Chapter Text
“Shit!”
Asami rolled out of bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She checked her alarm clock in disbelief.
“Shit,” she hissed again, “Fucking shit!” She’d only wanted to rest her eyes for a minute. That was four hours ago! It was her own fault, she told herself as she drew a strand of hair out of her mouth. She’d been up until four in the morning working on her engineering coursework and she hadn’t managed to get her daily (some would say hourly) dose of caffeine.
She’d told Korra to arrive at 5 pm. She checked the time again. She had less than ten minutes before the girl she was mentoring was supposed to arrive. And her room was a mess!
Did I do my teeth this morning?
She pulled her thick curls into a loose bun and picked a shirt up off the floor. She gave it a sniff, shrugged, decided it was tolerable and pulled it on over her creased t-shirt. She bounced around the room picking up the socks and skirts and underwear that were scattered everywhere.
Asami hated tidying up. She was always far too busy on her work to worry about such inconsequential things as cleaning and tidying and sleeping and cooking. In fact, she’d spent the last few semesters surviving almost entirely on instant noodles and coffee from the campus café.
How could my room get this messy when I just sit at my desk all day!? she thought as she kicked empty cereal boxes under the bed.
With only five minutes left, Asami’s room was beginning to look respectable, or at least habitable. The piles of drawings and diagrams had vanished into a draw; the dirty dishes and food wrappers that usually filled her room were hidden away in the kitchen; and most importantly, her anime and manga collection was hidden away on a shelf where Korra couldn’t make fun of it.
Her floor was still littered with clothes and books and magazines. Asami hadn’t passed a room inspection the whole time she’d lived there but for some reason she was making extra-specially sure that her room was presentable for Korra.
Korra had arrived that semester at Republic City College on a sports scholarship. She was a few years younger than Asami and she was … well, she was Korra. She was bubbly and fun and a royal pain in the arse.
She was a natural athlete and a formidable martial artist. She had the determination and dedication - that fire in her azure eyes - that showed just how passionate she was about everything. Everything except her academic studies. Her grades in Maths and Science were slipping and her performance in the humanities was abysmal. Tenzin had told Asami that his only choice was to arrange some one-on-one tutoring for Korra. Asami had agreed to help Korra in her studies though she’d been less than enthusiastic about the prospect of spending hours on end with some asshole jock who didn’t give a shit about anything that didn't involve kicking a ball across a muddy field. Korra had been less than enthusiastic about spending hours on end stuck in the library with a “nerdy, stuck-up, rich girl” like Asami. And she’d made her feelings very vocal.
They’d spent their first study session together in the library doing some basic algebra. Asami had been trying to explain the solutions to some mathematics problems to her reluctant student but Korra had insisted on swinging on her chair and balancing her pencil on her lip like a moustache. She was worse than a five year old.
That study session had ended when Korra stole Asami’s glasses, put them on, and did an absolutely terrible impression of her, batting her eyelids and trying to make innocent bystanders swoon while babbling about maths. Asami had wanted to be mad at her but she'd just looked so hilarious. She had tried and failed to supress her laughter and they both ended up getting kicked out of the library.
From then on, Asami had looked forward to their weekly study sessions. Since the library was no longer an option they’d done most of their studying in the coffee shop on campus or in empty class rooms. But last week Asami invited Korra over to her flat to study. She wasn’t sure why she’d offered, part of her was certain Korra wouldn’t even accept the invitation, but against all the odds, she had.
She prayed that Korra would be late.
About 30 seconds before Korra was supposed to arrive Asami had finished tidying the rubbish tip she called a bedroom. She stood with a hand on her hip and sighed with relief, scanning the floor for anything she may have missed. She ran her fingers through her hair and relaxed. Everything looked okay, but she was painfully aware of her incredibly low standards.
Waiting eagerly for Korra to arrive, butterflies churning in her stomach, she touched up her already perfect makeup in front of the bathroom mirror.
“Hey, Korra,” she said to her reflection. “Heeey, Korra.” She screwed up her face in frustration and tried again. “Hi, Korra!” No too happy. Gotta be more relaxed. More natural. Oh my god! How do I normally say it?!
A knock at the door made her jump and she almost got scarlet lipstick in her eye.
Shitshitshitshit.
She’s here, she’s here, don’t panic. I am calm. I am the definition of calm. The only thing greater than my calm is my…
Asami opened the door and the sight of Korra in her gym clothes made her mind shut down.
Korra’s dark skin was glistening with sweat, her blue tank top and baggy shorts showing off those muscular arms and the thighs that looked like they could crush a man’s skull. Korra had recently gotten her hair cut and it was now just above her shoulders and she was constantly flicking it out of her eyes.
“Hey, babe!” Korra said, her crooked smile spreading across her face.
Babe?
“Hey, Korra,” Asami said, leaning against the door, exhaustion from her panic fuelled cleaning seeping through her body. “You look, um, y’know …” Asami gestured vaguely at Korra’s body, “… amazing.”
Goddammit Asami.
“Ha, thanks.” Asami liked to think Korra blushed then but she couldn’t tell for sure. “Oh yeah, almost forgot. I got you this.” Korra handed Asami a large, steaming take-out cup of coffee. “Well, I didn’t exactly get it, Ikki was waiting for me outside the gym with it and said to give it to you. I think she’s trying to set us up!”
Ikki was one of Tenzin’s many children and the young girl had taken an immediate interest in Korra and Asami. She was often on campus with her dad and the rest of her siblings and she would spend the entire day following the two of them around. She seemed to be taking an almost obsessive interest in their love lives and, now that Asami thought about it, it had been Ikki who had suggested inviting Korra round for studying.
I am going to kill Ikki!
Asami laughed and took the coffee gratefully, their fingers brushing fleetingly. She looked at her feet to try and hide her blush which was when she noticed Korra’s ridiculous rainbow legwarmers. She rolled her eyes and moved a stray strand of hair out of her face nervously.
“Oh my god! Your place is a mess!” Korra said, looking over Asami’s shoulder in mock disbelief.
Oh god what did I miss?!
“I’m just kidding!” Korra laughed, elbowing her in the ribs. “I knew you’d be a neat-freak.”
Korra had soon kicked off her trainers and stretched out on Asami’s unmade bed. Asami took a sip of coffee and felt the life returning to her.
“So, I thought we could start with going over some of the more complex formulae from the … are you okay?”
Korra was sitting with her knees tucked under her chin and was rubbing her arms, her teeth chattering like a cartoon skeleton.
“Your room is freezing!” Korra whined.
Asami laughed and dug a jumper out of the wardrobe she’d shoved all her clothes in and threw it at Korra’s face.
“Here, but it’s not that cold, you just insist on wearing shorts and tank tops all the time.”
Korra snorted and pulled the jumper on.
“It’s fashion, Asami. You wouldn’t understand!” she said jokingly. The jumper was far too big for Korra, the sleeves were tight around her bulging biceps but drooped over her hands and the whole thing came down almost to her knees. Korra nestled down inside it, pulling the sleeves over her hands and wiggling them like tentacles.
Just like a 5 year old.
“So, yeah, I thought we’d start with the formulae we were working on last week and then we could either do some of the … what is it now?”
Korra was looking up at Asami like a guilty puppy.
“Well, y’see, I kinda accidentally left my bag at the gym and all my books were still at home anyway so it wouldn’t have made any difference if I had remembered it.” She smiled her crooked grin and ran her droopy woollen hand through her hair. “Sorry.”
Asami sighed and drained the last of the coffee.
“I give up.” Asami almost dropped her paper coffee cup on the floor but remembered she had company and threw it into the bin. “So, what do you wanna do then?”
Korra jumped up eagerly, her blue eyes shining with excitement as she threw her arms into the air. “MAKEOVER!”
“Really?”
“Yeah, why not?” Korra’s smile faded slightly. “I dunno, you always look so snazzy and I look like something Naga’s dragged through a bush.”
“That is not true!” Asami said vehemently. Korra shrugged and folded her arms. Asami ran to the bathroom and came back with her arms filled with makeup which she dumped on the bed and jumped down next to Korra.
Asami smiled as Korra began searching through the mess looking for colours she liked.
Half an hour later, Korra was lying on her back admiring her almost dry blue nail varnish and her bright red lipstick in the reflection of Asami’s iPod. Asami was sitting cross legged with Korra’s feet in her lap. Korra scrolled through the iPod while Asami painted Korra’s toes a dark shade of blue.
Asami chewed her bottom lip in concentration. Korra sighed and put the iPod down on the crumpled bed covers.
“You have such shit taste in music!” Korra laughed, nudging Asami with her foot. “It’s nearly all David Bowie!”
“I have excellent taste in music! Bowie is fucking incredible. And be careful or else I’ll have no other choice but to cover your entire foot in blue nail varnish!”
“Yes, Miss Sato. Sorry, Miss Sato,” Korra giggled. “Are you going to Mako’s party tonight?” Asami thought it was cute how suddenly her face became serious like that.
Asami grunted half-heartedly. “I dunno. Probably not. It’s been kinda awkward between us since we broke up. Have you found an eye-shadow you wanna …?”
“You dated Mako?!” Korra sat up, propping herself up on her elbows.
“Yes. Contrary to popular belief I do go out and socialise. I occasionally date too.”
“Nonono, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re so pretty and fun and smart it’s just … he’s kinda dull.”
Asami laughed so hard she snorted. She wiped her eyes and managed to get her breath back.
“Oh, you have no idea!”
“I was thinking of going to his party.” Korra lay back down and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. “But I was only gonna go if you were going.” Korra played with one of Asami’s stuffed animals absentmindedly while Asami finished painting her toenails. “I’ve never been to a party or gone out drinking or anything. I’ve always been so busy training and stuff, y’know. I thought maybe we could go together?”
Asami put the lid back on the varnish and made herself more comfortable under Korra’s feet.
“You’re not really missing much.” Asami gestured to the wall behind her,” Bolin has the room next to mine so he’ll probably tell us all about it tomorrow whether we want him to or not.”
“Mako’s brother is next door to you?!” A mischievous grin spread across Korra’s face.
“Oh no! Korra, what are you gonna do?!” Asami pleaded with Korra but it was no use.
Korra threw her head back against the pillows and let out the loudest scream Asami had ever heard.
She could’ve sworn she heard someone fall out of bed next door.
Korra screamed again, her fingers coiling in Asami’s bed sheets.
“OH ASAMI! FUCK! YEEEES!”
“Korra!”
“OH MY GOD, YES! FUCK!” Korra let out another ear-piercing moan. “YES, JUST LIKE THAT! FUCK ME ASAMI! OOOOOOOOH GOD!”
Asami lunged at Korra and tried to cover her mouth with her hand, smudging Korra’s lipstick in the process, but it was no use. Korra grabbed her wrist and rolled Asami onto her back and screamed again, though this time it was almost a groan.
"DON’T STOP! OOH, ASAMI! YEEEEES! FUCK YES!"
Asami hit her with a teddy bear and hissed at her to shut up while barely containing her laughter.
Korra ignored her and carried on shouting.
“ASAMI! FUCK YES! YOU FEEL SO GOOD INSIDE ME! YOU’RE MAKING ME … I’M GONNA ...”
Asami managed to push Korra off her and grabbed a pillow and pressed it over Korra’s face. Korra’s screaming muffled, she started thumping on the wall with her fist and making the whole bed shake with her legs.
Korra’s stifled shouting finally turned into uncontrollable laughter beneath the pillow and Asami let her go. They collapsed onto the bed, breathing heavily and tears rolling down their cheeks from laughing so hard.
Korra rolled over to see the look on Asami’s face, biting her lip as she tried to stop laughing. Her brilliant blue eyes seemed to glow in the fading light.
I am so gay.
Korra buried her face in the curve of Asami’s neck, sighing deeply as she got her breath back.
She could feel Korra’s hot breath on her skin and, without realising she was doing it, she reached out for Korra’s hand. Their fingers brushed and Asami’s heart leapt.
So gay.
"At least I know you’re a screamer now," Asami chuckled breathlessly. “I am gonna murder you if Bolin heard that.”
Korra laughed and stood up on the bed, pushing her hair back out of her eyes, and pulling the sleeves of her jumper over her hands.
Asami stayed sprawled out on the bed, her hair spilling out of her bun and spreading across the pillows. Korra looked down at her and smiled.
“You look like a mermaid.” Asami almost had a coughing fit and she could feel her cheeks burning. “A really nerdy mermaid who needs to get laid,” Korra said as she looked through the mess on Asami’s shelves, that devilish grin flashing across her face again.
“I hate you so much.”
“No you don’t, you love me. How could you not? I’m adorable!” Korra turned her attention back to Asami’s shelves.
If she sees all the nerdy shit I’ve hidden up there I’ll never hear the end of it!
“Hey, umm, you know we could have our own thing tonight,” Asami said hurriedly.
“Huh?”
“Well, it seemed like you really wanted to go to Mako’s party.” Asami sat up and hugged her knees. “I dunno, I thought maybe we could raid the fridge and have our own little party. Just the two of us.” Korra’s eyes lit up at the last part and it wasn’t just Asami’s imagination. “Bolin has some beer in the fridge and I’m sure he won’t mind if we … borrowed it.”
“Really? That sounds great!”
“Just promise you won’t throw up on me if you have too much to drink.”
They found Bolin in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. He looked distinctly shell-shocked and gave the two girls a funny look. Asami realised that seeing them with their messy hair, smudged lipstick, and Korra wearing one of Asami’s jumpers probably made poor Bolin even more convinced they’d been up to no good.
And Korra didn’t make it any better by slapping Asami’s butt when Bolin said they could have his beer.
Asami blushed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. She was looking daggers at Korra who just smiled gleefully as Bolin scurried out of the kitchen, almost banging into the door as he left.
When he’d gone, Asami turned on Korra, her cheeks still burning red from embarrassment.
“Oh my god, Korra! He’s gonna tell everyone now!”
“Oh lighten up!” Korra opened the fridge and pulled out two six packs of beer. “One pack each?”
“I dunno, I think you’d better take it easy since it’s your … first … time …”
Korra had already drained one can before Asami had even finished talking.
Korra gagged and pulled a face somewhere between disgust and horror.
“Ugh, that’s horrible!”
Asami took a can from Korra which hissed when she opened it.
“Serves you right!” Asami collapsed onto the stained sofa and took a sip of the beer. “And just so you know, when you’re too weak to stand and you’re vomiting everywhere, I’m just gonna laugh at you and take pictures.”
“Deal!” Korra laughed as she started her next can.
Over the course of the next hour or two Korra and Asami danced on the kitchen counter to David Bowie, ate all of Bolin’s cereal, threatened to fight Bolin when he asked what happened to his cereal, planned a road trip across the country, and got so drunk that they called Mako five or six times to tell him they were a couple and that his eyebrows were ridiculous.
Sometime between her fourth and fifth beer Korra threw up over Asami’s jeans and after all the beer had run out they curled up together on the sofa. Korra was resting her head on Asami’s shoulder and trying her hardest not to be sick again.
Asami’s jeans were in the dishwasher and neither of them could remember where they’d put her iPod.
Korra looked up at Asami, her cheeks flushed from drink and her forehead creased in concentration as she tried her utmost to summon the willpower to have an intelligible conversation.
“’Sami,” she began, her speech slurred and her concentration wavering, “I jus’ wanted to tell you that …” She hiccupped and forgot what she was going to say. Asami laughed and brushed a lock of dark brown hair behind Korra's ear. “I jus’ wanna tell you that I …” Korra whispered, “I have a crush on Asami.” Korra held Asami’s face in her hands and looked earnestly into her eyes. “Don’t tell her I told you, okay?! Pinkie promise.”
It felt like Asami’s stomach was turning summersaults. And it wasn’t from the beer.
“I think you’ve had too much to drink.” Asami stood up, the floor moving slightly beneath her feet. She took Korra’s hand and pulled her up off the sofa. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”
It took them over twenty minutes to find Asami’s room. Korra almost broke into Bolin’s room convinced that it was Asami’s and she threatened to make Tahno eat his stupid hair when he came out of his room to complain about the noise.
They eventually found their way back to Asami’s room and collapsed in an exhausted heap in bed.
*
Asami woke up with her head pounding. She groaned and pulled Korra closer.
Wait, what?!
She opened her eyes ever so slowly and almost had a heart attack. She stifled a scream of surprise and unwrapped her arms from around Korra who was still fast asleep.
Oh my god! Did we …?
Asami lifted the sheets tentatively and was met with the sight of her bare legs entangled with Korra’s.
We did! We did the thing!
This was not how Asami had imagined her first time with Korra! Not that she'd imagined having sex with Korra! ... Well, not much.
Asami rubbed her temples and tried to think.
No … Korra threw up on my jeans. We didn’t do anything. I’m pretty sure we didn’t do anything.
She checked under the covers again. No, Korra still had her shorts on and Asami was sure only Korra was really wasted enough to do anything stupid last night.
Asami breathed a sigh of relief and sat up, propping herself up against her pillows. Korra stirred in her sleep, mumbling something inaudibly.
She said she had a crush on me last night!
Asami smiled happily, watching Korra sleeping peacefully.
Still asleep, Korra reached out her hand and put her arm around Asami’s waist. Asami gasped in shock as she felt Korra’s strong fingers run up underneath her top and glide across her skin. Korra’s eyes flickered open as her hand reached Asami’s bra. Their eyes met and simultaneously widened in surprise. Korra whipped her hand away, rolled over and fell out of bed, her arms and legs flailing like an overturned turtle.
“Owwwww,” Korra groaned from the floor. Asami couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Korra lying in a heap on the floor all tangled up in Asami’s bed sheets and swearing under her breath.
She scrambled to her feet and pulled a long strand of Asami’s hair out of her mouth.
“Blaurgh! I believe this is yours.” Korra crawled across the bed towards Asami, waving the wet string of hair at her.
Asami whacked her in the face with a pillow and Korra, ever the drama queen, collapsed into Asami’s lap. Korra smiled up at Asami, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Asami smiled down at her and brushed some of Korra’s messy hair out of her face. “You sleep well?”
“I did,” Korra smiled, “you’re a great cuddler.”
Asami blushed and ran her fingers through her mess of curls.
“Do you remember much of last night?” Asami asked. She wondered if Korra remembered or even meant what she’d said last night.
“Not much. I think I threw up at some point but it’s all kind of a blur. And my head is killing me!”
I knew it. She’d just had too much to drink. I was kidding myself.
“You wanna get some pizza or something?” Asami asked.
“I would love that,” Korra groaned as she sat up, “but I think I’d better get going. Tenzin wants me to do a … ugh, I can’t even remember. Whatever it is, it’s gonna be hell!”
While Korra washed the taste of vomit and regret out of her mouth in the bathroom, Asami checked her texts. There were some pretty confusing ones from Mako but it was too early in the morning to try and work out why he was 'happy for her', whatever that meant. Besides, she was far more interested in what Bolin had texted her last night.
“Hey,” Asami said through the bathroom door, “Bolin says that Wu had too much to drink last night and got all handsy with Mako!”
“That’s adorable. And hilarious!” Korra laughed, “No one’s gonna be gossiping about us now though.” She sounded almost disappointed. She came out of the bathroom, her hair wringing wet and droplets of water running down her face. “Well, this was really fun.” She ran her fingers through her damp hair sheepishly. “You wanna maybe get coffee later?”
Asami’s heart leapt.
“Sure, I’ll call you.”
Korra made ready to leave.
“Cool … oh, you want this back?” she asked, tugging at the collar of Asami’s jumper.
“Nah, you can hang onto it. It looks cold this morning,” Asami said, holding the door open for Korra.
“Thanks.” Korra hovered in the doorway for a moment. She chewed her lip for a few seconds, glanced into the corridor quickly and, seeing that no one was around, bobbed up on her tiptoes and kissed Asami lightly on the cheek. “See ya, babe.”
Korra rushed off before she could see that Asami’s cheeks had turned a deep shade of red.
Asami was so flustered that she hadn’t noticed Bolin was standing outside his bedroom door in his undies, an idiotic grin on his face.
She almost screamed when she saw him.
"Looks like I owe Ikki a lot of money!" he laughed.
“Shut up!” she yelled at him, her cheeks turning even brighter as she vanished into her room. She slammed the door behind her and threw herself onto her bed with a sigh.
Her finger tips danced over her cheek, relishing the memory of the feeling of Korra’s soft lips on her flesh.
Asami smiled to herself and closed her eyes.
Just a little nap … just rest my eyes for ten minutes … she thought as she drifted off to sleep, her fingers still brushing her cheek and the smell of Korra on her pillows filling her dreams.