[Tahrro]Special Delivery

[Yu Lan Tao]

Yu Lan didn't tell her boss about the run-in she'd had in the Dragon Flats district the night before. Maybe if she had, he wouldn't have sent her back there today. But in the daylight, things were different. She was in and out of just about every area of the city during the day. One little tussle one random night wasn't something to go and get all worked up about. She was fine. Her bandaged arm was hidden under a sleeve today. She knew it wouldn't be long before it was fully healed.

She sped into the district on her motorbike, thinking only fleetingly about the encounter the night before. With a bit of a smile, she wondered what it must have been like for those thugs; waking up all beaten and bruised in the middle of the night, stumbling home in shame. She was proud, even if it had been that Tahrro guy that had done all the work.

Bringing the motorbike to a stop in front of a small tailor shop, Yu Lan let the engine die as she pushed her goggles up onto her forehead. Gao flapped down onto her shoulder, squawking a few times before jumping over to the handlebars. Yu Lan gave the bird a quick tap on the beak before pulling a few packages from the basket on the back of the bike and walking into the tailor's shop.

Not much time later, she came walking out of the shop with a generous tip in hand. She'd seen a small record shop around the corner as she came driving up and thought she'd take a moment to peek in and see if they had anything new she might like. With a whistle, she called Gao to her shoulder and was on her way.

Just as she reached the corner, another body came barreling around it, slamming straight into her. She was thrown off balance, but managed to catch herself on the wall before she crashed down to the ground. Gao jumped from her shoulder when she collided with the man, cawing and flapping about until Yu Lan was standing again and he was able to settle on her once again.

"Hey watch it buddy-" Yu Lan barely finished the sentence when she recognized who she'd just run into. Her eyes widened, and then blinked a few times in surprise as he spoke.

"Heh, not really." she replied to his question with a small smile of her own. "I can't seem to take a step around here without some kind of fuss."There was a silence for a moment, where Yu Lan scratched at the back of her neck, not really sure what to say.

"Sorry." she finally managed. "I wasn't really paying attention. I guess I should work on that..."

[Tahrro Gao Zhai]

“That’s kind of the norm around here,” he added to her talk of fuss. “I can barely go one day without running into some kind of trouble but it’s cheap living. Balancing the good with the bad…” He had no idea why he was making casual conversation instead of allowing her to return to her work and being on his way.

“Have you had any more trouble with the local gangs? They’re persistent, especially if they don’t get their way.” The thugs that had approached her the previous evening were fresh starters, Tahrro hoped they were disorganized and poor enough to not make extravagant revenge plans for their bruised egos. “And are you okay? Don’t worry about it, it was my fault, for walking so fast when approaching corners.”

As they stood there, a rush of wind tumbled through the street, taking leaves and trash with it, tossing an open newspaper on Tahrro’s chest. With some amusement, he peeled it off, but one of the headlines caught his eye. “Looks like there’s going to be a band performing in City Central tonight,” he informed without meaning to necessarily. Although he wasn’t an avid consumer of music, he did enjoy it. “The Birds and Buffalo Yaks, ever heard of them?” He hadn’t, it was either something local or he was very behind on his bands. The latter was more probable.

He folded the newspaper and tore his gaze away from it, looking back to her. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t keep you from your rounds,” he said, tightening his hold on the backpack on his shoulder, noting a little pain in his side from the collision. The sun was shining almost straight in his eyes and he lifted a hand to shield them from it. After going to the gym, he decided he would give City Central a visit and attend this free live performance. It had been so long since he had last sat down for some actual entertainment.

[Yu Lan Tao]

"Nah, I've kept my nose clean." Yu Lan said. "I don't think they're quite as brave when the sun is up. I'll just make sure I'm outta here before sundown." She certainly had learned that lesson. Yu Lan rarely worked late, and now she had a really good reason not to. She planned on sticking with that.

"I'm fine." she reassured when Tahrro asked. "No harm no foul." There was more silence between them and Yu Lan could sense how awkward it was. She hadn't expected to ever see this guy again. It was a big city, after all. Aside from those people she saw regularly from work, Yu Lan was fairly certain she hadn't seen the same person twice since she'd arrived. But now here was this wanterbender guy, two times in less than 24 hours.

A newspaper got blown into Tahrro's chest and he scanned it then mentioned a band. Yu Lan hadn't heard of the band and so shook her head when he asked. He then folded up the paper and mentioned letting her get back to work.

"Right." she said. "And I'm sure you're... busy." She gestured to his gym bag. "Well, good seeing you? And umm... thanks again for your help last night. Real life saver."

She was stepping around him, shuffling sideways. Once around, she gave an awkward wave and turned to walk away. Gao turned his head and managed a quick "TA!" before Yu Lan rounded the corner and was gone.

The record shop was just a few doors down. When Yu Lan stepped inside, she wandered for a moment, her head in a daze at that second chance encounter. She didn't even notice the salesperson approach.

"Can I help you miss?" he asked, a wide grin on his face.

"Hmm? Oh umm...." Yu Lan didn't really know what she was looking for. Her eyes scanned over the shop, as if something might catch her interest. "Do you have anything by.... The... Birds and the Buffalo Yaks?" What could it hurt to give it a try?