Disclaimer: I do hereby disclaim all rights and responsibilities for the characters in this collection. Kudos to Bryke, indeed.
Word Count:
648
Author's Notes:
12/27/12. I think the alternative title for this fic is: "In which Korra and Tahno are assholes to each other."

Gifted To: ahlistenalison or ebonyquill


That one night

Tahno met a very young fan.


"You know she's totally into you, right?"

Tahno glared at her over the stacks of papers before him, but otherwise decided not to acknowledge her. His biology lab was already noisy with beeping and bubbling, and didn't need her to add her own personal monologue.

"Though I'm sure your life together will be very difficult," Korra sighed a gusty sigh, alternating between holding her chin thoughtfully in her hand and using that hand to make wide, sweeping gestures, all implying tragedy, no doubt. "But such is always the way with young love, is it not?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, intern," Tahno replied smoothly from his desk, while Korra twirled in her chair across the room. "Your report is due thirty minutes from now."

"No sweat, Professor Tight-Pants," she brushed him off, giving another twirl. "I'm almost finished."

"Yes," he intoned dryly. "But will it still be almost finished after you run these pressing errands for me?"

Korra's sneakers screeched over the tiled floor as she came to a halt. She very nearly tore the to-do list from his hand, eyes roving frantically over the many lines, and when her disbelieving eyes rose again to meet his smug ones, she hit him with the fiercest of glares.

"Are you kidding me? There isn't a single thing on this list that can't wait until tomorrow."

"On the contrary," he replied evenly, already making his way back to his desk. "They are of the most imperative nature."

She narrowed her eyes, crumpling the lined paper with a surprisingly strong fist, and in a flash, she'd turned back to her processor, typed a few remaining lines into her document, and submitted her report.

"That's it?" Tahno asked, aggravated, watching in frustration as her computer slowly shut down. "That's all you had left to write?"

"I told you I was almost finished," she huffed as she put on her coat. It was a dark red, he noticed, which obviously didn't suit her.

"You had thirty seconds worth of work left, and yet you rolled yourself about my lab for nearly an hour while singing about the tragedies of young love?"

She smiled. "So you were listening."

He sneered, raising his pen in preparation of making a valid, reasonable point about all the topics she could sing about—

"Now, if you please excuse me, I have some rather important matters to attend to," she lifted her chin high in the air, and strode toward the door. "And from the looks of it, you are about to receive another visit," she smiled back at him, eyes gleaming. "Hello again, Jinora!" she called into the lobby.

Not very quietly, Tahno cursed under his breath, and began to clear out the space beneath his desk. In the midst of wondering just how likely he was to lose his chance at receiving a letter of recommendation from Professor Tenzin by fleeing his twelve-year-old daughter, Korra laughed.

"Psych," she smiled broadly, taking her lab key from the hook. "Have a wonderful evening, Professor Tight-Pants. Can't wait 'til tomorrow."

Through the muffled aluminum of the space under his desk, he heard the door close behind her. Cursing under his breath, he didn't think to mind his head as he uprighted himself in his large chair, which left him cursing again. "Stupid intern," he muttered under his breath, rubbing at the bump on his skull.


Still, before leaving the office later that night, he couldn't help but carefully glance around the lobby for the sight of a young, gray-eyed, aspiring intellectual. He half-expected the intern to be lurking in the shadows, biding her time until she could burst out with her freakish speed, and laugh in his face.

He straightened his coat with a huff, and left the lab without further incident.