Suyin suppresses a smile, having caught Bumi's attempt to draw her eldest son in, and expecting the uncertain look he'd get in return before Bataar Jr. even sends it. Though she loves her son with all her heart, Suyin knows he's much more serious than she ever was at any age.
"Are you sure the spookiness wasn't your main reason for choosing that location?" Suyin teases him, well aware of Bumi's playful nature. "How long are you and your troops playing to train there anyway?"
"Absolutely sure," he says in such a way that clearly indicates Absolutely not.
"Only so long as it takes them to realize they started a half a click south of the rendezvous point. So...it'll probably be weeks."
Join the Military! Learn Exciting Things! Travel to Exotic Places! Meet Extraordinary People! Who will then dump you to fend for yourselves in the world's largest swamp while he goes visiting old family friends!
Suyin's absolutely not chuckling under her breath at the looks of horror and surprise on her children's faces. Except she most definitely is. Whatever this sounds like to them, Suyin knows that Bumi cares about his troops, and wouldn't let harm come to them if he could help it. If he thinks they're fine, she believes him.
"A few weeks, hm?" Suyin stirs at her soup with her spoon as she eyes him speculatively. The meal's gone a little cold since they were all preoccupied with greeting Bumi, but it's still good. "That should give you enough time to stop by a few more times before you're off on your next adventure."
"Oh no no no," he starts in a far more sincere tone than he's employed his visit thus far. "I wouldn't want to make a burden of myself."
It's the little things. The way his brow furrows right before his eyebrows raise up just so. It's in the way his posture shifts. That even though the bulk of his complexion and build come from his mother, there's something about Bumi that so very much like his father. Up to and including the lopsided grin he uses to punctuate his final thought.
"We'd have to think you're a burden for you to be one, Bumi," Suyin immediately replies, with a furrow of her brow. She supposes this is where the distance they've kept for years comes into play. She knows she wasn't the most reliable person growing up in Republic City, and perhaps that's why some of them haven't kept contact.
Either way, it's strange that someone so full of confidence would immediately think the worst of himself like this. A little reassurance may help here, she thinks. "I can assure you now, you are no such thing."
From lop-sided grin, to honest smile in no time flat. He nods once in understanding, and then the topic itself is dropped as if it had never been brought up in the first place.
"Well...you know what I've been up to. What's new with all of you?"
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"Are you sure the spookiness wasn't your main reason for choosing that location?" Suyin teases him, well aware of Bumi's playful nature. "How long are you and your troops playing to train there anyway?"
no subject
"Only so long as it takes them to realize they started a half a click south of the rendezvous point. So...it'll probably be weeks."
Join the Military!
Learn Exciting Things!
Travel to Exotic Places!
Meet Extraordinary People!
Who will then dump you to fend for yourselves in the world's largest swamp while he goes visiting old family friends!
You know...FUN!
They're fine, he mouths inaudibly.
no subject
"A few weeks, hm?" Suyin stirs at her soup with her spoon as she eyes him speculatively. The meal's gone a little cold since they were all preoccupied with greeting Bumi, but it's still good. "That should give you enough time to stop by a few more times before you're off on your next adventure."
no subject
It's the little things. The way his brow furrows right before his eyebrows raise up just so. It's in the way his posture shifts. That even though the bulk of his complexion and build come from his mother, there's something about Bumi that so very much like his father. Up to and including the lopsided grin he uses to punctuate his final thought.
"Well, not anymore than I already have."
no subject
Either way, it's strange that someone so full of confidence would immediately think the worst of himself like this. A little reassurance may help here, she thinks. "I can assure you now, you are no such thing."
no subject
"Well...you know what I've been up to. What's new with all of you?"