[Zian] Unintentionally Cold Greeting

[Neela Ning Rui]

Neela sat at a table in the ice cream parlor, five colorful scoops of the delicious dessert towering on the rather small cone provided. Maybe they were made with few scoops in mind. Well, she wasn’t going to apologize for her appetite. Seated rather close to the main path people took to go in and out of the shop, she stared dazedly into the distance, slowly melting from the hotness that pressed through the window from outside despite her refreshing snack.

It didn’t take her long to forget the heat, however, images swirling before her eyes and getting her distracted. She could see Fuki, all red cheeked and nervous as she talked to Luko, the pro bending firebender she had fallen for. Neela missed her best friend, now an Air Acolyte who, despite the rather short distance from Republic City, didn’t visit as often as the earthbender would have liked. She could also see Farruk, the pro bending waterbender, five years her senior, she had had the longest unrequited affection for. Although more than a year had passed since she had last brought her dramatic sentiments into his life and found he was to marry someone else, she could still see him in every place she went.

Her father had died three weeks ago and since he had, she found herself rummaging through the past every free moment her mind found to think, but she was no longer remembering him, but other people, like Farruk. She wanted him to reassure her, like he had done so often in the past, that everything was going to be okay, that her mother wouldn’t be forever stained with grief, that she wouldn’t wake up every day to remember she was no longer exactly welcome at the police station. All of these years she had considered herself a private sidekick for her father and when he made an arrest and told its tale, she felt a part of it indirectly. Now there was no one to keep her briefed on Republic City crime and the days seemed that more quiet.

Neela hadn’t noticed she had stopped eating from her ice cream tower and even tilted it somewhat to the side. It wasn’t until she felt the sugary load lighten in her grasp that she snapped out of her trance, her gaze trailing down to where two scoops of ice cream had dropped, straight on someone foot. “Oops.”

[Zian Chen]

Wow was it ever a hot day! On the island it wasn't too bad, they were surrounded by the water and if offered a cool breeze once in a while. But the tall buildings sheltered the city from the ocean's cooling winds. And the heat of the machines of this industrial city served to only rise the temperature further. Today Zian had been sent to City hall to drop off some papers again, as he had been doing for a few weeks now. Now that he was older, the other Acolytes decided that he was old enough to do tasks on his own. They also knew that the boy needed to do some discovery on his own, having been brought up in a sheltered life on the island. The elders would send him to city hall for a task, then tell him to spend the rest of the day in the city. What he would do was up to him.

Even with the heat, the streets were still crowded, but most were trying to take cover in some sort of shade. His acolyte clothing was light and airy, but even that wouldn't keep him from getting hot. He needed to cool off... His brown eyes scanned the area, resting on a crowded store. An ice cream store. Well this weather must be good for business. He smiled at he made his way to the shop, thinking about what kinds he would want.

While standing in line, though, he felt an odd weight fall onto his foot, and looked down to see a rainbow pile of melting ice cream on his shoe. He laughed as she said oops. "Oh no, you lost your snack!" he said, not caring about his shoe. That could be cleaned easily. Seeing the spill, a young waitress rushed over and cleaned it up with a rag, offering one to Zian to clean his shoe. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, cleaning off his shoe, handing the rag back to the waitress. Turning back to the girl with the now empty cone, he laughed again at the site of it. "Would you like another? I can get it for you." he said, a grin still on his face. Maybe he could make a friend out of this situation.