How they had ended up bounty hunters still confused Ty Lee. One minute they're off having drinks in a small bar, the next they're strangling a wanted criminal (mostly because Mai had gotten fed up with his constant flirting with her) and getting four hundred gold pieces from the authorities. She wasn't really complaining, just surprised and all. At least they had stuck to their original plan; the spending money and fights were just a plus. As she gave a couple quick jabs to their current target, her face turned to Mai, too busy reading the wanted posters to bother with the criminal. "How much was this one worth again?"
"Two hundred." Rather low for them, but then again, where was the fun in just taking the high priced ones? She quickly tied the man up with rope giving an audible 'I'm sorry,' and pulling him to his feet. Mai had finally turned, a mischievous look playing in her eyes. Ty Lee had known that look. It was only spared for the most sacred of times for Mai; the moment she found something intriguing. "Now this one sounds interesting." She handed the paper to her friend.
Wanted: Jet of the Freedom Fighters
Crimes: Thievery, Vandalism, Murder.
Wanted Dead or Alive
Reward to be fifteen thousand gold pieces, paid on the delivery
"Wow! That's more than we've ever gotten!" Ty Lee exclaimed, the excitement bundling up inside her once more. She could finally afford that new outfit she had seen, and still have enough over to last her a year. Not to mention from his picture he seemed kind of cute.
"Yeah," Mai agreed, yanking the poster back. She knew very well not to let Ty Lee handle the storage of information, she had already managed to lose three wanted posters, rendering their search useless every time. No, she was going to keep this nice and tucked away nice and neat into her sleeve. "Looks like he was last spotted in Bangui. It's not that far from here. We'll drop this one off and then leave first thing tomorrow."
"Sounds like a plan!" She replied, tugging on the rope. "He's pretty cute, huh?" Her giggle caught Mai off guard, causing her to turn her head slightly to her.
"Who, that guy? Ty Lee, please," She motioned behind her at the man.
"I can hear you, you know." He complained his voice a coarse scratchy tone.
They both ignored him. They learned the first couple times it was better to ignore them and not let the bounty get to know you.
"No, not him, the guy on the poster. What was his name again? Jai? Jin?"
"Jet," Mai corrected, a huff of air blowing from her mouth. Sometimes she wondered how Ty Lee even remembered her own birthday without her. "And he's not cute, he's a criminal, and our meal ticket," In honesty, he was an attractive man from the picture, but spirits forbid she let Ty Lee know. She would be babbling on about how they should get together, and how many children they should have, or even what color wedding dress she'd have. It annoyed her to no extent, and she wouldn't have any of that.
At this point the man, whom had been apparently secretively plotting his escaped, gave a violent shove in between the two, seemingly making his escape. How wrong he was. Within ten seconds he was pinned to the nearest tree, the blood from the deep wound on his shoulder oozing out. "I wouldn't try that again if I were you," Ty Lee gave a large grin, back flipping over to the pinned man. "She doesn't like it when people act stupid,"
"Ty Lee. What have I told you have telling people things about me?" Her voice was almost a growl as she walked over to the man, taking the knives from their place. "Next time I'll aim for the throat," He could see him shiver at her words, as Ty Lee made quick work in limping his arms once more. She gave him a point of her finger, then a smile, rope in hand. As they continued on, the small lantern lights of their destination became closer and closer, until finally, they were feet away. Mai's eyes scanned the town. She knew it was late, but there had to be at least someone at the jail. She refused to spend a night sleeping in the same room with her bounty. Her eyes stopped at a sign marked 'Jail', the small candle light emitting from its window. Quietly, she opened the door to find the guard, a confused look on his face.
"What are you doing here?" He questioned, clearly not see her reason. Mai turn her head slightly to find Ty Lee struggling to get the man in. She never did have much physical strength, and against the burly man, she couldn't even budge him.
The brunette sighed heavily, her patience wearing thin. "Fine, if you want to be difficult!" She gave two jabs to his knees, making the man fall limbless to the ground. It took all she mustered to pull him into the room, but she finally did so, plopping him down cautiously on the ground. "There,"
The guard looked the man over, recognizing him from the wanted posters around the town. He reached into the desk, pulling out a sack filled with gold. As he finished counting out the coins, Mai took the liberty of throwing the criminal into the earthen prison. He landed with a loud thud, curses spewing out in his language.
"There you go; two hundred gold pieces. I got to say, I didn't expect two lovely women to be able to take down that guy,"
Lovely? Mai rolled her eyes in disgust. She had seen better men in the bowels of Ba Sing Se, and those were some repulsive men. But Ty Lee being Ty Lee had eaten every word of it up.
"Lovely? Us? Really?" She nearly shouted, putting her elbows on the desk. She rolled her head around in her hand, a wide smile on her face. She rarely had the chance to flirt with someone with Mai around, and it felt nice. But it didn't last long as Mai pulled her collar, hauling her out of the building. Ty Lee's face saddened a bit, "I was only having fun!"
Mai scoffed, releasing her clothing and heading to the nearest inn, "Your idea of fun usually lands you in trouble. Trouble that I usually have to dig you out of. " She took a deep breath, "I just want to get some sleep and get going early tomorrow."
Ty Lee tilted her head at her friend, knowing very well what was wrong. It happened everytime someone had flirted with her. She was thinking of Zuko again. It was like a reflex for her friend, a way to remind her that she was better off without getting involved with someone. The smile on her face fell slightly as her arms rushed around Mai's shoulders. "It's okay to cry you know."
Mai's eyes closed, but she said nothing. She didn't exactly feel like talking about that subject. No matter how many times she had told herself it was for the best she couldn't help but still harbor feelings for the Firelord. Silence filled the two until they were laying down side by side in their shared cot. Mai didn't even move, her voice dry and hurt: "I know."
