#day18

Levi is, by default, opposed.

“You’re sitting in your own filth,” he says flatly, his arms crossed as he stands in the doorway of the bathroom, eyeing the tub suspiciously. 

You, already halfway sunk into the water, tilt your head back against the edge and look up at him with a smile. “It’s called relaxing. Try it sometime.”

“I’d rather not.”

“You don’t have to stay long,” you coax, leaning over the edge of the tub. You rest your chin on your wet arm, mustering the most pleading look you can, the one you know always gets him to submit. “Just… try it with me.”

He hesitates. You can see the internal debate play out across his face—the part of him that values cleanliness fighting with the less vocal part that simply doesn’t like saying no to you. He thinks this is ridiculous, that there’s no point in joining you in something he just doesn’t understand. But when he looks at you, eyes wide, water rippling around you, bubbles clinging to your skin, looking at him like he’s the only person in the world, he sighs and looks down at the ground in defeat.

“Fine,” he mutters, beginning to undress. He’s tense at first when he moves behind you. The water shifts as he lowers himself. His shoulders are tight, as if bracing for battle instead of a mere bath. “This better not take long,” he says.

You smile to yourself, leaning back slowly until your back rests against his chest, your legs brushing his under the surface. “Relax,” you say.

He doesn’t, not right away, but the water is comfortably hot, coaxing his muscles to loosen despite him not wanting them to. Silence settles between you without tension. You don’t talk much. You both just exist in each other’s presence. 

His breathing slows slightly. Then his shoulders drop by an inch. Then his arm shifts, resting loosely around you, no longer held so stiffly like he might bolt at any second. He doesn’t move to leave, even as minutes pass.

Every time you or him moves, the water laps gently against the sides of the tub. Your head tilts just slightly, a small smile forming as you sit up, scoop a handful of bubbles, turn around, and drop them right onto his head. Levi closes his eyes for two seconds then opens them, staring at you in disbelief. You bite back a laugh.

“Really?” he says.

You laugh, unable to stop yourself now. “You look cute.”

“I probably look stupid.”

“Both can be true.”

He breathes out through his nose, clearly resisting the urge to say anything else, but his eyes aren’t so hardened now. You know that he’s already given in halfway to this experience, even though he’ll never outright admit it.

You reach for the shampoo. “Come here,” you say.

He watches you for a second, then, surprisingly, complies, tilting his head just enough for you to work your fingers through his hair. His eyes close, just briefly. It’s not terrible, he thinks. You rinse his hair, but before you can lie back down against him, he reaches for the bottle and mirrors you. His hands are just as careful as yours, fingers working through your hair. He rinses thoroughly, making sure nothing is left behind. 

“This is nice,” he says eventually. You blink, not expecting him to ever admit it. The way he says it suggests he’s not entirely sure he wants to.

“I told you,” you say. He hums faintly, not arguing this time. You lean back into him again, more comfortably now, the earlier tension completely gone. “We should do this again,” you suggest, half-hopeful he’ll say yes.

There’s a pause. You feel the slight rise of his chest as he breathes in, considering. “I’m not opposed,” he says.

Which, from him, is practically a yes.

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The explosion’s shock wave slammed them away, nearly crushing Rohan under their bodies.

While Kya checked on the boy, Lin sprang up, caught Tenzin’s eye, and started running, knowing he’d be right behind her.

She had time to be grateful for his ability to manipulate the smoke into a funnel leading upward, but that just meant they could see the threatening rain of debris hurtling back down.

She reached out with her own bending, but so much of what was falling was wood. Tenzin couldn’t fend it off and control the smoke at the same time, so she pulled up a slab of stone to give them at least some cover. They cowered against each other.

Kya barrelled into their sides, squeezing under the limited shelter.

None of them spoke. They hadn’t gotten close enough to learn anything. Tenzin needed to concentrate.

Lin and Kya peeked out, and could see the fire burning frighteningly high. With a glance at each other, they decided enough of the detritus had fallen that they could risk getting closer to whatever had exploded.

They ran, Tenzin’s steps louder than usual as he kept his focus on funneling the smoke away.

The screams for help spurred them to run faster, and Lin began to pull away from the siblings.

No other emergency personnel were in sight. She couldn’t see a sign for what the building was, so she skidded to a halt and slammed her foot to the ground as hard as she could.

There was a blur under one corner of the building.

Lava.

Someone was sabotaging the building.

Another explosion ripped from an upper floor. Lin ducked behind another slab, Kya and Tenzin nearly crushing her as they caught up to her.

“There has to be a lavabender around here.” She pointed to the corner where she had felt the disturbance. “I’m going to try to take them out. You two look for victims.”

Her gratitude for their cooperation was but a fleeting feeling as she bolted for the location she thought she had felt the ground weakening.

Thanks to Tenzin’s work, she saw the figure bending the lava, trying to extend the intrusion around the perimeter of the building. She could see when the figure noticed her, because their gestures sped up, as if they were trying to get the building melted before Lin could get there.

She didn’t need her bending to feel the lurch the foundation gave as its supporting bedrock began to melt.

Nearly in a panic, she reached out with her bending to hold the building upright. She glanced over her shoulder to see the smoke beginning to fall down the burning building again.

The assailant was shouting something, but Lin couldn’t hear through the blood roaring in her ears.

This time, she didn’t have four other benders helping her.

When the ground under her feet groaned and shifted, the story of her mother’s fight against Wan Shi Tong’s library flitted through her mind. The impossible choice she had to make between saving her human friends or Appa.

Tenzin and Kya were inside; she had to let them get out.

The figure laughed.

“Make your choice, Beifong! Those losers inside or me.” They laughed again and shook the ground under Lin’s feet, making the building jolt and sink further.