and now, may i present to you a korra pov...

The Mechanics of the Engineer

"Crap."

I slide my hand under the plastic container hanging on the side of the stall, my fingers desperately grazing the inside of the case for any sign of a savior.

NOTHING.

"Damn… Well ain't that just peachy?" I sigh, and then I hear someone else jostle their own toilet paper container and curse a few stalls over. I raise an eyebrow, and deciding to be friendly I strike up a totally mundane conversation. "You out of toilet paper too?"

The girl/woman in the other stall heaves a sigh, and I can't tell you how much I understand what she's going through. "Yeah… It's the worst."

"Tell me about it," I say, and my eyes fall to the right side of the stall, where I glimpse a very thin roll of toilet paper sitting on the floor of the stall directly beside me. Heck, I can't believe I didn't notice that before.

"Actually…" I pick up the roll, and since it looks like it has about a foot on it I tear myself off about half. "I think I found some - want me to send you some over?"

My new buddy sighs again, this time in relief, and I crack a wide grin. "Oh yes please! God, I hate it when you have to drip dry…"

I chuck the roll across the bottom of the bathroom floor.

"Nice throw! God, you're a lifesaver."

"Haha, sure, no problem. Glad I could help," I reply smugly, standing up and putting to good use my half of what was left on the scarce roll. Oh, thank god… I was starting to worry that I was going to have to use one of those crinkly, hard toilet seat covers - hate that almost as much as I hate drip dry. It's very uncomfortable.

I waltz out of the stall after I flush, and then I head over to the sinks where I smile at myself in the mirror. Hehe, yeah, totally saved a life there.

I turn back to the stall still occupied after I'm done washing my hands before I begin heading out. "You gonna be okay?" I ask, slightly worried about the current state of the other person. I haven't really heard any noises of discomfort or relief or anything sooo~

"Oh yeah, I'll be fine! Just finishing up, haha."

"Oh, okay - sorry if I wasn't able to send you over a lot."

"No worries! I'm just glad I won't have to sit here for an hour until I feel dry, haha. Thanks for your help."

"Sure thing. See you around," I say and head out, and it's only after the bathroom door closes that I cringe at my previous words. Geez, I didn't even see the other person, so how can I possibly see them around if I don't even know what they looked like? God Korra, you can be really dumb sometimes, you know.

I shrug and walk on down corridor, back to the main hallway that goes down the center of the StoneTech building (and also supposedly to the heart of the entire building too, which would be the vehicular testing arena if I remember right what Zhu Li said). Zhu Li was literally waiting for me right here, at the entrance to the main hallway, but she isn't here anymore.

A bright flash of light catches my eye, and I see some StoneTech employees testing some kind of (heck, I don't even know, but I'm gonna make a guess here) laser gun thing behind the glass along one of the corridor walls. As a matter of fact, the corridor walls have large clear plexiglass windows dropped randomly along the way as you walk, and this one so happens to be in front of me. Although I really do not remember it being there before.

Could that mean I'm… lost?

I shake my head and keep on walking. Nah. Zhu Li's probably the one who's lost. I definitely probably didn't notice those cheering StoneTech scientists earlier on my way to the bathroom because I had to go so bad. Yeah, that would make sense.

I should probably just follow this yellow brick road down to the vehicular testing arena, which I'm sure I'll stumble upon if I keep on walking down this long, blinding white hallway emblazoned with the StoneTech symbol in sporadic areas (like the windows showing workers high-fiving and fist-pumping).

I walk along a bit more, for an unknown amount of time. All I know is that I've passed a lot of windows, and the jumping StoneTech employees looking significantly more successful than myself have turned my mood a bit sour.

A clear case upcoming on the side of the hallway catches my attention, and I stop in front of it, looking at it seriously. I blink a few times.

'Press in case of emergency'.

I bite my bottom lip. There's a red button underneath the plastic case, which I'm positive I would flip in the state of emergency and give the inviting crimson object a slap. Just one slap wouldn't hurt…

I reach forward.

Wait Korra, this isn't an emergency, is it?

Well, no… But I really want to push that button. It's literally calling my name.

My fingers dance over the plastic case.

Bzzz. Bzzz.

I jump as my rear-end gets a massage. Sliding my hand into my back pocket I grab my phone and look at the screen.

Asami: hey, are you sure you aren't lost? zhu li's literally going bananas looking for you, haha

I frown and start typing back my reply.

Me: that's weird… cause i'm like looking high and low for her - could have sworn she was here a minute ago. was about to call a code adam, haha

Asami: yeah, well maybe we should come find you now… you know, since you're lost and all

Me: i'm not lost. :|

Asami: korra. we all know you're lost

Me: …

A few seconds later.

Me: okay… i'm lost…

Asami: great. :) we're on our way. ;D

I'm sure Asami and the others have been tracking my whereabouts by video camera or something because they easily find me within the span of five minutes, while I don't even know how long I've been floating around the hall after I got out of the bathroom.

"There you are." Asami walks toward me with a large smile on her face, and I'm starting to wonder why she looks so cheerful all of a sudden. Maybe it had something to do with the talk she and Varrick had?

Asami wraps an arm around my shoulders and tugs me close, but I frown.

"Hey, what's wrong kid?" Varrick playfully pats my cheek. Thankfully his hands are clean, cause I'm pretty sure they were covered in grease the first time I saw him.

Asami giggles, and I let her reply for me because I don't really feel like talking right now. It's a phase I'll get over soon, but I honestly thought I could do better… "Oh, I'm pretty sure she's just disappointed that she got lost and we had to come and find her."

Varrick waves his hand over the back of his shoulder, Zhu Li by his side, and we continue walking down the corridor. Heck, I'm sure I would've been able to find the vehicular testing arena place if I just kept on walking - but nooo, I had to get 'lost'.

"Whatever." I cross my arms and Varrick laughs, nudging Zhu Li in the side.

"Haha, she's a feisty one, isn't she Zhu Li?" He looks to Asami before laughing again. "You sure know how to pick 'em, kid!"

When I look at Asami I can easily tell she's blushing, and her absolutely gorgeous face adorned by that rarely seen bloom of red across the top of her cheeks is enough to settle my slightly frustrated mentality. I mean, how can I not just stare and admire that priceless expression on Asami's face?

"T-The testing arena is right around this corner, isn't it?" Asami points to our right, her voice quaking some due to her embarrassment, I would think. Heh.

Varrick nods and we make a right at the upcoming turn. "Yep, it's right through this entrance -"

There doesn't appear to be any door or anything, except for a large, inviting kind of entryway that immediately leads into a ginormous dome-spaced area. And do I mean ginormous - it's literally HUGE. There's a large ring of paved road around the inner area of the arena, and it's almost like someone shoved a Nascar road track into the middle of the StoneTech building (if there was someone who was big enough to plop this thing in here). A few StoneTech cars are scattered along the course, and the buzzing hum of their engines echo in my ears as they rush past at speeds that probably wouldn't be allowed on the freeway without the driver getting a ticket.

"Your car's over here in one of the arena garages - I thought it'd be better to put her here rather than in the testing garage at the front," Varrick explains to Asami as I gape in wonder at what's in front of me. "Things tend to get a bit messier over there than they do over here, so it just made sense. Don't want Korra to get more banged up any more than she already is!" he laughs, and I turn to him. I swear my mouth is literally still open, but currently it's more from what Varrick said.

Varrick sees me gaping at him with my aghast expression and he grabs my shoulder, shaking me back and forth amusedly. "Hahaha, I don't mean you, kid - I'm talking about Asami's car, remember?"

Oh yeah. Asami named her car after me. God, that's a relief to hear - I was seriously scared for a moment that I was gonna get banged or something. Geez Asami, couldn't you have named your car something else? Like Bessie or Agnes or something.

Asami's warm hand moves down along my thigh to find my own, and her fingers' lazy touch sends a wave of nausea washing over me as I feel a nervous gnawing begin to claw at the inside of my stomach. Literally, her touch can control me more than I'd like it to.

"Not that you're going to get banged up or anything -" Asami smirks, her breath hot against my ear as she drags me along in the direction of the garage Varrick says her car is in. "Yet," she adds seductively, and that last word seizes my heart with an unrelenting grip. "Just kidding," she smiles, and I blush.

I'm probably just out of it from Asami's flirting, but the next thing I know we're standing in the garage with Asami's car (I mean, I don't even remember walking here), and she slowly releases my hand to walk over to her black convertible. The front's busted in some, and she runs a hand over the crumpled hood endearingly with her eyebrows furrowed together. Aside from the messed up hood/front of the car the headlights are broken, but other than that there's not really anything else too bad about the state of Asami's convertible. The current state would explain the concussion she got, though, since only the front looks bad (or 'banged up', using Varrick's terminology).

Asami steps back and crosses her arms, a serious look dropping over her face as her glowing green eyes dart back and forth over the front of her convertible.

"It's not that bad, honestly," Varrick steps in beside her, motioning to the car.

"I know," Asami's eyes are still focused on her car, and she hums to herself in thought. "I'm just thinking about how I should start fixing her up."

A loud beeping sound fills the air and I jump. "Wh-What's that?" My voice is kind of shaky, but it's only because that's the kind of noise I would suspect for some kind of accident to have taken place and the whole entire building has to evacuate immediately. People will be running amuck, and heck, I don't even know the safety drill procedure for StoneTech employees - if there's a fire or something, which way do I exit? Am I even gonna live?

"Sir, it looks like there's been an accident in Sector 23-B…" Zhu Li states, tapping away on her tablet. "Apparently the employees testing the prototype for the automatic laser firearm got a little carried away…"

"Flying hog-monkeys!" Varrick exclaims, rushing back towards the entrance of the garage. "That doesn't sound good." He pops his head around the edge of the garage and points a finger at Asami. "I'll leave you for now, kid - gotta run. Let me know if you need anything!"

And then they're gone.

I turn toward Asami, but she's still focused on the her convertible, a hand placed thoughtfully under her chin. She looks kind of absorbed in whatever she's thinking about, so I slowly walk over to her car's side and do a little jump as I grab onto the door, propelling myself over the top and making a graceful landing as my butt meets the leather seat. I sigh happily and sink myself further into the cloud-like leather cushion.

"I'm probably going to have to come in everyday and work on her," Asami says after a moment, and I don't know whether she's talking to herself or to me.

I finally settle for her talking to me. "Why don't you just have Varrick fix her?" God, why am I talking like her car is a person now? And to think I'm talking about a vehicle named after myself. Although I'd rather just call it 'her' rather than by the name Asami gave it. That'd be plain weird. 'Oh hey Asami, when are you going to fix Korra? You banged her up pretty good last night - she's gonna need some care and attention if you want to see her up and running again' or some completely wrong-sounding convo like that. No thank you.

"Well, I thought it'd be nice if I could fix her myself." Asami walks over to the driver side of the car and opens the door slowly, and it creaks as the hinges rub against one another. I don't remember her car doing that before; it must be because of the accident. She slides into the driver seat before closing the door. "I was the one who got myself into this mess in the first place." She places a hand on the steering wheel, wrapping her fingers around the leather. "It'd only be fair."

I guess Asami's reasoning makes sense. She loves engineering too, so I'm sure fixing her car would be like a side-project she could work on when she's free after school and stuff. "Okay. If you say so."

I lie down across the back seats and close my eyes, feeling the cool leather press up against the bare skin on my neck.

"You know…" Asami's voice floats over to me, and I crack one eye open before shutting it again. "I'm going to start working with Varrick."

"Really?" The word escapes my lips in a light whisper. "Sounds nice."

I hear Asami cackle some from the driver's seat. "You sound awfully chill about this."

"That's because I am," I reply, a sleepy smile on my face. I don't really feel like I got much sleep for some reason… I'll probably take a nap or something when we get back home.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you're fine with it," Asami says to me, and then I hear the slightly awkward sound of leather brushing against another surface, my guess Asami twisting in her seat. "I need someone like you to support me."

I tuck my arms under my head and grin. "Of course I'll support you, Asami."

"You'll stick with me until the very end?"

"Definitely."

"Even if I stumble along the way?"

"Yes."

There's silence. A shallow exhale of breath echoes through the garage. Then I hear the sound of twisting leather once more, and then after that I become curious as to what Asami is doing.

I suddenly feel like something's hovering over me, and being the extremely self-conscious individual I am I crack open one eye again.

And then there's Asami, leaning over the back of the driver's seat reaching toward me with her hand, a soft, warm sensation meeting the nape of my neck before traveling up to my ear.

She gently fingers my jaw line, and the feeling of her fingers grazing my skin in the tenderest manner causes my face to begin heating up. "I love you, you know." Asami's voice is small, but I know she's being completely honest. It's also a bit strange to hear her say it out loud… She's never said that to me before, I don't think - not explicitly. Of course I can tell she loves me by her actions and all the things she does, plus a lot of PDA (although sometimes that can get a little embarrassing).

I reach up to grasp Asami's hand, running my thumb over the the back of her warm, smooth hand. Maybe I should tell her what I was just thinking about. "I don't think I've heard you ever say that to me before," I grin.

"Really?" Asami sounds taken slightly taken aback. Her green eyes move to the garage's ceiling, decorated with cables and strange pieces of equipment, before falling back down to my face. "Maybe you're right. I don't know if I've actually said it either, now that I think about it."

"Yeah… Why haven't you said it before?" The question's actually got me kinda curious now.

Asami's hand drops from my face, and she looks away once again, taking a shallow breath that I hear quite easily within the empty garage. "I - It's been hard for me, I guess. I've been in previous relationships before, and things didn't work out. It wasn't hard for me to understand that I didn't love them, but because of all those wrongs it's made me more resistant and slow to really opening up to people I find myself falling for…" Asami's sincere eyes bore into my own. "You're the first person I've actually loved. That's why it's taken me so long to say it out loud to you, face to face."

I remain quiet. I guess it would make sense - with what Opal's told me about Asami being in previous relationships and everything; who wouldn't want to date Asami Sato, daughter of multimillionaire Future Industries owner Hiroshi Sato? Whether it be for the right or wrong reason, I'm sure Asami's seen pretty much everything in the people she's dated before me.

I shake my head some. "But… But why me? I mean, why date me, Asami?" I ask. It's something I've been wondering about for the longest time. Something I probably should have asked her in the car the night after the incident at the lake, when she drove me home from practice since Opal stole my stuff.

Asami smiles, resting her chin on the back of her hands. "Why not?"

A sarcastic laugh echoes through the garage as I crack another grin, this one due to the simplicity of her answer. "Well, there's a lot of reasons why you don't have to be dating me… I mean, you're like, way out of my league for one thing. And then you're like, super pretty, and crazy hot…" My face burns as I say the last comment, and Asami blushes some. "And then you're also famous and are gonna inherit some world-renowned technology company, you're super amazing, and like the nicest person I've ever met - and literally perfect."

Asami waves a hand at me. "Oh stop it…" She laughs playfully. "You don't see that though, Korra."

"What do you mean?" I frown. "Of course I see it. I just said I see it."

"You're just giving me excuses as to why you don't think you should date me."

"Yeah." I shrug. "Basically."

"Listen, Korra…" Asami says softly, her tone gentle. "You're different. And maybe you don't really realize it right it now, and maybe it might not be that clear as of this exact moment. But I know for sure, because I do see it." She pauses. "You don't see me as some prissy daddy's girl with piles of money. You see me as Asami."

Asami reaches out again to caress my cheek. "And I see you as Korra. I don't like to think about externalities."

"Well, that's good to hear," I chuckle, feeling almost as if Asami's touch alone could easily raise my temperature by a hundred degrees (although that's kind of scary to think about, haha). "Because I'm definitely not someone I'd think would be worth pursuing very much… I have no experience with successful dating whatsoever. And I've never been with a girl either."

Asami's laugh is short and lively, and I'm confused as to why she thinks what I just said was funny.

"What? What's so funny?" I ask her.

"Korra, we're literally in the same boat," she says, and I feel like slapping myself. Geez, she just did say that, didn't she? Maybe not the dating another girl part, but the not really loving until now thing.

I blush, the realization of my stupidity washing over me like it's done so many times before. "Oh, haha, right…"

"You're so cute." Asami squeezes my burning cheek between her fingers and I groan in annoyance (although I do seem to enjoy her touch too… Does that make me a masochist?).

I swat at her with my hand. "D-Don't you have work to do?" I quickly say, hoping that maybe she'll release me from the abyssal thoughts of her I always seem to fall into. Most of the time it happens just by looking into her bright green eyes - it's just so easy to get distracted by them.

"Maybe I could start on the car in a little bit…" Asami grins wickedly at me as she begins clambering over the front seat, and my heart immediately starts racing at a thousand miles an hour. "I'd like to work on something else right now."

"Oh no you don't -" I start backing myself into the farthest corner of the convertible as I can, but there's no escape in here.

Okay y'alls - it's time for abandon ship.

"I'm going to get out of here so that y-"

There's a tight grip around my waist, and one of my legs is over the side of the car door while the other is bent over the seat. Ohhhh this is bad. Very bad.

"Korra, you can't leave me here by myself." Asami's fingers slide into the loops of my jeans, and I even manage to feel one of her hands graze my stomach, sending a chill spreading across my skin like a mini wildfire.

"I-I'm not I'm going to go get Varrick and Zhu Li," I stammer, but I already know I won't get that far. The farthest I'll probably get with these slim fighting chances are outside the convertible, sadly.

"They can wait a bit."

I gulp and turn back to see Asami still smirking at me, and have no choice but to slide back into the car.

Dear lord, please send Varrick and Zhu Li to rescue me soon before it's too late.

It was probably a few nights later after the first visit to StoneTech that day when I first heard it happen.

It was strange at first; a soft, sobbing sound coming from right beside me, and then, sometimes a few muffled words.

I remember turning in my bed a couple of times, squinting in the dark and wondering if Naga had to go pee again.

When I realized that the figure beside me was shaking my eyes flew open, only to see darkness. I knew it was Asami, but I didn't know why she was shaking - was she cold? Maybe it could be a bad dream.

"Asami?" I remember whispering her name and placing my hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle shake of my own, but she never said anything back. "Asami - are you okay? Are you having a bad dream?"

Again there was no answer. Everything was pitch black, and I had no idea if she was awake or not - just that she wasn't answering me.

I decided to wrap my arms around her, hoping that maybe she could feel me comforting her as she slept. Her warm body (I figured it was a bad dream she was having because she wasn't cold - she was pretty warm. Or maybe it was me burning up, being nervous about holding her.) quaked within my hold a couple of times, and when I was finally close to falling back asleep I heard it.

It was a couple of words, but I could clearly understand what she was saying. Although I wish I didn't have to hear her say something that made my heart break into so many pieces.

"Mom… I miss you…"

"Hi." Asami looks at me with both bright eyes and a bright smile, and she slides her hand into my disheveled hair, ruffling it.

"Hey," I grin back.

I don't know whether to tell Asami about me hearing her talk in her sleep. I'm not sure if she knows about it and just hasn't brought it up. It's been a few days, and what's been happening with her has occurred pretty much every night.

Asami pulls my head in closer and places a sleepy kiss on my lips, and I close my eyes as my lips meet hers. I try not to think about the previous thought anymore as I feel her free hand rest on my hip, but no matter how hard I try it's still there, a nagging worry that I wish would just disappear.

Maybe she just doesn't want to talk about it. Maybe she knows and doesn't want me to worry.

Or then again, maybe she doesn't know.

Asami lets go of my lips to take a breath, and her half-lidded eyes have suddenly got me very, very brain-dead. Even more so than my precious mother likes to think I am.

Like, literally. I'm not even there anymore.

Come on Korra, don't let yourself go -

"What do you want to do today?" she asks me, playfully twirling some of my hair on her finger.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we both have class soon," I say, feeling a blush begin creeping up onto my cheeks as her hand slides against my stomach for a quick second, and of which I'm glad doesn't last any longer than a second (because if it did I probably would have lost all my consciousness). "Maybe we should… I don't know… Get ready?" I try in a pleading voice.

Asami releases the tight curl of hair she's managed to wrap around her index before placing her finger on my nose. "Great idea." She winks, throwing back the blankets and sashaying over to the closet. "Oh hey there! Good morning, Naga." She bends down near the foot of the bed to pet my dog, and gives me a nice view of the expensive lingerie she mentioned she owned the day she moved in with me (although I thought she was joking about it - turns out she really wasn't). She stands back up again and the long t-shirt she's wearing falls down to cover her behind once again before continuing on her way, Naga beside her.

I immediately blush harder although I'm sure Asami has no idea (or maybe she does?) and cover my face with the blankets, trying to clear my head.

Ughhhhhh Asami, why do you do this to me…

"You've got to get out of bed too, sleepyhead."

"I will!" I call out, sitting up with the blankets still over me. Ever heard of a blanket burrito? Forget that. I probably look like a blanket wonton.

I hear Asami open the bedroom door and walk into the hall, and when I'm sure she's gone I exhale in relief.

It could be too soon for me to think everything's okay for now - I'm not sure if Asami's expensive lingerie or her nightly sleep monologues will leave my mind for a while.

*sighs* i was incredibly busy with work this past weekend, and so was only able to get this chapter out now - my apologies. hopefully the wait was worth it, and that you enjoyed this little chap! (btw, the scene in the bathroom was based on a real-life experience, haha)

i'm planning on having a little fun with the next chapter, so i hope you look forward to that too. ;D thanks for reading, and i'll see you next time.