well that got awkward fast

[pabulously]

WHO: Hei and Bolin, later Korra & Hei
WHAT: Bolin’s come to tell Korra about rumors he’s heard on the streets. But Hei’s the only one home.

[Strangely enough, Bolin's never been to Korra's house. Well, okay, maybe it's not so strange, considering he's broken his heart twice over her and while she's still one of his best friends the idea of being near both her and a bed is just...not a thing he wants to be happening. Particularly when it's a bed she's sharing with another dude. The same dude she'd been seeing before sleeping with him.

That's really the part that Bolin's still struggling with. He doesn't regret the affair or how it ended; he's made his peace and come to appreciate the idea of "sexbuddies." But the idea that he took another guy's girl is deeply uncomfortable, as is the idea that he made Korra a cheater. Luckily he doesn't have much reason to worry about it — Korra's boyfriend is so rarely seen he might as well be a myth. It's not the kind of relationship Bolin would want for himself, but Korra seems happy with it. And after losing her for those months, and the sheer chaos that followed her return, he's just happy that she can be happy.

Anyway. Yadayada, the past is the past, Bolin's perfectly happy to just catch Korra at pro-bending matches and grab lunch or dinner every so often. Why bug her at home?

Except he's started hearing things, whispers on the streets, about Amon and the spirit world and the possibility of a lot of trouble. This is stuff that Korra needs to know, now. Which brings him to her door.

Knock knock.]

Comments

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei hears so much anxiety congealing in Bolin's voice. Not the rational anxiety of an adult, but that formless terror of a little boy, who has just peeked under his bed to learn that the monster hiding below is real. Real, and reaching out for him with its gnarled, claw-like hands. Blinking, a part of Hei looks at the boy from a secluded cell in his brain, faintly pitying, an emotion trapped under a foot of ice. His heart's in the right place. But he's too sheltered and gullible, even for someone his age. Even for a former street kid. His brother must've made all the tough calls. ]

[ The thought briefly hits him where he lives, in that tender, aching place beneath his ribs. It's not entirely inconceivable that if Hei had a little brother, if he'd grown up on the streets, he'd have taken care of Bolin the same way Mako did. Except he'd had a sister, not a brother. That had changed the rules of the literal war. Made him more ruthless, but perhaps also more barbed and brittle. ]

[ Shaking it off, he offers Bolin a reassuring smile. ]

Remember: they're just rumors. So there's no need to unload them on Korra. She has enough to worry about. Why add to it unless we know for sure it's the truth?

[pabulously]

Ooooooooh, I see what you're saying. We should launch OUR OWN PRIVATE INVESTIGATION!

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei resists the urge to both facepalm and smack the boy upside the head. A strange impulse that should be named after this kid. How's your day going so far? Meh. A little Bolin. ]

That's not what I ... [ Oh screw it. Anything that'll stop his ever-running mouth. ] I guess that's a good idea. Tomorrow we'll go scope whichever Triad hangouts you know about. See if someone's heard anything.

[ And he can knock you out fifteen minutes into the investigation and haul your ass home. ]

[pabulously]

ALL RIGHT! [Bolin pumps his fist in the air. This is what he's needed — a plan! Something concrete he can do to help Korra since, you know, he's pretty useless with all this spirit stuff. But he can totally do investigation stuff! He's picked up a ton of stuff from Mako's policework!]

[mortemscintilla]

Great. Tomorrow afternoon, then.

[ Li smiles with bright, faux interest -- while privately wondering how best to shoo Bolin off before Korra gets here. Threading his growing weariness into a blanket of bonhomie, he drifts to the dishwasher. Carefully begins unloading the crockery -- and a number of implements that look like restraints for kinky bondage games. (They're actually equipment for his trapeze rigging, but Bolin doesn't need to know that.) ]

[ Almost to himself, he murmurs, ]

...I wonder when Korra will get back...

[pabulously]

[Those restraints — and the mental image of being alone with Korra and her sexgod boyfriend — are enough to prompt Bolin out the door.]

Thanks for the food, Li. It was truly awe-inspiring. And say hi to Korra for me!

[There are a few places he can hit up tonight, actually...]

[mortemscintilla]

Will do. And it was my pleasure.

[ Li offers a ditzy grin of cheer and a wave, one of the weird restraints still flopping from his hand. ]

Feel free to drop by whenever you like.

[ Except on days ending with Y, and the hours between 12 AM and 12 PM. ]

[ (If he spots Bolin at any of the shadier venues in the city, later tonight, he'll deal with the boy as required. Until then, though, he still has the steamed fish and honey-walnut shrimp to contend with.) ]

[anatural]

[Bolin is pretty much the last person Korra expected to see on her way back home. Even weirder is the fact that he wouldn't stop to chat — just "Hey Kora gotta go let's catch up later all right bye!"

Seriously weird.

She's pulling out her hairties as she comes through the front door, sticking them in Naga's saddle pocket so Hei doesn't steal them like he's taken to doing. She toes off her boots.]

Hey! What was Bolin doing here?

[mortemscintilla]

[ He's set the table by the time Korra comes in -- a pretty crime-scene of sharp-smelling aromas. A plate with pale fat slashes of fish wrapped in translucent slices of ginger. Another with plump little morsels of shrimp, verdant sprigs of broccoli, and a sauce with a dark sticky density. The stir-fry -- despite Bolin's effusive praise -- tastes overdone to him; he's appropriated the entire pot to finish by himself, perhaps in perverse punishment. ]

[ He glances up when Korra enters. His features, downturned by the pull of either contemplation, hunger, general dissatisfaction or all three, smooth into something more pleasant. ]

Just shooting the bull.

[ Until it was staggered, bloody and riddled in holes. ]

[anatural]

[Korra arches an eyebrow and settles down at the table to start piling up her plate. She is starving — she's spent this entire day trying to negotiate with the spirits, to no avail.]

I didn't know you guys were so close. [Come on, Hei. Spill the beans.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ She's cute when she goes into Troubleshoot Mode. ]

[ Pouring them two cups of sake, Hei takes a swig to hide his smile. The cup cedes less than a mouthful, prompting a mental tally. Barely a half-glass of alcohol content today. Months and months since he's had a serious bender. Novelty, more than anything else, brings on a pleasant haze that wraps him loosely in its clasp. I'm a cheap date these days, he thinks dryly, remembering when he'd toss down two six packs and a pint of vodka without puking. (Much.) ]

[ Nudging a cup Korra's way, he teases, ]

I thought you wanted me to get along with your friends.

[anatural]

[She snorts as he pours the sake, and makes sure to shovel a fair amount of food into her stomach before drinking her cup. He only tries to get her drunk when he doesn't want to talk about something (or, okay, yes, if he's feeling goofy and he wants to see her get a case of the giggles).]

I do! Which is why I want to hear all about it! [Come on, don't toy with her.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ She’s bubbly when she's wine drunk; it's nice. Hazy blue-sea eyes; rose-tinted glasses. She glows warm and everything she says is ridiculous and hilarious and fizzes excitingly in the air. Hei is always aware, each time he plies her with alcohol, how rare those moods have become. These days, it's more usual to see that familiar pinch of worry between her brows; those invisible fingers tugging the sides of her mouth. Her duties are weighing her down, that much is clear. He just hopes they don't end up shaping her into someone who's the exact opposite of Korra. ]

[ Someone like him. ]

[ With considerable interest, he watches her throat move as she swallows. Refilling her glass and his, he says, ]

Not much to tell. I fed him some stir-fry. He showed me a stain on his shirt. We talked about you...

[anatural]

[Whaaaaaat?! She wriggles and scowls at him.]

What did you say?!

[Yes, the alcohol is already working its magic on her inhibitions.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ She scowls -- and Hei hides another reflexive twitch of a smile. Edging his chair closer to hers, he draws her from her seat and onto his knee. The weight of her is solid, warm; in the clean geometric light of the kitchen, her face is wreathed in the arterial purple of dusk, her entire storm of hair already scented with sake, ginger, honey, lemon grass, spearmint, and nameless spices that might be either the food, or Korra herself. His mind plays tricks at times, or Korra does. ]

[ At her question, he looks at her as if she's asking something very silly that he is nevertheless going to indulge. ]

You know. Stuff guys talk about.

[ Can't you tell he just wants to rile her up? ]

[anatural]

[She likes it when he pulls her onto his lap. It's warm & snuggly, and she can almost taste the oranges from that first time, when he fed her while they waited for her laundry to dry. That was the the real start of their relationship.

She wraps her arms around his neck and rests her forehead against his.]

Like what?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Looking back on it, that moment of shared domesticity should've been a sign, the first flagstone on a path to hell. It makes Hei feel both bewildered and self-conscious, as he does on such occasions, but with the disorienting thrill of contentment, too. When had they sunk into this boring, frilly old-marrieds intimacy? Within the last year, maybe. Even a detective couldn't trace every change in the routine of everyday life. The first time their dirty laundry had mingled in the wash. The first time they'd shared a single bottle of sake. The first bowl of fucking popcorn he'd placed between them as they curled together on the couch, where once he'd enforced the one-man, one-bowl rule with a strict disregard for economy, a boundary line that anyone else had never argued. ]

[ Yet somehow the rule had dropped from use, like so many others he'd once thought inviolable. It's the unpredictability that makes it so dangerous, doesn't it? Shifts in relationships, moods and loyalties, a randomness of wind chimes. ]

[ He squeezes Korra tight, surfing on a wave of dazed bittersweetness, a trigger of tenderness. ]

Nothing important. He... worries about you, I guess. [ There's a beat, before he amends, more plain fact than a grudging confession. ] I do too.

[anatural]

[Korra used to resent people worrying about her — she saw it as a lack of faith in her strength and her abilities as the Avatar. But she's wiser now. She doesn't want people to worry about her, of course, but it's kind of nice when they do. It's another way of saying I love you.

She kisses the bridge of his nose and rests her head atop his.]

I'm fine. I'll figure this whole spirit mess out. It's just going to take a little time. [Thinking about today] Maybe a lot of time.

[mortemscintilla]

[ His eyes flutter half-shut at the kiss, and he circles her in closer. ]

I know you will.

[ Words that, from someone like him, usually mean nothing. Because, once, he wouldn't have believed Korra's optimism and hopefulness meant anything, either. Except now, her certainty is something he has come to recognize as meaningful because he knows that behind it lies a readiness to match words with actions. Something he, in turn, can rise to. Be equal to. ]

[ With her forehead resting against his, her eyes, fixed on his, are a pretty blue smear. Her hair's ornate frame is blurred, so the picture of her face is cleanly redefined into a smooth, solemnly childish, nearly-a-grown-up mug which makes Hei both proud and amused. Broad glossy forehead, brows like pretty thumb daubs, full lips with a smudge of sauce at the corner. A face at a cusp. ]

[ Tipping his chin, he brushes his lips against hers. Gentle, almost chaste. ]

Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

[alittlebent]

Mmmm. [Tempting as it is, she doesn't deepen the kiss. There's still over half a plate of dinner left to eat! She starts to slide back into her chair so she can finish it, though if he holds on, she's just as happy to drag the plate over and keep eating on his lap.]

I wish the president believed in me even half as much as you do. [Fighting the vines and trying to communicate with the spirits is tiring, yeah, but what really pushes her into exhaustion and borderline despair is the constant haranguing from the president and the media. They complain that she isn't solving fast enough; they harass her for solutions, and they keep interrupting her while she's in the middle of trying something new. How is she supposed to focus and think with them constantly in her face?]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Actual stuffin' before the muffin-stuffin.' That's his girl. ]

[ He loosens his grip, but doesn't let her go. Lets her sit there, straddling his leg, his arms around her waist, through the quiet susurrus of chewing and tinkling cutlery. Korra has quite an impressive appetite, when she lets herself unleash it. The miracles of teenage metabolism -- minus his own freakish gluttony. Sometimes he kisses her on the back of her arm, which is nearest his mouth. They've been close all week, hugged up on the couch during their lazier evenings, or padding around barefoot in the morning-bright kitchen, elbows and shoulders grazing, or ferociously entwined across the futon at night. But he's still glad to be in contact with her, her spine propped along his chest, his arm a proprietary curl around her. ]

[ At her words, he pauses. He's watched the media tear her down countless times, a swarm of parasites feeding off a phoenix. He's seen her bend with the President's blows and come back swinging. But all the grit and sass won't help her if the press is out for blood. They'll be merciless if she takes a passive stance, and ruthless if she lashes back. It's a lose-lose. ]

[ He'd reassure her it's temporary. Except that's a lie. She's the Avatar. Everything she does -- good or bad -- will fall under intense scrutiny. ]

[ Quietly, he says, ]

Forget what that idiot thinks. He needs a scapegoat. You're the most obvious target. [ He puts his hands through her hair, hoping she will let herself be soothed. ] There's lots of attention on you right now. But remember: you're not a politician or a celebrity. You're the Avatar. Your job isn't to be popular. It's to bring balance to the world. However you think is best.

[alittlebent]

[She sets her chopsticks down and leans into his touch with a sigh.] I just wish they'd leave me alone. I could get so much more done.

[One of these days she's just going to say Fuck you and stay home with Hei all day. Let the spirits and vines destroy what they want; the people of Republic City can figure out what to do about it.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ With his right hand, Hei lightly scrubs his fingers through her hair, a rhythmic, tickling caress. With the other, he sneaks a few mouthfuls off her plate with the chopsticks. Chews thoughtfully before suggesting, ]

Hire your own security entourage. You're entitled. [ A beat, before a crooked smile tips the corner of his mouth. ] Better yet, airbend those pests onto the tallest skyscraper in the city.

[ ...Maybe this is why Tenzin considers him a negative influence... ]

[anatural]

[Congratulations — she laughs, and it feels so good. She can't actually remember the last time she laughed... not that long ago, but she knows for a fact it hasn't been as much as she used to. Her laugh muscles are sorely out of shape. But the image of the president dangling from Avatar Aang's staff by his underwear will have her cackling for days.]

Maybe I will. [She kisses him under his chin, adding in a little playful scrape of teeth.] Tenzin's told me I'm not allowed to break anyone's camera, but he didn't say anything about dangling them off of buildings...

[mortemscintilla]

[ He starts to snatch more food off her plate. But the impulse softens with the rise and fall of her laughter, emanating from her like so much glittering light. Maybe the sound -- maybe that wicked little bite -- makes his pulse-rate accelerate a fraction, a secret hitch in the mechanism of sensation and sense that is his body. And if there's a strain of melancholy underneath it all, that just has to do with the darker climate that still hovers at their fringes. A fleeting season of brightness. Time, not weather. ]

[ Shaking it off, he smiles faintly. Bumps foreheads with her, wondering if he's become drunk on his two tiny cups of sake. ]

You know ... If a fire-hydrant 'accidentally' breaks nearby, it'll short out their cameras. Then they'll have to leave you alone.