A/N: This idea was purely from .com's amazing, amazing mind.
It takes a lot for Korra to be persuaded to do certain things. Like putting on a dress and going to an awful banquet dinner where everyone will want to have at least two or three conversations with her before the night is over. Or being alone in her apartment without any prepared food and having to look at the raw stuff in the refrigerator that she has to arrange well enough that it will sate her hunger. Because if she's going to cook, then it's going to taste good. She's not cooking to survive.
So when Bolin waves a wrinkled flyer in front of her face when she's joined the others for lunch, she raises an eyebrow and grabs it from his hand. "What's this?" She asks, frowning when she smoothes out the wrinkled edges.
"Narook's has a trivia night! I had no idea. We should do it. The four of us. Let's go," Bolin says encouragingly, looking to his girlfriend to his brother and then to her. "I'd tell Asami to come, but I'm pretty sure that she'd choose to stay locked up with Shen for the weekend over coming with us to play some game that I am going to whoop her at!"
"A trivia night? What's fun about that?" Korra questions as she glances at Bolin and then towards Opal in hopes that she'd rein her boyfriend in. But instead, the airbender smiles and nods along with her boyfriend.
"It'll be fun, Korra! We'll all be together, and it'll be great to see how well we can do, don't you think?" Opal doesn't realize that this isn't the way to get Korra to agree to anything, but for Mako, it holds appeal. He always loves testing his knowledge about random facts.
"Korra, it's dollar shot night," Bolin says in a way that leaves no way for her to disagree. Because dollar shots meant they were practically giving them away, and she can't just turn that down. Especially not after she wheedles Bolin into agreeing to pay for the first few rounds.
She casts a side glance at Mako who gives her a wink just when Bolin and Opal are too busy making eyes at each other and she can't help but smile. Dollar shots make everything better.
When they arrive, it's not a bad turnout. She suspects that most of them are here for the alcohol and will probably have no idea what the spirits is going on. Which she doesn't mind. She's in the same predicament after all. So she sits down at a table with Mako, Bolin, and Opal. Bolin slams his hand down on the table. "Three rounds to start!" He shouts, but Narook gives him the stink eye and grumbles Kids.
"Heeeeeeeello! My name is Hong." All eyes fall on a young, round man who steps out in front of the crowd. They suspect that he must be Narook's son because they have the same nose and eyes. "Welcome to Trivia Night at Narook's Seaweed Noodlery! Here's how things are going to go! There's gonna be as many rounds as there are teams. At the end of the night, we'll be giving out a cash prize of fifty yuans! Not only that, but you'll enjoy a dinner on the house! And think about the notoriety. So let's get all partnered up and let the games beeeeeeeegin."
A moment of silent passes before Korra and Mako clammer to be heard around the table.
"I call Mako!"
"I call Korra!"
They both fall silent and then just grin at each other because they're going to kick Bolin and Opal's asses in this game. Bolin just laughs as the first round of shots arrive at the table, throwing his arms around his girlfriend. "Well, I wanted Opal to be my partner, anyway, so there," he says as he sticks out his tongue at his brother and Korra.
Korra can't help the snort that escapes her nose before she grabs her shot and clinks it against Mako's. "They're going down."
He just nods in understanding as he throws back the shot at the same time as her. "Won't even know what hit them." Mako might like knowledge for knowledge's sake, but he also has a competitive streak that can't be denied. "We're not going easy on you, Bo."
Opal laughs and just clinks her own small glass against Bolin's. "We're here to have fun, not win. That'll just be an added bonus."
Korra stares at her. "That's what losers say," she deadpans before she shifts her attention toward Mako when Narook silently shuffles around, handing out little boards for their answers. She scoots closer to him because she's afraid people will cheat off of them. She's grateful that Mako is her partner because she knows he spends his weekends in bookshops reading books he's not going to buy even if he can afford them.
"All right. We'll start this out easy. For every answer you get right, you'll earn ten points." Hong clears his throat and the lights seem to dim and center around him in the tackiest way. At least, that's what Mako feels, but he just coughs. "Who founded Republic City?"
Korra nearly jumps up with the answer, but feels herself being pulled back down. She huffs and turns to look at her partner. "What are you doing?" She hisses, slapping his hand off of her arm.
"You're not supposed to yell out the answer, Korra. You're supposed to write it down. Remember?" He shakes the board at her and rolls his eyes before taking his marker to write it out.
She quickly peers over his shoulder at the board, her cheek almost pressing against his. "Korra, seriously, you don't trust that I know who founded Republic City?" He sounds a little off put because that question was so easy even Bolin could get it right without much thought.
"No, no, I know you know that, I just wanted to make sure you…spelled his name right!" She sputters before she bounces in her chair, looking around at their competition at the other tables.
Korra's scowl deepens when she spots a familiar curl of blue-black hair and ugly smirk. "Spirits, we have to kick his ass. I'll bet his tries to cheat. We need to watch out for that."
"How is he supposed to cheat at a trivia contest?" Mako questions as he flashes their board when Hong calls for a show of answers. He dramatically says everyone but the table in the back gets ten points and writes it down on the board behind him.
"Uh, hello, maybe there are some teams working together," she whispers under her breath as the next question is announced. She nearly whoops when she chants the answer to Mako like he has no idea what the answer is - so he gives her a glare that makes her pout and cross her arms over her chest.
This seems to be the pattern throughout the night until Hong adds up all the points. "And our winners are the Avatar and her firebending friend!"
Korra nearly screams and throws her arms around Mako in triumph. She's feeling just a little tipsy from having five rounds of shots, but she's coherent enough to snatch the gift certificate and wave it in the air, more in Tahno's direction than any other.
Mako grabs her waist when she almost tips over the table, and Opal's eyes widen a bit as she laughs. "She really…gets into the competition, doesn't she?" She asks the air as she lays money on their table for the tab and snuggles under Bolin's arm. "I can't believe you knew that answer about Katara and the Fire Nation! She really was the Painted Lady?"
"Yes, she told me the story, and I might have made my mother make me a Painted Lady costume which I didn't take off for…weeks." She laughs as she waves the gift certificate in Bolin's face to rub it in that they had beat them. "We have to come next week. Mako, we're unbeatable!"
Next week they arrive a little earlier because Korra wants to get a table in the front. She sits down and says, "Jinora let me borrow this book that has history spanning back the past five hundred years."
Mako looks at her in surprise. "Is that so?" He sounds relatively smug and proud that she's really into this as much as he is. He wonders if the book is by Feng Wei, a famous air acolyte who wrote a handful of history books. He's read three. And he's very proud of this.
He's even prouder that he knows he's going to beat all the other teams. Well, that he and Korra are going to beat everyone else because with his knowledge and her know-how, there's no stopping them. For him, the first win was a dangerous spark that forced the thrill through every fiber of his body as if he was electrocuted. In a good way of course.
Speaking of Jinora, maybe he'll have to get her to quiz him. If anyone knows anything, it's her. And he has to stay sharp for the next trivia night.
They breeze through the first few questions, the ones that are meant to keep some of the weaker teams around to spend more money on drinks, but Korra doesn't even show much interest in the drink that Bolin buys hers. Eventually, he just steals it away because he and Opal are doing poorly this time around and Mako's smack talk is getting to him.
"So, I think we're going to get going, guys?" Bolin suggests as he and Opal stand near their table. But Hong asks a question about Guru Laghima, and Korra and Mako can't decide on the correct answer.
"It's the last forty years of his life," Korra hisses as she tries to take the pen away from him. "He didn't touch the ground for the last forty years, Mako!"
"No, I think it was like…forty-five or something! Come on, Korra," he scowls, wiping out her zero and replacing it with a five. Korra proceeds to nearly punch him in the face when he erases it and roars in frustration because she can't believe that he doesn't believe her.
"If we're-excuse me, if you're wrong, you owe me. You owe me so much," she says in his ear before leaning her back against the chair and pouting.
When he flips the board to show off the answer, Hong tsks and shakes his head before revealing and humiliating Mako with his wrong answer. His partner slaps her hand on the table and glares at him. "You're not a Mr. Know-It-All after all."
"Damnit, Hong must be wrong or something. I'm gonna have a talk with him after this." His seems to be wounded and he'll pull out the small book of facts that he's brought with him to study because he does that now. He writes down facts and history so that he can be prepared for the one night out of the week that he ramps up for. He knows he's right. He knows.
"Uh…guys?" Bolin moves his arm in hopes of getting their attention because it doesn't seem like they see him at all. "I think I'm going to walk Opal back home," he murmurs slowly, wanting them to obviously come along since they're going down a dangerous road.
"Yeah, yeah, have fun," Mako mutters as he continues to flip pages while Korra downs a shot and slams the glass on the table. Bolin hesitates before he just shrugs and grabs Opal's arm as they leave their friends to their crazy antics.
It's three weeks later and Mako and Korra are the reigning champions of Trivia Night at Narook's Seaweed Noodlery. The end of the night is nearing, and most teams have already given up and left. It's mostly down to Korra and Mako versus Tahno and one of his Wolf Bat lackeys, and the last question of the night is, "Who starred in the classic mover Nuktuk, Hero of the South?"
Korra rips the pen from Mako's hand, scrawling the answer with a grin. It isn't too much longer that Hong gestures to their board. "And for the final ten points, Team Avatar and Firebender win again." He lets out a sigh.
Korra happily accepts the gift certificate and waves it in Tahno's face, a tradition since their first win. After she tucks it away in her pocket, she glances around. "Hey, where is Bolin anyway?"
Narook scoops up the empty glasses littering their table top and just glares. "He and that little girly of his haven't been to a Trivia Night for the past three weeks." It's obvious he wishes that Bolin had taken his two friends with him.
Korra throws her arm around Mako's shoulders and grabs the last two shots on Narook's tray before he walks away. "To the Firebender and the Avatar," she says before she clinks her glass against his and downs it.