Title: Camp Arrowhead
Pairings: Tahno/Korra with a little bit of Mako/Korra, Asami/Iroh, and one-sided Bolin/Korra
Genre: Humor/Romance/Drama
Rating: PG-13/T, but it may go up to M later for language
Summary: In which a group of teenagers think they can handle a bunch of pre-teens for the summer (spoiler: they can't) and Korra gets more than she bargained for, as usual. Water fights, campfires and sneaking out after curfew; it's summer camp at its finest.
Word Count: 2,250
Disclaimer: I own nothing, just the story itself.
A/N: This is pretty much just an excuse for me to write a summer camp AU because why the heck not? It's been a very long time since I've written a multi-chapter anything, but I'm super excited for this story. The plan is for each chapter to be a day of the camp, and with the camp being four weeks long that puts us at roughly 28 chapters. It's a rough, choppy format but I think it'll work out! It's cheesy and silly but I hope you enjoy it and stick with me :) Review and let me know what you think!
Not only did darex2xdream do a wonderful job beta'ing this, but she's helped me put a lot of planning into this story and I don't know what I'd do without her!
Day One
"How are the kids in your cabin?"
Korra's head snapped up, startling her out of her thoughts at the sound of Bolin's voice. She was sitting on a swing, idly rocking back and forth with her toes dug in the ground as she watched kids anywhere from twelve to sixteen run around the grassy field that bordered the mess hall and cabins. The swing directly next to her was still warm from its previous occupant, Korra's co-counselor, who had ran off to tend to a scraped knee.
"Extremely energetic," Korra admitted with a small smile. "It's going to be a long four weeks."
Bolin laughed, a sound that Korra was quickly getting used to, and plopped down on the still-warm swing. "You'll love it here, don't worry." he grinned, gripping the cold chains on either side of him, mirroring Korra's position.
"Hope so," Korra responded, returning his infectious smile. She had met Bolin that morning at the camp staff meeting that had taken place before the rambunctious campers started to arrive, and she was already completely comfortable in his presence. She was guessing it had something to do with his ever present good mood.
"I can't believe you've never been to Camp Arrowhead before! I mean, especially since your uncle is the director!" he commented, throwing his arms in the air for emphasis. "I practically grew up here with my brother Mako," he added.
Korra pointedly ignored the butterflies that were summoned at the sound of Bolin's (attractive) brother's name. She had also met the tall, muscular hot-head at the staff meeting, and she had definitely not noticed how nice of a butt he had, nope, didn't even cross her mind. "Well, seeing as I grew up in Alaska, I never really had the time to spend four weeks in a camp all the way out by Republic City." Korra pointed out, watching two younger boys run by, one clutching tightly to a football and laughing.
"That is SO COOL!" Bolin announced, his arms thrown back in the air. Korra couldn't help the small laugh that slipped out. "You're living in Republic City now, though, right?" he followed up, letting his arms fall back down. Again.
Korra nodded. "Yeah, I just finished my freshman year of college here. Since I'm so close now, Tenzin talked my roommate and I into counseling this year."
"Asami is your roommate, right? She seems cool, too!" Bolin grinned. Before Korra could answer, a bell sounded from the mess hall across the field, signaling that it was time for "camp introduction", AKA Uncle Tenzin talking for at least an hour about how there was to be absolutely no cell phones or PDA or sneaking out. "Guess that's our cue!" Bolin jumped to his feet, then graciously offered a hand to Korra. Laughing, she let him pull her out of the swing and they started making their way towards the mess hall where the campers were already forming what could loosely be described as a line.
"I didn't know your uncle could talk for this long," Asami whispered, leaning close to Korra.
"Trust me, if there's one thing he loves, it's rules. Well, that and yoga." Korra muttered back, trying not to smile. The pair was sitting in the back row of chairs that faced one end of the long mess hall. In front of them roughly a hundred kids were slumped in chairs, trying to stay awake as they listened to Tenzin's deep voice inform them of just how much trouble they'd be in if they even think about leaving their cabins after eleven.
Finally, Tenzin finished his near hour long speech with a quick "remember to have fun!" and Bumi took his place. While Uncle Tenzin was camp director, Korra's other uncle was the game director.
"Yeesh, what a bore." Bumi announced as his opening statement, cheerfully ignoring the stern glare he received from his brother. Giggles passed through the room as the kids quickly realized who the fun director was. Bumi's speech went by much quicker, full of promises of water fights and rafting and more s'mores than you could imagine.
"Now for the most exciting part of the camp…" he announced, rubbing his hands together. "The competition!"
Excited whispers spread like wildfire through the room. Even Korra sat up a little straighter, interest piqued. "There are four teams," Bumi went on, waiting until he had everyone's attention again. "Each pair of cabins, matched by the same number, will work together to earn as many points as they can by winning games and other contests." Korra glanced at Bolin who was sitting on the other side of her, and he grinned, giving her a thumbs up. He and Mako were the counselors for cabin 1B, meaning that they were paired up with Korra and Asami's cabin, 1G.
"After every meal, a cabin is drawn from a bucket to help clean up and wash dishes." Bumi continued. "The team with the most points at the end of the week gets to choose a meal that they will never be drawn for for the next week. The points start over every Saturday night, after the winner is announced. However," Bumi grinned, eyes scanning the room. "The team with the most points overall at the end of the camp gets a HUGE surprise!"
Excited whispers exploded once more. Korra and Bolin exchanged glances, and even though nothing was said, it was clear that they had no choice: they were going to win. They leaned back, laughing. It really was going to be an interesting four weeks.
"What about the crazy peacocks!?" A girl with exceptionally long pigtails practically shouted.
"That could work…" Korra replied, though her voice implied she was trying not to laugh.
"Or the awesome elephants!?" An equally energetic boy suggested.
"Maybe…"
"What else can you guys come up with?" Bolin asked cheerfully. He, Korra, and their fellow counselors were sitting at the end of one of the four tables at the opposite side of the mess hall where they had sat for camp introduction. Their campers, roughly twenty or so boys and girls, were on either side of the table, eagerly giving suggestions for the team name they had to come up with. Korra had been informed that every year there was a theme for the names, and this year it happened to be animals.
"The lions!"
"The narwhals!"
"THE SPARKLY RAINBOW UNICORNS!"
"Ikki! You're not even a camper!" Korra snapped, turning to Tenzin's daughter who had snuck up behind her.
"I wish I was." Ikki replied, crossing her arms and jutting out her bottom lip.
"Two more years and you'll be old enough." Korra sighed, trying not to smile. "Now shoo, we have important team business to attend to."
After fifteen more minutes of intense debate that only resulted in one kid crying, they had settled on the Fire Ferrets. Korra still had no idea where the suggestion had come from (she had a sneaking suspicion Bolin had something to do with it) but most of the kids seemed to like it, so the Fire Ferrets it was.
"I'm not sure Bolin knows he's not an actual camper anymore." Mako commented, watching his brother help color the flag while a few of the older girls tried to braid his hair.
Korra laughed, passing a pair of scissors down the table. They had moved on to decorating the large piece of cloth each team had been given that would be displayed next to the bell outside.
Asami had wandered further down the table to talk to some of the kids from their cabin, and since Bolin was busy getting paint everywhere, Korra was left at the head of the table to watch the chaos unfold with Mako. Not that she minded.
"So, you and Asami are roommates?" Mako asked, clearing his throat.
"Mhm." Korra replied, pulling her legs up to sit crisscross in her chair.
"So you know her pretty well?" Mako continued, and Korra frowned, not liking the direction this was going.
"Yeah…"
"She seems pretty cool." He said, glancing down the table at the roommate in question.
"That's what everyone's been telling me." Korra muttered. As she watched, Asami glanced up towards them and smiled. Korra didn't miss the light coloring on Mako's cheeks as he smiled back, but she wish she would have.
Great, she sighed.
"The sun shines on everyone wearing green!"
Korra laughed as Bolin broke off mid-sentence and launched himself across the room. The kids had been playing ice-breaker games for the last hour, counselors included, and they were currently sitting in a circle playing "The Sun Shines On…". Kind of like musical chairs, the person in the middle named a trait or interest and everyone who shared that trait had to get up and find a new chair. The last one without a chair was stuck in the middle.
A taller boy sat gracefully down in the chair next to her, then glanced over. "Ming." He said simply, smiling. His voice was calm and deep.
"Korra." She replied cheerfully, but before they could say more, a nervous boy in the center had stuttered out that the sun shines on everyone who had blue eyes, and she was up and fighting for a chair.
After switching chairs a few more times, she found herself next to Mako.
"Enjoying yourself?" he asked with a smile, watching Korra tighten her ponytail.
"I maaaay be just a little bit competitive…" Korra admitted with a sheepish grin.
"Well I did just watch you throw a fifteen-year-old to the ground…"
"He was asking for it!" Korra defended, then laughed at Mako's raised eyebrow. He slowly smiled, and Korra smiled back, and wow that's a lot of butterflies.
"The sun shines on EVERYONE!" Bolin yelled from the middle, breaking the moment.
They jumped up from their chairs, and suddenly there was a mass of screaming teenagers, laughing and kicking and shoving as they fought for a seat. After a few moments, Korra broke free of the writhing crowd and stepped towards an open chair, when a hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
She found herself peering up at a way-too-smug smirk and eyeliner. "I'll be taking that chair, little girl."
Korra narrowed her eyes, already hating this dude and his stupid haircut. "I'm not little, I'm a counselor." She hissed.
"Could have fooled me." He drawled, his smirk growing.
"You wanna go toe-to-toe with me, pretty boy?"
"Go for it."
She glared and he smirked and it seemed like forever until-
"OW-shit!" he hissed, rubbing his shoulder where she had punched him. Laughing, she quickly slipped passed him and practically threw herself down in the chair.
"Better luck next time, pretty boy!" she laughed, and now it was her turn to smirk. He glared, hand still on his shoulder, but she could see the corner of his lips twitch.
"This isn't over, little girl." He announced, and then he was back in the crowd, disappearing from sight.
I hope not, Korra caught herself thinking.
It wasn't until campfire that she learned his name.
"Who's the creep with the eyeliner?" she asked Bolin, pulling her blanket closer. Bolin followed her gaze across the fire and flinched.
"That's uh, Tahno. He, Ming and Shaozu have been going to camp for as long as we have." Bolin muttered.
"I met Ming earlier," Korra frowned. "He seemed nice."
Bolin shrugged, throwing a piece of popcorn in his mouth. "Tahno's the only nasty dude, really. He and Mako have had this rivalry thing going for like, ever. They hate each other."
"Over a stupid camp competition?" Korra scoffed.
"Hey, some people take it really seriously." Bolin held his hands up defensively. "We're here for the kids, but that doesn't mean the counselors don't get into it too. I mean," he smiled suddenly, "I did happen to see you push a kid to the ground during-"
"Alright, alright! God, did everyone see that?" she laughed. "I get it, it's easy to get competitive. But I still think it's dumb."
"Yeah well, you might change your mind when the games start tomorrow, 'cause there is no way we're gonna lose!"
Laughing, Korra turned her attention back to the fire, where Bumi was pacing around and telling stories as (most of) the kids listened.
"So there I was!" He boomed, voice mixing with the crackling of the tall fire. "All I had on me was my trusty flute…"
Korra glanced around the circle of bodies, letting her mind drift. She spotted Asami talking to one of the other counselors, Iroh. Smirking, she made a mental note to bring it up in their cabin later. Her gaze continued to wander, until she noticed a set of eyes that happened to be staring straight at her.
Stormy grey eyes.
She raised an eyebrow at him, and he smirked in reply. They held gazes for a few long seconds, sizing each other up, until Ming nudged Tahno and leaned over to mutter something to him. Tahno sent her one last wink before finally breaking eye contact. Korra let out her breath, unaware that she had been holding it.
When Korra and Asami finally got the girls of cabin 1G to quiet down that night, it was a little after one. As she snuggled deeper into the scratchy sheets on her bunk, she thought that maybe spending most of her summer here wouldn't be so bad after all.