CHAPTER FOUR - Air Temple Espresso

"Ooooh, she has an XBox?" Bolin gushed. "Did you get her gamertag?"

Mako and Korra glared at him.

"What? Look, she's fine," he reasoned. "It's been three days and we don't have people with torches and pitchforks knocking down our door. She didn't tell anyone. Why couldn't I play XBox with her?"

"It's still all really sketchy," Mako insisted stubbornly.

"Oh, yeah, says one of the creepers who's been stalking her since Monday."

Mako looked to Korra for support, but she shook her head.

"He does have a point there."

"You always take his side!"

" You need to lighten up!" she accused. "Asami isn't going to say anything. I don't think we need to follow her around anymore. If campus security catches me hiding behind the dumpsters at the student union again, I don't think the 'I accidentally threw out my retainer' excuse is gonna fly again."

Korra could only imagine what she looked like to security, a student hiding in trees and crawling around in the bushes with a pair of binoculars. Mako was lucky, he didn't show up on cameras, but he would have been so busted if he was caught on campus grounds without a student or faculty ID.

"The minute we look away, she's going to - "

"She's going to what? Get an A in her thermodynamics class and solve the energy crisis?"

Asami was fascinating. Three days of secretly following her around on campus had confirmed this. She was definitely a loner. Every morning she woke up early and checked her phone for the weather, read some news headlines, and fiddled with a few engineering and design apps. The girl was addicted to her phone, but never called anyone, barely texted. She was disciplined, always working out at the gym before heading off to class. She was a nerd, spending her late nights on her XBox or watching weird cartoons in her dorm room. She was gorgeous, a fact not lost on her lab partners, who seemed to be in constant competition making passes at her. Not that she noticed, anyway. All Asami seemed to care about was building whatever that contraption was they were working on in the engineering shop and doing dizzyingly complicated math on whatever surface she could write on.

Because above all else, Asami was a genius. She had a large whiteboard in her private dorm room, littered with blueprints, equations, and other hopelessly complicated scribbles. There was a literal stack of academic certificates, awards, and medals on her desk. She lived for her studies and her work and nothing else.

She would have been the perfect freaking roommate.

"A week," Mako insisted. "Let's just finish the week, to make sure. Okay?"

On the very rare occasion she actually left university grounds, Mako would tail her from his car. He didn't get many chances though, since they figured she was still a little spooked by their encounter and wanted to stay safe and sound on campus. There, Korra was her shadow.

But not anymore. She sighed and grabbed her books.

"I'm going to my physiology class, and then straight to work after that. See you boys tonight."

"Korra - "

"We're leaving her alone," she said sternly. "Bolin, don't let him come to campus."

"Got it." He saluted me. "Although if you do happen upon her gamertag - "

She shut the door behind her and headed for the subway station. Straight to class, straight to work, and straight home. That was the plan. It was her usual plan anyway, since they all tried to live as inconspicuously as possible. Other than her coworkers at the coffee shop, who were annoyingly noisy but very sweet, she couldn't even really say she had any friends to hang with between or after classes. She was a lot like Asami, in that way.

Still, Korra really was determined never to see that girl again.

Really.

So when she tripped over a loose cobblestone while running for the downtown bus from the lecture hall and suddenly found a familiar pair of honeyed-green eyes looking down at her, it was honestly an accident.

Honestly.

"Are...you okay? That was some spill."

"I, uh…"

Asami reached out an elegant but strong hand and pulled her up.

"You weren't in the dumpster with your binoculars this morning," she said, casually chuckling, but there was an audible tinge of anxiety there. "I was starting to feel a bit abandoned."

Korra promptly felt herself start to sweat. "I - uh - you - um - I…?"

Asami let her stutter a few seconds more, her expression blank as she idly wrapped her hands around the straps of her backpack. Her nails were painted bright red, and Korra couldn't help but notice the first two nails on her right hand were chipped. That was probably from all the time she spent in the lab working. She seemed like such the classy type, with red-painted lips, green-tinted eyelids, and expertly lined mascara. Not to mention the hair, which didn't seem to grow out of her head so much as freaking cascade across her shoulders. Korra wasn't just being embarrassingly enthralled at how attractive she was, she was making a legitimate observation - Asami was a fancy girl living a decidedly mismatched un-fancy life, for some reason, and that was strange.

Not that she was in any position to make any judgements. Korra was basically a stalker-kidnapper.

"You knew...?"

"Knew what? That you've been spying on me around the university since that day at your house? Or that Mako doesn't realize following someone in their car with the headlights off at night is about ten times more conspicuous than if they were on?"

Asami was being weirdly calm about it all. Not angry or afraid or any other kind of emotion Korra felt like a regular person should have felt. Although what did she know, she hadn't been a regular person for a while, and she hadn't exactly been in this kind of situation before. She wasn't sure how anyone was supposed to respond to this, really.

"Um. Sorry."

"Well, I suppose I appreciate the apology."

"You didn't, I don't know, call the police or whatever?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know I didn't. Can you imagine? Excuse me, officer, I'd like to file a report for attempted kidnapping. I walked clear through this one guy like he was made of air and the other one can just spontaneously grow fangs. No, I'm not drunk, I met them on Craigslist."

Korra cringed. "Sorry."

"Right."

"You still could have, I don't know, reported Mako and I stalking you? They would have believed that. "

She hesitated. "I almost did, when I saw you and Mako in the parking lot by my dorm that day. But you two seemed to be fighting in the car, and I couldn't help but watch you for a moment."

Mako had wanted to capture her again. Korra smacked him in the head and he had calmed down a little, instead suggesting they leave a threatening note with drops of dried blood splattered on it for effect. Of course she had to hit him again, because that was such a stupid, vampire-y thing to even think of, and he finally agreed to some simple reconnaissance. If Asami looked like she was about to ruin their lives, they'd take action, but not until then.

"Then you two sort of just sat there grumpily," Asami continued. "You honestly looked a bit silly. It was like watching little kids fight over a brownie and then pout when mom just takes it away."

Indeed, that just about summed the Korra-Mako relationship.

"From what I...saw...that day, I know that you could have easily just taken me back. Or even possibly...killed me, if you wanted. But you didn't. I decided then that maybe you're not the worst people ever."

"We try not to be." Korra rubbed her neck sheepishly. "Some days are better than others. Especially for Mako, it's harder for him because of...what he is."

She nodded thoughtfully. "But he listens to you."

"Yeah, and his brother. The...uh, the ghost."

"Er, yes. Right."

"I should thank you. For keeping our secret."

Asami frowned. "Honestly, it's not something I feel like I could just tell people. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm an engineer. A scientist."

Korra kept a straight face. "I did notice, yes."

"None of it makes any sense. I don't even think I'm really scared of you people. Maybe if either of you actually tried to hurt me, I would have tried something more, or actually been afraid. But right now I just feel...unsettled. There's something in the universe that science apparently hasn't explained yet, and it bothers me."

Korra couldn't help but grin at that.

"So...you're not calling the cops on us because... science? "

She smirked. "You locked me in a cage, do you really think you get to call me a nerd right now?"

"Okay, okay, sorry."

"Anyway, you let me go." She shrugged. "When I realized all you were doing was watching me, not trying to hurt me, I figured you'd stop after a while. Letting you watch me be boring was a lot easier than trying to fight a bunch of mythological creatures, you know?"

"I guess."

"It kind of makes it seem like you all were more afraid of me than I was of you."

She wasn't wrong. For all their supernatural powers, it was human beings that scared them the most.

"Mako, Bolin, and I look after each other. Whatever it takes. But none of us wanted to drag you into this, just like none of us wanted to be dragged in ourselves."

"So you put an ad on Craigslist for a roommate in your haunted house?" She shook her head. "That was a really stupid plan."

"Don't I know it. But what choice did we have?"

Asami actually looked sad. "Yeah, I remember. Bolin and the house."

Korra took a quick peek at her phone screen. "Speaking of the stupidly expensive house, I really need to get to work and I think I'm about to miss the bus."

"Can't wolves run something like 35 miles per hour?"

"You know what, I actually think that might be racist!"

Asami grinned, actually grinned despite everything. "Excuse my werewolf ignorance."

"Shh!" Korra hissed, looking around to make sure no one had heard. Classes had just let out and the quad was full of students. Asami looked mildly apologetic.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I was kind of loud."

"It doesn't work like that," Korra said softly, continuing to glance around them. "When I'm me, like I am now, I'm just me. Not like Mako or Bolin. Right now, I'm not special. I'm a little stronger, because I train so much with my excess energy, and I have that super-strong sense of smell I think I told you about. Oh, and I guess I eat a lot. That's all."

Asami nodded. "So you really are just a student. You weren't lying."

"So far the only lie I ever really told you was that only two people live in my house," Korra said. "Technically, it's three. Although if you're being super technical, I guess you can argue only one of us is 'living' there, huh?"

"And you have a job?"

"Best barista in Republic city," Korra bragged. "At Air Temple Espresso, downtown."

She looked at her blankly.

"Home of Republic City's famous fruit pies?"

More blank staring.

"We have a big stuffed sky bison out front sitting on a bench that kids take selfies with."

"Oh! Right, next to the gas station and mini mart." Asami rocked back and forth on her heels for a moment. "So...you're just a person."

"I try to be like a person, yeah," she said earnestly. "We all try, really hard."

Asami seemed to be thinking about something. "Right. You know, my car does need some gas."

"Huh?"

"I need to get gas. And I've never tried your famous fruit pies before."

Korra didn't know what this was. Asami was the absolute last person on earth who should want to hang out with her, the last person to even be talking to her. Yet here she was, more or less unafraid. It made no sense.

There was a kindness in those pretty eyes of hers, though. Beyond all reason, she could tell that this girl felt sad for her. For all of them, probably. Asami pitied them, which was an entirely new thing for her. Normally, Korra would resent feeling pitied, but in this case, well, she'd take it. She'd take anything over being feared and hated. In a way, she felt like Asami reaching out with her pity was almost like being forgiven for everything they'd done.

"I suppose I do owe you like, all the fruit pies in the world."

"For the cage thing."

Korra winced again. "Yeah, for the cage thing."

"And for the ride I'm about to give you to work."

Her eyebrows shot up. "You're seriously not even a little afraid of me?"

"You said it yourself, you're nothing special at the moment." Asami smiled at her. Actually smiled, which nearly dazzled Korra right back on her ass.

"I'm not, and Mako or Bolin would never hurt you either. But still...are you really okay with hanging around me?" she asked her cautiously.

"Thinking rather highly of yourself, aren't you?" Asami said flippantly. She started to walk past. "I'm not trying to hang. I'm just a nice person that saw someone fall over, and thought maybe she could use a break."

Several feet ahead of her now, she still didn't look back. Korra faltered.

"Aw, hell," she mumbled, chasing after her. "Thank you, Asami."

"It's no problem - hang on." She stopped suddenly and looked out over the parking lot. Then she waved at someone. Korra blushed furiously.

"Oh, my God, I told him to stay home!" She stomped over to Mako's car, which was parked illegally behind some freshly trimmed hedges. Inside, he cowered under her fuming. "Mako! Mako, you get out here!"

"Korra - !?"

She yanked open his door and dragged him out by his stupid red scarf.

"I told you we were leaving her alone!"

"She can hear you!" he hissed.

"She knew the whole time, you idiot."

Asami smiled awkwardly. "Hello. Sorry I had you follow me all the way to that lingerie store yesterday. I didn't think you'd actually go inside with me, and I swear I didn't think you'd scare all those ladies into beating you with their purses."

"Bullshit. You told the manager I was a pervert trying to creep on you in the dressing room!"

Korra turned back to Asami, impressed.

"Okay, yes, but I didn't think they'd hit you!" She paused. "And anyway, you put me in a cage!"

Mako looked to Korra for help, but she shook her head.

"She officially gets to play that card for the rest of her life."

He frowned. "Whatever. Come on, I'll drive you to work."

"My offer still stands, but it's fine if you want to go with him," Asami said. Mako's eyes widened.

"You were gonna go with her?! You can't go with her, she's basically a stranger!"

"I don't think the people who've watched my every move for three days can call me a stranger," Asami mused.

Korra snorted. "She's right, Mako. I'll see you tonight, just like how we discussed. You know, this morning, when I told you we weren't doing this anymore? When you decided not to listen and come here anyway?"

"Korra, you can't be serious."

"Later, Mako."

She turned away and followed Asami to her hot red vintage sports car.

"He's probably going to follow us, anyway, isn't he?"

"He can do whatever he wants, he's made that much clear," Korra huffed.

"Is it weird that I kind of admire his dedication?"

"Yes."

"Korra!"

Opal, her co-barista, waved from behind the bar. She was a student at Avatar University as well, a sophomore international relations major.

"Hey, Opal. Um, this is Asami."

They shook hands, the young barista looking entirely too excited.

"Nice to meet you, Asami. Gosh, Korra never brings any friends in. I was sure she didn't have any!"

She lightly shoved her and cleared her throat to gloss over that awkward conversation.

"She gave me a ride from school."

"Yeah, I was about to text you! I saw your bus at the corner but you didn't get off. I thought you might have fallen asleep and missed your stop again."

Asami snickered. "Has she done that before?"

"Three times. Once she ended up in Dragon Flats and some guy tried to - "

"Okay!" Korra yelped. " Anyway , here I am, let's get to work. Can you get Asami a fruit pie? I owe her."

Opal nodded. "Today we've got peach, pineapple, and mixed berry."

"Mixed berry sounds lovely, thank you."

"Have a seat wherever you like, Korra will bring it out to you once I have it ready. How do you like your coffee?"

"Oh, you don't have to - "

"I'll make her a cortado," Korra said, pulling on her yellow and orange apron. Asami looked surprised and she felt a twinge of pride at having guessed her usual drink.

Opal nodded over to the armchair by the window. "That's the best seat in the house. Better grab it while it's open. The after-school rush is about to start."

Asami obediently settled into the seat and pulled a textbook out of her bag. Opal kicked Korra under the bar.

"She's cute."

"Shut up."

"She's really cute."

"Shut. Up."

She just grinned at me. "So, how'd you guys meet?"

"We...uh...school."

Opal poked her. "We've worked together for years and you're still so secretive. What's the big deal, is she like a dealer or something?"

"No she's not a - God, we met three days ago! I was kind of a dick to her and I'm just trying to make up for it, okay!?"

"Kind of a dick how?"

"It's a really long story," Korra mumbled, topping off the cortado with a thin layer of foam. Opal slid a plate over to her and dropped a fruit pie on it.

"Your whole life is a really long story," she said. "Someday I'd like to hear it."

"Some day," Korra echoed non-committedly. She took the plate and gently bumped her shoulder in gratitude before taking everything over to Asami.

"Thank you," she said, her eyes still lowered on her book. "I suppose you know my drink because you've watched me order it twice a day for three days?"

"No, I don't have like, super-vision," Korra said sheepishly. "I smelled it on your breath, though."

Asami blinked. "Oh. Right."

"You sure I don't freak you out?"

It took her a moment to answer.

"You? No. Casper the friendly ghost? No. Mako? A little bit, maybe. He's so...vigilant. But I've seen how he acts around you."

She had to smile at that.

"Mako won't touch you."

"I see his car at the far corner of the parking lot right now."

"Yes, well, we both expected that."

"Is he really just going to sit in his car like that until I leave?"

Korra cocked her head. "Probably. I do share some of his concerns though, not gonna lie."

"Like how I can see ghosts, apparently?"

" You mean Bolin," Korra lowered her voice even more and hoped she would follow suit, if she was going to go blabbing words like 'ghost' and 'werewolf'. "But yeah, it would be nice to know. Normally only people like us can see him. You know, people like…"

"Southern Water Tribe," Asami supplied.

"Right...uh, yeah."

"How long have you been...Southern Water Tribe?"

"About three years now, I think. It happened freshman year of college."

"And Mako? How long has he been... Fire Nation? "

Our secret code was already unraveling.

"Just a year. Same as Bolin being...Earth Kingdom. He told you about that."

"So...an SWT, Fire National, and an...Earther? All living together in one house?"

It sounded kind of silly when she put it that way. Although, Korra supposed it was no sillier than saying it properly - a vampire, ghost, and werewolf living together in a house.

"Oh yeah, we're super progressive."

"And you thought a United Republic girl in the mix was a good idea?"

"I don't think we need a code word for 'human', do we?" Korra paused thoughtfully. "Okay, maybe in this context we should."

"What if - whoa! "

Her mouth dropped open and Korra followed her line of sight out the window. In the parking lot, a strong-looking older guy with long black hair and a mustache was leaning into Mako's open car window. Behind the stranger was an extremely thin woman, about the same age, with darker skin and longer, stringier hair. When she moved, Korra realized she wasn't just super-skinny, she actually didn't have any arms.

Mako looked angry, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. They didn't seem to be strangers to him at all. In fact, he was rolling his eyes at them. He started the car and pushed the guy's head out the window so he could roll it up. Then, things went nuts.

The guy grabbed Mako by the front of his leather jacket and dragged him right out of the open window of his car, throwing him down onto the asphalt.

"Shit!" Korra threw off her apron and sprinted outside, startling both Asami and Opal at the counter.

"You think you can fucking mess with Zaheer?" the man was saying, as Mako struggled to pick himself up off the ground.

The armless woman slammed her heavy boot down on Mako's back. Korra heard the rush of air escaping his lungs. "You think you can get away with this shit?"

"Hey, hey! " She shouted, running towards them. "What is this?! Leave him alone!"

The man looked up in surprise and sneered at her.

"You called in your guard dog to save you?"

"Leave her alone, Ghazan," Mako coughed. The woman viciously kicked him in the face, and Korra watched blood splash across the pavement.

She threw herself at her, tackling her to the ground. The armless woman just laughed, cackled at Korra as she squirmed out of her grasp like a snake. For a second she felt bad for knocking over a disabled woman. Just for a second, until her stupid steel-toed boot connected with her cheekbone and had her seeing stars.

"Stay out of this, little pup!" she said gleefully. It was then that Korra caught her scent.

These were vampires. And they knew what she was.

Mako growled in anger and jumped to his feet, trying to grab the woman, but the man called Ghazan snaked an arm around his neck.

"I'm calling the cops!"

They all looked over at the entrance to Air Temple Espresso. A small crowd had gathered, mostly behind the glass windows of the shop, but Asami stood at the curb, her cell phone held high. Ghazan hesitated.

"We're not done with you," he grumbled at Mako, roughly pushing him away so that he sprawled onto the front of the car. Blood streamed from his nose, dripping down the hood.

"Fuck you," Mako spat. "You heard her, she's calling the cops. If they get involved…"

"Let's go, Ming-Hua," Ghazan put a hand on her back, guiding her away from where she looked to be preparing for another kick. "He got the message, and now so did his bitch."

Instead of getting into a another car, they simply strode off into the forest lining the parking lot, as if they had no care in the world. Korra coughed and Mako knelt beside her.

"Are you okay?"

"Dude, your nose blood just dripped into my mouth," she gagged.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you should be, that's the grossest thing that's ever happened to me."

"Not for that you - "

They heard footsteps start rushing towards them. Asami was suddenly by their side, her cell phone still out. Behind her, Opal was holding an espresso portafilter over her head like a weapon.

"I could call the cops," Asami said quietly.

"Of course you should call the cops! Why shouldn't you call the cops!?" Opal yelped, scanning the trees in case Ghazan and Ming-Hua decided to come back asking for a portafilter to the teeth.

Mako looked hard at Asami before responding. "It's okay. You don't have to call anyone."

"What?!" Opal stared at him. "You're both bleeding all over the place. Mako, your nose is broke to all hell and Korra, the entire right side of your face is like, quadrupled in size!"

Korra was watching Asami as well. She met her gaze and Korra realized that she knew. She knew that this was something that involved...people like them, and that maybe it would be better not to involve the authorities. She was asking for permission first.

"It was a dumb little fight," Mako grunted. "He thinks I owe his friend some money. I don't, but he likes playing thug."

She glared at him. There was more to this, and he knew she wasn't stupid. She'd accept this answer with Asami and Opal there, but that night they were getting answers.

Opal studied Korra. She had known Mako from back when they were dating, and when they broke up she had loyally taken her side and hated him for her sake. When they moved in together she thought it was the weirdest thing, but tried to be civil with him even though she still assumed he wronged Korra in some way. Korra could tell what she was thinking, that even as a roommate Mako was still being a bad influence.

"We'll be fine," she reassured her.

"Okay, but you can't work the bar with your face like this," Opal said. "I'm going to get you some ice, but you're going home."

Mako had the nerve to look a little pleased that Korra had to go home with him instead of being with Asami in the coffee shop. She scowled at him.

"You have some explaining to do, Mako."

That wiped that smirk off his face. He quietly trudged back to his car and plopped back into the driver's seat.

"Sorry, Opal. I know it'll be busy this evening. Want me to work for you this Saturday?"

She sighed. "You better, jerk. Now go home. Stay safe. Don't get mixed up in whatever bullshit Mako has gotten himself into."

"He'd never hurt me."

"Maybe not. But those other fools might."

Korra turned to Asami and looked at her apologetically.

"I feel like I've spent this entire afternoon apologizing to you."

She smiled tentatively. "Um, see you around school?"

"See you."

Korra got in the car and stared stonily ahead as Mako drove out of the lot.

"Just gonna cold shoulder me until we get home, huh?"

The answer was yes, but she didn't say it.