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Bolin's shoulder knocks against hers. "Looking at the clock every twenty seconds isn't going to make her come in any sooner."
"Who?"
Korra mouths a warning at her best friend but the dumbass isn't even looking at her anymore. "Oh, just Korra's crush."
"I don't like her!" she protests too quickly and flushes when both Bolin and Mako fix her with a flat look. She lowers her chin and focuses on the drip of espresso into the styrofoam cup. "I don't."
Over the hiss of the cappuccino machine, Bolin smirks.
"Sure you don't, and that carton of almond milk in the fridge bought itself."
Mako's eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. "That's yours? I thought you hated almond milk."
His younger brother blows out a frustrated, amused breath and the curl of his bang that escapes his visor quivers. "She does," he stresses with a gleam in his eye Korra doesn't like one bit. "But Asami Sato loves it."
"Asami Sato? Who's that?"
The cash register dings and Bolin's voice is dripping with his self-satisfied smirk. Korra tucks her chin against the collar of her shirt and reminds herself to make her best friend pay for dinner next time they hang out.
"Oh, you know. Just the girl Korra is hopelessly in love with. She came in here once and when she found out we only have whole milk she looked so crestfallen that Korra took it upon herself to buy a carton of almond milk... only for her."
The revenge of making him pay is too far away and Korra can hear the gears inside Mako's grinding so it's sweet retribution instead to bury her knuckles in Bolin's shoulder.
"Ow!" he yelps, dancing out of her reach, "Hey! Damn you and your freakishly long swimmer arms."
Korra smirks, flipping him off in the same motion as she slips a plastic lid onto the coffee cup and calls out whatever number that had been on the screen. She leans against the counter after the customer has walked away, crossing her arms.
"Should've kept your mouth shut, Bo."
Her best friend gulps and turns back to the register quickly. Even as Mako's hands fly over the various coffee machines and bottles of flavoring, he keeps sneaking glances at her with a look she can't quite decipher and Korra clears her throat, letting her eyes drift back to the clock wall on the far side of the cafe - well, the clock set to their time. One entire wall is filled with ticking clocks, set to the times of each Nation and labeled neatly, set among a vibrant model of planets against a navy backdrop. The cafe, after all, is her mother’s brainchild and when Korra has gotten her acceptance letter to Republic City University, her parents had followed her without question from their home in the Southern Water Tribe; Tonraq had been hired as the university’s varsity swim coach and Senna had turned the cafe into what it was today.
For not the first time, Korra wonders what she would’ve done without her parent. After all, she might not be here without them - she had almost rejected her invitation after the car crash that left her paralyzed because what good was a varsity, college swimmer without legs?
But just like clockwork, she had regained her balance and trudged on and in a year, would be graduating. The clock on the wall rings in the hour finally and Korra stifles a sigh.
She feels like time is going backward.
Mako's sliding past her to call out the customer's number then and the three of them fall into an awkward silence. There's a red mark on Bolin's bicep and Korra purses her lips, guilty. It's not his fault she and Mako are still awkward around one another, even after two months.
Idle hands find the paper wrapping around the napkins as the bell rings over the counter and Bolin unties his apron with an excited shout of his girlfriend's name. In a blink he's around the counter and with a flourish, sweeping Opal into a dipped kiss.
Korra rolls her eyes. "You two act like you didn't just see each other this morning in class."
Opal's cheeks are flushed when she's upright and despite her teasing, Korra smiles. She can't help it - Bolin's girlfriend is impossible to frown around.
"You're just jealous," Bolin declares and drapes his arm around Opal's shoulders. He leans down as if to whisper in her arm but his voice is still loud enough Korra can hear him. "Don't listen to her, babe. She's just jealous because her girlfriend hasn't shown up yet."
Korra resists from looking at the clock. "T-that's not it," she stutters and rips her eyes away from Opal's knowing look. "Shut up, Bolin. I thought you were on break."
"Girlfriend?" Opal says, smiling, her hand finding its way around Bolin's waist. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend! What's her name-"
The bell above the door rings.
"ASAMI!" Korra yelps and even Mako's grin is of the shit-eating quality and she doesn't even have to look to know.
Damn, sometimes she really hates her friends.
Asami? Opal mouths at her boyfriend as the woman in question shakes off the raindrops clinging to her umbrella and drops it in the stand. Before she even looks up, she's smiling.
"Korra! My favorite barista! How are you?"
Three sets of eyes bounce between the two women like they're watching a tennis match and Korra knows she's turning progressively redder with every step Asami takes toward the counter. Like clockwork, her fingers settle over the buttons on the computer.
"H-hi Asami, I'm good," she stutters and curses herself internally. "The usual?"
"Yes, please," the woman says gratefully and smiles so widely at Korra that the barista swears she's entered heaven. She's basking in the sun that she was so certain just moments ago was lost behind stormclouds and it takes a moment to shake herself back into reality. Asami studies the menu above her for a moment, hand beneath her chin - she always does that when she thinks.
Korra blinks. When did she start noticing that?
"-and a blueberry muffin, if you don't mind," Asami is saying and Korra finds herself cussing her stupid bisexual mind out again. She can't even focus on what she's saying.
Korra plasters on a smile and ignores how her cheeks feel tight and burning like she's sunburnt. The snickers of Mako, Bolin and Opal are enough to turn her into a blabbering, nervous mess as it is but with the added variable that is the stunning and - simply put, gorgeous - Asami Sato, Korra knows she's hopeless.
Even as her hands work through the motions of stirring the coffee with three shots of espresso and a splash of almond milk, Korra can't seem to look away from the woman. Asami moves down the assembly line to keep in time with her order, smiling like Korra's her best friend and rambling about her day and her annoying partner in her welding elective. As Korra stirs in the second shot of caramel into the large drink, Asami huffs.
"Word of advice; never double major while running a company."
Korra blinks. "Uh - thank you? I'll...keep that in mind."
Off to the side, Bolin slaps his forehead so hard there's a red mark to match the one on his arm. Mako leans over to his younger brother. "Does she not know-?"
There's a hand over his lips then, and Mako lathes his tongue over the offending appendage. Bolin yelps, peeling his hand away and wiping it on his pants as Opal's eyebrows knit.
"So...wait. You mean to tell me Korra has a crush on Asami Sato as in the daughter of Hiroshi Sato, creator of the Satomobiles and the head of Future Industries - THAT Asami Sato? And she doesn't even know?"
It's her turn to have Bolin's palm slapped over her mouth. Glaring at him until he lowers his hand, Opal watches him grimace before she's grasping her arms. "You can't tell her, babe! She has no idea."
Opal blinks. "Why?"
"Because she's an idiot," Mako mutters under his breath and throws up his hands. "She bought almond milk for the woman because she looked like a kicked puppy when Korra said we didn't have any!"
"Korra hates almond milk," Opal muses. Bolin nods and his girlfriend narrows her eyes at the two brothers. "So why haven't you told her?"
Instead of answering, Mako simply points and Opal follows his finger. In the time during their conspiratorial whispering, Korra's finished Asami's order and is now leaning against the counter. All her awkwardness seems to have vanished and her face splits into a smile at whatever the woman's said.
Water Tribe Cafe is on the outskirts of Republic City University and strangely, completely empty yet Asami and Korra stand in the middle of it all, separated only by a counter and talking as if they're best friends, not complete strangers. Opal knows the barista is telling a story by the way Asami's shoulders shake with laughter and then Korra's rolling up her sleeve to show off the blue and white tattoo on her bicep.
When Asami's fingers graze the inked skin, Korra suddenly seems to remember where she is and her eyes are darting to her three friends. Color immediately blossoms across her face and her jaw works a few times before she's speaking.
"Uh - sorry to keep you."
Asami frowns and her fingertips turn into her hand on Korra's arm. "It's no trouble, really. I promise. Unless you have work to do...?"
They both look around the empty cafe and Opal waves to the woman as Bolin whistles innocently. Rolling his eyes, Mako disappears into the back with an amused huff and Asami waves back hesitantly.
Korra clears her throat. "I should probably - I should probably get back to work and leave you to do your classwork. Double majoring, am I right?"
She laughs weakly and beats such a hasty retreat to the back that she doesn't see how Asami's face drops into a slight, hurt frown. Her hand wraps hesitantly around the styrofoam cup and then she's walking towards a table in the corner by the large windows with her muffin in hand - a muffin Bolin notes that Korra didn't ring up.
Even though technically she's not allowed, Opal follows him into the back. Korra ignores their entrance in favor of focusing instead on restocking the lids and Opal leans against the wall.
"What was that all about?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Korra shoots back without looking her in the eye and goes to elbow past her. Opal catches her elbow deftly and with her arms full of the lid dispenser, the barista can't struggle free.
Opal eyes her friend. "Yes, you do," she says quietly and lets Korra go. The woman doesn't move. "Why don't you just go talk to her? She seems just as interested as you."
"Yeah-" Bolin pipes in and she silences him with a look. He pretends to zip his lips and mouths girl talk to Mako before wandering back out into the cafe.
She waits until both brothers are out of the backroom to continue, prying the container out of the other woman's arms. "She likes you, Korra; I can see it even if you can't. Why don't you ask her number and invite her out?"
"Because she's Asami Sato!" Her friend all but wails, throwing her hands into the air. "I'm not stupid! I know exactly who she is, even if Bolin and Mako think I don't! I can't just...ask Asami Sato out!"
"Actually, you can."
Korra's eyes go wide as saucers and she balks. "A-Asami!"
The woman stands in the doorway and Opal smiles, slipping past but not going too far away as to not hear the conversation. Sue her, she's curious.
Korra sputters. "How'd you get back here?!"
"Your friend is very persuasive," Asami throws a thumb over her shoulder with a smile. "Plus, I could hear you shouting from my table."
Opal, Bolin and Mako wince as Korra slaps her forehead. "I'm an idiot," she murmurs and her eyes find the floor. "I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable."
Asami steps forward. "You didn't," she whispers. "For the record, Korra, I'm just as interested in you as you are me. And I would love if you asked me out on a date."
Bolin squeals and Opal clamps a hand over his mouth impatiently. From where she can see Korra over Asami's shoulder, her friend seems to have swallowed her tongue for a moment as her cheeks pinken. Korra grins, shy and cockeyed.
"Really?"
"Really," Asami affirms, another step forward. "I'm free Tuesday."
Korra looks happily dazed. "Okay, cool. T-Tuesday then?"
"Mmm," the other woman hums. "How about six o'clock? I'll give you my address. Dress nice."
The nervousness seems to melt away a little, giving way to the cockier, more confident side of Korra Opal knows. She tampers down a squeal. "I thought I was the one asking you out, not the other way around."
"You snooze you lose," Asami shrugs with a sly smile. "But I'll let you, next time. Promise."
"Next time," Korra whispers as if she can't believe the words and then she's stepping forward, hand hovering above Asami's waist. Uncertainty is written across her face. "Would let me - Do you mind if...I mean can I-"
"Yes," Asami laughs and is cupping Korra's cheeks.
There's a split second of hovering, when Asami's lips hesitate before hers, eyes flashing with the chance for Korra to step away if she doesn't want this. But Korra wants this so desperately she aches and she's standing on her tip-toes to kiss the woman.
Her hands settle on Asami's hips and then there are arms around her neck, drawing her closer until all she can smell is oil and perfume. Asami.
All at once the world seems to fade away and Korra finds herself unable to drug up a single thought except that Asami Sato's hands are calloused against the sides of her face and she tastes like caramel and almond and blueberry and it's a mixture she'd very much like to experience again. Korra hates the taste and even idea of almond milk but as Asami pulls back, eyes glazed and mouth splitting open into the most radiant expression she's ever seen, she finds that maybe it isn't so bad.
Korra licks her lips, searching for something to say but there's simply nothing so she shrugs and leans back in. Asami's eyes flash and she's yanking the barista impossibly closer to kiss her again, more bruising this time. They've been dancing around each other for two months now and Asami realizes she's fallen for a woman whose number she doesn't know.
There's a million things about Korra, the mysterious barista, that she doesn't know. Asami's always loved puzzles.
"Wow," Korra finally murmurs when they part and their foreheads gravitate towards each other like they're meant to be there. Even though she's no longer on her tip-toes, Asami finds herself inclining her head further to make up for the distance. "Wow."
Asami chuckles hoarsely as Korra's converse squeak against the tiles of the back room. "As much as I'm enjoying this, I would much rather prefer our first makeout not be in the back of a cafe where your friends can see us."
There's a squawk behind them. "We weren't looking!"
The voice - Bolin, obviously - is silenced by a yelp of pain and without looking Korra knows he's been punched by Opal. For a second she wonders if it was in the same spot she hit him earlier in the morning but then Asami's hair is falling over one shoulder and she's entranced. Korra clears her throat and takes a step back.
Their hands stay interlocked, though. Korra finds herself unable to look away.
"Tuesday, yeah?"
Asami's green eyes seem to pierce through her. Nodding her head, mouth dry, Korra squeezes her fingers. "Of course, 'Sami. Should I-?"
"I'll take care of everything," she announces and sides up against Korra to link their arms. "All I need is your address and phone number. I can't believe I haven't asked before!"
Almost all her nervousness disappears as Korra smirks. "To be fair, I was so afraid of you asking I probably wouldn't have given you the right one. And you better keep your promise! I want to be the one to take you out next."
Asami's lips brush her own for a second. "Look at us; we haven't even gone out once and we're already planning our second date."
"I like to be optimistic," Korra murmurs and wraps her arms around Asami's neck. Their lips hover for a moment and they're both smiling. "Call me crazy."
"Truthful, more like."
Then Asami's lips are against hers again, her tongue darting out to trace the chapped seam of Korra's lips and she suddenly forgets about Professor Tenzin's homework for the weekend and the meet Monday morning. The study of the ancient Air Nomads will go undone and she'll be distracted during swim practice tonight, so much so Coach will take her aside and ask her what's wrong.
Korra knows she'll only be able to smile up at her father brightly and assure him everything is perfect.