His words never meant to cause Korra grief or anger. Bolin's intentions had been to simply voice his concerns and have her do with them whatever she liked. He was happy to be a constant presence in her life but not if the only way he'd get attention, was if she needed a pep talk. Bolin thought high of Korra but he wasn't delusional, he saw her faults and knew he needed to stop being a cheerleader and be an actual friend. As he spoke, he watched to see how she'd react. he had anticipated some annoyance at most but she seemed to be covering her emotions well except for her eyes, those gave pretty much everything away. Bolin still refused to regret his actions and words as he knew standing his ground would not only benefit her in the long run, but also himself. The earth bender knew she wasn't expecting his reaction to be so against her view point but Bolin needed to be more mature which meant he had to consider the big picture while Korra seemed to only be focused on parts of the big picture. 

If she was going to get her bending back, she needed to focus on that and not spread herself thin. And if she really wanted to help Republic City, she would rally their hope and courage together rather than meddle behind the scenes like Lin and Tenzin who at least knew what they were doing and what they were risking. Bolin didn't want to see Korra get hurt, emotionally or physically but he was realizing that he needed to stand up for himself which also entailed that the male make Korra find her own inspiration from inside herself, not just through his ramblings of admiration. She moved closer to him and pressed her forehead against his shoulder. He looked to her, not sure what she expect of him. He wanted to comfort her but at the same time, he felt like he shouldn’t, that she didn’t really need him to hold her and soothe her worries. Before he could do anything though, she moved away.

When she spoke without Mako or Asami around, her eyes were more downcast as if she couldn’t reach his gaze. Korra apologized and said how she knew she screwed up and how she was going to him for a morale boost. She finally raised her head to him and he held his breath, not wanting to see her like this but he hoped this could be a turning point for her. Then she came clean to her faults and then the topic took a turn he hadn’t expected. Korra asked why he stayed, why he felt a need to when things had been cleaned up. Without any danger, he didn’t have a real need to stick by the Avatar but it was clear she still didn’t get it. [b]”I am mad but somewhat myself because I should have just said how I felt, I just thought actions spoke louder than words. You kissing Mako didn’t have much to do with me, it’s not like I thought we were together.”[/b] He pointed out to her.

[b]”I’m not the yelling sort of guy, nor would I ignore someone who wronged me, I don’t see that helpful.”[/b] He told her. [b]”If I stopped being friends with you, it wouldn’t help either one of us.”[/b] He said and then fell silent as he tried to figure out how to best answer her question. Why did he stay? Why did he put up with her after all this time? [b]”We’re friends Korra, I mean my feelings aside, I was your friend before anything else happened and you’re a good person, yeah you’ve made mistakes and some of them you haven’t really learned from yet but you’re my friend and I’m your friend.”[/b] It was a simple enough answer and hopefully one she could accept. Bolin shrugged and stepped forward. [b]”Friends aren’t perfect and sometimes they do hurt each other’s feelings but what matters is you don’t give up on each other.”[/b] He said and put his arms around her gently, not sure how she’d respond.

- - -

Back at the pool, Asami had finished getting changed into her dark colored one piece suit. She left out a set each for Bolin and Korra if they were so inclined. Mako already had his from when she let him burrow it a few days ago. She and Mako hopped into the pool and swam around before turning their attention back to the ice cream sitting on the edge of the side of the pool. Asami swam over and grabbed her spoon as she treaded water. She took a bite and quickly realized it was too much since a stinging sensation began to attack her head. She made a face and pushed herself off from the wall. She would need to wait a bit longer before she had another taste of ice cream. [b]”Might wanna be careful.”[/b] She warned Mako though he was a fire bender and probably never had to worry about brain freeze.

Asami dove under water and the painful sensation soon faded away and she resurfaced. Asami swam around again and then rejoined Mako at the side of the powl where they ate their ice cream. It wasn’t easy but it was better than sitting out and eating the ice cream like normal people. By the time they had finished, Asami was worried about Bolin and Korra. She wasn’t sure what they could be talking about though she had a few ideas. Either way, she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to deal with the drama after such a nice day. Asami glanced to Mako and smiled. [b]“How about we go to the store tomorrow and pick up some groceries? I have someplace to be tomorrow morning, that meeting with the investors, but then again you and Bolin have training at the academy so at least we’ll both be busy.”[/b] She commented lightly.