Huoxing thought she knew herself pretty well. She thought she was the plucky heart of her sisters. She had helped them keep their spirits when they had been kept by that sex cult. After their conversions, she assumed she would be the adored one, the ones fans love the most and boys would be begging to date her. As a red panda, she was very cute and quite sexy. And yet, not many guys wanted to date her as she expected. Huoxing thought she would be the first one among her sisters to get a love interest. But then Shuixing found Nate Bowman. It was quite lovely to watch their romance blossom. And now Nate was a water buffalo, officially mated to Shuixing, and were planning on marrying as early as next summer. While Huoxing was very happy for them, her self-esteem took a bit of a blow. Why didn't she have a guy like that?
Huoxing had been spending some time with the girls rescued from the sex slave ring. She knew what kind of trauma those girls could have, thought thankfully a lot of them were untouched, at least physically. There was still some deprogramming to do. Huoxing had become particularly close to a Tibetan girl named Fang. Despite how her name was spelled with the Latin alphabet, it was actually pronounced closer to 'fawn'. Fang was one of the lucky girls. A lot of the girls were orphans or were orphaned by the slavers. Fang still had her family back home. That included an older brother that she wanted Huoxing to meet. Apparently Gang (pronounce similar to 'gong') was already a fan of the Five Elements and he was particularly grateful for them saving his sister. Though it was really Interpol who actually saved them. Still, a few strings has been pulled so that Gang could come to Heiya Island.
Now that the day for the date was here, Huoxing was finding herself more nervous than usual. She couldn't make up her mind over what she wanted to wear. "C'mon, c'mon, there has to be something," muttered Huoxing as she looked through her closet. What was appropriate for a first date? Should she be flirty or elegant? Showy or conservative?
"Need a little help?" Huoxing turned to see Shuixing in the door, "Maybe you're overthinking this a little."
"Well, I haven't really been on a date before," said Huoxing, "I mean, you and Nate hit it off from the start. I don't even know if this guy is a keeper."
"Did Fang tell you what he was like?" asked Shuixing.
"Apparently he's an otaku, or whatever the Chinese term for that is. I can't even think of that right now," said Huoxing.
Shuixing cleared her throat a bit and said, "Well, you should keep in mind that he's from Tibet so maybe you shouldn't try to think of him as Chinese."
Huoxing gave a small sigh and said, "Fang said that her village was right next to where the old Tibetan border was, so her family has integrated a lot with Chinese for a few decades. I'm not going to bring Tibetan/Chinese relations if I can help it."
"If Fang is any indication, he's a nice enough guy," said Shuixing, "Though hopefully he's not a firebrand. Could you imagine that?"
"It would fit my element," said Huoxing dryly.
"All joking aside, we do trust your judgement," said Shuixing, "And we'll all be supportive for you. And even if it doesn't work out, maybe this will prompt more guys to try to ask you out."
"I hope so," said Huoxing, "I just wish I knew what to wear."
"Your Chinese mini-dress," said Shuixing promptly, pointing at the red dress that had a traditional Chinese look, though it only went down as far as the hips. And it would stretch quite a lot across the chest.
"I thought you said not to bring up too much about China," said Huoxing.
"Don't forget, he's an otaku," said Shuixing, "He'll definitely like that dress."
==========
Huoxing was supposed to meet Gang at the palace. It wasn't supposed to be a particularly formal meeting, but he probably wanted to see his sister first before he met her. Huoxing tried to keep herself calm. She knew she looked pretty in her red mini-dress and with her hair up in an oriental bun. Since her feet were plantigrade unlike many Animalians, she was able to wear high-heels, though they were a bit larger for her paws. Should she have dressed more casually?
Presently, Huoxing saw Fang walking with someone she assumed was her brother. Huoxing wasn't particularly expecting a supermodel or a bodybuilder, but Gang didn't look so bad. True, he had a large pair of glasses and seemed to have a bit of a stodgy build. It wasn't that he was out of shape as he had somewhat firm muscles under a thick lair. But Huoxing couldn't really tell for sure at a first glance.
"Huoxing, there you are," said Fang, "This is my older brother, Gang."
"N-nice to m-meet you," stuttered Gang, not looking Huoxing in the eye because of looking at her curvy body, but more out of staring at his own feet.
"Nice to meet you too," said Huoxing, "You have a very nice sister."
"And I'm so glad that she was saved from those..." Gang hesitated a little.
"You don't have to hold back while there are ladies here," said Fang.
"But maybe we can talk about more pleasant things," said Huoxing, "For instance, I hear you like manga and manhua, yes?"
"There's...quite a lot to keep track of," said Gang.
"Well, I can see you're tan enough that you don't spend all your time indoors," said Huoxing. Most people wouldn't notice a tan on certain Asian people, considering their skin color was closer to that shade. But Gang's skin had a weather-worn look.
"Well...I go up the mountains," said Gang.
Huoxing's eyebrows lifted. "You're not a Sherpa guide, are you?" she asked.
"We're from Tibet," said Fang pointedly, "The Sherpa people live in Nepal."
"Oh, I always get those two mixed up," said Huoxing.
"That's common enough," said Gang with a shrug, "I'm not a full-time mountaineer, I wouldn't risk the highest peak without help."
Huoxing nodded. She had heard the highest peaks of the Himalayas were very dangerous, even if there were no yetis. Gang's outer layer of fat made sense, considering the need for both insulation and extra energy reserves. "I'm sure there's a lot you can tell me about climbing. I'm a climber myself, though it's mostly trees."
"Fang says there's a sushi restaurant we can go to," said Gang, "You don't have a problem with that."
"Red pandas are omnivorous," said Huoxing, "Not much has changed for me except eating more bamboo than before. Sushi would be fine for me." It may be a little awkward, but Huoxing was expecting much worse. Gang was at least able to keep up a good conversation even if he was mostly staring at his feet. Where he was bondmate material was yet to be seen, but Nate had seemed unlikely at first and look how far he went.