Hey guys, I thought I would try and entertain you with a Mako/OC fic. I have this elaborate plot in my head of how all the shenanigans an OC would get up to in the Avatar world. I hope they are sensical and you enjoy the read along the way.
Also, as a note, this is slight AU. Since I had to move some events around to make room for the new character, expect minor things to be out of order. Don't worry, nothing major will be skipped. Some things will be added though ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own LOK, but I sure wish I did
Chapter one: To Mop with Consequences
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The crowd screamed with fervor as the Fire Ferrets claimed another victory. Addie clapped her hands with excitement before shuffling her way out of the crowd. The nosebleeds were a roudy place to be, and if her boss found her slacking on her duties in favour to watch the match, she would lose her job instantly.
Her job wasn't glamorous. It was dirty, hard work, but Addie hadn't expected anything else. She was glad for the opportunity to put money in her pocket, even if her pockets didn't go deep.
"You missed a spot," a drunkard slurred as Addie reunited with her mop. She was tasked with keeping the floors of the nosebleeds somewhat clean. The thin layer of alcohol stuck to her boots as she scrubbed at the floor, ignoring the man who had taken an interest in her. "Did you hear me, girl?" the man asked, moving in closer to her. The crowd who had come to watch the match were beginning to filter out. They brushed past the two, ignorant of the unwanted attention the man was paying the girl.
"I heard," Addie replied. She made a point to mop over the floor where the man had pointed, dodging the feet of the people emptying the arena.
The man inched himself closer. He was near enough for Addie to smell the alcohol on his breath. "I could show you how to properly hold the shaft," the man offered, "of the mop, of course." His hand reached around Addie's waist to pull her in, squeezing her side. Every fibre of her being froze as the man turned her body to his. "This is the proper way to hold it."
Addie was somehow tucked into the man's body, his large frame dwarfing hers as his fingers inched up her ribcage, nearing the underside of her breast. Before the man could tighten his grip on Addie anymore, the girl whipped the mop out of his hand, snapping it back to make contact with his face.
The man's cry was muffled by sound of the arena, the contact enough for Addie to slip out of his grip. She didn't waste time to check the damage done. There were enough people for her to slip into the crowd and lose him. His breath still clung to her nose though, the pressure of his grip still clinging to her middle.
Finding herself removed far enough away from the man, Addie slumped against the wall and dropped her mop with more anger than necessary. Hashino, her boss, had warned her to keep away from the guests. They were paying customers after all. It wasn't her job to get in their way. She was there to clean after them and leave the reputation of the arena in good standing. He hadn't mentioned the guests would be so handsy though. Addie had done well enough to keep herself small and out of the way. Except for when the match had risen in intensity and pulled her attention away from the floor. Hopefully the man who had accosted her had been too drunk to do anything more than nurse both his wound and pride as he exited the building.
That hope fell short, for out of the corner of her eye, Addie could see the man bobbing his way towards her. She wasn't hard to miss. Her red hair stood out against the crowd of dark hair so commonly found in Republic City. Addie cursed as she escaped further into the crowd. Still new to the arena and it's mazelike construction, the girl found it hard to navigate. Any hallway would do, Addie thought as she took her luck on the multiple doors lining the halls. The first three were locked with the fourth offering her passage. Not bothering to guess where she was going, Addie threw herself into the corridor, locking the door behind her.
A tense beat passed before the handle began to jiggle and then stopped. The man must have moved on. That didn't leave Addie feeling any better about returning to her station. Instead, she'd wait it out. Looking around her, she found herself in a stairwell. There was no way up except for roof access. That made sense, being she was in the nosebleeds of the arena.
Assuming enough time had passed, Addie grabbed the door she had slipped through only to find it didn't budge. Shit. It had opened for her from the other side. Now she was locked out of the only part of the arena she knew. Down she would go then, trying a door on each level only to find them all locked. Nearing the bottom and ignoring the panic setting in the back of her mind, Addie tried for the last door, surprised when it opened with ease. This new hallway was long and straight. Perhaps Addie was under the stadium for the curve of the building didn't warp the hallway here like it did the upper levels.
"Hey," someone shouted at Addie, a rough female voice. It was another caretaker, an elderly woman pushing a cart full of cleaning supplies. "You supposed to be down here?"
Addie licked her lips. "I work here," she said, indicated their matching uniforms. Long blue jumpsuits with heavy boots and pulled back hair.
The woman sneered at Addie as she neared. "No shit. But that doesn't give you clearance to roam the building as you please. Where are you stationed?"
"I was on the top level and took a wrong door. I got stuck in a stairwell and kept going down till I came here. It was the only door that would open." It wasn't a total lie. An omission of truth, really.
This woman's bullshit detector seemed to being on high alert. "Is that so? Where's your cleaning supplies?"
Addie snapped her empty hands behind her back and gave the woman her best grin. "Look, I'm just lost. If you could just point me in the right direction, I'll be on my way."
"You're not a groupie, are you? It wouldn't be the first time one of you girlies has stolen a uniform to get close to the pro-benders."
"Oh no," Addie waved her arms. "I'm not a groupie. I do actually work here and I really am lost." Pulling out her ID, the redhead showed it to the skeptical caretaker. The woman grabbed at the ID card with rough hands, only satisfied when she saw Addie's portrait on the tag.
"Humph. Fine then. Third door on the left behind me. Go up three flights. It will take you to the employees lounge."
Addie wasted no time bolting for the door and scurried up the stairs only to find the door on the third flight locked. Spirits have mercy, what did Addie ever do to doors to deserve this kind of luck? One more flight then, and by the gods, she hoped that door would be unlocked.
As her hand came down on the handle, the familiar sound of the click was sweet on her ears as the door opened. Making her way down the hallway, Addie was once again lost, alone, and wandering aimlessly. It was only a loud bout of yelling that indicated people were present.
"This is bullshit," a male voice said. "I'm over it, and I'm over you. Find another waterbender." The sound of something hitting the floor echoed through the hall before a man wearing pro-bending clothes stomped out the room to Addie's right. "Ugh, out of my way," he whined as he bumped into her.
Addie flattened herself against the wall as the man passed. Her curiosity got the better of her as she inched further to see where the commotion had occurred. Before she could get any further, a yell from further down the hall reached her ears. Whipping her head to the left, Addie could make out the man she had earlier hit with the mop. His face was streaked red from the nose down, his collar covered in blood. There were two guards behind him, following his finger pointed directly at Addie.
"That's her. She's the one who attacked me."
The blood from Addie's head rushed to her feet as she looked for an escape route. Her luck with door wasn't proving very fruitful lately, so instead of trying another random hallway, she bolted for the nearest opening.
The room to her right was occupied by two very surprised pro-benders, two out of the three Fire Ferrets she had just watched win the match. There was little time to waste as Addie slammed the door behind her, her back pressed against it as she met their surprised faces.
"What the hell?" the tallest of the two boys asked. Mako, if Addie remembered correctly. The other must be his younger brother, Bolin. "Bro, are you still trying to bring groupies up in here?"
"What? No!" Bolin shouted. "I've never seen her before. I swear."
"I'm very sorry for this," Addie said, cutting Bolin off as the door strained behind her. The guards must be trying to bust in. She leaned further into the door, ignoring the angry voices coming from behind it, the ones cursing her out.
"Who are you?" Mako asked. He was bent down at the waist, picking up a discarded helmet on the floor. The waterbender must have thrown it on the ground in a fit moments before she barged in.
"Uh…" the door strained again. "I work here in the cleaning department. I was accosted by a man. I may have broken his nose in an attempt to get away. He seems very mad about it."
"You broke someone's nose?" Bolin asked. He seemed both surprised and impressed by her.
"I think so," Addie said as she turned her back to the boys. She grabbed at the door handle as the locked popped open from the other side. Using as much force as she could muster, she held the handle tight in her hands, ignoring the rub against her skin as it turned. "Look, I'm about to get sacked or have the living shit kicked out of me. Possibly both."
"What do you want us to do about it?" Mako asked, his voice raising.
"I don't know. I really need this job and I like my bones intact," Addie panicked. There was only a second more before the door burst open, sending her stumbling backward into Bolin. The two tumbled to the ground as two guards burst into the room, the drunk man right behind with an accusatory glare in his eyes.
"There she is, the little witch. Broke my nose!" He didn't seem as drunk now, just pure rage.
Addie untangled herself from Bolin and scurried backwards as the guards descending on her.
"Hey, hey, hey," Bolin piped up, pulling at the guard who had his large hand wrapped around Addie's forearm. "Is that necessary?"
The man with the broken nose turned on the earthbender, hate in his eyes. "I don't think she deserves any better. She should be fired for what she did. Throw her out on the street if we have to."
"And what exactly did she do?" Mako interjected. He put himself in between the man and Addie, the girl still in the guards' clutches.
"I literally just said it," the man cried. "She broke my nose."
Addie ripped her arm out of the guards grasp. "Only after you grabbed me."
"I never touched you," the man sneered.
Addie ignored the red creeping in on her vision. "That's bullshit and you know it." Looking at the guards, the girl stood up to her full height. She was aiming for intimidation. No one looked very intimidated though. She wasn't short, but she certainly wasn't tall. "Are you really going to believe him? He's half drunk."
"He's a guest," one of the guards said, but his tone wavered.
Mako outstretched his arm, trying to broker any sense of peace in the room. "Look gents, I think we can all agree things got out of hand and some regrettable actions may have occurred," he shared a glance between Addie and the man. "But why don't we agree to let bygones be bygones. We can all walk away from this."
The man's hair bristled on his head. "But my nose. It's all bent out of shape. She ruined my beautiful face."
"Beautiful is a generous word for it," Addie mumbled under her breath.
Mako's foot was swift to kick Addie's shin. Message received. She shut her mouth. "I wouldn't suppose free tickets for the rest of the season would ease things for you?" Mako asked, giving his best winning smile to the man.
"Is he allowed to do that?" the man asked the nearest guard.
The guard shrugged. "As long as he's paying for it, I don't see why not."
Mako grimaced for only a second. "So we'll buy you a season's pass, and my friend here gets to keep her job. Everyone's happy, right?"
The man stood straight, arms crossed in an effort to look dignified. The dried blood on his face ruined the effect. "I say we have a deal."
Bolin seemed to come to his senses at this point and interjected himself into the conversation. "Well, then, why don't I take down your information, we'll get the tickets sent over to you and we can call it a night?" Escorting the man and the two guards out to the hall, Bolin shut the door behind him, not before giving both Mako and Addie a quick thumbs up.
A heavy silence creeped between Mako and the girl as she struggled for something to say. "So… how much do season tickets cost?"
Mako's thumb rubbed the bridge of his nose. His eyes were closed. "A lot. A lot of money we don't have to just give out."
Addie felt a flair of guilt creep up in her chest. "I can pay for it," she said, more to fill the silence than because it was the right thing to do. She hadn't much money to spare either. She really didn't have much at all.
"That I can work with," Mako said. He dropped his hand from his face and looked at Addie for the first time without dismay. It wasn't the reaction she had hoped for. Weren't pro-benders allowed to bring whoever they wanted to the arena? Wasn't that a perk of the job? "We can work out a payment plan then."
Incredible. This man was all about numbers. Had he any sense of sympathy? She supposed he must have had some. He did sort out the situation for her without costing her job or her face. "Alrighty then. I can do that."
"Do what?" Bolin asked as he returned to the room, a piece of paper with the man's information on it.
"Our friend here is going to pay us back the money for the season's pass," Mako answered.
"Oh," Bolin shrugged. "That's nice of you. It's a fair bit of money."
"I should be the one thanking you," Addie offered, deciding to bite down her pride. She should be thankful things ended up the way they did. "Who knows what that man would have done to me otherwise."
Mako crossed his arms. "You should really be more careful around here. That man could have done a lot worse."
"I know, that's why I said thank you." Addie took a moment to brush off some imaginary dust from her jumper. "Right then, I better get back to work. The upper floors aren't going to mop themselves. I suppose you two will be here over the next few nights for the following matches? I can bring the first round of money to you then?"
Bolin leaned against a table and waved his hand in a lazy circle. "We actually live here, in the East tower above the training room. You can usually find one of us there."
"And how much should I bring?"
Mako pulled the paper with the man's information out of Bolin's hand. Finding a pen, he scratched a number down and passed it to her. "This is the total. Why don't we say five payments, one every two weeks."
Addie tried not to cry as she looked at the number. This was three months worth of rent, and she barely had enough money to cover one. "Yup. I'll make it happen." She hoped her voice didn't sound as high as it did to her ears. "I'll see you in two weeks then." She handed the paper back to Bolin. "There's not a chance the guy would settle for anything less, would he?"
Bolin scrunched his face. "That's a hard no. Out in the hallway, he was rambling about beating you to a pulp if we didn't deliver on the tickets."
Addie smacked her lips together. "Mmhmm. That clears that up then. So two weeks, right?"
She was already shuffling to the door, wanting to rid herself of the room and the boys' intense eyes. "Wait," Mako said. It felt more like an order than a suggestion. "Don't we get your name? So we know who to ask for in case we don't see you in two weeks?"
"I won't flake," Addie said, annoyed he had so little faith in her. "I make good on my word. Besides, I work in the building. I won't be hard to find."
"Your name," Mako repeated.
"It's Addie." She debated whether to stick her hand out. It felt far too formal for the situation.
"It's nice to meet you, Addie. I'm Bolin." The younger brother outstretched his hand, taking hers even though she didn't offer it. "And this is Mako. He's got a terrible personality but it grows on you. You'll see."
Addie gave them both a small smile, trying desperately not to let the situation get to her. Not only was she broke, but now she was in debt. "It's nice to meet you two. I'll see you around, I suppose."
"Suppose you will," Mako said as he eyed the door. It was a clear dismissal. Addie didn't bother to take up any more of their time. Not only did she have her job to finish, now she had to figure out how to repay these boys for the mess she had gotten herself into.
How strangely things always worked out for her.
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Yay, chapter one! Hope you all liked it. Addie is having a rough start in the city. Maybe she just needs some friends. Maybe creepy people need to not be creeps. At least Addie stood up for herself. Things just didn't end up how she intended.
I would love it if you left a review though, cause oh boy, does it feel good to get reviews.
Cheers!