#orangepanic

[atla-milf-month]

Saw you want suggestions. I bet Grandma Yin was really pretty when she was younger. Look at those eyes! I wonder what she got up to?

Thank you! I'll make sure to include her in the promo! o7

[devildogdemon]

You don’t miss with such domestic bliss 😍 Oh to peer over the fence at this delightful scene! Doting insistent Mako, restless cranky pregnant Korra on the verge of combusting, and Asami and Iroh dexterously inserting themselves as the desperately-needed buffer between them 😁

Badass women going through pregnancy and their chivalrous-to-a-fault baby daddies is srsly the most entertaining combo (for readers at least, probably not for them 😅). It really is Mako’s luck Iroh’s a few steps ahead of him to pass along the perspective he def needs to hear. Also, adorable af Aika stealing the show as she should 🥺 she deserves all the comfort holds from Uncle Mako and her Tree Daddy 🥰

There is no better demonstration of “Stronger Together” than Makorra and Irosami conquering anything from as big as the world, to a backyard bbq. Thank you so so much, this is def better than any super bowl bbq I could hope to go to! I’m gonna live in this lovely world you’ve created now, I like it here 😉

A late entry for @makorra-week-2023 for Day 4: Parenting and Day 7: Stronger Together. Thanks to @devildogdemon for the idea of the family BBQ.

Out of the corner of his eye Mako saw her start to get up. He dropped the paper plates clattering to the table. “Korra!” he called. “What do you need?”

His wife glared blue daggers at him. Her arms were braced on either side of her rounded belly, her butt half in and half out of the yellow lawn chair already.

“What I need is for you to not treat me like I’m weak,” she said. “For spirits’ sake I have legs, Mako. I gotta pee. Again.”

Asami snorted softly from the chair next to her. Mako met her eyes. “Can you help her?” he asked.

Asami laughed. “No way. I like being alive.”

“See, she gets it?” said Korra. She shoved herself tottering to her feet and it was everything Mako could do not to reach out and steady her. “Women have been making babies for thousands of years,” she huffed. “We don’t need you hovering.”

“I’m not hovering,” he said. “The grass is uneven. Can you even see your feet?”

Korra opened her mouth but Asami hopped to her feet. “I think Iroh is burning the sausages,” she said quickly. “Go help him. I have to go to the ladies’ anyway. Too many margaritas today.”

Mako was about to reply when a shrill screech cut through the air. “Moooooooooooooommm!!!” A moment later Asami was hit in the leg by a whirl of purple and long black pigtails. 

“Hi, honey,” she said, dropping her hand to her daughter’s sobbing head. “What’s wrong?”

“San changed m-m-my r-r-r-roooooooooock!” wailed Aika.

“San changed your rock. I see.” Asami looked up at Mako and cocked an eyebrow. “Aren’t you excited?” she deadpanned. Then she popped down into a crouch and cupped Aika’s tear-stained face. “Why don’t you let Uncle Mako here take you to see Uncle Bolin?” she soothed. “He’s an expert with rocks. I bet he can put your rock back the way you like it.”

The little girl sniffed dramatically. “I want Daddy,” she said.

Asami smiled. “Or that. I’m sure Daddy can fix it, whatever it is.” She wrapped her arms around Aika’s back and hoisted her to her hip, then handed her over to Mako with a grunt. “It’s like I’m chopped liver some days,” she muttered. “Would you do the honors of delivering this important package to Daddy while we ladies go relieve ourselves?” 

Mako nodded as Aika was passed over, her sobs already fading to sniffles. Her little body felt so hot and light in his arms. She smelled like grass. He knew he’d love whatever came, but a part of him hoped for a girl all the same. Getting to know Aika over the last four years wasn’t a small bit of that, either. Against all odds Asami had turned into a good friend to them both, and through her steady love Iroh had become another. Deciding to buy the house down the street from them once he and Korra got the news had barely merited a discussion. The twins would only be a year and a half older, too. 

“Got something for you, I!” Mako called as he walked back over to the grills. In the distance he could hear more children’s shrieks, probably San and his brothers melting all the rocks in the park while Bolin egged them on. At least that’s what he hoped it was. Meelo had joined them along with Ikki, Huan, and Jinora, and the last time that had happened had involved mud tornadoes. 

The man at the grill looked up and grinned. He shook out the flames in his hands, wiped them both on his apron, then opened his arms. That’s when Mako spotted the two wide-eyed little boys wrapped around his legs. 

“Full house,” he said, taking Aika, who nuzzled promptly into his neck. “I feel like a tree.” 

“San bent my rock,” his daughter mumbled. 

“I heard,” he said. “I think the whole city heard, actually. Maybe if Uncle Mako can take on these sausages we can go find you a new one?” Iroh looked down to where his sons clung to his pants. “We’ll go slow.”

“How do you do it?” asked Mako. 

Iroh looked up. “Which part?”

“The part where Asami didn’t murder you when she was pregnant. I try to be helpful, but all Korra wants is for me to get lost.”

The general chuckled. “No, she doesn’t. She just wants to feel in control.”

“But it’s Korra! What if she hurts herself? Or the baby?”

“I once caught Asami at the top of a ladder with a welding torch,” Iroh said soberly. “I almost pissed myself. I think it was the biggest fight we ever had.” He shrugged, then shifted Aika to his other shoulder. “Then we talked about it. I told her what I needed, which was for her to take her and our child’s safety seriously. She told me what she needed, which was for me to trust her that she knew how to do that. After that it got better. Asami started asking more for what she wanted to keep me from interfering in the things that she didn’t. The fact that a lot of it required I spend all day across town wasn’t lost on me. But the way she’d light up when I came back with whatever obscure pickled thing she was craving helped me feel like I was doing something useful instead of standing around while she did all the work. I gave lots of foot rubs and firebent baths to perfect temperature. I oversaw the contract for the steam room and let her tackle the crib. And in turn she agreed to delegate more at work and hit pause on a couple of projects. It helped.” 

Mako nodded. He couldn’t see Korra letting go of anything, but she did like foot rubs. And it made him realize they really hadn’t talked much about division of labor. Mako had assumed that his job was to take care of her. Maybe there was more to that than simply trying to take over. Korra’s strength was one of the things he’d always loved about her. 

“Thanks, I,” he said. Then he looked down at the green-eyed purple bundle in Iroh’s arms. “Go find your kids some rocks. I’ll handle the rest of lunch and call you all in when it’s ready.”

Iroh smiled. “You’re going to be fine, Mako. Both of you.” Then he looked down at his legs. “Who’s ready for a colossus ride?” he called. The boys started screaming. Iroh laughed and lifted one wiggling leg high in the air before bringing it gently back down to earth.

[bearsandbeansart]

For @atlararepairmonth week 4, spirits. Jet/Agni, in which Jet is the Kemurikage.

[btheleaf]

As a Pema fan and expert, I'm curious your opinion on how Pema takes so many people becoming airbenders but not her. I imagine her relationship to bending and particularly airbending is rather complicated. Thoughts?

First of all, thank you 😂 my obsession has granted me a new title it seems. Pema Expert :)

Answer under the cut

When Pema was a child, of course she wished we was born with an element. What kid doesn't? She was born in the Earth Kingdom and throwing rocks around is COOL.

As she got older, she saw the pressure that all the benders were under to try and master their elements or use them in their daily lives for work. She was born into a family of non benders and primarily surrounded herself with non benders. She harbored no resentment for benders but was glad she wasn't one. She just wanted to be herself and was content to be how she was.

Pema becomes an acolyte because she falls in love with the teachings of the air nation and their way of life. In the acolytes, she finds herself as a person, she finds freedom, she finds joy and happiness, and she finds Tenzin. Never once did she wish for an element when she was getting everything she ever wanted without one.

The only time she ever truly wished she was born with an element (as an adult) was once after Book 2. A spirit pulled Oogi into the ocean mid-flight, and she had to pull Tenzin from the water after he exhausted himself from rescuing the kids and trying to save Oogi. He wasn't responding to CPR, and in that moment she never wanted anything more in her entire life to be a waterbender. He coughed up the water eventually and didn't die, don't worry.

When Bumi first shows his element in Book 3, Pema is shocked at first and then very disturbed by the development. Bumi and her were the only nonbenders in the entire group, and now it's just her and the acolytes again. To her, he basically left her alone with all these damn benders.

She jokingly tells Bumi how uncool it is that they can't bond over being nonbenders anymore and Bumi just,, fully starts crying. Pema is shocked and confused as he breaks down and tells her that she deserves it more than him, that she should have been an airbender because she spent her life studying the culture. He's afraid that she'll resent him now because of it.

Pema smiles and hugs him and tells him that she doesn't want an element, even if it's air. She hardly has time to raise four young children and support Tenzin when he's nearly dying all the damn time running around on Avatar business. She doesn't have the desire or time to learn an element.

She tells him that she doesn't want that responsibility, and she's actually sorry the element fell to him because she knows that he's proud of his illustrious career in the UF as a nonbender. He cries even more when she says that, and that solidifies the fact that she doesn't want an element.

She's glad the harmonic convergence skipped over her.

[krastbannert]

13, 42 for Maiko?

13. Do they have potential to be toxic if they’re usually healthy?

Yeah. They definitely do.

Neither of them are incredibly good at expressing their emotions. Zuko is passionate and loud, but also very rash and temperamental, Mai is quiet and composed but that means she holds everything back until she explodes. When they fight, they fight. And it's not pretty. So I would say what toxicity their relationship does have is less like not supporting each other or being controlling or dishonest or anything like that - if these two would be toxic, it would be due to lack of communication. (Good communication, specifically - Zuko yelling and Mai not talking is not a good combo. And yeah, Zuko does, canonically, get jealous. So maybe a little of that, too.)

42. Who is the sensible mature one?

I would argue Mai, personally. I think Zuko is smart - a lot smarter than many people seem to give him credit for - but like I said above, he's a little rash and temperamental, and while he can definitely be mature and make hard decisions, he can also act purely on instinct. I think Mai is more the one who sits back, thinks about the possibilities a bit more, and makes the "mature" choice.

(Which is something, I think, that she has to un-learn to an extent as she grows up - she has to unlearn how to always be the quiet thinker, and has to learn that sometimes, it's okay to act on instinct alone.)

------

Asks came from this ask game!

[backwards-blackbird]

@orangepanic I'M FUCKMIGJ DYING

When people see the Lieumon ship for the first time.

[chocolate-cringymuffin]

Art for "Smoke" by @orangepanic

Art Title: A new beginning.

Fandom: Legend of Korra.

Warnings: Violence/captivity/torture/psychological torture/canonical character death/suicidal thoughts/suicide attempt.

Comments: This is specifically inspired by the chapter called "a new beginning" almost at the end of it. I struggled to imagine a proper attire so I used a discarded concept of clothes for Asami from the art book and for Iroh I tried to use something discreet yet practical and comfortable, so I went for a coat. They are dancing in this scene.

@wipbigbang

[thebxghag]

An IrohSami commission done for @orangepanic !! Thank you so much once again, I had lots of fun with this one!

For anyone else interested, my commission pricing sheet can be found on my blog as my pinned post!

[zuko-with-a-mullet]

Six Sentence Sunday- Tagged by @jerk-bending. ---

He managed to dig and crawl his way out of the mountain of debris, dirt and dust lodged deep under his fingernails and in the pores of his skin. Cries and groans for help began dying as the light of the surface breached his vision. There was the scraping of ash in his throat as he coughed and gasped for fresh air finally free from the rubble. And he sat there, hunched over and cross legged next to the spot where he pulled himself free, dazed and covered in a layer of dust that coated his freshly shorn hair and all the way down to his metal-toed boots. The siege was over.

Months after the siege, Jee was reassigned to a post fitting his recently demoted status of ‘disgraced lieutenant’, blockade duty under the command of Captain Zhao. ---

I'm supposed to tag six people so- @firelord-frowny @jerk-bending @orangepanic @crookedmouth-mountainbones and... @firelord-frowny @jerk-bending again!

[beifong-brainrot]

Thought id tryout this by @orangepanic

[devildogdemon]

Thank you so much for answering and gahhhh, I honestly didn't think I would enjoy this scene so much more than I already did. It always felt so perfect, though I will never forgive your torturous talent of writing the slow burn marathon that preceded it /hj.

Deep down, I feel like I always knew the flashlight held more meaning and power than it seems. But please forgive my surface-level ass for not seeing how beautiful, empowering, and romantic all in one it truly was until you spelled it out for me just now lol.

Your intertwining of their character arcs is so fascinating the more you describe it. It's just impossible for me to not see this story as their greatest journey in life (at this point in the timeline at least lol, I need to read your other fics!) . You fleshed them both out so brilliantly, and made their bond on this journey so magnetic and fulfilling. And may I just say, Asami's kiss being spur-of-the-moment was always something I enjoyed most about this. But hearing you say "without realizing it she's finally dropped her walls. Kissing Iroh now feels so natural that she's doing it before she has a chance to tell herself no." ARGGGHHH I'm totally not 🥺'ing at reading that rn ❤️‍🔥 Not to mention Iroh's own reaction, thought process, and the tacit deep connection between them before they come up for air and speak to each other.

I am sorry for the pain that writing kissing scenes causes you! This one especially, all those re-writes that must have driven you crazy! But please know, there's not a single thing I would change about it. "It felt like being seen. Like coming home." I don't think anything sounds more perfect than that, especially for my girl Asami!

And may I concur that the humble, serene ending establishing their proper communication is an absolute lovely note to end on? I mean, the only thing that could make it better is an impromptu dumpling date request from Iroh 😉 I will admit I'm a sucker for "The chaos is finally over, wanna go out?" But I don't think I've ever enjoyed it more than with these two, at the end of this life-changing journey you took me on with them 🥰

Thank you so, so much again, for the answer, and literally every other word you write. The Irosami crowd will never serve under a finer Captain 🫡

For the DVD commentary please! From a fic which reading was one of my favorite experiences all of 2022 🫶 (not exaggerating in the slightest)

AWOL, Chapter 44 (Spoilers):

“Is that why you’re here?” she asked. “To offer me a job?”

“No, actually.” Iroh reached into his coat pocket and pulled something out. “I came to bring back a prototype. I believe I took excellent care of it, but I wanted to return it to its rightful owner as soon as possible.” He opened his palm to reveal her portable light. “A brilliant inventor let me borrow it, but I understand it’s one of a kind. A museum will want it one day.” 

He thought that her invention belonged in a museum? It was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her. Without thinking Asami threw her arms around Iroh’s neck, stood on her toes, and kissed him soundly on the mouth. 

It took Asami a second before she realized what she’d done. She hadn’t thought about it at all, but it seemed like everything had so suddenly changed that she had just… slipped. So much for being better than that. She felt her face grow hot. Asami lowered herself down, arms still around his neck, and forced herself to open her eyes. Iroh was staring at her with a combination of shock and unmistakable delight. He chuckled quietly, almost to himself. Then he leaned down, slowly, and pressed his lips to hers. 

His kiss was soft and brief, almost tentative. Iroh pulled away and searched her face, curious, as if determining the result of some important experiment. Asami gave him a stunned smile and he nodded slightly. Then he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again, this time more firmly. His mouth was very warm. Her nose filled with the smell of him as she closed her eyes; fresh soap, the barest hint of cologne, and something else underneath that she liked but couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was just his own scent. Her heart thudded in her chest as his lips parted hers, gentle yet insistent, never rushing. Exploring. Familiar, yet new. She pulled him into her, finally remembering to kiss him back, to kiss him, to kiss Iroh, her Iroh, again and again and again and again. The fabric of his collar was rough against her fingers. He pressed her close, and she felt the portable light dig slightly into her back. Nobody had ever kissed her like this before, steadily, patiently, thoroughly. It felt like being seen. Like coming home.

When they finally parted, Iroh was grinning, gold eyes alight. He rested his forehead against hers, their noses just brushing. “Okay,” he breathed.

“Okay.” She felt like she was spinning. 

“For the record, I refuse to pretend that didn’t happen this time.”

“Yes,” Asami laughed, a little breathless. “That definitely happened. Actually, I think the other one happened, too.”

“Good,” he said. “I liked the other one.”

“Yeah. Me, too.”

Ahhhh omg thank you. I still love AWOL so much even though my writing has evolved a little since then.

So as you know this is the end of the fic where 44 chapters of mutual pining come crashing down.

“Is that why you’re here?” she asked. “To offer me a job?”

“No, actually.” Iroh reached into his coat pocket and pulled something out. “I came to bring back a prototype. I believe I took excellent care of it, but I wanted to return it to its rightful owner as soon as possible.” He opened his palm to reveal her portable light. “A brilliant inventor let me borrow it, but I understand it’s one of a kind. A museum will want it one day.” 

I wrote AWOL more or less in order, but the idea of Iroh borrowing Asami's newly invented flashlight was a late add. I write Iroh as kind of tactile and Asami as a gift-giver in her love language, so her giving him the light and him touching it to find his way home (to her) was I thought a nice way to bring them back together. His comments about the light belonging in a museum are also meant to show his shift in mindset from Asami being something he wanted (him vs Mako) to someone valuable in her own right, independent of a relationship. Which is essentially Iroh's character arc in this fic - going from being very focused on his own feelings to really, truly putting someone else first.

He thought that her invention belonged in a museum? It was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her. Without thinking Asami threw her arms around Iroh’s neck, stood on her toes, and kissed him soundly on the mouth. It took Asami a second before she realized what she’d done. She hadn’t thought about it at all, but it seemed like everything had so suddenly changed that she had just… slipped. So much for being better than that. She felt her face grow hot. Asami lowered herself down, arms still around his neck, and forced herself to open her eyes.

And here we have Asami's. Her journey in AWOL is to let herself be open to love. I absolutely wanted the kiss at the end to be driven by her, and to be something she doesn't overthink - not in the way Iroh kissed her before because he was desperate, but because without realizing it she's finally dropped her walls. Kissing Iroh now feels so natural that she's doing it before she has a chance to tell herself no.

Iroh was staring at her with a combination of shock and unmistakable delight. He chuckled quietly, almost to himself. Then he leaned down, slowly, and pressed his lips to hers. 

His kiss was soft and brief, almost tentative. Iroh pulled away and searched her face, curious, as if determining the result of some important experiment. Asami gave him a stunned smile and he nodded slightly. Then he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again, this time more firmly.

For the actual kissing I liked the idea of it being the opposite of what had happened before. Part of Iroh putting Asami first is now making sure she wants this. He kisses her a little and sees what happens. Only when she's obviously happy with it does he go for it. But Iroh being more of an actions-over-words person and my own personal dislike of stopping the action to have characters say "may I kiss you?" I wanted to do all of this silently.

His mouth was very warm. Her nose filled with the smell of him as she closed her eyes; fresh soap, the barest hint of cologne, and something else underneath that she liked but couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was just his own scent. Her heart thudded in her chest as his lips parted hers, gentle yet insistent, never rushing. Exploring. Familiar, yet new. She pulled him into her, finally remembering to kiss him back, to kiss him, to kiss Iroh, her Iroh, again and again and again and again. The fabric of his collar was rough against her fingers. He pressed her close, and she felt the portable light dig slightly into her back. Nobody had ever kissed her like this before, steadily, patiently, thoroughly. It felt like being seen. Like coming home.

I re-wrote this like 14,000 times and still hate writing kisses. Kisses are so fucking hard to write.

When they finally parted, Iroh was grinning, gold eyes alight. He rested his forehead against hers, their noses just brushing. “Okay,” he breathed.

“Okay.” She felt like she was spinning. 

“For the record, I refuse to pretend that didn’t happen this time.”

“Yes,” Asami laughed, a little breathless. “That definitely happened. Actually, I think the other one happened, too.”

“Good,” he said. “I liked the other one.”

“Yeah. Me, too.”

Overall I like that the end of AWOL is kind of quiet. They're not tearing each others' clothes off or anything. Just a good, solid kiss to know how they really feel and then a little "okay." If anything I think the mutual okays with their heads together is the real finale of the fic. They are both, finally, on the same page. But just in case that wasn't perfectly clear Iroh wants to make sure. He's learned his lesson about kissing someone and not following up about what it meant.

[bearsandbeansart]

At long last, the portrait of this handsome boy is finished.

Close up underneath the cut, along with all the wacky versions this went through to reach this point.

And now, the bonkers evolution that this portrait has gone on.

Cookie Monster!Jet courtesy of @orangepanic

And lastly, my absolute favorite version of the drawing, done by my six year old:

[btheleaf]

Found from this post

Use this picrew to make yourself and your current blorbo, then tag some mutuals

I just had to do it when I realized the arrow tattoo was an option. This was as close as I could get to Tenzin’s facial hair lol

Tagging: @dont-blame-it-on-the-kids @lis-muerta @novaae @nyamadermont @orangepanic @desidarling123 @oldandirrelevant @linnorabeifong @wonderful-anarchy @yell0wsalt @atuats-sidechick

And open tag for anyone who wants to participate

[krastbannert]

5, 28, 49

5. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?

No. It's more like @authorjoydragon's squishmallows take over my side of the bed every night and I'm left with about 1 inch of space before the edge of the bed.

28. How are you, really?

Fuckin tired of living in a hotel room, that's for damn sure.

49. What does your last text say?

I congratulated my sister on graduating college (not typing it out because I can't be bothered and because it has potentially identifiable info that I don't want online).

------

Asks came from this ask game!

[kuro-cache]

Day 24 of @orangepanic's Whumptloktober

"Water + Radiation Poisoning"

Korra bended a small pool of lukewarm water into her palms. She molded the liquid around her fingers like gloves and carefully cradled the sides of Kuvira's temple. 

The slumbering woman opened her eyes in a gasp and Korra shuttered at the sight of her irises. The green that was once Kuvira's eye color had changed to bright fuchsia. The same color as the blast from the spirit cannon. 

"Kuvira..." Korra spoke softly, her hands were shaking but she stayed vigilant. She would always talk to her during their sessions, hoping one day she would respond. 

They didn't know if she could see them, or hear them. Her body responded to certain stimuli, like when Korra soothed her mind with water-bending, like she was doing now. But other than her eyes opening and closing, her mouth mumbling incoherently, involuntary twitching of her limbs, she was paralyzed, in a sort of spiritual coma. 

Korra didn’t believe it, she couldn't. Kuvira wasn’t gone, she was just…lost. 

In the spirit world, Kuvira was perfectly fine. They were together in the meadow, both of them surprised to still be alive after Korra unknowingly protected them from the blast and broke open a new portal. They talked together, aired out their differences, Kuvira even surrendered. This was the start to something great, something more for them. 

Then they walked through the portal and into the physical world. Kuvira collapsed once they touched ground on the other side and she had been like this ever since.

“It’s not your fault Korra..” Her friends had said, but they didn’t know for sure. No one knew what to make of this. 

Zhu Li was able to pick up on lethal amounts of radiation emanating from Kuvira’s body, somehow not affecting anyone else. They didn’t even understand why Korra made it back intact and chalked it up to just “Spirity Avatar Powers”. 

That explanation wasn’t good enough for Korra either. She smoothed some of Kuvira’s damp hair off her face and focused her energy, trying to connect to her, to find her in this void. Her neon pink eyes looked back at her lifelessly. 

“It’s not a priority for the Avatar to worry about” Others had said as well. The ones who simply believed this was just karma turning the wheel of Destiny. It’s what she deserved. 

Korra rejected that notion too. 

Tenzin believes Kuvira was exposed to too much radiation and was poisoned, so her spirit is wandering, waiting for her body to become a proper vessel to house once more. 

Radiation from spiritual energy was completely uncharted science, they had no idea how much time it would take to "fix" her, if they could at all.

So for now, Korra would continue their sessions of spiritual baths, in hopes she’d come back to her.

[wishingforatypewriter]

October 6: Spark + Not Realizing They're Injured

Just a really short Linzolt oneshot for @orangepanic's Whumptloktober! This one is loosely connected to The Investigations of Officer Beifong.

As she crouched in the narrow Dragon Flats alley, ducked behind the dumpster lid she’d bent into a makeshift shield, Lin Beifong realized that she had made several critical miscalculations. 

The first was the assumption that she’d been dealing with a nonbender. The cut and dry stabbing murders in the Flats and Roku Plaza had led her to rule out any elemental involvement, but the dozens upon dozens of daggers currently flying towards her clearly proved that to be false. The second was that this killer was working alone, which was proven undeniably false by the water tentacles attempting to reach behind her barricade. The last, and perhaps the most damning, was the notion that she didn’t need backup. Not that she could have requested it anyway, since she was working this case off the books. 

Realistically speaking, she was moderately screwed at a minimum. But at least she had managed to let the killers’ latest target get away. She was just contemplating how she would word all this in a report without getting herself fired when a familiar spark of blue-white lightning illuminated the dark alleyway. 

A pained scream and a strong smell of ozone filled the air as the waterbender’s attack ceased. Taking advantage of the momentum, Lin tossed aside the dumpster lid and after a moments' strain, took control of the daggers flying towards her and reversed their trajectory. The metalbender cried out as the blades nicked him and the pavement rose up to bind his legs in concrete. 

After binding the metalbender’s wrists in standard issue platinum cuffs, she turned to Zolt who was ever irreverently stepping over the waterbender’s body on his way to over her. 

Lin scowled at him. “That guy better not be dead or I swear—”

“Relax, Linny. He’s just sleeping,” he said, smirking. “You know, you could have said something if you were gonna go after your killer.”

Lin crossed her arms over her chest. “Why should I inform a common criminal about police business?”

“Hey—criminal I’ll give you, baby, but I object to common.” 

“And I object to you being here,” Lin replied. “Seriously, I have to call this into headquarters, and you can’t be on the scene when these guys get picked up.” 

“Let’s get out of here then,” he said. “We need to get you patched up, anyway.” 

Lin raised an eyebrow. “What are you—”

“Linny, you’re bleeding,” he said, gesturing to a growing patch of blood seeping through her gray uniform jacket.

Lin glanced down for a moment, before shrugging the matter off.  “It’s probably just a scratch,” she said. “I’ve had worse.” 

“I’m not taking any chances.” Zolt then scooped her up into his arms and started carrying her out of the alleyway. 

“This is entirely unnecessary,” Lin grumbled, even as the smoke and bergamot scent of him lulled her into a reluctant calm. “And there will be consequences.” 

“I will face them happily when you’re not trailing blood all over the Flats,” he said. “Now does that healer friend of yours still live on Port Street?”

Lin merely sighed when she imagined the teasing Kya would subject her to after this man carried her bridal style into her apartment. “We’re only going so I can call headquarters from her phone.” 

“Whatever you say, Linny.” Zolt leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “Now press on your side before you bleed out.”