AN: sighs, i hav a lingering headache. Am i dying? Maybe.
Christmas Drop #1
Perfect people don't exist.
That was one of the primal laws Korra believed in. It was always too good to be true, humans were made of flaws. That was simply a fact. That's how people grew and matured, learning from their mistakes so whenever someone seemed too 'perfect,' it meant that they were hiding something or wanted something from you.
Something that was beyond what it may seem.
Celebrities tend to be an angel on screen however, behind the lens they were simply arrogant and up on their high horse. Similarly, successful business owners, in particular, were the worst of the bunch because they all preached nice words and wore this pretty mask in public while behind the doors, were slave-driving corporates. At the end of the day, people like these were all selfish and money-driven people who couldn't care less about their consumers' well-being.
Sure, Korra may have been young so it was probably unreasonable for her to judge these corporations and people but after experiencing the shitty conditions herself and reading countless news articles after article, she had yet to be proven wrong. She wouldn't call herself paranoid per se but she has had a handful of bad part-time jobs with big corporations and disappointing interactions with public figures. So, given her experience, who could blame her for being skeptical when the most prime-time target was her next-door neighbor?
At first, after Korra confirmed that her neighbor was a she, she knew of her as 'Sato' thanks to the nameplate on her door. Sometime later, she sadly or unfortunately discovered that her name was Asami thanks to her nighttime activities with some guests. After that, having learned her first and last name, she connected two and two together on campus with all the gossip and rumors that were floating around.
From what she knew despite never talking to her neighbor, she was one of the smartest students on campus with an outstanding and remarkable record. Not only was she majoring in quantum physics, mechanical engineering, and business, but she had also been voted the most beautiful woman on campus to top that off. That already marked off two ticks in her book and the garnish that topped it all off was that she had a nice and humble personality.
Talk about pretentious.
There was no way in hell such a perfect person existed. Smart and beautiful with a good personality? Hah! What could she be hiding? She checked off every box and rang every bell in Korra's list, ergo, meaning that Asami was someone she was desperate to avoid. She didn't have any hateful thoughts toward her but that didn't mean she was planning on getting chummy with her either. The only sucky part about that was that she lived next door to her. Albeit, she rarely ran into the woman in the first place but the times she did run into her, it was in passing which usually resulted in head nods and brief greetings.
They hardly talked but she still left Korra uneasy for some reason.
She was just… too perfect. Robot-like even. It left her unsettled so Korra made sure to keep her distance from the woman because interaction and confrontation were the last things she wanted to do with her. They were simply neighbors, nothing more, nothing less. That was how she planned to carry out the rest of her semester. Sadly, her hopes and dreams were a fickle thought of the past when tossed in with basic college livelihood. Those soft noises coming from the other side of her living room wall reminded Korra that complete ignorance was impossible.
"Aah! Ohh… aaah! Yes! Right there!"
Sighing to herself, Korra set down her chopsticks before cracking up the volume of her TV. Sadly for her, her good sense of hearing failed to wash out the noises coming through the thin walls. More panting and moaning could be heard despite her best efforts to ignore the whole shebang.
"Aaah! Just like that… aah! Aaah—aah!"
This time she could hear something creaking, probably the bed frame or couch. Sighing yet again, Korra stood up from her table to grab her headphones. Those were all college students saving grace. Although, honestly speaking, she didn't really care about the sex noises. Even if it was relatively frequent and loud, she didn't mind it; however, that didn't mean she wanted to hear it.
"Aah! Oh fuck— aaah!"
More thumping and creaking could be heard until finally, Korra popped in her earbuds and turned up the volume to some music. She then turned off the TV before settling back down in her kitchen to finish her meal. However, before she continued with her dinner, she changed the playlist to classical music. Soft instruments filled Korra's ears and she settled down into her chair.
Finally, peace and tranquility.
She enjoyed the rest of her meal in a comfortable manner and in no time, she was carrying out her nightly routine. After she had washed the dishes and put them on the drying rack, she cracked open her textbook and booted up her laptop. She began her studies and homework for about three hours before stopping for the day. Thankfully, she was caught up with her school work so she didn't have to pull an all-nighter today.
She got up from her seat and stretched out tall before cracking her joints and heading into the kitchen to put away her dishes. Once that was done, she looked at the time before noting silence from her next-door neighbor. Korra just assumed that she was done for the night and kicked the hay. She, on the other hand, still had a little more planned before she could knock out and sleep. Pulling aside her small coffee table, she pushed it against the wall before doing a variety of stretches. Once her body was nice and warmed up, she began her rigorous exercise routine.
Doing several sets of push-ups, hollow body holds, squats, burpees, and dips, she was a sweating mess by the end. Her muscles were nice and sore and she did some last stretches while taking deep breaths to cool down. Wiping her sweat with the bottom of her shirt, she went into the kitchen to drink a glass of water. She set down the empty glass on the counter before looking at the time again, just about midnight.
Letting out a huff, she grabbed her jaw and cracked her neck one last time before finishing her night routine. One shower later, she was tucked into bed, deep asleep. By the time morning rolled over, she freshened up before helping herself to a quick egg sandwich. Once she was out the door, she lugged her bag over her shoulder before heading for the stairs. The rest of her day went as usual: taking the local bus to campus, going to several dreadful classes, studying at the library for a little while, and then heading back home.
Thrilling right?
That was the average life of most college students though really. Korra was no exception and she was a slave to the academic lifestyle. Her routine usually never changed. At least that was until today. The moment she turned the knob and pushed the door open, her eyes fell upon a rare sight. Her neighbor was standing in front of her door, halfway there to turn the doorknob. It was even a stranger occurrence because she seemed to be angry in the middle of an… argument over the phone?
"I said no. Enough is enough Mako."
Rubbing her cheek, Korra was planning to walk past her as quietly and smoothly as possible. She didn't want to be seen or thought of as a creepy neighbor so… Slowly. Carefully. One step at a time.
"It's over. No second chances, we're through." She yanked the door open before hanging up on the phone and looking to her right.
Fuck. Busted.
They made eye contact and Korra twitched before standing upright. She then gave Asami an awkward smile before clearing her throat and continuing her steps. Asami's look only narrowed and the silence between them was loud. Thankfully, Korra was quick on her feet and she was at her door in no time. Once she went inside and slammed the door shut, she sighed out loud before dragging her hand down her face.
"Great timing Korra, great timing."
Even though they lived in different units, Korra was on edge. There was just this awkward pressure she felt through their thin walls. Part of it was because she felt bad for the woman. After all, if it was what it seemed like, she probably broke up with her boyfriend.
That always sucked no matter if the person was perfect or not.
Oh well, at the end of the day, it was none of her business. Korra could only hope for the best for her. A few weeks had passed since that night and she hadn't run into her neighbor since. Not much has changed between them and if anything, Korra had indeed confirmed she broke up with her boyfriend since she couldn't hear them having sex anymore.
That was a plus.
Either way, life carried on as usual and it wasn't until Korra had her life sucked out by schoolwork that she dragged her feet to the nearest supermarket for some last-minute groceries. There, she grabbed a surplus of supplement jellies, some veggies, meats, and a few snacks. As she made her last turn, walking down an aisle, she ran into a familiar silhouette.
"Ah…"
Surprised by this encounter, she froze in place before staring at her, low and behold, next-door neighbor. It shouldn't have been a surprise though since this was the closest grocery market that was near their apartments and at this hour nonetheless.
The only question was, should she say hi or turn around and walk away?
Asami still hadn't noticed her yet.
But there was only one more item Korra wanted before heading home. As fate would have it, she was standing right in front of her as well. Damn. She needed that bag of spicy nacho cheese Doritos otherwise her guac wouldn't be the same without them. Scratching her head, she sighed before sucking it up and making her way down the aisle. Asami still hadn't noticed her yet but once Korra was close enough to her, she finally turned to look her way.
Korra noticed the spark of recognition in her eyes before giving her a courteous smile. "Hey there neighbor, grabbing some chips too?"
Unsurprisingly enough, Asami cracked a pretty smile. "Yeah," she finally decided and grabbed a bag. "Cool ranch doritos."
Chuckling softly at that, Korra reached over to grab its rival counterpart. "Spicy nacho cheese for me."
Asami raised a teasing eyebrow as if she wanted to comment but Korra beat her to it.
"They're amazing with guac."
This time she cocked her head slightly before questioning, "With guac?"
Korra only hummed in pride. "Homemade guac with extra lime. It's to die for honestly, I don't know why people don't just have it on the menu."
"Pfft—" Asami's lips cracked before she let out a soft laugh. "That good huh?"
She threw her a chef's kiss. "The best, I can share some with you if you'd like?" Wait. What did she just say?
Blinking at that comment, Asami contemplated her offer before smiling warmly. "Sure, if it isn't too much of a hassle, that'd be great."
Gulping quietly, there was no going back now. "Cool, I'll make some tomorrow and give you some… after six?"
Asami only smiled. "Sounds perfect."
This led Korra to her current dilemma as she put together her homemade guac. She was on her last lime, juicing it with her bare hands, muscles tensing with each squeeze.
What was she thinking?
She wasn't, that was the problem.
"Urghhh, Korra you're such an idiot." She mumbled as she proceeded to finely chop up some onions and cilantro. "Why in the hell did you suggest giving her some guac!"
More grumbling and a few springs of salt and pepper later, she gave her guac a taste before finding some Tupperware. "Good as always but I don't wanna ring her door belllllll." She whined before grabbing a second container for the Doritos.
One heavy sigh later, she scooped a generous amount into the Tupperware before filling the other one with chips. After that, she took a few bites out of her own before setting it aside. She then grabbed her containers before accepting her fate and headed for the door.
"Alright, just pop over, give it to her, and then poof. No more talking to her."
She pushed her door open and began walking over a few steps.
"Yeah… the end…"
At last, she was in front of her neighbor's door. Gulping once, she stared at it for a moment. The way her door was looming over her made her twitch before she cleared her throat and raised her finger to ring the bell. It went off and Korra stood there with a stone-cold face before the door clicked open. Random thoughts were floating in her head as she thought about the possible reactions Asami could have.
What she wasn't expecting was seeing Asami dressed in a loose, red tank top and white booty shorts.
Korra's eyes unconsciously ate up that free meal as her throat grew quickly dry. Thanks to that, she was rudely reminded of how gay she was despite her conscious decision to not trust or be interested in hot people, aka, her neighbor Asami Sato. She was conscious of her breathing and particularly those nice lips that were parting.
Ah. Shit, what did she just say? Clearing her throat, Korra blinked heavily before looking into those emerald eyes and asking, "Sorry, can you repeat that?"
Asami pursed her lips before cocking her head slightly repeating, "You're so sweet, you didn't actually have to bring me guac you know? And well, I'll trust your…" she eyed the spicy nacho cheese Doritos in the Tupperware. "Your chips of choice."
This time, Korra couldn't believe her ears. She scoffed in offense before shoving her food forward. "Hey, no dissing my favorite snack! Don't knock it until you try it."
Letting out a light-hearted laugh, Asami gave her a beautiful smile. "No swapping with cool ranch I assume?"
Giving her a big grin, Korra held out her chips even further. "Duh."
"Alright alright, I'll give it a try then." Asami then accepted the Tupperware. "Thanks, Korra."
"No prob!" Shooting her another grin, Korra gave her one last before heading off. "Let me know how you like it later."
"Will do." Waving her off, Asami watched as Korra went back to her apartment.
Once Korra was safely inside, she shut the door before a realization hit her. "Ah… did I ever tell her my name?" Scratching the back of her head, she had no recollection of doing so but it wasn't hard to find out per se so whatever. She just shrugged it off before carrying about her day as usual.
A few days had passed since Korra had given Asami some guac and chips. Not that Korra had minded but there hadn't been any response since that day. She honestly wasn't expecting much but it still sucked to not hear anything. At the minimum, she'd like her Tupperware back but at the same time, didn't want to put in the effort to get it. That and the fact that Korra avoided her like the plague due to various reasons.
Okay, so maybe this weird tension was finally starting to rub off on her.
No one would get her to admit it though.
Anyways, it was currently a Saturday, and thankfully for her, she managed to catch up on some school work before spending the rest of her day relaxing which mainly included deep stretching. As she decompressed, she took a nice warm bath and was in a steamy sauna when her doorbell went off. Groaning at that, she sunk into the water hoping that they'd go away. She waited a few minutes and no activity.
"Perfect…"
The doorbell rang again.
"Urghhhhh." Sighing deeply, Korra braced herself with the bathtub before pushing herself up. She then turned her head in the direction of her door. "COMING!" She rushed to wipe herself down enough so that she wasn't a dripping mess. Once her skin wasn't super wet, she awkwardly shimmed on some sports shorts before making her way to the door topless. "Coming coming coming…" Sighing again, she wrangled her way into a random campus tee shirt that was lying around. "Yes," she called out one last time while reaching for the doorknob and pulling her head through the neck hole.
It clicked open and she pulled it open before freezing upon seeing who it was.
"Oh… h-hey Asami, what brings you here?"
Korra then readjusted the fabric sticking to her skin. Her sports shorts were crooked, fully exposing her hip bone and V-line. The hem of her shirt, on the other hand, was barely covering her breasts before she finally pulled it down. With her midriff now finally covered, she pushed her wet hair back before blinking at Asami's blank face.
Her eyes had wandered… south.
Then, as if she snapped back to life, Asami cleared her throat before looking up into her eyes. Her cheeks were a little flushed before she stuttered, "S-Sorry, I didn't know you were…" her eyes fell lower again, "showering."
Fluffing her wet hair out, Korra was confused before the realization hit her. "Ah— shit sorry my bad." She then more properly fixed her appearance, "I'm usually always pretty laid back when I'm at home. I'm not an exhibitionist so I didn't mean to flash you or anything." A nervous chuckle left her lips as she rubbed her neck awkwardly.
Asami finally look up again before she cleared her throat a few times. "No it's okay, I didn't mean to intrude on your time. I just thought it would've been a good time to swing by that's all…"
Cocking her head at that, Korra's curiosity grew. "Oh yeah… speaking of which, what brings you here neighbor?"
Smiling softly at that, Asami finally held up the bag she was holding. "I wanted to give you back your Tupperware."
"Ah, right." Korra accepted the bag before adding, "Thanks, you didn't have to."
Her neighbor shook her head. "Nonsense, how can I not return it?"
Throwing her a big grin, Korra had to ask. "So, how'd you like it?"
That comment made Asami's face twitch slightly. "That's..."
Her grin only grew. "Good right?" She wiggled her eyebrows. "I know, the best. Feel free to praise me now."
Scoffing playfully at that, Asami shook her head. "Okay, fine. I will admit… despite your choice in Doritos…" They shot each other this tense yet playful look before she continued, "It was quite delightful."
"Heh," Korra snapped her fingers as a big fat victorious grin took over her face. "Told you, the best." She blew a chef's kiss in her direction.
Asami continued to shake her head before tilting her head. "Hey hey, I said it was good but not that good."
"Ohhh?" Korra challenged with a raised eyebrow. "Whatchu got then? 'The best.'"
Giving her this smug look, Asami pursed her lips. "Toast with butter and a sprinkle of sugar."
Korra gave her this look as she scrunched her nose. "I'll try it out tonight."
A smirk crept up on Asami's face. "Good."
Their bizarre exchange ended just like so and the next several days of sharing weird food combos went as follows:
"Popcorn and ketchup."
"Nutella and potato chips."
"Fries and honey."
"Fries and ice cream."
"Peanut butter and pickles."
"Pickles stuffed in nuggies."
And just like that, a few weeks had passed since they began exchanging their bizarre food combos. They had somehow managed to keep it going for a while and it wasn't until a random Saturday night that they finally struck up a different conversation. Korra begrudgingly opened her door before letting out a sigh. The bags under Korra's eyes were practically screaming for attention.
"Hey Asami…"
"Hey Korra… you good there?"
She grunted before looking at Asami with her dried-out eyes.
"What makes you ask that?"
"Well…" Asami's eyes trailed up and down Korra's tired state. "Humor me why don't you?" She hummed before expanding, "Let me guess… some math problem screwing you over?"
"How'd you know?"
She smiled before shrugging, "Just a hunch. Anyways, can I help you in some way…? If you don't mind, of course, that is."
Korra pinched the bridge of her nose, already dreading punching in numbers into her calculator. "Unless you're a genius in quantum physics… then I appreciate the thought."
Asami's lips puckered before she trod carefully. "Well… I wouldn't say I'm a genius but I'd like to say I have a pretty good understanding…"
Scrunching her eyebrows, Korra stared at her for a moment before she remembered. "Ah… right. Uh… in that case, if you don't mind?" Stepping aside for Asami to enter, Korra gestured her hand inward, welcoming her in.
Smiling politely, Asami bowed slightly before heading inside. "Pardon the intrusion…" The first thing that she did once she was inside was take off her slippers. After that, she took in Korra's apartment, which was very much like hers, yet at the same time so different. "Wow… your place feels… cozy."
Korra snorted at that comment. "I'm sure your place is the spitting image of mine."
"It is," she confirmed before continuing. "It just… feels homier than mine." Her voice sounded gentle, somewhat bittersweet even.
Finally giving her a look, Korra felt some tense underlying tone but ignored it on purpose before redirecting. "Okay, so about that problem I'm stuck on…" she led her over to the coffee table. "I've been stuck for the last thirty minutes, please help."
Per Korra's gestures, Asami took a seat before reviewing her textbook. She only stared at it for a brief second before she started, "Ahh, this one is tricky. First, you gotta use this equation…" She grabbed the pencil off the table and began scribbling in Korra's notebook. "After that, you'll find…"
Gawking at how quickly Asami figured out the problem, Korra's jaw was slack.
"That's… I…" she stared at the paper littered with numbers. "I hate but also love you at the same time."
Snorting at that comment, Asami let out a loud laugh. "You're welcome."
Korra just smiled softly as she watched Asami laugh. Her unfiltered reactions were endearing and Korra was so transfixed in her lighthearted actions that she didn't realize she zoned out, staring at Asami's lips. They just looked so kissable that she didn't even realize Asami had stopped laughing until she registered a warm breath brushing against her skin. The distance between them had somehow shrunk and that was when Korra noticed at Asami was staring at her lips as well.
Oh fuck.
A moment of silence passed before Asami licked her lips and whispered. "Can I kiss you?"
Korra's breath hitched and she gulped before looking up into Asami's eyes. She was embarrassed, to say the least, but knowing that Asami voiced out her inner thoughts made her feel bubbly on the inside.
"Yes."
Asami promptly leaned and pressed a gentle kiss on her lips. They parted briefly before Korra leaned back in to kiss those lips. She needed to confirm how soft they were and they ended up kissing each other for an unspoken amount of time before parting with heavy breaths. Korra ended up eyeing Asami's lips again before leaning down and resting her forehead on her neck.
"So…"
Korra felt the vibration from Asami's chuckle before she repeated her word.
"So?"
Her cheeks began to burn again. "Does this mean that we're um… t-together now?" When Asami didn't reply, Korra cleared her throat before adding, "L-Like dating…?"
Humming softly at her statement, Asami chuckled. "Is that what you want?"
Korra's eyes snapped open in horror as she shot backward. Did she read the lines wrong? "N-No!" Asami immediately shot her this look and Korra's jaw dropped before she fumbled out some words. "No! I mean— yes? Yes. Yeah! That would be um… cool?"
Holding this poker face, Asami just stared at Korra for a silent moment but thankfully, before she could get crushed by the pressure, Asami smiled sweetly. "If this is your way of asking me to be your girlfriend, then yes. My answer is yes."
A huge grin immediately grew on Korra's face. "Cool."
Asami chuckled with a slight shake of her head. "Cool it is."