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[ He doesn't miss the petulance. It is a good sign, but he's already exited before she sees the quirk in his lips. It fades a moment later. He knows, of course, that the psyche doesn't work in terms of fixed and broken. Emerging intact from any trauma is almost impossible. But functionality is good enough. For Hei, giving up or giving in to anything means losing -- and if Hei loses, then there is nothing more for which he can live. His whole life has been structured around trying to be unbeatable. Not for himself. For Pai. ]

[ Even with her gone, it's become second-nature. ]

[ Reluctant to turn on the corridor light, lest he lose the cottony relaxation in body and mind, Hei pads to the bathroom, for a wash-up and toothbrushing, then heads to the kitchen. He returns in the incomplete darkness, with two bottles of water. One for her. One for him. It's odd, slipping into bed with her. Barflies and paid professionals don't share beds. Fellow Contractors seldom stay the night. But Korra is none of those things. For a moment he's uncomfortable, wants her gone. No, not gone. He's just unused to someone staying after the deed is done. ]

[ (But part of him doesn't mind that almost fevery glow she gives off. She smells very intensely of herself, of faded shampoo, of him.) ]

[ Slipping into bed, under the sheets, he shifts in unaccustomed confinement of not having it to himself. Sprawls on his side, his back to her. It may seem like a cold shoulder. But it's actually a trusting move. There are few people Hei turns his back on -- even (especially) in bed. He wonders -- dimly -- if she expects to be held. Wonders if she's a restless sleeper. He already knows he won't get much sleep. Nightmares are a fixture by now. Peaceful rest is a miacle. ]

[ He can only hope it's nothing too violent. He doesn't want to thrash awake in the middle of the night to find himself strangling her. ]

[She's already three quarters asleep by the time he comes back, too tired for even her swirling thoughts to keep her awake. She lets out a sleepy sound -- complaint? greeting? -- when he slips into bed, and instinctively skooches so their backs are touching.

(His questions will be answered in due time -- no and yes, respectively. If he's lucky, it will be his nightmares keeping him awake and not her tendency to throw herself about in her sleep.)]

[ It's a long time before Hei's eyelids droop. His sensorium has narrowed to nothing but the sound of her breathing, the nocturnal not-noises throughout the flat. Floating between consciousness and oblivion, the doors of his mind begin to open and let out the little secrets and rusty blades that are usually safely stored. ]

[ He drops off to sleep inhaling the greenery in South America. ]

[ (At the tip of dawn, in dreams, he'll see the earth yawning under his feet, the flare of fire and whirling dirt, and a girl standing in a pool of blood at her thighs, bodies floating around her. She'll drop like a ragdoll as he grabs her, and he'll carry her off the battlefield as he's done countless times before.) Beyond the dream, it's just the warmth of Korra's skin registering on him, easing his psyche to something more tranquil. ]

[ He'll fit himself to her back, still dreaming of Pai, and sleep on. ]

Edited 2013-03-21 02:34 (UTC)

[Mercifully, Korra doesn't dream. (A rare and precious gift from Aang -- one night free of nightmares.) So it's a few hours before she actually moves, rolling over and thwacking him with her arm.]

[ Even before Korra's arm hits him, dragging him to past the surface of sleep, his dreams are about nothing but thirst and lead-limbs and staying still so Pai isn't disturbed. At the touch, he doesn't jerk awake. But his eyes snap open to dark hair spread out on the pillow next to him, tickling his throat, the brush of a knee against his own. For a moment, half-drowsing, he's almost peaceful. But it only takes a split-second to recall where he is. ]

[ And resolve he's slept enough. ]

[ The sun is up, making a white penumbra at the bottom of his drawn shades. Hei slips out of bed, out of the room, and out of the apartment without sound -- showered and fully dressed. He has to head to work in a bit, but it seems callous (not to mention shortsighted) to leave Korra alone at his flat. On the street, he detours to run a few errands, makes a roundabout trip to his flat, before heading out again. ]

[ When Korra wakes, it'll be to a message Sleep in; Gone to work, scrawled in sharpie on her arm. (He'd leave a sticky note, but he's averse to a paper trail, no matter how benign.) In the kitchen, she'll find a cup of still-hot tea set out in one of those take-out cups, a K scrawled on top. A box of bakery breakfast on the counter -- spinach and feta croissant, an omlette wrap or some such salty thing. And last: a shopper bag with a pair of folded girl's clothes. Not tacky, he promises. ]

[ Don't blow anything up while he's gone. ]

[When he gets back to the apartment, he'll find that Korra has cycled through at least five other positions while he's been gone, ending up on her stomach, legs dangling off the side of the bed. She stirs, almost waking when he writes on her arm, but doesn't quite make it to consciousness.

It's fairly late in the morning when she does finally push herself out of bed -- slowly, reluctantly. Her muscles scream in complaint, and for a brief moment, she hopes that Li feels just as sore. She peeks in the laundry basket after forcing herself to shower, but her clothes aren't there. She wouldn't have wanted to wear them anyway, but...what is she going to wear out of here? She wraps the towel more tightly around her and heads out to the kitchen to snag some of Li's food and figure out what to do.

Except he's already thought of everything. She finds a cup with some strange mark on it, a hot breakfast, and a bag of clothes. She slips into the clothes, amazed at how well they fit, and scarfs down the food.

Rested, clean, fed, Korra feels more like herself. Queasy, anxious, guilty, grieving, but no longer bowled over. It's time to face reality.

Before leaving, she stops by to get a better look at the lizard.]

Tell him "thanks" for me.

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⊕ march 15th, late evening

⊕ march 15th, late evening

⊕ march 15th, late evening

⊕ march 15th, late evening

⊕ march 15th, late evening

⊕ march 15th, late evening