acatalepsy_logs | done with having dreams

I mean, that might be part of it, but. Waterbenders are —

( he hesitates, and then stands. goes to retrieve two glasses and a pitcher of water, which he brings back to the table. he sets a glass down in front of lance and pours it out, demonstrative. with a gesture to the way the water fills the cup, )

— adaptable. It sounds like you've had to adjust to a lot of changing circumstances over the last couple years. I don't think this power outage ( ha, ha ) is permanent. Otherwise, I wouldn't have firebending back at all.

[ his brows arch a bit when mako gets up, not quite following what he's talking about? but then he gets the water jug, and there's a pang of oh god okay get ready to use your power before mako continues and lance...just sort of exhales, relaxing. ]

Oh. [ he blinks, and then slowly breaks into a smile. ] Actually, yeah, that makes sense. [ because while he doesn't necessarily want to think about all the things he's had to go through over the last however many months, he likes the word adaptable. could get behind it.

he nods - once - more to himself than anything. ] You're probably right, which means you definitely should show me what you can do before it disappears again. But. After. [ he's going to look down at his now empty dish and back to mako, his smile turning into more of a grin. ] You have...more of this, right?

( lance gets a sort of pointed Look. child, you are not getting multiple helpings of dessert, thanks. somebody here clearly has to be the responsible one. )

I'd be happy to show you my firebending. And yeah, there's more custard, but you should probably have something a little more substantial first.

( actually, he has a few leftover pork buns in his rucksack, doesn't he? courtesy konoha's magical ingredient summoning. mako gets up to where he'd hung it on a hook he'd... more-or-less earthbent into the wall and tosses one of them at lance in an underhand. )

There. Chew on that, and we can head to the arena.

( it's korra's turn to do the dishes, anyway. )

[ hey don't look at him like that!!!! hunk's been busy trying to figure out what the eff is even going on and lance was here for two months before he showed up. scavenging for food has become a hobby, and he's not going to turn down good food if he can help it. ]

I didn't actually mean to show up and just have you shove food at me, but if you're offering....

[ and then there will be something thrown at him, and lance will only bobble it once before catching it, giving a quick glance to mako before shrugging and taking a bite as he moves to stand from his chair and follow after mako. ]

You didn't make these too, did you? [ munch munch munch. ]

( he only stops to tidy up the dishes and then the area where he'd worked. korra gets a quick text, your turn to do dishes, grab bo. food done. thnx. satisfied the lure of food will be enough to captivate her attention and that she'll gather up his brother, he grabs his bag and gestures lance out the door in front of him. he tugs it on over his head so it can sit crosswise on his chest. )

Yeah. The meat's not what I'm used to, but they didn't turn out terrible.

( pigs?? what even are those?? sounds fake. )

You mean pork?

[ because lance can taste it. and it tastes good. but he's also trying to wrap his head around someone not knowing how to cook pork and it's.....a little difficult.

he'll stop when he's out the door, waiting for mako to follow after grabbing his things. ]

Okay besides the fact this is delicious even if you're not used to it- you don't have pork in your world?

Uh...

( he sort of... lets that sound trail off, and then shakes his head, falling in close to the wall so he and lance can walk abreast down the hallway rather than one leading the other. )

Most people here think our animals are a little unusual. ( understatement, clearly. it's also probably obvious he's the slightest bit disconcerted by that. some things are constants — everyone knows tea, for instance, but animals? ) We have... you know, boarhawks, turtleducks, polar bear dogs, and sky bison and dragons. Well. Not many dragons, but. A few.

[ lance looks over at mako, brows raised, as he continues to eat away at the roll. it's only when mako gets into the specifics that he chokes - not seriously, but more as a sound of surprise, taking a second to swallow the bite. ]

I'm sorry- boarhawks? Polar Bear dogs? [ wait, no, actually that makes a lot more sense than when what he had been trying to call naga. ] Are they actually like- the two animals in one?

[ a beat. ]

Dragons. Definitely.

I... guess? Except they aren't two different animals to us. Most of the time. Although we do have just bears. And cats, as well as swancats.

( welcome to avatar, where the animals are made up and the contradictions don't matter. )

But that's just kind of how it's always been. Dragons were hunted almost to extinction, though.

So you have double-animals, and also regular animals. That's not at all confusing. Dang.

[ whatever. lance is going to keep eating. not going to let it ruin my day. ]

That's cool you have dragons, though. Are they like the stories? All angry and ready to kill everyone and hoarding a bunch of gold?

( well it's not confusing if you grew up with it!! mako sighs a bit, because discussing the fauna on his world is liable to turn into a full time job if he dares take it personally. instead, he'll focus on the other talking point: dragons. )

Not really. Dragons were the original firebenders, and they gave fire to humans. They're wise and incredibly powerful. But we hunted them nearly to extinction about a hundred and fifty years ago.

[ yeah that's okay, they can focus on this instead. and the incredible story of how apparently there are people out there given powers by dragons. since that. definitely makes sense. ]

So....why did you hunt them to extinction?

( see, the thing is. he doesn't know if there was a specific impetus. if there was a dragon once that raided a village that lead to their slaughter, or if it was just... always about human greed.

all he can do is guess. and mako never really gives humanity the benefit of the doubt. )

Because killing a dragon came with a title. Respect. Money. It was a show of power, usually done by those who already had enough of it.

( a shrug. )

Dragons are protected now under the current Fire Lord, at least. And their numbers are starting to recoup.

[ well isn't this a mood killer. lance kind of makes a face. ]

That's....kind of depressing, actually.

[ yikes. ]

I've never seen a dragon before. [ trying to change the subject??? lance tilts his head a bit to the side as they keep walking. ] I've seen planet sized creatures and like- this weird space whale thing, but not like a dragon dragon.

( it's the sort of cultural shame that never really goes away. mako just shrugs his shoulders. it doesn't bother him to talk about — acknowledging atrocity is sort of the first step one needs to take not to repeat it, but he can tell it makes lance uncomfortable, so. subject change it is.

they're outside the temple now, out in the clean open air. the sun is a soft mantle across his skin, settling in with the heat of firebending at its beck. )

How can a creature be the size of a planet?

[ lance can't help but grin a little at the question, looking quite pleased with himself as he shrugs. ]

I told you we paladins are space defenders, right? Our lions can travel through space, and in some universes there are big ole creatures that look a little like whales? But are so big that they're basically planets. Like. Actually planets.

[ he's still walking with mako, so if the other decides to turn or go to anywhere specific, lance will follow, though he does continue talking as he walks. ]

It's kind of confusing too? Because some are just straight up planets, but are alive, and does that make it a creature or a living planet? Are living planets creatures? [ s h r u g ]

( he's very obviously going to the training arena, lance. keep up!!

everything lance tells him sounds like a story. something faraway, untouchable. a tale told to children at their bedsides. it's a lot to ask of his suspension of disbelief — even if his is pretty hardy to start. there's a part of him that wants to go to these places, see these things, inhabit the world that lance has laid out for him. mako isn't exactly an explorer, he's never really had the urge to go off to the far-flung corners of the world because he knows what he'll find there. but the entire universe? that's different somehow.

he tucks his hands into his pockets. )

I guess it really depends on your definition of 'living'. There's a moon spirit, where I'm from. I don't see why there can't be... planet spirits too.

[ right yeah he's definitely.....thinking that far ahead. totally.

and it's not lost on him - how crazy it all sounds. lance has made it a habit to take things as they come, because honestly - it's the only way he's able to keep his feet under him. giant monsters the size of planets? sure. princesses who are asleep for tens of thousands of years? why not. a big ole evil empire trying to take over literally every universe possible? sounds like a monday.

because honestly if he thinks too much about it, he's not sure he'll be able to keep going. and that's all that matters at this point. he has to keep going. ]

Okay but is your moon spirit a person or an alien? Or....both? Maybe a creature? [ this is a dangerous rabbit hole. ]

Oh, uh. It's hard to explain.

( it's not, really, but mako sucks at storytelling. which. makes it hard by default. he rubs at the back of his neck. )

About a hundred years ago there was a princess born to one of the Water Tribes. She was sick at birth, so her parents prayed to the moon spirit to save her. Spirit-spirit, not... alien or creature. Something that came from the spirit world but now lived in ours. And the spirit did save her, but when she was about sixteen a firebender named Zhao killed the its physical form, and the princess sacrificed her life to... I guess, become the spirit herself? So that our world could keep the moon.

( look it doesn't make a lot of sense to him either. master katara, he knows, was there for the whole thing, but it's not like he knows her well enough to ask after the story. all he has to go on are nebulous tales heard from adults or gleaned in historical footnotes. yue, the moon. )

The Spirit World. Right.

[ pairing not-a-great-storyteller with someone who isn't necessarily a great listener when it comes to details and connections and bigger pictures is.....not a great combo. but lance will try anyway. even if that. story makes no sense.

lance will look at mako with that thought written pretty plainly across his face before he just takes a breath and shakes his head, apparently coming to a decision. ]

That's got to be a 'different worlds, different universes' kind of things. Because we might have planets that are big old hunks or rocks and planets that are creatures but also rocks, I don't think we have. Actual spirits. But also- how can spirits die? Aren't they, you know...already dead?

They aren't spirits in the sense they're dead, that's more like ghosts. What I mean is more... embodiment. Energy from a certain thing given form. So... they're the embodiment of the sky, or the sea, or a forest or lake or mountain. They have their own world that kind of exists... next to ours, I guess. It's been that way for ten thousand years, but my friend Korra recently kind of merged the two together.

( he's more frustrated at his own inability to tell it properly than anything. he stops them both, reaching out to tug on lance's arm. )

Here, give me your hand.

So they're....embodiments of energy. Called spirits. Even though I'm pretty sure spirits and ghosts are the same thing. [ he's not so sure about that mako, but he'll shrug anyway. ] But hey, if I was a disembodied collection of energy that could also die and be killed, I'd also want a different world.

[ a beat, then. ]

I'm sorry- did you say Korra merged them?

[ because hold up, that seems really? sort of? important? lance will blink at mako, then at his 'request', before his brow arches teasingly, coming to a stop with Mako. ] So forward..... [ which is said with a little bit of a smile, before he holds out his hand for him. ]

Why do you need my hand, again?

( he's going to give you a visual demonstration, lance. because he's better about that sort of thing okay. )

Doesn't any culture on your world have guardian spirits? Of anything?

( what kind of heathenous, lawless land do you even come from, lance??? all right, enough of that. mako ignores that quip and takes his hand, clasping them together, curling his fingers in the negative spaces between lance's. this is definitely holding hands, even if he's not going to think of it in that context. the one he uses is his right. the top of lance's hand gets a gesture with his scarred-up left. )

So this is my world. Where I live, and everyone else that's human. And this — ( he points to his own, which makes up the 'bottom' of the combination. ) is where the spirits live. People can go there in the afterlife, but spirits are creatures too. They can age, but they don't die unless something or someone kills them. Maybe you might call them... I don't know, gods maybe? Only there's a lot of them, and most aren't very powerful. Some of them, like the ocean and moon spirit, are older than time. But here...

( he flexes his fingers against the back of lance's hand. he's definitely not thinking about how intimate this is, because he's a cop with a job!! to do!! look at him and his job. )

This is where the worlds intersect. Bleed into each other. Humans can accidentally stumble into the spirit world and get lost there. And spirits can come to ours, though it's rare and very hard for them. It usually only happens if they're very strong, or very angry. When Korra opened up the pathways between worlds, she made it possible for any spirit could enter ours, and for any human could enter theirs.

I mean my mom used to talk about Guardian Angels and Patron Saints but I'm pretty sure that's not the same thing?

[ don't get lance started on his family's weird headcanoned relationship with catholicism, mako. that's not what you're looking for here. but then mako is turning his hand, and quickly clasps them together, slotting his fingers between lance's and oh, oh, well. lance definitely has a ping of something in his chest - he'd assumed this was? a joke? but mako is definitely now holding his hand and lance is just going to. ignore the way his face definitely pinks just a bit. ]

Uh, Mako... [ but no, mako just soldiers on, and lance is left trying to listen but also looking down at his hand. this is intimate, isn't it? he can feel mako's pulse, almost, the warmth of his hand. but okay, c'mon lance, don't get distracted. he's talking about alternate worlds and where they exist and apparently it's a place you go where you die, but spirits aren't necessarily dead, and okay. he might....he kind of understands. and actually feels himself nod along. ]

Okay yeah- that's kind of like old school mythology? Sure. [ nevermind the fact mako is talking like this is actually real and the mythology lance is thinking about is absolutely not, but he's also been to an alternate reality where shiro had a swedish accent, so he can't really talk about things being weird.

then mako's fingers flex, and that ping of what-have-you shoots through him again. did it just get warmer out here? maybe? sure. he'll go with that. ]

That...actually does make a little bit of sense. Did Korra do that on purpose, or was it an accident? Because this- [ he uses his free hand to point to their fingers, their hands, where they're holding each other. just. ignoring how he kind of squeezes mako's hand in the motion of it. ] Seems like it could probably be dangerous. If the worlds were supposed to be separated, I mean.

( he is Oblivious, lance. sorry. that's just how he is, mako genuinely needs to have someone jump at him and kiss him senseless to cotton onto any sort of feeling beyond the pale. )

Huh? Oh. She did it on purpose. The worlds... someone separated them a long time ago, but they used to be together originally. It was just that there was an awful war between humans and spirits, so the only solution they had at the time was... to split them apart. But now... well, both species' have done some growing up, so... she thought it was time. And I trust her judgement. It's been a good thing so far.

( oh he is. still holding lance's hand, isn't he. even though the demonstration is definitely over. well, okay then. he disentangles himself gently, and then claps lance on the shoulder. )

Anyway. Come on, we better hurry up before my firebending cuts out again.

done with having dreams

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