AUTHOR'S NOTES: And now we also get to see a bit more of Mako and Bolin as they return more properly to the scene. They'll be much more regular/frequent characters from here on out, and both of them react differently to hearing the news about Asami and Korra's relationship. Said relationship is slightly peculiar because despite their feelings being genuine, they actually spend remarkably little time together (for the moment), mostly due to life things. Despite Korra's relationship, she still has a good platonic friendship with Bolin, which is why I tagged it accordingly. Also... Korra totally still has the Wang Fire beard bequeathed to her by Sokka. There's a story about why she has it, but that's for another time.
Happy Reading!

BOOK TWO: CHANGE

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE: THE PROBENDING BROTHERS

Tenzin had managed to do for Korra what she had not been able to do in front of Asami. Korra contemplated this as she wandered the streets of Republic City after swimming the full distance back to town from Air Temple Island, although she did not contemplate the idea that this effect would not be permanent. Either way, since she was kitty-corner from the Probending Arena, she decided to see if Mako or Bolin were around and say hello. She knew that Mako had gotten a job at the power plant recently, but wasn't entirely sure how Bolin spent his free hours. As such, it was hardly a surprise when she found him wearing a tacky jacket and a comically cheesy mustache, advertising his pet Fire Ferret Pabu and how he could do tricks.

"Come one, come all," Korra moved subtly, hoping that Bolin wouldn't notice her as he tried to attract attention from passersby, "See Pabu the fantastic Fire Ferret as he crosses the Ladder of Peril… upside-down!"

There were other tricks thrown into this arsenal as well, and it was clear the little Fire Ferret had talent, although Korra noticed that Bolin wasn't having too much success based on how many times he looked at an empty cup. Trying to make it inconspicuous, she fished out a large wad of cash from her own money pouch, walked casually by and tossed it into his cup as she passed.

Bolin was too in shock by the amount of money he had just found himself in possession of that he didn't even look up for a full 10 seconds. By the time he did, he saw a blue-clad man with a shoddy topknot, a three-pointed beard and a judgmental stare. However, even if his arms hadn't been crossed over his chest, the blue armband on the "man's" right arm was a dead giveaway.

"Korra!?" Bolin gawked, "How did… where did you get this kind of money!?"

"Korra?" The man stroked his beard, "I don't know that name my good sir. I am Wang Fire, and don't you forget it!" Of course, when 'Wang Fire' pointed 'his' finger at Bolin's nose, it revealed her chest, which, even when covered by a high-necked shirt, was still far too curvaceous to be the chest of a man.

"Nice beard!" Bolin's eyes lit up as Korra tugged on it playfully, using her free hand to undo her shoddy topknot. "You should've dressed the part better though."

"It's a lot harder to pretend to be a man when you start looking like a woman," Korra quipped, glancing down at her breasts which were much harder to hide now than they were when she was 14 and 15. She wasn't even particularly busty, but she lamented the fact that the old Wang Fire disguise she had used many times during her fast-paced mercenary career would have to be put to rest unless she decided to sacrifice breathing instead. Then again, perhaps she could improvise. She'd worry about it later.

"You're such a pretty woman though!" Bolin exclaimed, "If you can't be Wang Fire, maybe be Sapphire Fire instead?"

Korra paused as if this revelation had never occurred to her. Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Bolin you're a genius!" she lifted him into a tight bear hug for a moment, and it was only after she released him that he glanced back up at her before back into the cup where the wad of cash still sat. "But seriously, which Triads did you have to kill to get this much money?"

"Remember the Avatar Gauntlet?" Korra grinned, stowing away her props and rummaging for some candy, "Well, it pays stupidly well. That's my winnings from just one day, and that was the time I hit the drink against two different teams in one session."

"Man, I wish I could be the Avatar…" Bolin sighed for a moment.

"Don't worry," Korra ruffled his hair, "Seriously. Apparently if you're some superstar athlete you get paid exorbitantly idiotic amounts of money just for doing what you enjoy doing. That cash I threw down for you is yours."

"Korra, we can't just take it like that…" Bolin began,

"Why not?" Korra shrugged, her cheek bulging with sweets, "I don't need it, and you guys kind of do. Even if I didn't live with Asami, I'd still probably have about this much money to throw around."

"How rich are you?" Bolin tilted his head,

"Eh, compared to the Sato fortune my money's still chump change," Korra shrugged again, "but I have had Asami lecture me about leaving money around."

"Man, that must be nice." Bolin sighed, lowering his head as Pabu crawled up onto his shoulder.

"Bolin, I didn't mean—" Korra stammered, "I wasn't trying to rub it in or anything."

"I know," Bolin shrugged, "but come on, a man can dream, right?"

"Hey, I said the same thing when I first met the Satos," Korra admitted, "and look where that took us, right?" She realized that she was probably going to break the news here and now. It wasn't that Korra and Asami were trying to keep their relationship a secret, as much as they simply didn't go announcing it to the world everywhere they went—and incidentally, actually spent very little time together outside the estate. Korra wanted to rectify that—she still needed to find a good place to take Asami, and hopefully have it be worthy of their first real kiss.

"Where did it take you?" Bolin asked, "you two seem close, but at the same time I hardly ever see you two together unless you're both at home."

"Well…" Korra scratched her head, "She kinda became my girlfriend… Sorry about that."

"What!?" Bolin grabbed Korra's shoulders, "You two are a couple now!?"

"Well yeah," Korra was blushing much fiercer than she was proud to admit, "I, uhh… really love her. I hope that's not going to be too problematic."

"Why would that be problematic?" Bolin shrugged, "if she's happy and you're happy…"

"Well, that does kind of move you out of the picture." Korra stammered a little. "At least in the dating and relationship scene. You… you aren't mad, are you?"

"Well… I guess I'm a little bummed," Bolin admitted, "but we can still be friends, right? Like, just regular friends who do stuff and all that without being romantic?"

"Of course," Korra put her arms around the earthbender, "I was actually about to ask you the same question. You're a great guy, Bolin… and I think our near-weekly Wednesday-night excursions to Narook's Seaweed Noodlery should still be a thing."

"Really?" Bolin's face lit up again, "I was gonna miss those…"

"I'm sure Asami will understand," Korra saw nothing wrong with having a completely platonic night out with a good friend, and Bolin was exactly the kind of guy that brought out Korra's sillier and more frivolous, carefree side. She loved that about him.

"That reminds me," she continued, "What do you think about it? About me and Asami, I mean?"

"Well, I'm a little bummed that I wasn't the lucky one," Bolin confessed, "But as far as you two are concerned? Hey, go you! I'm happy for you both, as long as you're happy."

"So it's not weird at all?" It wasn't that Korra thought dating another woman was weird, but rather, when she thought about it, it was kind of weird that they were romantically involved despite how little they actually spent time together.

"Not to me," Bolin shrugged, "if you love someone and they love you, where's the problem? I just wanted to make sure you and I could still be friends without me getting between you and Asami, especially with how busy the two of you are doing your different things. So yeah I'm cool with just being friends. No one likes a dramatic love triangle."

"Actually, I heard those are all the rage among young adult fiction writers," Korra joked, "But hey, thanks for the encouraging words of support. They didn't have anything to do with that thick wad of cash I dropped, did they?"

"What? No!" Bolin laughed, "I mean, that helps… but you know me; I can't lie to save my life! I'm sure you two will make a cute couple! Mako might handle it a bit differently, but I think we'll be worrying more about how he reacts to this money than to a relationship between two strong, beautiful, smart women…"

"Oh, stop!" Korra pushed him ,"Flatterer."

"Hey," Bolin gave a matter-of-fact gesture and a shrug, "I find women attractive…if you do too, all you're gonna get from me is encouragement!"

"I walked into that one," Korra shook her head, "But hey, let's you and me hit up the candy shop and get some goodies for the road. You down?"

"Am I ever!" Bolin shed his props and relieved Pabu of his as well. "Thanks for giving me the day off, Korra. I owe you one."

"No you don't," Korra laughed, "Seriously, I will not accept any form of repayment for that cash."

"Aww, I'm not talking about that," Bolin confessed with a laugh as he followed Korra down the road, "but one good turn deserves another and all that, right?"

"Just put it on my tab or something," Korra shrugged, "for now… candy time."

Bolin and Korra hit the nearest candy store, and then hit two others as well, ending up with large pouches of confections. Korra not-so-subtly paid for the entire lot, knowing full well that Bolin could use the money much better than she could. It was only after they finally made their runs back to Bolin's apartment, their faces jammed with candy, that they finally caught Mako, who had just gotten home from work.

"Where'd you two run off to?" He glanced from Bolin to Korra, the latter of whom was still dressed like a vagrant, "is that your dating outfit, Korra?"

"It is if I want it to be," She spoke fairly clearly despite her right cheek being swollen with confections she was in the middle of chewing, "but I wouldn't really even call it a date. All we did was grab some candy" she paused, swallowing everything in her mouth to the point where there was a large lump visible in her throat for several seconds. "But really? Can a guy and a girl not do something together without tacking on some sort of romantic inclination?"

"She's dating Asami anyways," Bolin blurted out. There was an awkward silence that followed, to the point where Korra coughed before shoving a large handful of candy into her mouth.

"Well that's…" Mako put a palm to the back of his neck, "umm… congratulations?"

"Y'don gah'a be all fo'mul n thuff…" Korra spoke through a heavily-packed mouth.

"You can finish chewing that, by the way," Mako interrupted her.

Korra paused, licking her lips as she demolished the candy and then spoke again. "I said you don't gotta be all formal about it. We can still be friends. I mean, we're friends, right?"

"I know I am!" Bolin piped up.

"Well yeah, no mystery there," Korra nudged him, before turning to Mako, "but for reals. I dunno how you feel about me, but I like you enough, Mako. That reminds me—this is for you."

Unbeknownst to Bolin, the wad of cash Korra handed him was slightly larger than the one she had given Bolin, which was less of a way of Korra playing favourites and more her knowing which of the two brothers was more responsible. Unsurprisingly, Mako was not having it.

"I can't just take your money, Korra," he pushed her hand away, "and—wait, where did you get this? It wasn't from larceny or assault or whatever, was it?"

"For reals?" Korra laughed, taking Mako's hand and placing the money in it, "No way! This is just the winnings from Sunday when I went 21-0 in the Avatar Gauntlet. I'm sure as heck not gonna use it anytime soon, so have it. You'll put it to nobler causes than I will; that's for sure."

"This is from one day?" Mako's eyes widened as he turned the stack of bills around in his hand, thumbing through them for consistency.

"Have you seen the games?" Korra crossed her arms, a smug expression taking over her face, "there's never a time it isn't a full house."

"You destroyed us each time we went against you, by the way." Mako reminded her.

"I'm the Avatar, it's kind of what I do," Korra shrugged, "but hey, consider that money prize money for lasting as long as you did. Either way I'm not taking it back, so you can either take it, or I'll give it to Bolin so he can give it to you."

"What do you want from me?" Mako always seemed a little skeptical about Korra ever since she had revealed her history as a mercenary (and her time spent doing less than savoury jobs).

"Nothing?" Korra tilted her head, "I mean seriously I don't want any recompense or anything; I'm just doing it because I want to. Hey, besides: I'm the one that's supposed to have trust issues, not you. I'm just in a good mood and had more money than I knew what to do with. I'd give it to Asami, but let's face it: that'd be like throwing a bucket of water into the ocean."

Mako still seemed hesitant.

"Come on," Korra goaded them, "maybe put it towards a gym membership so you guys don't have to train so early in the morning. Seriously, I don't know how you three do it; I wouldn't last 17 minutes with you guys there. The morning is evil!"

"When you aren't handed everything on a silver platter," Mako retorted, "you learn to adapt."

"Sheesh," Korra rolled her eyes, "that is SO not what I meant by that, but seriously—Bolin, tell him to keep this money or I'm going to leave a trail of it when I head home. Mako, I don't know what I did to piss you off, but how about you come clean with me. I know I'm a prickly little bitch with anger and trust issues, but what's your excuse?"

"You, actually," Mako replied, "Wherever you go, trouble seems to follow. With these Equalist hooligans running around, I figure it's only a matter of time before you get in an altercation with them, and I'd rather stay clear of them."

"If you want me to piss off, you can just say so," Korra pouted, accusingly crossing her arms.

"For now, that might be the best bet," Mako noted, "But… thank you for the cash. It's not you—it's just… complicated."

"This doesn't have anything to do with Asami and I, does it?" Korra tilted her head.

"Of course not," Mako shook his head again, "but no; Just give me some time to sort out these issues and I'll get back to you, Korra. Sorry if I make it sound like you're not wanted… there's just a lot of things on my mind right now, and I wouldn't want to concern you with them if you're already dealing with a mess of your own. I'm not trying to be rude or anything either, so sorry too if I came off as a bit more abrasive than normal."

"Oh no, no," Korra waved her hands, "Say no more, boss. I totally feel you on that one. Take your time sorting out your thoughts—I struggle with the same thing all the time. Thanks for coming with me earlier, Bolin. That was great."

"Thanks for the sponsorship!" Bolin offered his knuckles, which Korra promptly bumped. "And here's for hoping you win your Avatar Gauntlet Finale!"

"Hey thanks," Korra smiled as she waved the brothers off, "And good luck on your Probending championships too!"

Korra rounded the corner and headed down one of the halls before spiralling out the nearest window, killing her fall with a burst of air, and then taking off in a sprint towards the east. She couldn't help but wonder what was on Mako's mind that he didn't want to talk about, but honestly felt no hard feelings towards him. Maybe he was just going through a rough time and had taken out some of that frustration on her, similar to how Korra had taken a lot of her anger out on her parents back when she had been healed by Fukui at the Western Air Temple. Mako was a watchful one, and he seemed exactly like the kind of person that would avoid getting into trouble whenever possible. By contrast, Korra was exactly the kind of person that would go out and actively seek trouble, and so maybe that was it. Whatever it was, she figured it would blow over within a couple of days, and so she shrugged it off as she continued eastward.