Model Behavior


Summary: Korra thought it was an ordinary day of art class at Republic School for the Gifted. But then, the art model Asami Sato walked into the room. She quickly found that befriending the model made her life much more entertaining. Asami is just happy that she's finally making real friends, but it may be more than she bargained for when she develops a crush on Korra. Korrasami. Modern/AU.


Chapter 48: Korrasami (Girls Night In)

"Asami, I hate to say this, but you're kind of dragging me down," Korra commented as she plopped down onto the couch with a soda and a bowl of popcorn. Asami was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, working a screw back into a DVD player. "That's the third time I've seen you take that apart and put it back together."

"Well, what else do you propose I do?" Asami asked with a sigh. She gave another twist to the screw before putting the screwdriver down onto the table. "I'm just waiting for some papers from work, and I don't have school assignments to worry about anymore."

"Don't think I haven't noticed you still completing your homework assignments," Korra said. Asami blushed. She had been expelled from RITA for a little over three weeks. As the countdown to what was supposed to be her graduation date, she became more and more restless. Instead of answering she picked up the DVD player and began to inspect it at every angle. "I don't know." Korra stuffed a handful of popcorn into her mouth. Asami watched with a raised eyebrow as her friend shifted to be more comfortable on the couch, causing a few kernals to spill onto the couch. "Maybe talk to my mom again?" Korra muttered in between chews. "You spoke to her for about an hour the last time she called," she added bitterly.

"Are you jealous that your mom likes me more than you?" Asami questioned.

Korra paused in her chewing, her cheeks puffed out with food. Her eyes slowly widened. "…I didn't think that was true," she whimpered.

Asami quickly jumped up onto the couch and patted her friend on the knee. "Korra, I was kidding," she insisted.

Korra took a swig of her soda and swallowed all the contents in her mouth. She then let out a loud burp before half-smiling. "Me too," she said with a laugh. Asami rolled her eyes before slumping back into the couch, failing at fighting a smile to appear on her lips. "What did you talk about anyway?"

"Don't worry about it," Asami said with a wave of her hand. She couldn't help but think back on her phone conversation.

"Hi, Senna!"

"Hi, Asami, how are you doing?" Senna greeted.

Asami hesitated for a moment before politely responding. She picked up her cellphone and pressed the power button, smiling at the background picture on her phone. It was a selfie of Korra smiling brightly at the camera. She didn't' remember when she took this photo but quickly concluded that some time ago Korra had changed it without her noticing. "I'm guessing Korra told you about what's been going on."

"She did," Senna confirmed. "Are you okay? Is there anything you need from me?" she asked.

"No, Senna, but thank you," Asami answered. "That was sweet of you to ask."

"I ask because you probably won't," Senna commented. "I can't help but worry about you. Not to put my own daughter down, but there's only so much friends can do until you need to move higher."

"Of course, Senna, I understand," she said. "I just don't want too many people involved. It's already difficult not to have Korra fight my battles for me. I really do appreciate it, but there are some situations I would rather handle myself."

"Sounds familiar," Senna chuckled. "She takes after her father. On one hand it shows how much he cares for me and wants to help, but on the other it feels like he doesn't listen."

"How do you deal with it?" Asami questioned.

"Sometimes its easier to just let them do it," Senna admitted. "They can be so stubborn that when I try to talk to them about their impulsive decisions we get into an argument. Tonraq was especially bad at this when we first dated, but now that he has a family, he's learned to tone it down. I believe they just want to prove their worth to those they really care about, to prove that they'll always be around."

"That makes sense."

"It's best to pick and choose which of the many situations you should insist upon doing yourself," Senna added. She then muttered to someone on her end of the line after a door opened and closed. "Oh, I have to go. Katara just dropped by."

"Actually," Asami quickly said, "if it's not too much to ask, may I speak with her?"

Senna gave her a goodbye greeting. Asami waited patiently as she heard the phone being passed around. She wiped her empty hand on her pant leg, trying to get rid of the clamminess that started to develop.

"Hello?" Katara greeted.

"Hi," Asami said shakily, "I'm sure you don't know me but I'm Asami Sato."

"I've only heard wonderful things about you from Korra," Katara answered. "How are you doing, dear?"

"I'm good, kind of." Asami took a deep breath, before licking her lips. "Um, if its not too much trouble, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"…How did you become comfortable being with Aang?" she asked. "I-I mean, while he was alive he must have been traveling all over the world, and not spending a lot of time at home. You never knew if he was in danger or anything like that. I'm sure you worried."

"All the time," Katara agreed, "but I also trusted my husband to do the right thing and make the best decisions he thought would benefit as many people as possible. But, that's not what you want to hear, is it?" she asked.

"…How'd you know?"

"Usually, when people ask about my late husband it's about some of the biggest battles we've faced," Katara said. Asami waited patiently as Katara cleared her throat. "It is difficult to be involved with an Avatar, even if you're friends. You end up worrying if one day they won't come back. They won't, be it due to passing naturally or using up all of their energy. You are given firsthand experience of how simple your life my be in comparison to the weight of the world they must carry. However, you and all your other friends can see Korra as just Korra, who also happens to be the Avatar," she explained. "It never gets any easier, but sometimes you don't want it to be, as long as they are still around. I didn't fall for Aang just because he was the first friend I made outside of my home, or that he was the Avatar. I liked that no matter what happened or what he faced, he never changed and he never wavered or apologized for what he believed in. He treated everyone with kindness and respect and was gentle with all kinds of creatures. He never used his powers to his advantage unless it was to get out of a scrape. Aang knew how to have fun and just lit up everything and everyone he touched. Most importantly, Aang was true to himself."

"Thank you, Katara," Asami said quietly.

"You're welcome, Asami."

"Well, I should let you go," Asami rushed. "I didn't mean to hold you up for so long." She paused. "And, Katara-"

"Don't worry," Katara interrupted. "I won't say anything."

"This must be some super secret phone conversation," Korra commented with a snort. She leaned over and snapped her fingers by Asami's ear, causing her to flinch at the sound. "You've been zoned out for the past few minutes." She held out the popcorn bowl to Asami who took a few pieces. "So, what can we do?"

Asami and Korra took turns suggesting various games or activities they could do, and quickly grew frustrated when the other person would quickly shoot down their ideas. "Okay, we could play chubby bunny," Korra said.

Asami tossed a piece of popcorn into the air and caught it in her mouth. "Last time I played that game was with Manami, Kiyoko, and Rika, and we used grapes. I almost choked on the juices."

"You aren't supposed to eat them," Korra pointed out.

"I needed to make more room to win," Asami said defensively. "It would have worked if the grapes didn't make a loud crunching sound when I chewed."

"Okay, we could play a board game."

Asami groaned. "The last time we played Candy Land you cheated."

"It's not cheating!" Korra shook her head. "You have to go past the last color space to win."

"No, you must land on the last color space to win," Asami countered. She quickly held a hand up. "Though we're not having this argument again or else we'll be here all night."

"We're already going to be here all night." Korra sighed. She removed the bowl of popcorn from her lap and began to eat the few kernels that were scattered on her shirt. "Oh! What if we find a car outside and you teach me how to hotwire it?"

"Why?" Asami slowly asked.

"…Science project?" Korrasaid with a shrug.

"You're not in school and you're not home-schooled. So no, I'm not committing grand theft sato," Asami commented. Korra looked over at Asami, her eyes slowly widening and her jaw dropping. Asami sighed, hanging her head. "It's because it's an automobile, which is another name for a car, and-"

"And it's a Satomobile!" Korra erupted into laughter. She reached over and jostled Asami by her shoulders. "That's a good one! I can't believe I didn't think of it." She then began to laugh harder. "See, you can be funny!"

Asami laughed along with her. Once the two were able to collect themselves, silence enveloped them as they continued to think of what they could do. The only sounds interrupting the silence was Naga's quiet snores from the coroner of the living room, and a clock ticking in the kitchen. "Maybe I can work on a new YouTube video. I haven't uploaded one in a while," she suggested. She then sat up straight and turned towards Korra. "Or…" she trailed off.

"Or…" Korra repeated.

"Or, we start our own channel together!"

"What?"

"Come on, it'll be fun." With that, Asami grabbed Korra by the arm and pulled her off the couch. She didn't release her grip until she pulled her over to the closed door near the front door. Asami quickly opened it and pushed Korra inside, flipping on the light.

"What's so fun about talking to a camera and putting it online for others to see?" Korra asked, blinking rapidly to get her eyes to adjust to the bright lighting in the room. Asami picked up a black stool and placed it next to a red one sitting at a table in front of a camera. A white back drop with a pink paisley design was hung up on the opposite wall. A computer set up was on a table off to the right of the camera set up. "I'm boring. I just like to play video games and compete in pro-bending matches."

"Then use that," Asami suggested. She moved Korra to sit on the black stool in front of the camera as Asami placed herself on the red one. "People make YouTube videos for all kinds of reasons. I do makeup, tinkering as you call it, and some modeling tips," she explained. "However, a lot of people post videos of themselves playing video games. You can do anything. Why don't we do the Friendship Tag?"

"Friendship Tag?"

"Yes, it's basically a video of where two friends ask each other questions to see how well they know the other person," Asami said. She picked up a small black remote from the table and pressed a button. The camera lens began to expand, and a red light appeared at the top. "It's more popular as the boyfriend or girlfriend tag, but, it's something to do."

"I don't know." Korra shrugged.

"This could actually help!" Asami continued. "It'll help show that you may be the Avatar but you're also a regular person."

Korra regarded Asami before sighing deeply. "Okay, I'll try it, for you," she said. Korra shifted in her seat to try and make herself more comfortable. A moment later, Asami positioned her so that she wasn't slouching over. "So what should we name our channel?" Asami shrugged before tapping her chin in thought. Korra cleared her throat. "How about…Korrasami?"

"I like it!" Asami said brightly. "So, I'm going to pull the questions up on my phone." She motioned over to Korra with a raised eyebrow, displaying her phone screen background. Korra smiled brightly in response. "Wow, there's about 100 of them," Asami commented as she pulled up the questions.

"We're not doing 100 questions!" Korra said.

"Okay, I'll pick the most interesting ones." She angled the small black remote at the camera, her finger hovering over the record button. "I'm about to start the video. Ready?"

"I guess."

Asami pressed the button and placed the remote down onto the table before glancing at the phone. "We can record our intro later. So, I'll start!" she announced. "What is my favorite color?"

Korra looked Asami up and down before raising an eyebrow. "What is that? A trick question? It's red."

"Nope," Asami said, making a loud popping sound on the 'p'.

"Okay, fine, black."

"No."

"No?" Korra repeated, sounding offended. "Those are the only two colors you wear."

"You were blue every day," Asami pointed out.

"Yeah, but I also like the color blue." Korra quickly stuck out a finger and pressed it against Asami's lips. "It's not because I'm from a water tribe. That's a coincidence."

"Well, you were right, it kind of was a trick question because I have two favorite colors: pink and purple," Asami announced. "And blue is a close third."

Korra grumbled to herself as Asami scanned the list for another question. She crossed her arms over jer cjest and began to bounce one leg up and down. Korra had never been too comfortable in front of cameras, and wasn't sure what she should be doing as she waited for her firned to find a question.

"Okay, what is one food I can't live without?" Asami questioned.

"Fire flakes," Korra announced excitedly. "I even remember that one time me and Bolin replaced them with raisin bran flakes covered in salt." She began to laugh at the memory as Asami groaned.

During one of their late-night study parties for exams, Asami had fallen asleep leaving Korra and Bolin to study by themselves. So, for entertainment they dumped out her bag of fire flakes into a bowls and filled it with raisin bran before covering it with heaps of salt. Once Asami had woken up for a snack before resuming studying, she had noticed Bolin and Korra sitting close to each other, sharing a book, burying their heads deep into the pages. As soon as Asami placed a handful of her favorite snack into her mouth they erupted into laughter as she spat out the food, coughing harshly from the salt. From then, the two were forbidden from attending the same study night.

"You have to admit that was funny," Korra giggled.

"Moving on," Asami said, scrolling through her phone. "What is, or was, my weakest subject in school?"

"Is there a class you're bad at?"

"Yes."

Korra made a noise with her mouth before throwing her hands in the air. "I'm guessing, history."

"No, art." Asami shook her head. "When I work on my designs they're done with rulers, measurements, and math. Otherwise, I'm horrible at art."

"Oh, thank the spirits, you are human," Korra said as she placed a hand on her chest. Asami pushed her on her arm before moving through the questions again. Korra leaned over her shoulder, quickly reading as the text flew by. "There's a good one! Are you ticklish? That's a yes!"

With that, Korra quickly picked up Asami's leg and placed her foot into her lap.

"Wait, ow," Asami laughed as she shifted in her seat. "My foot doesn't bed that way," she cried, trying to pull her foot out of Korra's grip. Asami shrieked as Korra dug her thumb into the bottom of her right foot. She burst into hysterical laughter as the Avatar skirted her fingers lightly over her arch. "Stop! Stop!" she begged. "I can't take it." Korra ignored her and continued to tickle the bottom of her foot. "Okay, okay," she gasped.

"I wanted to get at least another question right," Korra said as Asami mock glared at her. She leaned over and plucked Asami's phone from her hands and began to read the screen. "Have I ever failed a test?" she asked.

"Once, while home-schooled back home. Your parents grounded you for two weeks. One for failing and the other for attempting to cheat," Asami quickly listed off.

Korra looked directly at the camera lens. "Note to self, edit this out," she said. "Okay, how do I take my coffee?"

"You don't; you hate coffee."

"Correct. Do I have any weird talent or skills?"

"If you put something in the microwave and then leave the room, you always come back right as soon as it goes off," Asami said without hesitation.

"Right, again," Korra commented. "What app do I use most often?"

"Facetime, so you can talk to your parents or the air children."

"Do I have any scars or tattoos?" Korra read.

"You don't have any scars, but you do have a tattoo of a-"

"They don't need to know what it is," Korra quickly interjected. She then clicked her tongue. "Dang, you know way more about me than I do about you," she commented.

"I just pay attention to detail," Asami answered with a shrug. "And speaking of details, I happen to know that you're ticklish right here." With that, she reached her hand out and squeezed Korra's right knee. Korra jumped causing her to throw Asami's cellphone into the air. Asami smiled triumphantly as she caught her phone. A moment later she let out a roar of laughter as Korra lost her balance and crashed to the floor.

The deep base in Korra's laugh caused Asami to laugh harder. She brought a hand up to cover her mouth as she looked down at Korra on the floor. "Are...you...okay?" she managed to ask. From her spot on the floor Korra raised a thumb into the air, but continued to laugh. Asami took a quick pause in her laughter to take a deep breath, leaning back to do so. She let out a small cry of surprise as she slipped off of the stool.

Korra erupted in fresh laughter, holding her arms over her stomach. "Ow...ow...ow..." she said. "Oh my stomach."

"I can't breathe," Asami whimpered. She wiped the tears from her eyes before she crawled back over to her stool. She got up on her knees, resting her arms on the seat. "Hey, no cracks," she cried while looking at her cellphone that she was gripping tightly. She began to catch her breath as she got to her feet. After tossing her phone onto the table she stood over Korra and held her hand out. Korra reached out with one hand and had Asami pull her up while still clutching her stomach with the other.

The two ended up coughing a bit as the struggled to regain their composure. Once seated back on their stools, Asami fanned herself before pressing the power button on her phone to bring the screen back up. The two took a deep breath and sat in silence for all but two seconds before bursting into laughter once more. Asami began to giggle harder when Korra developed hiccups. After ten minutes of fighting their laughter, and Korra chugging a bottle of water to curb her hiccups, the two were able to continue recording the video.

"What is my middle name?" she asked.

"You don't have one," Korra said.

"What is my one wish?" Asami asked.

Korra's smile faded as she turned to face Asami. She regarded her with a sad smile. "To have your family back," she answered.

"I have a new one," Asami said. The two shared a smile before Asami noticed the blinking red light on the camera. She cleared her throat and tried to find another questioned. "What is my nickname?"

"I've given you so many," Korra commented before counting on her fingers. "There's Sams, Sami, Samus, Sam-Sam, Tinkerbell…" she trailed off in thought. "I feel like there's another one, but that might be it."

"When did we become friends?"

"At the racetrack," Korra said.

"The racetrack?" Asami repeated. "Not during that noodle initiation?"

"No." Korra shook her head. "When you, me, Mako, and Bolin raced cars for the first time. It was the first time I felt understood by someone. I found someone who could be just as intense as me," she said softly.

As Asami struggled to find a way to respond, Korra took her friends phone back and began to read the screen again. "What is your friend's biggest fear?" she then smiled. "Easy, ant-spiders."

"I almost crashed my car into a tree because someone knows I'm afraid of them and said there was one on my hand," Asami said with a half-smile.

Korra chuckled. "I'm not even sorry," she admitted. "Okay, final question." She cleared her throat and began to ask the question but ended up in another fit of laughter as she recalled the prank memory.

Asami rolled her eyes before grabbing her phone back. "What do you admire about your friend?" she read aloud. As Korra regained her composure, Asami took a while to form her thought. There was a lot of things that she admired about Korra but wasn't sure which answer would be the safest to give. With the red blinking light of the camera bearing down on her, she had trouble forming a solid answer.

"Everything," Korra said, interrupting her thoughts.

"What?" Asami asked.

"What I admire most about you? Everything," she responded.

Asami quickly listed off a few reasons including Korra's drive, loyalty, and assertiveness. She gave quick note of needing to record a proper ending later before shutting off the camera.

Korra performed a deep stretch for her back before removing Asami's foot from her lap. "That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," she commented. "Maybe I can get into this."

"The more comfortable you get, the easier it is to pump out videos," Asami commented. She reset the room back to how it was originally placed before moving to the side to let Korra step out of the room. She switched off the lights and closed the door behind her. "Don't feel pressured to have to record the intro and outro. I can do it," she added.

Korra nodded a few times, before placing her hands on her hips. She turned to face Asami and half-smiled. "I meant what I said, by the way." Asami raised an eyebrow. "I do admire everything about you." She shrugged. "I don't know, but something tells me I should say it before its too late."

"Don't talk like that," Asami gently scolded her. "We've handled so much before, and we will be able to handle whatever comes up." She then lowered her head. "Though, since you mention it. There's something that I've been meaning to tell you."

Korra waited patiently as Asami took a deep breath. "I've actually been holding this to myself, for quite a while. It's also about my phone conversation with your mom." She then laughed lightly. "It's actually about every conversation I have with your mom." She attempted to smile at Korra, but felt her lips twitching between a smile and a frown. "The conversations were about you."

Before Korra could respond, both girl's cell phones began to ring. The two answered the calls, turning their backs to each other. Naga let out a yawn before stretching. She looked over at Korra before quickly moving over to her. As soon as she was in close enough distance, she gently licked her owners' hand before nuzzling into her side.

As Asami hung up the phone, she let out a cry of joy and began jumping up and down. "I'm being let back into school!" Asami announced. Her smile instantly faded when she noticed the troubled look on Korra's face. "What was your phone call about?"

"Zaheer attacked the Northern Air Temple," Korra said. "It's time." She scratched Naga behind her ears when she let out a low whine. "What was it you wanted to tell me, Asami?"

Asami dropped her hands, her phone clattering to the floor. She stepped forward and wrapped Korra in a tight hug. "Be careful, Korra" she whispered.


AN: So, I decided that for the sequel/continuation to Model Behavior on FFN, it will be posted within the Model Behavior story as one whole story. While on AO3, the story will be split between Model Behavior and Model Citizen (the title to the sequel/continuation) as AO3 has the option to create a series tag.