Ch 3
It's one of those nights again, cold and crisp, and the air temple is in complete silence, except for me walking around the corridors. Although I've done this a hundred times, I still manage to stumble and falter my way to Korra's room. I always find myself thanking the spirits that the airbenders are minimalists and don't have much in the ways of furniture in the halls, otherwise I'd be bruised and broken many times over as I work my way once again.
Korra's door is closed but not latched when I reach her room; this way when I open the door, there won't be a 'click' from having to turn the handle. I open it to find her sitting on the end of her bed, waiting for me, and she smiles up at me while I enter the room. My heart flutters, and my warmth spreads over my body. She quickly looks back down.
"Hey Korra," I speak in a hushed tone as I put the door back the same way I found it. I turn around and notice that Korra has her hair down and is loosely braiding it. I amble over to her and sit behind her, letting my arms surround her.
"Hey Bolin," she leans back slightly, letting some of her weight fall on me, and I don't mind. I love the feeling of her, her warmth, her soft hair as it brushes against my collarbone that my tank top leaves exposed. I lean my head on her shoulder and rub my chin and light stubble against her shirt. I probably should have shaved before coming over, but I didn't want to try to stumble to Mako and my bathroom, which was the opposite direction of Korra's room, and then have to stumble here.
I watch her braid her hair and unbraid it. She's obviously not trying to work it in a specific way, but rather keep her hands busy as her mind does work of its own. I find myself searching her hands' movements for some indication of what fills her mind. I look to her face for more answers, but find her hair is blocking most of her expression. I move my hand from where it was perched on her shoulder and use it to brush her hair behind one of her ears. I can see the slight blush flush her cheek, but can't make out much more.
"Korra," I find myself cooing to her like I do to Pabu and I mentally not how strange it is. I clear my throat. "Korra, what'cha thinkin' 'bout so hard? You barely notice your gorgeous boyfriend who is trying to figure you out."
She sighs, but it's not in agitation or sadness, in fact, it almost sounds happy, if a sigh can sound happy. She stops playing with her hair and turns her head to look up at me. "I like having you so close." She pulls my arms tighter around her.
"Close as in on the island or close as in," I give her a squeeze, "close?"
"Both," she sighs. I can tell that she has something else on her mind; something troubling her. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She tenses slightly, turning her head and picking at her hair again, "What do you mean?"
I sigh and drop the topic; she'll talk if she wants to. I readjust how I'm sitting, "You know, it's weird…"
"What's weird?" She asks, still not looking at me.
"Not practicing anymore. Not probending, or having meets, or being teammates anymore," I say.
She relaxes, but still doesn't look up. "I know, it is weird."
"Though I guess it's probably for the best."
At this she looks at me and it's my turn to avert my eyes.
"Why is that?" She asks. And I can feel my cheeks begin to burn before I even start to answer.
"You know, with us being… us… and… if we were on a team… I just don't know how well everything would be… I don't know how well I'd do…"
She turns around completely, sitting in my lap but breaking my hold on her. My arms held in the air for a brief moment before I let them fall to my sides. I finally meet her eyes and they're asking me to continue to explain.
"You know, I don't know if I could watch you take hits…" I'm lying and I know she realizes it. I blush deeper thinking about the real reasons.
She thumps me lightly on my chest, "Bolin, come on, tell me."
I roll my eyes and head together, "Fine." I huff, but I wrap my arms around her waist and she wraps her arms around my neck. I sigh, trying to muster the energy, "I don't know if I'd be able to focus, I might be distracted by your movements, or if you fell down or off I'd think about you for a split second before anything else…" I sigh once more and take in a final deep breath. "And I don't know if I could change with you anymore… or be there while you change…" My cheeks are ablaze, as if Korra had her hands against my cheeks and was attempting to firebend through them.
I look into her eyes and although there's a slight toying laugh in them, they're soft, and they're smiling at me as much as her lips are. Her hands have placed themselves around my head, and her thumbs are brushing against my cheeks. I can't hold her gaze anymore so I drop my eyes and lean my forehead against hers.
"Bolin…" her voice is low but confident, and begs my eyes to drag back up to meet hers and they comply, with or without my approval. As my eyes meet hers she closes the distance between us. Her chest is against mine as we sit, and her lips are lightly, let strongly pressed against mine and her eyes flutter shut.
I'm stunned shocked, but I really shouldn't be at this point. She's assertive and rash, but I know her, I know her all and well. I relax and let my eyes glide shut and put myself into the kiss. My hand moves from her waist to the back of her neck, holding her head against mine, letting the tips of my fingers play with her hair. My other hand presses into her lower back, bringing her as flush against me as our current position allows. My tongue instinctively breaks through her lips and she emits a small gasp, causing me to immediately draw my tongue back. But I feel her smirk against my lips and soon her tongue has weaseled its way into my mouth, in search of my tongue.
All of a sudden she pulls away, a sly smile on her lips. I'm sure I appear dazed and probably a bit hurt and eager, though I wish I could for once not be an open book. But Korra doesn't seem to mind; she never seems to mind who or how I am.
"I love you." The words escape from my lips and immediately I freeze, and so does Korra. I don't know whether I wish that I could take it back, or whether I'm happy that I am finally telling her how I feel. It's like a weight has been lifted from me, but another one has forced my wide eyes to stay focused on Korra's face, her expression, her all seeing, all exposing eyes. And right now, for once, I can't read the emotion in them.
Until they soften, and so does her face, and her mouth that had dropped in shock into an agape 'oh' now curves up delicately at the edges into a smile. And she shocks me even more.
"I love you too Bolin." She says, a little shakily, but there is no question or doubt in her tone. She is sure of herself, as she always is, and her lips come falling back into mine. And her hand pushes gently at my chest, asking me to lean back so that we may lie down together. And I oblige, as I usually do whenever Korra asks me to do something, or has some idea she wants to run with.
As she settles herself on top of me, not breaking from the kiss, her hands grip my sides, playing with the ribbing on my shirt. She starts to pull it up, dragging her fingers against my bare flesh as the fabric punches against my collarbone. She leaves my shirt their and lets her fingertips run along my chest, my abdomen, tracing along my muscles, both the well-defined and the faint, and also making her own patterns along my skin. And although I will never admit it, I am dreadfully ticklish, and it takes all my will power not to wrench away from her cool touch that leaves my skin burning beneath it, and my nerves shrieking for both relief and more. She hits a particularly sensitive patch of skin on my lower sternum and I inadvertently break the kiss and wrench my head back in an attempt not to make a movement that will throw her off of me. She stops moving her hands and instead rests them on my ribcage and props herself up.
Her eyes meet mine and she smirks at me, "I always forget how not ticklish you are."
Okay, so she knows my secret. I smile back at her and prop myself up on my elbows to bring my face closer to hers. "Kor-ra," I whine, forcing my voice only to show some of the fiery pleasurable pain the rest of me is feeling.
She nuzzles my nose with her own, letting her girly, cuddly side, which the rest of the world rarely sees, escape into the open. But her normal assertive side quickly takes rein again, and her lips are back against mine and she's tugging at my shirt again. I know she wants me to let her take it off, but my hands stay have found her waist again and I don't feel like giving in just yet. She runs one hand back and forth, up and down my chest, while the other continues to tug the fabric. She's hoping that she'll catch me again and my ticklishness will force me to give in to what she wants. But I've composed myself, and I just smile against her lips as our tongues war for dominance.
Finally she gives up and pulls away pouting at me, with polarcub-puppy eyes, her hand still desperately trying to pull the fabric up. I sit up and let her drag my shirt over my head, and I quickly pull hers off as well. Her bindings are bright in the dark room.
I pull her back to lie down with me, and draw her close. She nuzzles her head into the crook of my neck. She clutches herself to me, and I hold on tight to her as well. We're very comfortable like this, lying in each other's arms. She crawls higher on me and kisses my cheek. I turn my head, which is on her pillow, and we just stare at each other, my smile mirroring hers and vice versa. She drags her nails down my chest, catching me off guard, and watches me writhe in the combination of the sensations of pleasure and need. I kiss her fiercely, probably rougher than I should, but she matches my passion, and we lean into each other, both with a side against the bed, a head on the pillow and our bodies impossibly close to each other.
If we were any closer we'd be… but no, I don't let myself think about us like that. We both know that no matter how passionate we are, no matter how much we love each other, we both aren't ready to risk it all for the heat, the rawness, the exposure and the pleasure that would happen if 'we were any closer.' We just enjoy what we are ready for: our bodies wrapping around each other with only light clothing separating our most intimate parts, our tongues intertwining and playfully fighting with each other, our breathing and heartbeats synchronizing.
Eventually we calm down and come up for air, but we don't separate. We stay close together, hugging each other comfortably, so comfortably. Somehow through the course of events the blankets have wound up on top of us, and my shoes have found their way to the floor. Her feet rub against my calves and my hand runs along her side down her hip and her leg, and back up to her cheek. I roll back onto my back and she follows to be placed on top once again, she curls into my chest and settles herself. She loves me, and I love her. And although we both know we shouldn't, we no longer have a choice, nor the ability to realize how bad this will turn out, and we fall asleep, happily, each lying with the one we love.
