Mako taught him how to read very simple words by sounding them out, but Bolin can't do that right now. For one thing, the Avatar, in all her awesome, powerful, beautiful glory, will hear him. He doesn't think she'll make fun of it, his inability to read, but it would still be embarrassing.

And he needs to prove himself to Korra. She's so strong and independent, and he's just so lucky that she finally looked at him, the way that she used to look at Mako. Even remembering that period, where the girl of his dreams had been crushing on his older brother, brought a few painful stings to his chest.

He tries not to let it bother him, because he's here with the watertribe girl, not Mako. He's here, Bolin, standing in front of a restaurant, holding hands with the Avatar. With Korra.

He's pretty glad that she chose a nice, simple place. Korra is an elegant person, in her own way, but neither of them have ever been extravagant people; not like Mako and Asami. Their dates consist of training, or sitting in the attic, or talking, or taking walks, and sometimes all of those things in one glorious day.

However, Korra has been thrown off a bit by the public's opinion of her. There are a lot of rumors going around about her, and she convinces him to go out for once, to enjoy the "normal couple relationship thing", as she calls it so bluntly.

Bolin doesn't like the fact that their relationship isn't classified as normal, but then again, it's the truth. He's a pro-bender, she's the Avatar, so he doubts anything they do will ever be considered normal. He's okay with it, to be honest.

What he's not okay with is Korra being so down on herself. So he takes her out, and they walk around the city before stopping in front of this tiny, family-owned restaurant.

It's like an outdoor food market, but some Satomobiles speed around the corner of the building, park, and waiters come running out to take their orders. It isn't like any restaurant Bolin has ever been to, but it's new, entertaining, and spontaneous, and he enjoys that.

"Alllll right, Bo. What are you going to order?" Korra asks, and he looks over at her. She's got one hand on her hip (sassy as always, even when there's no need to be), and her finger on her lip, looking much too contemplative and decisive to order food.

A little worried that he'll have to attempt to read the sign, he scratches his neck.

"You pick for me! Surprise me with some delicious cuisine…sustenance… or something," he says, trying to impress her with complex – and ridiculous – synonyms for food.

Korra smiles at him. Bolin goes weak at the knees for just a moment.

"Naw, you pick. I don't wanna get something weird you wouldn't like."

Damn.

Korra hands him the menu. He takes it gingerly, glaring down at the twisted symbols, blobs, and shapes worriedly. He can't read any of this, other than the prices.

"Um, I'll…uh…have…the…" he lets a random name roll off his tongue, hoping that it's some fancy lunch dish, and he's not asking for boiled turtleduck. That would be plain sad.

Korra raises an eyebrow. Bolin shakes his head, grins at her, and looks back down at the menu quickly. Well, no other choice now.

Bolin begins sounding out the names, carefully, picking apart the sllyables with an unfamiliar sound. His tongue makes him trip over the phrases, mess up the titles, and Korra notices right away.

"Are you okay, Bo?" she asks, a slight lilt in her voice like it's amusing. There's an undertone of worry, though, so he appreciates that.

"Yeah, I mean…"

"Are you…sounding out the words?"

Oh no.

"Um, no. I mean, who doesn't know how to read? That's just ridiculous, er, I-"

Korra's hand is suddenly on his shoulder, pulling him away from the crowded line behind them, away towards the corner of the tall building. Her palm winds it way to the popped collar of his jacket, and she smoothes it before putting her hands on her hips again.

"Talk. What's going on?"

Bolin is suddenly very self-conscious. He's usually able to be himself around Korra, the other way around for her. They're a natural couple, and there are few insecurities between them, but this is something new. Korra is so smart and intelligent, strong and indepdendent…what if she thinks he's weak?

He admits his secret so quietly she leans forward, obviously perturbed by his strange, unfamiliar silence.

"What was that?" she asks, and he's so overwhelmed by the need to tell her the truth, to tell her everything because he trusts her, he does.

"I can't read."

"What."

There's an awkward silence after that, after her sudden statement. She doesn't ask, it's not a question.

"Uh, yeah. I just…we spent a lot of years on the streets and it wasn't exactly a priority but don't get mad at Mako because it wasn't his vault I was pretty dense as a kid and wasn't focused on, y'know, getting smar-"

"Bolin, you're rambling," she says softly, and winds her fingers around his forearm. Her strong yet gentle touch is enough to calm him, and he takes a deep breath, straightening his posture carefully. He doesn't want her to think he's weak, spirits no.

Instead, Korra takes his palm in her own. He's still surprised, even after holding hands so often, how much smaller her fingers are than his. His entire hand encompasses the width of hers, maybe twice, even though it's just as strong as his.

Korra holds up the menu, and starts reading from it. Bolin's eyes open wide, and he realizes what she's doing. She's not sure how to handle the situation, so she dives right into finding the solution, determined and throwing any caution to the wind – as always. He grins and leans down, gives her a kiss to cut off her words.

The rest of dinner they spend reading pamphlets, maps, and the menus. He does a good job of focusing for the first few minutes, but the novelty of Korra teaching him is quickly lost.

Soon, she has to start slapping his hands away, because he gets distracted pretty quickly after they share a few kisses.