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[Korra's not a fast reader, but in the past 24 hours she's read The Avatar and the Firelord cover to cover three times. Soaking in every word, every detail, every reminder of home. She doesn't know how it will help her get in touch with her Avatar spirit yet, but that doesn't yet bother her. Her heart's too full.

Her stomach is not. It grumbles loud complaint at how she's been treating it.]

Fine, fine, I'll feed you.

[She heads down to the kitchen, but the cupboard is basically empty.]

Hey Mako! We need to groceries! [No response.] Mako?

[Evidently he's not home. Okay then. Her stomach grumbles again, and she makes a face at the idea of going out, getting groceries, and then coming home and making food.

........ maybe...]

Hey. Are you hungry?

[ In the time it's taken Korra to read her book, Hei has gotten through at least half of the volumes borrowed from the library. Yet he feels no closer to understanding the concepts of the Avatar than before. Leafing through the pages, his eyes track the words while his thoughts flutter off like seagulls, floating away in flashes of white feathers and restless beats but never straying far. Chakras. Prana. Nerve plexus. Bending. It's all too abstract for him, pages and pages of nonsense. Hei's always been dismally earthbound. He prefers to experience the sights and sounds, to carry experiments with concrete results, good or bad. Everything else is just theories for him; some right, some wrong, but without proof, there's no way to tell. (Not for the first time, he thinks about the City's magic -- its mysteries, its limitations, the composition of it. He can already tell bending isn't similar. But it's not like science, with its concrete laws and time-tested absolutes, either.) ]

[ Snapping a book shut, he rubs his eyes with a thumb and forefinger. Pai has been fed and tucked in; a heavy almost-silence fills his apartment, but it's not disquieting. More... content. In the glow of the bedside lamp, he sees a message blinking on his device. Switches it on, with a dim surprise at Korra's question. ]

[ At length, ]

That ... depends on what's being offered.

[ It's not innuendo, but it skates a perilously thin line. ]

I have't eaten anything all day. Do you maybe want to get dinner?

[She catches that hint of almost-innuendo. And...well... Mako is out. He'll probably be gone for awhile. Right? Right.]

Or you could come over. [But only if you don't mind cooking. Her stomach grumbles, asserting that food must be on the menu before anything else tonight.]

[ Hei quirks an eyebrow, which of course she can't see. He wasn't expecting an outright invitation to her place. That can only mean Mako is elsewhere. He goes back mentally over the patterns he's memorized for Korra's and Mako's weekly schedules, and thinks -- Right. The boy will be pulling a late shift. His reply comes after a near-imperceptible pause: amused, playful, sardonic, a combination of all three. ]

Are you planning to cook me a meal?

[ The very idea is ludicrous. He wouldn't allow Korra anywhere near a lit stove, even if she had a fire-extinguisher at hand. ]

I was kind of hoping you'd cook me one. [She's smiling a little shyly, which he can't see but can no doubt hear.] I could make it worth your while. [She's blushing more than a little as she says that. She always feels a little silly/self-conscious when she talks saucy.]

[ Hei can practically feel her schoolgirl blush saturating the last sentence. Against his will, his lips twitch. Sitting up from his comfortable slump against the headboard, he sets the book in his lap aside. Swings both legs over the edge of the bed and rises, the device still in his hand. Korra can no doubt hear a faint rustling as he pads barefoot into the kitchen. Drawing the fridge open, he stares at the plastic-wrapped trays of empanada he'd made earlier for Pai -- enough to last a week, at least -- before he murmurs, ]

I'll do you one better. I'll bring something over.

[ He doesn't particularly mind cooking at her place. But that's time that could be better occupied doing something else. ]

Great! [The faster she's fed, the ~~hornier~~ happier she'll be.] See you soon?

[Now excuse her while she passes the time trying to figure out what to wear. Also periodically running down to the kitchen, looking for something to tide her over.

Why are decisions so hard to make when you're hungry?! Argh!]

Hm.

[ A low hum of assent. There's really nothing else to be said. Switching the device off, he pauses only a moment to slip on a jacket, and his shoes. There's a pause to tiptoe into Pai's room, cat-quiet because his sister is by default a light sleeper, and akways maddeningly curious of his sporadic nighttime absences. The girl sleeps curled up, almost kittenish. She's kicked off the thin blanket; Hei picks it up and lays it over her, then draws a clump of hair out from between her parted lips. (He wonders if she's slipped into some regressive hair-chewing phase while he was in prison, and hopes not.) Smoothing her hair off her brow, ignoring the urge to do anything else, he leaves a stickynote at her bedside if she wakes up and finds him gone. ]

[ Outdoors, a pale glow of moonlight seeps into the sky. Carrying the tray of spinach-cheese-chicken empanadas in a shopper, he sets off through a network of shortcuts to the Beach House. Ordinarily he's less than thrilled about meeting someone, even a lover, on their home territory. Where he's from, those are the ideal stages for a set-up. Most of his time is spent studying the venue top to bottom, calculating escape routes and points for lethal ingress. But the funny thing is, here, he finds less and less reasons to care about those things. He never forgets them; they're imprinted too firmly in his nature. But they buzz comfortably in the background, instead of surfacing to the top like shark's fins. ]

[ At Korra's door, fifteen minutes later, he knocks in a series of sharp raps. ]

[ERK HOW DID HE GET HERE SO QUICKLY?!]

HOLD ON!

[She frantically grabs the nearest bra and underwear, not noticing that they don't match. She throws her hoodie on top and wriggles into her jeans as she stumbles down the stairs, three at a time.

She opens the door breathless, hair rumpled, cheeks flushed, smiling abashedly.]

Hi.

Edited 2013-09-15 03:26 (UTC)

[ Hei can catch a vague thudding behind the door. For a moment he wonders if Korra is wrestling off ghosts or trying to catch a mouse. Then the knob rattles, and she's in the doorway. His first impression of her is of someone who's made a mad dash -- all crazy pink-faced disarray. Ridiculous. In the next blink, his usual critical faculty slips -- he just sees her as she is, a radiantly pretty girl on the brink of ripeness, flushed and shy and beguiling, all twinkly-eyed. He gives her an indecipherable look, his mouth threatening a smile without ever quite getting there. ]

Let me in.

[ He's never liked standing on someone's porch. It's one step up from painting a bullseye on the back of your head. ]

I can't say no to the guy with food. [Grinning, she steps aside and gestures grandly for him to enter. She quickly leans up to kiss him, but her attention is on the container he's holding.] What did you bring?

That's me. Glorified delivery boy.

[ It's mild rather than sarcastic. Stepping past the threshold, he doesn't slip his shoes off and set them by the entryway, as is 'Li's habit. If, for any reason, his visit is cut short and he needs to disappear, he'd prefer to be prepared. When Korra leans in for a kiss, it's clear her focus is on the food. But Hei is more interested in her mouth. He just needs to touch her, even if it's a brief moment, until she's ready for more. A small dollop of something. ]

[ Angling his head, he lets his mouth press harder against hers, snagging her lower-lip between delicate teeth as he winds his free arm around her. Korra's mouth tastes, not of lychees but a burst of something sweet, wet. The kiss lasts for mere seconds, but Hei's palm is a smooth sweep up in the fuzzy fabric of her hoodie, along her spine and nape, the fingers tangling tight in her hair. Hot, searingly hot, and breathless. Too hard to be chaste. But he breaks away only a heartbeat later, and sets her carefully back. ]

[ To her question, ] Empanadas. Sort of like gyoza, only heavier.

Mmmph. [The kiss is enough to make her dizzy -- or maybe that's just the hunger. Actually, she's pretty sure it's the hunger. The kiss is nice, but as she's discovering, it's hard to care about much of anything when your stomach is threatening to eat you alive. She's just a little glad when he lets her go.]

They sound amazing. [Feed her. Feeeeeeeed heeeeeeer. Monkeyfeathers on a turtleduck, how did she manage to skip four whole meals, just for the sake of a book?]

[ Cruel as it sounds, hunger -- or the threat of it -- has been the best aphrodisiac in Hei's case. Whatever the Syndicate could withhold from him, in the early days, to break him into mute compliance. You didn't care whose head you were screwing with, what body you were fucking, which life you were despoiling, when all you could think about was your next meal. He still remembers it; the pretence of being the passive slave of higher authority -- the despicable, shriveling lapse of autonomy, an act of literal prostitution. ]

[ Shaking it off, he offers Korra a half-smile. Threads his fingers with hers, and guides her into the kitchen, as if the house is his, instead of the other way around. Setting the heavy tray on the table, he brings his chair close beside hers, apparently ready to watch her stuff her face. ]

[How does he -- No. She doesn't want to know how he knows her house so well. Easier and much more fun to focus on the present moment. No questions, just sweet, sweet food.

She grabs one of the empanadas and stuffs it in her mouth. The resulting moan wouldn't have been out of place in a porno.]

These are so good.

[She makes short work of that one and begins stuffing her face with two more.]

[ ... He should have recorded that moan... ]

[ As it is, he feels he's sitting on the edge of his chair, even though he isn't. The whole house smells like Korra -- muted by other aromas, cooking smells, detergents, pets. The air sings with a peculiar low-pitched anthem of warmth and domesticity. Yet Hei doesn't feel remotely at home here, in the too short time he's stepped inside. He's familiar with every nook and cranny of the residence, via his monitors. But it's surreal to be welcomed in through the front door, to sit down and watch Korra devour a meal. He's supposed to be a visitor here. He feels instead like a thief. A confused muddle of detachment and unease bubbles up in him as he takes everything in. Korra's contentment, though, is apparent, startlingly so, given all she's had to mourn during her stay in the City. ]

[ He finds his focus returning to her, over and over. He's too distracted, anyway, by the clean geometry of how Korra looks. The angles of her, the shapes. The thought of -- beyond all that clean trigonometry, or, no, happening concurrently --- the folds of her clothes, warm from her body, the gloss of her skin, the way her jaw works and how the silky line of her throat moves, the warm puppyish angles of her bright, open face... He wonders if she'd protest if he laid her out on the table, interrupting her meal, tore her clothes off and fucked her right here. ]

[ Instead he says, remarkably neutral, ]

I can send you more, later.

Edited 2013-09-15 05:04 (UTC)

Yes please. [It comes out more like Hes hueez considering her mouth is otherwise occupied. She's on empanada #5 by the time her body decides it has sufficient nutrients to feel self-conscious again.

Least. Dignified. Way to eat. Ever.

She quickly finishes the pastry and wipes her mouth. And then the crumbs off her breasts, which of course are BLATANTLY OBVIOUS since she's wearing a white sweatshit. Real sexy, Korra. Good job. She grins awkwardly and pushes the rest of the tray just a little bit away to signal she's done.]

Thanks again. [She could probably scarf down another ten, but that can wait for later.]

[ As Korra's hunger-haze fades, Hei watches her descend beat-by-beat into flustered reality. ]

[ It almost makes him smile. But it's more at Korra's astonishing lack of artifice than anything. For someone older, more calculating, every move would've been choreographed -- the way she chews, the way she wipes her mouth and dusts the crumbs from her chest, that coy little smile, manufactured on most women, but dizzyingly real on her. It stirs up a distinctive heady brew of want and misgiving in Hei. He doesn't respond to her Thanks. Instead, after a moment's hesitation, he reaches out to take her arm. Gathers her off her seat and across into his lap. Catching her hand, he sucks her greasy little fingers into his mouth. Tips up his head and kisses her, lazy and almost experimental at first, but then with a gathering hunger -- kisses that melt into each other, one by one, hotter and hotter, defined only by the pause to draw a breath before starting again. ]

[Her boyfriend, ladies and gentlemen -- the Man of Many Words.

She kind of likes it that way, though. Certainly doesn't mind being tugged onto his lap, although sitting sideways on it like a child will do her neck no favors if they keep it up for long. She breaks free just long enough to change positions so that she's straddling him, her legs dangling on either side of his hips, her chest pressed against his. Every part of her is tingly and warm and aching in the most delicious ways --

Scratch. Scratch. Korra cracks open an eye to find Mocha, the little rascal, trying to climb up on the table to get at the remaining empanadas.

She immediately breaks the kiss and leans over, swatting at the dog's snout.]

Mocha, no! Bad dog! That's not your food!

[Then, of course, Hamlet has to trot in to see what all the fuss is about and now she has two dogs she needs to keep away from the food.]

Hamlet! You are so not helping!

[ARGH!!!!]

[ Hei lets off an approving hum into the curve of Korra's neck as she squirms in his lap, shifting until she's straddling him. The unfamiliar kitchen, its cheery lights and aromas, make everything feel new and bright and freshly complex, and all Hei can think to do is throw himself into it -- to lick into Korra's mouth, chasing after the traces of her meal, and her own particular flavor, to bite her lips, slip his hands under her hoodie and coast them across her warm bare skin. ]

[ But absorbed as he is by the sweet bundle of girl in his arms, the scritch scritch hits his ears with the force of an alarm. He's already tensing, hyper-alert and watching for threats, when Korra breaks the kiss to chastise ... a dog. A greedy, dopey-looking dog. Hei's eyebrow twitches; his lips part to say something. But he's cut off when a second pet comes flouncing in. ]

[ What the hell...? ]

[ Frustrated, he slips his hands off Korra's body. Sets her firmly on her feet, before rising with a little scowl. ]

This is what I meant by 'the zoo.'

[Woah! Korra has to catch her balance a bit as Hei displaces her. She gives him a Look, none too pleased by the tone in his voice. It's not like SHE'S any happier about the interruption.]

Yeah, I know. I live with them. Mocha, NO. [She thwacks the dog's nose and quickly lifts the tray out of reach.] I'm going to put this away before anybody else gets ideas.

[Like Zhinu and Niulang, who poke their heads through the door. Hamlet, upon noticing them, suddenly decides it would be an AWESOME IDEA to chase the two, barking wildly.

Korra just rolls her eyes as she sticks the tray in the fridge. Animals.]

Would you like to take this somewhere with a door?

Edited 2013-09-15 06:06 (UTC)

[ Watching the animals dart around, yapping and yowling, Hei thinks irritably: She lives in a madhouse. ]

[ A madhouse full of badly-trained pets. Why doesn't she give them up to an animal shelter? Or eat them (the sheep that is; not the cats and dogs)? Is she filling up a list for a secret Ark? Crossing over to Korra, he's about to ask, but decides against it. Instead, when she says Would you like to take this somewhere with a door? he offers an inscrutable little smile. His arm goes around her, and in a blink she's lifted off her feet, swung up and slung across his shoulder to dangle down his back. If she wants to get free, she can make him put her down with a simple word, or a well-aimed boot in the gut. But in the meantime he lets his cheek rest against the warm curve of her hip; turning his head to bite so she feels the graze of teeth through the cloth. ]

There better not be more pets in your room.

[ It's murmured offhandedly; he's already bearing her up the stairs to her door. ]

HEY!!! [ARGH one of these days she is just going to kill him seriously this picking her up thing is ridiculous! But she doesn't kick him or really try to get down -- they're already halfway up the steps anyway and she can get her revenge when the door is closed. Instead, she settles for smacking his ass hard (too hard for anyone else, but this is Hei).] You know, this is a really bad habit with you.

[Little Reinbach is curled up on Korra's bed, but the moment Hei opens the door, the cat scampers to hide under it.]

[ Hei doesn't falter at the slap. Instead his smile hitches into something a tad sharper, a smidge darker. He's tempted to retaliate, to give as good as he gets. Instead he lets the flat of his hand thump against her backside; not much of a slap, just enough to sting. A little warning that she doesn't want to play that game with him. It's also tempting to dump her unceremoniously head first onto the mattress, since he's already acting like an overgrown teenager. Instead, he spills her carefully across the edge, kneeling to press a kiss -- light, almost conciliatory -- on the tip of her nose. ]

[ Drawing back, he asks, ]

Should I yank that cat out from under your bed? Or do you want to do it?

Edited 2013-09-15 06:44 (UTC)

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