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concoursec2010-12-21 07:43 pm
watertides.livejournal.com) wrote in concoursec2010-12-21 07:43 pm
backdated to yesterday [dec 20]
Character(s): Katara, Zuko
Location: Katara's dormitory
Rating: PG
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed
Summary: Unbeknownst to Katara, it's the night of the lunar eclipse-- and her body isn't responding well.
Katara, to put it lightly, was feeling horrible.
She wasn't sure what had happened to make her fall into such a state-- she had been perfectly fine just the day before, showing absolutely no symptoms of sickness. When she woke this morning, though, she couldn't even manage to muster enough energy to get out of bed, her body completely drained of energy. She'd grown up in the cold so the change in setting to the northern continent certainly couldn't have contributed to the change in her physical well-being. But at the moment, she was curled up in her bed with the covers drawn up to her chin, her body shivering with fever-chills and limbs aching from fatigue. But as tired as she was feeling and as much as she closed her eyes to try and rest herself to recover from her illness, sleep wouldn't claim her.
Katara shifted onto her side to try and find a more comfortable position, her hands drawing the blankets up over her head completely in a futile attempt to warm her freezing body.
Location: Katara's dormitory
Rating: PG
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed
Summary: Unbeknownst to Katara, it's the night of the lunar eclipse-- and her body isn't responding well.
Katara, to put it lightly, was feeling horrible.
She wasn't sure what had happened to make her fall into such a state-- she had been perfectly fine just the day before, showing absolutely no symptoms of sickness. When she woke this morning, though, she couldn't even manage to muster enough energy to get out of bed, her body completely drained of energy. She'd grown up in the cold so the change in setting to the northern continent certainly couldn't have contributed to the change in her physical well-being. But at the moment, she was curled up in her bed with the covers drawn up to her chin, her body shivering with fever-chills and limbs aching from fatigue. But as tired as she was feeling and as much as she closed her eyes to try and rest herself to recover from her illness, sleep wouldn't claim her.
Katara shifted onto her side to try and find a more comfortable position, her hands drawing the blankets up over her head completely in a futile attempt to warm her freezing body.
MORNING AFTER... (a month late because we fail)
Light was slowly beginning to seep into mind despite the fact that her eyes were still closed, the sun not having risen above the horizon line yet. But nonetheless, something seemed to compel her to wake, even when her body seemed to know she wasn't quite recovered yet, seemed to understand that it wasn't the right time to get up. Heavy eyelids slowly fluttered open, and it took a long moment for her sapphire eyes to adjust to the darkness, and when they finally did... the snapped open completely.
Zuko was there, laying beside her, an arm draped over her side and curled around her back.
There was the briefest moment of panic-- what was he doing there? A quick glance downward and she was glad to see that she was still wrapped up in countless layers of clothing and blankets, and that Zuko was in fact sleeping on top of all the blankets and sheets-- but the glance also allowed her to see that his arms were bare, as it seemed her had stripped his hoodie off some time during the night. Even in the darkness with just the faintest moonlight seeping through her closed blinds, she could distinguish the hard lines of his toned muscles, all the way along his biceps, up his shoulder, over...
Her mind immediately snapped out of it. This was Zuko she was talking about, after all-- why would this even matter? Why was she even noticing these things?
It seemed like all the pieces of the puzzle were slowly fitting together in her mind; how miserable she'd been feeling the previous day, how Zuko had come to get milk for the kittens, how he'd noticed her condition and insisted that someone needed to take care of her. Everything seemed to slowly become more and more hazy after that; she could only remember a brief argument, how she had nearly collapsed, then warmth and comfort after that. Had the warmth that Zuko's body naturally exuded been the factor that was now making her feel all the more better?
She didn't know what to do now. Should she wake him up? Let him sleep some more? Try to go back to sleep? Even though her body seemed to scream at her that she needed to rest for at least a couple more hours, that she hadn't fully recovered from her sickness and needed some more sleep, her mind was still panicking and wouldn't rest. How did they wind up in this sort of a position?
This was really, really awkward.
But even then, her eyes seemed to slowly droop on their own accord despite her restless thought process, and after moments she had managed to drift back into a deep sleep lulled by the warmth of the Firebender at her side.
oh my gosh. . .
Each day Zuko rose with it at dawn and each day he would find himself winding down for the night upon its descent behind the western horizon. That wasn’t to say he lost his energy whenever the sun set, far from it; it was mostly fatigue that would creep upon him, and the firebender would usually find himself lulled to sleep by that exhaustion. The energy of the sun to a firebender was like that of a continuous electric charge but held back. Only when a firebender allowed that energy to flow free through his or her firebending and breath was the charge then released.
As Uncle Iroh had once put it, “Power in firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles. The breath becomes energy in the body, the energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire.”
Perhaps it was one of the reasons for all the underlying frustrations Zuko had been feeling these past few weeks (clearly it had absolutely nothing to do with Katara…). After all it had been a while since he’d last taken the opportunity to go through his firebending routines out in the courtyard, even in the Training Center. He hadn’t had the chance yet to unleash the built up energy somewhere, generally sticking to a daily routine in the small lobby of his dorm room without doing any firebending.
This morning was no different in terms of rising with the sun.
Zuko’s consciousness was the first thing to come around, that same awareness seeping into his mind and cutting through the hazy blanket of sleep bit by bit. His lashes fluttered open and lowered shut again and he inhaled deeply as he grew more and more awake with every passing moment the sun continued its climb. There was a familiar scent that played on his senses, one he’d fallen asleep to hours ago, and Zuko leaned his upper body away in reflex. His arm tightened around the bundle he’d been asleep next to all that time and then he froze, staring up the ceiling, upon realizing that he wasn’t at all alone in his bed.
Wait— his bed?
Although the sun had yet to fully break the horizon, it was enough to allow some shred of light into the room, enough for him to be able to make out this or that when he glanced at the nightstand from the corner of his eye. The red potted plant sat next to a container of water, a folded washcloth hanging over the edge. The clock closer to the wall read ten after six, the dot indicating that it was the morning.
Is it that time already? he wondered groggily, rolling his body forward again to make out the solid warmth laying at his side.
fml. . .
Why were they in bed together? What in the hell had happened? They were in bed together!
Zuko’s left arm and shoulder protested from having been stuck in that position for all that time, as he tried to carefully shift without waking the slumbering waterbender, his thoughts racing. His cheeks felt warm— he’d just woken up next to Katara, in bed with her. What was going on?
A sudden sweep of his eyes revealed to him that she was snugly buried under what appeared to be the thickest duvet ever and that he himself was still practically fully clothed minus his hoodie sweater. Taking a deep breath Zuko calmed himself and focused on lowering his body temperature, as he then remembered the other evening, how Katara had succumbed to her illness and fainted on him. Zuko still didn’t want to have to think about what Sokka would have said to him had Zuko left her soon after getting her in bed and covered up.
There was a soft peep. Zuko groaned to himself; how could he have forgotten about the Chicobo, as it gradually came awake from where it had taken its bed in the blankets at the back of Katara’s head. He watched as the little bird hopped up and fluttered its wings, its big black eyes blinking at him.
“Shh—!” the firebender softly shushed it all the while still attempting to extricate himself from Katara without bothering her.
Agni, Zuko wanted nothing more than to just get free and leave unnoticed. That’s all he asked for!
Re: fml. . .
Something wasn't quite right, though-- a something that wasn't allowing her mind to fall back into its perfectly happy state of rest that it so desperately wanted. What was it? She tried to remember whatever it was that was tugging on the corner of her mind... and sure enough, once her mind seemed to be able to grasp that the sound she was hearing was actually a soft chirping sound, everything else came in a rush, flooding her mind.
Needless to say, her eyes fluttered open, the first thing Katara noticed in her line of sight being the Firebender attempting to desperately shush the chicobo.
"You're still here?" Katara murmured sleepily, a bit of surprise managing to be present in her tone.
I need to remember; this isn't journal log, it's GAME LOG, next time 1 comment and not 2 plz self
The Chicobo gave a a kwehhhh and tried to walk its way over to Katara’s head, hopping around the odd lumps an hills of blankets.
“I uh… I tried not to wake you. I was going to leave before you woke up but…” Zuko gestured to where his arm remained pinned down beneath her.
Re: I need to remember; this isn't journal log, it's GAME LOG, next time 1 comment and not 2 plz sel
There's definitely something different about this, her mind tried to convince her, but she immediately dismissed the thought.
"Oh, right-- sorry about that--" the apology was hasty as she rolled off his arm, her body now pressed against the wall as she waited for him to retrieve the appendage.
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Another wince and quiet hiss of breath was indication of the pins and needles gradually setting in.
"... Thanks."
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"Did you stay only because I was sleeping on your arm?" The question had come out before she had a chance to really process what she was asking, and her cheeks reddened when she realized what she had asked. But more than that, she wasn't sure if she was curious or dreading the answer he would give her.
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At her unexpected question, Zuko froze, his hand still gripping at his shoulder. He glanced over at her and noticed the blush on her cheeks, an odd little flutter coming to life in his chest at the sight. "I..." he began to say, his voice gruff from sleep, "I uh... yeah," he then finished lamely, golden eyes dropping to his lap where he flexed his hand.
"Yeah," the firebender repeated with a nod, speaking to himself mostly. And then added on a quieter tone akin to a mumble after a moment of pause, his gaze averted downward, "It would've been dishonorable of me to leave you by yourself after you kind of fainted on me..."
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But the mention of her fainting had her eyes widening in surprise; she certainly didn't remember that episode. "I fainted? How long was I out for?"
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Zuko shrugged, rotating his shoulder to make sure the uncomfortable tingling was completely gone.
"I was a little too busy carrying you to your bed to think about the passing time, Katara."
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Finally after what seemed like minutes of agony, Katara peeked over at Zuko. She took a moment to assess him, took in his slightly disheveled 'just woke up' state with his hair in a slight disarray, the way he rolled his arm to shake off the sleep that her weight had forced upon it. He really had taken care of her while she was in such a sickly state-- and she found herself feeling quite grateful for his kindness.
"... Thanks, Zuko." The thank was a soft whisper that, despite the quietness of her words, managed filled the silence between them.
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Zuko tried not to roll his eyes and snorted to himself, frowning down at his lap while still flexing his hand; the pins and needles were nearly over and done with. Zuko seemed completely oblivious to her scrutiny, preferring to keep his head down, the silence between stretching. What now? Did he just get up and leave? Would she be alright now on her own? Maybe he should go to find Aang and tell him what happened so the monk could take his place...
At her faint murmur of gratitude he lifted only his eyes to peer out at her from beneath his messy bangs. "...You're welcome," he finally murmured back, cheeks feeling especially warm in that moment.