Hanging around (Houjin)

Having only been in the air temple's grand city for a couple of days, one would think Wei's resources would still be plentiful. One would think. However, the boy had given into temptation. The second he reached the marktet stalls, he began to spend the coin he had brought from home. Now he was running dangerously low. Any responsible being would be taking steps to conserve what they had left at this point... But not Wei. No, today he decided to squander more of his money. It wasn't truly squandering if you enjoyed spending it, right? Wasted time is only wasted if you're not having fun. Leaning against the side of one of the many stalls, the male toiled with an apple he had purchased.

He had arrived early in the day, and still nobody had interacted with him. He was getting bored of simply sitting around and sampling produce all day. His amber eyes looked through the crowds, air nomads and citizens of other nations alike. Surely one of them had to be interesting? He was quite right. Yes, right in front of him he spotted someone very interesting. A buxom young woman with a load of groceries. Now, what kind of man would he be if he didn't assist this woman? So focused on helping her was he, that he failed to notice the person passing in front of hm and the boy crashed right into said person.

Oh of all the stupid shit to happen; he'd finally found the special pear juice that Jeice loved and bought several gallons; most of which was now spreading over the pavers in a sticky mess of sweet liquid. A rather... fluent, string of explatives left his mouth; mind already on how much it was going to cost to replace the extremely expensive juice so quickly; he'd placed the order for delivery three days prior, and that was stupidly bad enough. An overnight placed this late was going to backrupt him; but he wasn't about to start a long journey without it. Jeice would drive them nuts without his juice.

"The hell is your problem? You can't even be blind, you've got to be stupid. I've seen blind, blind would have missed. The hell were you thinking?!"

How rude! What was this world coming to?! A young man couldn't day dream about the female body in a crowded area without being shouted at? Truly the world had become barbaric outside of the Fire Nation! Now there was no way to catch up to the lovely woman, who would now go about her day with sore arms as a result of his lack of help! A true travesty, if Wei had ever heard of one. On top of it all, now he had some white haired fellow to deal with. He seemed very irate over a simple accident. It wasn't until Wei looked down to figure out what was soaking his feet that he noticed the shattered containers of some kind of juice.

Well crap. Maybe that was why he was so angry! Now Wei needed an excuse. This man was likely to not understand his reasoning. How could he? Few appreciated true gentle-manliness like Wei Shen did! What would he tell the man? "My apologies. I was... looking for my messenger hawk. Yes. He flew off earlier and... I swore I had just seen him?" A buyable exuse.

"....." A messenger hawk? Was this guy idiotic? No messenger hawk- wait, that was unfair. They did come this high up, but rarely. No one would bring a pet hawk up here and not put it in the roosts to keep it healthy. What did this guy think he was doing? "You're rushing around in a crowded market filled with people carrying expensive goods and not paying attention... because of a messenger hawk?" Plausible or not, he was pissed. He'd promised his shirshu juice, and now he was made a liar. Honor of the firebender did not like this. He might not be able to instantly light his fires in the thin air, but exhaling smoke through his nose was simple enough; and a clear warning not to fuck with him more.

"Do you even realize how expensive pear juice is in this market? And rare, at that. You'd better have something better then a messenger hawk as an excuse. Fucking with a firebender is not a good idea."

Well, this guy was just being unreasonably. Obviously he was never taught to not cry over spilled... pear juice. Why did he even need so much pear juice? Surely the same amount of water was cheaper if he was so very focused on not spending money on this expensive juice. He should have been more careful as to not run into people with such precious cargo. Regardless, he was literally steaming at the occurence, so it was probably best to go on with his story.

"But you must understand! I've raised him since he was an egg and brought him all the way here from the fire nation! I can't help but worry about him." There. Now it wasn't entirely a lie. He had bought the egg, hatched it, and brought the hawk with him during his little 'vacation'. Harvey was even out and about, although admittedly Wei had let the bird take off to do as he pleased.

"There's no need for threats. Surely you've owned a pet you were very attached to at one point? Would that not cloud your mind?" Hopefully this firebender had some sense of apathy.

"You broke jugs filled with 5000 coin worth of pear juice that I promised my Shirshu. That I raised from the moment he was born. It is the ONLY treat he takes, and he is about to run myself and a friend over half the width of the Earth Kingdom. You tell me how important it is to spend money on expensive treats for pets. Your pet is a homing bird. My pet is a vicious beast to anyone that denies his juice before a long journey. Would you like to meet him?" He reached into a small pocket, retrieving a small wooden flute like item; a Shirshu whistle. Jeice would be roaming the open areas of the temple right about then, he could be in the market in less then a minute if he wanted; and the other male's scent was all over the juice because of his coated shoes.

"You wanna try and outrun a Shirshu? If not, cut the attitude; apologize, and get ready to replace at LEAST a gallon of the juice. Otherwise... you have roughly 45 seconds to leap off the edge of the city. Your call."

Well, this was escalating quickly. If this man cared so much about the juice, why didn't he have a cart for it? Regardless of reasoning, it seemed this man's fury had little quelling. He knew firebenders had tempers, being one himself, but there was no need! "But sir, I've already apologized. I'm unsure of how else to show my regret? But yes, I am very sorry for this." Well, there was paying. But a pocket full of minor coins and an apple probably didn't equal enough to purchase a gallon of this special juice.

"As it turns out, I don't actually have the funds for much more than tonight's meal. Perhaps we can look passed this little accident?" Diplomacy had to have some effect on this guy! He was just a kid with a bird.

"...." Of fucking course. It was always the poor smucks that screwed him over in the markets. Whatever; he'd have to find some candies fruits and hope Jeice didn't get too depressed until they got to an Earth Kingdom town were he could get the juice. "Yes, because carts are so easy to find up here. Everyone is an airbender, or damn near. They just airball their jars. Some of us have to carry things."

Now he was just being a dick; sounding more sour then angry; which he never actually was, just force of habit taking his voice into that emotional spectrum. "You would do well to pay better attention before you break something that can't be replaced at all; trade of historical artifacts is common in this market."

He huffed again, only this time it was obviouslly a huff of someone trying to pull more oxygen from the thin air; he was building his inner fire up enough to burn away the slick juice before someone was injured; a stream of fire flying from his mouth like a dragon's roar; the flames of a trained grandmaster where hot and powerful even with a lack of air to fuel them properly. The juice just bubbled away quickly; turning into a sweet scent in the air that joined with the many spices and incents in the air from the small alters and the temple on the far end of the market.

"Find your bird. Be more careful. You won't be as lucky next time."

Stepping back to avoid the display of firebending from the man, Wei was relatively impressed by the display before him. He hadn't pursued much of an interest in his bending aside from the very basics that all boys had learned in his town upon learning of their affinity. He would remind himself later to look into that. If a fight between the two had broken out, he wasn't sure of his ability to defend himself from such flames. Thankfully a fight had been avoided, but he doubted other people would be as charitable. At least the air temple was relatively crime free so he didn't have to worry about the types who could not be responded with.

Still, Wei felt bad about leaving this man without his juice. Perhaps he could assist the fellow in getting more treats for his Shirshu. "I'll make sure to keep an eye out for him, but I would feel guilty if I didn't helsp you find a suitable substitute for the juice. Please, allow me to assist."

"Hnnn..." Oh, so now he wanted to help? Fine, fine, whatever. "Find me a candy stall, and you might live. Candied fruit would be the best; shirshu are omnivores, they eat anything, but mine has a sweet tooth for fruit and fruit products. Otherwise... get out of my sight, please."