Hey guys! This is my first contribution to the Korra fanfiction fest. I hope it isn't too bad…
Summary: What could possibly make Bolin, the ladies man, blush and stutter? And in the shower, no less? (WOW THAT SOUNDS DIRTY BUT NO OKAY)
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"Bolin!" Mako called, sauntering into the men's shower room. He hadn't seen his rambunctious brother in over two hours, and although he usually wouldn't have worried much (Bolin had enough fangirls to hold a decent afterparty for days, apparently) if it hadn't been almost one a.m. Knowing Mako was the type to worry himself sick, Bolin usually alerted him as to what time he'd be back. This time, however, Bolin had gone into the attic to get his daily wear, walked back down towards the men's room, and disappeared.
Mako sighed. People were not suppose to take that long of a shower, no matter how many girls they were planning on seducing. He squinted, trying to find a little tip of brown hair peeking out from among the wispy mist floating lazily from the shower stalls. Finding no success, Mako turned his gaze to the stalls themselves, finding that all of them, save for one, were unoccupied. Strangely enough, the shower head had been turned off. Walking a little closer to the stall, Mako finally saw a familiar pair of wide, pudgy feet nervously shuffling below.
"Bolin, what are you even doing in there?" Mako groaned. He heard a yelp, a swish of water, and then the tell-tale sound of butt hitting floor. Startled, Mako took a long final step to the threshold of the stall's door. He relaxed when he heard a muffled "Owwww…" and even held back a chuckle. Or tried, anyways.
"Stop laughing at me!" Bolin whined.
"Work on your balance then," Mako laughed. "You're suppose to be an earthbender, for spirit's sake." He was okay, as far as Mako could tell, but for some odd reason he noticed his brother's voice was a little… higher? That was strange. The only other time Mako ever heard his brother's voice hitch up a few octaves was when he was asked out on a date by a particularly pretty girl (which always resulted in Bolin practically dashing out of the arena. Hypocrite.)
"Are you that embarrassed that I made you slip?" Mako said, raising his voice. Another player had just gone into one of the empty stalls and had turned on the water full-force.
"Shhhh!" was Bolin's response. Mako quirked an eyebrow. "What's wrong—"
"Mako, be quiet and get in here!" Bolin said in a harsh whisper. Before Mako could tell what was happening, Bolin had opened the stall door in a flurry of blue, grabbed Mako's collar, pulled him in, and shut the stall door again, more swiftly than Mako had ever seen the earthbender move. Thank god he still had his towel wrapped around his waist.
"Bolin, what the hell?" Mako said, pulling Bolin's hand off his collar. "It's freaking humid in here, and I'm still in my day clothes. Just what are you—"
"Just be quiet for a second, okay?" Bolin's voice was still a whisper, but it was still noticeably higher.
Mako groaned, a gloved hand pinching the bridge of his nose, all humor gone. He was annoyed, but what could possibly make Bolin freak out and stay in the shower for two hours? He wasn't even wet. He was just standing there, dry and with a fluffy towel around his waist and another on his shoulders. Mako lowered his voice. "What is it?"
Bolin's cheeks flushed a little. "I… I think I may have…found…s-something. Something," He gulped. "Interesting?"
Mako, perplexed, waited for him to continue. "Go on?"
Bolin sighed and cut his eyes to a tile just above the built-in shower's valve. "T-that," he said, pointing to the little white tile. "There was something black on the tile, and I was c-curious, so I took a closer look," Bolin fidgeted with the edge of his neck towel. "It turns out it was a h-hole. A small one, in the tile."
"A hole." Mako was more confused and irritated by the minute. The humidity in the air was making him sticky and uncomfortable, and he wanted out fast.
"Y-yes." Bolin moved closer to the tile, signaling Mako to come closer with a nervous wave of his hand. Mako complied, his curiosity winning out over his irritation. "Just.. look," Bolin said. His voice was higher than ever now. He sounded like a punctured balloon letting out air.
Mako groaned and stared at his brother, asking him if he was serious "You want me to look through a hole you found in a bathroom tile. Is this what you've been doing this entire time—"
"Yes!" Bolin yelled. He slapped a hand over his mouth, and then, a strained whisper: "Just do it, please."
"Fine." Mako bent over, first looking at the tile and then at the supposed hole. It looked to be the size of a small coin, tiny but big enough to see through. He pouted, feeling idiotic, but slowly lowered his eye on level with the hole. At first, he didn't see anything, and was about to yell at Bolin for being a moron, when he saw a little light the same size of the hole. Mako realized that the hole was really a little tunnel, burrowing into the next room. Still, clear blue was all he saw. "Bolin, what is thi—"
A pair of brown legs, starting at the knees and cutting off at the calves, finally focused as Mako looked into the hole. His mouth went dry as he also realized the same, misty water vapor was floating around the pair of smooth legs. His heart stopped when he realized the legs were smooth, and hair-free, and a shade of brown that could not be mistaken—
"Bo-" Mako stopped himself when he heard his voice crack and his cheeks flare up, lighting up his face to the color of Pabu. His brother coughed uncomfortably beside him as Mako fought to steady his rapid heartbeat and fiery face. He didn't move from his position, bent over and head to a tile on the wal.
"Bolin," he said after a minute. His voice was just as high as his brother's now. "Is this who I think it is?"
Mako thought he heard a little squeak from his brother, which was weird, but it confirmed Mako's suspicions. He fought to suppress another flushing of his cheek's blood vessels. Silence.
And then, Mako ripped himself from the tile, stand up unnaturally straight. His head swiveled to look at his Bolin, who looked a little like a puppy who had just ruined its owner's carpet.
"For two hours, you've been in here… p-peeping on Korra?" Mako yelled. He had forgotten to keep his inside voice now, his face glaringly scarlet.
"I didn't mean to!" Bolin wailed, his face just as flustered. "I got here fifteen minutes ago, after saying bye to three of my fans, and I got here, and a few minutes passed when I got out my shampoo, and there was this thing on the wall, and then I saw legs, and—"
Mako exploded, interrupting Bolin's bashful rambling. "You didn't mean to? What— You— You've been in here looking at Korra's legs for fifteen minutes?"
"No!" Bolin shouted, up to his ears in red. "I saw them, and I couldn't tell if it was really her, so for a few minutes I tried to confi—"
Bolin shut up when he saw Mako's eye twitch and his frown deepen. His death face.
"GAH!" Bolin slapped his hands on either side of his head. "I didn't know if it was K-korra or not so… ?" His words tumbled out of his mouth so rapidly, you'd think Bolin was running out of air. And maybe he was.
Mako was about to bust the throbbing vein in his forehead when he willed himself to take a deep, deep breath through his nostrils. Bolin noticed a little plume of smoke escape from his older brother's nose, and shivered.
"We're getting out of here," Mako finally said, his cheeks now pink. "I really didn't expect you to sink this low."
"But I—"
Mako shot him another death look. Bolin swallowed his words and looked down, obviously shamed. "I'm sorry," He said.
"It's fine as long as you never come to this stall again, so help me." Mako had gotten a headache from the whole ordeal. He started rubbing his temple with one hand, and turned towards the stall door. "Let's just get out of here."
"Okay."
Mako expected Bolin to shuffle behind him, but instead, upon looking back, he saw Bolin with a weird pout on his face. It was such a strange, contemplating look, so foreign on his little sibling's face, that Mako couldn't stop staring.
"Don't you…" Mako jumped, startled by his brother's voice. "Don't you want to confirm…? I… I swear I'll never come in again as long as I know it was her!" Bolin pleaded, his face serious and his mouth a straight line.
Mako actually considered it. He was a guy, after all. And he was a little curious… Oh, spirits. I did not just say that. Mako's hand slip off his temple and he clenched his teeth. "Fine," he spat out.
"R-really!"
"Yes," Mako said, "…as long as I get to see if it's really her."
It took Bolin a second to register what his brother had just said, whether it was from the shock that Mako had actually let him do this or that Mako had just something pretty damn bold. And then it hit him.
"WHAT?" Bolin exploded. "I got here first! I found the hole!'
"I…" Mako's eyebrows shot up on account of his brother's explosion, and his eyes roamed his brother's indignant face, disbelief in his eyes. And then his temper reached the end of the wire, no matter how long Mako liked to thing it was.
"I… I was born first!" Mako rebutted. He felt stupid right after, though.
"What kind of dumbass excuse is that?"
"First borns always get priority!"
"People who get there first get priority!"
"I got on this planet first!"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"It has to do with everything! Move over!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Don't make me earthbend your ass to the urinals—"
"I'll firebend your fanmail collection to the ground—"
"YOU WOULDN'T DARE—"
"I would." Mako's eyes flashed dangerously, meeting Bolin's considerably darkened emerald. "Now, move over."
Bolin stood up straighter and stood in front of the tile. "No."
Mako frowned and finally slid into his firebending stance. "I'll make you!" he yelled.
Bolin quickly followed suit, raising his fists and meeting Mako's glare as defiantly as ever. "Go ahead and try." Bolin boomed.
They had both gotten half way through their battle yells when they heard a voice emerge from the other side of the hole.
"Wha— Where is that noise— Mako and Bolin? What are you… is this a hole? Oh.. what the.. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"
Mako and Bolin both froze in their positions, Bolin's fist brushing Mako's cheek, and Mako's about to touch Bolin's abdomen.
"Were you guys—"
Their arms dropped to their sides in sync, and they stood as erect as the walls of the stall.
"WERE YOU PEEPING ON ME? WHAT THE FU—"
They scurried out of the stall as quickly as they could, their feet slipping on the wet floor. Bolin took a nose dive and landed on the floor outside the stall, tripping Mako and causing him to tumble unceremoniously and kiss the floor.
Hasook voice seemed caused the entire bathing house to rumble. "GET BACK HERE!"
The brothers looked at themselves and sprung up, running like Amon was on the back of their heels.
They'd have a lot of explaining to do.
"I should of known he shaved his legs!" They said in unison.