Notes: This was such a hard prompt to write! I'm still not entirely happy with it, though I did have fun, mostly at Mako's expense. Strictly speaking, this is cross-dressing rather than genderbending, but it was the best I could come up with. Please let me know what you think!
"No."
"Aww, come on, Mako," said Bolin. "It's the best party in the city."
"It is," added Asami from where she was answering Future Industries correspondence in the corner. "Even the Yum Soon Hans from Ba Sing Se come sometimes. That's when you know you're at a good party."
"No."
"Oh, don't be such a killjoy, Mako," said Korra, abandoning the airbending journals Tenzin had assigned her and draping her arms over the back of Mako's chair. "You can't be sure it won't be fun if you don't give it a try." She looped her arms loosely around his neck.
Mako tilted his head back to look at her properly. "It's a cross-dressing party, Korra. Loud rooms overflowing with people I don't know aren't exactly my idea of a good time to begin with, let alone if I'm wearing a skirt."
Korra rolled her eyes. "You don't have to wear a skirt, Mako, just girls' clothes. It's one night. Would it really be so terrible?"
"Yes," Mako insisted. "Besides, you're all going to get drunk, and I'll be the one who ends up dragging you home at one in the morning, trying to make sure you don't get sick."
"You are such a mother hen-goose," said Asami, licking the nub of her pen.
There was a pause, a meaningful silence filling the room. Then, Mako realized with dawning horror that Bolin, Asami, and Korra were all looking slyly at one other, slow smiles spreading across their faces.
—-
"Remind me again how you talked me into this?" Mako asked.
He sat on a chair in Korra's bedroom, hunched over somewhat apprehensively as she tied a polka-dotted bandanna around his head. Jinora and Ikki watched from her bed, armed with a box of Asami's old cosmetics and one of her fashion magazines. They were both rather giggly.
"You're doing this because you love me and you want to make me happy," said Korra, finishing her knot with a flourish and walking around the chair to inspect her work.
Mako straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest. "I do, but that's not quite how I remember the conversation going."
"Okay, fine," said Korra, giving an exaggerated sigh for Jinora and Ikki's benefit. They dissolved into another wave of laughter. "I have a two-drink limit, we're leaving by eleven, and you get to choose what we're doing on our next three dates, no questions asked." She turned to Jinora and Ikki. "He's lucky he's cute, because I don't know why I put up with him sometimes."
"I'm right here, Korra."
"Love you, too," she said brightly. "Now stand up so I can have a good look at you."
Mako got to his feet, wanting nothing more than to crawl into a hole and never come out. Korra had let him wear his own pants for the simple reason that neither of the girls had a pair long enough to fit him, but instead of his usual shirt he wore a floral shift of Asami's, the coat Korra had donned at the rally several months ago, and as a finishing touch she, Jinora, and Ikki had found especially entertaining, an old pink apron of Pema's. At the last minute, no doubt inspired by Pabu climbing onto her shoulders, Korra had painted a fire ferret on the front pocket. Bolin had watched her do it and laughed for a minute solid. Mako was pretty sure he was never going to live this down.
Korra grinned. "Looking good, Mama Mako." Mako raised his eyebrows at her, but she simply stared back, her blue eyes dancing with amusement. She beckoned her assistants forward. "Okay, Ikki, pearls. Jinora, lipstick." He absently rested his hands on her waist as she reached up and fastened the necklace, her fingers lingering longer than strictly necessary, then stood on tiptoe to apply the lipstick. Korra knew as little about makeup as he did, but she gamely swept the tube over his mouth until she was satisfied with the results. Some of his mortification ebbed away; having Korra be the one to do this made the whole situation a little better, even if he still felt stupid.
"All right," she said at last, stepping back and capping the tube. "Asami and I still have to get ready, so I'm leaving the rest of your makeover in Jinora and Ikki's capable hands." She hurried over to her wardrobe and furtively pulled out a satchel, slipping it over her shoulder. Then she paused, and instead of heading out the door, walked back over to him.
"Promise me you're at least going to try to have a good time, Hot Stuff?" she asked softly, so that only he could hear, though Jinora and Ikki were chattering away loudly enough that it didn't matter anyway. Still, as embarrassed as he was, he reached between them and gently squeezed her hand.
"Promise."
She smiled and squeezed his hand back. "Good, because I intend to make it worth your while."
Mako blinked. "Korra, what -?"
But she simply lifted a finger to his lips to silence him, the corner of her mouth quirking mischievously. Then she backed away and disappeared through her bedroom door.
Yup, still crazy, Mako thought to himself, though with much more affection than he would have thought possible only a few months ago. Spirits, she really was amazing.
"Mako, are you smiling like that because you loooooove Korra? Are you?" Ikki asked, her voice startling him out of his daze.
"It's really goofy," Jinora added helpfully.
—-
When he headed down to the docks half an hour later, Bolin and Asami were waiting for him. His brother was dressed in red ballgown he vaguely remembered Pema wearing when she was pregnant, one of Asami's jade pendants at his neck and a curly wig covering his hair. Beside him, Asami wore a handsomely-tailored suit, complete with a pocket-watch. Her long hair was tied back in a decidedly feminine ponytail, though she had dispensed with her usual make-up. Both of their getups were much nicer than his, no matter how silly they looked. To his further annoyance, both of them were rather nonchalant about the whole thing, much more interested in poking fun at his outfit than commiserating about any self-consciousness together.
"Great," he said. "Now I'm going to look like even more of an idiot. Is everyone going to be wearing fancy clothes?"
Bolin threw an arm over his shoulders. "Bro, please. No one can pull off the mama look like you can. Why go for the eveningwear when you were clearly meant for housewife fashion?"
Asami laughed. "Apparently I'm not the only one who knows how to accessorize my outfits."
"Thanks, guys, I'm really feeling the love here," said Mako drily.
"Oh, lighten up. Anyway, Korra took pity on you and decided not to go formal either. She didn't really let me do anything when we were getting ready."
This was news to Mako. "What's she wearing instead?"
"Look behind you."
He whipped around at the sound of Korra's voice. And felt his jaw drop.
She was dressed in the clothes he used to wear to work at the power plant. She had rolled his trousers up several times to compensate for his longer frame. Her hair was tucked into a cap and her hands were covered with thick black gloves. And his shirt – his shirt clung to her in all the right places, hugging her curves and dipping far lower on her chest than her usual Water Tribe blouse, even if it was slightly too big for her. Somehow, despite the general bagginess of her appearance, the overall effect was stunning. There was just something about seeing her in his clothes that did things to him.
Judging by the glint in her eye as she stood on her toes to straighten his bandanna, she knew it, too.
"Having a good time yet?" she whispered, her warm breath tickling his ear.
Maybe this cross-dressing thing wasn't so bad after all.