Post by aden on Feb 20, 2009 13:25:31 GMT -5
Life was beginning to settle into a comfortable routine. During the weekdays Aden would work under his father as a utility bender. Half the time it seemed he was assigned to operate one of the locks in the upper rings of the city, which was a bit more boring than building new structures or rennovating existing buildings with expansions. Every other evening he would visit the training grounds for one of the advanced waterbending sessions in order to keep in prime condition, and on the weekends he typically helped his mother in the marketplace or volunteered a bit of his time helping train the younger benders.
Aden was certainly one of the last people that many would expect to be a compatible teacher for kids, but to his own surprise he managed to connect with them well. Aden suspected it was simply because he seemed like such a nice person when compared to Pakku, and that even though he repeated the Old Master's instructions verbatim it seemed to soak in better when not said with a sarcastic sneer.
The only downside to this arrangement of teaching on the weekends was the fact that it put him into proximity with Pika Harta; the same Pika that had tricked him into doing shots of imported liquour and then got both of them in trouble for tipping over sleeping buffalo-yaks. Aden was still resolved to give the slightly older boy the cold shoulder for some time to come. However, it seemed his methods of 'avoid and ignore' didn't quite phase his would-be pal.
****************************************************
Aden had just finished recapping the set of moves he had shown his assigned students that morning and had dismissed them for the day. A few young benders stuck around to practice a little more. They paired off around the sparring circle and began a training exercise where each would throw a single glob of water at the other, with their opponent absorbing the attack, redirecting it, and then throwing it back with equal or greater speed. Whoever stopped the flow of the exercise or let it drop lost.
It was a harmless exercise in principle, but some matches could get very competitive, and so Aden stuck around to supervise and make sure no one got carried away. However, as he sat on a makeshift bench of ice along the edge of the training grounds, he spotted Pika meandering away from his own batch of trainees. Aden muttered something incoherent under his breath and turned a little bit more toward the other side of the grounds to avoid direct eye contact with the other bender.
Stealing glances from his periphery, Aden followed Pika as he seemed to be heading for the stairs and presumably the lower levels of the city. It seemed like he might avoid having to deal with him at all, but alas, luck was not on his side.
Pika seemed to catch sight of him and corrected his course to carry him toward Aden. Aden blew out an annoyed sigh, but figured it'd be pointless to just up and run. Maybe he could just tell Pika he was busy evaluating students for upcoming skill tests or something?
"Hey, Aden," Pika called out from behind. Aden turned his head just enough to make eye contact and then raised two fingers on his right hand in a gesture of acknowledgement before returning his focus to the students. "Pakku tells me you're going to be volunteering on the weekends every now and then," he continued, walking up to stand beside Aden's bench. "I hope your students don't start kicking my students' asses... I mean, I actually get paid for this, so how bad would that make me look?"
By his joking tone Aden could tell he was just trying to initiate a conversation, but even so he didn't feel like responding with much more than a muffled, "Indeed..."
To his surprise, Pika hardly seemed perturbed by the lackluster response and was even brazen enough to take a seat on the bench beside him. Aden regarded to other boy with a raised eyebrow and scooted even further over to the side until only half of his bottom was still on the bench.
"You know... I hope you're still not holding a grudge after that whole thing with the booze and the buffalo tipping," Pika said, smiling in amusement the whole time. Aden glanced his way, fixing his face into an expression that showed absolutely no humor. "I mean... You're no worse for wear, you're not in trouble, and you got a funny story to tell out of the whole ordeal. Plus, you had your first drink. Congratulations!" Pika dared to smack Aden on the back, and Aden merely ignored the gesture entirely.
"You lied to me, talked me into vandalism, and nearly got me gored by a buffalo-yak," Aden reminded him flatly.
"Psssh!" Pika huffed, waving aside the accusations as if they were inconsequential. "You had a good time, whether you won't admit or you just don't remember... And besides, it was hardly a lie. I mean, I couldn't believe you fell for it!"
"Hey!" Aden said, raising his voice a bit as Pika stared to chuckle, though he caught himself from getting too angry and he lowered his tone before continuing. "I gave you my trust in telling you I couldn't bend, and you abused that knowledge."
"Oh, lighten up," Pika said, once more sounding quite dismissive of the crimes Aden had accused him of. "It was a few shots... Big deal. Sorry if you can't hold your liquor, but it's not like a stuck a knife in your back. I just figured you'd welcome something to take the edge off. You're a pretty high-strung guy."
Aden stared at him coldly once more before returning his attention to the training students.
"Oh fine," Pika said after an uncomfortable silence had settled between them. The older bender leaned forward a bit in his seat to try and catch Aden's gaze, "I'm sorry, all right? No harm intended. Are we cool now?" As an added gesture, he extended a hand for Aden to shake.
Aden looked his way once more and stared at the offering of peace. Inwardly he groaned at the situation. He wanted to continue giving Pika the cold shoulder, to exact some measure of revenge by making the older boy feel some form of guilt for his actions... but how could he honorably refuse what appeared to be an actual attempt to apologize?
At length, Aden finally lifted up his own hand and shook Pika's with a hard grip. Pika smirked when he felt the attempt to crush his fingers, and squeezed back with an equally firm grip. They held that contest for a moment before Aden let go and returned to monitoring the young benders. "Yeah... We're cool," he said quietly.
"Excellent," Pika remarked, and he punched Aden lightly on the arm. "SO.... How's things with you and that girl who was following you around that other day?"
Aden blew out an exhasperated sigh and his head drooped in defeat. He just couldn't win.
Aden was certainly one of the last people that many would expect to be a compatible teacher for kids, but to his own surprise he managed to connect with them well. Aden suspected it was simply because he seemed like such a nice person when compared to Pakku, and that even though he repeated the Old Master's instructions verbatim it seemed to soak in better when not said with a sarcastic sneer.
The only downside to this arrangement of teaching on the weekends was the fact that it put him into proximity with Pika Harta; the same Pika that had tricked him into doing shots of imported liquour and then got both of them in trouble for tipping over sleeping buffalo-yaks. Aden was still resolved to give the slightly older boy the cold shoulder for some time to come. However, it seemed his methods of 'avoid and ignore' didn't quite phase his would-be pal.
****************************************************
Aden had just finished recapping the set of moves he had shown his assigned students that morning and had dismissed them for the day. A few young benders stuck around to practice a little more. They paired off around the sparring circle and began a training exercise where each would throw a single glob of water at the other, with their opponent absorbing the attack, redirecting it, and then throwing it back with equal or greater speed. Whoever stopped the flow of the exercise or let it drop lost.
It was a harmless exercise in principle, but some matches could get very competitive, and so Aden stuck around to supervise and make sure no one got carried away. However, as he sat on a makeshift bench of ice along the edge of the training grounds, he spotted Pika meandering away from his own batch of trainees. Aden muttered something incoherent under his breath and turned a little bit more toward the other side of the grounds to avoid direct eye contact with the other bender.
Stealing glances from his periphery, Aden followed Pika as he seemed to be heading for the stairs and presumably the lower levels of the city. It seemed like he might avoid having to deal with him at all, but alas, luck was not on his side.
Pika seemed to catch sight of him and corrected his course to carry him toward Aden. Aden blew out an annoyed sigh, but figured it'd be pointless to just up and run. Maybe he could just tell Pika he was busy evaluating students for upcoming skill tests or something?
"Hey, Aden," Pika called out from behind. Aden turned his head just enough to make eye contact and then raised two fingers on his right hand in a gesture of acknowledgement before returning his focus to the students. "Pakku tells me you're going to be volunteering on the weekends every now and then," he continued, walking up to stand beside Aden's bench. "I hope your students don't start kicking my students' asses... I mean, I actually get paid for this, so how bad would that make me look?"
By his joking tone Aden could tell he was just trying to initiate a conversation, but even so he didn't feel like responding with much more than a muffled, "Indeed..."
To his surprise, Pika hardly seemed perturbed by the lackluster response and was even brazen enough to take a seat on the bench beside him. Aden regarded to other boy with a raised eyebrow and scooted even further over to the side until only half of his bottom was still on the bench.
"You know... I hope you're still not holding a grudge after that whole thing with the booze and the buffalo tipping," Pika said, smiling in amusement the whole time. Aden glanced his way, fixing his face into an expression that showed absolutely no humor. "I mean... You're no worse for wear, you're not in trouble, and you got a funny story to tell out of the whole ordeal. Plus, you had your first drink. Congratulations!" Pika dared to smack Aden on the back, and Aden merely ignored the gesture entirely.
"You lied to me, talked me into vandalism, and nearly got me gored by a buffalo-yak," Aden reminded him flatly.
"Psssh!" Pika huffed, waving aside the accusations as if they were inconsequential. "You had a good time, whether you won't admit or you just don't remember... And besides, it was hardly a lie. I mean, I couldn't believe you fell for it!"
"Hey!" Aden said, raising his voice a bit as Pika stared to chuckle, though he caught himself from getting too angry and he lowered his tone before continuing. "I gave you my trust in telling you I couldn't bend, and you abused that knowledge."
"Oh, lighten up," Pika said, once more sounding quite dismissive of the crimes Aden had accused him of. "It was a few shots... Big deal. Sorry if you can't hold your liquor, but it's not like a stuck a knife in your back. I just figured you'd welcome something to take the edge off. You're a pretty high-strung guy."
Aden stared at him coldly once more before returning his attention to the training students.
"Oh fine," Pika said after an uncomfortable silence had settled between them. The older bender leaned forward a bit in his seat to try and catch Aden's gaze, "I'm sorry, all right? No harm intended. Are we cool now?" As an added gesture, he extended a hand for Aden to shake.
Aden looked his way once more and stared at the offering of peace. Inwardly he groaned at the situation. He wanted to continue giving Pika the cold shoulder, to exact some measure of revenge by making the older boy feel some form of guilt for his actions... but how could he honorably refuse what appeared to be an actual attempt to apologize?
At length, Aden finally lifted up his own hand and shook Pika's with a hard grip. Pika smirked when he felt the attempt to crush his fingers, and squeezed back with an equally firm grip. They held that contest for a moment before Aden let go and returned to monitoring the young benders. "Yeah... We're cool," he said quietly.
"Excellent," Pika remarked, and he punched Aden lightly on the arm. "SO.... How's things with you and that girl who was following you around that other day?"
Aden blew out an exhasperated sigh and his head drooped in defeat. He just couldn't win.