A few weeks passed since the explosion, and Rika managed to convince Kiara to stay with her, and Fang with Haki. She felt a little bad for Fang. She didn't believe anyone could live with the firebender, however; he would most likely not be around or was capable of handling his own. She could have housed both of them, but Haki was insistant on sharing his abode as well. She, of course, had immediately said no when he suggested Kiara stay with him, and for obvious reasons. Well, that and she didn't trust him, even after knowing him for so long. Perhaps that was why. She shifted in her spot, a tea pot in one hand, and a cup in the other.
She poured the tea slowly, watching as the steam rose from the cup and placed it down on the table. She needed to go to the market for a few groceries. She'd forgotten what it was like having more than just herself to feed, and though she was more than happy to have Kiara along, she needed to remind herself that she did have another person to feed. And two fire ferrets, who were currently missing. She shook her head faintly and smiled. Jiao and San were probably with Kiara, as they'd taken to curling around the girl when she was around, and hardly left her side. The soft mewling, however, caught her attention as Jiao appeared, swishing her tail slightly before climbing Rika's shoulder.
"Good morning to you too," she stated, scratching the fireferret's chin before making her way to the living room, blinking slightly as she spotted Kiara. "And good morning to you," she stated, handing the extra cup in her hand over to Kiara. She offered her friend a smile and sipped at her tea. "I need to go into town in a bit, do you want to come?" she asked, figuring she would invite Kiara along. If she agreed, they could probably do other tidbits of shopping. She knew she could use a new shirt, the one she was wearing was already sporting a hole in it.
Kiara grinned and accepted the tea gratefully. Sheād been happy to pitch in for groceries where she could, but there was no mistaking that they ran out faster with the both of them eating most of their meals here. Thankfully, they could split cooking duties, so in a way, that made up for the inconvenience of it. Actually, it was really nice, living with another person again. Kiara could get by just fine on her own, but she did like being around other people in her daily life, especially those sheād come to trust, and Rika was certainly in that number. Sipping at the tea, she used her free hand to gently pet the fire ferret in her lap, who was currently snoozing quite comfortably there. Sheād managed to retrieve her fish from the pond, and they currently occupied a small tank on the windowsill, swimming happily, or so it seemed, through their new environment.
Given that the fire had consumed most of what little she owned, she was in serious need of both clothes and other miscellaneous supplies. All sheād really managed to save besides the fish were a few vital keepsakes from childhood, her Midwinter gifts from the others, and a spare change of clothes, all of which had either been in her satchel already or were easily reached and shoved inside. The fire had claimed everything else, and replacements were in order. Thankfully, she had just enough money saved that she should be able to purchase replacements for everything if she was frugal about it.
āI think thatās an excellent idea,ā she replied brightly, her smile softening to something more moderate, but still cheerful. She was taking the loss of most of her worldly possessions quite well, really, especially once sheād found out that the majority of the apartmentās occupants, including her former landlord, had survived the incident, due to the efforts of the firefighters, along with a bit of help from Fang. Not everyone, butā¦ most everyone, and that was something to be grateful for, she supposed. Not an hour after the whole thing had happened, a video had taken over all the public screens in the city, showing the masked figure of Amon, the enigmatic Equalist leader, and heād claimed credit for the attack, asserting that it was a demonstration of power. Perhaps heād succeeded; the Council was certainly paying much more attention to the Equalists now. On some level, Kiara even understood themābut there was no excusing the methods they were using to make themselves heard.
Shaking the thoughts off, she finished her tea and stood, placing San gently back on the sofa cushion and taking Rikaās empty cup as well, washing and drying both with a simple application of bending and then dusting her hands off on each other. āWell,ā she offered brightly, āshall we?ā
Rika smiled brightly, and finished off the rest of her tea. She pulled Jiao from her shoulder, much to the ferret's chagrin, and placed her next to San, watching as the two cuddled next to each other. She shook her head at the two before glancing back at Kiara. She was glad that the fire had not taken a heavy toll on her friend, something she suspected had actually taken a larger toll on everyone else. Even after the video from this Amon, she was a little angry about it. She knew about the Equalists, if only very vaguely, however; with the attack, she had tried to gather as much information as she could about them. All she was able to gather was that the Equalists were seeking equality amongst the world of benders.
It didn't make any sense to Rika, though. It wasn't as if all benders were trying to be tyrannical with their bending. Granted the Triad and other gangs didn't help the cause for benders, she still couldn't understand where they were coming from. Not everyone was born a bender, but wasn't that a good thing? She often wondered what it would be like if she couldn't earthbend, but the thought itself almost frightened her. It wasn't that she was afraid of not being able to bend, but more-so the fear of not being able to help because she couldn't bend. Suddenly, some of it made a little sense to her.
That still did not excuse the Equalists for going about it the way they did. She was brought out of her thoughts when Kiara returned and spoke to her. "Whenever you are!" she replied back, grabbing her bag and keys. She made her way out the door, and locked it behind her once Kiara was out. Shuffling her bag over her shoulder, she locked her arm with Kiara's and grinned. "Let's go see what we can find!" she stated, dragging Kiara a long as they headed towards the market. She stopped here and there to glance at the different objects each store had, and only stopped when something caught her attention. She did not purchase anything, even though there were a few items she saw that she wanted.
Kiara perused the market stalls with purpose. Thankfully, her upbringing had taught her a little about bartering and how to work a market, and though she got by more on her smiles and general pleasantness more than a sharklike instinct for bargaining like her mother had, she could still get things for a fair price, and that was the important part. For the most part, she kept her purchases basic, sticking to the more utilitarian, practical clothing that made sense in the hotter weather of Republic City. Well, hot by her standards, anyhow. Sheād been very uncomfortable with the amount of bare skin most of the people in the place seemed comfortable with showing when she first arrived, but sheād more or less gotten used to it now, though she still preferred modesty where possible. It was justā¦ ingrained in her.
Once the boring purchases were made, though, she found herself inside a tailor shop, fingering a green silk dress with gold embroidery. She hadnāt thought of herself when she saw it, but rather her friend. Her best friend, in all honesty. Smiling slightly to herself, she turned and waved Rika over, smiling a bit slyly. āWhat do you think, Rika? I think itād be perfect on you, really.ā The garment was a cheongsam in traditional Earth Kingdom style, but the leg slit was a little on the daring side, and the gold embroidery was patterned after a beautiful bird, wings outstretched over the fabric and glinting in the light as the fabric moved.
āYou want to try it on?ā
Rika blinked at the dress, tilting her head slightly as she inspected it. The material seemed beautiful, and the way the gold glimmered against the green, almost gave her a feeling of being homesick. It had been a while since she last heard from her family, and she was contemplating whether or not she should go visit them. She had decided against it due to the fact that she was part of the probending games, but now... she could probably spare them a visit. She shook her head, a smile spreading across her lips as she pulled the dress from its spot. She couldn't say no, even if she really didn't want to, and glanced around.
"If I have to try this one on, you have to," she began, rummaging through the dresses until she found one. "Try this one on," she stated, shoving the dress in Kiara's direction. The color itself was red, perhaps a little too red, but it would help contrast against Kiara's hair and highlight the russet in her hair. Plus, it looked like it would bring out the color of Kiara's eyes a little more. She snickered to herself, though, when she realized just who the red reminded her of and shook her head. Like the dress she held in her hands, the red one sported gold embroidery. The stitching on the back was of a dragon, cascading downwards with the mouth open where the leg split.
"I'm not going to be the only one trying on clothes," she continued, smirking at her friend as she disappeared to try the dress on.
Kiara looked down at the dress in her hands, smiling faintly and shaking her head to herself. But turnabout was fair play, and she would certainly try the thing on, as payment for Rika doing the same. Inside the little booth set up for trying on such garments, the dress slid over her like a second skin, and as she surveyed the result in the mirror, she wondered what her parents would think if they could see her now. Her mother would probably make a disparaging remark about resembling a fire Nation hussy or something, but then her mother tended to think that people going around with their arms uncovered was indecent, so really her opinion was hard to trust. Her dad would probably just shake his head and she could picture her older brotherās supportive thumbs-up as if he were right in front of her.
Because it really did look nice, she supposed. Definitely less modest than she was used to, but she felt strangelyā¦ powerful in it. Maybe it was the red. Red was a strong color, really, and it lay nicely against the tone of her skin, she thought. It seemed about as logical as any other thought, but really she didnāt know why she was considering it at allāit wasnāt like she could afford two garments of such quality, and she was pretty set on buying Rika one of the things in this store, because she wanted to thank her for just letting Kiara move in while the apartment complex was rebuilt or until she could find a new one, whichever came firstā¦ and within her budget.
She knocked politely on the door of the dressing room next to her before barging in anyway, shutting the door behind her and leaning back against it. āOhā¦ā she breathed in some surprise, āthat looks amazing on you, Rika!ā It wasnāt that she was surprised that her friend looked absolutely lovely in the thing, just that she hadnāt exactly expected such a fancy thing to suit her practical teammate so well. But it really, really did. Rika made the dress look better, and that was really saying something. Mentally, Kiara calculated how far sheād have to talk down the store owner to purchase the thing within her budget. She could definitely make it work.
Rika stared at herself in the reflection. It was a little odd, and a little unnerving, to say the least, the way the dress fitted. It was form-fitting, and felt like a glove. It was nice, and she had to admit, if she were ever one to wear dresses, this would probably be her first one. She contemplated whether or not if she should actually purchase it. She did have a little money to spare on something, however; she wanted to purchase something for her friend too. She wanted to help Kiara with whatever she needed since she still had her job at the tea shop. She had a little more income than Kiara, and where she could spare it, she wanted to do so for her friend.
She let out a startled yelp when the door to her dressing room opened, and her face turned a light shade of pink, however; it receeded when she realized it was Kiara. She pursed her lips together and blinked when Kiara spoke. Her face turned another shade of pink at her statement, further causing her lips to purse together in an embarrassed pout. She didn't receive compliments very often, and she never really considered herself even remotely pretty, but she shoved the thoughts from her mind. Instead, she focused on the dress Kiara was wearing, and the blush faded from her face, only to have a faint smirk pull at her lips.
"You're one to talk, look at you," she replied, circling her friend like a hawk circles its prey. "It looks really lovely on you, Kiara, you should get it! Then you and I can go winebending again," she stated, though she was joking about the last part. She had no intentions of ever getting that drunk again. She could barely remember what happened that night, and she was sure she and Kiara did something embarrassing, though she tried asking Haki about it. He never told her, only that it was adorable.
It was Kiaraās turn to pout then, and she sniffed as if offended, though she assuredly was not. āIām never going to live that down, am I?ā she asked with a mock sigh, but nevertheless smiling at the compliment. It would seem they both had good eyes for this sort of thingāwhen it came not to themselves, but each other. āBut you knowā¦ Iām totally buying you that dress. You deserve it, for letting me crash on your couch for the foreseeable future.ā Before any protest could be leveled, Kiara had waltzed out of the room and found the store owner, proceeding to do just that, and then head back into her changing room.
When she reemerged, it was only to discover that Rika had bought her dress as well, and she could only grin so hard she felt her face might crack. It really was nice, having a friend like this.
She poured the tea slowly, watching as the steam rose from the cup and placed it down on the table. She needed to go to the market for a few groceries. She'd forgotten what it was like having more than just herself to feed, and though she was more than happy to have Kiara along, she needed to remind herself that she did have another person to feed. And two fire ferrets, who were currently missing. She shook her head faintly and smiled. Jiao and San were probably with Kiara, as they'd taken to curling around the girl when she was around, and hardly left her side. The soft mewling, however, caught her attention as Jiao appeared, swishing her tail slightly before climbing Rika's shoulder.
"Good morning to you too," she stated, scratching the fireferret's chin before making her way to the living room, blinking slightly as she spotted Kiara. "And good morning to you," she stated, handing the extra cup in her hand over to Kiara. She offered her friend a smile and sipped at her tea. "I need to go into town in a bit, do you want to come?" she asked, figuring she would invite Kiara along. If she agreed, they could probably do other tidbits of shopping. She knew she could use a new shirt, the one she was wearing was already sporting a hole in it.
Kiara grinned and accepted the tea gratefully. Sheād been happy to pitch in for groceries where she could, but there was no mistaking that they ran out faster with the both of them eating most of their meals here. Thankfully, they could split cooking duties, so in a way, that made up for the inconvenience of it. Actually, it was really nice, living with another person again. Kiara could get by just fine on her own, but she did like being around other people in her daily life, especially those sheād come to trust, and Rika was certainly in that number. Sipping at the tea, she used her free hand to gently pet the fire ferret in her lap, who was currently snoozing quite comfortably there. Sheād managed to retrieve her fish from the pond, and they currently occupied a small tank on the windowsill, swimming happily, or so it seemed, through their new environment.
Given that the fire had consumed most of what little she owned, she was in serious need of both clothes and other miscellaneous supplies. All sheād really managed to save besides the fish were a few vital keepsakes from childhood, her Midwinter gifts from the others, and a spare change of clothes, all of which had either been in her satchel already or were easily reached and shoved inside. The fire had claimed everything else, and replacements were in order. Thankfully, she had just enough money saved that she should be able to purchase replacements for everything if she was frugal about it.
āI think thatās an excellent idea,ā she replied brightly, her smile softening to something more moderate, but still cheerful. She was taking the loss of most of her worldly possessions quite well, really, especially once sheād found out that the majority of the apartmentās occupants, including her former landlord, had survived the incident, due to the efforts of the firefighters, along with a bit of help from Fang. Not everyone, butā¦ most everyone, and that was something to be grateful for, she supposed. Not an hour after the whole thing had happened, a video had taken over all the public screens in the city, showing the masked figure of Amon, the enigmatic Equalist leader, and heād claimed credit for the attack, asserting that it was a demonstration of power. Perhaps heād succeeded; the Council was certainly paying much more attention to the Equalists now. On some level, Kiara even understood themābut there was no excusing the methods they were using to make themselves heard.
Shaking the thoughts off, she finished her tea and stood, placing San gently back on the sofa cushion and taking Rikaās empty cup as well, washing and drying both with a simple application of bending and then dusting her hands off on each other. āWell,ā she offered brightly, āshall we?ā
Rika smiled brightly, and finished off the rest of her tea. She pulled Jiao from her shoulder, much to the ferret's chagrin, and placed her next to San, watching as the two cuddled next to each other. She shook her head at the two before glancing back at Kiara. She was glad that the fire had not taken a heavy toll on her friend, something she suspected had actually taken a larger toll on everyone else. Even after the video from this Amon, she was a little angry about it. She knew about the Equalists, if only very vaguely, however; with the attack, she had tried to gather as much information as she could about them. All she was able to gather was that the Equalists were seeking equality amongst the world of benders.
It didn't make any sense to Rika, though. It wasn't as if all benders were trying to be tyrannical with their bending. Granted the Triad and other gangs didn't help the cause for benders, she still couldn't understand where they were coming from. Not everyone was born a bender, but wasn't that a good thing? She often wondered what it would be like if she couldn't earthbend, but the thought itself almost frightened her. It wasn't that she was afraid of not being able to bend, but more-so the fear of not being able to help because she couldn't bend. Suddenly, some of it made a little sense to her.
That still did not excuse the Equalists for going about it the way they did. She was brought out of her thoughts when Kiara returned and spoke to her. "Whenever you are!" she replied back, grabbing her bag and keys. She made her way out the door, and locked it behind her once Kiara was out. Shuffling her bag over her shoulder, she locked her arm with Kiara's and grinned. "Let's go see what we can find!" she stated, dragging Kiara a long as they headed towards the market. She stopped here and there to glance at the different objects each store had, and only stopped when something caught her attention. She did not purchase anything, even though there were a few items she saw that she wanted.
Kiara perused the market stalls with purpose. Thankfully, her upbringing had taught her a little about bartering and how to work a market, and though she got by more on her smiles and general pleasantness more than a sharklike instinct for bargaining like her mother had, she could still get things for a fair price, and that was the important part. For the most part, she kept her purchases basic, sticking to the more utilitarian, practical clothing that made sense in the hotter weather of Republic City. Well, hot by her standards, anyhow. Sheād been very uncomfortable with the amount of bare skin most of the people in the place seemed comfortable with showing when she first arrived, but sheād more or less gotten used to it now, though she still preferred modesty where possible. It was justā¦ ingrained in her.
Once the boring purchases were made, though, she found herself inside a tailor shop, fingering a green silk dress with gold embroidery. She hadnāt thought of herself when she saw it, but rather her friend. Her best friend, in all honesty. Smiling slightly to herself, she turned and waved Rika over, smiling a bit slyly. āWhat do you think, Rika? I think itād be perfect on you, really.ā The garment was a cheongsam in traditional Earth Kingdom style, but the leg slit was a little on the daring side, and the gold embroidery was patterned after a beautiful bird, wings outstretched over the fabric and glinting in the light as the fabric moved.
āYou want to try it on?ā
Rika blinked at the dress, tilting her head slightly as she inspected it. The material seemed beautiful, and the way the gold glimmered against the green, almost gave her a feeling of being homesick. It had been a while since she last heard from her family, and she was contemplating whether or not she should go visit them. She had decided against it due to the fact that she was part of the probending games, but now... she could probably spare them a visit. She shook her head, a smile spreading across her lips as she pulled the dress from its spot. She couldn't say no, even if she really didn't want to, and glanced around.
"If I have to try this one on, you have to," she began, rummaging through the dresses until she found one. "Try this one on," she stated, shoving the dress in Kiara's direction. The color itself was red, perhaps a little too red, but it would help contrast against Kiara's hair and highlight the russet in her hair. Plus, it looked like it would bring out the color of Kiara's eyes a little more. She snickered to herself, though, when she realized just who the red reminded her of and shook her head. Like the dress she held in her hands, the red one sported gold embroidery. The stitching on the back was of a dragon, cascading downwards with the mouth open where the leg split.
"I'm not going to be the only one trying on clothes," she continued, smirking at her friend as she disappeared to try the dress on.
Kiara looked down at the dress in her hands, smiling faintly and shaking her head to herself. But turnabout was fair play, and she would certainly try the thing on, as payment for Rika doing the same. Inside the little booth set up for trying on such garments, the dress slid over her like a second skin, and as she surveyed the result in the mirror, she wondered what her parents would think if they could see her now. Her mother would probably make a disparaging remark about resembling a fire Nation hussy or something, but then her mother tended to think that people going around with their arms uncovered was indecent, so really her opinion was hard to trust. Her dad would probably just shake his head and she could picture her older brotherās supportive thumbs-up as if he were right in front of her.
Because it really did look nice, she supposed. Definitely less modest than she was used to, but she felt strangelyā¦ powerful in it. Maybe it was the red. Red was a strong color, really, and it lay nicely against the tone of her skin, she thought. It seemed about as logical as any other thought, but really she didnāt know why she was considering it at allāit wasnāt like she could afford two garments of such quality, and she was pretty set on buying Rika one of the things in this store, because she wanted to thank her for just letting Kiara move in while the apartment complex was rebuilt or until she could find a new one, whichever came firstā¦ and within her budget.
She knocked politely on the door of the dressing room next to her before barging in anyway, shutting the door behind her and leaning back against it. āOhā¦ā she breathed in some surprise, āthat looks amazing on you, Rika!ā It wasnāt that she was surprised that her friend looked absolutely lovely in the thing, just that she hadnāt exactly expected such a fancy thing to suit her practical teammate so well. But it really, really did. Rika made the dress look better, and that was really saying something. Mentally, Kiara calculated how far sheād have to talk down the store owner to purchase the thing within her budget. She could definitely make it work.
Rika stared at herself in the reflection. It was a little odd, and a little unnerving, to say the least, the way the dress fitted. It was form-fitting, and felt like a glove. It was nice, and she had to admit, if she were ever one to wear dresses, this would probably be her first one. She contemplated whether or not if she should actually purchase it. She did have a little money to spare on something, however; she wanted to purchase something for her friend too. She wanted to help Kiara with whatever she needed since she still had her job at the tea shop. She had a little more income than Kiara, and where she could spare it, she wanted to do so for her friend.
She let out a startled yelp when the door to her dressing room opened, and her face turned a light shade of pink, however; it receeded when she realized it was Kiara. She pursed her lips together and blinked when Kiara spoke. Her face turned another shade of pink at her statement, further causing her lips to purse together in an embarrassed pout. She didn't receive compliments very often, and she never really considered herself even remotely pretty, but she shoved the thoughts from her mind. Instead, she focused on the dress Kiara was wearing, and the blush faded from her face, only to have a faint smirk pull at her lips.
"You're one to talk, look at you," she replied, circling her friend like a hawk circles its prey. "It looks really lovely on you, Kiara, you should get it! Then you and I can go winebending again," she stated, though she was joking about the last part. She had no intentions of ever getting that drunk again. She could barely remember what happened that night, and she was sure she and Kiara did something embarrassing, though she tried asking Haki about it. He never told her, only that it was adorable.
It was Kiaraās turn to pout then, and she sniffed as if offended, though she assuredly was not. āIām never going to live that down, am I?ā she asked with a mock sigh, but nevertheless smiling at the compliment. It would seem they both had good eyes for this sort of thingāwhen it came not to themselves, but each other. āBut you knowā¦ Iām totally buying you that dress. You deserve it, for letting me crash on your couch for the foreseeable future.ā Before any protest could be leveled, Kiara had waltzed out of the room and found the store owner, proceeding to do just that, and then head back into her changing room.
When she reemerged, it was only to discover that Rika had bought her dress as well, and she could only grin so hard she felt her face might crack. It really was nice, having a friend like this.