Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Legend of Korra or anything pertaining to it.

The Art of Dating

Chapter 2: Strategic Warfare

Mako answered the door after what seemed like an eternity. Korra chewing her thumbnail impatiently as he inspected her. After a moment, he stepped into the hall and closed the door behind him.

"You're wearing a red shirt," he commented.

"I don't have blue," she replied.

He scratched his chin. "We should fix that."

"I'm starting to think the reason you're single is because you're unreasonable. Or gay, I haven't decided yet," Korra tapped her foot impatiently on the ground.

"Very charming," he remarked, opening the door for her.

"Be careful - wouldn't want the iceman to fall in love with me," she winked at him, then pushed by him into the room.

Mako's apartment was meticulous - just as she expected. It had a large window with a sliding glass door that led to a small terrace and the decor was very "modern" and organized. Quite honestly, it looked like he had paid one of the interior designers from HGTV to come put everything together, then paid a maid to make sure it stayed that way.

"I didn't know you were dating again, bro," a built man with sparkling green eyes said, holding his hand out for Korra.

The pair exchanged looks before Mako quickly said, "She's definitely not my girlfriend."

"Oh, my bad," the young man apologized. "Care for a drink? Bolin the Mixmaster is in the house."

"Oh, God," Mako covered his face with his hand.

Korra smiled at him. "I would love one; thank you. You said your name was Bolin?"

"Yep! I'm Mako's brother," he walked to the kitchen and motioned for her to follow him.

The blue eyed woman smiled, but lingered behind for a moment then looked at her boss. "Definitely not your girlfriend, huh? Didn't know you felt so strongly about that one, Mako," she remarked before she strode into the kitchen. "So there are two of you, huh?"

"If by two, you mean there's Mako, then there's the hotter, smarter, funnier, more dashing one - which is me, then yes," he winked. "Wine or my specialty?"

"What's your specialty?" she asked.

"My friend likes to call it a Bolin Bomb," he smiled. "Let's just say, you'll have a hell of a night."

"Yikes, sounds a little dangerous. I think I'll take wine," she laughed.

Bolin winked. "Suit yourself. Red or white?"

"Red," she replied, taking the glass for him after he poured her some. "Are you a bartender?"

"I was when I was doing undergrad, now I'm kickboxing coach part time and a personal trainer," he smiled. "Not as fancy as Mr. Director of Finances, but I love my job."

"I do kickboxing, too," Korra smiled. "But speaking of Mr. Director of Finances, you two-"

"-don't seem anything alike, I know," Bolin cut in. "My mom used to say either Mako or I was dropped off by an alien space craft, and she still has yet to figure out who. Not to mention we really only looked alike when we were younger. Mako took after Dad and I took after Mom in looks, but he's more like her and I'm more like him when it comes to personality. Kind of a weird mix up, honestly."

"Sounds like," she replied. "So you grew up in Taiwan, too?"

"Sure did, but I haven't used my Chinese in years so it's a little rusty. Foreign languages aren't entirely my thing," he admitted. "That's Mako's department."

"Korra, can I borrow you for a minute?" Mako poked his head in the kitchen.

She looked at Bolin, then to Mako. "Uh, okay," she said, then followed him down the hallway. He closed the door behind her. Why were they in the bedroom?

"Well, now that I have you alone, I can tell you how you should go about hooking a man's attention," he explained.

"I know how to get a man's attention. I had your brother's pretty well in there," she smiled innocently.

He shook his head, denying to himself his brother's obvious attraction. "No, Bolin is just friendly. And I mean really getting a man's attention."

"I can't wait for this," Korra said, eyebrows raised.

Mako frowned. "Do you want my help or don't you?"

"No, no, I'm listening," she waved her hand. "Carry on, Lord of Love."

"Right," he muttered. "Don't linger for too long with one man. Make them think you're in high demand. Keep rotating around, and if you want, mention a man you're casually seeing. You'll want them to think you're desirable; men love women who other men love, too. It makes you seem like a treasure."

"That's kind of slimy," Korra lamented.

"So you've never been attracted to a guy one of your girlfriends were dating?" he turned his head sideways a bit in surprise.

"Well, ye-"

"Same thing," he interrupted. "When he asks for your number, don't give it right away. Leave a bit after, but before you leave, slip your number in his hand. Now, I can imagine it will be challenging for you, but try to contain your excitement and don't respond to him if he contacts you tonight at all. Don't answer him when he calls tomorrow either. You can call or text him back Sunday night."

"What if he doesn't call on Sunday?" she asked.

Mako shook his head. "No, he'll call. If you're worth it - he'll call."

"How do you know all this is going to happen if you don't date?"

He shrugged. "I just know how men are, I guess. Talk to the guy in the black shirt, the one with the Brazil jacket, and the guy with the red and white striped shirt. They're decent guys."

"I'll be the judge of that," she declared, then walked out of the room as he ran a hand through his dark hair.

Korra decided she would have found Mako incredibly sexy if he wasn't such a condescending jerk.

"Korra, are you sure you want to start dating again so soon?" her aunt Pema asked on the phone. It was just after one in New York, but with the time difference it wasn't a horribly unreasonable hour in Vancouver.

"I'm not really dating dating," she explained. "I'm dating to just decide if I want to get back together with Tahno."

"Tahno?" she asked, then heard a voice in the background.

"Yeah, that pretty boy Korra likes for some unknown cosmic reason," the female with Pema chirped.

The dark skinned woman sighed. "Thanks for your two cents, Ikki."

Pema laughed for a moment, then shooed Ikki away. "Sorry. Anyway, I don't know. Haven't you guys broken up like three times already? Isn't it time to call it quits? You guys don't seem compatible to me."

Korra sighed. "I know, but..."

"You love him, I know," her aunt replied, the line crackling a bit. "It's rough."

"Tell me about it," she said. "Hang on, I got a text," Korra told Pema, then pulled the phone away to check her inbox. Hi, Korra. It's Howl. Glad I got to meet you tonight.

She was tempted to reply, but remembered Mako's directions. "Don't talk to him until Sunday," Mako's annoying and arrogant voice rang in her head. Fine. She wouldn't; but that didn't mean she wouldn't bother the hell out of him.

"You still there?" Pema asked as Korra typed in a message to Mako.

"Yeah, one sec," she said. Got a text from Howl. What should I do oh wise one? Send. "Sorry, was texting Mako."

"Who's Mako?" her aunt asked.

She heard a shuffle in the background and a beep. "Mako is her allegedly cute boss that drives her crazy."

"Crazy in a good way, or crazy in a bad way?" Pema asked. "And how cute? Ikki, look him up on Facebook."

"Pema!" Korra cried. "He doesn't drive me crazy in either way, he's just kind of arrogant and thinks love is this new style of warfare in which someone has to 'win.' He's alleging if I do what he says I can get back with Tahno if I want which-" the phone beeped, "-is why I'm gonna date this new guy to see if I even want to. Hang on, new text."

Not bad.

"Not bad? Asshole," she muttered out loud as she punched in a reply.

"Who's an asshole?" Ikki asked as Korra heard her plucking at keys on the computer. "Oh, dang, Jinora wasn't kidding. This guy is sexy. If you don't want him, I do-"

"Quit cursing, Ikki. Your father will fuss at me if he hears you," Pema said.

"What? Jinora is in on this, too?" Korra whined. What's it take to impress you?

"Oh, Korra, forget Tahno and this new guy, go for the boss, he's a dream," Pema squealed as she looked at the computer. "Oh, are those pictures from Hawaii? Oh, God, he surfs. Open that one up. Wow, Korra, just wow. If I was ten years younger and single, ooh."

"For Christ's sake, you girls are like horn dogs," the cerulean eyed woman remarked.

Ikki scoffed. "I don't know why you're all pissy, Korra. You're the one with a boss who probably makes panties drop when he-"

"Ew, okay, Ikki, I'm hanging up now."

"Oh, come on, Korra!" Ikki and Pema cried simultaneously as she clicked end.

The woman stretched and went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth before going to bed. Her phone lit up again. Mako.

I said it wasn't bad. Meet me for coffee tomorrow at 9:45AM. We need to talk about your date with Howl.

"Huh," she grumbled with the toothbrush in her mouth. Korra shrugged, typing a "K" in the phone, then pressing send before spitting and rinsing her mouth.

She returned to her beside and plugged the phone in to charge, then set her alarm for 7:30 for her morning run. Korra was both anticipating and dreading whatever words of "wisdom" Mako had to share with her now.

"You're late," Mako observed, leaning against the wall the table was pushed against. He was wearing a red scarf, black shirt, and jeans. He was pinching his lower lip between his thumb and index finger thoughtfully.

"You told me to be fashionably late for a man," she smiled deviously, then took a seat.

"Right," he grumbled. "Phone."

She raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Let me see your texts," he explained.

Her cheeks flushed. God forbid he saw the texts from her sexually frustrated cousins about how hot he was. "Why do you need to-"

"I mean the texts from Howl, I'm not going to snoop through the rest of your phone," Mako clarified.

"Oh," she replied, unlocking the phone and handing it to him. He quickly swiped his finger across the screen to find the messages and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Wow, he likes you," he commented.

She scowled. "I'm not entirely repulsive to the opposite sex, you know."

"I didn't mean it like that, I just meant, Howl really thinks you're cute."

"What makes you say that?" she asked, taking the phone to scroll through the texts.

"Guys don't use emoticons unless it's a girl they think is cute. Emoticons are kind of lame," he replied.

"You're lame," she retorted.

Mako made a face. "What was that for? I was just trying to explain something."

"You were being mean about it. I think Howl is sweet," Korra frowned.

"Well, do you want to date him, or do you want Tahno back?"

"I don't know, I haven't decided." Korra stuck her chin up in the air some as she pondered his question.

"Do women ever know what they want?" he sighed some, taking the last sip of his coffee then standing. "Want something?"

"Black coffee, house roast," she replied. He nodded, then walked to the counter. Korra scratched under her chin as she thought of the expression on his face with his last question; there appeared to be a story that went with it.

The table began vibrating and Korra reached across the table to grab it. The caller ID showed Bolin's name. She clicked accept and put the phone to her ear. "Mako's phone."

"Wait, Asami? I didn't know you and Mako were back together," Bolin asked, almost in disbelief.

"Uh, no. This is Korra." she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Who's Asami?"

"Oh, Korra! Hey! You're with Mako?" he sounded surprised.

"Kinda, he's buying coffee. Who's Asami?" she asked again. Mako seemed to make it clear he wasn't dating anyone, so who was Asami?

"Asami Who? I don't know anyone by that name," Bolin laughed awkwardly.

She frowned. "Bolin."

"Look, Korra, it's not my place to tell you; sorry. Bro code," he explained.

"Who are you talking to on my phone?" Mako asked, setting the coffee down and taking the phone from her. "Hello?"

She blew on the coffee, then took a quick sip. Ugh. It tasted burnt and old; next time she would pick the rendezvous point.

"Uh huh. Well, okay, that's fine, Bolin. Listen, I'll call you back," he finally said and hung up. "Answering other people's phones is rude, you know."

Korra shrugged. "It was your brother, I was just gonna say hi since I didn't get his number."

"Right," he said.

"So who's Asami?"

Mako swallowed hard and looked at her darkly. "What?"

"Who's Asami? Bolin thought I was her when I answered the phone and said something about not knowing the two of you got back together. Is she your ex-girlfriend?" Korra thought for a moment. "Wait. Asami Sato? As in, the daughter of Hiroshi Sato; as in the Vice President of Future Industries?"

Mako took another drink from his cup and continued boring a hole into Korra's skull with his eyes. "It was a long time ago. She and I are amicable now, but we're not getting back together. Ever."

"Sounds like there's a story," she said in a sing-song voice. "I spilled my guts, you spill yours."

"Sure, if and when it's pertinent to you helping me," he replied. "Until that time, it stays my personal business. Sorry. Now let's go for a walk." He rose to his feet and pulled his coat on and Korra followed him out.

"Men enjoy a chase," Mako explained as they walked down the street. "We live for it, because when we win, we get the prize. We want to feel like we worked for it. A man wants to be challenged, not submitted to."

"Is this the part where you take me shopping because you don't like how I dress like this is some sort of romantic comedy, or something?" Korra asked.

"No, your wardrobe from what I can tell is fine. I'm not going to give you a make over. You have all the equipment, Korra, you just need to read the manual," he replied.

She nudged him with her elbow. "So you think I'm hot?"

"You shouldn't want to be hot, you should want to be beautiful. As a woman, you should want when a man wakes up to think of you and go, 'Damn, if she isn't the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen, I don't know who is.' Don't settle for anything less."

Korra shoved her hands in her pocket. "Just how am I going to achieve that?"

"Remember - no pants on the first few dates, depending on the occasion. I'm not banning pants forever, and it's obviously not practical to wear a dress if you're going ice skating, but if you can help it, don't miss an opportunity to remind him you're a catch. Wear your hair down; it's pretty, he'll want to see it down so he can imagine his fingers going through it. If the conversation bores, lick your lower lip then bite it. He'll get distracted, and you can change the topic to something you like. If he bites his lower lip, he wants to kiss you. Let him think he has you, then turn away at the last moment. Let him know he has to work for every inch of you."

She watched him, looking as his shoulders grew tense.

"Now practice on me," he finally said, moving to stand in front of her.

"Practice on you?" she repeated dumbly.

Mako motioned to the spot beside him. "Pretend I'm talking about something stupid. Use yourself to distract me from what I'm saying and discretely change the topic."

"No way, it won't be genuine," Korra scowled.

"Okay, fair enough. Before your first date, though, you have to."

"We're spending a whole day together?" she clasped her hands together. While her face showed pure excitement, her voice conveyed her true message - complete and utter sarcasm.

"You truly are charming," he muttered.

Bolin was lounging on Mako's couch while he flipped through channels. "So, you and Korra aren't dating, right?"

"Why do people think that?" Mako groaned to himself then replied, "No, we're not."

"Awesome; so I can ask her out right?" Bolin said, finally settling on an American football game.

"What? Why?" the elder asked, making a face as he flipped his grilled cheese over on the stove.

The green eyed brother shrugged casually. "She's cute, funny as hell, charming... I dunno, I just like her."

Mako rolled his eyes at the thought. "I don't think it's a good idea, Bo," he said, putting the sandwich on a plate, then adding more butter to the pan before placing another on it.

"Why not? She seems normal compared to the other girls I've dated," the younger replied, going to open a beer from the fridge. "And you're not dating her."

"She just got out of a relationship and I don't think she's looking for anything long term."

Bolin scoffed. "The way she was hanging off Howl last night? Yeah right. She's ready to get back on the horse," he replied, taking a sip.

Mako pursed his lips and flipped the sandwich.

"Shut the front door, you're teaching her your nonsense relationship strategy nonsense," Bolin cackled. "I thought you didn't teach women that."

"I never said that," Mako protested.

"No, but you said you were worried a woman would use it on you or me and that's why you didn't," he replied. "So what makes her special?"

He shrugged a bit. "I don't know, she just seemed like she was caught in this shitty loop with the same dude. So I finally was convinced to offer my expertise on the situation."

"You volunteered it," Bolin corrected. "Face it, Mako; you can't help it when it comes to big eyes." The stockier brother laced his fingers under his chin and batted his eyelashes.

Mako scowled. "What? No, it's not like that - just, I'm going to help her see how to get a real man."

"Don't let her break your heart," his brother warned, taking a bite of his sandwich. "She might get so good at your game you become the pawn on the metaphorical chessboard."

He turned off the stove and grabbed a beer of his own. "That metaphor makes no sense, but disregarding that even, I'm still the king."

"Too bad the queen's the better piece," Bolin said to himself, concealing a bemused smirk.

"Yes!" Korra cheered, pumping a fist in the office as she read her text message.

Mako looked up from the books he was reviewing with the head of payables, and then shook his head at Korra before looking down and returning to his conversation.

Jia waved her over. "What happened?"

"I got a date," she said in a sing-song voice.

"With who? Is it that cute guy that's a friend of TDS?" the black haired girl asked.

TDS had become most of the office's nickname for Mako: tall, dark, and stoic. Korra felt like the entire nickname was a little middle school, but she supposed it was better than parading through the office and dropping his name casually - especially when the rumors about Mako and the heiress to Future Industries leaked. Thankfully, she hadn't been the source, but she found herself wondering exactly what had happened.

"His name is Howl," Korra explained. "It's a nickname, apparently. I didn't really ask. But he's cute, funny, charming, and we're going out for dinner on Thursday."

"Thursday? What? If he's everything you say he is, I would have schedule it for today."

The cerulean eyed woman glanced at her boss who gave her a polite smile before returning his focus to the numbers, then looked at her co-worker. "I want to, but I want him to be crazy with anticipation for our date."

"Huh, and what has spurred this new outlook on dating?" Jia asked.

Korra shrugged. "Love's like warfare - it's all about strategy."

"I hope this is business talk," Mako said, leaning against the rounded desk.

Korra and Jia exchanged smiles before the darker skinned woman looked at him and twirled a lock of hair around her finger, "Of course, Mako. We're true professionals."

"Excellent," he replied. "Come talk to me for a moment. I need your help with scheduling a flight for the holidays."

The young woman followed him to his office and he sat down in his chair. She placed a palm on the desk and another on the back of his chair, leaning over to read the monitor. "Back to Hawaii, huh? I've always wanted to go."

"You should. The water is beautiful," Mako replied. He could feel her hair tickling his skin and smell her perfume - sweet and faint, yet welcoming. Completely unlike her.

"I bet," she replied. "So what can I do ya for, boss?"

"I beg your pardon?" he snapped out of his trance.

Korra motioned to the computer. "What do you need?"

"Oh, yes. Order the tickets for myself and my brother. I'll give you my account information in a moment, then I need you to send out a memo to the department about an in-house meeting. And I need you to get someone to run the numbers on the charity gala we're having at the end of the month. After that-"

The young woman nodded, licking her lower lip. When he stopped talking she smiled and said, "Continue."

Mako swallowed and looked up to continue his train of thought. "Oh, yeah, after that, I need you to track down the financial documents from the second quarter of last year and - what are you doing?" he asked as she reached her hand toward his shoulder.

"You had some lint on your jacket, that's all," she showed the small piece of fuzz in her hand before flicking it away. "So, listen, do you think I should wear a dress or a pants on my date with Howl?"

He rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you - no pants!"

"Thank you, Mako, for making that so easy, and proving I'm more than capable at playing your game," she smiled then leaned up. "I'll get the financial statement from the second quarter to you before lunch. We're ordering Thai, by the way. Let me know if you want to chip in and order something in the next bit."

He watched as his assistant walked out of the office, his jaw dropped. Did I tell you, or did I tell you? Be careful not to get tangled in your own web, bro, Bolin's voice taunted in his head.

"Well, fuck," Mako groaned to himself.

Posted: 07/12/2012

A/N: askdjaksjda omg you guys are awesome! This is the biggest response I've ever gotten to just one chapter of a fic haha! I see you guys are thirsty for some PWP fics when it comes to Makorra! To answer a few questions that were brought up, Jinora is Korra's cousin. Niece was an epic fail typo on my part (sorry!). The better I seem to get at other languages, the worse I get at English. :( boo. I updated it with a revised copy to avoid any further confusion.

iRockYourSocks: Actually, The Ugly Truth is pretty similar to Seducing Mr. Perfect, but Gerard's a little bit more of an up front asshole than Daniel Henney was in the movie (Daniel was more cold/distant) - at least to my recollection. Like I said, it's been quite a while. I would say I'm pretty good at reading people/people's relationships but I'm a hot mess when it comes to my own. ;) But isn't that how we all are, lol!

soraaa: Mako definitely is more forward, but I found him to be a little blunt with her when they first met at the pro-bending arena, scoffing at the idea of Bolin bringing ~*yet*~ another fangirl to the arena. In my mind/head-canon, Mako is the kind of guy who's up front when it comes to work/professional matters, but a little more withdrawn otherwise. :)