AUTHOR'S NOTES: As the title indicates, this is kind of a breather chapter before we delve back into the more heavy-hitting stuff. This one, however, is more of a fluff/implied smut type chapter, with lots of humour and shenanigans along the way.
Happy Reading!
BOOK TWO: CHANGE
CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT: A BRIEF REPRIEVE
Asami found Korra around a few corners and down a narrower passageway, leaning against the wall and staring at her boots. There were occasional passersby in the main tunnel, but none even looked down the tunnel Korra had slipped into.
"Hey…" she tapped Korra's shoulder gently, not wanting to startle her, since Korra had an unpleasant tendency to drive into a frenzy when she was startled, due to her own trauma and the associated paranoia that had stemmed from it.
"WHAA!?" Korra still jumped, although came to a moment later, catching her breath.
"Sorry…" Asami frowned, "you were zoning out really bad there."
"No, it's fine…" Korra shook her head, "I'm a mess, and everything that's happened in the last week is just… it's too much, Asami. I can't… I just can't…"
"Can't what, Korra?" Asami leaned against the wall on Korra's right, glancing over at her.
"I can't…" Korra stammered, "I can't really process it all. It's the trauma all over again and it's made everything else just so overwhelming. I'm worried about Lin. How did Kwan get to her if she went with Tenzin? Does that mean he got captured? Are he and his family okay? Is Lin okay? How did Kwan escape Air Temple Island? I've got so many questions and I'm so worried about everything and I could have done more and I…"
Asami took Korra's hand in hers, briefly tracing her fingers along the electrified scars that had carved elaborate but unpleasant patterns in the Avatar's right hand. Her thumb stopped at the epicenter, a rather angry-looking red patch in the center of Korra's hand. Korra could barely feel it due to the damage there.
"Korra, you can't keep blaming yourself for everything." Asami looked Korra in the eyes, "I don't want to have to be the one that has to call you out on this, but you're starting to sink into another one of those depressive ruts that you so adamantly hate. Please don't go there again, Korra—if not for your sake, then for mine?"
Asami had found that reversing the roles in this regard was more effective than she had expected. Korra was much less inclined to do something "for herself", but was much more open to try and change her behaviour if it was for someone else. It was an interesting revelation; and a rare one, since most people were the opposite in that regard.
"No, you're right…" Korra sighed, "sorry again, babe. I hate that I do this too, you know…"
"I've only ever heard you call me that two other times," Asami pointed out with a slight look of amusement on her face, "neither of which were very pleasant circumstances."
"I didn't mean to attach a bad connotation to it," Korra shrugged, "I dunno, I just… I'm really bad at this relationship thing, in case you haven't figured it out. I'm no—"
"DON'T you say it!" Asami put a finger to Korra's lips, causing her eyes to widen and cross.
"How did you know what I was gonna say?" Korra gave her intent away immediately, complete with a suspicious pout.
"Because we've done this before," Asami reminded her, her tone returning to its gentler state, "and I'm happy to help you as many times as you need. If you weren't worthy of me, Korra, I wouldn't waste my time helping you. I hate when you say that because barring the fact that you're degrading yourself unfairly, it also makes me look bad by implying I'm wasting my time trying to help a girl that I love. You're better than that, Korra. Do I need to list off the ways and reasons why? Because I will."
"No, I'm just being stupid again," Korra sighed and shook his head. "Really… Asami—I hate when I do this, but all I ever do is go right back to it even after I promise to stop. How do I stop though? How do I get out of this cycle of loathing and self-doubt and come to terms with everything I've dealt with? It's killing me, babe—probably literally."
Asami did not reply, but gently coaxed Korra away from the wall and put her arms around her, causing Korra to sigh, nuzzle against Asami's shoulder and bury her face in Asami's hair.
"You deserve better," Korra mumbled, and right before Asami could pull back and shoot Korra that stern look she always gave Korra when she said these kinds of things, Korra continued. "I want to be able to treat you the way you treat me. I want to support you the way you support me; be the shoulder for you to lean on; comfort you when you need it—seriously, how are you holding up? You lost your house, basically lost your dad, and now here we are living in a sewer as your dad's spearheading this whole Equalist shindig. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine…" Asami closed her eyes, "as fine as I'll be until this is over anyways. Thanks for asking though, Korra. This is why I like you."
"What, because I care about what few friends I'm lucky enough to have?" Korra looked at Asami, tilting her head, "Isn't that what everyone does though—or should do?"
She paused, "and wait… like? What happened to love?"
"Ah, so you did catch on," Asami chortled, "Of course I love you, Korra. Being the Avatar is amazing in its own right, but I love you because of who you are, not what you are. You're fierce and compassionate, and while it hurts me to see how little you regard your own needs, your selfless sacrifices and drive to help those you care about is inspiring and something that even I aspire to. You're a strong and beautiful woman who has the sweetest and most wholesome smile and laugh I've ever seen in my life. You deserve to be happy, Korra—and I love those few times when I'm able to make you smile."
"Oh, don't even give me that," Korra snorted, "you make me happier than I can begin to describe; always being there when I'm acting like an impudent shit, and always trying to get me out of my stupid traumatic funks that I have a hobby of slipping into… and fuck don't even get me started on how goddamn gorgeous you are… ugh I just want to stare at you—like, all day."
She paused, "that was probably kind of awkward, wasn't it?"
"Not from you, Korra," Asami laughed, grabbing Korra's left sidelock and softly tugging it to coax the Avatar to step forward again, "I think what you need while we wait for the United Forces is simply to stay busy; to stay occupied. How many pushups did you used to do in a week back when we still lived at my place?"
"Between about 7,000 and 10,000;" Korra shrugged, making it unclear if she was exaggerating or not; "it depended on the week. Why?"
"Think you could top that?" Asami expected Korra to rise to the challenge.
"Sure," Korra shrugged before raising an eyebrow, "But what's the point of doing 10,000 pushups a week if I have no one to do them with? I'd much rather do 5,000 pushups… with a lovely woman on my back to increase resistance." she flashed Asami a wink.
This time it was Asami who threw her head back, laughing. "There's the Korra that I know and am madly in love with…" Asami seized Korra's other sidelock, tugging both of them to pull Korra's face against her own as their lips met for several moments.
"You…" Asami smiled after smearing Korra's lower face and cheeks with lipstick from a rather ruthless series of firm and frequent kisses, "that sense of humour will be the death of me, Korra. Few things bring me as much as joy as when you make me laugh. If you're ever worried about making me happy, just consider that, Korra. Like I said a few minutes ago: you have the sweetest, most adorable little laugh and I could listen to it for days."
"So I want to stare at you and you want me to laugh…" Korra put her hands to her chin, "any way we can make that work out? I would have suggested you stripping to your smallclothes, but I don't think I'd be laughing quite as much as resisting the urge to jump you and carry you off."
This time Asami actually snorted, one of her eyes bulging in a fit of suppressed hysterics.
"You ass," She pushed Korra as she composed herself, "you really want me to strip down in this dank little tunnel?"
Korra stamped her foot, bringing up two large stone walls on either side of them, enclosing a single light above them to keep them from being cast into the dark.
"Let's see those clothes hit the floor, babe." Korra bit her gums to stop from laughing at her own stupidly brazen statement.
"Did you really just…" Asami's face practically glowed red, particularly as she put her hands against one of the walls to see how solid it was—and it was solid.
"What happens down here… stays down here…" Korra teased.
"I hate you so much right now…" Asami laughed, pushing Korra against the other wall.
"But you love when I laugh, don't you?" Korra was in fact laughing as she watched Asami's somewhat flustered reactions.
Asami responded by pulling Korra's ponytail apart, only so she could grab Korra's fallen hair and pull it all at once at a lower angle. "You… are a menace…" she hissed through gritted teeth hiding behind a grin, "and I love the shit outta you…"
Korra was taken aback by not only Asami's brazenness, but also her word choice. Asami didn't seem to mind Korra's blunt and often vulgar language, but Korra had often pegged Asami as having a more refined verbal palette for the most part. Whatever the case, it caused Korra to laugh again, much to Asami's delight.
"Not here…" Asami whispered, "but as soon as we deal with Amon—because we will beat him—I promise you anything you want from me will be yours."
"I'll hold you to that…" Korra whispered, grinning mischievously. "And you're not getting out of here until I've gotten a few hundred more kisses from you."
While Korra had been joking, Asami seemed to take Korra's words at face value. Whatever the case, Kuvira, Mako and Bolin all shot them some very mixed but amused looks when they swaggered back into the main chamber. Gommu had disappeared, but that was probably for the best considering that it was clear that the Avatar and her lover had had a bit of fun considering that Korra's hair was a mess, their clothes weren't entirely on straight, the entire bottom half of Korra's face was smeared with the same shade of red that Asami's lips were,
"What did you two do?" Mako raised his eyebrow. "What happened to Korra's f—is that lipstick?"
"Hee hee hee…" Korra grinned stupidly from ear to ear.
"Is it storytime?" Bolin laughed, "Because I love story time!"
"We kissed," Korra began, "Asami slapped my ass. I also learned she wears pretty underwear. The Avatar State definitely went off at least twice. There may or may not be a few broken lights down one of the tunnels. I think I accidentally set some of our hair on fire. I promise we're just dripping with water, not sweat. I may have showed her my abs. We complimented each other's boobs. Asami's got a nice butt; and uh… half of what I said may or may not actually be true."
"Korra also may or may not be drunk," Asami added, "and, um… I may or may not regret anything that we actually did. It was definitely fun though. Make of that what you will."
"How did Korra get drunk is what I want to know," Kuvira looked just as amused as the brothers at this hilarious story the two of them told. "And how much is actually true?"
"Use your imagination," Asami replied, "it's probably better than anything we could actually come up with—at least on such short notice."
"Not gonna lie," Bolin admitted, "you two look hot—in two ways. It's great to see you both happy again though—especially you, Korra."
"So this isn't half as awkward for you guys as it is for us, is it?" Korra quipped.
"If it's awkward, even I'm too busy laughing to care," Mako pointed out. "I expected that sort of response for you, Korra, but Asami…"
"I apologize for nothing," Asami seemed just as smug about whatever the two of them actually did (or didn't do) in that tunnel as Korra did.
"Chief BeiFong was right about you, Korra," Kuvira pointed out, "you certainly know how to avoid dull moments at any cost."
"It's one of my many talents, I guess," Korra shrugged. "I mean, I'm not exactly proud of my inability to avoid trouble, but what can I do?"
"You can wait," Kuvira suggested, "Until the United Forces arrive there's little any of us can do to turn the tides against these Equalists unless we want to go down in a blaze of glory."
"Why does it always have to be about patience," Korra sighed with a pout as she slumped into a sitting position on the floor, "I can't just sit around all day and do nothing."
"You could get started on those 10,000 pushups you were talking about earlier," Asami chortled.
"Get on my back," Korra shifted onto her hands and toes in a pushup position, and it was clear from this that she meant exactly that. To the surprise of even Mako and Bolin, Asami sat atop Korra's back, crossing her legs to add her weight.
"Ey, Kuvira," Korra grunted slightly, but stayed in her position, "you look like you're in good shape. You up for a pushup contest? First one to 500?"
"Heh," Kuvira laughed, stretching as she stood up, "you're on!"
Korra managed to almost keep up with Kuvira despite Asami on her back, but Kuvira kept a fast and steady rhythm that soon had her pulling ahead of Korra.
"197… 198… 199… 2000!" Korra grunted, "two-thousand one! Two th-"
"Sweetheart…" Asami tapped the back of Korra's head, and she sighed.
"200… 201… 202…" she grunted in defeat, but when she heard Kuvira say "300" a moment later she knew what needed to be done.
Asami found herself almost falling right off Korra's back as she used her Avatar State abilities to channel strength and stamina into catching back up with Kuvira.
"391, 392, 393, 394!" Korra began pounding out numbers between pushups.
"That's cheating!" Kuvira did not look thrilled with this development, although she still managed to make it to 448 before Korra reached 500. Asami was too busy laughing at Korra's audacity (and concentrating on not falling off; a testament to her dexterity) to worry, but ultimately, even Kuvira found the whole thing amusing, even if she did not formally accept Korra's victory.
"You want to try again after a rest with Asami on your back?" Korra chuckled, her glowing eyes gradually returning to normal, "cuz I'll admit—I cheated."
"Well, you did give yourself a handicap with Miss Sato on your back," Kuvira did not seem too upset about what had clearly just been a friendly competition with no real stakes, "so perhaps I'll take you up on that offer. However, if you abuse the Avatar State when *I* have the handicap, I will discipline you."
"It was a one-time thing," Korra laughed, "As much as I abuse it, it's not going to be for the same tricks twice—not that soon anyways."
"I thought it was funny," Bolin quipped, "maybe I should try against one of you and see how well I do. Either that or maybe see if I can outlast Mako, yeah?"
"You want to go then?" Mako took it as a challenge. It wasn't like they had much else to do underground when their current objective was little more than to wait.
"Sure, bring it on!" Bolin got on his hands and toes and Mako followed suit. He jokingly said that he would 'handicap' himself by having Pabu on this back, but after the first 40 or so pushups, the Fire Ferret hopped off Bolin's back and scampered off towards Naga, who was resting in a corner. Obviously none of them could tell what the polar bear-dog was thinking, but Naga also had an acute sense of awareness for her master's well-being. Still, despite the nearly hopeless situation, Korra managed to smile however briefly, and for her friends, sometimes just keeping her from falling back into her depressive state was enough.