[Daiyu] Rest

[Tahrro Gao Zhai]

Her question made him pause to consider. For someone who had immediate answers to most anything, Tahrro found that he had never given this sufficient thought. Instantly, he realized she was right, which raised another alarm signal. Had he become such a coward over the years? Just as quickly he reasoned it wasn’t about the when but the who. Even if he had gone a long time without placing his trust in someone, that didn’t mean he was utterly unwilling to, just that the people in his immediate company had been unable to earn it. Admittedly, it didn’t help that life experience had elevated the evaluation bar with some exaggeration. “It is, but I was considering other forms of bravery.” There was an emotional aspect to the bravery she had pointed out and he was least willing to risk on that front nowadays, unless the other person could convince him otherwise without trying.

The recklessness of revealing personal things to others he sometimes presented rather unhindered was alarmingly present now that he was talking to Daiyu. It was a direct consequence of the harmless, light joking but completely honest way she answered his questions and posed the few of her own. He studied the challenge her features suggested with light consideration and sharp eyes that were not without the hint of a smile. “True,” he admitted, and usually, there would be many rules. “But even the most practiced gamemaker sometimes comes across a participant he’s willing to widen the boundaries for. If he’s surprised when the extra space is used, it’s more of a reflexive reaction rather than actual disapproval.” His eyebrow rose the slightest bit and with that he looked away, privately faintly amused by something.

Her comment immediately drew a generous smile from him, amusement glinting in his eyes. “You should appreciate my fair play, I could have kept the knowledge to myself and struck quietly at a most opportune time.” As was his style when dealing with opponents of the foulest make. He watched her cradle the sculpture in her palm for critical evaluation. He had an advantage over benders who sculpted on a whim in the fact that he made a hobby of it, although his material was usually clay. The figurines he crafted were sometimes offered as gifts to people who impressed, helped or otherwise stood out in his eyes somehow. “Thank you,” he accepted like a modest artist, dipping his head minimally to accompany her role.

Daiyu crossed her legs as if in pose preparation to answer his question. He respected her reflectiveness with silence but did not draw his gaze away, instead silently inspecting the smoothness of her complexion and the shade of gold in her eyes. When she spoke, he listened with genuine interest and noted her young recklessness and desire to experience it anew. When she peered his way his eyes were attentive and shrouded in consideration. “Yes,” he answered instantly and simply. “It’s always better when I come across someone who enjoys answering,” his eyes narrowed briefly, painting her as one of those people. He was naturally probing, curious and secretly desiring limitless access when it came to other people, favor he was willing to extend right back if the flow was right. He had nothing to hide, just things to withhold from people who didn’t inspire him to share the insight. Sometimes he even made special effort to be more open, but it was never fun when he had to force himself.

He got up then to stretch his legs into a brief advance towards the water before turning around and coming to stand before her, hands pushed into his pockets. “You have one more question to answer, and depending on your choice, you may get an invitation or you may not.” There was the slightest tease in his tone and his eyes were as calm and cool as the sea. “You may not find a whole herd of komodo rhinos, but you do come across four and of these, one is close to the color of obsidian, with wild eyes and imposing stance. You can immediately tell this rhino would pose a constant fight for dominance, its wild need for freedom making the prospect of taming it rather bleak and the danger of tackling it quite high. The second is of lusterless color, a dull gray that shades towards brown. By its calm stance and quietly watchful eyes you can instantly tell this rhino would accept any rider so long as its not mistreated. It would be a faithful mount, perhaps of higher intelligence than usual, it could even prove useful in moments of danger if overall dull in aspect and character. The third one is of a light grey shade that almost shines. This rhino seems to be manageable only if it receives the best food, constant attention and grooming. A prized beauty with many demands but also many advantages if the demands are met. The last one is a queer thing. Grey with patches of a darker shade, it stares at you with unnerving eyes. You can’t tell if it would welcome you one moment or impale you the next. There’s no way of knowing if it would be the most useful companion you could come across or the end of you if you lowered your guard. So. Which of these would you chose to try to have as a personal mount and travel companion?”

[Daiyu Luó]

Daiyu idly bobbed her head to the side in consideration of Tahrro's words. Was there even more than one form of bravery? It all came from the same place, she believed. Courage was courage. It might reveal itself in different aspects of a person's life, but it was the same thing. "I think bravery in one way is the same as another," she said, partially thinking aloud. "No matter what, you're putting yourself in a situation that scares you. That's not a quality that just completely disappears from one circumstance to another." Even if it was more prominent at one time over another, it still existed. It was there, lurking underneath, always.

The notion of Tahrro keeping the fact that he was a waterbender to himself in order to retain an advantage over her earned him an entertained scoff. "And what would you do, splash some water on me? Ruin my hair a little?" she smirked. He wasn't the first waterbender she had ever met, nor would he likely be the last, and Daiyu had found that she enjoyed playfully bantering with the majority of them. There had always been a bit of instinctive rivalry between the types of benders, each sure that theirs was the best, and especially so between opposing elements. Firebenders were notoriously the worst of the bunch when it came to this. Daiyu, while not being particularly fond of waterbending, certainly respected it and the power it held... but she still liked to give waterbenders a bit of a hard time, and was prepared for whenever they did the same to her.

Daiyu's attention followed Tahrro as he stood, her chin slightly lifted in order to properly look at him. "The second," Daiyu replied, this time with little consideration. "The first and fourth sound interesting, and they would be fun to mess with, but to travel with?" She gave a brief shake of her head. "I would rather have a friend with me than someone I couldn't be sure I could trust." A light grin poked at her lips. "And the third just sounds like a snob." She couldn't know which was the correct answer in his mind, but she had answered honestly and that was all she could really do. She wouldn't stress over answering a certain way, although whatever invitation he was talking about was enough to intrigue her. "Did I pass?" Daiyu asked, one eyebrow raised curiously.

[Tahrro Gao Zhai]

“I disagree, based on the thought that what scares someone doesn’t necessarily scare another.” There were very distinct forms bravery could take, in his mind. “Let’s take the example of trusting others. I’m sure you’ve come across people whose trust was easier to gain than others’ and that may be because some of them were braver about it, or it could be because the risk taken was of different proportion to them. For someone naturally more superficial who doesn’t get significantly impacted by having a friend turn his back on them, since they have many friends and people need not be present permanently but are more like occasional passengers on the various trams the person in question rides on. On the other hand, someone who invests his trust into another in a significant, bonded, constant and deep way, because that’s how they naturally approach relationships with others, will suffer quite a shock at having that trust betrayed. Between the two, there’s a different level of bravery required to offer that trust in the first place, just because of what it means to the people giving it. You could say that about bravery that focuses on physical risk. Some people are more tolerant to pain and discomfort than others, actually, I’ve even met people who enjoyed the same kinds of pains others would have been completely shaken to endure. So the courage needed to face the same risk in a situation that could lead to said pain would be different between the person who actively seeks it and the one who would be traumatized to experience it.” Give the waterbender an actual subject for debate and he couldn’t stop himself from thoroughly expressing his thoughts.


Tahrro humored her with a half-smile but took his gaze away to watch the sea. “I was taking about a circumstance where we would have been mortal enemies. What I would have done, were we actual enemies, wouldn’t have necessarily involved my bending at all. The whole point was to keep the knowledge of our enemy status away from your notice.” He let a few moments of silence pass between them, then glanced at her from the corner of a lazy eye. “I could still splash some water on you and ruin your hair a little even if you’re aware of the possibility.” And she could reply by burning his shirt off, if she was impulsive. Tahrro definitely didn’t envy her destructive power but there was no other form of bending he actively disliked. Although he felt the rivalry between benders of different elements, he didn’t exactly feel as if he belonged to a team.

His expression remained quietly contemplative as she reasoned through her answer, one corner of his lips curving up slightly when she considered the third to be a snob, which as far as the metaphor went, was a perfectly good interpretation. To reply to her question, he mirrored her earlier evaluative posture, the one she had used to consider the now melting sky bison of ice, then allowed a small huff of amusement and gave her a half-smile. “Yes, and although there is a shortage of komodo rhinos in Republic City, so far as I’m aware of, I do have another activity in mind. There’s a certain dance club that focuses on combining modern dance style with mixed martial arts near the Orchid Lounge. One of their competitors, as it is.“ It was the style where you could get a kick in the head if you didn’t coordinate adequately to your partner’s movements. “I was wondering if you would like to go and try it out with me.” Tahrro had already been there on occasion but his parings had always been random and not all that successful. “I’m sure it won’t match your komodo rhino riding experience, but we’ve just met. I’m politely keeping the near death scenarios for a time we’d be better acquainted.”