"No."
"Lin…"
"No. Absolutely not!"
"Just for an afternoon."
"The spirits themselves couldn't make me do it."
"He's a baby, not a bomb!"
The withering look she got in response communicated volumes about Lin's opinion on that matter.
"Well, okay, I guess babies can be a little…gross…sometimes, but he's not Meelo or anything. It'll be fine! Come on…don't you want to spend time with me?"
"Not that much." The blunt response reminded Korra that the older woman had never been especially weak even to the big blue eyes that had most people giving into her without a second thought. Time to pull out the finale – she'd been holding it in reserve in case the battle didn't go her way. Sidling closer, she walked two fingers up Lin's chest and leaned in, nuzzling a pale jaw and planting a kiss on one of the scars that marked Lin's face.
"But I'd be so grateful," she murmured in her best imitation of a sexy purr. It wasn't very good, actually, but Lin bit back the chuckle that would have angered her young lover and sighed. She still wasn't convinced, but she knew full well the young Avatar wouldn't let it go until she gave in.
"Fine," she grumbled, pushing Korra away, "One afternoon with Rohan, and that is it. Understand?"
Korra saluted, as cheeky as ever, and whirled to run away, brown hair flying all over.
"Got it! I've gotta go tell everyone…Jinora's gonna be so happy that her mom can be there for the ceremony!"
Lin just sighed again. The things she let herself be talked into…this was why she'd been so hesitant to take such a young lover.
Idly, Lin wondered how painful it really was to have those blue tattoos done – it couldn't possibly be worse than the pain in her ears as Rohan's little lungs continued to expel the loudest shrieks she'd ever heard, over and over without pause.
He'd been so quiet and happy when Pema had handed him over earlier that Lin had begun to hope for a nice peaceful afternoon of reading and training and tea. Korra had even promised to do all the work, leaving Lin to simply supervise and relax.
"Korra," she began warningly, and the young woman threw up her hands.
"I don't know! He just won't stop crying! Do you think he misses Pema?"
"I certainly do!"
"Well sorry I don't have magic baby hands! Babies aren't an element, I can't control them!"
Lin just sighed at Korra's rising frustration, trying to keep her own under control. She was the adult here, as Tenzin had demanded, and it was her job to keep both her lover and the baby alive through the afternoon. She'd thrown herself at two Equalist war balloons, she could handle a screaming child and a frustrated teenager.
"Have you checked his diaper?"
"Clean."
"Fed him?"
"Done."
Lin growled, her control fraying rapidly as the shrieks continued to interrupt her ability to so much as think. She'd been Tenzin's friend through three children before Rohan and was certain there was something in her memory that would help, but she just couldn't remember.
"Lin? He's getting kind of…red. And warm. Do you think something's wrong?"
The red was just from screaming, Lin was sure, but she glanced over at the baby, trying to think. Hadn't Meelo had a similar period of screaming at this age, accompanied by a slight fever? And Ikki, and Jinora? Hot and screaming, not hungry or dirty or sick…it struck her suddenly.
"Is he drooling a lot?"
"Uh…yeah, actually. He has been all afternoon, I just thought he was a drooler."
The metalbender sighed again, this time hopefully, as a possible solution emerged from the reaches of her memory at last. It was a bit of a long shot, but she had to try.
"Try rubbing his gums…maybe with some ice."
She left unspoken the fact that she was willing to try anything at this point just to make the shrieking stop…up to and including interrupting Jinora's long-awaited tattooing, if it didn't work.
And then, like a miracle from the spirits themselves, the screaming stopped. First it changed to hiccupping cries, muffled by the ice-covered finger Korra was rubbing against his gums, and then happy, quiet burblings as he began to gum contentedly on the cold digit.
"It worked," the Avatar whispered in awe, not daring to so much as pause her ministrations. Lin thought she might faint with relief. She dropped her head into her hands and thanked the spirits fervently for giving back the memory.
"He's teething," she explained quietly, lest her voice somehow rekindle the screaming. "His gums hurt."
"Aww," Korra cooed at the now-quiet baby, "Poor little guy. Auntie Korra's got it all under control now, doesn't she?"
Lin snorted, finally returning to the book she'd been attempting to read for the past hour. She didn't look up again until Korra came to sit beside her, Rohan cradled carefully in one arm and a downright smitten grin on her face.
"You know," she began casually, leaning against Lin's shoulder, "I wouldn't mind a baby of our own someday."
Lin froze.
Oh spirits, save me.