thebearcave | A different chance meeting

Entry tags:

A different chance meeting

Practice. Why did practice have to be so early? Joining the Fire Ferrets was a great idea and Korra was having fun; but waking up early was just not something she was looking forward to every morning. Today, it finally caught up to her and she was running late. "Thanks Pema!" Taking a very quick breakfast from what Pema had half-coked, Korra was out the temple in a blur and waterbending her way across the bay to the city. Even with her practice clothing and helmet, she managed it easily enough. The ferry would have taken too long.

After she made her way through the streets on foot, she didn't have time to try and work out the public transportation schedules, Korra was finally able to see the large golden building off in the distance. A boost of energy came from that and she lighted up as she locked her eyes on her destination and ran full tilt into the street. As usual, she ignored the honking and other loud sounds of the city. They would only distract her from her goal

"Almost there!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Her eyebrows shoot up at the recognition. Having felt kind of sheepish for just blurting out her recent accomplishment of breaking into the pro-bending scene to a girl who didn't seem the type to be interested in it, Korra almost wanted to apologize for the unvoiced judgement she made. A little caught of guard, she took the other proffered hand.

"Oh, that?" With a wince, she thrust to the side and dull popping noise made her eyes pop open for a second. "Should be good." she said with a light groan and squeezed the girl's hands in reaction. Making a mental note to heal herself after practice, provided it wasn't already over, Korra looked at her assailant curiously.

"You follow pro-bending?" She didn't mean to sound surprised by it, but it was apparent in her tone's higher pitch.

Asami cringed when she heard the *pop*, but she just had to accept that Korra was made of sturdy stuff. And she wasn't... mad? Maybe that meant Asami could breathe easy.

"Yup!" She was used to surprising people with that little tidbit by now. People always assumed...

"I never miss a match! The Fire Ferrets are totally my favorite trio! And I was so excited when they signed on the Avatar as their new waterbender!" Oops, she was in fangirl mode.

Assuming really did backfire; and Korra thought she was a fan. Not missing a match wasn’t something she could do, even on a radio. Smiling and giving a chuckle, Korra bent down to pick up her clothes.

"They almost had to forfeit because the other waterbender was a no show, but hey, we won!" As much as Korra wanted to sound like the professional athlete she suddenly was, the girl’s enthusiasm was infectious and dug straight at her own inner fangirl.

"Did you want to see us practice?" She snorted through her grin. "It’s not that great to watch, but- well, it’s probably almost over now." Sleeping in by an hour or so wasn’t the greatest way to start this day, but it did feel like it was improving. Making an offer she couldn’t even fulfill. "Sorry."

"You really think they'd be okay with that?" Asami jumped on the offer to watch practice without hesitation. But now that Korra was the one apologizing to her? Hold on, here.

"But wait, I have to make this up to you somehow." She paused for a moment. "How about I treat you to dinner? Practice will be long done by then, right?"

She gave a half shrug at picturing Mako ever being okay with anything. Winning Bolin over was no effort at all, but his brother was exactly the opposite. Between her and Bolin, they'd make him allow her to watch.

"Yeah, the practice time slot's pretty limited. But dinner?" There wasn't any harm in it, not from what Korra could see and she had only seen a fraction of the city. After a moment's thought, her baby blue eyes looked up to her green ones.

...she was taller. Somehow, Korra wasn't surprised.

"Sure! I haven't had the chance to eat anywhere here yet. I'm still kind of new." To everything. "What's your name?" Because Korra couldn't just go around calling her 'That pretty young woman who ran me over.'

Well, not seriously anyway.

Edited (Bolin is not some kind of trophy, Korra.) 2014-02-09 16:33 (UTC)

Her name! Asami slapped her gloved hand lightly against her forehead and flushed bright red, embarrassed by herself.

"I'm so sorry- I'm Asami..." Her name! How could she have forgotten to give her name? "Can I give you a lift to the ring? Even if there isn't much time left, I can get you there pretty quickly!"

"Only if you're driving." Asked with a hint of humor, most of it from finding her blush to be kind of cute and all of it hidden behind her own self-deprecation. "I'm not too great at things with wheels."

She could unintentionally find a way to wreck a rickshaw.

"At least I know I won't get hit if I'm on one." Not exactly how it worked, but it made sense to her.

"Of course!" Asami collected herself and picked up her moped. It was really intended to be a one-seater, but they could both squeeze, she supposed.

"Hop on. Can you carry everything okay?"

"Oh this stuff? No problem." Rolling up her helmet in the gear, Korra tied the bundle up with the sleeves. Probably the most unorthodox way to carry them, but it's what she would have done in the South Pole.

She paused and bunched her lips together at the small portion of seat behind Asami. Making things work, or forcing them to work, was her go to and Korra sat down; scooting up closer so she wouldn't simply off fall off. After a moment of realizing there weren't any seat belts, Korra tentatively put her arms around Asami's waist.

"I-I'm good to go." It was awkward, and she was blaming that awkward on why there was color rising to her warm cheeks.

Asami scooted forward as much as she comfortably could as Korra settled on the seat.

"This is cozy..." she murmured, not at all uncomfortable with the current seating arrangement. Now that she was done freaking out over running over the Avatar, Asami was starting to pick up little things from Korra's mannerisms. The slightly flustered air about her, the redness rising in her cheeks. Asami tucked her hair into the riding jacket to keep it from blowing in Korra's face as she kicked the engine to life.

"Hold on!" With that, she took off down the street. Yes, dinner was definitely in order.

When she kickstarted the moped, Korra was thrown back and had to tighten her grip around Asami and the small amount of space meant she had to press into her back. Driving a little too fast, more than the other satomobiles on the road, explained why she couldn't stop in time. She wasn't kidding when she said to hold on.

Even though they met, Korra felt she had to break the ice that wasn't even there anymore. And what better than one her favorites subjects: food. "What kind of dinner did you have in mind?" With an iron stomach, Korra knew she could probably handle anything thrown her way; but she was curious what Asami's tastes were.

"Ever heard of Kwong's Cuisine?" Asami called over the sounds of the busy street. It was true; she did drive fast. But she was confident and smooth in her steering, even with Korra clinging to her. The weight was different, but she adjusted easily.

"I figure we can head there!"

Shaking her head, Korra's chin brushed against Asami's jacket as she looked from her to the traffic intermittently. "No, but I'll give anything a shot!"

She wasn't used to it, but the speed was actually giving her a bit of an adrenaline rush and that's exactly what she needed at the moment. Not only for the practice that would be soon with the building coming closer, but because it was a state she was comfortable in.

"I don't know where it is though."

"I can pick you up wherever you need!" Asami offered as they stopped at a traffic signal. She rested her foot on the pavement for balance. She turned around to face Korra for a moment, well aware of their close proximity.

"All you need to do is be ready."

The closeness made her take in a breath at the same time Asami spoke, and she held her air in while nodding. "I can-" she took a split second to swallow. "be ready."

Now that they were still on the moped while waiting for the traffic light, Korra felt like she was suddenly pinned in place. "Just, at the arena. Since you know where it is, I mean. Well yeah, if you don't miss a match. You'd know where it is. It's where we're going." Why wasn't that green light there to stop her from talking anymore...

Asami's smile widened with Korra's response, if you could even really call it a response.

"Of course. Just promise me you'll dress sharp, okay?" She tipped her head slightly to the side, almost flirtatiously, before the signal turned green and she took off again down the street.

That made her lower lip push up slightly, wondering if Asami knew what that small tilt seemed like.

"Dress up??" Her voice cracked slightly at that and she reaffirmed her grip when the moped was on the move again. "I don't really have any other clothes." she confessed as the wind picked up her pony tail again.

For being hit by a moped, she had no idea why she was the one feeling guilty.

"I can take care of that. All you need to do is be at the arena for 6 o'clock. That gives us plenty of time to get ready. Think you can manage that?" She'd need to freshen up, too. Asami didn't like to be driven places, even to a date, if she could get there herself.

By now, the arena was starting to get closer. Only a minute or so until they were there.

"Now that I can do!" Holding on to one thing she knew was capable of doing, Korra's tone was confident, with a hint of cockiness in there. All over simply being in the right place at the right time.

"Thanks by the way. For giving me a ride."

"It's the least I could do." Seriously. She just ran you over. The fact that that had somehow blown over? Asami wasn't going to push her luck.

Except. You know. Asking the Avatar out on a date.

The moped pulled up in front of the arena, and Asami slowed to a stop. A small favor for what could have easily been a really big disaster. Plus a treat to dinner. That was fair, right?

...Right?

"Does that offer to come in still stand?"

That somehow has amazing green eyes.

When they came to a stop, Korra looked up at the arena and then over to Asami. "Yeah, sure! As long as you're with me, you can walk right in. First thing I learned." All said while she's still holding on.

...which she soon realized and Korra grabbed the sleeves to her small bundle of practice gear. Once she was standing, she threw her thumb over her shoulder at the arena. "The music hour's usually on, so you won't just have to hear us complaining."

Hey, it's amazing what a little hairbending can do.

Asami grinned secretly to herself until Korra finally let go, and she turned the kick stand down and stepped off the moped.

"Perfect!" It was unusual for Asami to be at the arena in broad daylight, lit by the sun rather than by spotlights and elaborate chandeliers.

"I'll just follow your lead, then." She gave Korra another smile as she pulled off her helmet and goggles.

Mimicking Bolin only seemed fitting, and Korra couldn’t stop herself.

"Ooh, right this way, miss." Leading the way into the arena, Korra kept an eye out for Toza and was glad when they got near the gym without hassle. Then she remembered the practice gear in her hands when she stopped at seeing the locker rooms.

"Wait. I need to change first." She was about to walk into the girl’s side when she heard Toza’s grumbling coming down the hallway. Leaving Asami in the hallway alone wasn’t an option, she’d get thrown out.

"Come on!" she grabbed her arm just above the elbow and dragged her into the girl’s room.

Asami grinned as Korra led her through the arena. She'd seen much of it before, but from a fan's perspective. This was the real grand tour. She perked up when she heard the shuffling of someone else around the corner, and gladly followed suit when Korra yanked her into the locker room.

"Who's that?" she asked as she shut the door silently behind her.

Once the door was closed, Korra locked it.

"That’s Toza. He manages the gym, and is a little rough around the edges." Said with a half smirk, implying the retired pro-bender was more than just a a little rough. Downright grouchy if Korra had a say in it.

"If you ever see him, just tell him you’re with me and that should work." It was the best option anyway. Setting her training gear on a bench, Korra reached down to grab the bottom of her shirt and her hands stopped when she looked over at Asami.

She’d changed in front of the female players before, and it wasn’t that Korra was shy about her body; if anything, she was rather proud of it and her physique. But now it almost felt like she had an audience, and for something like this-

Korra realized she was staring at Asami for way longer than she intended and continued lifting up her shirt. This wasn’t any different than usual, at least that’s what she told herself.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject