concoursec | (no subject)

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(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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Without thinking Zuko reached over to twine a lock of her hair around a finger, swirling it around and around overhead of the kittens, watching how its head moved with the motions of the hair above it until giving a pitiful little mewl. It twisted off of its back and went to run around Katara, hiding as though the hair had scared it.

"Your brother was pretty set on taking it." Zuko shrugged.

Katara felt the light tug of his fingers twining in her hair, and the action surprised her-- immediately her eyes shot up to look up at Zuko, but seeing how he was simply playing with the kittens, she didn't make any mention of it. That's all it was, wasn't it? A means to entertain the little furballs.

Seeing how the kitten had suddenly ran off behind her, Katara let out a laugh before twisting this way and that, trying to find the little creature to coax it back around to play.

"What would you do if I tried to take one of the kittens, then?"

He'd released her hair so she didn't hurt herself with all the twisting around and watched her search for the kitten behind her who was playing hide and seek with her.

"You already have the chicobo."

"Well, that's just one Chicobo. You have five kittens!"

The kitten was a fast little thing; every time Katara turned one way, the creature would dash the other way and hide again. Once she turned the other way, the kitten would dart out of sight with amazing stealth. Rather than becoming frustrated though, Katara simply laughed, thoroughly amused by the kitten's antics.

"Only because they have nowhere else to go!" he countered, brows knitting.

He wasn't going to admit that he was only keeping them to feel less alone. She wouldn't understand; she had both the Avatar and her brother to keep her company. Even with Toph now gone, Katara wasn't alone. And his friendship with Sokka was still something new and strange to him, the entire concept of 'friendship'... so unfamiliar...

"Well, I'm telling you that I'll take them if you don't want them!" She countered his counter.

Katara had turned then abruptly changed her direction, catching the black kitten just as it tried to run around her knee. Grinning, she picked up the kitten around the middle with both hands and held it up despite the mewing protests.

"What about this one? Can I keep it?"

Katara was holding up the Katara kitten. Why would she want the kitten he'd named after her? The last time she'd been stuck in his room for the night in the spare dorm room, Katara had taken that same kitten to sleep with her only to have Boots instead because the Katara kitten had found her way back into Zuko's room.

Zuko frowned. "...No."

Katara pouted before setting the distraught kitten back onto the floor; as soon as its paws touched the ground, Kitten Katara immediately turned to run towards Zuko, claws latching into his sweatpants to climb up his leg.

"Katara seems to like you a lot," She observed as another kitten curiously made its way towards her, mewing for her attention.

"Yeah..." Still he continued to frown, pulling the Katara kitten up before she could really sink her kitten claws into his leg. "It's too bad her human counterpart doesn't either... really... I mean like me-- I mean being around me- agh, never mind."

Zuko fell silent, glaring down at the Katara kitten while she now tried to climb up the front of his torso.

Katara quirked a brow at Zuko as he fumbled for the right words, her hands idly stroking Boots' back. Did he really care that much about her opinion of him?

"Well..." She began cautiously, finding it difficult to continue while looking at him so instead she directed her gaze downwards, "I mean, you haven't been that bad to be around lately. I've been coming to your room every day and haven't gotten into a fight with you all this time."

He cared more than she could ever understand, but Zuko had always had a way with fumbling his words.

Katara's cautious tone had him glancing over. It's too bad she doesn't remember...

"That's a plus, yeah..."

Pockets finally began to live up to its name. Crawling up her pant legs, Katara watched with curiosity as it let out a sleepy mew on her knee before it crawled into the pocket of her hoodie, burrowing into the plush fabric before poking its head out and settling into the position.

"Does it do that all the time?" Katara asked with a tone of amusement, fingers scratching the back of Boots' ears.

Zuko nodded, eyes lowering to where Pockets purred and slept on, content with the softness and warmth of the pocket. "I uh... almost went to class one morning with him in my pocket the first time he did that."

Katara couldn't help the giggle that escaped her; it was a pretty funny mental picture, imagining a scowling Zuko walking the halls of Garden with a kitten poking out of his pocket.

"Good thing you didn't, or the Faculty might have caught you. We have to be extra careful; I don't want the kittens to be taken away."

Neither did he.

While he was more than used to solitude and being on his own for long periods of time, being in another world without even his Uncle around to keep him company... Zuko didn't want the kittens to be taken out of his dorm room.

He nodded, absently, eyes still resting on Pockets before then lowering to where Katara kitten clung to the front of his shirt. He was silent as he ran a finger along her back, watching her arch up into the touch.

Maybe it was the silence that stretched between them, but sometime while playing with Boots, a thought struck Katara-- it was rather relaxing, almost peaceful sitting here with Zuko like this, idly playing with the kittens gathered around them.

Who would have thought the words 'Zuko' and 'peaceful' could be put together in one sentence? Katara certainly didn't think it was possible, but she was proven wrong. Since when did things start to change between them?

There was a concentrated furrow in her brow as her mind tried to lapse back through the months that passed. Getting into that fight with Zuko in the lobby, once again in the Secret Area, then a third time in the Training Center... the kiss that happened when they fell in the creek, and being the cause of his broken clavicle not even a week later. Nursing him back to health, being paired with him in dance class, helping him with his plants in Home Economics, now caring for kittens and Chicobos with the Firebender. It was as though all the initial hostility between them had faded over time, and instead a mild friendship, or at least understanding had settled over them.

How strange.

As nice as the silence was between them it was really beginning to put Zuko on edge. He glanced over at the waterbender and quietly and awkwardly cleared his throat. "So uh..."

Katara was broken away from her thoughts when she heard the sudden sound of Zuko clearing his throat. With boots having somehow turned onto her back, Katara had taken to playing with the small kitten by idly poking its' tummy with her fingers, grinning with how the creature would try to bat her hands away.

Looking up, Katara blinked a couple of times before letting out her own hum of unsureness. "So...?"

Zuko shrugged a shoulder. He really had no idea why he'd spoken up and had broken the silence between them. "I don't know." He paused then, lowering his gaze to the kitten on his stomach. "What are you going to do now?"

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