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Shower Hours
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Korra walked down the hallway of the ship quickly, hoping to get in a shower before the rush of soldiers and crewmates got to the bathrooms first. It was early morning and she had gotten up for just such an occasion. Over the last week she had lived on the United Forces head ship, captained by General Iroh, she had learned the hard way that if one didn't wake at the brink of dawn, they were going to have a frigid shower with many other people around them. And quite frankly, those were two things the Avatar wanted to avoid – she was a Firebender after all, and just liked her privacy.
And so she had woken up at five AM that morning, having studied closely the times when the biggest influxes of people came to shower – around seven. So she had two hours to enjoy to herself in the showers and she would be sure to make it worth it.
Arriving at one of the main bathrooms, Korra grinned to herself and pushed open the door – only to be presented with suffocating amounts of steam and the sound of running water. The Avatar froze – who could have possibly beaten her to the bathroom? It was five in the morning, for Spirits' sakes!
Instead of leaving, she continued forth, figuring that it was okay if only one or two people were in the bathroom – it was better than thirty or so. She could handle another person. Setting down her things on a bench, Korra dug through her bag and began to remove her things. She didn't pay any attention to the sound of one of the people turning off their shower and stepping out of it, water sloshing about.
She began to take out her hair clips and looked up absent-mindedly as she did so – only to be presented with a naked Iroh standing five feet in front of her. It took a few seconds for the Avatar to process whom it was, and when she did, with wide eyes, she blinked before turning away and flushing bright red.
The ship captain and General peered down at her, before reaching for a towel and wrapping it around his lower half, smiling sheepishly down at her. "Um, well, hello, Korra," he greeted nervously, running a hand through his damp black hair. He tried to brush off the situation as though she hadn't just seen him in his birthday suit. He walked a short distance away and retrieved a small stack of clothes, before sitting on the bench that Korra was on the opposite end of.
She slowly looked back over at the man, and tried her best not to stare. He was a piece of work, that was for sure – the constant giggling and gossip about him from the ship's staff had assured the Avatar of that. She blinked at his built form, silently admiring it. He had more muscle than Mako, but less than Bolin. She watched as a water droplet slid from his neck down his toned arms, and she gulped as it connected to another droplet that fell down the curve of his chest and then continued down the small jut of his hip and down past the towel. Her mind made up for what she couldn't see, imagining where the water droplet finished falling at, causing her face to flame again and for her to feel an unfamiliar pooling of warmth in her stomach. She studied his right shoulder, which had a large, pink burn scar on it and she wondered if he had gotten by fighting some previous war or battle.
When she looked up again, prepared to say something, she saw him smiling down at her dashingly, and she felt her mind go blank. "What are you doing here this early?" he asked casually, before picking up a spare towel and drying off his chest.
"I could ask you the same thing," she countered, crossing her arms and biting her lip as she looked away. He laughed from beside her, a deep sound that made her lips quirk up in a smile.
"It's difficult to find time for something as simple as a shower when you have to command an entire ship," he explained. "I take the opportunity whenever it's presented. Morning, afternoon, night – whenever."
Korra nodded. She was about to answer back, when the other person's showerhead stopped spouting water and the sound of feet splashing through liquid was heard. A few seconds later, Team Avatar's resident moody Firebender stepped out of the steam, a towel – much to Korra's gratitude – already wrapped around his bottom half. The Avatar blinked up at him, her face once again flushing when their eyes made contact. Mako was his own kind of attractive, Korra knew – thinly muscled and toned, his physique built for agility.
"K-Korra?" he blurted out, blinking incredulously. His own face was stained a ridiculous shade of pink at seeing the Avatar sitting there before him. When he turned and saw the General however, his expression turned grim and he walked past them to a small locker in front of the bench they were at, gathering his things.
"Oh, hey, Mako," her fingers curled in a small, awkward wave at him as he walked by.
"Morning," Iroh nodded at him good-naturedly, giving him a friendly smile. Mako ignored them, rolling his eyes and exuding the same attitude he did when he first met Korra, and she frowned at this. She liked Mako a lot, but sometimes his emotional swings were too much for her. The Firebender wasted no time dressing himself, but he did not leave immediately, instead going to a mirror and fiddling with his scarf, occasionally peering back at Korra and Iroh, a glint in his amber eyes.
Korra decided she was going to wait until both men had exited the room before taking her own shower, and so sat at the end of the bench, looking anywhere and everywhere but said men. Much to her dismay, Iroh noticed her apprehension, and placing a hand on her shoulder, chuckled, "Calm down, Korra – we're not going to bite you. Although," he winked playfully at her, "I could if you wanted me to."
The Avatar was left speechless at his insinuation, while her reaction just gave him another reason to laugh heartily. Mako, however, was not amused, and slammed his hands against the counter in front of him. Both turned to look at him. "Uh, is something wrong?" Korra asked as he stomped past her.
"Nope, I'm peachy, Korra," he spat, before leaving, glaring at Iroh as he did so.
Iroh blinked at her, an eyebrow raised. "Did I do something...?"
Korra rolled her eyes at the Firebender's reaction – it was quite blatant that he was jealous. But she didn't really care at this point – one, it was joke, and two, he had had more than enough time to figure out his feelings for her. To Korra, he had no control over her and she could be interested in whomever she wanted. Not that she was interested in Iroh, though... "No, he's just being an idiot," she told the General, who nodded at her.
"You can get in, you know," he told her as he stood up, walking to a separate area to change into a pair of pants so as to prevent her from becoming uncomfortable. "It's not like I'm going to peek or anything."
Korra spluttered at him, shaking her head. "N-no... I think I'll wait."
"Suit yourself," he stepped out of the little space, still shirtless. As though he was purposely teasing Korra, he stretched languidly in her direction, and she had to suppress a squeak when she looked over at him. He walked back over to her then and picking up his things, he headed towards the door. "See you, Korra," he turned and winked at her before exiting the room, leaving it empty and steaming.
The Avatar blinked at the door, barely believing what had just happened. Shaking her head and trying to collect her flustered thoughts, she removed her last hair clip and undressed, happy to retreat to a shower stall and wash away the awkwardness of the situation that had just occurred.
~P~
Korra's plan for showering in the morning lasted a whole three days before other crew members caught on and started to join her until it became just like the days before she set her little plan in motion. Soon, even at five in the morning, the shower rooms were full like normal, and the Avatar cursed herself – of course, it was too good to last.
At this, she had to pick a new time slot in which to shower. The only time she could think of was late, late at night. She didn't like the idea – she'd rather wake up early out of habit than lose an hour of sleep just because she couldn't procure a decent shower in the day time. It annoyed her to no end, but there wasn't much else she could do.
So in the black of the night, Korra snuck through the hallways of the ship and into the showering chambers and much to her happiness, there was not a soul in sight. Grinning to herself, she stripped and went straight for the shower, gratefully accepting the hot water as it poured over her tired skin and muscles.
The Avatar immersed herself so fully in the water that she didn't notice when another human slipped in and began their own shower. Eventually, Korra finished, and she reluctantly turned off the cascading fall of water and exited the stall. As she did so, she noticed that there was still steam building up from somewhere in the room, and with a start and a grumble, she realized that yet another person had joined her.
She was tired of it and decided that when they stepped out, she would give them a piece of her mind! Huffing, she pulled a towel around her torso and went to the mirrors, where she began to comb out her mess of tangles. She was going to wait until whoever it was exited, and then she would confront them.
A few minutes later, as expected, the shower stopped and the person stepped out, and Korra hopped up. "Hey, you!" she pointed in what she believed was their general direction, but she couldn't tell through all the thick steam gathered in the room. The person shifted and she saw a foot step through the steam. "Yes, you," she called back to them, and they stepped out fully, and Korra wanted to somehow find a way to arrive in the Spirit World – anything to avoid the embarrassment of this.
"Good to see you again, Korra," Iroh greeted the Avatar cheekily, placing his hands on his hips. He was standing there, completely naked, making no move to cover himself, and Korra's eyes were shifting every which way so she wasn't spying his... endowments. She bit her tongue so hard it almost bled, cursing herself over and over again. Of course, this would happen to her. Only her!
"U-uh, hi, Iroh," she held a hand up to shield her eyes, blushing furiously. When he still made no move to go and at least cover himself up, she rushed to the side. "I-I'm just going to go over here for now."
He chuckled, speaking to her casually. "This would be one of those examples of me taking a shower when I get one." Korra didn't respond, too painfully curious and embarrassed to say anything, and he laughed lightly again. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable." He reached out and wrapped a towel around his waist. "I'm not naked now, Korra. There's no need to hide."
Korra blinked, his calm voice lulling her out of her little hiding spot, her face still bright red. She allowed herself to look at the man, her curiosity burning to be fulfilled. He was still dripping with water, still as muscled as ever, still the same hopelessly attractive man that made Korra blush like a madwoman, that made her imagination go inappropriately wild.
As she observed him, in turn, Iroh scanned her admiringly. Her long hair was attached to her neck, sending water droplets down her collarbone before falling into the swell of her breasts. Her towel was much too short, the curve of her butt just visible beneath the blue terrycloth. "You're beautiful," he complimented, and Korra looked to the ground, blushing, and uncharacteristically humbled by his eyes on her.
"You're not too bad yourself," she told him back, smirking and stepping closer to him. They continued to walk towards each other until they were nearly chest to chest.
Iroh lifted one of his large hands and pulled a strand of wet hair from her face, holding the lock in his hand. "Your hair... you should keep it down more often," he commented, thumbing her hair. "It accentuates your lovely face."
Korra laughed a bit then, which caused the towering man in front of her to grin, the vibrations of her giggle travelling through their slightly connected torsos. "I can't believe this happened again," she said, crossing her arms, and Iroh made sure not to stare too obviously at the way this gesture emphasized her chest.
"The only difference is that you're partially naked, too, now," he whispered huskily, and as though his words made her realize this, she wrapped her arms around her, looking away from him. He noticed her sudden shyness, and raising an eyebrow, asked, "What's wrong? If you're trying to hide yourself, I don't know why – like I said, you're beautiful, Korra."
"It's just... my scars," she murmured, spying one on her shoulder. She still remembered the night Tarrlok gave it, and many more, to her – all too vividly. She hated that they didn't fade as quickly as she wanted, because instead of disappearing and taking the awful memories with them, they stayed, reminding her every day of her ordeal. She didn't like others seeing them either – they made her feel vulnerable, and that was the last thing she wanted.
Iroh dropped her hair and moved to finger to her shoulder, fingering the marred flesh delicately, gingerly. "I think it shows how strong you are – it's nothing to be ashamed of. Besides," he raised his burnt shoulder in the air, getting her to notice it, "I don't mind my scar anymore – it's something I look on with pride, even."
Korra turned her head to look up at him, blue eyes flashing gratefully. She said nothing as his hand moved from her shoulder up her collarbone and landed on the nape of her neck before continuing upwards and caressing her cheek. She leaned into his cupped hand, grateful for his soft touch. It was a welcomed contrast compared to the drama she was getting from her friends at the moment.
Her heart thumped furiously in her chest when his hand travelled into her hair, pulling their faces closer together. Determined to get some control back in the situation, she brought her hands up and dragged them up the planes of his chest, feeling appreciatively at each slick dip and curve she encountered. When she looked back up into his golden eyes, she saw them glinting lustfully, while hers were darkened with desire. Agonizingly, Iroh drew their mouths together, and they kissed slowly and sensually, tasting and touching, their senses skyrocketing at how drawn-out their lip lock was. The Avatar felt the same heat she had from the other day, intense and leaving her wanting him even more.
The Avatar was not surprised when she felt a hardness against her leg, instead smiling against his lips. Lifting one of his large hands, he palmed her breast through her towel which made her gasp a bit into his mouth, egging him on. Their actions continued until the point where Korra's towel was practically hanging off of her body, the only thing keeping her from being completely naked.
Iroh groaned in protest when she pulled away, and she smiled at him, trailing a finger over his chest and down to his navel teasingly. "I don't really feel like taking another shower tonight," she whispered into his ear. "But I mean... next time, if you're up to it..." She leaned up and pressed a gentle kiss to the pulse of his temple, and he shuddered as he came down from his arousal.
"The next time you decide to have a shower," he winked at her a few seconds later, "you know where my room is. And I'm more than open to you, Korra." He leaned down and captured her lips once more then, kissing her deeply, before pulling away and dressing quickly.
Korra dressed as he did, and he watched as he pulled on his own clothes, blatantly admiring her butt. He finished before her, and looking in between her and the door, debated.
"You can go," she told him. "No need to wait for me."
He nodded, but instead of leaving, walked over to her and planted a kiss on her forehead. He winked charmingly one last time at her before exiting the bathroom, leaving the half-dried Avatar by herself all over again. Once she was sure he was completely gone, she leaned against one of the lockers and sighed heavily, fanning herself off rather uselessly with her hand, wishing she knew how to Airbend. Smiling goofily to herself, she decided that she wouldn't mind it if they showered at the same time...
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Author's Notes: WHY DID I WRITE THIS? Welp, this is wildly inappropriate. Ugh. I told you guys I was shipping Korroh hard! XD I may continue this with a smutty sequel, who knows?