Veyla Krinn
Character
Veyla listened without interrupting, her glass remaining cradled loosely between both hands while the faint condensation cooled her fingers as Korra spoke. When the other woman admitted the reason for staying was simply this shared moment between them, Veyla's expression softened just a fraction. Not out of surprise, but from a deep, quiet sense of recognition.
She glanced briefly around the cantina again, a movement born of ingrained habit rather than any immediate sense of caution, noting the few quiet tables and the pair of off-duty warriors arguing over something trivial near the bar. Beneath the floorboards, the low, rhythmic hum of Concordia's life continued its steady pulse, reminding her of the world moving on outside their small circle of light.
Then her attention returned to Korra, her voice dropping to a near-whisper.
"Conversations like that are rare because most people walk into a room already calculating exactly what the person across from them might want," she agreed quietly, her thumb brushing once along the rim of her glass before she took a small sip and let the warmth settle. "Or, more often than not, they are busy figuring out exactly what they can take for themselves."
A faint, knowing smile touched her mouth as she leaned back slightly in her chair, her posture relaxed yet fully attentive to the woman sitting opposite her. "It gets tiring after a while, navigating through the layers of what people aren't saying, and I've spent enough time around formal negotiations to recognize the exact moment a conversation turns into a transaction."
She let a small pause hang in the air, allowing the honesty of the moment to breathe.
"This one never took that turn, which probably means we both needed the reprieve more than we were willing to admit," she said, the corner of her mouth curving with a touch of quiet humor. Veyla lifted her glass toward Korra in a casual, almost absent-minded toast, the amber liquid catching the low light. "To a quiet cantina, a decent drink, and the luxury of a conversation that doesn't require a signed contract to be meaningful."
She tipped the glass back for another sip before setting it down with a soft clink against the scarred wood. "I'd say that's as good a reason as any to stay somewhere a little longer than you originally planned."
Korra Kast
She glanced briefly around the cantina again, a movement born of ingrained habit rather than any immediate sense of caution, noting the few quiet tables and the pair of off-duty warriors arguing over something trivial near the bar. Beneath the floorboards, the low, rhythmic hum of Concordia's life continued its steady pulse, reminding her of the world moving on outside their small circle of light.
Then her attention returned to Korra, her voice dropping to a near-whisper.
"Conversations like that are rare because most people walk into a room already calculating exactly what the person across from them might want," she agreed quietly, her thumb brushing once along the rim of her glass before she took a small sip and let the warmth settle. "Or, more often than not, they are busy figuring out exactly what they can take for themselves."
A faint, knowing smile touched her mouth as she leaned back slightly in her chair, her posture relaxed yet fully attentive to the woman sitting opposite her. "It gets tiring after a while, navigating through the layers of what people aren't saying, and I've spent enough time around formal negotiations to recognize the exact moment a conversation turns into a transaction."
She let a small pause hang in the air, allowing the honesty of the moment to breathe.
"This one never took that turn, which probably means we both needed the reprieve more than we were willing to admit," she said, the corner of her mouth curving with a touch of quiet humor. Veyla lifted her glass toward Korra in a casual, almost absent-minded toast, the amber liquid catching the low light. "To a quiet cantina, a decent drink, and the luxury of a conversation that doesn't require a signed contract to be meaningful."
She tipped the glass back for another sip before setting it down with a soft clink against the scarred wood. "I'd say that's as good a reason as any to stay somewhere a little longer than you originally planned."
Korra Kast