"You know how those stuffy old men can be, Ty-Lee. It took entirely too long to shake them off."

Azula had been obligated to spend time going through the motions at the party's outset with business partners and college faculty, but as soon as they had all split up to meet and greet, Azula had bee-lined for her car to swoop by and grab her date. Ty-Lee liked being fashionably late, anyway, so it worked out. Ty-Lee had immediately gushed over Azula's short-skirted suit of black and eagerly pranced through the parking lot. When Azula caught up, Ty-Lee was fussing with her bright red flapper dress as they reached the front of the building. Ty-Lee adjusted her tight-fitting crimson hat, seeking approval.

"Does the hat look good?"

"Yes, Ty-Lee. It's fine."

"You really think? 'Cuz, like...I'm not a hundred-percent sure the ribbon and the flower match..."

"It's quite adequate," assured Azula as they walked up the large, stone steps of the hall together. "There's no need to concern yourself over it."

Ty-Lee pouted ever-so-slightly.

"Adequate...?"

Azula noticed Ty-Lee's quivering lower lip and sighed.

"All right. It looks...'pretty,'" she mumbled awkwardly.

"You really think so?" Ty-Lee squeaked, adjusting the round flapper hat on her head and tucking her bangs neatly to the side.

"Yes, it...is quite era-appropriate, and...-" Azula felt light-headed at Ty-Lee's beaming smile of excited pride as the girl leaned in expectantly. "-...your outfit is entirely color coordinated."

"You like it?"

Azula cleared her throat as they hit the plateau at the top of the steps, the warm light of the hall's interior greeting them.

"Yes," Azula confessed with a smirk, her cheeks barely changing hue. "You look...nice." Ty-Lee could see a flash of joy in her friend's eyes and knew Azula was telling the truth.

"Awww, thanks, Azula~" Ty-Lee giggled. Winning over her cold-hearted friend's compliments was a struggle and a challenge that Ty-Lee adored. It made Azula so much more fascinating to interact with than silly boys who threw themselves her way.

They hit the entrance and were greeted by a couple of guards. Azula flashed her golden paper bracelet, while Ty-Lee presented her ticket and ID card. Ty-Lee then received a matching paper bracelet, indicating her legal age to drink, and the two of them were let into the cloud of vibrant life, evocative of years gone by.

+ youtube(.com)/watch?v=1U40xBSz6Dc +

As the band wrapped up and set aside their instruments for a needed break, the speakers lit up with a scratchy, antiquated recording of 'Rhapsody in Blue' to fill the background noise of the hall. With Ty-Lee latched playfully onto her arm, Azula strode with confidence into the hall. Together they waded through the gathering flocks of partygoers. Some of the same people Azula had been previously sitting beside at the table - stuffy, older businessmen - sent confused, baffled glances her way, and she delighted at this. It was kind of like giving them the finger in a respect.

Azula Kurosawa was not binding herself to the confines of expectation that had been set up around her. It was energizing. She was instantly injected with a buzzing feeling that made sense of Ty-Lee's rambling of 'being yourself' and some such.

The two of them found their way to a packed table toward the front of the hall, near the small stage. And here, again, more expressions of intrigue and confusion. Chin held high, Azula marched toward the table. Mai was giving the two of them a coy, knowing smile from her seat, while beside her, Zuko's mouth hung open a bit when Ty-Lee made a point to stand up on tip-toes and peck her date on the cheek. A flock of unfamiliar faces rounded the circular table.

Ty-Lee gave the group a flaunting flick of her wrist, flapping her hand their way and beaming. She noticed Sokka, dressed in a blue suit and fedora, his eyes popped open and jaw dropped low. With an amused look on her face, Katara popped his mouth closed, shaking her head slightly at his rudeness.

Azula led Ty-Lee to one of the two empty seats at the table - next to Mai - then walked over to her brother, who was clad in a pin-striped suit and matching fedora of his own. His hair was shaggy and loose, which Azula found rather fitting for the setting of this event. He still appeared cantankerous as he usually did in her presence, though. This she did not appreciate. After the effort of traversing an entire country to see him after all these months, she'd expect a more warm welcome rather than an off-put grimace.

"Hello, dear Brother," she greeted with a loud voice, giving him a slight bow. He fussed with his hat, tugging it at an angle down over one eye and bashfully nodded in her direction.

"Azula," he muttered. Mai administered a sharp slap on his knee beneath the table, and he cleared his throat in reaction, presenting Azula to the group. "Everyone, this is, uh...my older sister, Azula."

Azula, eyes narrowed with bemusement, offered the lot of them a raised hand of introduction as they all greeted her.

"Zuko, it has been too long," Azula put on an air of pleasantry toward him, watching his nose wrinkle a tad in response. "We really should catch up a bit before all of the dancing starts, wouldn't you agree?"

Zuko's amber eyes slid cautiously to Mai, who raised her eyebrows at him, expressing an insistence that he play along.

"Er...Right, I suppose we...should," Zuko agreed, rising up from the table.

"Please excuse us," Azula politely requested of the group, leading her brother off. "We have family matters to discuss." With this, Azula pressed her hand into Zuko's back firmly, edging him along, away from the table.

"I didn't think you did parties, Azula..." grumbled Zuko as he pulled forward and away from her grip.

"For old time's sake?" chirped Azula. "I'd do anything for family, Dum-Dum."

Ty-Lee admired Azula's peacock strut from behind, biting down on her lower lip with childish glee, peering over the back of her seat.

"OMIGOSH it's GodZula!" she whispered to Mai giddily. "Teehee! Mai, look! Isn't she so pretty?" She jabbed an index finger through the air as they walked off.

"Ugh." Mai rolled her eyes at her friend's obvious gawking, and eased her neighbor to rotate back into a proper sitting position. "A-all-right, Ty-Lee, I think they need some family time together, come on..."

"Sooo..." Sokka was hunched forward over his plate of food, eyesbrows lowered. "That's the person who asked you out? Zuko's creepy sister?"

"She's not creepy!" Ty-Lee pouted, bottom lip propped out as she crossed her arms. "She's...misunderstood."

"Sokka, don't be so rude," Katara hissed quietly into her brother's ear. She was fitted into a one-strap dress of white - nothing complex, leaving one shoulder open and exposed. She had pushed some of her hair up over the bare area.

"You look nice," Aang complimented Ty-Lee, attempting to walk clear around Sokka's disdain for the situation. He was in a black suit with a white undershirt and tie. In Katara's memory, it was the first time she could recall in which she'd ever seen him fully dressed up, or at the least certainly the first time since they'd started dating. "You look really, like...in-character? I guess?" Aang scratched his ear as he watched Ty-Lee fiddle with the plastic necklace of beads hanging over her chest. "Like a flapper girl. It looks great."

"Thanks!" chimed Ty-Lee with a glowing smile.

Mai gave Ty-Lee a gentle pat on the back with a dry smirk. She was wearing a sort of goth-lolita dress, all black and gray, complete with a lace-rimmed bonnet. Ty-Lee had seen Mai wear this one once or twice in the past. Perhaps not entirely era-appropriate, but...it worked well enough.

"The color," Mai remarked on Ty-Lee's bright red outfit, poking her fork at some sweet peas. "It...really pops."

"Heheheh..." Ty-Lee snickered with mischief, studying her plate full of food that had been waiting for her.

"Uh, yea," Sokka squeezed in, at once frustrated and enraptured by the girl. "Really bright. Eye-catching. Just...eccentric. Really."

"Sounds like her kind of style," Toph mumbled with a tint of displeasure from her seat between Sokka and Azula's currently unclaimed chair. She was chowing down on mashed potatoes, generally tuning out the conversations around her. Sokka was pretty disgruntled by this discovery, however. She could easily tell by the tone he'd used, and by the sounds of him shuffling uncomfortably in his seat. He'd stopped eating, for one, which itself was an indicator that his attention was occupied.

Toph was wrapped in the tight, strapless green dress with golden flower accents that she had worn to the Homecoming dance the fall prior. She had decided that if no one was going to take her to the dance that she'd simply stick with what she had. Katara had found this decision dubious - wearing the same dress twice in a row - but Toph had insisted that she could care less, and that she wasn't there to impress anyone. Katara had helped clean up Toph's hair, which hung loose over her back, with a pair of braids hanging over her collarbones from behind her ears. She'd taken caution this time around and wore her green sandals rather than even attempting those awful high-heels she's tried at the last dance. She'd also made sure to bring her walking cane with her so she could explore on her own if need be.

She was getting a strong impression so far that that need would be pretty soon.

"So! Ty-Lee!" Katara piped up. "You, um...How long have you and Azula been...-?"

"This is actually our first date together~"

"Oh! Wow. Did she come out all this way to see you?"

"Well, like...uhhh...kinda? So, like, she had to be here already, 'cuz of the whole fancy-schmancy charity stuff, n' like...I dunno. She asked me out."

"Ah. So, you...-" Sokka vaguely gestured in her direction. "-...swing a different way, then? 'Cuz I mean, I dunno, I was just under the impression...ya know...that you, uh...-" Fumph! Katara's heel stepping down on his toes.

"Oh! Heehee~" Ty-Lee immediately went for the dessert before her meal - a cheesecake slice with a cherry on top. She plucked the cherry with her fork and popped it into her mouth, coyly avoiding his question.

"What Sokka means to say-" Katara jumped in, "-is that we don't judge here, and that we are happy to see you finding something special in her."

"I think it might be a bit hard for people around here to accept it," Mai gave her input. "But I'm glad you two are being open with it. I think that's healthy."

"I know, like, right? That is so totally what I told her, too! See, like, she was a little scared - she won't admit it - 'bout this whole thing, but, like...I totally convinced her to be chill with it. I told her, 'OK, Azula, baby, I-"

Toph was already pushing herself up from her seat, and groped at Sokka's shoulder, yanking up on the fabric of his suit. Mm. Pressed clean. She could practically detect the dry-cleaner after-scent from it.

"Meat-Head, c'mon, let's get some drinks," she grumbled into his ear.

"Huh?" Sokka allowed her to tug him up.

"Walk with me," insisted Toph under her breath, feeling her hand around his arm and looping herself around it.

"Whaddya-?" huffed Sokka. Toph pulled him just a couple steps away from the table but paused. What was her deal? Why'd she bring her stick if she wasn't gonna use it?

"Hey," Toph called back to the group in a louder tone, interrupting Ty-Lee's story. "Me and the idiot here are gonna go get some drinks. Anybody want somethin'?" To her relief, everyone at the table mumbled out a chorus of 'no, thanks.'

"I could use a drink," Sokka sighed to himself. "We'll be back in a bit," he assured the others.

"'Kay~ Have fun!" Ty-Lee eagerly waved them away before going right back to her winding thread bound together by ample quantities of the word 'like.'

Aang leaned back around Katara's shoulder to study Sokka and Toph meander off into the crowd.

"Aang? What is it?" Katara wondered beneath Ty-Lee's over-enthused monologue.

"Huh? Oh, nothin'," Aang replied coolly with a subtle head shake. "Just, uh...worried those two might get into some kind of trouble."

"Heh. Good point. Hopefully they won't get lost."

"Oh, please, Brother. Is it truly that upsetting to you?"

Zuko shrugged pensively as he watched Azula accepted her martini glass from the bartender. Azula frowned at his silence, staring down into the red liquid before her. It was just the slightest bit hurtful, his judgmental eye-rolling and head shaking, and all of the passive nonsense. Did he really disapprove that much? Of all of the people at their table, did her brother have to be the one to be uncomfortable and awkward about this coming out?

"I'm not...-" Zuko paused, looking down. He rapidly gathered his thoughts and turned back up. "It's not upsetting, Azula, it's...a bit surprising. That's what it is."

"Mm..." Azula's frown didn't change, and she took a prim sip of her drink. They both walked together toward one of the building's side exits. The evening air was pleasantly chilled, a break from the clamoring heat of the indoors. Zuko leaned back against the short wall that ran the length of the stone walkway. Azula hunched over it, facing outward. Her brother broke the silence that had fallen over them.

"I would've thought you'd...tell me...about something like this."

"Oh, yes, of course," Azula snipped. "Because you are ever so caring and interested in my personal life..."

Zuko snorted out in disdain at her attitude.

"What?" Azula balked, setting her glass down. "It's not as if you could be bothered with me and my intimacies. You and Mai have done quite a job at keeping at me at a distance as of late...And Uncle seems to have forgotten that I even exist. I'm a proper black sheep now, am I?"

"Azula, that's-!" Zuko whirled around, an agitated hand raised. He calmed himself again, slipping his hand into his suit's coat pocket. He spoke firmly but with a steady tone so as not to show aggression. "How do you expect us to react, given the choices you're making lately?" The two exchanged fierce glances, and Azula put out a mentally drained huff.

"Really? This is still about the Clan? Zuko, that is business. This is family I am struggling to discuss with you. But in your simpleton world the two seem one and the same. That's hardly fair."

"The Phoenix Clan is not just business," Zuko dismissed her claim. "That was Father's work. If you'd look at the logistics - especially given recent events - you'd realize what a failed effort it is."

"The Clan may have fallen in recent times, I admit..." Azula sighed, staring out at the parking lot before them.

The group in question was an organized group that had once been managed by Ozai Kurosawa, Azula and Zuko's father. It was the shady goings on that this group participated in that had helped Kurosawa Industries attain the level of financial stability it had in the past couple of decades. It was the connection to this group that had caused the rift within the family. Zuko had refused to participate in coordination with the group, and since Ozai's arrest, they had seemed to assume new management on their own, breaking off most ties from the company.

Azula, however, had been stirring the pot, attempting to reassert the Kurosawa family as the dominant force behind the group. It was her father's prized project, and she was determined to restore it back to what it had once been.

"But it's the Phoenix Clan, brother. They've fallen before, and risen back up. That's precisely what they're fated to do, is it not?"

"No, it's...not," Zuko grumbled, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets. "You need to leave all of that behind. Look at where it led our Father."

"That's because Father gave in to weakness," Azula snorted. "He let Mother get involved, and it was his downfall. But I...I will succeed where he failed."

A burst of doubtful air puffed from Zuko's nostrils.

"Right. So you say. I'm willing to bet Father felt the same way at some point. It's his fault that Mother is dead because he let his pride get in the way."

"Hmph..."

"The Clan is out of control, Azula. I know you think you're so cunning that you can wrap them around your finger, but I'm telling you - it's not going to work."

"I have learned from Father's error. I will not give in the way he did."

"You say it like it's entirely up to you how this will go."

"That's because it is, Zuko. It's my purpose - to restore order to this chaos."

Zuko sighed, pressing his hand to his face in frustration. It was taking all of his willpower not to explode at her.

"Azula. Listen. The Phoenix Clan is not something you can just...control...anymore. Father is in jail. Mother is dead. The Combustion Man, he's sending a message, and that message is, 'Stay away.' Does...does that not mean anything to you?"

Azula's nose scrunched up and her lips quivered with a mixture of deep-cutting emotions. She gulped the rest of her drink down at once.

"ZuZu," she chimed with a narcissistic smile. "You...are a coward. You and Uncle both. Kurosawas do not flee from trouble. They run headlong into it, and pierce through it like a spear."

She grinned at her brother's deadpan sideways stare and continued, her head already buzzing from the quickly ingested alcohol.

"A true Kurosawa is a mighty dragon that burns down the countryside and all who oppose it."

"And then you dive into your volcano nest for the evening, and call it a day?"

"Indeed."

"Hm. Well..." Zuko raised an eyebrow, gazing up at the night sky from under his hat's rim. "Your dragon is going to have a bunch of angry villagers and knights on its case soon enough. I think I'd prefer to bide my time in my cave, collecting treasures or...something..."

"Only to be slain by a greedy hero with a magical sword, his head dragged back to the nearest kingdom and displayed like a trophy while his body is left to rot in his cave, for he let his strength wither away whilst he hoarded over his jewels." Azula shot him a snarky smirk with narrowed eyes.

"Errr...I...kind of leave the metaphors to Uncle, usually." Zuko adjusted his fedora, tilting it up higher on his head.

"Hmph. Sooner or later, Dum-Dum, you're going to have to stop letting Iroh fight your battles for you. You can't hide behind his flabby facade forever, you know."

"Yea...Guess I can't argue with you on that." He turned his head to face his sister, who had tucked loose strands of hair neatly behind her ears. They both stood, side by side, their bodies facing opposing directions, but their glances locked for a moment of silence while they exchanged doubts. "But then, sooner or later, you are going to have to admit that he's right about the Phoenix Clan."

Azula scowled, staring at her empty martini glass. She clutched it delicately, her elongated fingernails tapping against its fragile surface.

"I don't let old men tell me what I can and cannot do," she insisted. "If I did that...then we wouldn't be here, now would we?"

"Nah, nah, I'm not gonna taunt ya like that," Sokka assured, grabbing a pre-filled glass of punch from the refreshment table.

"Good," Toph snorted, her arm stubbornly intertwined with his. "'Cuz that would suck...You'd just act like a retard, anyway." They had just discussed Sokka's decision to refrain from alcohol from the evening. Toph wasn't legal drinking age in America yet, and as much as Sokka was in the mood for booze right now, he didn't want to get intoxicated around people at a classy event like this. Toph seemed to appreciate the sentiment, anyway.

Sokka sipped at the punch, which was tangy and slightly carbonated, like a tap dance on his tongue.

"Damn, good stuff. Here..." Sokka snatched one up for Toph and waited until she opened her hand up for it, then carefully pressed it into her palm. She slowly took a slurp, licking her lips.

"Mm," was all she had to say about it.

"Ya know what we should do, though," Sokka's mind meandered about as the two of them lingered near the fruit punch table. Toph's spine tingled at the warmth of his breath against her neck as he leaned over. "We should have an after party later tonight," he whispered with mischief. Toph's eyes narrowed with anticipation at the prospect. "Get some people together and have some real drinks, eh?" His meaty arm nudged against her ribs.

"This is why you're the Idea Guy," Toph smoothly acknowledged with calm expression, drinking some more.

Suddenly, she could sense Sokka's body tense up. He coughed, then rapidly cleared his throat. What was going on? Before she could inquire, Sokka's arm jumped off of Toph's as he stepped away, his footsteps carrying him ahead.

"Suki?" he called out. Toph's brows furrowed and she did her best to contain her aggravation. Sokka sure had detached from her mighty quick...

"Oh!" Suki must not have noticed him. "Uh...Hi!" But based on that tone, she seemed to be glad to had noticed him. Probably something to do with how he was dressed, Toph figured. He smelled nice, she could appreciate that much, so it stood to reason that Suki of all people would probably like the way he was looking tonight. "Wow, you look sharp, Sokka," she complimented him. "All dressed up nice. Er, are...-?" Suki waggled her finger between Sokka and Toph a couple times with a baffled expression while Toph chugged down her punch.

Sokka spat out air through his lips in disbelief.

"Whaa? No, no..."

"Oh. Ha. Yea, I just-...It looked like...-"
"Nah, you know me, just bein' all...gentle. Man. Like. Being dragged along on escort duty and all that."

"Heh."

No, it's cool. You two just...do your thing. Not like I exist over here, five feet away.

"So, erm...Suki, you look pretty sharp, yourself," Sokka remarked, eyeballing her outfit. While he was dressed in a blue tuxedo and fedora, she had her hair gelled back, slick and shiny, and was wearing slacks, suspenders, and a white button-down shirt. She had a nametag pinned to her chest, and had a metal serving tray tucked under her arm.

"Ha!" chortled Suki. "Sokka, this is my uniform. I'm working tonight, remember?"

"...Oh! Right. Fff. I knew that." Fucking christ, Sokka, stop making a dick of yourself and get back over here, I'm waiting on you. "Well-...But, I mean...you still look fantastic." Urrgghhh.

Suki shrugged with a bashful smirk.

"Thanks. Uh...Anyway, I'll stop by your guys' table later during my break, say 'hi' and stuff."

"Cool! Yea. Sounds great."

"All right." Suki began to step away, still facing him. Sokka was invigorated by the way she was clearly having trouble taking her eyes on him. "Have fun!" she yelled back. "Stay out of trouble!"

He simply waved back, his glass still in hand. Toph, who had finished her punch, was carefully feeling her way across the table's surface to figure out where to put her empty glass.

"Hot dog!" Sokka cried out with jubilance, bounding to his friend's sigh. He took her glass for her and set it with the other empties. "Seems like everyone's here tonight!"

"Mm-hm..." Toph was done trying to feign interest. That little...whatever-the-hell...had gotten under her skin. What a fucking wannabe player this guy was, trying to juggle different girls around, and getting all indignant when they already had a date, and then just throwing himself all over the other one, and just-...It pissed her off. Whatever all this was.

In the time Toph dwelt on this bitterness, Sokka finished off his drink, and she was jarred to her senses by his brusque shoulder slapping.

"All right, Gimpy, where we headed off to now?" That particular nickname was striking a nerve right now despite Sokka's casual ignorance.

Toph begrudgingly reached out and pinched her fingers around Sokka's elbow. His suit made it a bit slippery to keep her grip once they started moving.

"Let's just go back to the table," she mumbled.

"At your command, Mistress," Sokka doled out the facetiousness. He wasn't here because he wanted to be, because he enjoyed her company. He just saw it as obligation to the poor little blind girl. Right? Screw that...

"Sokka!" Toph nearly tripped over herself from their sudden stop, being called by a friendly voice. "Buddy! Mannnn~" Good God, was that...Korra? She sounded loopy as hell.

"Eyyyy..." And that other guy, Korra's housemate. The weirdo who talked fast.

"Whoa! Korra!" Sokka laughed out at her, tugging Toph along. She felt her sides brush up against a couple of strangers in their progression to Korra's table. "Having fun, I see. Well, aren't you all jazzed up?" Sokka's tone indicated that he seemed impressed by Korra's appearance.

From the table before them, Korra snorted out a laugh.

"In more ways than one!" Korra chortled, the words barely pushed out as if she were holding in some amazing joke. Another snort, followed by a burp. Very classy.

"We just...uhhh...paid a trip. A visit. To the bar," Bolin explained slowly with a lazy hand gesture.

"Gonna have to do that shit again," Korra insisted with a most idiotic grin. The two were sitting in tight proximity, their chairs pushed together, hips touching.

"A-whuh...-?" Bolin blinked at Korra's sly smile. "Jeez, woman. Give...Give a guy a chance. To eat, I mean. To eat my food here. Delicious. With the food." He was gawking at his plate, which had barely been touched. Korra was already done with her food, though - she'd scarfed the rest of it right down as soon as they'd gotten back from the bar.

"Eh, not the only delicious thing 'round here," Korra whispered, shoving her shoulder against her neighbor's. Bolin's already flushed face lit up briefly at this. Sokka was surprised. Hadn't Korra been insisting before that she had no interest in the boys she lived with? The disturbing glint in her eyes at that moment said otherwise.

"Hohh~" Bolin laughed awkwardly. "Yea, I gotcha. See whatcha did. There. A hoot. Ain't she a hoot?"

"Ha." Sokka shrugged, a disinterested Toph still grasping his elbow. "She...sure is one of those. And a lot of other things."

"Lotta other things," Korra repeated to herself with yet another snort.

"Glad you're unwinding, Cousin. You seemed stressed out lately."

"Chyeah. Stress? Buh-bye." She fluttered her hand in dismissal.

"Yep! Uh...Just two pals. Havin' fun. Is what we are. Doing." Bolin seemed somewhat off-put by Korra's flirtatious mannerisms in front of her relative. That was good, in Sokka's opinion. Bolin ought to be intimidated. The guy was dressed pretty nicely, himself, Sokka conceded. He could potentially see a thing with these two. If anything, Korra seemed entirely relaxed and happy, something Sokka hadn't seen from her since she'd moved down here to Wayward. He found it funny that their table was empty, though, aside from the two of them, the plates mostly finished up.

"So much fun," Korra spat out.

"Heh! But not too much. Fun. 'Cuz that...'Cuz that would be...-" Bolin's attention was suddenly derailed by how Korra had gotten up from her seat and was gaping at Toph's face with open-mouthed amazement.

"Dude."

Toph twitched, her shoulders springing up defensively at the startling word Korra had burst out. She had tuned out all of the bustling noise around her so much that she hadn't noticed Korra approach.

"Toph. Toph. Toph." Korra pushed the girl's arm with enough force that Toph nearly toppled over backward. She'd caught herself by gripping at Sokka's arm, and her friend tilted her back upright. Not that she'd asked him to do it.

"What?" Toph whined out at the obviously drunk Korra. She just wanted to sit the hell down already. All this bullshit meet-n'-greet had worn her thin.

"Has anyone ever told you how fuckin' white your eyes are? I mean, they are...white. Man. Like. White as a ghost. Snow." She snorted. "A snow ghost."

"Whuh...-?" Toph was baffled and annoyed and impatient. Sokka and his retarded cousin weren't helping.

"White as a snow ghost! Oohhhh..." Korra giggled to herself, apparently finding herself to be the wittiest woman alive. Sokka eased her back into her seat.

"You two keep on...havin' fun!" Sokka insisted hurriedly, disjointed by what he was seeing. He had never actually seen Korra in a date-type situation. Ever. It was freaking him out, especially with her being drunk. "Don't let us stop ya."

Bolin thrust up a wave and spilled forth an enthusiastic farewell.

"OK, we'll check ya guys later, ya know, we'll see ya when we see ya."

+ youtube(.com)/watch?v=7vqqvh2B1Rg +

In the stillness after their social interaction, Bolin took in a moment to appreciate the soothing string music flowing from the stage while he ate some of his pork chop.

"Woohoo~" Korra broke the tranquil moment, pumping her fists into the air. "Man, this is so fuckin' rad. Bein' all...-" Korra stretched out her arms, looking down with the slightest amount of confusion at her own body, wrapped up in a dress. "-...like a lady, n' stuff."

"Being all like a Sir," said Bolin with a nod of self-approval.

"I am like a Sir!" Korra proudly declared, pounding a fist into her lap.

"Haha! You are. Some times."

Korra cleared her throat, sputtered out a cough, pounded her chest, then briefly put on a bizarre attempt at a British accent.

"Yiss, yiss. Goot, goot. Wot, wot."

To her dizzy-headed satisfaction, Bolin belted out a chuckle, which encouraged her to continue.

"Just need a fuckin' top hat n' I'm all set!"

"Well...Like..." Bolin stared around the floor. There were a couple of top hats off in the distance. Not that this mattered. He wasn't going to steal one or something. He suddenly remembered that he was wearing a hat himself. "It's not, like...a top hat," he muttered, removing it from his skull and smoothing over his hair. He shoved it onto Korra's head. "But it is. A hat. Of some sort."

And there it was, that damned humming laugh. Korra was doing it. Oh, man. He adored it so much.

"Some sort," Korra agreed, fidgeting with the fedora. She noticed that Bolin was staring at her quite affectionately in that moment, and she reciprocated the stare. "Hey, Bolin."

"Yea?"

"Thanks for...draggin' me out here. I am havin' fun. Lotta fun."

"That's good. It's good. Great. Even. I'd say."

"Heh." Korra popped out a shockingly loud belch, right in Bolin's face. Then she laughed at his misfortune.

"Yep," Bolin choked out, waving Korra's bodily fumes away and leaning back. "You sure are...one of a kind, Korra," he managed out with a dubious smirk.

"I know it!"