Title: Stormy Night
Word Count: 1,261
Summary: [It's raining when the Probending match ends. Mako invites Korra to stay with them for the night. | Mako. Korra. Bolin. The Fire Ferrets.]

Rating: K+

-.-

The Fire Ferrets win the seventh match of the season without a hitch. The crowd cheers them on as they ride across the platform to the changing room, waving to the crowd and sending looks of congratulation to one another. Mako and Bolin have no trouble peeling off the layers of their sweaty uniforms while Korra removes only the top layer, taking a seat on the bench to cool off. Clad in her pants and red undershirt, she watches as the crowd slowly leaves the stands.

It doesn't take long for everyone to leave, and soon the arena is a graveyard of paper cups and discarded popcorn. Even the water below the arena has settled. The brothers leave silently, shutting the door behind them and Korra goes to the locker, getting into her normal attire. As she fashions her armbands tight across her skin, her ears pick up something, a low noise coming from the arena. However, when she looks out to check she finds that there's no one there; nothing at all. She shrugs it off and leaves the room, discarding her interest.

To her surprise, Bolin is waiting for her in the hall.

"Hey Korra." he says, leaning against the wall.

"Bolin? I thought you guys went up to the attic." Korra replies, pointing a finger down the hall to where the brothers stay.

"Yeah well, I thought I'd wait for you to get done changing." He says, scratching at his cheek and giving an uneasy smile as Korra looks at him with a raised brow.

"You know," he explains, his eyes shifting down the hallway. "Walk you out?"

Korra understands, and smiles at her friend.

"That'd be great," she says with the earnest. "Thanks, Bolin."

-.-

"Oh, and Mako says we need to work on defense if we're going to face off against the Rabaroos." Bolin says as they walk the barren hall.

"What? But we creamed them last time!" Korra exclaims, throwing her hands into the air.

"Yeah, but from what Toza's been telling us, they're getting better." Bolin waves his finger. "No easy shots for us this time."

"Fine..." Korra sighs. "I guess you're right. I'll see if I can get over for practice early, then."

"Okay." he says, and he nods toward the arena's entrance. "We're here."

The noise sounds out from in front of them and Korra leans forward, squinting as they approach the doors. They look out the windows to see black clouds and rain that seems to be never-ending from them. In the distance, Korra thinks she can hear thunder.

"Great, now I have to cross the bay in a crummy storm." she sighs, rubbing her forehead. Placing a hand on the door handle, she turns to Bolin. "Thanks for walking with me Bolin. I should probably get going, I'll see you later."

She's just about to open the door when she hears:

"Hey Bolin."

The two of them turn around to see Mako.

"Where have you been, man?" Mako says, approaching his brother.

"I was just walking Korra out." Bolin replies, pointing at her.

"I was just leaving." Korra adds from the door.

"Well come on then, I've got dinner ready." Mako says, waving for Bolin to follow. But then he stops and takes a look out the window for a moment, watching the rain fall fast and heavy onto the concrete before straightening up.

"You should come too." He says to Korra, pointing at the window. "You'll get soaked out there."

"I'm a waterbender, remember?" she replies, crossing her arms. "I can handle a little rain."

"Come on, Korra." Bolin says. "You don't want to get sick."

Mako nods at his brother.

"Just until it eases up, then you can go." He says, and Korra gives a heavy sigh before walking from the door.

"Fine," she says. "Lead the way."

-.-

Despite the rain, the attic is still lit up with the lights of the arena. The falling water spreads like mist over the haze of golden light, which covers a majority of the windows. Bolin flops down on the couch in the corner while Mako walks to the opposite end of the room.

"I'll have to heat the food again…" he says, sounding a little annoyed as he places himself in front of the small gas stove. With a little bending, the fire is quickly lit up and ablaze and the room is filled with the sound of popping grease. Korra goes over to the couch and sits beside Bolin.

"Doesn't look like it's going to stop soon," Korra notes, looking behind to the window. Bolin places his arm across the back, craning his head.

"Doesn't seem like it," he says and he squints as his eyes gaze into the rain. "You can't even see Air Temple Island – it's just so… black."

"I hope they'll be okay, in this storm." Korra sighs.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, it's not the first bad storm this city's had." Mako says as he walks over to the couch, holding the frying pan and a stack of plates. He puts the fryer on the table and gives one of the plates to Bolin, holding the other one in Korra's direction.

"Take it," he says. "You can have some too."

"Thanks," she says, taking the plate. After waiting for Bolin and Mako to fill their plates, she put a little of the food, which seems to be fried noodles, onto hers.

She takes a bite.

"This is good," she says, surprised, as she chews the slippery noodles. Bolin agrees, it seems, as his mouth is currently full of them. But somehow, he still manages to speak through the mess.

"Yeah, Mako's always been a good cook." He says, slurping up the last scraps from his plate before reaching for the pan to fill up again. Mako blows on his noodles, his plate mostly untouched.

"I'm just a quick learner," he says. "It's nothing."

"Well I think it's great," Korra points at him. "So, I hear the Rabaroos are strengthening their defense?"

"Yeah, that's what Toza told me. We'll need to work on some drills in practice this week."

"Sounds good to me," Korra shrugs, and places her empty plate on the table.

The rain continues to drench the world beyond the glass and the three teammates talk about Probending, bending moves and techniques, and eventually any assortment of topics. Bolin even gets Pabu to do a few tricks – some unsuccessful and the small fire ferret falls to floor – but they laugh just as loud and the sound echoes around the room, drowning out the sound of the storm rumbling behind their heads.

"Come on, Pabu! One more go!" Bolin says, cupping his hands around the ferret as he places him on the table. Pabu stretches and yawns, curling up into a ball of fur.

"Looks like Pabu's done for the night," Bolin sighs, leaning back on the couch. Mako nods and sits back as well. As he looks past his brother, he can't help but grin at the sight of Korra slumped over herself on the couch, a low snore escaping through her lips as she breathes.

"Looks like he's not the only one that's tired." He says and Bolin gets up and pulls a blanket from a nearby crate, wrapping it over her. She slides back into the couch as he does and Bolin freezes, hoping she's not awake.

"Don't worry, she's long gone." Mako laughs, rising from his seat. "Let's get some sleep; it doesn't look like this rain will let up."

:Fin:

*flails because writing my way through writer's block is so much harder than it sounds* DX

This was going to be shipping and stuff but nope. Oh well, I needed to write more Bolin anyway.