After a long day at work, all Mako wanted to do was go home and grab a drink and settle into the comfort of he and Korra's home. The steamplant was killing him lately and for every night this week, he had come home black as pitch and drained of energy. He reaches his house and almost has a heart attack as he steps inside. Trash littered the counters, dishes dirty and still sitting in the soapy water. All the clothes that were supposed to be washed were strewn over the couch in a higgledy-piggledy fashion. He's fuming as he walks into their bedroom and sees Korra fast asleep.
"Korra!" he shouts. She wakes with a start and glances around lazily, her eyes falling on him her lips stretching into a pout.
"You were supposed to clean the house while I was working."
"Sorry," she muttered sleepily. "Got distracted."
He throws his coat down onto the bed and curses. "Damnit, Korra! How is this supposed to work if you can't even help me?"
"Hey, I help you plenty! You don't complain of my living here when I do that thing I did last night." She demonstrates by swirling her pinky around in the air.
His face flushes. "That's not what I meant!" He tugs her from the bed and leads her into the living room. He points at the garments lining the floor.
"Nice job with the laundry."
She puts her hands on her defiantly. "I would have gotten to it eventually."
"Oh, yeah? What about the dishes?" He shows her the sink full of dirty plates and silverware. "What if I had wanted a cup of water when I had gotten home?"
"You want a cup of water?" She stomps to the sink and fishes one of the dirty cups out. She fills it with dish water and slams it down in front of him.
"There! Have a glass."
At this, he's so angry steam rises off his fingertips. With one sweep of his arm the cup had clattered to the floor and shattered to a million pieces.
"I'm not cleaning that up." She states.
"Gah! Why can't you be more of a girl!" Fire flies from his fingertips. Why did she have to be so difficult? Was it so bad to want a clean house and meal waiting for him after a long day?
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you wanted me to live here to be your little housemaid." She jabs a finger in his face. "If that's what you expected, then sorry but I don't wear a pink apron."
"That's not what I meant!" he screams. "I just want some help! I work hard!"
"Like I don't? Being the Avatar isn't exactly a cakewalk!"
"Well judging by this place, housework isn't either." Mako regrets the words as soon as they are out of his mouth. Korra goes rigid at his words and walks quietly to the sink. She slathers a rag with soap and starts haphazardly washing plates and cups, then running under the water and slinging them into the drainer.
"You want clean dishes, then here. There you go." She throws the soapy rag at his feet and proceeds to walk into the living room. She starts picking up the clothes. Shirts, pants, and shoes go whizzing by Mako's head as she throws them into the kitchen/laundry room.
"There! Laundry is done."
"Stop acting like a child! I could do all the housework and your Avatar duties."
She scoffs at him. "Oh, really? Well working at that little steam plant would be like a mini vacation for me."
"Would you like to bet on it?"
"I sure would."
So for the next week, Korra and Mako decided to switch roles. Mako doing housework and Avatar duties-which mostly consisted of an occasional crime or two-and Korra working at the steam plant.
Day One
For the first time in a while, Mako sleeps in enjoys himself. He gets up and fixes himself his favorite brew of coffee and a hearty meal of rice and eggs. It was delicious and he smirks inwardly at the thought of Korra working his long hours at the plant. A knock on the door suddenly sounds and when he answers it, a flustered looking man is at his door.
"Please sir! I need the Avatar and quick!"
"Um, I'm currently taking over all Avatar Korra's duties so anything that you need just report to me."
"Well please come quick! They're busting up my shop!" Mako rushes out the door and follows the old man to a phonograph shop. A bunch of Triple Triad members were busting out the windows and destroying all the merchandise.
"Why didn't you call the police?" Mako questioned.
"I can't go to them! I owe those thugs money, for some uh, sneaky business."
"Right…"
Mako casts a flame in the direction of the criminals. They look up surprised and super pissed off.
"Now that I have your attention: I would like to ask you kindly to please leave this man's shop alone." The triad members look at each other then burst out laughing.
"And why would we do that, kid?"
"Because you won't get your money any faster by destroying his business."
A smirk crosses over who Mako assumes is the leader's face.
"You're right, kid." Mako smiles at himself. Korra didn't have to go and deal out vigilante justice all the time. Things could be solved in a calm and collective manner.
"We'll just bust up the shopkeeper instead!" The owner lets out a shriek and starts taking off down the street. The thugs start chasing after him with Mako hot on their tail. A blast of fire is quickly doused by water and he knew that this was going to take more than just bending.
He quickly cuts through a shop and out another, cutting the thugs off. He thrusts out his leg, quickly tripping the member that had threatened the shop keeper. The other two round on him and land a blow to his gut. He manages to block their second strike, roundhouse kicking with his left leg and letting a blast of fire out of his right. A nice blow to the face quickly downs one, but the fallen member is up and steaming mad.
"You want to mess with the triads?"
He barely avoids the man's water whip and is caught off guard when a rock slams him to the ground. Ice freezes him in place and he doesn't like his odds at all.
"Hey, arrest them!" The best luck Mako has had all day arrives in the form of two police officers. Their metal ropes wrap around the thugs and quickly subdues them. He melts the ice from his wrists and stands up thanking the officers.
"You could have gotten hurt out there. You should be more careful."
"Yeah, I'll uh, remember that."
Mako is bone tired by the time he gets home. The dishes are still in the sink where he left them.
At first working in the steam plant wasn't so bad. All Korra had to do was generate lightning to power the machines. But the room quickly grew hot and stuffy. The uniform they made her wear threatened to kill her with all the heat it trapped in. The men kept telling her how much they liked the new scenery change. They pointed to her boobs and made raspberries with their tongues. One even had the nerve to slap her ass. That earned him a punch in the jaw. She was yelled at for decking a worker, not even mentioning the lack of disrespect towards her. Soon she was fed up and in a real foul mood. She messed up on the line twice, which earned her three strikes and no lunch break. The men munched on their rice balls in front of her gluttonously and she would have given anything to have a nice bowl of noodles. By the time it was noon, her stomach was growling and she was soaked to the bone from sweat. The day wasn't even half over yet.
By the end of the work day, Korra had managed to get yelled at ten times and earn herself overtime. When she arrived home, her mood was as black as her skin. She found Mako slumped on the couch with a hand thrown over his face. When he saw her, he groaned.
"How was work?"
She cast him a dark look. "Don't even ask." She flopped down beside him and laid her head on his shoulder.
"What about yours?"
"Not much better. I don't think I can keep this up for six more days."
"Yeah, me either." She admitted reluctantly. "I didn't know they worked you so hard down there! Your boss is a dick."
Mako laughed. "Yeah he is."
Korra turned to him and placed a pitch black hand on his cheek. "What I'm trying to say is: I was wrong. You do work hard and I need to help make things easier for you. I'm sorry."
Mako smiled and takes both her hands in hers. "Me too. Your job is tough. Hell, I couldn't even take down three triad members today. I let a shop get destroyed. You work hard, too and I need to respect that also. We both need to help make things easier for each other."
"I know one way," she whispered
"What?"
She swirls her pinky in the air.