Shut Up and Dance with Me
There was something going on between Asami and Korra— Mako was sure of that much. They glanced at each other the way… well, you know. Once in a while one of them would say something and the other would turn red. And Mako saw them holding hands under the table at breakfast when he went to get a refill of orange juice. It was really cute, actually. That they cared about each other enough to risk everything? That was really admirable.
If it weren’t for Wu and Korra and Asami, Mako would have broken out. He would have been MIA. But… they made this place a little less horrible and a little more bearable each day. He’d had friends before, sure, but the more time he spent with the group— the more he realized what “friends” really were.
“Today’s lesson is focused on growing up in a house without traditional gender roles,” Noatak said from the stage. “Remember to bring your journal to take notes.”
Mako’s grip on his journal increased. That was his only outlet— a safe place where he could write poetry and no one judged him. The others thought that all Mako liked to do was sports, but that wasn’t true. He really liked writing. No— he really loved poems.
There wasn’t any sort of library at Camp Amon, and when the counselors first went through all of Mako’s stuff they took away all of his poetry books— claiming that it was too feminine. Fuck them.
“Hey, are you okay?” Wu asked softly.
Mako snapped back into reality and nodded his head, “Yeah.”
Wu raised an eyebrow, but didn’t press the matter.
“Are we in the classroom today, Badgermole?” Korra asked with a piece of bacon in her mouth.
“We’ll all be on the lawn. It’s another all-camp activity.”
“And here I was thinking today was actually going to be decent,” Asami said with a scowl.
Mako stood up, “I’m going to get some more pancakes.”
He weaved his way through the tables and walked into the kitchen. Bolin was flipping a new batch of fresh hotcakes.
“Hey there, Mako. What can I do for you?” he asked.
Mako squeezed past two kitchen staff and held up his plate, “I’m just grabbing a refill.”
“A man’s not a man without his pancakes!” Bolin chuckled.
He slapped three pancakes onto the plate, but before Mako could walk out Bolin tapped his hand twice.
How are you doing?
Mako gave him a small smile.
I’m doing okay.
Bolin squeezed his shoulder.
I love you.
Mako nodded.
I love you too, bro.
He walked back to the main dining area and sat down with a weight off of his chest.
. . .
“That’s silly. My mom was the co-founder of Future Industries, and she was straight. Owning a business doesn’t make you gay!” Asami frowned. “Talk about making shit up as you go along!”
“It’s a combination of things, Asami,” Noatak explained patiently. “Your father didn’t control you, and you had free roam of the workshop. Incorrect gender roles will confuse the mind— weakening it and allowing for the homosexual spirit to wander in.”
The group chose to sit together this time, in Noatak’s group, rather than put up with Tarrlok any more than they already had to. More for Mako and Korra’s sake than anything else. The teens all nervously picked and pulled at the grass while Noatak and Asami had their debate.
Where Tarrlok was authoritative and fearful, Noatak’s words dripped with venomous honey. He was trying to be the good cop— the persuasive cop.
“I dress in female attire. I wear make-up. I attend parties in dresses,” Asami retorted. “I’m feminine.”
“Yes, we’ve discussed that. But you won’t see the picture unless you combine all the pieces of the puzzle. You’re expected to stay at home and cook while your husband ‘brings home the bacon’.”
“Okay, fine. Who takes over Future Industries after my dad retires?”
“How about selling the company? You wouldn’t have to work— why you and your husband would be the richest couple in all of Republic City!”
“My Mom and Dad raised that company from nothing, you pathetic little— “
“Asami,” Korra interrupted softly, “just drop it.”
The heiress stood up and walked away with her arms folded, she would need time to calm down.
“Okay there is definitely something going on between them. But man… Noatak is a dickbag. He’s infinitely better than Tarrlok, but still.”
“Alright… well… let’s continue on with After School Activities and Sports! Which extra-curricular programs are suitable for which gender?”
“Mako plays baseball and he’s gay!” Asami shouted from the steps of Cabin 3A.
“Oh boy.”
. . .
The water at the Lake was cold, but calming. Especially with all of the hot tempers the group had from that stupid activity earlier. Mako lazily swirled his right hand around while staring at the sky.
“What’s your favorite song?” Wu said, to no one in particular.
“’Kids’ by Coyote,” Asami said. Her eyes were closed and she was spread eagle on the dock.
She had calmed down after the activity, shooting daggers at the Camp Directors with her eyes all throughout lunch. Mako didn’t blame her— those guys were so wishy-washy with their explanations. Mako was getting sick of it.
“Ummm… I’d have to go with ‘This is War’ by Thirty Seconds to Mars,” Korra answered.
“What about you, Mako?”
He smiled.
Tahno and Mako were dancing in the attic. The stereo was turned up all the way and the two boys were jumping on the couch. Toza was out getting groceries, and Mako was having the time of his life. The boys were holding hands and laughing as they danced their way around the room— energetically lip-syncing the lyrics and not giving a care for the rest of the world. The entire universe didn’t matter— just that room. It was Mako’s favorite memory.
“I’d have to go with ‘Shut Up and Dance with Me’ by Walk the Moon.”
“Good choice,” Wu said with a wink. “That was, like, the anthem of last summer.”
“He knows. Somehow. I’m sure of it.”
Mako leaned back onto Korra’s lap and stared up at the atmosphere. She fiddled with his hair and he smiled. He liked having best friends. He could get used to it.
“Favorite movie?” Wu asked the group.
Asami scratched her head in thought, “Star Wars, it’s my favorite series—“
“I HAVEN’T SEEN FORCE AWAKENS— DON’T YOU DARE!!” Korra shrieked, starling poor Mako so much that he jumped three inches in the air.
“Is everything all right over there?” Kuvira called from the shore.
“Yeah, Mom, everything’s great!” Wu called back.
They couldn’t stop laughing.
“That’s…. ok Korra… what’s your favorite… movie,” Wu wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye.
“Ummm… I refuse to watch anything by M. Night Shyamalan after he ruined that one movie… I guess I don’t have any favorites.”
“What about you Wu?”
“Tangled. Best soundtrack. Best Disney movie. Mako?”
It was Saturday night in December. They were sitting on the couch, holding hands under a blanket. It was snowing outside. Bolin was cooking a pizza in the oven and Toza was busy in his office. They were none the wiser. Every so often Mako would sneak a glance at Tahno, who would always catch him staring and smile. There was a soda being shared between the two of them. The famous “All I Want for Christmas is You” scene was playing.
“Love Actually.”
“Really? You don’t seem like a cheesy Christmas movie kinda guy,” Asami commented.
Mako shrugged, “I’m a lot of different things. Readable isn’t really one of them.”
. . .
The boy felt bad about sitting in-between Korra and Asami during dinner, but he really wanted to see if his theory was true. Sure enough, Korra was grumpy during the whole meal and Asami had this cute little pout on her face— like a little kid who just got told that she couldn’t have any ice cream.
“Hey, Kuvira,” Wu said when the counselor sat down with her plate.
“Hmm?”
“We were discussing our favorite songs and it got me wondering, are radios allowed?”
Kuvira pondered this for a few minutes, “Like the AM/FM kind?”
“No, I want to order an air strike against this hellhole— yeah the music kind!”
“Yeah, I think you’re allowed a radio, but Noatak has to approve the channel.”
Wu looked… deflated. Like a sad balloon.
“I’ll see what I can do about getting a radio.”
“Thanks, Badgermole.”
Asami took a bite of her Salisbury, “So what’s on the schedule for tomorrow?”
“Eh, I think it’s just kind of a lazy day. We’ll be doing chores and doing journal writing in the morning. And then in the afternoon we have evaluations.”
“Evaluations?” Korra asked.
“Yeah,” Kuvira nodded. “We want to see where you’re at with your homosexual rehabilitation.”
“Oh great, more Tarrlok time.”
“Actually, it’s a group activity— between the four of us.”
“Oh sweet Raava, thank you.”
“And then you talk to Tarrlok individually.”
“Dammit.”
“On the bright side, our evaluations are going to be short, right? I mean, I think we all can agree we’re still pretty darn gay,” Wu pointed out.
Kuvira sighed and tuned them out to finish her dinner.
“Yeah,” Korra said with a smirk. “Go big or go homo.”
. . .
“Ok, who was your first kiss?” Wu asked, taking a drink from the bottle.
They were at The Spirit World. This time, Korra and Asami were sitting next to each other. They weren’t holding hands, but Mako could tell that they were more than happy on the floor like that. Wu seemed to be none the wiser; he was busy drunkenly painting Asami’s nails (he was actually really good at it— even smashed).
“A boy at a carnival, but I didn’t know his name. He offered to pay for my ticket if I’d go on the Ferris Wheel and all the other cute baby rides. It was actually a cute date,” Korra answered.
“Oh, I am so jealous,” Wu said with a sigh.
“What about you then?”
“Hun took me out for coffee one day. It was in the eighth grade, and I was going through my ‘straight phase’. I had no idea what he was trying to do until he took me to a park and kissed me behind a tree.”
“That’s so romantic!” Korra said sweetly.
“Yeah. We were boyfriends for two years. Best time of my high school life.”
“So far.”
“Yeah… so far.”
Mako looked out through the window at the woods surrounding The Spirit World.
“Hey did you lock up the shed already? I have some gear I need to put away.”
“Don’t worry, bro. I have the keys right here.”
“Umm, can you help me? I can’t really carry the keys.”
“Yeah, sure!”
They walked over to the concrete shed where Toza kept all of the baseball equipment. Mako unlocked the metal door and they walked in. He helped Tahno store the bag of baseballs on the top shelf, and all of the other miscellaneous gear. As soon as they finished putting things away, Mako realized just how little space there was in-between the two boys.
“Uh… sorry,” he said sheepishly. He made to exit the door but was blocked by Tahno.
“Wait up.”
“What?”
Tahno kissed him. No, Tahno was kissing him. Right here, in his foster Dad’s equipment shed! Mako’s head was spinning. I mean, yeah, he didn’t really notice girls like the rest of his friends… but did that make him gay? He wasn’t sure. Kissing the other boy felt kinda nice, though. It felt pretty natural.
Mako snapped back to reality, where he friends were looking patiently at him for his story.
“I got my first kiss in a dusty old shed filled with cobwebs and sports equipment,” he said with a smile.
Wu sighed and drunkenly blew on Asami’s nails, “And they say romance is dead.”