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[ Mako... just kind of flips his pancake in silence.

Does that mean.

Is Bolin...? ]

So.

You, uh.

[ Mako swallows. ]

You don't... want to talk about that. At all.

[This is a trick question, he just knows it. Bolin sighs and drags his hands down his face. Okay, okay okay okay-]

If I thought there was anything worth talking about then I would- I would tell you. You're the most important person in my life, you know that. But I didn't want to make a big deal about this maybe being a thing until I had facts.

[Mako likes facts, right? Right. So here they are.]

When I started the whole musical thing and was spending a lot of time with Ryan he was flirting with me a lot and.. I don't know it was really flattering and really nice and I thought hey- maybe. You know? Maybe this could be a thing for me.. everyone I know who is happy is in a same sex relationship and all my relationships have been garbage so maybe I'm missing something.

[Garbage, he really has been spending a lot of time with Ryan. Steaming right along, he just has to let it all out. If Mako wants the full, boring story, then he can have it. It's amazing Bolin can breathe and talk this much at the same time without pausing.]

And I don't know, one night I was hanging out with Lance and we were drinking and I carried him up to the roof to watch the stars and we were talking and stuff and he was pretty messed up about this friend of his who just got here and.. he said they'd kissed before and I said I'd never kissed a boy and so we kissed.

[See? Nothing special. In another world it could have easily been a drunk high school party. A drama club cast party. A nothing encounter in a bathroom with beer pong and clattering solo cups that definitely didn't mean anything and definitely isn't making him question himself very intensely.]

But uh. I mean he hasn't mentioned it since...

And I have since had it pointed out to me that the Ryan thing was just a misunderstanding that I made up because of the musical.. and clearly this Lance thing is too.. and I probably just thought I had to feel this way. So. That's what happened. And it's not a thing. I was just confused.

Yeah.. just.

False alarm.

[ Mako listens with the patience of an older brother who has spent a lot of time listening to Bolin reason through his own thoughts aloud. He slides the most recent, slightly-burnt pancake onto the pile, turns off the stove, flips around to lean against it, and listens.

And it... hurts. Just a little, like a splinter in a finger. Not because Bolin didn't tell him, but because Mako understands so well the confusion of poking your foot into that space, unsure, waiting to be proven wrong or proven right and kind of afraid of both outcomes. The light that comes with understanding yourself can be a searing thing, illuminating curves you didn't know you had and maybe didn't want. It sucks. It's hard.

And Bolin thinks he needs to come to Mako with surety and facts instead of uncertainty and questions. That hurts a little too, but Mako swallows that, makes himself listen instead.

For once, he doesn't have to think about what to say. ]

It doesn't have to be a false alarm, bro. Maybe it is. Maybe it's not, but.

It's okay. That you don't know.

[ Mako shrugs, casual and easy, and steps forward to lean on the island instead, watching Bolin. ]

I didn't.

No.. I know. And I think it's something I would be...open to? If I met the right person?

You kept striking out and then you met your person and it all made sense... right?

[Because that's what Shiro said happened to him and Bolin sure doesn't remember Mako giving any indication of liking men back home. Maybe that was something he started getting into once Bolin was away with the army. There's a worry there, but not worth dissecting. He doesn't ever want to be the reason Mako holds himself back.]

And he loves you, Mako. Wu is so perfect for you, I literally couldn't pick someone better and I know a lot of people.

[ Well that's. That's good, considering what Mako actually brought Bolin over to tell him. That's probably a perfect segue, if Bolin is looking for an out, if Mako wants to let him take it.

Does he?

Because Bolin doesn't just keep things like this to himself unless they're really bothering him. Maybe that's not strictly true anymore: they're adults, Bolin is his own person, Mako isn't going to always know every detail of his life, and it isn't like he told Bolin about his own secret thoughts shoved firmly into the back of his head.

Huh.

Mako swallows and pulls the lid off a pot at the back of the stove full of bubbling rice porridge. Might as well dish up brunch while he talks about this still-very-hard stuff. ]

Kind... of. If I'm really honest with myself, the... being into guys stuff isn't really new. I just didn't, you know. I figured... I had other stuff to worry about, so I didn't think about it, and it wasn't like you could just do that so I ignored it whenever it came up but, uh.

[ Spirits this is still so hard to talk about, maybe he needs to talk about this more? Or... less? Never? Ugh. Mako clears his throat. ]

Let's just say. I met Wu, and I didn't know even then, and then when I admitted I was into him a lot of things about myself that didn't make sense suddenly did, but it wasn't like I didn't know before. I just didn't let myself know. If that... makes any sense at all.

It makes sense. We had a lot going on.

[More. They should definitely talk about this a lot more. How is it they'd gone so long avoiding conversations like this-- oh. Wait. Their era.

That's pretty self explanatory, actually. At least Mako had the sense not to fool around with bad people back home. That could have ended terribly.

Bolin pushes that thought away as hard as he can, taking in Mako's words and really thinking about them. For Mako.. and for Shiro.. it was about the person. That tracks.]

Maybe I'll find my Wu here, huh?

Man, we should have talked about this a long time ago.

We can start now.

[ Mako offers: an olivenut branch, or something like it. He offers, at the same time, a bowl full of congee topped with some chili oil and some pickles he made back in the fall. The plate of pancakes goes into the center of the bar, followed by a plate and chopsticks for both of them. To top it all off, Mako piles a few leftover mochi into a bowl and then, finally, rounds the island to sit by Bolin.

Zuko is already sliding down off Bolin's shoulders to try and steal a mochi. ]

Right now. I didn't actually invite you over to make you tell me about, you know. Kissing people.

[His mouth is already open. The chopsticks are already in his hand. He's already got a piece of mochi on lock and his other hand up to defend against the most opportunistic (only) dragon he has ever met.]

Aaaa? Oh- No. I guess you didn't.

What did you want to talk about?

[ Zuko, entirely put-out by Bolin's successful dragon-shooing, tries to slink around the palm of his hand while he's distracted and while Mako is distracting himself piling things onto his own bowl of congee. He already has plenty of toppings but obviously it also needs sesame seeds and no that is not just because he's suddenly extremely and obviously nervous. ]

It's... actually about Wu. And... me.

[Bolin's brows pin high into his hairline. He slooowly puts the mochi closer to his mouth but Zuko is a dastardly little bandit and snatches it quick as lightening - gone in a flash!

Bolin does not notice.

About him and Wu? Is everything okay? If it wasn't, surely Mako would be doing a lot more than compulsive cooking. So it can't be that bad.. it definitely isn't burn the building down, bad.

So maybe good? Good feels better. He hopes for good.]

Yeees?

[ Here we go. Mako doesn't even register Zuko absolutely decimating a mochi. He's just stirring his congee, watching red oil mix with the rice, with his heart in his throat. ]

You, uh. Heard anything about the weird rituals around bonding in this city?

Um..

[Processing.. processing..]

No? Not really. I've been kinda.. you know. Focused on other stuff.

What are you bonding?

...myself.

[ Super smooth, Mako. He picks up a spoonful of steaming congee and does absolutely nothing with it. Even Zuko stops munching her mochi to look between the two of them, her ears up and alert. ]

Uh. To Wu.

[There is a long, pregnant pause as Bolin works through that one.

You know Mako, for someone so centered on specifics, you suck at giving them.]

...

In the... glue yourself together kind of way or the marriage way?

Edited 2022-02-08 02:46 (UTC)

[Why would Mako and Wu glue themselves together, don't be stupid, Bo.

GASP

All the food! Mako being so super weird but not angry!

HE GETS IT NOW]

[Bolin SLAPS his hands down on the table top (ow) and stands bolt upright, eyes enormous, mouth open.]

YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED??

Edited 2022-02-08 02:48 (UTC)

[ Mako doesn't wince exaclty, but he pulls back a little, laughing self-consciously as realization slams into his brother. Zuko, on the other hand, lets out a startled trill, scoots backwards, and falls entirely off the counter, making Mako lunge to catch her. She squeaks in something like protest, digging claws into his arm for balance, and Mako is laughing for some reason, grinning stupidly at them both. ]

Uh-yeah. We are.

[eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

[EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE]

[His squeal, and it is a squeal, needs a long breath to power up before Bo just fucking explodes with a loud crow of victory.]

MAKO!

[Pointing Disney style with both hands and all his fingers.]

YES!!

[He doesn't know what to do with his body. He wants to bowl his brother right out of his seat with an excited happiness so enormous that it could turn into destructive hooliganism at any second. The compromise is that Bolin swings himself around in a circle one way and then back before pointing again.

YES!!!

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