487 Acacia Willows
Four: Forest Fires
Korra decides on The Golden Lily partially due to Tahno's bias for the eatery. He's mentioned it several times before, hinted at the restaurant's impeccable food and lush following, and frankly, the aura of mystery has gotten to her, and she'd like to burst the surprise.
It's a fairly pleasant restaurant, undoubtedly the fanciest that she's ever attended—perhaps a bit too grandious for her comfort—and she glances around. It's not exactly busy—there are people seated sparsely amongst the facility, but it's no lunch rush. The few customers all turn their heads to spare a look at the odd coupling of The Former Wolfbat, Tahno, and Avatar Korra, and had it been Korra's first outing with Tahno, she would've felt anxiety, or a bubbling anger and urge to tell the onlookers to mind their own business, but she's grown used to the eyes by now, and pays the onlookers little mind.
Tahno's hand is pressed against the small of her back, and he guides her to a more secluded booth in the corner of the facility. She sits across from him, her body sinking in against the smooth upholstery of the seats, and a soft gasp of surprise leaves her lips as the booth cushions her. Across from her, Tahno laughs, and settles down just as she does, his fingers gracing a menu that had already been so delicately set upon the table.
Korra follows suit, eyes scanning across the items, momentarily growing wide as she finds the prices of each entreé. Her teeth sink into her lip. This place is expensive, and while she knows that Tahno isn't struggling in any way, shape, or form, she doesn't want to be the source of his dwindling bank account, and she doesn't have enough money on hand to pay for the dishes that appeal to her senses.
Like a sixth sense, he picks up on her worry, and his fingers hook along the top of the menu and drag it down. He peers at her, eyes crinkling a bit at the corners as his lips curl into a wry smile.
"Anything your heart desires, Sweetheart." He purrs, and her worries melt away with the heat of his voice, and she matches his wit with a smile of her own, and yanks the menu back into her own possession.
"Yeah, yeah," Imitating his mannerisms, she waves her hand, well aware that she's teetering a risky appearance of selfishness, but knows that he won't take her seriously.
A moment of silence, filled with the tune of a gramophone record (because the live band doesn't go on until much later), passes between the two as they study the menus. Tahno isn't particularly famished, and decides on Gan guo to satisfy his tastes. He's less concerned about the food, however, and more concerned about what's got his date balled up in her seat. The tension in her shoulders and worry upon her brow are tugging at his heart, for he can't stand it when her stress is adamant. He watches her as she scans through the dishes on the menu, and watches her still as a waiter, clad in all black, takes their orders (though the young man seems a bit dumbfounded to be serving both Tahno and Avatar Korra) and scurries away, reassuring them with a gentle stutter that it, 's-shouldn't be very long at all!'
Tahno leans forward, his elbows pressing into the table, and, at the risk of appearing creepy, looks at Korra with bright, sleepy eyes. She, unabashedly, meets his gaze. He doesn't say anything, however; he only studies her. He traces the soft curves of her sweet lips, almost tastes her upon his tongue, and bounces his eyes along the button of her nose, so small and wonderfully shaped for her face. She's quite the stunner, and through slow blinks and slurred syllables, he tells her such.
Korra snaps to attention at his words, having at once been zoning out, and taking in the quiet atmosphere that The Golden Lily offers to them. Her brows furrow, as if she's angry at the soft flush of red she can feel taking her cheeks, and her eyes roll in his direction.
"You don't have to say that," She murmurs, dragging her attention down to the delicately folded napkin that rests before her on the table. She lifts a hand to fiddle with the folds and drag the design apart.
It isn't that she's arrogant, or so insecure that she might deny any claims of her own beauty, for she's fairly accustomed to her own appearance, and while she's long since accepted that things such as hairstyles and makeup are low on her priority list, Korra knows that she's pretty. She's often (often being the caring words of her mother and father) been told that she possesses an aura of classic beauty, with the big, bright blue eyes; dark, rich skin, and thick, endowed figure of a full blooded Southern Water Tribe woman. Korra, despite her appearance, hasn't placed beauty high upon her values.
Except when she's with Tahno.
Her heart always pounds in her chest, her cheeks always flush red, and she always becomes so impishly bashful when he comments on her appearance, because a compliment from him somehow means more to her than a compliment from other silent admirers. Perhaps its his nonchalance that flatters her, as if he's simply reciting something as obvious as the color of the sky to her.
"You don't have to be so humble," He shoots back to her, his voice a low hum, lips turned upwards in a crooked cast of a smile.
"Sorry if I don't want to end up like you." She's smiling as she says it, for its business as usual between them, and he only retaliates with a soft laugh.
Silence falls resolved about them, though Korra is only waiting for Tahno to break it, for the topic that refuses to leave her mind is one that she simply can't bring to the table without the aid of Tahno's interest.
Thankfully, he's observant. His tongue brushes across his teeth, and he reaches for the glass of water that had hastily been placed on the table earlier by their flustered waiter. His lips press against the cool glass, his breath fogging up the surface as he drinks deeply.
"What's eating you, Darling?" Tahno asks after pulling the glass from his lips. Korra sucks the inside of her cheek.
"Mako." The name is strained on her tongue, and she feels somewhat guilty for filling their date with talk of a sour Fire Bender, but Tahno doesn't seem surprised by any stretch of the word.
He lifts a curious brow in her direction, and his eyes are alight with humor. "Oh?" His tone tips up with the syllable, and Korra is reminded of their phone call the night before, and his ever-present nonchalance soothes her mind.
She contemplates whether or not telling Tahno of Mako's prejudice is necessary to the impending conversation, and chews on her lip as she thinks. This is the first time she's had to decide whether or not to hide something from him. Korra mulls over her thoughts carefully—something she's not quite used to doing, because she's always been impulsive in nature (it's her impulse that lead her to Tahno in the first place)—and she often finds that thinking about things for too long causes a breach in her courage.
"He doesn't like you very much—or at all, really. I think he hates you." She blurts out, and it doesn't sound terribly unlike word vomit. It's fitting, though. She doesn't like small talk, or beating around the bush, and Tahno doesn't seem entirely too fond of dancing around subjects for the sake of sensitivity, either.
But he draws back at her words, eyebrows shooting up and creasing in the middle, lips pursing into an 'O', and throws a hand across his chest, as if he's horribly offended. "Say it isn't so!" He cries, his voice airy.
Korra can instantly tell that he's being melodramatic, and a smile stretches across her face, complemented with a roll of her eyes. If she had been sitting next to him, rather than across from him, she would've smacked his arm with the back of her hand.
"You suck," She tosses out, though the syllables waver with laughter, and she mimics his earlier action and brings her glass of water to her lips and drinks, if only to busy her hands.
"So, that doesn't bother you?" She asks in reference to Mako's distaste, after she finishes half of the glass and returns it to the ivory coaster on which it rested before. There's a hint of uneasiness in her voice, but she passes it off with nonchalance—perhaps he'll think the quiver in her syllables is involuntary, and born from the cold water upon the surface of her tongue.
"Does it bother you?" He's joking, trying to lighten the mood, but Korra finds that the playful aura that bathed them only seconds before has dissipated.
"Yes."
His smile falters, his brows falling. It's clear to her that he hadn't expected such a straightforward answer, considering the banter that they had shared earlier. Tahno's tongue brushes across his teeth beneath his closed lips, and before he can speak again, their nervous waiter appears, balancing two dishes—a bowl of Dan Dan noodles, for Korra, and Tahno's Gan Guo—on a circular tray. Ambient small talk is made as the server sets their food, both entrees steaming, on the table. With murmured words of gratitude from the pair, he scurries away with a smile, leaving Tahno and Korra to stare at each other through the sizzling heat of their food.
Tahno unfolds the black cloth napkin that kept metal chopsticks and other utensils sanitary against the table, and drapes the fabric across his lap.
"And why," He begins, holding his chopsticks in his left hand and beginning to stir his food. "would it bother you, Darling?"
Korra takes after him, and unravels her silverware (though she doesn't bother putting the napkin in her lap, but rather bundles it up into a ball at the side of her bowl), shrugging her shoulders.
"It just does." She doesn't meet his eyes, and digs into her food. The noodles scorch the roof of her mouth with their heat, but send her taste buds tingling with their spice, and her eyes shut momentarily in bliss. Across the table, she can hear him laugh.
When she opens her eyes again, he's looking at her with such ardor that her cheeks begin to burn, which, naturally, increases his fondness for her.
"Adorable," He murmurs, the word drawn out on his tongue, syllables spilling lazily from his lips, and Korra can hear his natural Swamp Tribe accent bleed through the letters. She offers him a sheepish half-smile and a roll of the eyes, and brings her napkin to her lips, patting lightly, despite the fact that she hasn't yet made a mess.
"Anyway," She pushes the subject back toward the original topic. "Don't—" She pauses, considering her words carefully. There isn't any inclination in her to sour the mood of their date, but with such a poor imperative on her mind, she doesn't exactly have wiggle room, either.
A huff leaves her lips when she finds that her words are alluding her (perhaps they've been stolen by Tahno), and she lifts another mouthful of noodles to her lips and chews thoughtfully.
Tahno sees it as his cue to take control of the conversation, and steer her mind into clarity.
"Let me guess," He says, and his eyes sparkle as he looks at her. "You were caught this morning, hm?"
Spirits, Korra wants to know how he manages to read her so well—is he supernaturally intuitive, or is she predictable?—and nods.
"He told me you were bad news. Whatever that means." Her voice sours, and her nose wrinkles as she recites Mako's words, the scene painting itself clearly in her mind.
{ You know Tahno's bad news, right, Korra?" }
Across from her, Tahno snickers, and lifts a bite of his food to his mouth. "Oh dear," A pause, for him to chew and swallow. "Is that his worst?"
Tahno's indifference bothers her, because she knows it's not real. It can't be real—he can't be as unaffected as he pretends to be, and his armor, though once strong and shiny, is corroded and cracking beneath the surface. Words get to him.
They have to.
And Korra hates that he hides from her. But that's not the point of their conversation, and she bites her lower lip.
"So I guess this means I'm not meeting your friends, hm?" Tahno drawls, his dark humor filling the silence, and Korra can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the comment, despite the seriousness of the situation.
"Not as long as Mako's being a brat," She says, her smile falling with the words, because she really would like for Tahno to formally meet everybody on the island, and it's a childish desire of hers—a fantasy where everybody is just as infatuated and willing to see the good in Tahno as she is—but it's a desire nonetheless.
Tahno leans over the table, and plucks from Korra's bowl a small bundle of noodles, placing the food upon his tongue and slurping the noodles into his mouth with a soft pop! and Korra's too bothered, to incredibly lost within her fantasies to reprimand him, and Tahno notices.
His lips, tingling from the spice of her food, turn down, his brows bowing together as he looks at her.
"Oh, Sweetheart," He coos softly, leaning deeper into the table. His hand reaches across the table, his index and middle finger tucking beneath her chin, bringing her eyes to meet his.
"Does it really bother you so much?" Again, his voice is warm and hushed, the syllables caressing her the way a lover would, and she purses her lips together and shrugs from his hand.
"Yeah, actually." Korra sees no reason to be bashful.
Tahno, respecting her space, draws back a bit, but still rests his elbows on the table, locking his fingers together, and cradling his chin atop his knuckles.
"Why?" He asks, all too eager to listen, and speak not a word until she's released all that's pressing her mind.
This, Korra realizes, is why she's fallen so hard for him. He's incredibly attentive, and never says too much or too little, even when she has nothing to say. She wonders if he's always been like this—if his charming and gentlemanly nature is the reason why so many girls kept coming back while he was a wolfbat, despite the negative connotation that the 'playboy' side of his reputation withheld.
Her tongue brushes across her upper lip, and beneath his heavy-lidded gaze, she feels as if all of her problems—the fires burning within her—have been reduced to a more manageable, smouldering heat.
"It's just," a sigh. "It's stupid, don't you think?" She looks down, busying her hands with her noodles, though all she does is pick at them, and swirl the food around in the bowl.
Tahno blinks, but sits in silence, doesn't draw his gaze from her for a second, his eyes flickering to her lips, watching them mold around her words as she spills her syllables.
"Everybody thinks you're so awful—"
He can hear the exasperation in her voice, and it makes his heart flutter. It's touching to him, that she cares so much about what others think of him—that she'd be upset enough by the words of others to defend him, and Tahno's vision of her only grows fonder
"But you're not. I mean—even I thought you were pretty gross at first," She pauses, gauging his reaction to her confession, surprised when he laughs.
"Thanks," He purrs, lifting the atmosphere once more.
Korra smacks her teeth at him. "You know what I mean. Everybody is just so shallow. They don't like you, they don't like me, they don't like anything, and they only see what they want to see. It's frustrating." She pushes her bowl back, and it's clear to Tahno that this is about so much more than Mako, and what the fire bender thinks of him.
"Korra," Her name is a prayer from his lips, and she looks up at him, her brows softening. When he says her name, he pulls her back to the ground, and she wonders how somebody so ethereal can be so despised amongst a community.
She doesn't apologize for her tangent, though, and for that, Tahno is glad. She's been apologizing far too much lately—in the media and in press conferences—and it's exhausting for the both of them to hear her spit half-hearted (and half-hearted with due reason) condolences to an ungrateful public.
There's a silence amongst them once more, and Korra looks at her food. Her appetite is gone—not that she was truly hungry in the first place, because this entire escapade was only her excuse to see him—and the lazy atmosphere of The Golden Lily is beginning to stifle her. She doesn't want to be inside any longer—she doesn't want to hide away in the shelters of buildings and secluded booths. She wants everybody to see them.
But she only tells him that she'd rather blow the joint.
Tahno laughs at her odd choice of vernacular, but holds his finger up, signalling for her to wait just a minute as he fishes his wallet from his pocket and tosses fifty yuans and some change—for the waiter, he tells her—onto the table.
They're a strange couple—they get odd looks, they have contrasting reputations—but they're similar in ways far deeper than either of them expects anybody to understand.
It's okay, though.
Because Korra decides that she's going to stop caring so much about everything, and enjoy Republic City with him, and all it has to offer her.
Unfortunately, it's going to take much more for Korra's life to turn than just a simple, impulsive decision.
screams. I'm sorry this is out later than I had promised. I'm not incredibly happy with it, but here it is nonetheless. Thank you all for your kind reviews and follows. If you're from my tumblr reading this, I appreciate you so much, and the next chapter will be up in the usual formatting on my blog. This chapter was a bit lengthy for a text post.
I'm also very happy that you guys are pleased with a slower plot! Thank you so so much, and please leave comments if you'd be so kind!
I'll see you on the 2nd of January with a normal update. Have a happy new year!