A/N: There's an injury in this chapter but it's not a graphic one by any means.

Enjoy!

Somehow he was convinced to go with the two of them, quickly eating as much as he could as politely as he could manage. He hadn't spent much time around either of them yet, let alone both Korra and Bolin, who had a lot more history and shared good times and very very bad times together.

Naga perked her large dog-shaped head at the trio as they approached. She regarded her owner with her usual joy and tail wagging and her best friend Pabu's owner with a similar sharp-toothed grin.

It was when her eyes landed on Mike that she stopped and stared.

He stared back, gears he didn't want turning in his head shifting things around. Those black beady eyes stared right into his very soul and pulled out someone else entirely.

"Naga, this is…Mike," Korra hesitated, petting her companion's furry side before looking back at him…and his disposition had changed. "Come over here, no need to be shy!"

'Mike' stepped back before stepping forwards two steps. "Hello," he said, sounding the same…almost. Something was off. "Naga." He extended his hand out for her to sniff; his sleeve pulled away from his wrist, being too short on the standard-issue acolyte wear he was in.

Naga's ears stood up, as if listening for something dangerous nearby; she waited several seconds before pointing her noise towards him and sniffing his hand. Her tail was wagging more to the left now.

Korra and Bolin watched, the former having stepped back a little. "This is going well, huh?" he commented in a half-whisper.

"Naga is surprisingly calm…usually she's more adverse to new people. I was half-expecting half-hoping for her to try and use him as a chew toy," Korra whispered back.

"You remind me of someone I knew a very long time ago…" 'Mike' spoke in a lower voice as he was giving Naga's snout a little scratch; she was allowing him to do so. "You take the Avatar places, I see, from the saddle in your little shelter here. My friend took me somewhere important too, if my memory is correct." He put his other hand on top of her head to pet it gently. "I don't blame you for your master's distasteful existence. You're much more pleasant than her."

Korra couldn't quite hear what he was saying to her beloved dog. His whole vibe had changed, even if his voice hadn't. He stood a little more upright, maybe that was what made her think that…but he also sounded more tired?

'Mike' took to stroking the ridges of Naga's back. She woofed a little, and he smiled an odd smile. "I apologize, my hands are cold," he said, looking at them in their large, naturally tan existence as if he was seeing something entirely different. His smile dropped. "They're always cold." Naga put her head under one of them, not minding one bit. "Thank you for understanding," he responded quietly.

Korra cleared her throat. "She likes you," she commented. "Somehow. Congrats…"

"She's too good for you," 'Mike' said offhandedly.

Korra was taken aback. "Excuse me? I didn't have to let you meet her, you know, if you're just going to insult me-"

"It's not an insult. It's an observation," 'Mike' said with a click of the tongue. "You like that word, don't you, Avatar?" He gave Naga one last pet before walking away from her. "You've been observing me this whole time we've stood here." He glanced at Bolin, who was struck by his intense gaze and quivered in his spot next to Korra.

She knew that gaze. She'd been waiting for him to show himself again so she could get payback for that humiliation—"You piece of—get away from my dog!" Korra said suddenly, kicking up a piece of earth and chucking it at him-

They were not far from the coastline of the island. A sizable swoosh of water snaked its way out of the bay and sliced the earth in half; 'Mike' had barely moved his hand. "Why would you attack me so suddenly?" he asked, sounding more like Mike but still not Mike. "I didn't do anything wrong." He was smiling, damnit, why was he smiling. It was making her angrier.

"You know what you did!" she yelled in reply, re diverting his water back at him in a sort of pinscher maneuver targeting his torso.

"No, I don't, what did I do-?!" Mike said, his eyes suddenly wide as he was blasted with water he barely had time to block, and certainly couldn't manipulate in a meaningful way. He fell to the ground with a thud!

Korra stared, for a long time her tired eyes stared down at Mike on the ground. "He just—he was—" she sputtered, a hand over her mouth.

Naga padded over and sniffed at Mike's face, licking it with her big tongue. "Agh…who was it…this time…" Mike mumbled as he lay there, feeling a sudden wetness and warmth on his face and also his midsection.

"He'll be okay, right Korra, you can heal him with your epic healer waterbending magic!" Bolin said the first helpful thing this entire time he'd been standing there.

"R-right," she said shakily. "I-I'll do that now-"