Korra was surprised to see Bolin moping by the docks that evening. "Hey, you alright?" she asked her friend.
"I looked everywhere, Korra! I couldn't find her," he lamented, his head down. "I was going to ask her out, but she's disappeared, and she's probably avoiding me—"
"Who?"
"Svetlana! Gosh, she was adorable, and so polite, and confident, and oh man her eyes, Korra, they sparkle like the pro bending ring on tourney day!" he rambled, brandishing the sad looking bouquet he was still holding. "She's even an airbender, how amazing is that?"
Oh.
Oh.
OHHHHHHHH NO.
Korra took a breath to keep herself from losing it. She clapped her hands once. "Bolin…I think it's time I explained something to you."
"So…they're not two separate people," Bolin recapped what Korra told him. They had moved inside by now, as it was getting dark. "And there's more of them in there?"
"We still don't know exactly how it works, so maybe? You should probably keep your distance, anyway. They've been violent a few times," Korra warned him, not mentioning any context.
"I don't know about that. Svetlana was really nice and kinda cute, and Mike was nice when he wasn't freaking out about a plate. Which I totally get, new place, you don't want to break anything—I tried that hug technique that I did with you that one time and it worked really well to calm him down."
Korra raised an eyebrow. Yeah, she'd had that flashback of when she'd been locked in that frigid cage and maybe Bolin hugging her had pulled her out of it, but that was a serious situation. Breaking a plate couldn't have warranted the need for such a response.
"I think I'll ask them to hang out. Even if it's a different person than the two I've met, who cares? I like meeting new people, it's fun!" Bolin figured. "And if they do attack me, I can handle myself. But I don't think they will."
"They can't leave Air Temple Island."
"So we'll do something here. Walk around the perimeter or work out together, if the acolytes give him a break. Mike said he's basically the same age as me, he might have similar interests!" He tilted his head at Korra. "Has he told you any of his interests?"
"Tch, no. I haven't cared to ask, really," Korra admitted.
"Why not? How long have they been here?"
"I don't know, a couple weeks."
Bolin stood up out of the chair. "I've made up my mind. I'm going to become friends with them," he decided with a grin.
Korra had a feeling she couldn't sway him on this. "Sure, give it your best shot. Just be careful."
"I'm the most careful guy around, Korra! They call me 'Bolin the Careful'!" he said with a laugh as he left the room.
Not much later, Mako arrived home from work offshore. "How've things been going around here?" he asked, taking his uniform jacket off.
"Bolin's on a mission to befriend the collective of people we're pseudo-investigating," she replied, crossing her arms. "He already flirted with one of them yesterday."
"Oh, great…I was hoping they wouldn't meet without me there in case something bad happened…although Bolin can handle himself, and I guess they are similar in age and background, kind of…maybe it's not such a bad thing," Mako thought out loud.
"You think it might get us more information?" Korra inquired.
"It could, actually. Let's not tell him anymore, for now, and we'll see how this plays out. Beifong said she's still trying to figure out what to do with them after the month's over, anyway."
"Don't tell me she's thinking about letting them stay here longer. I still have a bad feeling about them." Although she and Svetlana had admittedly been on better terms since her apology, she couldn't say the same about Mike or the earth, water, and firebenders that had appeared and still hadn't been named.
"I can't say she isn't."