"Bolin." Mako stood in the threshold of the wooden door, arms crossed, face stiff. Although it was nearing midnight, the younger brother was sitting at the makeshift table, popping spinach dumplings from a paper bag into his mouth. He turned from his food-bliss toward the voice near the doorway.

"What's up, bro," he said sleepily. Mako slowly walked to him, eyes burning with a special flame, but lips tightly sealed. "You don't look so good. We just saved Korra! What's wrong?"

"Yes, about Korra," Mako started tersely, "Just a few minutes ago Asami didn't even talk to me." Bolin stopped chewing, frozen. "When I reached to hold her hand, she avoided it to fix her hair instead." Bolin swallowed, saying nothing. "When she turned her back away from me and said, 'Why don't you go kiss Korra good night? It's not like you haven't before.'"

Except for the crunching of folding paper, silence filled the room, only highlighting the lack of response from Bolin. Mako didn't budge from his stance, feet apart, arms crossed. And Bolin didn't know what to say until he decided to say something. "Okay? Well, I dunno what's going on between you two-"

"Yes, you do, Bolin! Don't try to play dumb with me," Mako asserted. Even with the sun completely vanished, his speech pulsated with fire and energy.

"What do you want, Mako? What're you trying to say?" Bolin frowned.

"Stop it, Bolin. You started this mess," Mako said bitterly, pacing about the room. "It's obvious that you told Asami that Korra and I kissed! Couldn't you've kept your mouth shut? Now how're we supposed to work together to take down Amon when half the team's trying to take each other down! And it was just that one sentence, Bolin," Mako seethed, trying to control his breathing, "that's making the team fold in on itself. Thank you very much." Another dip of silence followed when Bolin stood from his stool to throw the bag away, when he answered,

"I dunno how you can blame me when it's clear that you're in the center of all this... this drama!" He placed his arms akimbo, glaring at his brother. "Tell me how I'm the one who sent the avalanche tumbling, will you? All I did was say the truth!"

"What you did was connect an unnecessary line between Korra and Asami," Mako retorted, "and you know they're barely cooperating as it is. And now even that isn't possible. Guess who's getting the rap for this-me! The fall of Team Avatar will be stained with my name, and that's not the worst of it. I," he jabbed, pointing a thumb at himself, "really like Korra and Asami. You ruined my chances with either of them."

Bolin stepped closer to his brother, a scowl on his face. "Maybe that's good, not for you, but for them!" Mako let loose surprise on his expression. "You can't just play around with their hearts, Mako! You can't just kiss Asami on one cheek and Korra on the other! How do you think they feel? I'm no girl, but I know that it really, really hurts!"

"How do you know what's going on in their-"

"Because I can see it, Mako! They both love you, and here you are, tryin' to play this eenie-meenie-miney-mo game and saying that you love them. I don't-I don't know what to say!" Bolin threw up his hands in defeat.

As he was about to turn away, Mako returned, "What do you know about love, Bolin! I'm eighteen years old, and that's what young lovers do-they love and they get confused! I'm sure you'll get caught up in this sort of web, but you know what the difference is? I won't cause any more trouble than there already is!"

With a morose sigh, Bolin walked towards his room. "I never said I knew anything about love. But I know that I had to tell Asami what was really going on so she won't suffer any more pain. I know you're my big brother and all but-you really disappointed me, Mako." He climbed up the stairs for a sleepless night.

Mako unfolded his arms, his anger dissipating with the realization of his loneliness. He felt resigned, forlorn. Unwanting to toss and turn in bed all night, he began boiling water for a cup of tea and contemplation.