The graveyard was silent. Moonlight slipped through the gaps in the clouds, its opaque light filtering through the canopy of leaves above the plot of land which was currently being dug up. The sharp quiet of the surroundings was gently punctuated by the crunch of a shovel entering the earth, followed by soft thumps of dirt landing on the ground.
Mako sighed as he stuck his shovel into the ground, the hole around him slowly widening. He loved his girlfriend to the moon and back, but there were definitely difficulties that came with dating the slayer.
Date nights in graveyards were at the top of the list.
Some couples, he mused, had movie nights, or went out for dinner. But no, he had to be part of the one couple in Republic City who spent 80% of their time in cemeteries, tombs, and general creepy-as-hell areas so that they could kill vampires.
He couldn't really complain though. Korra had done her best to keep him out of the supernatural elements of her life, tried to protect him from her world. But being the slayer wasn't exactly something you could hide when you were in a long-term relationship, and Mako had found out about his girlfriend's identity eventually.
He hadn't asked to spend his Friday nights digging holes and killing the undead, but neither had Korra. And Mako sure as hell wasn't going to leave her to fight this seemingly endless battle alone.
He rolled the sleeves of his hoodie up, and kept digging. It was monotonous work, but he figured that the sooner he found the damned amulet of Kyoshi, which if he recalled correctly, Tenzin had told them not to go looking for, the sooner they could go order a pizza.
His mind was filled with thoughts of melting cheese and pepperoni as he dug, and he didn't notice the figure that appeared next to the hole until it jumped down beside him. With reflexes sharpened by hours of training with Korra, Mako whipped out a stake and spun to face whatever it was, prepared to drive the wooden spike through its heart. A forearm blocked his attack, pulling him towards the figure and spinning him so his arm was held against his back. Terror rocketed through him, until he heard a soft giggle by his ear.
"I've trained you well, I see," Korra said, releasing his wrist and taking a step back. He turned towards her, a pout on his face as he rubbed his arm, still gripping the stake tightly.
"You know, it's hardly a fair fight when you use your slayer skills to take me down," he grumbled playfully. Korra rolled her eyes at him.
"Well, the undead won't play nice with you, so I shouldn't either. Don't want to have to fight you for real..." she said.
Mako knew she was trying to make a joke, but he heard her voice catch as she trailed off, and he wrapped an arm around her. Fighting a friend was awful, as they had learned the hard way. Mako still woke up from the nightmares, remembering driving a stake through Hasook's heart. It was how he and Bolin had discovered that Korra was the slayer.
None of them had slept that night.
He let go of Korra and picked up the shovel he had hastily dropped, starting to dig again. Anything to distract himself from the memory of his friend turning into dust before his eyes.
"Come on, we better keep digging if we want to find the amulet before sunrise," he said. "I don't know about you, but I don't think the cemetery warden will be thrilled to see what we've done with his land."
Korra scratched her head slightly, as she dropped her eyes to the floor.
"Yeah, about the amulet..."
Mako stopped digging.
"Korra. Please tell me I haven't spent three hours digging for nothing. Please."
Korra slid a necklace out of her trouser pocket, the pendant telling Mako that it was the former slayer's amulet they had been searching for. He dropped the shovel and crossed his arms.
"I, uh, was looking at the map wrong. It was buried in her tomb... I had a quick check while you were digging and found it. Um. Sorry."
Mako shook his head in disbelief, chuckling softly at the sheepish look on Korra's face. He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled.
"Ok, whatever. Come on, let's get out of here." He looked at the space where Korra had been, only to see she was one step ahead and had already leaped out of the hole. She leant down, reaching her hand out to him. He took it, and she heaved him out of the gaping space below them. She pulled too hard (she doesn't know her own strength, Mako thought) and they fell to the ground, Mako's body pinning Korra's next to the large pile of dirt.
Mako leaned onto his elbows, noting the blush evident on Korra's face in the darkness. Her eyes met his, and the couple grinned at each other. Mako placed a kiss on Korra's nose before pushing himself off her.
"I love you, you know. Even if you do make me dig random holes in cemeteries."
Korra smiled as she took his proffered hand, and wrapped an arm around him. It wasn't the most tactical move, but she knew that if they were attacked, they would be fine.
She had trained him well, after all.
"Let's get food," Korra said. "Pizza's on me!" Mako planted a kiss on the top of her head, smiling happily.
Living on the Hellmouth had its downsides, but he had Korra and pizza. Graveyards and vampires aside, life was good for Mako.