Prompt: 'Trapped'
"The Beifong Estate is on lock down until we can confirm there are no more of Zaheer's men in the vicinity," Suyin ordered to a large group of guards who immediately sprinted off on her order. She turned back to the rest of Team Avatar still huddled in the living area around Korra. "That goes for all of you, stay in your rooms until I can confirm there are no more imminent threats."
Korra grimaced from her chair, the paralysing effects of the darts still hindering her every movement. Asami frowned in concern. "No – let me help you do a proper sweep. If Zaheer and his crazy crew are still kicking around you'll need me to help you fight-"
"Nonsense. You are in no fit state for fighting anyone Avatar Korra. The safest thing for you to do to is do as Lady Beifong asks, let the city guard handle this. Get some sleep," Aiwei advised sternly.
Suyin readily nodded her agreement. "If there's any updates the four of you will be the first to know I promise. Now go and rest." She tightened the straps on her metal plated armour. Mako, Bolin and Asami nodded in unison.
Korra audibly growled as she shuffled awkwardly up from the sofa. "Fine..."
"Take it easy," Mako hissed when Korra almost tumbled over in her impatience. He stuck and arm to prevent her falling but was beat to the punch by Asami who propped Korra upright with firm hand's on her shoulders. "That was ridiculously quick, even for you." He raised a dark eyebrow.
"I'm more used to functioning this late at night than the rest of you," Asami replied much too quickly. This time Korra raised her brows but thankfully didn't say anything.
As though to confirm the fact Bolin yawned loudly whilst slapping a hand against Mako's back. "I feel like I could just fall asleep on this floor. Korra, next time you decide to be my heart attacking inducing alarm clock, wanna give me a heads up next time? My heart's not as young as it used to be."
Asami couldn't help but glare at him, a rare, almost non existent occurrence with Bolin. Korra simply laughed it off. "I'll try my best. Thanks for the help guys. Sleep – well, try to sleep." Mako and Bolin nodded their goodbyes with a bright but weary smile, a Zaofu guard escorting them on their short trip back to the male dormitories.
"Avatar Korra, Miss Sato, I'll be escorting you back to you chambers," another guard informed them with a slight edge. A command, not a suggestion. Suyin's orders had been pretty clear in terms of movement around the estate. Asami wouldn't have felt safe out in the open night anyway, not after Zaheer's group demonstration an hour ago. Their combined bending power was terrifying.
"Lead the way..." Korra mumbled quietly, now a lot more sure on her feet. She had an incredibly quick recovery time but there was still a slight jitter in her movements. Not from the darts anymore Asami guessed as she walked just behind the Avatar.
It was a five minute walk back to the women's dormitory, and not a word was exchanged between the three. Asami quietly gasped at the chill of the late night air, hugging her arms tightly. Her nightwear wasn't designed for these kind of low temperatures. Korra, on the other hand didn't seem remotely bothered by the cold, muttering to herself quietly before the finally reached the entrance.
"I'll be standing watch if there are any problems," the guard explained sternly as they remained outside the doors to the adjoining hall. Korra nodded slightly as they passed, holding the heavy metal doors open for Asami before allowing them to shut of their own accord. The loud bang that followed made both of them jump, though Korra practically reached the ceiling with hers before promptly dusting herself off.
"Such an idiot – Zaheer doesn't need to do anything to me. I'm already jumping at shadows," Korra grimaced.
Asami leaned against her own bedroom door with firmly locked arms. "Not shadows, that was a pretty loud bang. My ears are still ringing. I'm surprised you didn't tear the door off with some metalbending, honestly."
Korra smiled a little. "Guess I'm getting better at the whole restraint thing."
A heavy silence passed between them as Korra stared at the metal floor and fidgeted with her hands deep in her pant pockets. Asami tried her best not to stare at the way Korra's muscles rippled and shifted underneath the skin of her currently bare arms. The Zaofu guard remained in at their post just out into the adjoining corridor.
"I'm gonna...I'm gonna head to bed..." Asami muttered whilst wringing her hands in the delicate fabric of her dressing gown. "There's not much else to do if we're gonna be trapped in here till one of Su's guards can give the all clear." She wrapped a hand around the handle to her room.
"I'd have gone and got us a late night snack or something if this place wasn't on lock down," Korra complained as she finally lifted her eye's up from the floor.
"Goodnight, Korra..."
A firm hand grabbed at Asami's wrist before she'd barely opened the door an inch. Korra stared at her without blinking for several seconds. Asami resisted the urge to lean her in. An urge which only seemed to be increasing by the day, spending so much of her time around Korra. She couldn't help but wonder if all these confusing feelings would dissipate the moment she removed herself from the Avatar's company.
Asami firmly doubted it, what with the way Korra looked right now. With her hair down, she appeared a little older. The long strands of dark brown hair which cascaded below Korra's shoulders framed her face in an entirely different way to her trademark wolf-tails. It made her wiser, somehow. Which was frankly...ridiculous, given it was just a hair style. Still...Asami wouldn't be at all opposed if she decided to keep it that way.
"You're sort of holding my wrists, really tightly..."
Immediately, Korra slackened her hold to a light grasp. "Sorry, I'm still just a bit, well actually I'm quite a lot...you know...I'm just-"
"Frightened?" Asami asked softly.
Korra nodded her head sheepishly. "Actually, I was gonna say tense, but that'd would've been a lie. Glad you know me well enough to guess what I'm thinking. Now I only have second hand embarrassment, which still feels pretty terrible..."
Asami squeezed the top of Korra's hands. "What happened tonight was scary, it's still scary. If you weren't frightened you wouldn't be human."
"I wish I was just human sometimes..."
"What?"
"The whole Avatar thing. I shouldn't be scared of criminals like Zaheer, it's not like he's a spirit of eternal darkness or a crazy bloodbender, but he...he scares me more than any of them..." Korra explained with a tremble. "It sounds stupid but I think it's the whole airbender thing...Amon and Unalaq, I didn't make them what they were, but Zaheer...I gave him airbending...I gave him the power to hurt people. Do you think if I just closed the portals he'd lose the ability?"
Asami couldn't quite believe Korra had just asked such a huge question of her, someone with absolutely no spiritual knowledge. And such an important question too, whose answer had severe consequences. Korra had been so resolute on the future of the portals up until now. Had Zaheer scared her that much?
"Maybe..." Asami admitted. "But do you think that'd stop him? He'd be more determined than ever. On top of that, think of the Air Nation, Bumi and Kai, if you close the portals they'd lose the ability too."
Korra slumped down against the wall and burrowed her head between her knees. Asami followed suit, keeping a hand running down Korra's back and another gripping her shaking hand. It stopped shaking after a few seconds.
"Of course you're right...I hate when I get like this. Too scared to think clearly, normally i'd just punch something really hard to work through it, but I'd rather not hit this floor, I'd probably break my knuckles," Korra mumbled with a wave of her hand.
"Like I said, it's perfectly natural to be afraid after...after all that..." Asami grimaced. She'd been only meters away from an unconscious Korra, but was completely powerless to help her. "My heart hasn't stop racing since."
"Really? I actually couldn't tell, you hold it pretty well..." Korra asked as she lifted her head. She looked remarkably calmer. "Are you just saying that to make me feel better? Cause that seems like something you would do."
Asami lifted Korra's hand gently and placed it over her heart. "See, it's firing off like an faulty engine..."
Korra appeared a little flustered. "Guess you weren't lying..." Truthfully, there were now a multitude of reasons as to why Asami's heart was pounding at it's current rate.
"I don't lie...well, I've never been very good at it," Asami smiled wearily as she pulled herself and Korra up.
"Neither, maybe i'm too honest thinking about it," Korra grinned.
"It's one of the things I like most about you." Woops. That line had practically fallen out her mouth.
Korra's eyes widened considerably before she screwed her face up in a hasty attempt to return to a somewhat normal expression. She ran a hand furiously through her bed head. "That's, that's good to know...man, this conversation got way off track...I almost forgot the first thing I was gonna ask you when I nearly tore your hand off."
"Remember now?"
Korra swallowed hard. "You wouldn't mind staying in my room tonight, would you? Or we could stay in your room, you probably have more blankets and supplies in there, cause you're super organized. But you don't have to either. Your choice. I won't be offended, I swear."
"You are a terrible liar," Asami teased. "Of course i'll stay with you. But we stay in my room, because I do have a lot more blankets. Maybe we can make a fort or something, with different sections and stuff. Oh! I have so many ideas!"
Korra pulled Asami's door open whilst laughing loudly. The tension from her shoulders had disappeared. "I don't think I've ever seen you so excited about something. You've got to have done this before, with friends you grew up with or something?"
Asami walked inside as Korra held the door open. Asami nodded her head dramatically as they passed, which made Korra laugh again.
"I've actually never had a proper sleepover before. All those rooms and bedding back home were so wasted. Think of how big a fort I could've built will all that!" Asami grinned as she flicked on the kettle in her room. Suyin really hadn't spared any expense in fitting out the guest rooms in Zaofu, or most of Zaofu to be exact. It'd be good to get to explore this place more.
"Does having Mako and Bolin stay over not count as a sleepover?"
"That's hardly a proper sleepover, and I can barely imagine Mako wanting to help me build a fort. Bolin would try...but he'd probably end up knocking it all over by canon balling on top of it," Asami explained as she began pulling blankets out of drawers.
;
Korra set to work tossing pillows off the bed with a swift gust of air. "And you trust me not to knock this over? I could end up accidentally airbending this all over by sneezing."
"Then don't sneeze," Asami warned as she began dragging a chair across the room and placed it on top of a bedside drawer. "Pass up one of my suitcases so I can weigh this blanket down. This is going to be the roof."
"We already got a roof," Korra pointed upwards before lifting up one of three suitcases. "Here you go my lady."
"That's not the roof of our fort. Everything's gotta be built from scratch. Think of this as an entirely different structure with walls, a roof, cushy floor for sleeping. You're my foreman Korra, you gotta be on top of these things."
"You're taking this way too seriously," Korra smiled widely. "What exactly does a foreman do?"
"They need to make sure that work is on schedule, and that workers follow safety protocols. It's a pretty important job actually, think you're up for it?" Asami questioned as she anchored down the other side of the 'roof'.
"What're my wages?"
"You decide," Asami whispered as she began laying down blankets on the floor along with the sheets. "Stretch that across to the other side."
Korra crouched down to pull the blanket from her side of the room, a mischievous grin etched across her face in the low light. "Alright – once we're finished building this feat of engineering and actually try to go to sleep for a little bit, I get to be the big spoon."
Asami gulped as she avoided Korra's gaze. She busied herself with laying out pillows. "Who said anything about spooning?" Asami had to remain illusive, or at least pretend that she'd didn't want this. Even though it was exactly what she wanted.
"Me, Korra the foreman. I quit being the Avatar."
Friends totally did this stuff. Don't overthink it Asami. Korra's just being friendly, and she's probably still a little bit scared.
"Fine...can't lose my best foreman, can I?" Asami huffed as she tossed a pillow at Korra. She easily caught it.
"Especially one who could knock this building down quicker than you can say spoon."
Asami was almost tempted to test Korra's speed, but their fort was really coming together now, so not worth the risk. She couldn't help but wonder what Suyin or her guards would say when they found the room like this.
It was hard to really care, given just how much Korra was smiling across the room. Especially given how disturbed she'd been just ten minutes ago. A few strange looks was totally worth it.
"How long do you think we'll be stuck in here?" Asami asked as she finished draping down sheets from the roof, creating a wall like structure.
Korra flopped down on her back, sinking into the blankets and pillows with a satisfied sigh. She beckoned from Asami to join her with a quick wave of her hand. "I don't really mind."
End Notes
Hope you enjoyed that book 3 fluff from a prompt I got on Tumblr. Make sure to check it out and have a look at my other stories if you want way more Korrasami trash. Also huzzahhh for spooning! Bigspoon Korra is canon. It feels so good to write fluff again my god...
Please leave your thoughts and what not below, and thank you for reading! :D
Tumblr: asami-snazz