Chapter Text
There sitting in the middle seat is a tan-skinned girl one who looks to be about the same age as Asami. Striking blue eyes are staring back at her. The girl has short brown hair cropped around her chin. She is wearing a baggy white v-neck t-shirt with the sleeves are rolled a couple of times. She also has on well fitted dark blue jeans, not tight enough to be skinny jeans. She’s also wearing light brown suede oxford shoes and Asami can see a bit of color popping out of them and going up into her jeans.
Not expecting anyone in the car other then the driver, Asami is stunned. Recovering quickly, or at least Asami thinks it is quickly, she thinks she must have picked the option to ride share.
The girl realizes the hesitation and takes no time to blurt out, “H-hey, um, I-I don’t have to sit in the middle, it just happens to be the safest spot in the car. Do you mind?”
“Hey, don’t worry about”, Asami says while waving a hand at the girl. She moves forward to take the seat to the right of the girl in the middle.
Before she can sit though the girl blurts out another line. “If I were you—which I’m not, but you know, hypothetically if I were you, and the middle seat was already taken I would probably take the seat to my left here”, she points across herself. Asami gives her a puzzled look. Is this girl being serious right now. She seems to catch the look and continues, “y-you know, um, because the driver will most like want to save himself in an accident, making the other side more vulnerable.” Great now I’m never sitting on the passenger side of a car again.
The driver feels compelled to respond, “hey the passengers are most important in this car.” Asami barely hears this, a little annoyed now, closes the door and walks around to the other side of the car. As she sits down she looks at the girl, “this better?” Even though it’s a rhetorical question, that’s meant to show her annoyance, the stranger looks at her and gives a nervous grin and replies, “much better.”
Asami hopes the rest of the ride will be in silence. About five or so minutes into the drive though, Asami can’t help but notice the strangers hands shaking next to her. She can practically feel the movement through the seat. Asami can’t help herself, “Hey is everything alright?”
The girl doesn’t move. Did she hear me? Then the girl gives a harsh and exaggerated nod, and Asami thinks that’ll be it. A few seconds later she speaks up, “um, c-can you, uh, keep talking? I-I, uh, don’t really like, um, car rides,” Her words are a bit sporadic and she turns her head to give Asami a quick smile.
“Ha, yeah, I can tell. Um don’t really know what you want me to talk about though.” She really has no idea what to say, she’s never been in a situation like this before.
Keeping her head facing forward, “u-um, anything. Y-You could tell me about yourself,” the stranger responds hesitantly.
“Mkay, well my name is Asami and I, unlike you, love cars,” she states trying to lighten the mood. The stranger lets a slight laugh escape her lips. “yeah, um,” she pauses, searching for something to say. She lands on, “I’m not exactly having the best morning.”
Before she can further explain the girl next to her turns her head quickly to look at her. “Oh, um, I’m s-sorry.” The girl quickly averts her eyes away from Asami.
Feeling guilty, Asami tries to reassure her, “No. No, no. It has nothing to do with you.It’s my roommate.”
The girl finally looks back up at her and gives her a confused look. “Long story short, she made me leave my bike somewhere last night and then there was no food this morning. So I still haven’t eaten anything nor have I found my bike. I couldn’t take my own car to go find my bike because, well, where would I put my bike?”
“Okay, but why didn’t you just take your roommate with you?” The girl is starting to seem calmer.
“Well, that would seem like a better option. My roommate, however is going to wake up with a massive hangover and I don’t want to mess with that. On top of that, I’m not really the most patient person. So here I am.” Asami stops, not sure what else to say.
“So, you cycle?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Um, you were talking about your bike a second ago,” she says, now unsure of herself.
Asami laughs a little, “Sorry, no I don’t ‘cycle’. I was talking about my motorcycle.”
“Oh, well, that’s way more badass.”
Again, Asami let’s out another laugh. This isn’t nearly as terrible as I thought it would be, actually a little enjoyable.
Time passes a little faster from that point, and it’s not too much longer when Asami spots the puke green walled bar. After asking the driver to stop she prepares to get out of the car.
“Hey wait!” Asami is taken off guard, the girl has been nervous sounding and soft spoken almost the entire ride.
“Yeah?” is all Asami can get out.
“Oh um, you said you hadn’t had anything to eat yet.” Asami just nods, not really sure if there is a question coming. “Well do you maybe want to grab something with me?” and before Asami can respond, she continues, “you know for helping me get through this,” she gestures to the car she still sits in.
Asami chuckles a bit. “Sure, I would like that. But…” she holds up a finger as if to say, ‘not so fast there’, “I have to ask you something first.” The girl just looks at her with questioning eyes.
Giving her a smile she asks, “Don’t you think I should know your name first?”
A little embarrassed for not telling her sooner she spits out, “Korra.”
“Nice to meet you,” Asami says with a smile.
At this Korra practically jumps out of the car, in excitement of hanging out with Asami longer and in relief of getting out of the death box on wheels. This is when Korra finally gets a good look at Asami, and man is she happy she didn’t stay quiet the entire ride. “Wow, you’re beautiful,” the blue-eyed girl says out loud, but not really to anyone.
Not expecting this, Asami blushes and only gets out a shy, “thanks.”
After a comfortable silence Asami is the one to speak up, “so, do you have somewhere in mind? I don’t really know the place that well.”
“Of course, follow me,” Korra is obviously more comfortable now. “So, are you new to the area or something?”
“Oh no, I’ve been living here for a few years now. I just don’t go out very often,” Asami confesses.
“Really? It’s just that, if I went by what I’ve seen so far, I wouldn’t expect that.”
“Trust me, if my roommate had it her way I would go out all the time,” Asami chuckles at this, thinking about Opal. “Anyways, what about you? All we've been doing is talking about me.”
“I guess that’s true. What do you want to know?”
“Well, how about you tell me where you’re suppose to be going instead of taking me for breakfast?”
“Huh? Oh, um I wasn’t going anywhere.” Asami can tell Korra is being a little cryptic now.
Asami treads carefully, “then why were you taking an Uber car?”
“That?” She points behind her to where the car had dropped them off and proceeds to rub the back of her neck. “That, um, was for a personal project.”
“Okay, well I won’t ask anymore questions about it. You can tell me if you want to.”
“Thanks”
***
Korra’s steps slow to a stop and Asami mimics her. They are standing outside a diner that is dwarfed by the two building on either side of it. Korra gestures for Asami to go inside. As she steps up and through the door the smell of breakfast foods hit her like a wall. The floor is tiled and the walls are a light grey with pictures adorning them. Everything is just so. Korra’s voice shakes her from her thoughts, “Hey! Bolin, over here,” she waves her hand above her head. A bulky man about the same height as Asami waves back and starts to walk over. When he reaches Korra he doesn’t even hesitate to pull her into a hug. Korra looks a bit awkward, but takes the hug without complaint.
He releases her, but keeps both his hands on her shoulders. “I’ve missed you!” The man says and it seems genuine.
“Bo, we live together. How can you miss me?”
“But I haven’t seen you since last night,” now it’s starting to seem a bit dramatic.
“Yeah, I left pretty early this morning. I didn’t sleep very well,” she rubs the back of her neck and averts her eyes away from Bolin, Asami assumes this is a nervous habit of hers.
Asami notices the search for something new to talk about and steps in, “Hey, I’m Asami,” she sticks out her hand.
He looks towards her and gives a gentle smile and shakes her hand. “What can I do for you ladies?” now looking between them both and wiggling his eyebrows.
“A table would be great.”
“Oh, yeah, right. Follow me.”
Bolin leads them to a booth next to a window. They both thank him and korra promises to talk to him later when he’s off work. Bolin isn’t gone long when Asami decides what she wants and Korra already told Bolin she wants what she usually has, whatever that is. Asami sets her menu to the side and prepares for some actual conversation. When she looks up at Korra the difference in the girl sitting in front of her now versus the girl that was in the car is immense. If she hadn’t been in the car with her she wouldn’t have believed she would be like that in a car if someone else told her. Now she seems relaxed and she has had this goofy crooked grin on since she told her she would go eat with her.
“So, are you and Bolin, like…” Asami lifts her two fingers and pulls them together.
“What?!” she lifts both her hands and waves them, “No. No, no. First off, ew. He’s like a brother to me, we’ve been friends like forever. I’m living with him and his brother until I find a place. And second off, he wouldn’t be my type anyways.”
Asami isn’t 100% positive, what the last point was, so she decides it’s best to ignore it. “Are you new here then?”
“Kind of, I actually lived here a few years ago. So really it’s more like Im coming home.”
“Well, welcome back then.” Asami smiles at her.
Korra just gives an enthusiastic, “thanks.”
Bolin is hovering over their table again. He takes Asami’s order and heads out again to get their drinks.
“What brings you back here? A job?”
“You could say that.” Asami just raises an eyebrow and waits for her to continue. “I run triathlons and part of my sponsorship agreem—“
“Wait! What?” Asami interjects, not letting Korra finish. “Sorry for interrupting, but wow. That’s really cool. So you’re a professional athlete?” Asami points at Korra and she simply nods. “Wow,” is all Asami can say.
“It’s really not as cool as it seems, it comes with a lot of restrictions. That’s why I’m here. I have to train with a particular club. It wasn’t my first choice for a career, that’s for damn sure,” the last bit is said under Korra’s breath.
“Geez, if that wasn’t your first choice what was?”
Asami can see Korra hesitate and as if on cue Bolin pops back up with their order. Asami is beyond excited, but also a little disappointed at the timing. When Korra’s plate (more like plates) get set in front of her Asami can’t help but go wide-eyed at the amount of food on the table. By the time Korra sees the expression her mouth is already full, “What? A girls got to eat.”
Asami just laughs, “Can’t argue with that.”
After both of them have finished most of their meals they slow down and dive back into conversation. Before Asami can dare repeat her question the blue-eyed girl is already talking, “So, what is it you do?”
Not wanting to pry Asami decides to just answer the question, “I, uh, design medical devices of sorts.” See the immediate perplexed expression on the girl sitting across from her she further explains, “like knee and hip implants or heart valves, but my main focus right now are prosthetics.”
“Wow, you thought running triathlons was cool? That’s beyond impressive. I wish I could help people like that.”
“I wish I were helping more people. A lot of time goes by before we see any of the products actually being used. My team and I have been working on our prosthetic designs for year and we are finally getting them put on people.” Asami sounds exhausted just from giving this short little description.
“Well your parents must be really proud.” Still looking at Asami in awe, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open. That is until she notices the sudden face change in Asami’s face. “Sorry, did I say something wrong?”
“Uh, no it’s not you. My mom died when I was little and my father isn’t really in my life anymore.”
“Sounds like you’re ready to become a superhero,” Korra gives a nervous laugh and slouches slightly in her seat, knowing that that was probably not the best thing to say.
After the shock of Korra’s words settle in Asami blurts out a laugh, “you know what? No one has ever said that to me before. Thanks for not being weird. The first thing people normally do is tell me their sorry over an over.”
Impressed by her openness the blue-eyed girl decides she shouldn’t be so closed off, “I’ll tell you why I was in that car today if you want.” Giving a small smile Asami nods for her to continue. Korra leans forward and puts her hand up to cover her mouth from any peering eyes, so Asami leans in expecting something really personal. “I kind of have a little fear of vehicles.” At first Asami thinks she’s joking because anyone could have known that from being in a car with her, however blue eyes just continue to stare at her.
Asami, still leaning over the table, brings her hand to cover her mouth as Korra had done and whispers, “I already know.” She sits back up and smiles at tan girl. Korra swings her arm around and places her hand behind her neck and gives another nervous chuckle. “What I don’t know is, why?”
Korra immediately freezes, “well I guess I should just tell you.” Before she can say anything else a loud buzzing sounds and korra pulls her phone out of her pocket, ”shit. Uh sorry, I really have to go.”
Asami looks at her watch, hours have past by. “Oh wow. Hey maybe we could do this again?”
Korra just smiles for a few seconds before responding, “I would really like that. Here,” she grabs a napkin and begins to write, “call me or text or whatever.” Her crooked grin reappears.
After saying a quick goodbye Asami is finally on her way home.