Korra sat at the breakfast table, yawning. Asami looked up. "Didn't sleep well?"
"Oh, not too bad. Just woke up a couple times. Got a little chilly and had to retrieve the covers." She yawned again.
Korra's remark had been made in a casual, matter-of-fact tone, but Asami felt guilty. The first time or two Korra had teased her about being a cover-thief, it had been amusing. Now, it seemed she was causing her girlfriend to lose sleep. She frowned to herself. "I'm sorry."
Korra stifled another yawn. "No problem," she answered. "You're still getting used to sharing that big bed."
Except, Asami thought to herself, there hadn't been a problem when Korra had first moved in. During the first couple of weeks, they had cuddled together through the whole night, every night. It had been Asami who had been the first one to complain about waking up with pins and needles in an arm or a crick in the neck. Korra hadn't complained about cuddle time getting cut short when it was time to sleep, but now she apparently was getting the short end of the stick. Asami's frown deepened, and she sighed.
As if reading Asami's thoughts, Korra arched her eyebrows and said, "It's not as though I've never kept you awake with my snoring."
"It's not the same thing."
Korra seemed to give this remark serious thought. At last she said, "OK, I give up. Why isn't it?" When Asami didn't answer, Korra smiled, got up and walked around the table. She perched on the edge of the table next to Asami's plate. "Of course, if you are determined to feel guilty about it, I may be able to think of a way for you to make it up to me."
Asami returned her smile and pushed her chair back from the table. Korra had just slipped into her lap and drawn her into a kiss when she heard the door to breakfast room open. The butler cleared his throat diffidently. "I'm sorry, Miss Sato, but it is Mr. Jinzu on the phone. I would not have interrupted, but it sounds most urgent."
Korra sighed, gave Asami a quick kiss on the cheek and got up with a what-can-you-do shrug. Asami went to the telephone. "Hello? Yes, it's me. What? Oh, no no no no no!" She ran a hand through her hair, restraining herself from actually pulling at the roots. "Right. Shut everything down. I'll be in as soon as possible. Oh, and good catch." She hung up the phone and began rushing around, getting her things together to get out the door.
Korra had followed her from the breakfast room. "Bad, I take it?" She handed Asami her jacket.
"Trouble at the plant. I'll explain later." She shrugged on the jacket, grabbed her papers and rushed for the car.
"Take care of yourself. I love you," Korra called after her.
Asami was halfway to the office when she realized that she had left without saying "I love you, too."
The morning had been spent closeted with her top engineers and managers. She and her team were getting to the outline of a plan. They were going over it one more time, looking for holes.
After the same concern was brought up and dismissed twice in five minutes, Asami realized they were spinning their wheels. We're not going to move forward sitting in this room longer. "OK, I think we've got our way through this," she said, "and the first steps are solid. Let the rest of it simmer for a while. If we're still missing something, we'll see it better when we're fresh. For now, let's break and get things underway."
"And as if on cue," came a voice at the doorway. Everyone turned to see Korra standing there, hoisting a large bag. "You all are well past due for lunch. I come bearing noodles." A delightful odor wafted across the conference room. Someone's stomach rumbled audibly, and Asami wasn't entirely certain it wasn't her own.
"I guess lunch is on the Avatar, today." Asami gave Korra a wry smile.
Korra plucked out a single carton and a pair of chopsticks before handing off the sack to the nearest engineer. "Ladies and gentlemen, would you mind if Miss Sato and I had the room?"
After the others had filed out, Asami sighed and looked up at her girlfriend. "Am I in trouble?"
Korra gave her a puzzled look. "No. Why would you be? I just want to spend a few moments with my Sweetest before she plunges back into crisis mode. Also, I intend to make sure you actually do eat your lunch. I figured you wouldn't want your staff see me nag you."
"There's no worry about that. I'm ravenous." She picked up the carton, and then looked at Korra. "Where's yours?"
Korra plopped herself in a chair and put her feet up on the conference table. "I already had mine earlier. You do know that it's almost 2:00, don't you?"
Aghast, Asami twisted to look at the clock behind her. In the process, the noodles she had just lifted from the carton dropped from her chopsticks and into her lap. She cursed.
"Here, let me," Korra said. She walked over and knelt next to Asami. With a gesture, she summoned water from a pitcher on the table and to the stain on Asami's slacks. She began to work at it with a handkerchief. Her closeness made Asami forget her food. She raised a hand, about to stroke Korra's hair. Once you start, she said to herself, you'll have a hard time stopping. And you don't have time. She pulled her hand back. Oblivious, Korra completed her clean-up and pulled the water out of the fabric of Asami's slacks.
"There. All better." She sat back on her haunches and gave Asami a smile. Asami returned one that felt completely unnatural. It must have showed, because Korra's smile got a little worried and she asked, "How bad is it?"
Asami took a bite of noodles in an attempt to regain her composure. "It could be worse. Jinzu really saved the day by catching the problem so early, but we're still going to have production delayed, and that's going to cost us. The plant got the wrong instructions. Guess which idiot was responsible for that." She gestured at herself with her chopsticks.
Korra didn't answer immediately. When she did, she seemed to be picking her words out carefully. "You know, I'm pretty sure that if one of your employees had made the mistake, you wouldn't call them an idiot. Either to their face or their back. And you wouldn't tolerate someone else calling them an idiot, either."
Asami grimaced. "Jinzu gave me this same talk," she said. In fact the old plant foreman's speech had been quite reminiscent of some of the pep talks she herself had given to subordinates in the past. It had been a bit annoying.
Korra shrugged. "Then I'll keep it short and summarize with 'Yeah. What he said.'"
"I know, I know. It's just…"
"It's just that you find it easier to give someone else a break than it is to give yourself one." Her smile took any sting out of the observation. "Anyway," Korra continued, "I also thought I'd better ask you if you think you'll be up to that charity ball tonight."
Asami closed her eyes and said a very unladylike word at the top of her voice. "I forgot that was tonight."
"I can't think why," Korra said deadpan. Asami stuck out her tongue at her. Korra grinned. "Do you want me to call Zhu Li and give our apologies?"
"No," Asami said. "I need to at least put in an appearance. Thanks for reminding me. It would have been bad to just flake out on her."
Korra stood and kissed her on the top of the head. "If you're sure. I'll admit that I've been looking forward to seeing you in that dress you got. Want me to meet you here?"
"Yeah. Got a lot done this morning, but it will still be a bit of a late one." She set down her noodles and massaged her temples.
"I'll get out of your hair, so it doesn't have to be quite a bit of a late one." Korra caught her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before heading for the door. "Love you, Sweetest."
Asami gave her a wave. "See you tonight." She picked her noodles back up.
Five minutes later, she realized that she had again forgotten to say "I love you." Asami bent over and slowly beat her forehead against the tabletop.
It was almost 8:00 when Asami put the last of her files away and turned out the lights in her office. It looked like everyone else had gone home. That was good. Everyone had had a hard enough day due to her mistake. She didn't want to ruin their evenings as well. That thought was shortly followed by the memory that she had promised Korra that they would still go to Varrick and Zhu Li's ball. And that she would meet Korra here at the office. Feeling slightly panicked, she hurried through the corridors toward the more public areas of the office.
Korra was alone in the reception area, performing waterbending katas in a full length formal ball gown. Asami recognized it as a fine control exercise. The total amount of water wasn't enough to fill a teacup. Korra had it split into six separate droplets, each following a slightly different arc around her body. The skirt of her gown rose and fell as she spun and glided through the steps of the form. Asami's breath caught in her throat at the sight. Korra caught sight of her standing in the doorway. She kept working through the routine, but flashed a smile at Asami as she whirled past. Asami felt her own smile rise, the first smile that felt truly genuine since that morning. She leaned against the doorframe to watch.
Korra came to the end of the form and gestured her water to return to a phial hanging around her neck like a pendant. She practically bounced over to Asami and gave her a big hug. Asami held on tight to her.
"Hey, Sweetest," Korra said. "Good to see you."
"I'm sorry I kept you waiting so long. I'm…I'm just sorry. For everything today."
Korra broke the hug but placed her hands on Asami's shoulders. "Hey. None of that. You had important stuff to do. What's to apologize for?"
"I kept you awake last night by stealing the covers, I'm making you miss the ball." She felt tears well up. "I didn't tell you I love you. Twice."
Korra reached up to brush Asami's tears away. "I don't think it's possible to count how many times something didn't happen," she teased. Despite herself, Asami laughed. "Besides," Korra continued. "You're wrong. You told me you loved me plenty of times today. You just didn't use words. You told me by worrying about how your really crappy day was affecting me. You told me every time you let me help you with something. You told me with that smile you gave me when you walked through that door."
She pulled Asami into a kiss. Asami sighed in contentment. When at last they broke the kiss, Asami touched her forehead to Korra's, eyes still closed.
"C'mon, let's go," Korra said. Asami opened her eyes and looked at her girlfriend questioningly. "I brought your dress along, so you can get changed before we go. I am going to take you to that party and make sure you are properly spoiled for the rest of the evening."
The party was lovely, and Korra was as good as her word. She sat Asami at a table next to the dance floor. She then proceeded to fetch a delectable meal of finger food before rushing off to the bar. The noodles of her late lunch seemed a lifetime ago. Asami tucked into the meal, doing her best to slow down and enjoy it properly.
A young man approached Korra at the bar. He leaned casually next to Korra, and made some doubtlessly fatuous remark to her. Korra's smile went cool and slightly edged, but she seemed polite enough in her dismissal of him. No one in their vicinity seemed compelled to back away from an impending explosion at least.
Korra returned with two tall frosty glasses each bearing a long cocktail skewer that seemed to hold an entire fruit salad. "A fruity girly drink for my lady, and a virgin fruity girly drink for me. The extra cherry is my reward for being a virtuous designated driver."
Asami pulled the skewer from her glass and sucked a chunk of pineapple off the end. It tasted of ice and rum. "Who was the guy at the bar?"
Korra shrugged. "Some brat who figured he'd try his chances. You've seen his like before. Forget about him. I intend to. Let's just enjoy these and then hit the dance floor."
Asami would have liked to forget the brat, but he seemed to be determined not to be forgotten. Any time she and Korra separated, he seemed to pop up at Korra's side. Asami found herself less and less respecting Korra for keeping her temper in check and more and more wishing that she would haul off and slug the little pest.
Still he was a small blot on what was otherwise a surprisingly pleasurable night. At first, she had only planned on them making a small token appearance. But now it was approaching midnight. Asami was contemplating whether to ask Korra for one last dance, or to skip straight to going home for a more private form of exercise.
That was when the brat made his final play. This time he brought a wingman. A nervous looking kid came up with him and said, "Miss Sato, may I ask the pleasure of a dance."
Asami hesitated. Manners and a desire not to take things out on an innocent bystander might have prompted her to say yes, if the brat had just kept his mouth shut. "And then perhaps you would care to dance with me, Avatar Korra?"
"Listen, you obnoxious little twerp," Korra shouted, "I've had enough of you! I'd say you can't take a hint, except I haven't been hinting. I've been telling you straight out that I'm not interested. And now you pull your friend into your mess and get him to bother my girlfriend? Do you really like rejection this much, because you're not getting anything else out of this scheme."
The brat's face turned crimson, and he rushed from the room. Korra clapped a hand over her face. Asami thought she could hear her counting under her breath. At length Korra sighed and said, "Just a minute. I'd better clean this up," and pushed her way through the staring crowd to follow the boy.
After a brief hesitation, Asami followed. She saw Korra pass through a set of glass doors to the outside. Taking a deep breath, Asami followed her out to the terrace.
The boy was seated on a bench with his head in his hands. Korra stood next to him arms folded and a slightly exasperated look on her face. Asami stayed back, partially concealing herself behind a decorative shrub that flanked the doors to the terrace.
"You aren't seriously going to get this bent out of shape about getting shot down by a woman you've never met before tonight?" Korra was saying. Her tone was not unkind, although a bit of her strained patience came through.
"I should have known better. You're with Asami Sato. I mean she's so perfect. A guy like me never stood a chance."
Korra sat down next to the young man and patted him on the shoulder. She looked like a big sister about to deliver A Talk to her little brother. Asami smiled crookedly, feeling embarrassed that she'd let him get her hackles up.
"Look, kid," Korra said. "It's true that you don't stand a chance. That has nothing to do with Asami being perfect and you not. I don't want someone perfect." Korra leaned on her knees looking at nothing in particular. "I mean, think about it seriously. What would it be like to be with someone perfect? You'd have nothing to give them. Except an endless series of opportunities for them to exercise their perfect tolerance. Sounds soul destroying."
The kid actually looked up at that. He clearly was having a hard time getting his head around the concept. Korra continued, "No, Asami is better than perfect. She's real. That means things don't always go the way either of us want, but the bad times are what make you appreciate the good times. She's also the love of my life. Pretty much by definition no one stands a chance against that." The kid sagged a bit more at these words. Asami, on the other hand, felt as if she were standing on air. She kept quiet and kept watching.
"Despite your honestly obnoxious persistence tonight, you seem like you might be an OK guy," Korra continued. "Can I give you some friendly advice?"
The kid muttered a hesitant "Yeah?"
"Don't set your sights for someone who's already spoken for. The heart wants what it wants, I get that. But whether you succeed or not, someone's likely to get hurt. I'm not saying this as someone who has any moral high ground on this point. I'm saying this as someone who's far luckier than she deserves to not have destroyed her own chance at happiness. And when you do find someone of your own, just remember perfection's overrated. Do your best for the person you're with and accept the same from her. Or him. OK?"
He looked up at Korra with a hesitant smile. "OK." She patted him on the shoulder again, got up, and started to head back inside. Asami leaned against the wall behind her potted plant and waited.
When Korra drew level with her, Asami gave her an apologetic smile and a wave. "Sorry. Eavesdropping." Korra just gave her a big grin, grabbed her hand and lead her through the terrace doors. Asami got a wobbly feeling in the knees that she was pretty sure had nothing to do with fruity girly drinks. "Take me home?" she said quietly.
Korra looked up at her with a dazzling smile. "My pleasure, pretty lady."
Down in the car, Asami twisted sideways in the passenger seat. She laid her head on the seat back and gazed at her girlfriend behind the wheel.
Korra glanced over at her, meeting her eyes. "You're going to make me blush."
"Good." Asami sighed in contentment. "What did I do to deserve you?"
"It depends," Korra said, straight-faced. "Am I a good thing?"
"Definitely. The best thing."
"Then the answer is 'Everything.'"
"You were right, you know."
Korra assumed a mock pious expression. "I so often am. What did I get right this time?"
"I don't want perfect either. Most of this day has been pretty horrible. But right now I wouldn't trade it for a perfect one."