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[anatural]

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[candothat]

And for that, you would be negligent enough to let others die?

[Maybe it's unfair, but he and Lucy nearly died! Who knows who else suffered? And this mindset, this grieving while lives are in danger, just isn't something that he understands.

(And it's not just that. Chekov has been irritated with Korra before--little things, mostly--but it has taken time for him to get annoyed enough to say something.)]

You would do anything for Naga. Is no one else important to you?

[anatural]

[To be fair -- and neither of them are at the moment -- Korra wasn't herself at the time. Not just because of grief, but because of the Avatar state. (And monster Hei ran off really fast.)]

How can you say that? Of course other people are important to me! You're important to me!

[candothat]

[This is not the kind of situation in which teenagers are likely to reasonable.]

Am I? If I had died instead of only being hurt that night, when would you have known? How long would it have taken you to notice that I was gone?

[Because of course now is a great time to voice general insecurities!]

[anatural]

Somebody [probably Hei] would have told me.

[candothat]

And if not? Would you have noticed? You say we are friends, but sometimes it's as if we are only friends when it is a convenience for you.

[anatural]

What's that supposed to mean?

[candothat]

What do you think? I am here, always, when you need me to be. When I need you, where are you?

[anatural]

When haven't I been there for you? I've saved your life TWICE!

[candothat]

You are usually the reason my life needs to be saved!

[anatural]

Gluing Hei's furniture to the ceiling was your idea! And it's not my fault you went evil and KIDNAPPED ME.

[candothat]

Yes, but I wouldn't have done it without your influence, and he was your psychotic boyfriend! And being evil was not my fault, either!

[anatural]

You still can't blame me for it! Besides, HE'S YOUR FRIEND TOO. You can't blame me just because you don't like what happened.

[candothat]

[BUT HE USED THE PAST TENSE, OKAY. THEY WERE NOT FRIENDS THEN.]

Yes, okay, so we are both to blame for every stupid thing that happens to us! Derr'mo, maybe this is evidence that we should never do potentially idiotic things together, which clearly rules out everything.

[anatural]

[Korra stops in her (metaphorical) tracks.]

What?

[candothat]

[Chekov has built up some argumentative momentum. Can't stop, won't stop.]

When we do something, one of us nearly always ends up in the hospital or upset or dead.

[anatural]

So what are you saying?

[She knows. She's just hoping he means something else.]

[candothat]

I'm saying that you should hit me so we can end this conversation in the traditional way, and then we should stay away from each other.

[He almost sounds rational. That takes a special kind of out-of-control.]

[anatural]

Are you crazy? I'm not going to hit you!

[candothat]

Why not? Isn't that how you typically cope with things that annoy you?

[anatural]

[Her chin trembles. She's been working so hard to curb that tendency; it hurts to have it thrown in her face. Hurts even more from him, in a situation like this.]

Just go.

[Naga whines softly, looking between the two of them, uncertain what to do about the tension in the air. She likes Chekov. Chekov isn't a threat. But right now, Chekov is the source of Korra's distress.

At the end of the day, Korra is Naga's top priority. The polar bear dog steps between the two of them, not a bodyguard so much as a wall. She butts her head against Korra's shoulder, trying to comfort her.]

[candothat]

[A refusal is on the tip of his tongue until Naga interferes. He isn't mad at Naga; with the target of his anger effectively out of sight, he doesn't know what to do with the rest of the emotion simmering under his skin.

And so he hits the nearest inanimate object, which is a vaguely beachy-looking tree. The tree, arguably, hits back harder, and the sting is... refreshing. With rational thought returning, Chekov realizes, belatedly, that he had wanted Korra to hit him--to give him a good reason to be mad.

Because he hadn't had a good reason. October got to him more than he has been willing to admit and he needed an outlet (the "fight" with Meyer may have been an unconscious attempt to find that outlet, but that had been anticlimactic). Korra had been a reasonable target because she has made him angry in the past, most recently by not helping with the monster. But she hadn't deserved that kind of anger or those low blows.

Misdirected anger. This is something that Chekov has been guilty of before.

He doesn't know what to do now. Part of him wants to go around Naga and apologize profusely; a much prouder part of him thinks he should leave this as it is. Korra is not his only friend, and certainly not the best at being a friend. Maybe he had had some valid points. With no clear answer and a sudden drain of emotion and energy, he stays between Naga and the tree, too tired to analyze the situation further.]

[anatural]

GO AWAY.

[She wants to cry but she will kill herself before she does it where he can hear.]

[candothat]

Korra...

[He moves as far as Naga's head before he draws to a halt again. Wounded pride urges him to leave. His fear that he was cruel tells him to apologize regardless of what Korra says.]

[anatural]

[Korra curls up as tightly as she can and tries to focus on her breathing. She can't cry while he's still here. She won't cry while he's still here.

Naga turns and chuffs quietly at Chekov. Leave.]

[candothat]

[Chekov doesn't want to defy Naga, but he can't just leave. He'll be lucky if he ever sees Korra again.]

What I said--I meant none of it. ...Almost none of it. I'm-- [this word is so difficult to say right now] --sorry.