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“This is a horrible idea, isn’t it?” Korra stood in front of a full length mirror, twisting this way and that, trying to examine her outfit from every conceivable angle. She sighed and flopped back onto her bed, a deep feeling of shame blooming in her gut. Her outfit was exactly what she would normally wear, but because Mako was coming over things were different and that was...annoying. Korra huffed loudly and threw her hands up over her eyes.
Ever since that first meal at the noodle shop things with Mako had been...weird. They’d parted with warm smiles and promises to hang out again sometime. Korra had felt happy just knowing that things with Mako were still okay, but the next day she found herself standing outside of the shop and wondering when exactly her feet had decided to lead her here.
“Korra?” A hand reached out to grab her shoulder and she jumped.
“Mako! What are you doing here?!”
“I’m...getting lunch.” He raised an eyebrow and scrutinized her a bit more closely. “Are you okay? You look a little dazed. Want to come in and sit down?”
Mako’s hand was still on her shoulder, warm and heavy. She was so focused on it that she nodded without thinking. He slid his hand down to her elbow to guide her inside, but she side stepped and walked in ahead of him, mentally berating herself for getting so distracted by...nothing.
After that, lunch at the noodle shop became a regular part of her routine. About once a week or so they’d meet up there, sometimes with other people, but usually it was just the two of them. But it wasn’t a date. It always felt so much not like a date that there was never any confusion. And she’d been on dates before (even dates with Mako before ) so she knew what they felt like.
Right?
---
“Bro, what is this?” Bolin waved his arm wildly, gesturing to the entirety of Mako’s bedroom. Clothes were strewn around the room--the same outfit in a handful of iterations--while Mako stood in front of the mirror, still in his plain white undershirt.
“I just…” Mako sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Nothing is right.”
“Uh...I don’t know how that’s possible. You look exactly the same as every other day.”
“Exactly!” He threw up his hands before stooping to pick up the nearest shirt. “See this one? It has a weird hem, so it always makes me uncomfortable.” He threw the shirt down before stalking over to another and snatching it from the ground. “This one has this stain that won’t come out of it ever since you dumped your tea all over it!”
“Oh yeah, I remember that! I really wanted that tea…” Bolin sighed.
“There’s something wrong with all of the, Bolin.”
“More like there’s something wrong with you, Mako. Why are you even making this such a big deal? You’re just going to hang out with Korra.”
A beat of silence. And then, “Wait, WHAT?! You guys are just hanging out, right Mako? Mako?! ”
“Out, Bolin.” Mako shoved his still-gaping brother out the door and locked it behind him.
---
“I can’t believe Tenzin did that!” Mako threw his head back, letting loose a rare belly laugh.
“Yeah, neither could I! But that guy can really dance.” Korra let herself get caught up in the story, her smile getting bigger and bigger each time Mako struggled to regain his breath. “I mean, I had no idea he could even move his hips like that.”
“Seriously, how is a movement like that even possible?” Mako grinned and wiped a stray tear from his eye.
“Like this?” Korra crouched down and attempted to re-created Tenzin’s signature dance move, but after a moment or two of swaying her hips she collapsed in a fit of giggles spurred on by Mako’s laughter. He was bent over nearly ninety degrees, gasping and laughing all at the same time. They took a moment to let the laughter wash over them before Mako sighed and stood up again.
“You might be the worst dancer I’ve ever seen.” Mako reached down, grabbing Korra by the hand to hoist her up.
“That may be true,” Korra let him pull her to her feet. “But you love me, right?”
She froze, realizing a moment too late what she had said. But before she could brush it off or diffuse the potential emotional bomb she’d planted Mako responded.
“Yeah, I do.”
His move to pull her up had brought them nearly chest to chest, Their faces were too close to hide any emotion from one another and in that moment Mako had looked...honest. And maybe even a little bit sad.
Korra moved to step away, a new story about the airbending kids on the tip of her tongue before Mako grabbed her wrist gently. She stopped and looked back up at him, her eyes drifting to his lips for a moment before snapping back up to his again. He closed the distance between their lips and kissed her once, a soft question, before pulling back and letting go of her hand.
She felt the blush rise in her cheeks, but before she could move forward to ask for anything more Mako spoke.
“Do you...want to do something tomorrow night?”