My notes: Sorry it's been awhile. I am back, hopefully I will be able to post a chapter a week from now on. I also wanted to say, thank you for all the awesome reviews. All the cool stuff people write, makes me want to keep on writing.
Three months into the relationship and Mako was feeling the strain of their triumvirate. After their first copulation everything seemed great, but then as time went on one third of their threesome turned south. The sex was still incredible and things with Korra were also great, but when it came to Asami it felt like he was out of his element. Whenever Korra was present or within earshot Asami was fine but any time Korra was gone, even for a moment, Asami would change. She barely spoke to him and when she did a tinge of annoyance coated her voice, finding fault with anything he did. At first he shrugged it off, but the longer time went on the worse it got. But he didn't want to fight; he didn't want to lose Korra. So he let it go. he found it best to just avoid instances in which he would be alone with her.
It was much to his dismay that he found himself alone with Asami at the apartment early one morning. Korra and Mako would be taking a trip together, for work, to Ba Sing Se for the first Earth Kingdom presidential polls. Rather than meet at the train station Korra had suggested they meet at her and Asami's apartment so that they could all share breakfast before the trip. Asami had let him into the apartment with little more than a curt hello, an explanation for the avatars absence, and that she would back shortly. He followed her into the kitchen where she had already starting cooking breakfast, which by the burnt smell of the air wasn't going very good.
Asami saw Mako wrinkle his nose at her cooking and she felt annoyance surge through her blood. She thought that if she were a firebender she would have burnt the whole place down with him inside it. "You think you can do better?"
"Better...at what?" Mako asked, at which Asami assumed was feign confusion.
"Don't play coy with me. I saw your face. you think my cooking is abysmal." Asami replied in a calm yet accusatory tone.
Mako rubbed the back of his head. "That's not true...it's just a little smoky in here...I can help you fix it." he said stammering trying to salvage the situation.
Asami Narrowed her eyes and shoved the spatula into Mako's chest. "Go ahead," said Asami "I would love to see how a boy raised on the streets could make a better meal than me. What would you know about culinary arts?"
Mako couldn't believe she had moved from a cold shoulder to flat out insulting him. How could a woman, who had once claimed to love him, hit so below the belt? without taking his eyes off of her he took the pan, of what could possibly be an omelet, off the burner and dumped it straight into the trash.
"You would be surprised what ingenuity you can come up with when you have so little." Mako surveyed the cooking area. Asami might not be a good cook, but what she lacked in talent she made up for in preparation. She had a large bowl of beaten eggs, several dishes of fillings, and an array of spices.
"First of all" he said lowering the flame under the burner "The setting is too high."
Asami watched as Mako skillfully assembled a perfect omelet with everything, she hated to admit, that she would have chosen to match her taste. He finished it off by flipping it perfectly onto a plate and presenting it in front of her.
"Your breakfast." he said, with a large grin, obviously happy with himself.
Asami clapped her hands in a slow exaggerated fashion. "Just another thing you think you can do better than me."
"That's not true, I was just trying to help" replied Mako defensively.
"Of course you were trying to help. Trying to help yourself, to make Korra love you better than me. You are always trying to outdo me."
"You are being absurd, this isn't a competition." Mako tried to keep the agitation from his voice.
"It's not?" Asami laughed "Get off it Mako, if Korra wasn't involved in this you wouldn't have any part of me. Do you know what this relationship makes me? Pathetic, that's what. I love Korra. You love Korra. And against my own wishes I also love you. But do you love me?"
Mako tried to interject and Asami shushed him "Let me finish. Just stop with your excuses. three years Mako. Three years and we both never gave up on Korra, we gave her space, but we never gave up. In those three years when we were both in the same city you never once came to me. I called upon you several times, but you gave your excuses and we hardly met up and when we did you only ever talked about her. Yes I fell in love with Korra, but I also never stopped loving you. You though, you gave me up for her. Even when you broke up with her and saw me again I know you still loved her. Even now, you claim to love me, but it's only to be with Korra. I am the third wheel. Eventually she will choose you over me and I will loose the only man, and woman that I ever loved."
A single tear escaped from Asami's eye, and she wiped it away angrily, frustrated that she showed him how much he affected her. After breaking her heart twice, she swore she wouldn't let him have so much power over her. She had thought she was over him, until Korra had brought him back. The worst part was that she had imagined this could work out, and she allowed him back into her life to steal the person she loved more than anything. She loved Mako, but Korra held a part of her spirit. She couldn't lose her, Korra was special.
"Asami...I do love you." said, Mako
"But you love Korra more." Asami didn't ask a question. It was a statement.
Mako was telling the truth. He loved Asami, and he wanted to tell her he loved her and Korra equally, but he didn't want to lie to her either.
"Korra is...special, but that doesn't mean I don't love you, or that I want to steal her away from you. Asami…"
Mako's thought was interrupted. They both heard the front door open and Korra yell out a resounding "I'm home, and I smell something yummy".
"Shut up Mako" Asami warned, "just shut up."
Mako was amazed when Asami displayed a beautiful smile and walked out to meet Korra in the hall. he could hear her talking to the avatar.
"Welcome back love. lets go into the dining room. Mako is finishing up the omelets so that we can enjoy a wonderful breakfast before I send the two people I love, more than anything, away together."
"So", said Korra as she and Mako entered an empty train car "Breakfast seemed a little awkward this morning."
Mako placed their luggage into the overhead compartment and took a seat next to Korra. "Did it?" He tried to answer nonchalantly
"Yeah, Asami was acting all extra, and any conversation from you was non committal and aloof. Just like now with your last answer. Are you guys fighting or something?"
Mako sighed, "I guess so. Asami is definitely not happy with me right now. I just feel like I am in a no win situation with her."
"Maybe it's because you keep spending all your time with me, and you tend to ignore her. You and I get together and have lunch by ourselves sometimes, or more like I show up at your office around lunch time for sex. But you two never spend anytime alone together. Maybe she just feels neglected." Korra offered, trying to give him an inside perspective to Asami's recent behavior.
Mako's features were incredulous "Is that what she told you? I am not ignoring her, I avoid her because she is picking fights with me and in her eyes every move I make is a calculated attempt to sabotage her relationship with you."
Korra rolled her eyes "I think you are being a little dramatic. And yes she had talked to me about this, however I have never seen her act out in any negative way towards you."
"That's because she puts on a facade when the three of us are together."
"It's not an act Mako." replied Korra, a little heatedly "She is hiding her feelings from you because she doesn't want to fight. Maybe if you spent some more time with her and really talked to her you would know that."
"Skybison shit, she doesn't want a fight. Any time I am alone with her she is condescending and rude. That is fine if she feels a certain way, but she makes meaningful conversation difficult. Just this morning we 'talked' but it was one sided and my feelings didn't hold any weight with her. And now here you are acting the same way to me. You are listening to Asami's side of things, without hearing or considering mine. Then when I tell you how I feel you think I am being over dramatic. Of course you two would take each other's side."
"Of course nothing. How dare you try to turn this around on me. I am not taking sides. There are no sides to take. We are all supposed to be in this together."
"Well it doesn't feel like we are all in this together. What it feels like is that this is more trouble than it's worth."
Mako had mixed emotions when he saw how his words caused hurt to flitter across Korra's features. He felt guilty that he had hurt her feelings and his words weren't even true. He would never give up Korra again, but he couldn't help but feel smug that his words hurt her when he was feeling hurt himself. He felt like the two women were ganging up on him currently and that he had no support in the matter. He was trying very hard to make their relationship work, but neither one of them were giving him any credit.
No sooner had the words left his mouth when Opal and Bolin entered the car.
"Korra! Mako!" Bolin exclaimed giving them both a hug, "I feel like it's been forever. Did you guys come together? Korra, are you the reason I can't get a hold of my brother? Wait a minute… are you guys back together?" Bolin barely stopped for a breath, "Just kidding, I wish you two could have seen the look at your faces. You two back together, that is just silly, republic city would have blown up with the two of you fighting."
Opal shook her head, "Bolin, please." She squeezed past her boyfriend, in the narrow space between the rows of seats, to give Korra a hug. "It has been a while, how have you been?"
"It's been too long. I am good. How about we sit together and leave the boys to themselves" suggested Korra, standing "it will be nice to catch up with one another."
"That's a great idea" said Opal following Korra into the pair of seats in front of Mako. "Mako and Bolin can spend time catching up too."
Mako knew Korra was only moving away because she was mad at him. He was just as angry with her and should be welcoming of some space, however it only made his blood more heated. After all he was the one who had been slighted.