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Video; UN: Bolin!

Hello everyone! Ladies and Gentlemen and.. people who aren't either but.. are other things I guess- ANYWAY! I'm Bolin, you might know me, I was in Deerington for a little while before we made the journey here. Mako's brother, earthbender, at your service.

[Bright! Excited! He's got so much to say and it's all great!! Bolin is sitting in a booth in The Raccoon Room, it's all very fancy and newly opened as you might remember from the big party on Halloween. Heck, you might have seen him there performing tricks with his omen Pabu the fire ferret, who is currently draped around the back of Bolin's neck like a scarf, only mildly interested in what's happening but squeaks every time Bolin gesticulates particularly big.]

Firstly, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who came to the Raccoon Room's opening night, it was great and I know it meant the world to Mako and Wu. And hey, if you had fun you should come back which is what brings me to my next point!

We're gonna do a musical.

[Jazz handssssssss! His eyes are very bright. Is this a good thing? Should you be worried? Remains to be seen.]

Wu has asked me to direct it, with music by Ryan from Chicken Choice Judy aand I know what you're thinking: Oh- Bolin [In falsetto, because that's how you all sound and you know it.] but a musical we don't know-

Wrong-o, it is going to be amazing and you're all going to love it. So good news, we're casting!

There's going to be auditions.. and costumes and music! And sets! It's going to be like a live action mover with songs, I can't actually think of anything better.

So, if you're interested in being a part of the show and auditioning or getting on the crew, drop me your name, questions, and deets and welcome to Trench's very first musical production ooffffffffff wait for itttttttttt?!!?

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I don't... have to worry.

About you.

[ ...

Mako pauses to really let that sink in, trying not to be offended by what Bolin is telling him. ]

Bolin. You're my little brother. I'm always gonna worry about you. That's part of the deal.

No, I know. That's not what I'm saying.

[Bo stop and think. Consider your brother's love languages. Try again.]

Ngh, I mean.. I want you to worry about me.. and I know we'll always have each other's backs but you don't have to worry worry. Does that make sense?

No.

[ Yes.

Yes, of course it does. Bolin is an adult who can make his own choices, and he's trying to tell Mako that Mako doesn't need to be his safety net, doesn't need to hover, needs to let Bolin potentially mess up or fail or fall.

He knows that.

Knowing it, and doing it, though.

It isn't like Mako doesn't want that. He wants Bolin to be independent, tried to push him in that direction, it was just that it seemed to make him sad and then drove him away entirely and maybe Mako blames himself a little for that, for losing Bolin momentarily to Kuvira. ]

Listen, Bo. If you wanna do this, I'm. That's fine. I'm not gonna... worry you to death. I just...

[ Want you to be happy. Want you to find the thing that makes you happy, for real, the way Mako is slowly letting himself be. ]

[Maybe they should talk about that Kuvira thing some day. Just saying.]

I know.

[Soft this time, picking up the space where his brother tails off. He doesn't have to finish, all the things unsaid are loud and clear. Every pause, every gesture from the way Mako is sitting to the tick in his jaw as he navigates the moment.

Bolin imagines this as Mako jumping from stepping stone to stepping stone across a rushing river. Perilous stakes but goal driven and his brother might as well be wearing blinders his focus is so laser fixed. It's admirable but sometimes Bolin thinks it can get in the way of their communication. Sure, he doesn't always say what he means and sometimes his message is muddy or he doesn't really know what he's trying to or wants to say but..

Well, maybe he's the river.

In the moment, though, he doesn't spend too long thinking about it. Instead, he leans forward and places his hand on the table as an olive branch. Mako doesn't have to explain himself, he knows. He always has.

And so, as if to prove he really still does need his big brother and this isn't about that at all, that Mako is depended on and needed and wanted, he does the one thing he knows will work. He asks for an act of service.]

There.. is something I was hoping maybe you could help me with if you aren't too busy with Wu and the club and safe houses and everything else?

I'm not too busy. What's up?

[ Immediate, without hesitation. Mako remembers pushing him away, getting caught up in work and his own drama with Korra, the steps they'd taken away from each other. He doesn't want to do that again. Not after Wu made it so clear how much it hurts. ]

[It does hurt. But it isn't as if Bolin hasn't gone off on his own solo adventures. He's on one now so to speak but it's far less lonely and Mako is only a call away. Man, he loves this technology.]

Nothing big. [A smile and Bolin puts his hand through his own hair, grabbing some ends between his fingers and holding them up to show how long it's grown. The back is looking a little shaggy, too.]

I'm starting to look like a flying bison. Do you have time for a trim sometime soon? You're the only one I really trust.

[ It's... not even remotely what Mako was expecting—pyrotechnics, maybe, or some kind of people wrangling thing had flashed through his head—and so for a moment he just stares, bewildered, at the unexpected and simple reality so at-odds with where his thoughts had been taking him.

And then, as his head reboots and he catches up, he snorts, then ducks his head as proper laughter overtakes him, the kind he usually ends up covering his mouth to hide and shakes his shoulders. ]

You do look pretty ridiculous.

[Heeey, there's that smile we know and love. It's so rare but so nice to see and Bolin treasures it.

He drops his hand and rests his arm along the back of the booth, posture easy and open as he watches Mako laugh. Mission accomplished, then.

Don't think he won't ask for help with all that other stuff too, because he absolutely will, but his goal was to ask for something only Mako can provide. It's a small ask, but an intimate one.]

I've given it some thought and I just don't think I'm cut out for a ponytail. Plus.. I mean there are some pretty ladies around and I need to look my best if I'm going to be a respected director and future spiritfather.

[ Bolin is funny, is the thing—he's always been the funny one of the two of them, always able to make Mako laugh where few other people could—and so the smile stays caught on Mako's lips even as the laughter dies. ]

Gotta figure out what kind of haircut a respected director has, I guess. And—why're you gonna be a spiritfather?

[Bolin is funny because Mako held the space for him to be funny. Took it upon himself to play the straight man (haa), the bad guy, the nefarious firebender. Don't think he doesn't know. He does. It's all the more reason to try to make him laugh. Bolin couldn't take charge or keep them safe (or find them work or dinner or get them out of trouble) but he could make Mako laugh. One little way or giving back when Mako has given everything.]

Oh! For Korra and Asami, isn't that great? Korra just told me she wants us to be spiritfathers when they have kids.

[He freezes and his face drops. Oh no.]

I don't know if I just ruined a surprise. When she tells you, you have to pretend you don't know.

[ When ]

[ When?????????? ]

How did you—

Did.

Are they going to?

Yeah! Well, Korra said that's the plan, so I guess it must be. Oh man, I'm so glad you came down and I told you. I've felt like I was gonna explode all day, it's so exciting.

[ WELL THAT IS.

Sure something. How long has Korra been thinking about this? Is she going to tell Mako? Did she want to tell Mako, and how are they gonna make that happen? Mako sort of thought—but then, there's that orphanage, and with such a high death rate around here it makes sense that there are lot of parentless kids to just... claim, but..

And they would make good parents, but here? In a place this dangerous?

Is that really what they want? When would they have told Mako?

No, shut up, this isn't about him, he doesn't get to be hurt like he was before. He can leave them to their choices, it's fine (are they going to get married? Can you get married here?)

He's been silent for way, way too long, looks up at Bolin after a few seconds of prolonged quiet and makes himself smile. ]

Remind me never to tell you important secrets.

[Whoooooops sorry about that brother. He could... he could have been more clear that Korra was talking about the hypothetical future. But then she said all that nice stuff about them being the bravest people she knows and she couldn't think of anyone better and he's just. He's very flattered and excited even if he knows just Mako and Wu are the better decision.]

Yeah.. sorry.

[Sheepish. He flushes and looks away, sinking down into the booth a little. This is embarrassing.]

For what it's worth I don't think it's going to happen any time soon but some day. Maybe we'll all have kids some day. Wouldn't that be good? We could all raise them together like one big family. I'd love that.

Edited 2021-11-26 23:42 (UTC)

So it's not... happening.

[ Okay, okay, Mako is picking up on this, Bolin got excited probably and it's not like Korra and Asami landed here and immediately started thinking about a family. He doesn't know why it's getting him like this. Maybe how permanent it feels. Maybe the idea of trying to raise a kid in such a hostile world. Mako and Bolin have barely any traditions to cling to as it is: how would they be spiritfathers to a child in a place like Trench? ]

Is that, uh. Do you... want kids? Your own?

[All valid. All true. But Bolin would argue having so very few traditions leaves plenty of opportunity to create new ones.

..what other choice do they have?

He's thoughtful for a beat before nodding.]

Yeah.. you know I think I do.

[ That's a thought, them living long enough to have kids of their own. They could give them real homes, come back from the dead if they're still here, make sure they're never left to fend for themselves. The thought slams into him with the force of an earth-disk and stays there, hovering while Mako tries to catch his breath. ]

That'd... be something.

[That's exactly it. They could give their children what they were so brutality robbed of.

They wouldn't have to scramble and beg and steal. They wouldn't have to worry about death or grief or going hungry. They wouldn't have to weigh playing with friends against finding a safe place to sleep that night.

Their kids would never have to wonder about the cost of kindness from others. What pound of flesh a favor would mean later down the line. They'd never have to pay to grow up with blood and sweat and fear.

It feels like closure in a way, but Bolin hasn't really dissected it.

What he does know is that he is full of love and he wants to share it. Little toes and ears and laughter. He wants that. Trench is almost safer for it given how special Sleepers are, so the fear he could die and orphan his own little ones doesn't have a leg to stand on.

Mako not shooting it down immediately is very telling and so Bolin's smile softens even more.]

I think so. Not any time soon but some day. I probably need to get a date first.

[Who is.. not Opal. What? Growth??]

[ Mako catches that, sits up a little straighter with his brows shooting up. He has to shove thoughts of kids firmly to one side because otherwise he's going to think about it way too much—what Wu would think about one of the orphans being theirs, if that's something he even wants, if that's something they'd do together—and this is... this is also important. ]

You actually looking for dates now?

I.. I'm thinking about it.

[a little, unsure half shrug. He hasn't yet said it aloud. This makes it real and he.. feels some kind of way about that.]

I don't know, I think maybe you're right, maybe she wasn't the one for me? She's amazing but the more I think about it I'm not sure she even likes me very much.. and I kinda almost got her whole family killed and she's always so busy being an airbender.. and she's home and we're here..

But I have no way of breaking it off with her officially..

..would getting a date or.. thinking about someone new..

Does that make me a cheater? I would never do that to her, I never, not even once while I was away. There was a moment or two where I could have.. but I never cheated. You can't break up if the other person doesn't know.

[ Mako has enough emotional awareness not to literally tell Bolin I-told-you-so but he sure is radiating that anyway, watching his brother work through this the way he does. Mako is less impatient these days, even with corruption creeping slowly up, and so he gives Bolin time to get to the end, to ask his questions that Mako is pretty sure he already knows the answer to.

Still. ]

What do you think? You think it counts as cheating?

[ Is MAKO really the right guy to be asking?

But that isn't the point: he'd like Bolin to think critically about it, to come to the conclusion on his own, because if Mako tells him he'll just accept it but not really... mean it, deep down. ]

Video; UN: Bolin!

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