The nickname had such a nice ring to it and Ty Lee couldn't help but grin at the boy who had the cutest look of confusion on his face. If anything, the nickname only settled a few more pieces back into the blank spots in her mind. She realized with some relief that her appearance at the door had been shocking enough that he hadn't realized her attempt to catch her breath after the run. She couldn't but fondly think that it was such typical Beat behaviour. But before she could get a word out, Kazuo barrled through the boy's legs and came running up to her, nuzzling her leg affectionately. She let out a laugh and stooped down to scratch the turtleduck before she turned her attention back to Beat.
"I came to drop off your jacket, silly!" she said holding out the folded piece of clothing. It had been wrinkled in her run up the stairs and she vainly tried to straighten them out. A part of her figured that Beat probably wouldn't have noticed or cared, but she still wanted it to look nice especially since she was starting to realize just how much Beat had meant to her. How was she going to bring this up? She'd have to find a way and she felt more sure about it after hearing the nickname. It gave her hope that he maybe did still have feelings for her. Choosing to over look the slight slip up for now and swallowing her nervousness, Ty Lee gave him a grin before poking her head into the apartment. "I wasn't interrupting something, was I? I kind of wanted to talk to you about something too."
To say that this was a surprise was probably the understatement of the year. And it was only January.
"Oh right. Thanks." He took the jacket back from her, swinging it over his shoulder and letting it hang there. Wrinkled or not, it didn't really matter to him. He'll worry about it later. Something else held his attention now.
Beat had known that she was going to come eventually, but he had tried not to dwell on it for too long. Thinking about it only made him depressed, only made him pine for her to appear at his doorstep even more. Now that she was actually here, he hadn't the slightest clue what to do with himself. That should be all, right? Take the jacket, make some small talk then probably say "goodbye, see you later"?
But that wasn't what happened.
The sentence rang in his head a few more times 'I kind of wanted to talk to you about something.' More often than not, anyone in a relationship dreaded hearing anything that even resembled that sentence. But that was the problem. The two of them were no longer in a relationship, at least technically. What would she even talk to him about? They've only just met. Again.
However Beat wasn't about to send her away just because of that. Stepping aside as she poked her head in, he opened the door even wider as an invitation. "Naw, wasn't doin' nothin'."
He turned his head back to look at the apartment and just realized the state he had left it in. Cartons from his Chinese dinner from last night littered the table by the couch, a small stack of three of four items of clothing hung over a nearby chair. To think he had planned on tossing the jacket there too. Leaving the door open for her to enter he begins cleaning up whatever he can, stacking cartons precariously on top of each other and tossing whatever clothes he can over his free arm. These things would have to into the trash and into his room for now.
"Jus' sit down, yo. Ya want anythin'? Water? Soda? Tea?" Did he even have any tea left? He'll find something. Hopefully.
"If you're sure I'm not bothering you. That's the last thing I'd want to be doing." She gave him a bright smile as she stepped into the apartment and slowly, she could see the rest of the pieces falling into place. The apartment looked instantly familiar even though she knew that if she had been here two weeks ago it wouldn't have been. It looked in slight disarray and a bit messy, but who was she to judge? Half of the time, her tent back home at the circus had been an explosion of things all over the place. It was a miracle at all that she could manage to find things.
A fond smile played on her lips as she watched Beat bustle around the apartment cleaning up and Kazuo waddled after her as she walked around the apartment. "Tea would be nice if you have any," she paused and giggled slightly. "If you don't have any though, don't worry about it. Water works just as well." Eventually she made her way over to the couch where clothes were tossed on it carelessly and she moved them gently to the side, picking Kazuo up and placing him on the couch beside her before beginning to fold some of the clothes. The turtleduck quacked contentedly beside her and she paused in her folding to reach out to scratch his head.
Even though she look calm on the outside, she was really beginning to wonder how she would even bring this up. It was a sensitive subject. She had remembered that she had promised him that she wouldn't simply up and leave without saying goodbye but that's more or less exactly what she had done. Ty Lee would understand if he didn't want to pick up where they had left off. She was also slightly concerned for herself too. Just because memories came back didn't necessarily mean that the feelings would come back right away either. She didn't want to hurt him again - that was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Aight, jus' gimme a sec," he said, quickly ducking into the kitchen. Beat unceremoniously tossed the clothes at hand over one of the chairs. At least there, it wouldn't be as obvious as where it had been earlier. It took him a while to find the tea bags but after opening and closing almost every drawer and cupboard door in the room, he found some tucked away in the pantry.
He busied himself as he prepared the tea, deciding that nuking the water in the microwave was the fastest way to get it heated. In the few minutes it took for the water to heat up, a small voice in the back of his head kept nagging him to make a move with Ty Lee. Just because she didn't remember didn't mean that he lost his chance with her, right? It may take some time again, but there really wasn't any telling how that would go.
The beeping of the microwave disturbed him from his thoughts. He took the cup and dipped the tea bag in, taking it back out to Ty Lee. There's no way he could do that. He didn't have it in him to make a move like that especially when Ty Lee barely knew who he was as is.
"Here," he said, handing he cup over to the girl. "It's kinda hot."
With that, Beat took seat on the other end of the couch. He noticed that the rest of the clothes that had been strewn around the area had been cleaned up, placed in a neat pile on the table. He had been meaning to get to that but was putting it off for some other day. In hindsight, that might've been a bad idea.
"Thanks." He gestured towards the pile. "For that."
Ty Lee's expression perked up when Beat entered the room again and she took the tea from him, nodding her thanks, grateful that she could warm her hands on the cup. She remembered the winters from Somarium but still hadn't quite gotten used to it. Apparently she'd always be a Fire Nation girl no matter how many layers of clothes she layered on. "Don't worry about it!" she replied brightly, blowing on the tea before taking a tiny sip. Not quite like the tea Uncle Iroh made for them, but beggers couldn't be choosers. And it wasn't like she had exactly given Beat notice that she was going to be dropping by. "You just looked so busy that I thought I could help in whatever way I could."
The two lapsed into silence as Ty Lee sipped her tea and desperately tried to figure out a way to bring up the subject. Maybe it was too soon? Would mentioning it be too much? Before she could go on thinking though, she noticed that he had taken a seat at the far end of the couch away from her. The girl figured that he was only being polite and courteous, but it was his apartment and it wasn't his fault that he didn't know she remembered him now. In that moment, she only wanted to be close to him. Giving him a cheeky smile, she patted the seat beside her, missing the look that Kazuo gave her when she did. "You can come sit closer you know. I'm not going to bite and it is your apartment."
Her slim finger tapped against the side of the mug - a clear sign that something was still on her mind. Quickly, she cleared her throat, doing her best to stay far away from any awkward silences. It wasn't like she'd ever had to deal with them before with past ex-boyfriends. It was only a matter hiding herself away in the circus where if they came looking for her, all it would take was a word with someone else in the circus and they'd scare the poor guy away. But she couldn't exactly do that here. This was just her and Beat. "What have you been up to then? I haven't seen in the past two weeks."
It wasn't that he though she'd bite him or anything like that. Beat had just figured that it was best that he kept his distance while he can. All sorts of scenarios had played in his head since she got there and he really didn't want do anything that he might regret while she was around.
But he takes her offer anyway, scooting closer towards her. Kazuo let out a quack of annoyance as he got closer, but Beat paid him no heed. "You ain't look the the kind who'd do that, anyways."
They had both drowned in an awkward silence until Ty Lee spoke up.
"Not much, yo. Jus' school, hangin' 'round. That sorta thing, you know." There really hadn't been much going on in Somarium at least in terms of actual events. The earthquakes counted for something but there were maybe a few cracks here and there. There never was any real extensive damage. That might be worth mentioning though, considering he did worry about her. "'Cept the quakes, I guess. You aight where you at right now?"
"Oh school," Ty Lee made a tiny face. It wasn't that she hated school. It had been a while since she'd been in it but while she had, she had found the whole process just...boring. School had never been her thing. She understood everything that they were teaching, and she supposed that she could have 'got the grades' as Mai had put it once, but it just never interested her. At least her pin point pressure lessons had been worth something. At least she got to move. The rest of school involved sitting in desks and listening to things that were going to be tested on later. "I remember school back home and here. They may have taught different things but I don't think that either of them were very fun."
At the mention of the earthquakes, Ty Lee nodded. It had been a bit of a shock at first when they happened, but she quickly got used to them. "Me? Of course I am! Takuma and D's mansion is so sturdy the walls barely even shook. It's so sweet of you to ask though," she replied with a smile before frowning. "I'd be more worried about you though. I mean, I know you don't live very high up, but you're still not on the ground like I am." She looked around the apartment, which, while it was better now, it still looked like an earthquake had just happened and tossed everything around.
Beat shared the same sentiments with regard to school. If anything, he was doing it for the sake of doing it. Just going through the motions. At least he didn't have to worry about his parents berate him on his effort - or lack thereof - to excel. That was one thing that he didn't miss from home at all.
But there was something in her mention of it that grabbed his interest. The lost expression on his face changed almost immediately into one of avid interest and confusion. He wasn't hearing right was he? There had only been one time that someone he knew returned with all their memories in tact. It was always one way or the other. There never was any gray area... Yet now, he's actually heard that she may have been here before.
"Yeah, I'm used to that sorta crap. Happened back in Japan a lot." The small shakes, at least. But he dismissed that topic quickly to bring up the matter of school again.
He pushed himself off the couch, craning his head to look Ty Lee in the eye. "Yo, hold up a sec. Whatchu mean remember school here?"
"It happened a lot back home too. A lot of the animals would get really scared whenever it happened so everyone back home would have to help out." A fond smile crossed her face at the memory but she quickly shook away the incoming nostalgia. It wasn't exactly difficult when Beat's expression suddenly changed. She blinked a few times moving back only slightly. Oops. She had slipped up. Kazuo, sensing the girl's distress gave Beat a warning quack but she tapped the turtleduck on the beak once and he shied away, nuzzling back into her lap.
"Er, b-because I do?" This wasn't the way she wanted to tell him that she finally remembered him. "Way to go, Ty Lee," she thought inwardly groaning. "This whole week," she started, "I've been getting my memories back." Her eyes darted away from Beat's unable to keep looking at him in the eye. "Someone I met said that going around Somarium might help me remember things and he was right. I am remembering things. Like who I was friends with before and where I used to live." She gave him a little laugh, "It was kind of a bummer that the carnival is still up in the air. I probably would have remembered so much more if I had gone there first."
The tapping against her mug got steadier and she could feel herself growing more and more nervous. The blush on her face was growing hotter and hotter too and finally her eyes flitted back to Beat if only for a moment. "Actually, that's kind of what I came to talk to you about. I kind of remembered something that I didn't know when I first met you."
There have been very few times that Beat had been rendered speechless. This moment would easily rank up in his top five. She's been remembering things? Was that even possible? He wasn't even sure what he should be feeling now. Joy? Relief? Resentment? Could he even feel all of those things at once? If he had looked confused before, he looked to be in even worse shape now, what with his brow furrowed and his elbow resting on his knees as he looked at anything but Ty Lee.
"So..." So maybe she remembered him now. So maybe she recalled the feelings they had for each other. So maybe she didn't seem the same way before. Maybe, maybe, maybe. All the uncertainties rushed at him all at once. Beat didn't like thinking that she had done something like that on purpose. It wasn't like her and he didn't know the whole story yet. But this whole situation came as a surprise to him. A big one.
And he wasn't sure whether he liked this surprise or not.
He had missed the look on Ty Lee's face as she spoke again, tapping away at the mug he had given her. She wasn't the only one who seemed restless. He started shaking his leg in a subconscious effort to cool his head.
Without any other second thoughts, he opened his mouth to speak once more, simply wanting to rid himself of the doubts plaguing his mind. "What do ya remember now?"
The nickname had such a nice ring to it and Ty Lee couldn't help but grin at the boy who had the cutest look of confusion on his face. If anything, the nickname only settled a few more pieces back into the blank spots in her mind. She realized with some relief that her appearance at the door had been shocking enough that he hadn't realized her attempt to catch her breath after the run. She couldn't but fondly think that it was such typical Beat behaviour. But before she could get a word out, Kazuo barrled through the boy's legs and came running up to her, nuzzling her leg affectionately. She let out a laugh and stooped down to scratch the turtleduck before she turned her attention back to Beat.
"I came to drop off your jacket, silly!" she said holding out the folded piece of clothing. It had been wrinkled in her run up the stairs and she vainly tried to straighten them out. A part of her figured that Beat probably wouldn't have noticed or cared, but she still wanted it to look nice especially since she was starting to realize just how much Beat had meant to her. How was she going to bring this up? She'd have to find a way and she felt more sure about it after hearing the nickname. It gave her hope that he maybe did still have feelings for her. Choosing to over look the slight slip up for now and swallowing her nervousness, Ty Lee gave him a grin before poking her head into the apartment. "I wasn't interrupting something, was I? I kind of wanted to talk to you about something too."
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"Oh right. Thanks." He took the jacket back from her, swinging it over his shoulder and letting it hang there. Wrinkled or not, it didn't really matter to him. He'll worry about it later. Something else held his attention now.
Beat had known that she was going to come eventually, but he had tried not to dwell on it for too long. Thinking about it only made him depressed, only made him pine for her to appear at his doorstep even more. Now that she was actually here, he hadn't the slightest clue what to do with himself. That should be all, right? Take the jacket, make some small talk then probably say "goodbye, see you later"?
But that wasn't what happened.
The sentence rang in his head a few more times 'I kind of wanted to talk to you about something.' More often than not, anyone in a relationship dreaded hearing anything that even resembled that sentence. But that was the problem. The two of them were no longer in a relationship, at least technically. What would she even talk to him about? They've only just met. Again.
However Beat wasn't about to send her away just because of that. Stepping aside as she poked her head in, he opened the door even wider as an invitation. "Naw, wasn't doin' nothin'."
He turned his head back to look at the apartment and just realized the state he had left it in. Cartons from his Chinese dinner from last night littered the table by the couch, a small stack of three of four items of clothing hung over a nearby chair. To think he had planned on tossing the jacket there too. Leaving the door open for her to enter he begins cleaning up whatever he can, stacking cartons precariously on top of each other and tossing whatever clothes he can over his free arm. These things would have to into the trash and into his room for now.
"Jus' sit down, yo. Ya want anythin'? Water? Soda? Tea?" Did he even have any tea left? He'll find something. Hopefully.
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A fond smile played on her lips as she watched Beat bustle around the apartment cleaning up and Kazuo waddled after her as she walked around the apartment. "Tea would be nice if you have any," she paused and giggled slightly. "If you don't have any though, don't worry about it. Water works just as well." Eventually she made her way over to the couch where clothes were tossed on it carelessly and she moved them gently to the side, picking Kazuo up and placing him on the couch beside her before beginning to fold some of the clothes. The turtleduck quacked contentedly beside her and she paused in her folding to reach out to scratch his head.
Even though she look calm on the outside, she was really beginning to wonder how she would even bring this up. It was a sensitive subject. She had remembered that she had promised him that she wouldn't simply up and leave without saying goodbye but that's more or less exactly what she had done. Ty Lee would understand if he didn't want to pick up where they had left off. She was also slightly concerned for herself too. Just because memories came back didn't necessarily mean that the feelings would come back right away either. She didn't want to hurt him again - that was the last thing she wanted to do.
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He busied himself as he prepared the tea, deciding that nuking the water in the microwave was the fastest way to get it heated. In the few minutes it took for the water to heat up, a small voice in the back of his head kept nagging him to make a move with Ty Lee. Just because she didn't remember didn't mean that he lost his chance with her, right? It may take some time again, but there really wasn't any telling how that would go.
The beeping of the microwave disturbed him from his thoughts. He took the cup and dipped the tea bag in, taking it back out to Ty Lee. There's no way he could do that. He didn't have it in him to make a move like that especially when Ty Lee barely knew who he was as is.
"Here," he said, handing he cup over to the girl. "It's kinda hot."
With that, Beat took seat on the other end of the couch. He noticed that the rest of the clothes that had been strewn around the area had been cleaned up, placed in a neat pile on the table. He had been meaning to get to that but was putting it off for some other day. In hindsight, that might've been a bad idea.
"Thanks." He gestured towards the pile. "For that."
That was one way to break the ice, wasn't it?
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The two lapsed into silence as Ty Lee sipped her tea and desperately tried to figure out a way to bring up the subject. Maybe it was too soon? Would mentioning it be too much? Before she could go on thinking though, she noticed that he had taken a seat at the far end of the couch away from her. The girl figured that he was only being polite and courteous, but it was his apartment and it wasn't his fault that he didn't know she remembered him now. In that moment, she only wanted to be close to him. Giving him a cheeky smile, she patted the seat beside her, missing the look that Kazuo gave her when she did. "You can come sit closer you know. I'm not going to bite and it is your apartment."
Her slim finger tapped against the side of the mug - a clear sign that something was still on her mind. Quickly, she cleared her throat, doing her best to stay far away from any awkward silences. It wasn't like she'd ever had to deal with them before with past ex-boyfriends. It was only a matter hiding herself away in the circus where if they came looking for her, all it would take was a word with someone else in the circus and they'd scare the poor guy away. But she couldn't exactly do that here. This was just her and Beat. "What have you been up to then? I haven't seen in the past two weeks."
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But he takes her offer anyway, scooting closer towards her. Kazuo let out a quack of annoyance as he got closer, but Beat paid him no heed. "You ain't look the the kind who'd do that, anyways."
They had both drowned in an awkward silence until Ty Lee spoke up.
"Not much, yo. Jus' school, hangin' 'round. That sorta thing, you know." There really hadn't been much going on in Somarium at least in terms of actual events. The earthquakes counted for something but there were maybe a few cracks here and there. There never was any real extensive damage. That might be worth mentioning though, considering he did worry about her. "'Cept the quakes, I guess. You aight where you at right now?"
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At the mention of the earthquakes, Ty Lee nodded. It had been a bit of a shock at first when they happened, but she quickly got used to them. "Me? Of course I am! Takuma and D's mansion is so sturdy the walls barely even shook. It's so sweet of you to ask though," she replied with a smile before frowning. "I'd be more worried about you though. I mean, I know you don't live very high up, but you're still not on the ground like I am." She looked around the apartment, which, while it was better now, it still looked like an earthquake had just happened and tossed everything around.
"You were fine, weren't you?"
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But there was something in her mention of it that grabbed his interest. The lost expression on his face changed almost immediately into one of avid interest and confusion. He wasn't hearing right was he? There had only been one time that someone he knew returned with all their memories in tact. It was always one way or the other. There never was any gray area... Yet now, he's actually heard that she may have been here before.
"Yeah, I'm used to that sorta crap. Happened back in Japan a lot." The small shakes, at least. But he dismissed that topic quickly to bring up the matter of school again.
He pushed himself off the couch, craning his head to look Ty Lee in the eye. "Yo, hold up a sec. Whatchu mean remember school here?"
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"Er, b-because I do?" This wasn't the way she wanted to tell him that she finally remembered him. "Way to go, Ty Lee," she thought inwardly groaning. "This whole week," she started, "I've been getting my memories back." Her eyes darted away from Beat's unable to keep looking at him in the eye. "Someone I met said that going around Somarium might help me remember things and he was right. I am remembering things. Like who I was friends with before and where I used to live." She gave him a little laugh, "It was kind of a bummer that the carnival is still up in the air. I probably would have remembered so much more if I had gone there first."
The tapping against her mug got steadier and she could feel herself growing more and more nervous. The blush on her face was growing hotter and hotter too and finally her eyes flitted back to Beat if only for a moment. "Actually, that's kind of what I came to talk to you about. I kind of remembered something that I didn't know when I first met you."
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"So..." So maybe she remembered him now. So maybe she recalled the feelings they had for each other. So maybe she didn't seem the same way before. Maybe, maybe, maybe. All the uncertainties rushed at him all at once. Beat didn't like thinking that she had done something like that on purpose. It wasn't like her and he didn't know the whole story yet. But this whole situation came as a surprise to him. A big one.
And he wasn't sure whether he liked this surprise or not.
He had missed the look on Ty Lee's face as she spoke again, tapping away at the mug he had given her. She wasn't the only one who seemed restless. He started shaking his leg in a subconscious effort to cool his head.
Without any other second thoughts, he opened his mouth to speak once more, simply wanting to rid himself of the doubts plaguing his mind. "What do ya remember now?"
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