done with having dreams

[resistivity]

Who: the avatar cast! (+ custom starters for folks)
Where: all over!
When: catch-all october log
Rating shouldn't be much!
What: the atlas and loks have a nice dinner together, and a few custom starters. if you want to toss a starter my way please do! or if you'd like me to write one for you just drop me a PM! c: we don't need pre-existing cr, just happy to oblige! also if anyone wants super awkward dates...

Comments

[p_mortem]

[ He needs... something... and that's evident in the way he straightens up a little when he sees Mako, looking as if he's doing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. ]

Project. You seem busy... Might've asked for help, otherwise. Koromaru might puncture the straws, so I let him play somewhere else instead of helping.

[resistivity]

( he understood... some. of that. it's a good thing their first conversation was lengthy enough to equip him with a minato-to-mako dictionary, because he just sort of raises an eyebrow. koromaru... is a... child? a pet? )

No, I'm not — it's just seaweed, I was going to dry it on a rack in my room.

( it's sort of like kale chips, ha ha... anyway.

he tips his head. )

Here, just... give me ten minutes to drop it off and then I'll come help you with... whatever you're planning. Okay?

[p_mortem]

[ Koromaru is a good boy who tried to drown Minato once and so he's got to do this. ]

Alright... If you need more seaweed, I could probably help you with that too.

[ But in the meanwhile, he'll be right here, settling down on a drier spot on the ground where he can set everything in his lap, and painstakingly stick one end of the straw into the other. ]

[resistivity]

( minato is such a good boy a+ would befriend again. )

Maybe later. I need to see if this batch will turn out.

( what if it's gross?? you never know with weird plants. he's mostly just... experimenting at this point. but he nods to minato and disappears a while, returning in about the time frame specified to where minato's... just. sitting. doing his thing. )

Okay, you ready?

[p_mortem]

[ Minato is a questionably good boy, but he wouldn't mind befriending Mako a dozen times over. He's got about half a dozen straws linked by the time Mako comes back, carefully lifting up the length of it so that he has one end and Mako has easy access to the other. ]

Yeah. Here, you can start working on that end, and I'll keep adding to this one.

[resistivity]

( he just... sits down a short distance away so he can contribute to minato's project. though he does raise an eyebrow. )

Do I want to know why?

[p_mortem]

[ thanks ]

That's... something only you can answer, isn't it?

[ Minato doesn't even look up from his work, after he sees Mako settle down. If Mako's truly curious, Minato doesn't mind explaining; if he doesn't care but will help anyways, that's easier for both of them. ]

[resistivity]

( that is some philosophical nonsense, minato. mako shakes his head. )

No, I mean. Why are we building a contraption out of straws to begin with? I know why I'm helping you.

( ... mostly. )

[p_mortem]

[ Minato suspects Mako is helping him simply because he had asked for it, but perhaps he's pushing his luck in hoping it'd be done with no questions asked. ]

I promised somebody I wouldn't stay underwater for too long, unless I had a snorkel with me. So I'm making one. ...Do you want one too?

[ It's the least he can do to repay him. ]

[resistivity]

( this is the same thing as bolin trying to train pabu to jump through a fiery hoop, isn't it. mako's hands still, and he looks down at them like the straws will somehow hold the answer to the universe. )

You... do know this won't be watertight, right?

[p_mortem]

[ ...

His eyes pan up slowly. He did not, in fact, know that, seeing how difficult it was to wedge one straw into another in the first place. ]

We can slather the joints with peanut butter.

[ Oil and water don't mix?? he's trying to recall high school science here, but it's hard. ]

[resistivity]

( the look on his face, really, says it all. it's equal parts horrified, disgusted, resigned and maybe in some small part wondering at the likelihood of ensuring bolin and minato never, ever meet. )

I don't think that's...

( excuse him, he's currently having war flashbacks to bolin training pabu to jump through fiery hoops. )

— really a valid... scientific method. ( he's being gentle about that rebuff, at least. bolin has taught him Patience. ) Do you not know how to swim?

[p_mortem]

[ No, introduce him to Bolin, Mako, it'll be fun. Koromaru would also benefit from learning how to jump though fiery hoops? He isn't scared of fire. ]

It'll be a science experiment. [ Null hypothesis: the straw snorkel won't fall apart immediately and cause you to drown. He hopes that hypothesis will hold, because there's very few other ideas he has that'll work. ]

Swimming isn't a problem, though. It's staying down there long enough without having to resurface every few minutes.

[resistivity]

( child. )

Why don't I introduce you to my friend Korra? She's a waterbender ( ... some... times? ) and she could take you down into the depths without needing... any of this. Why do you even want to go down there, anyway?

( okay, korra probably wouldn't be happy if he just volunteered her for a job, but the truth of the matter is — better that than minato do something ridiculous like drown. )

[p_mortem]

I'd like to meet her.

[ Even waterbending aside— and "what the hell is waterbending" on the tip of his tongue— Minato likes meeting new people, especially if that means he doesn't have to attempt breathing through 320495 straws when just a single straw is near impossible to catch his breath through without the plastic collapsing in on itself.

He honestly believes there's a good chance that water won't get into it.

But maybe air won't either. ]

I want to say hi to the mermaids. Have you been down there?

[resistivity]

You can. She's friendly enough, you just have to walk right up and say hi.

( his expression is... faintly chagrined. sometimes he thinks keeping this child alive is going to be a full time job, or near enough. )

To Korra. Not the mermaids. They're probably a little trickier — but I've heard they'll come up out of the water for singing.

[p_mortem]

Oh-

[ He did, in fact, try to go up to the mermaids and say hi, and got a trident in his face for the trouble and had to be bailed out before he got skewered. Hence the whole trying-to-better-equip-himself thing. ]

I used to go out and sing karaoke by myself all the time.

[ By himself! So he has no idea if his singing is any good, but nobody has ever told him it wasn't, so... ]

It'd be worth a try. Do you know if they like rap?

[resistivity]

( have the most bemused expression, minato. )

What's... 'rap'?

( like... rapping your knuckles? is it a drumbeat? )

[p_mortem]

[ oh my god

This is outrageous, he can't let this continue. Minato lets all his straws drop to the ground as he stands and unravels the wires of the headphones that are more of then than not resting over his shoulders unless he's about to throw himself into the lake. ]

Here, put these on.

[resistivity]

( headphones are a pretty new thing, mostly used by radio operators rather than common citizens, but at least he's seen them before. he takes them gingerly, settling them over his ears.

what doth await? )

I can't hear anything. Is it working?

[p_mortem]

[ Hold onto your eardrums, Mako, because Minato is going to bless you with the last few minutes of battery life this mp3 has in it. Even if Mako immediately rips the headphones off, Minato is going to keep blasting the music, turning the volume up as high as he can; maybe this will attract the mermaids and he doesn't actually have to sing. Maybe they'll come out and drown them. ]

[resistivity]

( too loud!! his delicate cop ears!! mako grimaces faintly and holds the headphones away from his ears. the more minato turns the volume up the further they go. the music's not half bad, all things considered, but. yikes!! )

Does it have to be so loud?

[p_mortem]

[ No it does not, but Minato nods slowly anyways; he's always worn them so people could hear the music playing from the outside, and hopefully take the hint that he isn't to be bothered. ]

It's a lot easier to sing loudly than softly. I can teach you the lyrics- it repeats, mostly.

[resistivity]

I'm not singing anything.

( he is Adamant about this. the only thing he's ever bothered singing in his life is quiet lullabies to bolin when they were younger, and that stopped as soon as bo could fall asleep on his own. )

But, uh, maybe the mermaids would like it? Does it run on electricity?

[p_mortem]

[ :(

If Minato were a pouter, he'd be pouting. But unfortunately, he respects Mako's decision and turns the speakers towards the lake, cupping his hands around them so they might amplify a little without him having to walk that much further. Do the mermaids like it? The lake seems as still and innocent as ever. ]

Yeah, it's battery powered, so it's going to die soon. [ thank god? ] When that happens... I kind of hope the next place we go to is a city, so that doesn't happen.