Things Change (1x1 RP Mystearica & Furry_Diend)

Things were never going to be the same.

The Red Lotus, the anarchic secret order devoted to the rebalancing of the world had won as much as they had lost. Some of their best agents had been killed, one of their most esteemed leaders reimprisoned, and their plot to end the Avatar State permanently had been brought to naught. But on the world at large, they had left their mark. They had left it in Ba Sing Se, a proud city whose walls had been melted through, whose queen rotted in a shallow grave, and whose order had been -- possibly irrevocably -- destroyed.

And they had left their order on the Avatar herself. The poison had wracked Korra's body with indescribable pain, the metallic toxin leaving her in a wheelchair with bloodshot eyes. The new Air Nomads under Tenzin and Jinora's careful guidance had stepped up and taken the Avatar's place for the moment in helping protect the world while Korra recovered back in Republic City. Someone had to watch after her, and with Bolin traveling with the Air Nomads, Mako working as a detective, and Tenzin's wife caring for the children... it was left up to Asami.

It had been a couple of months since Korra had been stricken, and while she was on the mend, Asami still came by often, only going back to the city to handle problems that her trusted staff couldn't handle with the running of Future Industries. Korra had her place on Air Temple Island, and presently, Asami's airship was settling down on one side...


Asami stripped off her gloves as she entered the Air Temple. It had seemed so empty since the Air Nomads began their quest, although White Lotus guards mixed with Lin's metalbenders kept up a constant presence around the fringes of the island, making sure that the Red Lotus couldn't get to Korra in here weakened state.

Asami sucked in a deep breath, smiling softly to herself as she rapped upon Korra's chamber doors with her knuckles.

"Korra? It's Asami. May I come in?" she called. Korra had been getting her strength back, but... well, if there were anyone in the whole world that could use a friend right then, it was Korra.

"Ah, nothing really," Asami said as she turned on her heel, settling her back against the door as she waited for Korra to ask her in. "Well, we secured a contract for the Earth Kingdom," Asami said after a moment. "I'm selling airships cheaper than Cabbage Corp. is to them to help bring things back under control -- we're only making a hundred yuan on each ship," she said. The price covered materials, but given wages, they were only making a profit of a few yuan per dozen airships. It was the right thing to do, though; with the Earth Queen's death, the Earth "Kingdom" had splintered in a way it hadn't for thousands of years.

As Korra quietened down and muttered to herself, Asami leaned against the door and put her ear to it. Korra was stubborn, and even now that she could walk, Asami was afraid Korra was going to let her pride get in the way and have her fall or something. So after a moment, Asami cleared her throat. "Everything okay, Korra? I'm coming in," she called, turning the knob before Korra could say anything to the contrary.

Asami closed the door slowly behind her, glancing over her shoulder at the Avatar, down to just her top and her panties. Asami smiled briefly, a small quirk of painted red lips as kind green eyes landed squarely on Korra and flicked briefly up and down -- from the top of her slightly messy hair to the bottom of her feet, stopping briefly along the way on Korra's arms and her long dark legs. She was looking better -- of course, she always thought Korra looked good.

"Looking for... these?" Asami asked as she knelt down by a dress -- one of the easier things to wear when one was in a wheelchair -- pulling a discarded pair of shorts of the type one wore when training out from beneath the slightly rumpled blue dress. She held them up before Korra with a small smile.

"We can hope. I'm not sure that what's going on now is any better than when Hou-Ting was in charge," Asami said with a brief scowl. The world was better off without her, but the climate of fear she had built meant that the nation without her had splintered. Ba Sing Se was split into three wedges under the control of former soldiers, nobles, and the peasantry, and the rest of the Earth Kingdom wasn't doing much better, all things considered... It was horrible, and the United Republic of Nations could only do so much without going in and just outright declaring martial law.

As Korra drew her shorts up her long legs and over her hips, Asami was watching carefully -- maybe to see if Korra would fall, maybe to see something else. Even if she'd been weakened, those few months could only do so much to affect her sculpted body. Asami had been there for what had amounted to physical therapy as well.

Asami looked concerned for a moment when Korra spoke again, the heiress stepping over to Korra with a sweet smile. "You look fine. Do you want to go for a walk around the island? I think some fresh air would do you good," Asami said, reaching up to brush some of Korra's dark hair back, as if trying to fix it for her.

Asami's touch was gentle upon Korra's scalp, carefully undoing little knots and tangles, picking them apart and then brushing it all behind Korra's ears. She had done it often enough for the Water Tribe girl to be familiar with the way her hair flowed, and she didn't even need to be behind Korra in order to do it anymore. It left the two standing face to face, jade eyes staring into what Asami had always thought of as sapphire.

Asami frowned, lip drawn into almost a pout as she gave Korra a worried look. She'd been worried sick about Korra ever since the showdown with the Red Lotus. Worried about her memory, her focus, her balance, everything that came together as a cohesive whole to form her closest friend in th world. Someone she cared for in a way tht she couldn't begin to put to words... for a variety of reasons, really. Slowly, she finished up with the air, stepping back as if to admire her handiwork.

"I was asking if you'd like to join me for a walk -- I think the fresh air would be nice for you. And also..." She hesitated for a moment. "You said you weren't sleeping well. If you'd like, I could just get soup and we could sit here for a bit. I don't want you to overexert yourself," she said, a note of concern and worry entering her soft words and in her pretty green eyes. And maybe... and maybe something else.

Asami chuckled to herself as Korra whipped her head around and away from Asami's hands. Even when she was down and nearly out, the Avatar still had spirit to her. It was part of what Asami liked about her after all. When everything else was wrong and the world was falling down around them, you could rely on a few constants. Korra happened to be one of hers. "I know," Asami assured her softly. "Here. We can go for a lap around the island. Maybe walk down by the water?" Asami asked as she took Korra gently by the wrist, pulling her slowly over to the door.

Asami glanced from the door to Korra when she heard that bitter tone again -- she didn't like what the poison had done to Korra. Physically was something she could bounce back from -- and was -- but it seemed to have taken quite the toll on her mood. She knew it had a lot to do with the bending she was so proud of, but there was something else there, and it worried Asami.

"Sure," Asami said with a brief smile. "We can go up and get something to eat. Maybe--" she paused for a moment. Lin would disapprove of it, and the White Lotus would as well, but... if Korra liked it, that was way more important to her. And Korra had never let that sort of thing get in her way before. Asami could take a page out of Korra's book on that one. "... maybe we could get off of this island for a bit. Go into the city," Asami almost whispered, for fear that a metalbender was listening in on their conversations.

As the two of them made their way out into the central plaza of Air Temple Island, Asami offered Korra the smallest of smiles. Her hand had reached out, ghosting along Korra's back as they walked, keeping to low on the Avatar's spine. It was hard to tell if it was just the familiar touch of a friend or if she was just hoping that she would be able to grab Korra should she stumble and fall. Maybe it was something else entirely, but it was a secret only hinted at in the delicate smile that seemed to linger on Asami's lush red lips whenever she happened to be around Korra.

Asami was polite and respectful to every metalbender or White Lotus member, keeping her displeasure at their envoy to herself as they made their way over to the side of the plaza, overlooking the bay that was such a symbol of Republic City, the great sretch of water that Aang overlooked and where Korra had dealt mortal blows to the self-styled "Dark Avatar" not so long ago...

"I know, Korra. They just want to protect you. But they should know," Asami said as she knelt by Korra's side, reaching down to collect Korra's hand in her own. "That I can protect you, too," Asami said. There was a fleeting moment of eye contact, before Asami moved -- Korra was well aware just how fast and strong Asami could be, and it was sudden that Asami was pulling Korra up, supporting her with all her strength and heading swiftly for the airship.

Asami could see the White Lotus members picking up behind them, the metalbenders starting to jog their way even as Asami hit the radio on the side of the airship. "Take us up, please," Asami said, turning a glance back to Air Temple Island, over Korra's shoulder as the Future Industries airship suddenly took to the skies, pulling swiftly away from the side of the island, the yells from below lost with the roar of the wind.

"Then let's not land for a while, huh?" Asami asked as she leaned out over the railing, her hands gripping tight as she breathed slowly in and out, getting her heart rate back under control. That had been exhilarating! But... Korra had a point -- Lin was going to be FURIOUS and Tenzin? Very stern, at the very least. But it was worth it -- it was making Korra smile, an image that Asami had missed for some time now. She wanted her old friend back, honestly. Korra had always been very easy to be around, easy in a way that it simply... wasn't with anyone else. There was a tension with other people that she didn't have with Korra -- of course, sometimes that was replaced by an altogether different -- but pleasant -- tension.

A tension that came out whenever Asami's jade eyes sparked with electricity and dragged themselves over Korra's form, like they were doing now, but she stayed herself before it was terribly overt. She cleared her throat, soft red lips pulling back into a smile.

"Come on -- want to change? I don't think I have any pants that would fit you, but I definitely have a skirt or two. I know you have to be sick of dresses by now, but..." Asami smiled. She knew those shorts couldn't have been cleaned terribly recently, but it was nice to wear skirts up here where it was nice and breezy. Asami treated this airship like a second home these days -- and in a way, it was. She had been out of the city more than once to arrange meetings with people from the Earth Kingdom, so between that and regular trips to see Korra, Asami was living out of a suitcase.

"If nooot... I can see about having the cook whip something up. What are you hungry for? He's one of the best the Fire Nation capital had to offer, or so I hear," Asami said with a cheeky little smile, leading the way into the bowels of her airship.