Chapter Text

There were several things Korra knew about her roommate:

1.) her name was Asami. (Annie? Amy? Korra wasn't sure.)

2.) she was an engineering student.

3.) she had eight bottles of shampoo, seven for conditioners and one for lotion, all of which seemed expensive. Korra wouldn't even dare look in their general direction.

4.) she always came home late.

5.) and every time she did, there was a to-go cup of matcha tea for Korra in the fridge. Korra had no idea how Asami (Annie? Amy?) knew that was her favorite drink, but she appreciates it anyway and always attaches sticky notes on top of the plate that covers a steaming cup of ramen noodles that say, 'thank you and you're welcome :)'.

This has been on-going for the past two months and maybe, just maybe, she meets Asami or Annie or Amy. Whatever. Tenzin always told her how roommates in college are always extremes: the best or the worst. Korra wishes, hopes, prays it's the former.

She wonders when she'll actually catch a glimpse of her roommate because sometimes it feels like she's living with a ghost that eats a lot of ramen noodles.

("Come on, Korra, we'll be late," Bolin called out from the small living room. "Chop chop!"

She peeked from the kitchen while pouring steaming water into the ramen cup. “Opal will be expecting us by half-past 12, Bolin. It’s 1 in the afternoon,” she squinted her eyes at him, “and if you ever tell me to chop-chop again, the next thing I will be chop-chopping is your—”

“Why are you both shouting,” Mako groaned from his nap on the couch, “you’re in front of each other.”

Korra shot Bolin another glare, just for luck, and resumed breaking the noodles from their wax in hot water. He ignored daggers thrown his way and noticed the cup on the countertop. “Why’re you making noodles, Korra? We’re going to have lunch.”

“T’s not for me, t’s for Ah-samee. Ah-nnie. Am-ee. Whah-ever.” It took her a few tries to open the pack of seasoning with her teeth.

“Who’s Asami? Annie? Amy?”

“My roommate. Just one. I keep on forgetting her name.”

“Ah. The one you haven’t seen, I don’t know, ever? It’s been two months since you moved here.” Bolin leaned across the counter and Korra narrowed her eyes at him while leaning back from his vicinity. “Are you sure she’s not a ghost?”

Korra rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure ghosts own three expensive conditioners that probably cost more than our salaries for six months combined.” She continued stirring, shrugging. “I’m just doing something nice for her, is all. I mean, she leaves matcha green tea frappes for me in the morning. Why not return the favor?”

“Seriously? You haven’t seen her even once in the two months you’ve been living together?” Mako said, fiddling with the remote. “I would’ve thought you were dating now.” Korra rolled her eyes again. “I remember when we were dating, though; matcha green tea frappe was the worst drink I’ve ever had. I couldn’t even look at it.”

“Shut up. The day I ate your grandma’s caramel kale and nut chicken stew was not the best day of my life.”)

Korra’s not one for introductions and swimming training just drains the fuck out of her that as soon as she makes it to her bed, she falls asleep immediately.

And she’s not about to let her college roommate, asshole or complete sweetheart, slip through her fingertips. So Korra does something about it and buys a whiteboard and hangs it on the fridge.

In the morning, when Korra was about to leave for her first class, she leans back and thinks of what to write. The marker remains capped between her lips but moments later, she uncaps it and writes.

Good morning/afternoon. Make good choices today, roommate. :)

Korra smiles at her work after trying twice to fix her handwriting and leaves with the cup of matcha green tea and the ramen cup on the countertop with matching ceramic plate and sticky note.

She almost misses the whiteboard when she robotically took out some water, Gatorade, and crackers before heading to bed after training, but Korra notices the pretty, loopy handwriting when she closed the fridge door.

Good evening. I did and will. Hope you did too, Korra.

-Asami

The cute notes continue for the next few, and Korra might lose it if she doesn’t meet Asami.

Day 2:

Good morning/afternoon! Have some of the best ramen noodles ever. Enjoy your day!

Good evening. The best, apparently. Get some rest after training.

Day 3:

Good morning/afternoon! I’d say the same to you. Hope you’d gotten enough sleep.

Good evening! Left you some pizza. The guys had some and I thought to bring some home for my roommate. Treat yo self.

Day 4:

Good morning/afternoon! Did you just make a Parks and Rec reference

Good evening!!! And yes. YES, YES I DID. The boys back at the workshop usually watch during breaks. Enjoy the day, Korra.

Korra loses it when she sees Mako and Bolin’s handwriting on the board on the third night, with their large handwriting that said: ‘HELLO ARE YOU A GHOST’ (Bolin) and a toddler-level drawing of Bolin and Mako (Mako).

Asami didn’t erase the brothers’ writing—she never did even with Korra’s. Korra was always the one to erase—and instead wrote below the drawings: “If I said I was a ghost, would that scare you off? Cute drawings by the way.” with a cute (extremely cute, Disney-style cute) drawing of a husky.

So probably, Korra didn’t hate the boys as much as she thought she did. So she keeps the whiteboard as it is. Tenzin said meditation hour is in five minutes in the gardens of the college of Asian studies.

Six frustrating hours later, half of them was Master Tenzin talking her ear off on proper ways to open her mind and heart to meditation and some shit like that. Stellar marks in Economics, Accounting, Political Science, swimming—though it was extremely ironic (and humiliating) that she was having trouble with Martial Arts, with the meditating thing.

Korra opens a can of beer and nearly crushes it her hand. If she wasn’t dead tired, she was fuckin’ frustrated. Well, it was better than not taking a shower before she sleeps, so she calls for some beef and broccoli stir fry and some sweet and sour chicken, heats Asami’s pizza and takes the much-needed shower and settles on the couch with her favorite pillow, a case of beer, and a bunch (all) of the Disney movies she has with her.

Her phone pings halfway through Mulan; it’s only then Korra realizes it’s two-thirty in the morning. It’s Bolin.

B: reruns of Kyoshi and the Warriors on channel 22!

Korra, Mako and Bolin fucking loved Kyoshi and the Dancers the cartoon. And the movie was shit. And Scooby Doo? The fucking best. She missed Naga, though.

The remote has never been farther her entire life. Korra switches the channel and there it was, one of the best memories of her childhood. She quickly types back a response.



K: YOU’RE RIGHT! Why are u guys still up though



He replies instantly, the grey dots turning into a speech bubble on her phone. Mako’s finishing a paper for Crimo and I’ve like 3 recipes due tomorrow huhuhu

Korra was typing back her response when keys jingle outside her door followed by the lock turning, and Korra doesn’t even notice—

“Kyoshi and the Warriors? I loved that. Hey,” Asami says, and Korra turns to her.

“Hey.”

Korra returns to typing a response for three seconds before—

Her head whips back to the Asami faster than the blink of an eye and she drops her phone into her lap.

Holy shit.

It’s Asami.

It’s I-write-cute-messages-that-I-hope-will-brighten-your-day Asami.

Holy shit.

Asami looks gorgeous: with her long black hair and greasy overalls with sleeves rolled to her elbow. Asami looks absolutely fucking gorgeous.

Korra looks stupid: with her eyes wide open and her mouth slightly hanging with her phone in her lap and empty cans of beer on the center table not to mention the husky pajamas and the baby blue blanket around her. Korra looks absolutely fucking stupid.

Asami raises a brow at her and looks to her sides like maybe there was a ghost standing beside her. “Uh, hello again.”

She wants to say: Hello you’re absolutely gorgeous and you make my day and you’re really cute and I’m sure you’re smart and you’re absolutely gorgeous and you make me smile with your cute roommate things and—

She says, “Hi.” Korra mentally round-house kicks herself in the head for that.

Asami laughs, and really, it’s one of the best things Korra has ever heard. “Didn’t think you’d be up late today, roomie.”

“Well—um—wasn’t tired. No… no training today.” Her roommate hums while downing a glass of water, and Korra noticed that the back of her hands had soot that stood out against her light skin.

“It’s about time you got some rest. I always got home to you sawing logs when you leave your door open.” She giggles and Korra’s eyes grow wider. “I’m just kidding. You snore a little bit, but that’s okay. My dad’s snores were worse, and that was because he was exhausted. You saw the pizza today?”

Korra nods and smiles, naturally and not because her cheeks are cramping. “Thanks. Also for the grapes you leave in the fridge. And the notes. They always make my mornings better.”

Asami grins again, and there’s soot under her chin. “You’re welcome. I should get going. A shower is necessary. You should get some rest too.”

But Kyoshi and the Warriors. But Scooby Doo. Korra shakes her head. “Nah, you should hit the hay, though. See you tomorrow, Asami.” Korra realizes she likes that name a lot.

“Good night, Korra.” Asami saunters to the bedroom humming the theme song of the KatW.

Thirty minutes later, in the bright light of the tv that showed reruns of her favorite shows when she was a kid, Korra can’t stop smiling when she finally replies to Bolin.

K: Good news: Asami isn’t a ghost that eats my ramen noodles.

+

Coach Kya blows her whistle and it gets the attention of all the swimmers in the pool. “Alright, ladies. I’m letting you all off the hook for a week, starting now. You should all be resting before your midterms. As long as you all spend it resting and not getting blind-ass drunk, I’m fine even if you don’t train between your break.” They whoop and cheer and Korra makes a calculated and well-executed fist pump into the water. Desna and Eska remain impassive as ever, but she could feel just a tinge of relief coming off in tiny, insignificant waves from her cousins.

They make it out of the pool and her teammates invite her for pizza dinner, but Korra shakes her head and smiles, telling them they should enjoy the night without their team captain.

Walking back to the university apartments, Korra realizes how the past four days haven’t been peachy. She hasn’t seen Asami or replied to Bolin, Mako and Opal’s messages. Homework here, essays due the next day there, word problems everywhere. Horrifying. Kya’s not been easy on them, either.

When Korra opens the door, she nearly drops her training bag when she sees Asami sitting on the couch with papers surrounding the center table. She turns with a pen between her lips and her black hair held up in a bun with another pen, and damn, if Korra short-circuited just the sight that is her roommate.

Asami looks even better in a pair of shorts and a tank top, without the soot covering parts of her face and fingers.

“Hey,” Asami says, smiling up at her and Korra can’t help but return it.

“Hey yourself. You’re home early,” Korra replies, heading to the fridge to take the usual post-training stuff. The whiteboard still has the Bolin-Mako stuff on it, and Korra just chuckles every time she sees it.

Asami extends her arms, joints popping into place as she stretches. “Yeah, my integrated project for Industri-arts just finished and I’m just writing some stuff for the Architecture’s integration.”

Korra’s eyebrows furrow. “I have a feeling that has something to do with Trigonometry.” Her roommate chuckles lightly.

“Unfortunately, it has everything to do with trig.” Asami sips from her mug. “What about you? It seems like you won’t be sawing logs in your room tonight.” Korra looks up from pouring water from the pitcher and into her glass with a playful raised brow. “Kidding, kidding.”

“Our coach let us take a break because it’ll be midterms soon. I’m glad, though—we’ve all been beat up the past few days because regionals are coming up next month.” Korra searches for something say next, because conversations are horrifying, but luckily the TV that seems to be providing background noise as Asami works showed that Scooby Doo was up next, Korra’s eyebrows raise to her forehead when Asami drops everything she’s doing, eyes glued to the screen with amusement.

Korra knows she’s staring, and when Asami glances to the side and blushes slightly. “Sorry. I haven’t seen Scooby Doo in ages. And, well, when I saw you watching Kyoshi and the Warriors the other night, I reckoned—well—I don’t know,” Asami giggles, “I thought that you were someone I can watch these things with without you laughing at me.”

Korra only smiles because her face is burning up and if she says something to respond to that she’s going to—

“Mind if I join you?”

Asami nods, holding her mug between her hands.

To: Bolin, Mako, Opal

K: hi guys, I’m still alive. Sorry for being AWOL for the past few days. Tenzin and suyin have been giving me a shit-ton of work and kya’s not being nice during swimming training. I’m alive don’t worry :P :)

M: Same here. Beifong is on my ass. She’s on everyone’s asses in Crimo class.







O: had my last class for the week yo!! and it’s only tues!! I’m with Opal rn @ the food lab -B

O: We should see each other at the end of the week? Tahno said the swim team is on a quick break before midterms!! -Opal

K: Yeah we are! I guess I’ll be seeing you guys sooner than I expected.

Korra locks her phone and sets it on the table before sitting on the end of the couch to put distance between Asami and herself, but the small couch can only handle so much distance. She can extend her arm and touch Asami’s arm if she did so.

They watch Scooby Doo in comfortable silence as they watched and laughed and when they’re not quiet they trade quick stories about their childhood that make the both of them go, ‘awww’.

Apparently, they both agree that they should retire to their own bedrooms. When they were about to close their doors after their goodnights, Asami’s voice stops her. “Hey. Thanks for the ramen cups every morning. They always made my day.” Asami grips the doorframe lightly and smiles at Korra.

Korra’s hand finds her neck and she blushes. “No problem. Thank you too. And congrats on finishing your project.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you around more, hopefully. Good night, Korra.”

“Good night.”

Korra grins into her pillow before sleep finds her.

+

How she ends up tied to a chair wearing her pajamas and a beer hat, munching on pizza, Korra doesn’t know.

Tenzin’s kids monkey around her dorm room, jumping on every flat surface (except Jinora. Jinora is texting Kai while absentmindedly feeding her pizza. And not severing the strings used to hold Korra down. Whatever.) Rohan is on the coffee table, Meelo on the tabletop and Ikki is probably going to break her mattress. Tenzin will frickin’ reimburse everything that breaks inside this dorm room.

And if there was something that Korra knew something about Tenzin’s kids, it would be the fact that the only way to sedate them is to tire them out. So Korra lets them be, sips from the straws of the beer cap, keeps her eyes on Toy Story 3, and waits.

Korra is still tied to the chair when Andy gives his toys to Bonnie (she won’t tell anyone but she tears up every damn time) and the kids are asleep on the couch, when the door opens without warning.

The look on Asami’s face is priceless.

If only it wasn’t in Korra’s expense, she would have found Asami’s mortified face hilarious.

They both open their mouths, trying to say something appropriate, but of course, nothing comes out.

“Should I ask what in the name of the Spirits is going on or is it better if I walk away so that no one gets harmed?” Asami manages, voice above a whisper. The kids (Meelo) snore loudly.

Korra releases the bendy straw from her lips with a pop and she's grinning at Asami's relatively less mortified expression. "I can explain."

A cake falls from the ceiling, lands with a plop right in front of Asami's ankle boots. She raises a brow at Korra which makes her sorta think that maybe there is no way she can explain this. But Asami only laughs and steps away. "Wait, I know these kids. Are they Vice Principal Tenzin's?"

"Mm hmm. He and Pema had their date night today and since they weren't able to hire a nanny, the next best thing was me, their godchild." She tugs at the binds at her hands. "Mind helping me out here?" Asami moves forward to help Korra and cuts the nylon with her Swiss knife.

Korra pops every possible pop-able bone in her body: fingers, hands, wrists, neck, shoulders, and legs and it's enough to wake Jinora and Ikki. "You're gross," the younger daughter says before promptly falling back asleep.

Jinora rubs her eyes sleepily. "Hey Korra, what time is it?"

Korra glances at her phone and notices the red lines that lined her wrists. Ugh. Why did she even agree to Meelo tying her up. "It's ten thirty PM. Oh Jinora, this is my roommate, Asami. Asami, Tenzin's eldest, Jinora."

Asami smiles warmly and waves, and Jinora does the same.

Tenzin and Pema pick them up later while the girls were up and cleaning up, Asami was putting up the shower curtains in the bathroom. Korra scoops up both Meelo and Rohan with each arm to hand them to their parents.

"Sorry for the mess," Pema apologizes. "Are we reimbursing something tonight?"

Korra takes a swift look around. "Nope, nothing today, don't worry. Hope you guys enjoyed your evening." Tenzin and Pema apologize again, insisting that she take the money for the trouble, but Korra declines, saying she doesn't need it. Jinora and Ikki hug Korra, thanking her for the night, and Korra locks the door as soon as Tenzin's family leaves.

The couch has never felt so divine when Korra plops down on it, exhausted. It's more exhausting than swimming. Korra deflates with a sigh, and Asami emerges from the bathroom, her white blouse untucked from her shorts.

"Tenzin picked the kids up already?" Asami asks. There is a hint of disappointment when Korra looks at her roommate, and it's endearing. Asami wasn't a kid person, she could notice the way she skirted around Meelo as she cleaned up, clearly avoiding the smaller boy even though he was sleeping. Korra hums in reply, downing the rest of the root beer. "Aw. Meelo was kind of growing on me. They sure are a handful."

"Oh they are, one time, Meelo and Ikki dumped a bucket of ice water on Professor Beifong on April Fool's." Korra snickered, the footage was still on her laptop.

"Professor Lin Beifong? Are you serious?"

Korra nods. "Tenzin's ex dumped twice: by Tenzin and by his kids!" They both laughed; it was a known fact that the Vice Principal and the Dean of Criminology both dated in their early years. "Hey, what're those boxes on the table?"

"Oh, I'm visiting my dad soon and we usually play board games together," Asami says quietly, looking at the stacked boxes. Clue, Monopoly, Game of Life, Chess and Pai Sho was the lineup and Korra remembers playing half of them and winning against Mom and Dad, and Mako and Bolin.

Challenging Asami Sato to play board games was one of the not-so smart decisions Korra has ever made in her life.

Like, she wouldn't bat an eye if her roommate was a chess world champion. Or a Clue world champion. Or a Pai Sho world champion. Asami managed to get nearly a million dollars in Game of Life. And while it's bruising her ego, it's the most fun Korra has had in a few weeks.

"I wish I arrived earlier so we could have played with Tenzin's kids," Asami says after taking three of Korra's chips in one move without looking. "Could've been fun."

"How rude," Korra narrows her eyes at her, then the board, then Asami, then the board. Well, she's completely fucked. "Yeah, you would've won anyway."

"Oh, is someone bitter?" Asami teases lightly, smirking at Korra who may or may not be burning up and makes a move without an eye on the board. "I would let the kids win, just so you know, Korra."

"Yeah you would," she mutters, two of her chips end up on Asami's side of the table. Asami had devoured everything sans two chips, and Korra stops the game before she could take one more to her ego with a yawn and a stretch that Asami quickly catches.

"You've had a long day; rest, I'll fix up," Asami moves to stand and Korra does the same, telling her that she's being silly and that they should clean up together.

They end up on either side of the crummy hall to their respective rooms, and Asami bids her good night with a hand to her bicep, squeezing it gently, and then lets go.

"I had fun tonight, thanks," Asami says, her back to the door and her hand to the knob. "It's been so long since I've been in the company of people other than sweaty guys who smell like oil and pizza."

Korra leans against the doorframe, laughs. "Been a long time for me hanging out with people who don't smell like chlorine."

Wait, what? Korra is about to thump herself on the head, but Asami chuckles, shoulders rising at falling as she shakes her head. "Look at us: sniffing the people we're around with ninety percent of the time. I should let you go now; good night, Korra. Thank you."

"Thank you too." She waves and smiles and she's probably blushing like a complete idiot. "Good night, Asami."

Korra would like to apologize to her pillow for the dopey grins and the quiet squeals after.

+

There's a quiet rapping at the door of the apartment at seven am, and Korra is not happy to answer it. Stupid fuckin' knocker, stupid fuckin' door, stupid fuckin' hand knocking on the stupid fuckin' door.

She opens the door looking like the horrifying mess the person on the other side's nightmares should be made of, and the man's face would have made her laugh, if only it wasn't a Saturday morning after an exhausting Friday night.

"Can I help you?" Korra tells the man in a dark red uniform. The man looks like he's about to pee in any second.

"Um, I'm looking for Miss Sato," he holds up a manila folder.

Korra furrows her brow and scratches her head. "Miss who?"

The guy moves back to look at the door number and is confused. "Miss Asami Sato?" The patch on the guy's uniform said Future Industries.

Hold up.

Hiroshi Sato.

Future Industries owner. Multi-millionaire.

Asami.

Engineering student.

Asami Sato.

Asami Sato the heiress to Future Industries.

Asami Sato is her roommate.

Hold the fuck up.

She narrows her eyes at the employee. But mostly at Asami, who was probably in class right now. She hopes the look sharp enough to poke her sneaky ass. "Sorry, she's not here yet. Maybe you can check later?"

"No, it's alright, miss. I apologize for disturbing you. Good day." The guy leaves and Korra closes the door and frowns.

How could she not have known her roommate's last name? She's been fuckin' living under the same roof as someone who costs more than her entire family and she didn't even—

Oh. The anger—no, irritation dissipates almost at once and Korra shrugs. Makes sense. There was probably no easy way to break it to her roommate that she was an heiress to one of the biggest companies in Republic City considering they've only started talking two weeks before.

'Hey, I'm a multi-millionaire. Be my roommate, yeah'. No, not smooth. Not smooth at all. Korra can tell that Asami isn't that kind of person.

Mr. Choi's delivery arrived 15 minutes earlier than expected. They've agreed that Chinese takeout is, undoubtedly, better than people. Asami yet again takes her property on Boardwalk with that fuckin' card. Her roommate is so going to pay for that. Korra knows exactly how.

"So," Korra says, rolls the dice and lands a 5. "I was thinking of getting a car,"

Asami hums, her eyes on the board, but she's paying attention. She manages to take a piece of fish and raise it to her mouth.

"Probably a Sato one."

Asami's hand stops midway, mouth open and Korra has her complete attention, which makes her smirk. The card said to take 5Gs. "What do you think?"

Asami averts her eyes. "Get it, then. I wouldn't know. I don't have a car."

They don't say anything for a while and for once, being in Asami's presence is awkward. Korra reaches out to cover Asami's hand with hers and wow, her skin is so soft and wow, this is the first time she's touched Asami. "Hey, my lips are sealed. I won't tell anyone. And multi-million company heiress or no—Asami Sato or Asami the Roommate—I'll still make your ramen noodles and play board games with you until one in the morning."

Asami finally looks at her, open adoration playing on her face and wow, she's so so very pretty. "Thanks, Korra. I'll tell you everything eventually," she turns her hand to squeeze Korra's. "How'd you find out anyway?"

"Some guy woke me up with incessant knocking this morning. I forgot his name."

Asami drops her head on the table and groans. "Howaaard,"

"Yeah! Him."

She pinches the bridge of her nose. "He came to deliver some things for me and I specifically told him not to come to me here."

"Asami, would you have told me? About... this. Or were you going to just be a surname-less Asami for the entirety of us being roommates?"

Asami looks at her and blushes, shakes her head eagerly. "No! No," she explains and Korra's heart drops a little. "I mean, I would have told you but the opportunity just didn't present itself considering that we didn't really meet until a few weeks ago. I thought that you were going to be like my other roommates that I didn't really bother telling and that you didn't really care to meet the ghost roommate and then you took out that white board and made me ramen noodles then I realized that when we meet I wanted to tell you so we could actually get to know each other. And I'm rambling," Asami blushes and tucks a strands of her hair behind her ear. Korra's heart nearly gives away at how adorable Asami is. "I just couldn't, you know, drop by and say, 'Hey, I'm the daughter of one of the city's greatest moguls' out of context. But believe me," Asami chuckles lightly, "I was going to tell you."

Korra smiles and squeezes her roommate's hand reassuringly. She meant it that her being rich won't change how she treats Asami.

Asami Sato definitely was something else.

+

"Wait, you're serious, Asami. You've never seen Finding Nemo? Ever?" Korra fixes Asami with an incredulous stare. "Where have you been living, under a rock?"

"Dad was on a business trip when that came out, okay?" Her roommate replies defensively. The microwave beeps and Asami takes the popcorn out of it and pours it into a bowl. "Then I sorta...forgot to watch it. But I've heard that it's great."

Korra has to pause the movie because 15 minutes into it Asami is sobbing and oh my gosh what is she going to do, oh my gosh. At the beginning there were quiet sniffs, so quiet it was like it wasn't even there, so Korra didn't really say anything, but then now Asami is crying and well, Korra pauses the movie and hands Asami a tissue.

It seems like Asami doesn't want to talk about it, so Korra lets her rest her head on her shoulder until the sobs subside into the sniffles it started from.

Just when Korra is about to say something, the door opens to Mako and Bolin, dressed to the nines, with large, somewhat identical grins on their faces.

"How in the name of the Spirits did you get into my—"

"We've a key but there's no time for explaining now!" Bolin practically hauls her towards them that they didn't see Asami in their presence.

"Hell week for Crimo and Culinary just ended; we've got to celebrate," Mako explains in a more calm tone but at the looks of it, he's as excited about celebrating as much (or slightly less) than Bolin.

Korra resists and pries the grip Bolin's got on her wrist. "Hey, hold your horses there, Bolin. You guys just interrupted girls' night right now,"

Mako notices with who. Bolin looks absolutely confused but with one swift glance to his side he catches up.

Red eyed with the tiniest sniffles, Asami hastily wipes her eyes and stands before walking to the trio. "You must be Mako and Bolin. I've heard a lot about you."

Bolin is the first to shake her hand with eagerness that surprises Asami pleasantly. "And you must be the dear lady Asami; I'm Bolin it's wonderful that you are not a ghost but a beautiful woman who has survived my friend over here." He nudges Korra with her elbow and waggles his eyebrows, and Korra shoves him away playfully with the roll of her eyes.

Mako stands uselessly on the side, and if Korra knows him, he would have proposed to Asami right then and there. "And you must be Mako," she grins and shakes his hand, and Mako is still staring, still staring and Korra promises to make fun of him and his obvious crush on Asami. "The Mako, I suppose. Korra has told me things."

...She might have told Asami that she'd dated Mako a few years back. Mako sends her a horrified look that Korra laughs at, and a subliminal message that says, 'holy shit you told her we were together—are you fucking out of your mind'. Korra just nods and laughs even harder.

Mako shakes her hand firmly but with a quivering hand. "Wait, why does it feel like I know you? Do I know you from somewhere?"

His brother jumps in. "Yeah, you look really familiar. Do you have Calc with Opal Beifong?"

"I do," Asami replies.

"Wait. Is your last name Sato, as in Future Industries Sato?" Mako's brows raise to his hairline.

Korra's stomach drops at that. She hurriedly tries to push them out of the uni apartment. "Okay time to go, you dorks, no boys allowed—"

Her roommate looks at her fondly. "No, Korra, it's fine," a hand on her shoulder stops Korra from creating a Mako and Bolin shaped hole on the sides of the small doorway. "Yes, yes I am. But I'd appreciate it if it remained between the four of us."

"These lips are sealed," Bolin makes a zip noise and pulls his fingers across his mouth. Mako does the same (however, less enthusiastically). Korra rolls her eyes at them.

"Why don't you come with us, Miss Sato?" Bolin exclaims and throws her arm around Asami and Korra. "Boys plus Korra night outs are guaranteed best nights ever!"

Asami sends Korra a look: permission, apology and just the usual Asami smolder. Korra smiles back at her and nods, because she likes the idea of hanging out with Asami and she likes the idea of doing other stuff with Asami that did not bruise her ego (like losing boardgames).

Now that their group had an even number of people, it was easier to split into teams and be fair with competitions. Girls vs Boys? Piece of fuckin' cake, Korra thinks.

Tonight was Arcade Night, and Arcade Night was Korra's favorite night out—definitely better than attending a party and getting drunk off her ass. Kya has eyes everywhere and if she gets shitfaced, Kya was going to know. And regionals won't be a thing for her even if she was the captain of the team.



Asami buys both teams 50 tokens each and whoever has the most tickets wins.



Asami grips Korra's elbow and Bolin grips Mako's and it's Korra who's tasked with the go signal and they take their marks. (Korra tries really hard to ignore warm patch of skin where Asami's hand rested).



"Ready, get set... Go!"



A rundown of how the next two hours go for Korra and Asami:



Smash-a-Mole - Asami and Korra take turns and reach the level that's too hard and oh Spirits, this sad excuse for a game for children makes them sweat really hard. A well earned 50 tickets.



Ring the Bell - Korra hits the flat surface hard enough to nearly make the bell fly off. 70 tickets. Not bad.



Rifle Shot - Asami takes the reins here and hits every bullseye. Korra positively swoons. 70 tickets. They eat some hot dogs after and count cars.



Basketball - Yeah baby. Asami is tall, but Korra is quick. 145 tickets each.



Bowling - They both blow it up (figuratively). For some reason, they both suck. 25 tickets.



Old school arcade games - Oh this. This was the fun part. They've grown up with these games and Asami knew most of the shortcuts to win games like Pacman, Bomberman, Tekken, Stacker, and six other games. 702 tickets. Fantastic!



And the best part is the Drop the Ball -



"Pick a number," Asami tells her, blue lights inside the machine bouncing off her face.



Korra raises a brow and pours some candy her mouth. "What? Where are the numbers there? You just had to drop the ball at the right time—"



"No, silly. I'll drop the ball after a few seconds. The number of seconds being a lucky number."



"Hmm. 8?"



"Why 8? You see, luck works hand in hand with intention." Asami's looking at her and wow, blue is a good look on Asami.



"When did you become the great fortune teller Asami Sato?" Korra teases. "It's my birthday. 1 and 7. January 7."



Asami shrugs, "Fair enough.", and counts to 8. She presses the button and the ball falls, bouncing around the rotating board with holes and...



Woah.



It lands on the jackpot.



They bounce around and Asami takes her in a tight embrace and Korra is fucked, because Asami smells like jasmine and honeydew melon and probably everything that smells nice in the world and she hugs back.



645 tickets. She can't wait to see Mako and Bolin's faces when she dumps the tickets on the counter. And to add to that, their faces were absolutely magnificently embarrassed/confused/horrified when they ended up with 700+, and Korra and Asami with over a thousand.



Arcade Night? Arcade Night is Girls' night.



Asami and Korra share an empowered high-5 and take a bison stuffed toy (for Asami, which she names Mr. Cogs) and an adorable multi-colored propeller hat (for Korra, and it's so cute it hurts).



Mako and Bolin get a toaster, which is pretty lame but quite necessary, after That Toasting Incident a few months back. The stench of burning cords and bread still haunts Korra to this day.



They walk out of the arcade with a few weird stares from the store owner: Asami hugging Mr. Cogs, Korra twirling the propellers of her hat with a stupid grin on her face, and Bolin embracing the box of Mr. Toaster. Mako walks beside them and looks so embarrassed by his friends that he's almost as red as his scarf.



"That was fun," Asami tells Korra while Mako and Bolin fall behind them. "I feel like I'm twelve again."



Korra replies thoughtfully, "Didn't expect you to go to arcades,"



"I didn't," Asami giggles. "We had our own arcade."



Korra lets out a low whistle and laughs, her breath frosting in the cold night air. "Well, there you go."



"But I've never had a prize before," Asami raises Mr. Cogs high and squishes him. "Thank you; not just for Mr. Cogs over here, but for the night. I forgot how fun it is to be in the presence of new people."



"You've got to stop thanking me for all these things," Korra says with a tiny shove, but it's done not unkindly.



"Well, get used to it," she embraces Mr. Cogs and looks at Korra with her right cheek squished and the younger girl's heart swells at the sight. "I'm grateful for you being my roommate and friend."



Before Korra could blush and reply, Mako interrupts them with a hand on Korra's shoulder. "Hey, Bolin is asking if you guys wanted to get some drinks with us?"



"At the seedy place you guys go to? Uh, think I'll pass after what happened the last time we were there. Unless Asami wants to go."



"What happened?" Asami inquires.



"Long story short: the roof was on fire for a few seconds," Korra shudders. Some guy named Wu nearly set the ceiling on fire with his hair-brained ideas. "Horrifying." Asami shakes her head. Probably next time, Korra muses.



"Right," Mako says as if remembering what happened discouraged him from drinking there. Ever. "Well, good night then, ladies. And most especially to you, Miss Sato."



"Oh come off with the formalities—I'm Asami," She flips her hair and waves. Mako is going to faint at any moment.



Korra can see a few hairs on his head stick up straight when Asami fixes him with The Smolder. "Um, yeah, o-okay. Asami. Korra." He nods stiffly and leaves.



Bolin says goodbye with a mouthful of Skittles and Korra and Asami leave them alone.



"I think you broke Mako," Korra says once they start walking. "When you did that. . . Hairflip thingy."



Asami does it again, this time to Korra. "I don't know what you're talking about."



She has to laugh at that. "Yeah, yeah; doesn't work on me, Asami," says Korra, even though it works 150% percent on her.



"Huh, I was hoping that it would." Asami counters with a grin. "Where are we going next?"



"I thought we were going home," Korra tugs on the sleeves of her coat. "It is 11 pm."



"Oh come on—the night's still young and we're young and—" Asami pauses. "I sound like a young adult book, don't I."



"For a moment there. I thought you were Jinora," Korra responds with a wink. "So, where to?"



Asami looks down and tugs at her sleeves. "I... I wouldn't know. Why don't you surprise me?"

"You haven't been around the city?" Korra asks with a furrowed brow, and Asami shakes her head bashfully and just a little bit sadly and Korra's heart breaks a little at that. She doesn't press on why and chooses not to assume. "Well, princess, you chose one of the best people in town to show around! Don't tell Bolin and Mako, though."



She holds out her elbow for Asami to curl her arms around and she does so with a giggle. "Alright, show me around, brave knight."



Here's how the next two hours go for Korra and Asami:



Yue Bay outlook - there are stands that sell everything on sticks. Korra makes sure to buy one of everything for it to be grilled in an open fire and when Asami takes cautious bites of fish, chicken claws, seaweed, squid, pork cubes and a big mushrooms, she groans and absolutely loves them all.



Republic City Park - Asami has been to the park at night when all the lights are alive but Korra takes her to a secluded area.



"Wha—" Then Asami sees a pond, illuminated with the blue light with some ducks swimming around in the shallow water. It makes Korra's heart swell to see Asami so enthralled by something, anything at all.



"Come on, Asami, come closer," Korra tugs on her again and Asami follows. When they reach the small pond, Asami watches what Korra does next, and Korra bends down to remove her boots, then her socks and folding her loose jeans before dipping into the pond. "Come over here before I pull you in completely."



Asami looks at her with incredulity. "Korra, it's freezing."



She rolls her eyes. "Trust me, you'll be fine."



Asami bites her bottom lip before bending to remove her own boots and fold her jeans. She steps into the pond while holding onto Korra's outstretched hand and flinches, expecting icy water—



But is greeted by none.



"It's a hot spring," she explains, "well, a warm spring because it's colder now. Explains the yellow ducks here."



They sit down on the ground and just sit by each other, watching the ducks swim around. (They all approached Korra, though one duckling bumped on Asami's leg. She chuckles and rubs its yellow head before guiding it around her. Korra, for the nth time, swoons.)



They laugh and scurry to their boots because the cold air makes Asami's teeth chatter when they hurry to put on their socks and boots.



Narook's Seaweed noodles - It's automatically Asami's favorite. She loves the noodles, and Korra is proud to say she grew up with these.



Yue Bay Outlook (ii) - "Are you sure we're allowed here?" Asami whispers, hot on Korra's heels. Her eyes widen when Korra leaps over the fence in one quick movement.



"Nope," Korra shoots her a grin from above. "Now shush and get up here."



Asami rolls her eyes yet holds her hand out to be hoisted up by Korra. They land on light feet, grass rustling underneath them as they tiptoe to the coastline.



It's marvelous at night—the bay. It still steals Korra's breath away. She tells Asami this when her roommate gapes at the sight of Republic City at night from where they stood.



"It's beautiful," Asami croons, the lights bouncing off her face.



Korra looks at her fondly, then turns back to the bay. "Look over there!" She points towards a plop to the water.



Asami squints. "I don't see any—"



Flying Fishes jump up and then dive back down, just enough to reflect the light. And then more fish come, creating a flurry of yellows and blues and purples and wow, it's never been so majestic, even more so with Asami grinning and her green eyes alight. Like a six-year-old watching an interesting show for the first time.



They stand there until the fishes have subsided, and they soon have to return to their apartment, and Korra thinks this is one of the best nights of her life with night with Asami crawling its way to the top of the list.



They walk home in companionable silence until Asami breaks it. "I never got around the city—my father was always busy and he didn't really like it when I went out. He told me the world was dangerous, that's why I never saw this side of the city." Korra let her continue, and Asami looks so broken at that moment that all she wanted to do was to wrap Asami in a hug, but she was scared it was pushing the boundaries and that Asami would break even more if she did. "I was scared, I guess, of the real world. I'm sure you assumed I was a prissy, snooty, stick-up-the-ass kind of daddy's little rich girl, that's why I never saw what you just showed me tonight and—"



"Hey," Korra halts her from rambling with a soothing tone a hand on her shoulder. "I never assumed any of those. Don't worry. I know that it wasn't because you were disgusted by the ordinary life—it because you never got to live out of that shell of yours until recently."



Asami only looks at her intently, searching her face and Korra blushes under Asami's green eyes. Korra expects her to say something, but doesn't, and they return to walk back to their shared apartment.



It wasn't until then when Korra is unlocking the door, when Asami pulls her into a bone-crushing hug, the keys falling to the floor with a simultaneous jingle and thud. Korra returns it after a moment of surprise, and Asami smells like jasmine and honeydew.



"Thank you," Asami whispers into the fierce embrace. "For not assuming. For showing me what living out of a box feels like."



Korra closes her eyes and revels in being within Asami's vicinity. "You're welcome," she adds with a teasing lilt to lighten up the mood. "Anything to make the princess feel young and alive. I'm glad to have shown a princess the finer things in life."



Asami giggles. "You sure did."

+

The last three days of her swimming break signifies the start of midterms, and all of them are in a flurry to study and to catch up and Korra is losing her mind over economics, while she struggled to make a journal entry for Accounting. Asami continues to draft designs for her Architecture midterms and the two of them run on coffee and pizza—which will take their toll on Korra the next time she'll be back in the pool again.



On the third day of midterms, Opal stays over after lunch—her next test is in the Asian Studies college with Tenzin, and Korra appreciates the quiet company of one of her closest friends as they study together and have some occasional chitchat with the jasmine tea she knows Opal loves.



Korra's phone pings with a new message notification and the sound of the alert are different, so it tells her it's from Asami. Or Salami, her phone says.



S: History test just finished! Boom baby



K: Congrats Sami!!! Told ya you'll breeze through it like a leaf



S: A leaf I became. Sort of expected me to turn into a leafless cactus or something

Opal looks up from her notes and inspects with green eyes.



"What?" Korra tries to wipe off the stupid grin on her face but fails miserably so.



"I haven't seen you smile that hard in a long time," Opal remarks, "like, that kind of smile."



Korra is about to protest, to ask what she means by that, but instead tells her Asami had joked about something. Opal buys it (a little), which relieves Korra (a little).



"Is she still dating that Iroh guy?"



The lukewarm tea gets into the wrong tube of her throat, sending Korra into a coughing mess, sputtering tea all over her notes.



Opal is horrified and startled, half at Korra and half at what she has just said. "What?" Her voice is muffled by the back of her hand as she wipes at her mouth. Opal hands her a handkerchief but she has her own and waves her friend's hand away.



"Oh my gosh," Opal covers her eyes. "Forget I said anything, really." She mumbles something about not being able to keep her mouth shut, but Korra has heard it, yep.



Korra makes a face. "Iroh, like the professor Iroh?" She honestly thought Asami wasn't into that kind of thing.



Opal mirrors the look on Korra's face. "Ew, no! Iroh II, Zuko's grandson. That Iroh."



"Oh, him." Korra tries to remember his face. She recalls him to be quite good looking. Asami had a taste, Korra thinks and nods, genuinely impressed.



"I don't think they're dating, though," Opal continues, betraying what she said earlier about saying too much, but Korra laughs because those are one of the things she finds endearing about her friend. "Whatever they have, it's nothing serious. I can't believe she didn't tell you, though,"



Korra shrugs and lifts up the papers from the center table. "I don't really mind. I'm sure she was going to tell me anyway," and maybe there was a tinge of disappointment that hadn't been there before, but if there was one, she chooses to ignore it.

+

They're eating pizza from yesterday and Korra swears she can see an elephant at the corner of the room probably laughing at the two of them as they sat across each other.



"So you' re—"



"You didn't—"



A pause, then they giggle. The elephant shrinks.



"You first," Korra tells her.



"No, you," Asami replies.



"I asked you first."



"I asked you second."



Korra laughs. "That doesn't even make sense."



Her roommate is pensive for a moment, looking for the right words, and Korra wonders what she's going to say even though she knows exactly what.



"So," Asami says, elongating the 'o', "I didn't know you were the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water tribe."



Well, there it goes.



It wasn't really a mystery and there's really no point in hiding it. I mean, it was obvious that she was from the Water tribe, but it wasn't really a big deal for everyone she was Tonraq's daughter.



"It's not a big deal—"



"You're practically a princess."



Challenging Asami, Korra leans closer. "You're practically a CEO."



A pause.



"Touché," Asami says, snapping her fingers. "Well, what about you? Any other truth bombs you're about to drop on me? You know it's unfair because I've only had one truth bomb and you've got two on me."



She grins at her. "That's how life goes, darling. Speaking of bombs, how is Iroh in the sack." Asami's reaction is similar to Korra's this afternoon: sputtering and coughing up, only that it's water and Asami still looks (relatively) nice while in a coughing fit.



She's red when she faces Korra and looks everywhere but Korra. "I... what? Who?"



"Oh you know, Iroh, that cute guy you're dating."



Asami takes half a minute to rein herself in and continue breathing to live. Korra enjoys Asami's embarrassment too much, and she revels in the blush that spreads on Asami's cheeks. "He's not my boyfriend."



Korra remains quiet in a 'please elaborate' kind of way.



"We. . . slept together just to get the edge off, after some projects. Nothing serious. I don't even see him anymore, and I don't plan on sleeping around with him again in the future."



When Korra asks why, Asami shrugs. "He's just not what I'm looking for anymore." She hums in reply, taking a bite from the pizza crust Asami slipped on her plate. "Also, I'm bi."



Korra gasps sharply and the crust enters the wrong tube in her throat and she chokes—fuck, it's hard to breathe—Asami hands her a glass of water with a smug face. She's draining the cup when Asami speaks again, "Well, I guess we're even now," Asami jokes with a hand patting Korra's back then continues quietly, "I hope you don't have a problem with that."



Korra's throat is cleared yet she was still shaking a little. "I don't," she says before clearing her throat, "Actually, I am too."



If Asami was surprised, she didn't show it. She probably isn't, though. "Really? You've dated girls before?"



Korra shakes her head. "I've dated Mako but I guess I'm attracted to girls as much as I am to boys. Is that weird?"



"No, not at all. We're the same, actually, only that I've dated a girl."



Korra's brows raise slightly and she gave Asami a leering grin. She rests her chin on her palm with her elbow on the table. "Tell me about it,"



"There's nothing much to tell, only that she was a senior student and I was a sophomore. It was... educational." Asami reddens.



"Why'd it end? If you don't mind my asking."



Asami shrugs and takes a bite from her pizza. "It just didn't work for me. She was in uni and I was still in high school. It was hard to see each other and I think she had someone else."



Korra's frowns. "I'm sorry."



"Don't be! It wasn't like it meant much to me," Asami waves her hand dismissively, "I was really young and stupid, not to mention that she was a bitch."



"Well, we've all have that ex." Korra rolls her eyes at Mako. "Some people are really better off as friends, e.g. Mako." Her roommate giggles. "It was after him that I realized that girls are... nice too. But I was always too scared and shy to approach them."



Korra's looking down at her plate, but Asami bends down and peers under her short hair. "Hmm. I didn't peg you to be a shy-type," Asami jokes, and Korra has to laugh at that. She's never been shy, but to people she has crushes on, every bit of her bent away from them.



"Shut up," Korra laughs, though her throat was tight. She hated (or liked) it when Asami looked at her like she was the only one she wanted to talk to. Asami was a sweet and attentive person—it was in her nature to talk to friends like that.



Putting her pointer finger on Asami's forehead, Korra pushes her away gently, playfully. "Eat your pizza. Might get cold again, Salami."

+

Much to Kya's dismay, regionals were moved a month after the original date and of course, the team is elated. Korra tries to remain as neutral, because what kind of captain is happy about the rescheduling of competitions? (Apparently, Korra is that kind captain. But don't tell Kya that.)



So the month passes pretty much uneventfully, consumed by training and essay due every week for History with Professor Iroh. As much as Korra likes him, he gives a shit-ton of essays to write that Korra's hands and wrists have taken the form of their position when typing on her laptop. Training is rigorous with Kya. She still can't meditate with Tenzin. Has she mentioned training is rigorous with Kya?

She, Mako, Bolin, and Opal take Asami out often when they can and there wasn't a day when Asami didn't go out with them for pizza, ice cream, bowling, and whatnot. Korra finds that she likes having Asami around with them. It feels like her roommate has been their friend since forever, that they hadn't only met nearly two months ago.



(On Bar Night two weeks ago, Bolin raised a glass to The Krew, and Asami's eyes widen before meeting Korra's eyes across the table when they extend their arms to clink their glasses to the middle of the table.



There was a worried look on Asami's features, and Korra read it perfectly, asking 'am I supposed to do this' or 'am I part of this'. Korra just laughed and nodded eagerly before saying, "To Asami! The newest member of the Krew!"



Mako, Bolin and Opal echo her words. "To Asami!"



Korra tried to ignore the watchful way Asami looked at her for the rest of the night but doesn't ignore the way Asami held her hand in the chilly night air. They share earphones and listen to New Order on Asami's phone while walking back to their apartment.)



On the day of the competition, the Krew sits in the front row, right in front of the pool, with Bolin and Mako wearing hats with paper that say, 'GO #1!' taped at the front. Asami and Opal hold a 'GO KORRA!' sign. Korra grins and waves at them, stepping on the pedestal as she slides down her goggles from her forehead.



"Butterfly. 200 meters. Swimmers, get ready. 3. 2. 1." The sound of the starter gun fires and Korra dives into the water and does what she loves—swims.





Their team wins champion of regionals, moving onto Nationals which won't be in the next eight months. Kya pulls all of them into tight, rib crushing hugs (Korra is the last and gets the most rib-crushing hug and Kya ruffles her hair saying, "That's my captain." She can't wait to tell her parents what a softie Kya has become.)



Her friends approach despite her near-naked state in just her windbreaker jacket and her swimsuit. Bolin pulls her into a hug that almost matches Coach Kya's, then Mako ruffles her still damp hair with a "Congrats, Champ," and Opal embraces Korra though warily, not to get her clothes wet. Asami, however, pulls Korra into a tight embrace despite her body still being wet from the swim. She probably smells like Chlorine while Asami smells like jasmine and wow, she likes Asami's hugs. A lot. Her bag drops with the magnitude of the embrace. "You were so great!" Asami says finally letting go to look at Korra. Her black blouse and wine red shorts were damp now, but if Asami minded, she didn't really show. "It was like—like you were the water. Spirits, you were like the water."



Bolin makes swoosh and swish sounds and tries to imitate how Korra tore through the water during her events. They all laugh.



"Thanks, 'Sami," she tells the girl in front of her and then turns to the three surrounding her. "And thanks for being here, guys. I know you have classes, but you still came."



"Of course we came!" Opal tells her with an arm looped around Bolin. "We wouldn't miss your competitions for the world."



Her heart turns into a puddle at the love and supports her friends are showing her, and Korra pulls them all into a tight hug like the mushy person that she is. "I love you guys," she mumbles, her words muffled by their closeness, but Korra's sure that they heard her.



Once they break away from the hug, Mako speaks up. "So, anyone up for some pizza?"

+

Trial balances will be the end of me, Korra thinks with resignation. Professor Zhu Li allowed them to take home the extremely hard quiz earlier today. Seems like Asami is having some trouble with word problems from Architecture. Kyoshi and the Warriors continue to run, completely unnoticed by the two of them.



Their doorbell rings, startles the both of them. Who the fuck rings at two-thirty in the morning. "I'll get it," Korra tells Asami when she sees her stand in her seat.



She's about to lose their shit on the person who dares make her soul jump right out of their body with their fuckin' instinct to let their presence be known with the doorbell at two-thirty in the fucking morning, but when Korra opens the door, the profanities and sharp words she was ready to unleash burns away almost immediately.



Korra has only seen Iroh twice, but damn son, he is as good looking as she always thought him to be, in his black hoodie and brown jeans. Asami has taste.



She stands there staring at him, hopefully, the tired scowl she had on earlier isn't there, but by the sudden nervous expression that his face takes on, she knows it's still there.



"Hello, sorry for disturbing you at this early hour, but is Asami here?" he asks politely, rubbing the back of his neck.



She nods and lets him in. Asami notices his presence almost immediately and wow, the weather didn't forecast 80% humid awkwardness today. Korra would have laughed if the awkward didn't affect her too.



"Oh, hi." Asami quietly says. "Um, what are you doing here?"



"You left your plates on your desk," he hands her a tube and Asami sighs with relief. "I was passing by and then I dropped it off for you."



"Thanks, Iroh. I appreciate it."



There was an awkward silence. A very, very awkward silence. Korra clears her throat, and Asami remembers Korra's presence in her room. "Oh, um, Iroh, this is my friend and roommate, Korra. Korra, this is Iroh, we, um, take Engineering and Architecture together." Korra waves her hand at him, and he returns it politely. Korra wished he wasn't a nice guy so she could have a reason to dislike him, but he gave her none. Handsome, smart and polite? Asami has taste.



"Well, uh, I'll just get going then."



"Alright, good night. Thanks again."



"You're welcome. Good night, Sato. Good night, Korra." He leaves, and Korra locks the door. She has to bite her cheek to keep from laughing really hard, enough to disrupt their neighbors and Spirits, that was the most awkward situation she has been in—she has been in a lot—and it happens to not be at her own expense.



"So," Korra starts, "Did you happen to notice the big elephant sitting right between you two named 'you're hot, we're awkward, we slept together, and we're even more awkward'?"



Asami laughs and tosses a wet rag that lands square on Korra's face. She sputters, pulls it away and places it on the table. "Shut up," Asami says, returning to her plates.



"Hey, come on, you have!" Korra exclaims as much as she can without getting another complaint from the RA. "He's hot. Handsome. Polite. If you're not gonna date him, I am!"



Laughing even louder, Asami throws another rag that Korra dodges perfectly. "Well, if you do, you're going add another elephant between us named, 'I slept with you and we're awkward, then I slept with your roommate, which makes us more awkward'. So, I'd rather you don't."



"Hey, don't blame me," Korra raises her hands in surrender. "He looks like Mako."



Asami scrunches her nose. "That he does. Also giving you another reason to not date him. Or sleep with him."



"Ew," Korra makes a face and tosses the rags at Asami, who catches it perfectly. Ew indeed.

+

The second semester comes pretty quickly, in a flurry of homework and training and essays and night outs and all-nighters (may it be for papers due the next day or just watching cartoons with Asami and sometimes, the Krew). And praise Spirits, Asami got better schedules that didn't make her go home after midnight like before they actually met.



Korra would be fooling herself if she said that Asami didn't make things better. Because her roommate—her friend—did.



For one, laundry has never been Korra's favorite chore, but damn, she looks forward to it every weekend when they head down to the laundry room and blast Nsync or U2 or any track on any of their phones' music libraries.



And another: cleaning up was fun now. Whoever finished sweeping or mopping or washing the dishes first always had the remote or decided what to watch on Netflix, or will buy the other their lunch from Narook's.



One more: Korra has never laughed so hard her entire life when she and Asami dubbed infomercials one night. Then Infomercial Friday happened, and with Asami, she looks forward to all the days of the week. Monopoly (any board game) Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, X Files Wednesdays, TV Thursdays, Infomercial Fridays, Saturdays (night out with the Krew) and Sud-day (laundry). They pretty much came up with these names after realizing that this was, indeed, their routine as roommates and as friends.



They switch schedules, per Asami's request, so they know when to hang out after class and whenever their breaks meet (Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Friday mornings.)



It feels nice—to have someone to be really weird with who isn't a guy. She's had Mako and Bolin ever since she was a kid and they were her best friends ever since. Yet she has always wanted a girl best friend, and maybe it's too early to call Asami her best friend, but she knows, prays, hopes that Asami will be around long enough for Korra to call her that.



Besides, she's part of the Krew. And once you're part of it, you can't leave.



(Not even a nasty break up can ruin it. See: Korra and Mako.)



Really. Korra just wishes Asami sticks around; It would really hurt her otherwise.



A quarter through the semester, Korra's having a bad week. She failed her economics test and her arms hurt like hell, not to mention that there's conditioning training until 10. But then in the morning, there is a matcha green tea and ramen sitting on the counter with a sticky note that says 'take it easy, next week will be better, champ :) -a' in loopy writing she knew well—it banishes any thought of Asami being a temporary fixture in her life.

+

There are many things Korra knew about her roommate, now friend, Asami Sato:



1.) her music library is full of 80s, 90s and indietronica tracks she found on Pandora, Spotify and 8tracks.

2.) she hates manila paper.

3.) her favorite books are all written by Gillian Flynn and George Orwell.

4.) she was bisexual, has slept with guys and dated a girl.

5.) her left eye twitched when she gets four or fewer hours of sleep.

6.) Future Industries blah. Korra knew those things like the back of her hand. Also, Asami's mom died in a fire when she was as old as Ikki.

7.) she's extremely polite and courteous to the elderly and has met Korra's parents more than once when they came to visit. Mom and Dad like her almost immediately. Asami likes them a lot, too.

8.) Grilled tuna and seaweed on sticks were her favorite delicacy now.

9.) Asami cries when she's overwhelmed with frustration and anger. Hardly when she's sad (and when she does, it's Disney movies again).

10.) She likes it when Korra braids her hair, even if she can braid it herself.

11.) Asami's room smells like her and vanilla coconut.

12.) strawberry ice cream is her solution to a bad day, and Korra makes sure she buys it for her when Asami is having one.

13.) when Asami laughs hard, she doesn't make any sound—only wheezing and crying tears of laughter.

14.) when she studies or reads, she makes a bunch of facial expressions Korra likes to imitate just to annoy her.

15.) Asami is beautiful. Asami is her best friend.

And Korra might be falling in love with her. Just a little bit.

Might.

Just a little bit.