Prompt Post 2.0
With the season finale behind us I figure we'll have an explosion of prompts soon. So, new prompt post. Please post any new prompts in this post. But you can always find fic or fill more prompts in the original prompt post.
Rules!1) One prompt per post, please! If you have multiple prompts, no worries, just make separate posts for each. Please ( Read more... )
Rules!1) One prompt per post, please! If you have multiple prompts, no worries, just make separate posts for each. Please ( Read more... )
The insufferable creature was perched on one of the still hanging pots in the galley, twitching its nose innocently.
Behind Iroh, his kitchen staff cowered behind an overturned cutting table, the rest of the galley in shambles from some rather trigger-happy benders.
“They followed us, sir,” The head cook, Bao, hissed. “The little bastards followed us!”
“They're hiding in the vents!” Another cook warned, tightly clinging to Bao and his cleaver, as he stared up at said vents. “They'll get us in our sleep!”
“They didn't follow us across the sea, Petty Officer Fen.” Iroh said, rolling his eyes. “This particular vermin is the pet of one of Avatar Korra's companions.”
“Asami?” One piped up, hopefully.
“Bolin.” He corrected.
Suddenly, he had no shortage of volunteers rushing forward, their trauma apparently forgotten for the time being. He raised an eyebrow at them, because really, he didn't have this many pro-bending fans on his ship, he was sure. And hadn't Petty Officer Huang just been on a rant about how pro-bending was a sport exclusive to benders, and therefore oppressive?
Suspicious of their motives, and really, Petty Officer Nuan had just broken it off with her fiance, he walked past them, Pabu held in his hands. “I'm perfectly capable of returning a pet.” He looked around the galley, then at the lot of them. “I expect this place to be in order when I return.”
As he walked away, he heard their frantic scrambling, and smiled, satisfied.
Curious though, he looked to Pabu, who had settled himself back on Iroh's shoulder. “I thought Bolin told you to stay off my ship?” The fire ferret just blinked at him. “In any case, a rodent in the kitchens is unsanitary. If you're going to keep popping up like this, might I suggest somewhere without sharp objects? Only, there was this incident, you see, on Red Sands. It was rather traumatic. Some of them needed therapy.” Pabu tilted his head, as though he were really listening. “I can't be responsible for how their prejudices might make them overreact.”
As he stepped out onto the deck, he spotted Bolin hurrying across the yard.
“Once again, you've been missed.” Pabu put his head down against Iroh's shoulder. “How do you keep slipping away so easily?”
When he came down the gangplank, Bolin looked torn between relieved and anxious. The fire ferret, clearly preferring his master over Iroh, ran down his body, across the grass, and up Bolin, cuddling around his neck.
“He's very lucky my cooks didn't try to kill him.” Iroh said, as Bolin avoided his eyes. “Though he did manage to dodge their bending pretty well.”
Bolin chuckled nervously, his cheeks pink. “I'm really sorry, I don't know how he got over here without me noticing.” He bit his lip, and looked back at Iroh. “I hope he didn't cause any trouble?”
He had very green eyes, Iroh noticed.
“No.” He lied. “It was fine.”
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The screaming had been the first indicator that something was wrong. The sight of three of his GM's running past him was another clue.
Pabu sat on one of their brand new railguns, straight from Future Industries.
“When I said you should probably hang out somewhere else,” He said, approaching, both arms clasped behind his back. “I didn't mean somewhere more dangerous. You see this,” He waved his arm around. “Is where we keep weapons. Big ones. Like that one. Ones you don't need to be a bender to use.”
Pabu chattered at him, and dived into the bowels of the gun, disappearing from view for a second, before popping back up, closer to Iroh.
“You realize that thing could blow a hole in my ship if you set it off, right?”
Pabu tilted his head.
“Of course, that would just make it easier for you to sneak on here.”
The ferret leaped at him, and landed on his shoulder, his claws digging in so that he could wrap around Iroh's neck. Thankfully, he had been training on the upper deck, and was only wearing his undershirt and loose trousers. Pabu's claws had torn his uniform to the point it needed mending, again, and if he'd had to take it in again, he was sure the ship's seamstress would throw him out, general or not.
“Are you doing this on purpose?” He asked, as he made his way back up to the deck. “I'm trying to figure out what could possibly be so interesting about this ship, beyond the part where my crew is terrified of you.” He looked at the creature. “I could see how that could be entertaining.”
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He bounced on the balls of his feet, body loose instead of planted. His movements made sense, in the context of what he was doing, but this was Iroh's first time seeing anything quite like it. Interested, he sat on the steps to watch, Pabu staying where he was.
He switched sides though, and when he did, he spotted Iroh. Immediately, he blushed, straightening.
Iroh stood, and went to him, smiling to show he wasn't upset with Pabu, or Bolin by association. “He only scared a few gunner's mates, this time.” He assured him.
“Huh?” Bolin seemed to notice Pabu, sitting on Iroh's shoulder, his eyes widening. “Oh! Pabu got on your ship again? Geez, come on, buddy, the General has better things to do than cart you around.” The fire ferret seemed unimpressed by the admonishment, and instead, leaped off Iroh's shoulder, heading into the dorms of the Air Temple.
“He really didn't cause any trouble.” Iroh said, as Bolin reddened in embarrassment.
“I'm sorry, I know you're busy,”
He shrugged. “I was training. Even generals get a day off.” Every now and then. When his ship wasn't falling into chaos over one fire ferret. “Do you usually train with Mako?”
“Huh?” He seemed distracted. Iroh hoped he wasn't bothering him. “Oh, yeah, training, yeah, that explains the lack of jacket or, shirt, or sleeves, um, wait, what about Mako?”
“Do you train with your brother?” He repeated.
“Oh, yeah, all the time!” He said, waving his hand dismissively. “Why, you looking for a match?” That was actually exactly what Iroh had been after, but he didn't want to look too eager.
“Are you sure?” He teased. “I am a general, Bolin.”
“Psh,” Bolin scoffed. “I could take you, no problem.”
Impressed by the confidence, Iroh laughed, and moved into the space with him, giving both of them room to get started.
It turned out, Bolin could take him.
He thought seven out of fifteen isn't bad though, and even if he was a sweating and sore mess after, he was still laughing, as Bolin tried to get the soot out of his hair.
“Agh, I'm going to smell like an ashtray until I can get a bath.” He sighed, giving up to come sit beside Iroh. “Why do you guys always go for the hair? Hair is flammable, you know? And it takes awhile to grow back.”
Unable to resist, Iroh reached over and ruffled Bolin's now fixed hair, until it was a mess again. The other man gaped in frustration for a minute, before he dived on Iroh, half-tackling him as he furiously dug his fingers into Iroh's hair, pulling out of its slicked back style.
“Hah!” He was triumphant, his eyes not a hand span from Iroh's own. “And now you have dirt in yours, too!”
For a second, they just looked at each other, and something in Iroh's stomach twisted in a way that he was pretty sure was unbecoming of a general.
“We should go to the bathhouse.” He suggested. “Get cleaned up.”
He assumed Bolin would agree immediately, but instead, the man shook his head, backing away from Iroh. “No,” He said. “I think I better check on Pabu, make sure he's not trying to escape again.”
Iroh watched him go, wondering if maybe he'd imagined it.
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“You have got to be kidding me.”
The Captain of his ship was a good woman. A brave woman. Iroh would put his life in her hands, gladly.
Most of the time.
The sight of her and the whole steering crew grouped together outside in the hall was enough to make him doubt that.
“General Iroh, sir!” She said, her hat scrunched in her hands. “Sir, I know you said the exterminators got them all, I know, but,”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, then held up a hand, telling her to stop. It was the middle of the night, and he was too tired to deal with the explanation right now.
Pabu sat on the receiver, licking his paws, then rubbing his head with them.
“We have got to stop meeting like this.” He drawled. Pabu looked up at him, then, without any invitation, climbed right up him, to sit on his shoulder. “What was the point of coming all the way over here, if you just want me to take you back to where you were?” He asked, frustrated.
Pabu, being a fire ferret, didn't answer, just closed his beady eyes, and for all intents and purposes, seemed to go to sleep.
Iroh sighed.
In the hall, his crew was still hiding behind their Captain, watching him with wide eyes. “Get back to work,” He ordered, and headed out again.
This time, he had to find Bolin's room among the many in the men's dorms, thankfully finding a helpful Air Acolyte who pointed him in the right direction. Once in front of the door though, he paused, worried he might wake Bolin. But he'd be worried in the morning, if Pabu wasn't there.
He decided to knock, but it took a few minutes for Bolin to answer, the man obviously half asleep in the doorway. “Iroh?” He asked. Pabu saw the open door as his opportunity, and slipped down off Iroh, past Bolin, and through the door. “Oh, hey Pabu,” Instead of closing the door and stumbling back to bed, he smiled up at Iroh. “You're such a nice guy.”
“Thank you?” He wondered if he just leave, and let the man lie back down. He wasn't truly awake, he could see.
“Hmmm.” Bolin hummed. “I should thank you for bringing Pabu back.”
“You really don't have to, Bolin, it's not that big a-” The sentence was cut off when Bolin chose that moment to kiss him. It was instinct that made him turn into it, tipping his head correctly so that it was their mouths that met, as Bolin's arms came around his neck.
It occurred to him this was probably wrong, right as Bolin let him go. The man smiled at him, then closed the door, and from the sounds of it, fell back into bed.
Iroh stood there, stunned, before he shook himself out of it, and went back to his ship.
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Finding his crew causing a disturbance outside of a bar was not an activity Iroh particularly enjoyed. Often, it ended with Iroh making apologies and paying off damages. This looked no different.
“General Iroh, sir!” Petty Officer Chang was stumbling out, looking frantic. “Sir, they're here too! They're here!” The man than promptly fell over. Suspicious, Iroh came closer, and when he did, he knew why Chang was lying in the street.
“Petty Officer Chang, I thought we had a talk about trying to keep up with Warrant Officer Kaleo. The man's not human.” Chang shook his head, making a negative sound.
“No, sir! Well, wait, yes, sir, I thought I could, but, no, sir, that's not the problem!” He grabbed on to Iroh's leg. “Sir, they're here,”
“Petty Officer Chang?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Let go of my leg.”
“Yes, sir.”
Iroh turned, and walked into the bar. Thankfully, it was mostly intact. Well, mostly.
“You!” The bartender pointed at him. “General Whatever, you get these idiots out of my bar, right this second!” She gestured at his crew members, about two dozen of them, against the far wall. They were in various states of intoxication, that much was easy to see, from how some were rather clumsily trying to assume their bending stances, and others were holding out their weapons.
“Attention!” He barked, and the weapons clattered to the ground as they struggled to obey. “Someone explain, now!”
There was a hurried consensus, before Ensign Aiko, the highest ranking among them, was shoved forward. The firebender stumbled over her own feet, actually coughing a small flame, before managing to stand straight, at attention.
“At ease, Ensign,” She obeyed, seeming steadier with her feet apart. “Explain.”
She pointed to a spot right over his right shoulder.
Pabu was sitting on a shelf of bottles, casually grooming his tail. When he saw Iroh, he seemed to perk up in interest. Chattering, he wound his way around the alcohol, delicately stepping without so much as disturbing one. He went over the bar, then up Iroh's body, to sit on his shoulder. The fire ferret actually seemed pleased to see him.
His crew stared.
“Truly, sir, you are the bravest general the United Forces has had the honor to serve.” Ensign Aiko said, with a sniff.
“I appreciate the sentiment, Ensign.” He patted her on the shoulder. “All of you, get back on the ship. And try not to break anything else along the way.”
“Yes, sir.” They chorused, shuffling out.
Someone tapped Iroh on the shoulder. It was the bartender, an expectant hand out.
“A hundred and thirty five yuan, if you please, for the drinks, the table, the four bar stools, and my tip for dealing with this crap.” After he paid, she raised an eyebrow at Pabu. “And you, you've got yourself a lifetime ban, you dirty little rodent.”
“He's quite clean, actually.” Iroh said, though he wasn't sure why. It wasn't like he liked Pabu any better.
“Just get him out of my bar!” She ordered.
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He hadn't seen Bolin for three days, not since the kiss that might no have been intentional. He still wasn't sure what to do about that, if he should bring it up, or if he should wait to see if Bolin actually remembered doing it.
The sounds of chaos were up ahead, and he found the source, as Bolin rounded the corner on Naga's back. Smiling, Iroh put up a flare to get his attention, then waved at the other man, summoning him over.
Bolin looked relieved as he slid off Naga's back to take Pabu. “I ran into some of your crew back by the docks, they were all freaking out about some kind of plague, and then I figured out they meant Pabu, which, by the way, for a highly trained military force, they're really jumpy about fire ferrets, and, um,” He was rambling, as his face reddened, but now he stopped and stared at his feet.
The awkward silence went on for far too long, as Iroh tried to think of something to say to him. But the only thing he could think of was that sleepy kiss, and he got the feeling maybe that was the problem.
“So, um, see, this is going to sound crazy, but did you bring Pabu back to my room the other night?” He continued to look at his feet as he spoke. “'Cause see, sometimes, I don't wake up well, and I had this weird dream, only maybe it wasn't a dream, but I don't, um, maybe you could start filling in some of this here?”
“You kissed me.” He figured this would just make things easier.
“Oh.”
He waited, but Bolin said nothing else. He decided maybe he should speak, try to reassure him. And after all, Bolin had kissed him. Maybe Iroh wasn't imagining things. “I don't mind.”
The earthbender sighed in relief. “Thank the spirits, I thought for sure I was going to get in trouble, I mean, kissing the prince of the Fire Nation, that's got to be illegal,”
“Technically, I'm a prince, not the prince,” He pointed out. “I'm fifth-in-line.” He raised an eyebrow. “Why do you think I'm in the military?”
Bolin shrugged. “Hadn't thought about it.” He smiled. “So, it's okay, we can just forget the whole thing?”
“Could we not?” He asked. “Forget it, I mean?”
Pabu slithered down off Bolin's shoulder as he asked, disappearing into Naga's fur.
“What do you, uh, what do you mean by that?” Bolin asked.
Naga suddenly gave an annoyed sound, and pushed Bolin forward with her great head as she tried to scratch at a spot somewhere near her shoulder. The push sent the other man right into Iroh's chest.
Sometimes, one has to simply accept good luck, and not question it. So Iroh hooked a finger under Bolin's chin, and tilted his face up, so he could kiss him again.
“Oh,” He said, when Iroh pulled back. “That's what you mean.”
“Yes,” Iroh replied. “That's what I mean.”
On Naga's back, Pabu spit out a chunk of polar bear dog fur, then curled up and went to sleep.
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