1st Testimony: Early December Catchall

[paybent]

[Dick Gumshoe, a local earthbending police detective who wishes he was a metalbending cop but is perpetually down on his luck. The good detective can be found at a few locales throughout the city.

A. Sitting on the steps of city hall during a lunch break. He'll be eating from a dinky container of Flameo Instant noodles while also dabbling at a sketchbook. The sketches are far from professional, but they seem to be reflecting some kind of badgermole-like creature.

B. By the police station! He'll mostly be there to do business... or just chat up everyone in the area and look for cases to latch onto. And if someone doesn't seem to belong there, he may pop over to see if they need to be questioned. He may also have a dog with him.

C. In an empty-ish lot within the spirit wilds, where he practices his earthbending. He's also set up a tin can on a dormant vine, and he'll make many a valiant, exaggerated effort to bend it. The result is him holding a ridiculous-looking pose while staring the can down for several minutes.]

Comments

[motheroffaces]

[The woman gazes back at him, eyebrows slightly raised. She's quite tall, almost too thin, dressed in ornate robes that look almost archaic in their design, as though she belonged to some bygone era -- and fairly impractical-looking for the cold. Her hair trails down the length of her back, almost to her knees, long and loose.]

[Her eyes are somber, shadow-dark in a too-pale face. They flick from his face to the page he was working on without apology -- as though his surprise is just an inconvenience distracting from the matter at hand, and she is not to be blamed for it whatsoever.]

It is a badgermole.

[And she muses on it a moment, leaning back over him to get a better look.] It is not a poor semblance, though the addition of eyelashes seems . . . arbitrary.

[paybent]

[Gumshoe glances up towards her uncertainly. Even for someone who could be as dense as Gumshoe tends to, a lot of the oddness in her features and her clothes stares out. She still seems pretty, sure, but definitely unusual. Maybe she's from some obscure village.

He frowns for a moment as he hears her criticism and then turns his attention down the the notepad.]

Arbitrary... is that a good thing or a bad thing? See, this design, it can't be just any old ordinary run-of-the-mill badger mole. [Now he puts on a more proud smile.] Nah, pal, I've gotta design the Blue Badgermole... It'll be the pride and joy of the Republic City police force!

[motheroffaces]

["Pal?" Has she just been called "pal?" Shadowy eyes spear into him.]

You may call me Uma. "Pal" is unacceptable.

And "arbitrary" in this case merely means that there seems to be no point to it. It adds nothing.

Why must the police force have a blue badgermole at all? And furthermore, why must it be designed?

[She's thinking of the animal, and no one designs those . . . except for her.]

[paybent]

[S-so cold! Gumshoe sheepishly fret.]

Oh, uh... Sorry about that, pa- I mean... Uma. [He scratches at his head.]

I thought it added character... See it's an idea that some of the guys at the station were kicking around! We think the force could use a good mascot, and we decided it would be the Blue Badgermole! See, it sounds like "badge", plus it ties in with our Earth Kingdom roots! Not too shabby, huh? We're all trying to work at making the best design!!

[motheroffaces]

[Better. The behavior has been corrected, and she is satisfied.]

[. . . Though the rest of what he is saying does seem to be gibberish. Her eyebrows rise as she waits, gaze unflickering, for him to finish.]

And what will be the purpose of a "mascot?"

[The word makes no sense to her. Nor does "badge," for that matter, or "guys at the station." But if she can keep him talking, she may be able to determine what he is saying and not reveal her own ignorance.]

[No one said mingling with humanity would be such an incomprehensible challenge. For the sake of the experiment, she is trying.]

[paybent]

[Odd. It's like she's never heard of a mascot before, or what they're for. But Gumshoe knows he's forgotten a lot more common-knowledge things himself before, so he tries to keep up a reassuring smile as he goes on.]

Well, you know... It'll make a good face for our department! It'll be something to inspire the people and help them to really root for us police! And the kids could always use a hero who's kind and fluffy, to look up to!