Deer Country IC Inbox

[pabugotmoves]

Huh? Oh-- You've reached Bolin!
Yeah, I'm a pretty busy guy but leave me a message and I'll beep you back

Comments

[pabugotmoves]

Just around the corner, I don't know why he has to be weird about it.

[arclightning]

Bolin.

Where around the corner? Why haven't I seen it?

[pabugotmoves]

[Damn double damn!! This is what he gets for taking so long to figure his stuff out!!

Be cool Bolin. Don't flip him out.]

I'm still making up my mind. There's no point having you come over yet. Soon, I promise!

[arclightning]

Bolin.

[pabugotmoves]

Mako.

[arclightning]

Show me your place.

[pabugotmoves]

I told you I'm still deciding on one before I have you over. Why are you being weird.

Are you okay?

[arclightning]

No, Bolin, I'm not okay! I just realized thanks to Shiro that I don't even know where you live and you're being weird and cagey about it which means something is up. I know you. Don't pull this shit with me.

1/2

[pabugotmoves]

[Oh for fuck's sake]

[pabugotmoves]

[He can't believe this is happening THANK YOU SHIRO THANKS A LOT BUDDY he's gonna put you in the smallest gold g-string he can find, swear to the spirits!! ALL OF THE SPIRITS!]

Mako I don't know how to make it any more clear:

I. Have. Not. Decided. On. A. Place. Yet.

[arclightning]

[ You should know better than to pull this on a detective, Bolin. ]

Then. Where. Are. You. Living.

[pabugotmoves]

[In a hole, he types out with a snarl before smacking his head back against the wall a few times with frustration. Pabu bounds over and up onto his shoulders like woah dude, chill your beans. And he can't really argue with Pabu so he sighs heavily]

I know, buddy, but he's going to be so mad at me. How can I tell him and he not take it personally?

Better get it over with, I guess.

[And so:]

A few places but none of them felt right so I decided to camp until I've made up my mind.

[arclightning]

You want to run that by me again? You're camping in a city full of abandoned buildings, on the street, while winter is actively getting closer and temperatures are dropping and there are parasites and monsters everywhere.

[pabugotmoves]

You're making it sound worse than it is.

[But yeah, basically.]

Feels like old times and hey, it's been exciting! I've been exploring, meeting new people, and I've been able to really sit down with my emotions. Lately it's been really good for focusing on my work and I can't complain about the commute.

Hey, have you ever heard of Cloverfield? I met him last month. I think he's some kind of mountain spirit.

[arclightning]

In old times we didn't have the option of living inside.

Don't try to change the subject.

[pabugotmoves]

[What you don't want the scoop on some super interesting first hand world lore? You know you dooo.]

Please don't be mad, nowhere felt right and I was in a bad place last month and then I was with Cloverfield and then the musical happened so I've been super busy planning that and then all of a sudden it's now! I've got a safe spot I can close up and I'm going to leave it the moment I find somewhere good.

[arclightning]

[ Don't be mad, he says, like Mako is mad at him and not at himself for not knowing this, like he isn't reeling with the knowledge that Bolin is living outside and trying to hide it, like he isn't terrified that he's going to wake up and not be able to contact Bolin because he froze to death or got eaten by parasites because Mako wasn't there to help because he didn't even know where Bolin was— ]

Where are you.

[pabugotmoves]

[Bolin doesn't need to be a paleblood to feel Mako nosedive and he wishes more than anything in this moment that he could take it all back and give the address of the last apartment he'd attempted to inhabit. It had been fine, but the previous occupant's belongings were still present (though dusty) and he couldn't help but feel they would come home only to find it taken. Having a home is so precious, he would hate to be That Guy.

But maybe the feeling would have been easier to manage than knowing he's hurt Mako so deeply and for no reason. He just never really thought about it. Never really considered that taking his time would have consequences.]

Cellar door in the alley to the right of the club. I'll open the door.

[Well. 'Door'. It's rockwall hidden under a strategically placed door panel he found and put there, himself. If anyone opened it you'd just find stone. No one would ever know.]

[arclightning]

[ Mako doesn't dignify that with a response. Zuko trills in quiet concern as he shoves himself up on jerky legs, his mind whirling. He shoves an arm out for her and she leaps to him, coiling up around his neck.

He doesn't remember the journey down the stairs. He's thinking about eight-year-old Bolin huddled in the rain under a cardboard structure already starting to leak, about promising him he'd find them a dry place to sleep the next day without knowing whether he'd be able to keep it. So many times they'd talked about having a place of their own, what they'd do with a house, where they'd want to live. Even when Mako was living under his desk, Bolin had a home and a place on Air Temple Island. For him to choose to live in an alley—

Something is wrong, and Mako had no idea.

By the time he gets to the bottom of the stairs and out the door, smoke is coiling up in loops from his skin, filtering out from under his clothing, and his eyes are burning with anger or guilt or both. He doesn't stomp because that's not who Mako is, but his movements are careful and controlled, and his face is a hard-set thing as he slips into the dark little alley without a word. ]

[pabugotmoves]

[The door is open by the time Mako gets to the alley and Bolin, who is waiting next to it, clocks Mako the moment he turns the corner. His hands are nervously clasped in front of him, standing there like a scolded child. He can't act indignant because, in hindsight, yeah this is kinda messed up and there is no way Mako won't be furious.

The explanation of how he got to this point sounds so far fetched he doubts he'll even be believed. Bolin isn't even exactly sure how it happened but everything got weird after he got spooked by that giant mecha spirit and he's been pretty.. isolated since then with no way to know that upsetting Cloverfield, especially in October, has long lasting consequences.

So maybe he just- maybe Bolin just isn't doing very well. Maybe he hasn't been for a while and he hasn't said anything because he isn't sure what's wrong. He's tried crying it out.. wandering.. adventuring.. even a little fighting but nothing has really helped. Lately it's been a little like no one's even remembered he's around.

But how is he going to explain himself. What on earth is he going to say to Mako.. C'mon, Bo. Think of something. You're an adult, act like one, what have you done? Why are you like this?

It's rolling around in his head like marbles on a circular track but all that goes on pause once Mako is close enough to really see.

Brows up and then furrowed, Bolin looks from Mako to Zuko and back. Mako looks.. well, he looks scary. Teetering on the edge of combustion and an out of control firebender is never a good thing.

But Mako would flip out on him like that...would he? Man, he's so nervous.]

[arclightning]

[ Mako is the scariest when he isn't saying a word, and right now he's terrifyingly silent.

As soon as Bolin's in sight, though, Zuko uncoils with a worried little trilla and practically bolts for him, flying lithely through the air until she collides with his shoulders and coils there, chirring anxiously while Mako stalks silently closer. She's full of all the worry Mako can't channel everywhere else, all the worry his nails are pressing into painful half-moons on his palms. How long has Bolin been out here? How long would he have been out here? How could Mako not have noticed, how could this have been happening literally right behind him, Bolin in the cold while he and Wu curled around each other in a too-nice bed?

None of those questions can answer themselves but he stays wordless, stopping in front of Bolin with that smoke still curling up sharp and short. There is a command in that silence: start talking, bro. ]

[pabugotmoves]

[Bolin still can't help but marvel at how neat it is that Zuko exists. A dragon.. a sweet and spicy little noodle of a dragon and he loves her(?) endlessly.

He raises a hand to rest on the dragon by instinct. They give a little comfort in the face of the inferno approaching behind, which is appreciated, but not quite the shield he wishes they were.

Mako looks like a dark spirit the way he moves, silent and smouldering. Like a viper, coiled tightly and ready to bite.

The smoke is up Bolin's nose. The energy is suffocating. The command is loud and clear. He swallows thickly and looks down, inspecting his feet which have suddenly become very interesting. ]

So I.. I um.

[No.. this isn't. He can't-- he just withers and takes a step to the side and reveals his hideout which is.. not that bad. Bad, but not living in a dumpster bad. There are six or seven rough, bent stone steps down into the ground into a room that can't yet be seen except for Pabu who is at the bottom step, very still, and watching Mako like there's a predator at the door. Watching the way Bolin submits immediately with his explanation: unordered, unrehearsed, tumbling out chaotically as fast as he can.]

This was never gonna be forever, I swear. I tried to find a place, I really did. I've had three so far but they were all wrong and then I tried to rent and no one wanted me because of my blood or whatever and.. I don't know, I thought I'd try some exploring and- argh it was the worst at first and then it was kind of okay and then it got cold so I made a place.. it just happened.

[arclightning]

[ He made a place.

Out of stone, in an alley like he's five only this time Mako wasn't here to keep him warm, so how was he managing it? There are steps and that should make Mako feel better but it doesn't even a little bit: he wants to smash the whole thing to bits and drag Bolin inside but that's stupid and unhelpful, so he just stops. Looks, takes it in. The silence stretches past its breaking point and then shatters in a single flare of Mako's nostrils like the first breath of a storm. ]

Show me.

[pabugotmoves]

[Bolin hesitates a beat, stroking Zuko before forcing himself to turn and bring Mako down the steps into his burrow.

To be fair, it isn't the worst hole they've slept in.

It's actually kind of nice. Sort of.

The chamber is about 10ft x 10ft and juust deep enough for Bolin to stand (Sorry Mako, you'll have to slouch), illuminated by three decently bright lunar lights. His bedroll lays neatly folded up against the far wall, a mix of straw mattress, disused velvet curtains from the club, and other assorted bedding he's collected. His desk, a wide plank of wood elevated about a foot off the ground on some stone, is strewn with Rocky Horror scripts, designs and plans; and there is another 'table' with some various household tools. A pot and pan, some casks of water, his bags, clothes and some food.

There is no central fire pit, knowing that the smoke would suffocate him underground, but the first step down is black with char where he has had fire and been able to feed it from the door kept open a crack.

He's thought about all this. Quite a lot. And while Bo hasn't been down there very long, it's been long enough to source and install a series of copper pipes across the ceiling and through to street level for fresh air.

It's basic but bare with cold floors and walls, but it's dry and safe from detection and attack. The pipes create a draft which isn't great but mean he can breathe, and there are a few blobs of cooled magma on the ground near his bedroll and more by his desk which is how he's been staying warm.

Bolin moves out of Mako's way once they've descended and sits on the stairs with Zuko and Pabu, letting his brother survey his work. There isn't much to say and no elegant or earnest turn of phrase will help, so he stays quiet and waits.]

[arclightning]

[ It isn't as bad as Mako was expecting. He doesn't know what he was expecting, but at least Bolin—at least he made a home for them the way he used to, at least this has four walls and a roof and a... feel that might, in some places, be like a home. He has a bed. He's working on stuff.

But obviously Bolin knows this isn't ideal, because he was hiding it, and that's the thing: that's what Mako doesn't know, that's what scares him. If Bolin didn't have a choice, this would be fine. But why he'd choose to live like this when there are plenty of houses to choose from, why he'd hide it, it's all wrapped up with Mako having not known in the first place. Guilt curls sickly through him as he spins in a slow circle, taking it all in, before landing on Bolin. Mako doesn't even know what his own face is doing. He can't tell what his feelings are doing, either, only that he's cataloguing the details in here one by one and the only thing he comes up with, after all of it, with Bolin looking at him like a contrite child— ]

This is nice.

[ The words are stiff and rough but earnest, at the very least. Mako's eyes skip from Bolin's knees up to his face, and then his stony expression cracks into hurt and anger all at once like the surface of lava breaking open. ]

Why?