"Can I ask you something?"
Normally, Asami was furious whenever someone interrupted her reading; this time however was different. She was sitting back to back with her best friend on the couch of her living room - or parlor, as her dad might have called it. She was, as mentioned earlier, reading, and for once it was a novel. She had not been reading "for fun" for a very long time before that.
Korra however was reading some legal documents. Even before she had started, Asami knew the impatient Avatar would not last long until she was bored. It had been 23 minutes 7 seconds, far longer than the heiress had assumed.
"Shoot", she answered the question. "What did you see in Mako when you first started dating", Korra moved a bit, so she could look at her friend over her shoulder. Asami shrugged: "I don't know. The first date was really just because I had ran him over. But after that… I think it was because he was so not like the other men I met at these high society meetings." She made a pause to think it over. Yes, she thought, this must have been the reason. "What about you, Korra?"
Asami felt her friend's body move as if something had hurt her. "I actually think I crushed on him because he was the first to not kiss my butt even though he knew I was the Avatar", she said, but somehow it sounded like a question. Evidently she needed someone to confirm her theory.
"That could be", Asami answered, then lightly joked: "You know it could be worse - you could have crushed on Lin Beifong for the same reason." The Avatar shifted again, her back got rigid. "Yeah", she clearly faked the following laugh, "could have."
Asami turned so her feet were dangling over the edge of the sofa. Her friend, not anticipating the movement, flopped backwards into the cushions. Looking down at the blushing girl, Asami asked: "You had a crush on Lin?!" Korra looked up like a sheeppig to its butcher. "Don't tell me you still have", the CEO said, clearly shocked.
The Avatar propped herself up into a sitting position, shrugging. "I don't know? Is this weird", she asked, "I don't think this means anything. I've been around the same dozen faces for whole my life. I crushed on almost everybody when I came here."
"Tenzin?" - "Nooo!" The Avatar stuck her tongue out in disgust: "You know I'm a hormone-driven teenager, not a creep."
"Sooo", Asami said, putting the index finger on her chin, "what about me." Korras eyes widened and she scrambled to get her documents together, mumbling: "Sorry for interrupting. I really should finish reading these papers."
Her friend only laughed at this. "Really", she questioned with a flustered face. Korra furrowed her brows and looked at her almost angrily: "That's no big a deal! Like everyone has a crush on you. You're Miss Perfect!" - "Oh, I am, now", Asami replied, laughing loudly, this was just too good.
She leaned towards her friend and whispered in her ear: "So tell me… why did you never act on it." Korra shuddered when she felt the other woman's breath on her skin. " I… you… because... ", she stammered, but could only formulate a meaningful sentence when her friend moved back a bit, "I didn't want to make a fool out of myself."
Asami smiled at this and stroked her friends arm: "Oh Kora, you wouldn't have made a fool out of yourself." The Avatar gave her a confident nod. "Trust me, I would have", she told her, then after a small pause continued, "and I kinda asked Pema, and she said you wouldn't be interested in me anyway and I'd lose the approval of the people if someone saw me try."
"Oooh", Asami said in a tone as if she had just found out the answer to life, the universe and everything. She moved closer to Korra, laying an arm around her and resting her head on her friends shoulder. She probably loved way to much how the master of all four elements stopped breathing whenever she came close. So if this girl was the most powerful human on earth, who was she?
"So you're valuing the opinion of strangers more than me", Asami finally said with a tone as if she were to cry, when in reality she was just about to burst into laughter again.
"Yes", Korra answered and started breathing again, something she had forgotten way too often since Asami had moved into her personal space. The CEO's head moved up, and she looked at Korra with a raised eyebrow.
"Really? 'Yes' is your answer", she asked, a bit angry, but probably she was faking that as well, "you were to say: 'No, you're my everything!' Then I'd go: 'Prove it!' And then we'd kiss."
Korra's eyes had widened to the size of saucers. "Oh", was the only thing she managed to say.
Asami gave her a mock glance, then moved away from her friend. After taking her novel, she sat with her back to Korra and started reading again.
The Avatar was left utterly confused and probably unable to cope with what had been said. "Asami", she asked and got a shushed response: "Shhh! Reading."
Asami could feel her friend staring at her, then she felt how she collected her papers and moved so she was sitting with her back to hers again, only this time not touching her. Both started reading, or at least pretending to read. The heiress was pretty sure her friend would not be able think straight for at least some hours. Whereas the entire 'straight' part seemed questionable after the last confessions.
"Can I ask you something?"
Asami smiled as she heard how Korra's voice still quivered. "Just ask", she said, "you don't need to ask for permission each time." - "Did you ever like a girl 'that way'", it had costed a lot of willpower, but Korra had gotten the question out.
"No." Even though their bodies were not touching anymore, she could feel the heavy stone that had formed in her friends stomach. "Oh, wait. Once", she added quickly. Korra moved around to look at her friend.
"Who was she", she asked and Asami grinned for a bit, then let her face get plain and moved to face the Avatar: "Just a friend of a friend, I guess. I'm not even sure she'd count as a 'girl'. Very tomboyish, very muscular." - "What happened", Korra asked, now her voice oozed with jealousy.
"Are you asking if we were dating." The Avatar nodded a very frightened nod. "No, we weren't. But I still see her every now and then." Now the jealousy took over again. "You know, the usual, bending bad boys into shape."
Now Korra's face - which had gone through the emotions like the hand of a clock - stuck with jealousy. How could her friend do this with someone else. She was part of Team Avatar after all. And she was the Avatar!
"She's a bender", Korra asked and somehow her body language told Asami, if she ever found out where the other woman lived, she would go over there and have a stern "talk" with her.
"Yes, she's a hot headed firebender", Asami swooned with a dreamy look, laying her head on Korra's shoulder again. The Avatar was about to burst, when she added: "And she's a waterbender." Korra had steam coming out of her nose when she said: "She cannot-" But her friend did not seem to care for her opinion and interrupted: "And a earthbender. And an airbender."
"That's impossible! No one can bend more than one element", Korra said, her arms flailing in the air. Asami rolled her eyes at her: "Duh! She's the Avatar!" - "Oh", Korra said as if this would explain everything. Suddenly her eyes widened: "She's me? You have a crush on me?"
With that everything broke loose. Asami started to laugh and toppled over on the couch. Korra was still waiting for an answer and watched her for a moment before stating: "I'm very confused right now." This however made her friend laugh even harder.
While it was good to see her friend so happy, Korra could not shake the feeling of being laughed at, so she took her documents, and tried the reading thing again.
After she had calmed down, Asami looked at her friend's back in disappointment, then moved to hug her from behind.
"Can I ask you something", she asked and moved so her nose was caressing the other woman's cheek. Korra's eyebrows shot up, she took that as a yes: "You're a coward." - "That's no question", the Avatar answered trying to sound annoyed, but her voice was shaking again. Asami finally questioned: "Why's that?"
"You're just making fun of me", Korra said irritated. "Yes", Asami said nuzzling her face, "because I don't go around kissing people on a whim."
"I like my method better", Korra told her, "at least I don't go around making people crazy." - "You drive me crazy plenty", Asami said with a seductive voice, which made the other woman blush. Somewhere along the lines Korra had decided this was a game of power - and now she was stubbornly refusing to make the first move.
"But I don't see your method working either", the Avatar said and put the documents in front of her face, way too close to actually read them properly. She could feel her friend smile against her cheek: "Don't worry, it will."
The door was opened almost violently and Bolin stepped in, but his strutting stopped when he saw a red-faced Korra holding creased paper in front of her face, while Asami was hugging her from behind, their faces way to close to each other.
"What… are you guys doing", he asked while shuffling into the room. Asami cleared her throat in response and pointed at one word on the documents. "Adjournment", she read, "the word means 'to postpone the hearing until a later day'."
Bolin seemed not convinced, but moved around the couch nethertheless. The girls' gazes followed him, even though now his back was to them. The CEO decided now was as good time as any to change the rules of their little game. The hand that had just pointed at the word "adjournment" cupped Korra's cheek and moved her head, so she could kiss her lips lightly, then she loosened the hug to get back to her book.
The earthbender had opened the window, mumbling something about the sticky air in the room and when he turned around he saw Korra with a facial expression as if she had just been hit by lighting (but still grinning in a dorky way).
"Uhm Korra", he asked, clearly concerned for his friend, "everything alright?" Korra shook her head and looked at her friend as if seeing him for the first time. She licked her lips and looked over her back at her female friend, who was ignoring her now, then answered: "Yeah. It's just… is it just me or is it hot in here." She heard Asami mumble "It's definitely you.", but the word's were not spoken loud enough so that Bolin would have heard them on the window towards the busy street.
"That's what I thought", he said in a typically Bolinesque expression, "you've lived on the South Pole for all your live, of course this weather feels hot to you." The Avatar had only halfheartedly payed attention, her gaze had wandered to the other woman and how good the kiss had felt.
"So I thought maybe all of us could go swimming", he said. At about the same time he spoke the last word, the wick on Korra's self-control had burned down and she pounced on her best friend.
Now Bolin could not see what exactly was happening since the backrest of the couch was in his line of sight, only the gasping and the giggling and the flying arms and papers. As he heard a body hit the floor he finally got worried and moved closer.
Asami was laying on the floor between the sofa and the coffee table. On her hip sat the Avatar, holding her two hands in one of her strong, dark skinned ones. As they saw their friend lean against the backrest of the couch, they tried to look at him innocently.
"Can I ask you something", the boy asked with a mischievous smile, "why does Korra wear lipstick all of a sudden?" Korra blushed an even darker shade of red and tried to wipe her lips with the back of her hand. While looking angrily at her friend, she said: "Really? You've money to burn and you don't even wear kiss-proof lipstick?" - "I like leaving my mark", Asami replied nonchalantly.
"You want to tell me something", Bolin asked and got an answer in chorus: "No." - "How long has this going on between you two", was the second question, which made the Avatar inexplicably blush again, while Asami answered: "I'd say solid five, maybe even six minutes?" The boy's eyes had widened at first, now he was looking at them with a facial expression that said "are you kidding me".
Suddenly his face changed again as he understood: "Ooooh! Oh! You want me to leave you for a moment so you can figure this out?" The women nodded, and so he left. "Could you ask one of the servants to find swimwear and towels for us", Asami called after him, but the door was closed before and she could not be sure if he had heard.
She looked upwards, where the Avatar still sat holding her hands. An awkward silence crept across the room. "So now what", Korra asked after a while which made Asami smile. She propped herself up as much as possible with the other girl sitting on top: "Well, you lost the game. You lost your cool." - "What? You kissed me first", Korra complained.
"Talking of kissing, we really should practice that", Asami said, a wide grin plastered on her face, "with you it's like getting licked by a polar bear dog." - "What's wrong with that", the Avatar questioned, honestly confused.
With a slight push the CEO moved her friend off of her, then, after standing up, she held a hand up for her to take. "What do you say? Wanna go out and try to find some private little noodle shop after the swim", Asami asked with a bright smile. Korra just nodded, you could see her head swirling with what had just happened.
"So, it's a date", Asami asked, just to see if her friend understood what was happening. The Avatar nodded vigorously at that. They stood awkwardly next to each other and did not know what to do for a while until finally the CEO-senses kicked in and Asami kissed Korra's check, winked at her and then went after Bolin.
"Can I ask you something?"
Bolin looked at his brother, who had come to talk to him while the girls had left to take a swim after taking a suspiciously long time to change into bathing wear. "What's with this weird bruise on Korra's neck?" The earthbender had no other choice but to laugh at this. Only after seeing his brother's questionly look, he explained: "Well, you see, Asami likes to leave her mark."