rajata impishly responded by placing one of her sandaled feet against the limestone floor and quickly, for just a split second, yanking with that certain part of her brain, sending Hong's chair lurching forward.
Pupils in green irises dilated in surprise as Hong himself was pitched forward, chest lightly knocking into the edge of the wooden table before he caught himself.
Rajata felt confident that there was no risk of retribution as she told him, grinning like a jackal-fox vixen, "Did that answer your question, Agent Yan?"
"Very funny," he muttered-but his eyes were now sparkling with impressed mirth.
"At any rate," Rajata said as she arose and seated herself back before the hot pot, "what's it like, working here on the streets of the Upper Ring?"
"Much of what we do is strictly classified," Hong replied calmly. "And we get rotated between different sections of all three parts of the city. One thing I can tell you though, is that patrols in the Upper Ring tend to actually be rather boring. Not really the place for an agent who enjoys performing investigations, busting up smuggling rings, arresting thieves, other dramatic stuff like that," he said as he took a bite of deer-goat. He swallowed, and went on.
"Mostly, around here we find ourselves handling very high-level-well, classified sorts of things-" he thinly smiled, "or dealing with yet another ridiculous complaint from the idle rich."
Rajata laughed again. "I can only imagine some of the dumb things they think are worthy of having you come and sort out!"
"If you can think of it, someone in Ba Sing Se has demanded it of us while on duty," Hong sighed crossly. "Most people, thank the gods, are sensible enough to just go to the 'civilian' police to iron out their problems for them."
"Still," he went on, "as my uncle once said, it takes all sorts to make a world, and more people then you'd think have screwed up their courage to ask us Dai Li for assistance. Some requests we're more than okay with, like helping get a trapped dog or ostrich horse out of a pit, or putting a stop to a violent domestic dispute."
"Others though…I've wanted to personally strangle or at least punch the whining moron with my granite gloves for even attempting to waste my time on such a trivial thing. I've had people raise a fuss to me because a noodle house or seafood place got their order wrong, or wouldn't accept a coupon," he informed Rataja as she laughed.
"I've been summoned by a man who was upset because his girlfriend wouldn't allow him to share some of her own special bottle of fine wine, and by a woman who was mad about her boyfriend not letting her use his bamboo suitcase," he went on.
"I can't believe it!" she laughingly exclaimed.
"And then there are what I call the "discipline requests," Hong said ruefully. He paused. "To be perfectly honest, a lot of parents you'll find out there are essentially children having children. They either still have a child's mentality themselves, don't have it in them to chastise their 'precious little kittens', or simply just don't know how to go about doing it."
"And then they try to have you be the scary parent figure in their place."
Hong grunted in scorn as he nodded.
"Again, some demands we get from parents are valid, such as if they are both non-benders with a bending child who is perched atop a high pillar, or running around on a roof and refusing/unable to come down, or to lessen a kid's troubles by reprimanding the local bullies who've been giving them a hard time of it."
"How sweet of you guys to do that!"
"Other times though-and parents here in the Upper Ring are especially bad," he confided, "we seem to be almost like freelance babysitters in stone boots as far as they're concerned."
Rajata giggled. "Have they ever wanted you to make their children go to bed?"
"Irritatingly often," he assured her. "Although, when a great big Dai Li agent, all stone faced with his eyes well hidden by the brim of our standard hats, comes clomping into your home, points in the direction of your sleeping chamber, and curtly snaps 'Go to your room,' you'll listen, no matter what age you are."
She chortled at the image in her mind's eye. "I would imagine so!"
"We've been called upon to make kids do their homework, break up fights with siblings, put a stop to their unruly behavior in general. It's pathetic, and a waste of important time we should be using to serve His Highness, steward the culture of our wonderful city, and keep the city harmonious. The city, not random families," he added pointedly.
"Well, when you're not having to respond to idiot complaints, is it okay for you to tell me about some of the things you do as a Dai Li agent?"
"Again, much of that is classified," he smoothly replied. "I can tell you though, that we really do engage in a lot of scholarly work as part of the mission Lady Kyoshi gave us-funding and curating Ba Sing Se University's collections, sponsoring archeological digs, restoring and repairing important artifacts like paintings, tapestries, incense burners, or the robes worn by previous Earth Kings, telling classes of schoolchildren traditional poems and tales, among other things."
They ate less and talked more as their stomachs filled, Hong educating her on the finer points of shucking the brittle tails when her order of garlic shrimp arrived. She was very interested to have it confirmed that as part of his training, Hong had indeed gone to Ba Sing Se University and graduated with a degree-in what, he wouldn't say, but she suspected it might be psychology-which only impressed her all the more.
They discussed their respective upbringings in the Lower Ring, what their parents were like, some things about their siblings, the chores they did and their childhood friends. It was amazingly easy to reveal at least a good portion of their private lives and background to one another, although she could tell Hong was being distinctly calculating in terms of what he chose to put out in the open.
And not once did she ever forget the type of man she was talking to.
At one point, seeing that they'd sated themselves with the main courses, the waiter approached them on Rajata's side of the table and addressed the pair, saying "Would our esteemed guardian of harmony and his companion like to partake of one of our fine desserts?"
Maybe Hong had gotten tired of all the overbearing flattery, or maybe he just didn't like seeing another man standing anywhere near his date, but he immediately barked, "Enough! We'll ask for dessert when we're damn well ready, okay?" in a voice like grinding stone.
Rajata cringed at the possessive display, while all the other diners just plain cringed and went silent in fear. A few of them even quickly-but trying not to display panic-decided they had business elsewhere.
The waiter dutifully put his head down and hurried off.
Perceiving the taut atmosphere around them, Hong waved his hand in dismissal at the other diners, telling them, "As you all were."
When they were inclined at last, she had a bowl of ginger milk pudding for dessert, and Hong a trio of black sesame rolls.
On walking back out into the evening air, Hong hailed another carriage, and gallantly helped her up into the back. This time, she chose to sit by him on the return trip instead of on a different bench.
Aware of the ominous reputation his type had among Rajata's family and neighbors, Hong had the carriage stop a little distance from her home in the Lower Ring as she disembarked.
Still, it was close enough that Tuhina and Maalai could see, to their abject amazement, their older sister allowing the agent to help her step out, actually give this Agent Yan guy a warm hug before waving goodbye, then skipping the rest of the way to their house, painted lips parted in a grin.
"How was your night with Mr. Yan?" Madhuri uncertainly asked once Rajata had closed the door behind her.
"It was wonderful," she beamed blissfully.
She was only half-aware of the commentary among her family.
"Well, she seems normal enough, I suppose," Pankaja told their father.
"I'm just thankful she's been returned to us at all," Ashwin sighed gratefully.
It had been an occasion even better than her own birthday, and it was something of a pity that her mother insisted that Rajata change into her everyday garments and carefully store the qujupao away in her small closet.
Otherwise, dusty conditions or no, she would've gladly fallen asleep in that silk dress.
The agents of the Dai Li had a great deal of pressure on their shoulders of late, to say the least. The arrival of the Avatar, pretty much out of nowhere, was an especially big wrench in their plans, and having to stay on top of the fluid situation was often both physically and mentally taxing for all members of the secret police.
Nevertheless, early the next morning after his first date with Rajata, Hong was in very high spirits indeed as he slowly skated on his stone boots from the carriage stop to where the hidden entrance to the ancient prison base lay beneath the nearshore waters of Lake Laogai, dressed in full uniform.
No one in Ba Sing Se was better at detecting the presence of nearby Dai Li agents than another Dai Li agent, and Hong stopped about three hundred and fifty yards away from the lakeshore, listening and scanning the area for any sign of his colleagues in the brisk dawn air, trying to quiet the wild new feelings within him.
None were around. Good. He had to release this intense internal ecstasy somehow, especially if he was to perform his duties to Long Feng's standards today. He took a deep, energized breath, and began.
The Lake Laogai facility and its operations were well concealed from pretty much everyone in the vast city-state.
But for the magpie-parrot who roosted in a nearby chestnut tree, already taking to the air to search for breakfast, the area was a familiar home.
She'd become very accustomed to the routines, the comings and goings of these tall, dour men in their forest green robes and broad steepled hats. Which was why she couldn't help but take surprised notice when the lone agent approaching the lakeshore started doing a very weird thing.
Planting his stone feet against the ground, he sent a curving fin of stone erupting out of the ground, leaning away from him at an angle. Then, rocketing forward, he skied along the inner face of the curving ribbon of rock, extending it as he went until he had formed it into a circle about seven times wider than his body was tall.
He then whipped around the circle once, twice, three, four times in what the magpie-parrot sensed was a state of intense glee. Seconds later, the man suddenly shot away from the stone ring, right for its center, and launched himself into the air, using a crackling pillar of rock that surged underneath his feet as a springboard.
And so it was that the magpie-parrot was the only witness with any real degree of sapience who saw the form of a lovestruck Hong Yan, head arched back under the spreading hat, queue flailing the air, briefly hang against the red disk of the rising sun before plunging downward and bracing himself for an impeccable landing, his teeth bared in what all the bird's experience with humans had taught her was an expression of total joy.
Hong and Rajata have it bad for each other, yes sir, and this seems like the start of something wonderful. Unfortunately though, while their love life is supposed to be separate from court politics and war, the brewing coup won't leave our pair in peace forever...
Warning: The structure, action, plot lines, and wording of this fic are subject to being changed, dramatically and at any time, as I the author deem fit until the completed chapter or fanfic meets my satisfaction. So you might want to check on these chapters again every month or so until I'm done with this romance fic.
Enjoy, readers!