disclaimer: I own nothing but a computer
Girl Talk
"Korrrraaaaaa!"
"Yes, Ikki?"
"Can you come over here?"
It's after dinner and Pema and Tenzin have gone to a function in the city, leaving Korra with the kids for the rest of the evening. Mostly, they've all been keeping to themselves, but Korra knew that it was too much to hope that they would get through the evening without some sort of incident. She walks into Ikki's room, bracing herself for whatever minor catastrophe lay ahead.
But instead of finding Meelo swinging on the ceiling or drooling on the carpet, Korra finds Jinora sitting cross legged on the floor, whispering frantically to Ikki, who is lounging across the bed.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Korra asks, closing the door behind her.
"Nothing," says Jinora quickly, sitting up straight, eyes wide.
"There's a boy at Jinora's school, and she likes him," Ikki blurts out before her sister can stop her, "But she doesn't know what to do because she's never had a boyfriend before!"
Jinora turns bright red, and Ikki giggles maniacally.
"And you need me because...?" Korra raises an eyebrow at Ikki.
"Because you're older and know about boys... and stuff," mumbles Jinora.
Oh no, thinks Korra. She doesn't know how to do this. She can't do girl talk. She's never had girl friends to talk to about boys, not that there have been many boys to talk about. She's had one real boyfriend, but that barely counted since they were fourteen and never did anything more than kiss (with tongues). And she's certainly not experienced enough to be giving young girls advice about relationships.
She's about to say that she's sorry, and she's no good at advice, but the sisters look up at her, eyes round and hopeful. The battle is over already.
"Sooooo... What can I help you ladies with tonight?"
She hopes that this doesn't later lead to regret on behalf of any parties involved.
"She really likes him but she's so shy, I keep telling her to tell him but she just won't I mean how's he ever gonna know if she doesn't-" Korra holds her hand up to stop Ikki.
"So, this guy, he doesn't know you like him?"
Jinora shakes her head.
"Well, I think that the best way to handle the situation is to just tell him how you feel," Korra says in the sagest manner that she can manage.
"But what if he doesn't like me back?"
"Well, I don't know why he wouldn't, since you're awesome and pretty and smart and funny, but if he doesn't, there's nothing you can do about it. It's sucks, but it's not the end of the world. But if he does like you back, then both of you know how you feel and everything is great!"
Ikki sticks her head over the edge of the bed.
"If he doesn't like you back, you should flirt with his brother to make him jealous," she advises her sister.
"Eww! No!" Jinora wrinkles her nose in disgust.
"Don't do that!" exclaims Korra, "You don't want to make him jealous, and you don't want to lead anyone on, or intentionally get between two friends. Or brothers. That's not nice!"
"But how do I even tell him that I like him? I barely know him," sighs Jinora.
"Well, maybe you should try flirting with him?" she suggests hopefully.
Ikki's face lights up, while Jinora just looks terrified.
"I don't know how to flirt!" she protests.
"Korra can teach you!" Ikki reassures her, "Mom says that she flirts all the time!"
It's Korra's turn to blush, and she glares at Ikki, but Jinora looks a little mollified now that there is a real Flirting Expert in the room.
"Who does your mom say that I flirt with?" Korra demands.
"Those two boys you always hang out with. The ones that are on your Pro-Bending team," Ikki informs her, "Do you have a crush on one of them?"
"We are so not having this conversation right now!"
Korra's cheeks are flaming and she's wishing that her air bending was better so that she could knock Ikki off of her little perch on the bed without getting up.
"C'mon Korra! Tell us about them! Even if you don't like them!" Ikki clasps her hands together and shakes them at Korra, "Please!"
"Just to be clear, I don't have crushes," Korra says, eyes narrowed, "And certainly not on Bolin and Mako."
"Are those their names? They sound cute! Are they cute?"
"Shut up Ikki, let her talk!"
Korra sighs and rubs her fingers on her temples. Why had she agreed to do this again?
"Fine, I'll tell you about my friends, emphasis on the word 'friends'," Korra caves, "Bolin is funny and Mako is serious."
"But are they cute?" Ikki wants to know.
"You know, Ikki, looks aren't everything," sniffs Jinora and Korra can't help but laugh. "I guess so," she tells the girls, "Although I'd say handsome is probably a better word. Mako would probably fry you if you ever called him cute."
"Oh so he's the fire bender. Dad was talking about him," says Jinora.
Korra is surprised that she and her friends are such a common topic with Tenzin and Pema.
"What did he say?"
"That Mako seemed like a good teacher and a pretty smart guy," says Jinora, shrugging, "Nothing bad."
"Oh."
Korra breathes a sigh of relief. She had thought for a moment that Tenzin had been watching her and figured out that she maybe, kinda sorta like Mako. If one thing was for sure, she never wants to have any discussion with Tenzin that has anything remotely to do with sex. Or kissing. Or just boys in general. She would take getting 'the talk' from Toza, rather than Tenzin.
"Well, I'm glad that your dad likes my friends," Korra says.
"But what are they like?" asks Ikki, determined to discover everything about the other two thirds of the Fire Ferrets.
"I already told you, Mako is serious and Bolin is funny."
"More!"
"Calm down, Ikki, calm down! Fine. Bolin flirts with all the girls, so really, if you want to know how to flirt, Jinora, you should ask him. I'm sure he'd be happy to give you a few tips on wooing," the girls giggle, "And Mako, well..." she wonders what she can say about him that will be the least likely to give the girls any clue that she likes him, "Mako is a really good fire bender, but he's so bossy! He drives me crazy!"
There's a pause for a moment, and then Ikki squeals.
"I want to meet them!"
Korra prays to the spirits that if Mako and Bolin ever do meet Ikki, that the girl has a severe throat condition that renders her speechless for the entire time that they are in her presence.
Thinking that they're done with the little chat, Korra gets up to leave.
"Where're you going?" exclaims Ikki, "I thought you were giving us boy advice!"
"Oh, I thought we'd finished," Korra says, turning back around.
"No, we're just getting started!" Ikki beams.
Korra sighs and sits back down.
"What next then?" she asks, looking to Jinora.
"What if he likes me, and wants to kiss me?" she asks shyly, staring at her fingers.
"Oooh, yes! Kissing!" giggles Ikki, "How do you kiss?"
Oh great, Korra thinks, just what she needs to be doing. As if Tenzin didn't have enough reasons to work her to the bone in training, teaching his daughters how to kiss would surely get her about five hundred more rounds in the Spinning Trap of Death.
This girl talk thing was proving to be very dangerous.
"Well," she begins, "The first thing you have to know is that your first kiss will probably be terribly executed and awkward, so don't worry if you don't get it right away. It takes some practice."
"Have you had lots of practice kissing?" asks Jinora.
Not really, she thinks to herself, but hopefully, if things worked out right, she would be able to refine her kissing skills with a certain fire bender soon enough.
"Not a lot," Korra admits to the girls, "But I can think of someone I'd like to practice with."
The girls stare at her for a moment before bursting into a chorus of "WHO?" and "DO WE KNOW HIM?" and "IS IT YOUR HANDSOME TEAMMATE?"
Korra just smirks and doesn't say anything, letting the girls freak out over her potential love life. They're really quite funny like this, she thinks, and resolves to have 'girl talk' with them more often. It's very entertaining.
