Korra stands alone on the pier, dimly illuminated by the golden light of the pagoda overhead. Bolin hesitates as he takes in the back of her figure, slightly limp, leaning against one of the pagoda's pillars. Her left arm is holding onto her right, and in general, to Bolin, she just seems sad. Lonely.
He glances down at the pink flowers in his hands and over to Pabu on his shoulder. Pabu, seeming to take a guess as to what he is thinking, nudges Bolin's jaw with his head. It's a nudge of encouragement, and a smile spreads on Bolin's face and he nods towards the fire ferret. "Yeah. Let's go."
Gingerly placing the flowers behind his back with one hand, he lightly steps over to Korra, wondering if she can hear him walk. There is no movement on her part, however, no sign that she hears him. Bolin glances back towards Pabu, and with a nod, his pet jumps off Bolin's shoulder and lands on Korra's, and nuzzles against Korra's cheek, which seems to finally register in Korra's mind that she's not alone.
"Oh, hey Bolin," there's a smile on her face, but Bolin notices it's weak. It's not as brilliant as it usually is when she smiles, when she laughs at one of his jokes, when she comes up with a snarky remark to one of Mako's deadpan statements. "And Pabu."
With gentle fingers, she scratches the spot between Pabu's ears, which causes him to let out a slight purr. Bolin returns the smile to the best of his ability, and adjusts the grip on the flowers behind his back awkwardly. "You alright?"
"Feeling a bit out of it," Korra admits, rubbing her forehead awkwardly, then glancing directly into Bolin's eyes. "Sorry about today's match."
"Everyone has their off days!" Bolin reassures her. "Mako seemed out of it too, actually," he pauses, then laughs. "We made it through, though, and that's all that matters."
"Right," it's a passive response, not one with determination.
Bolin's worried, this isn't going quite the way he had hoped. But he'll make it work if can, certainly—he presents the flowers with a flourish, without the smooth and ease he had expected, certainly not proper for a ladies' man. They're in Korra's hands in an instant, and she's staring down at them in disbelief. "What are these for?"
"They're for you." It's hard to add on an obviously, but Bolin keeps his smile as Korra looks up at him in disbelief. "Look, Korra—I had a lot of fun with you on our date the other day, and I meant what I had told you about how you're the most amazing girl I ever met. I knew there was something special about you, and it wasn't just because you were the Avatar."
He isn't exactly going off the script he had rehearsed in his head, but Bolin figures a little improv is okay too. Korra's still staring at him, seemingly speechless for once in her life. The look on her face worries him—he was expecting joy and happiness, but she's just sad. She's just worried.
She seems confused.
"So, I was wondering, if you'd be my girlfriend?"
There's a long pause. Pabu, seeming to notice the sudden tension in the air, leaps off Korra's shoulder and onto Bolin's. Korra glances down at the flowers and back up at Bolin, then presents them to him awkwardly. "I don't think I deserve these."
"What?" Bolin's voice cracks. "Of course you deserve them, you deserve them the most out of anyone."
"No," Korra reassures them, pressing them into Bolin's arms. "I really don't, Bolin. I'm sorry. I don't feel the same way."
And she rushes off the pier, out from underneath the pagoda that Bolin found romantic in most situations. He knew that he would profess his love for the right girl underneath the golden roof one day, looking over Yue Bay out towards Republic City, and he thought Korra was the right one to confess to.
It seemed like he was wrong.
He throws the flowers into the water, which for anyone that knows Bolin well, would think it was quite unlike him.