Title: The Trophy Wife
Rating: M
Words: 3191
Fandom: The Legend of Korra
Characters/Pairings: Everyone; Amorra, Masami
Author's Note: Oh gosh, here we go. Chapter seven already? Yes, yes it is. Anyway, in this chapter we have:
A rare moment of honesty leads to a little surprise. And sometimes all you need is a hug.
Fair warning, I might be trampling on some feels with this chapter. Also, there's some really lovely fanart from this chapter done by General-Pooky that can be found on my Tumblr, which can be found under the tag "fic: The Trophy Wife" as well as the new tag "The Trophy Wife fanart." (Yeah, I've gotten enough fanart for my fic that I actually need a separate tag for it. I haven't gotten it all in there yet, but I'm working on it.)
An hour before dinner would be served Amon left his office and entered his bedroom. Korra had been quiet, but he had simply accepted that she had found tolerable reading material and had settled down in silence. He hadn't expected to find her sprawled comfortably in his bed fast asleep, a book cracked open across her chest.
It was quite endearing really, and he supposed that she simply got comfortable with a full belly and had been unable to fight it. He carefully picked the book up and found a slip of paper to mark the page where she had fallen asleep and set it on the bed side table. He wasn't surprised by her selection; he supposed that she usually read those trashy dime novels all the time. A little culture would do her good.
Perching on the edge of the bed, he reached up and brushed a few stray locks of hair from her face. She looked so serene, it was hard to reconcile with the image of her he was so familiar with, the hot-blooded spitfire who would knock a person out first and ask questions later. He caressed her face, trailing his fingers along her jaw, down her neck, across her shoulder and then down her arm until his hand was resting on hers. "Korra?" he said softly. He shuddered to think what she might singe if he startled her. "Korra, wake up."
"Mmmm," she moaned softly as her eyes fluttered opened. She gasped in shock and then sat bolt upright, looking around in mild panic. She blinked a few times and then rubbed the heel of her hands in her eyes, and then looked around once more, her breath slowing and evening out. She looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I forgot where I was."
He understood that feeling all too well. After he had left home, he often had awoken in strange places surrounded by people he didn't know. Panic at the sight of the unfamiliar had been common at first, but after a while he just got used to it. "It's fine," he said making sure to keep his tone neutral. "Did you at least enjoy some of the book?"
She smiled, and Spirits help him, his heart skipped a beat. Tui, La, and Yue above she was beautiful. It wasn't something he'd ever really noticed before, given that they had been trying to well, not kill but maim each other in nearly every other encounter prior. "I haven't had time to read for pleasure in a long time. It was always required reading for my Avatar duties," she answered. "Master Katara always spoke fondly of this book, so I thought that I would take the chance to read it."
"Is that so?" he murmured softly.
"Jinora also had a list of books that she thinks that I'll like, but between my airbending training and the pro-bending and my Avatar duties I never had time to read any of them. It was always history books, philosophy books and the newspaper. Never anything I wanted to read," Korra sighed. "I know I shouldn't complain, but sometimes I just wanted to read because I could, not because someone was telling me to."
It was an odd revelation. He knew Korra to be athletic and he figured she wouldn't have the patience to sit and read, let alone enjoy it. "I didn't figure you to be the academic type."
"I'm really not," she shrugged, "but the White Lotus thought I should have a well-rounded education. I spent as much time learning history, philosophy, basic mathematics, communication, and civics as I did learning the bending arts."
"I can honestly say that I'm surprised by that," Amon mused. "I would have thought that they would have spent all of their time refining your bending arts."
"Honestly, I was never a great student. I just liked to read because I got to learn about places that weren't the compound," Korra admitted. "I've always been active – my mom always said I had way too much energy. The only time I'd hold still was when I got to hear about places that weren't the South Pole. I've always wanted to travel, to see the world. It's part of the reason why I came to Republic City in the first place." She sighed and looked away from him. "I really believed those stories that said that Republic City was this great place where everyone lived peacefully and nobody suffered." She let out a dark chuckle, startling Amon. "Boy was I wrong."
He was silent for several minutes before he spoke. "I was fifteen when I arrived in this city with nothing more than a few changes of clothes and the hope that I could make a name for myself. I only knew Republic City from stories, much like you. I suppose it wasn't bad at first, I found a job at a fish market for a while before I started working busing tables in a Water Tribe restaurant." Intrigued by Amon's sudden talkativeness, Korra looked up to see him standing near one of the windows and looking out over the city. "The pay wasn't great, but it was a job. I hoped that maybe I would be able to work my way up, that I would find my calling and be something. I didn't know that it would be my first run in with the triads."
He looked at her, fixing her with his unsettling gaze. "I watched them use their bending to kill my employer because he couldn't pay the protection fee."
"That's…awful," she murmured.
"It was a rather rude awakening for a sixteen year old boy," he agreed. "It was the same no matter where I went. The benders always had the upper hand, and finally one day I decided enough was enough. I met with others who had been hurt and harassed by benders and the Revolution was born."
She wanted to ask how he was able to take people's bending, but refrained. It was better to let sleeping polar bear-dogs lie, at least for the time being. Instead she stood up and walked over to him, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. She felt him tense at the contact but he must have forced himself to relax as the muscles eased beneath her fingers.
"I want to help," she said softly. "I ran into the triads on my first day here. I didn't handle it as gracefully as I could have, but I don't like bullies either. It's why I'm here. I know that you're right on a very basic level. Benders have been abusing their power, but I don't think it's fair to blame all benders. It's like saying all non-benders are Equalists out to get us. I thought Tarrlok was wrong, too, and I quit his task force because of it."
"That surprised me, I'll admit."
"Well, I'm the Avatar, I don't get to pick a side. The Equalists, at the time, were presenting a very valid threat to this city and I did what I had to do to protect the citizens. When Tarrlok went too far, I quit and only went after those who were out to cause harm, benders or not." She worked up her courage as she removed her hand from his shoulder before wrapping both arms around his middle. She rested her cheek between his shoulder blades, holding him in a loose embrace.
His body went rigid (in more than one place – it had been far too long since he'd been touched by a woman) in her arms. "What are you doing, Korra?" he asked softly.
"You just looked like you needed a hug."
He let out a short hum of annoyance, but didn't say anything. He was afraid his voice might crack with the emotions that were washing over him. Sure, he was constantly surrounded by his supporters, but it was a lonely existence at the top. Someone that he could actually be close to, that had been one of the major deciding factors in his acceptance of her proposal. He was alone, and he didn't want to be. At the very least, even if she kept her distance from him, they would share meals and down time and a bed. Especially a bed. Even if all they did was sleep next to each other.
She finally released him and stepped away, a hint of color in her cheeks from her bold actions. His emotions were in turmoil. It had been a long time since he'd been touched by a woman; it had been even longer since that touch had been meant to comfort. The last time a woman had held him in a comforting embrace he'd been fourteen and headed out to what had been his very last hunting trip. His mother hand given her boys hugs before they left; what she hadn't known was that was the last time she'd ever hold her firstborn.
He turned slowly to face her. "You thought I needed a hug," he intoned flatly. It took every ounce of his self-control not to wrap her up in his arms and cling to her like a child.
She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Your body language…it just sort of said, 'hug me.'"
It was official; the Avatar was by far the strangest person he had ever met. Not even forty-eight hours ago she was running in fear from him, and now she was giving him hugs? He hadn't looked that pathetic, had he? "Is that so."
"I'm not totally unsympathetic, you know," she replied with probably more venom than was necessary, but he was really starting to push her buttons. "I don't what it was, but something about you just screamed 'give me a hug!' like you hadn't had one in a while. If that's the way you're gonna be, then forget it. I won't ever touch you again."
He sighed. "That wasn't what I meant, Avatar."
One thin brow arched in response.
"It just took me by surprise, that's all," he ground out. At least that much was the truth. He could honestly say that he had never expected her to willingly embrace him, not when he had known her to be so terrified of him previously.
"I meant what I said, Amon. I want us to be able to work together. Maybe you feel that the council hasn't been effective and that's why you've resorted to such violent actions, but…" she lowered her eyes to the floor, "I feel that we shouldn't give up on that. Violence only leads to more violence."
"I see that your airbending lessons seem to be sticking," he noted dryly.
"You think I don't understand the need to take action?" Korra huffed. "I get it, I do. I hate being patient. I hate waiting. I'm all about taking action, but at the cost of hurting others? In the end, is it really worth it?"
"That's an interesting point you make, but I have to wonder at the hypocrisy of it all," he mused. "You caused quite a bit of damage the first day you were in town."
"It…it was a slight miscalculation on my part. I'm getting better about it," she argued back.
"I would never be so careless with the city's safety as you," he replied coolly, earning a cold glare from her in response.
She crossed her arms against her chest and Amon forced his gaze from her now pronounced bosom and focused on the angry look on her face. "I've been working on my control, but pardon me for not have a few decades of experience under my belt," she snarled back.
Touché.
She had natural talent, to be sure, but she wasn't a true prodigy, not like he had been. Her movements were strong, but lacked refinement. Power over finesse seemed to be the fighting method she preferred, even in pro-bending where finesse would have helped her far more than her usual displays of force. Perhaps that would be something he'd work on with her. Her bending would be useful in taking on the triads to be sure, but she'd need to be more refined with it so she didn't do any unnecessary damage.
However, the dig at his age kind of stung. At forty he didn't really consider himself old – but he was more than twice her age and as he had pointed out a few days ago, old enough to be her father. Hell, he was probably older than her father. He let out an irritated huff. "You'd do well to remember, Avatar, that I have granted you certain liberties that I will not hesitate to take away should you give me a reason to."
She swallowed nervously, but her cocky posture didn't falter. In fact she puffed her chest out more. It was a matter of trying to appear bigger and more intimidating, something men were known to do. He supposed Korra had spent most of her life around the opposite gender and as a result had developed masculine mannerisms, like posturing. He supposed that as the Avatar she would have to appear confident even when she wasn't feeling it, but a change in posture might be required. Let it be known that Korra was decently stacked for a seventeen-year-old girl and a tiny voice whispered in his mind that it had been far too long since he'd spent any intimate time with a woman. As if his reaction to the hug hadn't been proof enough.
He let out a strangled groan. "Avatar, standing like that is very unbecoming of a lady."
"I'm not a lady," she retorted.
"You are a woman and standing like that certainly reinforces the fact," he growled.
Korra glanced down and noticed that her breasts had formed a shelf of sorts. Her cheeks turned pink. "That's sick," she snarled at him as she dropped her arms to her sides. "Dirty old man."
He snorted, the sound muffled by his mask. "I am a living, breathing male, Avatar. I am not immune to a nubile woman standing before in a pose that emphasizes certain…assets."
She glared at him.
He coughed.
An awkward silence fell over the room.
"Shall I give you a proper tour of the suite, then? You'll be moving in here at the end of the week," he said, deciding that showing her around the room would be safer than continuing to point out that his self-control was hanging by a thread and she wasn't helping matters at all.
Rolling her eyes, she shrugged. "Whatever."
"You've already seen my office, and I'm sure you already nosed around my bedroom," he said, noting the way she flushed and looked guilty. No doubt she went through the wardrobe already. "So, I suppose that leaves the bathroom and water closet."
He took a few steps and opened a door and indicated that Korra should join him. She hesitantly moved over, poking her head through and noticed that the water closet was nice, but not over the top like the Sato's powder room. The only thing that stood out for her was the rather large medicine cabinet. She'd have to snoop through that later.
"The bath has a door that leads into the bedroom, but also one that connects to the water closet as well," he said, pointing towards a door. Korra moved through and opened it, her jaw dropping when she saw inside.
The room was large, easily twenty feet by twenty feet. There was an open shower and next to the shower was a wooden stool, a bucket, and a spigot mounted on the wall. But that wasn't what had grabbed her attention. There was a large pool on one side of the room, and she could feel the heat of the water in the air. She turned to look at Amon, who was standing behind her, watching her intently.
"What is that?" she asked, pointing at the pool.
"That is the bath," he answered casually.
She gawked. "That is not a bathtub, Amon, that is a swimming pool."
He smirked at her from beneath his mask. "I assure you, Avatar, that is the bathtub. We do have a swimming pool in our training facility, though. If you'd like to use it, I'm sure something could be arranged. After hours, of course."
She goggled at the bath. The tile work was beautiful, representing rolling waves and at one end was a crescent moon. The whole room screamed Water Tribe, which was interesting. Nothing, absolutely nothing, about Amon's person spoke of his Water Tribe heritage, but in looking at the way his personal rooms were decorated, there were hints of his heritage all over the place.
"I guess it's true what they say, then."
"And what's that, Avatar?"
"You can take the boy out of the Water Tribe but you can't take the Water Tribe out of the boy," she replied smugly. He rolled his eyes.
Crouching next to the pool of water, she dipped her hand it. The water was hot, but not so hot as to scald anyone who got in it. She was tempted to bend it, to feel her element in her hands again, but refrained. She was on thin enough ice with Amon as it was, though she wasn't sure why. No one had ever had a problem with her standing with her arms against her chest before. Why did he have to be such a pervert and notice, and then point it out to her as if she was doing something wrong?
"Is something wrong?" he suddenly asked.
Startled, she nearly fell into the water, but managed to regain her balance and stand. "No," she said, shaking her head. "I was just thinking that it'd be nice to take a long soak. I'll take one when I get back to my room after dinner."
"If you'd like to do it now, you're more than welcome to," he said, taking her off guard.
"Er, no, that's okay. It can wait," she answered, hoping that her blush wasn't noticeable.
His eyebrows rose at her response, wondering if she really thought he was some sort of voyeur that would insist on supervising her while she bathed. Not that it wasn't an appealing thought, but he did have paperwork he could do until she was done. He was a lot of things, a ruthless leader, a vision of terror to his enemies, but the idea of scaring his future of wife from any form of intimacy too much for him. He pondered how he could talk her into it when he heard the door to his rooms open.
"Your dinner, sir," someone called. Amon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, displeased and relieved at the same time.
"Thank you," he called back, wincing at how his voice echoed in the bathroom. He then turned to Korra. "Come, it's time to eat. I'll take you back to your room when we're done."
She managed a faint smile, walking towards the door with relief rolling off her in waves. Amon frowned. His plans would need a little adjusting.
