Pouring the water slowly, Korra waited until she felt the liquid brush the tip of her thumb that dipped inside the brim of the dog bowl. Four steps forward, turn right, seven steps forward and she set the bowl down, whistling through her teeth, "Naga, water!"
The dog breezed past her, sliding against her leg affectionately as she walked back towards the cash register. It was slow today; few people had come in the flower and even less of them had actually bought anything. Maybe she would just close up early today, she hated wasting energy like this.
Deciding against the notion, Korra walked around her store (cleverly named Korra's Floras) with a length of rubber hose. The water from the nozzle dripped onto her hand and then the floor as she walked up and down the lengths of the aisles. Great, she was probably going to bust her ass later when she came back this way for closing time.
She set the nozzle down on a hook underneath one of the long tables and she wandered back to the register, holding her arms wide as she did. Fingertips, sensitive and reliable, brush along the damp cuticles of the plants and Korra can picture them in her mind as the sensation of the flowers' cuticles and the scent of their pheromones compensate for her lack of sight.
Her blindness really never bothered her per say, it just left her to miss and reminisce about some things. Leaning down, her nose brushes the petals of a tulip (a pink one, her nose tells her) and she tries to recall what the color pink looked like. Now, her fingertip is cut on the thorn of a rose and the color red pops into her mind.
Well, not the actual color red, just the way she used to feel when she looked at it. The color brought mixed feelings to Korra: Love and Hate, compassion and aloofness, tenderness and strength. Red. Deep, smooth, rich.
She misses colors most of all. How the gray of a cloud could manipulate happiness into depression and how the yellow glow of a sun ray could change it right back. Naga nudges her leg and laps at her bleeding finger affectionately, bringing her back from her fantasy with just a simple swipe of her tongue.
"Thanks, girl. You always make me feel better." The young woman squats down, laughing as the dog licks her useless eyes as if a kiss will make them all better. It was the thought that counted.
While Korra was running her fingers through her mutt's fur, the door opened and proceeded to ring the small bell that alerted Korra's superior hearing to the visitors.
For a moment, Korra sat there, listening to them all the way from the other end of the shop. A woman and a man, but that was easy considering the fact that they were talking loud enough for the Fire Lord to hear.
"Do we have to have flower arrangements? What if we had Bolin build us a set of table pieces, it would be less expensive and more modern." The man's voice was smooth, like Fire Wine on a cool evening. The vibrations made Korra's body warm just hearing the velvety vocalizations of the young man; though, he was very adamant about his desire to be anywhere but here. There was no doubt in Korra's mind that he was from Fire Nation descent.
"Why not just look around, Mako? I just walked in and it already makes me feel good just being around all of this. Plus, Bolin is just starting to learn welding. Do you really want to put our table pieces in the hands of a beginner?"
The woman was a little more difficult for Korra to place: Her voice, though soft and just as silken as the man's, was eloquent and firm. The vibrations hardly paused between her words which meant that she had actually taken the time to think before she spoke. Something Korra valued greatly. Her accent was nonexistent despite the fact of her clear Fire Nation qualities.
Republic City native then. Born and raised in the city and of noble birth if her intelligent and thought out manner of speaking told Korra anything.
Standing, Korra stomped her foot firmly onto the tile floor the vibrations flowing through from the medium of the Earth.
Her "sight" wasn't nearly as good as Toph's or Lin's but she could get a sort of blurry shadow of the size and shape of the two on the other side of the room. They were imposing figures, both of them at least a foot taller than the blind girl herself, but they seemed like decent people.
Naga trailed her as she made her way over to them, her boots scuffing the familiar floor as she walked. As she got closer, she stilled her eyes: The cataracts were creepy enough and she knew that it made people even more uncomfortable when her eyes looked every which way.
With her face pointed in their general direction, Korra smiled and said, "Welcome to Korra's Floras, is there anything I can help you look for today?" Her grin widened at her own wit and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.
The woman spoke first, her softness didn't change when she noticed Korra's visual impairment, "Actually, we have a special occasion coming up and we have to get center pieces; I was thinking floral arrangements and Mako prefers more of a modern, manufactured type of piece."
It was difficult to think: The woman's voice continued to lull her and she could smell the woman's spicy perfume from ten feet away. It dug into her nostrils, reminding her of the color red (which she still can't imagine) and the feeling of warmth. The spice was rich and woody like cedar and honeysuckles and Korra couldn't think and what was the question?
"Modern, huh?"
The man speaks now and Korra is annoyed with his voice; just let the woman talk, damnit. "Well, I do prefer a more clean type of elegance. Asami is kind of old school."
Korra feels the tremors of his laughter, but she isn't paying attention to it because now she has a name to go with the voice. Clearing her throat (and her head), "Well, what's the occasion?"
"A charity ball." Keep talking woman.
"I was expecting you to say wedding; usually, that's all I hear about when I have a young man and woman come in here asking about table pieces."
The woman laughs and the color yellow and the sun pop into her brain; warm, radiant, nice. Her laughter stops all too soon, "Mako and I… We aren't even dating."
For the first time in a long time, Korra wonders what the color of her eyes is.