[Capital Harbor] Kingpin (Open)

Cheng went about his business, keeping to himself. There was a bit of a stir in the market, especially closer to the docks. He trudged on though, a fifty pound bag of grain or corn, or something on his back. He didn't ask, he didn't care. He'd eat tonight, so it could be bodies he was moving for all he cared. Though, he couldn't help but feel a little peculiar about the man who'd landed a sky bison in the middle of the market.

Shrugging it off, the mute kept to his work, only approaching to observe the stranger when he'd moved the last of the bags. Three-hundred in total, and it'd taken him five hours. Shoddy, he should have moved quicker. Then again, the pay was good, and the man who hired him didn't want more than one man working the job. He seemed shady, but Cheng kept to himself and the man returned the favor. However, this guy who showed up, he had to be an air nomad, right? They were the only ones with Bison, least that's what Cheng had been told.

Cheng made an effort to drop any suspicion he was watching the man, leaning against a crate and staring blankly into the distance, seeming indifferent to the world around him. He scratched his head and looked around, like he was waiting for someone. Though, this was true, normally Cheng would have just sat and waited for the man to return with his pay.

There was something off about the guy, everybody could sense it. Plenty of people were staring, but Cheng made an effort to make his observation less apparent. He picked up his backpack and slung the straps over his shoulders, seeming like he was going to leave until his boss showed back up. The man began talking to him, and Cheng couldn't rudely ignore him, so his attention was there, not on the stranger.

"Done already I see, well, I'm impressed." The man began, bot waiting for a reply before he started counting Cheng's pay into his hand.

"Snow peas" The stranger said out loud, startling Cheng. He hadn't seen the man approach, and wasn't quite sure what the man meant. He gave him a strange look, and decided he'd let the boss man decide what to do about it. "This should be enough for quite a bit, and cover you giving the boy some more coin to help me load them onto my bison..."

The man who'd just paid Cheng looked at the golden nugget in his hands, like it was a godsend. Cheng grit his teeth in fear of what was to come out of his boss' mouth. Sure enough, it struck like thunder.

"Half the bags need to go on this man's bison." The bossman said, chuckling as he walked away with a greedy smile, admiring his nugget of pure gold. Cheng looked at the stranger, his eyebrow twitching in anger. He looked at the man's sky bison, then at the space just in front of the boat he had loaded.

His eyes shouted at the man, "Get your !@#$ing bison over here, because I'm sure as !@#$ not walking all the way over there with these bags." Chengs glare didn't leave the man for a second. The work was fine, the pay was good, but he wasn't going to make it harder than it had to be. If this stranger wanted the snow peas, if that was what was in the bags, then he'd have to meet Cheng half way.

(Went on an Impromptu Paintball outing this weekend with some friends, sorry for not warning anyone :/ Was a fun time, but I feel bad for halting progress on here D:)

Cheng shrugged off the man's words. His boss was too busy to try and explain that Cheng was a mute, and to be fair, Cheng wasn't really sure his boss had picked up on that himself. The man liked to talk a lot, so it wasn't like the boy would have gotten a word in anyways.

The bison made it's way over to the stranger, per the call of his whistle. The whistle didn't make a sound, but Cheng supposed it rang at a pitch that only the bison, or other animals with heightened hearing, could detect. Reluctantly, the mute got to work stacking the bags from the boat and onto the back of the bison. It was simple work, and the pay would be too good for such a mind numbing task. His father, god rest his soul, always told him that he'd make more working with his mind than his muscles. These days, Cheng wondered if that was even true. There were plenty of people who'd pay a strong young man to keep his mouth shut and do his work. It seemed that the only reason someone might make more with their mind, is if they can't handle doing simple tasks and devoting their attention to that.

Cheng figured that must be why people wanted him back on jobs repeatedly. He wasn't one to stand around and gab. Though, he listened in on his fair share of conversations. He never added anything. Just kept quiet. Lucky for some of the guys too, because he had dirt on just about everyone he'd ever worked with. Things their families, nor their employers, would want to hear.

The young Earthbender grunted as he dropped the last bag onto the back of the air nomad's bison. With an exhausted sigh, Cheng kicked his heel into the Earth, bringing up a slab of stone under him as he sat down, exhausted. He maybe was over selling it a bit. But people tended to pay better if they felt the boy had worked hard. Wiping his brow, he rested his elbows on his knees and stared at the ground blankly. He seemed indifferent to the next part of their transaction.

Cheng scoffed at the nomad's proposal. He might not be one to ask questions, but he definitely wasn't going to just become this man's servant. The man seemed strange. He was up to no good, whatever it was. Besides, Cheng was on the next boat back to the Earth Kingdom anyway. He'd already made his plans to go, and had a ticket in two days time to leave. He thought about finally finding an Earthbending master. One that would train a mute.

Cheng walked past the man, so he knew that the young bender had no desire to do further business with him. He was going to go find his boss and receive the rest of his pay. That was the plan, at least. He hoped the shady man hadn't skipped town now that he'd completed a transaction. Cheng shrugged as he picked his bag up yet again.

The boy turned around, seeing his seat still standing there. He knew it'd be a nuisance to somebody, so he stamped his foot, leveling it back down to be consistent with the rest of the dock. He wasn't a skilled bender, but he could undo what he displaced.