tushanshu | VIDEO 001 -- Incredulity

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VIDEO 001 -- Incredulity

[The video turns on, and Sokka looks at it with a moment's hesitation before actually speaking. He picked this up at the Visitor Center quickly, but that things like this could even exist still just were unthinkable. There's a bit of amusement playing at the corners of his lips and he stares on without speaking, followed by an eventual shake of the head. Disbelief is plastered all across his face.]

Okay, so let's set the record straight. I've been magically transported to some other world? That's... actually weirdly possible, even if that whole time-stopping thing doesn't sound right. I'll give them that one. Turtles that are the size of an entire city... I think I can wrap my head around. This emperor guy and that—

[There's a moment's hesitation, as if he were just about to actually voice Malicant's name aloud, but he thinks twice at the last minute.]

—other guy; I suppose that's fine too. Big metal city? I'm not sure the style fits me, but I know people who can bend metal, so okay. Weird spirit soul lantern things? [He pauses now, holding a finger to his chin.] I don't claim to be an expert at that spiritual stuff, but that's more than a little creepy if you ask me. But fine, I'll let that one go.

[But Sokka starts chuckling a little ruefully. Sure, all of these strange things are possible, but the probability is... well, he hasn't calculated it, but it can't be large. All of this story just sounds ridiculous to him.]

But a magical communication device that instantly conveys my thoughts across the entire city? That's where I draw the line. How can that possibly work? How can my picture get sent everywhere all at once? C'mon, that just violates every notion of common sense ever! It's ridiculous!

I mean, I guess if this thing were actually real, I should say something like [as he puts on a false air of sophistication for the introduction], "Hey everyone, I'm Sokka. Good to meet you!" But that's not going to happen, and I'm going to feel silly talking to myself. Yeah, this is going to be a dream, and I'm going to wake up any second. [Pause.] Aaaaaany second now. [Beat.] Juuuust wait for it. Right now... now... please, karma?

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Yeah, I think I've got that down.

[Sokka knowing Aang is understatement of the month. Especially because he literally should have seen this overly detailed field trip coming.

[Sokka does his best to keep up with Aang, who's keeping the pace as something slightly more than uncomfortable than a normal leisurely walk, and of course they're going to take all of the longcuts between here and there. Sokka only gets a brief moment to pull out his map every so often, and he only vaguely gets an idea for how far they've ~~not~~ gone before they're off again to another one of Aang's favorite places.

[And of course, Sokka will likely be making a few choice sarcastic comments that largely fly over Aang's polished head. Sokka will almost assuredly ask Aang where the best meat in the city is after stopping by the veggie buns shop. There will also be a nice complaint about wondering where the best path for getting to Katara's is, jokingly pointing off in a purposefully wrong direction to emphasize the point. And, naturally, Sokka practically smacks his forehead in frustration when they re-enter the Metal Sector having already left it for some excursion.

[Yes, it is all about perspective. Aang had only one job, to take Sokka to his sister... and now instead he's probably learned something like where all the location of every pastry place in between is... in alphabetical order, no less!

[Thankfully, Sokka is angry or upset. It's good being reunited with Aang. He complains out of love. Or something.

[However, after a final arrival, Sokka stretches a bit and breathes a sigh of relief.]

Finally! I didn't think we'd ever get here. [He rolls his eyes slightly but still gives Aang an appreciative smile as the door is opened for him.] Thanks a lot, Aanaaaaaaaaaaughhhhhhh!

[Yes, and there is Momo catching Sokka completely unawares. There is so much flying lemur in Sokka's face. Sokka bumps into the wall, unable to really see for the moment before finally he can actually grab hold of Momo. He tries to pull him off, but Momo seems a little too attached to Sokka's new presence.]

I love you, too, Momo. [Yes, he does mean it, but those are some of the driest words Sokka may have ever spoken.]

[There hasn't been a whole lot of laughing and smiling around these parts in more time than Aang is really willing to admit, so the scene that plays out before Aang is a welcome one. He tries to stifle his laughter, but it's no good...a peal of giggles erupts from Aang in spite of his best intentions.

"Momo missed you, Sokka! You know, you should really be honored. He wasn't anywhere near this excited to see me and Noatak when we freed him from the auction block."

[Noatak, that really nice Water Tribe man who bought Momo for Aang during that one landfall what seems like ages ago.]

[Sokka pets the lemur very gently, followed by the occasional tug to try to detach the furry thing from his face. After some amount of time, Momo stops chittering about and decides to actually let Sokka see, which is certainly an improvement, but Sokka still isn't going to win the award for best dressed as now he has a flying lemur hat.]

Oh, well, you know. Momo and I... we go waaay back. We're the tightest of friends. Always looking out for one another. Making sure he doesn't get into trouble...

Shall we head up and see Katara?

[Or at least he assumes that Katara would be upstairs. The décor might be different, but overall, the structure of the house looks more or less the same.]

[In her room, Katara sits near her open window, her hand hovering absently over a bowl full of water. Her expression is clearly troubled, though until she turns they won't see it properly as her back is to the door. Her other hand keeps a blue blanket draped around her shoulders.

She should probably be resting, but she's had enough of just laying there, and though she's not doing much... the gears in her head won't stop spinning.]

[Aang looks up in the direction of Katara's bedroom, and nods.]

Do you want me to go first? Or do you want to surprise her yourself?

[Really, all Sokka needed was a direction, lest he barge in on one of her neighbors' rooms and cry out, "Katara!" and give her a big hug. Depending upon who she was living with, that would be incredibly awkward.]

Nah, I'll go on up and surprise her.

[Besides, it's not like Sokka really had any hesitation in mind when it came to dealing with his sister. So without further adieu, he ascends the stairs and knocks upon the door briefly before just heading on in, invited or not.]

Katara?

[The knock on the door drew her eyes up from the still water in the bowl, but while her face as she turned was near lifeless, her eyes widened hugely as she recognized the voice and her brother stepped into the room.]

...Sokka...?

Surprise?

[He grins kind of cheekily for a moment, waving with an odd awkwardness.]

[Though his grin falters when he sees a glimpse of the burns on her face. The blanket covers everything else, so he doesn't have any true idea of how badly she's been burnt, but just what he can see is enough to concern him.

[He hurries over to the side of the bed and sits down on the edge, his face lined with worry.]

Are you alright? What happened? I want to hear it from you.

[For a second, all she can do is sit there, stunned and staring as Sokka speaks. Surprise indeed.

When his goofy grin falls and he rushes over to the bed, she withdraws a little, pulling the blanket more comfortably over her shoulders, wide blue eyes quickly filling with tears. Answers--honest ones, anyway-- are refused with a shake of her head before she then leans into him, not bothering to ask for a hug but demanding it silently as she gingerly wraps her arms around him.]

I can't believe you're here!

[Stunned as she is, the tears begin to fall as the shock rips through the defense she's set up for herself in the quiet of her room; there's absolutely no denying now that there's a lot that's wrong.]

[Of course the questions were going to have to wait. Sokka admittedly is a little huffy over the fact that those are going to be put off, but it's his sister who's in pain, so he's going to deal with that for now. After all, there is a limitation on how serious a situation can get before Sokka's sense of humor falls away.

[As Katara hugs him, Sokka returns the embrace in kind. Knowing she's hurt, but not necessarily how badly, his hold is light and delicate, almost cradling her in his arms while at the same time feeling like the protector of her that he more or less used to be before she became Miss Super Awesome Waterbending Sifu.]

Hey, have I ever not come after you?

[Perhaps he still has a little dose of humor still in him, though he's admittedly also serious about that. He pulls her a little bit closer, one hand moving to the back of her head so that he allows her to sob on his shoulder.]

[She eagerly buries her face in his shoulder, reeling in that fact that it is her brother--that he really is there.]

How...? When did you get here?

Edited 2014-10-03 05:07 (UTC)

When did I get here? [Sokka looks a little confused.] Just now. I came up to see you the moment I got here.

[He pauses a moment before he replies again.]

Oooooooh, you mean when did I get here on the turtle thing? Today, I suppose? Though depending upon how long they kept me in that watery thing before I woke up, it could've been yesterday. [He says that with a particular skepticism in his voice; he still hasn't made peace with this world quite yet... or decided if he likes it yet, though he's betting on "no."]

Okay, my turn to ask a question. [He's going to get his question asked, thanks.] How bad off are you?

[So he's just gotten here. She wonders if anyone has filled him in, and knows that if he's asking her all these questions, someone must have told him something. She nods tiredly against his shoulder as she calms and he talks.

After a few minutes of shaky crying, she pulls back, and lets him go, settling her hands in her lap again once she's shifted the blanket. One hands holds it closed over her chest, and though they're not terribly obvious, her fingers have a strange assortment of shades across them. At least the blisters are gone.]

I'm fine, Sokka... Just...tired. I-I mean, I've been better, but...I'll be fine, [she stutters a little and shifts uncomfortably. She not exactly lying to him...but it's obvious her assurance is a decent distance from the full truth. Unless he persists...that's about all he's going to get from her.]

[He won't force her to leave his shoulder until she's good and ready. The two siblings may not always get along at all times, but he does know (usually) how to be a good elder brother and take care of her (big) emotional needs.

[Sokka lets her go only when she pulls away, and he places one of his hands on the bed to prop himself up as he leans back slightly. The room isn't brlightly lit, so he can't see Katara super well, but he notices things nonetheless. He sees that her hand doesn't look fantastic, and there's some burns on her face that are still in the process of healing.

[Nuh uh. Katara, please. Sokka knows you're truthbending here, and he's not going to have it.]

You may be "fine," but I'd rather be my own judge of that. I did hear what happened. [Certainly not the full story, but he knows enough to make that claim in good consciousness.] Let me see how bad it is.

...

[She avoids his gaze directly, stubborn will rearing its head.]

Sokka, it's fine...It-- I'm sure it sounded a lot worse than it is.

[Probably not, but she's not about to admit it. However, putting up such a show, even if it does come naturally between her and her brother, is draining her quickly.]

Well it's kind of hard to know that when I don't actually know how it is. [Yes, he's using sarcasm on his sick sister. Sokka is the best brother in the world; give him a prize for this.] I mean, look at this.

[He takes Katara's hand into his own and raises it up to her face.]

There are like... three different colors here! That's at least two more than there should be!

[Sokka's passion gets the better of him for a moment before he realizes that he's already raising his voice, and he feels a little guilty for it. He just wants to protect her right now. He turns away a little bit, not looking at her any more, though for some reason he hasn't let go of her hand.]

Look, I'm sorry I wasn't here and all for this, but... [Does he actually have to say aloud that he loves his sister? That would be embarrassing.] please? I want to know what this place did to you.

[She narrows her eyes in annoyance at him before averting her gaze guiltily. She does gasp (and winces a little), though, when he draws her hand up.]

I got burned, okay? [ she snaps before she can stop herself. When he doesn't let go of her hand, she doesn't pull away, but instead tightens her fingers around his own as her eyes close. She knows he's just being her protective big brother, and while its annoying as always... it's way more than she could ask for right now. Uncertain, she hangs her head, relaxing her hold on the blanket just a little.]

It's not what this place has done to me that's the problem, [she starts, throat tightening again.] Zuko was poisoned...he didn't know what he was doing; he never would have gone this far. Not even when he was our enemy.

[Sokka reacts to Katara's snap by tensing up as he leans slightly further away from her, albeit mild, fury. For a moment, he's bracing for more where that came from; once Katara gets going, sometimes there's no end to her rants and lectures, especially when Sokka really deserves it.

[But it doesn't come. Katara's intensity backs away, and Sokka peers out of one eye to see if the coast is clear. But funnily enough, though Sokka is oft the king of inappropriate comments, he had actually chosen his last words to her very carefully.]

I know that. There's a reason why I didn't ask you what Zuko did to you. [Yes, if there's ever a confirmation of him knowing that detail, there it is.] I want to know what this world [he says, with pronounced punctuation,] has done to you... and him.

Look, I promise I won't make a big deal out of it after I see it. Let me be your big brother today. It'll be the last serious thing I say all day, if you want.

[She listens to his reasoning and assurance quietly, still unable to stop herself from second guessing everything. She doesn't want to show him. The more people that see, the more real it is, and the more real it is, the more she has to admit that it actually happened, though deep down she can't bring herself to deny it anyway.

With a sigh, once he's promised not to make a big deal of it--which most of her is sure he's going to break anyway-- she relents, risking a look at him before closing her eyes and letting the blanket down off of her shoulders.

Though she's bound and much better off than she had been before, it's still very obvious that she's hurt. Though more of her torso is wrapped than normal, burns peek out here and there from under her new wrappings and up her arms and across her legs. They're not life threatening now, thanks to Akito and Korra's skills, but they cover most of her front and still look terribly painful. Her healing sessions focus more below the surface for now, and she's really not sure she wants to explain how much more intensive her treatments had been at first. In fact, she doesn't want to think about it at all. The only solace she can take in any of it is that she won't scar permanently... or at least not much if she does.

Given the fact he's known her all her life, he'll likely notice she's gotten thinner as well, though she might not be aware of it. The past few weeks, even before she had been attacked, hadn't done her any good at all, and while she's still strong, her lack of sleep and appetite had started to take its toll.]

[Well, Katara is, for better or worse, about one thing. Sokka is almost certainly going to break that vow. As she finally gives in to his eternal protests, Sokka's eyes bug out just a bit after seeing just how bad it is. Because when Aang and Wan had told him that Zuko had burned her, he had imagined it much more minor, like when Aang had burnt her when he was first trying to learn firebending.

[He let's that wash over him for more than a moment, seeing the blistered skin and so many bandages; she looked practically like she was all banaged up for teaching waterbending with Aang... but worse. And yes, he can tell that physical exhaustion on her face, the fact that there's less meat on her than before. It's somewhat shocking.]

Just fine? Sounded worse than it looks?!

[His incredulity is high, and he's more than a little distraught. But, Sokka's mood doesn't stay there; instead, it shifts in a particularly violent way. He reaches out to her and gives her a hug—perhaps slightly tighter than he ought given her condition.]

I'm just so thankful you're alive! [he says, rather melodramatically.]

[She cringes at his outburst, but when she's suddenly swept into another, much tighter, hug, she tenses and gasps, then does her best to weakly shove him off of her.]

Ow, ow... OW! S-Sokka!

[Thankfully for Katara, Sokka is going to recognize his mistake quite quickly. He lets her go and retracts backwards extremely awkwardly. Yeah, she's not healed completely yet. Whoops.]

Uh... sorry?

[He truly does mean it. But certainly it's going to sound more like he's saying, "Please don't hit me with a snowball or encase me with ice, I'm sorry?"]

[She'll only settle onto the bed properly again and draw her blanket back up over her. She's...not quite in the mood for bending, and though, yeah, she thinks he's sometimes really dumb, she can't be too mad at him... not when he's just gotten here. Instead, she just sighs wearily.]

And here I thought it was a miracle you'd show up now...

Edited 2014-10-03 07:36 (UTC)

[Okay, so now Sokka feels guilty for multiple things. He'll... get over most of it, thankfully—Sokka has a pretty bad memory about feeling sorry for himself, really—but it still doesn't help in the short term. He messes up one little thing... and then the house of Pai Sho tiles comes crumbling down.

[But her retort doesn't make sense... or at least it belies some other thought deep within. But the true meaning of that completely escapes him, really. Outside of Zuko burning Katara, he really is pretty clueless.]

Wait juuuuust a minute. Miracle? Me? [Okay, which Spirit possessed Katara and is speaking gibberish now? Sokka may think of himself as all big and bad sometimes, but his sister would rarely come out and admit he's right about it to his face... unless something else was going on.]

VIDEO 001 -- Incredulity

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best tag followed by the WORST TAG EVER I'M SO SORRY

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