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storypaint ([personal profile] storypaint) wrote2015-02-16 12:14 pm

[Legend of Korra] we show off our different scarlet letters (Lin and Pema gen)

Title: we show off our different scarlet letters
Fandom: Legend of Korra
Length: 664 words
Prompt: fic_promptly: Legend of Korra, Lin /& Pema, "You gonna try to arrest me again or do you want something to eat?"
Pairing: Lin and Pema gen
Other: Set mid S4.

Excerpt: Pema laughed. "I said, are you going to try to arrest me again, or do you want something to eat?"

"Arrest you?" For a moment Lin was confused, and then she flushed with embarrassment. "I'm not -- I'm just here to get the news on Korra and Kuvira."

"And I said, do you want something to eat? I know how you are, you probably didn't take a dinner break."


Even after Lin and Tenzin had become friends again, Lin wasn't sure how to act around Pema. She didn't feel the same anger and jealousy that she had once felt towards Tenzin's wife, but the fact remained that they didn't know each other very well, and their most significant interaction had been an unnecessary arrest. Pema probably didn't think very well of her either. Lin couldn't blame her.

Lin was spending more time on Air Temple Island lately; she often went over there after she got off work to see if Tenzin had any updates on Korra. Not that she would admit it, but she was worried about the Avatar being missing, and she was worried about Suyin. Kuvira's forces were moving steadily toward her sister's city, and if she knew Suyin, there was going to be quite a fight she wasn't sure Suyin was going to win.

When Lin stepped off the boat this time, she found herself at a bit of a loss. Tenzin wasn't there, but he was on his way back. Lin ended up in Pema's kitchen with a cup of tea in front of her, feeling awkward.

Pema didn't seem to mind it. She cooed at the baby and worked on dinner preparations. They were having a vegetarian dish that Lin remembered eating when she was a kid and came to visit. She shut her eyes for a moment and rubbed at them. She was tired; she'd worked a double-shift because one of her best officers had been injured in what should have been standard arrest proceedings. You could never really let down your guard.

Pema said something.

"I'm sorry, what?" Lin asked.

Pema laughed. "I said, are you going to try to arrest me again, or do you want something to eat?"

"Arrest you?" For a moment Lin was confused, and then she flushed with embarrassment. "I'm not -- I'm just here to get the news on Korra and Kuvira."

"And I said, do you want something to eat? I know how you are, you probably didn't take a dinner break."

Lin felt like she should say no, like she should get out of Pema's kitchen and go home and wait. Her sister wouldn't let her fight her battles for her, as much as Lin strained with the desire to do so. Lin was trying to respect Su's wishes a little more often nowadays. She didn't want to lose her again.

"That'd be great," she said instead, and Pema beamed.

By the time Tenzin arrived, twenty minutes later, Lin was on her second plate and trying not to spill anything, which was kind of difficult since Pema kept making her laugh with stories about the kids and the acolytes.

"What's going on in here?" Tenzin asked when he came in and found them.

"Dinner," Pema said. "You're late, sit down." She dished out another plate and Tenzin took it from her, sitting down across from Lin.

"I haven't heard from Jinora today," he told her. Lin nodded. She wasn't very surprised. She came by for daily updates, but the kids didn't check in at the same time every day, so he didn't always have something to tell her. And sometimes their updates consisted of stuff like what Meelo had shoved up his nose lately, no Korra in sight.

"This is really good, Pema," she said, because it was. Katara had made it slightly differently -- more of a Southern Water Tribe flavor, she supposed. They did a lot with seaweed. Pema added more spices.

"You'll have to come back next week," Pema said. "Suyin sent me some Earth Kingdom recipes I want to try out."

"I will," Lin said, and found that she was looking forward to it. Maybe this was all she needed to do: to get to a place where she could let herself say yes. Maybe that was all that Pema needed from her.

She guessed she was going to find out, without arresting anyone.

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