Disclaimer: I own nothing. Surprise!

A/N: The first part of a brief series of song-inspired drabbles. This chapter -amongst several others- is dedicated to my lovely Hatter ( hatters-art), and inspired by one of her many brilliant headcanons.

Have fun,
Wil.

A Sip Of You

Puzzle Me – Ilse DeLange

'Pick me up, lay me down,
Your touch, it has turned me round,
Over time, patiently,
All the little clues you found,
Have shapened up to show,
You've pulled me together,
We fit and we both know,
Everything is better now,
Everything is better.'

It's always the grey and blue cups.

Lin shrugs, telling herself there is probably nothing to read in Kuvira's surprising little habit. Sure, Lin has gathered a lot of cups and mugs over the years, so she would have expected Kuvira to simply grab whichever her hands fell upon first.

But no matter where Lin places them, she always chooses those two. Maybe she just fancies the colours.

Lin doesn't even know why she even cares, at all. She's never been one for noticing the little things – it was always Tenzin who would swoon over seemingly insignificant details. She never cared much.

Yet, now that Kuvira has –quite surprisingly so- entered the most private spheres of her life, Lin is changed; she notices. She'll never admit it, especially not to her, but she enjoys these little displays of Kuvira's presence.

And so she wonders; why those two mugs, every time?

…

She's intrigued and bored out of her mind, so she begins entering the game: she picks the mugs, the same mugs, and observes Kuvira.

Sometimes she switches them, sometimes she doesn't. Every time there's that odd look about her, that damn smirk that drives Lin absolutely mad with lust. She doesn't know what her lover's little ritual means, and it annoys her.

(Where exactly from comes this new desire to figure Kuvira out, to understand her, Lin doesn't know. She firmly refuses to ponder over it.)

One day, she cannot take it anymore. They are sat side by side on the narrow settee, pressed close together, their skins still sweaty from their earlier activities. She has her arm wrapped around Kuvira's waist, until the latter suddenly gets up.

She switches the cups, then sits back down.

'What the hell was that about?'

'Whatever do you mean?'

'That- that deal of yours, with the teacups. Why do you keep switching them around, why is it always these two, what's your game?'

Kuvira smirks, and suddenly she's straddling Lin.

'It bothers you, doesn't it? Not to get it.'

'Shut up.'

Kuvira nuzzles slowly at Lin's neck, almost purring the words against her skin.

'Well, I'm not telling you. You'll have to figure it out on your own, Chief. You're a detective after all, aren't you?'

'I hate you?'

'No, you don't.'

'No, I don't,' Lin sighs, finally responding to Kuvira's torturously slow kisses. 'Not always.'

…

She still hasn't understood. It's driving her nuts- there has to be a pattern. For a fleeting moment of idiocy, Lin has even considered asking Lord Zuko whether his uncle had ever said something exotic about the significance of teacups- but she hasn't dared asking.

She eventually figures it out; one morning, whilst Kuvira is walking around in Lin's apartment, attempting to locate one of her discarded gloves.

(They really need to stop misplacing their clothes quite so often, Lin realises. One day, one of them is gonna walk out missing a shoulder pad: and they most definitely don't want that happening. People are already suspicious enough as it is.)

'I thought we'd established that staying overnight was, and I quote, 'utterly out of question', Lin dearest?'

Lin groans, a faint blush invading her cheeks. She'd insisted on that stupid rule weeks ago, at the start of their- of whatever it was they were sharing, but back in the post-orgasmic bliss of the night, she might have asked for Kuvira to stay. She may even have hold onto her burning body all throughout the night, refusing to let go until the wee hours of the morning. But it didn't mean anything. Of course not.

'I don't remember anything of the sort.'

'Liar.'

'Listen, if it was so terrible an experience for you, oh Great Uniter, you can very well show yourself out. Door's right over there.'

'You're always so cranky in the morning. I never said I didn't enjoy it, did I?'

'Then be quiet, for once;'

Slouching unceremoniously against the settee, Kuvira blows Lin a kiss, before continuing, despite the warnings.

'All I mean is that, if you insist on waking me up the way you did this morning, I'm gonna have to keep on swapping our cups.'

Lin takes a while to encompass Kuvira's words- she frowns for a moment, before her eyes grow wide all of a sudden, as she realises, finally, the meaning of the mugs' odd little ballet.

'You've gotta be joking-'

'Ah, finally figured it out, did you? Sure took you long enough.'

'You've been- let me get this straight: you've been switching cups depending on- who comes last?'

'First, actually but close enough. That's a good way to keep track, you know,' Kuvira answers earnestly, not the slightest trace of a smile on her lips.

'You're officially the worst person I ever slept with,' Lin declares, leaning back on her seat.

'That's not what you said last night, dear. Blue cup, remember?' she teases, lightly tapping her own mug.

Despite herself, Lin snorts, before reluctantly smiling.

'I really do hate you, Kuv'.'

'I know.'

They kiss, slow and tender, as the sun rises.