“Ming-Hua…” Ghazan turned to his friend. “That kid’s staring at me.”

“Then stare back, I don’t care.” Ming-hua snapped. Ghazan should’ve been expecting the answer. He turned to his other friend. “Zaheer, that kid’s staring at me.”

“He’s staring at all of us, Ghazan.” Zaheer sighed. “And he’s not a kid just because you’re taller than him.”

“Don’t stare at people, it’s not polite.” P’li added, not looking up from the corded bracelet she was weaving.

Not taking his friend's advice (or taking it, depending on the friend in question) Ghazan turned back to the ‘kid’. He didn’t know what else to call him. The only other passenger hiding below the small boat’s decks, it was clear by his body language that the kid wasn’t expecting to travel with company. Ever since they had boarded the craft together, he hadn’t taken his eyes off Ghazan and his friends.

Ghazan gathered himself and stood up. “I’m going to go talk to him.”

“Really?” Ming-hua stuttered.

Zaheer grabbed Ghazan by the hand, for once in agreement with the waterbender. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Ghazan took back his hand and shrugged. “I’ll be fine, he probably doesn’t bite. And if he does, I can take him in a fight, no problem.”

“Good luck.” Zaheer sighed. No one else made any objections or comments, so Ghazan made his way across the space between his friends and the kid.

The kid tensed when Ghazan approached him, preparing for a fight. Ghazan put his hands up in surrender. “I’m not going to fight you, I just want to talk.”

The kid relaxed, slumping forward and returning his sight to P’li, Zaheer and Ming-Hua. “Alright, what did you want to talk about?” His voice was deeper than Ghazan had expected. Now that they were closer, Ghazan could notice his dark, long hair and patchy beard, the vibrant blue of the kid’s eyes.

“Not anything in particular.” Ghazan shrugged, sitting down next to the kid. “I just thought since we’re all in the same boat- literally- for the next few days we might as well get to know each other, at least a little bit.”

The kid nodded. “Alright. That makes sense.” He hesitated. “I’m not a kid, by the way.”

So Zaheer had been right. “You got a name, then?”

“Nope.” The confession struck Ghazan more than he thought it would. He didn’t know the kid well, but he could tell whatever he was running from- and he was definitely running from something- had been rough. The kid hesitated. “You can call me Amon, though.”

“Cool.” Ghazan replied. He was certain that ‘Amon’ wasn’t even close to the kid’s real name, but he wasn’t in a position to ask about it. “Weird name for a weird kid. I’m Ghazan, by the way.”

Amon didn’t respond, at least not to Ghazan’s introduction. He gestured at Ming-Hua, Zaheer and P’li. “Are those your friends?”

Ghazan nodded. “Yeah, you could call them that. We’re headed down to Gaoling.”

Amon nodded. “Me too.” He cursed under his breath. “That’s dumb, of course we’re going to the same place. We’re on the same boat.”

Ghazan laughed. “Suppose you’re not going to tell me what you’re doing in Gaoling?”

Amon shook his head definitively. “Nope.”

“That’s fair. I wasn’t going to tell you what we’re doing there either.”

“That one-” Amon gestured to Ming-Hua. “She’s a waterbender?”

Ghazan hesitantly nodded- Ming-Hua had donned a long cloak that hid her arms, Amon wouldn’t have been able to tell her element unless he, too, was a waterbender. “We’ve got one of each element, save for air, of course. I’m earth and P’li’s fire. Zaheer’s a nonbender.” He didn’t mention their specialties, that information had gotten them into trouble too many times before, so Ghazan didn’t risk it.

“Oh. Cool.” Amon replied. He kept his voice monotone. “Cool.”

Ghazan looked at his hands and struggled to think of questions he could ask that wouldn’t be too personal. He definitely didn’t want to ask about the kid’s past, even though he would be lying if he said he wasn’t intrigued. “So… you a bender?”

Amon stiffened. Apparently, that hadn’t been a good question. Ghazan knew benders to whom their element was a touchy subject- hell, even P’li had been like that for a while- but none to the extent Amon seemed to be. “Sorry- I didn’t-”

“It’s ok.” Amon replied. He didn’t elaborate on the matter, leaving Ghazan to return to the conclusion that he was a waterbender- a waterbender who had something to hide.

Ghazan hummed to himself, thinking of something to talk about. “Did you hear that the Avatar died?” Ghazan and his friends had received the news months ago, when it had happened. The news had come from Unalaq, which meant it was probably true.

“Uh, yeah?” Amon stuttered, turning to Ghazan to make eye contact. “What has that have to do with anything?”

Ghazan shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m bored, so why not make small-talk?”

“Yes, discussing the recent death of a world leader, totally appropriate small talk.” Amon scoffed.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to disrespect your recently deceased friend the Avatar.” Ghazan put a hand to his chest in mock-sympathy. “My mistake.”

To Ghazan’s surprise, Amon actually laughed in response, letting his guard down for only a brief moment. “Yep, totally.” He replied dryly.

Ghazan smiled. “It’s been nice meeting, you, by the way.

Amon smiled and gathered himself, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. For the first time, he looked like he was smiling genuinely. “Yeah, you too. I don’t usually get to talk to people. It’s been a nice change of pace.”

Ghazan hummed in response, leaning against the wall he sat against.