"This is so embarrassing," Mako muttered, his face practically glowing with the force of his blush.
"Oh shut up you big baby," Korra teased, shifting him in her arms. "You sprained your ankle and can't walk. How else are you supposed to get anywhere?"
"I can walk," he protested, then muttered, "Just not very quickly or well…"
"Exactly. Can you open the door for me? My hands are kind of full." She smiled cheekily.
He shoved the door open sulkily, and she carried him across the threshold with a "Honey, we're home!"
Bolin looked up from his pallet where he was reading a well-worn pro-bending book. "What happened?"
"I think His Grace here sprained his ankle when we were sparring in the training room. Do you have any bandages?"
"Sure," he tossed his book aside and dug out a med kit from under a pile of holey socks while Korra deposited Mako on his own pallet.
He folded his arms and glared at the wall as Korra sat beside him and placed his foot in her lap so she could get a better look at it. When she started to take off his boot, Mako protested, "Korra, you don't have to- I can take care of it myself."
"Sure you can. Just like you can walk." She winked at Bolin, who chuckled and handed over the kit.
"There should be something in there you can use," he said. "I don't know how much of it is left, though. We kind of go through a lot," he shrugged sheepishly. "But most of it is on me," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I can't remember the last time Mako hurt himself training. What happened exactly?"
Mako refused to answer, returning his gaze to the window to sulk.
"I'm not really sure," Korra said, pulling out a long strip of gauze and wrapping his ankle carefully. "One minute he fine and the next, bam! Down like a bag of rocks."
Bolin eyed his brother suspiciously. "Anything to add, brother?"
"It was just an accident. It happens."
Korra finished her ministrations and tied off the wrap and declared it good with a pat. Bolin invited her to stay for dinner, but she had to get back to the Air Temple. Jinora was cooking tonight and Korra promised to be there for it.
As soon as Korra was gone, Bolin turned on his brother. "I refuse to believe that was just an accident. Tell me what really happened."
Mako let out an exaggerated sigh, massaging his ankle and replaying the scene in his head.
It had started out innocently enough. Mako stumbled upon Korra putting in some extra hours in the training room since she had an afternoon off and they had a big match coming up. When he saw he, he knew immediately she'd already been hard at work. She'd been covered in a thin sheen of sweat, and had stripped down to just her tank top and a pair of shorts. The shorts were still loose and down to her knees, but Mako hadn't seen her legs since the party thrown by the sponsors. He was a little distracted by the sight of her.
She noticed him and smiled. "Hey Mako, just what I needed."
"What?"
"Spar with me! I'm bored of drills right now and Tenzin had me meditating all morning. I need to get my blood pumping!"
Mako could tell with one look that there was no way she was going to let him leave with out fighting her, whether he was willing or not. So he sighed and reluctantly agreed. "Just let me warm up first," he said as she pumped her fist in celebration.
"No problem, I'll just go get some water and be right back."
He took off his jacket, which left him in his ratty white tank top and loose pants, and began a series of stretches. He warmed up with the same drill every day and the familiarity calmed him when the Avatar stressed him out.
He finished the series with a bow to the open room and turned to Korra, who was waiting impatiently for him to finish.
"What do you say to a firebending match?" She asked with a grin.
"You should really be fighting with your waterbending…"
"I want to do something different today," she waved him aside. "Besides, if I can fight better with fire, I can better guess what my opponent is going to do. Assuming they're anywhere near as good as me of course." She laughed at her false bravado and Mako rolled his eyes.
"You can talk like that when you've beaten me," he said firmly. "Alright, fire it is."
They quickly put on their protective gear and then stood in the middle of the room, face to face.
"Let's do this," Korra said, face aglow with excitement.
She made the first strike, a high kick combo that Mako dodged easily. Korra struck again with a sweeping kick but he countered with a kick of his own, spinning the girl around and pushing forward on the offensive. He attacked with a series of jabs and Korra leapt back, out of range.
"Team Korra to Zone Two," Mako called out with a devious sort of satisfaction. He always won against her, but he still took pleasure in his victories.
""Hardly!" Korra retorted, shooting a fireball in his general direction as she weaved in and out of his rapid-fire attacks. "There are no boundaries in here!"
"Is that so?" He grew more aggressive in his attacks, pushing her further and further back, away from the heat. He knew he was beginning to show off a little, and his attacks became more acrobatic and complicated. Korra couldn't dodge all of them.
She wasn't done yet, though. Her bright eyes sparkling were the only hint of what she had planned for him.
Suddenly, Korra dug in hard and with a powerful burst of fire, Mako found himself being the one backed into a corner. His flashy moves were coming back to bite him as he found himself too tired to fight back.
But in that moment of attack, there was something so sensual, see Korra so alive and passionate with the chance of victory and almost literally on fire that Mako lost his focus. She was aglow with the flames that surround the two fighters, her face open and proud as exhilaration ran through every vein in her body.
Unfortunately, that moment cost him dearly. Intoxicated with the sight of her, the next strike blew him back and as he tried to jump away and regain his balance, he lost his footing.
He went down hard and Korra immediately stopped her attack. "Mako! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he said with a slight groan. He knew he was hurt, but he wasn't about to admit it.
He tried to get back on his feet and his left leg buckled under his weight.
"Whoa there," Korra said, suddenly at his side. She ducked under his arm and propped him up so he was standing on his right leg and resting part of his weight on her. "Let's get you upstairs, champ. Can you walk at all?"
"I can walk just fine." He tried to take a step, but even with Korra's support, it was obvious he wasn't going anywhere fast. He was too worn out from the fight.
"Oh no you don't," she caught him as he stumbled again. "Clearly there's only one solution to this little situation."
With an evil grin, she swept him off his feet, one arm hooked under his knees and the other around his torso. Mako sputtered protests, but they fell on deaf ears.
"I think you sprained your ankle," Korra finally said. "Since it won't support your weight, but if it doesn't hurt that bad, you probably didn't break anything."
"I know what a broken bone feels like," he muttered. It wasn't helping his argumentative skills to have her face so close to his. He could count her eyelashes if he were so inclined. Which he wasn't. Because he was being carried like a child up the stairs to his apartment.
"Oh good, so then it probably is just a sprain," Korra continued easily. Mako couldn't believe the girl was hardly even out of breath. Hadn't she been training even before they'd sparred? And was it wrong to still be so easily distracted as she held his body against hers?
"Well?" Bolin insisted, waving his hand in front of his brother's face. Mako shook himself out of the memory.
There was no way he was going to tell his little brother all that. Bad enough Bolin witnessed him being carried in. Mako wasn't about to add fuel to the fire by admitting it had happened because he'd been turned on in the middle of a fight with Korra.
"Accidents happen to the best of us," he finally answered. "You're on your own for dinner, I'm going to sleep."
a/n Yep yep. Inspired by a pic going around tumblr of Korra carrying Mako bridal style. Good times. :)