Truth be told, Kai was rearing and ready to go. He'd been looking forward to this moment for two years straight, working his ass off to get here, and now it really was his turn. He took a deep breath, and as soon as the gunshot sounded, he went for it.

10 kilometers of cross-country skiing, mixed up with two rounds of shooting, all of which was hellishly difficult, trying to hit five 10-centimeter targets from 50 meters away. On its own, that's difficult enough, but he'd have to do it with a 180 beats-per-minute heartrate, and didn't even have the luxury of taking his time with every shot.

Even though he'd have to try his damnedest at the shooting, he'd still have to concede that it was not his strongest suit. He was better at the skiing itself, which was where he'd stake his bets. He pulled off into an early lead, though that wouldn't actually mean all that much until he got to the first round of shooting. The more targets he missed, the more penalty laps he'd have to take.

Kai managed to hit four out of five, which wasn't too bad, especially when he threw a quick glance a few meters to the left of his target and saw that his competitor from Germany missed one target more than he did. Still, no time to dawdle, he needed to get back to his laps, which was where he could try and make up for lost time.

It went fairly well, he managed to catch up to his direct competitor, someone from Norway, who would probably get away with the gold no matter how hard he'd try.

But never let it be said that Kai wasn't going to try, so he just threw his all in. Another four out of five, and two more full laps of skiing, he managed to bring it home fifth out of forty. It wasn't bad, but also not what he was hoping for. He would just have to do better in the 20 km event.

Jinora knew things could be rough on the rink. Short-track was not without its fair share of risks, but honestly, that was kind of the thrill. Anyone who could get through the close-quarter skating with bumps and nudges, and yet managed to stay on two knives while racing at full speed down an oval of ice already kind of deserved to win.

Of course, she wasn't here to let everyone else have a go at the medals. She was here to win, though simply the honor of being here was already quite a lot, as far as she was concerned.

Jinora lined up on the start line, facing off against athletes from The Netherlands, Russia but under a neutral flag, and South Korea, or Korea, as they preferred. Nothing against politics, but saying it was a bit naïve was probably generous.

"Ready..." She bent over, waiting for the shot, and as soon as it filled the quiet hall, she went for it. Jinora was on the second position from the inside line, which was a good one. She would have room to attack there, but still have the distance advantage over the two positions more towards the outside of the track.

There were only four laps today, and competition was stiff. She managed to fight her way into second place and stay there, though caught a lucky break when the athlete from Russia overshot a turn, and fell back. Jinora was quick to take advantage, swooping in for the victory, with the Dutchy hot on her tail.

True, it was only the quarter finals for now, but starting off with a win felt great, even if it was with a little bit of luck. Her aunt always said 'no one fares well without a little bit of luck', which definitely rung true here. Now she had to get ready for the other event of today, the 3000 meter relay. This would be good.

So far, Kai thought his time in the Olympic village had actually been quite boring. Most of the athletes exclusively spent their time training, which was fair enough, he spent quite a lot of his own time building up carbs, but still. It didn't really help his overall direct enjoyment of the experience.

Yes, it was an honor to be here, but that can only carry you so far, especially when you are just bored. There is a huge difference between the feeling when you're actually on the line and when you are in your room, watching a television channel in a language you don't speak.

To try and find something a bit more enjoyable to do, Kai went for a walk down to the bar, though not for alcohol. His coach would flip out on him if he did that, so he'd just stick with soda for the time being. Maybe something to celebrate after he'd had his final run would be more appropriate, because he was planning on taking a few weeks off after the Games were over.

Turns out he wasn't the only one with this particular plan. The bar was filled with other athletes from all disciplines and countries, which did make him smile. This was the Olympic ideal, after all: overcoming differences, issues, and even borders for the sake of camaraderie.

The one thing kind of missing though: other American athletes. Instead, Kai just sat himself down at the bar, taking off his coat, gloves, and beanie, and decided to just see what was what. "Can I have a club soda, please?" he asked the barman, who simply nodded and put it in front of him.

"No alcohol for you?" A female voice asked beside him.

Kai chuckled without even looking up. "Nope, gotta stay sharp for the next two weeks. After that, I'm in the clear." This was the point at which he actually looked up and saw a very pretty woman sitting next to him, with her short hair and big brown eyes, Kai suddenly counted himself lucky. "And who might you be?" he asked, trying to be a little suave, which he pulled off reasonably well.

She smiled. "Jinora," the woman said, holding out her hand, which he shook.

"Kai," he replied. "So what brings you all the way to South Korea?" he asked, noticing the small white maple leaf on her chest. A Canadian, how nice.

"Short track. Hoping to go home with the medal on at least one out of three disciplines I'm entered in, but I'm not up again for another three days, so I'm allowed one glass of wine."

Kai chuckled. "Biathlon here. Had a big race today and another one in two days, so I'm gonna spend tomorrow stacking carbs." He took a quick sip to fill the silence. "So where are you from?"

"Calgary. I guess you can say I was born with the Olympics in my blood. Sure, I was born a couple of years after the Games were there, but still, close enough as far as I'm concerned."

He was about to make some smart remarks, but they were interrupted by another woman who was definitely here for her. "Hey, Jinora, I'm going back to the room, are you coming?"

"No, actually, I'm gonna stay here for a little while longer," she said with a smile towards Kai. "Kai, this is Korra, my room and teammate, Korra, this is Kai, biathlete from..."

"Montana," he finished for her while shaking Korra's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Please go easy on Jinny here, she still has to win the relay with me."

A faint blush appeared on Jinora's cheeks, but Kai decided not to mention it or go much into Korra's remarks. "Don't worry about it. Good night." They watched as she retreated back into the cold night, and he decided to ask. "I bet she's more than just a roommate, isn't she?"

Jinora nodded. "She is. We've known each other for years, in fact, she got me into short track in the first place. Korra is here for both the long and short track, unlike me and my short hamster legs. I'm better on the short track."

Kai chuckled and glanced down, giving her an appreciative nod. "I wouldn't worry too much about that. We all have our strong suits."

"Quite. That having been said, it's a good thing we're not competing, that could have turned ugly," she finished with a smirk.

"You're not?"

"Nope, she's in the 1000 meter and the relay, I'm in the 500 and 1500 meter, and also the relay. So we're pretty safe to sleep in the same room together without having to worry that we're going to be bashing each other's heads in. Not that I'm a violent person, but still."

Kai chuckled at this. "Always good to know. But how do you know each other?"

Jinora smiled. "Our parents are good friends, and so proximity kind of took over for us. We're like cousins to each other, and she feels the need to look out for me." She took a sip from her wine. "Then again, maybe she shouldn't have. This one time when I was eight or something, we were out skating on a frozen lake, she fell down, and I couldn't stop in time. Ran over her arm, got blood everywhere, she still has the scar."

"Ouch," Kai said, seeing that play out in front of him. "Lucky she doesn't hold it against you."

"Oh, she does," Jinora chuckled. "Took years before she stopped using 'whatever, you nearly cut my arm off' as an argument against everything I'd say. So even though I was the oldest at home, I still had a big sister to deal with." It briefly fell silent between them. "So what about you, any siblings?"

"Nope, only child here," he admitted. "Probably not really a good thing, because Montana can be really boring. So I guess I took up skiing because of that, keep myself busy and actually use all that snow that would come every damn year to do something beyond building snowmen, which gets old after a while."

Jinora nodded. "People always have this notion that you just want to strangle your siblings all the time, and while it's sometimes true, I do love them. They're coming down here later, they couldn't get two weeks off from their lives, which I get. Still, it's sweet."

"Definitely," Kai admitted. "I guess it's a shame for me, but at the same time, I get to spend more time with the people here."

This made Jinora smile, and she just took another sip of her wine. Even though Kai hadn't planned on staying here very long, before he really knew it, he had been talking to Jinora for over an hour. They watched the ski jumpers, something Kai had to admit he never really had the guts to do, hence why he stuck with cross-country for the most part, and some shooting in between.

But after all that time, he had to admit, it was a lot of fun, just talking with her, making easy conversation, and even a casual flirt here and there, because it didn't take a genius to see that Jinora was very attractive. There were hints from her as well that she felt the same way, so as the evening was drawing to a close, he felt like he could try his luck.

"So..." he said after they decided they should probably get going soon.

Jinora smiled as she drank the last of her wine. "Yes... So... where do we take it from here?"

A mischievous grin played over Kai's lips. "Do you want me to be brutally honest with you?"

"Well, yes."

"I was actually just hoping to take you to bed."

Jinora laughed at this. "Wow, that is very honest."

"What can I say," Kai shrugged. "You're pretty and I'm single, so it can't hurt to ask. No harm, no foul, right?"

She chuckled. "You are good, Kai, I'll give you that." She mulled it over for a few more seconds before finally putting her glass down. "Okay. Your place."

"Fucking hell," Jinora breathed as she was panting heavily, trying to regain herself. Kai was a machine, because he didn't actually seem all that phased by the exertions they just had. "You've ruined me," she smiled, but it didn't have the intended effect.

A look of worry appeared on Kai's face, thinking he'd pushed her too far. "What do you mean?"

"Now I can never go to bed with anyone other than an endurance athlete. Damn, that stamina of yours is impressive," she chuckled.

This relieved him. "You had me goin' there for a second. That was a mean thing to say."

"Sorry," Jinora chuckled. "It just slipped out." She rolled onto her stomach, finding a comfortable position to lie in while still seeing eye-to-eye with Kai.

"Well, this is unexpected," he said, seeing the tattoo on her right shoulder blade. "Wouldn't have pegged you to have one of these."

Jinora groaned. "I was kind of hoping you wouldn't notice that."

"You're a bit too naked for me not to." He traced his finger over the swirling orb, which was kind of ticklish. "Why did you get it?"

"Because I was 17 and wanted to rebel. But it's small and usually covered up, so it doesn't matter and I'm just leaving it where it is."

Kai chuckled and pressed a kiss on it. "I actually think it's sexy as hell."

He continued kissing his way up to her neck, making Jinora moan. "Hmm, you already want to go for a second round?"

"They prepared over 100.000 condoms for us, it'd be a shame to let them go to waste."

Jinora chuckled. "Just give me a minute. Unlike you, I'm a sprinter."

Kai laughed too, but gently flipped her onto her back, and instead worked his way down again. "Then how about I just do the work for now?" he asked, pressing kisses on her neck, her chest, between her breasts, on her midriff, and finally on her belly button, before stopping there and looking up with a smile on his face.

She smiled back. "I'm all yours."

Kai woke up, feeling utterly relaxed. This was one of the best night's sleep he'd had in a long time, despite the fact that he hadn't actually gotten all that much sleep. The reason was obvious, the woman sleeping under his left arm, which made him chuckle as his eye fell on that tattoo again.

He was pleasantly sore after yesterday's race, and also last night with Jinora, and decided the best way to start the day was to take a shower. She'd have every opportunity to leave if she wanted to, though Kai was kind of hoping she wouldn't. He liked her, and spending a little more time with her would definitely be nice.

Then again, he knew where they were, and that this could very well be a one-time thing. He certainly hoped it wasn't going to be, but it would be best to leave that up to her.

Kai smiled as he turned on the shower, thanking his lucky stars that he didn't have to share his room with anyone. But that was only because his roommate decided he'd rather stay in a hotel for some reason that Kai honestly couldn't work out. D'oh well, more room for him.

Soon, he was done washing himself down, and slipped into a pair of boxers. He smiled as he saw that Jinora was just waking up as well, running a hand through her seriously messy hair. "Morning," he grinned.

"Morning," she hummed back, clearly only half-awake. "What's the time?"

"8:45. I must have tired you out," Kai said, suffering the sin of pride just a little bit.

"Crap!" Jinora shot up and quickly started pulling on her clothes that were spread around the room, rushing to get herself ready for... something.

The whole thing had Kai a little bit confused, to be very honest. "What's the big rush? You said your next race isn't until Tuesday."

"No, but me and my team agreed to meet on the rink at nine every day, keep up the groove we built up over the week."

That actually made a lot more sense, but he also knew that with the time she still had to go to actually get to the rink from the Olympic village, she'd have to cut something out of the proceedings, and judging by her rush, that was probably going to be breakfast. So to help her out, he started digging through his backpack while she was busy slipping on her shoes.

"Listen, Kai, I'm really sorry, but I have to go. I can't stay here now."

He waved these concerns away. "I get it, you're here for the sport, not to go speed dating. At least take this, so that you can eat something on your way over there," he said while handing her a granola bar.

She took it with a smile. "Thanks. How about I meet you after practice in the rec room downstairs? I'll make up some better apology there."

Kai smiled. "Sounds good to me."

Jinora leaned on his shoulder, pulling him down a little so that she could press a quick kiss on his cheek, which definitely made Kai blush. "Okay, bye." And with that, she was gone, though he closed the door with a smile. Perhaps the time between his events wasn't going to be so boring after all.

I wanted to do something for Valentine's Day, but also something for the Olympics, and since they coincided, I decided to combine the two. Sort of. Also, yes, I kind of borrowed the idea from YennaWang, who did it with Korrasami for the Summer Olympics of 2016, so that's part of why this is with Kainora. Also, there is this funny little fact that even a fairly conservative country (so I've been told, at least when it comes to sex) prepared 110.000 condoms for the athletes. They just know that sticking 3000 extremely fit, good-looking young people in relatively close quarters with not much to do for two weeks can only have one inevitable outcome, and it's better to be prepared than to hope for the best. Take care, folks.