As the clock struck twelve, the king leaned in (the smile on his face was way too obvious before he puckered his lips) to give Mako a kiss. And then another. And one more for good measure. "Happy new year, Mister Moxie Mako," he grinned, all too proud to dust off that nickname. "Brings back memories, hm?"
New Years Shenanigans
Mako laughs into the kisses. This year, he's had a little more to drink than he normally would. He supposes that's what happens when you're around someone you're comfortable with and trust whole-heartedly. "Like I could ever forget," he smirks. That New Years Eve would go down in history. Maybe not in the books for others to read, per say, but it would definitely be a nice he would always remember.
&. 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 // kingwu asked: @ Mako 👀
❛ you look good like this. ❜
It was the first time he’d actually dressed down. No uniform, no suits, no outfit to merely stay below the radar. A simple expression of the self. It was easier when visiting the earth kingdom nowadays, anyway. “Now that’s high praise coming from you–” knowing Wu could be very particular about fashion and style. Not to mention he’d overheard his criticism of others dress style more than a handful of times. “Out of the uniform, you mean–” he can’t help correcting him, of course. Or, rather, positioning him to recognize that not all people merely went around their daily lives in uniforms.
Meta on Jinora's other hobbies besides reading and general airbender things.
send me a topic to write a meta about my muse on
[bruh, I’ve legit been thinking about this exact thing for like the past week and I have made zero decisions] […time to speedrun it!] [crap this got longer than I intended] [thank you so much for sending me this! i loved the chance to actually write down and think more about my girl, tysm!]
Honestly, I think Jinora would be a bit of a jack of all trades. We know she reads a lot, so I think she learns about a lot of different activities and skills from her reading, she remembers a ton of information, and from there she tries her hand at a lot of them. She doesn’t excel or find that she has any talent for a lot of the things she tries, but she has fun trying new things. She really does love just reading and learning and anything with her airbending, she’s a nerd ok?
Some of the things I think she’s tried and had some success with or that she’s continued doing are:
Writing: She likes writing letters; it started with sending letters to GranGran Katara when she was little, and she loved getting replies so she wrote to Kya and Bumi too. When Jinora starts traveling, she sends letters back to her family, and to other friends she might have elsewhere. It’s not the best communication method (what with phones being a thing and she can totally do astral projection messages), but I HC that she does end up travelling solo in true Air Nomad fashion, and writing helps fill the lonely hours, so she keeps writing. She also writes short stories at some point, but she keeps those private because she thinks they’re embarrassing. She saves all the letters she gets as replies, keeps them in a box and likes to look back at them every so often, to read the memories. Also during her travels (actually probably during the Air Temple Visitation Vacation in B2) she starts keeping her own journals.
Music: I think she probably picked this up from Bumi at first, and then just kept it going. She likes singing but isn’t that great, so she mostly sings for herself or hums softly. She also has a small flute (or ocarina or pan flute, idk rn) (ngl leaning towards the ocarina because mun loves LOZ but moving on) that she’s gotten pretty good at and likes to play. If she tried, she’d probably also get/be good at some simple string instruments and would like them as well.
Art: She doesn’t have artistic skills like Ikki or Meelo does, but once in a while she’ll doodle (perhaps more during her travels when she’s on her own). Most of what she doodles are simple abstract sketches or designs, nothing ever fancy or impressive, but she’s okay with that.
Being active: Okay, this does relate to her being a very good bender, but Jinora really does like being active and staying fit. It makes her feel good, about herself and physically. She likes running (stamina building, helps her control her breathing), climbing (check next bullet point), and working on her physical strength, like lifting and such. She’ll never get muscles like Korra, but Jinora is much stronger looking than she looks. I HC that she is strong enough to physically carry her siblings on her own (stemming from overprotective!Tenzin training her on how to escape with them when she’s little), and can decently carry most of anyone else’s weight if needed (like her parents, Krew, anyone else in the show we’ve met). Also I HC that she is fast and very agile. Another natural boost she has from being an airbender, but she really works to hone and get good at those skills, and it shows.
Climbing: I HC the Jinora loves heights and likes sitting near tree tops, on cliff edges, tops of buildings or mountains, you get the idea. She finds these areas very peaceful (a good place to find her meditating or relaxing when she’s stressed), but she’ll also use the height as sort of a fun training tool. She’ll climb trees and cliffs, giving herself different challenges or rules and times herself to see how quickly and efficiently she can get to the top. Also I’m just now remembering that climbing a cliff was probably used as a training tool for the Harmonic airbenders but idc I don’t wanna rewrite all this and YES Jinora is a nerd who loves her airbending and her training, she just likes it ok, MOVING ON
Dancing: Again, training with the spinning air gates and having natural agility is probably helpful for this, and again it’s probably not something Jinora really focuses on, but Jinora likes dancing. She likes listening to the music and moving her body to the sounds, the beats, the swells of it all. She likes dancing with a partner best, but doesn’t mind dancing on her own. I think she, Pema, and Ikki would occasionally take control of the family radio and just have a little casual girls’ night dance party. When Korra moves to the island they invite her, and Asami too later on.
Puzzles: Puzzles, riddles, games of that sort; Jinora loves the challenge they give her. She also really likes Pai Sho and is a pretty decent player.
And because I can’t help myself, here are some hobbies I think Jinora would have in her modern!verse (but much less detail, because idk about all of these):
Computer science/programming: it just seems like coding would be something she’s good at and enjoys, idk
Piano: I’ve had this thought for a while not, but could never make up my mind if modern!Jinora would be more into a piano or her normal whatever-flute instrument but this post makes me love Jinora playing the piano even more
Track/yoga: I feel like these are just a given for modern!Jinora, that’s kinda all I got. Maybe not track (she likes running, but I don’t think doing track&field competitions would be her thing). Yoga is a def given for her imo.
Gymnastics and/or figure skating: I feel like gymnastics is also kinda a given, but idk for sure. As for figure skating, I just really like the idea of Jinora ice skating (and mun likes Yuri! On Ice, so there’s an influence) (also the Ice Princess movie because I love it and wow I feel like the MC is very much like Jinora)
Trivia: Jinora reads a lot and she remembers a lot. Ikki and Meelo probably hate family game nights where they play any sort of trivia game, because Jinora always wins them. But if they go someplace, like a restuarant, and are competing as a table, they love having her on their side. As a young adult, i can see her attending college events and winning trivia games, or going to a bar trivia night with friends and just slaying. She likes trivia :)
peace or war? sun or stars? flowers or trees? crescent moon or full moon? streets or skyscrapers? rooftops or balconies? ink or glitter? life or death? order or chaos? candle or bonfire? ocean or sky? leather or silk? sweet or sour? overstimulation or under stimulation? book or letter? soft or coarse? fight or flight? spoken or written? silver or gold? playing cards or tarot cards? circles or angles? cramped or vast? checkers or chess?
The new president had been sworn into a mess. The economy was in shambles, millions of residents were still homeless, and they had just taken down a crazy triad leader who was bent on taking the spirit and physical worlds for himself.
Not to mention, unlike her predecessor, the people had elected representatives for themselves who would make the laws and govern alongside her. All eyes were on her, as the people gave their representatives the power to remove a president who went over the line.
The classified briefing she had just received told her that things were even worse. It was from an ally of the United Republic. The King had requested to speak with her at once.
After the standard greetings and publicity opportunities, the two sat down at a short but long table in the main office of the president.
“How certain are you that the Empire is trying to reform?”
send 🌿 for my muse to find yours standing under the mistletoe.
Mako notices Wu across the room first. Then he sees the mistletoe not long after. He knows it's bait. That Wu is just standing there waiting for Mako to come along innocently and unaware. Unfortunately, he's always being observant and his detective brain never truly shuts off. Especially since this was the precinct's annual Christmas party. It was hard to silence those instincts in a room full of coworkers all in their best uniforms.
He grabs a drink in each hand from a passing server and thanks them out of habit. Even if they didn't hear him as they moved through the loud party goers. Making his way over to his boyfriend, he leans down to give a soft kiss to Wu's cheek before offering him one of the drinks.
"Someone is trying to get attention," he smirks. Motioning to the mistletoe above them. "You look nice."
@kingwu sent: "Oh?" Wu placed the tips of his fingers to his chin in a faux gasp. "Was the point of the gray mask to be mysterious? I definitely missed the memo," the king feigned his cluelessness. "But a table just for two sounds ideal to me."
"Anonymity typically is the point of a mask, Your Highness." Mako says as he leans forward with a playful smirk. "So you're saying I would get you all to myself for a whole night? If so, that is definitely a plan I can get behind."
