Chapter Text
Asami sat at her desk, chewing the end of a pen in thought as she surveyed the contracts from Varrick with a scrutinized eye. Things had happened fast after her stare-down with Varrick in the Southern Water Tribe. He had shook her hand, promising to help her revive her company and talk about details later. She had been swept up in the whirlwind of his charisma and charm, bright smiles and bold declarations. He had given her company a fighting chance again, and, combined with the backdrop of the Spirit Glaciers Festival, Asami had found herself elated and hopeful for the future, constantly reassured by Varrick that everything would be okay now.
However, now that she was back in Republic City, the magic had faded and she was back to being practical. The “details” that Varrick had saved for later were now sitting on her desk in the form of ridiculous contract after contract.
He probably just expected me to sign off on all of this without reading it, Asami thought as she crossed out a line on a contract reading:
2. Sir Iknik Blackstone Varrick reserves the right to completely overrule any final decision made by the CEO of Future Industries without exception.
She shook her head. The man was supposed to be giving her a loan, not taking control of the company. She had known that Varrick would be aggressive but she hadn’t expected him to be sneaky. He had seemed like the type of businessman who was flashy and loud, making unpredictable but very visible moves rather than one who opted to slip in damning and misleading clauses into contracts.
Asami smiled. He was not as smart as she thought he was if he had taken her for such a fool. Asami made sure to read a contract over multiple times before signing off on it, making sure she understood every little piece of information outlined on it. In her world, not reading the paperwork carefully was the fasted way to get burned.
She had just begun reading a line starting with:
4. The CEO of Future Industries must place a portrait of Sir Iknik Blackstone Varrick in the lobby due to…
…when the SLAM of her heavy office doors caused her to sit up abruptly and reach for her Equalist glove in her top drawer.
Korra stalked in, fists clenched as she began pacing in front of Asami.
“He never takes my side…it’s so annoying…” she was grumbling under her breath before she took a seat on one of the chairs in front of Asami’s desk, sinking in to the soft leather with a huff as she crossed her arms.
Asami relaxed at the sight of her friend, closing the drawer that contained her glove. Instead, she reached for her telephone and held it to her ear without dialing, making eye contact with Korra as she spoke into the receiver.
“Hello, yes, I need security detail in my office right away. There is a woman here without an appointment and she looks angry,” she spoke into the receiver, unable to keep a straight face as Korra glared at her before bursting into laughter herself.
After her laughter subsided, Korra slouched forward onto Asami’s desk, covering her face with her hands.
“Asami…” she said, drawing out the last syllable in her name.
“Let me guess: Mako troubles?” Asami said, getting up to close the doors of her office. When she came back, she sat in a chair next to Korra rather than returning to the one behind her desk.
Korra was still holding her face, so Asami reached out and tugged her bicep lightly so that Korra was forced to turn and look at Asami.
She nodded dejectedly before meeting Asami’s eyes. “I get if you are sick of hearing me complain about him. After all, I wanted him so bad in the first place and…”
“Korra,” Asami interrupted her with a smile, trying to put her at ease. “You know I told you I’ve put it all behind me. You should too. We’re friends, not enemies. And I’m always here to listen to you. So if you need to vent, go right ahead.”
At Korra’s softening expression, Asami continued. “Besides, I’d much rather hang out with you than read through Varrick’s pile of crap any day.”
Korra raised her eyebrow at the stack of papers on Asami’s desk. “I don’t envy you one bit.”
Asami frowned a little. “Even my hardest day at the office doesn’t come close to the stuff you have to deal with.”
Korra rolled her eyes. “Asami, it does. Just because your work doesn’t involve fighting giant spirit monsters or whatever doesn’t mean it’s any less difficult or important.”
Asami shrugged. While she did not necessarily agree with Korra, she knew better than to argue on the subject. Korra hated when she downplayed her job or her role in Team Avatar, and never missed a chance to tell her how lucky she felt that Asami was with them.
“Okay, okay. You win. Now what’s up with Officer Mako?” she said, kicking off her shoes and drawing her knees up into a more comfortable position.
Korra followed her lead, shifting herself into a cross-legged position on her chair. “He will not give it a rest about the whole ‘firing Tenzin’ thing. As if I don’t already feel terrible about it after all that happened!”
She stopped, picking at her boot before continuing. “I mean, looking back, I still wouldn’t have changed my decision, but Mako’s making me feel like I am the scum of the earth for doing it. He hasn’t exactly said the words yet, but the “I Told You So” look is always on his face now.”
Asami wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. That’s not very supportive of him at all.”
Korra threw up her hands. “That’s EXACTLY what I always say to him! He never takes my side. Ever. I mean, even if he didn’t agree with what I did, and he clearly doesn’t, I wish he would have at least…I don’t know, tried to understand why I did what I did.”
Asami stayed quiet as Korra collected her thoughts, wanting to give her some space to continue if she wished to do so.
After a handful of seconds, Korra spoke again. “Do you think I was right to let Tenzin go?”
She studied Asami carefully while she thought about her answer.
She already knew that she was going to say yes. She did agree with her, wholeheartedly. She wished she could have been there for Korra to help her hash out her feelings at the time it had happened, but she knew that Korra had Mako and did not want to intrude. If only she had known how insensitive he was being with her…her blood boiled at the thought.
However, Asami didn’t just want to say “yes” to Korra, because then it would look like she was agreeing with her for the sake of agreeing. Korra didn’t need that falsity.
Something Mako would do… she thought bitterly as she formulated her answer.
Korra looked at her expectantly as she began speaking.
“I think you did the right thing Korra,” Asami said, locking eyes with her friend, her tone sincere.
“I don’t think anyone could really understand your actions because they didn’t try to see where you were coming from. As the Avatar, you have every right to make tough calls like that to further your education and training.”
Asami broke the eye contact and sighed before continuing. “Yes, Tenzin was a great teacher and spiritual leader. You’ve never denied that. But he couldn’t teach you about the spirits or how to contain them. Only your Uncle could guide you down that path.”
Korra tilted her head, listening intently as Asami went on.
“When opportunities like that arise, you can’t just turn them down because you might hurt someone’s feelings, as harsh as that sounds. As for how events turned out? How could you have ever predicted that your Uncle would turn out to be corrupt? You’re the Avatar but you are not a mind reader. I don’t hold you accountable for his actions, and neither should anyone else” Asami said heatedly, thinking of the traitorous Unulaq.
Korra chuckled a little at the tone Asami had taken.
“What?” Asami said, the corner of her lip turning up into a smile.
Korra shook her head. “Nothing, it’s just…it’s funny seeing you get mad over defending me. Mako just gets mad at me. It’s a nice change of pace.”
“Hey, that’s what I’m here for. We’re friends,” Asami said, reaching forward to give Korra’s knee a squeeze.
“And you know what else I hate?” Korra said abruptly. “He always wears this smelly white undershirt to bed. I think he washes it once a week.”
Asami started laughing and Korra spoke over her.
“Asami, I’m serious! When I stay over I almost always have to sleep on the couch because I can’t take the smell. I’m pretty sure he wears it under his clothes all day,” Korra said, her nose wrinkling.
“He definitely does. I know exactly what shirt you’re talking about. I just made him take it off when he stayed over,” Asami said, and Korra looked at her with realization dawning on her face.
“Ohhh…that’s a much smarter solution than me sleeping on the couch,” she said.
“That’s why I’m the engineer of the group,” Asami teased while Korra stuck her lip out at her.
“Oo, I have another one,” Korra said, clearly on a roll now. “He actually called me lazy the other day for racing with the kids on Air Temple Island!”
“Are you kidding me?!” Asami exclaimed, getting worked up. She was having way too much fun dragging her ex. “If anyone deserves a little break, it’s you!”
“That’s what I said! I mean, it’s not like I’ve just returned from opening a Spirit Portal and am dealing with a Civil War that includes my own Tribe or anything. Come on!” Korra said.
“He’s just ridiculous. Talking as if he doesn’t sleep in till 1:00 PM on his days off and lounge around in his underwear all day” Asami said admonishingly.
“Yeah! Imagine if we did that! We can’t afford a day to have off and walk around in our underwear!” Korra roared, and joined Asami in hearty laughter.
Asami was doubled over and could barely catch her breath, and she could see that Korra had a tear streaming down her cheek.
“And—and you know what? He is a terrible kisser!” Korra said between laughs, and Asami stopped laughing in surprise.
So it wasn’t just her. Mako really wasn’t the best kisser around.
Korra froze, a look of horror on her face. “I’m—I’m so sorry, Asami. Did I--?”
Asami burst into laughter again and Korra breathed a sigh of relief as Asami waved off her concerns.
“No, no, you’re fine,” she said catching her breath. “It’s just funny because I thought the exact same thing. I thought I was bad or something!”
“Oh no, definitely not. I wouldn’t ever think that you’d be bad at kissing,” Korra said, and the tips of Asami’s ears heated a bit. She thought nothing of it, chalking it up to the subject material.
“And it’s not like I have anything to go off of. He was my first kiss and the only person I’ve ever kissed. But…I don’t think it’s supposed to be like what he does,” Korra continued, her brow wrinkling as she thought of some unpleasant memories.
“Does he do that thing where he kind of just mashes his mouth against yours, and doesn’t really move it too much?” Asami said. “And you’re stuck doing all the work?”
“Mmm hmm,” Korra said knowingly.
“And when he bites my lip it’s way too hard at times, like before things are getting heated or…whatever…” she trailed off, seemingly becoming shy.
Asami smiled at her friend. “Yep, that’s definitely the wrong way of going about things. A shame, for someone so good looking, he’s really not the best in the kissing department.”
A silence passed and both girls seemed to catch a familiar guilty feeling for talking about Mako without him being there to defend himself.
“I mean, there’s good things about him too,” Asami said hurriedly.
“Like his eyes,” Korra joined in.
“And his hair,” Asami added.
“His strong arms,” Korra said smiling.
“He is a great cuddler,” Asami agreed.
“I guess there’s good and bad everybody,” Korra said with a sigh, standing up, apparently done with her vent session. She shuffled awkwardly side to side while Asami stared up at her from her chair.
“Hey, your hair looks…different today,” Korra pointed out, noticing that Asami’s locks were pinned up and to the back.
“Hmm? Oh, I just throw it up like this when I’m doing paperwork so it doesn’t get in my face,” Asami said shrugging.
“Oh. Well, I think you did a good job on it,” Korra said and her eyes traveled quickly down Asami’s body as she stood up as well. “And I like your shirt thing, too.”
Asami looked down at her asymmetrical sweater, her cheeks flushing slightly at Korra’s little compliments.
This old thing? It’s oversized and stained, reserved only for days when I have no appointments.
She had noticed that this had become a thing with Korra. She’d say little nice things about Asami, things like, ‘Hey your makeup looks really cool today’ or ‘your hair is extra shiny today’ almost every time they hung out privately. Asami didn’t know where the compliments came from, but she would be lying if she said they didn’t make her day a whole lot better.
“Thank you,” she said, smiling brightly at Korra.
“Yeah, no problem. Hey, thanks for letting me talk with you a little. I know you’re busy and stuff,” she said, waving to Asami’s desk.
“Korra, please. Like I said, you’re always welcome here. Feel free to bust open my doors any time,” Asami said, bumping shoulders with her friend as they walked side by side to the doors.
“I’m probably going to take you up on that. Like, all the time,” Korra said, laughing a little bit as Asami opened the doors for her.
“Well, Ms. Sato, until next time,” Korra said curtly, straightening and saluting Asami.
Asami smiled, mirroring her pose. “Likewise, Avatar Korra.”
Both promptly dissolved into a little fit of giggles again until Asami’s secretary looked up from her desk.
“Sorry!” Korra called to her.
“Sorry,” she said repeated quietly to Asami, who waved her off.
“You’re fine. It’s just me and my secretary here today. I’ll see you soon then?” Asami said as Korra headed off.
“I’ll make sure of it,” she said with a grin over her shoulder as she made her way down the hallway.
After Korra had disappeared, Asami closed the doors to her office and settled back behind her desk, turning her chair around so that she could watch Korra and Naga bound through Republic City to get to Air Temple Island.
She found herself smiling, happy that even after all they had been through, she could call Korra her friend.