( the fire tingles, but it doesn't burn. he's never seen her do this part before, and so he actually does watch as it curls and licks along his skin. when she sits beside him, hand overtop his, and he just. doesn't know what to say.

things were getting better between them. it felt like... it felt like old times, and there was a part of him that was desperate to return to that. to the way everything used to be when they were younger and happier and knew less about the world than they do now. mako was never naive but all his worldliness was... built on a graveyard of pain and suffering. it wasn't until korra that he could see the lighter side of that. she brought him balance, and peace, and.

now, this. like it's a lesson he has to learn. it grates. he looks away. of course he was bottling it up for a long time. korra left, bolin too not long after. he and asami weren't exactly close, although he cares for her deeply it was just... hard, between them. the only thing mako's done with his life in the last three years is work, and work, and work, and live just a little too much like lin beifong.

he's a little angry, perhaps, at the fact that she's asking him to strip down and be vulnerable and bare his heart while still guarding her own, but. lashing out, they've both learned of each other, solves absolutely nothing. )

Can we just... not do this now, please? Anything I say is going to be spiteful. I don't think either of us need that. I need time to cool off.