CHAPTER TWO - Slaughterhouse

"Ow! Watch it!"

Mako and Bolin were trying to carry Korra's bed sideways through Bolin's bedroom doorway. It wasn't a struggle to get it out of her old room, but they hadn't realized his door was so much smaller.

Mako had his super-human vampirey strength, and Bolin was plenty strong even as a ghost, but Korra still would have been able to maneuver better. Especially since Bolin was spending most of his ghostly energy just making himself solid enough to get a good grip on the bed frame. He was still mastering the art of making himself corporeal, which meant picking and choosing which body parts to solidify, and concentrating his energy where it mattered. This time, it was all in his arms, holding up the stupid bed.

"If you two would just let me help," Korra said irritably.

But it was only eight hours post-transformation and she was still in recovery mode. She never remembered her time as the wolf, but Mako and Bolin had been her werewolf prison guards for a year now. They were able to describe to her why, even though she was safely enclosed in a cage, she always woke up battered.

The injuries happened during the change back. It was all the same - the crunching bones, the distorted muscle, the strained organs. The difference was that the wolf had to feel it this time, not Korra. It thrashed in the cage with her partially human body, tossing itself violently into the bars, tearing and scratching at her human skin as it stretched across its oversized skeleton. The agony sent it into madness, and the wolf could do a lot more damage than she could. One time, it had broken some of her ribs and she hadn't even completely healed by the next full moon. They re-fractured and the cycle continued for three months.

Luckily, Korra escaped this transformation with relatively minimal damage. Some bruises and a long, deep cut in her arm, which was just enough to be delegated the job of light sweeping and folding.

"I don't think it'll fit," Mako sighed. "We may have to take the frame apart first."

"Mr. Handyman over here," Bolin snorted. Korra scowled impatiently.

"Come on, all it needs is one...good... SHOVE !"

She lowered her shoulder and threw her entire body's weight into the bed frame. It popped right through the door like a cork, toppling cleanly through Bolin and loudly on top of his brother.

"Arrghh!" Korra fell to the ground, clutching her arm and the bruises she hadn't realized were there.

"Ahhh!" Mako echoed.

"You guys okay?!" Bolin gasped, going back and forth between them.

"I'm fine," Korra groaned, visibly not fine. She waved away his attempts to help her up. "I'm fine, I just...need a breather here. Let me lie down a sec."

"What the hell, Korra?!" Mako demanded, as his brother pulled him to his feet.

"That was admittedly ill-advised," she said from the floor. "But at least the hardest part is done. Thank god moving your stuff was so easy, Bo."

His room was considerably smaller than her old master bedroom, and even a smidge smaller than Mako's room, but all it had housed were Bolin's collection of comics, video games, action figures, models, and a single armchair. It was easy to move his junk to the basement. It barely took three trips, and the boys at least let her carry a box of vintage space alien figurines.

Korra's stuff was harder. Other than her bed, she had her clothes, tons of sports and exercise equipment, her boxing bag, assorted school supplies, her desk and chair, and the biggest textbooks ever.

"Do you just, like, go out of your way to own the heaviest things in the universe?" Mako wheezed. "Jesus."

"I'm gonna get you some ice," Bolin said, disappearing abruptly.

Mako came over to help her up. "All we have to do now is flip the bed over and get the mattress on it."

"I'll fix everything up myself later," Korra said, wincing as she pushed away his extended hand like she had his brother's. She eased into a sitting position by herself.

Mako scowled, crouched down next to her, and gave her a good poke in the ribs. She howled and pushed him away. When she took a peek under her shirt, she saw a dark, angry red bruise. Soon it would turn blue, then green, then yellow, before returning to her skin's normal tan color. Just in time to start the process over again at the new moon.

"I saw that before we got your clothes on. You're still all messed up, so you're not doing anything ," Mako said firmly.

"Asshole."

"That's a yuan in the Swear Jar, you brat."

"You owe the Swear Jar like, fifty!" Korra accused.

Bolin returned, handing her a bag of ice that she alternated between her ribs and shoulder.

"I heard Swear Jar!" Bolin crowed, grabbing the long-suffering old peanut butter container off his shelf. He had implemented it a few months ago to try and curb their bad attitudes, but if anything, it made them more annoyed. Korra shoved in a yuan, speculating that at this point it was very likely they could make rent with its contents and nip this whole crazy roommate thing in the bud.

She watched grumpily as the boys moved around her furniture. They managed to ease the bed down from it's sideways position and threw the mattress on top. Then they fell on top of it dramatically.

"This is a whole new reason to never move out of this house," Mako groaned. "Moving sucks."

"You couldn't be interested in 6-inch action figures and Blu-rays like me?" Bolin whined. "You had to be into weight-lifting and boxing?"

"And yoga," Korra pointed out. "Not everything I own is heavy, my yoga mat barely weighed anything."

Although she was the one who got to carry the yoga mat. On their insistence. Korra was sure she could have at least carried her punching bag without problems either. The textbooks, too. But her roommates were stubborn macho men, convinced that she was completely incapacitated after a change. She loved them dearly, but sometimes she could just as easily knock their heads together.

"You can't even feel pain!" Mako rolled his eyes at his brother. "Or fatigue. Or anything. What are you complaining about?" He punched him in the side of the head.

"Ow!" Bolin yelped, even though his fist sailed through his head harmlessly

"You can't feel that!"

"It hurt emotionally!"

Korra laughed and dragged herself back up to her feet. "So, all we need to do is take pictures of the empty master bedroom, so we can add them to the listing."

"Ooooh, oooh! Dibs! Dibs! " Bolin grabbed her phone from her pocket and took off.

They let Bolin run around the house snapping pictures of the room, the bathroom, and new ones of the living room, kitchen, and driveway. We even allowed him a few group selfies to get him to shut up. Neither of the brothers showed up in the pictures, of course, but Korra figured he just enjoyed the action of taking pictures. Mako always said he was the artsy one.

Korra started preparing some lunch in the kitchen as Bolin updated the photos on their online listing at the table. Mako was hunched over next to him, reading over his shoulder.

"Hey, wait. Bolin, go back to that last site."

"What, this one?"

"Click on that."

She looked up from her pile of Ramen packages to see them both frowning at something. "What are you guys looking at?"

Mako looked at her grimly and read aloud from the laptop.

"Few people think twice about the Bau Ling, a fairly nondescript neighborhood of Republic City. Sandwiched between the rough-and-tumble of Dragon Flats and the more popular White Falls, Baul Ling often lacks a distinct personality that most other Republic City areas boast."

"Please tell me you're not reading our listing," Korra joked.

"It's an article we found about the house," Bolin said quietly.

"While having little in the way of nightlife and entertainment, Bau Ling does have an extremely low crime rate that makes it a perfect home to many young families," Mako continued. "In fact, only two major violent crimes have been recorded in the neighborhood's hundred year history."

She shrugged. "Okay, so our neighborhood is lukewarm and boring at best. It's a good studying environment! And look at that, we're safe. "

Mako frowned. "However, Bau Ling's two murders received widespread coverage across the United Republic, due to their extremely graphic nature, the unsolved mystery surrounding both cases, and the fact that they occurred at the same residence - now known to many as the Slaughterhouse."

"What?!" Korra yelped. She abandoned her ramen and wedged myself between Mako and Bolin to read the article myself. "The most recent murder occurred in the summer of 2014, at 257 North Spirit Street. On the night of June 28th, a 20-year-old male college student was found severely mutilated in an unoccupied house. Some witnesses claim the young man had a companion, but no other victims have been recovered."

Upon waking up as a new vampire, Mako had been disoriented, unable to even recognize the mangled remains of his younger brother. Panicked, he'd left the scene, before anyone else had discovered Bolin. Korra remembered the night he told her that story, right there in the same living room they watched TV in. Even now, hearing the story still gave her chills.

Mako continued. "Only a few witnesses were available, but all agreed that the young man was chased into the house by several other men. Strangely enough, the scene and the body were all clean - free of DNA samples, fingerprints, or any other identifying evidence could be recovered from the scene by forensics experts - without telltale signs that evidence had purposefully been purged."

Vampires didn't leave evidence. They didn't shed hair, their hands lacked the chemistry to leave distinct fingerprints, and they moved with the strength and quickness of an apex predator.

"The discovery shocked the residents of Bau Ling, who had enjoyed the peaceful quiet for seventy years. Coincidentally, in 1945, a woman was violently killed and gruesomely dismembered in the exact same house, by equally mysterious circumstances."

"Wait, really?!" Korra's eyebrows shot up. Another person had died in this house? She looked over at Bolin, but he just shrugged.

"I'm the only ghost here that I know of."

"Rumors that 257 North Spirit Street is haunted have been renewed of late, many neighbors claiming to see windows and doors opening on their own - "

They glared at Bolin, who grinned sheepishly.

"Oops."

" - and occasional strange noises that some residents claim emanate from the house's basement."

It was her turn to blush. Before they'd completed the soundproofing for Korra's "studio", they had gotten more than a few complaints.

"Police have been dispatched on two occasions to the house, which is now home to a pair of innocuous young roommates that apparently enjoy watching television loudly, and taking advantage of the relatively low rent - "

Bolin scoffed. "Not low enough."

" - but no foul play was ever discovered. A calm may have settled over Republic City's Bau Ling in the past year, but there is no doubt that residents have lingering thoughts of the Slaughterhouse at the back of all their minds."

All three of them fell silent for a moment.

"I wonder what the chances are that any prospective roommates looking at our online listing don't know how to use the Internet," Korra said.

"We are never going to find a roommate," Bolin grumbled. "They call us the Slaughterhouse! "

"Our rent is lower than other places in the area," she pointed out. "And we have a parking spot, we're close to the trains and buses, the master bedroom is amazing, I mean, we have a lot of things going for us."

"Despite being a haunted Slaughterhouse ," Mako said dryly. He pushed the laptop back at his brother.

It probably was going to be a little harder for them, but they would have to deal. There was a lot riding on this hypothetical roommate. They had only been able to afford the house because of Bolin's murder, the cash from the lawsuit, and the fact that Mako and Korra both had been working. But the bottom line was, it was still a nice 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house made for a family that had way more money than them. The time to renew their lease was coming up and Raiko wasn't going to let them sign unless they could prove they could afford it.

"Once I find a couple jobs - "

" If you find a couple jobs," Korra reminded him. Predictably, Mako was still trying to pull them away from the idea of a new roommate. "We can't wait, we need money right now. There's no choice."

He let his forehead hit the table dramatically. "Fine. Just list it, Bo."

"Aye, aye, captain!" Bolin typed and clicked with gusto.

Korra returned to her cooking, quietly telling herself that everything would be okay. They would find a roommate, manage to keep all their secrets, renew the lease, and make it another year. Mako would find a job or two and she'd graduate with her degree and find a full-time position that paid well. Bolin would have them, none of them would ever be alone, and they'd keep each other sane. They'd keep each other human, just like they always had been.

As long as Mako, Bolin, and Korra stayed a family, they could keep going like this until...whenever. Whatever came next.

"What godforsaken concoction are you making now?" Mako asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Um. Ramen with eggs, salami chunks, and the extra cheese powder from that popcorn thing. Want some?"

He made a face. "I'll stick with the last of the O-Neg in the fridge, thanks."

"Do you have to be so annoyingly conservative with food," Korra complained as she dumped the ramen in the boiling water and set to work chopping up chunks of salami.

"A Food Prude!" Bolin exclaimed. They both raised their hands up across the kitchen from one another, slapping each other an air-high five. It drove Mako crazy when they did that. He rolled his eyes.

"You'd better hope werewolves can't get hypertension, diabetes, or high cholesterol."

"Why don't you - oh, crap." As Korra was dumping salami bits into the ramen, the piece of gauze that Bolin had used to dress the long laceration on her arm began to dangle. It dropped into the pot before she could catch it. "Aw c'mon."

She fished the gauze, crusted in dried blood, out of the ramen and tossed it into the trash. Then, Mako watched in horror as Korra continued to stir the noodles and tasted a spoonful.

"That is disgusting , Korra. And I'm a vampire ."

"What, like I'm gonna dump out the whole thing?" she snorted. Korra was the only one eating it, anyway, and it wasn't like her arm had hemorrhaged into the pot. "Don't be a baby."

"I hope our listing is good," Bolin interrupted wisely, before their bickering became a stupid fight and the Swear Jar got another deposit. "I tried to talk the house up as much as I could, so hopefully no one dwells on the whole my gruesome murder thing."

"God, you didn't mention it, did you?" Mako scooted over again.

"No, but I did wonder...should I?"

"No! Of course not!" Korra squawked. "Are you kidding?!"

Bolin looked uncomfortable. "It feels like something that should be disclosed. Slaughterhouse ?"

"Listen, if they see the house and ask about it it, of course we'll tell them. We won't lie. But at least let's have them see the room and make that judgement for themselves. It really is a good deal in a decent neighborhood. If you really think about it, we're kind of doing them a favor."

Bolin squirmed. "We'll have to be extra careful. If we can, maybe we get the human out of the house when Korra changes. And we keep an eye on you, Mako, just in case. You'll tell us if you're feeling...vampirey, right?"

"Obviously," Mako said, sounding offended. But Korra's monthly changes and Mako being tempted weren't the only liabilities. Bolin couldn't hurt a human, but he could spook them pretty well, even if by accident.

"Bo, I get that you're worried," Korra said. "But we've been through tougher things than this already. No one will get hurt. We won't let that happen. We have no choice."

He still looked a little skeptical, but he shrugged. "Okay, well, it might be a moot point anyway. I just did another search on this place. We're kind of popular online. A lot of people might recognize the address and pictures."

After a full week passed with no response to their ad, and no new job prospects for Mako, Korra begrudgingly admitted Bolin was right - none of it might work. He used his artistry of words to spruce up the post and added a few more pristine photos of the room and house, but they still got nothing. They even lowered the portion of the rent to the point that it was just barely helpful.

In all honesty, Korra couldn't really blame anyone for steering clear. If she was a normal human that had read all the things on the internet about the house and its haunting, she would probably want to avoid it, too. Her brilliant idea seemed more and more silly as the days went by, and their bank accounts were getting emptier and emptier. They were already late on rent, as per usual, but it was so late that Raiko was probably going to be forced to action soon.

So when Bolin popped in front of Mako and Korra while they were watching a zombie movie on TV telling them that someone had responded to their ad, they thought he was messing with them.

"Bolin, not now," Korra said grumpily. "I think Ginger was infected with the virus but isn't telling Nuktuk."

"No, I'm serious! Someone's interested in the room!"

Mako snorted. "I thought you changed our email settings so we would stop getting spammed by bots."

"It's not a spambot!" he cried. "You guys!"

He turned the TV off and Mako and Korra both jumped off the couch.

"The fuck do you think you're doing?!" She grabbed the remote.

"Swear Jar!"

"Have you lost your mind?!" Mako demanded. "Nuktuk was about to tell Ginger how he feels about her!"

Bolin took his phone and opened up the email.

"There's this girl, a student at Avatar University like you, Korra!" he read from her phone. "She's looking for a cheap place off campus to live for the semester, if not until she graduates in May. I guess she's a senior like you, too. Twenty-one years old."

Korra stared at him incredulously. "Wait. You're serious? Someone's interested in the room?!"

"Yes!"

"A co-ed?" Mako made a face. "No, thank you."

"Excuse you," Korra sneered. "No one calls them co-eds anymore except old people and perverts. Also, I'm a co-ed."

"But not, like, a co-ed co-ed."

"Shut up."

It was perfect. College students kept busy. They were always studying, working, or partying. If she was the shut-in type, she'd just stay in her room with her private bath and not even need to go into the common areas much. If she was a party girl, all they had to do was enforce a strict no-visitors policy and she'd spend all her time away from the house. And most college kids went home on weekends or holidays, so she'd be out of their hair. Perfect.

"What if she's like you ," Mako asked. "The kind of college girl that studies on the coffee table instead of her room and then yells at us for watching TV too loud?"

Korra ignored him. "Tell her four-thirty tomorrow afternoon, Bo. And make sure she brings proof of employment or a guarantor form co-signed by her parents or whatever."

"Oh, come on," Mako whined. Korra pushed his shoulder lightly.

"I'm sorry, but no other fish are biting. We have to take what we can get. Write her, Bolin."

He typed the message as his brother sulked. "Okay. Things are officially weird. This time next week, it may no longer be just the three of us.

"It will be," Mako said firmly. "Whoever they are, doesn't matter. It'll always be just the three of us."

Korra nodded. "Just the three of us."

"We have a visitor!" Bolin called from where he'd been watching from Mako's bedroom window, waiting for a glimpse of their prospective new roommate. "She's got this cool red car. She parked it across the street and is walking over right now! Wow , she's pretty!"

"Shut up, Bolin!" Mako shushed him and pulled him away from the window. "Remember - you stay in this room, okay? You do not come out until she's gone."

"Oh, come onnnn ," Bolin whined. "You know she can't see or hear me!"

"We can't have you accidentally knocking things over or whatever," Korra said sympathetically. "We can't have anything haunted house-y happen."

"I'll be completely noncorporeal, I swear," he promised, holding up both his hands. "Won't be able to touch anything."

" We can still see you, and can't risk you distracting us. She won't rent from us if she's thinks we're weird."

"I'll stay quiet!"

Mako had to snicker at that. "Sorry, little bro. Just stay put, all right?"

He pouted and while his brother seemed to have developed a resistance to it, it still tugged at Korra's heartstrings to shut the door on him.

"We'll play XBox when she's gone, okay?" she called through the door. Bolin only grumbled back.

The doorbell rang, signalling the official start of Operation: Being Human . Mako prodded Korra forward and they made their way downstairs to let the new girl in. She noted he still looked hesitant about letting a stranger into their home.

"Be cool," she hissed.

"I was born cool. You're the dork here, remember?"

She punched his arm. He poked her. She elbowed him. He gave her hair a tug.

"Stop it!"

" You stop it!"

"Um…" a timid voice said from outside. "I can hear you."

They quickly composed themselves and Korra opened the door.

"Hi, there!" she greeted, immediately putting her charm on full blast.

The young woman at their doorstep smiled awkwardly. She was really tall, Mako's height, and calling her pretty like Bolin had was an understatement. She was gorgeous , with thick, flowing jet-black hair and ruby red lips. Her eyes were somewhere between Mako's deep amber and Bolin's vibrant green, like honey in steaming hot tea, both soothing and searing. Her gray skirt and button-down top made Korra feel like maybe she should have worn something nicer than track pants and a t-shirt, and maybe done something different with her plain brown hair.

She was struck silent for a moment, taking her all in. Whatever confident charm and swagger she'd saved up for this moment just sort of dripped away.

"Hello," she said, holding out her hand. "I'm Asami."

"Oh. Uh, I mean, hi!" She shook her hand. It looked soft and well-manicured, but she was surprised to feel some hardened callouses in her palm.

"I'm guessing you're Korra?"

"Yes!" Korra exclaimed, too enthusiastically She wanted to sink into the floor at that point. God. "That's me. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I'm glad it's you, it'd be weird if he was Korra!" Asami joked. Korra could feel her entire goddamn body blushing.

"I mean, sorry I'm being awkward. I...didn't have enough coffee this morning?"

"Ooh, a caffeine addict. We'll get along."

Korra barked out too loud of a laugh and pulled Mako forward so he could say something. Anything.

"And I'm Mako." The asshole looked thoroughly amused at her floundering. He hadn't bothered to shake her hand, instead keeping his hands deep in his pockets. Korra gave him a look. He had to try a little harder than that. Asami had to like them as much as she liked the house, if this was going to work.

"Why don't you come on in?" Mako decided to try a tentative smile.

Asami grinned back. "Thanks."

She walked into the house and cautiously took a look around. From the entryway she had a pretty good line of sight into the kitchen and living room, both of which we had scrubbed so clean it looked like a photo from a magazine. It had never looked this great before, and it probably never would again.

"How was the trip here?" Korra asked conversationally, trying to start things over as a competent, normal, non-crazy person. "We saw you drive up, I hope there wasn't too much traffic."

It was Asami's turn to laugh, a very pleasant sound. "Well, it's Republic City."

"Tell me about it," Mako rolled his eyes, earning himself another smile. "I drive, too. A junky old 2001 Satomobile Flash. That's a nice SM Stallion you've got. 1977?"

"Close, it's a '75. You've got a good eye for cars," Asami said, impressed.

"You've got good taste in cars. How does a 32 year old car still look so good?"

"Well, I'm partial to Satomobiles. You could say it's my hobby. I like restoring old cars," she said, a coy glint in her eye. Why the hell was Mako so good at this, all of a sudden?

"Luckily, we don't have to do a whole lot of driving," Korra said, almost feeling like she was butting in on the conversation. "Like our listing said, we're a five minute walk to the bus and then it's like, ten minutes to the subway right into the downtown area. But we do have that parking spot for you if you really want to drive."

"I'm definitely hanging onto my car for mostly sentimental reasons," Asami said. "Honestly, your parking spot is the main reason I wanted to see this place. Right now I live on campus and the monthly for parking on campus is a little ridiculous."

Korra knew parking in the city was a trial, but not firsthand. Mako had his car, the dilapidated old death trap he'd inherited from his parents after they died, and he always had trouble parking it anywhere. He'd given up his space next to the house for their new roommate, and the only open spot he found to park his beast of a motor vehicle was five blocks away.

"Well, then it's yours. But just so you know, I go to Avatar University like you, and via public transit I'm there in half an hour no matter what the traffic is like."

"That's right, you're Fire Ferret too!" Asami grinned at me. "What year are you?"

"I'm a senior. I'll hopefully be getting my bachelor's degree in May," Korra said. "Kinesiology with a minor in Exercise Science."

"Cool. I'm in the last year of my Masters. Engineering."

"Oh, your email said you were twenty-one," Mako said, eyebrow raised.

Asami nodded. "I am. I graduated high school and undergrad a little early."

"Wow," Korra found herself saying pathetically.

She looked over at Mako. "What about you? Are you a student?"

He shook his head. "Never had the time."

"Oh, okay. What is it you do?"

"Security," he said, carefully neglecting to mention that he wasn't working in security at that very moment. "Maybe someday I'll try going back to school, though."

"It's a big investment, but it pays off in the end," she shot Korra a playful glance. "At least that's what we hope, right?"

I grinned at her. "It better. Here, let's go look at the kitchen."

Mako and Korra stood at the entrance and watched as Asami inspected the countertops and appliances. She asked permission before opening the cabinets, which Korra knew gave Mako some peace of mind. At least she was respectful of privacy. That would be important if she was going to live with a secret vampire, werewolf, and ghost.

"It's not much," Korra admitted. "Small table, four chairs, but all the appliances are only a year old. Plus we have all our own pots and pans and stuff so you don't need to bring much, but if you want your own stuff we can make room."

"Can you cook?" Asami asked, pointing at the pots set on the stove.

"Yes I can," Korra said, at the same time Mako answered, "No, she can't."

She laughed. "What about you, Mako?"

"Sometimes, but I don't really eat a whole lot."

"Well, I'm a pretty good cook," Asami grinned as she inspected the stove. Korra pulled Mako aside.

"She's interested!" she whispered. "She's talking about how she can contribute. She likes it!"

"Yeah, well." Typical Mako.

"Remember - we need her," Korra hissed, before turning back to Asami. "Hey, you want to get a look at the living room?"

It wasn't much to look at, just a TV, tiny coffee table, and couch, but Bolin had amassed a ludicrously large pile of DVD's and Blu-Ray's that Asami excitedly went to look at. Korra had to smile at how delighted she was, pouring over the nerdy movies and TV shows, and Mako noticed.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. Shut up."

"I don't understand you."

"Ooooh, which one of you is into Battle Stars: Galaxy ?" she gushed, spotting the box set of Bolin's beloved sci-fi TV series.

Mako pointed at Korra as she pointed at him. Asami blinked at them, confused.

"We both like it," Korra lied.

"Oh, and Flamefly ? You guys have really good taste," she said. They just smiled cluelessly.

"Yeah, it's...yeah. We have Netflix, too," Korra said.

"How's your internet?"

"Uh, good?" She guessed that was the appropriate answer.

"I mean, how fast is it?" Asami clarified, amused.

Mako and Korra shared a blank look.

"It's the lowest package," he said finally. "Whatever speed that is."

Asami wrinkled her nose, an action Korra couldn't help but find endearing.

"Would it be okay if we were to upgrade to a higher speed and I paid my share plus the difference?"

That was way over their heads. Bolin was the one who handled that kind of thing, so they just nodded.

"That would be fine," Korra said. "I mean, I don't get it, but it sounds fine."

"Wanna see the room?" Mako asked, obviously wanting to move things along.

"Lead the way!" Asami said. When they got to the top of the stairs, Korra noticed she faltered before going forward. "Okay, I'm gonna be honest. I wasn't sure what to expect when I came here. I read the stories about the murders, and all the rumors about ghosts. This house doesn't have the greatest reputation, you know. And frankly, I kinda had doubts about the kind of people that would choose to live in the Slaughterhouse in the first place."

"I'm hoping there's a but after that…?" Korra grinned nervously.

Asami laughed. " But you two seem really nice. By the way, are you guys...you know…" She pointed back and forth between them. "Together?"

They both blanched.

"No," Mako said quickly.

" God , no," Korra added.

"Hey!"

"I mean - " Korra looked at Asami, who seemed embarrassed for asking. "We used to date. That ended like, years ago. But we're still really good friends, just housemates now. Separate rooms and everything. That's actually Mako's room right here."

"Door's closed because it's a mess," he said quickly. Hopefully Bolin found the strength within to sit tight. They knew he could hear them in the hallway.

Asami still looked sheepish. "Sorry, I didn't mean to - "

"It's fine," Mako said hastily.

"More than fine," Korra assured her.

"Why do you guys have a three bedroom house if there's only two of you?" she wondered. "I imagine it's kind of expensive for two people, even at this price. Why not just find a smaller place?"

Mako and Korra shared a panicked look.

"We just really like the location. Can't beat it," he said. Korra swooped in to change the subject.

"This is the bathroom Mako and I share, and that's my room next to it."

They had decided to leave her room open, so Asami wouldn't get weirded out by a hallway full of closed doors. Korra had spruced up Bolin's old room as best she could and was pretty pleased with the results. Asami looked impressed, at least.

"I'm guessing you're a fitness enthusiast?" she commented, looking at her punching bag, weights, and various other sports equipment.

"I like keeping active," Korra said mildly. It wasn't like she had a choice. Being a werewolf meant she was constantly brimming with an almost animalistic-level energy, even when it wasn't lose to the full moon. It was annoying at first, made her hyper, careless, and impatient, but she'd long since embraced it. Thankfully, she'd found a way to channel it all into physical training.

"Whoa…" Asami's eyes widened at her trophy display. "Coral belts in Judo and Jiujitsu?!"

Korra's eyebrows shot up. "You know what a coral belt is? Most people just know, like, black belts."

"I've trained in martial arts since I was little. I'm a black belt in Judo myself."

It was her turn to be impressed. "Wow, really?"

"Yeah. My dad made sure I'd be able to take care of myself after…well, he was a little over-protective. Made me take a bunch of classes, although I did end up loving them. Have you been doing it since childhood too?"

Korra noted her hesitation when talking about her dad, but chose not to pursue it. She was entitled to some secrets just like they were. For example, she wasn't about to tell her the only reason she practiced martial arts was because becoming a werewolf meant she'd had to expend inhuman amounts of energy every day or else she'd go absolutely insane.

"Um, no, it's a relatively new hobby," she said. "Like, just the past couple years."

"Jeez, you got all these honors in a few years?" Asami looked at her with admiration that made her ears heat up again. "I'm so jealous. And maybe a little afraid of you, heh."

"I'm a lot afraid of her," Mako said dryly. Korra gave him a shove.

"Anyway, your room is this one across from us…"

They led her to the master bedroom. The bedroom was considerably huge, plenty of room for a queen-sized bed, desk, and other kinds of furniture, but it was the private bathroom that they hoped would win a roommate over.

"Wow, it's bigger than I thought," Asami commented, walking around her former room. "I'm almost not sure if I even have enough stuff to fill this place!

"We would be charging you a larger part of the rent for it," Mako said, all business. "But we figured it would be worth it."

She wandered into the bathroom, nodding appreciatively at the beloved tub that Korra had to sacrifice.

"I think it might be." Asami stepped back out and peeked into one of the closets. "It's actually a great deal, in this neighborhood close to all the transportation. Although, I guess that's because of the whole murders and ghosts thing."

"Are you...worried? About the murder thing?" Korra wondered.

"I don't know. Have you two seen any ghosts?" She smirked at them.

Mako snorted. "Yeah right."

"Don't tell me you believe in those things," Korra chuckled anxiously. "Ghosts. Oh, please. "

"I don't, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to live with people who did," Asami chuckled. "In addition to being paranoid and overprotective, my father was religious and superstitious. I left home for many reasons, as you can imagine."

"Oh, well, you don't have to worry about that here," Korra said. "We think the idea of ghosts or whatever is just - "

Suddenly Bolin popped into existence by the doorway, grinning widely. Mako and Korra had to bite their lips between their teeth to stop themselves from yelling at him in shock.

"Sorry you guys, I couldn't help it!" he said quickly, confident at least in the fact that Asami couldn't see or hear him. "Stay cool, I just wanted to see her. Wow , she's pretty! "

Mako and Korra struggled not to stare directly at him, so Asami wouldn't think they were freaks gaping at nothing.

She, however, had no problem looking.

"Oh, why thank you!" Asami smiled, right at Bolin. "And who are you?"

Author's Note

I wasn't sure what I expected the reception to a Being Human/Legend of Korra AU would be but it definitely wasn't this, lol, thanks guys! I knew there had to be a few other people that liked both, despite them being like polar opposites :-P

Also, you may have noticed I changed this from first person to third. That was done for...reasons. Hope the transition wasn't too bad.