"Can't we just, you know, dress as we normally do?" Aang asked, tugging at his collar uncomfortably.
Zuko eyed him over Mai's head. "This is how I normally dress these days."
Aang looked at the seemingly endless folds of heavy red and black and gold-stitched cloth and shuddered. "So glad I'm not the Fire Lord."
"Me too," said Mai, rolling her eyes. "Arms up, Zuko, I need to tie this."
"Sorry."
Mai tugged the sash into place and straightened. "Right. And today you're talking to?"
"The Zhou family and the Chiang family," Aang recited dutifully. "Together they control most of the ironworking facilities in the Fire Nation."
"And they've expanded into the Earth Kingdom," Zuko sighed, "which is why King Bumi's envoys won't be pleased to deal with them."
"Exactly," said Mai. "The envoys?"
"Well, we've got Toph," said Aang.
"Yeah, but she's not exactly established in Omashu. It's part of the reason why she's here; she's been traveling the Earth Kingdom for months."
"Yes, yes," Mai said impatiently. "I meant the other two."
"Representatives of the Zhu family and the Huang family- the second daughter and the eldest son, respectively. The Zhu family was in the mining industry before our troops invaded, and the Huang family-" Zuko frowned.
Mai waited, one eyebrow slowly creeping upward.
"The Huang family owned a refinery, didn't they?" said Aang.
"We took over their resources to speed the production of replacement parts for our tanks," Mai replied. "Our troops, I mean- it was one of the missions Azula delegated, since she needed me and Ty Lee at Ba Sing Se."
"... what would we do without you?" said Zuko.
"Bumble around a lot?"
"You make it sound like we haven't bumbled around already," Aang muttered. Zuko made a face.
Mai shrugged unsympathetically. "You're the Avatar and Zuko's the Fire Lord; it's not as if you don't have backup. You'll figure it out. Now get going, you have two minutes until the meeting starts."
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prep talk
Date: 2010-11-07 04:19 pm (UTC)Zuko eyed him over Mai's head. "This is how I normally dress these days."
Aang looked at the seemingly endless folds of heavy red and black and gold-stitched cloth and shuddered. "So glad I'm not the Fire Lord."
"Me too," said Mai, rolling her eyes. "Arms up, Zuko, I need to tie this."
"Sorry."
Mai tugged the sash into place and straightened. "Right. And today you're talking to?"
"The Zhou family and the Chiang family," Aang recited dutifully. "Together they control most of the ironworking facilities in the Fire Nation."
"And they've expanded into the Earth Kingdom," Zuko sighed, "which is why King Bumi's envoys won't be pleased to deal with them."
"Exactly," said Mai. "The envoys?"
"Well, we've got Toph," said Aang.
"Yeah, but she's not exactly established in Omashu. It's part of the reason why she's here; she's been traveling the Earth Kingdom for months."
"Yes, yes," Mai said impatiently. "I meant the other two."
"Representatives of the Zhu family and the Huang family- the second daughter and the eldest son, respectively. The Zhu family was in the mining industry before our troops invaded, and the Huang family-" Zuko frowned.
Mai waited, one eyebrow slowly creeping upward.
"The Huang family owned a refinery, didn't they?" said Aang.
"We took over their resources to speed the production of replacement parts for our tanks," Mai replied. "Our troops, I mean- it was one of the missions Azula delegated, since she needed me and Ty Lee at Ba Sing Se."
"... what would we do without you?" said Zuko.
"Bumble around a lot?"
"You make it sound like we haven't bumbled around already," Aang muttered. Zuko made a face.
Mai shrugged unsympathetically. "You're the Avatar and Zuko's the Fire Lord; it's not as if you don't have backup. You'll figure it out. Now get going, you have two minutes until the meeting starts."