Whipped
Korra was the mighty Avatar, the peerless master of all four elements, the bringing of balance to a chaotic world, the walking epitome of awesomeness, the beautiful badass…and she was totally whipped.
No, that couldn't be right.
Could it?
Ever since Mako and Bolin had started making whipping noises and gestures every time Korra showed up with Asami, Korra hadn't been able to get the idea out of her head. Could she really be whipped?
Sure, she did a lot of things for Asami, but that was normal, right?
And, sure, she let Asami have her way a lot of the time, but that was normal too, wasn't it?
Asami knew so much about everything, and she almost never made a bad decision. It was just natural for Korra to let Asami decide since Asami's decisions tended to make both of them happy. That didn't mean she was whipped, did it?
Walking into Asami's workshop, Korra nodded fiercely. She had absolutely nothing to be worried about. She wasn't whipped. She was the boss. She was the one who did favours for Asami. She was the one who let Asami make a lot of the decision. In other words, Korra let Asami be the one in charge, which meant that she was really the one in charge.
"Oh, Korra, I'm glad you're here."
Korra brightened the instant she laid eyes on Asami. It should have been criminal for someone to look that good when they were all sweaty and covered in grease. But, somehow, Asami managed it. Heck, Korra was pretty sure that Asami would look awesome in a burlap sack, not that the other woman would ever allow herself to be caught out like that.
"Hi, Asami." Korra tugged Asami into her arms, laughing quietly at the other woman's muffled cry of protest before she relaxed. "Busy day?"
"As usual." Asami gave Korra a quick kiss and then squirmed out of Korra's arms. The Avatar gave Asami a mock scowl and followed her over to the bench where she was working on something that involved a lot of pieces of metal. "Think you can give me a hand with this?"
"Sure. What is it?" Korra eyed the metal more closely. She couldn't make heads or tails of what it was, but that was hardly unusual. Asami had a talent for machinery, but it was usually hard to tell what she was building until she was finished.
"Oh, just something I've been working on. I have all the parts, but I need to put it together. It would be a lot easier if I had a beautiful metal bender to help me." Asami's lips twitched. "And you know who happens to be a beautiful metal bender…"
"I'm happy to help." Korra grinned. "Unless you meant Lin."
Asami made a choking sound and then looked around as if she expected Lin to appear. "Korra!"
"Hey, I can understand if you go for the whole distinguished older woman thing and –"
"Korra!" Asami hissed. "Can you not do that?"
Korra smirked but let the matter drop. Inwardly, however, she was gloating. Hah! Take that Mako and Bolin! Would a whipped person have the guts to do that? Avatar Korra was not whipped.
"Yeah, yeah." Korra reached for a piece of metal. "I'll help. Just tell me what to do."
"Well, you need to start off by putting these two pieces together…"
X X X
Two hours later, and Korra had beads of sweat rolling down her temple. What had looked like an easy task was turning out to be extremely difficult. She still couldn't tell what Asami was making, but putting it together was a nightmare. There were more than a hundred components, all of them different sizes, that needed to be put together using a variety of screws, knobs, hinges, and wires. To make things even more complicated, the whole thing needed to be held together by metalbending since, apparently, it wouldn't stay in one piece until it was fully assembled.
"Yo!"
Korra didn't bother to look up. She was too busy. However, she could easily make out the familiar shadows of Mako and Bolin on the floor. Trust them to turn up at a time like this. They'd probably think she was whipped even though she was just doing Asami a favour.
And, sure enough, it wasn't long before Bolin and Mako started making whipping noises.
"Really?" Korra gave a mental cheer as Asami turned her attention from what they were doing to frown at the two brothers. "That's not very mature, you two."
"Well, yeah. But it's true." Bolin grinned. "Korra is totally whipped, Asami. I mean… yeah."
Mako shrugged. "Whipped."
"I am not whipped." Korra looked up and glared.
"So you haven't been helping Asami build Spirits knows what for the past couple of hours just because she asked you to?" Mako asked.
"That's called be a nice person, Mako." Korra winced as she struggled to manoeuvre another tiny screw into the right position with her bending. "Maybe you should try it some time."
"Oooooh!" Bolin clutched at his chest theatrically. "She's got you there, bro. Remember that time I asked you to light the fireplace and you said no?"
"Come on," Mako replied. "I am not a mobile match."
"Yeah, but you are a firebender. And short of lavabending, I can't exactly light a fireplace without some outside assistance."
"I have to agree with Bolin," Asami said. "You have many good qualities, Mako, but you are kind of stingy." She glanced back at Korra. "How is it going?"
"Fine." Korra wiped some sweat off her brow. "I think it's almost done."
And there was that whipping sound again.
"All right," Asami said, shooing Mako and Bolin off. "I know you two want to hang out, but Korra and I should be done in about ten minutes. Go make your whipping noises somewhere else. We'll find you when we're done."
"Fine, fine." Mako's lips twitched, and then he made another whipping noise.
Asami raised one eyebrow and reached for a wrench. Mako and Bolin beat a hasty retreat.
"Am I whipped, Asami?" Korra asked as she manoeuvred the last few pieces into place with painstaking precision.
"Of course not." Asami wrapped her arms around Korra. "You just like helping me out."
Korra breathed a sigh of relief as the last component fitted into place. "I thought so…" She trailed off as she finally realised what Asami had asked her to make. "Asami, did you just ask me to put together a special, limited edition scale model of Zaofu, complete with opening and closing domes and a working railway line?" Her eye twitched. Opal had mentioned these. Suyin had decided to start selling these model kits to take advantage of people's interest and to raise some more funding for her newest projects.
Asami had the decency to look apologetic. "Would you believe me if I said I lost my screwdriver?"
"Nope." Korra's eye twitched. She'd just spent two hours putting together a scale model of a city for her girlfriend. She was so whipped. So, so whipped.
She could never, ever let Mako and Bolin know.
"Korra…" Asami reached out and touched her arm. "You know that Bolin and Mako are just messing with you, right?"
"I don't know." Korra leaned against the bench. "I think they might be onto something."
"Korra, if you're whipped, then I probably am to."
"Oh?" Korra frowned. "Why do you say that?"
Asami gave an amused laugh. "Korra, I invented an ice cream vending machine and had dozens of them installed throughout Republic City because you mentioned you could never find the time to get the ice cream you liked. I improved instant noodles because you like them. I even pushed the city council to have polar bear dogs reclassified, so you could walk Naga around without getting arrested or fined." She tugged Korra into a kiss. "I think it's safe to say that if you're whipped, then I am too."
Korra smiled and leaned in for another kiss. Trust Asami to make her feel better about everything.
Of course, Mako and Bolin had to spoil that by making coming back into the workshop and making whipping noises. If someone, possibly her, used some wind to shove them back out, well, that was totally a coincidence.
X X X
Author's Notes
As always, I do not own Legend of Korra. I am not making any money off of this either.
This snippet was based on the following prompt that was submitted over on my tumblr: prompt: Korra trying and failing to prove to her friends that she is not in any way, 'whipped' by Asami.
Yeah, it's nice to get back to some Legend of Korra stuff. Korra can be so hilariously awkward, and so can Asami, for that matter.
As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.