#also I really think Mako was so oblivious that she had the hots for him

[sweetorangepoptart]

@thewhorradora requested a preview sooooo......

Asami pulled Mako into the back of the obscenely large garage—how many cars did the Satos keep in here, anyway? He let her pull him all the way to a lone car in the back corner.

“Asami, wha—” Mako started to say, but she covered his mouth with her finger in a shush, yanked open the back door, and climbed in while still clutching his hand tightly. He probably could have pulled his hand from hers, but why would he do that? She was so insistent.

“Shut the door. Quietly,” Asami said, deadly serious. Mako did as he was told and pulled it shut without slamming it.

“Why are we in this car?” Mako asked, sitting upright behind the driver's seat. He peered out the window and wondered if he could calculate the number of cars from here. He’d guess at least twenty. Maybe two dozen.

“It's got the biggest back seat,” Asami replied. Mako realized she hadn't answered his intended question—why were they in a car at all?—but when he turned his head to clarify, he realized she’d answered why they were in this particular car, as she unbuttoned her jacket and yanked her boots off. 

Oh.

“I, uh, thought we were…,” Mako said, caught off guard by the turn of the evening.

Asami froze as she leaned forward to drop her boots and jacket into the front seats. “Wait, do you not want to—”

“Oh, I definitely do, I just didn't realize—”

“What did you think I brought you in here for?” she asked, holding back laughter. 

“To look at your cars—whatever. Let’s just—”

“Aww,” Asami laughed softly. “I can take you on a tour of the garage after, if you want.” Her voice was teasing, but it felt good-natured and not at his expense. She undid the fastens on her shirt, and Mako took a deep breath as heat curled in his core.

Committing heresy (writing a smut scene with Mako and someone other than Wu)

[orangepanic]

(Asking politely) directors commentary on The Uniform Bet?

In response to this ask (I'm slowly working through my asks y'all, thanks for your patience!)

Thank you for asking! This is a fic I rarely get questions about so I'm delighted.

I wrote The Uniform Bet as a gift for my friend @chiefbeifongcanrailme. She's maybe the #1 Lin Beifong fan ever, so right away I knew Lin was going to be the center of the fic. I also knew I wanted it to be fairly NSFW because, well, Lin deserves it. But I couldn't really settle on a ship. Lin and Commander Bumi? Lin and Mako? Lin and General Iroh? All worthy relationships that don't get much attention. Then I remembered my audience, and her brilliant fic, Chaos, in which Lin is hot and everyone wants to bang her. And I thought, why re-invent the wheel?

After that, the pieces fell into place mostly on their own. While I don't have quite as much of the "the Gaang were all one big happy family and they all married each other" headcanons as some folks, I do like the idea that Lin and Bumi have known one another a long time. I love them as a 40-year friends-to-lovers arc that starts with them each thinking it's a joke until it's somehow not a joke anymore, and pretty much always write them that way. They're dynamic ships itself.

Of all the characters in this fic, I obviously know General Iroh the best. Because I've largely made him up. And while I love him to death, his style is the exact opposite of Bumi and Lin's sarcastic teasing. Even in a good mood he's too serious. So right off the bat in the first chapter I had Lin and Bumi yukking it up and Iroh having none of it. The rest of the plot sort of fell in around this dynamic. So, what situation would Bumi and Lin let roll off their shoulders that Iroh would take too seriously and pout about?

Going alone to a wedding.

I headcanon Iroh as the romantic. He wants to date someone. Badly. He wants to throw flowers at their face and shower them with kisses and love them forever and ever and ever like the dork that he is. A wedding he's alone at is like a knife in his heart. Lin and Bumi, however, would I think care a lot less about the context. Neither married. A wedding wouldn't mean as much as not having a specific person in a specific relationship. This quickly became Lin and Bumi thinking thoughts about a relationship with each other while Iroh makes lonely sad faces at the world. Which brings us to Mako. Guess who else would be alone at a S4 wedding? This is too easy.

And that was largely it. Combining the principles of a) Lin is hot and everyone knows that, b) Lin and Bumi are thinking thots but won't say them, c) Iroh is sad and annoyed, d) Mako is single and oblivious led me to both the idea of the bet between Lin and Bumi about which pathetic single firebender they could get a date for first as well as Iroh's counter-plan to get the two of them off his back. Mako, who had zero to do with the set up, is mostly along for the ride here. Lin wants to walk with him? Hot. Lin wants to get fucked against the wall of her hotel room? He's not complaining. Share Lin with Bumi? Weird, but he could get used to it. He's a nice guy, and it's better than not getting laid at all.

But because it's me my hand slipped and Iroh wound up with a love match of his own at the end. Completely unintended side plot.

Ask me for a Director's Cut commentary of any fic.

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Imagine getting annoyed when Korra puts herself in danger because you're in love with her

As a strong bender around Korra’s age Tenzin thought you’d be a perfect companion for her and so he sent you to the water tribe compound before him to meet Korra. Ever since that first encounter you wondered if Tenzin was psychic as well as a master Airbender. You instantly connected with Korra and became fast friends. Your feelings quickly grew to more and you realised you were in love with the avatar long before she moved to Republic City. She was strong and sweet but also cocky and dramatic which you loved. The only downside was her lack of self-regard. Korra could be reckless and every time you saw her come back with physicals injuriess or emotional wounds it hurt you too. You tried telling her to be more careful but she never listened. She threw herself into the fight against Amon and then Tarlock too when he brought in his non-bender curfews. You watched in horror as she almost got into a fistfight with the northern water tribe representative in the middle of the street. You agreed what he was doing was wrong and were very upset Asami, Mako and Bolin had been arrested but you thought Korra’s behaviour was just out of hand. You finally managed to get her back to your apartment without being arrested but Korra didn’t seem happy about that. She started ranting about Tarlock and you finally snapped.

"Korra you can't just jump into dangerous situations like that avatar or not!" you cried. "Why can’t I?" Korra asked "i’m literally the most protected person in the world, i have the avatar state to save me". "So you just put your life at risk at every opportunity?". "Our friends were in danger you really expected me to sit back and let it happen?" Korra shot back. "There was nothing you could do but you risked your life on a fool's errand that had little chance of success". "Maybe but I had to do something. It doesn’t matter if I get hurt in the long run as long as Amon is stopped" Korra nodded adamantly. "That’s not true!" you yelled "Korra If you get hurt we all get hurt too. You being in pain isn’t something we just ignore. If you saved me at the expense of yourself I wouldn’t be happy I'd be just as bad". "Why?" Korra cried and you sighed "because I love you, you idiot!". Silence followed and Korra blinked "you...what?". You sighed "I'm in love with you Korra and have been for months...you're pretty oblivious". "I...I guess I am" Korra nodded "but why?". You paused "why what?". "Why do you love me? How...". You sighed "I mean I guess that's a hard question and at the same time an easy one. Ever since I met you I've been mesmerised. I've never known a person be such a paradox. You're the strongest most confident person i’ve ever known and at the same time you're so gentle and naive. You're so intelligent and then other times you just jump into things blindly. You can be closed off but are also so loving and caring to everyone. You have the literal world on your shoulders but then little things like watching pro-bending excite you. You can be so hot and attractive and then also be so adorable I'd punish anyone for hurting you. You're just one in a million and not because you're the avatar but because there’s no one like you, Korra. That's why I love you". Korra stared at you "you really feel all that about me?". You nodded "so I guess the only question is...have I just made a fool of myself? How do you feel about me?". Korra looked down and you felt your heart skip. "I...I feel a bit differently" Korra admitted. You winced but nodded "that's okay...". "I don’t think you're a paradox I just think you're amazing". You looked up daring to believe this was what you hoped it was. "You've always been there for me and I feel like I've known you years not months. You’re one of the few people who I know only has purely good intentions for me and I like the person I am around you. You were my first proper friend and I think...there’s nobody else I'd want to become something more with than you". "You would?" you grinned and Korra smiled "yeah so...can I kiss you or are you still angry at me for risking my life?". You smiled "I'm still angry but a kiss might actually solve that". Korra smiled "well I'm happy to try as many times as you need" and she leant into you. 

A while later you gasped for breath pulling away but Korra didn’t seem to want to let this moment go. She kept her strong arms around you and peppered your neck with kisses. "Shouldn’t we go bail Asami and the others out of prison?" you asked. Korra looked up at you mischief in her eyes "we could...or we could let Tenzin so it. I alerted him to the situation so he’s probably almost there now...so it might be pointless for us to go too". "Korra are you really ditching your friends to make out with me?". Korra blushed "well I'd probably just aggravate the situation, if anyone can get them out its Tenzin. So I think I'm exactly where I need to be" she grinned that crooked grin that made you weak. "You know I'd be inclined to agree" you nodded and gripped her tunic tightly taking her back towards you.

[motherstone]

Can you tell us more about your OCs? How are the OG cast their ancestors? Are Gabi and Sandra happy together now? Married yet? Your OCs are so rad and I love their story

!! AaaaAA thank you!! 😄😄😭😭��💗💞💘💓💕💘💝 that’s is so rad of you op!!! And I’ll try my best to tell them a bit of their story:

Lemlin is born with a birth defect (underdeveloped elf ears), which makes him unable to receive vibrations (I hc the tip of elf ears are used to detect so) and hear things properly. He doesn’t really want implants and is actually perfectly fine with his disability, so he wears hearing aids instead and elf ears prosthetics just in battle. He had a full-blooded elf brother, Jaqes, who was the son of a wealthy nobleman before the Nobility class was dissolved a long time ago. They have a close and amiable relationship with one another, but Jaqes didn’t know he’s a member of the covert Auxiliary, much less a sharpshooter (which is ironic, because he’s the head of the Central Intelligence Division in there, a mix of CIA and FBI). Lemlin has a variety of friend including both humans, elves, and halflings. He’s really interested in theater, which is actually pretty suitable with his disability (deaf people are incredibly expressive while signing so yea!), and often goes on shows (Gigas goes with him on ocassion. They sorta have a father-son relationship haha). He’s the elf equivalent of 16 (no one knows. They thought he’s 22, it also doesn’t help he has his helmet on all the time). Lemlin is pan-ace. He lives in Milre, Gulfen.

Ian has a very strained relationship with his father (hc is that nearly all who is part of the Elf army are abusive fathers because they didn’t get the treatment they needed at the time), who is at odds with his homosexuality. He doesn’t care though, although at first he inherited his racism. That is, until his sister (Mako) had teenage sex with a human (who broke up with her when she got pregnant), and thus giving birth to a halfling, much to his anger. He’s even more furious with humans over this, but eventually realize his anger was bullshit, especially when his nephew was born. Now he has human friends, a human BESTfriend (Sandra), and is now seatching for a boyfriend (he’s working on it. If they can’t handle his personality they gotta go). Ian is passive-aggressive and sarcastic at times, especially on the field, so it causes great friction among the group, he is also prideful and assured with his great skills and technicality. However for all of his ego, he is a good leader when Gabi is not around and gets the job done, and is incredibly competent at what he do (he’s based on a few teachers and a classmate of mine haha). He’s the elf equivalent of 26, with kinfe skills, mechanic skills, pilot skills, and tactic skills, only second to Gabi (but the gap is still wide). He’s gay. He lives in Gorbon, Windsor.

Gigas! Big and friendly Gigas. He used to live in Ganon’s Gate, and had a halfling bestfriend, that is until said friend was lynched, to his great horror. It leads him to killing someone who went after him, which landed him in jail. Thankfully, Gulfen’s prison system is revised thanks to the King (Trellis. It’s similar to how prisoners are treated in Norway), so his actions are recognized as self-defense. While in prison, someone from the Auxiliary sees potential in him (it helps that he’s huuuuge. Like, 6"10’ huge. I decided that 7 feet is too tall), and thus offers to recruit him once his term is finished. By then, he’s a changed man, learning from experience, books, and stories from the inmates helped him develop a kinder and helpful personality (still cheerful tho. He’s always a joyous and passionate man). He gets into the Auxiliary and was assigned to Lufen, Coco, where he met his wife. It was a celebratio for the end of the great war, and the city was holding a huge banquet (similar to the fiesta of the Philippines where the food is laid out on a huuuuge table), and that’s where he met his future wife, whom he loudly comolimented her cooking (he’s a cook himself). There’s a lot more to his story besides this but I’ll cut it off. He’s the elven equivalent of 36, and is an incredibly strong guy, but lacks any sort of outstanding ability besides that. His personality acts as a great mediator amongst the group, and as a guiding and kind voice to all, and is very friendly towards Theorn. He’s straight. He lives in Coco, Lufen with his son and wife.

Sandra! She’s the physical incarnation of Dumb Bitch Energy (aaaa bit of a self-insert ahah). But by God is she agile and fast. She has 4 siblings (a couple are adopted) and she’s the oldest, her family owning a farm in Lufen. She used to be assigned in Gulfen to detect and neutralize landmines with her dog, until her legs got blown off along with her companion. It devastated her so much, she uses sex to cope (she’s hypersexual, but dw she is working on it). Sandra can a bit slow and dim-witted at times, but has a treasure trove of street smarts with instincts to match and is a friendly person to anyone regardless. She is on ocassion sorta oblivious to the atmosphere, which makes her make a situation worse, but if you direct her on the field, she uses her creativity to do her job efficiently. She’s bffs with Ian, often spending time with one another to the point of a qpr (queer-platonic relationship. THAT close). She’s 23. She’s bi/pan. She lives in a developing town of Lufen.

Theorn, an expert swordsman who is the only person left from the Redbeard warrior clan. He’s still using Leon’s sword, still at good shape, at the age of repulsor and stonekeeper tech (which is impractical but he’s still good fighter so they don’t stop him). He was orphaned at a young age, but developed a strong moral code regardless and became a police officer in Kanalis as a result. He got tangled in with the Auxiliary when he gets out during a lockdown (upon which all citizens goes underground for safety) to help people when the city is attacked by a rogue mountain giant, and sees Gabi slaying the thing and encountering Ian (who is in a different squad from Gabi. This is so long ok), which he is not meant to do or see, as the Auxiliary’s existence must be kept secret. He and Ian fights but they were toe to toe when it comes to close combat, they knock him out and takes him to the Hexagon (Auxiliary HQ) with the intent to wipe his memory of the event, to which he simply pleads to join, feeling he’ll be able to contribute more. Now he’s in a squad of the weirdest, egoistic people he’s met, and although looking serious, is absolutely at a loss of words at the Auxiliary’s odd happnings and morbid humor (heard soldiers develop nihilistic and fatalistic sense of humour once), but deep respect at the fights and sacrifices that they do. His lawful, goody-good personality is often at odds with the group (he’s kind of the prim and proper guy while these dudes… Can be wacky at times), to his great frustration, with Gigas the only person taking him seriously. He is at most odds with Ian (haha sexual tension everyone?) and with Gabi’s chaotic neutral/good personality. He is still good friends with them tho and cares about their sakes. Theorn is still a reliable and the most trustworthy guy of the group, and although his skills are nowhere near outstanding outside parkour, hand-to-hand combat and swordplay, he is strong, fast, and agile in his own way. He’s 24. Theorn is bi/pan.He lives in Kanalis, Windsor.

Gabi. Hot-headed, incredibly petty, batshit strong and skilled Gabi. She follows her own moral code, and is often at odds with the authority at Auxiliary and her own squad until she realizes her toxic attitude aint shit and changed. Now she’s the most serious of the group, but at least reasonable. Has a very fucked up sense of humour and hates Theorn’s personality (cop-convict anyone?), but ultimately came to resoect him for insisitng on doing good in a shitty world. Has a serious crush on a developing artist, who was pretty nice and her cheerful and lax personality helps her feel safe and comfortable, helping her develop social awareness and skills. She is in fact, not in a relationship with Sandra (not her type). Her crush used to have a crush on someone, but eventually stops and slowly has a crush on her (not that she knew. She was p much resigned to unreqruited love). But like her, her cursh has a deep set of mental issues, leading her to fall into depression and neglect, making her unable to work on her recruitment piece for Gulfen’s Institution (which offers free tuiton to its students should they oass and it’s a great school). Gabi then often breaks out of the Auxiliary without permission and during vacation months to take care of her recovery (it started when her mother beat her up in her OWN home, an small dilapilating apartment, making her feel paranoid and unsafe. It ignited old self-loathing and unwavering sadness yet again). She eventually gets better, and gets accepted, to the duo’s happiness. At a celebration party, she takes Gabi as her plus one. As they dance, Gabi finally confesses her feelings, which her crush actually reciprocates. They then starts a happy and healthy relationship. She the elven equivalent of 25. She’s a butch lesbian and lives in an unspecified part of Gulfen. Did I mention Gabilan is her pops

Ravis. He, him/they, them. They think idealistically on ocassion, even ny Theorn’s standards so the squad is kind of exasperated with him. It doesn’t help he is more naive and inexperience in comparison to them (yes, even Lemlin), with a good childhood to boot (in comparison to theirs) so it took quite a long while for them to warm up the guy. Ravis used to have a happy and healthy childhood in Lucien with his mother, and his father working abroad in Gulfen, but visits them very feequently. It all changes when the King suddenly (tw: suicide) committed suicide (?) (they never found the body), plunging the Elf nation into chaos and government shutdown affecting their lives outside Gulfen. They continue on regardless, with their mother ending up as a widow, and they studied to become one of the leading pioneers of Alchemy, under their mother’s tutelage. They then studied combat under three teachers during their teen years, and in nearing the end of their third term, theur mother is afflicted with an unprecedented terminal illness, and dies. Even though they are of age, they quietly move into the North East of Gulfen, in a remote village where they work as a healer. Needing his intelligence, the squad was sent over to recruit and escort them, in order to investigate a chemical used when an attack on the Border Guard occurs, leading to a breach and thus ending the 500 years of the Gate being infallible. They nevertheless have a compassionate and empathetic nature, driven to help others especially those in need. He is quite well-spoken and intelligent, and has good social skills. Oddly enough, he doesn’t really have friends until the squad. They’re the elven equivalent of 20, and is a certified doctor.

[dancingkirby]

In which Bolin adults

Chapter 3!  And I still have no idea whether this story is actually decent or a pile of hot garbage, but here it is anyway! :D  This one has the embarrassing sex stuff at the beginning for which my cat was judging me.  There are also some minor continuity errors with Chapter 2, which I fixed before posting it on ff.net.

As soon as their apartment door was closed behind them, Opal turned to face Bolin.

“Are you going to tell me what happened between you and Eska?” she asked.  “Besides the obvious.  I didn’t want to press you last night because you were already so distraught, but I…I feel like I need to know.”

Bolin gulped and snuck a look at her face.  She didn’t look angry, just confused.

“Yeah…” he began, and winced at how hoarse his voice sounded.  He cleared his throat and tried again.

“Yeah, I mean, you should know.  Let me just…oof!  Pabu!”

The fire ferret had jumped onto his shoulders, and voiced his displeasure that his dinner was late.

“Okay, I guess I have to feed him first.”

After Pabu was chomping away, Bolin and Opal sat on the couch.

“So…uh…where to begin?  You know about the general stuff that went down at Harmonic Convergence, right?”

Opal nodded.

“And how much did you know about Eska before this?”

“Well…I knew of her.  And Mako hinted once that something unpleasant had happened between you two.”

“He did?”

“Yeah.  He didn’t go into details, though.”

That was a surprise to Bolin.  Mako had always treated the whole situation with amusement at best and disdain at worst. Pabu, now satiated, jumped into his lap, and Bolin began to stroke him absentmindedly.  He was glad to have something to do with his hands to alleviate the nervous energy.

“Well, we met at the Glacier Spirit Festival before,” he began.  “I was the one to talk to her first.  Things were a bit rough, but then they were better the next day, so I thought hey, this might actually work out.  Then I hugged Korra and Eska…kind of flipped out.”

He paused as he decided how to phrase the next part.

“So…I kept trying to break things off with her, but she’d never listen; she kept threatening to feed me to the dolphin piranhas.  And Korra and Asami and Mako…they weren’t any help.”

He looked at Opal to see if she was still following the story.  She motioned for him to continue.

“And then I did work up the courage to say something, but I must have gone wrong somewhere, because the next thing I knew, she was trying to marry me!  And that’s when…well…you know…”  He figured that his face was approximately the color of a radish.

“I see,” Opal said. Having no Pabu to occupy her, she picked at a thumbnail.

All right.  It was now or never.

“Is it normal for there to be blood?” he asked in a rush before he lost the nerve.

Opal blinked.

“Are we talking about yours or…hers?” she asked.

“Uh…hers.  I was going to ask Mako about it, but then I never found the right moment to ask and I was afraid he’d laugh at me, so I thought I was just terrible at sex, but then it didn’t happen with you and…” He had to stop here to gasp for air.

Opal gave a nervous giggle.

“It’s okay, you can calm down!” she said.  She thought for a few seconds.

“She was probably a virgin,” she said at last.  “I heard that in the old days, when a high-born girl would get married, they’d show everyone the bedsheets the next day to prove that the husband hadn’t been cheated.”

“Eeew!  Why would anyone want to see that?”

“I don’t know. It is pretty stupid.”

“But then…why didn’t you..?”

“It usually doesn’t happen if you’re doing things right,” Opal told him.  “We used lube, remember?  And I’d…already experimented a bit before.”  Now it was her turn to blush.  At least she looked cute when doing it.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.   Was there anything else you wanted to add?”

“Well…I got away before she married me, of course.  Then I was really angry and kind of a jerk for a while, but then we met again at Harmonic Convergence, and when that was over I asked if she wanted to move to Republic City with me, and she said no.  And then the only other time I saw her was at the coronation, and she said nothing about a kid then.”

“Wow.  What a terrible thing to go through.  Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Opal inquired.

“I guess I kind of thought it was in the past.”

“You poor thing. You poor things, really.   It’s weird, but Eska…kind of reminds me of Huan.”

“Your brother?”

Opal shot him a Look.

“Bolin.  Do you know of any other Huans?  Yes, my brother.  He was always…different, and someone always had to keep an eye on him. I guess he was lucky that he grew up in a place like Zaofu, but still…he gets overwhelmed easily.  And then he shuts down, and can even lash out if it gets really bad.”

“You think Eska’s like that?” Bolin asked as he scratched his head.  Eska had almost always seemed to be in perfect control of her emotions.  Except for that one instant of shock and pain in her eyes before she recomposed her expression; that was seared in Bolin’s memory forever.  And the time on the boat, but he didn’t like to think about the time on the boat.

“Well…to be honest, you were easy for her to control. You saw her with Tahno.  I honestly don’t think that he meant any harm…but she seemed to be oblivious to any innuendo.”

“Don’t worry. She’s perfectly capable of defending herself.  I know firsthand.”

“Well, physically, of course…but emotionally?” Opal mused.

“I dunno.”

After that, they ran out of things to say, so they spent the rest of the evening cuddling, eating takeout, and listening to the radio.  It wasn’t really a sexy kind of night after that discussion.

The next morning, they were abruptly jerked out of sleep by the phone ringing.

“I’ll get it…” Bolin sighed as Opal snapped on the light.  He stumbled over to the kitchen and slammed his hand on the light switch there. Pabu followed close behind, because if the humans were awake, that must mean it was breakfast time.

“Hello? Whozis?” he mumbled as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

“We require your assistance.”

“Eska?  What are you doing calling so early in the morning?  It’s…” -he glanced at the wall clock-“5:30!  We were still sleeping.”

“You may attempt to convey that information to Kinalik, but I doubt you would succeed,” Eska remarked drily.  “She awoke at four, and has been running all over the house asking ‘Where’s Bolin? Where’s Bolin?’  Attempts to return her to her somnolent state have been futile.”

As usual, Bolin wasn’t sure he understood all her words, but he thought he got the general idea.

“Well…uh…not much I can do now…YES, Pabu, I see you…but maybe later in the morning? Wait, hold on a minute…who gave you this number in the first place.”

“Korra.  She and her partner seemed greatly displeased about Kinalik’s intrusion into their bedchamber.”

“I see.  Pabu, I swear…look, I have to go now.  Call you back later?”

“I suppose.”

“’Kay, bye.”

He hung up the phone, dumped what he thought was a reasonable amount of food into Pabu’s dish, and went back to bed.

A few hours later, feeling somewhat more refreshed, Opal went off to Air Temple Island for practice while Bolin called Asami’s house back.  

“My cousin mentioned an establishment by the name of Narook’s,” Eska informed him.  “Perhaps you could take Kinalik there for lunch.”

Narook’s. He’d only been there a handful of times since…The Incident.  But maybe enough time had passed that they’d forgotten about it.  Whatever would make Eska and/or Korra less likely to murder him.

“Narook’s it is, then,” he said, “Should I pick her up around eleven?  I had a thing I wanted to do before.”

Eska confirmed it, and they hung up again.

Now…it was time to face Mako.  He’d been avoiding him for too long.

He wasn’t sure whether his brother would actually be in the office today, and had been prepared to leave a message, but Mako was right there at his desk.  Bolin gave a condensed version of what had taken place since their rushed phone conversation not quite 48 hours ago.

“I have to say I’m surprised, bro,” Mako had when Bolin had finished talking.  “I have to admit I was really pissed at you, but I like how you’re accepting responsibility on your own.  Good for you.”

“Awwww…thanks!” Bolin gushed.  He gave Mako a hug, which his brother accepted, albeit somewhat stiffly.

“Just remember,” Mako cautioned, “It’s not all going to be fun and games.  Kids that age throw tantrums.  They make messes.  They say embarrassing things.”

“Gee, it’s almost like you have firsthand experience or something.”

“Maybe I do. Anyway, how’s the job hunt going?”

Bolin looked away. He’d been afraid of this.

“Not great,” he admitted.  “I always have trouble filling out the applications.”

Mako seemed surprised.

“I can help you with those, Bolin, you know I will!  All you have to do is ask.”

“I just…I guess I wanted to do it myself.  And I thought you were busy.”

“I’m never that busy.  You know how important this is.  You can’t just rely on probending or movers.  Especially not now with your new…obligations.”

“Yeah, I get it. I hear you,” Bolin said; in fact he had already heard it several times before.  “I’ll see what I can do tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. Oh, one more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“You know the family reunion in two weeks for Grandma’s birthday?”

“Well…of course,” Bolin said.  Who wouldn’t know about it?  All twelve of Grandma’s surviving children, plus those children’s children and grandchildren, would be there.  In total, there would be well over a hundred people.

“I was thinking…if we took Kinalik and Eska there, Grandma would be over the moon.  You know how she is about royalty, and if she found out that one of her own descendants was royal…”

“Yeah, I see what you mean.  I’ll try; I’m not sure Eska would be too keen on it.”  He glanced at a nearby clock. “But right now it’s 10:30, so I gotta run. Nice talking to you, Mako!”

He had to hurry, but got to Asami’s house just in time.  Eska answered the door.  Kinalik, newly outfitted in Earth Kingdom green, was clutching her hand.

“She is slightly nervous,” Eska told him.  “The anticipation caught up to her.”

“Does she still want to go out?”

Eska asked Kinalik, who nodded.

“I can drive you!” Korra shouted out as she ran into the front hallway, accompanied by Desna. “There and back.  It’s his turn to go shopping today.  And I’ve gotten much better at driving, so don’t look at me like that!”

“Uh, sure. Whatever you say, Korra.”  Then Bolin remembered what Mako had said.  He turned to Eska and inquired in a low voice, “So…what about diapers?”

Eska looked affronted.

“Kinalik has been fully toilet-trained for three months now,” she announced more loudly than Bolin would have liked.  

“Well, um, congratulations then!”  But Eska wasn’t done talking.

“And remember. If you leave her unattended for even one second, and harm comes to her, I will personally disembowel you.”

Now that was more like the Eska Bolin remembered. He tried to make a joke to ease the mood.

“No dolphin piranhas today, huh?”

Eska blinked and tilted her head.

“They are not indigenous to these waters,” was all she said.

“I believe that he was making a weak attempt at humor,” Desna told her.

“Oh.”

Bolin thought he was starting to get what Opal had said about Eska being oblivious.

For all he knew, Korra was actually “much better” at driving, but he soon found out that this was relatively speaking.

“You okay?” he asked Kinalik once they had reached their destination and he was lifting her out of Asami’s old booster seat; she looked a bit green around the gills and didn’t reply.

“Let’s just sit here for a bit,” Bolin offered as he patted a nearby bench.  They sat there for a few minutes until Kinalik’s color returned, Bolin doing a running commentary on anything that he thought might be of interest to a three-year-old.

“Look at that rooster pigeon!” he said as he pointed.  “See how fat it is?  I bet that it got kicked out of the nest because it kept stealing food from its brothers and sisters!”

Eska would likely have opined that the rooster pigeon had eaten its siblings as well, but Kinalik just giggled.

“Speaking of food…want to go eat now?” he offered.

“Okay.”

“Now I don’t know about you, but I’m starving!” he exclaimed as he helped his daughter off the bench.  He remembered Eska’s threat, and added, “Don’t let go of my hand, okay?”

Narook’s was just a couple of blocks over, in a new location since the old one had been destroyed in the battle with Kuvira.  Narook himself was working there today.

“Why hello, Bolin!” he said.  “And look at that pretty young lady who’s your guest!”  He was evidently tactful enough to not ask questions as to their relationship.

Kinalik hid behind Bolin’s legs.

“She’s pretty shy,” he explained as way of apology, but Narook waved it off.  

“You having the usual?” he asked.

“Yeah.  And the kid’s size for her.”

They sat down at the nearest table, Kinalik still obediently clutching onto Bolin’s hand.

“We don’t have to hold hands while we’re in here,” he clarified.  “Just when we’re outside.”

Their orders arrived shortly.  Kinalik looked uncertain at first, but once Bolin had persuaded her to taste it, she ate with gusto.

After they were finished and the bill had been paid, Bolin was unsure what to do next, since Korra wasn’t picking them up until two.  Thankfully, Kinalik decided for him.

“Shiny!” she exclaimed, pointing at a glimmer in the distance.

“That’s the pro-bending arena.  You wanna go see it?”

“Yeah!”

“Sounds good. It’s a bit of a walk, so I’ll carry you, okay?”

Once Kinalik gave her consent, they set off.  Bolin was relieved that his leg only bothered him slightly.

Kinalik was mesmerized once they reached the building.  It was touching to see her reaction to it as a newcomer, since Bolin was so thoroughly used to it.  She dragged him over and put her hands against the wall, staring intently at her slightly distorted reflection.  She would have licked the wall too, but Bolin caught her in time.

“Pretty neat, huh? Did you know I used to work here?”

Well, that was a dumb question…of course she didn’t.

“And I might still be working here, but…” he sighed, “I hurt my knee a few months back during a game.  They’re still not sure whether I’ll be able to play again.”

Kinalik tore her gaze from the wall long enough to shoot him a look of concern.

“Boo-boo?” she asked.

“It was a bit more than that,” Bolin replied.

“Wow,” said Kinalik, as it was difficult for her to imagine any greater injury than a boo-boo.

Just then, they heard a yell.

“HEY!  Hands off the wall!  I just cleaned that!”

“Ugh…we better go. Yeah, I know, I know…” Bolin said as he dragged a whining Kinalik away from the building.

Now it was nearing time for Korra to pick them up, and Bolin felt a sense of satisfaction about how the day had gone.  And he’d gotten through the whole outing without Kinalik having to use the…

“Potty?”

So much for that. Okay, don’t panic, don’t panic…he was panicking, wasn’t he?

First he had to ask where the nearest public bathrooms were, then he was paralyzed with indecision as he tried to decide which bathroom would be the least bad option. She was a girl, so the obvious choice would be the women’s room, but he wasn’t sure he was allowed to be in there even with a small child.  But men’s rooms were so gross…and full of man parts…

“POTTY!”

Men’s room it was. Bolin clapped a hand over Kinalik’s eyes and ran inside with her as fast as he could. Thankfully there was a stall open…and thankfully the seat was clean.

He hoped that waiting outside the stall didn’t count as “unattended.”  He didn’t think that anyone would be able to hurt her in there, unless someone were to descend from the ceiling on a rope.  He instantly regretted thinking that thought.

Five minutes passed, then ten.  Bolin was getting nervous.  What if people recognized him?  He did not want to have to deal with the paparazzi with such a timid child in tow.

“You need any help?” he asked the stall door.  No answer.

“Hey, buddy, what’s the holdup?” a rough-looking guy demanded.

Bolin tried to look as threatening as he possibly could and replied, “My kid is in there.”

He’d hoped that this would scare that man off, but no such luck.

“You look familiar,” the guy said.  “Now where have I seen you there before?”

Yikes.

While the guy was trying to puzzle this out, Bolin was finally bailed out by the toilet flushing. Once the door opened, he hurried Kinalik over to the sinks and held her up so she could wash her hands.  They had to get out of there before…

“HEY!  I remember now!  You’re that probender that got hurt!” the man shouted, causing several heads to turn.

“Okay, Ki, that’s enough washing,” he told her.  They ran out, Bolin not even bothering to turn off the tap.  Thankfully, their “friend” didn’t pursue them.

They were safe for now.  But there was going to be talk.  Bolin doubted that this guy would keep their encounter a secret.

Despite this challenge, Kinalik was returned to her mother in one piece; she didn’t even get carsick on the drive home.

After enduring several disconcerting questions from Eska about Kinalik’s bathroom visit (“Foolish turtleduck.  You are a parent now.  There is no longer any such thing as ‘too much information,’” she scolded him when he complained), Bolin was at last in the clear to leave.

“Just so you know, I won’t be available for a while,” he told Eska.  “I have to go job hunting for the next few days.”  He made a face.

“But you will be at the Avatar’s relocation gala?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I suppose Desna and I shall encounter you then.”

“Yep!” Bolin said cheerfully.  He felt proud of himself as the door closed.  He had tackled some adulting, and he hadn’t messed it up!