We're not in Republic City anymore.

[avatar_state]

She sat, cross-legged, meditating. One day, she'd find a way to reconnect with her past selves. All the previous avatars, stretching back through time. But the meditation itself never hurt. To think just a few years before how bad she'd been at it. So hotheaded, so rash. She'd been tempered. By hard experience, but also by wonderful people.

So she smiled when she felt the breeze stir her hair. It was a reminder, to her, of so much. But then she heard the creaking of a door.

Her eyes opened, and she stood. There weren't any doors here, not out in the wilds beyond Republic City. But there was one, in the face of a boulder near to her, grass swirling in front of it like it had always been there, just a part of the scenery. She stepped forward.

She didn't remember taking hold of the handle. All she remembered was the flash, and then there was...another city. One she didn't recognize, with strange smells, and strange sounds. She turned in a small circle, eyes wide and mouth open.

"How does my life keep on getting stranger?"

Comments

[avatar_state]

So had she, all things said and done.

"I don't know if it'll ever be normal - but this is a different sort of strange," she replied.

[oldmanfive]

"All things considered, this place is pretty benign. So if you are going to end up in a random place, it's not so bad here." He said with a slight chuckle. "You could probably do worse."

[avatar_state]

There is a brief, quasi-bitter laugh at that.

"Oh I'm aware. But who are you?"

[oldmanfive]

Oh he can hear that slight bitterness in her laugh, he's been there too.

"I'm Five and you are?" He replies nonchalantly.

[avatar_state]

"I'm Korra," she replied, offering a hand, the other on her hip.

And because it's nice to just be for a little bit, she doesn't mention that she's the Avatar. Outside her universe, does it matter? Would anybody even care?

[oldmanfive]

There was a moment of hesitation as he glanced down at her hand. He's honestly not a fan of touching, but he has been trying to be a little less abrasive about these sorts of things.

"Nice to meet you." He replied after a moment as he reached out to shake her hand.

He constantly has to remind himself that not everybody in the Nexus was out to get him.

[avatar_state]

"Sorry," she said, making sure the grip was fairly light, "I hope that wasn't asking too much of you."

He was certainly in luck with her. The Avatars, by their nature, tended to be fairly straightforward and well-meaning.

"But it's nice to meet a friendly face in a strange place, always."

[oldmanfive]

"No, it's alright. It's my own hang up." He said with a dismissive nod of his head. He's used to the world being a certain way and the fact that the Nexus was slightly different from the what he deemed normal, tended to throw him off balance.

"There's some that might debate you on how friendly I can be." He added with an amused scoff. He wasn't exactly known for it, but he had been making more of effort in the Nexus, not to write people off the way he did back home.

[avatar_state]

She tilted her head at the latter.

"Why, are you going to try to fight me? Because if you clear that very low bar, I think you're fine."

[oldmanfive]

"No, I'm trying not to pick fights within the first few minutes of meeting a person." He replied with a slight chuckle.

"I promise I'm not trying to be disparaging on purpose. I'm still getting use to this whole socializing thing. I didn't have a lot of opportunities for it back home."

[avatar_state]

She grinned at that.

"It takes years to get right, trust me. But it's worth it when you do."

She had been rude, and brash, once. Abrasive. Hotheaded. But friends had mellowed her. Taught her without teaching. And she loved them all so much for it.

"And the not picking a fight in the first few minutes part? Better than I usually get, so hey - you're way ahead now."

[oldmanfive]

"So I keep hearing." He slightly chuckled again as he didn't really doubt that it took years to master socializing, he just had entire an lifetime being on his own to fight against. Though he really was trying not to be an asshole right off the bat when it came to meeting new people.

"So I take it you get a lot of challengers then?" He asked, since she seemed use to the idea of someone wanting to fight her.

[avatar_state]

She rolled her eyes, with a half-groan.

"Like you wouldn't believe. I'm in everyone's way on their path to power."

[oldmanfive]

He could actually somewhat sympathize with her. Though for him, the people after him were trying to stop him from saving the world and by extension his family.

"Well at least around here, you won't have to put up with people seeking you out just to fight you for a power trip." He offered as a bright side. "Aside from some screwy happenings then and now, it's been fairly peaceful around here."

[avatar_state]

She put her hands on her hips, rather liking the sound of that.

"Does...time pass, you know, outside of here? Like, if I'm here a week, does a week pass back home? Because I like what you're saying but I have, well...responsibilities."

[oldmanfive]

"As far as I've seen, time here moves way different than back home. Weeks here can amount to just minutes or hours back home. So you'll probably be fine to explore and just enjoy the small break before going back home." He replied with a slight nod.

He was no stranger to responsibility back home, so he got where she was coming from.

[avatar_state]

"Oh. Huh."

She paused, rubbing the back of her head.

"And this gets normal to people? I mean, I guess it has to, but...how long have you been here?"

[oldmanfive]

Five simply gave her a slight nod as maybe he wasn't the best person to say what was normal and what wasn't given how abnormal his life back home tended to be.

"I've been here for over a month, but yeah once I got the run down of things here, it does feel more normal."

[avatar_state]

"And nobody is, y'know, causing problems?"

It may begin to sound like a woman who is ticking things off a mental list.

"Nobody going on about, I don't know, realigning the world or unification...?"

[oldmanfive]

He frowned at her question, it wasn't unreasonable, but he also didn't think he was the best suited to answer it completely honestly.

"Not that I am aware, but this place is pretty large. There could be troublemakers around just biding their time." He replied honestly. He didn't want to say something was certain only to be proven wrong the next instance.