Bolin sighed as he glanced up from his notes, catching a glimpse of Iroh's long eyelashes as he turned toward the blackboard. He grinned goofily as he stared at the older man's broad back. Mr. Hotman himself…of course, that wasn't his real name, just what Bolin and his friends called him in private. It was accurate enough. His history teacher had been the star of his wet dreams and fap sessions for going on two years now. He was famous amongst the students; even his best friend, Asami, had the hots for him.

"Pst! Bo!" Speaking of. Bolin was snapped out of his daydream by a pencil stabbing him in the back. He started and looked up, only to find Iroh staring at him.

"Well, Mr. Bei Fong?"

"Uhhhh…" Bolin's eyes darted around the room. "I…I don't know?"

"Hmm. Tahno?"

"Of course, the Great War ended in 1882 when Aang the Great defeated the dictator Ozai."

"Correct." Iroh turned back to the blackboard as Bolin sank shamefully in his seat. He saw the sympathetic glance from his other best friend, Korra, from across the room, while Asami giggled behind him.

"Daydreaming about Mr. Hotman again?" Bolin's face flushed and he sunk even lower.

"Shut up…" Bolin stayed like that until the end of class, then quickly tried to shuffle out along with his friends. A quick trip to his locker, and he'd be home free for the day. But a deep voice stopped him.

"Bolin, I'd like to have a word with you before you leave." The teenager froze, then slowly walked back into the room, ignoring the other students' 'ooohhhs' at his expense. He waited back until the rest of the students had gone, flinching as the sound of the classroom door closing. The loud 'bang' echoed through the room, hanging in the air for a moment as he and Iroh locked eyes.

The teacher sighed, crossing his arms and leaning against his desk. This action only served to accentuate his crazy large muscles, a fact which Bolin did not fail to notice.

"Bolin." Though Iroh's tone was gentle, the teenager snapped to attention like a scolded military cadet. "You need to start paying attention in class. You don't finish your homework, your test scores are average at best, and right now you're looking at a zero for class participation." The older man's golden eyes burned into his, disappointment brimming within their fiery depths. "I know you're a smart young man. You're getting all A's in your other classes. Why are you having so much trouble in mine?"

'Because every time I even think of doing work for your class, I think of you and it turns into a jerk-off session,' Bolin silently answered. Of course, he couldn't really say that, so he just shrugged his shoulders and mumbled, "I guess I'm just not good at History…"

"Bolin, I do not want you to have to retake this class again next year." The teenager didn't think that was such a bad idea, but certainly didn't say that out loud. "If you'd like some extra help, I suppose I can offer you a few private lessons." He turned away to reach into his desk and pulled out a piece of paper. He scribbled something on it and handed it to the younger boy. "Have your guardian sign this and bring it back to me before this weekend."

Bolin was speechless as he took the paper, barely able to muster a "goodbye" as he left the room. This had to be a dream, right? Mr. Hotman did not just offer to tutor him privately…right?

Korra and Asami were waiting for him by his locker, already ready to leave. He barely acknowledged them as he opened the metal door and began packing up his things.

"So…did Hotman let you have it?" Korra asked, slapping him on the back. He grunted and shook his head.

"N-no, he…he wanted to give me some private lessons."

"Ew. Like…Tahno's 'private lessons'?" Tahno, captain of the swim team, had hit on Korra more than once with that line. Of course, since she was already dating Bolin's older brother, she had not-so-kindly turned down the offer.

"No, like tutoring, geez, Korra…"

"I think it's sweet," Asami said with a broad smile. "Hey, this is your chance to tell him how you feel, Bo!"

"What? No, no it's not!" Bolin slammed his locker shut with a grimace. "I don't even know if I'm going to go. I can barely stand to think of the guy, how can I be all alone in a room with him? Besides, if I tell Lin I'm failing a class, she'll kill me."

"So forge her signature," Korra said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look, I'm good at that kind of stuff, let me do it. Then you're free to go on your date with Hotman."

"It's not a date! Korra…"

"Fine. Your…'private lessons.'" She smirked. "Come on. You know you wanna go."

"I agree, Bo. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you're going whether you want to or not."

They parted ways, and Bolin headed home to sulk. Of course, he'd love some alone time with his favorite teacher, but there was a vast difference to the meaning when he said it and when Iroh said it.

When he arrived home, he just wanted to be alone for a while, but his adoptive mother, Lin, caught him as he was quietly trying to sneak upstairs.

"Mako called," she said simply, handing him the phone. Nobody could say she was a particularly loving person, but Bolin liked it that way. In the foster homes he'd spent much of his childhood in, the parents would often smother him with affection. He didn't need to be smothered by Lin to know she cared. Their relationship worked just fine as it was.

He decide to call his brother back before getting to work on his homework, dialing the number of Mako's dorm room, each decimal burned into his memory with the certainty that could only come from repetition.

The phone rang once, twice, then a sleepy voice said, "Hello?"

Bolin grinned. Hearing his brother's voice always made him feel at peace. "Hey, Mako. Lin said you called."

"Bo?" Bolin heard a short scuffling. "Uh, hey…what's up?"

"I'll have you know it's three PM," the teenager said with a laugh. "I get up at seven every day, you don't see me lazing off in the middle of the afternoon."

"Bite me, I was up late."

"Uh huh. On the phone with Korra." A pause. Of course, he was right. There was a short silence where Bolin waited for Mako to talk, when he suddenly blurted out, "There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Hmm?" The sound of a yawn. "Sure, bro, anything. What's on your mind?"

"Well, do you remember that teacher I told you about…?" he started awkwardly.

"Do not tell me you still have a crush on him," Mako deadpanned. "Bo, you need to start going after girls your own age." Bolin winced - Mako had never quite been convinced that Bolin's preference to men was anything more than a phase - but pressed on.

"Uh, yeah, well, the thing is…I've been having trouble in his class, and so he offered to privately tutor me. And I dunno if I'm going to go."

"Well, that's simple. Don't." Mako sounded slightly annoyed. "The more time you spend with him, the more you nurture these unnatural feelings, the more likely it is that he'll find out. Best case scenario, he rejects you. Worst case, he takes advantage of you and you get expelled. Do you want that?"

"N-no…" Bolin could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. His brother could be so harsh when he wanted to be. He heard Mako sigh on the other end.

"Look, I'm not saying this to hurt you, Bo. I just think that this can only lead to you getting hurt. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Bolin mumbled miserably. "Look, I'm gonna go, okay? I'll talk to you later." Before Mako could even say goodbye, he hung up.

Stupid Mako. He was always saying stuff like that. Always bossing him around like he knew what was best for him. So what if he was two years older? He didn't know everything. He didn't even support his sexuality, something he continued to question every day because of his brother's insistence on it being just a phase.

He closed his eyes and tried to imagine breasts. He'd seen them in porno films before, big round ones with large areolas. But those sagged and he didn't like the way they were shaped. So he tried to imagine the little perky ones, but those also felt wrong. They were okay to look at, but they didn't exactly do anything for them.

Then he imagined Iroh, the way his muscles stretched underneath his sweater, promising a much better sight, and he felt a stir in his pants. Oh, he definitely preferred men. No doubts there. He reached for the lotion under his bed and slicked up his palm, then slid it into his pants to slowly stroke himself as he conjured up illusions of what might be hiding underneath that burgundy sweater, and what it might be like to taste his bronze skin.

He came pretty embarrassingly quickly, like he almost always did when it came to Iroh. It had been like that for two whole school years. No way this was just some crush like Mako said. It had to be love, right?

Bolin went to take a shower and change into his sleeping clothes. He wasn't hungry, and just wanted to go to bed early. His homework could wait for the morning. When he came back to his room, still dripping, he glanced at the telephone laying on his bed. Hesitating only a moment, he picked it up and dialed another familiar number.

"Hey, Korra? It's Bo. I'm in."

—-

That weekend was the first time Bolin or any of the students was going to see the inside of Mr. Hotman's house. The outside was nothing remarkable, a plain yellow house with a white trim and a cute little garden bed out front, currently sitting empty under an inch of snow. 'His wife must have made that,' he thought, unprepared for the wave of jealousy that crashed over him. He distracted himself by knocking on the door.

Iroh opened the door and Bolin's mouth nearly dropped at the sight. He was dressed in a simple grey tank top and jeans, something he'd never seen his prim and proper teacher wear. The tank revealed so many muscles on his arms and chest, while clinging to so many more underneath in the promise of many more delightful surprises.

"Good morning, Bolin," Iroh said cheerfully, beckoning him inside. "Come on inside." Bolin obeyed speechlessly, shuffling into the other's house and shedding his coat at the blast of heat that greeted him. No wonder the older man was so sparsely dressed.

"Do you like hot cocoa?" The teenager nodded mutely and followed Iroh into the kitchen like an obedient puppy. There was already a kettle of milk heating up on the stove, so Iroh told Bolin to sit and he sat at a small table in the corner of the kitchen. A few minutes later, a steaming mug of cocoa with whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkled on top was set in front of him.

"No marshmallows?" he asked weakly, trying and failing to make it sound like a joke. He sipped the warm drink and got whipped cream all over his nose.

Iroh chuckled and leaned forward with a napkin to wipe the teenager off. "I like cream better. It tastes smoother, in my opinion."

"Oh…" Bolin flushed a bit and glanced around the house, looking for signs of another human being in the house. Shoes, maybe, or pictures on the wall. "We're not going to disturb your wife, are we?"

Iroh seemed surprised. "I'm not married," he said with an almost wistful smile. "I'm only 27. Plenty of time for that."

Bolin mentally calculated their age difference. Eleven years. That was no small thing. Even he knew that. But hearing he wasn't married gave him hope. Maybe he could…?

"No girlfriend?" Bolin sipped his cocoa and tried to put on his flirtiest smile. It didn't help that he'd managed to get whipped cream on his nose once again. "You're a handsome guy, I find that hard to believe."

"Well, believe it," Iroh said, stifling a laugh. "You're looking at a full-blown bachelor."

"No kidding?" Inside, Bolin cheered. He'd show his brother wrong, right here and now. He set down his mug in front of him and looked Iroh straight in the eyes, trying to calm his jangling nerves. "What about a boyfriend?"

Iroh looked startled. "I…I don't think this is appropriate…"

"All you have to do is say no."

"No, all I have to do is end this conversation." The older man stood. "I'll go get the books so we can work. It's what you came for, not this…interrogation." He strode out of the room and Bolin blanched. He hadn't meant to make his teacher mad. He scrambled to his feet to follow him into the living room.

"I'm…I'm sorry," he stammered to the older man's back. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I was just asking." The teenager rubbed his arm uncomfortably and stared down at his shoes. "I won't tell anyone, you know, I…I am too. So I won't tell. I promise."

Iroh turned to him, his expression infinitely more gentle. "No, I'm sorry. I overreacted. Please accept my apology, Bolin, I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

"It was nothing…" Bolin scuffed his shoe on the floor. His fake confidence had shattered in the blink of an eye. "So, um, let's…study."

For the next two hours, he and Iroh talked about nothing but history. Bolin tried his hardest to listen, but every now and then his attention would wander, to admire the older man's abs, or the way his ass looked in those jeans. He couldn't help it. He didn't want to fail, but it was so hard to concentrate with the object of his desire right in front of him.

"Bolin! Please pay attention!" The teenager snapped to attention for the umpteenth time, noting his teacher's exasperated expression. "There's no point in these private lessons if you're going to space out just as much as you do in class."

"I'm sorry," Bolin said meekly. Iroh shook his head and scooted closer with the book.

"Here. Read along with me, okay?" Bolin was nodding, but barely listening. This close, he could smell the damp sweat coming off his skin. Normally, like in the locker room after gym, the smell of sweat reeked. But here, it was the most heavenly thing Bolin had ever smelled. He felt like he could live forever on the smell of Iroh alone.

He didn't realize how close he'd leaned to the older man until Iroh shot him a questioning glance. Bolin glanced up. So close. His lips were so close. As if watching himself from a dream, he felt himself tilt his head and close those few extra inches to press his lips against the older man's.

Iroh froze, but Bolin kept on going, wrapping his arms tightly around the other man's muscular shoulders and pressing little kisses against Iroh's unresponsive mouth. Even without a response, this was still the most amazing kiss he'd ever had. The scent of Iroh surrounded him like a haze, his heat rolling off him in waves to seep into Bolin's body. He was going to enjoy this until Iroh came to his senses and pushed him away, because chances were he was never going to get to do this again.

Then a funny thing happened. He felt Iroh's arms snake around his waist to pull him closer, and suddenly his teacher was kissing him back. His tongue snuck out to prod at Bolin's lips, and his mouth opened, more from surprise than knowing what he was doing. But Iroh clearly did, and he couldn't help the moan when their tongues twined together.

Bolin found himself straddling the other's lap, pressed flush against those muscles he'd been admiring just moments before. Just this got him excited, and he moaned appreciatively into the deep kiss. He was in absolute euphoria.

At least, he was until he felt the older man's hand on his thigh.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, stop!" Bolin suddenly jumped off a surprised Iroh's lap, his face completely red. "I'm like…a total, total virgin, dude, I don't wanna do any of that stuff…"

"Bolin, I…"

"Oh geez, Mako was right, I should have listened to him. I'm so stupid, stupid hormones…"

"Bolin." Iroh was suddenly in front of him, looking concerned, but pointedly avoided touching him. "I'm sorry. This is my fault, not yours. I didn't think about the consequences for you. I didn't mean to…"

"Take advantage of me?" Bolin glanced up meekly.

"Yes." Iroh sighed. "I forgot about your age for a moment. I'm so used to dealing with…older partners. Please know, I would never do something you didn't want to do."

Bolin nodded. "I won't…tell anyone?" he offered, though he was still shaken by the whole experience. Still, no denying it had been exciting, and one of the best times of his life. He took a hesitant step closer. "I…like you."

Iroh chuckled, somewhat strangled. "Yeah. I know." He awkwardly glanced away. "You know we can't do that again, right? You're my student, and underage. It's not right."

"I know…" Bolin bit his lip. "But what if…what if when I'm not your student? What then?"

"When you're not my student?" Iroh smiled sadly. "I appreciate the offer, but your graduation is nearly two years away yet. There's no need to wait for that. I'm nearly twice your age, you know, and there's plenty of people your age to date."

"I've already waited two years," Bolin said with a shaky smile. "I think I can wait another two." He hesitantly reached out to take Iroh's hand. "And maybe…until then…we can get to know each other?"

Iroh seemed surprised. "You're serious?" he said uncertainly.

"Definitely." Bolin leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Iroh's lips, a chaste peck that was a mere shadow of its predecessor, but which carried so much more promise. "So what do you say?"

Iroh smiled hesitantly, then squeezed his hand back. "I say…it's a date."