Beach Party!?

[markofthewise]

Who: Anyone who wants to come!
What: BEACH PARTY! (For Katara or something)
When: In the evening, about 7PM
Where: On the beach! Somewhere!
Summary: It's Katara's 17th and while all friends of Team Avatar are invited, anyone else can gatecrash too.
Rating: E for everyone (for God's sake there's going to be seven year olds!)

[A few days before the birthday, Katara's housemates began birthday preparations. Not quite entirely secret, but they made invitations, told friends, spread the word, and so on. Birthday on the beach. Be there or be a loser McButtface without friends.

And so there's a party! With tables! And chairs! And umbrellas! And the sun is setting, but the Malnosso had no taste and put the ocean on the east side of Luceti, so it's a sunset over the mountains which isn't as cool as an ocean sunset. But anyway. There's a volleyball net and, you know, an ocean to swim in. Also Sokka ordered a generator with his mission points and abducted the karaoke machine. It was mostly to provide some music, but people can get up and sing with it too.

As for the food? There's a table for that. It's a bring your own dish affair, since Katara is kind of their team cook and they can't exactly make her own birthday meal, right? So anyone coming can bring whatever they like and set it out. The gang brought some meals of their own, so there's bound to be some cool dishes from the air nomads, water tribe, and fire nation. And cake. A big chocolate cake. Someone made it! We don't know who. (Feel free to dibs being the baker or something if you want.)

And a table! A table for presents! Bring a present, set it there. It's very organized.]

((ooc: It's out on the beach and just a general sort of party affair, so feel free to have characters show up even if they're not friends with the birthday girl. It's a free for all. SO YOU BETTER MINGLE OR THERE'S GONNA BE WORDS.

Now have fun.))

Comments

[savedtheworld]

Y-you love her too?

[He blurts out in disbelief, even though when he thinks about it, he should have known it was a possibility. Sure, Katara's explanation was brief enough that Aang was able to believe that Katara was just one of many girls that he shallowly hit on, no big deal. But that's when he doesn't take into account the sheer grief Masaomi was barely restraining during that journal talk. And how scary he got about Katara's wellbeing earlier that day.]

[generalflirt]

...She told me she told you that.

[Oh come on, seriously. His eye twitches. Just a little annoyed in spite of himself.

Katara.]

[savedtheworld]

[He answers quietly.]

She... she told me, but she used the word "like".

[She... lied?.]

[generalflirt]

[...He should be angry. He really should be angry with her, because some fairness. But as it is, he exhales hard through his nose and pinches the bridge of it. He closes his eyes... and then opens them, half-lidded, to look at the bracelet she gave him now in front of his eyes.

I'm in love with such a difficult girl.]

Ah, that's not terribly surprising, is it?

[savedtheworld]

It's... it's not. Not when I remember how concerned you were about her after that one experiment. When I thought back on it, I knew it had to be more than just a crush... [Pause. He raises his eyes to meet Masaomi's.] I never thanked you for that. For... for warning me that she might need me.

[generalflirt]

[He meant Katara's wording. But his eyes go wise at that. He decides he doesn't want to stand anymore - he just flops onto his butt here at the shore, his feet in the water a bit, but mostly still dry. He swallows]

It's typical of her to spare your feelings, I think. [Aang's thanks... aren't necessary. It's something important and he was responsible.]

[savedtheworld]

[Aang steps closer so that only his feet are still in the water.]

That's... kinda right. Sometimes it's like she still treats me like a kid. [But that had been getting less frequent.]

[generalflirt]

Ah, she doesn't need to treat you like a kid to do that. You'd be surprised how much you matter, I think. [a light hum] But then, maybe you wouldn't, Boyfriend-san.

[He chuckles at that, looking out into the sea]

[savedtheworld]

I know that I matter. And I think she's been getting better about that recently. [But an inquisitive glance at his title.] But we're not dating yet.

[generalflirt]

Yet, huh? [A light hum] For a monk, you're a pretty cocky bastard, telling a "rival" something like that.

[His tone is amused though, even if says it like that]

[savedtheworld]

W-what? No, I didn't mean... here - I meant... back home, where... we are - we will... and Sokka got the oogies, and... it's.... you know, history, and- and- Ikki!

[He stops to breathe and just move on.] But we don't have to be rivals. We can still be friends, Masaomi. [Even if he's still a little freaked out from earlier.]

[generalflirt]

[Pfffthahahaha. He bursts out laughing at that, and folds his wings to flop onto his back in the stand. He holds up his arm to look at the bracelet glinting in the sun]

Oh we're already something close, Aang-kun. After all, against all odds, I don't dislike you. [You're just being ignorant.] I just wonder how much you're taking for granted about the "Katara" that I love.

[savedtheworld]

[He feels comforted at first, but the wording of the last sentence leaves him uneasy.]

Thanks. I'm glad. And I... I don't take things for granted about Katara.

[generalflirt]

Really? Because it seems the me that the "Katara" you were in that last Shift is as similar to the "Katara" that I love as the "Katara" I killed.

[savedtheworld]

[He gives a quick blush at the mention of that Shift which he never wanted to speak of again, but then it fades in the last sentence for some mix of confusion and anger.]

...What?

[generalflirt]

The one I killed. [...] You said you didn't thank me, right? You shouldn't have - I asked you comfort a "Katara" I condemned to execution.

[This is said in a cold, matter of fact sort of tone]

[savedtheworld]

[A slight relief amongst the confusion and frustration. He speaks slowly.]

She didn't die. No matter how much that it hurt that she was calling it death, she was still Katara. Her memories just changed. There's only ever been one Katara, and I always love her.

[generalflirt]

Wrong. [And he turns now, to glare at Aang with a very harsh expression he's doing his best to restrain] You couldn't be more wrong if you tried, Aang, and I'm not going to have you disrespect that Katara's memory.

[savedtheworld]

[He can't think otherwise. This is his anchor. He stares back unflinchingly.]

You can look at it the way you want to, but I saw her on that last night. And she was the same Katara who woke me from the iceberg. She's always the same person underneath any changes. I don't care what you're going to do to me for believing that, but it's what I know in my heart.

1/2

[generalflirt]

Your heart's wrong. [Flatly] The girl you're in love with and the woman I'm in love with are no longer the same person. If you want to build up on a mountain of lies that harms the "Katara," I know, then by all means keep it up. [And he goes to stand now, his teeth gritted] I won't stop you - no, rather, she won't want me to stop you, because she's coddling you in letting you keep that delusion.

[And it's pissing him off.

Gritting his teeth, he looks down at his bracelet one more time. Let the anger go, let the anger go and walk off]

[generalflirt]

[And he forces a big, goofy grin on his face] Either way, this isn't the time, Aang-kun. It's her birthday, today.

[savedtheworld]

[He doesn't believe most of Masaomi's saying. And he feels a twinge of annoyance whenever Katara's name is preceded by "the" or "that". She's one person. But he only responds to the latter statement, taking a moment to breathe and calm himself down. he doesn't smile yet but tries to churn out some words.]

Yeah, I'm sorry. We should be... fun-bending more. That's what she wants.

[generalflirt]

That we should, that we should! [And he taps Linda on his head. She nods and goes back to floating him and her int he air on a Magnet Rise]

[savedtheworld]

[Aang remains pensive for a moment, thinking of the "mountain of lies" comment and how Katara seemed to leave out so much about Masaomi. For a moment, he wondered if he was right.

Then he remembered the dance. It was just like back home. Maybe even better. And with every step, they had communicated their trust to each other. These new factors couldn't change or ruin that. He'd stick with the evidence that he saw with his one eyes. Katara is Katara.

Then he lets himself laugh again.]

[generalflirt]

You're a kind boy, Aang-kun.

[But stupid. Ignorant. Annoying to him. He likes him though, despite all that. Masaomi exhales to himself and motions for Linda to float him out over the water again, to float out and flee this scene and his conversation with the Avatar]