A/N: This one's been sitting around on my computer for like two weeks and I hadn't gotten around to finishing it until last night. It's a bit longer than my others... Borra kitchen shenanigans are just really fun to write. :)

Rated: K

Day 11 - Outside

"Something smells good in here!" Korra proclaimed as she strode into Pema's kitchen, inhaling the mouth-watering scent.

She found Bolin positioned in front of the stove. "Oh, hey, Korra!" he greeted. "Pema let me take over while she put Rohan down for his nap."

Korra raised a distrustful eyebrow at him. "And she left you alone?"

"Yeah," he said, casually shrugging his broad shoulders.

"Was that such a great idea?" Korra questioned as she approached. "Considering what's happened in the past…?"

"Hey! I've improved!" Bolin insisted. When Korra still seemed unconvinced, he scoffed. "To be fair, she told me I only had to do two things." He held up two meaty fingers at her as he recited his tasks: stir the contents of the pan for five minutes, and then take it off the heat.

Korra dropped her chin onto Bolin's shoulder as she watched him stir. There was suspicious looking brown mush boiling inside the pan, but it smelled delicious, so she had to trust that Bolin wasn't going to poison everybody. He'd inadvertently accomplished that the first time he apprenticed in Pema's kitchen. "What are you helping to make this time?"

"Apple dumplings."

"Ooh! I like Pema's apple dumplings!"

"I know…" he mumbled, his cheeks and ears flushing pink. "That's why I suggested it to Pema."

"Well, aren't you Mr. Thoughtful," Korra said with a smirk.

"I know! I'm the greatest boyfriend in existence!" Korra snorted and lightly head butted the back of his skull with her forehead.

"You like this whole cooking thing a lot then, huh?"

"Of course! You think Mako ever let me cook anything at our old apartment? Nope! He was like the overlord of the kitchen! He never let me help him with anything! I guess he was afraid I'd burn the whole arena down or something." Bolin grumbled bitterly at the memory and took to stirring the apple mush a bit more vigorously.

Korra didn't say so, but ever since that time Bolin caused a grease fire and she'd had to quickly earthbend some dirt to smother the flames, she'd been a little wary at the prospect of him anywhere near a stove.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it though!" Bolin continued brightly, and Korra couldn't help but acknowledge how happy he was to painstakingly slave away with Pema over the meals they prepared together. "Pema says we can make a pie tomorrow if the moon peaches are ripe enough. Well, that is if the lemurs don't get to them first…"

"Or Naga," Korra warned. "She'll eat anything if it's unattended for long enough." Korra reached around his middle to hug him, but he squirmed out of her arms.

"Sorry," he said apologetically. "I just don't want to mess up."

Korra rolled her eyes – how hard could it be to stir mush? – but had to respect the level of concentration. "So…" Korra began, weaving her fingers together and stretching out her arms. "When are these apple dumplings going to be ready? I'm starving."

"You're always starving. I'm actually starting to think you only like me because I feed you." He giggled and attempted to jab her with the sticky end of the spoon he was using to stir. Korra dodged the spoon, laughing as she spun around him. She perched on the table, grabbed a plum from the bowl of assorted fruits and swung her feet as she bit into the delicate skin. While Bolin finished up his task, she munched absentmindedly on the juicy nectarine.

"Okay, that's done," Bolin announced a few minutes later, wiping his hands on the apron tied around his waist. He then set the pan aside, away from the heat it had simmered over. Korra swallowed the last bits of plum and licked her lips, smirking mischievously as an idea struck her. "Pema should be coming back soo–"

Korra pitched the naked plum pit at his head.

"Ow!" Bolin yelped, rubbing the back of his head as Korra snorted guiltily into her hands. "Ohh… you're going to regret that…" Bolin threatened.

Korra gasped as she was suddenly doused with flour. "And you're gonna pay for that!" she screamed, kicking off the table and landing gracefully on her feet. She darted towards him, laughing wildly as she gave chase.

"You'll have to catch me first!" Bolin teased, pelting her with lychee nuts that hadn't yet been skinned.

Bolin tried to dodge around the table, but it was no use. She was far more agile than him and caught up to him easily. She tackled him from behind, but Bolin was surprisingly spry for the big guy that he was, and was quick to get to his feet.

Korra bent a spiral of air, tripping him up. He knocked the bag of flour off the table as he fell to the floor, and sent a white mushroom cloud into the air.

"That was uncalled for!" he screeched, slipping and sliding as he got to his feet. He attempted to dust off his clothes, but the white powder was persistently clinging to every fiber. The pair was so coated in white that they looked like phantoms. "Whoa! Look at this room! We're gonna be in huge trouble!"

"Avatar?" Korra reminded him, gesturing at herself.

Bolin gave her a dubious look. "I doubt your status is going to save you from Pema's wrath once she finds out you ruined her kitchen."

"Excuse me? You threw the flour at me first!" She sent a gust of air at him, and he coughed and spluttered as power got in his nose and clung to his eyelashes. He sneezed, casting a plume of white around him like a halo.

Korra snorted at his expense and Bolin cast a mock glare in her direction as he dipped his hand into a bowl full of mush similar to what he'd been laboring over earlier.

"You wouldn't!" Korra screamed just as he tossed the handful of pulpy sauce at her face. "I cannot believe you just did that!" she said, wiping at her face and flinging mush at him. He doubled over with laughter, clutching his stomach.

Korra suddenly lunged, and Bolin attempted to evade, but lost his footing on the slippery, dusty floor. Korra shrieked as they slid and seized Bolin's shoulders for purchase. He let out a cry as they tumbled together.

"Need… to stop… feeding you," he groaned beneath Korra's mass. "You're getting heavy."

She scoffed in mock outrage and punched him in the arm. He snickered playfully and rolled over, trapping her beneath his weight when she attempted to climb off of him.

"And you say I'm heavy?" she teased.

Bolin giggled, attempting to wipe away a smear of sauce on her cheek but only succeeded in further dirtying her face. Korra yanked him down suddenly by the collar of his shirt, making Bolin yelp in surprise, and pressed her lips against his.

"Hey, you're pretty tasty," Bolin joked, licking his lips.

"Shut up," Korra murmured, stealing his lips again. She raked her sticky fingers through his dark hair, glazing the short strands with syrupy applesauce.

The curtains swished, and Pema and Tenzin suddenly appeared. "Wha– WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" Tenzin hollered, outraged by the state of the kitchen.

Korra and Bolin flew apart, faces red as they scrambled to brush particles of dusty flour and chunks of fruit off themselves. Pema stood back a ways from Tenzin, and Korra noticed the older woman's shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

"YOU TWO WILL CLEAN THIS MESS UP!"

Bolin chose that moment to reach over and pluck a lychee nut from Korra's hair.

Tenzin gave a defeated sigh. "Go outside and hose yourselves off first," he ordered, blasting them with air as he stormed away.