Author's notes: Flu-ey, too zy to refine. Have chapter.

  “To a great first game!”

  Cheers arose, echoing the sentiment to the tune of clinking gsses and rattling silverware. Rather than spectate the second day of the tournament, where the second half of the 16-team bracket was taking pce, friends and investors of Future Industries gathered in the recently acquired fgship store just across the arena causeway.

  Waiters expertly navigated the obstacle course of dispy vehicles, cocktail tables, and gaggles of guests, maintaining the flow of drinks and finger food. A band of Future Media’s musicians seated each on the roof of a Satomobile filled the store with far more soothing tunes compared to what their counterparts would be pying right now in the arena’s pre-show. Specially invited journalists flitted from group to group, hastily jotting down on their notepads anything that caught their interest, and occasionally butting into conversations seeking crity.

  The rumbling of engines leaked in from outside as drivers dropped off more guests, barely noticeable amid the din of excited conversations. The silhouettes of the uninvited peeking in filled the store’s rge windows, shuffling every now and then as security kept them from pressing against the gss. Parked Satomobiles lined the road outside, their drivers mingling amongst themselves in a mirror of the upper-css socializing occurring within the store.

  It was as much a party as it was a show of force. The gathering of tycoons and politicians - aside from Tenzin, it was mostly staff and aides of the councillors due to the short notice - in quite a public space was bound to generate a buzz, one that proudly rivalled the draw of the games taking pce across the causeway. Future Industries was celebrating the success of its sponsored pro-bending team, in a prime location that its competition couldn’t secure a presence in.

  The message might be lost on the common people of Republic City, but to the competition? To the investors and board of Keum Enterprises, Cabbage Corp, and San Ho Consortium? To the wannabe industrial barons watching from the Fire Nation or the Water Tribes?

  This was a decration of victory.

  And with some satisfaction, this decration was not Xing’s idea, but rather Isashi’s.

  Hiroshi was quietly immensely satisfied with that fact. Future Media still had most of its resources tied up with overseeing the championship tournament, alongside the management of its radio station, which allowed the veteran head of marketing to remind everyone why he still held that rank. Literally overnight, Isashi had pulled on the many strings he’d cultivated over the years to fill up the guest list and secure the catering and valet manpower.

  Only Tenzin represented the ruling council tonight, but Hiroshi preferred it that way; The airbender was far less inclined to use the socializing for political maneuvering like some of the others, but neither was he too aloof and reserved like the Earth Kingdom councilman Hui Song. Having the airbending master present also provided significant prestige due to his lineage, and his reputation for being straightforward and honest would keep the party free from sinister airs to outside observers.

  And probably most important of all, since it’s only Tenzin, there was no risk of anything being said tonight being used as ammunition for new bending-preferential and technology-stifling policies. Sure, Tarrlok’s secondaries were present, but they were far from the cunning slimeball that the Northern Water Tribe councilman was. And they did not have the station to butt into boasts on optimized production or increased efficiency with prodding questions as Tarrlok frequently did.

  Or used to do, until everyone wised up and shut up.

  The other councillors might not be as nosey, but Hiroshi still didn’t trust them considering how often they voted for Tarrlok’s agenda. One wrong word, one breakthrough being viewed as another blow to a bender’s livelihoods instead of another collective advancement for humanity, and they might conspire to set up more damned regutions…

  “Whats’a matter Hiroshi? Someone’s te or something?” Dao’s booming inquiry shattered his musing, and Hiroshi quickly shook his head before his loudmouth friend could drag the topic into bawdier territory.

  “Nothing serious…work reted matters, you know how it is.”

  “Hmph.” The director of Li Shu Steelworks noted the previous direction of Hiroshi’s gaze, and nodded slowly, eyes narrowing just a fraction at Tenzin. “Council’s coming up with new rubbish?”

  “No. Not yet, I think. But… With how well things went off yesterday, I suppose I’m bracing myself for new regutions.” It was a decent improvisation considering the circumstances, and not entirely untrue either.

  Dao, predictably, gave a confused look in response. “Eh?”

  “Future Industries practically took over the pro-bending championship without a fight. I’m sure someone would be kicking up a fuss over it.”

  The steel baron’s face darkened with irritation as he grasped the scene. “Bet you it’ll be from Cabbage Corp. Gaoli’s always been a whiny cunt…”

  “It’s no matter,” Hiroshi interrupted before his friend went off on a raging tangent. Dao’s face was not red, which meant he barely had enough to drink, which meant his tirades could go on for long enough for reporters to fill a couple of pages with. “If the council decides to introduce new rules for advertising, it’ll only affect us next year. We’ve already staked our cim for this championship, and reaped the rewards from it.”

  Thankfully, Dao’s irritation dissipated, and a crooked smile repced it instead. “Heh, too true, Hiroshi. You know, thanks to all that Fire Ferret merchandise we had to churn out, all the metal trinkets and ptes and whatnot? They’re more or less paid for next quarter’s expenses by themselves.”

  Now that was surprising. “That profitable?”

  “Ohh yeah. Even after the logistics, the margins are still high enough that we don’t have to worry about mines going on strike like three years ago. I can skip all the wheeling and dealing and import the steel from Omashu instead!”

  “That’s…highly convenient.” But also annoying, since it’d alleviate the pressure required to emphasize the efficiency of new machinery over earthbenders. But then again, it’s not like Amon needs to orchestrate another strike anytime soon, and the new safety regutions had satisfied most of the republic’s miners’ concerns anyway to make riling them up too much effort.

  “Very,” Dao replied, oblivious to his friend’s thoughts. He then gave a nod over to the other side of the room, where a gaggle of young women had been slowly cornering a particur young man. “Speaking of, is it safe leaving the d like that?”

  “It’s his job to network,” Hiroshi grunted softly. Ever since the evening began, guests have been introducing their daughters, nieces and sisters to the increasingly renowned director of Future Media. As one of the main draws of the party, Xing could not escape this fate, though he seemed to lose no stride from politely rejecting proposal after proposal.

  “Eh, but aren’t you afraid you’ll lose him to some old family offering a perfumed cunt?”

  Hiroshi gave his old friend a sharp look, and not for the first time marveled at the fact that Dao was still popur with some Earth Kingdom spinsters despite his vocabury.

  The steel baron raised both hands pcatingly. “My bad, my bad. Ol’ Dao will shut up now.” There was a second’s pause before his words became a lie. “But really, do you really want some noble daughter stealing him from your girl?”

  That was the whole point, Hiroshi didn’t say.

  Xing was dangerous, not just to the Equalist cause, but also to Asami. Whatever merits his argument against Amon might hold, it was far too te to stop or refocus the coming revolution, and the boy would have to be removed soon.

  And Hiroshi did not want his daughter to be there when that happened.

  Asami shouldn’t be…be infected by Xing’s views, otherwise she wouldn’t understand or appreciate that this was for her own good, for her future. Benders needed to be struck down from their undeserved perches at the top of society. They needed to be brought low, so they could be held accountable for their misdeeds. They needed to be kept in check and rendered impotent, so that Asami would be finally safe from the same callous fate that befell her mother.

  *****

  Despite every reason to celebrate, Asami couldn’t get into the festive mood, and surprisingly it wasn’t because she had to keep Korra and the Fire Ferrets company for the cameras. It wasn’t so much to keep her from offering smiles and polite ughs, but the nagging in the back of her mind was becoming annoying.

  “Something wrong?” Mako asked, while quietly detaching from his preening brother who was holding hands with Korra while they boasted about their overwhelming victory st night.

  Still wearing a smiling mask, the heiress gave a slight shake of her head. “Nothing important.”

  “You sure?” the Fire Ferrets’ captain pressed, and then made a meaningful gnce to one side, where Xing was being hounded by a bunch of parasitic bitches who were so caked in powder they might as well be rolled out on silver ptters…

  “I’m sure,” she insisted, almost gritting her teeth. If she wasn’t stuck with her obligations right now, Asami would’ve liked nothing better than to march right in to pry her man free, and make the nature of her and Xing’s retionship clear for all to see. But nooo, because she was the pro-bending enthusiast, she had to babysit the Fire Ferrets for the cameras. It didn’t help that she was forced to wear a conservative but uncomfortably tight qipao for the occasion, and the Fire Nation style side slit rode almost up to her waist, forcing her to restrict her movement or risk exposing too much bare skin.

  “Welp, if you insist.”

  “It’s not like you can do anything about it,” she huffed. “Just smile and answer the questions. And-”

  “And keep the two lovebirds from straying from the script,” Mako finished with a wan smile. “I got it.”

  Asami was about to nod, but then a girl suddenly sprang into view, slipping past Korra and Bolin who were still regaling the reporters and audience with the py-by-py of their game. The girl’s back was fully presented to Asami while she no doubt offered an excited, wide-eyed smile to Mako. It was apparent in the giddy words that spewed out.

  “Omigosh, Mako, right? You were so great st night! And cool, too!”

  Rather than feeling offense at being so rudely interrupted, Asami simply took it as her cue to take a few steps back and ignored Mako’s pleading look. Leaving the Fire Ferrets to their public retions work, Asami threw an envious look over to her father, who was having some sort of conversation with Dao, and noticed his frown. She turned to follow its direction, and unsurprisingly found it resting on the gaggle of pampered, manicured girls still surrounding a barely visible Xing.

  “Don’t worry,” a small voice suddenly appeared beside her, and Asami looked down to find Kai offering a reassuring smile. “Xing’s been rejecting everyone. There’s this chick that keeps trying, but he hasn’t held any hands or let himself get hugged yet.”

  Asami didn’t sag or sigh with relief at the report, but instead she kept her composure and offered a slight nod at her diligent young aide. “Thanks, Kai.” Of course she could trust Xing to not go beyond formal pleasantries with the btant gold diggers. He wasn’t the source of her worries right now.

  It’s the stories of makeup ced with herbal powder, needing only a kiss to warp their target’s inhibitions. Or someone spiking a drink that’d leave its victim vulnerable to too many ghastly fates. If those stupid novels contained even a grain of truth…

  “Me and Ren have also been taking down the names of those people…you know, in case you need it.”

  And the heiress’ mask slipped for a moment to allow a grin to form. “I think it could come in handy… Thank you for being so considerate, Kai.” She made a note to bump up her aides’ bonuses ter.

  The boy gave a quick nod back before slipping away, and Asami could only watch from afar as her father continued directing his disapproval at Xing. She’d have to do something. While it might be a bad look for Xing right now, Asami would have to rey Kai’s report to her father, to prove that despite all the attention and offers, Xing hasn’t been tempted yet.

  Maybe it was high time they took the next step and made it official? Sure, it’d mean having to finally face her father for the much dreaded talk, but announcing an engagement would be a clear enough sign of her resolve. Plus it would also assuage some investor worries about the corporation’s future. No more Itiros or other simir dolts with their stupid offers of ‘breeding benders’ into the Sato line.

  Yes, Xing was a bender, but that wasn’t even a consideration in their retionship. He happened to be able to bend (brokenly, apparently, but whatever), and wasn’t using it as some main highlight for his eligibility.

  Besides, with the clear success of Future Industries’ involvement in pro-bending, Xing should’ve more than proven himself to not only her father, but also everyone else. Considering the Satos own rise, Xing’s ck of pedigree and inheritance was a non-issue (if it was, Asami would be more than happy to call out the hypocrisy).

  Here was a man who mirrored Hiroshi Sato’s own rise to the top with his grit and ingenuity, without resorting to underworld deals. And Xing was able to do something that Asami’s father and pretty much every other technocrat couldn’t: he personally stared Tarrlok down and forced the councilman into an unconditionally disadvantageous agreement.

  Now the taskforce operated completely without Avatar Korra’s presence, because Xing said so, and after each raid Future Media got a small payment for a draft of a speech that Tarrlok and his people almost never used.

  Returning her gaze back to the calmly beleaguered media director who was slowly shifting himself away, Asami gave herself a determined nod despite the knot that suddenly formed in her chest. She’ll have to talk to Xing t-

  “Hey, Asami?”

  The heiress almost growled in frustration as her train of thought was derailed, but somehow retained her composure and only gred at Bolin, who rightfully recoiled.

  “Uh, do we have to be here the whole night? I was thinking of taking Korra to-”

  “Wait for the speeches, just as we discussed,” she retorted through a strained smile.

  “Oh. Uh, right. Heheh, I…forgot.”

  Great, now she was envying Korra of all people for having a boyfriend to sneak her out ter, instead of being stuck here for the whole damned function.

  With a soft sigh, Asami gave one final gaze to both Xing and then her father, pushed down her bubbling apprehension, and returned to her role as Future Industries’ face for tomorrow’s papers.

  Thankfully, the whole ordeal ended an hour earlier, and was a far less grueling experience than she braced herself for. The moment Korra’s absence was noted, Kai and Ren, ever the helpful aides, quickly pointed out the likely direction she could’ve fled off to, emptying the store of most of the reporters (alongside a comically worried Tenzin), while the rest hounded Mako out of the store with questions about the Avatar’s love life with Bolin.

  Without anyone left to document the night’s goings on, the guests became far more rexed. Barrels were rolled out for Dao to finally start drinking. More vulgar descriptions of pro-bending teams being sponsored by corporate rivals were flung about, particurly at how poorly their monetization compared with the Fire Ferrets’. Asami had long ago learned to tune out such charmingly empty talk of competitors taking things up the ass, or forced into prostitution to make up for losses.

  What was important was that the shift in atmosphere also allowed Xing to finally do away with his own obligations, and he slipped away from his persistent admirers and their brothers and fathers who were trying to py up the girls’ virtues. One moment an Earth Kingdom nobleman was trying to push his sister over to Xing, and in the next a Fire Nation magnate was exchanging heated words with said nobleman. Then fingers were pointed beyond just the two enraged men and their sisters (unless that magnate married really young…), and the beginnings of a physical quarrel was starting to form.

  Thankfully, the guards were already moving into position, so all that was needed was the first spit, shove, or sp, and then they’d have the justification to firmly evacuate all those involved.

  “Asami.”

  She turned, and her apprehension rose again as she found Xing standing before her, only slightly ruffled considering the constant attention he got. Unexpectedly, he too seemed to be showing some concern on his face.

  Well, they could talk about it…somewhere else. After giving a final, reassuring look at her father in hopes of softening his worried frown, Asami took Xing’s hand and quickly led him through the staff door so helpfully opened by Ren.

  “Before we continue, I need to-”

  “I wasn’t worried,” Asami interjected as they left the lights and noise and transitioned into the more muted and dim employee’s hallway. “About you. Kai told me you didn’t entertain any proposals.”

  “Oh.” And Asami smirked as she heard the relief in his voice. “Some of them were…surprisingly persistent.”

  She gave a light shrug of her shoulders as they reached the break room. “That sort of thing usually only happens during the winter balls. Isashi should’ve been more careful with the guest list. They turn rabid when they have to start fighting for attention.”

  “I…see.”

  Asami barked out a ugh, almost timed to the door being pushed open. “Just be thankful you’re not me, sole inheritor to Future Industries, and a daughter to boot. Though my father usually ran interference.”

  “Daughter…? Northern Water Tribes?”

  Asami answered with a curt nod, and gently shoved him into a creaking chair. The door closed behind them, the click-thump reverberating for a second in the small room as the Asami Sato, heiress of Future Industries, looked down to meet the concerned gaze of its subsidiary media director. By now, the apprehension turned into a knot that was trying to tug her stomach into a void, though there was some comfort in the look Xing gave her.

  Asami took in a slow, calming breath, carefully arranged the words in her head, and then exhaled the finished sentences out.

  “Xing, we… I need to ask you something…”

  Despite all that, the words still came out awkwardly, but Xing was a patient listener.

  And a surprisingly prompt responder.

  “Do you want me to prepare a pn to approach your father, or…?”

  That was the extent of his concern. Asami shouldn’t have worried about what Xing might have said. Despite the short time they’ve met, after all he’s done…after all they’ve done, she should’ve known better than to worry. There was no hesitation, not even a flicker of doubt in his amber eyes.

  As the apprehension melted away, Asami had the presence of mind to turn around and reach out to lock the door.

  Then she returned to face her soon-to-be fiance, and wood creaked in protest as Asami’s leg kicked out to nd on the chair’s backrest peeking from behind Xing’s shoulder. Cool, refreshing air graced the skin of her now exposed leg as the stitches of her qipao strained. The seat squeaked as Asami leaned forwards, and the shadows cast from the room’s sole lightbulb gave her grin a predatory gleam. Asami licked her lips as her throat felt the tingle of a sudden thirst.

  “We’ll worry about my father ter. For now, I need to…vent, Xing. I’ve been stuck smiling like an imbecile with the Fire Ferrets, while you’ve been receiving the attention of perfumed smiles and manicured hands.”

  Xing’s reply was to slowly lean against her naked thigh, his gaze never breaking from hers as he turned to pnt a trail of soft kisses. A pleasant shudder shot up Asami’s spine as his hands slipped under her dress and gently massaged the aches hidden underneath…

  *****

  “Think they’ll be in there for too long?”

  Ren fought the urge to sigh as she kept her gaze forwards towards the party that was devolving into shouting and drunken hollering. “They better not. You got the keys?”

  Kai nodded minutely, his attention just as unmoving from the scene before them.

  As if on cue, some Fire Nation businessman wobbled towards the aides and the door they guarded. The way his knees were angled together, coupled with the general air of urgency on him, hinted at his objective. Kai stepped forwards and stuck out a hand to stop the man.

  “Sorry mister, door’s stuck, we’re waiting for a locksmith to come.”

  “Really? B-But I gotta-”

  “You can try the restaurant next door, they should still be open right now.”

  “B-But I- Aargh!”

  Ren watched the man run off with some relief that he didn’t try forcing the door. It’d only draw unnecessary attention. She felt rather than heard a thump vibrating the soles of her shoes, coming from behind the locked area.

  Then it happened again.

  And again.

  “It’d be nice if Xing was as fast as the people who visit the tea parlors…” Kai opined with some irritation.

  “It’d be nice if they just went back home to start with.”