Asami reined in her annoyance as she rose up from behind her desk. Once more, her father had gone off for his inspections of the factories outside of Republic City, an admirable task which again clashed with the meetings with the subsidiary directors. While it was meant as a show of trust in her abilities to herself and the directors, Asami was very sure that her father simply hated attending the meetings and conveniently found a perfect excuse to avoid them.

At least she had Xing around to boost her morale this time.

"Director Dao, Miss Asami," he announced evenly by the door, and then guided the managing director of Li Shu Steelworks to the plush chair across Asami. The burly man wore a mischievous smirk underneath his bushy mustache from the moment he entered her office, which grew as stomped his way over.

"Ah, Asami my dear! You finally caved in, eh?"

The heiress squashed the urge to twitch or scowl. "Mister Dao," she greeted, pushing away the exasperation from her voice. "It's good to see you too."

"Gotta say…" he continued on, somehow ignoring her while still offering a bow of respect, "I admit that your choice of assistant isn't bad. Better looking than my boys. Probably far less of a meathead as well." Asami didn't bother confirming that assumption. It'd be like agreeing that the sun shone brighter than a candle.

The man quite literally fell into his seat, and the poor chair creaked and shuddered from the heavy collision.

Dao was the reason why they emphasized robust furnishings over more elegant ones in the executive offices. It was that or hold meetings with him on the ground floor, where it was arguably cheaper to have earthbenders on standby to constantly bend up replaceable chairs and tables.

"Xing has proven very capable thus far," Asami replied, as neutrally as she could muster before sitting down.

"I bet- Oh, thanks, sonny." Dao took the tea bowl offered by Xing, and audibly inhaled the steam rising from it. Surprisingly, he then turned to Xing with an impressed look. "Huh. Gaoling Black?"

Xing gave a short nod. "Yes, director. Unadulterated, as is traditionally served."

"And rightly, too," The tycoon grunted approvingly. Asami kept her puzzlement silent as he then looked at her with a mix of respect and annoyance. "People nowadays…they add honey and milk because they can't stand the bitterness. Bunch of bloody pansies, I tell you what." For all his reputation as an avid carouser, Asami never imagined Dao to be a tea connoisseur.

So much resentment and vehemence bubbled up in his gruff voice over the talk of tea, and with his free hand Dao began gesticulating angrily. "You're supposed to enjoy the raw taste. Appreciate the degrees of bitterness in it as the distilled melancholy of the leaves' life. It's what gives the tea its identity, it's what makes Gaoling Black so special. You don't add plum juice to your orange slices just because it's too orangey, do you?"

"Uh…"

"Bunch of ignorant savages…" the steel baron muttered, staring at the bowl of amber tea in his hand, his anger seemingly evaporating along with the wisps of steam.

And then in a swift motion he downed the whole bowl in two loud gulps, heedless of his talk of savoring melancholy and whatnot. Asami blinked all of three times as she watched him finish the premium tea and then offer the empty tea bowl back to an unphased Xing.

"Haaah… You got anything lighter? Bloody hate black tea."

"Would Ember Island hojicha do, sir?"

"Eh sure. I'll settle for some flavored water."

As Xing walked off, Dao tossed a wink at an incredulous Asami. "You like 'em obedient and keen, eh?"

"Wh-What?" Her eyes boggled for a second, but Asami quickly recovered and forced down the embarrassment as she glared at one her father's closest business partners. "Xing has proven to be very capable and valuable to the company thus far."

"I bet."

"He takes his duties far more seriously than your sons, and has already provided immense value to Future Industries."

"That's not saying much," Dao replied, unperturbed at all. "Stuck 'em all in the mines, yet there's still fresh batches of angry parents… Ah, thanks."

Xing returned, and this time Dao was far less cavalier with how he drank his tea.

Asami gave a cough as she surreptitiously gave her aide an apologetic glance. "Anyway, on to the matter at hand…"

"Fine, fine. I'll keep my banter for your old man when I see him. Now, what can ol' Dao do for Future Industries?"

Hiding her relief, Asami softened her gaze at the boisterous director. "Mister Dao, I'd like Li Shu Steelworks to allocate some stamping machines for our pro-bending project."

The man's eyebrow rose a bit. "Eh? I've already received that message. We're refitting two stampers."

"We need more."

"More?"

"Four more stamping machines," she said resolutely. "We'll send over the designs shortly."

Dao had the presence of mind to put away his bowl before he responded. "That's quite a bit you're dedicating there. Six stampers means we'll have to start compromising on Satomobile or airship parts."

"Commission new stampers then. We can suffer a small backlog for now. Future Industries will provide the appropriate funding."

Now the steel baron's eyes went wide. "That's… You're… It's quite a lot you're investing, you know that, right?"

Asami grinned at his worried expression. "Xing, if you'd be so kind."

Xing showed up right beside Dao, startling him (and straining the poor chair even further) as a tray was presented to him. Then the man stared at the metalware before him, and his beefy hands delicately plucked up a tin cup. He spun it before his eyes, appraising the logos of the Fire Ferrets and Future Industries embossed onto it, along with the portraits of the sponsored pro-benders.

"We've planned commemorative memorabilia for the upcoming tournament," the heiress elaborated without hiding her smugness. "I understand that it costs at most two yuans to produce five of such cups. Guess how much we can sell them for?"

The tycoon was thoughtfully silent for a moment before he presented an answer. "Eight a piece?"

Asami's grin widened. "Try twenty." She savored the sight of Dao sputtering and almost dropping the cup.

"Twent- Are you sure?"

"We sold off the other prototypes," she answered with a cheery nod. "The members of the fanclub were fighting each other for the chance to throw their money at us."

Dao, understandably, gave a skeptical look. "For a cup?"

Asami shrugged nonchalantly in response. "Well, we stamped the bottom of it with a serial number as a sign of limited availability. We've checked their interest, and twenty seems to be a good enough price. The plan is to produce five thousand of such cups for the tournament, and then have another thousand each for cups with one of the Fire Ferrets' members replacing the team logo. All the cups will be given a serial number."

"If it's only a limited run-"

She fixed Dao with a look as she talked over him, the same look that her father liked to use to stop Dao from butting in too early. "And then, we'll sell more…'generic' versions to the public. Marketing expects at least a few thousand in sales for the first few months. It's the same scheme for the other items."

Asami gestured at the rest of the items on the tray: a metal stamped scale miniature of the Fire Ferrets' Satomobile (the dolls of the Fire Ferret drivers was assigned to a different company), decorative tin plates - each embossed with the portrait of a Fire Ferret (with Future Industries' logo stamped on one corner of course), and finally a few pendants with the Avatar's smiling face etched onto them.

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"So yes, we'll need six stampers, at the very least. The faster we can get our stock in, the greater the lead we'll have on the other companies that are still scrambling to sponsor their own teams. We have that small window to enjoy a monopoly and maximize brand recognition."

Dao stared at the cup in his hands, and then to the tray's contents, and finally gave Asami a puzzled look. "Huh. Hiroshi's really confident then?"

"Our marketing department agrees with the proposal, and my father has loaned his faith in the project."

"Proposal huh…" the man muttered, and then gave her a weird look.

"What?"

Dao smirked. "You're a smart girl, but I never thought you'd shift from tinkering to marketing."

It was very hard not to feel proud as Asami glanced at Xing's way. "Oh, it's not my proposal."

Dao followed the gaze to the aide, squinting as he gave Xing a proper appraisal this time. "That so? Found yourself a font of good ideas, huh?"

"Quite so," she answered, before Xing could say something stupid like it was all thanks to her generosity and such. He really needed to keep some credit… "As I said, he's already proven himself, so my father's willing to invest a little more of his faith."

"Hoh? He's that good eh? Then again, for your old man to let someone your age be close to you…"

Dao's grin did not waver as Asami glared at him. Not that she didn't mind if that was true, but Xing needed to solidify his credentials before the rumors could be allowed to spread. Asami wanted to make sure that he got the respect he rightfully deserved, not be viewed as some charity case.

"Future Industries has always, and will always value talent," she said evenly, her cold glare clashing against Dao's toothy grin. "I especially have no time for lazy sycophants-"

"Like my dumb sons…" Dao casually interjected.

"-or narrow minded fools-"

"Like the tryhards from other families…"

"So I find Xing's competence to be a breath of fresh air, and it'd be a criminal waste to simply leave his potential to be ignored."

"So you haven't been asking him to assist you in bed…"

"Mister Dao-"

Dao's hands quickly snapped up defensively. "Relax, relax, I'm only joking, girl! Yeesh… I mean, he is a decent looker. If he's even half as smart as you make him out to be, I'd be happy to let him have his pick from one of my girls if you're not gonna keep him. Heh…inject some brains in my family. Whatcha think, boy?"

Being addressed directly, Xing finally spoke up. "I'd have to decline such a…generous offer, director." Asami felt a swell of satisfaction at the answer.

"Eh, so the girl's already got you by the balls, eh?" Dao instantly replied, though his grin finally melted away when Xing directed a contemptuous, withering stare that made even Asami want to shrink away even though she wasn't its target.

"Director Dao, please do not cast such assumptions of relations between Miss Asami and myself. They are beneath her station, and such jokes, however un-malicious as they were intended, can lead to damaging rumors which would in turn lead to…severe consequences."

There was finally a moment of silence in the office before Dao audibly gulped. "Right… Uh, right. My bad. Ol' Dao will shut his trap up. Sorry."

Xing gave a curt nod as Asami marveled at the rare sight of a cowed Dao. She'd have to tell her father about this. If nothing else, they could bump up Xing's existing pay just to make sure he's around to stare Dao into silence whenever needed…

"If we can get back to business?" Asami quipped, not bothering to hide her amused smirk as she brought Dao's attention back to her.

"Uh…right." Another loud gulp, and then the man's old boisterous smile returned, albeit with a touch of brittleness. "So, six stampers, huh?"

Dao didn't raise any meaningful protests as they hashed out the final details, and once he left, Asami found herself rather satisfied with the meeting. Oh sure, dealing with Dao was always a bit of an ordeal, and while he always had her father's back even from the early days of Future Industries, Dao wasn't a complete yes man. Plus, for all his loudness, he was still head of Li Shu Steelworks for a reason. Asami might detest his sons as useless parasites (though their sisters were tolerable at least), but Dao had an innate business cunning that deserves respect. Just like Isashi's and the marketing team's approval, Dao not raising any real fuss over Xing's idea was another promising sign.

Still, Asami let out a sigh as she slumped back into the seat and Xing returned from ushering Dao out.

"So, that was Dao," she said in an apologetic tone.

"He is…lively."

The heiress rolled her eyes. "Pfft. Wait til you see him at parties… Anyways…"

Remembering something, Asami then pushed herself off her chair and walked over to a mildly puzzled Xing. She stopped right in front of him to give him a mild glare. Then Asami poked her aide lightly in the chest as she began to speak.

"You are not beneath my station, Xing."

"I was jus-"

"Ah ah." Her finger went up to land on his lips. His soft, wonderful lips. "Stop demeaning yourself, Xing. I mean it."

They locked gazes for a few seconds, and then Xing slowly nodded. "As you wish, Asami," he answered softly, his lips rubbing against her finger.

"Good," she said with a gentle smile. "You deserve a lot more than you think, Xing."

Catching her by surprise, Xing caught her hand as she was about to pull her finger off his lips, and his mouth opened to gently suckle at the tip of it. Asami inhaled shakily as she felt his warm tongue flicking against her finger, and there was an urge to have that same sensation replicated in different…parts of her body.

It lasted far too briefly, and Xing gave a small smirk as he slipped her finger out of his mouth. "Mm… I'm happy enough with where I am, Asami."

"I…I'd rather have you promoted," she said, her voice becoming husky as warmth started to bloom in her. "At least then we can…"

"That's true," Xing conceded, replying to her unfinished sentence, and then his hand was gently caressing Asami's cheek, just as hers was lightly brushing against his.

"When's my next meeting, Xing?"

The way Xing licked his lips was so mesmerizing… "We've got quite some time, I think…"

Both of them leaned in, and Asami shuddered with bliss as she felt her dutiful aide's warm lips press against hers, and his strong hands holding her close.

*****

"Miss Asami's busy," Ren firmly said, and received the stacks of paper from the lady. "We'll make sure she sees the paperwork by the end of the day."

"Thanks," the lady from engineering replied with a smile. "You two kids are such good secretaries."

Ren successfully stopped herself from rolling her eyes at the patronizing compliment, and after the lady left, she glanced at Kai who was still pretending to be busy going through a stack of forms.

"Think they'll be done anytime soon?"

To answer her question, the boy slipped out of his seat and quietly sneaked up to Asami's office door, and then gently pushed on it. Kai took a quick peek, and then turned back to give Ren a shrug.

"Probably. They're still clothed."

Ren shuddered before going back to work. Or rather the appearance of work.

Adults and their icky kissing…

Ren would give them another half an hour before she broke up their fun and asked for lunch.