Title: Not As Cold With You Around Me
Word Count: 1,712
Summary: [In which Korra wakes Mako up early, and he takes her for a ride all over the city. | Makorra. Pre-Book 2.]
A/N: Ah-ha. Just a quick fic, I say. Nothing too big, I say. (as I write almost 2k words for this thing .)
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be-the-peaf · Prompt 042 – winter is…
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The first time it snows in Republic City, Mako feels like he's second to know – literally.
"Mako, come on! Wake up!" Korra groans, pulling his bare arm from the bed as he yawns and grabs the clock from the nightstand. He has to swipe his arm over his blurred eyes a few times before he can read it correctly, and he pulls back, slipping his arm from her grasp and shoving the clock closer to his face to make sure he read that right.
"Korra, its 3:30 in the morning!" he says, pointing at the clock face. "Why'd you get me up this early?"
"Because–" she says, leaning to him on her toes. "–I have something to show you."
He sighs, throwing his hand across his scalp. "Can't it wai–"
"Nope." She grabs the clock and throws it back on the bed. "Now come on."
-.-
Korra drags him to the kitchen window and draws open the blinds, a grin spread wide on her face and he yawns (again) as his feet pad over the cold floor till he's almost touching the glass with the tip of his nose.
He stares at the white-lined street for a moment, and then glances at her.
"So?" he says. "It's just snow."
She bounces on the tips of her feet, her smile never faltering.
"I know, I know. But look at it!" she says, pressing her face to the window. "I've never seen so much on the street before! It's almost like the roads back home!"
"It won't last long, you know. They'll be sending out waterbenders to clear out the roads soon." He says, walking back to the bedroom. "Come on, we should try to get some more sleep."
"I'll be there in a minute." She says, her breath fogging up the glass. He looks at her for a moment, standing by the frame of the door. Then, he goes back to the bedroom, crawls under the covers, and goes to sleep.
-.-
He wakes up hours later facing her. Sunlight peaks in through the door and Mako stifles yet another yawn as his head flops back on the pillow to watch Korra sleep. It's only been a few hours, and the apartment is silent and void of all noise. Korra sleeps soundly, her face half-buried in the pillow and hair strewn in a tangled mess and Mako smiles, extending his fingers to brush away the strains of hair that lie in front of her nose.
She doesn't wake at the touch, and Mako spends a few more minutes laying there before sweeping back the covers and going to the kitchen. He takes the kettle on the shove and runs it under the sink, filling it with cool water. Looking out the window, the streets are cleared, the snow pushed off to the sides and the people walking in rows around them. He frowns, thinking how disappointed Korra would be, having been away from home for so long, and he turns the tap off and lights the stove. He watches as the flames wave around the bottom of the kettle, waiting for it to pick up a boil. He turns to grab a mug from the cupboard and sees Korra walk into the kitchen, wrapping a robe around her waist.
"Hey." She says, tightening the tie. "Have you been awake long?"
"Not really." He replies, reaching for a cup. "Want some tea?"
She nods as she crosses the room and rests on the wall by the window.
"Looks like you were right." She says, looking down to the street below.
Mako scoops some tea leaves into the cups and pours the water over them. "Yeah, looks like it."
He gives her one of the cups and steam dances in front of her face.
"I should probably head back to the Air Temple after this." She says, blowing on the tea as the leaves soak the water with flavor. "Tenzin will want me for morning practice."
She pouts slightly, staring into the tea and his lips rise in a meek smile as he lowers the kettle into the sink to cool off.
"Want me to give you a ride?" he asks, and she immediately lifts her head, her eyes shining.
"Sure."
-.-
They finish their tea, pull on their clothes and head out the door. His motorbike roars to life in the chilled air. Korra takes the seat behind him, locking her arms around his stomach as he revs the engine once, checking to see if anyone coming their way, and drives onto the wet streets.
The wind nips at his face and he wished he'd at least brought his goggles along, but he pulls his scarf over his nose at a stop, tucking it in place to ward off the cold. Korra presses her chin below his neck as they speed down the road, weaving between Satomobiles and passing pedestrians in a blur. It's only when he takes a right at the next corner that she lifts her head, craning her mouth up to the edge of his ear as the wind blows against her lips.
"Mako, this isn't the way to the bay."
"I know." He says, his voice muffled by the scarf as he glances back at her. "Just trust me, okay?"
She looks at him for a moment, and then hugs her arms around his chest, resting her cheek on his back. She shuts her eyes.
"Okay."
-.-
The roads twist and turn beneath her shut eyelids and she feels like she's floating – gliding through the city with her arms around his warm back. It lasts for a while – so long that she thinks she might fall asleep – but she cracks her eyes open, watching as the concrete rushes by them, the tires spinning a thousand times over to take them to their destination, wherever it may be.
It's another turn to the left and down the street before they finally stop, pulling slowly at side of the curb. Mako puts his foot to the side, balancing them out and she lifts her head to see where he has taken her, so far out of the way.
And her eyes are met with a path lined with bare trees and a blanket of shimmering white snow. She can hardly believe the state of it – with the exception of a few lines of footprints going through the sparkling snow, the path is nearly untouched – a wide and open land stretching on for what seems like forever. Or, at the very least, all her eyes can see.
Mako tosses his other leg over the bike and faces her.
"They don't get the park until all the streets are cleared." he explains, putting a hand on his thigh. "What do you think?"
Her answer is a strong, ramming hug that almost knocks him from the bike.
"I love it." She says, locking her fingers over his shoulder. "Thanks for bringing me here."
"Well, I didn't take you all the way out here just to look at it." He grins and steps onto the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. "Let's take a walk, just the two of us."
Korra nods, and follows him into the park.
-.-
There's no set path – at least not one that they can see – but they try to stay in the middle, walking between the rows of trees at their sides. The snow crunches beneath their feet, and Korra hugs onto Mako's arm, walking close to him. Their footprints lay out behind them – and everything is quiet.
"This is nice." She says, looking at the snow covered branches above. Mako follows her eyes, and squints as the sun's rays hit his own. He lifts his arm, covering his brow.
"Yeah it – whoa!" he shouts, his foot sliding beneath a hidden patch of ice. He tries to regain his balance but then Korra lands on an icy spot, her leg shooting forward as they both slam onto the ground, the snow doing nothing to ease their fall.
"Ouch…" Korra says, pressing her hands on a knee that hit the concrete a little too hard. "You okay?"
Mako brushes the snow from his pants and stands, holding a hand out to help her to her feet.
"Yeah, fine."
"Maybe there's a reason why not a lot of people have gone –" He lifts her to the ground. "– down here; this road is probably full of ice."
Mako runs his foot on the snow and it slides and slips on the ice.
"You're probably right." He says, tapping his foot on the ice. "Should we head back?"
"Might as well." Korra swipes the snow from the clothes. "Tenzin is probably wondering where I am."
She walks back on the path and winces as her foot lands on the ground. Mako holds his hands around her.
"You okay?" he asks.
"Yeah," she says. "I just hit my knees a little too hard. I'll be fine, I just have to get used to it."
He kneels down in front of her.
"Get on."
"I told; I'm fine." She smiles. "There's no need for that. Besides, you might slip on more ice on the way back and hurt us even more."
"I'll just walk on our footsteps." He says. "It's partly my fault you're banged up in the first place. Come on, it won't take that long to get back."
Korra shakes her head, but finds herself climbing onto his back all the same. He walks in their footprints, taking each step carefully as her hands dangling in front of his chest, her chin buried in the folds of his scarf.
A few minutes later his feet land on solid, snow-free ground once again and Korra eases herself off his back as he goes to start up the bike.
"To Air Temple Island, Miss?" he says, patting the seat behind him. Korra walks up to him, saddles herself on the bike and places a kiss on his wind-dried cheek.
"Anywhere you want." She whispers.
Mako smiles, revs the engine and rolls the motorbike onto the street. The city goes past them in a blur and the wind still stings at his face – only this time, it's not nearly as cold.
:Fin:
I was rushing with this so it's not really edited much (might go run through it tomorrow and revise it a bit if I have time – then again, I might not. But I think it works just fine as it is.)
Hope you liked it! Happy Holidays! :)