[Korra waits outside of Chekov's office building, leaning against Naga as she waits for the young Russian to come out. She actually isn't sure if he's in or not, but this is her best bet. Uhura still won't let her in the house, even to apologize.
But Korra's tired of running and hiding. Hei was right; the City is dark and ugly enough without letting it ruin everything.
She sighs and rests her head against Naga's shoulder.]
[Chekov is indeed at work. He has been working overtime most days to make up for the time he has missed and to distract himself, but Delacroix chases him out on time today. That leaves him with far more idle time on his hands than he would care to have.
Uhura hasn't told him that Korra's been trying to talk to him. Pavel misses talking to her, but he's... what is he? Afraid? No, because he knows Korra isn't a cruel person. A bully, maybe, but not a bad person. If he's honest with himself, the reason he hasn't tried talking to her is because he doesn't know if she's interested. When something goes wrong, he's always the one to initiate a conversation afterwards or apologize. If Korra is invested in their friendship, wouldn't she make a move?
Maybe she decided that enough is enough and he's not worth bothering with.
He's understandably surprised to see Naga and Korra--in that order, of course, as the polar bear dog is easy to spot. An involuntary smile spreads across his face as he runs over to them.]
H-hey Chekov. [A smile is the last thing Korra expects to see on Chekov's face. Not after everything that's happened. It throws her off. She stutters silently, struggling for what to say.]
[He stops shy of greeting Korra with the customary hug, the initial excitement of seeing his best friend--or the person who was his best friend--vanishing as his mind catches up with his emotions. Pavel changes course to hug Naga instead. There's still some happiness there, but it's tempered by the memories of their last two encounters and warnings to be cautious, trust less.]
Well, thank you.
[It's a stilted conversation and a stock reply. Chekov wants everything to be over and for them to go back to doing silly things like wearing fake mustaches. He wants to go back to trusting Korra completely--to trusting all of his friends completely. But Uhura and Isaak and Meyer and everyone else he spoke to about trust... there's no way to forgive and forget entirely without being hideously naive.
Chekov has never done anything halfway, and that extends to his relationships. The notion of holding back, of being slightly cautious, isn't one that fits with his definition of friendship. All or nothing. Black or white. Good or evil.
What is the City doing to him?
There's little pause between his response to Korra's question and his own, but he's clearly apprehensive.]
Have you been well? Jinora tells me so. [But Korra wouldn't tell anyone if she wasn't doing well, especially not the ten year-old.]
[She sees the almost hug, and how he directs it to Naga, how scared he is to be around her. It hurts, but she can't blame him.]
I'm -- [She stops herself from saying "okay." She owes Chekov the truth.] Terrible. Chekov, I am so sorry for what happened. For what I did. I never wanted to hurt you.
[He would never admit to being scared (not to Korra, at least), but he's definitely unsure about what he should do or what he should be acting on: emotion or logic.
Hearing the truth from Korra makes the decision for him. He leaves Naga to give Korra a crushing hug.]
You wouldn't have done that without the curse, not to anyone. I don't believe you're a killer.
[Says the kid who is friends with two known killers, but this is slightly more personal. He wants to add that he forgives her and that he trusts that she won't hurt him in the future. It only takes a moment of introspection to realize that only one of those things is true.]
[He does notice that that's not a normal Korra hug. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to come to the conclusion that she's afraid of breaking him; now that she has seen how delicate he is, what are the odds that they'll train together anymore?
Chekov puts aside his disappointment and forces another smile.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
action - Tuesday 4/2
But Korra's tired of running and hiding. Hei was right; the City is dark and ugly enough without letting it ruin everything.
She sighs and rests her head against Naga's shoulder.]
At least I know he'll be glad to see you.
action - Tuesday 4/2
Uhura hasn't told him that Korra's been trying to talk to him. Pavel misses talking to her, but he's... what is he? Afraid? No, because he knows Korra isn't a cruel person. A bully, maybe, but not a bad person. If he's honest with himself, the reason he hasn't tried talking to her is because he doesn't know if she's interested. When something goes wrong, he's always the one to initiate a conversation afterwards or apologize. If Korra is invested in their friendship, wouldn't she make a move?
Maybe she decided that enough is enough and he's not worth bothering with.
He's understandably surprised to see Naga and Korra--in that order, of course, as the polar bear dog is easy to spot. An involuntary smile spreads across his face as he runs over to them.]
Hello!
action - Tuesday 4/2
How are you?
[Ugh. Good job, Korra.]
action - Tuesday 4/2
Well, thank you.
[It's a stilted conversation and a stock reply. Chekov wants everything to be over and for them to go back to doing silly things like wearing fake mustaches. He wants to go back to trusting Korra completely--to trusting all of his friends completely. But Uhura and Isaak and Meyer and everyone else he spoke to about trust... there's no way to forgive and forget entirely without being hideously naive.
Chekov has never done anything halfway, and that extends to his relationships. The notion of holding back, of being slightly cautious, isn't one that fits with his definition of friendship. All or nothing. Black or white. Good or evil.
What is the City doing to him?
There's little pause between his response to Korra's question and his own, but he's clearly apprehensive.]
Have you been well? Jinora tells me so. [But Korra wouldn't tell anyone if she wasn't doing well, especially not the ten year-old.]
action - Tuesday 4/2
I'm -- [She stops herself from saying "okay." She owes Chekov the truth.] Terrible. Chekov, I am so sorry for what happened. For what I did. I never wanted to hurt you.
action - Tuesday 4/2
Hearing the truth from Korra makes the decision for him. He leaves Naga to give Korra a crushing hug.]
You wouldn't have done that without the curse, not to anyone. I don't believe you're a killer.
[Says the kid who is friends with two known killers, but this is slightly more personal. He wants to add that he forgives her and that he trusts that she won't hurt him in the future. It only takes a moment of introspection to realize that only one of those things is true.]
And I forgive you, if that is important.
action - Tuesday 4/2
Of course it is. Thank you.
[The harder part will be forgiving herself.]
action - Tuesday 4/2
Chekov puts aside his disappointment and forces another smile.]
Then we're friends still?
action - Tuesday 4/2
For as long as you'll have me.