CHAPTER WARNINGS: Nudity, and that's it; no real smut this chapter C:
NOTE: Sorry about the wait! As some of you will have noticed, I had a tentacle-ish thing to write. Also, I've been contributing to the Elsanna Collaboration Corner fanfiction as of late; they can be found at elsanna dot tag dot team. (I've only contributed to a few fics so far; also, sorry for having to type it out that way, replace the dots with actual dots). Anyway, enjoy this mostly story-driven, smut-free chapter for what it is!
~ CHAPTER SIX ~
After the familiar tingling warmth of the Spirit Portal faded, they stepped back out into busy Republic City. It was broad daylight, and there were many people in the area surrounding the Portal, treating the field of Spirit vines as though it were a grassy field. Families picnicked and children played ball all around.
"Wow," Korra said softly. "I guess people got used to the new scenery pretty fast."
"You know the big city," Asami chuckled softly. "Things change often enough that change itself becomes commonplace."
Then, as they begin to move off toward the street where they could either catch a taxi or begin walking to Asami's home, they begin to hear whispers from the crowd. It seemed a few people recognised them. One small boy pointed openly, but his mother shushed him and lowered his hand — though she was also staring.
It took Korra a moment to realize why people were staring at them as they made their way out of the clearing and into the street. They were still holding hands. She heard soft whispers, here and there catching words like "disappeared… perverse… freaks..."
"Don't listen," Korra said softly. She held up her hand at the edge of the road to hail a taxi, putting her other arm protectively around Asami. "They don't know what they're talking about."
"I'm fine," Asami tried to reassure her. It did bother her that those people said such things, but it meant nothing compared to keeping hold of her love.
When the cabbie pulled up, he took one look at the two of them together, curled his lip and drove off. That bothered her more. Korra had half a mind to flip his car for snubbing them, but Asami's gentle hand on her shoulder stayed her wrath. Disgruntled herself, she raised her hand again, and a few seconds later another taxi arrived.
"Sakes alive," the grey-haired man chuckled amiably. "Don't see many 'alternative couples' in this city, do ya? Where ya headed?"
"Sato Mansion," Korra said flatly as they climbed into the back of the cab. The second driver seemed nicer, though Korra wasn't sure how she felt about being called an 'alternative couple.'
"Ooh, Sato Mansion, huh? Alrighty…" replied the driver. As the car began moving down the street, he eyed them curiously in his rear-view mirror. "You two look awfully familiar. It's like I…" Then his eyes lit up with recognition. "Avatar Korra? And Asami Sato of Future Industries?"
"That's right," Asami replied guardedly. Yes, he was friendlier, but the first taxi still had left her slightly on edge.
"Well, what do ya know about that! Thought you two had decided to stay in the Spirit World for good after all that time had passed!"
Korra frowned. "What do you mean, all that time?"
The taxi driver looked at them as though they were crazy for a moment. "You get amnesia in there? It's been a couple months!"
"I..." Asami fell silent as she processed that. A couple of months? It had only been a few days for them! "I don't know if I believe that. Korra, what do you think happened while we were in there?"
"I…I don't know," Korra replied softly. "Guess time doesn't work the same way in the Spirit World."
"Seems like something the Avatar oughtta know, doesn't it?" chuckled the cab driver.
"Hey, mind your own business," Korra snapped defensively. "What do you know about the Avatar, anyway?"
"Plenty," he replied easily. To his credit, the shortness of the comment hadn't phased him in the slightest. "Used to follow you in the news pretty regularly. Of course, since you stopped Kuvira and went through the portal, I took up Pai Sho. Had to do something else to pass the time, right?"
"Oh," Korra said softly. So the driver was sort of a… fan of hers, in a sense. She immediately regretted being so short with him. "What has the news been saying since we've been gone?"
As he guided the Satomobile around a tight corner, a sort of noncommittal grunt issued from his throat. "Who cares? It's all a bunch of speculation anyway, since nobody had the balls to go in after ya and check. Some say you're dead, but most just assume you're off doing more Avatar stuff. I mean, you disappeared once before and came back, so I think most of us'll give you the benefit of a doubt before we assume the worst!"
"And my company?" Asami asked warily. "Has... Varrick been taking good care of it while I was away? I didn't think he'd be in charge for this long, to be blunt."
The driver chuckled. "Varrick's been ignoring any current infrastructure projects in favor of… more ambitious things. Something about flying suits, I think I heard?"
Korra's eyes widened. That didn't sound good at all. "Maybe it's time to tell Varrick we're back from vacation," she muttered.
"I think you're right," Asami replied. "And probably sooner rather than later." Then she sat up a little straighter and asked, "So... what else have we missed?"
The driver shrugged. "I dunno, lots of stuff. Triads have been running wild, they seem to have a better handle on the new landscape than the police do. Been some unrest in the poorer parts of town, too. Folks aren't too happy about sharing living quarters with Spirits, ya know?"
"I can imagine," Korra sighed under her breath. Just a while ago she could have been surprised to hear that, but now she understood far better than she wanted to.
It seemed important to Asami that she ask something to distract both of them from thinking too much about those spirits. "Have Mako and Beifong been containing the Triads?"
"Eh... not so much containing them as keeping them from taking over the city completely. But things are getting better, they got some fresh blood on the force. Hell of a slow process, though."
That didn't sound good at all. By the time they pulled up in front of the Sato Mansion, Korra was feeling even more uneasy than before. She helped Asami out of the cab, chewing nervously on her bottom lip as they turned towards the mansion.
"Maybe we shouldn't have left..." she wondered aloud.
"Don't worry. It's not so bad it can't be fixed." Then she turned and handed the man a few bills. "I trust the currency is still the same, at least?"
"Keep it. My privilege to drive the Avatar around!" When she opened her mouth to protest, he merely shook his head and tipped his hat. "Just get this city back in shape — that's all the payment I need!" And with that, he was driving off to find his next fare.
"At least somebody around here still likes us," said Avatar murmured. Looking up at Asami's huge and intimidating mansion, she suddenly wondered if two people in the public eye should be acting with more discretion.
"So…I know Varrick was in charge of the company while we were gone," Korra said, trying in vain to sound more lighthearted. "But please tell me he wasn't in charge of your house too."
"No," Asami chuckled quietly as they hefted their bags and began walking toward the doors. "I left that up to Zhu Li specifically. And I also asked Pema to check on in the both of them from time to time, just make sure Varrick doesn't turn the entire house into a giant robot or something bizarre."
"He so would," Korra murmured as they went through the door. But thankfully the house appeared to have been kept exactly as they left it. The place was as huge, fancy, and frightening as Korra remembered. It wasn't as though she truly felt unsafe there… but its opulence was the exact opposite of everything she'd known growing up. It made her feel a bit out of place, to say the least.
A split-second later, Asami's butler came scurrying around and corner and stopped in front of them with a low bow. "Welcome back, Miss Sato," he said as though he had been desperate for her return. "Welcome back!"
"Uhh, yes, thank you," she replied with a half-chuckle. "It's good to be back. Will you help us with the bags as you fill us in on what we've missed around here?"
The butler took their backpacks and gestured for them to follow him up the stairs. "There is not much to speak of. Miss Zhu-Li has kept the house in fine order. Mr. Varrick, on the other hand, has failed miserably at re-planning the city's infrastructure to accommodate the new… um, spirit vine park, as it were. I daresay he hasn't given the matter a single thought."
"Of course he hasn't." As they reached the third floor landing, she finally asked, "And the former followers of Kuvira's regime? Have he and the President reached any final verdict as to what shall be done with them?"
"It was decided that the higher-ups within her regime will be serving prison sentences, in accordance with their various crimes," replied the butler. "Most of the grunt soldiers have been given a sort of probationary freedom, since they were probably just following orders."
"Sounds about right," Korra replied with a nod. "She had a huge army. That'd be way too many people to throw in jail."
"We wouldn't have the space to house them all, anyway." Finally they arrived at her room, but the servant kept walking. "Where are you going?"
"To show the Avatar to her chambers," the man replied evenly, somewhat surprised.
"We'll be sharing my chambers, thank you. And that will be all." The man raised an eyebrow, which was the most surprise he displayed on a normal day, but when she Korra raised an eyebrow right back at him and Asami cleared her throat, he simply shrugged and took all of the bags into the room.
As they entered, it dawned on the Avatar that she'd never been inside her friend's room before. It was, as she'd expected, more ostentatious than anything Korra had ever known. The bed was probably big enough to fit three people, there was an attached bathroom outfitted like a small spa, and a very small party could have probably been held in the closet.
"Wow," Korra said softly, looking around the room as the butler put their things down and left. "What do you do with all this space?"
"Nothing recently," Asami admitted as she picked up her bag and set it on a small bench next to the closet door. "But when I was little, I... oh, nevermind. It's silly."
"What? No, tell me!" Korra said eagerly, grinning as she wondered what sort of games Asami must have played as a child.
The bashful smile already spoke volumes even before Asami continued. "When I was a little girl, my mother and father would have the servants bring in two stacks of chairs they normally kept on hand for events with guests. Then the three of us would drape bedsheets over them and arrange them into forts." Turning with her hands in the small of her back, she beamed at Korra. "It was one of the best memories I have of them! Deciding where the entrance would be, choosing which 'rooms' were what, crawling through and getting lost under a blanket until my father would simply stand up and pull it off... and then they would kiss my cheeks and poke my tummy, and call me their special princess."
Korra's grin widened. "Hey, what do you know? I used to do the same thing with my parents when I was a kid! Except we didn't really have servants or the same kind of furniture, so I just Bent rocks and snow into whatever kind of fort we wanted." She laughed. "See? I don't think it's silly at all…"
They both laughed together until Asami seated herself on the edge of her bed, hands tucked under her thighs. After a moment, her smile turned bittersweet.
"And now they're both gone."
That easily, Korra's smile vanished. She wished she could offer something that related, but she still had both of her parents. Sitting down next to Asami, Korra said, "You know… Katara always said the people you love are never really gone. The cycle of life continues and renews, and the love they had for you will always be present in your life."
"No, you're right. I know." Leaning over, she kissed Korra on the cheek warmly and looped one arm around the small of her back. "And I have someone new to share my love with now. I just... miss them sometimes, I guess. Sorry to get all melancholy."
"Of course you miss them," Korra replied understandingly. "No need to apologise." She put her arm around Asami and kissed her forehead. "It's okay to miss them, you know."
As they sat there together, her other hand sliding up to rest on Korra's shoulder, Asami found that none of those feelings of anxiety from what the Spirit had done to them were present. She remembered what they were like, and still regretted its involvement, but no longer cared quite so deeply as she had immediately thereafter. Korra was proving herself to still be Korra, her sweet, loving Avatar who actually cared about her parents being gone despite one of them being a former anti-Bending bigot. She was indeed a rare breed.
On the other hand... there was something she had been ignoring from the back of her mind in the time since then. A mortifying truth she had discovered while on her hands and knees.
Asami Sato liked it rough. Yes, she definitely wanted to be with someone who would stop when she asked; that was non-negotiable. However, other than that single stipulation, she had enjoyed that session more than she wanted to admit. A lot more. Perhaps not over the other two sessions, which were equally erotic in other ways, but there was something about being completely subjugated that was delightfully wicked. It probably had something to do with how controlling she had to be in other areas of her life, by necessity; it was bizarrely satisfying to be simply told what she was going to do and what was going to be done to her. Within reason.
As they sat there in silence, Korra couldn't help but notice Asami's breath changing, her face growing slightly red as she shifted uncomfortably where she sat. Then her finger began tracing tiny circles on Korra's neck with her fingernail, making the Avatar's heart quicken and her breath grow short. Even after everything they'd been through, even with as bad as she still felt, Asami's touch was always enough to get her worked up.
"Sorry," Asami said suddenly, pulling back with a nervous laugh as though she'd done something wrong.
"Don't be," Korra replied, capturing her hand in her own and smiling. "It's okay. You thinking about something… in particular?" She winked for good measure.
"No! Well... yes." Clearing her throat first, Asami gripped Korra's hand back just as much. Reassuring herself of their contact, of their relationship. "Today, when you came back with the fruit. So maybe the things you were saying bothered me, but what you were doing... I didn't hate it altogether." She knew it was a very slight lie to put things that way, but she wanted to test how Korra felt on the subject.
Korra paused. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting to hear, but that wasn't it. "So…you mean you liked some of it?" she asked cautiously. In truth, she'd enjoyed every minute of it, though she'd regretted some of the things she'd said. That the Spirit had forced her to say. She would never forget what it felt like to be inside her lover just as a man would, biting at her neck and pulling her hair as she plowed into her from behind. "Can you, um… be a little more clear about that?"
Not that Asami was sure she could be more clear, but she supposed it wouldn't hurt to try. "Okay. It felt really interesting to be… handled… roughly. I didn't like being scared that you might not stop if you hurt me, but everything except for that was… was..." She gulped and looked away ashamed. "I don't want you to think any less of me for liking it. People aren't supposed to like being mistreated, which is how I would label that if someone were describing it to me. Still, despite that… I liked that you were in control, and that I was your entire focus. I don't know, am I crazy?"
"Crazy?" Korra replied with a smile, perhaps a little too casually. "Naw, never!" She caught herself, remembering how new Asami was to all of this, and cleared her throat. "Um… I mean, lots of people like it a little rough. It's pretty common. I mean…" She shrugged and gave her lover a bashful smile. "Even I like being handled a little roughly sometimes. It's exciting!"
Holding her girlfriend a little closer, she went on quietly, "I could never think less of you for that, Asami. And… I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy being in control. I'd like to do it again sometime, when I don't have some perverted Spirit making me ruin everything."
"Yeah, that would help," Asami chuckled dryly. The thought of the Spirit still sent a chill through her stomach, but it was separate from how she felt for Korra now, from all the relief her soothing words brought her. Maybe with enough time, she wouldn't feel the chill at all anymore. "You like it that way sometimes, too? I don't know if I could do that to you, I'm not a very… 'rough' person by nature."
"I know you aren't," Korra replied. "And that's okay. But if you ever want to give it a try, you know I'd let you have your way with me anytime." She kissed Asami's cheek and rested her head on her shoulder. Then she chuckled a moment later, "Heh. You know what else is fun? Sex right after sparring. Or in the middle of sparring. Sometimes it just kind of happens on its own."
"Hm?" The reason Asami had been silent was due to the sudden flood of images that flashed through her head. Korra on her hands and knees, being taken roughly from behind. Had Mako done that for her? Jealousy briefly flared up in her, but she wasn't normally a jealous person by nature so it did not stay very long. However, those images of her Korra, the mighty Avatar, being subservient to anyone by her own choice... they lingered.
"Oh," she chuckled softly when she recalled what Korra was saying. "That sounds… interesting, too. And sweaty. Both of those things."
"Yeah," Korra laughed softly. "Very sweaty." She was already imagining taking Asami on in the gym; no Bending, just hand to hand. Her lover was a formidable fighter. She'd watched her when fighting alongside her; she used her superior speed and flexibility to get close to her opponents, catching them off-guard, using their own weight and momentum against them. Korra recalled one instance when she'd seen Asami flip a man twice her size. She recalled how suddenly turned on she had been at the time, how hard it had been to concentrate on fighting Equalists with her body and mind so confused about that…
"We really should spar sometime though," Korra continued pleasantly. "I bet you could beat me. I mean, I'm a much better Bender than I am a hand-to-hand fighter."
"No way," Asami scoffed. "Me, beat you? I really don't think so." Still, the idea of sparring with Korra sounded nice, regardless of whether or not she could win… or if anything happened afterward. "But let's find out. Would you like to schedule a sparring session? Perhaps tomorrow after breakfast?"
"Schedule?" Korra repeated somewhat incredulously. But then she realized: of course the President and CEO of Future Industries had a schedule that she kept. She was probably insanely busy. Korra would just have to get used to not having Asami all to herself, all the time. "Yeah. That sounds like a great idea."
And the CEO did notice the very slight disappointment when Korra realised that she really would have to plan her days from now on. So she tried her best to offset it by poking her shoulder as she stood up. "And if you're lucky, maybe we'll have some kind of prize for the victor. I'll think of something."
"A prize, huh?" chuckled Korra. "Yeah, I bet you'll think of something…" She kissed Asami's cheek and wrapped both arms around her waist. "Mmmmm… so I get to share Miss Sato's chambers tonight, huh? Does that mean I get to share Miss Sato's bed, too?"
"Sweaty animals like you sleep at the foot of the bed, right?" But before Korra could react, she laughed and embraced her back. "Of course we're sharing a bed. We're... girlfriends." Her voice grew only the slightest bit hushed for that single word before she continued. "If we could survive cramming into that single bedroll, I think we'll be alright on a king sized bed."
Korra laughed at Asami's jest, but she did notice the slight hesitation in the way she'd said 'girlfriends.' The Avatar knew she was worried about the same thing she was… that perhaps they'd been a little too reckless walking back into Republic City with their arms around one another. But they could worry about that tomorrow. Right now, Korra was exhausted, and she wanted nothing more than to sleep comfortably in her lover's arms.
"I think we will most definitely be alright in this bed," Korra agreed, moving up to the pillows and wriggling under the covers. "I've never even seen a bed this big! These sheets are…wow…the silk is so soft it feels like water!"
Asami was blinking at Korra's sudden movement. When she finally stopped to look up at her, she shrugged and said, "It's fine! I guess we're just... sleeping in our clothes. Without showering. Great."
Korra blinked stupidly before jumping out of the bed. Of course Asami would care about that. "I… I'm sorry! Yeah, you know what, a shower sounds great!" She smiled guiltily and turned towards the spa-like room adjacent to Asami's bedroom. "I take it the shower is one of those things in there?"
"A good guess," Asami snorted in amusement. She had actually been okay with Korra going to sleep like that if she so chose; it merely surprised her. Bunking down in the wild without showering or changing clothes was one thing, but they were back in civilization again now! "Do you want to go first so you can get right to bed?"
"That's nice of you to offer," Korra said absently as she stepped into the huge bathroom. Her eyes scanned the place before settling on a big, deep tub embedded in the floor. "OOH! Or we could get clean together in your big indoor hot-spring thing!"
"Oh! Yeah, I... guess we can. For some reason I didn't even think of that, I went straight to how we would do things if we were still just friends! Sorry." Then she cleared her throat and followed Korra into the room. "You scrub my back and I'll scrub yours?"
"Of course," Korra replied with a grin. She stripped off her clothes without hesitation, leaving them in a pile on the floor and hopping right into the deep tub. The side of the thing was covered in dials and buttons. "So…how do you make it turn on?"
It took quite a bit of effort for Asami not to laugh openly at Korra for not knowing, but she pulled it off. Everyone had to learn sometime. Instead, she merely paced over and took up Korra's hand with hers, setting it gently on one of the dials.
"This is the main flow," she murmured directly into Korra's ear. "It'll come out cold right now if you turn it on, so I figure you don't want that. This up here... is to increase the heat. The gauge next to it shows how hot it is. You'll want to turn it up to about... there."
"Ummm…okay," Korra replied a bit dumbly as Asami's hand guided hers towards the correct dials. Cold water didn't bother her, but the point of this was to be an indoor hot-spring, was it not? She watched her lover's slender hand guide the heat dial to the proper setting, and then waited about two seconds before asking, "So now we turn the water on?"
"Yes," Asami said, again suppressing a bemused smile. And together, they did. Instantly, lukewarm jets of water began to pour into the tub from two different faucets, but as they continued the water began to grow hotter. Eventually, steam began to rise from the tub as it swirled around Korra's heels.
"Okay," Asami said as she backed up to begin taking off her own shoes and dress. Korra grinned like an idiot and laughed as warm water, growing gradually hotter, poured into the tub around her. Then Asami began to undress, and the Avatar watched with wide eyes, silly grin growing ever wider.
"Do you see the knob with the pink jewel set in it? Turn it to the right for three seconds — three seconds and no more — and then turn it back off, okay?"
"Huh? The — what? Pink jewel?" Turning around in the tub, Korra noticed another, smaller panel with five colored, jeweled knobs. "Okay…" she said, turning the pink one and counting to three in her head before switching it the other way. "What's that supposed to do?"
Smirking at Korra's voyeuristic tendencies, Asami merely said, "You'll see."
And she did see, when a thick fluid poured into the water. Within ten seconds, bubbles began to form on the surface — large, pink-tinted bubbles that smelled of roses. It didn't take long before they were swirling up around Korra's calves, despite the water still only coming up to her ankles.
"A bubblebath!" she exclaimed, eyes sparkling as though she'd just seen an ostrich-unicorn. "I didn't think they were for real; I thought Varrick was making them up!" As the tub filled and the water came up to her chest, Korra ducked under and came back up with her hair and face covered in bubbles. "WhoooOOO!"
The sight made Asami laugh so hard that she couldn't finish taking off her underwear for a few seconds, both arms wrapped around her stomach as the gales rang off the ornate tile walls. Korra could always make her laugh.
Feeding on Asami's laughter and approval, Korra shaped the bubbles on her head and face to form a long beard and hair. "You get to do this all the time!?" she squealed. "This is so cool!"
Still cackling, she replied, "Good, then you can do it whenever you want! I'm happy you approve!" Then she slipped out of the rest of her clothing and quickly moved to the edge of the tub, slowly lowering one foot into the rapidly-rising water. "Ooh — that's pretty warm already!"
Korra gave a low hum of approval as Asami removed her remaining clothes and stepped into the tub. "It feels so good!" she squealed. "Get in! Oooh, tell me what these other jeweled dials do!"
"Haha, okay, okay." As Asami settled herself on the benchseat of the tub, she gestured to them one by one. "That one is full of lavender oil, and that one is juniper. This one over here is soap, and as you can see it's a pump, so only a little comes out each time you push. That one… I wouldn't touch if I were you. Varrick told me it's an experimental shampoo of his."
"Oh… yeah, no, nothing experimental, please," Korra replied with a laugh, wiping the bubbles away from her face. Curiously she pressed the soap button, and a little glob of purple gel came out onto her fingers. She'd never seen soap like that before, either! "Cool," she said, moving over to sit beside Asami on the bench seat. "So… you wanted me to wash your back?"
"Yeah, turn off the water while I wet it first." Not wasting any time, she scooted forward until her entire body began to sink down into the water. Korra watched Asami move even as she switched off the water. Her long, black hair fell down around her shoulders and floated on its tips upon the water. Spirits, she was so beautiful…
Then she splashed up from the water, flinging droplets up into the air. Indeed, she was a vision — and one only for Korra. Then she turned to look at her and said, "Okay, are you ready to scrub?"
"Yeah, I am!" Korra said enthusiastically, moving Asami's hair and placing her hands on her back with no hesitation. She lathered the purple soap all over her pale skin before gently massaging her back and shoulders through the suds, working her fingers gently into each sore and tense muscle.
A low and sensuous moan issued from Asami as she leaned back into the kneading hands. This was fabulous; she had the one woman who mattered to her in two worlds massaging her back, teasing her skin. What else could she need?
"Mmm… you make the best noises." Korra mused happily as she worked her fingers against a particularly knotted muscle. "I could do this all night if you keep it up."
A small smirk played across Asami's lips as she heard Korra's offer of play under the light-hearted comment. "Careful, or you really will be helping me make those noises all night."
"As nice as that sounds, I don't know if I have enough energy to perform tonight," Korra laughed. "You'd be shocked how much it takes out of you being possessed." When she had finished working out all the knots in Asami's back, she gave her a quick peck on the cheek and turned around. "My turn! I love having someone else wash my back."
As she spun and readjusted herself in the tub, Asami smiled softly. "And I love touching this back of yours." Her fingers began kneading the taut muscles, playing over the skin. It was several seconds before it dawned on her: "Oh! I, um, should probably be using soap, shouldn't I?"
Korra laughed again. She hadn't even noticed the missing soap, as much as she enjoyed Asami's touch. "Yeah, soap might help."
A few moments later, Asami had made up for her misstep and was scrubbing Korra's back, creating a thick layer of lather. The wide expanse of delicious flesh and sinew spoke to her womanhood but she didn't bother to fuel the flames; all that could wait until tomorrow.
"So," she sighed. "What will you be doing tomorrow afternoon while I'm in meetings, and trying to get my company back from Varrick?"
"I'm not sure," she admitted as she relaxed back into Asami's soft hands. She'd been so busy fighting evil and trying to find herself that she hadn't even considered what she'd be doing next. "I guess I'll see if Beifong needs any help getting the Triads under control. Maybe walk around and try to get a vibe for how the city's working around the Spirit Portal."
"I think that sounds like an excellent plan." Then Asami's hands slid around to Korra's chest, gently caressing without teasing overly. "Lin will be lucky to work with you again."
"Heh… you think?" Korra said with a laugh. "She might not see it that way. I don't know though, she's been a little less cold and uncaring the last few times we've spoken. Maybe she's finally lightening up a little."
"Maybe she just needs you to rattle her cage in your patented Avatar way some more." Then she washed lower, using her knee to gently prod at Korra's rear end to imply that she wanted her to stand so she could reach.
"What do you mean by rat—Whoa!" Korra jumped a little when she felt Asami's knee poking at her backside. She stood up obligingly, grinning over her shoulder. "Something you're trying to reach?"
"Yes," Asami laughed. "Only to wash you, I promise. Unless you've changed your mind?" However, she was already scrubbing her lower abdomen and waist, thorough as a chambermaid.
"I didn't say that," she teased, leaning back again so Asami could reach her better. After another moment of silence she said, "Hey… I know you're gonna be busy tomorrow, but can we have dinner together too?"
"Of course. I had planned on that from the beginning." The hands moved around to gently cup the rear end, smoothing over it in gentle circles. "Unless something comes up, I'd… like to have dinner with you every night from now on. If that's alright."
"Ha! If it's alright!" Korra exclaimed. "Are you kidding? I'd love that, of course!" Feeling as though she was clean enough, and knowing she wouldn't be able to control herself if Asami kept squeezing her ass like that, Korra turned around and took her lover into her arms. "I love you so much. I… I really can't say that enough."
"You don't have to say it all the time," Asami giggled back, kissing the end of her nose. "But I'm not getting tired of hearing it. Probably won't for a while."
Korra rested her head against Asami's and gave a soft hum of contentment as she kissed her nose. They stayed that way for what seemed like a long while, happy and relaxed in one another's arms. Then, out of the blue, Korra yawned. She pulled back a little and whispered, "I'm sorry! I-I'm just really tired!"
"It's alright, love! So am I."
In a few more minutes, they had finished bathing and towelled off without any further distractions. Asami reached for the wardrobe to withdraw a nightgown, but then she paused.
"Korra... would I be right in assuming you'd rather sleep in the nude?"
"Ohhh yeah," Korra replied absently, nodding in agreement. "I mean — heh — I always did back home in the South Pole, nude under a pile of blankets, but I haven't been able to in a while. You've seen Air Temple Island; the doors don't even really shut, they're just those sliding screens…"
Nodding, Asami allowed the wardrobe door to drift closed under its own momentum. "One moment, then."
A thrill shot through her stomach as she tiptoed to the door. With the way she was raised, she never even exited the bathroom without at least having a dressing gown covering herself. Now, however, she was actually easing the door open, her nude body on display — or it would be, on the off chance someone was literally standing on the other side at that very second.
Korra grinned as she watched Asami move slowly towards the door in the nude. It almost seemed as though she hesitated; but Korra figured she was just taking her time and putting on a show, and she certainly wasn't going to complain. She could watch Asami walk around naked all day and night.
As she moved into the bedroom, Korra stood by the bed in a mock-dutiful pose, turning down the covers and bowing slightly. "Your bed, Miss Sato," she teased with a foolish grin.
Giggling, Asami turned back from the door as she firmly closed it behind her. "Thank you, Miss Avatar." Then she seated herself on the edge of the bed primly, fluttering her eyelashes up at Korra. "And now that I've turned the 'do not disturb' sign, none of the servants will disturb us with anything other than a courteous knock."
"You have a 'do not disturb' sign?" Korra laughed incredulously, pausing with a bit of uncertainty. That might have been a joke, and it might not. Asami's house was just fancy enough that she might be telling the truth.
Korra wasted no time hopping into bed and wiggling under the covers. "Will you sleep under the covers with me this time?" she teased.
"Of course I do. And, of course I will." Reaching up, she flicked off the light switch. "I've had that sign since Jiang, one of our former servants, wouldn't stop busting in on me changing when I was an adolescent. He would always say, 'but how am I supposed to know when you're changing?!' He did end up being let go for other reasons, but that prompted me to make the sign myself."
"Humph," Korra grunted, imagining the pervy guy already in her mind's eye. "Bastard had better hope I never bump into him," she half-joked with a wink.
The sheets were so cool and soft that Asami felt like she could instantly lose consciousness, but she wanted to snuggle with Korra for a few minutes first. Scooting over an inch or two, she reached forward and left her hand lying on her neck, a very slight smile visible on her lips in the moonlight. As Asami cuddled closer, Korra reached out to do the same, placing a hand on her neck and smiling at her in the dim moonlight. A moment passed in silence. Then Korra closed the distance between them and gave her lover a long, gentle kiss.
It was always magic, every time. Why could she never seem to get enough of Korra? Humming very quietly, she moved her lips around on other lips, tilting her head to give both of them easier access. Pet the neck in front of her as she would the most precious thing in the world. Because it was.
"I've... never done this before," Asami confided in her. "Slept entirely in the nude."
Korra laughed. "Well, now you'll know why it's the best. I hate wearing clothes to bed." She kissed Asami again, more slowly this time, before pulling her into a gentle embrace and cradling her head against her breast. "This is the only way to sleep…"
"I'm beginning to agree with you," Asami yawned as she nestled in. Yet another thing she had been missing out on that Korra was going to make sure she didn't anymore.
~ To Be Continued ~