For erraticshift.

-"Why are you still not dressed? We're supposed to leave in an hour."

Korra sighed as she turned around to face her mother. "Because I honestly don't get why I have to be there too. You've been dragging me all over the world since I was four, and now I can't even decide how to spend my own Saturday nights?"

-"Not when it's this important to your father," Senna objected. "This is a great moment to network, for both of you, actually. It can only come in handy when you'll have to pick a college soon."

Another conversation they'd had a thousand times over. Korra had basically already made up her mind, she wanted to stay here in Republic City and study physical therapy. Both of her parents would rather see her go into law so that she could follow in her father's footsteps as ambassador or something else political and preferably high up the social ladder, but that wasn't where her heart was. "You really want to do have this talk now?"

Senna took a deep breath. "No, you're right. So come on, suit and tie, we're expected at the reception in two hours."

Approximately two hours and five minutes later, Korra felt like taking the nearest vaguely sharp thing and cut her arms open from wrist to elbow. Fucking hell, was this party awful. It was some sort of reception thrown in the honor of a five-year trade agreement between the United Republic and the Southern Water Tribe, supposedly it made a lot of rich people even richer, while doing not all that much for everyone else.

Still, it was as good an excuse as any for said rich people to drink expensive wine and eat over-designed snacks, unfortunately, Korra found herself dragged here when she could be at home with Netflix and a bag of Doritos.

She had shaken hands with the President of the Republic, some secretary of something vaguely important, and a couple of rich businesspeople, none of whom seemed to realize before that moment that women can wear suits instead of dresses to events like these.

But there was one saving grace: the bartender looked nice enough, which was a good thing, given how much time Korra was planning to spend with him.

Once she had her drink, she leaned back against the bar and checked out the room, seeing if there was anyone interesting here. At first glance, no such luck, but then... wow.

Standing near a table on the far side was an absolutely gorgeous woman, who actually appeared to be Korra's age. She was wearing a long burgundy dress, subtly highlighting her exceedingly feminine curves. Her long raven hair flowed over her back, left bare by the dress, which was far less modest on the back than it was on the front.

More to the point, she looked to be having about as much fun as Korra was, which was working in her favor now. Mostly because of that, she decided to walk over to her and go for it.

"You don't look very happy to be here," Korra opened. It was a pretty safe opener here, because no one was happy to be here, judging by the surprisingly high count of fake smiles she got during the evening.

-"It's probably because I'm not," the girl kind of snappishly responded before even looking up from her phone, though when she did, her expression softened a little. "Then again, neither do you."

Korra chuckled. "That's definitely because I'm not."

It made the girl laugh, which was definitely a good thing. "Does beg the question of why you are here, in that case."

"My dad. He's the massive man kissing up to the president."

-"Same here, actually, though my dad is the fat man kissing up to the secretary of commerce."

Korra exchanged a slanted look with the girl for a moment, before they both burst out laughing. "I'm Korra," she ultimately said when they calmed down as she extended her hand.

-"Asami Sato," the girl said as she shook it.

Korra thought for a moment. "Sato... Why does that name sound so familiar?"

Asami raised up her phone, showing the back with the half cog embedded in the glass by way of logo. "Probably here. My dad manufactures them."

"Holy shit, you're that Sato?"

She nodded. "Yep. My dad really wanted me to come here, said it was good for my connections," Asami said while rolling her eyes, making Korra chuckle.

"Definitely know that feeling. Also, no offense, but I went for a phone from the competition."

Now it was Asami's turn to laugh. "Don't sweat it. My dad doesn't have a complete monopoly on the market, as much as he wants to. At least you're helping us keep on our toes."

Korra smiled at how easy it was to talk to Asami, already feeling like this night would be a lot less horrible. Unfortunately, that feeling was curb-checked soon enough by her mother. "Korra? Who's your friend here?"

-"Asami Sato," she confidently said.

Somehow, Senna seemed less than impressed by this, judging by her raised eyebrow. "Right... Korra, there someone else I want you to meet," she said, and dragged her away by the arm.

Korra turned back to Asami one last time, already sensing where this was going. "Save me," she mouthed at her, but for now, this really was going to be it.

Asami was bored to tears. After Korra's mother had dragged her away, she soon lost track of the only enjoyable company here. Heck, she'd even had to fend off advances from a man twice her age who clearly had a drink or two too much in his system.

It didn't help that her father had spotted them talking too, and it seemed like he was doing his best to keep them apart for now, make sure that Asami would spend her time 'useful'.

But as the party was winding down, she managed to tear herself away from her father's watchful eye for just long enough to spot Korra making her way to the back of the room, where there was an exit to a balcony of sorts, fairly secluded from the rest of the party. This was her chance.

Asami followed her out, and once she got onto the balcony, had to pause for just a moment to catch her breath, because damn, that wasn't what she was expecting.

Korra was no longer as impeccably dressed as she had been earlier, she was clearly sick of the constricting suit. She had pulled her tie fairly loose and undone the top two buttons of her shirt, revealing her perfect brown skin underneath it. Also, she was just finishing rolling up her sleeves, which showed off her clearly powerful arms. Korra looked absolutely amazinglike this, her slightly choppy short hair falling over her ears, and that paired with the current state of her suit made her look ruggedly handsome in the best possible way.

And then she noticed Asami standing there. "Oh, hey, Asami. Fancy seeing you here."

She shook herself out of her daze, and forced herself to put a smile on her face again, even though this wasn't very hard. "Well, you know. It's about time I got some fresh air." Asami leaned on the railing next to Korra, where they had an absolutely terrific view of the city basking in its own glow. "Say, do you happen to have smokes on you? Can't keep those anywhere in this thing," she said, gesturing to her dress.

-"You know, that's very bad for you."

Asami sighed. "Yeah, I knew it was a long shot."

-"Fortunately for you, I'm one to believe in the saying 'a problem shared is a problem halved'," Korra continued as she pulled a pack from her pocket as she held it out to Asami, who took one while laughing. "Also, it really is a beautiful dress. Sacrifices must be made somewhere."

"Thanks," Asami smiled as Korra lit her cigarette. "Though you seemed to have gotten around the problem okay."

Korra chuckled while she looked down at her suit. "I suppose. Though that was born mostly out of necessity, because my mother was tired of me flashing everyone."

Asami broke out laughing, but at the same time, was completely lost. "What? I think that needs some more explanation."

-"Fair enough," she conceded. "My parents first started taking me to these things when I was just a little girl, like five or something. Don't know why they wouldn't leave me at home, but they felt it necessary. Anyway, my mom had dressed me up in a cute little blue dress, but I was a really active kid and wouldn't stop fidgeting with it. I'd been wearing pants for so long that the dress felt really weird to me, and during the entire time I was awake at the party, I kept on lifting it up so that I could move my legs freely, but of course, flashed everyone my underwear in the process."

It only made Asami laugh harder, because that looked like a really funny sight in her head, a tiny Korra doing that. "So you went in a suit next time?"

-"Well, sort of. Mom tried to get me in a dress again the next time, but same result, despite a few stern lectures. But honestly, I was five, how much of an impression do you think that left on me? So yeah, after that, she decided not to try it again, and instead went with a tiny suit that I recently saw again, actually. It was really adorable."

Asami chuckled again. "I bet it did. Just for the record though, I think a suit looks really good on you."

Now it was Korra's turn to laugh. "Yeah, I kind of figured that out from when you were staring."

It made Asami blush, and she took a drag from her cigarette, trying to cover her red cheeks with her hand as subtly as she could. Not very successful, obviously, but it was worth a shot. "Sorry."

Korra smiled as she took a sip from her drink. "Don't worry about it, I'll take it as a compliment."

"Probably for the best." A cold breeze blew over the balcony, which wasn't doing Asami much good in her backless dress. "Oh boy. It's not exactly warm out here, now is it?"

-"No, it's not, though I bet it's worse for you."

"Fair bet."

Korra chuckled. "If you're angling for my jacket, I think I have something better," she said while holding her hand up, signaling Asami to take it.

She did, and while Korra's hand was nice and warm, it didn't do much for the rest of her. "Still quite brisk, you know."

-"I know, I wasn't done," Korra chuckled. She turned them both halfway around so they were now facing each other, and Asami felt Korra's free arm low around her back, not quite low enough to be on her butt, but on its way there. Given how close they were, her intentions were clear, and Asami suddenly felt a bit more nervous.

"Umm... Korra?"

-"Yes?" she replied, already putting a bit more distance between them, much to Asami's chagrin. Korra really was nice and warm, and it helped a lot.

"No, no, don't stop, it's just... I've never done this before... with a girl..."

She smiled a dastardly handsome smile, slightly lopsided, but oh so appealing. "Then just try and enjoy the moment." With that, she closed the gap between them, finally capturing Asami's lips with her own.

And boy, did it not disappoint. Asami had kissed before, but all of them had been boys, and occasionally a few men later on, but none of them really did it for her. But now kissing Korra, everything suddenly was so crystal clear. Her lips were soft and ever so welcome on Asami's. There was just the right amount of pressure, just the right amount of tongue, so when she ultimately broke away, Asami couldn't help but let out a soft moan of disappointment from the loss. "Whoa..." she breathed.

Korra chuckled. "Better than getting to wear my jacket?"

"I'll say..." she breathed back, still trying to reset her thoughts. The kiss had definitely warmed her up from top to bottom, there was no need right now for warmer attire.

-"Want to go back inside?" Korra asked her after a bit.

Asami just smiled back. "Hell no. I like it way better out here."

Alright, this isn't totally out of the blue, there is artwork for this chapter, but you can only find that on Archive of Our Own, where I can actually post illustrations with my stories. Trust me, it's worth it.