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 Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:21 pm
Two large, muscular men each held one of the smaller Waterbender's arms as they dragged him out of the drinking establishment. With little difficulty they tossed him throw the entry way causing him to unceremoniously land on his rear. The establishment's presumed owner followed behind the two men, wiping his hands clean of the proverbial dirt as he looked down at the raucous maker. "And don't show your face around here again," he snarled before gesturing the other men to follow him back inside.
Petch groaned as he peeled himself off the sidewalk. He'd parted ways with his usual traveling companions a few towns back, yet this hadn't deterred him from his typical habits of instigating major brawls wherever he went. Unfortunately one man versus an entire building were pretty crappy odds. He'd managed to get in a few good hits before practically getting mauled. Really, he'd been lucky security had tossed him out when it had.
"It really does taste like moldy dish water," he muttered as he touched his left eye gingerly and winced. That was going to be a shiner in the morning.
Earthkingdom people were so touchy about their tea.
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 9:56 am
Petch, with his charmingly large feet, was taking up a good piece of the sidewalk as he grumbled to himself. So, when the teenage girl approached him from the north, she found herself quite irritated that someone who had probably just gotten themself thrown out for fighting was taking up the public walkway.
Ordinarily, Esen would have just walked along the shoulder of the road and passed him by, but this one looked familiar. She stared quite blatantly at him as she approached, trying to remember who he was. In the dim red light of the setting sun, his features weren't easy to make out until Esen drew closer, but when she could see his distinctive features and darker skin tone, she knew almost immediately who he was.
"Getting yourself in trouble, huh?" Esen asked him with a wry grin. "Patch-- Petch, right? You look like the sort who'd get himself into lots of trouble."
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 4:04 pm
Petch squinted up at Esen from his place on the sidewalk. Most people he encountered were hard to place, but Esen was the only girl he could remember who had showcased her assets in such a fine way. Petch just wished that Esen didn't feel the need to open her mouth and interrupt his ogling.
"That's really none of your business," he grunted as he moved to stand, clutching at his side and grimacing. "Some people just can't take criticism."
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:49 pm
Esen nodded, observing, "That must've been some tough criticism." as she looked him over.
"What'd you do? Insult their tea?" She asked, jokingly.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 2:17 pm
"Something like that," Petch grumbled, looking increasingly annoyed at Esen's correct guess. Seemed the easiest way to get into a fight was to insult the local cuisine which, Petch asserted, really was as lousy as he said it was. People just didn't like hearing the truth.
"Jerks still have my oar in there," Petch realized as he went to pick his familiar companion off the ground. That was stealing, dammit. At least, he was pretty sure it was. He hadn't just 'forgotten' to take it with him, after all.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 3:27 pm
"I can get it for you." Esen offered, and without waiting for Petch to object (because she knew he would), she added, "I'll be right back." As she stepped up to the door, Esen did a bit of primping - fluffing her chocolate brown hair and adjusting the girls - before disappearing inside.
It was a tea house, to be sure, but it seemed that it was meant to cater to rougher customers, the kind you'd find in a tavern. Esen only felt slightly uncomfortable as she walked, barefoot, to the other end of the establishment and sidled up to the counter.
"Sir," Esen spoke, trying to get the man behind the counter's attention, "My, ah, brother, was just in here. I guess he made some nasty comments about your tea - which I'm sure actually tastes wonderful."
The man frowned at her, "What do you want, then? Cause more problems? Your brother did enough of that, already."
"Oh no, sir, you see... My brother's been providing for us on his own for so long now - you can imagine he's very irritable. He's very sorry about the whole thing. It's just that... he left something of his here. A walking stick."
"Walking stick?" The proprietor sounded confused, "He didn't leave a walking stick here. He did leave this, though." The balding tea shop owner grabbed something from behind the counter and set it on the hard wood top. It was Petch's oar.
"Well, yes." Esen laughed a bit nervously. "That's what I meant." He eyed her unsurely. "Could I have it to take it to him? We'll be out of your, uh, hair, then, I promise."
He did not look convinced, but Esen was prepared. She leaned herself forward, and smiling, cooed, "Pleeaaase?"
The man seemed distracted for a moment (and not by her smile), but he handed the sizable oar over to Esen. He cleared his throat and, trying to sound gruff, said, "You tell your brother to watch his tongue."
"Oh, I will." She replied, smiling. "Thank you, sir!" She bounced a bit, as she thanked him, just so he didn't change his mind, and hurried out of the shop. She emerged feeling relieved that she was no longer the subject of a great deal of gawking, and let out a loud sigh of relief.
Esen approached Petch again and handed him his oar. "Here you go, brother."
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:00 pm
Petch accepted the oar and really hoped that he and Esen weren't actually related. Then he might feel bad about constantly checking out her assets. Maybe.
"Thanks," he said with a smirk. "Don't suppose you're in the mood to throw money at a poor thirsty vagrant, hm?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:23 pm
"Always." Said Esen, flourishing a bit as she spoke. In general, she thought very little of money; perhaps because she had so little experience with it.
She was mildly surprised, though, at his request. Petch had, previously, been very grumbley about taking handouts - even if they were from pretty girls. Perhaps he had taken to "paying it forward" as she had suggested before... but probably not.
"But only if I can come along." She winked.
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:07 pm
Petch only wished he had more experience with money. He'd had plenty of experience without it.
"Fine," Petch grunted, as if he thought her request was anything but. He was finding his pride easier to swallow lately, but he was hardly any more generous. At least, he didn't like to think so. There had been that one time he had healed a young girl and then used the payment to buy her and her sister lunch.
Looking over at Esen appraisingly, he asked, "You ever been in a fight?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:46 pm
"Not a real one." Esen replied, thinking back. She touched her index finger to her chin. "Use to wrestle with the other kids in the desert." She recalled, remembering how goofy her hair looked when it was so short - a length that she had demanded her mother cut it to so she'd fit in better with the other benders her age, who were mostly boys.
"But, nope. Why?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:31 pm
Petch didn't beat around the bush. Slinging his oar over his shoulder, he smirked, "How about you and me see how long it takes to get kicked out of the next restaurant?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 11:06 pm
"Uh," Esen didn't have to think long, "Okay!" Causing hullabaloos in public places was an appealing idea to any teenager, for sure. But it was especially so for this one in particular, because she had somehow managed to bore herself almost completely with Ba Sing Se in the months she had been a resident.
"Just make sure it's one where the food isn't very good. I don't wanna get permanently banned from a place that's got tasty stuff."
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