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Just for the record, this is kind of what I imagine would happen years after Who We Are, but you don't need to have read that story to get this one.
-"I think that's the last box," Kai said as he put it down with a thud.
"And I think you might be right on that one," Jinora agreed. Not that it would do them much good, because not only would they still have to unbox everything, they would also still have to assemble and reassmble every single piece of furniture they owned.
But just that thought alone still made her smile. It really was their place now, filled with their stuff. True, everything was still in boxes, but at least it was over the doorstep now, so as far as Jinora was concerned, it counted.
Actually, given that Kai had grown pretty darn strong over the years, hauling everything around was the easy part. Now they would have to get all of the furniture put together before they could even think about unboxing, because their apartment was completely bare, but that's part of the reason they chose it. The only thing close to being furnished was the kitchen, and only because it was part of the agreement.
-"So what do you say, do you want to start on assembly while I go return the van?" Kai thought out loud.
"Sounds like a plan to me. Bed, cabinet, table, couch, in that order?"
-"Maybe reverse table and couch, so that we'll at least have a place to sit down when we're worn out."
Jinora thought for a moment. "Maybe not a bad idea. See you in a few, okay?"
Kai smiled, leaned in, and pressed a quick kiss on her lips. "Yeah. Better leave now, maybe I can limit the hours we have to pay."
He set off, and Jinora set to work. They had rented the van for today, mostly because nobody they knew had one they could borrow. Potentially, they could have used her dad's car, but that wasn't really big enough anyway for some of the things they had to carry, like a new double mattress. Renting a van was just the simplest option.
The downside of moving today was that no one could help them, since it was a Friday, but Kai was forced to move out of his old place today, so they didn't really have much of a choice. They asked the landlord if he could postpone it one day so they could move in the weekend, but no such luck, because Kai's landlord was a first-rate pencil pusher, and today was the last of the month. It was either move out today, or pay a full extra month of rent, and that was ridiculous.
Fortunately, they only had to get everything assembled today, because her parents would be coming over tomorrow to help them unpack everything, and maybe put together a couple of the last things. But since Jinora was on her own for now, she had to prioritize, and the bed really was item 1 on that list, mostly so they would have a place to sleep when they decided they had enough of moving house.
She was excited though. When Kai asked her to move in together when he would be done with college, she instantly felt like it was the right move for them. They had been together since high school, after all, so it wasn't like they were moving at break-neck speeds, but that was because Kai went to college in a different state, so this was the first opportunity they had to do this.
It had taken a while to find a suitable apartment, one that was both in a good location but still affordable, but now that they were there, Jinora just felt so... happy.
Of course, she'd be happier when everything was no longer in boxes, be they moving boxes or the factory ones because they raided the nearest Ikea store, but one challenge at a time. "Papercuts, here I come," she said to herself, resigned to the fact that there would be a lot of those, given the amount of cardboard currently between her and the parts of her new bed.
After Kai came back, it was much easier to assemble everything, partly because he was just much handier that Jinora was, but mostly because doing it with two people is just easier than soloing it.
But it was still a hard day's work, making Jinora appreciate it all the more when they could finally slump down on the couch. Kai had gotten them a can of beer each from the fridge, and while she normally didn't go much for beer, today was no day for fine wine or herbal tea. And truth be told, a cold, refreshing drink after a long day of manual labor was exactly what she needed, that paired with the pizzas that had just arrived, since they both felt like they could eat a whole horse. "This is great," she sighed after a bit.
-"Couldn't agree with you more, babe. The only way to close off a day like this is with pizza and beer."
Jinora chuckled. "Well, maybe if I put my laptop on that pile of boxes and start up some Netflix, I think that would improve our situation, because I don't think we'll be doing much more building of stuff tonight. I've already lost most of the sensation in my fingers from all those tiny little bolts."
Kai showed his trademark crooked grin. "Sounds wonderful."
It took them roughly until the point where Mufasa died that they were stretched out and leaning up against one another, with Kai's hands wrapped around Jinora's stomach, and the only time they paused it was when they needed another beer, which was twice throughout the movie. So they were a little bit inebriated by the time Simba finally climbed Pride Rock, but nothing silly, although Jinora was feeling a little bit like doing something naughty.
She rolled her head sideways onto Kai's chest and took a deep sniff, mostly for theatrics. "Hmm, you need a shower," she chuckled, because it was blantantly obvious that they both did.
Kai grinned. "Well, since you do too, how about you join me?" Moving a lot quicker that Jinora had anticipated, he wrestled himself free, but then immediately picked her up again, allowing Jinora to wrap her legs around his waist while he carefully navigated the towers of boxes stacked up in their living room. It wasn't always bad being the short one, she thought to herself as she narrowly missed the doorframe.
After their shower though, Jinora was far from satisfied, because even though she was tired, she was also excited that this was their first night in theirfirst house. No way would they spend this one going to bed early and sleeping until dawn. "You know, before you get dressed again... I did make our bed..." she said on a sultry tone, already picking at the tucked in part of her towel, ready to drop it at any second.
Kai looked down and saw where she was going with that. "You're saying we should break it in properly?"
"You read my mind," Jinora smiled, dropping her towel completely.
When she woke up the next morning, Jinora knew it was far too early after everything they had done last night. Most of her muscles were sore, partly from the moving process, but mostly because she and Kai had been at it for some considerable time, and those three beers had left her with a mild hangover. She was still naked after last night, which was fine, because this was now their own little haven. In here, they'd never have to wear clothes if they chose not to.
She tried to check her phone, but realized that in the excitement of last night, she forgot to plug it into the charger, and after having used it most of the day for music, the battery was now completely flat. This would have been fine, were it not for the fact that there were no other clocks in the immediate vicinity, and she could swear there was some kind of knocking noise coming from somewhere in their apartment.
With a sigh, Jinora climbed out of the bed, knowing that Kai was much harder to wake up than she was, meaning it was up to her to investigate that knocking noise and make it stop to ease her hangover.
Not feeling like going through the boxes to find some clothes, she figured that Kai's shirt from yesterday would do for now. Yet another benefit of having a boyfriend eight inches taller than her, his shirts made for small dresses on her.
Still a little sleepy and a little grumpy, she sauntered out into their living room, where she quickly determined that the knocking noise was actually someone banging on the front door, making her groan. It was too early for visitors. Now would be a perfect time to open up, tell them to piss off, and go back to bed.
What Jinora wasn't expecting was that the people on her doorstep were her parents. "Mom... Dad... You're early," she said in confusion.
-"Early?" her father questioned. "We said nine, we're fifteen minutes late because of traffic, and yet we spent the past ten minutes knocking on your door because you weren't answering your phone."
"Right, I forgot to plug it in last night. Well, come in, please." They did, and Jinora felt a little bit exposed, dressed only in this kind of dirty T-shirt in front of her parents. She'd have to change that soon. Still, it was long enough that it wasn't entirely indecent, so they would be none the wiser.
Turns out it could be worse, because Kai decided he could upstage her. "Babe? What's all that ruckus so early?" he asked, and came walking out of their bedroom, having bothered even less with dressing himself than Jinora had, or rather, at all. And because he was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he also didn't notice her parents standing in the middle of the living room, and that he was leaving himself on full display.
So when he finally opened his eyes, he was in for quite a shock to see that he was giving his in-all-but-name in-laws a free show, and it took him a second to slam his hands down and cover his manhood. "Morning," he squeaked out. "You're early."
Tenzin and Pema had both gone bright red, but he still managed to raise a disapproving eyebrow. "I'll just assume you lost track of time last night."
"We spent a long day working and slept in," Jinora lamely tried to defend them, even though there was no way in hell that would work. The best thing to do here was minimize the damage. "Honey, how about we get dressed so that we don't give my mother a heart attack?"
-"Yeah, good plan," Kai quickly agreed, backing into their bedroom again with Jinora following soon and slamming the door shut. "That could have gone better," he chuckled, still with quite the blush on his cheeks.
"Oh, you know my parents love you, they came around years ago."
-"Easy for you to say, you didn't step out swinging Kai Jr. around in front of them."
Jinora laughed. "Well, I'm sure they were very impressed."
Kai wasn't convinced, but did smile. "Ever the optimist."
She pressed a quick kiss on his lips. "Come on, let's get dressed, we still have a lot of work to do."