"So I heard you made captain of the guard." She remarks casually, idly stirring her tea.
His face is split in grin so smug and huge it should earn him a ticket, and it doesn't lessen at her observation, he just blinks his powder green eyes in surprise. "Oh, and how did you hear about that?" he doesn't miss a beat, a strand of his dark brown hair, inherited from his father, from his grandfather, falls into his face.
Lin narrows her eyes in disapproval and leans forward to swipe the hair out of his face. His self-satisfied expression doesn't waver. "I'm your mother, I hear everything."
Han snorts and takes a drink of tea, never loosening eye contact but says nothing, apparently content to wait.
She won't rise to the bait, her son is a bit too much like her mother for his own good. "So what else have you been up to, besides working your way through the ranks?"
It didn't seem possible, but his grin widen further and he chuckled. "Ha, I thought you hear everything?"
She grins back this time, caught in their banter. "I suppose I don't hear much about your free time, probably not causing the law enough trouble for news to reach this far."
"That was only once, and only because Grandma Toph encouraged me to do it." He defended easily, "and I've been talking to dad every Sunday about the things I do for fun, doesn't he relay my stories? I always assumed he'd come whirling to your door, bellowing about 'the things your son gets into'."
Her grin falters nearly into a scowl, and she takes a drink before replying. "Tenzin and I… we aren't really on speaking term," she frowns at Han. "Why don't we ever speak about what we do in our spare time when we talk?"
It's his turn for his grin to falter, and he groans before dropping his head to the table with a loud *thump* . "Again?" his low earthy tone is muffled by the tabletop "didn't the two of you just recently start being decent to each other? Weren't you back to being friends?" he tilts his head sideways on the table. "you did sacrifice yourself for him and the kids right?"
"Yes." Short, simple, finale, it's the best he's going to get from her on the subject and he knows it.
Han's face twists in a brief grimace before he sits back up and the grin is back in place, a bit more controlled now. "We don't talk about fun things, mom, we only ever talk about work. Who got arrested for what, which new cop looks to be a promising metal bender, blah blah balh. By the time we're done talking about all that drudgery, we're both so sick of sitting on the phone that we'd rather be off doing our fun things, not talking about them."
The truth in the statement stings more than it should, the mental jab reinforced by the guilt of letting the important things slide. No more, that's part of the point to his visit to Republic City.
"Anyway," and the turbulent feelings are overruled by wariness, he is much too pleased with himself and she knows that means she won't like what he has to say next. "I'm much more interested in what's been going on in your life than what goes on in Omasho after dark."
And there it is, he's thrown the ball in her court and he's letting her plan the next move, even when he knows the end play. It isn't a game she enjoyed with her mother and it's not one she's pleased her son plays.
So she plays ignorance, determined to force him to spit it into the open. "Not much more than I used to do when you lived here, make tea, meditate, read, paperwork," she pretends to look thoughtful, "though I have taken up Pai Sho, not really my kind of game, but it passes the time."
She is satisfied to see the very slight twitch in his left eyebrow, the only indication that he's straining not to burst. "Right, but don't you, I don't know, spend time with other people? Maybe one person in particular? Just, you know, hanging out, walking the town, spending sleepless nights together?"
It's a neat little trap he's placed. Say no and she's lying, even with both of them wearing shoes he can tell when she's lying, say yes and he'll grin in victory and weedle out all the details he undoubtedly already knows, doing so only to make her uncomfortable, to try and make her squirm. It was a game he'd played since he was a boy, her tight control and working stoicism more of a challenge to his frantic little mind than intimidating, as it was to most people in her life.
Buying time, Lin takes a drink, half thinking of the right response and half wondering why she's playing the stupid little dance but is saved from either trail of though when the door chime rings.
"Hey Lee! Buddy, long time no see!" the familiar voice is welcome and a cause for panic all at once, and Lin barley hears the reply of the tea server over the sound of her own chocking. Han looks over her shoulder and he beams at the new arrival, before his eyes -the eyes they share- cut back to her, victories glee dancing in them.
"Regular for me thanks, you know where I'll be." The brash tone edged with feminine pitch grows louder as heavy footfalls bring the woman closer, and within seconds there is a gentle hand on her shoulder, she can feel the calluses through her light shirt.
Lin twists to look up and is met with a rapidly approaching face set with brilliant teal eyes, soft lips press chastely against her own and are drawn back before she can reciprocate.
"Sorry to drop in on you, I just saw you through the window and thought I'd say hi," the darker skinned woman leans close again and their foreheads touch briefly. "I missed you."
"Good to see you again, Korra." Han interrupts, and Lin looks over at him warily. His grin is less faceshattering now, but somehow more smug.
Wait….
"Han!" Korra straightens; hand still on Lin's shoulder. "Hey bud, small world, I was just thinking I'd stop by your hotel in a bit, give you that grand tour of the new arena I promised you."
Hold on one second.
"HA! I thought you said it looks just like the old arena." Han gestures to the empty chair at Lin's side. "Sit, you already ordered, might as well hang for a bit."
Korra laughs. "Sounds good to me. Oh! Fireflakes!" she drops unceremoniously into the chair and dips her thin fingers into the bowel of spicy food. She pops a few in her mouth before speaking again. "and I said it mostly looks like the old arena, and it's not like you ever got an insider's look anyway, Mr. I-was-to-busy-to-join-a-team." She grins challengingly across the table.
"Oh excuse me, Princess-I-practice-bending-better-in-front-of-hundreds-of-people," Han's hand flies to his heart in a mock gesture of hurt. He's about to say something more but Lin's shock has worn down.
"You two know each other?!" apparently not enough to keep her voice from being shrill, but enough to talk at least.
Korra and Han both look at her, surprised for an instant, before Han supplies, all too eagerly. "Yea, we met a couple of days ago when I first arrived, the docks where changed around since the last time I was here and I ended up totally turned around."
"Literally ran right into Naga," Korra supplements with a cheeky grin in Hans direction, before downing more flakes.
Han rolls his eyes good-naturedly. "I happened upon Korra and her polar beardog down in the factory district, and once I explained my situation, she was kind enough to offer me a ride to my hotel."
Korra nodds her agreement."We got to talking about how big the city was and how much had changed after the war, and I offered to show Han some of the most drastic changes since he'd been away so long."
"Then I talked her into a game of Pai Sho and thoroughly trounced her."
It was Korra's turn to roll her eyes. "Whatever, we should have just sparred, I would have beaten you senseless, metal bender or not." The server quietly set her cup of tea in front of her, and she thanked him before taking a sip. As she lowers the cup she suddenly looks suspicions and glances between the two of them. Gaze lingering first on Lin, who sits quietly and waits for comprehension to dawn on her twenty year old lover, then on Han, who's expression is excited, like a child about to receive a gift.
"So, how do the two of you know each other?" Korra's is interested, but only casually so, Lin doubts the flippancy will last for long.
"he's my son." She responses at the exhact moment Han supplies. "She's my mom."
Korra's tea cup stops dead half way to her mouth and she lowers it back to the table, gawking at each of them in turn.
The Jade Dragon, a less impressive branch than it's originator in Ba Sing Se, is silent, save for the sound of ruslting leaves and boiling water.
Korra narrow's her eyes at Han, studying him, she glances occasionally over at Lin, and she can see her young lover's mind working, fitting pieces together, smoothing out the picture. Neither of the BeiFong's speak, Lin content to let Korra work and avoid conversation, Han overjoyed at the look on the faces of either woman.
Korra leans far back in her chair, forcing it to balance on two legs, and twists her head to the side. It only last a moment before she apparently finds what she's looking for, and as she lowers her chair to the floor she raises a finger and points at Han, eyes still narrow.
"Tenzin, right?" she asks, dropping her hand to the table, fingers drumming idly.
"Tenzin, what?" Han baits, leaning forward to rest his chin in his open palm, his elbow on the table top.
The snort is unladylike, but so very Korra, as is the quirky smirk that graces her lips. "He's your dad, right, rock brain?"
Han laughs and glances at Lin. "Oh, I like this one, she's quick."
Lin isn't too sure what she's feeling. Relief that her son doesn't seem to be at all bothered by the fact that she's dating, has been dating, a woman a mere four years younger than himself, that he and Korra get along? Irritation that he'd effectively played her yet again, even if Korra's arrival in the tea shop was coincidental. Worry that the two of them were going to cause her more grief than she'd ever handled before?
Korra made a move for the fireflakes, but Han quickly snatched them up.
Before Korra could make any protest or attempt to grab the snacks back, Han settled one on his thumb, braced by his forefinger. "Hey, Korra, open your mouth, I got this."
As Korra laughs and complies, opening her mouth wide as Han lines up his shot, Lin resigns herself to a mixture of the first and last emotions, and leans her head in her hands, wondering how she, lauded chief of police and legendary hard-ass, had the two most childish, uncouth people in the universe as her closest loved ones.
A fireflake bounced off Korra's cheek and landed on her shoulder, making Lin glance balefully up at the two players, knowing that any attempt to stop the game was futile.
"What kind of shoot was that, rock brain? You missed me entirely." Korra plucked the flake from Lin's shirt and popped it in her mouth.
"If you'd quit moving, ice brain, I could hit the target."
Korra laughs loudly, and tries to snatch at the bowel. "Han, I love Lin more than life itself, but I have to ask, how on earth did you grow up to be as laid-back as you are with her as your mom, and Tenzin as your dad?"
"Oh, well," He sighs dramatically. "it was exceptionally hard, but I had Grandma Toph and Great Uncle Sokka to support my wild, wild ways."
As he embarks on a overly dramatized tale from his youth, making Korra laugh at every ridiculous detail, Lin watches, a content little smile on her face, and thinks that there is no place on earth she'd rather be.
Originaly posted on my Tumblr wolf-shadow. tumblr just delete the spaces, a while ago, so I thought I'd throw it up here to see what people thought.
Yea, so Linorra/Korralin, yay. :)