Shopping
By diav
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Rating: K
Characters: Korra, Asami Sato, Bolin
Story Type: one-shot
Summary: AU. Asami and Korra go on a… date?!
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Avatar: The Legend of Korra.
"C'mon, let's check out this store!" Asami linked her arm through Korra's as she steered them into a store that only sold handbags.
How Korra managed to hang out with Asami was a mystery... Or was it?
It was just another normal day at school when Asami approached her and asked if she was free this weekend. Being more stupefied than anything, Korra probably just nodded instead of saying anything.
Her best friend Bolin more or less joked that Asami had asked her out, but she wasn't sure.
Didn't most high school girls hang out together on the weekend? What made her get-together with Asami seem like a date?
Rumour had it was that Asami was already over her ex, Mako, who also happened to be Bolin's brother. Korra was certain that Bolin couldn't keep his mouth shut, so Mako would've found out by now.
Of course, the superstar couple, as they had been called, was nothing but, Korra learned this afternoon. Asami did not talk much about it, but Korra noted that her companion seemed much more chipper than she had ever seen when Asami was at school.
"What do you think of this one?" Asami had picked out a maroon-coloured handbag that wasn't too big, nor too small.
Korra shrugged. "I'm sorry, Asami... I don't know much about handbags..." And she didn't. She was what other people called a tomboy, or at least she seemed boyish to everyone else. She played basketball, dressed for comfort instead of fashion, and hung out with Bolin and her dog, Naga, most days.
Asami had nothing in common with her, as she was an heiress to a multi-million dollar automobile company. So why was Korra spending an afternoon shopping and walking around with her?
"But do you think it's a practical sort of bag?" Asami looked at her inquisitively.
"Aren't most handbags supposed to be practical?" Korra tugged on her backpack straps self-consciously. She felt a bit out of place in this store with Asami. Not only was she simply dressed in basketball shorts and a loose-fitting t-shirt, Asami had taken her to the high-end district of stores and restaurants: places Korra could not afford on her own.
"I guess it depends. This has a lot of space for me to put things in." Asami opened up the handbag to demonstrate its usefulness as the sales associate had walked off to cater to another customer.
Korra shrugged. "What's wrong with the handbag you have right now?" She pointed at the one slung over Asami's shoulder.
"Nothing, really."
"So do you really want to buy this one?"
"It looks nice-"
"-if that's the only reason, then I don't think you should get it."
"Why not?"
"Replacing your current one just because you find another one that is nicer-looking doesn't seem, uh-"
"-right?" Asami looked thoughtful for a moment before putting the handbag away. "You're right, Korra. Come on, let's take a walk."
They stepped out of the store and headed in the direction back to Asami's neighbourhood. Korra fidgeted with her backpack straps again. "Um... Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Why did you want to hang out with me today?"
"Does it matter why?" Asami brushed hair away from her eyes as they turned a corner.
"We don't have much in common... And you've never spoken to me until recently."
"Let's say I just want to get to know you better? We've been classmates for a long time, Korra. Don't you think it's strange we never really talked before?"
"I guess so...?"
"But I guess since you're really good friends with Bolin, it might've made sense that I would've gotten to know you through Mako."
"Uh, I don't know... It doesn't necessarily mean that I'm friends with Mako through Bolin..."
"Oh... I thought you were."
"Nah. Bolin and I go way back... We've been friends since elementary school."
"I'm surprised you're not dating each other."
Korra must've laughed strangely because Asami was looking at her for an explanation.
"Bolin's like a brother to me. I don't think of him like that."
"And what of Mako?"
Korra tilted her head and chose her words carefully. "He's a bit of a jerk - sorry."
"You don't need to apologise... You forget I'm the one who broke up with him," laughed Asami. "He is a jerk."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories-"
Asami waved a hand. "The rumour mill at school had such a grand time dissecting my relationship with Mako that it doesn't phase me anymore. It has been three months, so whatever..."
Korra wasn't sure what to say, so she said nothing at all. The two girls walked in silence as they approached the Sato estate.
"Do you want to come in?" asked Asami as she punched in the security code for the gate.
"Sure."
They walked into the estate and Korra stared at the amount of land the Satos owned. "Wow."
"My great-great-grandparents owned this huge piece of land before my great-grandfather started his automobile factory."
"I heard that your house was big, but not this big!" Korra followed Asami to the front door, where a butler was waiting for them. He said nothing as he let them in, but gave both girls slippers. Korra hastily took off her sneakers and put the slippers on in fear of having the butler comment on how dirty her shoes were. The butler nodded in satisfaction and then disappeared to do carry out his other duties.
"So you've heard things about my house?" asked Asami as she led Korra through a maze of hallways to her room.
"Well, I'm sure you know of your reputation at school. I mean, compared to you, I pretty much have nothing like this."
Asami sighed. "All of this doesn't matter much to me." She placed her handbag on her desk and sat on the bed.
"Why do you say that?" Korra opted to sit on the floor in front of the bed, facing Asami.
"Well, for one, all of this has intimidated most of the people I've brought over."
"I'm not intimidated, just fascinated, really."
Asami gave Korra an amused look. "How is it fascinating?"
"How do I put it in a way that won't... Offend you...?" Korra scratched her chin. "Um, you're not that approachable at school, so it did make me sort of wonder what your life was like."
"And what do you think?"
"I don't know because you just told me all of this doesn't matter."
"I'm not approachable?" Asami didn't look offended or hurt, so Korra awkwardly scratched her head and stared at the floor.
"Um, what I meant to say is that we both come from different social circles... It's still bothering me why you would want to associate with someone like me... My family isn't well-off, people talk about how mannish I can be, and basically, I'm just different...?" Korra continued staring at the floor, embarrassed that she had said all of that out loud to Asami, of all people. She heard the bed creak; much to her surprise, Asami sat down beside her on the floor.
"Don't ever be embarrassed about your social status... And who cares what other people think? I know I probably seem like a bitch but I've constantly been warned to guard my reputation... Mostly because of my dad. Believe it or not, I made a deal with him about college... He'll let me study whatever I want and then we'll figure out how to hand over the company to me... I don't have any interest in that, so we'll see..." Asami place a hand on Korra's knee. "I don't think you're different. You are who you are and you live the life you want. Sure, we both come from different social circles, but better late than never to being friends, right?" Asami leaned further down so that Korra could see her smiling face.
Korra mumbled a "Yeah" before she awkwardly cleared her throat. "Um, I guess-" Her cell phone started ringing. She gave Asami an apologetic look as she answered it. "Hey Bo- huh? Oh, crap! I forgot, sorry! Yeah, yeah, I can make my way over- where am I? I'm at Asami's place- NO! No! What? No, we are not- Ugh, Bo, your imagination is- NO! Jeez. Ok, ok, yeah, sorry, I lost track of time-" Korra gave Asami a sheepish look and muttered something about punching Bolin before hanging up.
"Everything all right?" asked Asami.
"Uh, yeah... I forgot I was supposed to be at the basketball court to shoot some hoops with Bolin... I didn't realise we'd spend most of the day together."
"Let me not keep Bolin waiting then. Do you need a lift?" Asami got up and offered a hand to Korra.
Korra took it and shook her head. "It's ok, I can walk. The basketball court is not far from your house."
"Ok." Asami led Korra through the maze of hallways again to the front door. "Well, today was fun... We got to know each other a bit better."
"Yeah," smiled Korra.
Before Asami opened the door, she turned to face Korra. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"I couldn't help but overhear that you were shouting at Bolin for saying something. What was that about?"
Korra let out a laugh that was meant to be a sigh, looked down at her feet, and bit her lip. "Uh... uh... when I told him I was hanging out with you today, he... cracked an awfully mean joke about you and me..."
Asami prompted for more. "Which was...?"
"...please don't take this the wrong way, but..." Korra scratched her head. This was awkward. "He was joking that you asked me out... on a date." She looked up to gauge Asami's reaction and noticed that the heiress remained impassive. Korra quickly blurted out, "I-I mean, it wasn't, right-"
Asami had leaned in so close that Korra almost stumbled backwards to the ground but was pulled forward when Asami grabbed hold of her arm. Asami's eyes locked onto Korra's for a moment before she let go and let Korra recover. The heiress unlocked the front door and looked away as she mumbled, "It could be, if you want it to be."
Korra blinked. And blinked again. Time must've frozen over because she stood there awkwardly for a minute or two before she cleared her throat. "Uh- d-d-do you want to grab food after my game? You took me around most of today... My treat?"
Asami smiled. "I'd love to."
To that, Korra smiled and awkwardly made her exit. "I'll give you a call when I'm done."
Asami nodded and grinned. "It's a date."
Author's Note: I wrote so much more after this part but scrapped it... Oh well.