Fight # 013
"Oh, spirits, I might actually kill myself."
Iroh glanced up from the cup of fire whisky he'd been nursing to find Korra; unceremoniously falling on the chair beside him. He hid his smile as he glanced back down to his drink.
"It's not that bad."
"Are you kidding me?" she whispered angrily at him. She bent closer to him, not enough that it's uncomfortable but enough that they're touching. Iroh didn't know why he was observing such little details like this. He blamed the whiskey. "You don't know how many times I've ran away from – Kantolak, hello." Korra blurted mid-speech.
Iroh raised his head to find the jolly old man who took Tarlok's position in the council. The gleam in the councilman's eye suggested he'd been drinking way more than the one bottle Iroh had been nursing.
"Avatar Korra," he boomed a little too loudly. "Are you enjoying the celebration?"
"Oh, yes." Korra lied through an awkward grin. "Its, uhm, fun."
"You should have a dance then!" He suggested gaily. "In fact, I think my dashing nephew will be honored to have your hand on the dance floor."
Kantolak seemed oblivious of Korra when she cringed in distaste at the mention of the councilman's perverted relative. Iroh, however, was not.
"Help me." Korra whispered through gritted teeth as Kantolak continued to scan the crowd.
Iroh lazily smiled at her as he sat back to his chair. "No, I think I'll let this one play out."
"Iroh." Her tone somewhat pleading, her eyes large in panic. "I'm begging you."
"I'm sorry but the feeling of sky bisons ripping off my clothes is somehow paralyzing my body from helping you."
"I'm sorry! Please, I'll do anything!"
The firebender regarded her silently as Korra's panicked eyes darted from him to the councilman. Just when the waterbender was about to raise his hand to call his nephew, Iroh stood up.
"Well, this has been lovely, Kantolak, but I think I owe Avatar Korra a dance."
He fought a rising laugh when Korra turned to him with her left eye twitching. "What?" She demanded through gritted teeth.
"Unless, of course, she'd rather spend her time with the company of Taklora."
She visibly blanched at the mention of Kantolak's nephew. There was a moment of silence, as though she deciding what was on which was the lesser of the two evils, before she nodded.
"Well," Korra started with a fake and stiff grin on her features. "We'd love to stay and chat but we have a dance to do." She dragged Iroh away from the table with the waterbending councilman blinking dumbly behind them.
When Korra finally loosened her grip around Iroh's wrist, he impulsively took her hand and placed his other on her hip.
"What are you doing?" she demanded in whisper as he placed her lax hand on his shoulder.
He merely shrugged at her and slowly led her through the steps. "Might as well."
"If I wanted to dance, I would have done that with Taklora."
"I could grab your ass and it would feel all the same." he offered with his head tilted, a smirk playing on his features.
"Or you could leer uncomfortably close and whisper the stupidest things like;" she leaned closer to him, her breath hot on his ear. "Maybe we could go back to your place but that might be a problem since you live in my heart."
The two let out bark like laughter causing the older couples around to look at the two in disdain. Korra stuck her tongue at them when they turned back to their partners.
"Real mature, aren't we?" Iroh smiled at her.
"Hey, I don't-" she huffed before Iroh effectively cut her off by – in perfect time with the other couples around them – lifting and twirling her around. To his surprise, she let out a giggle when she landed gracefully back on her feet.
"You're enjoying this." Iroh observed with the smirk back on his face.
"Am not!" she replied indignantly.
"Oh, so the blush on your cheeks?"
"A trick of light."
"And the spark in your eyes is what? A disease?"
"Spark in your eye? What are you; an eleven year old girl?"
"Like you're the captain of maturity."
"And you are?"
"I'd prefer the general of maturity."
"So that's funny 'cause you're a general and – no, just no."
"Like you're any funnier than me."
"I know I'm funnier than you."
Before Iroh could retort, someone tapped him on the shoulder. (Well, what he assumed was meant to be a tap. Really, it felt more like someone was drilling a nail down his back.) The two turned to find a very angry Mako practically glowering at them.
"May I have a dance?"
"Well, Mako, I'm highly flattered and I never knew that you-"
"I meant with Korra."
Iroh turned to his partner, who merely looked at the younger firebender incredulously. "Shouldn't you be with Asami?"
Mako waved his hand dismissively. "She's with Bo."
Without asking, Iroh turned to the two and bowed. "She's all yours." He told Mako before walking away without another word.
Fight # 014
"I wasn't yours to give, Iroh."
"It was a dance, Korra. I didn't send you off to have an arrange marriage."
"You be stuck with a glowering firebender and see if you won't complain afterwards."
"You're a bit too angry for someone who went through a relatively enjoyable dance."
"It came to a point where I would have gladly taken Taklora."
He met her boiling look and, without meaning to, bursts out laughing. "Agni, you should have seen the way you two were dancing, it was like he was trying to smother you."
"He practically was!" she exploded, causing him to laugh even louder. She stared at his bent figure and, slowly, the anger starts to seep away. "You owe me."
"Don't you already owe me for saving you from Taklora?"
She paused for a moment, a shy smile graced her lips. "Call it even?"
Fight # 015
Korra was not running away. She was the Avatar, for spirit's sake! She was suppose to be braze and constantly unafraid. So, no, she was not running away from Mako because she was starting to freak out because of his constant questioning and badgering. She was merely taking a lengthy and speedy stroll around Air Temple Island. Away from Mako.
She pressed herself further into the wall, as though willing it to swallow her. From afar, she could hear the voice she's been avoiding all day. Well, that and Bolin.
"Have you seen Korra, Bo?"
"Not today, no. But I think I heard someone walking around the south hall."
Korra cursed silently when Bolin told his brother her hiding spot. She prayed the shadows surrounding her would keep her hidden as she continued to press herself against the walls, crawling as she did. She was too busy straining her ear to listen to Mako's footsteps that she didn't notice the door behind her suddenly open until she toppled to the floor. Korra glanced up to find Iroh - obviously disheveled from sleep - looking at her incredulously. Before she could explain, Mako's voice filtered in. "Hello? Is anyone there? Have you seen Korra?"
Without thinking, Korra scrambled up, slipped through Iroh and dove into his bed. She wrapped his blankets around her and left a small peep hole for her to see what was happening.
"Hey, uhm, General Iroh. Have you seen Korra?"
"I don't think I've come upon her the whole day." The general lied.
Korra, who viewed the older man as someone who stuck by the rules, listened to him blatantly lie was so amusing she let out an audible giggle. Through her peep hole, she saw Mako look at the bed curiously.
"Uh," Iroh coughed and shifted from one foot to the other, hopping to block the younger firebender's view. "I have a companion over."
Mako blushed furiously and started to slowly back away. "I'm sorry, I, uh, bothered, uhm, your thing - I MEAN - not your thing but, uhm, you and your companion's thing - WAIT - NO UHM - BYE."
Korra uncovered herself as Iroh closed the door silently and banged his head in frustration, causing her to let out another giggle.
"No, you shush." he said, still not turning from the door. "Now Mako thinks I'm a whore."
"It was one companion, Iroh, not twenty. I'm sure the most of what Mako thinks of you is horny."
He let out a frustrated groan. "You're going to fix this."
"Well, first of all, stop moaning and don't bang your head while you're at it. Spirits know what the people in the next room think of you now."
Iroh was redder than a tomato when he finally turned to shoot a glare at her.
"But I don't have to deal with that 'cause I'm leaving." she said happily as she hopped down the bed and crossed the room. Ignoring Iroh's glare at her, she quickly opened the door to peek outside, only to slam the door with a panicked look.
"Yeah, okay, I'm not leaving."
"Are you freaking kidding me? No, you're leaving."
"With Mako patrolling the hallway like a lunatic? Do you really think he'd appreciate me walking out of your room after he just caught you with a female companion?"
Iroh gapped at her for a moment before swallowing. "Okay, fine. You're staying."
Fight #016
"Iroh?"
...
"Iroh?"
...
"IROH?"
"What?"
"Are you asleep?"
"I was before you bothered me."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Go back to sleep."
...
...
...
"Iroh."
"Oh, spirits. What?"
"Can we switch?"
"Are you actually suggesting that I should sleep om the bed and you on the floor?"
"Yeah."
"No."
"C'mom please. I can't sleep on the bed, it feels too warm."
"Like the floor is any better."
"It'll feel better than some hot bed, that's for sure."
"Still no."
"Please."
"No."
"Please."
"Will you be quiet afterwards?"
"Yes."
"Fine."
...
...
...
"Iroh."
"Oh, spirits, smite me down. What?"
"Switch?"
"WHAT? WHHHHHY?"
"The floor is too hard."
"No."
"C'mon."
"No."
"You're ganna let some poor innocent girl sleep on the cold, hard floor?"
"Well, she did bother me for a while so yes."
"Please."
"No."
"Just give it." A strong tug of blankets send him down tumbling down, right on top of her. He balances his weight on his palms as the blue eyes meet the golden.
Cease fire # 002
Tentative and shy
Almost as though afraid
Of what could happen after
And what happened before
They stop
As quick as they began
They don't notice
But everything has changed
They scrambled up
Shyly fixing themselves
Blush evident on their cheeks
Unable to hide the truth
They continue
First in question
Then in urgency
Neither understanding why they hid for so long
He ends the night
"I can't be a gentleman with you."
She laughs but leaves
No longer fearing the outside
She walks away with a smile
And a belief of a better tomorrow
He falls asleep with a smile
Knowing the hiding is done.
READ AND REVIEW!
Well, that took long didn't it? I'm sorry guys! But I was SUUUUPER busy. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!