I'm not sure if I didn't mention this in the notes at the time because I was saving it for some other time, or I just forgot, or what, but:

I'm working on my commercial certificate now - Most pro benders, even the ones who are successful at the top level, still have day jobs, or at least side gigs they do to occupy the off-season and keep their options open for when they get out of the game. Azana's (more the former than the latter) we've seen, working the desk at the Phoenix House. She doesn't really need to keep doing that job now that she's on a championship-grade major-league team, but she likes the work and feels a certain loyalty to the place, so she stays.

Karana's, we never really have a chance to see on-screen: she works for Western Imperial Airways, the airline widely regarded as Dìqiú's most prestigious. (Think of the likes of Pan American or TWA in the days when commercial air travel was still glamorous, and you won't be too far wrong.) In the pro bending off-season, she's a flight attendant, doubling (as quite a few cabin crew members in the United Republic do) as a United Aviation Authority air marshal. She's working on her commercial pilot's license with the intention that, when the time comes to hang up the bending game, she'll have the credentials she needs to make the jump from the cabin to the flight deck.

In the meantime, it's good money, the hours are flexible, and (not entirely unlike Azana in her side job) she gets to wear a cool uniform and meet all sorts of interesting people. The company is very accommodating of her other commitments, and the employee discount comes in super handy with all those road games to get to during the season.

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
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