Bolin was having the greatest day of his life.
General Iroh, the man he d been dating for the last few months was finally able to pull himself away from his duties long enough to visit him for a couple of weeks. Asami, being the sweetheart that she was, helped him to look ready for the occasion. Something that Mako and Korra took little notice of as Mako made his clothes kind of rumpled by giving him the biggest hug he d ever given, and Korra saw fit to mess up his hair by giving him a noogie.
Not that he was really complaining. It was good to just hang out with the gang and be friends, not probenders or rebels. Sure he wanted to look good for his boyfriend(he still couldn't believe how easy it had become to call the older man that), but relaxing and having a good time with his friends until then was a welcome break from the recent tension of locating all who had lost their bending thanks to Amon to try and fix them.
Mako and Asami decided that this special occasion called for a picnic, as they were certain Bolin would be with Iroh for the entire time of the fire bender's stay, and left together to find supplies.
So to entertain themselves, Korra and Bolin decided to train together, but treated it more like a game than anything. Each one trying to knock the other over while causing as little damage as possible. They continued this dance of theirs for several minutes, Bolin using the earth to shield himself as Korra evaded his attacks, when Korra did something he didn't fully expect.
Using her smaller frame and speed to her advantage, the water tribe girl managed to get behind Bolin, and without warning, used air bending on him from behind, cackling like a madwoman as he landed face first into the mud. He sat up quickly enough, and spit out some of the mud that ended up in his mouth. "Ew! I may be an earth bender, but even I think mud tastes horrible!" he exclaimed before joining Korra in her laughter.
That is, until a blinding pain shot through his skull. Gasping in pain, his hand went right for his throbbing forehead. What happened to him? Noticing his distress, Korra's laughter died and she was at her friends side. "Bolin, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned.
"I dunno but it hurts pretty bad...hang on." Using earth bending, he quickly removed all the mud from his face, and his right eye suddenly saw red. Even he knew what that meant. "I'm bleeding! WHY AM I BLEEDING?" he hollered, hand immediately trying to find the source of the blood to stop it when Korra's hand grabbed his, keeping it still.
"Relax, Bolin. There must have been a rock in the mud or something. But it s not a deep cut, so I can heal it. Just relax, okay? You wouldn't want your boyfriend to see you like this, would you?" she lightly teased, softly tracing the injury with her fingertips before pulling water out of a nearby stream, bringing a comforting cool sensation to his now healing head wound.
And finally, he did relax. Letting out a small groan of satisfaction as the pain numbed. "Have I ever told you how great it is being friends with the Avatar? No? Well, it's fantastic! She can beat me up with my own element, and heal me with another." he said jokingly, fully expecting the punch to his arm at his comment.
"Hey, I don t have to heal you, ya know!" Korra warned, but her mask of frustration faltered as they both started to laugh. After a minute, his wound was almost fully healed, only a small bruised left where the gash had once been. "Seriously though, I'm sorry about that. I should have thought about what might be in the mud." Korra apologized, shoulders slumping.
"Hey, don't worry about it! This is ME we re talking about! I'm more worried about how the rock is doing!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, trying to get her to laugh.
And laugh she did, feeling better about the ordeal already. "Thanks Bolin. You re the greatest."
"I know, I know, but please, feel free to praise me more." smirking, the earth bender leaned back and did a slight waving motion with his hands, as if trying to wash all the praise onto himself.
He didn't even flinch in surprise When Korra's lips rested on his forehead, covering the injury. This had become a regular thing with Korra in recent months, turning her guilt of causing injury into affection for the wounded. It was simple, friendly, sisterly affection. Which is why he couldn't understand why his body tensed when he heard someone clearing their throat from behind him.
A very specific someone clearing their throat.
Pulling away from Bolin, Korra smiled brightly at the newcomer. "General Iroh! You're early! We weren't expecting you until this evening! How was your trip?" she asked, pulling both herself and Bolin to their feet.
"It was oddly tiring. But as smooth as ever. I take it you two are well?" he asked, somewhat stiffly, not quite looking directly at either of them.
"Oh, yeah, we're great! Aside from Korra knocking me into some mud that had a rock in it that gave me a cut on my head that Korra healed!" Bolin said quickly, pointing to the small bruise still visible on his forehead. "Did you know that kisses actually work on boo-boos? Because they totally do!"
And as Iroh processed the information, Bolin just got more stressed. What if he didn't believe him? What if he thought it was a lame cover up story? What if he thought Bolin s previous feelings for Korra never went away and he acted on them? NO! No, he couldn't bear the thought of Iroh thinking he had THAT in common with his brother! (He loved his brother, and things had finally been resolved between he and the girls, but Bolin was still irked by the fact that he cheated on Asami, even if it was only a little.)
But as he waited for Iroh to say something, he received another punch in the arm from Korra who just laughed. "I could have told you that! My parents and Master Katara did that for me all the time when I was a kid. Didn't Mako ever do that for you?" she asked, far too amused by the idea of little Mako kissing Bolin's ouchies as a kid. It was cute...but mostly it was funny to her.
It was all Bolin could do to laugh a little as Iroh continued to stand there, expression never changing, making him all the more nervous. "Ah...s-soooo...Iroh, do you already have a room reserved for you?" he asked, trying hard to change the subject.
"I do. It's the same one from before." Iroh told him, and the image of a fancy but small room with a single bed and a small desk and chair sprang into Bolin's mind. Iroh could always have gotten a better room if he wanted, but the General had an appreciation for the simple things in life, and refused a better room. Bolin sometimes wondered if it was more for his own benefit, though, as Iroh never wanted to intimidate the boy. The thought...made his happy somehow.
"Great! Well, since you're tired from your journey, why don't you get some rest? I ll carry your bag for you!" Bolin decided, taking the good sized but lightweight bag from Iroh's hand, blushing softly as their fingers made contact. "See ya later Korra!" he said, waiving to his very confused looking Avatar friend.
And to the hotel they walked...in complete silence.
Yeesh. Talk about your confidence booster.
Bolin was seated on the surprisingly bouncy bed, watching Iroh intently as he pulled things from his bag. "I-Iroh? Umm...I was telling the truth...about before..." he said, fidgeting a bit, growing more and more uncomfortable about the whole situation. "That s all it was really! I mean, she's dating Mako! We aren-"
"I know." Well, that got him to shut up. Not the words, but the tone of his voice, the strange mixture of frustration and understanding. "You're not that kind of person, Bolin. I never doubted you."
Oh, confusion, is that you? Hi! How's the wife and kids?
"But then...why the silent treatment? I mean, it's great that you believe me! Especially because it's all the truth! But why have you been so quiet?" he questioned, lightly tugging at his thumb, still very nervous.
The General let out a soft sigh and crossed the room to Bolin, leaning down to place a light butterfly kiss on Bolin's bruise. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you."
And Bolin relaxed, smiling a little. "That's not answering my question."
Iroh seated himself next to the other boy, pouting a little in his General Iroh kind of way. "I just...good or bad," he paused, leaning over to kiss the wound again. "I don't want anyone but me leaving a mark on you."
As happy as that made Bolin, he was suddenly very glad he wasn't a fire bender. If he was, with how warm his face was from that confession, and Iroh's lips now on his own, he was sure he would have burst into flames from embarrassment.
Pulling away, Iroh smiled. "I trust you completely, Bolin, and love you whole heartedly. I simply...do not like sharing you."
And this was officially .the happiest day of Bolin's life.