From the top.

[alphatar]

Characters: Mako (firethepolice), Korra (alphatar)
Date: November 1st
Location: ME-2B
Situation: Meeting for the first time a second time.
Warnings/Rating: N/A


Even after spending the night in her suite after she was solid, Korra felt strangely out of place. After going through a few drawers of her dresser, she found some workout clothes. There was a room upstairs dedicated to being a home gym and she could really use the distraction from everything that she didn’t know.

Which was pretty much everything, including the polar bear dog that had been friendly to her and following her around.

After an hour and a half of working out, she went down the stairs and was set to go out for a run. And hopefully not get lost. When she opened the door, she gave a small yelp before readying herself to punch the person that was probably just about to knock.

But she managed to stop herself in time when she saw his face. "Mako?" Part of the question was really just that. He was still known to her just by name.

Comments

[alphatar]

[Moving her head to the side so she can see past his shoulder, Korra's kind of surprised. She was expecting it to be farther away. With all the outdoor tables put away, inside is the only option.

Once there, Korra's just about to ask where they can sit when they hold up a hand to cut her off and head back into the kitchen. After a confused moment, she shrugs her shoulders, slightly offended, and looks over to Mako.]

This is the place? [No, she can't see the tray holding two very free hot chocolates coming their way.]

[browbeater]

[Mako pauses at the reaction, and then inclines his head towards the kitchen with a shrug.]

Give it a sec, before you make any judgments. The people here know you pretty well-- they probably already know what you want.

[he sounds amused, despite her offended reaction. Otherwise, he was going to pick a seat for them, to make this as easy as possible. He wasn't sure if he'd try something different this time, but, when the hot chocolates arrive, he glances at Korra]

See?

[he takes his with a word of thanks to the kedan]

[alphatar]

[Just how many people did she know? At his word, Korra looks to see the hot beverages for them.]

...oh. [Perfect timing, now she has something to wash her foot down with. A nervous laugh and Korra takes her mug as well; quickly following after Mako to sit down.]

Next time, just tell me to shut up. Please. [Taking a sip of that hot chocolate ASAP.]

[browbeater]

I can do that if you really want...

[he was really, really good at 'I TOLD YOU SO', just ask his brother. But he didn't want to get into that habit with his girlfriend, of all people. But he is grinning into his hot chocolate. Just that bit of teasing was enough for him.]

If there's any confusion, I'll explain.

[alphatar]

Oh; there's going to be a lot of confusion from here on out. [Some o the whipped cream gets on the tip of her nose and she gets it off with the help of four fingers.

How something that simple is that complicated...]

Thanks, I'm probably going to need your help. A lot. You might even get sick of seeing me.

[browbeater]

I'm not gonna get sick of seeing you.

[he watches the entire display with the whipped cream and her fingers, and then shakes his head a bit. But good natured, at least. He couldn't get sick of seeing her, at least, not for something like this. Honestly, he was glad she was considering asking him for help.

That was a lot different from when they were both phased out. When this first started happening.

The hot chocolate was hitting the spot-- and he already knew what he wanted to order. Same thing as last time.]

I mean-- you don't remember it, but you are my girlfriend. I'd be a really bad boyfriend if I just left you like this, now.

[yeah, but he did have a mustache of whipped cream.]

[alphatar]

[That compliment doesn't help her not slightly blush and she's way too amused by the whipped cream.]

So, how did that all work for us before all of- this?

[Invading another's personal space isn't too much of a thing for Korra, but for her it isn't a two way street. Because she's shorter, she stretches a bit over the table to wipe the whipped cream off him.

Succeeding, but getting some of his on the cuff of her jacket sleeve. She completely forgot to take that off before sitting down.]

[browbeater]

[he raises an eyebrow, and then his hand goes over his mouth once more before he responds to her question]

What do you mean, how did what work for us before? Dates? Eating out?

[the raised eyebrow drops, and he looks like he's pondering how to answer that one. There's a very, very small part of him that thinks exaggerating could probably be hilarious, but that part is weighed out by the rest of him. And, so he explains]

We haven't been dating that long. But this is pretty normal. We meet each other somewhere after work, and it's not always food.

[sometimes, she decides to challenge him to sports he's never heard of]

Is there something in particular you're wanting to know? There's a lot of backstory that goes into this, you know. And if you don't want to hear about serious things, I can tell you later.

[alphatar]

[Once she's sitting back down, Korra's looking at her sleeve and wiping off the cream onto the rim of her mug. After rubbing it off, she takes her jacket off and sets it next to her.]

Um, hm. [She's had enough serious to last forever and she's not eager to start learning more. Forcing her memories was going to do more harm than good.]

Nothing serious, no backstory. Just, what was it like? Right before we were phased out.

[browbeater]

It was nice.

[he says honestly, looking at his hot chocolate. There was a lot more he could say-- normally he'd be tempted to say that for Korra. Something about how amazing she was-- or how he needed her. But just this one time, he hedged on his opinions.]

We were on a date to this-- museum attraction. We both thought it was kind of boring, so we were about to leave-- and that was when you vanished.

[another sip]

I think you followed me... and you only lost your memory when I vanished too.

[alphatar]

Wow, that sounds- ruined. [Taking another sip from her hot chocolate, Korra holds the mug by her mouth and looks at Mako through the steam rising from it.]

Then yeah, I guess this can be our first date. Again. [He's been nothing but helpful, seemed fun, and was good looking. She lucked out from what could make of it now.]

[browbeater]

[he grinned a bit at her last comment. First date. Again. At the exact same place as their actual first date. She had a good sense of timing, didn't she?]

... This was where we had our real first date, you know?

[he should get her some of the ice cream. She'd really liked it last time. He'd ask her later if she wanted it. After they'd ordered-- which, speaking of ordering, there was the waiter.]

You ready?

[alphatar]

[This, she was starting to like this. No worrying about her memories, just let them come back whenever they will, and enjoy the moment.

Yes, that felt familiar.]

Yeah. You know what, I'll take whatever I had last time.

[After that last word, she pauses and seems to stare off into space.

The smell of cooked meat, the stealing of a fry, splitting ice cream. All of it rushes to the front of her mind. The weirdest, yet strongest, sense of deja vu ever.]

[browbeater]

[Mako notices-- but instead of pressing just yet-- he orders and waits for the waiter to go away. Once he's gone, he reaches out and lightly touches her hand. Something about that look said it was important]

That's easy enough... Everything okay?

[he frowns just slightly-- he's still waiting for her reaction to his hand on hers. He wanted at least that much contact, and trying to be understanding of not having it was getting hard. Especially with all the little things]

[alphatar]

[The touch brings her back to the now and she blinks at him, her hand grabbing his tightly. Making sure he was there. That's important for some reason in that moment.]

Yeah. [Obviously not.] You- we've been here before.

[Even though they just got done talking about that, she says it with realization.]

Fries. We stole each other's fries. Didn't we, Mako?

[browbeater]

[there's a moment of surprise and--]

Yeah, yeah we did. You remember that?

[he's hesitantly optimistic, about what this means. Maybe-- just maybe...]

[alphatar]

Some of it. [After a moment, she realizes that's she still squeezing his hand and lets go by lifting her fingers up.]

Uh, sorry. It was, it just kind of came out of nowhere.

[browbeater]

[he glances down at where her hand had just been and then looks back at her. She seemed freaked out by the memory, so he pulled his hand back. Even if it was for a moment, if still happened. He was okay with that.]

Why are you apologizing? That's fine. Great, even. Your memory is still there... Sort of.

[alphatar]

Uh, I just didn’t mean to just kind of- turn off there.

[The instant he moves his hand away, she brings hers to rub the back of her neck and looks at her hot chocolate.]

Yeah, guess it will come back after all. [Eventually.]

[browbeater]

Well... it didn't bother me. And it's understandable, okay?

[another time where Mako is telling her to relax. Even if it's in a sort of oblique way. He smiles at her, to try and convey that he wasn't upset and that it wasn't that big of a deal]

[alphatar]

[She needs to stop treating him like a stranger, or at least that's what she's picking up. Taking a breath, Korra nods and folds her arms on the table so she can lean on it.]

Okay. [Content that she didn't make him uncomfortable as well, Korra drank from her mug of hot chocolate, her eyes peeking at Mako from the rim. A smile that reached her eyes is briefly seen before she tips the cup as far up as she can to finish the remainder.]