Once Upon a Teashop (Chapter Four)
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.
Chapter Summary: Jet stalks, Sokka's confused, and Zuko really just wants to be left alone.
Rating: T
Warnings: Crack? Which will clearly lead to some OOCness. Oh, and Jet's alive. Slightly AU, but will follow most of the major events of the end of Season 2, even if it ignores the timeline.
Notes: This chapter's been done and up on FFN for a while now. I just realized I completely forgot to LJ-post. So, here it is! Sorry for the wait. Um. Again. I have a few more chapters up there, and I'll post the rest of them here soon.
Not a Happy Camper
Jet…was not happy. It was past sundown, and the boy sat in his usual haunt on the roof across the street from the apartment Mushi and Li stayed in, the one that gave him that perfectly clear view into their tiny abode. Watching the scarred younger boy was pleasant and all, but it had been three days since Li had actually spoken an actual word to him, and the last thing he had said had been a not-so-subtle threat. Jet had dealt with the other boy’s anger before-several times, in fact, including when Li had saved him from being arrested-but this time seemed worse. It was compounded by the fact that the moody waiter had actually started speaking to Sokka of all people again today (even if just in insults and snide comments), while flat out ignoring every blatant come on, innuendo, or attempt at physical molestation that Jet had attempted.
So now, here he was, resorting back to his old methods. The former Freedom Fighter idly wondered if perhaps Li suspected that he was out here, right now, watching him. After all, every so often, the younger boy would wander past the window and glare out into the distance, generally in Jet’s direction. Jet sighed every time he saw those pale gold eyes glance out. He wasn’t sure what it was, but there was something that drew him continually in Li’s direction, something he had noticed from when he had first set eyes on his fellow refugee that day on the boat. It was in the way he carried himself, that’s what set him apart from the rest of the bedraggled, downtrodden, and all around defeated emigrants that surrounded them. He was more guarded than the rest of them, and clearly hurt deeper if that scar on his face was anything to go by, but he held himself tall and was clearly unwilling to deal with substandard conditions. Li had pride, and a good deal of it, too, something that Jet found interesting. Something that enticed the older boy and made him want to spend more time with him, much to Li’s consternation. Although, Li wasn’t too much of a problem.
The problem was with Mushi.
No matter what good thing Li had done for him that night outside the teashop, Jet knew what he had seen. Mushi’s tea had gone from lukewarm to steaming, something he would only have been able to do by firebending. For nights, the Freedom Fighter had lay in his bed trying to deny it, but no matter what way he looked about the situation, the old tea maker was a firebender. Li, he wasn’t sure about, as there had been no actual evidence against the other boy, but the fact that he was travelling with the old firebender made him completely suspect in Jet’s mind. So, after Li had saved him from the Dai Li, there had really been only one way to live with himself. Self-delusion.
Smellerbee and Longshot had noticed the way Jet had blinded himself to his prior knowledge, and while they were slightly concerned about it, both agreed that it was probably better for him in the long run. Jet had come to convince himself of what everyone else had been trying to tell him-what he saw was wrong. It was easy enough to The tea had always been hot. After all, Mushi had only complained about it not being hot enough. Maybe he just preferred it scalding. Self-delusion was the only thing keeping Jet’s precariously balanced world from completely crumpling down on itself, leaving only a heaping pile of ash in its wake.
Contentedly embracing this new outlook on life had left Jet with time to examine his motivations behind things, and while he had continued to follow the shorter boy around, the reasons behind the stalking had changed completely. There was one thing that Jet was absolutely positive of being true in his new delusion-based universe: a large part of him was attracted to Li. The way the waiter moved, the way he talked down to anyone he did not like (everyone), even the way he angrily shoved Jet out of the way on a regular basis-all his actions had burnt their way deep into Jet’s heart…or at least his pants, at any rate.
Jet sighed in contentment as he thought about the way Li looked when he was standing at the sink washing dishes, with his sleeves rolled up and that angry glower plastered across his face daring anyone to come bother him. He was only pulled out of his musings when the familiar feeling of sharp metal made itself aware against his neck.
“Li,” he greeted amiably, looking up to see the angry scarred face he had just been fantasizing about.
“What do you think you’re doing here?” the younger boy growled, one half of his dual dao set pressing harder against Jet’s neck to the point where the Freedom Fighter felt his Adam’s apple would get nicked if he were to swallow. The other sword was clasped tightly in a white-knuckled fist, which made him realize that perhaps now was not the best time to antagonize the already pissed-off waiter.
“You’re talking to me again, then?” he opted for instead, silently cursing when that only served to irritate Li more. The boy moved slightly, and Jet suddenly panicked and regretted leaving his own blades at home as he was sure that the black-haired boy meant to do some serious damage to his coworker. “Wait, wait, wait!” he exclaimed nervously, backing up slightly. His hand slipped against the edge of the shingles, and he looked behind him to see the rather abrupt drop that would surely result in broken bones should he go over. “Look, Li, I just wanted to apologize!”
“I got that the first fifteen times you tried,” Li growled in return, not moving any closer, but also not dropping his weapon. “I would probably be more impressed if you weren’t watching me through my bedroom window.”
“What can I say?” the cornered teen shot back with a slightly nervous laugh. “You make me want you, baby.” The line was said with such a cheesy grin that the object of Jet’s unwanted affection merely grimaced as if that line had physically hurt him before smoothly combining his swords and sliding them back into the scabbards. He sighed before taking a seat in front of Jet and staring at him with that perpetual frown that graced his scarred features.
“I don’t understand you at all,” Li snapped. “First you run around trying to prove that my uncle and I are firebenders-” Jet twitched at this, but decided to let it slide over his head. “-and then you just start straight out stalking me for no good reason when you drop that whole thing, only to start betting with Sokka of all people about my love life, or lack thereof, and then ruin the only date I’ve ever gone on! And then you try and apologize by being even more of an ass than usual and then sitting outside of my window watching me! What is wrong with you?”
Jet blinked and went to reply. “That was your first date?” he asked. Most of him was completely unsurprised by both the revelation and the fact that his mouth had spoken before his brain could process what was being said.
“Of course that’s all you get from that,” the shorter boy growled, his gold eyes flashing angrily as he stood up. “You know, Jet, when I first met you, on the boat into Ba Sing Se-I don’t know. I thought you were different. Someone who cared about people; someone I could actually be friends with.” Jet froze at this. Li barely graced him with more than a line of insults strung together, but now he was actually talking to him. Honestly. Jet didn’t know what had brought this on so suddenly, so out of character for the other boy, but he sat up a little straighter as he took in everything the object of his attention was telling him. “For a short time there, I actually liked you,” the scarred boy continued, raking his fingers through his short hair as he continued to glare down directly into dark eyes. “Now I realize that you are singularly the second biggest mistake I’ve made in my life. Congratulations, Jet, because I’ve made a lot of mistakes.” The last bit was said bitterly, and the Freedom Fighter was suddenly aware of a sharp stinging in his chest, one that he had really only felt once before when an angry Katara had froze him to a tree, her heart completely broken over the way he had used her and Aang. Guilt.
As Li turned to leave, Jet jumped up, and grabbed his arm. The other boy turned to look back at him through dark gold eyes, and he was suddenly aware that this was much deeper than the waiter’s usual little snits. He opened his mouth to apologize, sincerely this time.
“So what was your first biggest mistake?” he asked instead, and cursed himself inwardly when he was met with a disgusted look. He did note, however, how the other refugee idly fingered his scar for a moment before turning away in a huff.
“Just leave, Jet,” were the final words that the shaggy-haired boy received before his coworker disappeared into the shadows surrounding the roof he sat on, leaving him completely alone.
xXxXxXxXxXx
Sokka awoke to the wonderful morning sounds of birds chirping, Aang’s loud eating, and Toph and Katara in the middle of a bending war. Stretching, he let out a loud yawn, and scratched at the hair that hung down around his head.
“Good morning, everybody!” he called cheerfully as he exited the room he had been given in the house for the duration of their stay in the city a few minutes later fully dressed, shaved, and hair styled.
“Morning, Sokka!” Aang replied cheerfully, waving from where he sat kneeling with a bowl of rice. “Joo Dee already stopped by to deliver our breakfast. We were going to wake you, but then Toph got Katara mad by calling her names again, and, well…” The Avatar gestured to the other side of the room, where destruction ran rampant, the aftereffects of the two girls’ morning ritual. Now they sat on opposite sides of the room, glaring angrily each other. Sokka sighed, but then suddenly paused as what Aang said caught up with him.
“Wait-breakfast already came by? How long ago?” he asked dramatically, grabbing his young friend by the arms and shaking him a bit.
“Not too long ago, but-wait, where are you going, Sokka?” the bald monk suddenly cut himself off as the water tribesman suddenly dropped him, running out of the room with cries of ‘I’m late!’ echoing behind him.
Sokka ran down the winding streets of the city, not stopping until he reached the fancy teashop that, luckily enough, had not yet gotten crowded. He breathed a sigh of relief and then stepped into the shop-only to suddenly find himself completely crushed under the overwhelming tension that had somehow seeped its way into the rather quaint business overnight.
Zuko and Jet were both serving tea, each to one of the two customers there, and the annoying Freedom Fighter kept shooting odd looks at the exiled prince, who seemed to be doing his very best (which was actually extremely good) to ignore him. Sokka sighed and made his way over to the lesser of the two evils at the moment. Zuko ignored him, as well.
“Li,” Sokka tried out loud, only to find himself on the receiving end of one of those scalding glares. He just tugged the boy’s sleeve and pulled him into the back room. “I-,” he began, but was suddenly cut off by the evil prince’s wildly gesturing hands as the firebender began to rant.
“What is wrong with the both of you?!” he cried. “Is it too much to realize that I just want to be left alone? I hate this city! This whole time, its just been Jet, Jet, Jet, following me around nonstop, trying to get me arrested and who knows what and then just doing it for kicks, I don’t know. And now it’s him and you, you stupid little Water Tribe peasant, and if I turn around, one of you is suddenly there, right in my face. Always trying to talk to me or apologize or make some sort of snide comment or creepy innuendo. I had more space on that tiny ship I lived on for three years! And then that’s just not enough for either of you, is it? But I guess it’s no surprise-you must hate me! After all, I’ve only been chasing you around trying to capture you for a long, long time, even if I didn’t particularly have a choice. And Jet is just an ass who doesn’t care about other people’s feelings! This whole city is so stupid. We’re going to start over, Uncle said. It’ll all be great, Uncle said. We’re going to hide where Azula won’t find us, Uncle said. Knowing my luck, my sister’s probably on her way here right now! After all, you showed up, which means the Avatar’s somewhere around here, too! What are you even doing in the city?!” Zuko ended on a huff, glaring directly into Sokka’s blue eyes as he held onto the younger boy’s top.
“Um…do you feel better now?” the water tribesman attempted after a few moments.
There was a slight pause before the angry prince muttered a, “Yes,” and dropped his enemy, turning away to cross his arms.
Sokka grinned slightly at the other boy’s petulant attitude, thinking over the question he was just asked. Whether or not Zuko realized it, it was a pretty loaded question. Although, telling the prince of the Fire Nation that they were in Ba Sing Se to try and get forces to invade the Fire Nation on the one day where all the benders would lose their ability was probably not the best idea, so Sokka went for the other honest option.
“We lost Appa,” he said with a shrug. A part of him still protested giving the prince even that much information, but considering how very little standing he had at the moment-branded a traitor and wanted dead or alive-Sokka figured Zuko didn’t have that much of a leg to stand on when it came to catching Aang right now. Especially not if he was really interested in staying in the city peacefully, as it had become increasingly obvious that he was. The Fire Nation prince half turned to stare at him out of his bad eye, confusion clearly visible.
“What?” he asked.
“What we’re doing in the city. We were in the desert visiting-well, it’s not important what we were doing. Toph was the only one around, and some sand benders snuck up on her and kidnapped Appa. We have strong reason to believe he’s somewhere in the city, so we’re here until we find him.”
“That’s it?”
“What do you mean that’s it?” That was offensive. Losing Appa had hit the whole team hard, especially Aang. Although, considering who he was talking to…
“That’s the whole reason you’re in this city with its thrice-damned walls? Because the Avatar lost his pet bison?” The derision in those words was even more painfully obvious now, especially as the green-clad boy turned to fully face his foe.
“Yeah, kind of like the whole reason you’re in this city with it’s thrice-damned walls is because your dad banished you and then branded you a traitor,” Sokka snapped back, although he froze when he saw the sudden hurt on Zuko’s scarred face, quickly masked by that permanent anger. “Wait, Zuko-,” he tried, but the prince just pushed past him and out into the main shop, getting back to work without another word. Sokka wandered after him a moment later, shame crossing his face when Iroh turned to give him a knowing look.
“Well, at least he’s mad at both of us,” Jet said out of nowhere, and Sokka looked up to find that the Freedom Fighter had sidled up next to him at some point. “Although, he’s at least had some time to cool down from last night with me.”
The blue-eyed boy raised an eyebrow at his sister’s ex-boyfriend, although it wasn’t quite as impressive as when Jet did it himself. “Last night?” he asked, and the implication in his tone was not easily missed. Jet almost flushed, but he would not be himself if he didn’t know how to flirt relentlessly and make crude jokes, so Sokka’s implication meant nothing.
“Yep, last night.” The Freedom Fighter suddenly found himself at a loss for words as he tried to formulate what he wanted to say.
“Sokka,” he began slowly. “I mean…you seem to know him, right? At least better than I do.”
It was with a cautious glare that the water tribesman addressed Jet. “Sort of,” he replied. “But not really. Although if you’re thinking what I’m thinking you are, I’m going to tell you right now, Jet: don’t do it. Don’t try it. Don’t go for it. Don’t even think on it any further. I guarantee you it won’t work.” Because not only was Zuko not nearly the pushover Katara was, he was also Fire Nation. And while Jet seemed to have been fooled on that point up until, Sokka was positive that it would not stay a secret for long.
Jet stayed silent for a few moments, only making a sly comment when Zuko came over and, rather angrily, set two trays in front of them with no words, only pointing at the tables they were supposed to be delivered to. Sokka, picking up the tray to deliver, wondered what exactly it was that had set the moody but quiet prince off.
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.
Chapter Summary: Jet stalks, Sokka's confused, and Zuko really just wants to be left alone.
Rating: T
Warnings: Crack? Which will clearly lead to some OOCness. Oh, and Jet's alive. Slightly AU, but will follow most of the major events of the end of Season 2, even if it ignores the timeline.
Notes: This chapter's been done and up on FFN for a while now. I just realized I completely forgot to LJ-post. So, here it is! Sorry for the wait. Um. Again. I have a few more chapters up there, and I'll post the rest of them here soon.
Not a Happy Camper
Jet…was not happy. It was past sundown, and the boy sat in his usual haunt on the roof across the street from the apartment Mushi and Li stayed in, the one that gave him that perfectly clear view into their tiny abode. Watching the scarred younger boy was pleasant and all, but it had been three days since Li had actually spoken an actual word to him, and the last thing he had said had been a not-so-subtle threat. Jet had dealt with the other boy’s anger before-several times, in fact, including when Li had saved him from being arrested-but this time seemed worse. It was compounded by the fact that the moody waiter had actually started speaking to Sokka of all people again today (even if just in insults and snide comments), while flat out ignoring every blatant come on, innuendo, or attempt at physical molestation that Jet had attempted.
So now, here he was, resorting back to his old methods. The former Freedom Fighter idly wondered if perhaps Li suspected that he was out here, right now, watching him. After all, every so often, the younger boy would wander past the window and glare out into the distance, generally in Jet’s direction. Jet sighed every time he saw those pale gold eyes glance out. He wasn’t sure what it was, but there was something that drew him continually in Li’s direction, something he had noticed from when he had first set eyes on his fellow refugee that day on the boat. It was in the way he carried himself, that’s what set him apart from the rest of the bedraggled, downtrodden, and all around defeated emigrants that surrounded them. He was more guarded than the rest of them, and clearly hurt deeper if that scar on his face was anything to go by, but he held himself tall and was clearly unwilling to deal with substandard conditions. Li had pride, and a good deal of it, too, something that Jet found interesting. Something that enticed the older boy and made him want to spend more time with him, much to Li’s consternation. Although, Li wasn’t too much of a problem.
The problem was with Mushi.
No matter what good thing Li had done for him that night outside the teashop, Jet knew what he had seen. Mushi’s tea had gone from lukewarm to steaming, something he would only have been able to do by firebending. For nights, the Freedom Fighter had lay in his bed trying to deny it, but no matter what way he looked about the situation, the old tea maker was a firebender. Li, he wasn’t sure about, as there had been no actual evidence against the other boy, but the fact that he was travelling with the old firebender made him completely suspect in Jet’s mind. So, after Li had saved him from the Dai Li, there had really been only one way to live with himself. Self-delusion.
Smellerbee and Longshot had noticed the way Jet had blinded himself to his prior knowledge, and while they were slightly concerned about it, both agreed that it was probably better for him in the long run. Jet had come to convince himself of what everyone else had been trying to tell him-what he saw was wrong. It was easy enough to The tea had always been hot. After all, Mushi had only complained about it not being hot enough. Maybe he just preferred it scalding. Self-delusion was the only thing keeping Jet’s precariously balanced world from completely crumpling down on itself, leaving only a heaping pile of ash in its wake.
Contentedly embracing this new outlook on life had left Jet with time to examine his motivations behind things, and while he had continued to follow the shorter boy around, the reasons behind the stalking had changed completely. There was one thing that Jet was absolutely positive of being true in his new delusion-based universe: a large part of him was attracted to Li. The way the waiter moved, the way he talked down to anyone he did not like (everyone), even the way he angrily shoved Jet out of the way on a regular basis-all his actions had burnt their way deep into Jet’s heart…or at least his pants, at any rate.
Jet sighed in contentment as he thought about the way Li looked when he was standing at the sink washing dishes, with his sleeves rolled up and that angry glower plastered across his face daring anyone to come bother him. He was only pulled out of his musings when the familiar feeling of sharp metal made itself aware against his neck.
“Li,” he greeted amiably, looking up to see the angry scarred face he had just been fantasizing about.
“What do you think you’re doing here?” the younger boy growled, one half of his dual dao set pressing harder against Jet’s neck to the point where the Freedom Fighter felt his Adam’s apple would get nicked if he were to swallow. The other sword was clasped tightly in a white-knuckled fist, which made him realize that perhaps now was not the best time to antagonize the already pissed-off waiter.
“You’re talking to me again, then?” he opted for instead, silently cursing when that only served to irritate Li more. The boy moved slightly, and Jet suddenly panicked and regretted leaving his own blades at home as he was sure that the black-haired boy meant to do some serious damage to his coworker. “Wait, wait, wait!” he exclaimed nervously, backing up slightly. His hand slipped against the edge of the shingles, and he looked behind him to see the rather abrupt drop that would surely result in broken bones should he go over. “Look, Li, I just wanted to apologize!”
“I got that the first fifteen times you tried,” Li growled in return, not moving any closer, but also not dropping his weapon. “I would probably be more impressed if you weren’t watching me through my bedroom window.”
“What can I say?” the cornered teen shot back with a slightly nervous laugh. “You make me want you, baby.” The line was said with such a cheesy grin that the object of Jet’s unwanted affection merely grimaced as if that line had physically hurt him before smoothly combining his swords and sliding them back into the scabbards. He sighed before taking a seat in front of Jet and staring at him with that perpetual frown that graced his scarred features.
“I don’t understand you at all,” Li snapped. “First you run around trying to prove that my uncle and I are firebenders-” Jet twitched at this, but decided to let it slide over his head. “-and then you just start straight out stalking me for no good reason when you drop that whole thing, only to start betting with Sokka of all people about my love life, or lack thereof, and then ruin the only date I’ve ever gone on! And then you try and apologize by being even more of an ass than usual and then sitting outside of my window watching me! What is wrong with you?”
Jet blinked and went to reply. “That was your first date?” he asked. Most of him was completely unsurprised by both the revelation and the fact that his mouth had spoken before his brain could process what was being said.
“Of course that’s all you get from that,” the shorter boy growled, his gold eyes flashing angrily as he stood up. “You know, Jet, when I first met you, on the boat into Ba Sing Se-I don’t know. I thought you were different. Someone who cared about people; someone I could actually be friends with.” Jet froze at this. Li barely graced him with more than a line of insults strung together, but now he was actually talking to him. Honestly. Jet didn’t know what had brought this on so suddenly, so out of character for the other boy, but he sat up a little straighter as he took in everything the object of his attention was telling him. “For a short time there, I actually liked you,” the scarred boy continued, raking his fingers through his short hair as he continued to glare down directly into dark eyes. “Now I realize that you are singularly the second biggest mistake I’ve made in my life. Congratulations, Jet, because I’ve made a lot of mistakes.” The last bit was said bitterly, and the Freedom Fighter was suddenly aware of a sharp stinging in his chest, one that he had really only felt once before when an angry Katara had froze him to a tree, her heart completely broken over the way he had used her and Aang. Guilt.
As Li turned to leave, Jet jumped up, and grabbed his arm. The other boy turned to look back at him through dark gold eyes, and he was suddenly aware that this was much deeper than the waiter’s usual little snits. He opened his mouth to apologize, sincerely this time.
“So what was your first biggest mistake?” he asked instead, and cursed himself inwardly when he was met with a disgusted look. He did note, however, how the other refugee idly fingered his scar for a moment before turning away in a huff.
“Just leave, Jet,” were the final words that the shaggy-haired boy received before his coworker disappeared into the shadows surrounding the roof he sat on, leaving him completely alone.
xXxXxXxXxXx
Sokka awoke to the wonderful morning sounds of birds chirping, Aang’s loud eating, and Toph and Katara in the middle of a bending war. Stretching, he let out a loud yawn, and scratched at the hair that hung down around his head.
“Good morning, everybody!” he called cheerfully as he exited the room he had been given in the house for the duration of their stay in the city a few minutes later fully dressed, shaved, and hair styled.
“Morning, Sokka!” Aang replied cheerfully, waving from where he sat kneeling with a bowl of rice. “Joo Dee already stopped by to deliver our breakfast. We were going to wake you, but then Toph got Katara mad by calling her names again, and, well…” The Avatar gestured to the other side of the room, where destruction ran rampant, the aftereffects of the two girls’ morning ritual. Now they sat on opposite sides of the room, glaring angrily each other. Sokka sighed, but then suddenly paused as what Aang said caught up with him.
“Wait-breakfast already came by? How long ago?” he asked dramatically, grabbing his young friend by the arms and shaking him a bit.
“Not too long ago, but-wait, where are you going, Sokka?” the bald monk suddenly cut himself off as the water tribesman suddenly dropped him, running out of the room with cries of ‘I’m late!’ echoing behind him.
Sokka ran down the winding streets of the city, not stopping until he reached the fancy teashop that, luckily enough, had not yet gotten crowded. He breathed a sigh of relief and then stepped into the shop-only to suddenly find himself completely crushed under the overwhelming tension that had somehow seeped its way into the rather quaint business overnight.
Zuko and Jet were both serving tea, each to one of the two customers there, and the annoying Freedom Fighter kept shooting odd looks at the exiled prince, who seemed to be doing his very best (which was actually extremely good) to ignore him. Sokka sighed and made his way over to the lesser of the two evils at the moment. Zuko ignored him, as well.
“Li,” Sokka tried out loud, only to find himself on the receiving end of one of those scalding glares. He just tugged the boy’s sleeve and pulled him into the back room. “I-,” he began, but was suddenly cut off by the evil prince’s wildly gesturing hands as the firebender began to rant.
“What is wrong with the both of you?!” he cried. “Is it too much to realize that I just want to be left alone? I hate this city! This whole time, its just been Jet, Jet, Jet, following me around nonstop, trying to get me arrested and who knows what and then just doing it for kicks, I don’t know. And now it’s him and you, you stupid little Water Tribe peasant, and if I turn around, one of you is suddenly there, right in my face. Always trying to talk to me or apologize or make some sort of snide comment or creepy innuendo. I had more space on that tiny ship I lived on for three years! And then that’s just not enough for either of you, is it? But I guess it’s no surprise-you must hate me! After all, I’ve only been chasing you around trying to capture you for a long, long time, even if I didn’t particularly have a choice. And Jet is just an ass who doesn’t care about other people’s feelings! This whole city is so stupid. We’re going to start over, Uncle said. It’ll all be great, Uncle said. We’re going to hide where Azula won’t find us, Uncle said. Knowing my luck, my sister’s probably on her way here right now! After all, you showed up, which means the Avatar’s somewhere around here, too! What are you even doing in the city?!” Zuko ended on a huff, glaring directly into Sokka’s blue eyes as he held onto the younger boy’s top.
“Um…do you feel better now?” the water tribesman attempted after a few moments.
There was a slight pause before the angry prince muttered a, “Yes,” and dropped his enemy, turning away to cross his arms.
Sokka grinned slightly at the other boy’s petulant attitude, thinking over the question he was just asked. Whether or not Zuko realized it, it was a pretty loaded question. Although, telling the prince of the Fire Nation that they were in Ba Sing Se to try and get forces to invade the Fire Nation on the one day where all the benders would lose their ability was probably not the best idea, so Sokka went for the other honest option.
“We lost Appa,” he said with a shrug. A part of him still protested giving the prince even that much information, but considering how very little standing he had at the moment-branded a traitor and wanted dead or alive-Sokka figured Zuko didn’t have that much of a leg to stand on when it came to catching Aang right now. Especially not if he was really interested in staying in the city peacefully, as it had become increasingly obvious that he was. The Fire Nation prince half turned to stare at him out of his bad eye, confusion clearly visible.
“What?” he asked.
“What we’re doing in the city. We were in the desert visiting-well, it’s not important what we were doing. Toph was the only one around, and some sand benders snuck up on her and kidnapped Appa. We have strong reason to believe he’s somewhere in the city, so we’re here until we find him.”
“That’s it?”
“What do you mean that’s it?” That was offensive. Losing Appa had hit the whole team hard, especially Aang. Although, considering who he was talking to…
“That’s the whole reason you’re in this city with its thrice-damned walls? Because the Avatar lost his pet bison?” The derision in those words was even more painfully obvious now, especially as the green-clad boy turned to fully face his foe.
“Yeah, kind of like the whole reason you’re in this city with it’s thrice-damned walls is because your dad banished you and then branded you a traitor,” Sokka snapped back, although he froze when he saw the sudden hurt on Zuko’s scarred face, quickly masked by that permanent anger. “Wait, Zuko-,” he tried, but the prince just pushed past him and out into the main shop, getting back to work without another word. Sokka wandered after him a moment later, shame crossing his face when Iroh turned to give him a knowing look.
“Well, at least he’s mad at both of us,” Jet said out of nowhere, and Sokka looked up to find that the Freedom Fighter had sidled up next to him at some point. “Although, he’s at least had some time to cool down from last night with me.”
The blue-eyed boy raised an eyebrow at his sister’s ex-boyfriend, although it wasn’t quite as impressive as when Jet did it himself. “Last night?” he asked, and the implication in his tone was not easily missed. Jet almost flushed, but he would not be himself if he didn’t know how to flirt relentlessly and make crude jokes, so Sokka’s implication meant nothing.
“Yep, last night.” The Freedom Fighter suddenly found himself at a loss for words as he tried to formulate what he wanted to say.
“Sokka,” he began slowly. “I mean…you seem to know him, right? At least better than I do.”
It was with a cautious glare that the water tribesman addressed Jet. “Sort of,” he replied. “But not really. Although if you’re thinking what I’m thinking you are, I’m going to tell you right now, Jet: don’t do it. Don’t try it. Don’t go for it. Don’t even think on it any further. I guarantee you it won’t work.” Because not only was Zuko not nearly the pushover Katara was, he was also Fire Nation. And while Jet seemed to have been fooled on that point up until, Sokka was positive that it would not stay a secret for long.
Jet stayed silent for a few moments, only making a sly comment when Zuko came over and, rather angrily, set two trays in front of them with no words, only pointing at the tables they were supposed to be delivered to. Sokka, picking up the tray to deliver, wondered what exactly it was that had set the moody but quiet prince off.
TBC...