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lizbeeIt's only midday, and I have CLEANED THE BATHROOM. I'm like some kind of ... person who does things. Yeah.
Here's that meme where you post a snippet from your WiPs.
A thin smile touched Azulon’s lips.
“Perhaps,” he said, “Lu Ten should marry the girl.”
“Lu Ten is nine.”
“Not forever.”
“A moment ago, you said he needed a mother.”
“Mother. Wife.” Azulon shrugged.
*
It took Sokka a whole fifteen seconds to have me disarmed. We had trained together every day since he returned from the South Pole a month ago. Usually I could hold him off for a few minutes. Once I even beat him. Without pulling my knives out.
"Sokka," said Piandao, "would you mind stepping inside for a moment?"
When we were alone, he said, "That was very disappointing."
"Yes."
"Generally, my students improve. What I just saw was ten times worse than when you began."
I bit back the glib response that was on my tongue, and just nodded.
Very gently, Piandao took the sword from my hand. "You have a great talent, Mai," he said. "It's an honour and a pleasure to have you as my student. But by coming here tired, hungover and filthy, you've shown great disrespect to me and my teachings. If it happens again, that will be the end."
He walked away, leaving me alone, sick to my stomach and angry. I sat down on a stone bench and brooded.
Eventually, Sokka returned with more water.
"If it's any consolation," he said, "I did pretty much the same thing a few weeks back."
I blinked, feeling stupid. "You got drunk and slept with a city guard?"
"Okay, not quite the same thing. But Piandao gave me the exact same speech. It's not because you're a girl or anything."
I lifted my head. He was staring straight ahead, doing a good job of looking casual.
"Thanks," I said.
*
Soon I'm down to four guards. They're together in a big central chamber. I can feel one other heartbeat. It's steady and firm, so the prisoner's okay. Zuko will be thrilled. I doubt special envoys are easy to find.
Four earthbenders. One prisoner. Enclosed space.
"So there's the element of surprise," I say as the wall opens around me, "and then there's brute force."
This is the fun part.
It's also the fast part.
"You know," I tell the last guy, right before he passes out, "maybe Long Feng should have tried recruiting from Earth Rumble contestants."
He makes an incoherent little noise.
"You're right," I say. "I was whupping their asses when I was twelve."
I turn to Zuko's special envoy, bound by rocks in the centre of the room. The stone shackles crumble into dust. She shifts, but says nothing. There's just that steady, even heartbeat.
I know that heartbeat.
"Oh, hell," I say. "You're Zuko's special envoy?"
There's a smile in Azula's voice as she says, "It's a pleasure to see you, too."
*
My plans for today: make AU Big Bang fic suck less, watch some Classic Who, watch some K-drama, procrastinate about all these things.
In aid of procrastination, bad fan art! Give me a prompt, and I shall give you a picture. I do not promise that it will be a good picture, or that it won't be a stick figure. But I'll try.
Here's that meme where you post a snippet from your WiPs.
A thin smile touched Azulon’s lips.
“Perhaps,” he said, “Lu Ten should marry the girl.”
“Lu Ten is nine.”
“Not forever.”
“A moment ago, you said he needed a mother.”
“Mother. Wife.” Azulon shrugged.
*
It took Sokka a whole fifteen seconds to have me disarmed. We had trained together every day since he returned from the South Pole a month ago. Usually I could hold him off for a few minutes. Once I even beat him. Without pulling my knives out.
"Sokka," said Piandao, "would you mind stepping inside for a moment?"
When we were alone, he said, "That was very disappointing."
"Yes."
"Generally, my students improve. What I just saw was ten times worse than when you began."
I bit back the glib response that was on my tongue, and just nodded.
Very gently, Piandao took the sword from my hand. "You have a great talent, Mai," he said. "It's an honour and a pleasure to have you as my student. But by coming here tired, hungover and filthy, you've shown great disrespect to me and my teachings. If it happens again, that will be the end."
He walked away, leaving me alone, sick to my stomach and angry. I sat down on a stone bench and brooded.
Eventually, Sokka returned with more water.
"If it's any consolation," he said, "I did pretty much the same thing a few weeks back."
I blinked, feeling stupid. "You got drunk and slept with a city guard?"
"Okay, not quite the same thing. But Piandao gave me the exact same speech. It's not because you're a girl or anything."
I lifted my head. He was staring straight ahead, doing a good job of looking casual.
"Thanks," I said.
*
Soon I'm down to four guards. They're together in a big central chamber. I can feel one other heartbeat. It's steady and firm, so the prisoner's okay. Zuko will be thrilled. I doubt special envoys are easy to find.
Four earthbenders. One prisoner. Enclosed space.
"So there's the element of surprise," I say as the wall opens around me, "and then there's brute force."
This is the fun part.
It's also the fast part.
"You know," I tell the last guy, right before he passes out, "maybe Long Feng should have tried recruiting from Earth Rumble contestants."
He makes an incoherent little noise.
"You're right," I say. "I was whupping their asses when I was twelve."
I turn to Zuko's special envoy, bound by rocks in the centre of the room. The stone shackles crumble into dust. She shifts, but says nothing. There's just that steady, even heartbeat.
I know that heartbeat.
"Oh, hell," I say. "You're Zuko's special envoy?"
There's a smile in Azula's voice as she says, "It's a pleasure to see you, too."
*
My plans for today: make AU Big Bang fic suck less, watch some Classic Who, watch some K-drama, procrastinate about all these things.
In aid of procrastination, bad fan art! Give me a prompt, and I shall give you a picture. I do not promise that it will be a good picture, or that it won't be a stick figure. But I'll try.
