"Good morning, Lakano!" Bairu chirped from his place beside the fire pit. "We've certainly been gifted with a beautiful day!" He smiled, filling a fresh cup of tea for Lakano. It was his sort of ritual to get up and make tea for them both. It gave him a chance to relax while he got ready to start working. "Sleep well?" He noticed Lakano's hair down and felt his heart do a little flip- he was almost constantly reminded of how handsome his companion was. Lakano was many other things- strong, brave, a good fighter. They'd even taken out a band of robbers together the first night they'd met. But Bairu pushed those feelings down- Lakano would never be interested in him, not when there were so many beautiful women out there who would gladly be by his side. But attraction aside, Bairu was just glad he'd gotten to meet Lakano and become his friend. 

Lakano looked up at the sky, a beautiful blue, with just a few fluffy clouds. "Yeah, it is a nice day," he agreed before shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, well enough. How about you?" He wasn't one for long conversations, but he had found that he actually liked talking with Bairu, as much as he liked talking about anything. He had always thought that it was talking itself, but perhaps... it was what you were talking about and with who. After a brief moment of pause, he spoke again. "I was thinking, we're right near that village, so we could go and see it, get some decent food maybe, look around... It couldn't hurt, and we've been travelling for a while. Might be a nice rest, you know, to see it." Even though it was probably the same as the last village they'd visited, but you never knew.

"I was thinking the same thing, actually." Bairu poured himself another cup of tea. "I need to add a bit more to my tuition fund, so it'd be nice to see if I can find some work for the next few days while we stay here." Bairu had been saving to pay tuition for an earthbending teacher since he had left home, but he hadn't made quite enough to pay for a year at even the least expensive schools in the region according to the ones he'd visited and talked to. He really wanted to find the right teacher to take him as far with his earthbending as possible, so he knew it wasn't going to be a short process. Though it was possible he would meet his earthbending teacher in Omashu or the town after that or even a town they reached before then- but Bairu hoped that wasn't the case. He was happy to have a friend in Lakano, he hadn't had many growing up and ever since his parents had died he'd been rather alone. He hoped to travel with Lakano further. 

 Travelling with him was so comfortable now- Bairu had a tendency to be a bit chatty, but Lakano never seemed to mind his stories. He never minded when Bairu practiced his tsungi horn either, which was nice. "And food-" Bairu's stomach cut him off, prompting a giggle from the young man. "Yeah, my stomach agrees with you about good food." Bairu finished his tea, setting his cup aside, into a small hole. "I'm ready to go whenever you are." He'd placed his cup in a little cavern Bairu had bent under the ground to protect his things- he bent a thick coating of ground over the hole to seal it. "Would you like me to store your things? It wouldn't take long to do..." Bairu bent the door of his own earthen tent closed as well, an extra security measure when they left camp.

Lakano continued sipping on his own cup of tea as Bairu talked. “Yeah, that sounds fine. If there’s something here you can work with, then we can stay for a while,” he said. That was one that he had learned from traveling with Bairu – how to live cheap. They usually found or caught their own stuff. Catching fish was relatively easy for a Waterbender. Bairu made their tents at night, and while Lakano missed sleeping in a real bed, he was fine with his sleeping bag. He had managed to keep a good bit of what he had taken from his parents, combined with what he made from selling his boat at the port.

Lakano finished up his tea. “I’ll be ready in a minute, and yeah, no offense, but it’ll be nice to have some food that we didn’t have to catch or scrounge up.” He smirked at Bairu before dragging his body off the ground. He walked over to his tent, grabbing his comb, and running it through his hair. He then put his hair back and grabbed his money sack. “Yes, please, if you wouldn’t mind,” he said, as he left his tent, brushing off his clothes. “I’m ready to go when you are.”

"None taken!" Bairu chuckled as he sealed Lakano's tent. "It'll be great not to have to cook for once, and while you and I aren't bad at cooking....we don't really know how to make too many different things. A change is more than welcome by me." He took a deep breath, concentrating as he bent another small cavern for Lakano's things, covering them with a thick slab of ground as he'd done with his own to keep them safe. When he was finished he smiled at Lakano and straightened up. "Ready!" He wore his tsungi horn on a sling, carrying it on his back in case a potential employer wanted to hear him play. "While we were in the last town I heard something about a theatre troupe travelling around the area. I know it's a long shot, but if they're anywhere near here that would be a good job for at least a few days." It wasn't like he couldn't always just play on a street corner- and restaurants were usually happy to have live music, too, so Bairu had plenty of options.  "

"Hmm....let me know if you see any signs of a caravan, or someone advertising a play..." Bairu peered around the already bustling streets as he and Lakano made their way into town. "I'm gonna be looking too, but...." Bairu couldn't help but smile with a bit of bitterness. "You have a better vantage point than I do." He held a hand above his own head to indicate his height before turning his hand and lifting it higher until it was above Lakano's to demonstrate his point. 

He had to admit, as Bairu used his Earthbending to lock up the tent, that having an Earthbender around was pretty handy. If only he could find a Master, Lakano was pretty sure that he’d end up being pretty good at it. He had a natural talent for it – not that he knew anything about Earthbending, of course. After that, they headed into the village. It was already bustling, and while not a big village, it seemed nice enough. There were shops open, and people selling food of different kinds on stalls. It was a nice little village, all things considered, though a lot of them all seemed the same.

Lakano just shook his head as Bairu made a point to mention his height. “Okay, yes, I am taller than you, but I’m not sure that my height is going to give us an advantage here,” he said. “But I promise, if I see anything, I’ll tell you. Besides, if there’s some big… caravan or something like that, I am sure you will spot them just as easily as I will. It’s not like you’re that short.” He gave a good-natured roll of his eyes. “However, first things first, maybe we should go try and find some food. This kind that neither of us have to cook.” Though he found Bairu a decent cook – and Lakano wasn’t bad either – it would be nice to have something someone else cooked, even if it meant they had to pay for it.

"Oh, uh..." Bairu blushed. He'd just meant to make a joke, but he was afraid it'd backfired badly, not sure how to interpret the roll of Lakano's eyes. Was he annoying him? Shoot, Bairu, don't annoy this friend away too like you did with the others.... "Right, sorry, you're right. I was just joking around." He looked around the shops, noticing a few carts full of food coming from a side street. "I think those carts are making deliveries, the butchers and fruit carts and stuff must be over that way." Pointing at the side street, he took the lead, searching for something that they'd both like. "Hm...there's a little spot over here, looks like they're serving fresh dumplings and soup and stuff. Or..." He gasped when he noticed a bakery. "Lakano, they have a bakery here!" When he was younger he'd visited a bakery a few times on a trip to see his grandparents, but they'd died when he was seven so he hadn't had any baked goods since. "Ooh! That sign says they have babas, would you mind if we stopped in here? Babas are a really hearty rice bread, I think it's just what we need after all that travel." He caught the door to the bakery, holding it open for Lakano. "What do you think?" 

Lakano felt like a heel when Bairu had told him it was a joke. Of course, it had been. The Waterbender had a habit of not recognizing humor at all. Bairu didn’t mention it again, so neither did he. He had been going to suggest the dumplings, but after seeing how excited Bairu was about his baked goods and bread, and he couldn’t tell him no. “Sure, sounds good to me,” he said, allowing Bairu to lead him into the bakery.

When they got in, the saw the shop patron standing behind a counter, tables behind her with loads of tarts and breads and other such goods. “Welcome! I have plenty of delicious things here, so take a look, and I will get you anything you want,” they said. There were some tables around, too, though not many. It wasn’t a very big place, but that made sense with the size of the village. It looked cozy, though, and as they approached, Lakano thought the deserts looked delicious.

Lakano motioned for Bairu to go ahead and order. He was the one who wanted to come in here, so it was only fair that he got to order first. Besides, it was nice seeing him so excited about this.

Bairu hummed, considering. They didn't have unlimited money, after all, but the bakery items were surprisingly cheap. No wonder his parents had enjoyed coming to a place like this, he thought as he looked over the mountains of pastry. "I would like...one warm baba, please, and could we also get one of the warm roast pork buns?" He mulled over the other items in his mind. "I'm sure I'll get something else, there's just so much to choose from..." 

"Take your time- I'll get your items to the oven." The shop patron was friendly and quick as she gave their order to another employee manning a large oven in the corner. They set the baba and bun, both about the size of Bairu's head, at the edge of the oven to warm them. Bairu felt a little thrill of delight when she drizzled a gorgeous amber honey over the baba before sprinkling it with sesame seeds, getting back to the matter at hand when another customer drew the patron away from their order. He turned to Lakano, 

"You can have half of mine, I know I won't be able to finish them, but do you see anything you want to order?" He knew this was probably a lot for Lakano, who was used to things like tentacle soup and sea prunes according to what he'd told Bairu. "They have a lot more than I was expecting....and it's not just inexpensive, everything here looks good, too!" Taro buns, pumpkin buns, egg custard tarts, melon cakes, more mochi than he'd ever seen- the baker must be especially talented, maybe selling to other towns nearby. "We could get a few to keep for breakfast tomorrow, or the day after..." There were definitely more treats here than needed to feed the little village they were in now. It all seemed like a labor of love, which Bairu could understand at least a little. He wasn't passionate about baking, but earthbending and playing his tsungi horn were definitely passions of his. If he wasn't doing one during his downtime, he was definitely doing the other...though lately he'd been sparring with Lakano more and more.

It definitely wasn't a bad change to his schedule at all- Lakano was passionate about his waterbending as well, and it was nice seeing him in his element (literally). He was so dynamic, yet graceful- definitely hard to keep one's eyes off of, which made things tricky for Bairu when they were sparring. But Lakano didn't just look handsome sparring- he looked handsome doing literally everything, including just thinking of what to order for breakfast. 

It was nice seeing how excited Bairu was about all the baked goods. Lakano just shook his head when Bairu asked if he wanted anything else. “No, I’ll just share yours,” he said. “You know… we don’t have to get all these right now.” He gave him a rare, small smile. “We’ll be here for a few days, right? We can come back every morning so you can get a chance to try as many things you before we leave.” There was really no point in making himself sick trying to eat everything today just because he was excited. “We have time to try more things before we head on.”

It was a nice little bakery, and a few modern comforts were nice. Lakano didn’t mind living in the wilds with Bairu, it was certainly cheaper, but it was nice going into a town, sitting somewhere, and having someone else serve them. “This is a nice little place.” He might have to remember this place if they ever came this way again – if he ever came this way again. Their days had been filled with little more than travelling and sparring, so a little break in routine every now and again was more than welcome.

“We might have to work off all these sweets,” Lakano added. They weren’t used to eating stuff this heavy. “But I guess our sparring will take care of that, if we can fit some in, of course.” He didn’t mind hanging by himself while Bairu played – he wasn’t a singer or musician of any kind – but he enjoyed spending time with Bairu. They had gotten into a nice routine, one that Lakano enjoyed.

Bairu's heart skipped a beat at Lakano's smile. It was rare that Lakano smiled, but every time he did he took Bairu's breath away. "That's a great idea! That'll be a lot better than getting some to keep for later. This'll be plenty for me for now, anyway." he took the baba and bun from the employee gratefully, passing over the copper coins he'd need to cover it.

"And we'll just have to make sure to spar, then. We can come here in the mornings and spar in the evenings after I'm done working. It'll be nice to have a new little routine while we're staying here." he turned to the shopkeepers with a grateful smile. "Thank you so much for serving us, these are excellent and we'll definitely be back for more. You're so talented! Have a great day!" He waved before turning and holding out the baba and bun to Lakano in offering. "Since we're splitting, which would you like first?" 

Lakano nodded. “Glad we agree then,” he said. “That sounds like a plan to me.” He wasn’t sure what he would do while Bairu was playing here in town, but he would find something. He had expected to be alone during his travels in the Earth Kingdom. He was grateful that he was not anymore, even if he was going to have to spend most of the day alone. He could find something to do to make himself useful, though while he waited for Bairu to come back for their sparring lessons.

“Hmm, I think I’ll try the baba,” Lakano said, taking a piece out of it. He made a pleased sound. “Mmm, that is good, I approve of coming here.” He took another bite, and thought, yeah, he could come back here every morning while they were nice. It would be a nice change of pace while they were in town before they headed off again to the next town that they came across.

As he sat there, though, he felt… that feeling when someone’s watching you. Lakano wasn’t sure, but he glanced at the counter out of the corner of his eye. He saw the shopkeeper staring their way. No, not their way – Bairu’s, if he wasn’t mistaken. He was a bit curious as to why, so he took another bite of the baba. She seemed to notice the staring, and glanced away, going back to her work. He wondered… Lakano focused on Bairu again and the treats in front of them, forgetting about her for the time being.

"Glad you approve. Mm, they even have seating! Must be popular." Bairu noted, gesturing to the little table they'd taken. It definitely seemed to be true- more and more patrons were filing in by the moment. He gently blew a bit of steam away before tearing off a piece of his bun. Steam funneled out of the little hole he'd created and the scent that came with it was just heavenly. Bairu popped the piece into his mouth. "Mmm! This is delicious!" He had to blow on it to reduce the heat, but he didn't mind as he tore into his portion of the bun with gusto. He separated a half for Lakano and set it aside as he enjoyed his breakfast. "I think you'll really like it, Lakano, it's almost like having a fried dumpling." The bread was so thin and crispy that even if the textures and flavors were a little different it definitely reminded Bairu of that experience. Throughout all of this Bairu failed to notice that he was being watched, far too invested in his food and Lakano's reactions to his own breakfast. 

After all, he wanted to be sure Lakano was enjoying himself. He definitely seemed to be, and Bairu couldn't help but smile at that. "I'm glad you're enjoying the baba- here's your half of the bun." Bairu wasn't totally finished with his own portion, but he still wanted to be sure Lakano got his half and got to enjoy the bun just as much as Bairu had.

“This little village probably doesn’t have another bakery, so I’m sure that helps,” Lakano pointed out. As good as the food was here, it would be hard for anyone else too start up. That was the thing about small villages like this one – it was pretty much going to be one of everything. “And luckily, this is place is actually good, because you never know what you would find in a place like this.” In these small villages, it could be a toss up. At least it was safe enough catching fish and buying fruit, but it was nice not having to do that and being able to do something different for a change.

Lakano tried the bun and made a small noise of contentment. “Mmm, that is good, too,” he agreed. He glanced over, noticing the shop worker looking over at Bairu again. She kept trying to come over here, it seemed, but people were coming in – probably trying to get their day going before heading to work – and she kept being pulled away. It was almost cute, though he didn’t think staring at people was cute – and they wouldn’t be around here long enough for it to matter. It was amusing, too, that Bairu didn’t seem to notice at all.

“It seems as if you have a fan,” Lakano pointed out, motioning his head over to the shopkeeper, who was decidedly trying to not look over in their direction now. She must have seen him motion towards her.

Bairu looked at where Lakano had nodded to, feeling his heart drop into his stomach when he caught the girl's gaze. She blushed and gave him a shy wave before rushing away, another shopkeeper calling after her with a tease. 

"Oh, spirits no!....." He groaned, suddenly losing his appetite for the baba he'd been so excited about. "I....this happened to me once before, with my...my friends, back in my home village." Growing anxious, a blush was spreading over his face. "This girl, my friend....she started looking at me like that one day." He nodded his head towards where the girl had been standing moments ago. "All of my friends encouraged me to return her feelings, but....I couldn't. And my friends....they all held it against me. The more upset she got that I didn't like her back, the colder they treated me.....they told me I was annoying, that that was why we couldn't be friends anymore but....I knew it was because I didn't like her back." He sighed, picking at the baba. "And.....I'll never like this girl back, either. Or um, any girl, really. Avatar Kyoshi had a lover of the same gender....that's how my parents explained it to me, that I was like her. But.....with men, instead of women."

Bairu suddenly felt a creeping sense of terror- what if Lakano hated him for this? His parents had warned him to stay quiet about it, that most others wouldn't accept it, but that didn't necessarily mean Lakano, did it? He looked away from his new friend, not wanting to see his face if it was disgusted. And he couldn't quite assure Lakano that he wasn't attracted to him, because he was....oh, was he ever tempted to use his bending to open the earth up under his feet to swallow him whole. "I-I hope you know that I respect you and I'd never violate your space or anything, you're my friend....I-I'm sorry, if I should have told you sooner I....I know it changes things for some people." A painful lump was forming in his throat. 

“Oh, okay,” Lakano said, shrugging his shoulders. It wasn’t as if he cared one way or the other if Bairu liked men. “Your friends were jerks. If they can’t accept you for you are, then they didn’t deserve you anyway.” Bairu seemed nervous about telling him, and based on how his so-called friends reacted, he didn’t blame him. They shouldn’t treated him like that. People didn’t talk about such things back home, but Lakano didn’t care one way or the other. “It doesn’t change anything, nor should it. You’re still the same person. I don’t see why it matters at all who you do or do not like. It’s no one’s business but your own.”

To have Lakano assure him so effortlessly, to accept Bairu without hesitation....Bairu felt his heart skip a beat, but did his best not to show it as he granted Lakano a thankful smile. "Thank you....really, you're right, I don't know why my friends thought I owed them that part of my life." He nibbled at the baba, "I wish I could have had some other friends to grow up with, things definitely got lonely when my parents weren't at home. But now I've made a true friend, and I'm seeing more than I've ever seen before! So I guess it doesn't really matter." He felt the lump in his throat lessen as his panic did, but still felt apprehensive. "But that girl.....it'll be awkward running into her..." he took a full bite of his baba, sighing. "Oh, it might be worth it though- this is better than I remember!" He wished his parents could have been there to share it too, but he was glad Lakano was.

A small smile crossed Lakano’s face. “That’s probably why they’re not your friends anymore,” he said. “It’s not… something we talk about back home, but I never felt that it was something that needed to be hidden.” He shrugged his shoulders as he continued eating the treats they had purchased. “If it makes you feel any better, you’re my first real friend, too. I usually tended to stick to myself.” And he had been busy running away from Waterbending classes and his parent’s expectations, but that seemed like a lifetime ago. Now, with Bairu, here in the Earth Kingdom, he felt… more like himself, so he could actually make an actual connection with someone.

“It won’t be that awkward,” Lakano said, waving off his comment. “Just don’t encourage her, and hopefully, she’ll get the hint. Besides, we’re only here for a few more days anyway. If she doesn’t then all you have to do is say, ‘Sorry, not interested’ or something.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “You wanted to come back here every morning, didn’t you? To try more stuff? So we will. It’ll be fine. Trust me.” He understood why he might feel awkward about it, but he didn’t want Bairu to miss out on the other things this bakery sold because he wanted to avoid the girl.