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, mentally facepalming as the carriage he'd hired for the evening passed through a yawning gap in the Upper Ring's 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 it for his driver right away, no questions asked.
It was the pair of guards on the other side that were being an issue. Outfitted in plumed, close-fitting helmets, dressed in uniforms of green leather and cotton cloth, it was they 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 ma'am," one of them was saying, "if you don't have a valid passport or chaperone with you, I request that you cease 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 already told you both," 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 Upp-"
"It's quite true actually," Hong cut in as he strode towards the trio, Rajata's deep brown eyes widening with delight at the sight of 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 satin shoes, lined with gold leather and beautifully embroidered on each side with the rainbow-colored 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 in a deadpan tone 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 miss. 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."
They both gasped and cringed in unison.
"Oh, there's no need for-"
"I urge you not to-"
"Back to your stations," Hong cut them off, before helping Rajata into the carriage and gesturing to the driver to get his beast of burden moving.
Once the guards had shut the gate behind them, Hong began to chuckle.
"Impressively done," he said approvingly, as he took a seat on the right bench, closest to the driver. "It's 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 took a seat on the left bench, facing him at an angle, her posture erect and confident, brown eyes glistening with wonder. She was clearly equally immensely pleased and in awe about her audacious, liberating display of dominance over two men that, until now, had outranked her by orders of magnitude. "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, a big part of him very thankful that he wasn't currently wearing a pair of stone gloves. That schist hurt.
"I'm sorry, that was dumb of me, especially since you've never even laid eyes on this area. Maybe a better question is, what do you feel like eating? Pick any type of food 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, her legs lightly crossed.
It gave Hong the chance to better appraise her looks. The silk qipao of course, just as Lanying had assured him, looked gorgeous on her, with its high sash, tied off at about the level of her elbows, helping to emphasize her buxom figure. 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 around her crown in a seamless, layer on layer strip. Every few finger widths, a dandelion blossom embedded between the plaits seemed to glow against the black backdrop. It was almost like a flower crown.
"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 I wanted to have real flowers adorning me for this date instead of silk or paper ones, and 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's always sounded pretty good to me."
"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 Eatery."
It went without saying that the last thing Rajata wanted was to potentially annoy a member of the Dai Li by seeming to ignore him in any fashion, not give him anything less than her complete attention. But as they made their way to their destination, she still couldn't resist repeatedly shooting awed, astonished glances out the carriage windows at the sumptuous scenery of the Upper Ring, a world and realm that she'd never imagined actually getting to encounter.
Houses with golden roofing tiles, symbolizing wealth. Wide streets paved with bricks or flagstones. Clumps of mature, lush trees reaching towards heaven. Gardens filled with rainbows of flowers. Beautiful, open parks.
All sorts of important personages, men and women, draped in silk and fine linen walked the streets. Private carriages shared the roads, some of them pulled by patient gorilla-horses, which Rajata recalled were a lot harder to breed in captivity than ostrich-horses, despite being superior to them as beasts of burden. A woman walking a marbled cheetah on a leash. A man walking with a tame, tethered goshawk on his leather-sheathed arm.
Even the children were formally and neatly dressed. Certainly no street urchins to be seen around here.
Again and again, she stroked the green silk of her qipao, relishing and marveling at the feel of the expensive fabric.
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 various raw meats, fish, vegetables, and other foods to dip and heat with chopsticks before eating, Hong 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. They blanched clumps of watercress, spinach, peapods and cabbage, dipping the treats in hoisin sauce or chili oil before eating.
Often, Rajata would use the chopsticks to insert the food into her mouth, but sometimes force of cultural habit would cause her to handle it the same way she did when eating at home, with the tips of her fingers. Hong would display both mild curiosity and puzzlement whenever she did that, but thankfully made no comments.
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 Rajata fully embraced this chance to feast like she never had before in her twenty-four years of life. As was far too often the case for nearly all denizens of the Lower Ring's shantytowns, she was intimately familiar with the faint, lightheaded sensation generated by chronic hunger, and she truly couldn't recall a time when she had ever gone a full week without having to endure that clenching hollowness on at least three or four days out of every ten.
Hong also proved to hardly be lacking in appetite as they ate. Very understandable, Rajata concluded, since he had to be about twice her size, and also had a very physically demanding job. She could see the muscles work in his thick neck as he chewed, his broad shoulders roll underneath the fabric of his robe. Sometimes, she found herself needing to tear her gaze away from him, partly so she could continue with her own meal, and partly because she was worried Hong might take offense if he realized she was staring at him like a creep-although a big part of her also had a sense that in truth, he wouldn't mind that in the least.
But there were lots of other things for Rajata to look at besides her date. She found herself intrigued and amazed by essentially everything, by the unimagined opulence of the place and their fellow diners.
Most meals she'd sat down to in her life had been prepared either by her mother or by herself, and eaten at home. Still, spirits knew that Rajata had also had her share of lunches and dinners out on the town before.
All those eating places though, had been taverns, cafes, noodle houses, and yes, tea shops in the Lower or Middle Ring. The eateries in the Lower Ring quite frankly, tended to be shabby, even squalid.
Their counterparts in the Middle Ring were a lot more pleasant-but they still couldn't compare to this establishment. The rectangular wooden or stiff felt 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 and crescent moons on their rims.
She thought again 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, 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 in his distinct northern accent, even as she could just tell he suspected 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 suddenly crashed down on her, and she briefly considered bending herself deep into the floor.
"Great Bhumi," she meekly half-squealed as she shrank in on herself, "I'm immensely sorry! Who am I to ever express dissatisfaction 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, admiring 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 agent?"
"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. Is that same woman 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."
"Oh no, there's no need," she said hurriedly. "I'm enjoying this, I really am. Its just-I feel so out of my depth here," she whispered, looking around. "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 story short, I'm no highborn noble's or merchant's or official's son, but just a farm kid from the northern Lower Ring who managed 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.
"Oh, no doubt about it," 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," Rajata guessed as her eyes once more scanned the room.
"It was quite a culture shock to suddenly be exposed to what the people at the top of the earthbending and social ladder live like," Hong said simply. "Certainly didn't help matters when I was already having to study hard, and train hard, with major dedication towards both. There's good reasons why not every earthbender that's been chosen to attend the Dai Li's Stone Fist 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 decided that not only had I earned the right to be among high society types due to being a keeper of order and peace, but that I also 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 one of the Dai Li and all, it took some effort for someone as stately and deadpan as Hong to speak his mind to her, to say nothing of telling her something encouraging, affirming.
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 try to chill out. Again, I can't believe this kindness you're showing me."
"Thank you, but 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 horrendously boring paperwork in my study."
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 fairly confident that there was no risk of retribution as she told him, grinning like a jackal-pig 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, seeking a new topic of conversation 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, although his eyebrows seemed to marginally lower for a moment. "And we get rotated between a specific district in all three parts of the city. One thing I can freely 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 City Guards-the 'civilian' police in other words, as I'm sure you know-to iron out their problems for them."
"Still," he went on with a rueful smirk, "as my uncle Yafeng has said, it takes all sorts to make a world, and more people than 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 have 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've had people ask me to help put a stop to their dog's bad behavior."
"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 they just plain 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 they've created, the kid is flinging sharp, heavy rocks at people, running around on a roof and refusing or unable to come down, or to lessen a child's troubles in life by going and reprimanding the local bullies who've been giving them a hard time of it."
"How sweet of you guys to do that! I never would've thought."
"Thanks. 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 as she nodded. "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?" she warily ventured.
"Again, much of that is strictly classified," he smoothly replied. "I can tell you though, that we really do engage in quite a bit of scholarly, historical preservation work as part of the mission Mother 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, and 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 going about 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 on his side in terms of what he chose to put out in the open.
Her uncle had once told her as a girl that information could be ammunition, to be used against you if you weren't careful. And considering that he was a member of the city's secret police, it was only to be expected that Hong would be particularly careful not to divulge more about his personal or professional life than he could help-and Rajata was pretty confident that when it came to the latter, that was almost certainly for the best when it came to her peace of mind.
And not once did she ever forget the type of man she was talking to.
At one point, seeing that they'd more or less 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 more likely, Rajata sensed, maybe he just didn't like seeing another man standing near his date-but he immediately snapped, "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, lightly fidgeting in her chair-it was far from the first time a man had acted that way over her, but the fact that this was a Dai Li agent made it all the more discomfiting-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, placing their money on the table before departing.
The waiter dutifully put his head down and scurried off, producing an audible gulp.
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, Rajata had a bowl of ginger milk pudding for dessert, while Hong enjoyed a trio of black sesame rolls.
After he'd paid for their meal, soon after walking back out into the warm evening air, Hong hailed another carriage, and gallantly helped her up into the back. This time, she decided to take a chance, and warily chose to sit near-but not quite next to-him on the return trip, instead of on a different bench.
She was sitting, confined in a carriage, within touching distance of one of the most dangerous, intimidating men in Ba Sing Se, who was dominant over her in every conceivable way, from his bending abilities, to his physical strength, to his legal authority. Rajata knew that by all rights, she should be cowering away from him in the furthest corner of the cab right now.
And yet, she wasn't.
The atmosphere between them was an amiable, even faintly expectant one. In the welcoming, yet cautious manner of a person reaching out to touch an ostrich-horse or thylacine-hound they weren't personally acquainted with, Rajata extended a warm brown hand and gave Hong's paler, cinnamon brown fingers a lingering stroke, relishing the sensation. Crazy to do this, she knew, on the same level of madness as caressing a beaded lizard-crocodile-but it also felt just so right.
He gave her a sidelong look with one of those dazzling, slanted green eyes, and a knowing grin spread over his face. She softly giggled in response, and throughout the return trip, periodically reached out to lightly touch his hand or side now and again, even while she continued to marvel at the Upper Ring's wonders-at least until its stone gates ground shut behind them.
On reaching the street where she lived, quite aware of the ominous reputation his type had among Rajata's family and neighbors, a respectful Hong had the carriage stop a little distance from her home before 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, thankful hug before waving goodbye, then skipping the rest of the way to their house, painted lips parted in a grin.
"Looking good, big sister!" Tuhina commented as she uncertainly grinned and gave Rajata a thumbs-up. "Glad you're back!"
Everyone else gave nods of agreement which were half grave and half relieved as one.
"So, how was your night with Mr. Yan?" Madhuri uncertainly asked once Rajata had closed the door behind her.
"It was wonderful," she beamed blissfully. "As I knew it would be-And Matangi knows I sure ate like a princess tonight!"
She was only half-aware of the commentary among her family.
"Well, she seems normal enough, I suppose," Viyan 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 qipao away in her small closet.
Otherwise, dusty, grimy conditions or no, she would've gladly fallen asleep on her cot that way, still wearing the silk gown.
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-and pretty much out of nowhere at that-was an especially big wrench in their plans, and having to stay on top of the fluid situation was proving both physically and mentally taxing for many of them.
Nevertheless, early the next morning after his first date with Rajata, Hong was in very high spirits indeed. After eating a breakfast prepared by his cook, he'd donned his hat and official uniform before bowing in supplication to the painted figures of the Earth Goddess, Wu Sheng, and Avatar Kyoshi alike on his household altar for morning devotions. With that completed, he'd gone straight to the nearest tunnel entrance to his home, just one out of of the dozens scattered throughout the vast city, each normally covered by a trapdoor of pavement, which gave him access to the ancient system of underground runs beneath its streets.
Save for the hypothetical circumstances of a city wide emergency, this tunnel system was of course, reserved exclusively for the use of the Dai Li, and if any civilian earthbender was discovered to be trespassing in it-well, Goddess have mercy on them, Hong thought, because neither he or any other member of the Dai Li would.
All these tunnels ultimately led to a central underground tram line, which several cars were always traveling along on a vast, oval-shaped course, stopping fairly regularly at one of ten different depots, all fashioned out of the bedrock and lit up by glowstones, to either pick up or drop off their imposing, green-robed passengers. The last, and ultimate stop on this hidden train route was of course, the "gateway" to headquarters.
At this last stop on the loop, an agent had two options to travel to headquarters. In typical Dai Li secrecy, many used a final, level tunnel to access the facility.
Hong though, often liked to use the upward-sloping terminal entrance of the tram route to go back above ground, heading for the hidden, shoreline entrance to the ancient prison base beneath Lake Laogai.
He covered the half-mile of distance at a casual pace, using his bending to sedately skate along, enjoying the dawn chorus of birds and insects while the rising sun flooded the landscape with blush colored, brassy light.
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 a hundred and fifty yards away from the lake shore, listening and scanning the area for any sign of his colleagues in the brisk dawn air, trying to quiet these wild, wonderful new feelings within him.
No one was around. Good. He had to release this intense internal ecstasy somehow, especially if he was to perform his duties to Long Feng's, Commander Hsiao's, and most of all, Captain Lau's standards today without distractions. He took a deep, energized breath, and began.
The Lake Laogai facility and its operations were well concealed from pretty much everyone in this vast city-state.
But for the magpie-parrot who roosted in a nearby ash tree, already taking to the wing 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 lake shore 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 downward under the spreading hat, queue flailing the air, briefly hang against the red disk of the rising sun before plunging earthward 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 utter 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...
Marbled cheetahs, btw, are basically Avatar world versions of king cheetahs. As for the gorilla horses, they're pretty much relocated versions of the "clawed" lineage of an extinct group of odd-toed hoofed animals known as chalicotheres. (I might as well mention right now that as a guy who thinks that non-avian dinosaurs and their fellow extinct archosaur kin get way too damn much time in the limelight, hybrid/expy versions of various mammals and birds will be showing up more than a few times in my expanded Avatar universe as a homage to them.)
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!