Prompts: Jungle, popsicles, cinammon. Word count: 1,861 Element: Fire
He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited outside the open door of the restaurant. It was cold out. Too cold for him. Even Pabu refused to come outside for his little "outing". He never understood how the Water Tribes could bear such cold all year round. Although for some people, like Eska, the cold did suit them.
Bolin quickly glanced at his watch. She was 15 minutes late and he was starting to get nervous. He found himself frantically looking around the street in hopes he'd see her soon before…they showed up. This entire situation was a mess but he had to try something. Anything. He found himself biting his nails, despite the fact his girlfriend had forced him to get a manicure. Finally, after what seemed like hours to him, he saw her walking down the street towards him and he was finally able to release a sigh of relief.
Asami had on an elegant red dress. It was form fitting on her. The hem, edge of the sleeves, and collar were decorated with white fur to keep her warm. She smiled when she noticed Bolin a few feet from her. She had to keep herself from laughing when she noticed how oddly dressed he was. His hair was slicked down and he had on robes similar to Eska's and Desna's. She figured his girlfriend must have dressed him that day.
"Don't you look…spiffy." She said as she approached him.
"Thanks. You're looking pretty hot yourself." He said. She noticed he had a nervous look on his face and was looking around their surroundings.
"Are you alright?"
"What? Yeah, of course I am. Now let's head inside." She found herself being pushed into the restaurant. He was acting strange, but then again, he hasn't been himself since Eska forced him into a relationship.
Inside the restaurant was quite elegant. There were two people playing a lute and flute. The dining chairs and tables were blue to match the white banners the walls and ceiling were decorated with. One table was in a completely separate area from the dining area as it had its own room and music players. She was surprised when the host lead them to that separate area. Judging by the apparel of everyone and the décor, this wasn't a cheap restaurant. Having a separate eating area must have been very expensive. Was Bolin planning on having her pay for this?
When they were finally seated across from each other, Bolin still looked nervous. He looked around their surroundings a few more times before she finally spoke.
"So, why exactly are we here at some expensive restaurant just to talk?"
Suddenly, he reached forward and grabbed a hold of her dress to bring her closer to him. There was a shocked look on her face as he starting begging.
"Please don't leave me alone with Eska. She's scary and she makes me do manual labor and she keeps putting this stuff in my hair that smells awful."
"What are you talking about? We're alone right now-"
As quickly as he grabbed her, he let her go and straightened himself up. She was puzzled for a moment but then noticed two people approaching their booth.
"Oh no…Bolin. You didn't."
Eska and Desna slid into the booth next to Bolin and Asami, respectively. Bolin was smiling nervously at a now mad looking Asami.
"Eska, darling. It's so good to see you." Bolin said. Eska paid him no mind as she looked at Asami.
"Were you making physical contact with this woman?" Eska said in a monotone voice.
"What? No, no. That's not a woman, that's just Asami."
A swift kick from Asami made him jump and yell out in pain. "Would you excuse us for a moment?" Asami said. She didn't wait for either of the twins to respond before she put the menu on the table to separate her and Bolin's head while they whispered to each other.
"Are you insane? What are you doing setting me up on a double date?" Her voice was low but it had all the anger it needed to make Bolin shake.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't bring Korra because that'd just be weird and Eska doesn't like Mako. Please don't leave me here by myself. She scares me and Desna just sits there and watches."
"You could have asked!"
"You would have said no and you know it! Please Asami. Do me this one favor and I'll owe you. I'll never ask you for anything ever again. Please!"
Bolin stared at Asami with puppy-dog eyes. They never worked for Eska but maybe they'd work for her. She sighed, defeated. "Fine. But if Desna hits on me, I'm leaving."
"Thank you!"
"Boyfriend, cease communication." He heard Eska say.
Bolin immediately removed the menu from the middle of table. "Of course, uh, honey."
There was an awkward silence in the air. Bolin was twiddling his thumbs, afraid to look around. Eska was busy staring at Asami, who was giving her a weird look. Desna was looking over the menu, not paying any mind to the situation in front of him.
"So…how was your day?" Bolin finally said.
"Standard."
The waiter finally came with a tray of drinks for the group. Bolin and Asami were confused. They didn't remember ordering any drinks.
"Your drinks." The waiter said as he gave each person a cup of some kind of tea. Whatever kind of tea it was had a strong cinnamon smell to it. It was almost too strong for Asami to drink. "Miss Asami Sato, a message came for you just a few minutes ago."
"A message? From who?"
"Varrick. He said it was very important that you get these blueprints." He said as he handed Asami a folded up piece of paper. She was about to open it when she noticed Bolin shaking his head at her. She rolled her eyes and put the paper on the table in front of her. She could wait a few minutes before opening it.
The waiter cleared his throat. "Are you ready to order?"
The entire date felt wrong. Eska looked mad, Bolin looked as uncomfortable as Asami felt, and Desna just casually ate, not even offering a glance at anyone.
"So, uh, how's everyone food?" He asked. No one responded. "Well my food is just delicious."
"Be quiet." Eska said before putting a spoonful of soup in her mouth.
"Yes ma'am." Bolin said quietly.
"The noodles are pretty good. Although I think the cinnamon tea is a bit strong. You can smell it a foot away."
"That's because it's cassia." Desna said almost in a sigh.
"Interesting.." She mumbled.
As if the date couldn't get any more annoying, the last person she wanted to see decided to show up.
"Hey, hey. On a fancy little date, are we?"
Everyone, except for Desna, turned their head to see Varrick with Zhu Li standing behind him.
"Yeah, we're kind of on a private date so…" Bolin started.
"Wonderful! Zhu Li and I will join you. I want to talk to Asami about those blueprints."
Before anyone could protest, Varrick had pulled a seat next to Asami and motioned for Zhu Li to sit across from Bolin. By now, Asami was pinching the bridge of her nose and Eska was starting to get irritated.
"Can't we discuss them tomorrow? We're kind of in the middle of something." Asami pleaded.
"Ms. Sato, you cannot put off geniusness." He snatched up the folded piece of paper on the table and opened it up. "See, what I was thinking was a designing a boat using Future Industries engines but with a few modifications using a kind of pulley system. In fact, I can demonstrate with a scale model. Zhu Li, take out the thing."
"Please don't." Bolin said.
Asami was busy listening to Varrick ramble on about his invention, Bolin was trying to shield himself from Eska's glare and Desna was busy finishing his food when one of the parts of the pulley system Varrick designed flew off and hit a gentleman across the room. He was a rough looking large guy with a scruffy beard, despite wearing such clean-cut clothes.
"Varrick!" Asami exclaimed.
Bolin started sweating when the large guy made his way to their table with anger seething from him. "Which one of you threw something at my head?" He said in a rough voice.
"Throwing? Oh, no. We didn't throw anything. No, sir. Not at a strong guy like you. We were just-" Bolin tried to calm the angry guy down before Varrick opened his mouth.
"Hey, be a pal and get that wheel that touched your disgusting beard." Varrick said. Asami smacked herself in the forehead.
The large guy quickly grabbed Varrick by his shirt. "Who are you calling disgusting?"
Bolin tried to squeeze between the two to separate them. "Hey, hey now. There's no need for fighting. It was just an accident after all. Why don't we all just sit down and-"
The gentleman tossed Varrick backwards into the table and sent Bolin flying into Asami.
A wave of water struck the man and sent him toppling back. Desna and Eska stood in front of Bolin and Asami. Though Desna showed no signs of obvious fury, Eska made no effort to hide hers.
"Leave my Bolin alone." Eska said, sending chills down just about everyone's spines.
The man growled and kicked two fireballs towards the twins. Bolin was already hiding behind Eska as she and her brother moved him and Asami out of the way. The four watched as the battle ensued. Most of the people in the restaurant had left by now while others were too glued to the drama to move, except when their table became inflamed or they ended up soaking wet from the water. Bolin and Asami ended up crawling through way through the jungle of tables and chairs trying to avoid the blast of elements from the tree benders.
"So, I'm guessing there won't be a second date?" Bolin said to Asami.
Half an hour later, the six of them stood outside the restaurant, watching the flames engulf the inside while water benders quickly worked to quench the flames.
"It was suppose to be a simple double date. How'd we end up burning down a restaurant?" Bolin said.
"I'm never going on a date with you again, Bolin." Asami sighed.
"You owe me another outing, boyfriend." Eska said as she nonchalantly licked a popsicle. Bolin looked around and noticed everyone, even Varrick and Zhu Li, were eating popsicles.
"Where'd you get those popsicles from? I want one."
"You don't deserve a popsicle." Asami said.
"Well. This was an interesting turn of events. I should go on dates with you guys more often." Varrick said before he left the four to their thoughts.
Desna and Eska turned in opposite directions, demanding their respective dates walk with them.
Bolin and Asami looked at each other.
"Desna better not do anything weird." Asami whispered before following the male twin.
He simply shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets and headed off down the road.