[Chase] False Sense of Safety

[Sazra Peo]

Chase dodged just in time and Sazra issued a sigh of relief, her eyes trained like a cobra’s on the suffocating thug. When the big lump fell to the ground, swallowed up by unconsciousness, she felt satisfaction and the brief impulse to kill him while he was out, but the darkness died quickly. Sazra had never killed anyone, nor did she think she had it in her, not even considering all the legal implication such an act could have. Jagh would wake up eventually and she didn’t relish the thought that he knew where she lived. Him and his gang would make sure to expand their efforts of making difficulty for her family, if nothing worse. She felt lucky that none of them were helpless, although her mother’s ability to protect herself was questionable, but it wasn’t like the woman graced the outdoors with her presence much these years.

Sazra’s thought bubble popped when Chase tenderly took her arm, a new wave of blood trickling from the wound, down her elbow, to the ground. Without meaning to she winced, pain more powerful than before now that her body was relaxing and every muscle and tendon in her arm tensing in exchange. It could have been in your back, she thought as he commented on its stretch, but smiled peacefully to herself, glad it was across her arm. It had been such a spontaneous action, she wouldn’t have known she had it in her to leap in harm’s way for a stranger before. He had done the same, taking the boulder head on where it would have crashed into her skull. If there had ever been a moment’s regret in gaining the wound, it was all gone now. Just reliving the experience of being considered worth protecting would be worth a couple more of these. She stared at the wound as Chase dug through his pack, for the first time ever realizing just how insignificant she was in everyone’s life. Everyone she knew, that was. From all of the people she kept company with, she thought not one of them would have reacted the way Chase had. The way a stranger had. Sazra didn’t know if she should smile with gladness or cry for the pathetic way she related to others.

He brought up a slip of folded fabric and she was holding her wrist with her other hand, feeling her wounded arm would drop limply if left without support. “I’ll be fine. Just wrap it up before I faint from blood loss,” she said lightly, joking seriously, a sparkle in her eyes. For someone who had just been cut across the arm she was remarkably cheery. It was just so lovely to be worried about. “I have to say you put up quite a fight. You clearly haven’t been wasting your life.” He was as talented a fighter as she had ever seen, and quite handy to have around. She loathed to think what could have happened had he been a defenseless non-bender. “Looks like friendly sparring will have to wait for a day when I’m not so… bleeding,” she chuckled but for a moment actually felt faint. Her cream top was scarlet and a small puddle of blood had formed on the ground since she had removed the arm from her chest. If only she were drunk, so she could give some semblance of sense to her good mood.

“So,” she started, cheer dulling some as she stared into space. “Aren’t you going to ask me why they knew me?” Her golden eyes rose up to see his crimson ones, those strange orbs.

[Chase Sato]

Unfolding the cloth, he listened to her request and wrapped up her arm, making sure it was tight enough to stop the bleeding. "You might need to seal off the wound somehow, like stitches or something." he said finishing tying it up, dropping his hands back down to his sides. He had been injured like that before, in a fight with another boy in his swordsmanship class. By the end of it they were both cut up very badly, and as a lesson their master didn't give them any care, telling them that they're stupid enough to get into the situation they either died, or figured out how to live. Of course he wouldn't have let them died, but wanted to teach them a lesson. Chase ended up cauterizing his wounds shut with his bending, and though momentarily painful, actually worked very well. There were still scars all over his torso from that day.

"Ya i've been training since I was six." it was a young age to start training, but his parents didn't know what to do with the overly hyper and aggressive child. "You didn't do too badly yourself." if she hadn't had gotten injured, she probably would have been able to finish off that leader thug on her own. Putting his pack back on his shoulder, he smiled and shook his head at her comment. "No, but how about that drink. Or did you want to find someone to take a look at that?" If that was the case he would probably stay with her until she found help then go for a drink. He had gotten into the habit of doing so at the end of particularly grueling day.

Chase shook his head again "Why would I? It's your business. Tell me if you want, but I don't care either way." he was kind of curious, but he didn't want to outright just ask her about it. It may be a touchy subject.

[Sazra Peo]

The cloth pressed hard into her wound, immediately getting stained. Sazra bit her lip, a little too hard, her eyes strained with pain. It would be nasty scar, luckily she didn’t plan on being in the entertainment business forever. She could hide it at work under silk gloves, but it would be just a matter of time before someone noticed and replaced her with a whole model. Not that she expected them to outright fire her, but they could give her fewer and fewer shifts until they might as well have. That’s how you got rid of employees on cosmetic basis. “Yeah, I should,” she agreed, watching him work with a little smile, wincing occasionally when he applied pressure to make the bandage tight.

“I burned my dresser down when I was six,” she remembered, piping in after his reply, appearing slightly amused. No one had been hurt but a lot of clothes had needed to be replaced, much to her father’s financial despair. She had always been such an expensive child. “I could use some real battle training. Haven’t done anything but Pro Bending style for quite a few years now.” And there people didn’t try to impale you on rocky spears shot from the ground. Attacks weren’t even allowed to surpass a second. Anything that required more was grounds for warning flags. “Unless you count bender wars, but people don’t use attacks that might kill you there either.” And until recently she hadn’t had much trouble with the local gangs.

His smile held subtle charm and she drew her arm back, lightly testing the bandage with her other hand. “Thank you and sorry for being such a bait for trouble today,” she let slip a little laugh. The wounded flesh pulsed underneath, burning and hurting, screaming from the abuse. The wise thing to do was seek help while the dumber option would be postponing it for the promise of a drink and more of Chase’s company. There was no competition or debate to be had really. “A drink sounds good, I’ll live,” she accepted easily, then glanced around at the unconscious thugs. “We should probably go before they wake up.” She had had enough aggressive excitement for one day. Hopefully trouble wouldn’t follow them into the restaurant.

He seemed impressively disinterested in the matter she had brought up, so much so that she didn’t know if to take it as complete indifference or a heightened awareness of how not to pry. Sazra wondered this as she assessed him from the corner of one eye, already walking away from the scene of their fight, ready to leave the dark alley behind. Eventually she gave a little shrug and looked ahead, her eyes lazy with memories from another time. “Those guys were from the Triple Threat Triad, I used to date one of them,” she recalled emotionlessly. “I didn’t know when I first met him and they were introduced to me as his friends. When I did find out I turned a blind eye,” she looked up at the sky. “I thought I was so in love with that guy, the thought of seeming against his little crowd didn’t cross my mind.” It didn’t help that she had been at a rebellious age and saw the world through pink glasses. What they were doing didn’t seem that awful and the guy she had liked had had that deliciously bad aura about him.

She looked to the ground, fingers lightly running across her makeshift bandage. “He died in a cross gang fight and I left. They’ve been trying to recruit me back ever since.” She shrugged a little again. “Not that I was ever actually a part of it all, but apparently in their book you’re either in or you’re out and no one leaves if they get in.” She gestured vaguely to the side. “Stupid, wasn’t I?” She smiled a mirthless smile.

[Chase Sato]

"Well maybe once your arm gets better I can teach you the basics for self defense.." he offered. He was surprised that she wasn't already, self defense was one of the first things he was taught. It was usually better to defend yourself the be offensive anyways. But with today's situation, it might be best that she learn both. These thugs were going to come after her as well. He felt kind of bad, his master always told him not to resolve conflicts with violence, only when necessary. He just got caught up in the moment. It's not like these thugs would have listened to reason anyways, it was clear their intentions right off the bat were to be aggressive. He had a feeling that no amount of reason would have stopped a fight from happening between them. He knew the thought of fighting gang members would make his mother cringe, but it's not like he was going to walk away from the situation like she would have wanted him to.

Chase nodded his orange locks as she suggested they leave. These guys were going to be waking up at any moment, and he didn't want a repeat of what just happened. Fighting may be exhilarating, but he didn't itch for it, and certainly didn't go looking for fights. Starting down the alley he didn't really know where he was going, just trying to put distance between them and their enemies. It wouldn't be smart to go to a bar nearby, so they would have to walk for a little to get their drinks. More towards the center of town would probably be the best, where it's most crowded. Even though he was easy to pick out of a crowd, with his unique colored hair.

He listened to her tell her story as they walked. So she had gotten involved with one of the gang members, and they were trying to recruit her into the gang, probably because she already knew a fair amount about them. "We all make stupid decisions. It's how we deal with them is what shapes us." he said, quoting the words of his master. He had heard them so many times, and felt like it was the right thing to say. There was no use in beating yourself up over things that have already happened. The only thing you can do is work towards bettering yourself so it didn't happen again.

[Sazra Peo]

Sazra’s mouth fell open, appalled. “Oh come on, I’m not THAT untrained,” she replied, eyes a little wider than before. “I said I haven’t for a while, not that I hadn’t ever at all!” She would have died in the first few moments of confrontation if that had been true. Had she really looked that unskilled? It ruffled her ego, not in a good way. She sighed, trying to recover. “I appreciate your offer, but do prepare something more advanced for the lesson. All I really need is practice,” she gave a little smile. That and learning how to work in a team with him. It took a while for people to figure out each other’s rhythm, learn how to cooperate. It was where little team practice pro benders failed, as they didn’t devote enough attention to their coordination.

“How we deal with them, huh?” She echoed back, her eyes trained on the path. How was she dealing with it? By getting into fights and dragging strangers along for the beating. She was sure she had seen bits of the bounder collide with parts of Chase. She wondered just how extensive the bruising would be, as he didn’t seem to have had anything broken. “Are you okay?” She asked with that thought in mind, realizing she had been so caught with the distraction of her own pain she had not thought to ask.

It wasn’t long before they were out of the alley, its darkness left behind. They seemed to be under an unspoken agreement of heading towards city center, as far away from secluded corners of Republic City as they could wander. “They’ll hunt you down now, you know,” she glanced at him from the corner of a slightly worried eye. A slightly guilty eye. If they attacked him again it would be her fault. Spotting a restaurant she knew had particularly tasty non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages alike, she pointed to it. “There! You have to try their cocktails, the best in the city.” She was doing a poor job at advertising her own workplace, she thought in retrospect. Her eyes darkened once, the ground momentarily swept from under her feet but she didn’t lose balance.

Walking on as if nothing had happened, she focused on keeping to a straight line. “Chase, do you have any siblings?”

[Chase Sato]

As soon as the words left his lips, he knew he hadn't worded that the way he had wanted. Of course she could defend herself, they just fought side by side. he probably offended her. Well her skill was definitely above average, but pro bending probably helped with that. "No no, why did I say basics" a small sigh escaped his lips at his stupidity. "Of course you know the basics." He said, laughing mildly at his mistake. "And don't worry, I'll make sure the skill level is way above basic." He hoped that she was a quick learner though, he had little patience for teaching. "I need to practice too, its been a while since I've practiced with anyone." He actually looked forward to this lesson, that is once she was healed. It would be fun exchanging different styles.

Her question was a little late, but she probably just got around to thinking about it, injuries to affect your mind along with your body. He hadn't taken notice of it until she mentioned it, but he was sore from where the rocks had collided with him. But it wasn't anything close to as bad as her injury. "I'm fine." he assured her. Though he would be housing some nice bruises later, but he was very used to those from his training.

"I kind of figured that. That's the way gangs work, right?" he joked trying to lighten the air. "Don't worry about it, i'll be fine." She probably felt responsible, but he had been the one to decide to help her. He could have walked away and not gotten involved, but that's not the kind of person he was. He didn't regret his decision, either. "And don't blame yourself." he told her sternly, seeing that look in her eye. "It's not you who made me fight, I did it on my own."

To be honest, a cocktail didn't sound that allurung to the young man. He wanted a nice strong drink, something that burned on the way down. Hopefully this place had something like that. If not, he would settle with cocktails. Following her, he put his hands in his pockets as they walked. "Yah, I have a sister. She's ten and is a huge brat, but what kid isn't. She's way better then I was at her age." She was also a lot more mature, it scared him sometimes how fast she grew up. "How about you?"

[Sazra Peo]

She gave him a little pat on the shoulder to make light of his brain slip. “Don’t worry, I do that too, but usually worse than that.” She could hardly keep track of how many times she’d said something without actually fully thinking what she was saying. Whenever it happened to her, it was at the most inappropriate of times, usually landing her in trouble or upsetting someone. At least he didn’t think she was completely helpless! He assured her no significant damage was caused by the impact with the bits of rock and she exhaled a breath she hadn’t noticed she had been preserving. In any case, he was right, she needed to train more so something like this wouldn’t repeat itself. Thinking back on how her injury had happened, it was more of an attitude problem. Instead of fully recognizing her role within a team, she had started fighting as if on her own, employing dodges where she needed to hold her ground. If she had started out thinking she couldn’t abandon her position, perhaps neither of them would have gotten injured.

He told her not to worry and she stopped doing just that. It wasn’t in her nature to think about the future too much and definitely not in a negative light. Even if they did search for him, maybe they wouldn’t even find him. It was a big city. Chase insisted she shouldn’t blame herself and she watched from the corner of an eye for a few breaths. You’re wrong, she thought, taking her gaze away and thinking back, but saying nothing. Simply by being beside her, Chase had never had the option of walking away. Jagh wouldn’t have allowed him to step out of that alley. It was more probably for sky bison to suddenly start waterbending than for that vindictive oaf to erase an opportunity of hurting her. “Okay,” was all she could say.

A cocktail sounded very alluring to Sazra. The cocktails she had in mind would burn a hole through your throat and probably kill plenty of brain cells. “No,” she replied, perhaps a little too quickly, after getting the question turned on her. Her little brother was dead, in retrospect, she should have thought better of asking. With new eagerness she ran the last few steps to the restaurant, pulling the door open with her good arm and stepping in, holding the door just briefly so he could take it and not have it slam in his face. Outside the sun was fading from the sky, shrouding the city in shadows.

The atmosphere inside the locale was warm and cozy. The air smelled sweet of liquor and candy. Straight ahead, a long bar of cherry wood sported glasses, complimentary leechy nuts, an ice cream machine at one end and a cupcake display case on the other. Sazra chose to sit near the cupcakes, all vibrantly colored and looking like they came straight out of rainbows. She waved to the bartender. “A Kyoshi Island Hot Rock please, and a mint flavored cupcake.” The man nodded, and pressed a menu across the bar to Chase. The cocktails Sazra had been lauding were mostly alcoholic, some of them combinations you would be crazy to try because of their potential effects. “So,” she turned to him, eyelids somewhat lowered, “how well can you hold your liquor?”

[Chase Sato]

He have a slight chuckle "Ya, me too." He was glad to hear that he wasn't the only one who was socially awkward. He never really had many friends growing up and was very much the loner, always off on his own, usually training. Sure he had 'friends' back home, but it was a loose term. They grew up together, but he didn't feel any emotional attachment to them like friends should. His master was his friend, but that was about it. Him and his little sister. Kind of sad when he thought about it. His only friends were his sister and an old teacher. He knew that he needed to make friends, but he didn't want them to be just... people. They had to be special in some way, have that kind of personality. He wouldn't be able to spend any amount of extended time with anyone who annoyed him a lot.

The way she answered the question made it seem like there was more to her answer then she was letting on, but he didn't press the subject. He didn't like to be bugged about that kind of personal stuff, so he wasn't one to really pry when it came to those types of situations. Plus he didn't want to stir up potentially bad memories, they were supposed to be relaxing, not bringing up bad feelings.

It was pretty nice inside, the atmosphere was relaxing, which was quite a contrast to what most bars were like in this city. It was like a candy store for adults. His crimson eyes darted around, trying to take in as much as possible. He sat next to her, eyeing down the pile of cupcakes. They looked so good, but there were so many. Did they really sell all of those before they went bad? He wondered for a moment how much of this place was just for show and wasn't afraid to be wasteful. But a lot of places were like that in the city.

He thought about what he wanted, and couldn't settle on anything, "Same as her." he told the bartender. He didn't really want a cocktail, but he didn't want to hold things up with deciding on an order either. It was just easiest this way. Plus that drink sounded pretty interesting. "Umm.. honestly? Not very well..." he admitted with a small laugh. He had always been a lightweight.

[Sazra Peo]

Sazra’s awkwardness had more to do with her impulsivity and lack of thoughtfulness. Sometimes she said things without thinking. While not especially socially awkward, she had no genuine relationships with people around her, always keeping them just that arm’s length away, without even realizing it, until just recently. There was no substance she could call on in her friendships and her lovers recently were casual things and she was just starting to note her loneliness. With no idea how to shift the situation, she took everything one step at a time. Like right now. She thought she was doing a great job at not hitting on Chase just because he was handsome and skilled and male. Actually managing to last through a conversation and sharing things about herself felt… novel, but pleasant.

The female of the two firebenders quite enjoyed this adults’ candyland. It was her third favorite place, after the Pro Bending Arena and the Orchid Lounge. Sazra’s eyebrows arched just slightly when he confessed being rather easily affected by alcoholic drinks. “Well, then you shouldn’t have mimicked my order,” she chuckled, carefully setting her bandaged arm on the counter, looking forward to the strong alcoholic mix to dull the pain. She stared at his eyes, for the first time getting a good opportunity to study their color. Such strange eyes.

“Have you ever thought about what sort of career you’ll pursue in life?” She looked away then, her eyes studying the cupcakes. “I’ve always thought I’d be a pro bender, but I wonder if that can actually be called a profession.” With her good hand, she flipped a hard crumb off the bar counter. “My father doesn’t approve, he wants me to have a real job.” She rolled her eyes. “Or get married,” she chuckled. As if she would ever accept the thought of being a little housewife dependent on her husband.

[Chase Sato]

Chase shrugged "Oh well, i'll deal with it." he said back. He wasn't big on drinking, but he knew his limits. But tonight he didn't really care about his limits, he just wanted to get drunk and forget about what just happened. Having a good time was his goal of the evening, and he had the perfect company to achieve that goal. Sazra had proved herself to be a very interesting person, and seemed like she would be a fun person to party with. Not that he had ever 'partied' before, but there was no time like the present to start.

The bartender delivered their drinks and cupcakes, the smell of both invading his nose almost right away. He could tell that the drink was strong just from the way it burned his nose a little. She wasn't kidding. Well a few of these should do the trick. He took a gulp of the drink before answering, enjoying the burning sensation as the liquid ran down his throat. "No, I haven't really. I don't want to either, I'm actually pretty happy with how my life is now." he answered confidently, taking another drink. "I would consider pro bending a profession. You make money off it, right? It doesn't really matter what you're doing, as long as you're making money while you're doing it, it's a job." that's at least how he would categorize it.

"Parents just want what's best for their kids..." he said in response to her comment about her father. He was going to expand and tell her that he was in a similar situation with his parents, but he didn't really want to talk about his home life quite yet. He had been doing such a good job keeping it from his mind. But his parents also wanted a different path for him then the one he was on.