Chapter Text
Lin Beifong had had a fucking day.
Truthfully, she’d had a few “fucking weeks” but who was counting. Lin ran though the events as she stared at the ice melting into the two fingers of the best rail bourbon Republic City made that was mingling with the rest of the ingredients of the sweetest Manhattan Lin had ever had.
Lin marveled at the colors that swirled in her drink. The two round dark red cherries sitting in golden amber; reflecting and refracting the smoky light on the well worn bar of the pool hall Lin had stumbled into. Because she had to get out of her apartment. She Had to. Couldn’t stand the silence and stillness and solitude for another fucking minute. So she’d walked until she’d seen a sign for a pool hall. But a game was already underway so Lin waited her turn by nursing a Manhattan with two cherries.
Reflecting back, if Lin was being truthful about it - which most of the time, she wasn’t - they had more than a few disagreements in the last couple of months. Little things and big things. Arguing about schedules. Picking at one another’s insecurities under their breath. Squabbling about moving in together at any and every opportunity. If Lin was being wholly honest with herself, that was the turning point. Where things went wrong.
Tenzin had wanted a bigger home with multiple bedrooms and space to grow. While Lin liked her place just fine. It had one bedroom, one office, and plenty of space for Tenzin too. And neither of them were willing to budge. They skirted arguments about their future by fighting about other more immediate things. Lin had made a joke about being ‘DINKS.” When asked about it, Lin explained, it means ‘Dual Income; No Kids’ and Tenzin had thrown a fit.
If Lin were inclined to feel gently toward him, she’d recognize he was entitled to his feelings. He had said he wanted to be a dad more than a few times. To raise his children in the Air Nomad way. To teach them everything Tenzin’s father taught him. On the other hand, Lin had never wanted to be a mother and she’d made that abundantly clear. Said it out-loud - at least twice. She had enough responsibility with work. No point in MAKING a whole buncha subordinates that you couldn’t reprimand through the chain of command. It all just sounded exhausting to Lin.
So they’d talked and talked and talked and argued and argued and argued. Tenzin saying she’ll come around and Lin digging her heels in more. Lin saying he’d regret it and watching any affection drain from his eyes as they both seemed to realize, that maybe - just maybe - they were wrong for one another. But they were both too proud to admit it. Tenzin had gone off to think and clear his head for a few days and Lin had been left to stew.
But Lin wasn’t inclined to feel gently toward Tenzin. Not anymore. Not when - after weeks of no contact - that absolute motherfucker - Tenzin, waltzed into her apartment, dropped his key to her place, said they clearly wanted different things out of life, said he was sorry it’s ending this way - had the fucking audacity to say he was sorry. And finally, he had said, “Goodbye Lin. I wish things had turned out differently.”, and went off to do whatever the fuck he wanted. That absolute spider-rat bastard.
It turned out - only two weeks later by the way - what Tenzin wanted was to start courting some Non-bender Puff and plan to pop out a whole buncha little pufflets.
Lin found out the way the rest of Republic City did. The newspaper.
There was a photo spread complete with an article on the front page of the Elemental Times. It started with a bunch of pictures - above the fold and continuing down into a full page of news that followed action of Tenzin sneaking kisses from some mystery woman. Full length photos of Tenzin pressing this woman into the bricks of an alleyway - her arms wrapped around his neck and they were clearly enjoying themselves - and then to a shot of Tenzin attempting to shield the dark-haired woman from the camera. But her green eyes shone in the flash. The caption said her name was Pema.
‘Guess he does have a type’ Lin thought with venom.
But the headline. It was the headline that hurt the most.
The headline read: “Late Avatar’s Airbending Son Making Moves: Repopulate Air Nomads?!”
Disgusting.
What Lin did next, well. That was mostly on her.
The writing up a warrant part was mostly a joke. Leaving it on the desk with her actual filings was a full on mistake. It really didn’t help that she had typed his name over and over and over into the fake complaint she was writing to blow off steam. “Tenzin did this,” “Tenzin did that,” “Tenzin’s new girl,” Over and over and over.
It all happened in the heat of the moment. As she wrote up the fourth draft of that fake warrant - reason upon reason pounding deeper and deeper into her mind who the actual culprit was here. Lin realized she wasn’t mad at Non-Bending Puff, Pema. This was Tenzin’s fault.
Tenzin made the choice to leave - without any warning. He decided to invade Lin’s home and break her heart. This was all Tenzin’s fault. The fact that Lin didn’t feel like herself in her own SpiritsDammed home was Tenzin’s fault. This was all fucking Tenzin. He’d breezed into every fabric and left a whiff of him on every article. Her entire apartment probably fucking reeked of him.
Guess writing his name over and over and over into the fake complaint wasn’t actually helping.
So Lin ran home and trash compacted all of his clothes and all of his stuff into a box a’ metal - filled with mud for a laugh - and then didn’t know what to do with it.
Maybe she should drop it off?
It was that thought where everything went… awry
Lin took the ferry to deliver the box of mud and robes and crushed up stuff only to be greeted by the sight of Tenzin and his new perfect match.
Lin didn’t see her mistake before it was too late. The ride on that ferry quickly dropped into - capital W; capital T - Water Torture territory. As the ferry crawled and Air Temple island slowly came into view, Lin dropped the box a’ Tenzin’s shit with a Clank. Because, on that snail sloth of a fucking ferry, Lin had to watch. She had to witness.
It was agony.
Now it would have been better if they were kissing. Full on making out or just raw dogging their way into making some new little air bending pufflets right out in the open. But no. They were there. Tenzin and Pema. Together. Sitting on the steps up from the bay. Enjoying the breeze. Sipping tea, eating their lunch, and laughing all the while.
And Lin had to watch.
He had the audacity - the temerity - the fucking NERVE - to feed his newest squeeze a bite of his noodles and to clean the broth off a’ her chin with his thumb - like he used to do for Lin. Her mind threw up one specific memory. Their first date. The soup dumplings he made by hand. The first time Lin felt like she’d found something that was just right. Just for her.
Lin’s heart crumpled in her chest and she swallowed against the bitter taste. Locked her jaw. Grinding her teeth to remind herself that those memories belonged to someone else. Lin 2.0 would be better. Stronger. Smarter.
But This. The two of them doing THAT. That was the slap in the face. Seeing Tenzin gentle and kind - happy - with his new Puff. The fucking audacity to flaunt their shared happiness out in the open. And he was laughing.
Had he ever really laughed like that with Lin?
A snort here or a chuckle there. but nothing like this. This was… This was Joy. Not a single care on his mind. Not a worry on his brow. Not a spirits-damned bit of chagrin that he’d stomped every earthen part of Lin to smithereens. Shattered her everything just so he could sit, sip noodles, and giggle; safe and happy on the steps of the recently finished Air Temple.
Smiling. Looking so fucking happy. The two of them. The perfect picture of partnership.
And he was happy. He was clearly so very happy.
Lin was gonna make him suffer.
Looking back on it now, Earthbending the shit outta Air Temple island in Republic City was pretty fun. Her mother would have laughed about it for sure. But the fine and the resetting of the island was the easy part because now she’d been put on probation. Kicked offa the job for a month because of the joke warrant she had forgotten to shred.
Fuck.
Lin ducked her head and ran her fingers through her hair.
Fucking. Shit. Fuck.
One day, she’d figure out how to control her own fucking temper. But today - three quarters of the way through her suspension - was not that day. Today, she was going to be completely anonymous. She was going to play some pool. And she was going to drink until she couldn’t feel her face. Or the twinge in her chest that told her she would always be alone.
A voice pulled Lin out of the quicksand sink of her own self pity.
“Hey New Face.” This interloper sang. “What’s a gorgeous woman like you doing without a- Oh Shoot. Lin?”
The stranger’s rich raspy voice sent a shiver down Lin’s spine before she recognized it. Of all the people in all the world. Lin huffed to the bar.
It was Kya. Tenzin’s older sister. The water bender with a rebellious streak. Although, that rebellious streak really only extended to the rule of Law - which felt like a tweak on Lin’s nose if she was being honest - but Lin also knew Kya couldn’t care less about her. Wouldn’t give her the time of day. Lin was furniture as far as Kya was concerned. No more interesting than faded wall paper - Lin was sure of it. Kya gave off the impression of the type of gal who had more of a penchant for meditation, crystals, and sticky smelly smoke that Lin pretended not to notice the few times she’d attended a Family Dinner with The Avatar and his… well… brood.
“Lin? What are you doing here?”
“Tenzin’s sister!” Lin stared with a grimace at her drink. “Yeah, I know you.”
“Pretend you don’t.” Came the whip sharp reply.
“I’m sorry?” Lin wasn’t.
“Pretend. You. Don’t.” This time she breathed it through gritted teeth. She flashed a smile before speaking low through that fake smile, “I can’t exactly have a pretty girl like you blowing my cover in a bar like this.”
“ExCUSE me?” Lin blinked blank. There’s no way she heard Kya right.
“Shut up.” Kya barked hot. “In here, folks don’t know - or politely ignore - the whole,” Kya dropped her voice, leaning in close to hiss in Lin’s ear, hot and humid. A feeling pooled in Lin’s gut long after Kya finished her sentence, “‘Daughter of the Avatar’ thing and I want to keep it that way. Got it?”
Kya pulled back eyeing Lin intently for any kind of sign. Seemed she got what she was looking for because Kya leaned back to her own stool and breathed deep and even as Lin replied.
“Got it. Fuck. Sorry.” Lin moped into her drink.
“No, Actually.” Kya huffed apologetic toward the bar as she rubbed at her temples with her thumb and middle finger - covering her face with her hand. She took a deep and centering breath before trying again. “I’m sorry.” And this time, Kya was. The absolute care that shone through those eyes of clear crystal blue made Lin’s breath catch in her chest. Kya laid her hand on Lin’s on the bar and kept talking. “What my idiot little brother did. You- You didn’t deserve that.”
“Ah.” Lin tried to take her hand back, but Kya held on. Throwing a soft smile and squeezing Lin’s hand once for good measure before releasing as Lin swallowed hard before mumbling, “Thanks.” into her drink.
“So! uh-What’s a nice girl like you doing in a bar like this?” Kya leaned on the bar. planting her elbow as she dug her fist into her cheek. Mischief played in her eyes.
“Haven’t been a girl in years,” Lin quipped before slugging back a pull of her drink.
“Fine.” Kya pinched a smile and wrinkled her nose Lin’s way. “What’s a woman like you doing in a bar like this?”
Lin puffed out a sound and trilled her lips. “Should be pretty fucking obvious. I’m drowning my sorrows. Looking to try something new. Couldn’t you tell?”
“Just by looking at you? Actually, no. I don’t make it a habit to assume if someone is or isn’t…” Kya trailed off gesturing and flipping her wrist before finishing her thought with a weak, “you know. But I guess, now that you’re staying it out loud, you do look the type to be… well, you know.”
“Alone?” Lin offered in a stab of sound.
“No. I didn’t meant it like that.”
“Sad?” Lin parried Kya’s sputtered attempts at correction.
“You don’t have to be such a dick about it, Lin. I meant I didn’t realize you were the type of person to come here looking to…” Kya trailed off.
“Looking to play some pool?” Lin finished her sentence for her.
“Oh!” Kya sounded surprised. “I um. If you wanna call it that… Sure. Pool. I didn’t take you for the pool playing kind of-erm, Gal. Figured you were more interested in… Darts?”
Lin shrugged, “Trying something new.”
Kya’s eyes flashed wide at that. A shock of sweet sapphire before settling back down to keen interest.
Lin’s first instinct was that Kya must’ve thought they were talking about something other than pool and darts. Lin ignored her instinct.
She shouldn’t have.
”You know, for what it’s worth,” Kya said tucking a strand of long auburn that has escaped her half bun behind her ear, “I am really sorry for interrupting your night and for… well all that. I know it does’t mean much. but. Still. I’m sorry all the same.”
“Actually?” Lin’s heart lightened just a bit and a smile pulled at the corners of her lips in spite of her own wish to remain sullen. Lin turned her chin to face Kya a little more as she said honest, “Coming from you; it means a lot. Thanks.”
At Kya’s easy smile, the latch in Lin’s chest released just a little bit more.
“Okay.” Kya declared. “Forget about everything else. Let’s start fresh.” Kya wiggled on her barstool and playacted seeing Lin for the first time. "Hello stranger. My name’s Kya. What’s yours.”
In spite of herself, the display tickled at Lin’s diaphragm. “Huh.” Lin huffed an amused breath out of her nose. Rolling her eyes just enough before deciding to play along, “Lin. Lin Bei/“
Kya cut her off. “No last names in this bar, Sugar. Here, we can forget the outside world and just enjoy ourselves. Nothing matters in here but the ‘Here and the Now.’”
“Yep. That’s what the napkins tell me.” Lin pulled the cocktail napkin from under her drink and held it up revealing a saloon style logo in script. The name of the bar and the slogan, ‘The Immediate’ it said above smaller script that laid out a tagline: ‘Only Here and Only Now.’
Kya chuckled. Deep and thick and resonant and lovely. Her eyes darted to the floor before flashing up again to meet Lin’s. Kya sank her top teeth into her bottom lip before teasing. “You catch on quick, Sugar.”
This time Lin did hear her right. “Sugar!?” Lin fought off a laugh. “That’s fucking ridiculous. How’d I earn that nickname?!”
Kya leant on her elbows on the bar, her eyes bubbling with some kind of untold amusement as she spoke, "Bourbon drinkers tend to taste real sweet. Doubly so if they’re drinking a Manhattan with a cherry in it and you’ve got two, Sugar.” Kya said pointedly before dipping a finger in Lin’s drink. Letting the first knuckle of her first finger touch her tongue and disappear behind beautifully puckered full lips.
Lin thought about protesting, but any thought beyond Kya turned to steam as Lin watched the water bender pull her finger free, rub it against her thumb, and somehow dissipate the moisture into the air with a flick. Kya smacked her lips and Lin’s pulse dropped into her belly; her mouth went dry. Lin had to remind herself to close her fucking jaw.
‘Kya’s so fucking cool.’ Lin thought to herself
Kya kept talking. Maintaining eye contact like gentle curiosity. “Rye drinkers taste a little smoky. Beer drinkers can get the fuck out. They usually taste terrible. Like Mulch. or grass. I much prefer the taste of a woman with a sweet tooth.”
“Yeah.” Lin said dumbly, like she understood. Her brain caught up to her in a single breath and she shook her head. “Wait, Taste? Did you say taste?”
“I did.” Kya simpered for a second before an “oh,” escaped her. Kya’s whole face fell from amusement to suddenly serious. She sat up straighter and her eyebrows practically hit her hairline. “Oh. Spirits. You actually have no idea. Do you?”
“No idea about what?”
Kya blinked twice before gently sharing, “You’re in a sapphic bar, Sugar. A hot spot for hook ups. Did you not…?”
Lin blinked. She didn’t breathe. Lin was vaguely aware that her mouth was hanging open, but all the sound rushed out of her ears. It felt like an eternity before the sound slowly crawled back as heat build on her cheeks. Lin purposefully closed her mouth and pursed her lips as she nodded wide eyed at Kya. She finally took a slow and deliberate breath against a pounding heartbeat that resounded in every inch of her. A sound escaped Lin on an extra high note. “oh.” A simple little sound as the tectonic plates of her brain ground out the reality of where she’d ended up.
It wasn’t that Lin had never been to a gay bar before. Everyone was 19 once and tried something new - one drunken night - with their best friend. Only to spend the next few days in bed - and in the shower and on the table - wrapped up in the glorious sounds and sights and tastes and touches of her and then moved on. That was a normal part of growing up. ‘Everyone did that and got it out of their system and just… moved on. That was just a part of being a grownup, right?’ Lin thought to herself as a feeling sank in her chest.
“You didn’t read the sign?” The right side of Kya’s mouth pulled into a grimace before she said, "Yikes.”
“What sign?” Lin was lost.
“The one that says ‘The Immediate,’ and ‘Only Here and Only Now,’ and ‘Pool Hall’ and ‘Ladies Ladies Ladies.’ that sign? The one outside the bar?”
”Fucking Spirits!” Lin cursed to the bartop in a hiss, “Fucking Steel Sucking Shit. Mother Earth.” Lin sputtered as she stood behind her stool and gathered her things, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I… I can’t believe I missed that sign.” Lin attempted to shrug into her leather jacket as she spoke, “I should. I should.” Lin was going to say ‘go,’ but Kya sputtered out a full on cackle and stopped Lin in her tracks.
Kya gathered herself enough to speak, “I’m kidding, LIN! Lighten up! There isn’t a sign that says, ‘Ladies, Ladies, Ladies.’ It just says Pool Hall. Everyone’s welcome. Sit down.”
Well, now Lin was annoyed - for only a second. The panic that had spiked her adrenaline settled lightly sour in her belly but as Kya continued to cackle, mutter to herself, and pound her fist against the bar - wiping tears of mirth from the corners of her eyes as she wheezed. Lin watched Kya laugh through her words; all the while, Lin’s lightly sour feeling cooled where it would have usually curdled into a ball of resentment.
This annoyance bubbled in a playful punch to her solar plexus. The kind of punch that meant familiarity and friendship and care. Not the kind of poke and prod of cruelty. But a welcome. An inclusion. Lin wasn’t going to dig into that right now, but it sure felt like it meant something at that time because for some reason, when it came from Kya, Lin got some spark of enjoyment from being the butt of her joke.
Lin ran her tongue along her top teeth - canine to canine - before cussing to the floor in a sharp, “Fuck” as she shook her head. Lin shrugged out of her brown leather jacket, setting it on her stool before sitting down again, and fought against an all out grin - Lin never grinned. Eventually, Lin exasperated, “You’re telling me ‘Pool Hall’ is supposed to be the clue that this place is for the sapphics?”
Kya gathered herself enough to wave off, “Well, ‘Ladies, Ladies, Ladies,’ is implied.”
“Implied, HOW!?” In spite of herself, the easy patter of their banter had Lin chuckling just a bit and cracking a smile. The smallest one. That pulled at the corner of her lips as Kya sparkled mirth in those sapphires of hers. Lin didn’t think she’d ever seen Kya so… comfortable. So bubbly. The laughter came easy for Lin. For the first time in… honestly, she had lost count.
Kya relented, “Alright, well. I guess it’s not “implied” so much as it’s a “known” kinda thing in the neighborhood. I mean… it’s practically in the name.”
“The meat packing district!?” Lin’s voice hit a high note before dropping back to her regular voice to declare, “there’s nothing gay about the meat packing district.”
Kya stared blankly.
“Oh,” Lin said as the realization dawned. “I… I guess I do hear that… now that I’ve said it… out loud.” Lin pulled in a full breath before sighing out chagrin.
Kya perked up, “So, you’re gonna stay?”
Lin sighed, “Well, this is the only pool hall in Republic City. Within stumbling distance to my apartment, anyway.”
“But you’re not/“
“/Who said I’m not?” Lin cut her off. Suddenly keen to tease back. “I know for sure that sign didn’t say anything about presenting your Sapphic Card at the door.”
Kya bantered back, “It was in the fine print. ’Must Have Kissed 5 Girls to Enter’”
Truthfully, Lin could only count Della and the week they’d spent wrapped up in one another at 19. But Lin wasn’t going to tell Kya all about her past. Lin didn’t need to justify any of it to anyone - let alone Kya. So, Lin lied and only felt a little bad about it. She deadpanned, “Then I’ve just hit your threshold.” And went back to sipping at her drink. Reasoning with herself that, ‘This lie was a necessity.’ The shock in those sapphires and the warm moment as that shock gave way to something closer to appreciation told Lin, ‘that lie? It was worth it.’
Kya’s jaw fell open. She worked it to the side and tilted her head as she seemed to evaluate Lin in a new light. “Really?”
Lin nodded. Kya let out a surprised, “Huh!” exhaled as an afterthought.
Lin smirked in Kya’s direction, “Did I surprise you?”
“Honestly? You did.”
“Yeah well,” Lin sipped at her drink, “I’m not the kiss and tell type.”
“Neither am I.” Kya agreed. Drumming her fingers on the bar top and breathing what sounded like an amused breath out of her nose. Kya turned on her stool to face Lin, “So…” Kya’s grin was warm and inviting. “Can I buy you a drink?”
“No, let me. Least I can do for being such an idiot plus I have a tab open already. What’re you drinking?”
“Gin.”
“Just gin? No tonic? No ice?”
“Just gin. No rocks.” Kya waved a flat hand - palm down, fingertips pointed toward herself - from collarbone to collarbone; the universal sign for ‘No.’
“Feel like that one might be aimed at me.” Lin grumbled behind a smile that tugged at the corners of her lips.
“You think because I don’t want ice in my drink that I don’t like earth benders?” Kya called her out, directly.
“No.” Lin protested. Crumbling immediately, “I’m just… It’s wordplay.” She excused weakly.
“Oh, is it? Is it just wordplay?” Kya sarcasmed. Her eyes wide, shaking her head in a tease the whole while. “I’m teasing you, lady. Lighten up a little. We’re in a bar, remember?”
“Yeah, okay.” Lin wheezed as she waved the bartender over.
The bartender, a thick woman with a shock of curly dark brown hair, eyes of ambergris, and a gravelly voice that indicated she was on her second pack of cigarettes for the day asked in a rumble, “What’ll you have, Newbie?”
Lin grit her teeth as this rich deep voice poured honey down her spine. “Can I get uh. Gin - neat - and another Manhattan with two more cherries?”
“Sure, Kiddo, whatever you want.” The bartender replied. Lin was fairly sure they were likely closer in age than those deep laugh lines around the bartender’s smile indicated. But Lin also wasn’t interested in making enemies at the only pool hall in Republic City. So, Lin accepted the moniker with as much grace as she could muster.
“You really drink your gin neat?” Lin started again while they waited for their glasses.
“I do.” Kya confirmed. “Ice hurts my teeth.”
“OH, NO!” Lin over exaggerated her horror for comedic affect. “Wouldn’t want that”
“No we wouldn’t.” Kya agreed more sincere but with a sly silly sparkle in her eye. "They’re very sensitive.”
“Oh no, not the Sensitive Teeth.” Lin affected a voice to tease even more. “Next you’re gonna tell me your fingers have feelings!”
“Of course they do!” Kya countered, “This one, is very happy.” Kya held up a thumb in Lin’s direction and flashed a smile. “This one,” Kya continued holding up her pointer finger, “is very lonely.” Kya over exaggerated a frown and sputtered out a giggle halfway through trying to play it serious.
Lin chuckled too in spite of herself. “Because that finger also means one… I got it.” Explaining the joke mostly to herself as the bartender slid brand new drinks their way - taking Kya’s empty glass before she left them alone. Lin nodded in the bartender’s direction and made a mental note to tip extra well as she fell back into the comforting patter of her conversation with Kya. Lin affected a voice to tease, “And let me guess, your pinky is full of ennui.”
“No.” Kya huffed petulantly. “My pinky is just happy to be mentioned. But this finger is very angry right now.” Kya gives her the middle finger. “Oh and she brought a friend.” Kya held up her other middle finger giving Lin two birds for the price of one.
“Yeah?” Lin chucked under her breath. “Well, right back at ‘cha.” Lin flipped a middle finger back Kya’s way and chuckled into her mostly empty drink as Kya put her middle fingers away and took a slow calculated sip of her new full drink still facing Lin on her stool.
Kya swallowed thickly - Lin watched the movement. Lin didn’t mean to stare, but the way Kya’s tongue darted out to catch the lingering drops on her lips struck a feeling in Lin’s belly. Her breath caught in her chest. Hitching on… something. Lin cleared her throat and ignored that feeling. Turning her attention instead to downing the last of her first drink.
Lin set the glass to the bar and pinched a cherry stem to pull it free from the mostly melted ice. Lin dangled it over her own mouth before biting it free from the stem. She discarded the stem to her cocktail napkin and enjoyed the burst of sharp and sweet as she chewed - careful not to crack a tooth on the pit. After a moment, Lin leaned forward to spit the cleaned pit back into the glass. All the while intensely aware that Kya’s gaze lingered.
Lin was vaguely aware that Kya was still looking at her. Staring - more like. But Lin was used to stares. Lin was used to the kind of focus and questions the scars on her face earned. Folks saw the jagged marks on Lin’s jawline and tended to let their eyes roam where they pleased. Like they were owed a reason or an answer.
But Kya’s stare wasn’t one of roaming. It wasn’t one of unabashed conquering or a debt to be paid. It wasn’t morbid curiosity. It wasn’t pity. It was… Something else entirely. Felt like… a Kiss. ‘Is that weird?’ Lin thought to herself. Somehow, everything about Kya - everything she did, everything she said - felt soft. Gentle. A wave lapping at shore. Lin brushed the feeling away, but it settled warm in her gut.
She tried to ignore it. She failed. Maybe she was getting soft.
Anyway. Lin swallowed the last lingering bits of her cherry and ran her tongue along her teeth before trying to distract herself from this feeling by changing the subject. "Wait a minute.” Lin grabbed her new drink and took a sip before asking her question, “I thought you moved full time to Wolf Cove?”
Kya didn’t seem to be expecting that question. Her eyebrows winged up and she nodded as she answered. “I did. To be with my mom after… Well. You know all of that; you’re practically family. Anyway. Came up for a delegation. Diplomat stuff. Just here for the weekend. Heading back the minute treaties are settled and business is done.”
“I didn’t think you were a jet-setter.” Lin remarked like the breeze.
“You think about me?” Kya bantered breathing steam.
Lin caught her breath against a bubbly feeling in her diaphragm before confirming, ”from time to time. I guess.”
Kya’s sapphires held Lin’s gaze for a moment too long and a breath too short. Lin held her own, meeting the intensity as Kya seemed to puzzle and calculate; aiming for a new kind of cut or clarity on what kind of treasures Lin might be hiding. Somehow, even with the heat rising up under her thin wife pleaser in this summer heat, Lin kept her cool and Kya moved on.
“I honestly don’t mind the travel. I just. Have to be careful of being away for too long. Responsibilities at home and all that.”
“Yeah. I get that. How is your mom doing?”
“You’re asking about my mother?”
“I assume those are the responsibilities you’re talking about, so yeah.”
“Well, alright then. Better, Actually. She’s settling into her.” Kya affected a voice of prestige, “‘Southern Water Tribe Elder role’” before dropping the voice entirely and swirl her gin in her glass, “And it’s good to have a purpose - I guess. Her new thing that she’s going on about is, ‘she’ll at least get to see dad again when the next Avatar rears their head.’ So that’s… not weird at all.” Kya flippantly sarcasmed before taking a long sip of her drink.
“Shit. I’m sorry Kya. That’s. That’s a lot."
Kya shrugged. “How we cope is how we cope. I’m just glad that thought gives her comfort… I guess.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s a good way to look at it.” Lin drummed her fingers on the bar top before asking, "And you?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. I’m asking about you.” Lin turned on her barstool to face Kya and lean an elbow on the bar. Lin catalogued as Kya glanced up to meet her. The soft pinch of her eyebrows. The dusting of pink on her cheeks hiding a flush of… something. The way her jaw fell slack and the impossible blue of those sapphires that stunned and threatened to shatter. But only for a moment.
Lin watched all this in fleeting seconds before Kya mopped it back up. Cleaning and clearing in an instant. Lin clocked the rise of a full collected - deliberate and deep - breath as Kya swept back against that feeling. Closing it off. Masking the grief from her gaze as her nostrils flared and her shoulders rose ever so slightly. Unnoticeable to the untrained eye, but Lin wasn’t exactly untrained.
Kya put on a show of ignoring Lin’s question and instead pointed to Lin’s last remaining cherry in her empty glass. in a pinched voice, Kya asked, “You gonna finish that?”
“No, it's all yours.” Lin pushed the glass toward Kya.
Lin sipped on her new drink as she watched Kya take the glass - a fleeting touch of fingertips before Kya dipped other fingers in mostly-melted ice to snag the stem. Kya moved slow and deliberate. Pulling the cherry free and popping it into her mouth - stem and all.
Kya chewed and worked her mouth all while starring at Lin. Not harshly. But a hold. Her eyes held Lin to her spot and Lin found she couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. But not because of anything Kya was actively doing. Just. The way Kya looked at Lin rooted her to her barstool and sent a warm flush up Lin’s neck that settled buzzy and soft on her cheeks. Or maybe it was this second drink that went down far quicker than the first.
Kya held eye contact as she pursed her lips to p’too the pit of the cherry into Lin’s empty glass. Lin watched the tip of Kya’s tongue retreat behind those beautifully puckered lips. Lin forgot how to breathe. Kya continued to work her jaw at… whatever it was that she was doing. Lin truthfully couldn’t tell and she couldn’t care less. She just had to remember how to get her ruddy fucking lungs to work.
After what felt like an eternity, Kya cocked an eyebrow and flipped her wrist to dip her thumb and pointer finger between perfect plump lips and produced a stem tied into a knot with a “Ta Da!” Kya sang it out triumphantly before Kya released Lin from her gaze and focused on setting the knotted and abused stem into Lin’s now empty glass.
Lin took a full pull of air and immediately felt a million times better. ‘She’s so fucking cool,' Lin thought to herself. She masked her discomfort by clapping quiet and slow while responding to Kya’s magic trick. “Well done. Stellar execution. That magic trick doesn’t answer my question, though.”
“Your question? I’d forgotten all about it.” Kya puffed off; Kya was lying. The flex of her nostril gave her away.
Lin pressed forward anyway as she reminded Kya. “I asked, ‘How are you doing?’ Yanno. With all of that.” Lin wasn’t usually this loquacious. but she wanted to know more and why and how, with Kya. It was an itch in the back of her throat. A pooling of something behind her bellybutton. A hot spot in her chest.
‘Is this what caring feels like?’ a voice in the back of her head asked. - only joking by small degrees.
“I’m easy breezy.” Kya lied, "Not a care in the world for me. I’m cool and calm and/“
“/And lying.” Lin finished the thought for her. “You’re lying.”
“Right! I forgot you're a detective. You look different out of your uniform. Fuck you very much for that reminder.” Kya’s words were all steam. Almost touching on mean, but they stopped short of having any actual sting.
“Don’t change the subject.” Lin cautioned.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do, Officer.” Kya said it like an insult. This time it stung.
Lin got the message and softened. “I’m not. C’mon Kya. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“You know what? It’s fine. Forget it. Let’s… Talk about something less painful? Bunch hornet stings? A pythonaconda biting off your toes?” Kya frowned into her glass and muttered, “I dunno.”
Lin took the lead, “How about, ‘What would you bring if you were stranded on a desert island?”
Kya huffed a breath out of her nose. “Alright, I guess that’s better than, ‘What would you do if you ran into a boar-q-pine?’ - which is what I was gonna go with.”
“A boar-q-pine?”
“Yeah. Know what? We can do both.” Kya’s sunny disposition was making a return trip. She sat up again before turning her torso toward Lin and leaning on an elbow on the bar once more. Inquisitive. Intrigued. “What would you do if you ran into a boar-q-pine?”
Lin thought for a minute before responding in a sensible manner, “I’d hang on and avoid the tusks. Probably. Those things are huge and mean as all hell.” Lin swiveled on her barstool suddenly very curious in return. "What about you?”
Kya straightened her spine and spoke like she was pleased with her own cleverness. “I’d apologize profusely and go about my day.” she tucked her chin to her shoulder and closed her eyes in Lin’s general direction like she was saying, ‘I’m so clever. Ask me how; I dare you’ without any words.
Lin let the playacting go on long enough as she took another pull of her already mostly finished drink. Lin finally scoffed at the display before speaking. “You think you’d walk away from running into a boar-q-pine?! PUH-leeeeze.”
Kya’s response was quick as a whip and twice as sharp, “I’d trap it in a wall of ice first, duh.”
Lin barked out a laugh. “Alright you got me, Smarty Pants. Touché.” They lifted their glasses to one another. Clinking them before slugging back a healthy pull. Lin resumed, “Second game. Let’s go. What would you bring if you were stranded on a desert island?”
Kya hedged, “I suppose that depends on what kind of suitcase I use to carry everything I pack.”
“Nope.” Lin put a kibosh on it. “No packing. Just things. And you get three of them. Only. Three.”
“Three?!” Kya practically shrieked before her lips arched in a beautiful full pout, “Now you’re just being stingy.”
Lin couldn’t find her breath. She shifted on her stool - shaking her head a little as she tried to find the words to protest, but every thought was wrapped up in the curve and pinch of Kya’s lips. Finally, Lin scoffed, “I am not. Being. Stingy. I’m… setting parameters.”
“Alright. Fine. You go first, then.”
“Okay,” Lin chewed at her bottom lip as she thought. After a moment of silence, Lin responded, “A whole bunch of waterproof matches, a water purification system, and a separate set of clothing for swimming and layering in case of temperature swings. Three things.”
“Wow,” Kya drew out the vowel to tease as her eyes gleamed a kind of mirth, "A real survivalist, huh?”
“No.” Lin corrected, “Just practical.” Lin said before downing another hearty pull of her latest drink. Lin sank into a bit of a sullen silence at the persistent teasing. Overplayed of course becuase if Kya was teasing, at least then Lin held her full attention.
Kya made a show of thinking for a second before poking Lin in the ribs - once. Hard and harsh before withdrawing. “Hey, couldn’t you move the island? Bend some earth? Make a path to get back to the mainland?” Kya taunted.
Lin responded with a swallowed laugh, “Who do you think think I am, Avatar Kiyoshi?”
Kya ignored her and continued to tease. Her nose skrunkled in the most adorable way as she pestered, “You could though, couldn’t you?”
“I mean…” Lin gave in, “Maybe. Or something like it. But that takes all the fun out of the game.”
Kya crowed, “I knew it.”
“Alright smarty pants.” Lin gave in to the good naturedness of Kya’s teasing and perked up to give as good as she got, “What would you bring?”
“Nothing."
Lin blinked at shining haughty sapphire. There’s no way Lin heard her right. Lin took a breath before repeating the word back. “Nothing?”
“Nothing.” Kya said a second time. All self-assured smiles and batting her eyelashes in Lin’s general direction.
This was a trick. Lin knew it. But Lin could’t bring herself to care enough to avoid it. The itch in her belly. The hot spot in her chest. Every part of her wanted to know more. Wanted to fall directly into this… whatever this was. So, Lin barked a single word. “Explain.”
“First, I don’t need matches if you’ve got ‘em.”
Lin cut in, “Who said I’m coming with you?”
“We’re both stranded, aren’t we?” Kya bantered back.
It was more fun to give in. So Lin did. “Alright, fine. We’ll be on the same island.”
“I don’t need water purification - I can bend it just fine - and I certainly don’t need a swimsuit.”
“You don’t need a…” Lin’s brain couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Swimsuit. Bathing costume. Other clothes? Nope!” Kya popped the ‘P’ like a taunt.
“You’re saying you’re gonna…” Lin couldn’t breathe.
“Naked? On an island? Absolutely.” Kya’s smile sparked - teasing sharp, “Sounds like paradise.”
Lin sputtered, “Y-Y-Y-You’ll get a sunburn.”
“I’ll find shade.”
“But if I’m there too… Y-Y-Y-Y-You can’t just…” Lin trailed off as her imagination ran away with the thought.
Kya in nothing but a smile. Her long chestnut hair loose in the wind. Turquoise eyes shining in the glow of the campfire. Exposed shoulders and long lean body that bounced and moved as she ran through the surf. Lin’s imagination followed the curve of Imaginary Kya’s chest to the dip of her bellybutton to the jut of her perfect hip. The curve of her ass meeting thighs that were probably soft as sin. Imagination Kya was running toward her. And Lin was ready to greet her with open arms. Her full lips formed consonants. Her tongue jutting forward to form an ‘L’, pulling back to tap behind her teeth for an ‘i’ and dropping down into her jaw to punctuate with an ’n'
“Lin? Lin. You still here?”
“Huh?”
“Having fun imagining me naked and slathered in mud, are ya?” Kya smirked.
“Uh y-.” Lin started to reply before her brain jumpstarted. Kya had her dead to rights. But Lin couldn’t let Kya know that. Lin corrected herself with an emphatic, “No. I was not. Not at all. I was just. uh doing the math on how long it’ll take your skin to burn off without sunscreen or some kind of protection.” Lin cleared her throat, “You should, yanno, really consider the importance of being practical.”
Kya pinched her face to one side in a grimace that told Lin, Kya didn’t quite believe her, but was gonna let that slide. Internally Lin breathed a sigh of relief into her mostly finished drink before Kya started back up again, “So, How long d’you reckon I’d last, Doc?”
“I thought you were the healer here.”
“I am. But you were the one doing the math. So c’mon. Give it to me straight.” Kya knocked back the last of her gin before announcing with a devilish grin, "I can take it.”
Lin slugged back the last of her drink before announcing, “Three days.”
“Hooo!” Kya sang out, “Three days. That’s rough.”
“Yeah.” Lin huffed like she was agreeing, but she was attempting to cover for a hammering heartbeat.
“Good.” Kya didn’t let up. Her gaze boring into Lin as she declared. “I like a challenge.”
Lin cracked a smile at that. “You’re something else, you know that?”
“I do.” Kya’s half smile pulled and pinched at plump cheek while her tongue darted out to wet her bottom lip. “You gonna eat those too?” Kya tilted her chin toward Lin’s last two cherries in her now empty glass.
Lin evaluated the remaining contents of her empty glass. Tipping it away from her and letting the dingy light of this dingy bar refract in the mostly melted ice. Lin sighed “I was planning on it, but you can have one of ‘em… if you want.” Lin pushed her glass Kya’s way.
Kya dipped a thumb and pointer into the glass to snag the fruit. And, ‘son of a bitch,’ she moved slow, languid. Like she knew Lin was following every breath. Every heartbeat. Every flex and clench.
The cherries were connected. The stem splitting perfectly from a single point where Kya pinched the connecting fibers. Kya lifted and languidly dangled both cherries toward herself. Concentrating on one full supple crimson fruit as a drop of sticky sweet bourbon clung to the perfect curve. Kya moved slow but her gaze never wavered - focusing on the cherry like she had no idea she held Lin’s attention in the palm of her hand. Utterly rapt.
Kya smirked - ever so slightly - as she parted her lips and raised the cherry to dangle above her upturned mouth. Lin’s eyes traversed the cut of Kya’s strong jaw and followed back to where the unclaimed cherry bounced against her chin. Lin saw the tip of Kya’s tongue meet the soft flesh of the claimed cherry and Lin’s heart ached in her chest.
'To be that fucking cherry,’ Lin’s brain threw at her on the strangest wish. She’d never been so jealous of a fruit.
Kya glanced out of the corner of her eye. Catching Lin in the act. Lin stood strong - clapping her own jaw shut as it had fallen open as she had mirrored Kya’s movements subconsciously.
Lin cleared her throat while her cheeks burned. It was embarrassing enough to get caught starring. It was a whole other kettle of skunkfish to be caught with your tongue hanging out of your mouth.
Kya bit her fruit free - storing it in her cheek - before she offered the final dangling piece Lin’s way. Kya pumped her eyebrows as smoldering sapphires scorched every inch of Lin’s wide eyed surprise. “Go on, I know you want it.” Kya almost whispered as she offered - still holding the fruit aloft. Her voice a heady mix of grit and wet and slick and want that rumbled, “Go on. Take it.”
Lin ground her teeth just the smallest bit before leaning forward and tilting her chin to the side. All the while Kya watched her. Holding eye contact as breath stalled in her chest. Kya minutely mirrored Lin’s movement as Lin opened her jaw wide to guide the dangling cherry between her lips - hooking underneath to cradle it with the tip of her tongue before severing it from the stem with a deliberate bite.
Lin was going to sit back on her stool but Kya let out a whisper. A whiff of sound that was equal parts groan and exhale. An “Oh,” that was immediately followed by a gritty throaty whisper, “Good Girl.” Kya’s eyes went wide. Like she hadn’t meant to say that outloud.
Lin’s every thought went up in flames. The soft blush on Kya’s cheek as she chewed. The string of spit that followed that cleaned pit into Kya’s empty glass before snapping back to her chin. The huffs of shallow breath as Kya watched - smelling of cherry and botanicals - that sent Lin’s head spinning while Lin worked at her own cherry.
Lin tried to focus on cleaning the flesh from the pit But moved numb tongued and haltingly as the fruit rolled away - slick and tart in her mouth - from every attempt to bite. Lin’s breath caught in her chest. The way Kya was looking at her. The ravenous hunger in those eyes of shining teal. Heat traveled up her gut to her cheeks and should’ve been steaming out of her ears. Lin gave in and spit a half cleaned cherry pit back into her empty glass in her desperately wanting shame.
Lin scrambled for an escape and weakly barked out, “I’m gonna. I have to use the bathroom. I mean, splash some, yeah, splash some water on my face.” She slid off of her stool and shrugged into her jacket, rolling the sleeves as her head spun in the heat.
Lin heard Kya tsk - her tongue against her teeth - before casually remarking, “I’ll join you.”
Lin walked to the bar bathroom in a haze. Footsteps echoing just a beat behind her own as some old song played on the jukebox in the corner of the bar. Lin hadn’t noticed the undercurrent tune before and she certainly didn’t hear it now. Not when every step brought her closer to being alone.
Alone with Kya.
They walk to the bathroom in silence. Do their business in silence. Wash their hands in silence. Not a word spoken, just the thrum of Lin’s heartbeat in her ears.
Lin looked at herself in the mirror and tried to ignore the sound. Evaluating every line crinkle and crease of her own sad and sorry face as her heart beat a persistent drum of Her, Her, Her in her spirits damned ears. Lin swallowed thickly and realized she wasn’t the only one starring.
Out of the corner of Lin’s eye, Lin clocked the deliberate turn of Kya’s head.
‘Shit.’ Lin thought to herself as she attempted to avoid Kya’s laser focused gaze on Lin’s reflection.
But Kya was patient.
And after a breath, Lin looked. Lin faltered. Lin fell.
Letting her eyes linger lazy. Admiring the strength of her jaw. The way her choker held tight to a her graceful neck. The way her dusky blue sweater with peek-a-boo cut outs on her shoulders brought out the sparkle of her sapphires.
“Like what you see?” Kya smirked.
Lin cleared her throat and mumbled a half-hearted, “sorry,” under her breath as she dried her hands and looked to head toward the door to escape. But Kya got there first. Lin practically ran into her reaching for the door.
But Kya didn’t move. She turned slowly until she stood with her back to the door. Anticipation stalled in the air. Thick and wanting. Slowing every movement. Kya put two fingers on Lin’s shoulder and circled. Step by step. Sapphires holding Emeralds as they swapped positions in a breathless silence.
“Kya?” Lin started.
Kya didn’t respond.
“What are you… What’re you doing?”
“Whatever. The Fuck. I want.” And then. Instant connection. Kya’s chest pressing against Lin’s - forehead to forehead. Kya breathed the words on a hot cherry whisper, “And I think, you want it too.” Kya continued to press forward; backing Lin against the door of this empty bathroom until Kya’s hips fit perfect - right and tight and just a little offset - against Lin's.
“Yeah, but.” Lin swallowed thickly. Her eyes darting from Kya’s lips to her eyes and back again. “This is probably a… really… bad idea.” Lin fought against a grin as she tracked Kya’s reach and heard the click of the deadbolt being thrown with the flip of Kya’s wrist.
Locking them in. Together.
“I’m tired of being perfect.” Kya’s breath hit Lin’s cheeks. Earthy. Botanical. Gin soaked but crystal clear. Kya nuzzled closer. Temple to temple. Cheek to cheek.
"Of living up to duty?” Lin offered through panting breaths. Settling her palms on Kya’s shoulders before agreeing - breathless. “Me too.”
Kya’s fingertips dug into Lin’s hips pulling Lin close enough to grind Lin’s core against Kya’s thigh. Kya and Lin shared a wanting groan at the connection. Lin’s to the ceiling; Kya’s into Lin’s shoulder. Kya turned quick, pressed her lips to Lin’s neck - gently - as she pressed her thigh up and up and up grinding her hips ever so slightly and not nearly fucking enough before growling out, “I want to make a mistake. I want you to be my fucking mistake.”
And Spirits, if Lin had a brain cell that wasn’t currently pulsing hot and wanting in her belly, she might’ve put a stop to the whole thing right then and there. Any instinct of self preservation or protection against heartache, But Kya was pressing close. And Kya was breathing down her neck. And Kya was here stealing every bit of sense and breath that Lin had left.
And Lin wanted nothing more than to be that fucking mistake.
“Please.” Lin hissed on breath. Need coating every heartbeat. Lin’s arms wrapped around Kya’s neck. Heat at every point where Kya’s body pressed up against Lin’s.
Kya didn’t say anything. She pulled back. Tsk’ing a sound. Her hands found Lin’s hips and Lin felt herself spin in Kya’s embrace. Now facing the door, Lin’s palms hit the wood as Kya’s fingertips teased and tickled at any bit of Lin she could reach.
Lin thought about unlocking and pulling the door open. Lin thought about putting a stop to this. Not that she wanted this to stop. ‘But they shouldn’t, right?’ Lin’s mind whirled. A billion reasons ‘Why Not To’ sitting on the tips of her tongue. Lin closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Willing Kya to have the courage Lin couldn’t bring herself to hold.
Kya got the hint.
Kya’s voice rumbled low. “Tell me to stop. And I’ll stop right now.” Kya breathed into Lin’s ear. One hand on Lin’s hip, the other undoing the first two buttons on her jeans. “Tell me not to and I won’t slip my fingertips under the band of your trousers. Tell me not to and I won’t touch you where I know you want to be touched.”
Lin pulled a shaky breath in and nodded. Huffing a, ‘Please’ under her breath as Kya did exactly as promised. The touch - so foreign but so wanted. Charting a path along Lin’s skin that cooled and lingered like the kiss of a wave. Lin whimpered.
Kya continued, caressing, teasing, pressing close - down and under fabric - to cup at warm wet want. Nipping at Lin’s earlobe, Kya dipped a finger to split wet velvet lip and Lin’s jaw fell. “Oh sweetness.” Kya gasped against Lin’s cheek. “You’re so ready for me. Spirits, I want you. Do you want me to stop?”
“No. Fuck. Shit. Please. More.” Lin ground out against gritted teeth. And Kya moved. Teasing and pulsing with the pads of her fingers. They shared huffs of breath in the climb. Groaning as Kya babbled at her from behind.
“Good girl. Sugar. You’re doing so good for me. Spirits. You’re a sight. Mhmm. Absolutely wrecked already. You want me to split you open? You think I can work you up to take two? I’m gonna work you up to take two - right here - before your knees give out. I’m going to take care of you, Sweetness; and you’re going to come for me. Are you gonna come for me?”
Lin’s breath caught in her chest. She nodded tight and short.
“Good. Oh fuck you're perfect.” Kya curled and pressed to fill slowly. Burying a wiggling working finger to the hilt as Lin’ huffed open needy vowels that begged for more.
“Oh honey. You’re taking me so well. So tight. So good for me.” Kya crooned as she worked at Lin, “Think you’re ready for two? You can take two. I know you can. But first, let me,” Kya trailed off as she pulled her hand out of Lin’s half buttoned trousers. Lin tried not to cry out at the loss of contact.
Lin watched it all happen out of the corner of her eye. Kya popped that finger full of collected slick - paired with her clean ring finger - into her own mouth. Kya hummed around both digits pulling them free and licking her lips like she was savoring a meal; all of it played directly against the shell of Lin’s ear. “Mhhm. Fuck. Delicious.” Kya breathed, nipping at Lin’s neck before pressing a kiss against Lin’s hammering pulse. “Told you you’d taste sweet. You wanna taste?”
Lin’s breath caught in her desperately wanting chest. “Yes.” She heard herself breathe.
Kya dipped once more. Earning a delicious delirious gasp. Kya’s fingertips working against Lin. Pulsing to please and tease and play. Gathering Lin on her fingertips until Lin was huffing. Nails digging into the door of the bathroom. As the screw of arousal in her belly turned harder and hotter at every careful caress of Kya’s fingers.
“Open your mouth.” Kya demanded.
Lin did.
Kya pressed her first two fingers into the center of Lin’s tongue - brushing knuckles against teeth - as salty mucosal sweet burst on Lin’s tongue. ‘Fuck. Is this what I taste like? Is this what Kya might taste like. Fuck.’ Lin’s mouth watered. She was desperate to find out.
“Suck.” Kya directed cutting through any inner monologue Lin had.
Lin obeyed. Pulling greedily at Kya’s fingers with her lips and building suction. Parting Kya’s fingers with her tongue.
“Perfect. Spirits. You’re absolutely perfect.” Kya breathed in her ear. “Stop.” She demanded. Lin did.
“Spirits, you’re good.” Kya pulled her fingers from Lin’s mouth and quickly dipped her well lubricated hand inside the waistband of Lin’s pants while her other palm traversed from Lin’s hip to squeeze at a breast before cupping at Lin’s jaw. Kya huffed in Lin’s ear as fingertips dug into cheek and other fingertips swirled through slick before pressing forward to fill and press and play.
They shared a moan at the stretch.
And Lin was climbing quick. Huffing at each thrust, gritting her teeth, and scraping fingernails into the wood of the door as Kya built a rhythm and sustained it. Curling her two fingers just right. Lin reached back over her own shoulder to tangle her fingers in soft brown hair. Lin’s grip turned to a fist as the heat pooled and pulled behind Lin’s bellybutton. Lin’s ears fuzzed with the climb she wasn’t sure which one of them groaned a, “yes,” but the other growled back, “close,” Lin thought she was the latter but truly couldn’t bring herself to care.
She was unraveling by the second. Too focused on the drag and curl of Kya’s knuckles at her core, the way Kya’s free hand was teasing under Lin’s leather jacket to pinch at budding nipple through Lin’s wife pleaser, and the delicious warmth of Kya’s breath on Lin’s neck.
“Stars above,” Kya went back to babbling, “Fuck. You’re so good for me. Taking me so well. I knew you could do it. Fuck you’re perfect. Perfect for me. Come for me. It’s yours; it’s all yours. Say my name. Fuck. Please.”
Tension building in every muscle as breath and curl and press and stroke gathered every bit of Lin’s sense and threw it wholly over the edge. Lin’s everything tensed and shuddered as she braced herself with both hands against the door and cried out, “Kya!”
Kya didn’t waste a second. Her hand that had been playing and teasing at Lin’s chest clapped over Lin’s mouth. Bodies shuddering against one another as they huffed ragged breaths in the silence that followed. Lin’s through her nose and Kya’s through her mouth huffing warmth over Lin’s pulse. Kya planted a kiss to the hollow below Lin’s ear. A lazy delirious thing that was equal parts tongue, teeth, and spit. “If I let go, can you stay standing?” Kya whispered - throaty and gentle.
Lin could only hum and nod.
Kya pulled her hand free and moved back toward the sinks. She washed her hands while Lin buttoned her trousers with shaky hands and caught her breath.
Lin’s mind should have been whirling. She should have been filled with any number of emotions like regret or self-loathing. But if Lin was being honest with herself, this - with Kya - changed everything. This was different. This was special.
This time, the only thought in Lin’s mind was reciprocity.
Lin cleared her throat, spun on a heel, and stomped over to Kya as Kya was still drying her hands.
Kya spun, met Lin’s gaze, and sank her front teeth into her bottom lip in a move that grew into a self satisfied grin as she set her hips to lean back against the counter.
Lin should’ve said a lot of things. Lin should’ve husked romantic, ‘Let me take care of you,’ before slipping her fingers into Kya’s belt loops and pulling her to grind on Lin’s thigh. Lin should’ve growled, ‘My turn’ and kissed her deep before bending her over that counter. Lin should’ve begged, ‘May I?’ Before hoisting Kya to the sink to worship her newfound goddess on her knees.
But before Lin could find the words, Kya cut the silence, “You’re welcome.” Her voice was warm and smug and sexy as all hell.
Lin froze. Her lips tried to find the right words, but what came out was a halting, “Shit, uh. Thanks, I guess.”
Kya chuckled, “You guess?”
“No! Shit. I mean. That’s not what I wanted to say. You just beat me to it.”
“You didn’t want to thank me for that mind shaking orgasm?” Kya tilted her chin, furrowed her brow, and pursed her lips; playacting confusion.
“No!” Lin protested. “I mean. I did want to thank you. I just… I wanted to… reciprocate by… you know…” Lin shrugged as she trailed off.
“I can’t say that I do know,” Kya’s shit eating grin knocked Lin for a loop.
“you’re fucking with me.”
“Just a little.”
“You’re the worst.”
“Shut up,” Kya countered. She grabbed the front of Lin’s leather jacket and pulled her close. “You’re cute when you’re tongue tied.”
Lin let herself be pulled close, resting her palms on Kya’s hips. “Can I?” Lin begged as her gaze dropped to Kya’s lips.
“You’re a dork.” Kya smiled warmly, tangled her fingers in Lin’s hair at the nape of her neck, and leaned in.
Their lips met. Pulsing and pressing as Lin leaned up on her tip toes. Enjoying the pull of Kya’s hands in her hair as their kiss heated up. Tongues dipping to swirl and taste. Bodies pressing close to fumble and bump.
Lin broke off the kiss gently - pressing her forehead to Kya’s before being brave. “Can I touch you?” She didn’t mean to sound needy, but Lin would’ve crawled to Ba Sing Se on the off chance that Kya might want a cabbage or two and Lin wouldn’t have been ashamed to admit it to Kya. Not in the slightest.
“You’re sweet.” Kya cupped Lin’s jaw with her right hand and ran her thumb along Lin’s cheek. “But not here. Council put me up in a hotel across town. I could call a cab?”
“Don’t bother.” Lin countered, “I live a block away.”
Kya’s smile was warm and soft. “Sounds good to me.” Kya pulled Lin in for one last deep kiss that left Lin dizzy. “After I leave, wait a minute, then go. Close your tab, meet me outside, and we’ll walk to yours.”
“Perfect.” Lin murmured breathless.
“See you soon, Sugar.” Kya crossed the space and Lin watched her hips sway. Her fingers itched to grasp and grab and tease. Before Lin knew it, Kya had unlocked the door, pulled it open, and blown a kiss over her shoulder as the door closed behind her.
Shit. Lin was in absolute deep shit. But she couldn’t bring herself to care. All Lin could think about was the face that Kya would make. Would her eyebrows knit? Would she whimper? Would she beg?
Fuck. Lin splashed some cold water on her face, cleaned up her eyeliner with the pad of her finger and tried to force her own heartbeat to slow. She failed.
A minute. Lin could wait for a minute before leaving. It wouldn’t be too hard.