good enough to eat

[anatural]

WHO: Hei & Korra
WHAT: You don’t want to know.

[One of the many problems with fighting with Hei — the makeup sex is really good. If it sucked, then maybe they wouldn't fight so often.

Korra finds herself contemplating this as she stirs awake. A glance out the window tells her there's still a few hours until dawn. Every part of her aches, but it's a good ache, like the burn of good exercise. Which, if you think about it, sex is. Particularly with Hei.

Yawning, she turns her head to look at her bed partner. She's missed being able to do this. Just watching someone sleep is both creepy and boring, but these little glances in the middle of the night are different. They're like subconscious surprise inspections, making sure he's here and close. Once he's passed, she can go back to sleep.

She tries to do that now, but it's not working. She's mauled all over, covered in sweat and spit and come; she wants a shower. Then her stomach grumbles, loud and angry, and she remembers that she'd hardly touched her dinner. She'd been so excited to see Chekov again, and then she & Hei had...well...

Her stomach grumbles again. Yeah. She needs food.]

Comments

[mortemscintilla]

Considering how crazy it was out there, they wouldn't get a good fix on him. Besides, they know all about your friends and family. Chekov's a cipher. You can play that to your advantage.

[ He lets her forage for whatever she's after, and burrows into the huge stainless steel refrigerator. Suyin's chef is talented, no doubt about it. But Hei dislikes the raw kale he heaps in all his dishes. What's that thing Lebowitz liked to say? Vegetables lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat. In his opinion, there are more benefits to protein-filled meals -- especially for parts of him that are ever-ready to stand up and do their duty for Korra and country. ]

[ He assembles a big skilletful of eggs, rice and morsels of beef and chicken. Pauses, a moment, to watch Korra, his gaze holding a mild interest that conceals the want that's gnawing, down-low, beneath the more commonplace hunger. He is already half hard; it bugs him. Twice in a night should be enough, especially since she's only just passed the red-zone after her miscarriage. He needs to regrasp his self-restraint -- ironically the very quality that was once his best asset. ]

[anatural]

[Well if Hei's going to cook, Korra's not going to disturb the leftovers. She closes the door and plops down at the table.]

I guess. [Hei's probaby right. This is the kind of thing he excels in, after all. His area of expertise. One of Korra's strengths is knowing when to defer to the expertise of others. She rests her chin on her hand and watches him cook. And...oh my. She starts grinning as she catches a look at his pants. He may think he needs to regain his restraint, but as far as Korra's concerned, they've got lots of lost time to make up for.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei stirs the spitting fry-up with a wooden spoon, tossing and sauteing. His face, downturned in focused habit, reflects an absorption that suggests his thoughts are elsewhere, as if their arrival lags behind his body. But it is a safe bet he is fully conscious of Korra's scrutiny. So much for subtlety, he thinks snidely, remembering the indigenous South American tribes, where the youths wore no more than a thin cord tied from waist to the crown of their genitals; this was their clothing. It covered nothing, but without it they were naked and the swing of their privates was open for mocking. ]

[ This feels like the extent of his own coverage, around Korra; his secret hangs out for the world to see, but without the thin cord he's wrapped around himself he'll be exposed past endurance. ]

[ When the stir-fry is done, he slips the sizzling heap from the pan onto a plate. Sets it before her, grabbing up two pairs of chopsticks, then bringing his chair close to hers so he can eat. ]

[ Studiously avoiding her grinning face, he says, between mouthfuls, ]

Staring is rude, you know.

[anatural]

I'm not staring! [She pokes at his face with her chopsticks.] I'm admiring. Big difference. [And if she's going to get to eat anything on this plate, she should probably move quickly; Hei has a way of inhaling food. She starts shoveling food into her mouth.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei crooks an eyebrow, but refrains from making any dry comments. Instead, at a more sedate pace than usual, he tucks into his food, maneuvering his chopsticks in such a way that Korra gets the choicier bits of beef and chicken. ]

[ She's not as rundown as she was during the early weeks after her miscarriage. But he can't get that vision out of his head: how heavily she'd bled in their bed, staining it down to the mattress. And after he snatched her up, barreling out of her room with her, shouting to rouse the house, she'd left a trail of blood through the corridor, down the stairs. On Tenzin's robes, on Asami's nightdress. He can remember holding her, limp, hot, moist, while they'd carried her to the healers. Remember all that blood, thin and amorphous, uncontainable, dripping, then thick and clotted, lumpy, wrong. ]

[ And for the first time Hei had experienced it not as a byproduct of a job -- but the way all the rest of them did. A sign of disaster, the unthinkable coming to pass. ]

[ Again, he shakes himself loose from the grip of disturbing thoughts. Nudges bits of fried egg her way with the chopsticks, and says, ]

I'll make you more, if you want. You need lots of proteins.

[anatural]

Only if you're hungry. [She takes that bit of fried egg and then sets her chopsticks down.] That was delicious — as usual. Thank you.

[She leans over to kiss his cheek, both gratitude and distraction. She can see the dark turn of his thoughts on his face, can guess the direction they're heading, and she wants to pull him back from there. If she doesn't, he'll drag her along with him, and Korra doesn't want to go there again. Not tonight. Not ever.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ The kitchen counter lays a geometry of light across the table, but the rest of the place is dark; in the weak glow, Hei's face is heavy and scrubbed raw, features downturned with the pull of memory. But when she kisses him, an iota of the surface tension dissolves. ]

[ Setting his own chopsticks aside, he gathers her across into his lap, in that habitual way of his. Lifts her hand to his mouth, kissing the fingers, with a sort of tentative curiosity, as if he's never touched them before and isn't sure what they'll feel like. ]

[ He lifts his face to hers then, the solemn expression dissolving into something wistful, wry. ]

Hungry... isn't the word I'd use.

[anatural]

[Korra relaxes a little too when he pulls her onto his lap. They both have an easier time communicating with touch. When he lets her hand go, she wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him.]

Oh really?

[mortemscintilla]

[ He doesn't answer. At least not verbally. Instead he circles her closer, one hand stroking her side, her belly, with slow appreciative strokes, while he tips his head back, coaxing her lips apart with gentle nudges of his mouth against hers. He takes his time to taste that meaty, soupy underurrent of the meal on her tongue, a splinter of consciousness noting the way the kiss melts from something slow, languid, to a hot insistent pressure. ]

[ It's ridiculous. He's gotten laid twice tonight, but it doesn't drain the well of lust for Korra that keeps rising and brimming. Even when he's sated it remains the same -- a perpetual glass half-full. ]

[anatural]

[She shifts in his lap, grinding and squirming until she's straddling him. She tugs on his bottom lip with her teeth and tangles her fingers in his hair. As the kiss grows more heated, she starts pulling. It's a familiar, predictable pattern.]

Hey. [With difficulty, she breaks the kiss.] Sure you're not still hungry? [Code for I’ve got an idea.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei rearranges her more comfortably in his lap, both arms slung around her, fitting along the curve of her waist as if cradling an expensive vase, then skimming down to get a handful of her ass. The cup of soft muscle both delights him and urges him to press her closer, to squeeze and explore other parts of her. His hardening cock is trapped beneath her weight; he can feel the greed leaping into his groin like a tiger. ]

[ He crooks a half-smile when she breaks the kiss, blue eyes at once frank and half-shuttered, body canted in a wickedly casual set of angles. ]

Depends on what's on the menu.

[anatural]

I was thinking... [She looks around the kitchen for inspiration and sees a bottle of bulgogi sauce sitting on the counter, forgotten by one of the chef's assistants.]

Barbecue?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei exhales slowly, fingers worming into her waistband with a sly insistence, his lips soft and craving where they burrow against her jaw. ]

[ Dryly, ]

Planning to set me on fire?

[anatural]

Only if you tempt me. [She wriggles, trying to get off his lap so she can grab the sauce and tug him back towards the bedroom. Whether she's successful or not depends entirely on his whim.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He loosens his hold so she can grab the sauce -- before he scoops her up. The trip back to their room doesn't take long. Kicking the door shut behind him, he spills her across the mattress with a thump and bounce. This doesn't occur without cooperation, of course, but Hei is willing to assume responsibility for the arrangement. His body melds close to Korra's, a warm solid weight, as he grabs handfuls of her soft hair and gnaws gently around her face and neck, trying not to mark her while longing for the freedom to do it. ]

[ When he pulls away, he presses his lips to her temple, words spilling in a hot vibration of sound. ]

What're you planning to do?

[anatural]

[She squawks, as she always does when he decides to surprise her like this.] I am so going to get you for this one day. [She whispers to make sure they don't disturb anyone while they make their way down the hall. Honestly, he acts like she's half her size and strength sometimes. Stupid macho man.

She grumps, but her body radiates smug satisfaction as his weight settles on top of her.]

Remember that thing you did with the chocolate?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Oh, he's perfectly aware of her strength. Maybe that's why he does it. He can never repress that twist of sheer exhilaration in being able to handle that exquisite body, while knowing it's accompanied by that fierce personality. It's like trying to grab hold of the blazing ends of a snapped metal cable as it slices through the air, spritzing heat and fireballs; any one of them might scorch a hole right through you. ]

[ Pinning her under a wedged thigh, but playfully, Hei idly mouths at Korra's earlobe, her jaw, then sucks a soft patch of skin between his teeth, raising a splotch of bruised-plum color. Meanwhile his legs twist, more precision than grace, already dropping his sandals, one hand fiddling between their bodies with the clasp of his pants. ]

[ At her words, he pauses, memory coaxing him to a place that's dark and smoky and depthlessly hot. A smile threatens to sneak out of him. ]

I do.

[anatural]

[One of these days that body is going to kick your ass just to prove a point.

Just not tonight.]

I thought that maybe we could do kinda the same thing with the sauce. I mean, I know it's not sweet, but it's liquid. And I can warm it up wit my firebending...

[All the kinky sex things they've done together, and yet she still (only sometimes!) gets a little flustered actually talking about it.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He can almost feel Korra's face flush with a barely visible wave of heat, and it affects him like an exhalation of pot smoke, a taste of warm cream, a blossom on the clambering vine toward nirvana. Over the course of their relationship, he's gotten used to being the aggressor, the initiator, But it's not as rewarding as when she overcomes that bashfulness to make her own suggestions. In a way, her flustering makes it sweeter, sending a heat bubbling up inside him, concentrating first in his belly then fluttering down to his groin like antic butterflies. ]

[ Skimming his fingers along her sides, he slips them under her shirt, inching it carefully off. His own follows a moment later, both garments flung dismissively to the corner as he re-settles against her, her pretty breasts squashed against his chest. ]

[ Idly, he nuzzles at the hollow at the base of her throat, between her collarbones. His smile is soft against her skin. ]

It's worth a shot.

[anatural]

[Gotten used to? He trained her for submission, to the point that even though she's the initiator in just about every aspect of her life, she's still not entirely sure how to handle being in charge in bed. It had been one of the weird things about sleeping with Bolin, suddenly being in charge. She found that taking the reins sometimes is fun, but constantly guiding the horse is too much work. She'll never tell Hei this, but she does like how he takes control. She likes the master/student dynamic that happens sometimes between them — the thrill of learning & doing, the security of having a teacher, being able to take initiative without having to take the lead. That dynamic may even be one of her favorite things about sleeping with him.

She grins when he says It’s worth a shot, and tries to push him over so she can get the sauce and put it on him. Assuming he'll let her.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ At her look of bright-eyed enthusiasm, a low chuckle rasps in Hei's throat. Obligingly, he rolls back. He can feel the blood rising in him, his shaft lifting and straining against his pants. He doesn't waste a lot of time in remedying that, tugging his belt loose before shucking his trousers down and off, following them with Korra's, a fast efficiency that precludes having to unseat her. Sometimes, undressing for her reminds him of the way he'd learned how to get ready in Heaven's War -- except in reverse. He isn't whistle, jump, toe-the-line swift any more, but he doesn't linger on buttons. He tugs her pants off in a single motion, then tosses them starboard to hang neatly from the rail with the practiced ease some people use to hang hats. ]

[ Thrumming mutely, from hairline to groin, he gathers her in close. Sweeps her hair back, letting it spill down one shoulder, trailing his jaw just barely. His kisses are a soft, slow burn -- both giving her permission and coaxing her to do what she likes. ]

[anatural]

How do you do that? [Korra doesn't care enough about the answer to really stop what she's doing, but it definitely falls into the realm of Completely weird talents Hei possesses.

With a great feat of strength, she breaks the kiss and pulls back.]

Let's get this barbecue started. [Note to self: Don’t try to be clever during sex. Trying not to wince with embarrassment, she opens the bottle —

And manages to squirt sauce all over her face and breasts.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Fuck. Sometimes he really hates the way she can make something in him melt into a puddle of chocolate ice cream: sweet, sticky and muddy in the bowl. ]

[ He watches the sauce splatter her face, dribble across her breasts -- shiny dark coins on soft skin. The sight feeds an instantaneous trigger of dried blood and battle. But the spicysweet scent of Korra, blended with the heavy waft of sauce, counteracts the memory. His dick is already bobbing heavily across his belly, a flush of heat lighting up under his taut muscles, as if Korra is the perfect centerfold princess, designed to get under even the thickest skin and crawl around until the host is insane with want. ]

[ Sitting up, he encircles the warm voluptuous weight of her in his arms. Draws her close, skin to skin, the sauce smearing his torso like dabs of fingerpaint. He doesn't care; just runs his face along the peachy curves of Korra's breasts, cheeking her throat, nuzzling her face, licking every trace of sauce from her skin -- an exquisite indulgence of biting teeth and lathering tongue. ]

[ When he draws back, finally, his mouth is smeared dark red. His eyes glint with a ghost of warm amusement. ]

I think you did that on purpose.

[anatural]

I did not! [She's trying to sound indignant, but she's kissing him again so quickly that it's really hard to tell.

Mm. Good sauce.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Oh, the sauce is okay. But he's more interested in the way the salt on the surface of Korra's skin mixes with the sweetness of the oils beneath, blending with those tangy splatters in a way that pricks his tastebuds. Fingers tangling in the dark waves of her hair, he kisses her heavily, eating up the wafts of her soft spice-laced breath, sucking her lower-lip between his teeth before coaxing her lips apart to tease and swallow that hot pink tongue, drawing it into his mouth as if to consume it. ]

[ Without letting her go, he rolls them over so she's sprawled on her back. Settles heavily against her, his erection wedged between them, already getting slippery around the head. Smudged traces of sauce stick to their skins; he laps at them idly, before licking his way into her mouth. The sourness of spice is fuzzily apparent yet not awful. He's tasted worse and heard it called a meal. ]

[ Plucking the bottle from her fingers, he teases, ]

What was that you said? About getting the barbecue started?

[ To punctuate his point, he dips a finger in the bottle. It comes out darkly-coated; he wipes it across her right breast, circling the nipple. ]