korra fontaine 水族 (aerophobic) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-02-21 16:45:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | avatar korra, mako |
Who: Mako and Korra
When: Backdated Friday February 15, evening.
Where: A small restaurant close to campus.
What: Random run-in, fighting, then making out up!
Rating: PG-13 for act of lips and tongues meeting, and swearing.
Status: Complete.
It had been way too long since Korra had last gone grocery shopping. Her workload had nearly tripled in size in the last week, and now that she was done with it, she really didn’t feel like putting in the effort. Plus her roommates were all studying and needed quiet. Korra was bad at the whole quiet thing. She needed to get out of there. Which is why in that moment, she was sitting by herself at one of those pub-style restaurants, watching the game that was on while she waited for her food.
Sighing a bit, Korra pulled out her phone and began occupying her time with some social media browsing. Because she was bored and by herself. Someone come join her, please.
Ask, Korra. And you shall receive.
Cooking was for the birds, if you asked Mako. It wasn’t that he didn’t like doing it a bit, but he wasn’t particularly keen on sharing a tiny set up with a bunch of other dirty guys who didn’t know how to wash their damn dishes or not eat other peoples’ food. So he was all about restaurants.
Speaking of which, he grinned to himself when he walked in and spotted Korra sitting alone -- and took their new-not-hating-each-other-ship as a good enough reason to plop down on the seat beside hers. “Heya,” he greeted.
Looking up as Mako took the spot beside her, Korra furrowed her brow. Well, this had not been what she was expecting. Usually that was how Mako popped into her life, though: unexpectedly.
At least this time she wasn’t dreading speaking to him.
Putting her phone down, Korra let the confused look go and just smiled at her new-not-hating-each-other friend. “Hey,” she greeted right back, bumping his upper arm with a fist (gently of course). “What’re you doing here?”
Mako leaned forward on the table, resting his chin in the palms of his hands, and then gave an awkward shrug. “Hungry,” he said, as if that explained it all. It was kind of nice that she wasn’t shooting invisible daggers at him anymore.
Korra laughed at his comment. He was definitely being a boy. Shaking her head, she grabbed a menu that was propped up at the end of the table and passed it to him. “Order something before you get hangry, then.” Because that shit is just plain annoying. Really.
“Hangry?” Mako took the menu, but rose his eyebrows in amused questioning. Hangry. It had to be exactly what it sounded like. Still. He needed to hear this one.
It really was exactly what it sounded like. Korra leaned her elbow on the table, her cheek against her hand as she watched him. “You’re so hungry that you get grumpy and cranky. It’s called hangry. Most men fall victim to it everyday. Horribly grumpy, hungry boys and girls stomping around the world. Until they get a grilled cheese.” She was grinning.
Snorting, Mako shook his head, even as he looked over the menu. Burgers sounded good. Or grilled cheese, now that Korra had mentioned it. “You know. I knew there was a reason that the urge to crush Tokyo was so strong for me the other day.”
Yeah, grilled cheese was great. One of Korra’s favourite things to eat. “Your hangry mode turns you into Godzilla? Now this I have to see!” She playfully tried to pull his menu away, because that would be just too fun. Mako hangry. Korra wanted to see that.
“Nooo,” whined Mako, tugging back at the menu. “Don’t do it. It’ll make me hangry. And you wouldn’t like me when I’m hangry.” Because apparently, Mako was not only Godzilla, but the Hulk. You know how these things go.
She let him have the menu, because she didn’t really want to torture the poor guy. She’d done enough of that already. “Well, good. Because here comes the server,” she said, nodding at the guy that walked over.
Giving Korra a sour look, he decided that it was a good thing he was fucking aces at split decision making. When the server showed up, Mako blurted out words before the other man had a chance to speak. “Cheeseburger. And grilled cheese. Fries.” So unhealthy, Mako.
Really unhealthy. When the server asked if he should hold Korra’s order until Mako’s food came out, she nodded and thanked him. At least they could eat together. “Also, a beer. Or two?” she looked at Mako, inviting him to join her.
Mako nodded in agreement, because he was totally a college dude man and he’d never turn down beer when it was brought into question. Beer good. Etc.
When the waiter had left, Mako leaned back in his seat, giving a sigh. “So nice to be out of class for the day.”
Korra put both her arms on the table and nodded, looking at her hands. “Yeah, my week was hell. Way too much to do. I’m the worst, too,” she said, pushing away a piece of hair that had fallen out of her high ponytail. “I leave everything to the last minute. Procrastination is not my friend.”
The server came back over with their drinks, and Korra thanked him before lifting her beer for a cheers with Mako. “To, uh, beer?” She couldn’t think of anything else.
“Good as anything else,” Mako agreed, raising his glass in a small “cheers” type... thing. After having a drink from it, he nodded, even as he watched the tv on the wall for a moment. “Procrastination is our job as student though,” he pointed out, making a great case by not explaining it any further than that.
“I suppose that’s true!” Korra said after she’d had a swig of her beer. Setting it back down, she drummed her fingers on the table. Looking back at Mako, she was just thinking on how crazy it was they were having beers together, and being civil at the moment.
Keywords: at the moment.
“So, Mako,” she ventured into conversation with the cute boy who had decided to not hate her. “Tell me about yourself.”
Mako shrugged, twisting his beer ‘round on the table for a second. “I dunno. What do you wanna know? I’m a student. I play volleyball....”
It was kind of like pulling teeth, getting answers out of Mako. He was apparently the jock type. Korra was okay with leading conversations, but she couldn’t go on forever. “Volleyball? Tell me more!” Korra loved volleyball. Not exactly her favourite sport, but it could be a lot of fun.
There wasn’t really a ton to say about volleyball though -- it wasn’t exactly like there were different positions in the game, since everyone rotated all the time for it anyway. “I started in high school,” he said with a shrug. “Got pretty good. Good enough to get a partial scholarship for it.” Only in California, man. “Oh. And I guess I do some modeling sometimes, too.”
Korra waggled her eyebrows at Mako. A model, huh? That wasn’t a typical thing Korra would hear a guy admit to. Well, he was pretty attractive. He could definitely be a model. “I can see that,” she mumbled into her beer, feeling the blush creep into her cheeks. She felt like a teenager again or something. It was weird. “At least I know we’ll get along on the whole sports front.”
“Yeah?” Mako said, feeling a little smug at her response to his modeling admission. Because she totally thought he was hot, man. And that was cool. “What do you play?”
Okay, so Korra thought he was hot. Whatever. He thought she was hot too. Well, she didn’t exactly have proof of that, but... Okay, she totally had no idea what Mako thought of her in that regard. “Anything! Soccer’s my favourite, but I’ve played just about any team sport you can think of. Not too shabby at volleyball, if I do say so myself.”
“Oh yeah? We should play sometime,” Mako said, invitingly. “It’d be fun.” To play. Around in the sand. With Korra.
“I’d be game,” she said, taking a long drink of her beer. She was just about halfway done as the server brought over their food. Apparently she’d ordered the house specialty: chicken fingers and fries. Thanking the guy, she picked at her fries and then turned back to the model sitting beside her. “Where do you usually play?”
“The beach, mostly,” Mako replied, because that was where people played volleyball, for the most part. You know. It took skill to balance in all that sand. And stuff. “There’s a pretty good spot in Huntington for practice.”
“Let me know the time, and I’ll be there,” she promised, concentrating on her food for a little bit.
--
Once they’d finished their food and had a few drinks, Korra turned to Mako with a grin on her face. “So, a model, huh? How’d you get that gig?” she was teasing, but probably sounded a bit mean.
Mako had been fiddling through his wallet in order to pull out the cash he needed to front his part of the bill, but he looked up at that question. She had sounded a little mean about it, but, you know. Maybe she was just... curious. Or something.
He shrugged and grinned and then went ego tripping straight down to the gates of hell about it all. Because he did that sometimes. “I’m just good looking,” he said. “And people noticed.”
Korra just rolled her eyes at that. Oh god, here he went again. Captain Awesome, straight out of the urban dictionary definition of douchebag. “Right,” she said, slamming her cash for her part of the bill on the table. “Cocky prick. You’re really not as different as I was starting to think you were.” She started pulling herself out of her seat, because this guy was just way too much to handle right now.
Oh, for fucks’ sake. That’s what Mako wanted to say. Actually, no. He was definitely going to say it. Throwing his own money on the table, he stood up right after her. “Oh, for fucks’ sake,” he said (like he’d planned), “one little taste of self-confidence, and you think everyone’s an asshole, Korra?”
Korra was on her way out of the pub, but she stopped. Sorry, pub owner. “I think someone,” she put the emphasis on that one, he’d know who that someone was. “Likes to get a bit full of himself, which pisses me off.” She paused before putting up a fist, listing his strikes as she extended each finger. “Mako, who claims he is so awesome. Mako, so hot that people want to take pictures of him all the time. Mako, with his amazing volleyball skills. Mako, has girls mooning over him always. And thinks he can just have anyone that he pleases.” But not her, nope. That totally wasn’t happening. Maybe.
Poor pub owner indeed, because now the two of them were arguing right in the doorway of the place, and no one was coming in or getting out without hearing about it from the two of them. Mako was so annoyed that he didn’t even stop to notice that everything else around them had dropped into an awkward silence.
“Excuse me?” He asked, voice picking up an octave or two. “What’s all that shit? When have I ever gloated about girls? And you asked about everything else!” Except maybe the awesome part. But that was still all her fault. He went on, because he wasn’t done yet, girlfriend. “And it’s not my fault your stupid friend likes me. I’m not the one that makes her stare all crazy.”
“Everything you do is just one brag after another!” she yelled back at him. Really, just look at him. He was a walking Greek statue, or something. Not a hair out of place, and his style wasn’t even that bad. It infuriated her for some reason.
Maybe it’s because she was pretty sure he’d never go for her. Because she definitely didn’t think she was on that level, man. “Makes her stare all crazy?” that just pissed her off even more. “You think that the girl is crazy because she likes you? Fuck, you go around acting all cocky and don’t expect attention like that? Delusional. Seriously, you need to get that shit checked out.”
The pub owner (or manager) was definitely walking towards them right then. Korra looked over Mako’s shoulder, sighed and stormed out the door. Any bystanders were promptly knocked aside. She’d kick herself out before anyone else could.
Mako followed suit -- a little more oblivious to the trouble they’re nearly been in than her. God, she made him so mad though. He was mad that he was even mad and that didn’t even make any fucking sense.
“I never gave her any reason to like me,” he said, placing a hand on his chest and gesturing wildly with his other one. “And I wasn’t bragging!” Okay, he had been a little bit on that last one, but he had MOSTLY only been joking. Because he totally thought that the new, cool not a hater Korra could take a joke. “You’re just -- ugh!” He threw his hands up in defeat.
“You’re just an angry, bitter girl!”
Okay, that really pissed Korra off. Sure, she had a temper. But bitter? No way man. Stopping in her tracks, she spun around and started back toward him. Her finger may have been pointing straight at him. “Hey, Amanda likes you. And she has every right to like you. It’s not like you’ve been fighting off her advances, anyway!”
Why was he following her if he was so intent on fighting? They both had egos and tempers, it seemed. “I just fucking know what I like and what I don’t like. And right now, you’re not really at the top of my list here, Mako. So just find another girl to bug, since clearly you’ve got some sort of obsession with me!”
Korra should have been pleased in this instance that Mako was no longer hangry, because this fight could have been so much worse than it already was. “Amanda doesn’t even know me! And yeah okay, maybe I wasn’t fighting any advances but I wasn’t puttin’ the moves on either!” Because putting the moves on was something that he did? Ever? ...Whatever.
“And I’m not obsessed with you! I thought we could be friends, but apparently you’re afraid of anyone with a little confidence and a sense of fun and humor!” It was on, man. He spun on his heel, totally ready to leave and hopefully never find her randomly again. But he was Mako, and he did like sticking salt on wounds, so he gave one last parting shot. “Probably because you’re jealous!”
Yup, that was it. Korra reached out and gave Mako a good shove. She was a physical person, and this is just what she did when she got extra pissed. “I’m not afraid of anything!” she shouted at him, because this was turning into a shouting match now. “And I am most certainly not jealous! Since when have I showed any interest in someone like you?” Denying your heart there, Korra. She didn’t care though, she just wanted to deny Mako the pleasure. “You’re not the type to win someone over! You just brag about Mako all day long. Yeah, sure, you’re impressive. But who wants to hear about it constantly?”
Mako stumbled back a few steps and even as he recouped the distance he really had to fight with himself to not shove the girl back because she was a girl and you weren’t supposed to do stuff like that. But he really wanted to.
“I wasn’t trying to win anyone over!” He shouted back, clenching his fists until his short nails made hurtful crescent moons in the palms of his hands. “And you fucking asked! I wasn’t bragging! You’re just nuts -- and yes -- you are afraid!”
“So we’re calling each other names, now?” she shouted. They were really drawing a bit of a crowd and some weird looks, but Korra didn’t care. She was seeing red, and she really wanted to show this guy what was what. “So, Mako, if you know me so well. What the hell am I afraid of? Tell me, tell everyone, what is so scary to me? I’m certainly not afraid of you!” She gestured aggressively at him.
Didn’t it always come down to name-calling? Wasn’t that the point of arguing? Mako threw his hands up in disgust. He didn’t expect she was afraid of him, so much as the personal traits in him that she so seemed to loathe. “How the hell should I know what you’re afraid of? Everything? Yourself? Having a self-esteem? Actually making friends? I’m not a fucking shrink!”
“So why do you want to be friends with me so badly? Why didn’t you just give up on the first try? You followed me at that thing and basically begged me to be your friend!” As she said it, Korra suddenly came to a realization. Her expression went from anger to eureka in about five seconds flat. “Oh my gosh. Admit it, you like me!”
“WHAT.” said Mako -- and he was so shocked, it apparently wasn’t even a question at this point: just a loud statement of disbelief. “NO.” The sudden red tinge on his face might have said otherwise, but he wasn’t going there. Because she was hot, and kinda cool, yeah, but she was also a crazy goddamn loon and he liked her hair, okay? “We just -- always run into each other! So I thought it’d be less stressful.” Oh. God. Why.
Korra approached him with a bit of a devious look on her face. She saw that reddening, and wasn’t ignorant to what that meant. Sure, Mako was a great looking guy. But Korra wasn’t so bad, either. And she was feisty and fun and she really liked the way that he looked when he was angry. Was that supposed to happen?
“No, you definitely do,” she said, letting herself smirk as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve been thinking about me a lot.” This was an assumption on her part, but there was a part of her that knew she’d been thinking about him, so he must have been thinking about her too.
Because that’s how it worked, right? You think of someone and they think of you back? Sure. It was science.
Oh no, thought Mako, taking an uncertain step backward even as she advanced. She’d found her confidence. And it was fucking breathtaking. He wasn’t even sure how to deal with it. “What?” he croaked out. “No. That’s not--I mean. What? No.”
Mako wouldn’t have been able to do much more denying, because Korra took a stab in that big dark place called desire. Grabbing the lapels of his jacket, she pulled Mako forward and planted her lips on his. This was a surefire way to test out his true feelings.
Plus, if he didn’t respond, what did she have to lose? Not like they were going to be best friends anytime soon.
Mako, although shocked and amazingly bewildered, did not resist. If anything, the young man increased the intensity of the kiss -- his fists unclenching in order to grip his hands around her waist near the small of her back. There was still something angry about it all -- the way his mouth pressed against hers, tongue angling sharply against her teeth and then her tongue. Angry because he’d been proved wrong so easily. Angry because she’d been fucking right and because she fit in his arms well and because this should have been his idea first but it hadn’t been.
If the two of them had been paying any attention to anything but themselves they might have noted awkward claps and whispers from the people that had gathered around them. “That can’t possibly be healthy,” said one woman before shaking her head and walking off.
There were a few hoots and a shout of “Get a room!” from the group that was surrounding them. Eventually, people started moving away. Because this was obviously a very private moment.
If Korra could have formed any thought apart from how sickly satisfying this moment was in the history of everything, she might have agreed with that one woman. But she was a little preoccupied with eating Mako’s face getting her way. Hands disconnecting from Mako’s jacket, she threw her arms around his neck in something that might feel like a vice grip tightened around him. Her mouth opened willingly for his brutal assault, but she wasn’t exactly sitting to the side and letting him get all the satisfaction. Her tongue returned his assault, feeling a bit like she was releasing the anger from earlier through her reply.
They’d probably have to breathe eventually, but Korra was busy. Who needs oxygen in a moment like this?
That’s what everyone says. Until they pass out, anyway.
Mako couldn’t help himself -- he bit at Korra’s bottom lip (which seemed a good kind of retaliation since she was practically choking him to death) and if anything, only pulled her closer until there was no distance at all between their bodies.
When he finally did have to pull his head away enough to breathe, he spoke. “I think I hate you,” he told her, but it didn’t exactly sound true.
“Not all of you agrees, I’d say,” she replied, still holding herself against him. It’s true, apart from just his physical reaction, he wasn’t exactly sounding committed to that statement. Korra grinned up at him (had he always been that tall?), because as much as they seemed to dislike each other, that hadn’t been half bad. In fact, they’d been quite compatible in the give-and-take (mostly take). And she fit against him nicely. Weirdly comfortable.
“But for what it’s worth, I still hate you too.”