concoursec | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Character(s): Katara, Zuko
Location: Zuko's dormitory
Rating: PG?
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed
Summary: After attending the Masquerade Ball for a short period, Katara decides she can't have fun at the dance due to Toph's disappearance and instead heads back to her dorm to mope. She then gets the bright idea of visiting the kittens to distract her, and thus pays a visit to Zuko's dorm.

It was the night of the Masquerade Ball-- and while Katara had attended the dance for a brief period in the beginning as she had already prepared a costume for the event, her mood didn't lift much for her to enjoy the ball. Toph's sudden disappearance had greatly dampened her spirits and after only an hour of idle chatter with friends and staying on the sidelines as others enjoyed themselves, Katara excused herself and headed back to her dorm.

Her friend's missing state had been noted when she tried to find Toph just a couple of days before, noting how the Earthbender had missed all the classes they shared. The healer had wondered if the smaller girl had gotten sick, and maternal instincts automatically kicking up, she visited her friend's dorm day after day in hopes of finding out what was wrong. But after the constant lack of replies despite her incessant knocking and calling, Katara assumed the worst.

While all Katara wanted to do was curl up in her bed and lament the disappearance of Toph, she still had the responsibilities of taking care of the kittens on top of the hatched Chicobo that both she and Zuko had been assigned to look over. The little bird was now nestled in its makeshift nest on her desk, its large beady eyes watching Katara curiously as she removed her intricate costume and face-paint to change into a comfortable set of sweats.

Removing the jug of milk from the ice she had encased it in, Katara prepared to leave her dorm when a sudden string of alarmed 'kwehs' called out to her. Curious, she turned to her desk where the Chicobo had hopped out of its nest, its neck craned towards Katara while flapping its wings, obviously trying to catch her attention.

"Want to come with me to feed the kittens?" Katara cooed softly, holding a hand out for the Chicobo to hop into. The small bird let out a happy 'kweh!' before settling into her palm. The gesture caused Katara to give a small smile, and with both Chicobo and the jug of milk in hand, she made her way out of her dorm and in the direction of the boys' wing.

It didn't take her long to reach Zuko's room. With both hands occupied, Katara tapped her toes against the metal door to try and catch the occupant's attention. Surely he wasn't actually attending the ball, was he? She hadn't seen him in the brief time she had been in the ballroom, but then again she couldn't recognize most of the cadets due to the masks they all wore. Katara couldn't quite imagine the Firebender dressed in any sort of costume, face masked as he tried to dance with the numerous female cadets who would no doubt be attending the event. The thought had her bristling slightly for reasons unknown and she gave the door a particularly hard kick, growing impatient.

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Zuko knew exactly what night it was, how could he not? With a lot of the cadets in Garden going on and on and on about the ball, a person either had to be deaf or just dense to not understand the news of the day. Either it was being talked about in the library or the cafeteria or out in the hallways. But it was there no matter where he turned, and it had been enough to drive him back to his room for some studying, entertaining the kittens, and a fastidious workout in the end.

By the time he'd heard the tapping at his door, he'd just come in from the showers, his hair towel-dried but still damp against his brow. Zuko made sure to pull on a t-shirt before going to answer the door, remembering the last time he answered the door shirtless due to the lack of mobility from his injury months ago.

A part of him assumed it was Sokka on the other side-- they had yet to discuss what had happened the other week, the kiss Katara had sprung on him, how he'd gone to shove her into the water shortly after, and how Sokka had charged them in big brother protectiveness and anger to only end up taking his sister down over the edge into the fountain. At the same time, however, Zuko was also avoiding the Water Tribe warrior as best as he could. Those past two weeks had been utterly confusing; the bouts of anger, randomly attacking other cadets, fighting with Aang, anything and everything being reason enough to get his temper to flare and him to attack.

Zuko inhaled deeply through his nose, exhaled through parted lips. If it was Sokka then fine, he'd deal with him. They could talk about what had happened, man to man. Right?

But Sokka wasn't really the only person he'd taken to trying to avoid. Katara was another on his list; the kiss had left him confused in the end. The entire two weeks of status ailments had been explained to them, the somewhat catastrophic event blamed on the Time Compression. While he figured out that Katara had been under the influence of Confusion and he under the influence of Berserk ... she had still kissed him!

Funny thing about the kissing situation ... Katara seemed to remember none of it. Whatsoever. Probably a good thing for her, but not such a good thing for him since he remembered every moment of it; the press of her lips, the warmth of her breath, softness and innocently done. And of course he'd taken it by mistake, returning it, albeit fumbling at first...

Zuko sighed to himself and reached out to press the button to release the door lock, the thin metal slab sliding open to reveal someone he hadn't entirely expected. "...Uh- Ka-Katara?"

Golden eyes dropped down to the jug of milk in her one hand (oh right ... the kittens) and then to the fluffy little chicobo in her other. The little bird greeted him with a happy 'kweh!', knowing exactly who he was. Still a little wobbly while flying, the chicobo immediately hopped forward with its tiny wings flapping to try to get to Zuko who blinked and quickly thrust both hands out to make sure he caught it in his cupped palms, eyes widening.

It was true; Katara had barely any recollection of the last two weeks that the status effects had hit the cadets. It was like a hazy dream she couldn't remember; blurry visions that almost came into clarity before fading away completely. She thought it was a bit strange how Zuko was acting a bit odd around her, but then again when did he never act strange?

Even though it was obvious that Zuko had caught sight of the jug of milk in her hands, Katara watched with mild amusement as the Chicobo flew from her hand into Zuko's before lifting the container of milk.

"I'm here to feed the kittens," Katara replied to his greeting with a small shrug. "Can I come in?"

Right. Kittens.

Zuko stepped aside to let her in as soon as he heard the mewing behind him. It was almost as if they knew Katara by voice and knew what she had for them since every day she'd been coming to his room to refill their saucers and check on them.

"Yeah. Sure..." He waited until she was inside the dorm room before closing and locking the door.

The chicobo gave a 'kweh!' and Zuko lifted his hands to place her up on his shoulder, snorting in response when she hopped closer to his neck to nudge her tiny beak against his jaw twice, nuzzling.

The chorus of mews from inside the dorm has Katara lighting up somewhat-- even if she visited the little creatures every day, she was never tired of their adorable presence. Seeing the little fluffballs crawling eagerly towards her, Katara crouched down and placed the jug of milk to the side, her hands moving to scratch the backs of their ears, earning content purrs from the pack.

"Did you miss me?" She cooed to the kittens, alternating her attentions between the five that gathered around her.

Zuko opened his mouth to respond but quickly then realized that she was talking to the kittens and not him. Oops. Good thing he snapped his mouth shut again, pressing his lips together as he brushed past her and stepped over them. He went to place the chicobo in the makeshift nest he'd fashioned out of socks and a hoodie on his table where the kittens couldn't jump up to get her, grabbing up his towel again to continue towel-drying his hair while Katara busied herself with the furballs.

Good thing she was only here to feed them. It meant she'd leave soon, once she knew they'd been fed and was satisfied.

Glancing over at her while she cooed over the kittens still, a frown tugged at his lips and he turned away again.

If Zuko really thought that she would be leaving so soon, then he better think again. By the way she sat herself down on the floor and got herself relatively comfortable, it was obvious that Katara had no plans of leaving after feeding the kittens, at least not for a while.

Occupied with playing with the kittens, Katara didn't even bother to look up when she called out to Zuko. "Bring the milk dish over here." Not even a question-- just a demand.

"What?" he asked like he hadn't heard her the first time, half turning to look at her over a shoulder.

His stomach sank somewhat at the sight of her sitting so comfortably on his floor with the kittens surrounding her and trying to climb into her lap, all wanting her undivided attention.

So much for getting rid of her as soon as possible.

Edited 2010-11-02 10:19 (UTC)

Katara looked up at Zuko then, initially confused on what he seemed to be confused about; did he not hear her? It wasn't a strange request, after all.

"The milk dish? So I can feed the kittens? Bring it over here-- I can't get up now with the kittens all around me." Which was true-- three had managed to pile on her lap with another clinging up the leg of her pants, the fifth one now trying to climb its way up the front of her hoodie.

His brow twitched.

Zuko said nothing else and went to get the milk dish, pouring out the milk in the sink and rinsing it out. He wiped the saucer down and then crouched down to grab up the milk jug himself, uncapping it and pouring the white liquid into the dish.

"...Anything else? Your Highness?" He capped the jug and set it off to the side.

Katara definitely couldn't stop the smirk from curling her lips at Zuko's obvious displeasure at being bossed around-- he was a born prince, after all. He was probably use to people waiting on him, never the other way around. As if he would receive the same treatment from her!

"I'll think of something later," She answered airily with a wave of her hand, not bothering to suppress the smirk that still curved her lips.

Upon hearing the milk splash against the saucer, the kittens attention immediately turned to Zuko who possessed the kittens' dinner, excited mewls coming from the small creatures as they pawed at him.

"I'm sure you will..." he muttered, trying not to let his scowl show. Born prince or not, he'd gotten used to the idea of having to fend for himself and do everything on his own throughout his time in Ba Sing Se while traveling with his uncle.

The last time anyone had ever waited on him had been years ago, at most two. Even here in this strange, foreign world Zuko was used to doing things on his own for himself; it was something he preferred.

Zuko frowned at the kittens trying to scramble onto his lap as he lowered himself to sit next to the saucer, giving them room to crowd it and eagerly lap at the milk. "You can wipe the smirk off your face now," he found himself irritably and quietly snapping at her, shooting her an annoyed look.

Edited 2010-11-02 11:09 (UTC)

His snappish remark had her lifting a brow in semi-amusement; she half expected him to pout if she didn't comply with his words, which of course she didn't. Katara pretended to not hear him as she leaned down to pet one of the kittens who had finished drinkings its share of the milk, now curled up and purring with satisfaction at the attention it was receiving.

"Why aren't you at the ball?" It was an innocent question-- almost every other cadet at the school seemed to be in attendance when she had been in the Ballroom, though Zuko never seemed to be the social type. It was a safe topic for idle small talk though, and it was always slightly awkward to sit in complete silence with Zuko. She was so use to arguing with him that the thought of having nothing to say to him was a bit unnerving.

The question threw him off-guard. He hadn't expected her to care let alone notice.

"Why does it matter?" Zuko had folded his arms over his chest, the cotton material stretching snug over his shoulders and biceps, until two of the kittens dug their claws into his thigh to climb up and into his lap.

His arms unfolded and he cupped a hand under one of them, gently bumping them up to help, brows furrowing.

Stupid Zuko and his stupid muscles.

Katara was embarrassed that the simple action of him folding his arms over his chest had her eyes automatically drawing to the way his shoulders and biceps bunched beneath the shirt he wore, and she quickly averted her gaze down to the kitten she was petting. This was Zuko-- there was no reason for her to be getting flustered whatsoever at something as unimportant as how fit he was. Why did it matter? It didn't matter, not one bit.

But her mind was distracted by the task of trying to distract herself from looking up again, hence why it took her a couple of moments to answer Zuko.

"Just seems like everyone else is at the ball," Katara answered with a small nonchalant shrug, blue eyes darting up just a second before lowering down to the kitten.

His eyes glanced over just as hers darted up, catching them. He narrowed his eyes when they darted back down but shrugged a shoulder, his own attention lowering to the kittens now on his thigh and in his lap.

"Good for them." Zuko didn't give two craps about everyone else, or some damned ball. The advertisement earlier in the recent newsletter had had him frowning and immediately scratching that off his list of 'to-do'.

Besides...

'There's a Cadet who can manipulate water; remember the one accused of being a sorceress back in August?! Well! Looks like she's more like a guardian angel if anything!! She was seen saving a male Cadet in the deep end of the Pool earlier last week! Isn't that sweet?! And I hear around the grapevine that they aren't the best of friends either! Maybe this is just what they need and they'll hook up! Best of luck you two!!'

Zuko still cringed whenever he thought back to that part of the gossip columns. In fact ... he still cringed about a lot of things that had happened over the past six or so months between them; the kiss in the training center, his injury, how she'd had to help him for most of his recovery time, their arguments, his feelings, the fact that he'd woken one morning to find her practically next to him while he'd slept ... his feelings...

... The incident two weeks ago... his FEELINGS...

"...Why aren't you there? You could be putting your dancing classes to good use." He'd shot her a glance as he said this, brows still furrowed.

Edited 2010-11-02 11:44 (UTC)

Oh, Katara definitely saw that article in the paper, but had deemed it to be so ludicrous that she didn't even bother to dwell on it, or so she thought. There would be moments when she least expected it that the words would flit through her mind, but she would quickly repress them. The two of them, 'hook up'? Yeah, right!

His question had her giving another shrug, fingers moving to scratch the back of the kittens' ears and her lips lifting into a small smile at the happy purr she received. "I went for a little bit before coming over, but I didn't really feel like staying." The smile she previous wore immediately dropped then, shoulder sagging somewhat as the reasons for her departure from the ball rushed back into her thoughts.

Another glance and he caught the sight of her smile falling away, the corner of her lips drooping. What had gone wrong...?

"That bad?"

Another noncommittal shrug, eyes still focused down on the kitten that was now turned on its back and batting at her fingers.

"Not really bad-- just didn't want to be there."

Zuko fell silent, watching her play with the kitten as it batted at her fingers.

"...You going to tell me what's wrong?" he finally asked as the silence dragged between them, eyes lifting to glimpse her expression.

His question had Katara freezing momentarily; was she that easy to read? Or worse, did Zuko just know her that well? The latter thought had Katara feeling slightly uncomfortable, to know that her once-enemy and now sort-of-enemy-sort-of-ally could pick up on her moods.

She debated with herself for a while, wondering if she should tell him what had been weighing on her mind. What good would it do? But then again, maybe it would be better to say it all out loud, and have someone listen. Silence stretched between them for several long moments before finally she spoke, the reluctance obvious in her tone.

"... Toph's gone."

For once in his life ... Zuko actually kept his foot out of his mouth. He had been so close to asking, 'who?' but kept his mouth shut, instead responding with, "I see..."

Another moment of silence. Toph had been one of her closest friends from what he could remember of the earthbender.

"...Sorry." He didn't look up when he voiced the apology; he kept his eyes lowered to the one kitten who slept soundly against his calve, purring.

"Yeah," She answered halfheartedly, eyes still fixated on the happy kitten batting at her fingers. "Me too."

Silence blanketed over them, the air more uncomfortable than usual as a result of her words. She saw her vision begin to blur, and belatedly realized with much embarrassment that she was actually tearing up, and in front of Zuko no less. She hastily tried to wipe her eyes as discreetly as possible with the sleeve of her hoodie, a sniffle pressed to the thick fabric to try and hide the sound.

Edited 2010-11-02 12:28 (UTC)

Was she...? Oh... oh, Spirits, she was...

Zuko tried not to grimace, tried to pretend he hadn't noticed. She was crying - what the hell was he supposed to do with her?

"Don't cry--" was his automatic response, tawny-gold eyes looking over at her. There was a hint of despair in his tone, desperation -- really, what was he supposed to do with a crying girl?

He'd never had to deal with one; Azula never cried, always lied. When she did cry it was fake tears and fake sobs, mostly to garner attention from those around her.

His verbal acknowledgment of her tears only yielded the opposite effect Zuko had hoped for. Another sniffle escaped followed by a second before a string of them trailed afterwards, the tears she tried to blink and wipe away now trailing down her cheeks.

How embarrassing, to be seen crying by Zuko of all people!

But she couldn't stop, try as she might. A hiccup managed to break it's way through her silent tears, and in an attempt to stop her crying Katara buried her face into her hands, the fabric of her hoodie bunched into her palms to stiffle her sounds.

Edited 2010-11-02 12:46 (UTC)

Zuko felt the blood quickly drain from his face and he hastily scrambled to try and find her a tissue or something. It was painful to witness, the almighty waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe reduced to tears and hiccuping sobs. But everyone had their breaking point.

Carefully putting the kittens aside he leapt up to grab the box of tissues off on the table and had to be careful where he stepped, the kittens following him, curious as to why he'd moved as fast as he had. He knelt down next to Katara then, uncomfortable, awkward, and offered up the tissues for her to take.

Zuko reached across her to nudge the saucer off to the side, the kittens distracted by the movement and moving towards it for some more of their meal.

Why wasn't she crying to the Avatar about this? Why had she come to him of all people?

Zuko gently nudged her arm, unconsciously seated right next to her. "Here..."

Edited 2010-11-02 13:08 (UTC)