the avatar state / implies emotional pain / or perfect control

[roc_on]

Jun did a show last night, so maybe he's holding it together well enough to do a lesson today. It'd sure help take Beila's mind off things; maybe it'd do the same for him. She can always fly away again if he's not feeling it.

Knock knock?

Comments

[fiery_delights]

"Dao, are you going to make this difficult?"

[thinklikethis]

[in_silk]

Spider hugs Dao.

[roc_on]

Beila glances at Jun. "You don't have to, I made the call, I can own it."

[fiery_delights]

"No, I'll do it. I don't mind. Since we have the luxury, we should probably get our story straight beforehand; are we leaving out the fifteen minutes we spent debating whether to let him go when we tell your dad about this? And the part where Dao was here? I'm sure Dao has no desire to talk to law enforcement about any of this."

[roc_on]

"I assume you were careful to make sure no one saw Dao come in, Sora. Is there a back exit? Is there going to be enough noise for the little old lady next door to hear? It's not so uncommon for there to be a little conversation before things come to a standoff, that part's not necessarily a problem."

[fiery_delights]

"I don't think it'll sound like somebody being killed," says Jun.

[in_silk]

"He can go out the back, yes."

[thinklikethis]

"Assuming I ever let go of you," mutters Dao, "which I wouldn't be so sure about right now."

[in_silk]

"Dao."

[roc_on]

Beila wouldn't vouch for her opinion having more sway over her boyfriend than the bloodbending serial killer's, at this point.

[thinklikethis]

Dao... lets go of Spider.

"I don't, I don't, there are a lot of smart people in this room can't we think of something..."

[roc_on]

Beila checks her message. "Nothing from Chali. We've probably got a little while. But there might not be anything."

[in_silk]

Spider hugs Dao again.

"Thank you. For helping. It's because of you that I got to be okay for good reasons. Even if it was only twice. Okay?"

[thinklikethis]

"Not really," says Dao. But he doesn't resume desperately clinging to Spider.

And he doesn't tell anyone that this is, and has been since he let go, the result of bloodbending as opposed to his own actual decisions. If Spider is really that sure, then - fuck it, Dao is out of arguments.

[in_silk]

Spider stands up and walks away from the couch.

He looks at Jun.

(He stops bloodbending Dao. His point seems to have been made.)

[fiery_delights]

"I think we're out of brilliant ideas," says Jun.

[in_silk]

"I think so too," says Spider. He smiles a little, dropping his eyes to the floor. "It was nice meeting you, big brother."

[fiery_delights]

Jun laughs softly.

"Yeah," he says. "Same to you."

And he breathes lightning. No warning, no extraneous movement of any kind. It's bright and loud, but over very quickly.

[in_silk]

Spider is pretty definitively not alive anymore.

[thinklikethis]

Dao bursts into tears and runs out of the room, toward the back door.

[roc_on]

Beila watches him go, then grits her teeth and sends a more urgent-marked message to her dad.

[fiery_delights]

Jun looks pensively at what's left of his little brother.

[roc_on]

A few minutes later there's a siren, and a swarm of cops and a medical examiner and a lot of fuss and questions.

Beila and Jun get to walk away.