Chapter Text
Kya felt the weight of her messenger bag like a ton of bricks. But really, it was just a spare change of scrubs, some files she never sorted, a couple of protein bars, two refillable water bottles, and other odds and ends. Even so, it dragged at her as she put foot after tired foot in front of the other on the way out of the subway station.
She blinked a little as she emerged onto the main boulevard. It was already dark, and her eyes adjusted to the dim streetlights from the fluorescent flood of the underground tunnel. Kya’s apartment was only a few blocks up, but her sights set on a neon “OPEN” sign that flashed at her and she headed toward what she hoped was a bar instead.
The Badgermole was more accurately a pub, Kya realized, as she stepped over the threshold and into the tight, brick-walled space. The low ceilings would have felt oppressive if not for the coziness of the string lights, mismatched old wooden furniture, and generally cheery atmosphere of the people dining and drinking inside.
She passed the first bar station, nodded at the bartender with the thick eyebrows who gave her a brusque nod in return, and wound her way through tables and around half-walls and across what could have been a dance floor. She headed toward the bar at the back.
Not seeing a bartender, she grabbed a menu from the stack and perused the food options. She could hear a burst of laughter from the crowd of tables tucked into the furthest corner - how many nooks and crannies did this place have? - and tuned into the conversation.
Someone on a tinny microphone was announcing scores accompanied with ridiculous names. It seems the Pink Platypus-Bears were winning the trivia game.
“Alright folks, that’s that for round four. Come see me at the bar if you need refills on popcorn or drinks, and Saikhan will be over for any last-minute food orders. Kitchen’s closing in ten!”
Chairs squeaked as people got up and Kya resolved to find this Saikhan to order some noodles. She had settled her bag under the stool, and just as she ducked down to dig for her wallet, she heard the same voice from the trivia announcement.
“Welcome in, what can I get for you?” The deep voice, distorted by the mic, was whiskey-smooth when it suddenly came from in front of her.
Kya whipped her head up and found herself face-to-face with the most gorgeous woman she had ever met in her life - which was truly saying something for the well-traveled lesbian.
The bartender’s eyes were jade-green and the furrow between them deepened as Kya forgot to answer. She was too busy staring at sharply-defined cheekbones, one of which bore a badass set of scars. The woman’s steel-grey hair was tied up like an old movie star, waves framing her face and sitting in a loose bun just above her shoulders. She looked to be a little younger than her, and Kya could tell she was incredibly well-muscled.
“Yes? Ma’am?” The bartender crossed her arms and Kya yanked her stare back to those green eyes.
“Oh! I’m so sorry, it was a long day at the hospital. My brain’s a little bit empty, or a little bit full. I guess…I was hoping to sneak in the Fire Nation-style Peanut Noodles with Stir-Fried Vegetables before the kitchen closes!” Kya tried to cover up her fluster with chatter and an apologetic smile.
The woman hmmpfed in response and then suddenly spoke, “Saikhan! Veggie peanut noodles at the bar!” in an authoritative voice that carried all the way to the broad-shouldered older man who was circling the corner tables. “Yes, Chief!” the man answered with a mocking salute. The bartender rolled her eyes and turned back to Kya, “And anything to drink?”
“Anything you recommend?” Kya had gotten her footing back by this point in the conversation and tried to put a little life into her response. She wished this were any time other than straight off an eighteen-hour shift.
The bartender rattled off a selection of local ales as she grabbed a towel and wiped down the space around the taps. She starting drawing up a pint before Kya could answer, and the latter was confused until she realized there was someone standing next to her. He must’ve been a regular, because the bartender passed the drink over with only a nod and kept describing her selection of beer.
“Wow, that’s…extensive. I haven’t heard of most of those, but I tend to like whatever’s fruitiest!” Kya slid a little flirt into the end of her reply, and was gratified by the slight upturn of the side of the bartender’s mouth.
“One Jagged Shard. You got it.”
Kya settled into her stool and watched the woman’s arms flex below her rolled-up white sleeves as she pulled down on a lever.
“So….” she scrambled to continue the conversation, “What’s with all the fancy beer options? Do you run a brewery, too?” and just for the hell of it, she added her name, “I’m Kya, by the way.”
The bartender’s didn’t smile but she gave the smallest chuckle at her question, and Kya felt her heart flutter a little at the gravelly sound. “I’m Lin. And no, but I have friends who do.”
“Oh?” Kya responded, trying to encourage the gorgeous, inscrutable woman to keep talking.
“Yes. Two actually, just out of the city, upstate. They used to work together but that was a disaster.”
“Well now you have to tell me more!” Lin seemed to relax as she described the absurd fallout that resulted in the friendly rivalry between Sato Brewing Co. and Blackstone Beers. Other regulars wandered over for refills and Kya sipped her ale.
She encouraged the storytelling with positive interjections and the occasional question. Kya could tell Lin was trying to judge if she was really interested in her story, and Kya wanted nothing more than to keep her talking.
The two had developed a solid rapport - flirty on Kya’s part, and she thought she detected a hint of reciprocation, though the woman’s face remained fairly stoic - by the time a young man came out from a door behind the other end of the bar with a big bowl and chopsticks.
“Over here! Thank you, Bolin. I will pay you for the overtime. Trivia night is—” Suddenly, Lin looked at her watch and swore. “Fuck, I have to go finish out the game. Fifth and final round, are you interested?”
Kya had completely forgotten about the trivia as she dug into the heavenly noodles Bolin delivered. Now she looked up, met Lin’s gaze, and hurriedly swallowed the large bite she had chipmunked in her cheeks.
“To be honest, I’m all brain-powered-out after the shift I just pulled. But I’ll listen from here!”
“Wish I could stay with you.” Kya had to have imagined the tiny flush that rose to Lin’s cheeks as she responded a little too quickly. “But this group of buffoons finds it endlessly entertaining to listen to me MC. I swear to the spirits, the group names only get more ridiculous.” Kya laughed as Lin pulled the rag out of her pants pocket and straightened up her suspenders. “Right, I’m off. Feel free to bother Saikhan if you need anything.”
Kya turned back to her noodles with a smile as Lin disappeared into the back, only to reappear to sit at what she could now see was a table on a tiny stage in the corner, covered in scraps of paper.
The Pink Platypus-Bears were soundly beat by both Turtle-Duck-and-Cover and Because The Chief Said So. That last name got a cackle every time Lin had to read it aloud, and her unamused grumbles made it all the more hilarious.
By the time trivia was finally over and Lin returned to the bar, Kya had finished her noodles and was nursing a fourth - or was it her fifth? Saikhan had switched it out at least a few times, she was sure - glass of the fruity red ale.
By this point, Kya was more than a little tipsy. Being tired didn’t help, and neither did the prospect of the full two days off that beckoned. So Kya found herself grinning widely and leaning towards the bartender as she put away bottles and dishes for the night. “What’s with the nickname, Chief?”
Kya did not miss how Lin’s eyes came to rest on her cleavage before she responded. Which really, Kya couldn’t blame her - she’d shed her coat in favor of the low-cut dark blue tank she wore under her scrubs and was maybe leaning over her arms crossed on the bar to show off just a bit.
“Before The Badgermole, I was Fire Chief for this precinct. I, uh - made headlines a few times, I suppose, and when I opened this place the name stuck with the locals.”
“Have you always lived in Republic City then, Chief?” Kya knew she was blatantly monopolizing this woman’s attention now, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop.
“Yes. This block, too. Never left. What about you? Wait, hang on.” Just as Kya opened her mouth to respond, Lin raised her voice to shout for last call.
“Sorry, I want to go home at some point. Do you want any last drink or just the check? Oh, and you didn’t tell me what it is you do?”
“Check is fine, and, travel nursing! ICU. I was born in Republic City, but I’ve been anywhere but here since I left for college at eighteen. Haven’t yet found a place that could tie me down!”
“Or a person?” Lin asked it with barely a change in facial expression before turning away to ready the check, but Kya knew a covert probe when she heard it.
“Oh Chief, I’ve been tied down by plenty of people, and tied up by some too. But no, nothing has stuck. It’s just me, floating along, right now.” Lin had choked at the insinuation and her face was aflame.
Kya, for her part, was grinning openly now. This conversation was going right where she’d hoped. For a woman with such a stony face, Lin was surprisingly easy to fluster.
But of course, one of the rowdy trivia players had to come break up their banter just as it was getting spicy.
Lin turned away to deal with them—“No way, Chan. One shot only. Then get out of here”—and Kya felt the tiredness of the day catch up to her abruptly. Or maybe it was the alcohol. All she wanted now was the nice comfy bed of her short-term rental, but she had one more question for the beautiful bartender before she went.
When Lin turned back around, she found Kya holding out her phone open to a blank contacts page. “Madam Chief, if you are not otherwise tied down, could I get your number?”
Those captivating green eyes widened, “I - uh, well - yes. Fine. Give it here.” And Kya grinned smugly up at her as the bartender peered at the phone screen. To Kya’s absolute delight, Lin gave an embarrassed cough and pulled a pair of tiny eyeglasses out of her breast pocket.
As the woman furrowed her brows at the screen and carefully typed in her number, Kya shelled out the appropriate amount of yuan and a hefty tip and left them on the receipt.
“So, I’ll call you sometime. Or maybe I’ll just come back here and accost you. Do you ever take time off?” Kya teased as Lin handed back the phone.
“Occasionally.” The bartender cracked a smile. “Now get out of my pub, and get some sleep.”
Kya gave a cheeky salute, pulled her bag up to her shoulder, and did as she was told.
Outside, Kya gave a shiver at the light wind, but she was close enough to home that she braved the cold in her tank top. She opened her phone. Lin Beifong, the contact read. The name seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place it.
After a short walk, Kya arrived at the steps of her building. She felt more sober, but still fumbled around clumsily in her bag for her keys, until all of the sudden a chill washed over her that was unrelated to the weather.
She’d left her keys at the hospital.
Kya remembered pulling them out of her bag at the nurses’ station desk to show off her carved Water Tribe charm, and then one of her trauma patients had coded. She definitely didn’t pick them back up.
She shook her head in an attempt to clear her brain and searched for a plan of action.
Her brother lived on the outskirts of this side of the city - on an island, actually - and would be such an ass if she woke him up at two in the morning, drunk. Her super was probably asleep, wherever he lived. She could go back to the hospital, but that would mean another two hours of commuting round trip and the subways weren’t reliable this time of night.
But she did know one person in her neighborhood who was definitely still awake.
Kya sighed, and made the call.
“Lin?”