Mako drummed his fingers on the tabletop, watching as his girlfriend chatted it up with one of the Lotus sentries (Howl she had called him - what kind of name was that?). A light dinner laid out in front of them, just some white rice and spicy miso soup, but Mako couldn't help but pout over the fact that it was only meant to be shared with two people.

Korra laughed loudly before being shushed by Howl, reminded that the rest of the island was asleep. She blushed and covered her mouth, giggling quietly into her hand with Howl chuckling beside her. Mako rolled his eyes and picked at the few grains of rice left in his bowl, wondering how exactly their night turned in this direction.

All he wanted was a quiet dinner with his girlfriend. Just his girlfriend. He purposely kept her out in the city past the usual dinner time that Tenzin had arranged for his family and refused to buy any food while they were out. He wanted a quiet dinner with just the two of them, no airbabies, no strangers in the same restaurant, just him and her. It wasn't normal for him to go this far to be romantic, but he figured he would for her. After the stress of returning everyone's bending after they returned and his own absence since joining the police force, they didn't see each other often. Private times dwindled to nonexistence.

Mako tried to fix that and arrange a night for the two of them, a date night of sorts, but then she invited him.

"He's been working really hard today, Mako! I'm sure he's starving! Besides, he helped all of escape that one day and he's been watching over me practically my whole life, it's the least I can do for him."

Only she could coax him into giving up their date night for someone who was now stealing all of her attention. He looked up at them again to see Howl yawn and excuse himself to bed, assuring Korra that other sentries were on the alert. She thanked him and wished him a goodnight and smiled as he left. Once Howl was completely gone, she turned to him with wide eyes, almost forgetting his presence. He quirked an eyebrow as if to ask if she had seriously forgotten him and she answered with a shy smile, faint pink blush dusting her dark cheeks.

"Sorry about that. We go way back."

Mako hummed and began collecting his and Howl's dishes, noticing that Korra had hardly touched her own. The brunette looked down at her dinner, seeming to notice the same thing and awkwardly poking her rice with her chopsticks.

Mako acted indifferent to how she'd tossed him aside for their whole dinner and walked out of the room. "See you tomorrow," he offered, concluding his sentence with his own yawn. He almost paused when he saw her guilty look and how she gnawed on her lower lip, wanting to go back to her to tell her to stop, maybe kiss her tonight, but he was still sore over being ignored and continued onto the kitchen.

He didn't even hear her get up and run over to him because he definitely wasn't prepared for the sudden hug from behind that caused him to nearly drop all the dishes in his hands. He felt her rise to her tiptoes and brush his ear with her breath, unable to suppress the shudder from the sensation.

"Maybe," she whispered, "We could still have our private night together?" Her arms tightened around him and she placed feathered kisses on his neck and shoulder. Mako blinked and shrugged her off so he could turn around and face her.

She had that look.

He returned it with a smirk and leaned down to kiss her lips.