Bolin managed to make it to his seat at the Beifong family dinner table just before the food started rolling out. "Bolin! I was worried you weren't going to make it. Wing said you were working awfully hard out there in that heat. I wish you would take it easy." Su's matronly fretting brought a smile to Bolin's face.

"Sorry I made you worry. I promise I'll be alright! You guys are so nice to me, giving me that awesome house and insisting I eat your amazing food. If I didn't work hard to repay the favor I would like, die of guilt." Bolin replied, emphasizing his hyperbolic speech by clutching in at his chest.

"Well we wouldn't want that now, would we?" Wei spoke. Bolin glanced across the table and locked eyes with the metalbender, his coy smile sending a slight shiver down Bolin's spine.

"Uhh, no! That would be… that would be bad. Dying is bad." Bolin stammered, grabbing his glass of water and gulping it down to distract himself from his wandering thoughts. Fortunately, the clank of a plate being set down in front of him gave him something else to turn his attention to. The chef rattled off tonight's entre, describing the ingredients with exquisite detail. Bolin pretended to pay attention, nodding along when the rest of the table did.

"You outdid yourself yet again! Thank you chef." Suyin's approval was the go-ahead to dig in, and Bolin did so enthusiastically. He listened intently to the discussion around the table, hoping that maybe one of the other Beifongs was in on whatever the twins had planned. Huan was discussing his latest art project with Su, who nodded along and offered her feedback. Nothing of interest to Bolin there.

"So what are you two up to tonight?" Bataar addressed his twin sons. Bolin tuned in, keeping his eyes on his plate.

"We've got some organizing to do in the Power Disc shed." Wing replied monotonously.

Maybe that's what they want with me. Help with moving stuff or whatever. That made sense. There were probably heavy boxes of sports equipment they wanted help with. Not much of a surprise, but helping others did make him happy. He was about to accept that explanation when Wei responded,

"We've got some pretty big packages to get in the back door." Bolin sputtered, choking on the bit of fish he had just swallowed. Simultaneously hacking and blushing, he resorted to once again chugging from his glass of water.

"You ok buddy?" Wing asked. Bolin took a deep breath before looking his way. He cleared his throat a few more times and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm good. Sorry, I swallowed wrong I guess."

"Swallowing problems huh? That's a shame." Wing responded with a wink. Bolin clenched his jaw and went completely red.

What is wrong with this family?! Is nobody else hearing this? Am I going insane?

"Bolin, you don't look so good. Are you ok?" Su's concerned voice broke his thoughts.

"Yeah! I'm fine, really." He managed to compose himself and give a reassuring smile.

"That's good, because we could use your help handling those packages tonight."

FUCK.

"Uh, yeah ok. I can do that. What's…. in the packages?" Bolin offered tentatively.

"New scoreboard parts. There were some electronics we needed to order from Republic City and they just got here today. We have a workshop in the back of the equipment shed but the door is pretty narrow and we could use some help getting the boxes in." Wing explained.

Bolin further relaxed. You're being ridiculous. There's a reasonable explanation after all. "Yeah, I can definitely help out." Wing and Wei thanked him and continued idly chatting with their father.

Yeah, just helping some friends with some heavy lifting. Two big, muscular… athletic… incredibly hot friends. Play it cool, Bolin. You got this.

The rest of the meal went by without incident. The plates were cleared and everyone got up to go their separate ways. At the door, Bolin felt a sudden hot breath on the back of his neck. "See you soon, Bolin." It was hard telling which twin had uttered the low whisper into his ear as they were both very close behind him. The light touch of fingertips trailing just above his pantline sent a jolt of sensation through his entire body, but as he turned to face the culprit, both twins had vanished.

Ohhhhh FUCK.