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“I think I should get going.”
As the table was in the process of being cleared, Lin got up from her seat. She’d reluctantly accepted Tenzin’s request to stay for dinner on Air Temple Island, but as it was already past nine, she really had to go now. She had work in the morning.
“Oh, Lin. The party’s only just getting started,” Kya said as she exited the kitchen, carrying two bottles of what Lin guessed was some sort of alcohol. She placed them on the table, content look on her face. “The kids are finally in bed and we still got quite some booze left over from Korra’s birthday. Stay a little?”
Lin was about to politely decline the offer, when Su walked around the table and swung an arm around her shoulders.
“Come on, Linny-”
“Don’t call me that.”
“-some wine, some shots, some conversation. Just us adults. It’ll be fun.”
Lin rolled her eyes. Su had travelled to the city about a week ago and had been staying on the island. While they didn’t exactly hate each other the way they used to, that didn’t mean Lin enjoyed her sister interfering with every aspect of her life. Every single day since she got there, she’d insisted on them seeing each other. Lin couldn’t stand it. She just wanted to be left alone.
Lin ignored Su’s bright grin and made a displeased noise at the way she was squeezing her shoulders. She really wasn’t in the mood for this.
“I have work tomorrow,” she argued, but neither Kya nor Su seemed to care.
“Come on, please?” Kya pleaded, tilting her head. “For me?”
Lin narrowed her eyes. She glanced over at Su, who was wearing a fake, overly sweet smile.
“Please, for Kya?” Su mimicked.
For a few moments, Lin glanced between the two women. Eventually, she sighed.
“Whatever,” she relented. Su grinned smugly and Lin shook her head, more to herself than anything. There was no point in arguing whenever they teamed up against her. She hated it.
They brought the alcohol, along with some glasses and snacks, over to the lounge. Tenzin, as well as Bumi, and Izumi, who had come to visit Republic City for some Firelord related business, joined them.
Lin took a seat in one of the larger chairs and popped some roasted peanuts into her mouth.
“Oh, let’s play a game, make things a little more interesting,” Kya suggested while everyone got seated.
“Like what?” Su asked.
“Like never have I ever.”
Lin snorted.
“What are we, twelve?” she mocked.
Kya shot her a look.
“Oh, hush,” she said and Lin held up her hands in defeat. “We used to play all the time when we were younger. It’ll be fun.”
Much to Lin’s dismay, everyone agreed. She sighed. These people were all children, she thought to herself.
Kya poured everyone a glass of wine and sat down on the couch’s armrest.
“I’m guessing you all remember the rules, but I’ll quickly go over them anyway. You drink if you have done it. If you haven’t, you don’t. I’ll start with an easy one.” She pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. “Okay, never have I ever lied to get out of work.”
As expected, everyone took a sip. Lin grimaced at the taste, swallowing. She never did like wine much.
“Never have I ever,” Su spoke, “broken a bone.”
Everyone drank again, except Su. How that woman hadn’t broken half her body yet, nobody knew. She always claimed it was because she had stronger bones than most people. Which was, of course, total horseshit.
A few seconds later, Tenzin perked up.
“Never have I ever cheated on a test.”
Lin rolled her eyes and took another sip, as did everyone else. So far, the game was as lame as she had expected.
Then, she noticed Bumi grinning behind his glass.
“Never have I ever cheated on a partner,” he said.
Right away, all eyes went to Tenzin, and Lin could feel her face heat up. She suddenly felt very small. Tenzin awkwardly cleared his throat and quickly took a drink, trying to be nonchalant and avoiding everyone’s death glares.
Su took it upon herself to break the tense silence and Lin was thankful for it.
“Never have I ever stolen something,” she said.
Lin looked around the room as everyone drank. She, on the other hand, kept her glass down.
“Really, never?” Kya asked with a raised brow. “Not even something small?”
Lin took a moment to look at everyone in disbelief.
“No, of course not,” she said. Everyone looked at her as if it was weird that she hadn’t. Lin couldn’t believe it. “Sorry I’m not a criminal like the rest of you. Apparently.”
They all shrugged and Lin shook her head in disapproval.
“Never have I ever passed out drunk in a random place,” Su said.
Everyone except Tenzin and Lin drank. She knew Tenzin was too lame to do anything crazy like that. Lin herself, on the other hand, was simply a responsible adult.
“Never have I ever,” Izumi said, “lied about my age.”
This time, only Izumi and Kya drank, which really wasn’t a surprise. Lin remembered all the times they’d tried to get into clubs with a fake ID.
“Never have I ever gone skinny dipping,” Kya said with a small smirk, looking over at Su.
Su smiled and, much to everyone’s astonishment, shot Kya a wink as she took a sip. Lin blinked a few times as she looked between the both of them, trying to process that information. She really didn’t want to.
“Never have I ever been arrested,” she interjected, just to get that mental image out of her head.
Everyone drank except Lin. Even Tenzin. Lin shook her head at all of them.
“Never have I ever,” Su began, barely able to contain her smile for some reason, “gotten high after fucking a chief’s daughter for three entire hours, climbed on top of a roof and screamed I’m a flying fucking bison, jumped off, almost breaking both legs and destroying the chief’s expensive flower garden in the process.”
When she finished talking, she glanced over at Kya with a challenging glint in her eyes. Kya, in turn, was shaking her head at her, her eyes narrowed.
“You bitch,” she muttered and she drank reluctantly. Everyone stared at her, mouths slightly agape, including Lin. She couldn’t even begin to process all that information. It was just so much.
Kya pursed her lips.
“Never have I ever slept with another woman,” she shot back at Su as she drank.
Su seemed a bit alarmed at first, but eventually shrugged. To Lin’s horror, she took a sip. Instead of staring at Kya, now everyone was staring at Su.
“Oh, don’t look so shocked,” Su dismissed. “I like to have fun.”
Lin swallowed and took a breath, trying to get rid of all the mental images shooting through her head. She was way too sober for all of this. Way too sober.
Once the first round of questions was over, they moved onto shots. By this time, everyone had had about two glasses of wine, except Lin, who was still only halfway into her first.
“Never have I ever,” Izumi began as Su lined up a shot for everyone, “woken up in a stranger’s bed.”
Bumi and Kya were the only one to take the shot, after which they gave each other a surprised look, followed by a high five.
“Never have I ever used my body to get what I want,” Izumi said, suggestively wiggling her eyebrows.
Both Kya and Su took a shot this time. Lin rolled her eyes. Great, she thought to herself, more mental images.
“Never have I ever had a threesome,” Bumi said, smirking at Kya, obviously knowing more than the others. Kya laughed and took the shot.
It went on like this for a while. The questions got more explicit as they went on, and eventually, it was only Kya who was taking the shots.
Lin sat back in her chair, playing around with the full shot glass in her hand, as she listened to all the ridiculously sexual questions the others were coming up with. She tried not to think too hard about Kya, someone she’d had feelings for for a while now, doing all of… well, all of that, but it was hard. She had a pretty vivid imagination.
Eventually, she’d had enough, and decided to interrupt.
“Come, on this isn’t fair,” she said with an annoyed tone as Kya downed another shot. “Kya’s all beautiful and everything, of course she’s done all these things. Maybe tone down the questions a little so others get to play?”
Lin expected everyone to outright boo her for being a party pooper, but instead, they stared at her.
“What?” she asked after a moment or two. She really didn’t understand this reaction.
“You think I’m beautiful?” Kya suddenly asked from down on the floor, where she was sitting cross-legged.
“I don’t think so, I know so,” Lin stated, not even thinking twice about it.
She expected that to clear things up, but everyone continued to stare at her, leaving her even more confused than before.
“What?” she demanded, throwing up her hands in frustration. “It’s a fact. Everyone knows that. Stop looking at me!”
She could feel her cheeks beginning to redden. Surely, everyone knew Kya was attractive. It wasn’t like it was a secret. Why weren’t they simply agreeing with her?
Lin turned to her sister.
“Su, would you help me out here?” she asked. But Su shook her head, her face almost gleeful.
“No way sis, I’m having way too much fun here.”
She was clearly enjoying Lin’s blatant awkwardness and Lin rolled her eyes.
“For fuck’s sake.”
She crossed her arms and looked to the side, avoiding everyone’s prying eyes. She wanted to disappear into a hole in the ground. She never should’ve agreed to this game.
“Aw, Lin,” Kya murmured and she went to stand up, but she immediately fell back down again, everyone quickly shooting up to catch her.
“I think we’ve had enough,” Bumi said as she helped his sister to stand. Everyone agreed.
Lin quickly took it upon herself to clean the dishes in the kitchen, away from the others. She’d made a fool out of herself and she didn’t want to face them again.
“Way to hide your feelings, sweetheart.”
Lin looked up from the sink to find Su entering the kitchen.
“Whatever,” she shot back, angrily cleaning the bowl she was holding.
Su was the only one who knew how she felt about Kya. She’d tried to hide it from her, but she hadn’t been very successful. Most of the time, Su could see right through anyone, especially Lin. This hadn’t been an exception.
“If you’d just backed me up,” Lin commented, annoyed. Su gave her shoulder a squeeze as she put down the last of the bowls on the counter.
“But that wouldn’t have been as much fun, now would it?”
Lin bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying anything in return. She didn’t want to argue with her sister right now. She just wanted to go home.
When she got to the last bowl, someone suddenly came to stand next to her. It was Kya.
“So, Chief Beifong thinks I’m beautiful?” she asked. Her words slurred slightly. She’d had a lot to drink tonight, after all.
“Would you stop,” Lin retorted, not even bothering to look up. “I was just stating a fact, that’s all. You guys were ruining the game.”
Kya leaned against the counter.
“Mhm,” she mused, clearly not believing her.
Silence settled over them for a moment. Lin took her time cleaning the last bowl.
“For the record,” Kya suddenly began, moving closer, “I think you’re beautiful too. And I don’t just think so either, I know so.”
Lin fought back a snort, feeling her cheeks heat up.
“Right, whatever.”
“I mean it,” Kya insisted.
Lin spared her a glance.
“Sure you do,” she said. She absentmindedly scratched at her right cheek and took a breath. It was hard to believe her. It really was.
Kya grew frustrated.
“I’m serious,” she said, but Lin didn’t respond.
Suddenly, Lin felt two fingers on her face, gently turning her head to the side so she’d look Kya directly in the eyes.
“Lin,” Kya called softly. Lin could feel her heart increase its pace at how close they were. She swallowed thickly. “You’re beautiful,” Kya said, almost whispered.
Lin wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. Kya’s eyes were piercing blue and something about the way she was looking at her left her frozen in place. She glanced down at Kya’s lips, something she hadn’t meant to do, at all, but to her utter surprise, Kya glanced down at hers too, and for a few seconds, time seemed to stand still.
That was, until Su interrupted them.
Lin wasn’t even sure what she said to them, too caught up in whatever it was she was currently feeling. She cleared her throat, as did Kya, and put the last of the dishes away. Without even sparing either of them another glance, she left the room.
Lin could feel her heart beating in her chest as she headed towards the boat. She felt warm, in a strange way, and her thoughts wouldn’t leave her alone. It frustrated her. She just needed to go home, take a shower, sleep and forget this night ever happened. Forget how close she’d come to kissing Kya.
“Lin!” someone called suddenly. “Wait!”
Lin stopped right at the edge of the wooden platform, turning around to find Kya stumbling after her.
“Careful,” Lin called.
Right when Kya got to her, she tripped, forcing Lin to catch her.
“I said careful,” Lin commented as she held her up, but Kya was too busy giggling.
“Don’t go,” she pleaded, wrapping her arms around Lin’s shoulders.
“I have work tomorrow,” Lin said in return, gently pushing Kya off of her and forcing her to stand on her own again.
Kya sighed.
“But I don’t want you to go,” she said with a bit of a pout. She placed her hands on Lin’s shoulders to steady herself and looked her in the eyes, head tilted. Lin avoided her gaze.
“I have to, sorry,” she said.
Kya sighed again.
“Okay, but before you go,” she started, trying hard not to trip over her words, “I just wanted to say that I meant what I said earlier, and I really hope you did, too.”
Lin carefully looked up, finding those bright blue eyes again. Of course she’d meant it. Kya was nothing short of absolutely breathtaking. She swallowed and took a moment to collect her courage.
“I did,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. Kya smiled, in a way that made Lin’s heart melt, and bit her bottom lip.
“Yeah?” she asked.
Lin couldn’t do anything but nod.
“Lin, I-” Kya started.
She moved her hands from Lin’s shoulders to her neck, goosebumps erupting all over Lin’s skin. Her gaze dropped lower again, and Lin’s breath itched.
“I-” she said, taking a moment to think, “I’m so drunk,” she finally breathed with a chuckle, closing her eyes and letting her forehead drop against Lin’s.
Lin couldn’t help but chuckle herself. She really was incredibly far gone.
After a few moments, Kya took a deep breath in, running a thumb along Lin’s jaw.
“Lin, I want to kiss you,” she said, pulling her head back. “But I don’t want to do it drunk.”
Lin knew Kya expected her to respond to that statement, but Lin’s mind had gone completely blank at the mere idea of it, and she knew producing a coherent thought was simply not going to happen anytime soon. To be honest, she felt a bit lightheaded.
She was pretty sure Kya had no idea what she was saying, as she swayed on her feet, her glassy eyes wandering all around Lin’s face. She’d had way too much to drink to still be present. But Lin had a feeling that, even though she was drunk, she meant what she was saying. That the words themselves were sober.
“Remind me tomorrow, okay? That I need to kiss you. Please?”
Despite the strangeness of the request, Lin opened her mouth to agree, but only a few incoherent sounds came out. So instead, she nodded lamely.
“Thank you,” Kya murmured, giving her a smile, before placing a soft kiss on Lin’s cheek, Lin’s spine turning to pudding. “Goodnight,” she whispered sweetly.
She pulled away and began walking back towards the temple.
“You need help?” Lin called after her when she almost tripped again walking up the stairs.
“Nah, I’m good,” she replied, before turning around and blowing Lin a kiss. “Bye, love,” she said sweetly, before giggling and disappearing back into the temple.
Lin stared after her for what felt like hours. She must’ve looked totally stupid like that, with an idiotic smile on her face. Eventually, she shook it off and headed towards the boat.
Tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day.