There must be other hobbies...

[mortemscintilla]

WHO: Korra and Hei
WHAT: Post-Book 4. Two crazy kids take a break.

[ A quickie vacation -- that's how Hei floated it to Korra. Don't ask him where the money came from. Don't ask him to justify it. Just say you’ll come.  ]

[ They'd (half-jokingly, half-wistfully) planned a similar trip years ago, when still tangled in the mess with the Spirit Portals. It had never fallen through. War, its immediacy and aftermath, meant work, after all. The idea of a holiday was a distant fantasy in the overwhelming rumble of their busy lives. Lives full of conflicts and separations, trials and errors, from which frivolous indulgences were silently excluded. ]

[ Still, Hei had thought about it sometimes, in varying moods of sentimentality and cynicism. Time spent with Korra -- so close, so uninterrupted -- could've been either hellish or heavenly. He could imagine either a long dreamlike trip, driving with her tucked against his side, his arm around her, absorbing her pretty prattle in his ear. Or an interminable torment of sulky silences and shrieking fights, with flat tires, bad directions, shitty motels and worse meals to compound their misery. ]

[ In truth, it falls something in between. It's like they're two sugar-charged teenagers on a roadtrip, instead of adults who suffer from night-terrors and creeping stress triggers. Brimming with antsy energy, bickering over radio stations, greedily slurping noodles from the same bowl, but on the cusp of a perpetual uncertainty, as if they're not sure how long this grace-period will last. ]

[ They make it past the Hu Xin provinces before their rented Satomobile goes kaput. The vehicle, built for lowland city driving, struggles in the thinner air of the mountains, excess fuel backing up into the carburetor. No matter. They hitch a tow-ride until they find an auto-shop. Barely have to drop a penny, after the grizzled mechanic realizes it's The Avatar's satomobile. Fan belts, oil top-ups, lube-jobs -- shucks, they are on the house. ]

[ They come down to the Earth Kingdom in an evening train, stealing kisses between the snores of a grouchy old coot with whom they have to share the compartment. Share a hot bath and a slow, breathless fuck in an inn far from the best, but whose discomforts pale beside Hei's precarious contentment at being here with Korra. In the morning sunshine, they sail for the Mo Ce Sea, a crossing placid as a paddle round a pond -- until he's hit with a horrible sea-sickness. Slumped in their dim little cabin. it is hard to distinguish land from water. The floor seems to dip and roll beneath his feet. The slats of sunlight from the portholes make his head ache. Waiting to reach land, Hei curls up under the sheets of their bed, massaging his temples with both hands, gritting his teeth as he tries to master his heaving stomach -- while not-so-stoically ignoring the twinkle of amusement in Korra's eyes. ]

[ By the time they disembark at the Fire Nation's capital city, the nausea has receded, though his face rivals the color of the wan gray sky. It's almost dusk; he's logy and slow-headed from the long crossing. But the city, like every city, wakes him up. The lit-up buildings, in their towering brilliance, remind him of Bangkok, as does the stop-and-start traffic, the crowds on foot surging in and out of every dazzling golden entrance. Nothing like Republic City -- a place he's only just begun to pronounce with Home-flavored syllables -- but amazing in its own right. ]

[ As amazing as it was the first time he'd visited -- except now, Korra is at his side, bright-eyed and fizzling with energy like a can of soda all stirred-up. ]

[ Twining his fingers with hers, he squeezes lightly, ]

What should we do first?

Comments

[anatural]

I'm fine. [And already tipsy, judging from the fact that she actually leans over and kisses his cheek in a display of goofy affection they normally eschew.] Just tell me where the room is.

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei blinks in surprise at the kiss, but lets it go with obvious patience, his shoulders relaxed, his face expressing mild discomfort but no real embarrassment. ]

I'll take you there.

[ It's not overprotective fussiness, he tells himself firmly. He just doesn't want her wandering into someone else's room by accident. Rising, he cups the knob of her elbow, gently coaxing her to her feet. Steers her past the other diners, a few of whom are watching with a politely-disguised curiosity that makes the back of his neck prickle. Not self-consciousness, but a reflexive operational wariness, in case there's a potential threat among the onlookers. Outwardly, he seems completely at ease, drifting with Korra across the marble floors, among the tall tapestries and sculptures, the potted palms, toward the front desk. ]

[ Collecting the keys to their room, he bundles Korra into the elevator. There, he holds her away a little to look at her, smoothing her hair back from her face in a gentle wordless inspection. ]

[ After a beat, ]

No more wine [ snaky or otherwise ] for you.

[anatural]

[She makes a face at him.]

You're the one who ordered the bottle. You're the one who should remember that.

[Now are you done with that inspection? Her stomach feels gross and clearly the only cure is a hug. Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuug.

The elevator dings, indicating its arrival on their floor. A beat later, and the noise belatedly startles her.]

[mortemscintilla]

The second glass [ which you stole appropriated from that poor idiot on the next table ] was your idea.

[ Despite the mild reproach in his tone, he accepts her embrace indulgently, keeping one arm slung around her, palm wedded to the small of her back in case she sways and loses her balance. The tiny ding of the elevator, like a coin pinging off a glass surface, presages the creak of opening doors. But Korra stays planted, caught up by the unexpected noise, dream-slow as if her brain is moving through sea-waves. ]

[ Typical. Hei bites the inside of his lip to hide a smile. Takes a moment to ensure the corridor is empty, before he gathers her in, swinging her up carefully in his arms. ]

I'll order up some carrot-and-mint juice for you.

[anatural]

I thought it was juice! [Also sudden dawning realization — ] Shoot I said I'd pay him ba-AACK!!! [Before she can turn back to the elevator and try to go back downstairs to pay the poor guy back for his stolen wine, Hei's swept her up like a babe.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Babe that you are, that's not why he's swept you up. Mostly it's so you don't trip and break your neck. ]

Relax. He's probably honored the Avatar drank from the same glass as him.

[ He hauls her with little difficulty down the corridor, fishing one-handed into his pocket for the keys and getting the door open with a few degrees more dexterity, The room is designed in the manner of all hotel spaces; comfortable and neatly-furnished. Despite boasting the Fire Nation's distinctive colors: blood-red bedspreads and upholstery, rich golden gilt and trimmings, the sum total gives off a sumptuous baronial vibe, instead of reminding him of something out of a bordello. ]

[ He carries Korra to the foot of the bed, lays her down gently, and kneels to take off her shoes. ]

Sleep in, if you want. We can try the hot springs tomorrow.

[anatural]

I'm not DRUNK I can take off my own shoes! [She kicks her feet a little too enthusiastically in protest — it's Hei, he'll probably be able to dodge — and then she leans down to take the shoes off herself.] Go do your recon thing. And check on that guy in the bar!

[She has absolutely 0 intentions of falling asleep for any length of time. The night is young, and sex in a hot spring in broad daylight just seems wrong.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ All the freaky things they've done -- and that feels wrong to you? ]

[ He nearly gets a face-full of boot -- but dodges in time. Lets his hands drop, after a moment, so Korra can pry her shoes off unassisted. Sitting back on his heels, arms outstretched so his palms rest lightly-splayed on her hips, he regards her for a moment. She looks muzzy and wine-flushed, but also bright and interested. Ideally, he knows the wisest course of action would be for her to turn in early tonight. It's been a long journey; they have plenty of time to kill during their stay here. ]

[ But let's be real. Much as Hei cares about her, he's not above thinking with his dick. Why turn down the promise of sex if she's clearly up for it? ]

[ So instead he leans in, pressing a light peck of a kiss to her mouth. ]

Give me thirty minutes.

[anatural]

Mmmm. [It's hard to let him pull away.] I'll be here.

[After he goes, she lies down and curls up, focusing on deep breathing to settle her upset stomach. Within ten minutes, despite her best intentions, she's fast asleep.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei had scanned the resort thoroughly during his last visit here. Enough to know the public and private layout as well as any of the employees; every bar, every corridor, every doorway, every closet. Now, it's less a matter of reconnoitering the parameter than it is in determining what exit routes and structural weak-points have altered. The answer: not much. Three new service entrances for the staff. An extra back-door leading to the garage. An indoor pool still under construction. ]

[ Other than that, everything appears copacetic. If there's an ambush, he'll know where the enemy is likeliest to slip in from. ]

[ Returning to the room, Hei allows that aspect of operational alertness to ... not switch off, but retract, like a spring-loaded blade clicking shut. His mind is on the hot springs, on Korra, anticipation soaking beneath his skin and suffusing his bloodstream. Of course, he has to cancel that when he steps into the room. Korra is asleep in the middle of the bed, breathing softly. He can trace the outline of her face in the semi-dark. The light from the single lamp clings to her, a golden dust. ]

[ Disappointed, but mostly amused, Hei settles quietly at the edge of the bed. She really is a child sometimes, stubbornly insisting she's not sleepy even as her face splits in enormous yawns. Smiling, he strokes the warm heap of her hair, the curve of her cheek, contemplating whether to wake her up or leave her be. Ignores the immediacy of old impatience, and decides on the latter. ]

[ There's always tomorrow. She can catch up on her precious shut-eye tonight -- while he scans the towering ring of mountains enclosing the resort for exits and hideaways. ]

[anatural]

[Wow, Hei. Way to be selfish, smiling while she's asleep and can't see it. But she catches the tail end of it as the touch on her cheek makes her eyes flutter open.]

Hey... [She'd sit up, except she slept just long enough for her limbs to feel heavy. So instead she tugs on his shirt, a silent demand that he lie down with her.] Is the perimeter secure?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hearing her use that operative jargon -- snippets of a world full of tradecraft and secrets, a world she knows little about -- teases a faint but bittersweet smile out of Hei. She's neither a Contractor nor a soldier. For her, his tendency to navigate through each environment on the basis of thorough, cautious, near-paranoid tactics is just a personal quirk. Devoid of context, she can't grasp the full array of its implications -- the cause and effect. She doesn't listen to the distinct rhythms of footsteps in empty corridors and crowded streets. She never looks both ways as she comes out of a building, let alone checks for surveillance hot spots. She doesn't lash out when someone approaches her blind side, or balk at the idea of sitting with her back to a door. ]

[ Why would she? She's the Avatar -- secure in the knowledge that she can handle whatever comes her way. Hei has never had that luxury of being born powerful. Doubt is always a persistent sting, burrowing under his skin like a chigger. By now, he's fashioned it into a weaponized art-form. ]

[ He doesn't think about that. His palms splay across the sheets, on either side of her head, as he allows her to tug him down. He settles his weight across her, looming in to press kisses here and there to the warm clock of her face, his lips at once cool and feathery. ]

Secure as it gets.

[ The words are a low hot thrum against the line of her jaw, where he nuzzles lazily. Not a seduction, or a demand -- just a moment of basking in her heat like a reptile crawling out into the sunlight. Listening to the reassuring thub of her heart. ]

[ Quieter, ]

Go back to sleep. I already told you: the springs aren't going anywhere.

[anatural]

[She's hardly devoid of context. She may not have the full picture in living color, but she has the simple, evocative outline, with just enough detail to resonate emotionally. She understands where it comes from; she just never has the same feeling. She's made peace with her demons, and he's weaponized his.]

Mmm. [She scrapes her nails along the back of his neck, encouraging him to continue his attentions. Someone once told her she has the sex drive of a teenage boy, and Korra knew that was an insult without really understanding why. She still doesn't really get why. She likes her sex drive; she especially likes dragging Hei along for the ride, watching that brief waiver between his habitual asceticism and the promise of pleasure before he tumbles in with her.] You know, we don't have to go anywhere either. [She spreads her legs invitingly and drags his hand down her side.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ At the skitter of her nails, Hei's breath hitches, low and jittery-edged. He'll be the first to agree she has the sex-drive of a teenage boy. But he'll also be the first to laud its virtues to the high-fucking-heavens, because it's gratifying to be with someone like this, so crazily intensely responsive. How it seems to take nothing for him to stir her into heat: just the murmur of a particular word might do it, the merest brush or kiss. But the best part is knowing that it's not an indifferent, undifferentiated lust, a cold animal rut for anything with a dick and a working pair of hands. ]

[ Hei knows what that looks like -- because in his mind's eye that is the figurehead of his own drives, an intensely personal selfishness for those he wants, and the ways he wants them. It's conceivable to cherish the nature of women, sure. They're lovely and soft, willing to accommodate the man who knows how best to stroke them. But that's on a whole: he generally feels nothing on a case-by-case basis. A predator's relationship is with the end, not the means. The self-gratification, not the person. He's adept at breaking any object of desire -- real or pretended -- down to its base elements: tits, asses, lips, hips, cocks, cunts. The process of dehumanization has almost become an imperative for him. ]

[ Except here. Because he dearly cherishes the nature of this girl. ]

[ She spreads her legs beneath the taut curve of his body -- and against his will, Hei sinks in closer, a warm heavy drape. His lips leave cool trails of moisture on her skin, mouthing the tender underside of her jaw, the curve of her neck, tracing the vein that pounds so enticingly, while at the crux of their bodies, in his jeans, he can feel himself hardening against her belly. ]

[ He lets her guide his hand, playing her ribs as if tickling piano keys, palming the curve of her hip, before skimming his fingers along the warm smooth sliver of skin above her waistband. ]

[ Kissing the soft shell of her ear, he teases, ]

Point. But suppose you fall asleep again?

[anatural]

[Korra remembers when he'd break her down like that — tits, ass, cunt. She never understood how he could enjoy sex that way. He's never been bad in bed, but he's definitely gotten a lot better since he stopped treating her like an assembly of body parts.

She has a very specific place she wants his fingers, but wow is it tempting to slip her hand into his pants. She loves trying to tease a reaction out of him; unlike her, Hei keeps it very tightly contained. She pushes their hands under the waistband of her pants as he murmurs in her ear.]

Then you should really be embarrassed. [That would certainly be a crowning moment of humiliation — your partner falling asleep while you're having sex. Korra can't ever imagine it actually happening.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He'll never admit it -- but it's happened a couple of times. Once because the other party was too drunk, head lolling on the pillow and eyes fluttering shut even as she'd clung limpet-like to him, every so often drowsily exhorting him to Fuck her, Fuck her hard, Fill her up, Make her cum, etc, as if reading a bedtime story, while he felt a congested ammonia-scented pressure build up in her whole pelvis. Hei had stopped of his own accord, half-afraid she'd pee on him if he did make her come. The other time it was with Amber, holding him tight as he'd gone into her, looking breathless and dreamy and glad in a way that couldn't have flattered him more -- until she'd undercut it with a shy yawn halfway through the fuck and dozed off, head nestled under his chin. She'd giggled apologetically about it when he sulked later, pleading exhaustion from a long day of hiking and humidity. ]

[ He tries not to think about that right now. Korra nudges their joined hands down the waistband of her pants, and he catches that impudent curl of her mobile mouth with his, kissing her with a strangely greedy delicacy. emitting that low little hum he makes when his desire is burgeoning, while his fingers push lower, finding that humid cluster of curls, and then, slickness, heat, bare wet flesh. ]

[ He teases the seam of her gently, back to front, flicking at the tip of her clit, while he scrapes his teeth across her upper-lip, sucks the sweet plumpness of her lower one. Again and again. Nibbling whispers of kisses. ]

[anatural]

[Korra squirms delightedly and settles her hands on his waist as he starts warming her up. She can feel sleep's lassitude fading, replaced with a tingling ache, but she does nothing more than dig her nails into his skin. She's not as competitive as she used to be, or as determined to show she could control her own life. She's learned how to just enjoy him working her over, knowing she'll get her turn later. Give and take — an ocean instead of a fight.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ It still amazes Hei sometimes, knowing she's let go of reticences he hadn't realized she still cherished, laying herself open to him in new ways. Letting herself be, at least in bed, submissive -- but in no way subservient. It makes his pulse, his breath, flutter in his chest, as if birds are spreading their wings inside him -- even as part of him feels constrained by the heavy anchors of that trust. He hasn't earned it; he certainly doesn't feel equal to it. ]

[ But he tries, in small ways, to meet its expectations. He hasn't been deeply involved with many women, and among them, only Amber really knew about, and accepted, what he is only just beginning to refer to as his past. He looks at Korra sometimes, and he thinks of that saying -- about repeating past mistakes. Fall for the wrong person, get too close, too codependent, fuck everything up. It's a been-there, done-that dance. Except it's not the same. Korra's not Amber, and he's ... not even him. Not the person he was. The intimacies he shares with Korra come from unexpected places within him, places that didn't exist when he was seventeen. Aspects of his mind and his body that by long habit he's learnt to conceal ferociously and that he concedes now only slowly, cautiously, with a dubious hope. ]

[ He looks at her sometimes, and it's ... It's like his mind is groping for words. ]

[ It's like his life is rewiring itself. ]

[ He can't tell her any of that. Doesn't know how. So instead he kisses her, slow, tongue-tracing sips of kisses. His palm dips lower between her thighs, the heel a soft relentless pressure on her clit while he dips two fingers into her entrance. Curling, crooking, instantly slicked, as he drags them across the roof of her sex, teasing that spongy little sweet-spot of hers. ]

[anatural]

[He doesn't have to tell her; she can see the change in him. It's there in the casual, intimate little touches that he used to flinch away from; it's in how he stays close after the sex is done. She's no longer a toy for his pleasure, or an outlet for his stress (nor is he for hers). She used to feel like they were playing a game except he wouldn't tell her the rules until after she broke them. She used to be afraid of him, even as she found herself devastatingly attracted to him.

She moans and rolls her hips encouragingly. Through heated kisses she asks —] How thick are the walls here? [One story about a skillet-wielding innkeeper and her son busting into the room mid-coitus is plenty. Korra doesn't really want to be the reason parents have to give their kids "the talk," or offer up masturbatory fuel. They'd ended up cutting their stay in that town short because the kid had to keep a piece of furniture between them at all times to try & hide his constant boner.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Look on the bright side. That's probably the most perfect -- and only -- pair of tits that boy will lay his eyes on, given the state of affairs in that dismal dustbowl of a town. Half the women there had faces like bees-nests; you'd have to be a sailor at port after months at sea, horny enough to screw a knothole, to be interested in them. ]

[ At her question, the brief sketch of a smile flickers across his lips, before he deepens the kiss, tongue fucking her open with wet stabs, while his fingers work into her below, thumb rolling her clit as he coaxes her past that layer of cautious restraint, feeling the slick, clinging interior of her throb against his fingertips. ]

[ On a ragged inhale, he murmurs, ]

Couples visit this resort -- to get away from in-laws.

[ That should tell you plenty. ]

[ His fingers make lewd little squelches as they work in and out of her. With the other hand, he nudges beneath the fabric of her blouse, fingers skimming the hard-soft ladder of her ribs, to cup the muffled swell of her breast through her sarashi. He's harder than he's realized; the pull of her warm body, all twisty delight, makes him aware of himself, where his cock presses rigidly into her belly through the constricting trousers. ]

[anatural]

[Look, her boobs are not a public service. That's not a bright side for her.

His words indeed tell her plenty.]

Perfect. [She doesn't have to worry about holding back then; she lets herself be vocal in her pleasure.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ (But a thing of beauty should be shared with all!) ]

[ Her little sounds seem to melt through him, shocky-sweet and cool as ice cream dribbling down his spine. He wants to take this at a leisurely pace, his fingers questing slowly into the wet heat between her legs, mouth open, swallowing up her shivery cries in deep gulps. But the flare of lust rises higher and higher, water at a boil, mercury popping -- so he's abruptly dragging both his mouth and fingers free. ]

[ Sitting up, he strips out of his shirt and kicks off his boots, one hand fiddling with the clasp of his trousers, a hot convexity of pressure aching beneath the fly. He manages only to pop the top button and drag the zipper down, taking himself in hand to squeeze the tension down a few notches. In the next breath his attention refastens on Korra. Something about the aggressive lack of eroticism in those wrinkled sheaves of her clothes makes it positively obscene. ]

[ With a rough but playful efficiency, he drags off her shirt, hands exploring her breasts, still clothed in her sarashi. Drifts down her body, hooking his fingers into the fabric of her pants and underwear, just at her hip. He pulls with a vicious wrench that makes something flare giddily in his chest. Takes the advantage of Korra's raised legs, and grabs one foot, bending her knee back up towards her. Leaning in, he gnaws at the jut of her hip, before dipping low to fasten his mouth against her sex. ]

[ Humid clusters of curls; a declivity of salty-hot slickness. Humming, he drags his tongue in long, wide licks, still gripping Korra's foot, thumb against the ticklish arch. ]

[anatural]

Wah! [It's more a laugh than a yelp; she's not surprised by how he takes off her pants, but ouch! It's like rugburn on her hips. She lets out little noises — not girlish enough to be giggles, but definitely amused — and flails her leg, trying (without putting much effort into it) to knock his hand off. The dual sensations of his hand and his mouth make her body feel like a bowl almost overflowing with something fizzy and warm. Her free hand drifts up to play with her breasts.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ She's so fucking gorgeous like this. It's not that he forgets. But it's never more so than right now, when she lies spread open for him on the dark linen sheets of this big bed, a strewn treasure cask, entirely undefended. Her little sounds are like preludes to bubbly laughs as he rubs his thumb against the ticklish spot on her sole, his mouth wet and sloppy and relentlessly busy between her thighs. Her warm Korrasmell envelops him; soft summery sweat, some generic flowery soap from their travels, the oceanness of her sex, whisper of forests and wet soil and rain. ]

[ With a low, half-stifled hum, he breaks away, a clear strand of moisture stretching between his lower lip and her sex. Mouths the crease of hip and groin, tongue laving the sensitive skin, before biting her thigh, her belly, then climbing across her body to cover her hands with his, kneading the swathed roundness of her breasts. ]

[ The twitching length of his cock falls upon her labia, furred curls and slippery heat as he rocks his hips, the head just barely nudging at her clit. Meanwhile, his hands are busy, unwrapping the folds of her sarashi, letting it tumble half-undone around her midriff, until her breasts are cupped in his hands. He squeezes them roughly, lowering his head to worry her nipples, teeth and tongue and merciless suction, and fuck, she feels so warm, as if she's running a fever, burning him up with her in the dim coolness of the room. ]

[anatural]

Heeeeeeeeeei! [She was enjoying the attention between her legs! Don't stop! She can take care of her breasts herself! The feel of his cock against her clit is pure torture. She's not sure whether she's afraid he'll slip inside or ready to shove him in herself. She knows penetration itself isn't particularly fun for some girls; they need lots of foreplay to get any satisfaction from it, but Korra loves it, no foreplay necessary.

Still, she pushes at his shoulders.] You're not done down there, mister.