learning the new normal

[anatural]

WHO: Korra, Hei, and Mai
WHAT: Like getting special time wasn't already hard enough.

[Parenthood is even more relentless than being the Avatar. This is the realization Korra has come to (yet again) during her family trip to visit Lord Zuko. At least as the Avatar, you can tell people to handle their own problems for six hours so you can sleep. Try telling that to a two year old. (She has tried, actually. It did not work.)

Korra slinks into her room after tucking Mai into bed. She can only hope that the little girl decides to sleep through the night. She needs Mai to be rested and well-behaved for their visit to the ailing old Fire Lord, who is only now recovered enough from his illness to see the little girl. His health isn't strong enough to deal with a tired and temperamental toddler.

She throws herself onto the futon and takes a deep breath. Whenever Hei gets back, she's going to read him the riot act for not being around at bedtime ... except not really. Mai threw a tantrum about being put to bed without "daddy" around, but Korra doesn't want her getting too used to Hei's presence. This trip is a trial run for letting him back into their lives full-time; Korra's still not ready to commit completely.

Though him not being around isn't really helping his case. Where is he?]

Comments

[anatural]

Mid-morning. [She turns her head to be able to speak (and breathe), but her voice still comes out muffled.] General Iroh said it's best to see him after he's had a chance to meditate and eat breakfast.

[A part of Korra almost didn't want to see him — she still remembered him as an old but vibrant man; she hates the idea of seeing him frail and weak. But he was Aang's best friend, someone who helped save the world, and he is important to her. She wants him to know her daughter, because family is important to both of them.]

We need to get some sleep. [Problem being, she doesn't feel capable of moving, and this isn't the best position for sleeping.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Family. That's something he can respect, if not always understand. Korra's family encompasses so many different characters -- some of whom are four-legged and furry. Hei's own 'families' -- or approximations of them -- have always been narrower in scope, more temporary. More centered on their utility and cold cohesiveness. At least that's how it used to be. Lately though ... it's dawning on him that he's got a very different family. A real one, in the sense of both social conventions -- and blood. ]

Hmmmm.

[ The humming sound seems amplified by his entire body, a purr again. His eyelids grow heavier as he breathes: Korra would object, but this position is damn comfortable to fall asleep in. Spilled beneath him, she's like a sponge, plush yet firm yet squishy, oozing a sticky waft of pheromones. But he knows that would be a bad idea, and skims his hand down her flank, rubbing it the way you'd rub a cat's, before sliding off her by degrees, first hands then the rest of his body. ]

[ Dropping the condom in the trash, he tugs the blanket back over him and Korra. The air is cool now, edging on chilly as the sweat dries. That makes it easier to curl catlike against her, and under the swaddling of the sheets drape an arm across her body, his hand finding its way between her thighs in that habitual, possessive gesture. ]

[anatural]

[Comfortable for him, maybe, but certainly not for her. While she misses feeling him inside, she's glad when he rolls off her — and gladder still to curl back up against him, to have him wrap an arm around her. She squeezes his elbow and closes her eyes with a contented sigh.]