[ alright, breathing. what was it he mentioned before? use your emotions to govern the flames. but what are her emotions right now? happy? angry? sad?
she's never really had to pin-point them in this way before, and frankly the fact that she has to - and in front of the late firelord too! - makes her more nervous than she cares to admit.
but breathing. she's breathing.
looking in, searching deep, she tries to feel out those very emotions she's constantly giving into, as if they were a tangible thing. feel them out, call them forth. let them control the flames, but don't let the flames control you.
don't let your emotions control you.
but all she feels now is anxiety. worry. she hates nerves, and her default would be to push it back, let her arrogance and confidence overrun things but... but something tells her that wouldn't do so well this time.
she just wants to cheer him up a little.
...and maybe make him proud, too.
she breathes.
with her eyes closed, she can't see it - but she can feel it, how the little flames lick at her parted lips, and dance along the open palms held out in front of her. ]
[ Honestly, he's waiting for Korra to belch out another monster, so it's surprisingly refreshing when she doesn't. The tentative little flames she breathes onto her hands are delicate and fluttering, but there, and he feels proud of her in the same way he did with Aang to see the progress take physical form.
Quietly, he keeps his voice to a murmur. ]
That's good, now breathe out slowly and naturally. Lower your hands and let the flames disappear of their own accord.
[ It occurs to him, belatedly, he never told her how to avoid burning her mouth. ]
[ one thing she's learned during all her training? whenever someone tells you not to panic, you can pretty much count on the fact that you'll wind up panicking anyway. but his voice is gentler than she'd ever heard it and her own personal stubbornness refuses to give him the satisfaction of seeing her give into that, so she plows on, slowly lowering her hands as she times her breaths to the steady beating of her heart.
this is it. she's doing it.
with one last, deep breath, the flames begin to flicker and fade away - but her growing confidence and excitement over her accomplishment catches her at just the last moment - the corner of her lips quirk up too early in a smile, catching that last lick of flame along one of them-- ]
--ah!
[ it isn't that bad, really, just a quick, sharp burn along the corner of her lips but it had shocked her enough that her hands had flown up, covering her mouth while she stands there, wide-eyed, in disappointment and shame. ]
[ Wincing in sympathy, he steps up and breathes flames over his own hands, rubbing them together to soak up the heat. ]
Never mind, you did really well until that part. A lot of people can't ever breathe fire, they're too scared to even try. [ Lifting a palm, he nudges her fingers to try and replace them with his own. And look! He's smiling. ]
Move these, we should fool your mouth into thinking it isn't as hot at the worst as it thinks.
[ she blinks at him, sobering up somewhat. of course, she's heard a lot about aang. and while it's easy enough for her to get more information, it never felt like a good time to ask katara or tenzin about him... ]
[ she bites down on the inside of her cheek. she doesn't often indulge in feelings of inferiority, but it's a bit hard to when you consider the legacy you have to uphold, and who the previous avatar was before you.
avatar aang changed the world.
and let's face it - she's never been much of a pacifist. ]
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--do you want to see or not!?
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1/2
--a-hem.
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she's never really had to pin-point them in this way before, and frankly the fact that she has to - and in front of the late firelord too! - makes her more nervous than she cares to admit.
but breathing. she's breathing.
looking in, searching deep, she tries to feel out those very emotions she's constantly giving into, as if they were a tangible thing. feel them out, call them forth. let them control the flames, but don't let the flames control you.
don't let your emotions control you.
but all she feels now is anxiety. worry. she hates nerves, and her default would be to push it back, let her arrogance and confidence overrun things but... but something tells her that wouldn't do so well this time.
she just wants to cheer him up a little.
...and maybe make him proud, too.
she breathes.
with her eyes closed, she can't see it - but she can feel it, how the little flames lick at her parted lips, and dance along the open palms held out in front of her. ]
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Quietly, he keeps his voice to a murmur. ]
That's good, now breathe out slowly and naturally. Lower your hands and let the flames disappear of their own accord.
[ It occurs to him, belatedly, he never told her how to avoid burning her mouth. ]
... Don't panic.
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this is it. she's doing it.
with one last, deep breath, the flames begin to flicker and fade away - but her growing confidence and excitement over her accomplishment catches her at just the last moment - the corner of her lips quirk up too early in a smile, catching that last lick of flame along one of them-- ]
--ah!
[ it isn't that bad, really, just a quick, sharp burn along the corner of her lips but it had shocked her enough that her hands had flown up, covering her mouth while she stands there, wide-eyed, in disappointment and shame. ]
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Never mind, you did really well until that part. A lot of people can't ever breathe fire, they're too scared to even try. [ Lifting a palm, he nudges her fingers to try and replace them with his own. And look! He's smiling. ]
Move these, we should fool your mouth into thinking it isn't as hot at the worst as it thinks.
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her lips quirk into a little smirk under his hand. ]
Careful - your face might crack with that smile.
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[ Warm fingers press lightly over her mouth, bringing down the throbbing heat as he siphons it off and leaves a middling warmth. ]
... You'll be a bit red for a day or two, but it won't blister.
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[ carefully, she lifts her own fingers to gently touch the sensitive patch of skin, wincing only slightly. ]
...thanks. I could just tell everyone it's some new lipstick I'm trying out or something.
[ pause.
brb laughing at her own expense. ]
Yeah, no, breathing fire it is.
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[ See? He makes jokes now and then. ]
It's funny, Korra, even though you're not Aang, it still kind of feels like there's a part of him inside you, lingering. You're a lot alike.
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...what was he like?
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avatar aang changed the world.
and let's face it - she's never been much of a pacifist. ]
...cool.