"Not like I'm getting a lot of overnight company. Speaking of
you and the ladies," she added, turning her head to favor him with an
arched eyebrow, "when did you and The Late Toph Beifong get to be such
buddies?"
Corwin made a lying-down shrug. "Well, I dunno, I mean, she's
one of those people like - well, like you, actually. I can't remember
not knowing her. We sort of took it to the next level last fall,
though."
"What, while you were stuck in Asgard?" asked Korra.
"Right."
"What happened?"
Corwin smiled nostalgically. "She broke into my apartment."
"... Uh. You're really going to have to elaborate on that."// SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2409
VALHALLA
As he had for many evenings lately, Corwin had dozed off on his
couch with the television on. He snapped back to consciousness with a
jolt at the unexpected sound of a voice, loud and insistent:
"OK, Ravenhair, on your feet! Nap time's over!"
Blinking awake, Corwin sat up and saw a familiar, diminutive
figure standing foursquare in the middle of his living room, one of the
windows (which had been locked) standing fully open behind her. It was
Toph Beifong, and she was, he realized with deepening puzzlement,
dressed for traveling. No shoes, as ever, but she had a heavy cloak
over her usual green-and-tan outfit and was wearing a hat that looked,
if Corwin was being honest, a bit like an overturned wok.
"... Toph?" He glanced at the TV. The eighth inning of the
Knights-Rangers game was in progress; he'd fallen asleep in the third.
Returning his confused attention to Toph, he asked, "Why are you
breaking into my apartment?"
"I'll tell you why!" Toph snapped, her hazy mint-green eyes not
quite looking at him. "Because I'm sick of this crap! I'm down at the
Golden Axe and all the Valkyrie girls are crying in their mead about how
sad you are and how mean Frey is and how SAD it all is and BOO HOO HOO.
Get your ass off that couch and let's go DO something."
//
Korra snorted. "OK, I can see that. And did you? Go do
something?"
"Yeah, you could say that," Corwin replied with a chuckle.
"What?"
"Well, see, King Ulfgerth of Jotunheim used to have this green
diamond called the Eye of Destiny. Colossal. Got to weigh at least
five pounds."
"Used to," Korra repeated, smiling slightly.
Corwin nodded. "Mm-hmm, he kept it in his legendary treasure
vault deep beneath Mount Frostcrag. Guarded by a legion of his best
jotunn troops, and completely unreachable without his magic key,
besides. Dvergar craftsmanship, that vault. Nothing like it anywhere
else in the Nine Worlds." He turned a lazy grin to her and added,
"Buried under two and a half miles of solid rock."
Korra laughed. "I get the picture," she said.
"A heist can be a great bonding experience," said Corwin
philosophically. "We ought to try it sometime."
"Heh, maybe we should at that."