Healing Trust

"It's alright," Jurishe answered, her voice light, still happy, "It won't take me too long to fix, tomorrow morning. Maintaining it is half the battle." Smiling, she began to hum, combing Katara's hair out once it's loose, now that it's fully dry. The curls bounce with each pull of the brush, keeping their shape almost perfectly, despite being pulled out over and over.

Then, in regards to the bed, "No need for either of us to sleep on the floor, then! It's been a while since I've gotten to sleep in a bed. To tell the truth... I was looking forward to it."

The song was Jurishe's favorite one, from her Tribe. It was her favorite story, really. If she were to sing - which she wouldn't, without musical accompaniment - the lyrics would tell the tale of the boy who fell in love with a girl, who would become the moon. It was one that she hummed often, however, especially when walking.

Finally, she retied Katara's hair, but this time about halfway down, just to keep it neatly together. "Is this okay?" She asks her friend, giving the ponytail a slight playful flip.

Jurishe quickly took care of the lamps, anyway, though she had to do it by hand, rather than with her bending. She stripped down as well, now only in her sarashi underclothes. Climbing into the bed, she smiled, giving her new friend's shoulder a light pat, "You're welcome... and thank you, too. Goodnight, Katara." With that, she was already drifting off to sleep; pleasantly tired from all that had happened that day.

True to her word, she wouldn't toss and turn, but she did occasionally murmur a few words in her sleep. That might be amusing, later!

Katara likely would have been awake before Jurishe, as the latter certainly did not rise with the sun. Once it was well risen into the sky, she began her own process of waking up, which involved rolling out of bed, letting her hair down, and stumbling upright. It seemed that the better she slept, the harder it was for her to wake up; if she'd had a bad night, she could have jumped up, alert in an instant.

Wobbling over to her pack, she withdrew a wrapped package, undoing the ties with fumbling fingers. Once opened, it would reveal food of some kind; she offered it out to Katara first. "Breakfast?" her sleepy voice asked, the fog slowly clearing from her eyes. It appeared to be dried meat, of some kind...

"Better than I have in a while," She answers with a still-sleepy smile, "Sorry I slept so long... You look like you've been up for an hour, at least." Standing up from her pack, she stretches, popping her back as she does - she's always stiff when she first gets up.

Returning to the bed, Jurishe holds the packet of dried meat out toward her once again. It's salted very lightly and almost tastes like boiled komodo rhino; very chewy, too. Jurishe offers an explanation, "It's blubbered seal jerky."

Her face fell almost immediately. "I'm sorry," She intoned quickly, waking up almost entirely, "Did I keep you awake? I didn't mean to..!" Maybe she didn't sleep as calmly as she thought she did.

As Katara took a piece of blubber seal jerky, Jurishe took a large piece, herself. Ripping a piece off with her teeth, she chews it thoughtfully for several moments, waiting for her friend to answer, ready to offer up more apologies, if she had been the one to keep her awake. She knew how it felt, to have your sleep disturbed by someone else.

"Oh good," She relaxed visibly, "I mean - not that you wake up with the sun, but I'm glad that I didn't knee you in the back, or something..." Then, "No, I must've been fast asleep; I didn't feel you touching me at all."

Taking another piece of the jerky, she offers the pack back at Katara, "Another piece?" She had quite the appetite, herself; in fact, she ate more in the morning than any other time of the day.

Jurishe smiled at her friend, for the compliment, "Thank you; that's something I don't get to hear often, at all." She means it completely in a good way, not condescending, with should be clear just from her voice, "I still wish my hair was as nice as yours... It's arrow-straight; doesn't even wave, let along curl like yours."

Reaching up to her now-loose hair, Jurishe pulls her fingers through it, experimentally. It isn't as fluffy as Katara's own, nor as silky. She sighed, then gave a small shrug and a laugh, "We all want something we can't have, as far as appearances go, right? Me wanting to change my hair is really stupid..."

Rather than answer immediately, Jurishe gives her hair a flip so that it brushed against Katara's hand, making her feel at it; then she laughs. "Of course," She finally tells her friend, moving so that she's sitting with her back facing Katara, "I don't mind."

Her hair, when allowed to leave its clip, flowed straight down to about the middle of her back; while it seemed long now, if the curls left Katara's hair, hers would be longer that Jurishe's.

Sitting passively while Katara felt her appearance, Jurishe allowed her eyes to shut, enjoying the sensation of her hair being brushed through. "You're fine," She assured her, truly believing that there was nothing to worry about, "I know this is the only way for you to 'see' what I look like."

Then, with a small laugh, "If it helps, my hair is brown and I'm naturally tan... my eyes are green and, for clothes, I like wearing blues and whites." Hesitating, she ventures, "Hopefully that gives you a little more of the picture?"

"What was?" Jurishe asks, confused, slight apprehension in her voice. She carefully turns her head just a little, to try and look back at Katara, to see the other teen's expression.

She had never thought herself as much of a prize, nor a looker; she didn't crack mirrors, but she didn't bring any boys to the yard, either. No one had ever remarked on her beauty, except for her mother - but mothers were expected to say things like that. Jurishe tried not to be self-conscious, but it was difficult, at times.

"No... not at all," Jurishe gave a smile, shaking her head again, so that her hair brushes at Katara's fingers, "Thank you, though, Katara - I'm glad that we met." Of course, the situation for their meeting wasn't ideal, but the outcome had been. She was looking forward to traveling with a friend, instead of alone.

Taking a deep breath, she turned back to look at Katara once again, "Well, other than going over to the market, was there anything else on the agenda for today?"