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In the flickering orange light of the firepit, the threads of silver in Bato's hair glistened like starlight. No matter how long Hakoda looked at Bato, he was always able to find some detail he hadn't noticed before, just as even the achingly familiar sight of winter in the Water Tribe never came exactly the same way twice.
"I better not have a bald patch I didn't know about."
Pulled from his reverie, Hakoda lowered himself to sit back on his heels behind Bato. He reached around his waist and dipped his fingers back into the pot of salve Bato was holding in his lap.
"No, you're good," he said, gently rubbing it into the rough scar tissue on his left shoulder. "Not that anyone else except for me would notice if you did have one, anyway."
As always, Hakoda concentrated on the tight patches of skin the the very edges of the scar tissue. They were years old, now, and had healed as much as they were ever going to, but Bato was extremely lucky to have most the mobility and function in his left arm that he had before the accident. Even now, Hakoda was still sometimes overcome with a mixture of gratitude and guilt about it; eight years ago, they'd been away on a two week hunting trip with a group of the tribe's best hunters, when one night someone had poured oil onto the dying campfire at the same time the wind picked up, and Bato had pushed Hakoda out of the path of the roaring flames. Hakoda had thought he'd already endured the worst thing that could happen to a man with Kya's sudden death, leaving him a single, grieving father to an eight and ten year old. But that was the night be realised just how much Bato - who had always been by his side - meant to him, despite the decades of ignoring his feelings for him. Bato survived, but he had to spend weeks in a rehabilitation facility in the Earth Kingdom, and then Hakoda's father died, and suddenly Bato was back like a shot and they were sleeping in the same bed and then one evening while they were having dinner with Hakoda's mother she'd banged her wine glass down and said "Spirits, I can't take this anymore. Please, boys, go home and decide if you're together or not."
Hakoda wrapped his other arm around Bato and pulled him flush against his chest, squeezing his knees on either side of his hips. They were both bare to the waist, the heat of each other's skin all the sweeter as they listened to the freezing wind that swirled outside the igloo they had managed to race against the daylight to build. Bato let out a quiet moan and rested his head against Hakoda's collarbone.
"Six years, huh?"
Beneath his free hand, Bato's stomach expanded with the deep breaths he took, his pulse thrumming gently against Hakoda's palm. That meant at least he was telling the truth when he said his arm was achy, but not painful. He tired easily, especially doing such hard physical work in the cold of the far south. But considering they were both almost sixty, Hakoda thought he had done well even without the burn injury.
"I know," he said, not even needing to think about how he rubbed the ache out of Bato's shoulder. "I've almost been married to you as long as I was on my own."
Hakoda had never quite stopped being surprised at how quickly an igloo heats up; modern jackets were useless out here, yet under the furs and skins wrapped around their legs, Hakoda could begin to feel a sheen of sweat begin to form on his skin. Bato twisted his head fractionally, peering up at him with a look of concern. Hakoda sighed fondly, and lifted his non salv-ey hand to brush at Bato's cheek, the day old stubble scratching against the pad of his finger. Bato blinked slowly, then settled back against him, tilting his head to allow Hakoda's fingers into the crevices near his neck.
"It's been a weird year, hasn't it?"
"Mmm. But then again, there were lots of good things that came out of it. Sokka and Zuko have probably extended the shelf life of our backs by a couple of decades, for a start, and we'll have a qualified doctor to hand at all times, soon."
Bato chuckled, and clutched Hakoda's free hand in his clammy fingers.
"Shame we didn't get just a little outbreak of it, though, you know, for the benefit of a certain member of the elder council -"
"Bato! That's not funny!"
Hakoda hit him in the ribs, playfully, but couldn't help but laugh in agreement. They both poked as much fun at Pakku as they could, but it had been that old viperbat who had prevented an unanimous agreement from the elder council that would have allowed Hakoda and Bato to have a traditional Water Tribe ceremony; they'd been together for two years, and the day same-sex marriage became legal in the Earth Kingdom they'd instead gone to Omashu to fill in the forms they had to fill in, with the hope that one day they'd be able to do it properly in the Water Tribe territory. His own mother had gone before the council for them, and Pakku's refusal had almost broken her.
"We'll get there eventually. How old is he now?"
"He's 95, I think."
"Spirits, surely he's got to die sometime."
Hakoda was nearly finished with Bato's arm. Although the global pandemic had thrown them a few curveballs this year, he wouldn't have wanted to spend their anniversary anywhere else than they were right now. In the igloo built by their own hands, their bellies full of food they had hunted themselves, they could afford to forget the rest of the world for just one night.
"Alright, how's that?"
Bato leaned forward slightly and twisted his arm.
"It's good. Thank you, love."
Bato turned around then, to kneel facing him, and without a second thought gently took hold of his face and kissed him. They must have shared hundreds if not thousands of kisses, by now, and yet Hakoda still felt slightly breathless with each one.
"I was just thinking," Bato said, draping his arms around him. Hakoda was by no means short at just over six foot, but Bato was a literal giant at six foot six. After fourteen years of enfolding Kya in his arms on a near nightly basis, it was one of his life's greatest pleasures to let himself be encased by Bato's body. He climbed into his lap and pressed himself close, Bato's skin smelling of sweat, the salve, furs, him. "I was just thinking of when I first realised I was in love with you. How I just thought that I would have to keep it to myself for the rest of my life. But now I've got this. And the fact we're legally married is... It would've blown my mind."
Hakoda grunted into his neck in agreement.
"I think I knew then, deep down, but I just couldn't admit it to myself. And I know we don't talk about what ifs, but I do think that had we lived, you know, back then, before the Fire Nation came, I think I could have loved you both."
Hakoda had told Bato this before, so there was no faltering to the way Bato stroked his back. Hakoda reached one hand up to his throat, and gently touched the wolf Bato had carved to him so many years before he had finally fastened it around his neck. Bato smiled, closed his eyes, and gently touched their foreheads together.
"Koda..." he simply said, before his lips found the hollow of his throat.
Although the entire day had been leading up to this, Bato's kisses were slow, with gentle nips at his skin where years of practice had taught them was helpful. Hakoda imprinted his fingers into the rivulets of Bato's spine and gasped. He threw his head back and tensed, his eyes focussing on the glinting ice crystals and shadows of the blocks they'd cut out from a drift from a recent storm just hours ago. Then suddenly Bato was undoing the clasp of his necklace with one hand, and when he slid it off, Hakoda's neck felt too light, too bare. But that thought was soon gone, as Bato brought his mouth over a particularly sensitive spot, just shy of not being ticklish, and Hakoda couldn't help but laugh. He realised then Bato had tipped his weight back just enough that he couldn't do anything except cling on, so his did, tightening his legs around his waist and sliding his hands into Bato' s hair, pulling, surely on the verge of hurting but only urging Bato on. Then he slowly was lowered until his back made contact with the caribou furs that served as their mattress for the night. And as Bato's weight came over him, he only pulled him closer, wrapping his limbs around him like he was a floating piece of a sinking canoe. His heart was beating so fast he almost felt a bit dizzy. But then Bato lifted his head from his neck and smiled down at him, calming him, and gently kissed his lips. Koda curled his toes and kissed him back, his heart rate slowly coming down, his breath slowly returning to normal.
"Hmm. No problems getting it up tonight, then."
He smirked, and flicked his eyes down.
"Oh," Hakoda said, flopping his head back, huffing a laugh, sliding his hands down so they hung from Bato's shoulders. "So I don't."
Bato bent and kissed him once more, slowly, licking the inside of his mouth, stroking down his ribs, leaving a trail of goose bumps in his wake.
"So, what would you like me to do, then?"
Even as he said it, he began edging back and reaching for the strip of fur that separated them. Hakoda closed his eyes and moaned as it was slowly dragged against his skin. He tried to pull Bato's hips closer, but Bato was patient and pressed a kiss to his heaving chest and Hakoda tried to remember how to speak. Slowly, Bato unwrapped one of his legs from his waist and tipped himself so he lay on his side, head propped up by his good arm, his left hand tracing patterns into his stomach, just a few inches above where Hakoda really wanted it, and gazed at him with that soft look on his face and calm presence that could get Hakoda through anything. He watched for his response, licking his lips.
"I want your mouth on me," Hakoda whispered, as though he didn't want even the wind to hear them. Bato grinned, then kissed his forehead.
"Alright, then," he said, shifting onto his knees. "Just relax."
Bato's lips were like fire against his skin, a fire he couldn't get close enough to. But Bato knew this, and so soon as he began to suck a mark into the middle of his chest, he entwined Hakoda's fingers in his own and held them down by his head. Their years of play wrestling as children and even (not so) young men had taught Hakoda he could easily break Bato's hold if he really wanted to without hurting him in the process, so it was reassuring rather than frightening being held down like this. Hakoda squeezed his hands back and sighed, feeling himself quake as Bato's mouth reached the edge of his nipple. Hakoda pressed back against Bato's hands, wanting to press him closer so there was no even a molecule of air separating them, but Bato only moved more of his weight into his hands. Hakoda grunted in frustration, and Bato pressed a single kiss to the underside of his pectoral and gazed down at him.
"Shhh," he said. "Don't worry about me."
He carefully moved himself so he knelt between Hakoda's legs. In the light of the dying fire, every little crevice in his skin danced. It was almost too much; Hakoda closed his eyes and took a deep breath, tightening the grip of his thighs around Bato's waist. Bato chuckled and let go of one of his hands. Hakoda didn't have the coordination to move it, even if he wanted to. Slowly, Bato trailed his hand down Hakoda's side and bent down to press his lips onto his stomach. Although he wasn't at all covered by the furs now, he felt impossibly warm right from the core of his body. He felt his legs slide off Bato's back as he moved still further down, letting his lips brush against the ridge of his hip bone. It was a testament to Bato's incredibly long limbs that he could still hold one of his hands, but his grip was slipping. Hakoda could feel himself leaking onto his stomach, which Bato must have surely noticed by now but was in no hurry to do anything about. Hakoda's breath same in shaky gasps as Bato's breath just ghosted his inner thighs. Finally, let go of his hand, trailing his fingers down his body. Hakoda was powerless to stop himself from moaning, or from tangling his fingers back in Bato's hair as gently sucked at a tendon. But Bato wasn't to be hurried; he kissed him on one thigh, then the other, then finally shifted himself so he lay on his stomach, wrapping his arms under Hakoda's legs and pressing his palms flat, teasingly light, against his stomach. Through the lust that fogged his mind, Hakoda made sure there was no weight resting on Bato's left shoulder. He wanted to sit up and watch, but already the light of the fire was fading, and all he could see were dancing shadows. So he closed his eyes and let himself relax flat on his back, allowing the small of his back arch slightly. He sighed, deeply, and stroked his hands over Bato's head.
At his contented moan, Bato chuckled, kissed the crease of his hip, and finally used a couple of his fingers to take a gentle hold of him.
"That's it. Just keep breathing for me."
The hours of his life Bato had dedicated to perfecting this must surely by now have added up to weeks if not months. Hakoda was sure by now he'd tested every conceivable pressure, angle, position and speed. After eight years together, his husband knew every square millimetre of his skin, every nerve ending, every tendon, every vein, every scar and mark. Every movement was measured, and conscious, as though he was exploring him for the first time. And then, just as Hakoda's patience was wearing out, Bato finally took pity on him and swallowed him down.
The jolt that seized his body was dancing on the edge of being too much for Hakoda, but with Bato he knew he was safe; knew he could let go. He let the sounds rip out from him naturally, and felt Bato respond to each one.
He never lasted very long, like this.
With a warning tug at Bato's scalp, he came with a cry into his husband's mouth. As he came down, gasping for breath, every bone and muscle turned to jelly, Bato pressed a few kisses to his stomach and came up to lie beside him, pulling him into his arms. Hakoda pressed himself close so his pounding heart was against Bato's, and they were connected from head to toe. He pressed a kiss to Bato's lips, eager to taste himself. And Bato held him, and kissed him, and stroked him, and rocked him, until Hakoda could breathe again.
"I love you," he whispered, entwining his hand in Bato's. Bato tightened his hold and gazed into his eyes.
"I love you, too."
Hakoda let his eyes drift shut and sighed, laughing.
"Shit, you're gonna give me a heart attack doing that one day."
"I can think of worse ways to go," Bato said, then pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead. Hakoda sighed and let himself go completely limp. The fire was down to the embers now, but the ice window let in enough moonlight they could just make out the shadows on each others faces. That, and they knew each other's bodies well enough that they didn't need to be able to see.
After a few minutes, his heartrate finally back to normal, Hakoda propped himself up on his elbow and stroked Bato's cheek.
"You happy to keep going?"
Gently, he glanced his fingers over the scar tissue.
Bato covered his hand with his own.
"Yeah. I'm a bit tired, but I'm fine."
Hakoda kissed his scarred shoulder, then laid back down and pulled him close, pressing their foreheads together.
"Alright. I'll be right back."
*
Bato had almost dozed off when he felt a soft cover come over him.
"It's getting colder," Koda said. He had climbed under the fur with him. He couldn't really make out his face, anymore, but that didn't matter. Bato yawned, and buried himself against his chest.
"You're so warm," he mumbled. Koda ran his hand up and down his back.
"You sure you're alright?" he asked. Bato grunted, smiling against his skin.
"Mmm," he said. Slowly, he took Koda's hand from his back and guided it between them. The air of the igloo was cold against the exposed part of his face, but it made the heat of Hakoda's skin all the more inviting. He let his husband's fingernails drag against his stomach, before Koda finally took the hint.
"You comfortable like this?"
"Yeah, this is good. Just..."
He shifted himself slightly; he positioned his left arm so there was no pressure on any of the scar tissue, and moved himself up a little so that he could feel Koda's breath against his face.
"Ok," he said, resting his left hand against his hip. "This is perfect."
Koda's kisses were gentle, slow things, but Bato shivered with each one. He had gone completely soft while he'd been concentrating on Koda, but that never stopped them. Bato sighed into Koda's mouth, as all the blood in his body began to migrate to where his husband's hand was.
It didn't take long. Koda's grip was strong and gentle in all the right places. And as things moved along, and Bato couldn't hold his breath long enough to kiss him, Koda's lips slid from his mouth to his neck. Bato whined, and pressed him closer.
"This okay?" he whispered into his ear.
"Yeah," Bato gasped. He moved his own hand to Koda's bicep, feeling the muscles beneath his finger tips move in correspondence with what was happening under the cover. Koda huffed a laugh and paused for a second to reposition himself slightly, entwining their legs together.
"Sorry, "he said, and kissed his forehead. Bato could tell his energy was flagging, too, but he would not stop until Bato was satisfied. Koda let his lips linger there, so Bato buried himself into his neck, closing his eyes and breathing with him.
The wave that crested within him did not fling him into the air to land upon the rocks, but rather gently deposited him on the shore. Koda rode it out with him for a few seconds, waiting until he went limp before letting to. Bato had soaked their fur blanket as well as his stomach and thighs (and Koda's hand), which they would have to sort out before they went to sleep, but as Bato clung to his husband - his best friend - waiting for the waves in the ocean of blood inside his body to settle, Koda pressed soft kisses to his head, and held him tight.
"I can't believe you're mine," Bato whispered, once he could think again. Hakoda found his chin, and then they found each other's lips again. Then they got up and cleaned themselves off and put fresh furs down, before either of them could drift to sleep.
"So, what do you think we should do tomorrow?" Koda asked him, once they were settled back in each other's arms. Bato sighed contentedly, his eyelids pulling themselves shut.
"I don't mind," he said, "so long as its with you."
They didn't emerge from the igloo until it was almost dark again.