The Luckiest
"Pabu!" I shout, as the little red ferret jumps out of his washtub and sprints across the room. I immediately jump up out of my seat and take off after him because, well, he's soaking wet and still covered in mud… which he's now spreading all over the floor. And the furniture. Great. Awesome. 'Mako's going to really chew me out for this when he gets back from his date,' I think to myself. There are already so many dirty paw print marks all over the living room, and now he's on Mako's bed. Oops... So maybe I shouldn't have taken Pabu out to play in the rain, but I know how much he loves mud puddles, and he just looked so happy; I figured a few minutes couldn't hurt…
"No! Wait! C'mon, Pabu; you're not clean yet! Mako's gonna be mad at us... Well, mostly me, but if I go down, I'm taking you with me, Mister! And that means no treats for a week!" These vaguely threatening words do not make the slightest impact on my ferret's pace, and he continues to evade all my advances. Finally, in a desperate attempt to this game, because I'm beginning to get a little tired of running all over the apartment, I make a dive for Pabu, thinking, 'I've got him!' Unfortunately, he is just out of my reach, and I hit the ground with a hard thud, empty handed. Pabu darts back towards our sleeping quarters and slips under my bed. "Darnet!" At this point, I am beginning to think taking Pabu outside was a bad idea after all…
I wait for a minute, but Pabu doesn't come back out. Maybe he's tired himself out. He's definitely tired me out! Oh well… I shrug as I pick myself up off the floor. He'll come out when he's good and ready; not a minute before. I figure I might as well take a break for now and try again later. I've only just flopped face down on the couch when I hear someone coming up the stairs. "Hello?" I call out, not really wanting to get up just yet. "Toza?" No answer. It's definitely not Mako; I know that. It's way too early for him to be back from his date since they're going out to dinner, and then to see some fancy show that Asami's father got them tickets for. I start to get up, but whoever is here is flying up the stairs, like-
"Hey Bolin!" I look up to see a pair of piercing blue eyes staring down at me, and right away, a huge grin spreads across my face.
"Hey Korra! Good to see you!" Completely forgetting about being tired, I leap off of the couch and rush to give her a friendly hug. She laughs that loud, hearty laugh that I find to be absolutely adorable, as I throw my arms around her.
"It's… good to see you too, Bo! Even though I did just see you at practice this morning…" This time, it's my turn to laugh.
"Yeah, I know; I just like doing that!" And let's face it; I will never get tired of seeing Korra… and giving her hugs… and breathing in the scent of her soft brown hair… It smells like the ocean… After a minute or so later, I realize she's stopped hugging me, but I'm still hugging her, so I quickly pull away and put my hands behind my back. "Err umm, so! What brings you here?" She pauses, seeming to have forgotten herself, why she came here in the first place. But it doesn't take long for her to remember.
"Oh, right! Is Mako here? He told me there was this really cool restaurant downtown that he knew I would love, and I thought tonight would be a good night to try it…" Her eyes light up with excitement as she talks, and as I take a closer look at how she is dressed, I notice she's wearing one of her nicer water tribe dresses, and her hair is styled kind of fancy. I realize now, she thought she was going on a date! 'Oh no,' I groan inwardly. 'How do I tell her?'
"No," I say slowly, looking away for a minute. "He's not here… Sorry, Korra." I don't have the heart to tell her that he's out on his second date with Asami, but I think she figures it out anyway from the look on my face. I never was very good at keeping secrets…
"Oh… ok. Maybe another night then…" She's trying to shrug it off like it doesn't bother her at all, but I can tell she's upset. Her whole face seems to crumple before my eyes. "I guess I'll go then…"
"Wait! Don't leave!" I blurt out before I even realize what I'm saying. "I mean… You haven't eaten, right? Well neither have I, and it just so happens I'm a pretty good cook!"
Korra gives me an inquisitive look. "You can cook?"
"Yes, Korra; I'm a man of many talents," I say smugly, as I don my super manly apron. "I learned a bunch of recipes from Mako, who learned from Mom while we were growing up, and he never forgot them… I think he even has her cookbook somewhere…" I trail off with the trace of a nostalgic smile on my face. Then I pull myself back into the present. 'Now is not the time to get all sentiment about Mom,' I tell myself. Because I have a date to cook for. "So stay. Let me make you dinner! It'll be really good; I promise!"
"I dunno, Bo… Are you sure you're not just using me as an excuse to avoid cleaning the house? Looks like Pabu went a little wild in here!" She smiles, and I smile back because it looks like she is beginning to cheer up again.
"Maybe a little," I say jokingly. "But come on, you get a delicious free dinner with a gorgeous, talented guy, I get to spend time with a beautiful lady, and I don't have to clean the house… And Pabu doesn't have to take his bath until later… Everybody wins!"
She chuckles at my logic, and sits down on the paw print stained couch, and I know I have won her over. "All right; you win, I'll stay! What are we having?"
"Now THAT is a surprise!"
I spend the next twenty minutes tossing things into the skillet, adding noodles, vegetables, and finally, some natural spices to complete the dish. I silently thank Mako for going to the market yesterday, or I wouldn't have had any ingredients to cook with. Finally, everything's cooked just right, and I split the contents of the skillet into two bowls; one for me, and one for Korra. "Dinner is served!" I announce, as I carry the food into the living room area. Her eyes light up with excitement again once she recognizes the dish. She politely takes her bowl from me, and then digs right in. "OH MY GORSH!" Korra gushes, her mouth still full of noodles.
"BOLIN, THISH IS SHO GOOD- I CAN'T EVEN BERAGHERUL". But her words become too garbled, and I am laughing so hard, as she blushed, swallows and tries again. "This is amazing! I used to eat this all the time back at home, but this tastes even better! I can't believe you made this!... Thank you."
"Aww, don't mention it," I reply before taking a bite of the stuff myself. "Mmmmm… You're right; my cooking skills ARE amazing! I might just be the best chef in the city!"
"Hey, now, don't get too cocky now," she says with a smirk. "That's pretty big talk for a man wearing a pink apron."
"It's not pink; its salmon!" I argue. "…And its Mako's…" That does it; we both burst out laughing, and I quickly take off the apron and toss it behind me.
The rest of the night goes perfectly; all throughout dinner, we make light, fun conversation, and Korra laughs at every single one of my jokes! Or most of them, at least. That's' good enough for me! After dinner, she offers to make us a sweet mint tea that her mother taught her how to make, and we sip on that while munching on some cookies that I find in the cupboard. At this point, Pabu comes out of hiding, because he's got a thing for cookies… I could trap him and force him back into the tub, but I decide against it for now. Instead, I offer him a piece of a cookie and lay a blanket down so he can sit with us without getting any more mud on the couch. Then, we listen to my favorite radio show together, and it turns out it's hers too, and at the beginning, we're all into it, but by the end, we're both tired from our full bellies and the warmth of our shared body heat.
I don't know what kind of day Korra has had today, but it seems to have been an exhausting one. I can tell because she's been curled up against me for the last half hour, and her head has been resting on my shoulder for the past twenty minutes. The program has just ended, and now there's only soft music playing through the speakers of my radio. Pabu has long since moved from the towel onto my lap, and he is sound asleep. I stroke behind his ears affectionately, and I swear he smiles… Mako doesn't think ferrets can smile, but I swear, he is smiling right now!"
"Mmm- Bo?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for… cheering me up."
"No problem;" I reply without hesitation. "Any time."
"I might just have to take you up on that," she whispers, smiling sleepily. "You're a wonderful friend, Bolin… But I think I…I want us to be…" She falls asleep on my shoulder before she can even finish the sentence. I guess I won't get to know tonight what Korra wants us to be, but I have an idea of how that sentence was going to end… More than friends… Or at least that's how I hope the sentence will end, and who knows? Maybe she'll tell me tomorrow, and I can take her out on a real date after practice. Or maybe she won't, and I'll just have to keep showing her how perfect she is; how perfect we are together, until she finally realizes it. And that's fine with me, because either way, I get to spend more time with the most amazing, talented, brave, strong, beautiful girl I have ever met.
I take the blanket off the back of the couch and pull it over us before turning off the light. Then I close my eyes and snuggle in closer to Korra, breathing in the ocean scent of her hair once more. We're so close, I can hear her heart beat against mine, and they're in perfect rhythm together. I smile softly, as I begin to drift off to sleep myself. "Who's the luckiest guy in the world?" I whisper. "This guy, right here, Bolin…"