August 5th – Broh Week – Doubt/Truth

Title: A Little Scrutiny

Fandom: Legend of Korra

Chronology: After Endgame

Pairing: Broh, of course!

Rating: K+

Summary: Iroh and Bolin decide to share their relationship with their friends and later, the world.

Word Count: 1121


Iroh held Bolin's hand tightly; it was all he could ever hope to do to try to subdue his boyfriend's nervousness. He could feel Bolin's hand shake in his; his teeth were even chattering! The huge oak door loomed above them imposingly like an unfortunate fate, or Amon himself. He didn't want to force Bolin into something he didn't want to do. He braced himself.

"You do realize you can turn back now," Iroh started.

"How?" Bolin asked. "We've already told them that we needed to talk to them; it's too late–"

"It's not too late until we walk through that door; we can always come up with an excuse–" Bolin sighed loudly. It seemed at first like a sigh of relief, and for that moment, Iroh felt it too. Just as the slight disappointment set in, he saw Bolin prepare himself to speak.

"No–we said now and we're going to do it now–" he started firmly.

"Not if you're not ready–" Iroh interjected.

"But I am!" Bolin exclaimed. "I'm so ready to not have to hide anymore. I'm just…scared," the strength of his tone gradually deteriorated.

"Are you sure?"

"Yup."

"Absolutely sure?"

"Yup."

"Well then," Iroh said, "I guess all I have to do is get you not to be scared." Bolin looked a little confused. Iroh let go of his hand and placed both of his own on Bolin's shoulders, looking into his eyes the same way that Bolin had looked into his when they first met, "No matter what happens in there, I'll be there for you. Do you understand?" Bolin's cheeks got a little red.

"Yes," he said. He got on the tips of his toes and placed his mouth on Iroh's lightly before descending again. "Just so you know, the same applies to you," he said, reaching up and squeezing Iroh's hand before opening the door.

Just as they should have been, their friends were inside, talking quietly amongst themselves. All of their eyes shifted up at the advent of Bolin and Iroh. Bolin came in first and Iroh sat to the right of him.

"Hi, guys," Korra began, as it was in her nature to lead, "What's up?" she looked around.

"Nothing much," Bolin said, "And you?"

"No, I mean, what's up with this?" Korra asked, tapping her knee absentmindedly. Next to her sat Mako and next to him Asami, Pabu curled up in her lap.

"What?" Iroh asked.

"Well, all this…formality." Asami interjected. They had been asked to meet at the apartment Iroh was staying in, and to all come alone. It would attract the least attention from the public that way.

"Well," Bolin said, "What we should really begin with is the fact that we didn't go into this meaning to hide it from anybody."
"Well, we did; didn't we?" Iroh commented.

"Yes, yes we did," Bolin corrected himself, blushing a little. "What I really meant was that we didn't mean to hurt anybody's feelings by hiding it." He paused. Iroh resumed where he left off.

"Any and all hiding we did was for our own convenience, only if temporarily." Bolin smiled at him, thankful he extrapolated on his thought, saying something he never would have managed to. They were pulled back down from the clouds by Mako's voice.

"So, what's this big revelation?" he asked. And, when taken out of context, Iroh thought that it could be taken that the whole gang already knew, But Mako's tone, as well as the previous events of the morning, made him believe differently. He was about to tell them when Bolin's chimed in, reaching to his right and grabbing Iroh's hand.

"We've been dating," he said, and not even nervously. He had a flush in his cheeks, but his voice was confident.

"For about a month and a week, now." Iroh added a moment later. Just a nanosecond before the whole room was engulfed in incomprehension. At first, they just started at them blankly.

"Is this some obscure, Fire Nation holiday?" Korra asked, looking to Mako.

"Don't look at me; I was born here." He murmured. She looked to Iroh and Bolin next, who shook their heads. They kept their hands tight together, hoping for the best but prepared for the worst.

Korra just started at them, dumbfounded. Asami looked as if she was ready to faint. Surprisingly, Korra was the one who actually did. Asami was tending to her when Mako broke out of the shocked, stupor-resembling haze he was in.

"What? What did you just say?" The gloves came off. The firebending came out.

It took a good twenty minutes to subdue Mako and reawaken Korra, but it all proved worth it. Iroh had stood up to face Mako originally, but Bolin had stepped in front of him, earthbending at the ready. Seeing how prepared Bolin was to defend his significant other, Mako snuffed his fire. The fire of his anger was not included in that transaction, though. He yelled loudly and he yelled quickly, incoherently at first, but gaining clarity slowly. And, it seemed, with clarity he gained peace of mind, and later, tranquility. The time left was used to get Korra into a conscious state.

"So you're not kidding?" she asked for about the fifth time. Iroh and Bolin replied in the negative, yet again. Iroh didn't know what she expected, really. The answer wasn't going to change if she asked multiple times. All in all, that was the most aggravating part of the whole process. The new Team Avatar was perfectly ready and willing to accept them and Asami even congratulated them. Mako would be a long-term project, but Iroh was planning on a long-term relationship with Bolin, so they had time. And lots of it. They weren't going to waste a second more hiding.

"Now, if you'll excuse us," Bolin said, tugging Iroh nearer to the door. "We do have a lunch date." He smiled.

"And an appointment." Iroh added.

"We're about to do to the world what we just did to you guys," Bolin explained, "Not vocally, of course.

Iroh opened the door, tossing his keys behind him and onto the coffee table. "Could the last one of you out of here lock up, please?" he asked, not waiting for a reply. They were already out the door, Pabu in tow.

"Later that day, they made it to the late edition of the Republic Informant. The front page of the late edition, at that. Photographs and all. But Iroh didn't mind much; neither did Bolin. At that moment, it just felt that being able to walk in the streets holding hands with the person you cared about, was worth a little scrutiny from the public.