Korra feels a little bit guilty hanging out with Bolin so often. She knows her free time is spent with the earthbender because she's too much of a coward to even be in the same room as Mako and Asami, and it makes her unhappy. Bolin is a brilliantly hilarious, kind and handsome guy, and she wishes that she was crushing on him rather than Mako.
After all, Bolin isn't the one missing practice or ignoring her lately.
Korra's eyes narrow with a sudden pang of resentment, and she looks down at the concrete sidewalk, watching her boots pace against the lines in the cement.
"And then I sa- Korra? What's wrong?" Bolin stops, takes her elbow, and tilts his head at her, grinning with a hint of worry. She can't help but cheer up at his silly sweet expression, and laughs to appease him.
"Nothing, Bo, sorry. Just thinking," she lies, and his grin widens cheekily.
"Is it making your head hurt?" he sympathizes sarcastically, and Korra lands him a playful punch in the arm as they stroll. A satomobile zooms by as the turn the corner, and she's reminded – painfully - of Asami for a brief moment.
"Shut up," she finally laughs, and Bolin chuckles alongside her, slipping his arm around his shoulders and bringing her closer. Korra tries to make herself feel breathless, tries to bring up some kind of feeling, tries to enjoy his carefree, loyal nature in a romantic way, but she can't. It makes her frown.
Bolin catches the twitch of her lips, and squeezes her shoulder.
"Where should we go for lunch? You're the Avatar, you pick."
Before she can answer her teammate, they're suddenly stopped in front of Fire Lord Zuko's statue when a small kid runs up to Bolin and clutches his hand.
"Bolin!" he screeches, throwing his arms around the older boy's legs and hugging him tightly. Korra recognizes the street urchin as the one who conned Mako out of money when Bolin was kidnapped. She crosses her arms and appraises the little kid with suspicious resentment. But…he's acting much differently around Bolin than Mako.
"Hey there Skoochy!" he exclaims, grabs the boy by the armpits and swings him up to sit on his shoulders. Skoochy drops his chin onto the top of Bolin's head, resting there for a second. He looks up at Korra.
"You're the lady that was with Mako. You saved Bolin!" he says, and Korra pretends like she doesn't see the flash of pain written across Bolin's face before he masks it by spinning the kid in a circle. He squeals, pulling Bolin's hair for balance.
"Hey, Skoochy, wanna come get some lunch?" Bolin asks him, and Korra notes how immediately the kid's face lights up. It drops just as quickly, and he shakes his chin against the earthbender's hair.
"Can't, we got no money this week," he says, and Korra's heart drops. Skoochy is just a little kid, and even though he was a little jerk the last time she saw him, this change in character, this change in emotion is just too much. She feels so terrible; Korra reaches up and pats his arm, trying to console him.
Bolin fidgets and throws the Avatar a glance she can't decode, and then swings Skoochy around, dropping him to the ground with a grin. The earthbender reaches into his pockets, and Korra watches as he hands Skoochy a few yuan.
Bolin leads the kid over to his friends, hands each dirty, homeless child money, and then is promptly piled on by ecstatic, happy faces. Her teammate eventually wrestles them off, bringing up his fists in a playful threat. They screech at him, hug his knees a few more times, and then disappear around the corner.
She watches his face as Skoochy runs away, bouncing around with the other kids, grinning as the black-haired boy turns and waves one last time at Bolin before disappearing as well.
They all look scraggly and hungry, and she figures the yuan will keep them full for days. Bolin's yuan will feed them for day.
Korra's gaze shifts back to him, standing a few feet away, hands on his waist, watching the kids hop away towards a lunch stall, a bemused, happy expression written across his face.
Korra can't help but smile, and it's the first time in weeks she feels genuinely happy. Bolin turns around to look at her, and her stomach does something strange, something that only happens when Mako is around. It flips, does an excitedly nervous dance, like it's twisting to swing music only her body is tuned to. Her cheeks suddenly turn pink when their eyes meet.
"Sorry, Korra. I-er, we can go out to eat tomorrow or something."
Since when did his eyes get so…green? Why haven't I noticed before?
Bolin struts towards her, a little confused but still grinning, and when he opens his arms in a questioningly welcoming gesture, she just shrugs and slips her hand into his.
He looks a little surprised, but there's a look of relief, of happiness, of such handsome glee that she feels herself stand on her tiptoes and kisses him on the cheek.
She forgets Amon's campaign of terror, her owns fears; she can't remember Mako's genuine smile at the gala, can't see Asami's pretty face in her head, and her own jealousy dissipates when his eyebrows rise in astounding delight.
He was right in front of her the whole time.