Mako twirled his fork through his seaweed noodles, wondering why Korra and Bolin liked this restaurant so much. His teammates were enthusiastically shoving noodles into their mouths and loudly discussing their last match, seaweed bits spraying across the table as they got a little too energetic in their discussion. Mako shook his head, reluctantly spooning a forkful of noodles into his mouth and chewing. They weren't too bad, just a little slimy. And rubbery.
"Psst, Mako." Bolin nudged him, interrupting his careful chewing process. "Have you noticed Tahno and his groupies? He's been eying you with a really creepy expression since we sat down." Mako glanced around the restaurant, spotting the Wolfbat captain a few tables away. Staring straight at him. With a smirk. And a raised eyebrow.
"Are you planning on swallowing those noodles?" Korra teased, elbowing him non-too-gently and causing him to start choking on said mouthful of noodles.
"Woah, calm down bro. Remember to chew." Bolin patted him on the back, watching him worriedly until he stopped coughing. Mako sank back in his chair, pointedly not embarrassed or noticing the huge and decidedly unfriendly grin directed at him from across the room. He looked down at his bowl of goopy green noodles, fixating solely on the process of chewing and tuning out both his teammates and the other occupants of the restaurant. Which is why he didn't notice the slinking presence behind him until a hand curled around his shoulder and his intelligence was insulted.
"Having trouble performing basic survival functions again, Failure Ferrets?" Tahno asked, loftily gesturing at the mess of spilled noodles splattered across their table.
"Oh shut up, pretty boy. We're trying to enjoy our victory meal." Korra huffed, glaring at him with the force of a gale hurricane. Tahno tightened the hand curled around Mako's shoulder and leaned in closer, his breath bringing an uncomfortable warmth to Mako's neck.
"I suppose I'd better let you celebrate while you can. Pity I have to go up against such… good looking competition, I'm going to be almost sad if I have to mangle you." Tahno purred, arching an eyebrow and turning his head towards Mako, causing him to flinch away and blush profusely. Bolin leaped up from the table, jabbing a finger at Tahno with one of the most outraged expressions Mako had ever seen on his brother.
"How dare you hit on Korra!" Bolin shouted, slamming his fist down on the table for emphasis. The hand on Mako' shoulder started shaking as Tahno laughed, clutching at his side and completely ignoring Bolin's confused look.
"Oh, don't worry." Tahno chuckled, flicking his head back in an expert hair flip. "I wasn't hitting on Korra, lovely though she may be." He said with a wink that caused Korra to push back her chair and clench a fist threateningly. But before the inevitable noodle bar fight could ensue, an equally pale and elegant hand clamped down on Tahno's shoulder.
"And why exactly is your hand on my boyfriend's shoulder?" Asami asked, smiling sweetly even as Mako could see her fingernails dig into the material of Tahno's probending uniform.
"Boyfriend?" Tahno said, smirking with some kind of strange amusement as he released Mako's shoulder and stepped back. "Well isn't that adorable." And with another wink in Mako's direction, he spun on his heel and sashayed away with his eerily silent group of followers.
"Did he just call Asami adorable?" Bolin asked, frowning at Tahno's retreating back.
"Let's hope so." Mako answered, winding an arm around Asami's waist and resuming his chewing process.
ooo
"Hail, Failure Ferret captain! Done practicing already? I'd recommend staying a little longer."
Mako groaned, turning around somewhat reluctantly to face the smirking Wolf Bat captain leaning casually against the doorway to the training room.
"You won't be so smug tomorrow when we crush you in the finals." Mako growled, tossing a practice mat back onto its pile and lamenting the fact that he had foolishly volunteered to clean up so Korra and Bolin could go grab them a table at Narook's. Tahno laughed, uncrossing his arms and sauntering over to where Mako was tearing down nets.
"Quite the collection you have here." He said, cocking his head to the side and gesturing towards the singed, torn, and defaced photos of himself posing in various positions that were suspended across the practice area. Mako coughed, waving his hand in a slashing motion and eradicating the remaining photos with a jet of flame. Tahno raised his eyebrows, poking at the remaining corner of one photo.
"Oohh, that's hot." He said, grinning. Mako dropped the net he was holding. It landed on the floor with a thud, drawing another amused chuckle from his unwelcome visitor. Cheeks burning, Mako reached down for the tangle of rope, only to end up dropping it again and letting out a manly shriek when something cold touched the back of his neck. He stumbled backwards, tripping over said net and falling into the very much waiting arms of Tahno. Mako froze, registering the fact that there were two arms wrapped around him, holding him close to the warm chest pressed up against his back. He could feel the matching thud of a heartbeat, and a warm breath ghosting against his neck where Tahno's head was leaning in closely, half lidded eyes watching him. Then he flicked his tongue out against Mako's neck, leaving a trail of moisture against the smooth muscle. Mako stiffened, reaching up to push him away. Surprisingly, Tahno complied, stilling his actions and backing up. Then Mako made the astounding discovery that he didn't want that electric feeling stemming from the skin of his neck to stop. He twisted around and pulled an enthusiastic Tahno towards him, diving in without a second thought to close the distance between them, crashing into the sensation of lips moving against lips. Tahno happily complied, grinning against his mouth as he ran both his hands through Mako's spiky black hair, leaning further into his touch when Mako wrapped an arm around his waist. They stumbled backward, slamming into a wall and separating with a gasp for air.
"My place?" Tahno asked, clutching at Mako's shoulders and breathing heavily. Mako nodded, ignoring the slightly nagging feeling him that he was forgetting something.
ooo
Mako woke up in a very large, garish bed covered in some kind of glitter and naked waterbender. He glanced around, noting the weirdly gothic feel to the ornate and overpowering furniture in the room. The giant, carved canopy was a bit much, though Mako liked the intimate feel the swooping purple curtains hanging from it provided. He tightened his hold around Tahno's waist as he felt his bed mate stir sleepily and yawn, tugging the matching purple sheets up higher.
"Can we make a rule that you aren't allowed to waterbend anything along the back of my neck?" Mako asked, watching with some amusement as Tahno reached towards a bowl of water on the bedside table and swirled it towards his incredibly frizzy and mussed hair.
"We're making rules now?" Tahno asked with a smirk, bending the shimmery fluid through his hair and creating a perfectly smooth, twisting curl. So that was how the bastard did it.
"Apparently, though I get the feeling we're forgetting something important."
"Like what? Your girlfriend?" Tahno replied, snuggling back under the covers and wrapping himself around Mako.
"No, something else. What time is it anyway?" Mako asked, circling his arms around the warm body next to him and sighing contedly.
"Who knows, I always keep the curtains drawn in here." Tahno said against Mako's chest, his lips tickling the skin. Something told Mako he wouldn't be leaving for a while.
ooo
Meanwhile, not so far away. Discarded soda cans and fast food wrappers littered the deserted stands of the pro-bending arena, the water swished lazily against the silent ring at the center, and the only movement was that of a lone janitor waterbending all the trash into a bin. Suddenly, the stage opened up, banners unfurled, and Equalists swarmed the arena, electricity gloves sparking in front of them as they stopped and looked around in confusion. Amon rose up from the center of the stage, arms raised in expectation. He was met by the crackling of electricity and a lone gasp from the janitor. Amon looked around, his masked face expressionless even in this moment of surprise.
"You there." Amon said, gesturing towards the janitor. "Are you a bender?"
"Er, no?" The janitor replied, uncertainly clutching his rubbish bin.
"Excellent, brother. Could you tell me where the fuck everyone is?"
"They all left hours ago, neither of the team captains showed up for the finals." The janitor shrugged, watching in a grim amusement as Amon cursed, signaled his metal flying machine, and exited. The janitor returned to waterbending used fry wrappers and discarded straws.
