She Can't See

chapter five

She would probably tease me for acting like this. And ... I would gladly let her.

After erasing yet another faulted line, Asami dropped the pencil entirely and let out a heavy breath. She leaned back into her desk chair and swirled around in it a bit while dragging one of her feet across the wooden floor. Her eyes made their way to the trash can that was placed right next to her desk. In an odd way, Asami felt like it was actually mocking her.

The black can was filled to the brim (not mentioning how it was also piling over as well) with crumbled pieces of paper. Those pieces were all coated in not-good-enough ideas so says Asami. 

She groaned again. Hearing about the situation with Future Industries only a few days ago did not take a good toll on her life at all, as if it wasn't already frustrating to begin with. So far, though, her father had kept his word about having it 'handled.' It didn't matter how long it had been since the first few rumors surfaced, it was still enough time for more to follow. But none did. That was another thing that she found pretty odd. 

It didn't make much sense to her. Where did all of the talk go? It seemed to have just vanished completely, like it never even happened in the first place. Asami thought about asking her father what he did to make everything quiet down, but she knew that conversation wouldn't end in her favor. Hiroshi would probably scold her for prying for information that she had every right to know. He would tell her to mind her business, to pretend that the setback was a mere illusion.

And the worst part about it was that she despised him for that. Though their relationship wasn't terrible, it also could never be considered 'amazing' either. Not in her eyes. Certainly not in Korra's. Even though Asami had spent their entire friendship trying to hide it, Korra had a way of forming her own opinions and sticking to them. It was the stubbornness that she flaunted so well somehow. It was dangerously attractive ... And also something else that Asami wished she could have, too.

Memories from the other night came back to mind. Asami still couldn't believe what she had let herself do; break down in tears in front of Korra. She wasn't known to do anything like that. Not for something so serious. A sad scene in a movie or television show was different. She was good at controlling her emotions, but sometimes, just like any human being, they got too overwhelming to a point where controlling them didn't even seem reasonable. Her best friend's presence didn't help her case. 

Korra staring at her with squinted eyes from across the room made her hands shake as she tried to distract herself by folding clothes. Minutes later, their hands were clasped tightly together. The contact shook everything inside of Asami. If she had been in the right state of mind like usual, she would have brushed it off or pulled away. But receiving that kind of intimate comfort from the one person that she needed it from the most ... Of course her brain turned off all possible negative outcomes. A part of herself was glad that it did.

She didn't think that the look on Korra's face that night would ever stop circling around her head. It was annoying and peaceful at the same time. It was an anomaly itself, though it also wasn't. Korra's eyes and facial features told everything. She was filled with so much genuine worry, concern, hurt, confusion. Asami played with the idea that Korra was trying to find a way to take all of those feelings out of Asami and give them to herself.

But that couldn't be true. It was far fetched. She shouldn't be thinking those things. She shouldn't.

"Just let me keep you in this bubble for a little while." Korra suggested with earnest eyes. 

Her office space was getting too tiring. Since actually engineering was off of her list for the time being, she figured that the least she could do was sketch. Whether it was for Future Industries or not, the art had always been one of her greatest passions. Letting her mind run wild with imaginations of cars and other automobiles used to really help her if she was in a time of need. However, due to what all of that was now linked to, it only stressed her out more. Thus leading to the crumbled pieces of paper.