( the absolute sincerity in dick's voice makes him flinch. since he's known him, the blue spirit has been intrinsically entwined with dick's identity. it's a little like hearing korra would give up being the avatar, and no one has ever wanted him that much. maybe it's the fact that dick almost died. maybe he's spooked. feeling the weight of his own mortality crushing down on him. he's unnaturally still, even now. his presence in mako's mind is always an elegant flit.
it's an acceptance of chains. letting himself be pinioned by this ugly future he is looking towards when he promises that. and even though it was what mako had asked, all those long weeks ago, he finds the thought galls him now. he knows it's important to dick, equally or maybe even more than policework is to him. laws exist for a reason. mako has to uphold them, or. it's like everyone who ever said he wouldn't amount to anything was right.
no one expected him to go straight. zolt saw an heir in him, once, when he was a lot younger but not really any less wise than he is now. mako knew he needed a teacher, he always took care to ensure that was where his reliance on zolt ended. but he knew that if he made it seem like he was amenable to the grooming, that sometimes he and bo would get a hot meal, or a place to sleep, and that was what mattered.
nobody cared when he went pro-bender, because they assumed he'd take a dive for them if he had to, he was still one of them. corruption in the sporting industry goes hand in hand with the triads.
but. the night he passed the entrance exam, viper sent a few of the younger members of the triple threats to his apartment. and they were young. ten, thirteen, it didn't even matter. kids who ran books or crunched numbers or ferried message across the city. they were there to congratulate him, ostensibly. but it was more than that. a message. remember where you came from.
a threat. a promise. and the second he ever dares put his nose out of line, he knows that someone, whether it's zolt or viper or... even any of the people on the force who dislike that a firebender is standing where metalbenders ought... that someone is going to start a whisper that'll turn into a roaring tide. once a thug, always a thug, right?
it's just. all so jumbled up inside him, awful and tangled and. then there's dick, who almost died. saying he'll give up something that matters to him because mako is guarding his reputation.
he can't help himself. he surges into dick's space like a flame licking oxygen from every corner of a collapsing building. kisses him. touching anywhere he can reach, his hip, his sides, pads of his fingers pressed up against all those livid bruises snarling beneath his skin. dick almost died. and he's the one making promises. it isn't fair. )
no subject
it's an acceptance of chains. letting himself be pinioned by this ugly future he is looking towards when he promises that. and even though it was what mako had asked, all those long weeks ago, he finds the thought galls him now. he knows it's important to dick, equally or maybe even more than policework is to him. laws exist for a reason. mako has to uphold them, or. it's like everyone who ever said he wouldn't amount to anything was right.
no one expected him to go straight. zolt saw an heir in him, once, when he was a lot younger but not really any less wise than he is now. mako knew he needed a teacher, he always took care to ensure that was where his reliance on zolt ended. but he knew that if he made it seem like he was amenable to the grooming, that sometimes he and bo would get a hot meal, or a place to sleep, and that was what mattered.
nobody cared when he went pro-bender, because they assumed he'd take a dive for them if he had to, he was still one of them. corruption in the sporting industry goes hand in hand with the triads.
but. the night he passed the entrance exam, viper sent a few of the younger members of the triple threats to his apartment. and they were young. ten, thirteen, it didn't even matter. kids who ran books or crunched numbers or ferried message across the city. they were there to congratulate him, ostensibly. but it was more than that. a message. remember where you came from.
a threat. a promise. and the second he ever dares put his nose out of line, he knows that someone, whether it's zolt or viper or... even any of the people on the force who dislike that a firebender is standing where metalbenders ought... that someone is going to start a whisper that'll turn into a roaring tide. once a thug, always a thug, right?
it's just. all so jumbled up inside him, awful and tangled and. then there's dick, who almost died. saying he'll give up something that matters to him because mako is guarding his reputation.
he can't help himself. he surges into dick's space like a flame licking oxygen from every corner of a collapsing building. kisses him. touching anywhere he can reach, his hip, his sides, pads of his fingers pressed up against all those livid bruises snarling beneath his skin. dick almost died. and he's the one making promises. it isn't fair. )