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

[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.