Korra is not used to the heat. The week has been annoyingly steamy and warm, and she's shed most of her fur layers in an effort to cool herself down. The humidity, however, refuses to relent.

To keep herself sane, she spends the sweltering afternoons with Bolin and Mako, practicing her bending, keeping herself in top condition even in the dismal weather. She's not used to the heat, and usually keeps herself cool by lazily bending water and letting it drop onto her skin in a lazy splash.

This week, though, her friends are busy, and she's not too keen on going to the Air Temple during the day – hot weather and freedom make Tenzin's kids go crazy.

Mako has been busy with Asami and approaching important figures in the community to get the Fire Ferrets a head start in fundraising and sponsorships, while Bolin has been out doing…whatever he does during the week.

On this particular day, Korra lies on the floor next to Pabu, whose tiny chest is rising and falling with dangerous heaviness. She gives him a quick scratch on the head, sorry that he has to deal with the weather in a fur coat. Suddenly, his ears prick up, and he springs from his reclining position into a run, scampering down the wooden spiral steps towards the gym.

Korra runs after the ferret, worried that something might have spooked him, only to smack into Bolin as he enters the attic. Their foreheads knock together painfully, and they both lose their balance, flopping backward from the velocity of their impact.

"Ow! Korra! Are you okay?" Bolin asks, rubbing the already bruising knot on his forehead with a childish whine. She reaches over, shoves his shoulder, and then throws her weight forward to jump to her feet.

"Shut up. Too hot for talking." she mutters, and crosses the room to open the two large windows in the attic, one of which leads to the tower on top of the arena. She steps onto the balcony, enjoying the high breeze that whips around her, tossing her hair about and pulling on the edge of her thin cotton shirt.

Korra feels Bolin appear at her side, and throws him a side-ways glance. Disregaring her previous threat, she asks, "Where were you this week?"

Bolin raises an eyebrow, smiling at her with that familiar, whimsical smile. "Is this an interrogation?" he asks, clearly joking with her. "Because I'd rather be grilled by Chief Beifong."

Korra laughs a little bit, and leans her elbows against the rail surrounding the balcony. "Hilarious, Bo." she snickers.

"But seriously. You've, you know…haven't been as Bolin-y…"

Bolin quirks his again, glancing down at his waterbending friend with a light, questioning grin.

"You've been…happy, right? I mean, with everything going on. I never asked you if you were doing okay after that whole Amon thing."

After a few seconds of silence, she begins to feel uneasy. When she glances up at Bolin, he suddenly takes her by the shoulders with both hands, tugs her closer, and…

This is strange, she thinks, followed shortly by, Yeah, whatever, you're enjoying it.

He pulls away from the kiss a few seconds later, but it's long enough to leave her breathless. It's a weird feeling, for someone as strong and willful as herself to be emotionally overpowered.

Bolin's hands remain on her arms for support when she takes a careful step towards him, then drop to his sides uselessly after a moment.

"Sorry. Must be suffering from heat stroke or something."

Bolin grins at her; it's a cheeky, testing smirk that makes her heart rate bounce around. It's a challenge, and she can't resist. Maybe it's because it's Bolin, and this is so unexpectedly welcome, or maybe it's that infectious smile that she's never quite been able to get out of her mind.

Instead of berating him, or running away in confusion, the Avatar reaches around her friend's neck, dragging his face down for another kiss.

Eventually they pull away, but only because their close proximity and the weather adds to the sweltering temperature in the room.

"Oops, my bad. Heat stroke must be contagious."