Rest, Relapse, and Relaxation
The sunlight shined bright in the clear cloudless sky as both Korra and Asami finally arrived to Ember Island after a long boat ride, the two of them finally ready to settle down and relax. This was the two of them's first vacation in a long time as Asami had always been so busy managing Future Industries, and Korra had been occupied with various duties as the Avatar, so the both of them were more than ready to finally enjoy some time off to spend leisurely with themselves. Asami smiled happily as the bright midday sun shone down upon her and Korra, Korra of whom was smiling as well, but less so than her partner. Asami soon closed her eyes and took in a deep breathe, taking in the fresh beach air as a gentle ocean breeze blew in and greeted the young couple.
"Ah, finally. I thought that boat ride would never end. It's good to finally be able to sit by the water and relax for once," Asami rejoiced. "Wouldn't you think so, Korra?" As Asami turned her head to see her girlfriend's face as she answered her inquiry, she noticed Korra seemed to be a bit distracted, looking at the beach and staring off into space. "Korra?" Asami repeated, this time getting the attention of her dark skinned partner, of whom simply smiled and nodded in response. Slightly confused, Asami raises an eyebrow at her lover's response to the question she had asked, but rather than ask about it, Asami merely shrugged it off and continued smiling as the two of them went off to the closest hotel to put away their things and begin their vacation.
The beach, while not vacant, was still rather free from the large crowds of people that usually come to the beach during the summer months. This was good for both Korra and Asami as they arrived there, greeted pleasantly by the sounds of the waves on the water, the blow of the breeze in their hair, and the warmth of the sand beneath their feet. The two lovers began to scan the beach for the perfect spot to set up their towels and umbrella, quickly finding their preferred spot in the sand due to the surprising lack of tourists on the beach. Asami carefully puts down her share of their gear and gets down on her knees to spread her towel evenly and comfortably on the sand.
"Hey Korra, could you help me set up the-" Asami began before hearing an impact in the sand as Korra's share of their gear is simply dropped to the ground after she set up her towel. Once the gear was down in the sand haphazardly, Korra ran off to enjoy the time on the beach "Wait, Korra!" Asami cried out in vain as her girlfriend was already too far away to hear her plea. As soon as Asami realized this, she simply sighed and looked down in defeat. "Great, left alone with the rest of the set up," Asami complained under her breath as she reluctantly dealt with her girlfriend's negligence.
After a while, Korra returned to the spot she and Asami picked out to set up their gear, finding Asami laying on her towel relaxing under the beach umbrella, sunglasses covering her lovely peridot eyes. Korra smiled at this, laying down on her own towel next to Asami's, Asami of whom took little to no notice of her beloved's return. Korra frowned a little bit and nudged Asami to get her attention, resulting in Asami shifting from her position and turning her head to see Korra lain there beside her, eliciting a sincere smile from her.
"There you are, Korra, I was wondering where you ended up," Asami stated, rolling over to her side to get a more comfortable view of her girlfriend. "You know, I was kind of mad that you just left so suddenly and left me with all the set up work…but it's fine now. We're here, everything's together, and we finally have some time to relax with each other." Asami smiled as she carefully leans over to kiss Korra, planting a peck on her lips, only to be greeted by grainy particles coating her girlfriend's lips. This causes Asami to pull back and begin spitting and cleaning off her own lips of the particles. "Sand? Ugh, why the hell are your lips covered in sand?" she asked as she continued spitting the sand off her own lips. "I understand it's the beach and sand gets everywhere, but still, gross."
Their beach gear all packed up, both Korra and Asami hit the souvenir stand to pick up some miscellaneous knick-knacks and keepsakes to commemorate their vacation together on Ember Island. As the two of them arrived at the stand, Asami began looking around at the various tchotchkes available for sale, meanwhile Korra's eyes seemed to wander away from the stand, and more over to the beach they had just left instead of finding out what sort of souvenir she wanted from the beachside stand.
"So Korra, what kind of souvenirs do you think we should-" Asami started asking, only to see Korra running off towards the beach once again. Asami reached out a hand to try catching her, but to no avail as once again the Avatar was out of reach, eliciting yet another sigh and disgruntled frown from Asami's mouth.
Soon Asami shut her eyes and rubbed her temples. "I love Korra, I love Korra," Asami said to herself on repeat to prevent herself from making a rash decision. Her repeated words quickly calmed her down as she breathed in a breath of relief and exhaled to release the frustration. Once fully calmed, Asami looks up and smiles at the vendor standing behind the counter of the souvenir stand.
"Sorry about that," she remarked. "I'll take two of the shell necklaces, a conch shell for the mantel back home, a set of those pearl earrings, a sand globe, and one of those turtle crab keychains for Mako."
Back at the hotel room later that night, Asami was sat at the bedside, brushing her long raven black hair in preparation to settle down for the night along with Korra. The black haired beauty smiled as she ran the hairbrush through her lovely locks, gazing over to the variety of knick-knacks she had purchased from the beach vendor earlier in the day. It took nearly no time at all for Asami to finish with her hair before putting down her brush and getting up to use the restroom. Once she gets the the restroom door, she grips the knob and tries turning it to gain entry, only to find that the door was locked from the inside.
"Oh god dammit," Asami grunted as she fidgeted with the doorknob. Soon, she placed her head against the wooden bathroom door to listen in on what was happening, hearing the sounds of running sink water and the grunts and whines of her girlfriend, Korra. Asami huffed in displeasure as she knocked on the door loudly to get Korra's attention. "Korra, I know you're in there!" she exclaimed with vigor. "First you abandon me at the beach and force me to deal with the set up on the beach this morning, then you run off at the souvenir stand without a moment's notice, all the while you haven't even said a word to me or anyone this entire trip!" Soon, Asami grabs one of her Future Industries business cards from her bag and uses it to unlock the bathroom door to gain access. "There had better be a good explanation for why you-"
Asami had to take a moment to pause her words at the horror of what she had just burst in on. There stood Korra in front of the bathroom sink, shivering in pain as many drops of crimson blood drizzled down from her mouth into the sink below. Grains of sand from the beach were scattered about the base of the sink, most of the particles coated in Korra's own blood as well. There were signs that Korra had attempted to use some of the hotel's provided mouthwash to clean out her mouth out from all the blood and sand, only to be immediately spat back out on the mirror, a lot of the blue liquid already trickled down into the sink and mixed with the blood to create a sickening violet color as it swirled down into the drain. Asami covered her mouth in shock and horror at this sight, tears welling up in her eyes as she witnessed the one she loved in agonizing pain. After a few seconds, Asami grabbed Korra in her embrace to help comfort her and so she can help lead her out of the restroom to allow her sit and recover from her apparent injuries. Once out of the bathroom, Asami sits Korra at the bedside, sitting right beside her to help take care of her. As she looked over Korra quickly, she saw some sand still on her lips
"You've been eating sand?" Asami asked, trembling herself, feeling sympathy pains from seeing Korra in such misery. "Is that where you went at the beach earlier today, and at the souvenir stand?" Asami placed a gentle hand on her beloved's cheek, only to have Korra wince in discomfort at the touch. "Sorry, hun." Asami moved her hand away from Korra's cheek and placed her fingers tenderly at the ends of her mouth. "Do you mind if I have a look to see the damage?" Korra seemed heavily hesitant to the idea of Asami perusing her mouth without even speaking a word, but after a little while Korra's already pain riddled face told Asami that she was willing to allow Asami to get a look. Asami nodded and gently gripped the ends of Korra's mouth so as to minimize her girlfriend's pain. Asami then proceeded to use her fingers to stretch open Korra's mouth to get a look at what damage had been done to the inside of it, all the while Korra instinctively resisted Asami's advances, but eventually, she got it open and got a good look at the inside.
What she saw was absolutely disgusting. The inside of Korra's mouth looked like it had been decayed and whittled down for years on end, most of it either already coated and stained with blood or getting coated by freshly bleeding blood. Her teeth had been literally sanded down from all the sand she'd been ingesting, leaving some blood vessels from inside the tooth exposed and bleeding. Her gums were still encrusted with particles of sand at the base of her now short stubs of teeth. Her tongue looked to be dry and arid like the Si Wong desert. The rest of her mouth, roof and all, looked like a mildly damp Overall, it was a nasty sight to behold. The longer Korra had her mouth held open, the more pain she felt as the open air hurt her teeth and gums like needles, more and more tears welling up in her eyes and flowing down as she worked her hardest to stifle the screams of anguish she would normally be letting off.
"Oh god, that's why you haven't been talking. It must be torture to even open your mouth right now," Asami apologized as she shut Korra's mouth slowly and delicately. "Korra, what caused this? Why did you start eating sand like this?"Korra looked away, tears still flowing from her tear ducts. "Oh…so I take it that you don't want to talk about it right now…I understand, you must be in so much pain still." Asami, rather than prod further by asking question after question, Asami instead held Korra in her arms, crying alongside Korra out of sympathy and fear for the wellbeing of her beloved. Korra shakily returned the loving embrace from Asami, crying loudly as well, her face buried in Asami's shoulder deeply.
There they sat, crying and sobbing for over an hour on end whilst wrapped in each other's loving embrace. Besides the steady sounds of sobbing and sympathetic sorrow, silence had befallen the hotel bedroom, the two lovers still united in their mental and physical suffering.
"Don't worry, Korra," Asami stammered through her overwhelming sadness. "We'll get you help. You're going to be fine." Korra only wept more tears of pain at her words, but this time, there was a tinge of relief in her miserable sobs. Asami smiled a bit as they lamented there at their bedside. After another hour or so, the sobbing had settled and the two lovers lay silently on the violet bedsheets, both of them having cried themselves to sleep for the night. Although much pain had been felt, blood had been split, and tears had been shed, this night of sleep had truly been the most relaxing and comfortable night's sleep Korra had had in what seemed like forever.
WRITTEN FOR THE PRO-BENDING CIRCUIT: 2165 words without author's notes. The chosen addiction for this round was eating sand. The bonus prompts were:
(color) violet
(location) Ember Island
(restriction) Exactly one person must have dialogue
Also used water (my element) in the plot, another bonus.