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"Hey Linny, can you pass me that pencil?" Harin asked. Hearing him, the entire room went dead silent. Lin pressed her lips together angrily, trying to convince herself to calm down.
Harin had asked her on a date two weeks ago, and they'd been on three dates since. This was the first time he was meeting her 'extended family', and he'd just blown any chance with her he'd had. Not that he knew that yet, but Lin was sure he would by the end of the night.
Silently, she handed the pencil over, allowing him to continue his game with Bumi and Uncle Sokka. Bumi's eyes were hard and promised death. She watched silently, the room still quiet and tense, as the three men finished their game quickly. Harin seemed confused at the two other men's desire to see the game finished so quickly, but his utter defeat by Bumi was accepted gracefully. When the three men separated, the tension eased, but Lin didn't bother to let herself relax. He'd mess up again; they always did.
And she was right. Halfway through dinner, he did it again.
"Can you pass the potatoes, Linny my love?" The glass in Bumi's hand shattered in his grip and Lin gritted her teeth tightly. Then, the tension exploded.
When Harin left that night, he was covered head to foot in mashed potatoes, and Bumi wasn't the least bit apologetic. Lin had no hesitation in informing Harin that there would not be a fifth date.
That night, Harin learned what everyone else already knew, and what most of Bumi's ex-girlfriends had already learned; no one used the nicknames Bumi and Lin had for each other except for them.