AUTHOR'S NOTES: Varrick is just as weird as he was when we first met him, and it's important to remember that he still knows Korra from a few previous encounters. In the meantime, Unalaq's already locked in a mind game with his niece, and Senna's hitting the drinks for reasons that will surely surface soon. Most little details have a purpose in the grand scheme of things.
Happy Reading!
BOOK THREE: WATER
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FOUR: THE CHIEF OF THE NORTH, PART 2
Korra did not expect foul play from Unalaq, but she was plenty familiar with how her uncle worked due to her sojourn with him and the Red Lotus that she knew many of his games. She simply stood her ground for a moment, before walking slowly in his direction only slightly to the left, as if she hadn't actually noticed him approaching her yet. To her slight relief, however, she also noticed Tenzin out of the corner of her right eye coming up from behind her, which would mean that she had support if Unalaq tried to be more assertive than Korra was comfortable with.
"It's a shame the Southerners have abandoned all connections with the spirits, even during the most hallowed times." Unalaq sighed as he reached Korra's side. She sighed with subtle relief that it wasn't about other issues.
"I've always loved the Glacier Spirits Festival," Korra kept a neutral stance; "it's so much fun!"
"This festival used to be a solemn time of fasting and meditation," Unalaq explained, "Now it's just a chance to watch some rube stuff an entire arctic hen into her mouth."
He shot a look towards a woman stuffing an arctic hen on a stick into her mouth, and when she turned to face them, Korra recognized her as Senna. Unalaq seemed slightly taken aback by his remark, but the situation did not escalate as badly as he feared it would.
Senna swallowed the hen with an almost powerful flex of her throat muscles, and then downed it with something from a flask she pulled from her hips.
"What's it to ya, Chief?" she threw her free arm open as if to challenge him.
"Nothing whatsoever," Unalaq muttered in response. "I meant no ill."
"Uh-huh," Senna took another drink, "clock him in the jaw if he gets on your nerves too much, Korra. You've got your mom's blessing on that one."
"Right, uhh… got it, mom!" Korra called back out, before looking up at Unalaq.
"Okay, that actually reminds me," She took a sharp left to avoid confronting her mother and uncle at the same time—especially since it seemed that Senna was noticeably intoxicated at the moment, "don't think I haven't noticed you and my mom's little spat. Tell me what's going on there, because if push comes to shove I'm going to side with my mother before I would side with pretty much anyone else."
"Regarding my comment about her, perhaps I spoke in haste," Unalaq admitted, "but a lot of it boils down to our different associations with the Red Lotus. Your mother was a very different woman during the days of Desert Storm, and given her own relationship with the Red Lotus, it's perhaps understandable why she might hate me considering she believes that I knew of their malignant intentions from the beginning."
"Did you?" Korra tilted her head, "It was almost like you knew Nakkoa was going to go berserk and try to kill me. It seemed too coincidental."
"Nakkoa… was very much a wild card that none of us expected," Unalaq spoke truthfully, "When I heard of that horrible incident, my thoughts and concerns rested with you, and I sorely regret not being there to help defend you."
"But what's that have to do with my mother?" Korra tilted her head.
"As I said—she still thinks I orchestrated it." Unalaq clarified, "But the thing, Avatar Korra, is that not only did I do no such thing, but as I'm sure you've gathered from her title of "Hero of Desert Storm", your mother has had a lot of different tangles with the Red Lotus Secret Society, and while I understand that she suffered a considerable amount of physical and psychological trauma from the incident, she is not telling you the whole story—namely, why she gets so aggressive and defensive any time the Red Lotus comes up."
"Well, what do you know about it?" Korra narrowed her eyes into a suspicious pout.
"I know much, but it is not my place to gossip about others, much less the Avatar's mother," Unalaq replied matter-of-factly, "out of respect for her and what she went through, I will not repeat it without her consent—which means you would likely just be better off asking her yourself… ideally when she's actually sober again."
"Still," Korra mused, "I don't exactly think you came to find me just to talk about my mom. And, while spiritual they may have been, I don't think the Red Lotus is the one behind the spiritual disturbances, even if they were terrorists."
"So you know about the sailors being attacked by angry spirits in Southern waters?" He turned to her, "Because it's happened multiple times now."
"I did…" Korra paused, "well, I heard about it from Kwan, but I've felt some of the spiritual disturbances since then…"
"I can teach you to have an even greater attunement," Unalaq offered, "you have experienced my lessons before, and had I been more aware of the dire situation I had inadvertently and unwittingly placed you in, I could have likely taught you even more."
"Well, it's not like I missed a deadline regarding when I could learn about spirituality…" Korra quipped, "Although the more in tune I can get before Harmonic Convergence, the better."
"Absolutely…" Unalaq put his hands together. "And I would be honoured to advise you in regards to all things spiritual. If necessary I will run it by your friends and family, for I am not trying to drive a wedge between you and them."
"I'm sure they'll understand," Korra smiled, "I'm a lot less naive now than I was when I was 14, and they would trust my judgment more." This, however, was actually Korra flat-out lying just to try and butter her uncle up. She remembered Kwan's scathing expression, as well as the suspicious looks her mother had given him even when she had been sober. These factors coupled with the fact that due to her trauma she was also somewhat 'once bitten, twice shy', all added up to Korra wanting to find out more about Unalaq's motives.
"Just remember," Unalaq assured her, as if he was aware of her suspicion, "due to traditions in the North, one does not simply become Chief without being carefully audited for a criminal past. I would not be here if I was the man your mother accused me of being."
"I trust you," Korra shrugged a shoulder, "did you assume my words were hollow? Do you not trust me in return?"
"Perhaps I do," Unalaq's lip curled up on one side, "come, Avatar Korra… there is much for us to do, then."
"Right behind you," Korra nodded, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she glanced one more time at Senna, who was staring off in another direction. It seemed both the Northern Chief and the Avatar had suspicions of each other, and were making maneuvers and countermaneuvers to try to outsmart one another.
=Iknik Blackstone Varrick's yacht, around the same time…=
Asami had brought Bolin with her to her meeting, figuring that since he had no real reputation beyond Probending, that he would not invite any suspicion or underlying political motives. She would have of course liked Korra to come with her, but understood that Korra needed to focus on her spiritual attunement in preparation for Harmonic Convergence, and that she needed to focus on keeping her business afloat. Bolin was a good friend and also an apt neutral party it came to the small conflicts that Korra and Asami had on occasion.
"I'm glad you came with me to this meeting by the way, Bolin," Asami smiled, dressed in a sharp but warm business suit for the occasion, "Varrick is one of the richest men in the world and he's essentially monopolized the global shipping business. All I need you to do is be my assistant."
"Right," Bolin saluted, "Pabu and I are natural assistants. Now… what do we do?"
"Just stand there and don't say anything." Asami replied.
"No problem!" Bolin beamed, "man this is nice. Maybe Pabu and I should get into this whole business thing…"
The two of them walked up the plank towards Varrick's yacht, where they found the man himself in a meditative position sitting atop a cushion. His assistant Zhu Li was nearby, and he was flanked by a sizable audience. The ambience was little more than hushed whispers as all of the audience was quietly watching the man meditate. After a moment, Varrick's eyes flew open and he grinned excitedly.
"Did you folks see that?!" he beamed, "Levitation! I was at least a foot off the ground! Is that incredible or what?"
There was a nearly unanimous murmuring of agreement and applause. Bolin and Asami were skeptical since they had not seen him levitate even an inch off of his cushion, but Asami clapped as well to be polite. Bolin, however, was much less acquainted with such pretension and flattery, and so he simply scratched his head.
"It looked like you were just sitting on a pillow…" he blurted out. Numerous individuals in the crowds gasped, with some staring at Varrick and others staring at Bolin and Asami, the latter of which put her palm to her forehead in embarrassment. Varrick frowned, rising to his feet and stepping up to Bolin and getting right up in his face. He got so close that Bolin had to start bending backwards, and Pabu hid away in his shirt.
"Are you saying I wasn't levitating!?" he snapped.
"Uhh… no?" It was very obvious that Bolin wasn't sure how to answer.
"Well why didn't anyone tell me? Varrick threw his arms into the air to Bolin and Asami's surprise, "Now I look like an idiot! Swami, you're fired!"
He pointed to an older man with a greying beard who bowed deeply and quietly shuffled away. Bolin, Asami, and much of the crowd watched, but then Bolin yelped as Varrick spun back around and slapped his shoulder.
"I like you, kid," he grinned, "you're a real straight-shooter, just like me; also that Avatar kid. Say, that reminds me!" he turned to Asami, "Ms. Sato, isn't it? Where's our favourite little Avatar tonight anyways?"
"She's with Chief Unalaq at the moment," Asami began, "so I brought our friend Bolin in—"
"Ahh, so he's with you, eh?" Varrick cut her off to the point where she merely nodded in response instead, "Brought your tiger-shark to do business, huh? Now that's moxie! Then again I suppose having hired security detail like the Avatar for your company, that would have made a statement too, so you might just have really good friends, Ms. Sato! Anyways, get over here and pop a squat, you two! Let's get some tea for our guests too! Zhu Li, do the thing!"
Varrick's stone-faced assistant rose to her feet to fetch some tea for the four of them.
"Anyways," Asami took the brief silence as a moment to speak up, heaving learned from Korra that getting Varrick to stop rambling was a difficult task all on its own—especially since he had made it abundantly clear that he had no qualms with interrupting people at will. "I would like to thank you for meeting with me, Mr. Varrick. As you know, Future Industries is looking for a partner to handle our shipping—"
"Sure," Varric cut her off with the same disregard, "but first, you gotta check out my new venture: moving pictures! Zhu Li, do the thing! You two are gonna love this..."
Zhu Li had barely arrived with the tea tray, and having just passed Bolin on her way back, she hurriedly shoved the tray into his arms before revealing a projector, which explained why there was a large white sheet on the wall Varric had coaxed the two young adults to face. The lights dimmed and the projector displayed an animated image of an ostrich-horse running across the screen. It only lasted a moment until Varrick popped his head into view again.
"Mind-blowing, isn't it?" he grinned. Bolin had barely nodded affirmatively before Varrick continued his spiel, "Now forget that! That's the past! Shut it off, Zhu Li! Imagine watching THIS! Ginger, come over here and do your poses!"
A tall, curvy woman with red hair and long legs visible through hip-length slits in her dress strode forward, shedding her coat to reveal her dress as sleeveless, and then began striking several different glamour poses. Bolin was wide-eyed and low-key drooling, and even Asami looked moderately interested for a moment.
"Korra's legs are shorter, but there's a lot more muscle on 'em…" she told herself, paying much less attention after Varrick stood between them. She did notice Bolin trying to peer around him though, but ultimately remained silent.
"Spectacular!" Varrick beamed, "and we tell a story; there's romance, action, some funny animal stuff for the kids; you know, whatever. Thanks Ginger; go rest your gams."
Bolin made a mental note of the woman's name, although didn't get much more time to think about her before Varrick got right up in between him and Asami.
"So how about that, tiger-shark?" he grinned at Bolin, "we're gonna do big business with these 'movers', as I call 'em."
"Okaaay," Asami was starting to get fed up with Varrick's flambouyance and overly extravagant theatrics, "but I'm just concentrating on trying to get Future Industries back on track. If we could just hammer out a de—"
"Stop!" Varrick held his hand right up to Asami's face before lowering it, "look me in the eyes."
Asami's eyes widened as Varrick brought his face mere inches from hers. He stared at her intently, but after Asami's moment of surprise wore off, her eyes narrowed and she glared rather fiercely back at him. Had Korra been there she would have noticed Asami's clear frustration with the entire situation, feeling like they had made absolutely no real progress on forming a business deal; but at the same time, Varric was so erratic and eccentric that Asami had no clue what to make of him—the same way Korra felt any time she ran into him at his casino.
To her surprise, Varrick pointed a finger at her, and then raised it skyward. "We've got a deal!"
He practically sprang up, and Asami had been leaning so far back due to how in her face Varrick had gotten, that she actually fell onto her back, to her embarrassment.
"I'll even throw in some bonus points if you can get me the secret of how the Avatar plays my casino games so well," he added as Zhu Li helped Asami to her feet. "In the meantime, we'll hammer out the details at the royal feast tonight!"
"Thank you," Asami heaved a sigh of relief and smiled as Varrick shook her hand, "This is—"
"Now who wants a rocket-boat ride?" Varrick announced to the remaining guests in the room, and was met with cheers of excitement in response. Everyone flooded out apart from Bolin and Asami (and Pabu), and it was Bolin who finally snapped Asami out of a near stupor she was in.
"Is… is that how business usually goes?" he raised an eyebrow.
"I…" Asami stammered, "I'm not sure. Korra warned me ahead of time that Mr. Varrick is extravagantly eccentric, and it was clear she wasn't exaggerating. Still, she also mentioned that for how dizzyingly quirky he is, that he runs an honest business as far as she's aware."
"Then it sounds like a win!" Bolin congratulated her, "I hope you can get Future Industries back on track! You could sponsor our team more, and Korra will be thrilled for sure!"
The idea of Korra no longer stressing about Asami's issues made her smile and she nearly jumped into Bolin's arms and embraced him.
"You're right; thank you!" she shuddered happily, "you really are a natural assistant!"
"What can I say?" Bolin laughed, "I do what I do…"
It was ironic, in Asami's eyes. Here she had wanted to get away from Korra for a while; to stop thinking about her as she worked on her spiritual attunement and she focused on her company, and yet here she was, her first thoughts after striking a business deal being her wondering how excited Korra would be to hear the news. Korra had even found her way into Varrick's conversation, and Asami's association with her had not gone unnoticed by the eccentric mogul. Korra seemed to have that effect on people, and the more Asami thought about it, the more she realized just how deeply intertwined Korra's life was with the rest of the world.