video; un:mako

[arclightning]

Uh, hey. Mako here.

[ Nailing it so far, right? Mako's standing in front of a half-blue, half-green wall, dotted with small lunar sconces. Everything looks kind of dusty and half-finished, and the watery afternoon light illuminates yet more dust drifting around him.

Notably, a small dragon, red-scaled and content, is draped over his shoulders like a scarf, watching the Omni with bright eyes.

Mako glances momentarily off the screen, mouths something, and then looks back, clearing his throat. ]

It's come to my attention that a lot of you have been setting things on fire left and right since we washed up here. Obviously, this is dangerous to you and the people around you. If that's you, you need to make an effort to control it immediately before something worse than singeing your clothes happens.

For those of you who just washed up, I'm a firebender. That means I can do—

[ He holds up his left hand (scarred with strange marks) in front of himself and splays his fingers, making a small puff of fire appear and hold over his palm. It flickers there like a candle flame, dancing between Mako's fingers, before he drags it in a small arc and lets it go out. ]

—that, and—

[ Another flick of his fingers, this time producing little purple-bright sparks that zap between the tips and then dissipate. ]

—that. And a lot more.

So. If you need help learning to control your powers, and you do, come to the Raccoon Room in Cellar Door on Wednesdays. You'll see the sign. I've been doing this since I was a kid. Anyone else who wants to help, feel free to drop by too.

[ Finally, he looks up, his serious expression dropping just slightly. ]

Trust me. If a bunch of snotty six-year-olds back home can learn how to do it, you can.

[ The little dragon huffs in agreement, fire puffing out of its nose, and Mako reaches forward to cut the feed. ]

Comments

[royalfling]

[ Wu gives him applause after he cuts off the recording, grinning brightly at him ]

Good job, baby! But, um. Did we talk about teaching people to bend fire, um, here? You know this whole building is wood... right?

[ You're the responsible one, Mako, he shouldn't have to tell you this! ]

[arclightning]

[ Mako just barely resists the urge to roll his eyes as he rounds the little table Wu let him set up the recording on. Doing that whole thing made him kind of nervous. More than before, which is saying something, and now he's itchy with the need to keep going, to do something.

Zuko, meanwhile, uncurls herself from Mako's shoulders and takes flight just to go coil around Wu instead. ]

I'm not that dense. I was thinking right outside. On the stone. The unburnable stone.

[ ...his tone was just a little too terse. Mako frowns and shoves a hand into his hair, messing it up from its barely-held coif. ]

You think it was good? Not going to cause a panic?

[royalfling]

[ Wu reaches up to pet Zuko, which helps a little with the hurt that rockets through him at Mako's tone. He's just having a bad month, Wu reminds himself. A bad month that manifests in being snappish and sleepless, which compound each other.

But Zuko is nice, she's warm and surprisingly soft under his fingers. ]

Oh, good! Yeah, that's better, and then I can keep working in here.

[ It's really coming together inside, looking more and more like the vision in Wu's head. Fritter helps, too. She's developed quite the eye for this kind of thing. ]

No, no panics! At least, unless anyone's scared of fire, but you're trying to stop being from using their fire irresponsibly, so I think you're okay there!

[ He reaches out, waving at Mako to come closer so he can fix his hair ]

[arclightning]

[ Mako was already on his way over. Touching Wu seems to calm the awful knots in his belly, seems to make everything more bearable, and he isn't above using that to his advantage.

Also, Wu likes it.

And he likes it.

So he steps over the pile of dust left from sweeping and reaches out, curling an arm around Wu's shoulders underneath the bulk of Zuko's little body, sighing at the immediate unwind of tension. What is it about Wu, exactly? Is it his blood? Is it just because he can watch Mako be awkward on camera and apparently still wants to kiss him?

It's a mystery, but Mako's glad for him. ]

You gonna take a break at some point? You need to relax or you're gonna wear yourself out.

[royalfling]

[ Wu leans against him, reaching up to put his hair back in order. He looks cute with it messy, but not quite that messy. An artful messy. ]

But it's fun! It doesn't feel like work at all.

[ Mako is probably right, but Wu's never enjoyed working before, and putting the theater together feels like the most fun project he's ever done ]

But I guess I can take a break. We could go explore more of the city? Maybe do that before you have to start teaching. My smart, strong teacher!

[ Okay maybe it's kind of hot to think about Mako teaching others how to do something Mako's so good at. Really, it's just hot watching Mako be really good at something, so sue him ]

[arclightning]

[ Mako snorts, even as he just kind of... tamely lets Wu do his thing. Listen, he knows his strengths and he likes to think he knows some of Wu's, and Wu's definitely lie in hairstyling. His hair always looks about ten times better when he lets Wu mess with it before they go anywhere.

And Mako is, not so secretly, kind of vain. He likes to look good, and Wu can get him there.

Also, the fingers in his hair feel nice. Zuko noses quietly against Wu's cheek, radiating warmth, as Mako stands there. ]

Yeah, yeah. You think I'm a terrible teacher, remember? What happened to that?

[ After a moment, he leans a little more strongly against Wu, letting some of the tension unwind even more. He's so tired, and there's a hundred things he needs to do before actually teaching anyone—set up an arena and boundaries, figure out how to connect with people who've maybe never even heard of bending, remember what he first learned, stop freezing everything—but it's easier not to think about all of that, to ignore his own increasingly-frantic mental checklists, when he's close to Wu.

Mako's pretty lucky, all things considered. ]

I did hear someone say something about a hot spring. No idea where.

[royalfling]

[ Wu loves this little dragon already, and teased Mako endlessly for what he named her. But either way, well. Zuko is a legend, and little Zuko is adorable, so he can't really complain.

He finishes Mako's hair with a grin ]

There, perfect.

[ His fingers slip down Mako's cheek and he pulls Mako in for a short kiss ]

Well, yeah, with me. I bet you'll be a great teacher with other people! Just... be nicer.

[ His eyes flick over Mako's face, and it's almost like he can hear those thoughts. Not exactly, but he can feel that Mako is stressed, he can feel that he needs this too, so Wu grins brighter, pushing himself up and wrapping his arms around Mako's shoulders. Zuko makes a little grumbling noise when she's jostled, but stays put. ]

A hot spring! That sounds amazing! Oh, boy, I haven't been to one in... I have no idea how long.

[arclightning]

I was plenty nice to you.

[ This is a mild protest, both because Wu is hugging him and also because he knows full well that he was not. He was frustrated and angry at himself for being enough of a selfish idiot to let Wu get kidnapped, and worrying about Korra and Asami and Kuvira and everything else, and he let that take precedence over actually trying to show Wu anything useful.

He isn't feeling much better now, but Wu's right: he has to be more approachable, or nobody's going to want to this and then the city will burn down. ]

You haven't been to one since the one in the mountains the winter before Kuvira attacked. Let's check it out.

[ And then he can ask Wu on the way, away from all of the work they're doing, what he'd want in a firebending teacher if he could suddenly bend. ]

[royalfling]

Yeah?

[ Wu gasps, clinging tighter to him. Well, this is certainly Mako being nice. He's suggesting they go to a hot spring? He's not protesting at length about why he doesn't want to go? ]

Oh, this'll be so fun! My muscles are so sore from working on the theater.

[ And they are! He aches in ways he's not used to, but he's not even mad about it. The theater is worth it. He has a vision, he's motivated, he's doing this himself (with help, of course) ]

[arclightning]

[ Honestly, Mako's pretty proud of him for sticking with it. He half-expected Wu to give up a day in, daunted by the sheer amount of work that's clearly going to go into making this place a functioning theater.

But he should have known better, shouldn't he? Wu has the same stubborn streak that Mako himself does, apparently boundless energy, and most importantly, a goal. Wu puts his all into things that he cares about, and he cares a lot about the success of the Raccoon Room.

In that way, all of this work isn't surprising at all.

Mako lets his hands slide up Wu's back, pressing his palms into the muscle on either side of his spine until he reaches his shoulders. ]

You happy with it so far?

[royalfling]

[ Wu leans more into him, dropping a soft, lingering kiss to Mako's lips. ]

With the Raccoon Room? Oh, well, there's still a lot of work to do, but I can see it, Mako. I can really see what it's going to look like! It'll be so amazing, and Ryan and Bolin and anyone who wants to can perform here.

[ He sighs dreamily, nosing against Mako's cheek. Even if they've had their ups and downs since arriving in Trench, every time they touch, Wu feels that undercurrent of how Mako feels about him and it reassures him that Mako isn't mad at him, exactly, but at everything that's happening to him and around them. ]

What do you think? It's, you're putting in a lot of work too.