Once Upon a Teashop
Title: Once Upon a Teashop
Pairing: Jetko, Zukka
Summary: In which Jet's a stalker, Sokka's suspicious, and Zuko just wants to make it through the day without murdering anyone. Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon.
Rating: T
Warnings: Crack? Which will clearly lead to some OOCness. Oh, and Jet's alive. Slightly AU, but should follow most of the major events of the end of Season 2, even if it ignores the timeline.
Notes: So I started this story a while ago after perusing Deviantart one day. I don't know if it'll end up Zukka or Jetko overall, or if it'll just be Jet/Zuko/Sokka. A A ménage a trois. :D
A Beautiful Day in Ba Sing Se
It was a beautiful day in Ba Sing Se. The sun was shining, birds chirping, and people pleasantly bustled back and forth in the busy marketplace. Even the Dai Li were surprisingly cheerful, as no one was thinking about the war on such a wonderful day, so no mysterious kidnapping-brainwashes had to occur. Overall, everyone was in a stupendous mood, content to enjoy one of the rare relaxing days the humongous earth kingdom city had to offer. Everyone except three teenage boys, that was.
The first of these unhappy, ungrateful of the wondrous day young men went by the name of Sokka. The hapless boy was a companion of the Avatar, and had been stuck in this barren, earth-filled city for ages. The fact that he wasn’t allowed to talk about the war or was constantly tailed by Dai Li agents or Joo Dee did nothing to help his rapidly deteriorating mood. And then there was the fact that Aang was still constantly moping on about “Appa this” and “Appa that”. It was nerve grating, and generally the tawny-skinned water tribesman was a pretty easygoing guy. However, there came a point in life where everyone reached their limit. The sarcasm-meat-boomerang-and-plan guy of the Avatar’s little team was quickly approaching that point. Even walking around the bustling marketplace and basking in its happiness and cheer did nothing to uplift his mood.
Of course, it didn’t help that he’d just been kicked out of a poetry class because his last line of haiku had had one too many syllables.
“I mean, come on!” he exclaimed to himself. “One syllable. One! They could’ve been like, ‘Hey, Sokka, why don’t you give it another try? After all, your other poems have all been amazingly wonderful!’ But do they? Nooooo. One slip up! Stupid, inconsiderate, witchy, overbearing…” the dark-skinned boy trailed off into an incomprehensible mumble, continuing to bump into people as he made his way through the crowd. So upset was he that he completely ignored the market stalls lining either side of the street that would’ve led to his favourite activity: shopping. After all, those girls had been pretty. Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe liked pretty things.
“Young man! Hey, young man!” a voice called from a stall selling assorted trinkets and jewellery caught the boy’s attention. “Yes, you!” the merchant affirmed when he saw that he had the kid’s attention. “Can I interest you in a pretty bauble?” The older man held up a complicated...something that was beautiful. But he had promised his sister he wouldn’t buy anymore useless, stupid stuff, so it would be best if he made sure this ‘bauble’ was something useful less Katara decide to drown him or something.
“What’s a bauble?” the blue-clad boy asked, meandering over to the money-hungry vendor. Curiosity sparkled in his luminous blue eyes.
“Oh, a bauble is a tremendous thing of...uh...high importance! Very rare in the world, they are. Very good for any pretty ladies you might have,” the grey-haired merchant added with a slight wink.
Sokka sighed, running a hand through his bound hair. The only pretty ladies he had were the moon and a deadly warrior who would either kill him over something so girly or love him forever. Could they even be considered his ladies, though? Yue was a spirit now, after all, and Suki had deemed her fellow Kyoshi warriors more important than he was, so... Crossing his arms over his chest, the boomerang guy stared at the bauble forlornly.
“I don’t have any ladies...” he muttered, digging his toe into the dirt.
The merchant was suddenly moved with pity for the put-upon young man in front of him. After all, he seemed pretty pathetic standing there looking as if he’d just been betrothed to the princess of the fire nation while the bubbly crowd floated past with not a care in the world. Remembering what it had been like to be that age so many years ago, the salesman knew just what the boy needed to cheer up.
“Aww, don’t look so down, kid,” he protested, swinging a heavy arm around the lithe teen’s shoulders. “You know what will cheer you up? A nice cup of tea. And I know just the place! It’s called the Jasmine Dragon, and it’s a few streets over from here in the restaurant part of the ring. The owner, Mushi, makes the best cup of tea this side of the world! It’s bound to cheer any poor soul. Doesn’t seem to have worked for that moody nephew of his, though...” the merchant trailed off, a slightly contemplative look on his face as he stroked his grey beard. “But trust me, boy,” he perked up after a few moments, “even if that grouchy schmuck does end up serving you, that tea will cheer you up so much you’ll be able to completely ignore that rude attitude. Trust good ol’ Aadi on this. I wouldn’t steer such a pathetic looking young man wrong.” And then the vendor was off, enticing the next unsuspecting victim into his lair of merchandise.
“Hey!” Sokka protested after a second. He’d been so busy contemplating the information that he hadn’t realized he’d been insulted. But now he just felt even more put-upon than before. “Well, if the tea’s really that good...Ah, what the hell.”
And so the boy ambled off into the crowds, heading straight into the heart of the restaurant district to the best tea shop in the entire Earth Kingdom, if not the entire world. The Jasmine Dragon.
The merchant had given Sokka surprisingly good instructions, so he found the place with little problems. Of course, the enticing smell of tea had certainly helped, as well as the stream of people coming from the direction talking about “that wonderful tea!” and “that nice old man Mushi”, or-in the case of the younger women-“that waiter is grumpy, but he’s hot!”, and so here the dark-haired teen found himself seated at a table next to the wall, waiting to be served. Five minutes of fruitless patience made the tribesman almost get up and leave, but the teashop just smelt so pleasant and fruity that he couldn’t bring himself to tear himself from the good feelings just yet. He closed his eyes and just flowed where the scents took him, from the top of the Northern Air Temple to the Cave of Two Lovers. He even felt some of the Temple of the Fire Sages thrown in the air. This place brought back such fond memories of near-death experiences. The only thing missing was-
“What can I get-you?!” the sharp, annoyed, and most of all familiar voice cut into Sokka’s musings. Jumping, the water nation teen’s bright blue eyes snapped open to come face to face with the shocked gold ones of Zuko.
Zuko. Banished Prince of the Fire Nation. Current teashop assistant going by the name ‘Li’. The second of three boys in the city that weren’t enjoying this pleasant day. Of course, there was also the fact that there were very few things that could currently make this moody firebender cheer up, and most of those things were either impossible or next to impossible (like seeing his sister get her ass handed to her, or his father deciding that Zuko was the best son ever and should never, ever have been banished and deserved a great big hug! ...Okay, so maybe the hug was pushing it a little, but the point still stands). So considering that depression was the black-haired boy’s usual state of mind, it was no surprise to anyone that he wouldn’t enjoy such a glorious afternoon.
Of course, Zuko’s day plummeted from its usual level of gloom to ‘the world is out to get me’ gloom (which, admittedly, wasn’t that large of a difference) when he came face to face with the boomerang buffoon from the Avatar’s gang. While wearing an apron and offering to serve him tea. The exiled prince had every certainty in his mind that if he didn’t do something fast, this idiot whose name escaped him at the moment would do something to mess up he and his uncle’s precarious refugee status. So, putting his best blasé, indifferent look on his face, the teashop assistant returned to his duty with gritted teeth.
“What type of tea would you like?” the light-skinned teen ground out. He crossed his arms and glared at the currently petrified younger boy.
“Tea?” the somewhat slow tribesman yelped. “Right! Tea!” He picked up his menu and pretended to glance over it for a few moments before he dropped it with a ‘thump’ and stood up. “Well, you know, there are just so many different types that look so good, I just can’t decide! So I guess I’ll just be going-!”
Zuko grabbed Sokka’s arm before he could make a speedy exit. A fake semi-pleasant look was plastered on the permanent grouch’s face. “You’ll have the house blend,” he growled around the fake smile. “And since you seem to like tea so much, I’m sure you’d love to meet my uncle. In the kitchen. Now.”
A nervous laugh bubbled out of Sokka’s throat as he glanced around the medium-sized, completely full shop. About half the customers were watching their little scene, most with either hidden or outright amusement at “Mushi’s crazy nephew”. There was definitely no escaping, but the blue-clad boy took comfort in the fact that Zuko probably wouldn’t kill him when there were so many potential witnesses near, especially the two Dai Li agents hidden in the corner sipping at their tea. He hoped.
The fire nation prince manhandled his pseudo-enemy into the back, where the quaint old teashop owner stood brewing new tea.
“Uncle,” he announced himself, giving the brown-haired boy a slight shove once the door had been shut behind him.
Iroh turned around and took in the scene before him. The young water tribesman stood there chewing on his lip and shifting from foot to foot. His pissed-off looking nephew blocked the door, glaring harshly at the unlucky companion of the Avatar.
“Oh, hello, young man!” the former general addressed Sokka cheerfully as he turned back to his pot. “Would you like a cup of tea?” He continued to stir his brew with one hand as he waved his other hand through the steam to relish the smell of perfectly prepared hot tea.
Sokka opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by an annoyed response.
“Does he want a cup of-?! Uncle! Don’t you know who this is?” Zuko couldn’t say he was shocked at Iroh’s response. After all, he’d been travelling with his eccentric relative for over three years. Some things you just learned to accept at face value.
That didn’t mean the fire prince wasn’t fuming at his uncle’s seeming indifference, though.
“Oh, yes. That’s the nice young man who travels with the Avatar! How have you and your friends been? Especially that nice young lady-Toph, was it? You know, she and I had a really interesting conversation when I offered her some tea once. ”
“Yeah, Toph’s, uh...good...I guess. But I want to know-!”
“Exactly!” Zuko cut Sokka off again. “He travels with the Avatar.”
“Nephew,” Iroh replied lightly, still intent on fixing his tea, “I’m sure this lovely young man just wants some tea, right?”
“Uh...yeah! Tea! That’s all I want. It’s not like I’m going to go back to Aang and tell him about this or tell the earth king that Fire Nation have invaded Ba Sing Se! Or anything.” Sokka nodded his head as if to emphasize his statement and turned around to meet the glaring face of the exiled prince.
“You’re not telling anyone about this!” Zuko hissed, folding his arms. “All we’re trying to do is hide out peacefully in Ba Sing Se because my crazy sister is trying to kill me-”
“Your sister is crazy.”
“-and not get caught which could, hey, I don’t know, get us killed! Do we really look like we’re out to hurt someone right now? I mean, we’re running a teashop! A freaking teashop! We are serving people tea! Do you understand that? Do you think this is all for fun? That one day I decided, ‘Hey, Uncle, let’s go live in Ba Sing Se for a while and serve tea!’ Of course not! And I don’t have time to worry about you going around telling people about this between my sister trying to kill me, hiding out in the middle of enemy territory, and being forced to deal with-”
“Oi! Li!” A loud, rambunctious voice called from outside of the kitchen.
“-Him,” the unlucky teen finished forlornly, smacking his forehead.
“Oh, don’t worry, nephew.” Iroh smiled at his nephew, wiping his hands on his apron as he moved to the door. “I will talk to your friend for you. What was his name again? Jet? Oh, that’s right! He’s such a helpful young man!” the retired general muttered to himself as he exited.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Sokka exclaimed. “Jet? Smooth-talking, hook-sword wielding, wheat-chewing Jet? Freedom fighter, hates the fire nation? That Jet?”
Zuko looked out from under his hand. “Why, you know him?”
The water tribesman scoffed. “Of course I know him, he’s my sister’s ex. How do you know him?”
“We met on the boat into Ba Sing Se, and, damn it! The guy’s obsessed. He won’t stop stalking me!”
“Yeah, like you’re one to talk about obsession or stalking.”
“First of all, I had (and still have) a reason for hunting the Avatar. Second of all, it’s not like I spied on any of you bathing naked or broke into your campsite to sniff your clothes!”
Silence for a second, and then, “...Wait, you didn’t do any of those things, right?”
“NO!”
While the two unhappy teens stood in the kitchen talking, the third and final unhappy boy stood out front, trying to wait to see the current object of his affection. Jet would normally have been happy and enjoying such a pleasant day that had been bequeathed upon the earth kingdom, but today wasn’t like most other days. For weeks, the poor young Freedom Fighter had been trying to catch the attention of the teashop waiter who he’d met on the boat into the city, but Li just ignored him...or tried to kill him, it really depended on the shorter boy’s mood. Even when Mushi had gotten his own teashop and his nephew had moved to the upper ring with his uncle, Jet had still found a way to sneak into the upper ring to stalk/spy on/see Li every day. Today was day fifty-three in his endeavours, and so far, everything was going the same. He stood outside of the teahouse, waiting for the object of his desire to make his way out to try and stop Jet from causing a scene (as he was prone to do-everyday). Instead, though, out came Mushi.
“Good Afternoon, Jet,” the old man greeted with a pleasant smile. “It is a pleasure to see you today as every day. However, I must ask that you refrain from shouting out to my nephew whenever you get here. It’s bad for business, you know, but if you really need to see Li today, he’s in the kitchen with a friend. I could definitely use some help with the dishes.”
Jet scratched his head and chewed on the wheat stalk sticking out of his mouth in thought. On one hand, he really didn’t feel like washing any dishes. On the other, it was condoned Li-stalking time. Putting on his fakest smile, the teen grinned. “Of course I’ll help!” he announced. “You know me. Always willing to help a nice old guy out with his dishes.” For a sweet glimpse of your nephew’s ass, the dark-haired boy tacked on mentally, making his way into the teashop, past the patrons, through the door to the kitchen, and then-
“Hey, L-Sokka?!” Instead of being greeted by the wonderfully harsh glare of the moody waiter, Jet found himself meeting the not-so-great harsh glare of a very familiar blue-clad watertribesman. Li stood slightly behind him, completely ignoring the both of them as he scrubbed at filth-ridden dishes.
“Wonderful! You know each other already!” Mushi exclaimed, entering behind Jet. Suddenly, the old man was struck with a wonderful idea. A horrible idea. A wonderful, horrible idea. With a sly smile, he continued, “Sokka here is our newest employee. “
“Wait, I’m what?!” The blue-eyed boy complained. “I never agreed to that! I don’t even know how long I’m going to be in the city! I don’t even want a job!” As usual, his protests were ignored.
Mostly.
“He doesn’t know how long he’ll be staying in the city, but he said that he could use the money on his travels.”
“I said no such thing!”
“Look,” Zuko quietly interrupted with a sigh, turning from his dishwashing, “Don’t bother arguing, he’ll just ignore you and then force you to do what he wants anyway. How do you think I got stuck working here? Besides, if you’re here and we’re here, you’ll always know what we’re doing, now, won’t you?”
Sokka frowned, leaning back against the wall next to the sink. “Are you openly inviting me to stalk you? No wonder you’ve got such a problem with Jet. You’re practically asking for it.”
Zuko’s good eye twitched slightly, and the younger teen suddenly found it in his best interest to shut up lest he ended up fried and served as a snack.
“Sure, I’d definitely love to work here, too!” Jet’s loud, boisterous voice cut into Zuko’s intimidation.
The Fire Nation boy snapped to attention, focussing back on his uncle and stalker’s conversation. He could not have heard what he just thought he’d heard. No way.
“Isn’t it wonderful, nephew? Two new, hardworking employees, all in the same day!”
“Uncle!” he cried. “You can’t do this to me!”
“Stop talking nonsense, Li, this isn’t about you.”
As the two relatives continued to argue back and forth, Jet sidled up next to Sokka, smirking down at the younger, shorter water tribesman.
“So…” he began. “How’s Katara?”
Sokka punched him.
TBC...
Pairing: Jetko, Zukka
Summary: In which Jet's a stalker, Sokka's suspicious, and Zuko just wants to make it through the day without murdering anyone. Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon.
Rating: T
Warnings: Crack? Which will clearly lead to some OOCness. Oh, and Jet's alive. Slightly AU, but should follow most of the major events of the end of Season 2, even if it ignores the timeline.
Notes: So I started this story a while ago after perusing Deviantart one day. I don't know if it'll end up Zukka or Jetko overall, or if it'll just be Jet/Zuko/Sokka. A A ménage a trois. :D
A Beautiful Day in Ba Sing Se
It was a beautiful day in Ba Sing Se. The sun was shining, birds chirping, and people pleasantly bustled back and forth in the busy marketplace. Even the Dai Li were surprisingly cheerful, as no one was thinking about the war on such a wonderful day, so no mysterious kidnapping-brainwashes had to occur. Overall, everyone was in a stupendous mood, content to enjoy one of the rare relaxing days the humongous earth kingdom city had to offer. Everyone except three teenage boys, that was.
The first of these unhappy, ungrateful of the wondrous day young men went by the name of Sokka. The hapless boy was a companion of the Avatar, and had been stuck in this barren, earth-filled city for ages. The fact that he wasn’t allowed to talk about the war or was constantly tailed by Dai Li agents or Joo Dee did nothing to help his rapidly deteriorating mood. And then there was the fact that Aang was still constantly moping on about “Appa this” and “Appa that”. It was nerve grating, and generally the tawny-skinned water tribesman was a pretty easygoing guy. However, there came a point in life where everyone reached their limit. The sarcasm-meat-boomerang-and-plan guy of the Avatar’s little team was quickly approaching that point. Even walking around the bustling marketplace and basking in its happiness and cheer did nothing to uplift his mood.
Of course, it didn’t help that he’d just been kicked out of a poetry class because his last line of haiku had had one too many syllables.
“I mean, come on!” he exclaimed to himself. “One syllable. One! They could’ve been like, ‘Hey, Sokka, why don’t you give it another try? After all, your other poems have all been amazingly wonderful!’ But do they? Nooooo. One slip up! Stupid, inconsiderate, witchy, overbearing…” the dark-skinned boy trailed off into an incomprehensible mumble, continuing to bump into people as he made his way through the crowd. So upset was he that he completely ignored the market stalls lining either side of the street that would’ve led to his favourite activity: shopping. After all, those girls had been pretty. Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe liked pretty things.
“Young man! Hey, young man!” a voice called from a stall selling assorted trinkets and jewellery caught the boy’s attention. “Yes, you!” the merchant affirmed when he saw that he had the kid’s attention. “Can I interest you in a pretty bauble?” The older man held up a complicated...something that was beautiful. But he had promised his sister he wouldn’t buy anymore useless, stupid stuff, so it would be best if he made sure this ‘bauble’ was something useful less Katara decide to drown him or something.
“What’s a bauble?” the blue-clad boy asked, meandering over to the money-hungry vendor. Curiosity sparkled in his luminous blue eyes.
“Oh, a bauble is a tremendous thing of...uh...high importance! Very rare in the world, they are. Very good for any pretty ladies you might have,” the grey-haired merchant added with a slight wink.
Sokka sighed, running a hand through his bound hair. The only pretty ladies he had were the moon and a deadly warrior who would either kill him over something so girly or love him forever. Could they even be considered his ladies, though? Yue was a spirit now, after all, and Suki had deemed her fellow Kyoshi warriors more important than he was, so... Crossing his arms over his chest, the boomerang guy stared at the bauble forlornly.
“I don’t have any ladies...” he muttered, digging his toe into the dirt.
The merchant was suddenly moved with pity for the put-upon young man in front of him. After all, he seemed pretty pathetic standing there looking as if he’d just been betrothed to the princess of the fire nation while the bubbly crowd floated past with not a care in the world. Remembering what it had been like to be that age so many years ago, the salesman knew just what the boy needed to cheer up.
“Aww, don’t look so down, kid,” he protested, swinging a heavy arm around the lithe teen’s shoulders. “You know what will cheer you up? A nice cup of tea. And I know just the place! It’s called the Jasmine Dragon, and it’s a few streets over from here in the restaurant part of the ring. The owner, Mushi, makes the best cup of tea this side of the world! It’s bound to cheer any poor soul. Doesn’t seem to have worked for that moody nephew of his, though...” the merchant trailed off, a slightly contemplative look on his face as he stroked his grey beard. “But trust me, boy,” he perked up after a few moments, “even if that grouchy schmuck does end up serving you, that tea will cheer you up so much you’ll be able to completely ignore that rude attitude. Trust good ol’ Aadi on this. I wouldn’t steer such a pathetic looking young man wrong.” And then the vendor was off, enticing the next unsuspecting victim into his lair of merchandise.
“Hey!” Sokka protested after a second. He’d been so busy contemplating the information that he hadn’t realized he’d been insulted. But now he just felt even more put-upon than before. “Well, if the tea’s really that good...Ah, what the hell.”
And so the boy ambled off into the crowds, heading straight into the heart of the restaurant district to the best tea shop in the entire Earth Kingdom, if not the entire world. The Jasmine Dragon.
The merchant had given Sokka surprisingly good instructions, so he found the place with little problems. Of course, the enticing smell of tea had certainly helped, as well as the stream of people coming from the direction talking about “that wonderful tea!” and “that nice old man Mushi”, or-in the case of the younger women-“that waiter is grumpy, but he’s hot!”, and so here the dark-haired teen found himself seated at a table next to the wall, waiting to be served. Five minutes of fruitless patience made the tribesman almost get up and leave, but the teashop just smelt so pleasant and fruity that he couldn’t bring himself to tear himself from the good feelings just yet. He closed his eyes and just flowed where the scents took him, from the top of the Northern Air Temple to the Cave of Two Lovers. He even felt some of the Temple of the Fire Sages thrown in the air. This place brought back such fond memories of near-death experiences. The only thing missing was-
“What can I get-you?!” the sharp, annoyed, and most of all familiar voice cut into Sokka’s musings. Jumping, the water nation teen’s bright blue eyes snapped open to come face to face with the shocked gold ones of Zuko.
Zuko. Banished Prince of the Fire Nation. Current teashop assistant going by the name ‘Li’. The second of three boys in the city that weren’t enjoying this pleasant day. Of course, there was also the fact that there were very few things that could currently make this moody firebender cheer up, and most of those things were either impossible or next to impossible (like seeing his sister get her ass handed to her, or his father deciding that Zuko was the best son ever and should never, ever have been banished and deserved a great big hug! ...Okay, so maybe the hug was pushing it a little, but the point still stands). So considering that depression was the black-haired boy’s usual state of mind, it was no surprise to anyone that he wouldn’t enjoy such a glorious afternoon.
Of course, Zuko’s day plummeted from its usual level of gloom to ‘the world is out to get me’ gloom (which, admittedly, wasn’t that large of a difference) when he came face to face with the boomerang buffoon from the Avatar’s gang. While wearing an apron and offering to serve him tea. The exiled prince had every certainty in his mind that if he didn’t do something fast, this idiot whose name escaped him at the moment would do something to mess up he and his uncle’s precarious refugee status. So, putting his best blasé, indifferent look on his face, the teashop assistant returned to his duty with gritted teeth.
“What type of tea would you like?” the light-skinned teen ground out. He crossed his arms and glared at the currently petrified younger boy.
“Tea?” the somewhat slow tribesman yelped. “Right! Tea!” He picked up his menu and pretended to glance over it for a few moments before he dropped it with a ‘thump’ and stood up. “Well, you know, there are just so many different types that look so good, I just can’t decide! So I guess I’ll just be going-!”
Zuko grabbed Sokka’s arm before he could make a speedy exit. A fake semi-pleasant look was plastered on the permanent grouch’s face. “You’ll have the house blend,” he growled around the fake smile. “And since you seem to like tea so much, I’m sure you’d love to meet my uncle. In the kitchen. Now.”
A nervous laugh bubbled out of Sokka’s throat as he glanced around the medium-sized, completely full shop. About half the customers were watching their little scene, most with either hidden or outright amusement at “Mushi’s crazy nephew”. There was definitely no escaping, but the blue-clad boy took comfort in the fact that Zuko probably wouldn’t kill him when there were so many potential witnesses near, especially the two Dai Li agents hidden in the corner sipping at their tea. He hoped.
The fire nation prince manhandled his pseudo-enemy into the back, where the quaint old teashop owner stood brewing new tea.
“Uncle,” he announced himself, giving the brown-haired boy a slight shove once the door had been shut behind him.
Iroh turned around and took in the scene before him. The young water tribesman stood there chewing on his lip and shifting from foot to foot. His pissed-off looking nephew blocked the door, glaring harshly at the unlucky companion of the Avatar.
“Oh, hello, young man!” the former general addressed Sokka cheerfully as he turned back to his pot. “Would you like a cup of tea?” He continued to stir his brew with one hand as he waved his other hand through the steam to relish the smell of perfectly prepared hot tea.
Sokka opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by an annoyed response.
“Does he want a cup of-?! Uncle! Don’t you know who this is?” Zuko couldn’t say he was shocked at Iroh’s response. After all, he’d been travelling with his eccentric relative for over three years. Some things you just learned to accept at face value.
That didn’t mean the fire prince wasn’t fuming at his uncle’s seeming indifference, though.
“Oh, yes. That’s the nice young man who travels with the Avatar! How have you and your friends been? Especially that nice young lady-Toph, was it? You know, she and I had a really interesting conversation when I offered her some tea once. ”
“Yeah, Toph’s, uh...good...I guess. But I want to know-!”
“Exactly!” Zuko cut Sokka off again. “He travels with the Avatar.”
“Nephew,” Iroh replied lightly, still intent on fixing his tea, “I’m sure this lovely young man just wants some tea, right?”
“Uh...yeah! Tea! That’s all I want. It’s not like I’m going to go back to Aang and tell him about this or tell the earth king that Fire Nation have invaded Ba Sing Se! Or anything.” Sokka nodded his head as if to emphasize his statement and turned around to meet the glaring face of the exiled prince.
“You’re not telling anyone about this!” Zuko hissed, folding his arms. “All we’re trying to do is hide out peacefully in Ba Sing Se because my crazy sister is trying to kill me-”
“Your sister is crazy.”
“-and not get caught which could, hey, I don’t know, get us killed! Do we really look like we’re out to hurt someone right now? I mean, we’re running a teashop! A freaking teashop! We are serving people tea! Do you understand that? Do you think this is all for fun? That one day I decided, ‘Hey, Uncle, let’s go live in Ba Sing Se for a while and serve tea!’ Of course not! And I don’t have time to worry about you going around telling people about this between my sister trying to kill me, hiding out in the middle of enemy territory, and being forced to deal with-”
“Oi! Li!” A loud, rambunctious voice called from outside of the kitchen.
“-Him,” the unlucky teen finished forlornly, smacking his forehead.
“Oh, don’t worry, nephew.” Iroh smiled at his nephew, wiping his hands on his apron as he moved to the door. “I will talk to your friend for you. What was his name again? Jet? Oh, that’s right! He’s such a helpful young man!” the retired general muttered to himself as he exited.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Sokka exclaimed. “Jet? Smooth-talking, hook-sword wielding, wheat-chewing Jet? Freedom fighter, hates the fire nation? That Jet?”
Zuko looked out from under his hand. “Why, you know him?”
The water tribesman scoffed. “Of course I know him, he’s my sister’s ex. How do you know him?”
“We met on the boat into Ba Sing Se, and, damn it! The guy’s obsessed. He won’t stop stalking me!”
“Yeah, like you’re one to talk about obsession or stalking.”
“First of all, I had (and still have) a reason for hunting the Avatar. Second of all, it’s not like I spied on any of you bathing naked or broke into your campsite to sniff your clothes!”
Silence for a second, and then, “...Wait, you didn’t do any of those things, right?”
“NO!”
While the two unhappy teens stood in the kitchen talking, the third and final unhappy boy stood out front, trying to wait to see the current object of his affection. Jet would normally have been happy and enjoying such a pleasant day that had been bequeathed upon the earth kingdom, but today wasn’t like most other days. For weeks, the poor young Freedom Fighter had been trying to catch the attention of the teashop waiter who he’d met on the boat into the city, but Li just ignored him...or tried to kill him, it really depended on the shorter boy’s mood. Even when Mushi had gotten his own teashop and his nephew had moved to the upper ring with his uncle, Jet had still found a way to sneak into the upper ring to stalk/spy on/see Li every day. Today was day fifty-three in his endeavours, and so far, everything was going the same. He stood outside of the teahouse, waiting for the object of his desire to make his way out to try and stop Jet from causing a scene (as he was prone to do-everyday). Instead, though, out came Mushi.
“Good Afternoon, Jet,” the old man greeted with a pleasant smile. “It is a pleasure to see you today as every day. However, I must ask that you refrain from shouting out to my nephew whenever you get here. It’s bad for business, you know, but if you really need to see Li today, he’s in the kitchen with a friend. I could definitely use some help with the dishes.”
Jet scratched his head and chewed on the wheat stalk sticking out of his mouth in thought. On one hand, he really didn’t feel like washing any dishes. On the other, it was condoned Li-stalking time. Putting on his fakest smile, the teen grinned. “Of course I’ll help!” he announced. “You know me. Always willing to help a nice old guy out with his dishes.” For a sweet glimpse of your nephew’s ass, the dark-haired boy tacked on mentally, making his way into the teashop, past the patrons, through the door to the kitchen, and then-
“Hey, L-Sokka?!” Instead of being greeted by the wonderfully harsh glare of the moody waiter, Jet found himself meeting the not-so-great harsh glare of a very familiar blue-clad watertribesman. Li stood slightly behind him, completely ignoring the both of them as he scrubbed at filth-ridden dishes.
“Wonderful! You know each other already!” Mushi exclaimed, entering behind Jet. Suddenly, the old man was struck with a wonderful idea. A horrible idea. A wonderful, horrible idea. With a sly smile, he continued, “Sokka here is our newest employee. “
“Wait, I’m what?!” The blue-eyed boy complained. “I never agreed to that! I don’t even know how long I’m going to be in the city! I don’t even want a job!” As usual, his protests were ignored.
Mostly.
“He doesn’t know how long he’ll be staying in the city, but he said that he could use the money on his travels.”
“I said no such thing!”
“Look,” Zuko quietly interrupted with a sigh, turning from his dishwashing, “Don’t bother arguing, he’ll just ignore you and then force you to do what he wants anyway. How do you think I got stuck working here? Besides, if you’re here and we’re here, you’ll always know what we’re doing, now, won’t you?”
Sokka frowned, leaning back against the wall next to the sink. “Are you openly inviting me to stalk you? No wonder you’ve got such a problem with Jet. You’re practically asking for it.”
Zuko’s good eye twitched slightly, and the younger teen suddenly found it in his best interest to shut up lest he ended up fried and served as a snack.
“Sure, I’d definitely love to work here, too!” Jet’s loud, boisterous voice cut into Zuko’s intimidation.
The Fire Nation boy snapped to attention, focussing back on his uncle and stalker’s conversation. He could not have heard what he just thought he’d heard. No way.
“Isn’t it wonderful, nephew? Two new, hardworking employees, all in the same day!”
“Uncle!” he cried. “You can’t do this to me!”
“Stop talking nonsense, Li, this isn’t about you.”
As the two relatives continued to argue back and forth, Jet sidled up next to Sokka, smirking down at the younger, shorter water tribesman.
“So…” he began. “How’s Katara?”
Sokka punched him.
TBC...