Work Text:
The air around you is damp tonight.
Not in a cloying, sticky sort of way, but in a way that cools your skin and makes you lazy and slow. Your eyes blink slowly as you watch the rain fall through the fogged glass of Lin’s bedroom window. You have it slightly open, just enough that raindrops sometimes fall on your face, a gentle surprise. The radio plays a soft song in the background, but it’s just white noise against the pitter patter of the rain.
As a bolt of lightning flashes through the sky, covering the whole city in light for just a moment, you feel a pair of warm, firm arms wrap around your waist.
“What are you doing up so late?” Lin asks softly, dropping her head onto your shoulder and pressing a barely-there kiss against your skin.
You just hum, and look back at her for a second. Smiling, you place your hands atop her own, right where they sit at your waist.
“Just thinkin’,” you say, quietly. The thunder finally comes, and even though you were waiting for it, expecting it, you still jump a little. Lin chuckles against you, and pulls you closer against you.
“You scared?” she teases, and you roll your eyes even though she can’t see it.
“Not at all,” you say, then pause. “Though I used to be, as a kid.”
“Wanna know a secret?” she says, lifting her head so that her lips brush ever so slightly against the tips of your ears. It almost tickles.
“Mhm,” you say, nodding just a bit. Your body sinks against hers, the aching tiredness overtaking you. It feels so good to just let her hold you like this. So safe.
“When I was a kid,” she starts. “I was afraid of thunder.”
You’re just a little bit shocked, but not quite as much as you would've been a few months ago. As much as Lin likes to seem so tough and strong—and she is, for the most part—she’s human just like the rest of us. She has fears and worries and hopes and wants. You love all those parts of her, the ones that get kept away from the prying eye of the public and bared only for a select few, one of them being you. She is as much at ease right now with you as you are with her, her body soft and supple as you mold against each other, two halves of a whole.
“Were you now?” you ask, light and airy, like the breeze flowing in through the open window. You love it when Lin tells you stories about herself—about her childhood. It’s not rare, but it’s definitely not as often of an occurrence as you taking up the whole night talking without realising it.
She nods. “I was. I used to make Su sleep in my bed with me on stormy nights. That is, until I decided I was too dignified to cuddle with my little sister. She was also quite annoying, which didn’t help her case.” Lin chuckles as she says so, and you’re glad. You know that her relationship with her sister used to be very strained, so listening to her talk about Suyin in such a playful manner is calming.
“My mom wasn’t a big fan of them either,” she continues, making a rare mention of Toph. Her mother is a sore spot for her, as is yours for you. “Vibrations from the thunder and the water on the ground made everything a little fuzzy for her. She never liked not being in complete control of a situation—and that included being able to see.”
You huff, and with a small smile, tease, “That sounds like someone I know.”
She groans, dropping her head back onto your bare shoulder.
“Don’t say that,” she mutters, and you know that you haven’t accidentally gone too far by the way she gives you an exasperated laugh as she says your name.
You cannot help but giggle as you turn around to face her.
“Sorry,” you say, smiling and not sorry at all.
“You are not,” she huffs, and you reach a hand up into her hair, messy and unmade for once.
“Maybe not,” you mutter, and lean up to kiss her.
Your lips meet and you kiss her with the taste of rain in the air, with wind brushing against your back, and with thunder rumbling throughout the city. She tastes the same as she always does, but you know you’ll never get used to kissing her like this, not when it always feels just as good as the first time, so you let yourself get drawn into it, your mouth slipping open for her tongue to lightly skirt along the plush softness of your lips.
You kiss lazily, both of your bodies aching for sleep, and the humid air lulling you along towards bed. Still, the sound of the rain calls to you, so instead you just stand there, letting her kiss you stupid.
When you finally slow, you’re breathless and your bodies warm the cool room. Her arms are draped around your neck, and you easily let yourself lean against her, sleepy eyes blinking hard.
“I’m tired,” you murmur against her chest, the music of the radio echoing off the walls around you. You start to sway with it, and Lin quickly follows your lead. You’re not quite dancing, but just letting your bodies move with the music. You suppose that is, in a way, dancing, but you’re too tired to put any real effort into it.
“You should sleep,” she says, dropping her chin onto the top of your head.
You hum at her still swaying gently to the sound of thunder and the radio. “Later,” you say, letting your arms wrap around her waist. “I wanna stay here for just a little while longer,” you continue a few seconds later, but your words trail off into a yawn.
“Okay,” she says, acquiescing only because she does not have the energy to pick you up and haul you to bed. “Just for a little while longer.”
You nod against her, your eyes falling shut.
“Just a little while longer,” you repeat back, and a flash of lightning illuminates your whole room, and you can hear the rain coming down harder now.
The two of you stay there, a pool of water forming beneath her open window, your feet shuffling slowly as you move with the soft music on her radio. You don’t quite fall asleep, but you’re not quite awake either as you listen to her heart beat in her chest.
Rainy nights are officially your favourite.