Don't give me that crap. [She knocks the box out of his hands, needing him to look her in the eye.] You killed someone. And don't try and tell me it doesn't matter because he'll come back as City!Dead. I've been City!dead, and I wouldn't wish it on anybody.
[ The box tumbles from his hands, its contents scattering in every direction. Hei's jaw briefly twitches in anger, the muscles in his shoulders flexing beneath 'Li's oversized green hoodie as if he is considering attacking her. Instead he relaxes abruptly, as if he's swallowed a sedative pill. It's hard to take these bursts of violence seriously. It's practically the tantrum of rowdy toddler. It's not worth it to aim for that weak spot of hers, either -- her soft, privileged idealist's need to deny the tactical realities of war. ]
[ Not that killing Zaheer was an act of warfare. It was more Hei being unable to manage his insecurity, protectiveness, and other unfamiliar emotions, then winding up using his professional talents for deeply personal vendettas. ]
[ Exhaling, he kneels to gather up the fallen knickknacks. Doesn't look her in the eye. ]
[ Hei's composed expression has given way to a tired blandness. Typical child: so obsessed with her own idealism she is incapable of grasping the dangers right under her nose. ]
He was biding his time.
[ All Zaheer needed was the right opportunity to escape. A appropriate curse, a misstep among the prison guards, a lapse of security... Any risk of that happening outweighed Hei's usual indulgence toward Korra' overdeveloped conscience, her sentimentality, and his own thrice-damned ambivalent streak which the City's sheltered environment were only worsening. ]
So what, is that giant potted plant on the 10th floor biding its time before falling on my head? Are you just biding your time before killing me in my sleep? With that kind of attitude, everything is a threat!
[ The anger Hei is trying to contain nearly bursts through. Forcibly, he counts his breaths, slowly getting them down to five a minute. Then he unclenches his hands from around the fallen knickknacks, and drops them back in the box. The hollow thunk is oddly final. ]
[ Without meeting her gaze, he rises, jerking the full box into her hands. Part of him wants to pick apart the fallacy of her argument, to remind her that Zaheer isn't a fucking potted plant but a real and undeniable threat to her safety. But another part of him knows that if she starts off mining that rich conversational seam, she'll understand the sentiment weighing his actions. She'll realize that he was motivated by nothing beyond the fact that he stood to lose her. ]
[ To strike on impulse is to invite disaster. A dictum he's lived by all his life. Or had -- until he'd arrived in the City, which is a disaster-zone in and of itself. ]
[She wants to scream. She wants to punch his stupid face, kick him in the balls, and beat him up until he starts making some fucking sense. She wants to go back to a time before Zaheer arrived in the City, when things were still complicated and painful but fixable.]
Just ... stay out of my life. [It's the exact opposite of what she wants, but it's what needs to happen.]
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pffft also setting this in Poly!City
Date: 2016-03-29 12:58 am (UTC)excellent at some point he will get cursed and start singing at her >3
Date: 2016-04-04 03:37 am (UTC)[ Not that killing Zaheer was an act of warfare. It was more Hei being unable to manage his insecurity, protectiveness, and other unfamiliar emotions, then winding up using his professional talents for deeply personal vendettas. ]
[ Exhaling, he kneels to gather up the fallen knickknacks. Doesn't look her in the eye. ]
We've been over this before.
[ Ad nauseum. ]
a million years later i respond
Date: 2016-04-21 02:09 am (UTC)Steve arrested him. He was in prison. He wasn't in any position to hurt me. He wasn't a threat!
no subject
Date: 2016-05-08 02:10 am (UTC)He was biding his time.
[ All Zaheer needed was the right opportunity to escape. A appropriate curse, a misstep among the prison guards, a lapse of security... Any risk of that happening outweighed Hei's usual indulgence toward Korra' overdeveloped conscience, her sentimentality, and his own thrice-damned ambivalent streak which the City's sheltered environment were only worsening. ]
no subject
Date: 2016-05-08 02:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-08 04:39 am (UTC)[ Without meeting her gaze, he rises, jerking the full box into her hands. Part of him wants to pick apart the fallacy of her argument, to remind her that Zaheer isn't a fucking potted plant but a real and undeniable threat to her safety. But another part of him knows that if she starts off mining that rich conversational seam, she'll understand the sentiment weighing his actions. She'll realize that he was motivated by nothing beyond the fact that he stood to lose her. ]
[ To strike on impulse is to invite disaster. A dictum he's lived by all his life. Or had -- until he'd arrived in the City, which is a disaster-zone in and of itself. ]
[ Flatly, ]
Think what you like.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-10 12:14 am (UTC)Just ... stay out of my life. [It's the exact opposite of what she wants, but it's what needs to happen.]