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A small gasp escapes the mouth of Li Hua, a sound that emits pride in Kya as she leaves a trail of red marks on the councilwoman's throat. She uses her fingers to trace patterns along her exposed thigh, which peeks out through the slit in her oh-so-respectable gown. In the corner of the ballroom, masked by the shadows and half covered by drapes, it’s almost as though they’re in private-- almost.
“God- you look so hot in that dress,” Kya murmurs as Li Hua cranes her neck, hair brushing against Kya’s cheek. “I can’t wait to rip it off of you.” Li Hua gives a gentle moan in response, her hands moving to grip Kya’s hair at the roots, exactly how she likes it.
“Let’s go upst-”
The clearing of a throat interrupts Li Hua’s proposition. She stands up abruptly, removing her hands from Kya’s scalp to flatten her golden gown. Smacking Kya’s hands away from her thigh and hip, she turns around. Behind her, sweating through her blouse, Lin Beifong. “Excuse me, Councilwoman. Kya, may I have a word?”
“Of course,” Kya responds, shooting Li Hua an apologetic smile before fixing her hair and standing upright. She follows Lin out of the ballroom and into an office just around the corner. Lin shuts the door behind them, eyes crazed and breath heavy.
“Kya, I can’t do this,” she exasperates. “I- I- I can’t talk to them, there’s too many important people here.”
Kya smiles sympathetically at her friend, putting a hand on her damp shoulder. “Lin, listen to me: you’ll do fine! They’re making you Chief for a reason; they already know that you’re the best, you don’t have to prove yourself. Just go up there and thank them and tell them all your plans as you start your ‘new incredible journey.’ She pulls her hand away, bending the sweat out of Lin’s shirt as she does so, placing it into an empty cup on the desk.
“What if I vomit on the stage? I feel like I might vomit on the stage.”
“You are not going to vomit on the stage. If you do, I’ll go up there and piss myself in front of everyone, how about that?”
Lin scowls, her brows furrowing in the same way she would when Kya would chase her around with an octopus-worm when they were kids. “That would make everything so much worse.”
“It really would! So don’t vomit or else we’re both gonna end up embarrassed and probably banned from this hall forever,” Kya laughs. After all these years, teasing Lin still gives her a child-like thrill. She can feel her best friend lighten up slightly, both metaphorically and literally as she loosens her tie. Kya forces herself to keep eye contact, just barely resisting the urge to watch Lin’s hands roughly pull at the knot around her throat. “Listen,” She says,. “I know you hate public speaking, but think of this as a practice run. Soon you’re going to have to talk to the masses of Republic City, and I’m not always going to be here. So tonight, learn from what you do wrong. Plus, if you fuck up, we’ll just go drown our sorrows in frozen custard and watch the shittiest movies ever made until we pass out, okay?”
“What about your…” Lin pauses, an indistinguishable look on her face “...councilwoman?”
Kya feels herself beginning to get flustered, the need to explain herself claws its way up her throat. “That’s nothing serious. It’s strictly physical; there’s no hard feelings there if we don’t end up together at the end of the night. I’m 100 per cent free to come back to yours after this.”
“It’s really not necessary, Ky. You’ve done a sufficient job smacking some sense into me, thank you.”
"Whatever you say, Linny-Lin."
Lin lets out an airy growl in protest of the use of her childhood nickname, a sound would normally make Kya's breath hitch, if she weren't the sensible and rational person that she is. (This is a lie, Kya just had to repeat in her thoughts that 'No, Lin does not want her, and that that's fine, that's totally fine. She is Normal about this, and actually Doesn't Care At All' over and over until she stopped obsessing the two-second sound).
“Okay, well, I’ll be here to cheer you on for your speech,” she replies, trying her best not to rip her hair from its follicles.
“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Lin smiles, wiping away the thin layer of sweat on the skin above her upper lip. She inhales deeply and sighs, scanning the room before looking at Kya with a painful grimace. “I should probably get back in there,” She says, voice still somewhat shaky.
“You’ll do great.”
“Thanks. See you in a bit.”
Lin’s speech was great, just as Kya expected. Well, she was biased, but that didn’t stop the spider-goosebumps from raising on the back of her neck as she watched her accepted her honour. Even Li Hua, who, by all means, was not paying attention to Lin, turns to Kya at the end of the speech and says “Wow, she’s really good.” Kya simply smiles in response, too engaged with the happenings on-stage to even consider looking away from the podium.
When she steps off the stage and sits down next to her coworker, Kya is finally able to focus on Li Hua, who is tracing the tattoos on her arm, slightly tickling her. “So, how about we get upstairs?” Her voice is sultry, and she’s fluttering her eyelashes as she continues her gentle touches.
Kya sighs, “Sorry, I can’t tonight. I told Lin that I would go back home with her tonight after her speech.”
Li Hua’s face flashes with a look of disappointment, but she catches the eye of Yume Aoki, who winks as she passes by in that exact moment, and the expression quickly fades. “Alright well, have fun. See you next time,” she says, following Yume out of the dining area..
Kya lets out an airy chuckle, shrugging as she turns back to face Lin’s table, grabbing her jacket and purse from the back of her chair before heading over to her best friend. As she approaches, Lin catches her eye, and for a moment, Kya’s thinks she can spot a flash of a glint in her eyes, but brushes it off. “Ready to get out of here?” Kya asks wrapping an arm around Lin’s shoulders.
“What happened to your -erm- date?”
“Ditched her- I’ve been craving frozen custard since our conversation earlier. Plus… I haven’t watched a shitty rom-com in a while.”
“She didn’t take it hard?” Lin asks as they steer towards the door together, arms intertwined.
“Nah, I told you, it’s not like that. Li Hua’s still got the room upstairs, and she immediately found someone better to bring up there. She’s fine.”
“Oh,” Lin says, leading Kya to the valet as a young man brings her car up and opens the doors for them and smiles politely as he accepts Lin’s tip. “By the way, we have to stop at the grocery store, I haven’t got any custard,” She says once they’re inside.
“That’s fine. We can grab some chips while we’re there too, I need some salt- and so do you, after all that sweat I bent out of your shirt earlier.” They sit in silence for about 5 minutes, only the sound of passing cars filling the air until they reach Lin’s neighbourhood. Kya’s mind is at peace, soaking in yellow glow of the streetlights on the narrow road. It feels almost like a storybook, with different shaped and coloured brick buildings lining either sides of the road, cobblestone walkways at each intersection, and billowing blue ridged streetlamps every few feet, plastered with homemade posters promoting shows, yardsales, and lost pets. The picturesque neighbourhood always brings a warmth to Kya’s chest, though she never fully understands why.
When they get into the frozen section of the grocery store, Lin ducks behind Kya at the sight of a tall woman with long, dark hair and bright blue eyes. She whispers something along the lines of “Hide me!” and Kya, not one to betray her friend, goes into as wide of a stance as possible.
When the woman leaves, Lin emerges from behind Kya, a nervous look in her eyes. “What was that about?” Kya asks, never having seen Lin act this avoidant in their entire lives.
“Uh-- that was my… ex? Kind of? We had a… thing. Not really sure what to call it, it was all so confusing. I ended it a few months back because it just… it sucked so bad.”
“Oh, yeah, situationships never end well,” Kya says as Lin throws a container of frozen vanilla custard into the cart. “Get chocolate too.” Lin obeys, and they walk down to the snack aisle, Kya grabbing multiple bags of chips as she pushes the cart. “What kind do you want? Salt & Vinegar?”
“Of course, you know me so well,” Lin smiles. Looking into the cart, she furrows her brows. “Why did you get Ketchup? Disgusting!”
“They are not! I love Ketchup chips!”
“They also leave red dust everywhere! They’re worse than Cheetos!” Lin places her hands on her hips, annoyed.
“Don’t worry! I’ll wash my hands after eating them so I won’t leave ketchup all over your apartment.”
“Thank you,” Lin huffs, hands going back to her sides as Kya places a bag of Salt & Vinegar into the cart. “Did you want anything else, or can we go?”
“We’re good,” Kya replies, placing one more bag of plain chips into the cart.
As the cashier checks them out, Lin leans into Kya’s side, letting her wrap an arm around her shoulders. Kya pays, and as they’re bagging their items, Kya’s arm still around Lin’s shoulders, she hears a clearing of a throat come from behind them.
Lin’s face drops as a woman calls her name. “Lin, is that you?” She turns, straightening herself and removing Kya’s arm from her shoulders.
“Hello, Kanti,” Lin sighs, hands in her pockets, posture stiff as a board.
“How have you been?” She asks, not breaking eye contact. Kya feels a churning in her stomach as she recognizes the woman from the frozen food aisle.
“I’ve been fine. And yourself?”
“I’ve been great! I just finished a short tour of the fire nation, my band was playing in all of the finest dining clubs.”
“That’s great, Kanti. I’m glad you’re well. We should prob-”
“Who’s this? New girlfriend?” Kanti asks, smiling with an odd look towards at Kya.
“Uhm- no. This is Kya, she’s just a friend.”
Kya’s voice falters as she extends a hand, “Hi, nice to meet you. Kanti, was it?”
Kanti laughs, taking her hand and giving it a gentle shake, “Well, I see Lin hasn’t mentioned me. Kanti, singer, dancer, and all-around haver of fun times.” She doesn't seem like Lin's type, but what does she know? Kya smiles wearily, taking her hand back and trying to avoid eye-contact with Lin’s ex-lover.
“Right, well, we should probably go, our custard’s going to melt.”
“Alright, well, bye, Lin. Call me.”
“Sure, Kanti. Bye.”
Kya can feel her throat start to get tight, and she forces herself to take a deep breath. “Ready for some shitty rom-coms?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“BOO! SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!” Lin yells at the TV, much to Kya’s amusement. Bridget Jones’s Diary, the shitty romcom of the night, was always a rouser of rage in her best friend. As they sit on opposite ends of the loveseat, legs entangled under the blanket that they’re sharing, a series of curses are shouted at the projection of Mark Darcy on the television. “I just don’t understand why on EARTH he would say ‘I like you exactly how you are” after shitting on her for the ENTIRE MOVIE!”
“Because its enemies to lovers! Which doesn’t excuse his absolute asshole behaviour throughout the entire movie, but we’re not supposed to like him at first, we grow to love him.”
“Except both of these men are terrible choices for Bridget. She should tell them both to fuck off and date her friend. The girl- what’s her name?”
“Shazzer.”
“Okay, ignoring the stupid name, I think Bridget should go date her. She’s the only person who is actually honest with her. Plus they’re both miserably single, but happy when they’re together. It just makes sense.”
“I guess you’re right,” Kya grins.
“You guess? You KNOW I’m right!” Lin exclaims, smacking her in the head with a pillow, which Kya grabs and throws back at her with a cackle. “You are so lucky I’m tipsy right now, this would mean war if I were able to stand without stumbling.”
Kya laughs again, her head resting along the back of the couch. “Lin, you had two glasses of red wine.”
Lin’s arms raise in defence, “I’m not a red wine drinker! I enjoy a nice Sauvignon Blanc, a champagne if we’re celebrating! Never anything too high in percentage.”
“Ever the gentlewoman,” Kya grins, grasping one of Lin’s hands, interlocking their fingers. They’re silent for a moment, and Kya looks at the ring of red extending from Lin’s lips. As Kya opens her mouth, unsure of what she’s about to say, the TV blares with the sounds of shouting reporters outside of the fictional courthouse. Their attention snaps back to the film as Darcy interrupts Bridget at the corner shop. Through the pulsing in her ears, Kya can hear Lin mutter “fucking dick…”
She pulls her hand back to her side, leaving a trail of red dust on the back of her best friend's hand.
The playback menu is glowing on the screen of the television when Kya opens her eyes blearily at 3 A.M.; she’d fallen asleep around the end of Darcy and Cleaver’s fight, and apparently Lin had fallen asleep not long after. With her face burrowed into Kya’s stomach, soft snores emit from her sleeping best friend as instrumental jazz plays in the background. The multicoloured screen of the television illuminates them both and Kya tucks a piece of Lin’s stray short black hair behind her ear, watching as her furrowed brows relaxed at the touch. Without thinking, she continues to sleepily stroke her hair, “La, you’re so beautiful,” she whispers. Lin’s brows twitch once more, and her eyes flutter open. She looks at Kya, her eyes barely slits in her state of tiredness. "So are you," She replies groggily.
Kya remains silent as Lin pushes her body to an upright position on Kya's lap, legs straddling her on either side. "You are so fucking beautiful."
She smells of wine, and in a deep part of her mind, Kya knows that she should to resist. Lin doesn't want you. She told you herself. It's been 20 years, stop pretending like this is going to happen.
But she doesn't- she can't. Against her better judgement, she lets Lin kiss her- and it's magical- sloppy, and drunken, and effortless- but magical.
CONTINUED IN WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING (I FELL IN LOVE)