In my previous fic ("Reintroductions") I had made the mistake of making Tahno too much of a softie too quickly. I'll be giving him more of a temper and spark in this fic.
"It's just sky bison's milk. It will help you sleep better."
She is a murky blur above him, bringing a small cup closer to his lips. For a second he shudders, afraid she's lying and is offering him the one drink he particularly fears. Too late - the liquid enters his mouth and slides down his throat quickly, but it is rather rich and warm. He feels like the hangover's begun, hours too early. But he feels her very real weight sink into the edge of the mattress. He is at the peak of irritability, and the little things like how his body isn't lying level on the bed, or the light of the lamp she's switched back on, make him want to punch someone's jaw clean off.
Tahno mumbled upon swallowing the first gulp, "The alcohol's doing a fine enough job."
"Doing a fine job dehydrating you," Korra replied right away. Don't mention water. Aren't you lucky I was smart enough to remember not to serve water? Don't mention water. "Drink up."
"What do you want, Uhvatar? At an hour like this?" he mouths out, two sips later.
"To be honest, a good night's rest without worrying about you whining in your sleep."
"Whatever."
The following pregnant pause is unbearable for them both. It is close to midnight; she needs to clean her teeth and wash up and jump under the covers to even think properly. And he needs to stop crying out for me in his dreams. She then questioned, "What were you dreaming about?" You kept calling my name. And well, I'm starting to wonder if even Mako does that. Korra briefly wishes she could be sure the firebender received dreams from the spirits that pointed to her, not the prissy elegant rich girl. But guilt brings her train of thought to a temporary halt, because wasn't it about two days ago when Asami invited her over to the Sato mansion, even making an kind attempt to know her better? She'd given her an exhilarating ride in a test model of a Satomobile, round a race track.
"…Nothing much," was the former waterbender's half-lie. Korra almost forgot the question she'd thrown at him.
Suppressing a yawn, she tried thinking up anything else to say over the next five or so minutes. To no avail. He had shifted position to stare at the other wall, and she looked into the porcelain cup to find that by then had finished the bison milk.
"I guess this is good night," is all she manages.
Nothing from the receiving end.
"Yes, my husband had told me. Apparently Korra found him passed out from alcohol?" Pema stored the last of the done dishes, then scurried to the steamer over the stove fire to check on the food in its final stages of cooking. She was speaking to a couple of warm friendly Air Acolytes who'd served at the temple for a good five years at least. These two were a big help in caring for Meelo when he got out of hand.
One of them said, "We had to clean up after him this morning. But I think it was the worst of it."
"He refuses to drink. Is it true he was a waterbender before?" the other whispered lowly.
"That's right. Try not to let him see you washing up or having tea. Don't let any of my kids know about this. They'll ask questions!" Tenzin's wife waved a finger with a simper.
"Hi Pema," someone was behind her.
"Oh! Morning, Korra," she immediately greeted her with a hand upon the girl's shoulder. "If I'm not mistaken, you're supposed to be up earlier than this every morning to train?"
"Yeah, about that…I thought I'd wait to have breakfast with him."
Korra stepped a little out of the way to show her the new guest. He looked worn though young, and this made the compassionate mother of three concerned despite her vague knowledge (supplied by Tenzin) that he was a haughty cheater in the Pro-bending arena. It was difficult believing this was that same youngster avoiding her eye contact and slinking behind Korra, looking as though he yearned more to be a wallflower than anything else. Even the mid-morning sun trailing in failed to bring out...whatever it was in his eyes...for her to decipher with clarity.
"Ah. Well, that's very sweet of you." She had another set of crockery, a place mat and chopsticks laid on the table. "By the way, Tenzin asked to see you two in his study when you're done."
Tahno and Korra didn't speak throughout the whole of the meal. She bit into the lotus buns made by Pema, so astounded by how delicious they tasted and absolutely dying to tell someone about her excitement. Only…no one but the person opposite her was present. A tap was turned on in the next room which was meant for washing laundry, sometime later. Though the sound was fairly distant she could tell he still heard it - because the trickling and flow caused him to mildly flinch. She watched him as he struggled with his throbbing head thanks to the wine and beer, not wanting to make sudden moves herself. He watched her watch him from the corner of his sight, and only several moments later returned to barely chewing and swallowing a total of two buns.
"Morning, Tenzin."
Her mentor tore his eyes away from the stack of paperwork on his left. He flicked a hand to direct them, "Have a seat, you two."
They filled in the chairs facing him, Tahno slumping down a tad too clumsily in his after staring at the wall clock and taking in little details about the room. Feeling something foreign wrap around his two shoulders, he experiences the threat of emotion - and the water behind his eyes - when he discovers it's the Avatar's arm around him. He would not look at her, fearful as to what her eyes might tell him.
The councilman was apparently not surprised with that gesture of his pupil's, and cleared his throat. "Now, Tahno. I understand that Korra was in the neighbourhood when you were going through a lot of…trouble?"
"…Yes, sir."
"I just wanted to say you are welcome to continue living at Air Temple Island. You won't be charged for spending however long you need to here, before you perhaps find a job in the city and earn enough to rent another place. I can cover any fare you may need to pay for the ferry service between here and Republic City. Korra will show you around as soon as she's done training for the morning."
The former bender is baffled by the sheer amount of words freshly spoken. But he gets the gist of whatever the Uhvatar's airbending master was rambling about. "Uh, thanks a lot sir. For all this."
Clearly he was embarrassed.
"Korra, you may cut short your regular afternoon training by an hour to welcome your other friends this evening," the airbender gave a reminder.
The Ferret brothers are moving in too? Tahno's mind is quick enough to figure it out, though he isn't fully sober.
The pair thank Tenzin and find their way back to Tahno's dorm. He is trudging ahead of her now, and Korra is extremely curious as to why all the stomping. But the plus point was she'd start training sooner, and be left with more mental space and capacity to fume secretly about her jealousy for Mako. And spirits, he's moving in with the others this evening. This place will be a zoo.
"Why'd you drag me all the way here, Korra?" Tahno snapped suddenly.
Keeping a straight face, albeit her lips pressing firmly into a thin line, she answers, "You needed help. They were about the kick you out of your apartment." She spoke softly after sliding the bedroom door shut.
"I saw the letter from the bankruptcy court in your dining room."
"Did anyone say you could just poke around at my place? Just because you bend all the elements and happen to have a spiteful personality?" his silver eyes harden against her gaze. "I thought that after what you first said to me at the police headquarters, you'd be tactful enough to not embarass me in front of your teammates this evening!"
Her patience ran thinner with each passing second. Oh, were you just complimenting me? "Spiteful"? She spoke up once more, "Like Tenzin said, I happened to be in the neighbourhood! What did you expect me to do? Not give a care and pretend I hadn't seen you at the station?" She hurled another ball into his court, "And since when do you care about what they think? They told me you were proud enough not to 'notice' them in the arena locker rooms!"
It stings him like salt to a gaping wound to be listening. He takes the route of redirecting the subject. "How'd you find out where I live?" he barks. But it dawns on him he must correct himself, "Lived?"
"I don't think it would matter."
He tries to be suave, crossing both arms and turning away a little. She doesn't think his posture fits the way he looks. At all. He is glaring at her at an angle, "I'm not your pet, Uhvatar, which you keep in here all day long and take out for walks."
Her pout has already formed, for she doesn't need this prior to her workout. "Then stop acting like a pet and get some fresh air!" She covered her forehead with her palm, also spinning around so her back was facing his. Seconds elapse while she organizes the last few concerns she'll voice out to him. It begins with her sighing, which inevitably gets him thinking, tenderness could be as painful and sharp as its opposite…
"Tahno," Korra makes the effort to walk over and look into those hollow eyes, without forcing him to turn right back round. "You deserve at least a little kindness, not just from the Air Acolytes or from Tenzin or his family."
He takes in her gentler, now calmer stare, suddenly thinking of the ocean. This continues to stoke the angry embers within for reasons he vows to keep hidden; he doesn't speak. She is already taking steps to leave.
"I'll be training behind the temple if you feel like talking," is her last chance at that moment to make them both feel better.
