Chapter Text
Korra lay sprawled out unprofessionally across a booth seat in her workplace. She crossed both her arms over her face, blocking out all forms of light and pressing down heavily on her eyelids. The darkness was comforting, and she welcomed it.
“So Eska knew?”
The retro 1960s-esque diner was loud during lunchtime, so Opal had to raise her voice from across the booth to be heard over the clatter of dishes and calls for more ketchup. They had been discussing the disastrous events of the previous night, save the details of her escapade in the bathroom with the mysterious woman in red, and Korra had just finished rehashing Eska’s blackmail on Korra.
Korra spoke into the darkness provided by the crook of her arms. “Yeah, she knew. I have no idea how.”
“Damn.” Then Opal gasped. “I thought I saw someone that looked like Desna or Eska at the show. It must’ve been her there!”
Korra bolted upright, blinking away the spots in her vision from pressing down on her eyelids for too long. “If you saw her there then–”
“She probably saw me, and if she saw me and heard from Bataar Jr. that you weren’t at my parents then she figured out the lie.” Opal pursed her lips into a thin line, her brows furrowing together. “But how did she figure out you were at the party?”
“Must’ve been the outfit,” Korra grumbled, sinking back to lay across the cushion of the booth. “And she was probably invited to the ball too, so she must’ve known about it.”
“Probably.”
The girls sat in silence for a bit, listening to the familiar chaos of a busy restaurant. Figuring out how Eska knew wouldn’t help her current blackmail situation, but it filled in some holes that had been bothering Korra–and Opal, who was used to her plans working out perfectly.
After a few moments, Korra glanced at her watch and sat up with an exhausted sigh. “My break’s over, I better get back.”
“Thanks for the coffee.” Opal slid the little plate with a small empty mug on top over to Korra’s side of the table. “I appreciate that you didn’t try to tempt me with fries again.”
“What can I say, I’m your friend before I’m an employee here. You still gotta pay though.”
Opal crossed her arms indignantly. “Obviously. Who do you think I am?”
Korra grabbed the plate with a smile and leaned in to give Opal a quick kiss goodbye on her cheek before getting back to work, her body moving on automatic as she weaved through the maze of tables balancing stacks of plates and cups and jotted down the orders of every new party. She passed out laminated menus to every couple on a lunch date, the tired family with too many screaming children that came in every weekend, and the professionally dressed man and woman on a business lunch.
“Hello, my name is Korra and I’ll be serving you today. Can I start you off with some drinks?” The words flew out of her mouth without thinking or looking up at the patrons, her hands instinctively pulling out her notepad, uncapped pen tapping the lined paper.
“I’ll have a Coke,” said the man, his voice loud and commanding. Korra nodded and scribbled down his order. “And she’ll have…?”
“Just water is fine.”
That voice. Korra recognized that voice.
She stole a glance up from her notepad and locked eyes with the woman from last night. The woman from the bar at the party in the red dress. The woman Korra had kissed and pressed up against the bathroom wall as she ate her out. The woman.
Korra tore her eyes away and hid her face as much as she could behind her notepad, pretending to take intense notes of their orders and shaking her head once so that her bangs would fall in front of her face, obscuring her even more.
“Well? Did you get that?” the man asked, annoyed.
“Wu, let her write it down,” the woman said. She smiled up at Korra who shrank in on herself instead of responding.
Korra cleared her throat and tried making her voice more low-pitched so that the woman wouldn’t recognize it as Korra had. If she hadn’t already from when Korra introduced herself. With her name. Fuck.
“I’ll be back with your drinks.”
She bowed her head quickly and bolted from the table, hiding underneath the hostess’ desk with her head in her hands and running through what just happened. She had to wait on the woman from last night, after blowing her off and being an entirely different Korra, one that was confident and flirty and knew what she was doing, not this Korra that only worked this job because she couldn’t do anything else on her own without her uncle’s permission and–
“Korra, what’s wrong?”
She snapped her eyes up to her youngest coworker, Jinora, looking down at her quizzically. Korra blinked and wiped her hands on her jeans, clearing her throat. “Nothing.”
Jinora made a face. “Yeah, right. I can tell something’s off.” She looked in the direction Korra came in. “Does it have to do with a customer or something?”
Korra sighed shamefully and stood up. Jinora was only in high school but was already so perceptive that it freaked Korra out sometimes. “It’s nothing, seriously. I had an…interesting encounter with a woman I have to wait on last night.” She wrung her hands together. “It’s just, I’d rather her not realize it’s me.”
“She didn’t recognize you already?”
“It’s complicated.”
Jinora gave her a look and opened her mouth to probably explain that it couldn’t have been that complicated before the manager yelled over the constant rumble of restaurant noise, “Korra! You’re needed at table four!”
Korra shot Jinora a cheeky smile and patted her on the back before escaping again, constantly on the move as she cycled through tables without thinking, allowing her to almost forget about the woman. Almost.
“Excuse me, can we have more ketchup?” she asked when she waved Korra over some time later. They had already received their meals, a burger and milkshake each. The woman’s was chocolate flavored, Korra noticed.
She kept her head down when she responded. “Yes, of course.”
She made to shuffle off to where they stored the ketchup and heard the man say loudly behind her, “I just think you’re missing the point of these blind dates, Asami.” He slurped up his drink as he sucked on his straw. “Great sex!”
The woman’s smooth voice carried over to Korra as she hurried away. “I’m pretty sure that’s not what my dad thinks is the point of these dates.”
Asami. That was her name. It wasn’t important–of course, it wasn’t, especially since Korra would never see her again after today. But Korra knew the woman’s name now.
And it was Asami.
A few moments later, Korra came back with their requested ketchup. Thankfully, neither of them spared her a second glance after Asami thanked her quickly, both of them too engrossed in their conversation, of which Korra overheard part.
“He wants you to get married?” the man named Wu exclaimed incredulously.
“Of course not. He just–” Asami rubbed her temples. “He just wants me to start thinking about my love life and not work. He thinks he won’t get any grandchildren otherwise.”
“He’s got a point.”
“Thanks a lot, Wu.”
“What? It’s the truth. You’re too focused on your patent, which I know is important but…”
Wu’s distinct and noisy voice somehow trailed off as Korra left the table to continue her job. What was it with rich people and blind dates? First, Opal’s family was on top of her about it, and now Asami’s too. Did rich people never date? Korra found it hard to believe that with all the parties Opal frequented and the people that flirted with her.
She didn’t pick up any more gossip or tidbits about Asami’s life (not that she wanted to anyway) as they paid for the check and left, Asami shooting her a kind smile that left Korra flustered and staring straight down at her shoes. It felt like Asami had seen right through her, which was good, but she was still nervous.
Nervous about what? She let her mind wander later that night at Opal’s house again, her usual escape from her uncle’s when she was too tired after working to hike. Okay, so she had sex with Asami and proceeded to completely blow her off. Sure. But was Asami finding out that it was her something to be terrified about?
Probably not. Maybe. Korra couldn’t decide.
Opal’s indie music floated through her otherwise empty bedroom, and Korra thought back to how she had acted with Asami, confident and headstrong and flirty and stubborn and everything she wanted to be but couldn’t because of her uncle and cousins–or at lesat that’s what she told herself. That Korra would’ve looked Asami straight in the eye at the restaurant and proudly introduced herself. She needed that Korra back. She was fun.
“Mom, seriously? Another one?”
Korra’s ears perked up at the sound of Opal’s angry voice downstairs. Her mother’s followed soon after, insistent and strong.
“Opal, you know how your father and I feel about these dates. We think they’re good to get you out there–”
“I’m out there enough.”
“And this one’s a girl. You said that would be better, right?”
Opal’s exasperated sigh almost shook the walls. “Mom, that was a joke. It doesn’t matter if it’s a girl or a guy, I don’t care about these blind dates!”
Her mother sounded more pleading now. “Just this last time, okay? Then we’ll stop.”
A pause. “You promise?”
“As long as you continue studying for your masters–”
“Yes, yes, yes, of course!” Opal squealed happily. “I’ll study all the time, I’ll never stop!” Her steps could be heard bounding up the stairs quickly before her mother stopped her with another comment.
“But I still want you socializing!”
“Of course, yes, duh, thanks, Mom,” Opal rushed out before opening her bedroom door with a loud bang and landing on her bed, making Korra on the other end of the mattress jump from the impact. “Korra, no more dates! No more, can you believe it?”
“I heard.” Korra readjusted herself on the bed, leaning up against the wall. “How did that happen?”
Opal shrugged. “You complain enough and get what you want.”
If only that worked for Korra.
“Anyway!” Opal snatched up one of her many plushies and squeezed it tightly. “I’ll just go on this one date and act like a complete idiot and everything will be totally fine.”
Korra’s eyebrows shot up. “The sugar baby plan again? You know how that worked out last time.”
“I’m sure they won’t be the son of a potential investor again. What are the chances of that happening twice?”
Korra chuckled and rolled her eyes. “You do you. When is it?”
“Tomorrow.”
Korra’s phone buzzed with what she knew was her reminder to head home and do the dishes. She stretched and hissed in satisfaction at the pop in her back. “Let me know how it goes, okay?”
Opal nudged Korra’s leg with her foot and shot her a smile. “Obviously. And don’t forget to text me when you’re home.”
.
“She was not amused, Korra. Like, at all,” Opal said the next night over the phone, her voice crackling through Korra’s phone speaker.
“The wannabe sugar baby act didn’t work?” she spoke up from across her room in the basement, folding up some of Eska’s clothing. Her room was one of the only places she was granted some semblance of privacy, even if just because it was two floors below her family’s bedrooms and underground.
“No!” Opal screeched. Korra heard some noise on the other end and imagined that Opal was shuffling around on her bed. “She just stared at me and was like, ‘Listen, I know we don’t want to be here. Let’s get this over with.’”
“What?” Korra scrunched her brow and shook her head at one particularly ugly blue top in Eska’s wardrobe. “That’s never happened before. Usually, they take these dates pretty seriously.”
“I know, I was surprised. But, yeah, I dropped the act and asked her what she wanted to do instead.”
“And?”
“She said she was looking for a woman she met at a party and asked if I knew her.”
Korra dropped a pair of pants mid-fold. “What?”
Opal yawned audibly on the other end of the line. “It was at Wu’s masquerade ball. The one you were at, actually. Maybe you crossed paths,” she said with a small laugh.
Korra blinked and rushed over to her phone, turning Opal off the speaker and pressing her close to her ear. “Wh– what did you say?”
“Wu’s masquerade. Literally last week?” At Korra’s stunned silence, Opal went on, “The one where your uncle found out and my parents got pissed and I got grounded and–”
“I know which one, Opal.” Korra tried to keep her voice level. “Did she say anything else about the woman?”
“Why? Do you know her?” Her pitch rose into a teasing lilt. “Or were you her?”
Korra stumbled over her words. “Uh– um…”
Her words trailed off and a tense pause passed between them on the phone before Opal exclaimed with a gasp, “Oh my God, you are Asami’s mystery woman.”
Asami. There was that name again. Korra couldn’t seem to escape it, and now she had confirmed that Opal had indeed gone out with the woman Korra had been with that night.
“How could you not tell me about this before?” Opal wailed dramatically. “Really, Korra, I thought we were best friends.”
“We are, I just–”
“You’re telling me all the details. Now.”
Korra sighed in resignation and sank down onto her bed. “We hooked up. That’s it.”
“And she didn’t see your face the entire time?”
“Nope.”
“But you saw hers.”
“Yes.”
“Damn.” Opal whistled. “This is the start of some soap opera.”
Korra couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “This is my real life. And besides, it’s over now.”
“Not for her, it isn’t!” Opal’s voice rose in volume and Korra had to pull the phone away from her ear a bit. “She’s clearly hung up on you if she made me stay for thirty minutes to interrogate me about you.”
Korra collapsed onto her bed with a sigh. “And what’d you say?”
“I said I didn’t know what she was talking about, of course. Because I didn’t.” Opal paused and seemed to reconsider. “Except the mask she described did seem kind of familiar to me.”
“And did you say that?”
“No!” Opal sounded exasperated. “I wanted to leave as fast as possible so I said no to everything.” She laughed into Korra’s ear. “Asami did not have a good impression of me by the end of the date.”
“Was it really a date, though?” slipped out of Korra before she could stop herself.
Opal caught it. “Why does that matter to you?” Korra could practically see her waggling her eyebrows on the other end of the line.
“It doesn’t,” she said quickly. Maybe too quickly, judging by the breath Opal drew in. Korra knew a lecture about being honest about her feelings was on the tip of her tongue and rushed to cut her off, “Anyway, I have an early shift tomorrow at work. Gotta go, buh-bye!”
“No, no, you didn’t even let me start–”
“Goodnight, Opal, sleep well!” Korra made some rushed kissy sounds into the phone. “See ya tomorrow!”
“No, Korra–”
Korra pressed the red button to hang up and leaned back onto her mattress, blinking up at the water stain on the ceiling. So much had been thrown at her in that one phone call. She had too many thoughts, and her room suddenly felt too cramped. Her chest tightened in on itself and she struggled to take deep breaths.
There was only one cure for when she felt like this.
A cool breeze rushed past her face and hair, blowing it in her face and obscuring the cityscape before her. She had picked a shorter hiking route for tonight (she did, in fact, have an early shift the next day and a curfew), but the view from this mountain was still as breathtaking as the other, more difficult tracks.
Walking numbly and just being able to focus her energy on avoiding stray branches and the jutting roots on the ground in the dark helped Korra clear her mind. And at the peak, she had reached a conclusion about the past few days. She sat down on a log and brushed her hair out of her face to observe the view, taking deep and slow breaths of the clean mountain air.
She had no logical reason to avoid Asami. She hadn’t meant to or maliciously deceived her, and Asami was still clearly willing to talk to her as Korra. If she ever met her again, she’d come clean and talk like normal people. Nothing would come of it, of course. That night was just a one time thing that Confident Korra had been able to pull off, but it would probably never happen again. Asami probably just wanted to put a name to face from that night, nothing more.
A small part of Korra hoped that Asami wanted to see her again precisely for that something more. But Korra had a life of misfortune and crushed hopes behind her, and she’d learned to expect nothing and never be disappointed. It was better that way.
After a while of mindlessly staring at the view, hearing the distant beeps and honks from the traffic below and the rustling of the branches clinging onto their autumn leaves around her, Korra pushed herself off the log and yawned. She checked her phone, surprised that it hadn’t started vibrating and ringing with the alarm she had for her curfew. She tapped on it a few times before panic set in and her eyes widened in realization: Her phone had died on the hike back.
She frantically looked up at the moon, trying to figure out what time it was from that. But, just as her luck would have it, tonight was a new moon and she could see nothing in the sky. She cursed and shoved her phone back into her pocket as she half-ran, half-walked down the hiking trail, trying her hardest to avoid tripping, which she only did twice.
She had made it down the trail, out of the park, down the streets, and was at the second step to descend into the basement when the sound of someone clearing their throat made her wince and turn around in place silently, head hung low.
“It seems that you’ve forgotten what the concept of a curfew is.”
Korra blinked up and saw her uncle Unalaq standing at the kitchen in his silk nightrobes. The beams of moonlight streaming in through the windows casted him a sickly, pale hue, the wrinkles and bags under his eyes even more pronounced. Age was getting to him, as it did to everyone, and not even he could escape.
Korra found her voice. “I lost track of time. Sorry, Uncle.”
“Ah, sorry.” Her uncle sighed heavily and folded his hands neatly in front. His icy blue eyes regarded her indifferently. “What have I told you about saying sorry?”
Korra lowered her head slightly but kept her voice strong. “That it doesn’t fix anything.”
“And what does fix things?”
“Actions,” Korra said through her teeth. She’d been over this so many times, she had the script memorized on both sides. She just had a few more lines to get through before he’d assign her a few more chores this week and she could escape back to her room.
“Actions, exactly.” He clicked his tongue and reached over to the wall to turn on the kitchen light, the bright flourescents momentarily blinding Korra. “Much better,” he murmured to himself as he looked around the rest of the kitchen, the curl of a smile ghosting his lips. He turned back to Korra whose spine snapped back into place when he said, “I have some actionable things for you to do to fix this chronic”–he paused, searching for the right word–“situation of yours.”
Korra braced herself for the laundry list of chores she’d have to do, perhaps with some real laundry included in that. “Yes, Uncle?”
He eyed her while he spoke, gauging her reaction. “One of my interns quit last minute. I need my entire team for a business trip this weekend, and having even one screw out of place throws the entire process into jeopardy.”
Korra’s eyes widened impossibly. Was she hearing him correctly? “Uncle, I’m–”
“I’m not finished.” Unalaq held up a hand. “It would be only for the weekend, and you’d be limited to ordering and picking up coffees, so you won’t be able to mess things up. But it could be a valuable experience for you.” He stopped finally, a single brow raised in question.
Korra almost squealed. Was this…an opportunity, not a punishment? She had missed her curfew, but maybe this was her uncle’s way of simply getting to talk to her. The curfew didn’t matter; they never saw each other during the day, and so this was the only excuse he had to ask her about this. Whatever it was, Korra wasn’t letting this chance slip from her fingers. Working even as an unpaid temporary intern in her uncle’s multibillion-dollar tech giant was a huge opportunity, no matter where it was coming from.
“Uncle, I’d love to–”
“Korra, I was looking for you.”
Eska.
Korra turned to watch Eska descend the stairs, also dressed in her pajamas. She smiled at both Korra and her father, fake and plastered as usual. “Hello, Father.”
Unalaq seemed as surprised as Korra felt about Eska’s appearance. “Eska, you were looking for Korra?”
“Yes, actually.” Her gaze landed on Korra who felt her blood go cold. “Korra and I had plans this weekend. I was looking for her to discuss them.”
“We do?” Korra asked, flabbergasted. The last time she and Eska “had plans” together was probably in second grade when they both went to the same kid’s birthday party.
“Yes, we’ve been planning this for a while. I was really looking forward to it.” Eska sidled up next to Korra, linking their arms together and jerking her close. “Korra, too. Right?”
Korra was too shocked to say anything as Unalaq just nodded solemnly as said, “I see.” He turned back to Korra. “Think on my offer, Korra, and the next time something like this arises I will let you know. I would hate to interrupt plans you already had with Eska.”
With that, he bid them goodnight and glided back to his room, turning off the kitchen lights behind him and drowning Eska and Korra in the darkness. Korra ripped Eska’s cold fingers from her arm and pushed her away.
“What was that for?” she yelled at her, realizing right after that Desna was asleep and Unalaq could probably still hear them. She lowered her voice to a hiss and narrowed her eyes at her. “Your dad has never done something like that. He was being nice to me for once.”
In the darkness, Korra could make out Eska’s shadow waving a hand at her dismissively. “Oh, relax. It will happen again.”
“How do you know?”
Eska yawned loudly, stretching her arms up over her head. “He’s been seeing a shaman. Learning to be all spiritual and stuff, which means being nicer to you. He’ll come around again, you’ll see.”
Korra steadied her breathing. That bit of news placated her slightly. Unalaq being nicer to her was good no matter what, but it still didn’t erase what Eska had done. “Okay, but why did you lie? We don’t have plans.” She paused, punctuating her next sentence, “We never have plans.”
“Maybe not me. But you do.”
The IOU flashed red in Korra’s mind. “Eska, you did not ruin my chances with your dad because of the goddamn IOU–”
“You have to go on a blind date for me this weekend.”
“A what?” Another blind date? Was everyone and their mother going on blind dates? This was absurd. She didn’t wait for Eska to answer her, jumping straight to, “May I ask why I’m going on this blind date?”
“Because I have to, but I don’t want to.”
Korra crossed her arms and huffed. “Wow, convincing.”
Eska spun around and held Korra by the shoulders. “You’re not in the position to make demands. Remember, I can tell Dad about the masquerade ball.”
Korra didn’t back down. “You just said he’d start being nicer to me. Maybe it’s okay if he finds out.”
“You really want to take your chances?”
There was an edge to Eska’s voice, something desperate and fearful, like a tiny loose thread Korra could unravel further. She just needed to grab it.
She suddenly remembered how Opal had seen Eska at Bolin’s show. “Where were you that night, anyway?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Eska snapped back quickly, and Korra knew she had found the thread.
She smirked, blinking at Eska’s shadowy face. “Oh, so you were somewhere. And if it’s somewhere you’re trying to keep secret–”
Eska tightened her grip on Korra’s shoulders, fingernails digging into her skin. “That has nothing to do with the IOU. Just go on the damn blind date for me and make sure there isn’t a second one. Got it?”
But Korra was so close, and she was having too much fun getting on her notoriously cool and collected cousin’s nerves, especially when she already knew the truth about where she was. With a mocking, gossipy tone, Korra asked, “Are you dating someone, Eska?” A wild card, but she knew it would get a rise out of her.
Eska let out a sound akin to a growl and pushed Korra away roughly. “What’s it to you?”
Nothing, really, Korra wanted to say. But she bit her tongue, recognizing that her wild guess was most likely correct, and she could do something with this information, gain the upper hand.
“I can help you, you know. I’m good with relationships.” A lie, but how would Eska know? It’s not like she had asked her about her love life in the past.
Korra noticed something in Eska’s eyes flash and she let go of Korra, her shoulders dropping and a sigh escaping her lips. Korra was taken aback: If that was all it took, this must’ve eaten Eska up for a while.
Eska hesitated before saying tentatively, “Is your friend Opal, you know…dating Bolin?” She let out that last part in a rushed whisper, and Korra almost didn’t catch it.
“Bolin?” Korra cocked her head to one side. Korra immediately made up her mind about her loyalties. She’d, of course, take Opal’s side on this matter and not give Eska any advice that would jeopardize Opal’s chances with Bolin. But she needed to know more.
It was time to reveal her hand. “You were at his show, weren’t you?”
“You know what? We’re done talking about this.” Eska spun around, her back to Korra. “Just go on the damn date and stop interrogating me.” Eska started up the stairs, each step sounding like a childish stomp. “6 PM, Saturday at the Four Seasons. If you miss it, I’ll make your life hell.”
And so that Saturday, Korra once again sat at the vanity of the luxury store Opal loved to frequent, her face bombarded by makeup powders.
“The goal is make her unrecognizable, okay? We need her to look like a different person.”
Opal paced behind Korra, her focused face appearing every few seconds in the reflection in the mirror. She held up two different sets of outfits, studying each with narrowed eyes.
The poor makeup lady worried at her bottom lip, her hand freezing mid-eyeliner-stroke on Korra’s eyelid. Korra struggled not to blink. “Is this okay?”
Opal rushed over to the mirror and promptly shook her head. When Korra had told her about the date, she had approached it with dismay, knowing that, in the end, she was doomed. Asami would know it was Korra right away, and Eska would skin Korra alive. There was no way out of this.
But Opal was never one to back down from a challenge. She had suggested just getting through this one date as Eska, who wanted this to be a one-time thing anyway and, thankfully, boycotted social media. That way, Korra could trick Asami (Korra grimaced at the thought), please Eska, get the IOU out of the way, and not jeapordize Korra’s reputation with Asami in any way.
(And Korra would figure out how she’d approach Asami as herself later. Opal made her swear.)
“No, no. More makeup. More eyeliner, more eyeshadow, and definitely more contour.”
The makeup lady’s brows knitted together. “But do you want her to look ugly?”
Opal returned to pacing and studying the outfits. “If you must. The more the better.”
Korra and the makeup lady’s eyes met in the mirror, concern written all over both their faces. But Opal was paying the lady extra and Korra had no choice, and so she fluttered her eyelids closed and let the lady do her job.
“I’ve figured out your outfit, Korra. Come here and try it on,” Opal said a few minutes later, after Korra had blinked at herself multiple times in the mirror, trying to figure out who was staring back at her. Numbly, she stood up and received the clothes that Opal shoved into her arms before she steered her into the changing room and ordered her to get dressed.
“Hmm,” Opal hummed appreciatively when Korra emerged. She approached Korra and adjusted one of the thin straps of Korra’s silk, deep green v-neck top, which revealed way more skin than Korra would have preferred, and made a gesture for Korra to spin around to observe how the black mini skirt hugged her figure almost too tightly.
But Opal seemed pleased. “Perfect,” she said with a satisfied nod. “You look nothing like yourself. Take a look.”
Korra wobbled over to the nearest full-length mirror on her platform heels, drawing in a breath at the person looking back at her. She looked like a rich slut, was the first thought that came to mind. Combined with her extremely overdone face, the miles of visible skin, and her high heels, she imagined that someone who knew her from her diner job would have to study her intently to recognize her as Korra.
But Opal wasn’t fully done. Reaching up behind Korra, she planted something heavy and hairy on her head.
“Opal, what–”
“Now you’re a different person.”
Korra grimaced at herself in the mirror. Opal had placed a blonde wig on her head. It looked like an at-home bleach job gone wrong, but apparently, that was the look Opal was wanted because she dusted her hands off in satisfaction and then waved the makeup lady over.
“Can you pin it in place better? And I think after this, she’s ready to go.”
“Opal, you can’t be serious,” Korra started as the lady began pressing bobypins into her scalp.
“Oh, I’m dead serious. Now you know she won’t recognize you.”
“I was wearing a mask that first night! She didn’t even recognize me at the diner.”
The lady finished pinning the wig in place and Korra frowned at herself in the mirror while Opal tipped the lady even more and dragged Korra out of the shop. “Do you want to take your chances? You look amazing blonde, anyway.”
“Don’t lie, the look doesn’t suit you.”
“I’m not lying!” Opal pouted and pushed Korra into the passenger seat of her Mercedes, the setting sun painting the bustling city in hazy purples and pinks. She slammed the driver’s door shut and started the car engine, shooting Korra a side glance. She hesitated for a moment. “By the way, does Eska really like Bolin?”
Korra knew it would come back to this. After mentioning what Eska had said, Opal had brushed it off, insisting that disguising Korra was the number one priority. But Korra knew her friend well enough to anticipate her bringing it back up again, not failing to notice the way Opal’s shoulders drooped a little when she spoke.
“It seems that way,” Korra said with a frown.
Opal focused resolutely on the road ahead of her and the GPS set for the restaurant–and Korra’s impending doom. She nodded stiffly but said nothing.
Korra filled in the silence with some forced posivity, “This just means you have to make the first move.”
Opal rolled her eyes and gripped the steering wheel tighter. “You of all people know I suck at that.”
It was true. Korra remembered having to initiate everything with Opal when they were together a few years ago. Opal, who always had received everything she had ever wanted on a silver platter, was terrified of rejection. And so she resigned herself to watch Bolin from the sidelines, never attempting to pursue anything further.
“I think you can get out of your comfort zone this time,” Korra tried, shooting Opal an encouraging smile. “We both don’t want Eska to win, right?”
Opal pursed her lips into a thin line, but Korra could tell that she was suppressing a small smile. “Hmm, I guess you’re right.”
Korra talked to Opal about other things and tried not to focus on the GPS ETA crawling closer and closer to zero. But eventually, it hit zero, and Opal all but shooed Korra out of the car at the Four Seasons driveway.
She watched her car speed off with a sinking feeling in her chest and tried to tug down the hem of her mini skirt when a middle-aged woman on the phone passed by her with a weird look. She looked absolutely ridiculous, like someone about to meet up with her sugar daddy for some quick cash.
She felt ridiculous when her heartbeat kept speeding up as she made her way to the fancy hotel restaurant in the lobby. And how it promptly stopped the second she locked eyes with Asami across the room full of tables with too-large bouquets. Asami cocked her head to the side ever-so-slightly when she spotted Korra, the only indication that she was surprised by Korra’s appearance, and politely returned her gaze to smoothing out the napkin on her lap.
Korra took a deep breath and tried to keep her face politely blank to greet Asami who stood as she approached her with a polite handshake. Not like she knew her and what she looked like naked.
“Asami Sato. It’s nice to meet you.”
Damnit, her voice was still beautiful, like before. Her black locks of hair shone against the restaurant’s soft candlelight glow. She wore an elegant white pantsuit, the stunning image of professionalism, unlike Korra.
Korra pulled her hand back from Asami’s warm one and nodded in response, eyes darting around everywhere but Asami’s face, terrified that she’d somehow recognize Korra that way. But her sparkling green eyes showed nothing beyond polite interest. So far so good.
“Likewise. Eska Imeq,” Korra recited, not forgetting her role. She pulled down her skirt to sit down as elegantly as she could in her chair.
Asami eyed her curiously before sighing, the breath almost mixed with a disbelieving chuckle. “Look, I don’t know what you came into this blind date expecting, but I’m not into you.” She paused, watching Korra’s reaction.
Korra expected this after Opal’s date with Asami, and she already had a character for Eska prepared: a brat who can’t handle rejection.
She twisted her face into something pained and stuttered out as convincingly as she could, “What?” She blinked a couple times. “You mean you’re not here for me?”
Asami toyed with the end of the salad fork on the table and pursed her lips, which were colored with a deep scarlet lipstick and plump and no, stop looking at her lips.
Which were moving now. “No, I’m actually looking for this girl–”
Korra forced herself to jump back into character. “So then why are you even here?” she wailed, slamming a fist down on the table. Asami jumped in her seat, startled. Maybe that was too much. Korra pretended to take in a deep, shuddering breath, calming herself. “If nothing is to come of this date, then you’re wasting my time.”
Asami cleared her throat, mask of professionalism hardly slipping despite Korra’s outburst. “I just need to know if you know this woman I’m looking for. Hear me out quickly and then I’ll leave. I’ll pay for dinner, of course, to compensate you.”
Asami would leave? There was a small part of Korra that yearned for her to stay, but she stamped it down. She knew logically that the key to successfully getting through this date was for Asami to leave and never bother Eska again.
So then why was she saying, “That’s not enough.”
Her voice came out less bratty than she had intended, but Asami didn’t seem to notice. She glanced back up at her, a flicker of frustration flying across her features. “I’m sorry, but I’m really not looking for anything beyond this information so if you aren’t willing to answer my questions–”
“Fine, fine.” Korra waved her hand around, rolling her eyes in a disinterested manner to stay in character. “Ask me your questions.”
The tension in Asami’s shoulders drained slightly, and she smiled softly at Korra who had to look away before her face grew hot. “Thank you.” She pulled out a small notepad, and Korra held back a laugh before realizing that Asami was this serious about finding her, and her face went hot again. “So, first, you were at Wu’s masquerade, correct?”
Korra blinked. Technically, Korra had been there, but not as Eska, so she had to tread carefully. “How would you know that?”
Asami tapped her pen against the notepad. “Wu showed me the invite list.”
“Oh.” Korra swallowed and averted her gaze. It was a leading question, so Korra should’ve had no trouble when she answered with, “Yes, I was there.”
“Okay. Did you at any point talk to a woman in a blue dress, wearing a mask adorned with peacock feathers?”
Korra wanted to laugh again at the police-like description of her, but maintained a straight face. “That’s very specific.”
“Did you?” Asami pressed.
No, was all Korra had to say to end this and never see Asami again. But that part of her that wanted Asami to stay longer rushed forwards, and before she could stop herself, she said, crossing her arms, “I talked to a lot of people that night.”
“And do any of them match the description?” Asami leaned forward, elbows gracefully resting on the table, even as Korra could see something pleading swimming behind her professional mask. “You have to tell me, please.”
One please from Asami’s beautiful lips and Korra was back in the bathroom, hearing Asami beg and moan above her as Korra pleasured her. She yearned to be in control again, to be Confident Korra again.
And so Korra leaned back in her chair, pushing her chest out a bit and noticing how Asami’s gaze flickered down for just a second too long before landing back on Korra’s face. She stretched her toned arms up over her head to fake a big yawn, feeling how Asami’s eyes raked over her biceps as well.
This was in character as well, Korra justified to herself. She was dressed as a slut, she might as well act as one.
Finally, she smirked and said nonchalantly, “How do you know it’s not me?” When Asami’s brow furrowed in confusion, Korra chuckled and added, “The one you’re looking for, I mean.”
Asami narrowed her eyes immediately, accusatory. “I know it’s not you.”
“How?”
“I just do.” Asami rolled her eyes and shuffled around her purse for a moment before placing an obscene amount of cash on the table. At Korra’s wide-eyed expression, Asami explained in a disinterested tone, “I don’t want my dad knowing how much I paid to leave. Now if, you aren’t going to help me, I’ll be on my way.”
Logically, Korra should’ve just let her go. But logic was not her strong suit tonight.
She reached out and grabbed Asami’s wrist as she stood up from her seat. Asami locked eyes with her and Korra’s words died on her lips pathetically. Slut, slut, slut. Right. “But we haven’t even had any fun tonight,” she tried, her tone sickly sweet.
“I told you, you’re not the one I want.” Asami sounded exasperated, yet gently pulled Korra’s fingers off her wrist. She gave her one last indecipherable look, scrutinizing her face. “Enjoy dinner, and I hope the wig isn’t too much trouble to take off later.”
Flabbergasted, Korra finally let Asami leave and watched as she strode out of the restaurant, the quick tapping of her heels against the marble floor matching the pounding of Korra’s heart.