Ha. Yeah... I mean, unless Louis and I just went crazy for a bit and the rest of the team decided to play along? Which isn't likely at all, so. [shrug!]
We hopped on board, chasing after a man who was determined to find his fiancée... [his expression sobers to something more distant and thoughtful; as goofy as a ghost train sounds, there was nothing slapstick about that man's pain.] And it was...just like that: Everyone on there was someone who had passed away, and they were taking one last journey through the stars. Hell, the conductor was an SDF-style android, and he saw nothing weird about it at all!
[he shakes his head.] Never did find out where the people go after they get off the train, though...
But the train itself was solid? It was like a normal one?
[ It wouldn't be the first story of a ship full of spirits that turned out to be real. Mako learned almost as soon as he met Korra than half the things he thought were just fairytales were true.
Ghosts, though. That's something they don't talk about at home. ]
That's... so weird. I mean, I guess I thought a lot of spirit stuff was weird before I met Korra. Spirit stuff comes with the package, with her.
[he nods, then...nods again, though after a hesitation. who's Korra? someone he should know by now? he has a notion to ask, but Mako gets his questions in first.]
Uh, mm. Yeah. It was kind of a close call, since...he was ready to just give up the rest of his life to stay with her, but that'd mean leaving his little sister behind. Luckily we were able to get through to the both of them, and that woman convinced him to let her go.
[he rubs at the back of his head awkwardly, looking askance.]
It was the right call, but still...felt really weird to be there. Something like that...it's pretty intense, you know?
[ Mako winces out of sympathy more than anything. ]
Being a bystander to stuff like that is always weird.
[ There are a lot of reasons that Mako failed to tell Korra that they'd broken up, when she forgot about it, but all the eyes on them, their audience watching and judging Mako's response, was definitely part of it. He can only imagine what being a bystander to all that awkwardness was like. Just remembering it makes his face a bit hot. ]
Was that a big part of your job? The dealing-with-people stuff? I never, uh. Really got that part down. I'm good at following up on leads, but when all these new airbenders started popping up and we had to talk them down, I'm... pretty sure I made it worse.
[the way Mako phrases it, even without the confusing alternate-worldbuild bits, somehow tickles him, and makes Manabu laugh a little. he stifles it behind a closed fist, shaking his head and clearing his throat after a moment.]
Mako... If you didn't want to deal with people, why would you pick a job all about helping them? I wouldn't do what I do if it had nothing to do with helping anyone...
[ Mako's cheeks go even redder. Curse his Fire Nation complexion and how easily his embarrassment shows. ]
I wasn't exactly thinking about that when I took the job. Beifong offered me a job as a beat cop, and... it was about time I did something to help other people instead of just trying to take care of Bolin and myself. I thought it'd be good to have someone like me on the force.
[ Poor, he means. From the very areas the RCPD were often too understaffed to protect, with inside knowledge of Republic City's streets and how the various Triads operated. But that's a lot to explain, and he doesn't like revealing that kind of thing so easily. ]
[Manabu's smile turns a shade apologetic, seeing how ruffled a little laughter made him. but still, he'll ride that feeling for a bit longer, since it feels better than unending aches and the general crumminess of his health at the moment.]
I bet it was...I mean, if it wasn't, you wouldn't have been kept on, right? [because surely even law enforcement isn't a fan of status quo for the sake of it!!!!]
[ Mako snorts in memory, leaning on both elbows on the hard countertop. The air is finally at a steady level of warmth, less like a sauna and more like a sunny day. ]
I wasn't great at the whole... sticking to the hierarchy thing, at first. I don't know about you, but I found it pretty hard to have my leads ignored just because I was new to the force. I was actually onto something, but nobody listened until it was way too late. Took a while to learn the ropes.
[Manabu makes a drawn-out, knowing sound at that, bobbing his head in a slow nod.]
I know how that goes. It's not even always coming from a bad place, is it? It's just...how things work sometimes. [he looks back toward Mako.] That just means it's more important to stick with it. The right people will see your conviction soon enough...and the other right people will whip you up into shape, one way or another.
[ An observation he didn't quite mean to make aloud, but it just hit him so quickly, and it makes him smile. ]
But yeah. That's exactly what happened. Beifong saw that I was right, and I did need to... actually work with the rest of the force. I was just so used to not having anyone else to rely on, you know?
[a stick-with-it guy? Manabu blinks at that, needing a few seconds to get it around his foggy head, and by then Mako's already moved on, so Manabu does as well.]
I-it's good that you found a way to, though...people aren't...made to deal with tough stuff all alone all the time. At least, that's how it usually is. [he can't really speak to outliers, can he? he's been a pain-in-the-ass team player from the get-go; striking out on his own wasn't really ever in the books for him.
lo and behold! he's out on his own here. and it's not going great.]
Though I guess...being here makes that...kind of tough, huh.
[ There is a quiet kind of sympathy in Mako's voice and on his face. He tries to keep it down, because he himself hates being pitied, and he doesn't want to do that to Manabu. He can handle himself, Mako is sure, but— ]
But you're not. Not really. Everyone here is—honestly, it's kind of weird how willing everyone is to help each other. It would never happen like that back home.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Yeah, it sounds exactly like a story my mom used to tell us about a ghost ship. But it's real?
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We hopped on board, chasing after a man who was determined to find his fiancée... [his expression sobers to something more distant and thoughtful; as goofy as a ghost train sounds, there was nothing slapstick about that man's pain.] And it was...just like that: Everyone on there was someone who had passed away, and they were taking one last journey through the stars. Hell, the conductor was an SDF-style android, and he saw nothing weird about it at all!
[he shakes his head.] Never did find out where the people go after they get off the train, though...
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[ It wouldn't be the first story of a ship full of spirits that turned out to be real. Mako learned almost as soon as he met Korra than half the things he thought were just fairytales were true.
Ghosts, though. That's something they don't talk about at home. ]
That's... so weird. I mean, I guess I thought a lot of spirit stuff was weird before I met Korra. Spirit stuff comes with the package, with her.
Did you find the guy's fiancée?
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Uh, mm. Yeah. It was kind of a close call, since...he was ready to just give up the rest of his life to stay with her, but that'd mean leaving his little sister behind. Luckily we were able to get through to the both of them, and that woman convinced him to let her go.
[he rubs at the back of his head awkwardly, looking askance.]
It was the right call, but still...felt really weird to be there. Something like that...it's pretty intense, you know?
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Being a bystander to stuff like that is always weird.
[ There are a lot of reasons that Mako failed to tell Korra that they'd broken up, when she forgot about it, but all the eyes on them, their audience watching and judging Mako's response, was definitely part of it. He can only imagine what being a bystander to all that awkwardness was like. Just remembering it makes his face a bit hot. ]
Was that a big part of your job? The dealing-with-people stuff? I never, uh. Really got that part down. I'm good at following up on leads, but when all these new airbenders started popping up and we had to talk them down, I'm... pretty sure I made it worse.
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[the way Mako phrases it, even without the confusing alternate-worldbuild bits, somehow tickles him, and makes Manabu laugh a little. he stifles it behind a closed fist, shaking his head and clearing his throat after a moment.]
Mako... If you didn't want to deal with people, why would you pick a job all about helping them? I wouldn't do what I do if it had nothing to do with helping anyone...
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I wasn't exactly thinking about that when I took the job. Beifong offered me a job as a beat cop, and... it was about time I did something to help other people instead of just trying to take care of Bolin and myself. I thought it'd be good to have someone like me on the force.
[ Poor, he means. From the very areas the RCPD were often too understaffed to protect, with inside knowledge of Republic City's streets and how the various Triads operated. But that's a lot to explain, and he doesn't like revealing that kind of thing so easily. ]
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I bet it was...I mean, if it wasn't, you wouldn't have been kept on, right? [because surely even law enforcement isn't a fan of status quo for the sake of it!!!!]
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[ Mako snorts in memory, leaning on both elbows on the hard countertop. The air is finally at a steady level of warmth, less like a sauna and more like a sunny day. ]
I wasn't great at the whole... sticking to the hierarchy thing, at first. I don't know about you, but I found it pretty hard to have my leads ignored just because I was new to the force. I was actually onto something, but nobody listened until it was way too late. Took a while to learn the ropes.
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I know how that goes. It's not even always coming from a bad place, is it? It's just...how things work sometimes. [he looks back toward Mako.] That just means it's more important to stick with it. The right people will see your conviction soon enough...and the other right people will whip you up into shape, one way or another.
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[ An observation he didn't quite mean to make aloud, but it just hit him so quickly, and it makes him smile. ]
But yeah. That's exactly what happened. Beifong saw that I was right, and I did need to... actually work with the rest of the force. I was just so used to not having anyone else to rely on, you know?
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I-it's good that you found a way to, though...people aren't...made to deal with tough stuff all alone all the time. At least, that's how it usually is. [he can't really speak to outliers, can he? he's been a pain-in-the-ass team player from the get-go; striking out on his own wasn't really ever in the books for him.
lo and behold! he's out on his own here. and it's not going great.]
Though I guess...being here makes that...kind of tough, huh.
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[ There is a quiet kind of sympathy in Mako's voice and on his face. He tries to keep it down, because he himself hates being pitied, and he doesn't want to do that to Manabu. He can handle himself, Mako is sure, but— ]
But you're not. Not really. Everyone here is—honestly, it's kind of weird how willing everyone is to help each other. It would never happen like that back home.
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Guess it...depends on who you run into around here, huh.
[because sometimes rather than help, they deck you.
...then help later.]