Chapter Text
Thursday, October 6th
Asami pouted as she stared out the window of her second floor bedroom. She could see the breeze rippling through the trees, knocking the orange and red leaves to the ground. She could see people shuffling their way through the streets, huddled in their jackets. She could see that she was going to have a difficult time choosing a multi-functional outfit for the day.
At 8:00 AM, the morning dew was still shining on the grass, the world was still chilled from the cool night before. Asami would pick out a light jacket and flawlessly fashion the rest of her outfit around it. And by noon that jacket would be far too much for the sticky warmth the sun had brought.
October was just beginning and the semester was in full swing, and Asami was absolutely ready for the cold weather. She would readily admit that somehow, the Fall season snuck up on her. It was only yesterday that she was walking to her morning lab class when she noticed the gorgeous color of the trees. They were the color of a sunset on clear night. And Asami looked to the ground, finally seeing all the fallen leaves carpeting the pavement. The reds and oranges and faint greens littered the path before her. Somehow, it was the first time she noticed it.
Asami will claim to love Fall because she loves to layer her outfits, but there’s something about all that orange blossoming in the world that makes her warm. She associates Fall with quiet, warmth, hot cider, and pumpkins. All the other seasons are harsh, or wet, she thinks of them as loud and brash where the Fall is a muted world where everyone slows down.
Asami enjoys the decorations, the candy, the costumes that come with the holidays. Asami really does love October. Though some days all she wants to do is curl up in a comfy chair by the window and read a long book, sipping warm tea while the trees sway outside.
She shook her head of her thoughts and glanced at the clock. With a sigh, Asami pulled together a neat outfit that paired well with or without a jacket and nodded in resolution. She hurried through the rest of her morning routine and was out the door soon.
The walk to her morning Engineering design class was always a calm one, being roughly 8:30 there were only other students ambling their way along the tree lined paths. Ba Sing Se University was the most gorgeous campus Asami had visited. The campus itself was reason alone to attend, but add in the engineering programs along with a retinue of other challenging programs and Asami knew it was right for her.
Of course her father wanted her to attend Republic City University. ‘You won’t even have to move out!’ he had said. But that’s the whole point of going away to University, she had thought. She no longer wanted to live in the City. Although her father’s mansion was not technically in the city, everything she needed was.
It was ironic, but Asami hated traffic. She was well aware that traffic meant Future Industries was inundating the streets with Satomobiles which was great for business, but what’s the point of having one if you can barely drive it? The countryside west of Ba Sing Se and just south of a massive mountain range where the university was situated was a far more appealing drive. Open roads winding up into the mountains made for a heavenly scenic route.
Asami was fantasizing about another joyride when someone rather heavy barreled into her and knocked everything in her hands to the ground, including a full mug of coffee. The leaves in front of her were stained with the light brown coffee, her heavy textbook was fluttering in the breeze on its spine, and the house keys she hadn’t yet put away had jingled to a stop by her feet. There was also a large black duffel bag and a person sprawled out before her but, quite frankly, she did not have time for that.
Her assailant had rolled over though, and sprung upright.
“I am so sorry! Oh man, I knocked your coffee everywhere! Did it get your book?” She had practically shouted and snatched the book up quickly, turning it every which way for signs of damage.
Asami was taken aback by the loud girl, an athlete by the looks of her hoodie. She quirked an eyebrow and delicately plucked the textbook out of the other girls hands, shoving it into her bag.
“I’m sure it’s fine, thank you. Are you alright? Seems you had a hard fall.” Asami was nothing if not polite, and while she was down an entire coffee, she would not resort to being rude.
The other girl laughed a little, again disturbing the quiet of the morning, and rubbed her neck. “I’m alright, nothing I’m not used to!” She grinned and picked up the coffee mug and keys, handing everything back to Asami.
Asami stared at the girl with the shining blue eyes, her grey hoodie contrasting against her dark skin. She quickly gathered the rest of her belongings, storing everything away safely, when the girl spoke again.
“So, I’m Korra. I’m really sorry about knocking your stuff, maybe I could make it up to you? Get you another coffee?” She asked hopefully, that big grin was more of a hopeful smile now. Asami smiled back, her eyes squinting a little from the smile.
“I would love that, but I’m afraid I’d be late for my class. Maybe another time though?” She glanced at her watch, sussing that she’d probably make it to class with a minute to spare at this rate.
Korra nodded with a look of complete understanding before her eyes widened and she glanced at her bag. She pulled out her phone and a look of complete terror washed over her.
“Oh, I’m so late. Coach is going to kill me!” She swooped up her bag and took a few steps, turning toward Asami. “Hey! What’s your name? I’ll buy you a coffee sometime,” she called as she started jogging down another path.
“Asami! And I’ll be expecting it!” She shouted back, chuckling to herself as Korra stumbled a little on the edge of the pavement and then righted herself with a wave.
“Count on it!”
Korra was once again late to practice and was making her best attempt to sneak into the locker rooms without her coach noticing. It’s not her fault she was distracted by a gorgeous face! When you knock a beautiful woman’s coffee to the ground, you have to offer a new one, right? Either way, Korra snuck into the ice rink through the back door, winding through dark hallways toward the locker rooms. She slipped into the home locker room and dropped her bag in front of her locker where her hockey sticks were already lined up.
“Nice of you to join us Korra.” A voice spoke and Korra nearly slammed her face into her locker in surprise. Her face ghosted over, and she turned slowly to face the wrath of her infamous coach.
“Coach Beifong, I’m really sorry but I ran into a girl, literally, and knocked all her stuff everywhere and I almost broke my wrist and I-“
“Enough! Korra, you are at this school on a scholarship. Do you really think you can afford to be late to every practice we have?” Coach Lin Beifong lectured her, one hand on her hip. Coach was a hard-ass, everyone knew, but she also got results. The Ba Sing Se University women’s ice hockey team was top of their conference practically every year since Lin took over. It was a competitive team at one of the top academic institutions, Korra didn’t need to be reminded that she was lucky to be here.
“You've always been one of my most talented players, Korra, but since your injury you have to put in the time and effort too.” Coach spoke, reminding Korra of the way her father would speak to her sometimes.
Korra nodded and looked at her feet, shuffling back and forth.
“I know, coach. It’s just, my classes are hard this year. I was up late last night working on an assignment and I just overslept, I’m sorry. It’s hard dividing my time up between everything, you know?”
Lin sighed and sat on one of the benches.
“Korra, this is the part of school that shapes who you become. You figure out time management, and your university athletics becomes about more than just hockey. It helps you prepare for the real world. I know third year is the hardest, but shape up. This will help you in the long run, kid.” She stood and clapped her hand on Korra’s shoulder, then turned toward the door and told Korra to hurry her ass up because she had suicides to run.
Korra groaned but knew not to push her luck. A rather heartfelt talk with coach and some suicides was leagues above past punishments. In fact, last year she missed a practice due to a hangover and ended up getting dragged out of her bed to run suicides until she puked. She shuddered at the thought of that day.
Korra geared up and laced up her skates and then pulled on a practice jersey as she perused which stick to use. Her thoughts wandered to her recent introduction to Asami. A gorgeous name for a gorgeous girl.
The flowing hair, flawless style, and that smile. It was so easy. Like all she does is practice her smile in the mirror to perfect it. Asami. Shoot! How am I supposed to get in touch with her? Korra wracked her brain, remembering the textbook. What was it? Engineering? Something about engineering. She’d have to pay Varrick a visit.
Saturday, October 8th
It was two days later and Asami was studying the designs of the modern engine for her class (the modern engine that her father created and that was practically imprinted in Asami’s brain but she liked to be thorough in her assignments) when her phone chimed. She welcomed the distraction from her assignment, no matter how brief. She stretched out on her bed and placed her papers down, grabbing her phone off her nightstand.
A number she didn’t know had messaged her.
‘Hi Asami, this is Korra, the girl who wasted your coffee :P. I got your number from a mutual friend, I hope you don’t mind. I just wanted to offer you a coffee again, whenever you’re free’
Asami grinned at her phone, completely pushing her assignments aside and flopping down on her pillow to type a response.
‘Yes, I would love to get coffee with you. Tomorrow around noon? I shouldn’t be too busy. And just out of curiosity, who is it that we both know?’ It whooshed as it sent and Asami set her phone down to stare at the ceiling for a minute. She felt like a giddy pre-teen texting her crush which was ridiculous because, hello, they literally ran into each other for all of 4 minutes. Then her phone chimed twice and Asami felt another rush of excitement.
‘It seems we’ve both had the misfortune of knowing Varrick ;D’ The first one read, and then ‘And that’s great! I just have practice in the morning. We could meet up on campus?’
Asami huffed out a light laugh, of course Varrick would be involved.
‘Perfect! In the quad sound good? Also, sorry to hear you’ve been graced with Varricks presence.’ She pressed send and then took a deep breath, glancing back at her papers. She’ll have to get some extra work done tonight.
The ping of the new text sounded and Asami read it quickly. ‘I’ll meet you there at 12! And at least Varrick finally came in handy :)’
Asami smiled at her classmates expense and tapped out a quick response. ‘See you then!’ and settled back over her papers in the hopes of getting her mind back on track.
Sunday, October 9th
The next day, Korra made sure she was up early and prepared for practice. She finished her assignments earlier the day before, and got a great night of sleep in preparation. Practice went smoothly and the new kids were gelling with the team. A scrimmage saw the dynamic duo of Korra and Kuvira flattening their teammates with ease, Korra dominated at forward and Kuvira was a brick wall on defense. Suffice to say, the season would be a spectacular one.
It was only ten but Korra was eager to get back home and ready for her ‘outing’ with Asami. She had planned to take the other girl to the Black Bean, one of the smaller coffee shops in the town just down the road. She was afraid she’d seem overly excited, this was just grabbing a coffee with a new friend but boy was Korra smitten already.
Korra sped through her shower and packed her gear up quickly, grabbing her sticks to take home for the night as the boys would be in later. Unfortunately Korra’s teammates noticed her eagerness and it wasn’t long before Kuvira was sauntering over towards the forward.
“Hey Kor, you seem to be in an awful rush today. Got any plans that we don’t know about?” She asked leaning up against the locker with her arms crossed. Her tone was innocent curiosity but the look on her face betrayed her. Though Kuvira always looked like she was up to something.
Korra simply zipped the last of her gear away and turned toward Kuvira.
“Nope. Just tired of the stench of you losers.” She answered, standing up in Kuvira’s personal space and grinning back. Opal let out a loud laugh from the other side of the room and pegged her glove at Korra’s head.
Kuvira smiled in response and looked at Opal. “She’s trying to bait us Opal, to distract us from her unusual behavior. Classic Korra move.” She laughed in Korra’s face, poking her shoulder several times until Korra stepped back.
Korra saw the rest of her teammates glancing toward the duo. “Not like you’d do anything about it anyway. We all know you couldn’t take me one on one, Kuv.” Korra kept goading her friend.
Kuvira frowned and stepped toward the other girl but Opal spoke. “She’s doing exactly what you just said Kuvira, don’t fall for it. Come on Korra, just tell us. We just want to know what’s got you all antsy.” She smiled sweetly towards the two trying to avoid another one of their infamous and usually hazardous tussles.
Kuvira nodded thoughtfully, and promptly ignored Opal in favor of grappling Korra around the midsection. They tumbled into a locker and each clambered to get the other in a headlock.
“Let go ya big lug! I don’t have time for this!” Korra grunted as Kuvira started to tickle her waist.
“Cheating!” Opal called, refereeing the fight. “Tickling was expressly forbidden Kuvira!”
Korra tried to drop to the ground as dead weight, pulling Kuvira down a little with her. She wormed out of her friends grip and wrapped her knees together, taking her down entirely. Kuvira was ready though, and kept her arm wrapped around Korra’s neck getting her in a chokehold as they both fell to the floor.
They struggled on the ground for a few seconds until Korra slapped her hand a few times. Kuvira let go and sprawled back, panting a little and Korra sat up away from the girl.
“Jerk! That was unnecessary.” She punched Kuvira’s shoulder.
“Mhm. Whatever, I’m way up on you now anyway. What do you have planned today?” Kuvira stretched out on the floor and then stood up, fixing her still wet hair.
Korra sighed and flopped down on a bench. “I’m getting coffee with this girl I ran into the other day.” As expected, the locker room erupted in ‘ooohs’ and her teammates made kissy faces at her. “Yeah, yeah. I just owe her one because I knocked hers out of her hand,” Korra explained, she didn’t want her friends making a big deal out of it.
Opal sighed dreamily, “Aw, that’s such a meet cute!” She squealed.
Kuvira looked at her childhood friend strangely, “What the hell is a meet cute?” She demanded. Opal looked offended at her friends’ lack of knowledge.
Korra used the distraction to gather her things and slip out the door with a ‘love ya’ while Opal started ranting about all the romantic ways to meet someone.
The walk from the ice rink to the house she shared with nearly half the hockey team wasn’t a short one, but it was nice to be outside in the fresh air after being stuffed up in the locker room. The ‘hockey house’ was a three story colonial house on Stone Street, unofficially Athlete’s row. It was usual for student athletes to commandeer an entire house for themselves out of convenience and a place to host parties.
Korra got home and bounded up the steps to her top floor room and changed into a lazy outfit of leggings and one of her favorite hockey sweatshirts, the Ba Sing Se Brawlers. Then she grabbed some books and her laptop to spend some time at the library and out of the house before her teammates got home to tease her some more.
She was a little over eager and antsy, but she’d manage a few hours studying to at least make use of the day.
Asami was just finishing up her lab work due the next day when her alarm went off indicating noon was nearing. She gathered her things and glanced in a mirror to perfect herself, then made her way to the center of the quad to meet Korra. She was embarrassed to admit even to herself how excited she was just to get coffee. It’s been a while since Asami made new friends, and if nothing comes of this, at least she’ll spend a few hours learning about someone new.
The last time Asami had any semblance of a relationship was her first year at Ba Sing Se, and that was pretty much a disaster. They burned hot and quick, and then fell apart when real life happened. ‘Whoa, slow down Sato, why am I thinking about relationships? Until otherwise stated, this is just a get together with a genuinely nice girl who also happens to also be extremely attractive.’
Asami laughed at herself for getting so caught up in all her thoughts. She really hasn’t been nervous like this in a long time.
She stopped at the fountain in the center of the quad and found a bench to settle herself on. She can at least appear casual as she waited for Korra to meet her.
It didn’t take long for Korra to come into view. She walked calmly down the path from the library with her book bag slung over one shoulder. She had a confident walk, her shoulders squared and chin up. Asami quickly straightened her own posture in fear of slouching.
When Korra was not entirely that close yet, she waved and called out “Hey Asami! I’m excited, are you?” Her cheeks tinged a bit, as if she hadn’t meant to say all of that quite yet.
Asami laughed and stood to greet her, now in normal speaking range.
“Yeah, I’m excited. Where did you have in mind for today?”
“The Black Bean, it’s in town but that path between the lecture hall and the turf fields takes us right there.” Korra pointed to the behind Asami toward the other side of campus.
Asami smiled and nodded, “Sounds great. How about you lead the way?”
They walked along the path that was similar to Asami’s route between campus and her apartment. It was a running trail that wound through the forest, but years of students walking to town led to another dirt path worn straight to their destination. It was a calm and serene walk, the girls commenting only on the scenery, or the quiet, or the birds.
Korra spoke more and more the closer they got to town, talking about the coffee shop, or a bookstore nearby, or the mall with the skating rink in the center. She sounded as if she were giving Asami a tour of the town.
The path broke out into a quiet street where Korra pointed out a small, vintage music store boasting the largest selection of records in town, and Asami had to laugh.
“Korra, I’ve been at Ba Sing Se for three years, I know the town pretty well.” She giggled gently, not wanting to embarrass the other girl.
Korra blushed deeply though, and laughed at herself.
“Duh, I figured I just… I was nervous and I need to talk when I’m nervous!”
Asami grinned and looped her arm through Korras', “Well… I don’t know this coffee shop so you can tell me all about that.”