[OPEN] Intro

[badday_badday]

I.
After eventually finding his way to Dragonflats and managing to secure a place to stay, Jackie put away his few belongings and decided to go out and see more of this massive new city that was now his home. He made sure to make note of his address in case he got lost finding his way back and had to ask directions.

As he moved through some of the nicer areas of the city, buildings used by government officials and other impressive feats of architecture and ingenuity, Jackie had the wide eyed, gawking stare of a tourist. Before coming to Republic City, he mostly saw buildings that were two stories tall. He even saw the occasional one with three stories but nothing as grand or as breathtaking as what he saw now.

With his preoccupation with his sightseeing, he's far more likely to run into someone or stop dead in the middle of a busy sidewalk. In either case, he'll respond by apologizing profusely.


II.
"Excuse me! Oops! Sorry! Oh, sorry again!"

Jackie's running along the sidewalk as quickly as he can all while dipping, ducking, jumping and otherwise trying to avoid running into people and things as much as possible. When he'd seen the message appearing in the newspaper about jobs, he knew he had to get to the city council office as soon as possible. The message hadn't really had a lot of information but that much was clear. Hopefully, all the good jobs wouldn't be gone before he arrived out of breath.

[He'll be arriving before the actual start of the event.]

Comments

II

[savedtheworld]

"Whoa!"

Aang was startled out of his reverie as the man zipped past him. Normally he'd just let him go along his way, but it was interesting seeing the way he moved. He showed a lot of athletic skill and was moving really fast. So for fun, Aang whipped up a ball of air and rode the air scooter in pursuit of the man, zipping around the crowd and seeing if he could catch up to him.

[badday_badday]

Jackie was unaware that he'd picked up a pursuer in his hurry, so focused on getting to his destination as quickly as possible. While he definitely is showing skill, his moves aren't exactly what you'd describe as graceful. There's a lack of finesse, like he's pulling these movements on the fly rather than really concentrating on them.

The odds are very high that Aang will catch up to Jackie before he reaches the city council office.

[savedtheworld]

It definitely doesn't look like the gracefulness that Aang associated with airbending. But he's still moving fast, so Aang does what he can to catch up. The Air Scooter's moving very fast itself - if Aang manages to pass Jackie, he'll turn to flash him a wave and a cheeky smile.

[badday_badday]

Jackie notices the movement of something in the side of his vision and glances over in time to see Aang zip ahead of him with a wave and smile. The fact that he's zooming by one a ball of air has Jackie's eyes widening in shock...a shock that distracts him enough that he's not able to avoid the next obstacle.

Stumbling forward off of his own momentum, Jackie flailed about wildly before coming to finally land in a wagon full of, what else, cabbages.

".....oooow."

[savedtheworld]

Cabbages. It always has to be cabbages. Aang looks on in surprise as the man falls over, and then he zips over towards the fallen cabbage cart to try to help him up. "Sorry!! Are you okay?"

[badday_badday]

"Iiii'm....okay..."

He's just a bit dizzy, but he's fine. After a moment, he's accepting the help to his feet and waiting for the stars to clear. When he does, he sees Aang standing there and he recalls what caused him to stumble.

"That thing. How were you doing that? It was amazing!"

[savedtheworld]

Aang chuckles slightly as he helps the man up, cabbages tumbling everywhere.

"My air scooter? Oh, that was just some simple airbending! Nothing special."

[badday_badday]

"Really?! Wow, I've never seen airbending before! Well, except for that time Quan said that he could airbend, but that was just farting. Can you show me more?"

You've got yourself a bit of a fan there, Aang!

[savedtheworld]

Now Aang just laughs at that. "I guess that technically counts! But yeah... If you're really sure, I can show you one of my best tricks!"

[badday_badday]

"Yes, I'm sure! Please show me!"

You've got his full, undivided attention.

1/2

[savedtheworld]

"Alright! Watch carefully..."

So he slowly reaches into his robes, pulls out his hands closed together, and then he opens them to reveal...

[savedtheworld]

Ta-da!

1/2

[badday_badday]

[He slides a hand between Aang's and the spinning object.]

That's.....

2/2

[badday_badday]

AMAZING!

一。

[lavamylife]

"Oof!" says Bolin as he accidentally runs into (and gets run into) by Jackie. Bolin is plodding down the street with a small box of noodles in his hands and eating with a pair of chopsticks in the other, and apparently he was distracted by this. After coughing a few times as a result of having his mouth full at the time, he clears his throat and turns to face Jackie.

"Sorry about that, I didn't see you there."

[badday_badday]

He really needed to learn to slow down and be more careful. After rising back to his feet, rubbing where he'd hit the ground on his rear, Jackie looked up at Bolin and gave a bow.

"No, it was my fault. I was running and didn't see you in time. I hope you're not hurt or anything."

[lavamylife]

At least, unlike the last time, Bolin has managed to hold onto both his lunch. And his chopsticks. Thankfully, lunch is still on the menu. However, he shakes his head to Jackie and gives him a thumbs up before putting an arm on his shoulder.

"Hey, it's no problem! I get run into all the time, and I've taken worse hits and lived to tell the tale. So don't sweat anything." He gives Jackie a reassuring grin before suddenly panicking a little bit, realising he hasn't introduced himself yet. "Oh, and in case you don't know who I am, I'm Bolin."

[badday_badday]

Wow, this person's actually really nice! After some of the other people he'd met, it was nice to see that there were other nice people in the city.

Jackie smiles as Bolin places that hand on his shoulder before introducing himself.

"It's very nice to meet you! My name is Jackie! So you've lived in the city a long time?"

[lavamylife]

Hey, Bolin can't help but be nice generally. It really takes a lot to make Bolin upset at someone unless that person is Mako. But hey, this person seems not too bad, so Bolin can't help but smile.

"Jackie, huh?" Bolin says as he commits the memory. "I'm guessing you must be somewhat new around here then?" It's a wild guess given that he practically opened with how long Bolin's been here. "But yeah, this is practically my town, really. Born here, grew up here, finally found a steady job here." He actually seems rather proud of the fact, to be honest. "In fact, it's only been in the past year really that I've even left Republic City and seen the rest of the world. Honestly, I have to say that this city is the best place in the whole world so far."

[badday_badday]

That wild guess was right on the money as Jackie gives a nod at his assumption.

"Yes, I've only been here for a few weeks. I used to live in a little village in the Earth Kingdom but I came here because I'd heard the same thing. That it's the best place in the world.

I'm liking it so far."

[lavamylife]

Bolin grins. "Well yeah, especially because the Earth Queen was a little bit, you know, crazy and all, I can imagine that living in the Earth Kingdom wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Though granted, I'm not sure things are better now that she's been killed. All I can say is that I'm glad I managed to get my family out of there amidst all the chaos. Man, Ba Sing Se really started going to the polar bear dogs."

[badday_badday]

"I heard about that. Our part of the kingdom was far enough from the capital and small enough that I doubt she even knew we existed. It's good you were able to keep your family safe though. I can't imagine what I would do if something were to happen to mine."

[lavamylife]

"Oh, well, whew!" Bolin says, finally breathing a sigh of relief. "At least you were spared most of that insanity! But yeah, Republic City is certainly alright. Not that it hasn't had its own share of... things, recently, but more or less, the people are alright.

"So, uh, if you're used to being in a small town, what brought you to the city?"

[badday_badday]

"Oh that? My parents thought that maybe I'd be able to make a better life for myself if I could find a job in Republic City. So...here I am!"

It hadn't exactly been a smooth transition, but he was starting to get settled in.

"You must have a really good job if you can travel around out of the city."

[lavamylife]

"Er... well..." Bolin stammers at the insinuation that Bolin's got a good job. He touches his two forefingers together before him and gives him a bit of a grimace. "You know, I'm... not exactly all that rich just yet. Even if the last two years have kind of taken a big turn for the better, I'm still... sometimes just scraping by, y'know. I guess it just helps that I've been travelling with the Avatar and all when she wants to go places."

And the benevolence of strangers. Asami's deep pocketbooks and Tenzin's free housing has been nice too.