Fic: "The Good Kind of Surprise"
It seems I've been spitting out fic left and right this summer. Which is the correct way to spend a summer, as far as I'm concerned.
Title: The Good Kind of Surprise
Word Count: 1, 760
Rating: T
Warnings: Nudity, language
Characters/Pairings: Lt. Jee/Zuko
Summary: Lieutenant Jee doesn't realize how full of surprises his young commander can be.
Author's Notes: Looks like princebender is in full swing now! This pleases me greatly. This paticular piece was done for the anon who requested an Awkward First Kiss, and since I've hinted at it in "Surreal Night" already, I decided it would be fun to expand on it. Also, shower makeouts. You cannot go wrong with shower makeouts.
In other news, I've begun the Great Move to AO3 - most of my oneshots are already there along with some drabbles and a few chapters of the HP/ATLA crossover. I'm still gearing myself up to moving "Substitute" over there, too. 'Tis a daunting task.
~~~~
Very few things in life, the lieutenant mused as he turned the shower on, were as good as a hot shower.
Mmmmm. Yes. He really needed that.
He turned around, letting the water wash away the strain of yet another shitty day on Prince Zuko’s old clunker of a ship, and simply soaked up the warmth before he started scrubbing in earnest. It wasn’t often that he could take his time washing and he was damn determined to make the most of it. Any scrap of solitude was to be cherished here, no matter how short.
At least there was no one who barge in on him now that most of the crew were ---
--- Okay, that had better not be the sound of the door opening or Jee would be mad.
But, damn it all to the Spirit World, it was. The door behind him opened and closed with the creak of ancient hinges, not quite drowned by the hiss of the water. Jee gritted his teeth. He really hoped he’d be left alone. But if he couldn’t have that, he’d just ignore the intruder - whoever he was - and carry on washing, simply making it quicker than he’d initially intended.
But the person behind him decided to ruin even that by speaking.
“Lieutenant.”
Crap. Just what was the Prince doing here at this time of night?
So much for ignoring the intruder. Jee sighed - there was nothing for it. Demonic brat or not, Zuko was still his commander.
“Yes, sir?” he asked, angling his body so that he faced Zuko over his shoulder without his private bits showing. Not that the Prince would be fazed by that, but Jee was not comfortable with this situation and he damn well intended to communicate that. He also decided against turning the stream of hot water off - maybe by some strange miracle the brat would take the hint.
Zuko was standing by the closed door, staring at him. He wore his sleeping tunic which was already getting too small for him, the fabric clinging to his figure in very interesting ways Jee was not going to contemplate now. The wisps of wet, hot steam gliding through the dark room made it easier, bathing both of them in humid mist.
If the brat was going to rant at Jee about the Avatar now, in the showers of all places…
He wasn’t, though. What he really wanted turned out to be far more bizarre.
And attacked Jee without preamble.
“I saw you staring at me.”
And, just like that, Jee felt the floor disappear from under him.
He was a dead man. So very, very dead. So incredibly dead that he was still standing upright and breathing out of habit alone. There was only one thing Zuko could mean by that and if he noticed, if he read it correctly, which, dear Spirits, it seemed he did, Jee would most likely not make it out of this shower alive. He could talk his way out of most of the typical insubordination shambles easily enough, but if his ogling got so obvious that the Prince noticed…
He’ll put up a fight. Naked or otherwise, he won’t make it easy. His feet slid apart on the wet floor to support a fighting stance almost on instinct, his body tensing, getting ready to deflect the inevitable flood of wild fire blasts; but Zuko just stood there, arms rigidly at his sides, fingers balled into fists, that familiar, dreaded expression of set, unbendable determination clearly painted on his face.
What he wasn’t doing was getting into a fighting stance himself.
“Sir?” Jee risked. If the kid wanted to threaten him instead only to humiliate him publicly once the crew returned from their port leave, he had another thing coming.
Zuko took a couple steps closer and Jee’s body went rigid again. He had to be ready. Zuko could be rat-viper quick if he wanted to.
“You were staring at me, Lieutenant,” Zuko repeated, looking straight at Jee. Surprisingly, his uncharacteristically quiet voice didn’t sound sharp or threatening and almost died in the hiss of the water; the steam was already clinging to his skin, making his clothes distractedly sticky.
And maybe Jee had his overactive imagination to blame for this, but once Zuko got closer, the lieutenant fancied he glimpsed something else besides the usual mask of resolve on his face; the golden eyes shone unnaturally bright and there was a hue of red blossoming on his healthy cheek. His voice, too, sounded unnaturally strained, as though the brat had to control it with extra effort.
Right, now Jee had no idea what to make of all this. Because surely Zuko wouldn’t actually ---
“Don’t deny it,” continued the Prince, a bit louder this time. He stepped even closer. “I caught you.”
And then he looked Jee up and down. It was fleeting, almost an involuntary glance, but it was there as surely as the water dripping down Jee’s body, and so was the slight parting of the Prince’s mouth, just wide enough to show the tip of his tongue darting out for a split of second.
Jee was not imagining this. He may have fantasized about similar scenarios, but none of his fantasies involved Zuko being so - well, himself. And here they both stood, in the shower cabin, surrounded by thickening steam and with the sound of running water filling the heavy air between them with a steady hiss which, instead of dispelling the silence, highlighted it.
The lieutenant had absolutely no idea what to say. His mind seemed to be having difficulties keeping up with this situation.
His silence, it seemed, was rightfully taken for a confession. Zuko stepped even closer and the temperature of the cabin rose noticeably.
The question was, was it because of Zuko’s anger or - something else?
But the alternative was so impossible Jee’s brain simply refused to entertain it.
That is, until Zuko glanced down once again, then back up at Jee, licked his lips quickly and whispered:
“I don’t mind.”
What.
And Jee didn’t have the time to think anything else because suddenly, as though on an outburst of courage he had been keeping bottled up until this moment, Zuko closed the distance between them, stepped right into the shower with Jee, stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
‘Kissed’ seemed too grand a term to describe what happened, though, because Zuko went about it in his typical Zuko fashion: as though he was going into combat. His movements jerky and stiff, his eyes blazing, his face scrunched up in a determined frown, he smashed their lips together, grabbing Jee’s sideburns so hard it hurt. He didn’t seem to care one iota about getting wet or about the fact that he was fully clothed while Jee didn’t have a stitch of fabric on him - using momentum to help drive him, he pushed the lieutenant back against the wall and glued his body to Jee’s.
Oh.
Right, so this definitely wasn’t a fantasy. No fantasy could ever be this awkward.
But this meant that it was really happening, that Jee was really being pinned to the wet cabin wall by Prince fucking Zuko, and that it was the Prince’s lips that were currently trying, very clumsily but eagerly, to coax some response out of him.
Jee’s mouth obliged, opening up, even before his brain managed to catch up - and when it did, one half of it screamed at him that this was impossible while the other half, the more coherent one, insisted quietly that No, it wasn’t.
There were signs leading up to this. Many of them. It was just that, before, Jee had dismissed all of them and attributed them to his own wishful thinking, if only out of survival instinct. He damn well wasn’t going to just go and proposition the Prince and it was so much easier to just dismiss a lingering gaze or two rather than try to analyze it.
But now it all clicked into place and, suddenly, things made perfect sense. Zuko wasn’t mad at him for ogling him, he was turned on.
So, giddy with this realization, Jee tentatively reached out to snake one hand around the Prince’s waist while the other landed on the back of Zuko’s head. This had the desired effect - the kid scrambled even closer, letting out a tiny groan - want? relief? - and opened his own mouth even wider, letting the older man take control of the kiss.
Things went surprisingly smoothly from that moment onwards. Jee slowed them down and, strangely enough, Zuko allowed him, probably sensing that out of the two of them, it was Jee who actually knew what he was doing - though most likely he’d rather die than admit it. This made everything easier and in no time at all, the lieutenant found himself enjoying this turn of events rather more than he should.
Running his hand up and down Zuko’s muscled back, he sent a silent thanksgiving prayer to the Spirits that his evening had turned out this way.
This felt good. He hadn’t kissed another Firebender in ages and nearly forgot how wonderful it felt to have another person’s fire so close to his own, to taste the pull of chi, to share the warmth. And Zuko, with his youth and obvious enthusiasm, was just as delectable as Jee’d imagined he would be - his hands roamed all over Jee’s chest, back and arms, strayed in his short hair, lingered on his face; the soaked clothes all but forgotten, the water now running over them both and turning to more steam on their rapidly heating bodies. He was trying to learn, too, copying Jee’s pace, imitating the movement of his lips, trying so hard to give back…
Something new and wonderful was happening in Jee’s life at this very moment and, judging from the hardness digging into his hipbone, this was only the first step.
But before he started to contemplate doing something more about it, Zuko stepped away from him and out of the shower, all soaked and panting and blushing fiercely and looking absolutely ravishable.
“Leave your cabin door unlocked tomorrow night,” he instructed; and without waiting for a reply, he turned around and walked out of the shower cabin, his point made, the after-feel of his lips and body still very much alive and tangible on Jee’s skin.
“Yes, sir,” Jee muttered into the empty room.
Then, he smiled. Never before had he been given an order he would obey more gladly.
Title: The Good Kind of Surprise
Word Count: 1, 760
Rating: T
Warnings: Nudity, language
Characters/Pairings: Lt. Jee/Zuko
Summary: Lieutenant Jee doesn't realize how full of surprises his young commander can be.
Author's Notes: Looks like princebender is in full swing now! This pleases me greatly. This paticular piece was done for the anon who requested an Awkward First Kiss, and since I've hinted at it in "Surreal Night" already, I decided it would be fun to expand on it. Also, shower makeouts. You cannot go wrong with shower makeouts.
In other news, I've begun the Great Move to AO3 - most of my oneshots are already there along with some drabbles and a few chapters of the HP/ATLA crossover. I'm still gearing myself up to moving "Substitute" over there, too. 'Tis a daunting task.
~~~~
Very few things in life, the lieutenant mused as he turned the shower on, were as good as a hot shower.
Mmmmm. Yes. He really needed that.
He turned around, letting the water wash away the strain of yet another shitty day on Prince Zuko’s old clunker of a ship, and simply soaked up the warmth before he started scrubbing in earnest. It wasn’t often that he could take his time washing and he was damn determined to make the most of it. Any scrap of solitude was to be cherished here, no matter how short.
At least there was no one who barge in on him now that most of the crew were ---
--- Okay, that had better not be the sound of the door opening or Jee would be mad.
But, damn it all to the Spirit World, it was. The door behind him opened and closed with the creak of ancient hinges, not quite drowned by the hiss of the water. Jee gritted his teeth. He really hoped he’d be left alone. But if he couldn’t have that, he’d just ignore the intruder - whoever he was - and carry on washing, simply making it quicker than he’d initially intended.
But the person behind him decided to ruin even that by speaking.
“Lieutenant.”
Crap. Just what was the Prince doing here at this time of night?
So much for ignoring the intruder. Jee sighed - there was nothing for it. Demonic brat or not, Zuko was still his commander.
“Yes, sir?” he asked, angling his body so that he faced Zuko over his shoulder without his private bits showing. Not that the Prince would be fazed by that, but Jee was not comfortable with this situation and he damn well intended to communicate that. He also decided against turning the stream of hot water off - maybe by some strange miracle the brat would take the hint.
Zuko was standing by the closed door, staring at him. He wore his sleeping tunic which was already getting too small for him, the fabric clinging to his figure in very interesting ways Jee was not going to contemplate now. The wisps of wet, hot steam gliding through the dark room made it easier, bathing both of them in humid mist.
If the brat was going to rant at Jee about the Avatar now, in the showers of all places…
He wasn’t, though. What he really wanted turned out to be far more bizarre.
And attacked Jee without preamble.
“I saw you staring at me.”
And, just like that, Jee felt the floor disappear from under him.
He was a dead man. So very, very dead. So incredibly dead that he was still standing upright and breathing out of habit alone. There was only one thing Zuko could mean by that and if he noticed, if he read it correctly, which, dear Spirits, it seemed he did, Jee would most likely not make it out of this shower alive. He could talk his way out of most of the typical insubordination shambles easily enough, but if his ogling got so obvious that the Prince noticed…
He’ll put up a fight. Naked or otherwise, he won’t make it easy. His feet slid apart on the wet floor to support a fighting stance almost on instinct, his body tensing, getting ready to deflect the inevitable flood of wild fire blasts; but Zuko just stood there, arms rigidly at his sides, fingers balled into fists, that familiar, dreaded expression of set, unbendable determination clearly painted on his face.
What he wasn’t doing was getting into a fighting stance himself.
“Sir?” Jee risked. If the kid wanted to threaten him instead only to humiliate him publicly once the crew returned from their port leave, he had another thing coming.
Zuko took a couple steps closer and Jee’s body went rigid again. He had to be ready. Zuko could be rat-viper quick if he wanted to.
“You were staring at me, Lieutenant,” Zuko repeated, looking straight at Jee. Surprisingly, his uncharacteristically quiet voice didn’t sound sharp or threatening and almost died in the hiss of the water; the steam was already clinging to his skin, making his clothes distractedly sticky.
And maybe Jee had his overactive imagination to blame for this, but once Zuko got closer, the lieutenant fancied he glimpsed something else besides the usual mask of resolve on his face; the golden eyes shone unnaturally bright and there was a hue of red blossoming on his healthy cheek. His voice, too, sounded unnaturally strained, as though the brat had to control it with extra effort.
Right, now Jee had no idea what to make of all this. Because surely Zuko wouldn’t actually ---
“Don’t deny it,” continued the Prince, a bit louder this time. He stepped even closer. “I caught you.”
And then he looked Jee up and down. It was fleeting, almost an involuntary glance, but it was there as surely as the water dripping down Jee’s body, and so was the slight parting of the Prince’s mouth, just wide enough to show the tip of his tongue darting out for a split of second.
Jee was not imagining this. He may have fantasized about similar scenarios, but none of his fantasies involved Zuko being so - well, himself. And here they both stood, in the shower cabin, surrounded by thickening steam and with the sound of running water filling the heavy air between them with a steady hiss which, instead of dispelling the silence, highlighted it.
The lieutenant had absolutely no idea what to say. His mind seemed to be having difficulties keeping up with this situation.
His silence, it seemed, was rightfully taken for a confession. Zuko stepped even closer and the temperature of the cabin rose noticeably.
The question was, was it because of Zuko’s anger or - something else?
But the alternative was so impossible Jee’s brain simply refused to entertain it.
That is, until Zuko glanced down once again, then back up at Jee, licked his lips quickly and whispered:
“I don’t mind.”
What.
And Jee didn’t have the time to think anything else because suddenly, as though on an outburst of courage he had been keeping bottled up until this moment, Zuko closed the distance between them, stepped right into the shower with Jee, stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
‘Kissed’ seemed too grand a term to describe what happened, though, because Zuko went about it in his typical Zuko fashion: as though he was going into combat. His movements jerky and stiff, his eyes blazing, his face scrunched up in a determined frown, he smashed their lips together, grabbing Jee’s sideburns so hard it hurt. He didn’t seem to care one iota about getting wet or about the fact that he was fully clothed while Jee didn’t have a stitch of fabric on him - using momentum to help drive him, he pushed the lieutenant back against the wall and glued his body to Jee’s.
Oh.
Right, so this definitely wasn’t a fantasy. No fantasy could ever be this awkward.
But this meant that it was really happening, that Jee was really being pinned to the wet cabin wall by Prince fucking Zuko, and that it was the Prince’s lips that were currently trying, very clumsily but eagerly, to coax some response out of him.
Jee’s mouth obliged, opening up, even before his brain managed to catch up - and when it did, one half of it screamed at him that this was impossible while the other half, the more coherent one, insisted quietly that No, it wasn’t.
There were signs leading up to this. Many of them. It was just that, before, Jee had dismissed all of them and attributed them to his own wishful thinking, if only out of survival instinct. He damn well wasn’t going to just go and proposition the Prince and it was so much easier to just dismiss a lingering gaze or two rather than try to analyze it.
But now it all clicked into place and, suddenly, things made perfect sense. Zuko wasn’t mad at him for ogling him, he was turned on.
So, giddy with this realization, Jee tentatively reached out to snake one hand around the Prince’s waist while the other landed on the back of Zuko’s head. This had the desired effect - the kid scrambled even closer, letting out a tiny groan - want? relief? - and opened his own mouth even wider, letting the older man take control of the kiss.
Things went surprisingly smoothly from that moment onwards. Jee slowed them down and, strangely enough, Zuko allowed him, probably sensing that out of the two of them, it was Jee who actually knew what he was doing - though most likely he’d rather die than admit it. This made everything easier and in no time at all, the lieutenant found himself enjoying this turn of events rather more than he should.
Running his hand up and down Zuko’s muscled back, he sent a silent thanksgiving prayer to the Spirits that his evening had turned out this way.
This felt good. He hadn’t kissed another Firebender in ages and nearly forgot how wonderful it felt to have another person’s fire so close to his own, to taste the pull of chi, to share the warmth. And Zuko, with his youth and obvious enthusiasm, was just as delectable as Jee’d imagined he would be - his hands roamed all over Jee’s chest, back and arms, strayed in his short hair, lingered on his face; the soaked clothes all but forgotten, the water now running over them both and turning to more steam on their rapidly heating bodies. He was trying to learn, too, copying Jee’s pace, imitating the movement of his lips, trying so hard to give back…
Something new and wonderful was happening in Jee’s life at this very moment and, judging from the hardness digging into his hipbone, this was only the first step.
But before he started to contemplate doing something more about it, Zuko stepped away from him and out of the shower, all soaked and panting and blushing fiercely and looking absolutely ravishable.
“Leave your cabin door unlocked tomorrow night,” he instructed; and without waiting for a reply, he turned around and walked out of the shower cabin, his point made, the after-feel of his lips and body still very much alive and tangible on Jee’s skin.
“Yes, sir,” Jee muttered into the empty room.
Then, he smiled. Never before had he been given an order he would obey more gladly.