Title: Nothing Ventured
Rating: K
Summary: Mako tries to remind himself why Korra isn't worth it.
Genre: General
Words: 463
Nothing Ventured
It's easy for Mako to forget that Korra's from the Water Tribe on the bottom of the world and is, of course, unaccustomed to the bustling city life. But if he looks closely, he can sense she's overwhelmed. It's in the way she'll gawk at the architecture, uncharacteristically experimenting with every dish whenever they try some new cuisine. It's not obvious, but sometimes he'll catch her staring out of their narrow floor-to-ceiling apartment window, observing the twinkling nightlife down below on quiet evenings.
It wouldn't be worth it, anyway. She's all rough words and he's just full of misguided, awkward attempts at keeping the peace and calming down his companions. The over-concerned, worrying, don't-touch-the-furniture Mako, the third wheel when Bolin and Korra want to go wreck havoc in the Merchant District to piss of Chief Bei Fong, the one to point out they don't have the money for it when Korra challenges Bolin to see how much they can scarf down at an all-you-can-eat buffet. So he tells himself to shut up, Mako, you sound like a moron, but she's still willing to drag him out of that shell and down to the local carnival because look, do you people really do that here or is Bolin just trying to pull one over on me? Are all these red scarves a firebender fad? I've never driven a car before, could you teach me?
There's just this indescribable energy that fills the ring now, ever since she joined the team. He can still remember what it was like before she busted onto the scene in their pro-bending uniform, pressing buttons and pushing the envelope, but he can't always recall why he'd protested her at first, or why he should have. But he doesn't have to notice the way she passes looks at other men across the street to know that he doesn't stand a chance.
Because really, come on, Mako, this is the Avatar you're dealing with. She can bend the four freaking elements and can't — won't — hold still for anybody or anything. She'll be gone as soon as she masters airbending and sorts out this Equalist mess…
He's tied to Republic. He grew up in its garbage bins and knows the back alleys as easily as he knows his palm lines. It's his messy, disgusting, irreplaceable home. And Korra's a traveler. Three months from now she'll be in the Earth Kingdom, or visiting one of the Air Temples to help with the restoration process, or traveling to some unknown Water Tribe island to make her own settlement like Kyoshi did… He doesn't want to be left behind, and yet, he knows he doesn't have it in him to ever think to leave.
So it's better this way. Of course it is.