These two...

[alphatar]

Characters: Mako (firethepolice), Korra (alphatar), Closed;
Date: September 19th, Afternoon~Evening.
Location: Outside Bryn's, later Fire Sector.
Situation: Following this.
Warnings/Rating: N/A, will edit if necessary.



Two weeks have passed since they fought and the first week had been nothing but a maelstrom of anger and frustration. The second week had been a complete drop, one that had not only guilt from what she had said, but also from the names she lashed out at Mako with.

Other things had taken her down a notch emotionally. Messaging Mako felt like the right thing to do. Especially after she looked back at the fight in the park they had. Since Bryn's was easy enough to find, it being in the heart of Keeliai, Korra chose it as neutral ground for them to meet.

Leaning against the wall, she waited without Naga and every once in a while looked up in the direction the Wood Sector was in.

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He approached the meeting place-- it was pretty much neutral ground, neither the metal district nor his own stomping grounds, which was probably a good thing, though he wasn't sure where that left them. He didn't want to look at the worst in everything that had happened, and he'd tried to keep himself busy despite it all... But it was hard to figure out what the sudden defensiveness, and what Jack told him meant.

Where did he and Korra stand?

He glanced around once he could see the bar, and when he saw her, he waved slightly before heading her way.

What he did know is that he was glad that they wouldn't be at each other's throats this time. He didn't want to fight with her. Not after everything they'd been through.

"Sorry I kept you waiting."

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The movement caught her eye and she looked up.

"No, I was already here actually." She had used the console they had installed into the bar to contact Mako. "I work here part time." she shrugged. "Except today."

Inclining her head, Korra hesitantly said "Want to go for a walk?" she gestured toward the Fire Sector.

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He looked a little surprised to hear that she worked there part time, but, hey, it made sense. "Congrats on the new job," was what he could offer before he nodded at her request. A walk, sounded good. He wanted to talk to her, and apologize for pressing so hard. He owed her that much.

"A walk sounds great," he'd been getting to know the Fire Sector pretty well, ever since he'd gotten the job at Stark Industries. They'd be on even ground.

He started walking that way, assuming Korra would be in step with him soon after. There was a brief pause, before, "Hey, sorry for pressing you so hard before..." How to continue? 'I should have trusted you' was what he wanted to say, but there was something stopping him from just saying it. "Conversations between you and your friends aren't really mine to know."

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"Thanks." she said with a small smile. "Drop by sometime, the food and drinks are really good."

Taking her weight off the wall, Korra fell into step next to him. She was half-expecting him to decline, but his agreement was good to hear. Her occasional trips to the Fire Sector usually involved her stopping at either of the dragon's suites to drop off fish. It was nice to be there just for a walk with no set destination.

The sudden apology made her raise her eyebrows and she looked up at him. "I should be the one saying sorry, I should have known you weren't looking to pick a fight." She was wrong about that, Jack confirmed it and she had felt bad about it since.

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Conversation, he'd really missed that with Korra, even if right now it was all apologies. Being pissed off at her really hadn't felt right. But he was glad that she'd approached him first. "I wasn't, but it just sort of happened," he said with a glance in her direction.

That didn't mean he didn't still have questions, but they could wait for the moment.

It was nice, because it was just late enough that the streets were starting to thin from the afternoon errand runners, and people were leaving for home. They could talk at a reasonable pitch, no need to yell at each other and they didn't have to worry as much about crowds on the sidewalk.

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"A lot of things just sort of happen around here." she said as they walked past a building that began lighting the lanterns above their window. For Korra, anger came easily and she could hold a long grudge, but with Mako it just crumbled away over the short amount of time.

Though it felt like the last two weeks were much, much longer than that. A lot happened since then and it made her really miss being able to just have him next to her.

"I didn't mean any of the things I said." she admitted. None of it had been anything on her mind, just things her spitefulness came up with in the heat of the moment.

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Another glance at her at her last statement, he kind of figured (and was hoping that was the case), but it was nice to hear. He nodded after a moment, letting that process. "No more throwing around when I was dating Asami?" he asked tentatively. The last thing he wanted was Asami to get dragged into any fights that they might have in the future.

Which, brought up the other question of if they even had a future. He was cautiously optimistic about that, given how the conversation was going so far, but he hadn't brought up any of the bumpier subjects yet. Or if she had any bumpy subjects to bring up to him.

But still, he wanted that, despite everything.

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The way he asked about Asami made her wince. What she said about her was going too far and even with her selfishness and pride, Korra knew that was wrong. Not only to him, but to her friend as well.

"No. That’s none of my business either, and it’s not fair to anyone." It was a hurtful tone, but it was more for her friend’s absence. Because Asami wasn’t there in person to apologize to; the need to clean herself of all guilt from the fight and not being able to.

"…I’m sorry about not telling you everything sooner. About the kiss and what was going on there." She rubbed her arm as if it had just been punched. "I was being a pretty lousy girlfriend, huh?"

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He didn't respond to that immediately. His mind had already moved onto the next question, the one that had been on his mind since he'd found out about her kiss with Jack, and then found out that Jack was trying to put all the blame on himself. Mako knew what he was doing, but he didn't know how to take it, and worse yet it left him feeling off balance with Korra.

He got the promise that she wouldn't bring Asami into this, at least. He glanced back at her, his expression reflecting the unsureness he was feeling. After all that happened, he wasn't sure where they stood. "About that... Korra, what happened?"

He looked ahead again, trying to phrase his question right. "What does that mean?" A pause. "And where does that leave... us?"

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Where that left them was just as much of a mystery to her as it was to him. There wasn't any reason for her to not just come clean entirely, not after how much she dragged him over the coals. Especially when she probably deserved it as well.

She owed him that much.

"A month and a half before you got here, I started to fall for Jack." she sighed and continued walking next to him while she folded her arms. "Really hard." Which all seemed stupid now that she learned that he was probably thinking of Zatanna the entire time.

That dug at her side.

"So I kissed him-"

Because that was what worked last time. Sort of. In the end.

"But he told me we were just friends. It was wrong of me to try to make you jealous about it." Had it not been related to her relationship with Mako, Korra would have hated owning up to her mistakes, but saying it openly was like draining a festered wound.

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That stung to hear. He knew that there had been some time difference between them, just due to the nature of Keeliai. It was hard not to react in anger, but after talking to Jack, he had had some time to absorb what had happened. He figured it was something like that, not just a misunderstanding between them. And if she was falling for Jack, then-- well, he stopped himself. That train of thought wasn't helpful. But he couldn't help himself, with at least one dig, because it did hurt.

"So that's why you came back?" He didn't want to fight, but he couldn't not ask.

Then, he continued, repeating his earlier question. "Where does that leave us?"

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"What? No." She leaned her head back until she was looking straight up and put her hands on her face. This wasn't going the way she would have wanted it to, if she had expected it to go a certain way. A spur of the moment need to see Mako, now that she had cooled off, was all she needed to contact him.

"We need to work this out." Best advice she had received was to work at it and not just expect everything to magically solve itself. Taking a breath she didn't even know she was holding in, Korra looked over at him and put her arms back at her sides.

"Right now we're stuck in the middle of whatever this is, and I'm sick of it." Without having him around she had been finding herself a little more miserable as time went on.

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"I get that," he replied with a sigh. "But where does that leave us, Korra?" he said with more insistence this time. She wasn't answering the question, and before he could even think of moving forward, he needed to know what she thought before he could move forward.

And though it left him a little more vulnerable, he figured he should put his opinion out there. "... I still love you, and I still want to make it work. But I need to know where you stand."

He glanced back at her. "Are you still going between two of us?"

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That meant a lot to her and she knew he didn't have to say it, not after he asked his question again. The only reason she was avoiding it was because it still hurt to think that she fell for Jack in Mako's absence and it didn't really matter at all.

"No, I'm not. And I won't." She stopped when they were near a fire fountain that lit up the center of the streets that were connected to it and turned to look at Mako directly.

"I still love you too. The last week has been horrible and I don't think I could stand being without you anymore."

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The lighting from the fire fountain made it easier to see her, which Mako was grateful for as they stopped. It was starting to get dark as they talked through the problems from the last couple of weeks. He stopped, and then turned to face her as well.

Part of him was relieved to hear that, the other part was still stung by how the whole situation had played out. That part of him may not have been as strong as it was even a few days ago, but it was still there.

He ignored it for then.

"It's been pretty miserable without you, too," he admitted as he took a step closer to her.

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After saying out loud just how she felt about his absence, Korra emotional braced herself for him to say differently. But when he spoke, all of the weight holding her down that she didn't even know existed was lifted. A grateful smile spread across her lips and after he took just one step, she threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Then let's just be together, okay?" She hugged him, even bringing herself up on the balls of her feet so she could bury the bottom half of her face in his shoulder. "I really missed you." muffled, but it was clear enough and her hold tightened.

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He was so glad when she hugged him. There was a wave of relief, and then he was just really happy that the answer to his question hadn't been 'maybe we should take a break.' Or worse. He pulled her closer. He missed her, too.

"I definitely didn't want to leave you," he responded back, burying his face into her hair. It was only a few moments, but it felt much longer. He was more than content to hold her in his arms.

Even if he knew that they still needed to talk about them. And to figure out some sort of line, one that definitely included not kissing other people.

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His arms being around her and his words only made her hug him tighter. All the built up stress, grief, and worry about what was going to happen to them was ebbing away. Feeling him close to her, his breath in her hair offered more comfort than any she sought out when they were separated.

The beach party, the tamales, Bryn’s grand opening; none of it compared to the elation she felt just then.

"I never wanted to leave you either."

She placed her forehead on his neck and nuzzled into his scarf, which was the softest material in existence to her right now. Right now nothing mattered but being there with Mako; it satisfied a strong need in her core

"It really hurt not being able to even say anything to you." Her grip eased a little and she her arms down they were under his and she twined them around his torso. "We can work it out." Whatever kept them together, Korra would punch, kick, yell, and even go so far as to talk to make it happen.