I have this slight... obsession with Bumi... He wasn't fleshed out all that much, but in my mind, behind the hyperactivity and excitement and childishness and immaturity, I envision a man with severe Daddy issues who feels neglected and possibly inferiour to his younger brother, who seemingly seems to have everything. I envision a man who probably compares himself to Tenzin and feels inadequate, though he hides his feelings behind wide smiles and gallant tales of his adventures in the military. I just feel like there's some hidden, slightly melancholic depth to Bumi...
I'm probably overthinking it as usual, but anyway, I like the idea of Bumi and Lin finding love WAHAHAHAHAHAHA
So: Here's my attempt at writing a Bumi/Lin vignette. Hopefully it isn't crud.
Set during Season 2, before Bumi became an Airbender.
Rated K+ for ... ummmm... K.O?
Disclaimer: I don't own LoK and only like torturing the characters as I see fit.
Bumi nurses his scotch on the rocks and swirls the glass once before knocking it back quickly. At this point, he's too numb to feel the sting of the alcohol and only relishes in the warmth of the drink sliding down his esophagus and pooling in his stomach.
Honestly, it's been a long time since he spent time in a bar like this, drowning his… admitted sorrows in drinks. Kya had chastised him, telling him he was much too old to be getting drunk on alcohol whenever he felt depressed.
"Think about your liver!"
Is her standard argument. But he doesn't care.
It sure beats watching his brother train his children in airbending.
It isn't that he is resentful of his brother, per se. But he can't deny the envy he feels towards Tenzin whenever he executes a perfect bending maneuver. One that Bumi is sure he had seen his father use in the past.
Flagging the bartender over, he asks for another drink on the rocks, staring at the shelves of polished glasses in a buzzed daze, wondering what his life would be like if he had been born as an airbender as well. If he had become the prodigy; the one destined for greatness. The one who was tasked with repopulating the world with airbenders. The important one.
His father probably wouldn't have neglected him as much, that's for sure.
He hears the squeak of the stool next to him and someone settles beside him. Without turning, he recognizes who it is, and he vaguely wonders what compelled her to enter this cheap, dingy bar on the outskirts of Republic City with mediocre, watered down alcohol.
"Awfully late time for you to be here. Shouldn't you be with your family on Air Temple Island?"
"…I needed some time away from them."
As the bartender brings around his simple drink, she orders for herself some rum.
"Rum?" he asks, slightly in amusement, slightly in shock at her choice of drink. For however long he's known her, she always has ordered water at every bar she's ever gone to.
"I needed something strong."
"Rough day?"
"I could ask you the same thing." She quips, casting him a sideways, poignant look. He quiets and takes another sip of his drink.
They sit there in silence, the two of them, pondering their own thoughts. His, on anything but the source of his melancholy. Hers, unknown.
She sighs when she realizes he has no intention of regaling her with conversation or a cheerful presence.
"So… you never did finish telling me what it was like being in the Southern Water tribe with your uncle back when we were teenagers."
He frowns. He had forgotten about that. Back when Lin used to come over every day, he used to tell her tales of summers spent with Sokka training and learning how to be a fighter since he was a nonbender. She had listened attentively, always in awed fascination. She had been the only one ever interested in his stories. Tenzin was always training with their father. Kya was always training with their mother. Admittedly, it had been nice to have someone he could talk to about the training.
But after Lin and Tenzin became a couple, she had gradually stopped spending time with him. And after the whole disastrous breakup, Lin stopped coming over cold turkey. By that point, he had joined the United Forces and they rarely saw each other, except in passing. She had been there for his inducting as Commander of the Second Division. And he had been there when she became Chief of Police. But as far as their interactions went, they were few and far between. Decades passed, and he never continued the tales.
"What's there to tell…?" he grumbles, "I was forced to fight day and night with several grown men who whipped my butt into shape. Every day was like a life or death situation. When I passed, Uncle Sokka would show me how to make my own weapons. If I failed, I'd be tasked with finding meat for the day. Boy, those were some rough evenings."
She smiles slightly, quietly taking another sip of her rum.
"There were times when it would be freezing cold and snowing in droves, yet Uncle Sokka would make me strip to my underpants and repeat katas and motions over and over until I got them exactly right." He chuckles at the memories, shaking his head in disbelief, "Mother used to tell me her brother was a big goofball, but Uncle Sokka was definitely not that way when he trained me. His favourite phrase used to be 'No mercy'. I don't think I got away with anything."
She finishes her drink and turns her attention fully to him, chin resting on her palm, "Sounds like you had a real blast…"
"It was rough training, but I did enjoy it. Even though he came up with the craziest stuff. There was one time when we swam through freezing water just to train our mentality and perseverance..."
Realizing he had been getting carried away, Bumi stops talking abruptly as a pale blush appears on his face.
He clears his throat lightly, "Ah sorry. I think I got a little carried away."
She waves her other hand, "Don't be. I love hearing those stories. You haven't told me any of them in years, you know."
"Well, we both have been busy over the years. Me, with commanding my squad. You, with Tenzin and your duties as police chief."
"Hn…" she replies noncommittally, smiling fondly, "It's a shame. Those stories motivated me to do my best to reach my goal of becoming Chief of Police."
He's never heard that one before. Eyebrows raised in surprise, he turns to her, "What? Really?"
"You inspired me, Bumi. Your tenacity, your loyalty to your nation and your family and friends. Your audacity and ambition. Your drive to succeed. Your willingness to lay your life on the line for the people you cared about. Even when things were tough, even when you were injured and beaten up and bruised, you always had a smile on your face. You always persevered."
He stares at her in silence, his hand slipping away from the glass and falling onto his lap innocuously.
"I inspired you?"
"You may not have been a bender, but seeing you put your all into everything you did... It was inspiring." Setting down her glass, she slides a handful of bills across the bar counter to the bartender before giving him a soft smile, "Believe it or not Bumi, you are important. And you are just as good as your siblings. In fact, I think you're better. You might not think so, but your father would be proud."
He can do nothing but gape at her like a fish as she stands up from the stool and saunters away from the bar. As she reaches the door, she turns and looks at him over her shoulder, a mischievous, but secretive smile on her face.
"You coming?"
"Where are we going?"
"Who knows…" she says, turning and walking out the door, leaving the ball in his court to make the next move.
And for the first time in many years, Bumi doesn't feel inferiour to his brother. He doesn't feel insignificant. So smiling, he pays his tab and hurries out the door.