'No kissing next time.' That turned out to be a load of crap.
But it's not like Asami could even help herself, either. She was completely caught in the way Korra looked at her under the stars and dimly lit lamp lights, it was different. Her usually cold blue eyes softened. The silence that surrounded them was eating her up, along with their breaths coming together as one due to how close they were.
Asami remembered seeing Korra's eyes flicker down to her lips for a split second when she bit her bottom lip. She expected for her to make some kind of move, but instead she looked back to the stars. She knew that Korra wouldn't do anything without her permission, so she decided that maybe it was her job to do so.
It was originally planned to be a simple kiss on the cheek to show her gratitude, but the taste of Korra's skin against her mouth nearly swallowed her whole. Her skin was so smooth. She felt Korra go slightly rigid under her touch, her breath hitching, and that only made Asami want her more.
The memory of Korra's lips on hers left a large stain in her brain. So soft and hot. Puffy after their long moments of aggressive kissing. It drove her mad. The way Korra held her so close and carefully, as if she was a fragile piece of glass about to break, it was all far too intoxicating. Everytime their lips pulled apart for either air or to move to another location, she found herself actually missing the contact. It was odd, considering their bodies were practically sewed attached to each other, but she still missed it.
She missed it right now, even. But it wasn't even the feeling of Korra's lips that she missed, or the intense, unspoken passion that they shared. She just missed Korra.
Sighing to herself, Asami realized that she was barely done reading the document set in front of her - there were still at least five pages left to review. Lately her work has been flooding into and taking over her personal life. It cut time into being able to hang out with Korra or the guys. Kai called her earlier in the morning to ask if she was available to grab lunch with her since he was in the area, but she had to decline. The amount of meetings, phone calls, test runs, and contracts to sign began to overwhelm her.
"The merchant called again, love." Alicia announced while scribbling things down to a few post it notes.
"That's the third time in the past four days."
"I know." She fixed her fallen, loose ponytail momentarily then went to place the post it notes on the corner of Asami's desk where she liked them. "I told him that you would get back to him when you have time, but he insists that a meeting is urgent."
"I can't right now, though. I'm swarmed. Specifically swarmed with things that are more important than some new, stupid business that is probably never going to pick up."
Alicia snickered to herself at the small outburst, which earned her a glare from Asami though she continued to laugh. Asami gripped the pen in her hand then let it fall on her desk creating a loud clunk noise.
"Are you doing okay, love?"
"Honestly, not really. I know it's my job to, you know, be a boss and all, but my head has been spinning for days non stop. It's exhausting not being able to think straight."
"You're not usually like this. I don't mean to pray, and you don't have to tell me but, is there anything else going on that could be damaging your focus?"
"Maybe."
"Anything you're willing to talk about?" She took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the large desk and crossed her right leg over the other, slouching her arms on the arm rests. "I know I'm just one of your assistants-"
"My highest assistant. Favorite assistant also, but don't go around screaming that." Asami corrected her. Alicia gave her a smile with a head tilt before continuing.
"True, I'm also your friend. If you feel like venting to me, I'm all ears."
"It's not that big of a deal, just something going on with a friend of mine." A part of her halted before saying the word 'friend.' It seemed like a bit of an understatement to how she truly thought about Korra. But she wasn't all that ready to cross that bridge just yet.
But spirits did she want to.
"Did you guys get into a fight?"
"No, no. It's nothing like that; quite the opposite, actually."
"I'm getting inside information on Asami Sato's personal life? I should sell this to the media. Go on, I'm taking notes in my head." She joked to make Asami more comfortable, which worked. She eased up just slightly and began to open up about her situation.
"Very funny. Anyways," She went on. "We've been friends for a while now, but recently since her birthday about a month ago, we've been getting a little more ... touchy with each other; more intimate."
"So it's turning into a friends with benefits thing?"
"Definitely not. If it were that simple I wouldn't be stressing like this. I think it may be something more than that. Like a deeper meaning? When I kiss her, it's like I've ... in a different world. It sounds ridiculous but it's true. Being around her is just so- I don't know. Being around her is so exciting. I feel like I sound clueless. It's just kind of new to me. My heart never beats this fast when I'm talking about someone! Am I going crazy, Alicia? Because I feel crazy. She makes me feel crazy."
'But in the best way' she wanted to add on at the end, but chose not to. Asami didn't even notice how her chest went up and down after the long confession. She basically released all of that in one breath. She looked back to Alicia with yearning eyes as her assistant simply gave a cheeky grin.
"Do I know this girl?"
Asami shook her head as Alicia completely disregarded everything she just said. "Huh?"
"I'm just asking if I know her."
"Probably not personally, she's never been here. But her name's Korra. She works in advertisement at the Blackstone building."
"Korra, Korra." Alicia crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair as she tried to remember the name. "I think you've mentioned her a few times before, but briefly. Is that her?" She pointed to a small, framed photo on Asami's desk. It was a picture of her and Korra sitting in a booth together at a bar. That was the first night that they hung out.
Korra's head was leaned to hover over Asami's shoulder. Their bodies were mostly facing each other, indicating that they were in the middle of a conversation that was interrupted for the picture. You could see the corners of Kai and Opal on either sides of them, but they were cropped so it was just the two friends.
That night started something ... amazing. Asami's heart swelled at the memory of the night and how far it brought them. However, now things were more confusing than she hoped they would be.
"Yeah, that's Korra." She finally replied with a sigh.
"She's really pretty."
"Yeah. She's beautiful." Asami bit her bottom lip to keep herself from smiling, although it hardly helped her case.
"So basically, you're saying that you think you have feelings for her but you're not totally sure."
Feelings for Korra. The idea had been proposed to her countless times now. Mostly by Mako, Wu, and Kai, but now she was getting a different perspective on it. Could it really be a coincidence? Maybe it was time for Asami to just start accepting the observations and advice that was thrown at her ...
"I mean, it's a possibility. But feelings like that have never been a thing for me."
"Interesting." Alicia pursed her lips, then stood from the chair and straightened out her tight, fitted dress. "Alright, well I should get going now. Lots of people to take care of under your name."
"Wait, that's it?"
"I didn't know you enjoyed my company so much." The assistant snickered again while pointing to the packet of papers on Asami's desk. "Do you want me to go over that and highlight the important things for you, love?"
"You wouldn't mind? This one happens to be incredibly boring."
"If I minded, I wouldn't have offered."
"I seriously owe you." She folded up the papers back to its original state and handed the packet to Alicia. Alicia took the document gladly and began to make her way out of the office.
"Keep filling me in on the drama in your life; that should be enough." She said with a smirk.
"You deserve a raise!" Asami called out before she closed the door behind her.
"Don't mention it!"
She stumbled back into her apartment and was finally able to let out an exasperated sigh that she had been holding in all day. It was way past the time she usually got home; it being a little past eleven pm. She'd been up since five in the morning, and had been working since seven.
The routine wasn't so foreign, it was just her mindset that was the problem. Half of her was in a completely different place. She wasn't used to being so distracted from her work like this.
But it was partially thrilling; getting to feel something different for once.
Asami removed her coat and shoes to put them in the mud closet in the foyer, then made her way to her kitchen. She placed her bag down on the island counter and washed her hands. While moving around, she thought that it would be a good time for some wine. Something was needed in order to calm down her nerves.
With that thought, she poured herself half a glass of her classic white wine and brought herself to her bedroom. She dimmed the lights, in consideration of her burning eyes, then sat on the small couch and took out her phone. Asami didn't have much to do at this point besides maybe watching a movie or catching up on a show.
Neither of those things seemed too appealing to her, though. She wanted company, or just someone to talk to.
Scrolling through her recent phone calls, it didn't take her long before her thumb clicked on the most familiar contact. She put her phone on speaker and quietly sat there while sipping on her drink, waiting for an answer.
After a few seconds of ringing, it went to voicemail. Asami rolled her eyes in frustration and took another sip from the glass that was nearing empty.
It's late. She's probably asleep. Or in the shower.
Another hour passed, still no call back from Korra. And with that hour that passed, Asami was down four glasses of wine. She never went past two for one night because she knew that her tolerance level wasn't the strongest. Being a lightweight was always a bit embarrassing, but it's not like anyone was there to witness her actions.
She wasn't doing much; just blasting music that she herself could barely hear while giggling at past memories that came up. She remembered the first time that she ever saw Korra - and remembered how she never wanted to look away from her after that - all the way back in mid August of last year.
Korra walked out of the elevator with two other people beside her, all of them laughing together. She was dressed up; having on a light gray suit a white button up underneath, black heals and her short hair was clearly well brushed. She probably had an important meeting or presentation. The three friends, Asami assumed, walked through the main area of that floor. People said hi to them as they passed, they said hi to Korra. It was obvious from there that Korra easily grabbed people's attention and lit up the room. Her presence itself was alluring. Asami stood in the corner with the printer machine, trying to be subtle about her supposed staring.
That didn't work. Zhu Li made her way over to stand next to Asami to use the copying machine. The small woman continued to look down while trying to make conversation, but Asami was lost in her thoughts as her eyes subconsciously followed Korra around. When Zhu Li caught on to what was so distracting, she huffed a laugh and nudged Asami's arm with hers.
"Zhu Li!" She yelped. "Hey. How long have you been standing there?"
"One or two minutes. I was trying to start up a conversation with you, actually."
"Oh I'm sorry. I just got caught up in my thoughts."
"I can see that. What are you printing?"
"Who's that girl?" Asami asked, not even acknowledging Zhu Li's first question.
She turned her head to see who Asami was talking about, even though she knew. She smirked playfully then went on, "Which one?"
"With the short hair in the gray suit."
"That's Korra, she works in the advertising and marketing department. I figured you'd ask about her." Zhu Li smirked again at the expression on Asami's face.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because for the one or two minutes that you were 'caught up in your thoughts' you were watching her every move from the moment she exited the elevator."
"Oh, was I? That's ... embarrassing." She finally turned around to return to her business at the printer. Her face was slightly flushed with red at the call out, but she ignored it anyways.
Laughing to herself for the four hundredth time that night, she went to pick up her phone again to check the time; it was past one in the morning.
"Shit." She cursed rather loudly. Asami set her glass down on her bed side table. Just as she was about to go to her bathroom to actually get ready for bed, her phone began to ring.
Whoever was calling her unannounced at one in the morning better have a good reason to do so. Bothering to look at the caller ID seemed pointless to her with the state she was in, so she clicked on the 'accept' button and put it on speaker.
"Hello!"
"Asami?"
Her eyes went wide at the voice that spoke into the line. She caught her heart flutter at the way Korra talked; sleepy, husky, soft. Korra's night voice, she could get used to that. Asami didn't even realize that she went on admiring her friend's voice until she heard her name through the phone a second time.
"Hey! Sorry I didn't hear you the first time."
"It's good. I saw you called a while ago and wanted to make sure you were okay."
She sighed. No, she swooned.
"I'm fine, don't worry. I just wanted to talk to you."
'Regular' Asami wouldn't have admitted that so effortlessly, but four glasses down of white wine Asami would. She mentally gave herself a back pat at that.
"Oh. Well, I'm here to talk now If you're still up for it."
"I am." She laid her back down on her bed to stare up at the ceiling. She slowly counted the crystals that hang from the tiny chandelier while feeding into the conversation. "What were you doing when I called? Sleeping?"
"Nope. I was at Bolin's place helping him with this new project he got. I just got home and showered like ten minutes ago. Honestly though, I didn't see your call earlier. I would have answered if I did."
Asami sighed with a loving smile appearing on her face. She crossed her ankles. "Good to know. Are you not tired, though?"
"Not really. We were supposed to be working on a project, but Bolin and I got a bit carried away with his video games so I'm still pretty energized from that. It wasn't until Opal called to check on us that we got back on track."
"That sounds like fun." She soon envied Bolin for being able to spend so much time with Korra that day. If only her work didn't take her over, Asami could have been with her.
She really did miss her.
"Korra?" She spoke up after a few seconds of silence. A knot in the pit of her stomach began to grow as she fiddled with her fingers and bit her bottom lip.
"Yeah?"
"Do you have work tomorrow?"
"Yes, unfortunately."
"Oh." Asami ducked her head down to watch her hands move.
"You sound disappointed." Korra chuckled into the phone. The sound made Asami smile again. Her laugh didn't last long enough.
"Well yeah. I was going to ask if you ... if it'd be okay if-"
"You want me to come over?" Korra finished her sentence for her. Asami could picture the cocky grin on her face.
"Yes." She shut her eyes as if it would relieve her of some of the embarrassment she was experiencing. "I know it's super late and you have work in the morning and I'm just being annoyi-"
"I'll be over in thirty minutes, Asami."
"Wait, what?" Lifting her body up to hover over her phone on the nightstand.
"I'm getting out of my bed as we speak."
"No wait, Korra, you don't have t-"
"Do you not want me to come over?"
Asami paused for a second at the accusation. Not seeing Korra was the exact opposite of what she truly desired.
"No. I- I want you to."
"And I want to, too. So what's the problem? I'll call in sick tomorrow, or something. I haven't taken a personal day in awhile, anyways. Varrick won't care."
"But I have work as well."
"Geez, if you don't really want me there then say it, green eyes." She heard Korra laugh as things ruffled around from the other side of the call. Asami was used to her jokes, but that one hurt a little.
"You know that's not true." She took a deep breath. "I'll take a sick day, too."
"Wait seriously?"
"I am the boss after all. It's not like anyone could tell me 'no'."
"I guess that does have its perks." Korra released a soft chuckle. "What about your dad, the 'real boss'? He won't say anything?"
"My dad knows how much stress I'm put under at times. Plus today I actually had an insanely frustrating day so a day off after that would be really nice."
She quickly imagined what her and Korra would do during their excused time off just to spend it with each other. Another smile formed on her lips.
"Sounds good to me then. I'm getting some stuff together right now. I'll let you know when I'm close."
"Okay. I'll see you soon."
The line went dead. Asami continued to stare up at the chandelier in awe of their conversation. Also the fact that Korra would get up at one in the morning just to see her. She was going to call out of work just to be with her.
Neither of the gestures would seem like that big of a deal in someone else's eyes, but in Asami's, it certainly was.
"Were you drinking?"
Asami looked to what was being pointed at. She forgot that she left a bottle of wine clearly out in the open on the kitchen counter. She scratched her cheek and walked over to the bottle to put it away properly on the alcohol rack.
"Possibly. I told you my day was really long." She turned around to see Korra sit on the edge of the island counter with her legs slightly swinging back and forth. Asami thought to herself how adorable she looked in that position.
Korra licked her lips briefly which caught Asami's attention. "Tell me about it."
"Wait, about what?" She shook her head to stop herself from staring at Korra's lips.
"Your day, Asami."
"Oh!" She chirped a little too loud from shame. "Nothing much happened. Like I said, it was just pretty frustrating."
"Go on. I like hearing you talk." The compliment hit Asami like a strong gust of wild. Her stomach twisted and turned while the heat from her neck made its way to her cheeks. She didn't even bother to hide her blush. Instead, she walked closer to Korra with a grin on her face. Asami placed her hands on Korra's lap and spread them open so she could walk between them. The look on Korra's face was priceless, and it made her green eyes go dark for a moment.
She had no idea what possessed her to create this position; maybe it was the wine still running through her system. But it's not like either of them minded. Their faces were very close to each others. Korra stared down at Asami with wide eyes when she felt her hands begin to slowly make shapes on her thighs.
"Well, from the beginning," Asami finally started. "I had to watch a test run of one of our newest car models and that was shit. Then I had two meetings with these women from some company who didn't know how to stop talking." Korra chuckled at Asami's eye roll. "Then I had some short phone calls, a document to read that my assistant ended up taking from me anyways, another meeting, and some things to fix on the car design. Then I came home, drank some wine and now all of the sudden you're here."
A silence grew between them after the rundown, which left Asami confused. Something changed in Korra's eyes. They were squinted and looked more focused. Seconds later, Korra moved her hand up to play with a loose strand of Asami's hair beside her face, then tucked it behind her ear.
Time seemed to have slowed down for them. Everything was still as they locked eye contact and didn't dare to break it. Their heart beats equally quickened and eventually synced up. Korra leaned her head down and their noses brushed against each other. The two business women giggled quietly, then got serious again when Asami bit her bottom lip. That was all Korra needed to close the remaining distance between their lips.
It was warm. The kiss was one of the most gentle things that Asami had ever endured. It wasn't hot, nor aggressive, and it was clear that it wasn't going to go there either. It was similar to when she had kissed Korra at the reservation a few nights ago, before they got carried away. This time, there was no rush behind it; just them creating another memory. Asami sighed, her eyelids fluttering. She wanted them to stay there for as long as she could. But as quick as the kiss started, Asami felt the familiar lips pull away.
She kept her eyes closed as if it would be easier to savior the feeling this way. She didn't know how many seconds had passed before she opened them again. Her favorite blue eyes looked down at her with an unreadable look.
"So, why'd you really want me over?" The sound of her voice interrupted her studies.
"Oh, so I can't enjoy spending time with you now?"
"No, obviously you can. I am a pretty amazing person to waste their tuesday night with."
"You're so full of yourself." She shook her head, still recovering from the haze.
"Damn right. I probably get it from my dad."
"I've been told."
"Who told?"
"You're mother." Asami gave a sly look with a head tilt.
"Next time you're with my parents I'd rather not have you two gang up on me."
That was something that created a lump in Asami's throat. It was nothing huge of course. A simple friend saying that they wanted her to meet with her parents again.
But who was she kidding?
Korra was no friend.
"Next time?" She said at last.
"Uh, yeah? Anyway, you got anything to eat, green eyes? I'm starving." Korra gently pushed Asami backwards and hopped off of the island, making sure to not make eye contact. "Bolin's place is always empty because he eats the shit so fast."
She crossed her arms and her mouth shifted into a grin at the sudden nervousness from Korra. Asami watched her maneuver around her kitchen with ease. She knew where everything was just from the top of her head, and that for some reason made Asami happy.
They lazily spread out on Asami's bed about an hour and a half later; Korra's head was at the foot with Asami's at the head. They managed to somehow make a pizza at one in the morning and succeeded, then decided on watching a movie while eating their dish. Though the two were both big fans of horror while together, Korra suggested a kids movie instead.
Korra would sometimes playfully kick Asami's head with her foot, Asami would slap her leg down, and they'd laugh. However, she'd been strangely quiet for awhile. Asami just assumed that she was into the movie, which she found pretty cute, until Korra spoke up in a lower tone.
"Hey, Asami?"
She hummed and looked away from the film to pay attention to Korra. Her attitude had visibly changed. She sat up from her position to move to sit next to Asami and lean against the headboard with her.
"Do you remember that one conversation we had a couple months ago?" She started.
Asami laughed quietly. "We talk about a lot of things, Korra. Mind being more specific?"
"It was when you said that getting into a relationship seemed dumb; like a waste of time."
"Oh." She had to think for a second, but recalled the talk. "Yeah I remember."
It took a minute for her to go on. "Do you ... still think that way?"
That was the million dollar question there. The question that Asami had been avoiding for months. Her and Korra were similar and more ways than countable, but they had their differences. Korra liked answers. Asami didn't have them.
"I'm not sure." A hesitated response.
"Okay." Korra grabbed one of the small pillows from behind her and tugged on it in her lap while staring at it. The action slightly worried Asami. She was about to ask if anything was wrong, but was interrupted. "And do you remember what I told you?"
"Um ... no?"
She sighed. "I said that you just needed to actually find the right person and it'd be different. Then you asked me if I've ever experienced that and I said no."
There was quietness before another sentence was spoken by Korra.
"I lied."
Asami watched her expressions more carefully at this point, trying to study her face but it was impossible to tell what was going on in her mind. "What do you mean?"
"I lied ... about not finding the right person yet."
"I'm afraid I'm not following."
"Spirits. Fuck, Asami!" Korra shouted. She squeezed her eyes shut. It looked like she was angry and it confused Asami to no end. "I can't believe I'm about to this out loud. This is so incredibly embarrassing."
"Korra-"
"I have feelings for you, Asami!" Korra blurted out the statement so quickly that Asami could hardly catch it herself. But she did. Korra continued to stare down at the pillow she clutched in her arms as she went on.
"Like, really fucking strong feelings that I don't think will go away anytime soon, and I don't want them to. And since I'm letting everything out now, let me just say that you are all that I think about. I mean it. It's impossible for you to leave my mind and for so long I had no idea what it meant. But then you let me kiss you the night before my birthday, and then we kept kissing after that so I just-" She took a very deep breath but went on, "I caught real feelings. Realer than anything else I've experienced. I'm not sure that you'll ever understand how much you mean to me. The way I feel about you only seems to grow everytime you text me or we hang out. It's a large possibility that you may just be kissing me because it feels good or whatever but for me it's different."
Korra paused for a moment, seemingly giving Asami time to process anything. Her mind short circuited.
"I don't know where I'm going with all of this, or what I plan on gaining once I stop rambling, but I seriously just needed to let that out. Honestly, there's still a lot of shit that I have to say but can't right now. I know that this kind of stuff isn't necessarily something that you're comfortable with but it's been eating me up for a long tim-"
"Are you done?"
"Wh- what?" She spun her head to look at Asami. Her eyes were wide and you could almost tell that they were more watery than usual. Asami's entire body jolted when their eyes met. She felt all of her confused emotions running towards her and crashing harshly against her heart.
Trying her best to keep calm without jumping off of the walls was more of a challenge than anything else. "Are you done talking?" She repeated.
"Well, truthfully no but I can be done if you want me to be." Korra's facial expressions softened, along with her voice. She turned away to look back at the pillow, clutching it even tighter. "Was that too much? Spirits I am the biggest idiot ever. I'm so sorry, Asami. Now you're gonna hate me and I probably just made things worse for you and even more confusing. This is why I should keep my mouth shut. A part of me knew that this would all go wrong but I still had to have that little optimistic side that overpowers everything. You have no idea how annoying the little angel on my shoulder can be."
Silent for about a long, too long, minute. It felt like the bedroom was getting smaller and smaller each time either women took another breath.
"Are you ... gonna say anything?" Korra looked up at her again with hopeful eyes. You could tell that her cheeks were flushed.
"I'm just making sure you're done talking."
"Why?"
She licked her lips, sliding her hand on to Korra's cheek. It made both of their breaths hitch at the same time and their cheeks heated. They both looked over each other with need written all over their faces.
Asami rid of any fears that clawed at her and allowed herself to say one last thing in a breathy but sure tone.
"So I can kiss you."