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#'Zuko you've got to take care of yourself!'
grungeeuvu · 6 months
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A through Z (minus the ones you've already answered)
A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.
My favourite ship at the moment is FengQing (Feng Xin X Mu Qing from TGCF) and I am constantly talking @astrowaffles 's ear off about them. Platonically, I'm always mentally ill about the Shiratorizawa team and how they all support each other. Family-wise, I can't get Shen Twin aus out of my head
B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.
Yaku and Suga from Haikyuu, both platonic and romantic :) I think either way would be really sweet and funny
C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.
Shiragoshi. I see no appeal in it for either of them and it kinda just gives me the ick
D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.
Anything with Karasuno first years that aren't the stereotypical main ships except maybe Yamahina. Idk I just feel like Tsuki x either of the volleyball idiots would go terribly and someone would end up getting hurt.
Also, Yachi is very much a lesbian to me and I'm taking that to the grave 🫡
Also, kawagata doesn't click with me. I prefer reongata, since they're both third years and at least had dialogue with each other
For a non Haikyuu pairing, I've got to say giyushino or shinogiyu - I don't know if it's hinted canon or just widely popular but I really can't care for it. I don't hate it, I just have no interest
E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?
I haven't altered the fandom with it but I made #RichPrinceFuckerVirgil a trend with my friends back in 2019
G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?
The timeline gets a bit confuddled here but my first otp was either prinxiety (Roman X Virgil from Sanders Sides) or klance (Keith X Lance from VLD)
I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?
I scoped out the Skulduggery Pleasant fandom and I'm not planning on going back (which sucks because the books are amazing)
K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?
Either Zuko, Tsukki, Mu Qing, or Ming Fan (can you tell I'm a fan of grouchy people with the ability to do good?)
L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)
As someone very neutral over Asahi, I really have to say that he is portrayed as the ace amazingly. Even though he isn't the main character and can't score all the epic points, he's still an inherently powerful force and you always trust in him when the ball goes his way, as this viewer.
M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.
Feng Xin :)
N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).
Reincarnation fics (TGCF)
Multi-chap AU fics (Haikyuu)
ObaMitsu content (KNY)
O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?
The song "Black Sheep" by Gin Wigmore reminds me of Hua Cheng/TGCF calamities :))
P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).
Sendai Frogs as a forced together bounty hunting crew in a space au that becomes found family 💪
Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why.
DSMP/MCYT - after Technoblade sadly passed away and then the finale was handled so clumsily, I just couldn't bother with it anymore. However, I still watch a lot of those YouTubers today, like Tommyinnit and Jack Manifold :)
R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?
Shiratorizawa Third Years for the win!!!!
@/baguantte has an AMAZING piece of fanart for all of them which I regularly return to look at :))
S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)
Shen Yuan was chronically ill before he transmigrated and he died not just due to choking but because a seizure happened during his rage-eating. We know he's an unreliable narrator, hence why he never mentions this - he hated being ill and felt ashamed by it, so he never wants to think about it now he's no longer sick.
A prompt for this could be Shen Qingqui gets wife plotted and the consequence is far too similar to how he lived his old life that he keeps nearly breaking over it. Could lead to an identity reveal or just some good ol' hurt/comfort
T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 
Yamagata has clinical depression. Idrk where this came from but it's something I very much stand by and have lots of interlocking ideas with so, yeah, no one is changing my mind on that.
U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.
Mu Qing (TGCF/Heaven Official's Blessing) - he's my favourite because of his complicated character. He says negative things, the rumours about him is how he is cold and unkind, yet we see his actions and behaviour portrayed very differently. He's a truly complicated guy.
Goshiki Tsutomu (Haikyuu) - I've written an essay on him which I now cannot find??? I'll have to fish it out but basically he's a really well written character whom performs so hard despite the anxiety he's visibly under being in such an infamous team
Shen Yuan (SVSSS/Scum Villain's Self Saving System) - he's a nerd who died and is now a hot guy but has the nerve to complain about it, he's just like me and I love that.
V - Which character do you relate to the most?
It sounds dramatic and emo as fuck, but Mu Qing. I just get him on a very deep level.
W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.
Major Character Death or just Character Death in general - I always find it very cheap or unfulfilling. To get me on board with Major Character Death takes a LOT
X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.
The Girlboss X Malewife ship - I don't mind the genders, I don't care for dynamics... if that ship is in there, it's likely to be my favourite!! See FengQing and KyouHaba for reference lol
Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?
Bnha, Bungo Stray Dogs and a bit of Mob Psycho
Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)
AHHHHH OKAY UHHH I accidentally got my mother into not just Haikyuu and Demon Slayer but also TGCF?? We've been watching The Untamed together too - she really wants me to read her manga series Boys Over Flowers and I've been meaning to haha
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Me, reading a fic:
Zuko, in said fic: *offhandedly says something horrifying about his childhood*
Me: haha same lol
Literally everyone in the fic: Zuko, that's horrible! Are you okay?
Zuko and me, simultaneously: wait, what?
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wrenqueenisboss · 2 years
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DSMP x gn!reader -- not drinking water
Characters: Dream, George, Wilbur, c!Nikip!Bench Trio Warnings: dehydration Pronouns: you/yours, they/them (if used) Summary: how various dsmp members would react to reader not drinking enough water
tagging:
@meliancries @allywritesforfun @gray-moon2
~-~-~-~-~-
Dream:
as soon as he realizes, he suggests having a movie night so that he can subtly make you drink more water
he'll get a big glass of refreshing ice water and midway through the movie after the salty snacks have made you thirsty, offer you the glass
not really thinking abt it, you take a big sip and end up keeping the glass. that makes him smile with relief because you are starting to actually drink the water
makes sure that before you go to work, that he always hands you a bottle of water and gently reminds you how important it is to drink water in order to keep yourself healthy
George:
one day you're feeling faint and suddenly George realizes that you haven't been drinking a lot of water recently and he understands that you are feeling symptoms of dehydration
immediately sits you down and talks to you about how you need to drink water
feels bad that he got super concerned (and sort of bossy because of that) but you understand because he was only caring for your health
gets you a glass of water and cuddles with you on the couch as you guys have a sweet conversation
Wilbur:
notices as soon as you refuse the glass of water he offered you right before he was going to his office to start his stream (because he remembers that you did the same thing yesterday)
asks you if you are feeling okay; wants to see if you are exhibiting any symptoms of dehydration yet or are feeling sick for some other reason
tells you that it isn't healthy for you not to drink water and sets the water glass in front of you.
asks if you want to be in the room while he streams (doesn't tell you but it's so he can check on you)
c!Niki:
was on a cute picnic date with you when she notices that you haven't taken any sips of the lemonade the two of you made; which isn't like you at all
asks if you are feeling okay and asks if you don't like the lemonade
when you admit that you've just been forgetting to drink water, she gets super concerned and makes sure that you drink the lemonade to stay hydrated
as soon as you guys get home, she gets you a big glass of water with one for her too and you guys drink the water as you cuddle on the couch with her cats, Toph and Zuko
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attackfish · 2 years
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"Zuko is a dweeby little turtleduck"
As some of you may know, especially if you've been around me for a while, especially if you knew me in my Livejournal days, I've got a complicated relationship with the hurt/comfort genre. In theory, the genre hits pretty much all of my narrative kinks. I write a lot about abuse, trauma, recovery, finding or not finding love and support, and just the general range of terrible things happening to my favorite characters, and/or the aftermath. I should love hurt/comfort, right? I should eat it up with a spoon. Right?
And some of it l do. But a lot of the genre, and the attitudes and assumptions baked into a lot of the genre, really sets my teeth on edge. Some of this is the structural limitations of the genre. Hurt/comfort as a genre typically begins with the hurt, unless the hurt is something that happens in canon, and then it's just quickly summarized. but either way the point of the hurt is the comfort. It's about the setup and release of narrative tension, the problem of the hurt, the solution of the comfort. This hurt can be physical, emotional, or both, and can be as simple as a character with a minor injury or the flu, to a character experiencing permanent disability and/or life-altering trauma. There is nothing wrong with this format, in the sense that it is a satisfying narrative format, with a satisfying build and release of tension, but it doesn't really fit well with portraying trauma in a realistic way.
Which makes sense, because the genre tends towards wish fulfillment rather than realism. To be clear, there's nothing wrong with that, but I think my wishes tend to be a bit misaligned with a lot of people with regards to the portrayal of trauma.
Trauma is deeply isolating, and the more isolated you are to start with, the less social power you have, the fewer people who will come to your defense, the more likely you are to be traumatized, to be victimized, to be hurt. And of course if you don't have a lot of social resources to draw on to start with, once you've been victimized it's really hard to build them, and it is much more likely that you will not find support in your pain. In this, I was extremely lucky. Yes I was abused as a child, and yes in some ways I was isolated, but I was abused outside the home, by people who weren't my close family, and I had a loving, supportive family who did everything they could to help me through. Sure, the world outside my family didn't believe or trust me, and didn't care about supporting me, but I had people who cared about me, and who were ready to walk through fire for me. Many if not most people who experience childhood trauma experience it within the home, and don't have that good fortune that I did.
But because of my good fortune, because I always had people supporting me and helping me and loving me, I don't really go looking for narratives where a character identify with is being supported through their trauma, and this makes them better, or heaven forbid, heals them and takes the trauma away. I was loved and supported, and this made it possible for me to recover in the ways I have, but it was still a long and really ugly road, and nobody could heal my trauma for me. I still had to put in a shit ton of work. So instead of functioning as wish fulfillment for me, I find those narratives alienating.
There are a lot of very nuanced stories in the hurt/comfort genre that don't fall into that, and who's build and cathartic release of tension tends to be less neat, and the endings tend to be less unequivocally happy. And I don't actually think that the wish fulfillment stories are inherently bad, since for people who didn't get lots of love and support initially, it's kind of a way of writing yourself getting that support, of writing what you wished happened, and that is good and healing and healthy and reading that is also good in healing and healthy for many people. Realism is not always what you need or want, sometimes wish fulfillment is good. I am simply pointing out a common pattern and why it doesn't work for me.
But there is a much less benign reason a lot of hurt/comfort makes me want to scream, and this is the way victims in hurt/comfort tend to be portrayed.
The very first story that I actually gave up on writing was in the Harry Potter fandom. It was a story about if when Sirius told snape how to find Remus as a werewolf, Snape had been bitten. In this process, not only did Snape become a werewolf, but he was also permanently physically disabled. Part of the reason I stopped writing this fanfic was because I had Marauders fans versus Snape fans in my inbox constantly, each insisting I was being unfair to their favorite characters, because I was writing them all as assholes (which to be clear, they are), but an equally large part of why I ended up dropping the fic and deleting it, was because of how many people were angry or puzzled by the fact that I was writing disabled teenage Snape as just as angry and snarky and nasty as he was in the books, because being made disabled should have softened him, right?
I'm physically disabled, and I was kind of horrified by how many people insisted that because of a physical disability, Snape, or indeed any character, or worse any real person, should suddenly become a different person with a different personality. Not only is that not how it works, but that expectation is rank ableism. I couldn't deal with this attitude as a writer, and certainly not a decade ago when I was much younger. These comments made me angry, but they also killed my joy for the story.
I come across this attitude in explicit form much less often now in fandom, at least when it comes to physical disability. But it hasn't entirely gone away, and the place where subjecting a character to misery is still a mostly socially acceptable way to make them soft and approachable, is with emotional trauma. This is the reflection of broad cultural attitudes towards disability, mental illness, trauma, gender, Christian ideas about suffering, I mean there are a lot of things that go into this strange idea that trauma makes somebody nicer and sweeter. But it's bullshit, as anybody who has had to deal with anyone who has been traumatized, or who has been traumatized themselves, knows full well. Trauma doesn't make you stronger, but it does usually make you less, not more approachable, less, not more sweet.
I like to write, and read, about what society judges as bad victims, people who react to trauma in the ways that actual people react to trauma, with maladaptive coping mechanisms, fear, anger, suspicion, self sabotage, lashing out, manipulation, attempts to control others, or drive them away, all the things that people do when they're in pain and afraid. It's never pretty, and it almost always ends with even more pain. I like to read and write about people going through trauma, or in the aftermath of traumatic happenings, who struggle, and fail, and who might have help and support but ultimately have to do the work and make the choices to move their lives forward. And a lot of times, I write about people who have been traumatized lashing out at, or otherwise hurting, the people trying to support them. That's what I find validating: watching their pain acknowledged and respected, even when they're not doing anything right yet, and watching them get through it, even though nobody wants to wrap them in a blanket, or if someone does, it doesn't fix anything.
So why did I title this long post about my relationship to hurt/comfort and depictions of trauma after the tag I use for Zuko? Two reasons. The first is that Avatar: the Last Airbender is full of stellar depictions of traumatized characters, who are all afraid and hurting, and sometimes hurting each other, learning and growing, in many different ways. Zuko is a stand out example of this. His abuse at the hands of his father, his banishment, and his constant anxiety and humiliation at the hands of officers like Zhao, have left him anxious, angry, prone to lashing out, and the kind of prideful that only comes out of a deep sense of shame, and fear of being humiliated and disregarded. He is, well, the audience, including me, loves him, but he's clearly deeply unpleasant to be around in universe. He is constantly making everything worse for himself and everybody around him, while trying to keep his head above water.
And then, as the icing on the cake, he's got his uncle. His uncle, who loves and supports him. His uncle, who would give almost anything to be able to make Zuko see that what his father did to him is wrong, to make him see that the war is wrong, that capturing the Avatar is wrong, to love him into healing and making better choices. Iroh would love to do that. Iroh can't do that. Only Zuko can change Zuko. And of course, it's Iroh who takes the brunt of so much of Zuko's frankly appalling, if entirely understandable and deeply compelling, behavior. Zuko is an open festering wound, and Iroh is constantly getting sprayed with pus.
And I love it.
But of course, Zuko is very obviously deeply traumatized, and as I mentioned, that trauma is deeply compelling, and he is beloved by the audience. So of course, there is going to be a lot of hurt/comfort fic featuring him as the hurt and comforted character. This is all well and good. It's entirely natural. However, because there is a lot of hurt/comfort focused on Zuko, there is also a lot of hurt/comfort content that contains those basic assumptions about trauma and suffering that would mean that a character who is traumatized is made somehow nicer, or sweeter. Zuko in canon is not very nice, not very sweet, and not very approachable, so to fit him in with this view of trauma and suffering, he needs to be made nicer, needs to be softened and sweetened and made more palatable. Zuko in these fan works is a soft creature, who shuts down or cries, or has some other softer response to trauma, rather than yells, lashes out, and grows angry and suspicious, like Zuko does in canon. In short, Zuko is made into a "good victim."
And I hate it.
So the reason I titled this essay after my tag for Zuko is that I have seen this phenomenon dubbed the awkward turtleduck Zuko or the dweeby turtleduck Zuko phenomenon. And at least one person has actually blocked me because of my Zuko is a dweeby turtleduck tag, which I presume caused them to assume that I write this kind of softened Zuko content. Which is of course not true, anyone who's actually read my fanworks is well aware that my characterization of Zuko is the shouty, angry king of lashing out at the people trying to help him, and making everything worse for himself. But I feel like I should address some confusion here, especially since part of me, hopefully a part of me that thinks I have more influence in this fandom than I do, is worried that perhaps my language on the subject might be a contributing factor to the name of this phenomenon.
So why is this my Zuko tag? Because I have been on Tumblr since 2012, and that's when I chose this tag, and the Avatar fandom back then was a very different place. Softboy Zuko was not the obnoxious bad characterization of him that was most prominent. Back then the characterization that I kept seeing over and over again that made me want to roll my eyes and hide under a rock, was perfect super zuko, who could do no wrong and could do everything and was better than all of the other characters and was so cool and so perfect and just like really really cool, guys. Super Zuko showed up a lot in ship fic, but he was hardly exclusive to it, and he came in different flavors, the ship fic version tending to be sexy broody Zuko who needed to be healed by the chosen love interest, while genfic super Zuko tended to just be so much cooler than everybody else. This showed up everywhere constantly and I hated it so much. It's a complete misunderstanding of Zuko's character, and the point of his character, just as softboy Zuko is. And my response was, oh no no no Zuko is not cool. he is so uncool. When he took a social and emotional intelligence test, the score came back negative. Zuko is the opposite of cool. He's a fucking dweeb. I love him, he's a dweebly little turtleduck.
And that's the story of my Zuko is a dweeby little turtleduck tag.
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atlabeth · 3 years
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transferred part 20 - atla smau
part 19 | masterlist | epilogue
summary: trying to run from your past is hard, but falling for your brother’s roommate is even harder. little do you know that he’s falling for you as well.
a/n: me when i have to write more than 5 words in a series thats supposed to be a smau
anywho! basically the last chapter?? which is crazy?? filled with heartfelt emotions and the moment that you've all been waiting for, it's a wild ride. so strap in and enjoy. the epilogue will be posted later today so i can finally wrap this series up!! and dont worry theres a super long sappy authors note on the epilogue. LETS GET INTO IT
wc: 2.3k
warning(s): cursing, mentions of alcohol, hurt/comfort, one suggestive comment, mentions of toxic relationships, reader talking about her self sabotaging behavior and burnout, Bad Coping Methods (dont disappear kids)
-
“You haven’t seen her?” Zuko sighed as the same words he had heard on repeat for the past hour played through his ears again. “It’s alright, thank you. Have a good night.”
He shook his head at his friends, their defeated expressions mirroring his own as he leaned against the kitchen island. He ran an exhausted hand through his hair, and he couldn’t help but think of the countless times you had done it for him.
“Your sister doesn’t play when it comes to theatrics,” Aang lamented as he plopped on the couch next to Sokka.
“Tell me about it,” he muttered. “I mean, she doesn’t pull stuff like this. Sometimes she went over the top when she was younger, staying out a little too late or doing something stupid, but she never just… she never just tried to disappear like this. I.. I guess she was too worried about Katara and me to do anything like that, but still.” He knocked back the rest of the seltzer and tossed the can on the table — alcohol was tempting, but none of them wanted to be any less than completely aware tonight.
“We all knew she was hurting,” Sokka continued. “Not even she could be fine after everything that happened with Hahn, especially the day after, but I— I guess I thought that she would open up before just dropping off the radar completely!
“No news from the girls,” Aang announced, prompting a collective sigh from the other two boys. “I gotta give it to her, she’s been very thorough with this.”
“Of course she has. It’s classic Y/N — she can disappear without a trace, sure, but she can’t put enough effort into picking up some supplies for my project on her way home.” It was a lame attempt to lighten the mood, and though he got a weak chuckle out of Aang, it was radio silence on Zuko’s part.
“Hey, buddy.” It didn’t snap him out of his reverie, and Sokka seriously contemplated throwing his empty soda can at him. “You okay?”
“She didn’t even say anything to me,” he finally murmured, eyes trained on his phone screen. “She said she would tell me if she was having a hard time, but she didn’t say anything to me. Just suffered in silence until it got so bad she just up and left. She just… left. Without a single word to anyone. To me.”
Aang’s eyes softened and he let out a loose exhale. “Zuko, she didn’t mean to hurt you — I know that much. She’s just been under a lot of stress lately, and… I guess it didn’t manifest in the best way.”
“Stress...” he muttered, trying to piece it together. There was something nagging at the back of his skull, something on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn’t get it. “And you guys are sure she hasn’t put anything anywhere? No texts that you missed, nothing?”
“Believe me,” Sokka said. “I’ve refreshed her pages a thousand times by now. It’s radio silence on her side. God, I wish I was more invasive and put like, a tracking device on her car or something! For all we know, she could be back to Kyoshi.”
Kyoshi. Stress. This whole thing, your disappearing act.
And suddenly, it clicked.
Zuko stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over the stool in the process and warranting puzzled looks from both of his friends as he grabbed his keys off the table and practically ran to the door.
“Zuko, where are you going?” Aang questioned.
He tugged the door open and shot a glance back at them, tension having noticeably dissolved from his shoulders.
“I know where she is.”
-
Zuko tapped idly against the steering wheel, once again glancing down at his phone screen but to no avail. His relationship with you had become infinitely more complicated since the kiss through fault of both of them — he supposed that was what happened when two people who didn’t know how to talk about their emotions caught feelings for each other. Zuko was very skilled at sticking his foot in his mouth whenever he tried to talk about anything like this, and
But you had accepted his offer to talk on the way home, so that meant something.
He had originally suggested just talking on the way home like he had proposed earlier, but you had a different idea. ‘Trust me,’ you had told him. ‘It has a good track record with making people feel better.’
Your proposition was a wildflower field on the outskirts of the city, just out of the way that someone would go en route to the university. Far enough from the city to emanate an aura of peace, but close enough to be a feasible trip.
“I found this place when I was missing home,” you smiled as he parked the car. “I love it here, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I just feel homesick for Kyoshi. You passed a field like this on the way into town, and when I stumbled here, it just kinda felt like fate. So now whenever I’m stressed, or overwhelmed, or just need a break, I come out here. And I think this is the perfect place to talk about… well, whatever’s going on with us.”
“Sounds good.” He returned the sentiment then cleared his throat. “As long as we don’t go in there. I can admire it from afar, but just looking at that field is making my skin itch.”
You laughed and nodded amiably. “Deal.”
-
One hand was splayed against your chest, the other trailing lazy circles with the pads of your fingers against the metal as you gazed up at the sky. You had the best and only seat of the view, the flora drifting softly in the night breeze as the stars twinkled from above.
You didn’t know what you were thinking, being here. The past couple of weeks had just been… crushing you. It was like your heart was stuck in a vice and no matter what you did, it just got tighter and tighter.
You had been treating everyone you knew horribly, but you couldn’t stop. It felt like a game — how terribly could you act towards them until they snapped too? Until your friends, your siblings, Zuko, recognized that they had made a mistake by trying to help you?
And you didn’t know what it was about today, but… something inside of you just broke after that morning with your roommates. So you did what you were best at, and you ran. Skipped class, skipped work, just drove around aimlessly until even that was starting to feel like too much of a trap.
And then you ended up here.
It would’ve been laughable if you weren’t on the verge of breaking down.
You had been here, just laying on the hood of your car parked a few feet away from the field on an off road path, for the better part of an hour. If you were going to drown underneath the weight of your thoughts, it was better to do it alone.
But as you heard the crunching of gravel underneath car tires, your eyes instinctively shot towards the noise — so much for being alone — and you sat up. Your brows furrowed in recognition, you knew that car, and it felt like your heart was going to beat out of your chest when Zuko stepped out.
“You remembered,” you breathed after a moment of silence. “You’re here.”
“Always.” He said it so obviously, so easily — why wouldn’t he remember? Why wouldn’t he be here?
You scooted over to make space on the hood and patted the space next to you softly, pulling your knees up to your chest in a moment of shame as he walked around to the front and pushed himself up next to you. What were you going to say to him? What could you say?
“I’m sorry,” you said out of the blue, your words pouring out of you like an emotional waterfall. “I’m sorry for just— for just leaving, I know it was stupid and I know they’re all probably worried out of their minds, but I couldn’t do it, Zuko. I-it was like I was trapped, and I know it was irrational, but I had to get out of there—”
“You didn’t have to,” he said quietly, effectively stopping your rant. “If you really had to get out, you could’ve at least said something to one of us. I don’t know what things were like back at Kyoshi, but here— here, you can’t throw yourself back onto the knife every time something goes wrong, because— you just can’t do that anymore.”
“I’m not mad, believe me, I’m relieved that you’re okay. I just..” he sighed and glanced up at the night sky, the light of the moon illuminating his features as he faced you once more. “I know you’ve felt alone before, but you’re not. You have Katara, and Sokka, Suki, Toph— you have me, Y/N! And I’m not going anywhere, trust me, but— but you can’t keep doing this to yourself, because they care about you, and I care about you.”
You swallowed the lump in your throat and chose to concentrate on the hood of the car, tapping your fingers against the metal as a way to use up your nervous energy. “You’re… you’re right,” you said after a long moment of silence, the beginnings of a mirthless smile on your lips.
“After that night at the party, I just— I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened. There was a part of me that just wanted to lock myself in my room and never come out, but I— I told myself I was better than that, and I refused to let myself fall back onto any of it. So I worked. I took extra shifts, I helped out my professors, I did anything and everything I could to try and keep my mind off of Hahn. But I wasn’t helping anything, I was just… I was destroying myself. It was just like you said. I was a candle burning at both ends but still convinced that I was doing the right thing, and eventually.. I just couldn’t take it anymore. So I ran.”
“And— there’s always been this… this voice in my head that pops up after things in my life are going good, and it tells me that something is going to go wrong. A-and it tells me that if I’m the one that ruins it, then I don’t have to ask myself what I did wrong, if I could’ve stopped it from happening— if it’s inevitable, then I should be the one to ruin it. It’s how most of my relationships ended, and— well, the only thing it’s succeeded in is making me miserable.”
You don’t even notice your hands are shaking until you feel Zuko placing his own over yours — a simple gesture asking an unsaid question, one you answer by intertwining his fingers with your own.
“That same voice popped up again once I started getting close to you,” you admitted quietly. “And this whole time, I’ve been so terrified of falling that I never considered you would catch me. But I’m tired, Zuko. I’m tired of constantly looking over the edge.”
As you turned your head to meet his eyes again, your breath caught in your throat at his close proximity. You were sure that no matter how much time you spent with him, your heart would never stop beating out of your chest for Zuko.
“I will always be there to catch you,” he affirmed softly. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
And just like before, he brought his hand to the side of your face and tenderly brushed a loose strand of hair behind your ear. His hand, slightly calloused but emanating comfort all the same, lingered on your cheek for a moment before he posed the question.
“Can I kiss you?”
You nodded, and his lips captured your own immediately. You reciprocated with an almost desperate fervor and— and it just felt so right. You had grown so accustomed to the constant warmth he carried with him that it had become a part of you, he had become a part of you, and now a life without Zuko was just unimaginable.
He was right — he already was there to catch you, each and every time. Giving you endless rides when your car broke down, sitting through the world’s most boring anthro projects, letting you bare your soul to him, telling you it was all going to be okay when nothing felt okay, and managing to find you when you had gone out of your way to not be found. And all of it— it all made you realize.
You didn’t want to keep running. And you didn’t have to. Not anymore.
Zuko pulled away and pressed his forehead to yours, breathing slightly labored as the two of you sat in comfortable silence. That is, until you broke it.
“So,” you started, a nervous chuckle following. “Are we… are we a thing now?”
You could tell that caught him by surprise by the laugh that escaped him, a sound of unfiltered joy. “I’d say that we are.”
You could feel the heat rushing to your cheeks once more as he slid off of the hood of the car and held out his hand, an offering you took happily. “We should get home,” he said, somewhat reluctantly. “It’s past midnight, and—” Zuko glanced at his phone and grimaced. “They’re all still worried out of their minds.”
“Right,” you muttered. “I’m gonna get the lecture of my life from Sokka and Katara.”
“Probably,” he chuckled. “But they’re just doing their job as concerned siblings.” He pressed a chaste kiss to your forehead and glanced back at his own car. “I’ll see you back at the apartment?”
You nodded, an uncontrollable smile pulling at your lips. “Thank you, Zuko. For this, and— for everything.”
He returned the sentiment, golden eyes filled with adoration.
“Always.”
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if your name is crossed out it means i can’t tag you!
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atla: @marianne1806
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zukkaoru · 2 years
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Top 5 comfort characters? <3
only five?? okay well let's see here,,
(in no particular order)
1. thalia grace (riordanverse)
literally she is everything to me. i formed an unhealthy emotional attachment to her from the moment i met her at the end of sea of monsters and it has not gone away. my username on my personal instagram account was literally thalia.grace._ until partway through high school. when my friends and i were in middle school, we assigned each other fictional characters from the riordanverse that we would be and i was thalia because she was my favorite. i simply adore her. if i'm asked for my top fictional character of all time, i always default to her bc she's been everything to me since i was ten years old (wait i just realized that's literally half my life what the frick)
2. robin hood (once upon a time)
there's just something about characters who deserve so much more than what they're given that makes me attach myself to them. and there's something about the way that he looked past regina's flaws and her dark past and loved her anyways. the way he was selfless and kind and loyal. the way he poured himself out into everyone he ever loved so much that he might have lost who he was in the process. the way that he helped me through one of the roughest parts of my life from beyond the grave. literally he deserved so much better and if i think about it for too long i will scream and tear my hair out
3. cherry blossom / kaoru sakurayashiki (sk8 the infinity)
he's my baby my partner my father my mother my poor little meow meow-- no okay but seriously i love cherry too much for it to be healthy. i have never felt as much gender envy as i do whenever i see him. it's about hiding your emotions under false apathy bc you can't get hurt if you don't let anyone close enough to hurt you. it's about hardly ever letting anyone close enough to see the real you. it's about losing yourself in the personas you display for other people to the point where you don't even know who the real you is. why do i love so many characters with identity issues. but it's also about feeling the betrayal of the full swing kiss deep in my chest because yeah. i get it. i get putting your trust into someone who made you empty promises because you were young and naïve only for them to turn on you and say you aren't worth their time. it's about learning that closure comes in many forms and sometimes, you have to teach yourself to be okay with what you got. it's about finding the people who are willing to put in the work it takes to break your walls down and who aren't scared away by the defense mechanisms you've spent years perfecting. it's about slowly but surely allowing yourself to open up to love again. i just. i have a lot of feelings
4. zuko & mai (avatar: the last airbender)
they come together because they're besties. also bc i can't choose one over the other and i have one more character i need to do for 5. but anyways. it's about learning to love who you are despite being raised in a society that told you you could never be lovable unless you managed to conform to their impossible standards. it's about learning to stop trying to reach that love you can never win and instead living your truth. for zuko, it's about overcoming the cycle of hatred you've been taught and raised in. for mai, it's about needing to look like you don't care because you've been taught caring (or expressing any emotion, for that matter) is bad. and it's about finding the people who love you for who you are instead of who they think you could be.
5. simon saunders (rise)
oh boy. oh boy. you know when you start watching a tv show or reading a book or whatever, and for the first time in your life, you see a character who is just. you? yeah. that was me with simon. the religious guilt over your sexuality? struggling with what you believe vs what you want to believe? wanting to go after love but being terrified of your parents' reactions and God's reaction and not knowing whether or not you believe the love you want is sinful? yeah. yeah. simon was the first character i came into contact with who fully and entirely resonated with me, down to the bone, into my soul, so deeply it hurt. wherever he is now, i hope he's doing well
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Tea Shop Part Three: Zuko x female reader imagine series
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You struggle to come to terms with the reality Lee is Zuko and can’t get your head around the idea...until a dangerous close encourter shows you how fire nation Zuko really is.
Part One here
Part Two here
Part four here
You felt like a naive idiot. You always prided yourself on being more objective than an average air nomad, more realistic, but you'd believe Zuko was good and he betrayed his uncle and tried to kill Aang. You felt utterly bewildered and couldn’t believe the person you knew would do all those things. You made Sokka tell you all about their encounters with Zuko, every single detail, to try and get it into your head that the tea merchant you knew didn’t exist. Everything Sokka told you sounded insane but you knew it was the truth so begrudgingly you started accepting it. You were starting to see Zuko as an enemy instead of an ally and then all that work went out the window when you came face to face with him again.
The gang had landed on a secluded part of an island with a nice lake so everyone was swimming and relaxing but you didn’t want to just lie around, you wanted to explore. So you convinced Sokka to come with you for a walk into town and the two of you set off. When you heard there was beach you’re excitment peaked and Sokka relaxed his rule on staying out of sight figuring nobody here would recognise either of you. Sokka stopped to look at bags by the beach front and you walked onto the beach happily. You stood in the sand enjoying the warmth when suddenly a beach ball came flying towards you. You batted it away without thinking and sent it flying down the beach. "Great job genius" a voice called and you turned to see a very angry looking fire nation girl. "That was my ball and now you've catapulted it half way down the beach". "Sorry but it was that or get in the face so..." you joked but the girl didn’t find you funny. "Go get it" she said stiffly and something about her tone pissed you off "no" you said simply "it’s your ball". The girl went to step closer to you when her friends walked over too and a boy pulled her away from you. You mouth opened in suprise to see it was Lee or more accurately Zuko. It had only been a few months since you’d last seen him but he looked so different. His hair was longer, he was in fire nation clothes and he looked changed...he looked good. You could tell it was definitely him by how panicked he looked, which also suprised you. Was he really scared because he thought you'd reveal what he did and who he was to his friends? Surely they knew he was the prince? Then you realised he wasn't worried about himself he was worried about you. "Azula leave it" he called standing infront of her and you realised who this was. The gang had told you all about the deadly fire nation trio and sure enough you recognised the other two girls from their descriptions. The pale girl didn’t even seem to be paying attention but the pretty brunette looked at Azula worried. "This peasant disrespected me i won’t leave it" Azula snapped as Ty lee frowned "it’s okay Azula, those boys are bringing the ball back to us anyway" she smiled "they’re so nice". "Exactly so let’s just go" Zuko said and you saw Azula frown at him, you were guessing he wasn’t usually an advocate for the average person. You felt his sister scanning you and knew you had to get out of this situation right now but had no idea how. "Come on" Zuko called but Azula shook her head "no". Zuko groaned "for god sake Azula what’s your problem! Leave her alone". Azula tensed "why are you so protective of this girl zuzu?" she asked and you saw Mai look up at that and stare at you too. "I’m not" Zuko babbled "i’m just sick of your temper, why start fights with a stranger for no good reason!". Azula frowned as if she hadn’t even heard Zuko "you seem familiar" she said "have we met before?". You frowned "i...i’ve never seen you before in my life" you replied trying not to touch the burn on your arm like you always did when you were nervous. She hummed still staring at you and you waited for her to realise who you were. "I’m sick of this come on lets just go" Zuko sighed and he led Mai away. "Azula come on" he called and Ty lee tugged her arm. "Fine" Azula sighed and let them drag her away. You watched them go, facinated. So this was the real Lee then? You watched him, staring at the back of his head trying to find something, a look, a subtle nod, anything that told you he was still Lee...but Zuko seemed determined not to look back at all and he walked away like he didn’t know or care about you at all.
You came to your senses after they left and rushed away from the beach, running back up to the stalls and out of sight. You breathed heavily as what could’ve happened to you sunk in and jumped when Sokka appeared next to you. "Hey, did you get what you wanted?". "What?" you asked confused. "The beach? Is it nice?". "No it’s way too crowded lets head back" you stammered and Sokka shrugged "okay". You weren’t sure why you didn’t tell Sokka what had happened. Part of you didn't say anything because you weren't sure how to feel. You hadn't been angry when you saw Zuko more sad and confused. You’d felt embarassed he ignored you even if he had to do it given the company he was in. Another part of you didn’t say anything because you didn’t want the others to persue Zuko even if he was part of the fire nation and that thought embarassed you even more. You were very confused and so just stayed quiet as you walked further and further away from the beach.
All day you ruminated over your decision not to tell the others and even with ground between you, you couldn’t get what happened out of your head. You wanted to ask Zuko why he’d helped you on the beach, shouldn’t he hate you now? Especially given your air nomad identity or was he different to the rest of his nation? Giving up on sleep you decided to go for a walk and pretended you didn’t have an exact location in mind. You knew it was stupid and risky but you headed back to the beach and arrived quickly. It was empty and you sat down slightly disappointed. You knew Zuko wouldn’t still be there but you had to check. You sighed wondering what you’d even have said to him and were suddenly glad he wasn’t here. You didn’t know if you’d be angry at him or happy to see him, so him not being here made things a lot easier for you.
"You must have a death wish coming back here" someone called and you knew who it was.
You turned and there Zuko was walking towards you slowly. The first emotion you felt wasn't anger, he'd come back here too, just like you. "I could say the same for you" you smirked and Zuko sat down next to you. You sat beside one another in silence both of you suprised and confused by the situation you were in. "Why are you here?" he asked suddenly. "I thought you might come back here so i did" you said embarassed and he shook his head "no here on the island! Are you following us? Y/n they can’t know you’re here...if my sister knew who you were she'd....". "Pft i can handle some fire" you tried to joke but Zuko shook his head "no y/n, Azula is the best fire bender i’ve ever seen, you can’t take her and you can’t let her take you". You swallowed, you’d only been joking about handling Azula, you knew she was dangerous but hearing Zuko tell you that... "We’re not here because we’re following you" you said softly "we stopped off here and i wanted to see the beach, it was chance bumping into you i swear". Zuko looked at you and nodded "i believe you, it was just...odd". You nodded and watched him out of the corner of your eye. He looked conflicted, happy but not happy, sad but not sad. "How are you?" you couldn’t help asking "how is it being back home?". "Weird" Zuko replied "it’s changed so much...i’ve changed". “Tell me about it, the last I knew you were a tea merchant not a prince”. Zuko smiled slightly “I imagine it was a lot to take in?”. You nodded “it was but it explained a lot...your spoiled attitude for one”. Zuko smirked and you laughed. This was nice and all but you couldn’t just sit around ignoring the elephant in the room. "Why did you do it?" you couldn’t help asking and felt Zuko tense, the atmosphere now uncomfortable. "I know i don’t know you well and I know Lee isn’t really you but I still can't understand why you'd betray your uncle? Why you'd side with your sister after all she’s done? You just don’t seem like that type of person". Silence settled and stretched on for so long you got ready to leave but finally Zuko spoke. "You’re right, you don’t know me". You met his eye and saw nothing but anger and hate there. You looked away scolded and shook your head feeling deflated "back to that again huh? Back to hating each other?". "Well obviously! we’re on opposing sides y/n, what did you think was going to happen once you joined the avatar? We’re not friends". You laughed in utter surprise "ow so if i didn’t join the avatar it would've been different?" you asked "stop trying to blame me because you feel guilty for the choices you made". "You were always too prying and self rightous for your own good" he snapped “you know nothing! You’re just some waitress I worked with, you don’t know anything about me”. "Wow and there’s the fire nation prince" you smirked patronisingly "don’t know how you did such a good job hiding him before now" and stood up. "I saved you as a courtesy" Zuko called after you, his voice getting louder the further you walked "the next time i won’t". His announcement made you so mad you shook with anger. He was really threatening you for calling him out on betraying his family? He thought not letting his sister attack you owed praise? "Good" you yelled back "i don’t need anything from you. Have fun in your cursed life traitor". 
Zuko’s POV
Your words hit Zuko like a strike and he glared after you burning holes in your back until you disappeared around a corner. Even though you’d gone Zuko’s anger didn’t and he angrily sent a jet of fire up into the air with a yell. Zuko sat down on the cold bench and shivered. “What’s wrong with you now?” someone asked making Zuko jump. He turned to see Azula coming towards him and looked around to make sure there was no sign you’d been here. Azula seemed relaxed so she obviously hadn’t seen you but Zuko couldn’t believe how lucky he got, if Azula had been slightly earlier or you stayed any longer...it didn’t bare thinking about. “Hello? Does that scar effect your hearing?”. “No” Zuko snapped and sighed. His temper had been bad recently and was getting worse, that’s why he’d blown up so easily. He hadn’t meant to yell at you, he’d been happy to see you and he did...had seen you as a friend. But that was certainly all ruined now he’d yelled at you. That thought made Zuko even more depressed, which he didn’t think was possible. He supposed it was best you hate him though, he was the traitor prince, he’d betrayed his uncle who only ever wanted to help him. This way he wouldn’t be able to betray you too. 
1 month later
You’d regretted what you’d said to Zuko as soon as your anger feded but you were still hurt at what he’d said about you. You weren’t friends and you never were...
You decided that was the final straw and set out to make Zuko’s words a reality. Slowly you managed to lose thought of Zuko, even during the invasion of the fire nation palace you didn’t worry about seeing him, you knew now where your loyalties lied and it wasn’t with Zuko. You were done with him and getting to be okay with that.
So after finally working all that out, when you got a visitor at the western air temple you were angry to say the least. "It’s not..." you frowned looking at the figure but it was. Zuko...and he was smiling too. "Hello Zuko here" he called waving, appearing to be as calm as ever. The others all armed themselves but you just glared. Zuko looked at you all and glanced at you last. He looked down at the intenseness of your glare and you felt proud. "What do you want here?" Aang asked. Zuko explained he wanted to join you and you snorted "seriously? Now the great prince wants to grace us with his presence?" you asked. Zuko looked at you "y/n...i’m sorry for hurting you, all of you” he said looking at everyone again "what i did was wrong and i ask you to consider forgiving me". "No" you said simply "so thank you for coming but goodbye". Zuko rolled his eyes "y/n just let me explain...". "Explain what?" you asked "how you double crossed Mushi? How you hinted i’d be next?". Zuko went quiet and lowered his head. Aang touched your arm and you took that as a sign to calm down. “We can never trust you and we’ll never let you join us” Aang took over and you nodded. Zuko’s face crumpled in defeat and you sighed in relief. You watched, glaring, until Zuko walked out of sight and went inside the temple “well done Aang” you commented. "Man i thought air nomads were all peaceful" Sokka frowned. "Well guess i’m more earth nation then" you shrugged "if i see him again i’ll catapult him from this mountain". “Why are you so angry at him?” Toph asked suddenly and you laughed “you’re joking right?”. “No I get you feel betrayed but you were furious with him I could tell by your emotions and what did you mean when you said he threatenned you?”. “Yeah you never told us he did that in Ba Sing Sei” Sokka nodded and you frowned. “He didn’t threaten me per se and it wasn’t in Ba Sing Sei. I spoke to Zuko a few weeks ago". "What!" they all cried. Sokka launched in a lecture, Katara questioned you on safety, Toph called you insane while you just blushed. "This is exactly why i didn’t tell you!" you cried "i knew the risk but we were at the beach and he’d already stopped his sister from attacking me earlier that day so i figured....". "What" Sokka yelled and you sighed and just started from the very beginning. You finished your explanation and Sokka nodded. "I get why you’re angry at him" Sokka agreed and you sighed in relief. "Yeah because of what he said to me...". "No because you guys basically broke up". "What! We did not" you spluttered "we were never dating! That’s ridiculous" and stormed away angrily.
After a fitful night of sleep you woke up to the news Toph was gone. She’d seemed pretty sympathetic to Zuko yesterday so you weren’t suprised when she returned and announced she’d visit Zuko...and he’d burnt her. You helped carry her to the fountain and managed not to gloat that you were right but Toph sensed it. “I can feel you smirking” she commented. You frowned “I’m sorry you got hurt but I did tell you...”. “I may’ve been wrong but you’re letting your feelings cloud your judgement” Toph commented. You gaped “no i’m not!” and Katara frowned “guys....” when an explosion rocked the whole temple. Sparky sparky boom man was back, the assassin hired to kill you, and you all sought cover when suddenly the attacks ceased. “Zuko” Aang commented and you sighed, apparently Zuko was determined to prove his worth. Watching Aang’s reaction you felt anger, you knew what would happen. Zuko would save the day and that would win the gang over, they didn’t have as strong grudges as you.
Sure enough after the attack they let Zuko approach and listened to him. Aang vouched for him but then turned to all of you for your opinions. Aang looked at eveyone, they all met his eye apart from you. Toph and Sokka agreed, Katara hesitated but she agreed too. Finally Aang turned to you  "Y/n" he said softly "will you agree to let Zuko stay?". You looked past Aang to Zuko and resisted the urge to glare. "Y/n" Aang said softly "please, i need a firebender teacher and i really think it should be him". You stared at Aang, those big brown eyes wearing you down, and sighed. You had to do what was right, Aang needed this and he was one of the last members of your nation, you couldn’t be selfish. You nodded your head stiffly “if you say you need him then okay”. Aang grinned at you before turning back to Zuko “okay you can join us”. Those words made your skin crawl and you stormed away.  
It was awkward to say the least having Zuko around, all of you were reluctant to approach him but Sokka seemed to be having fun with it. As night approached Zuko asked where his room was and Sokka said he’d show him. Zuko nodded and Sokka siddled up beside you “want to show Zuko to his room yourself?" Sokka asked "so you can memorise the location". You smacked Sokka over the head in reply and he led Zuko away without another comment but had apparently put the idea in Zuko’s head.
You were laid on your bed glaring at the ceiling too angry to sleep when there was a knock on your door. You sat up cautiously and the door opened to reveal Zuko. "Hi" he said timidly and you stood up "what do you want?". Zuko blushed "i think we need to talk, privately...about what happened on ember island". "What is there to discuss? You never considered me a friend, you rejected me and left". Zuko frowned "y/n...it wasn’t like that". "Wasn’t it?" you asked and Zuko frowned "well it was but y/n i’m sorry! The things i said to you were awful but i didn’t mean them! I lashed out at you because it was you, because you make me want to be a better person, that’s why i hurt you". "Ow wow that makes it so much better thank you" you said mockingly and Zuko frowned "no, you know i didn’t mean it like that". "Well i’m sorry i didn’t take you yelling at me the right way Zuko, did i misinterpret you calling me nosy and self rightous and saying you never liked me too? Or how you saving me was just a such a nice gesture". Zuko groaned "why aren’t you listening i just said I didn’t mean any of that!". "Well i find that hard to believe" you glared "you don’t get to come here and apologise and have me forgive you, i’m angry at you". "Really you did a good job hiding that" Zuko retorted and you glared. "Get out of my room i don’t want to talk to you, ever”" you yelled and Zuko nodded "fine!" and stormed away. He slammed the door and the whole temple shook. You let out a cry of frustration and collapsed onto your bed. Zuko joining the group was going to make things complicated.
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Next part is the last one!!!
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liyawritesss · 3 years
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Hello, I'm a new follower and I love your blogs aesthetic it's very calming, something that more needed in these weird times. Anyways, I hope you're doing well and are taking care of yourself. Can I humbly request (feel free to ignore this if you want) relationship headcanons with Zuko? Hope you're taking care of yourself and are drinking water.
A Relationship w/ Fire Lord Zuko Would Include...
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Thank you so much lovelie! You're so sweet. You actually just reminded me to drink some water 😅😅
I see you've got an eye for the Fire Lord, aye? I don't blame you- who doesn't love emotionally scarred, touch-starved men? I'll be doing Fire Lord Zuko for this one since it wasn't specified for pre or post coronation, so I hope that's okay!
Warnings: fem! black/poc! reader, vague mention of past abuse
Zuko may have been in a relation ship once with Mai, but to be quite honest the reason that relationship didn't work out was because both were takers. Both wanted something the other couldn't give, which resulted in fighting, doubts, distrust, and eventually separation.
Therefore, it would, be best for Zuko to have someone that understands he can't just give himself competely to someone, regardless of how much he wants to, because he wasn't build like that (Wow look at that the demiromantic hc came out).
Zuko would have had to known you for some time before feelings started to blossom. And even then he'd deny them, constantly trying to convince himself that you were just a friend to him and nothing more.
However, its those moments when you show him how understanding and accepting you are that he can't kid himself anymore about what he feels in his heart.
Once he's ready to let himself be loved, oh boy, you're in for a ride.
He's super attentive of you, remembers what you like and dislike, remembers topics of conversations to bring back up later on, and always considers your opinion on situations.
At the beginning he's a bit awkward, especially with physical touch. He's almost always blushing because it's a new experience for him, and he's not sure what to do that won't make you upset or embarrass him.
He's not the best with physical affection, and we all know why.
You'll have to take the lead for a bit in this aspect, but once he's out of that nervous shell, he'll be the one to initiate it. Always in private though, he doesn't think he can handle being so close to you around people. He might just burst.
In this sense, if it's not simple hand holding than PDA is off the table.
Won't admit he's a cuddlebug, but he definitely is. Sleeping with you brings him so much comfort, and he feels safe and secure in your arms. Will definitely be the kind of person to pull you closer to him if he feels you moving away, or while when it's time to get up for the day.
Depending on his love language, Zuko would either give you small trinkets, take you on walks in the garden, or just pull you into an enveloping hug when you're alone. He might even try to write you something, and although he's embarrassed, he wants you to understand the raw emotions he has for you even if they're a jumbled mess on paper. They'd be even worse coming out of his mouth, so writing them down was his only option.
If you bed him enough, he might let you take a ride on his dragon. And if he sees how much you enjoy it, he'll make it little once a month date kind of thing
Zuko's self conscious of his scar, but will allow you to see it, touch it, kiss it, because it's the most vulnerable part of himself that he wants to share with you.
People pity him for it, even now, and so to know that you see it as a part of himself that's made him a better person, it makes him extremely happy.
If you run your hands though his hair, he'll definitely fall asleep on you. And he won't be sorry about it. He fucking loves it and has no shame in asking for you to do it for him after a stressful day.
As much of a reputation Zuko has to hold up as Fire Lord, he'll turn into the softest puppy for you. And he won't let anyone talk down on your name. Let someone challenge your honor, and he's gonna turn super scary super quick.
He won't abuse his power as Fire Lord, but one look i to those eyes and whoever spoke bad about you will scatter like roaches he also has other personal to take care of the situation oop-
The Gaang all love you, and often make jokes about how you agreed to date him. Sokka teases Zuko about how much he loves you, but at some point Zuko just ignores the watertribe boy. Partially because it's annoying having to say the same thing over and over again, partially because Sokka's not entirely wrong when he says Zuko's head over heels for you.
The one thing Zuko asks of you is to be honest with him. Call him out on his bullshit, hold him accountable, treat him like the adult he wants to be. You're his backbone, someone who he can rely on, who he comes to when he needs support. And as much as you and support him and love him, Zuko wants you to be real with him to. He can't be a proper ruler with people sugarcoating things for him.
He may be scarred, but he's still a person who deserves love and he's glad to have you be his lover.
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I feel like I didn't do justice for Zuko. Honestly he's such a complex character that it's hard for me to articulate for him. Then again, it's his complexity that makes me love him as well. I hope this fits what you wanted, lovely!
If you enjoyed this, leave a like, a comment, and reblog for others to see! And don't be shy to request something!
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teelagurl558 · 3 years
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Restart at the Dragon
A modern au Zuko x reader
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Y/n has spent a long time at a boarding school and then a private college pushed on her by her parents, but she’s finally moved somewhere to make her happy. She’s moved in with her cousin Toph and their friends to transfer to Ba Sing Se Uni with them. Little does she know, this change has also given her a chance to find an old childhood friend again.
A/N: The social status/economic class system I decided on to translate this into a modern idea was one similar to Ouran High School Host Club--the wealthy corporate families are almost like nobles with how their traditions run. So that is how Zuko/Toph’s families are.
When I looked up at the doors to the little cafe, I sucked in a deep breath. This weekend when I’d moved in with her and some of her friends, my cousin Toph told me an old neighbor of mine worked here in Ba Sing Se. It had me elated, one of my favorite people from my childhood coming back almost like a sign that yes, this was the right decision. I transferred colleges to Ba Sing Se so that I could come live with Toph and her friends and regain a sense of home that I lacked. When she told me he lived nearby, that hope swelled.
And there he was. A stout, smiley little man that I’d recognize anywhere was bustling around behind the counter a few people ahead of me. When his eyes landed on me, he forgot all about the other Jasmine Dragon patrons and rushed to greet me with a wide grin and open arms.
“Y/n! My look how you’ve grown. Spirits, it is SO GOOD to see you!” Iroh bellowed.
I giggled into the bear hug. “It has been a very long time, Iroh. I’d like to catch up when you close if that’s alright?”
“But of course! You just give me an hour or so. Would you like some tea while you wait?” He was already heading back behind the counter, but the other customers were still ignored. Their dirty looks had melted into soft smiles at our reunion, but I didn’t want to keep them waiting longer, so I told him I’d simply have a green tea latte and found myself a corner seat.
I pulled out my phone when I sat, checking that my to-do list was in order. Aang and Katara, Toph’s long-time friends I’d known for ages, were also living in the apartment I now shared with my cousin. They’d told me earlier to go and enjoy myself when I mentioned meeting an old friend, and said they’d make dinner. I didn’t mention, however, that part of the reason I wanted to see Iroh was to try and discover what had become of his nephew. We were friends when we were neighbors as children, but in middle school, I was sent off to a boarding school by my parents. I knew from my friends now that Zuko and Aang were old high school rivals, and I really didn’t want to drag up old wounds. I just hoped he was okay.
When we were young, I lived in a town practically run by his father. We were close friends, practically inseparable, and his uncle often watched us both. I knew of all the abuse in his home, from the time his mother left when we were kids to all of the physical and verbal maltreatment his father and then sister pushed on him. It made me worried when I left. I had tried to write letters to him when I was sent off to an all-girls’ academy up north, but he never responded, and I knew his father had probably blocked them from reaching him. Ozai never did like me.
“Here’s your order, miss,” a soft voice said over my shoulder. It seemed oddly familiar.
I turned myself around a little and reached out with an, “Oh, thank you!”, but upon seeing the young man’s face I froze.
“Zu-Zuko?!” I gasped. My hand instinctively came up to my mouth in worry. He was still holding out my tea, other hand fidgeting with his apron. Zuko had grown considerably, definitely a man now and with his shaggy hair pulled back into the smallest possible bun on the back of his head. But it was the scar I’d noticed the most, red and twisting up over nearly half of his face. The injury itself seemed absolutely brutal, and my stomach lurched at the thought of someone doing that to the person I cared about so much. I knew he’d been very badly abused, but this? My mind and heart raced with questions. Was he still living with his father? Was that scar from him? It had to be, I had to help him, I had to do something--
“I, um,” he stammered, and I noticed the blush on his face. “Y/n, I’m sorry it’s--”
“Zuko, you have nothing to apologize for,” I said softly, finally taking the drink from him to avoid people staring. "Just--Are you okay?" The last part was nearly a whisper.
“I am. I know you probably have a lot of questions. We can talk after my shift, okay?” Zuko said quietly. I nodded, forcing myself to swallow the worry and giving him a gentle smile. He started to turn away, but looked back over his shoulder a moment to add, “It’s really good to see you.”
When he was gone, I immediately texted Toph.
Me: How on EARTH could you NOT tell me Zuko was here too?
Toph: haha. I thought it’d be funny. Plus, I wasn’t going to bring it up to the others, but text-to-speech just told them.
Me: Shit... Are they mad?
Toph: No, not at all. Have fun catching up, just don’t be out too late. Katara’s making dumplings and we might have the whole gang over.
I sighed heavily, letting my forehead fall into my hand and taking a sip of my tea to calm myself. Glad they weren’t upset, I stared out the window for a moment before my phone buzzed again.
Toph: Sokka says bring him a strawberry boba. I want one too.
A snort shook my shoulders at the text, and I rolled my eyes, especially glad that Sokka wasn’t mad at me. He’d been the one of Toph’s friends to stay closest to me since I met them, long before I transferred schools. Her group had pretty much adopted me one year when I came home from my boarding school for the holidays, and luckily they’d kept up with me a little bit since then. I hadn’t been able to get super close with them yet, but I was hoping now that I’d have a chance. It was my third year in college, same as Sokka’s, and I just wanted to finish off and get my life started somewhere I was happy. I definitely wasn’t getting that with my parents hovering over me to marry into a partnership with another wealthy company.
It felt like ages, but finally I noticed Iroh following out a customer and flipping over the sign in his door. Zuko was mopping around the shop, Iroh counting at the register when he called out, "So Y/n, are you a student at BSSU now?"
I turned around in my chair so I could face both of them. "Yes, I transferred in and just moved in with my cousin so I can start in the fall. I was going to school out where my parents wanted me to go but, I just wasn't happy, you know?"
"You never have been keen on what your parents chose for you. It was wise of you to choose yourself this time," the old man replied. "You know, Zuko is also a student there. This is his last year."
I looked up to my old friend and he half-smiled at the floor while he mopped. "Really? Do you like it here?" I asked, really thinking on the inside that it was a good sign he was in college here, and working for Iroh. Maybe he was finally free of his oppressive family.
"I do, yeah. Uncle's been making me do all this before I decide if I'm going to take over the company. It's...given me a second chance really. I've made friends, got a good job."
My head cocked to the side a little, curious as I watched him start tucking all the chairs back down on the floor. Iroh stepped into the back to finish some cleaning, and I finally voiced my concerns. "So, you might be inheriting the company...I'm sorry if it's too foreward, but can I ask what happened?"
Zuko stopped wiping the counter for a moment and swallowed, looking up at me. I expected to see pain in his face, or anger, but all I saw was understanding and...maybe fear?
"My scar?" he said. I nodded, and he continued. "You've probably already guessed. It was him."
My old friend didn't need to say anything else. I understood. "I'm so sorry, Zu..."
"Don't be. It was really hard at first, but I moved in with Uncle. We got to travel for a little while and he homeschooled me before I went to high school, and helped me heal. I did a lot of bad things and I was an asshole for such a long time, but after I graduated, I realized I really wanted to change. So, I made up with the people I used to pick at a lot in school and they're great friends now. They helped Uncle and I file a case against my father and send him to prison."
"Oh my god," I gasped. "That's--that's awesome, Zuko. I'm really happy for you." I stood up, walking up to the counter to lean against it while he finished tidying. "Is your sister okay?"
His shoulders tensed. "I'm sorry, I-"  "No, no it's alright. I've never minded talking to you about these things."
Zuko turned back to face me and took off his apron. "Azula was admitted to a psych ward after my father was arrested." There was a pause for a few minutes as I let it all sink in. Iroh hobbled back out of the kitchen and handed Zuko his backpack with a smile, who pulled his hairtie out and shook his dark locks. My eyes widened a little but I tried to suppress it, suddenly very aware of how nicely he'd grown up.
Iroh shot me a smirk and wiggled his eyebrows while Zuko was focused on fixing his hair, and I rolled my eyes. Apparently it didn't matter if we were ten or twenty, Iroh was going to tease us the same.
"Well, Zuko, are you going over to your friends' again for dinner or coming home?" Iroh asked him, leading us all out the door and to the sidewalk. It was after four, later than they'd normally close since we'd all been talking.
"Um," the young man replied, pulling out his phone. "I'm not sure yet. Let me call Katara now that I'm off."
I paused, doing a double take before holding my hand out and trying to clarify. "Wait, wait, wait, Katara? You're friends with Katara?"
"Yeah, she's a part of that group I was telling you about," he said, lifting the phone to his ear. "She invited me over for dinner 'cause she said they had some new roommate and they want everyone to hang out."
"Oh my god, I'm gonna kill my cousin," I laughed, crossing my arms. Zuko looked utterly confused, and Iroh was just passing a big smile between the both of us watching this unfold.
"Your cousin? What are you-- Hey, Katara, I just got off."
"Put her on speaker."
Zuko raised an eyebrow but complied. "I've got an old friend of mine with me, you're on speaker."
"Katara, is Toph in the room?" I asked the phone. Zuko's eyes narrowed like he was finally piecing it together.
"Hi, Y/n. Yes, she is."  "Darn right I am, did you get my boba?"
Ignoring her distraction, I said, "No, I forgot. Just like you forgot to mention you guys were ALREADY FRIENDS WITH ZUKO. Toph, you little shit, when I get there I'm going to glue Aang's bunny slippers to your feet."
There was some incoherent yelling for a moment and Zuko glared at me. "Toph is your cousin?! How could I not know this? I've known you since we were toddlers!"
I shrugged, blushing at Iroh's giggles. "I, well it didn't ever really matter until now. I don't have her last name, and I didn't know you knew her."
A door slammed from the phone, and Katara was back. "Okay, I had to step outside the apartment, sorry. Zuko are you coming to dinner?"
"I- I mean I guess so. Have you already told Sokka and Suki?"
"Yes, everyone's already on their way except you two."
"Us two?" he asked, glancing at me. "Oh.. Shit. You're their roommate. Huh." Zuko was talking to himself, staring at me dumbfounded and forgetting Katara entirely. I nodded, pinching my lips to suppress my laughter. Iroh did no such thing and held his stomach with how hard he was giggling.
"Yeah, she is. Can you give her a ride? I'm still cooking, and you're already there."
Zuko raised his eyebrow at me as if to ask if I wanted it, and I shrugged and nodded. I had walked here anyways, trying to get a feel for the area. My stomach warned me that in my current level of hunger, a walk back would have me biting Toph's head off the moment I got to the door.
With that affirmative, Zuko looked at his phone again. "Alright, yeah. We'll be there in a few minutes."
He hung up and Iroh wiped the laughing tears from his eyes, shaking his head. "Your friends are something else, nephew," he chuckled, and waved to us as he walked away towards his car. Zuko gestured for me to follow him around to a car parked in the alley, a little black sedan with red beads hanging from its mirror. How fitting.
"I thought you said you lived with your uncle?" I asked, tucking into the passenger seat. Zuko shook his head, starting the little car up and aiming us back down the block I'd come from towards my new apartment complex.
"I used to. I moved into an apartment with Sokka last year. His girlfriend lives with us now too."
"Huh. That seems really cool. I can't believe Sokka never told me you were roommates, he's like the only one who talked to me even while I was at school."
Zuko shrugged. "Knowing them as long as I have, Toph probably told them we were friends and they decided to fuck with us."
That made me snicker a little, and I glanced out the window. In this moment, I felt like my life had completely reversed for the better. A smile spread across my face looking out at Ba Sing Se; I was living with friends, I wasn't speaking to my parents, I was going to start school somewhere much more lowkey and cozy than the shitty private school I was sent to, and now my childhood best friend was back in my life. This really was the city of second chances.
A warm hand gently touched my forearm, and I turned to see Zuko glancing at me through the corner of his eye. "Y/n, before we get there with everyone else...I'm really happy to see you again."
My face flushed, and I smiled brighter. "I am too, Zuko."
"Things got really hard after you moved and, well. I missed you. I really want to be able to pick up where we left off, and hear more about how you've been, if you're okay with that."
I moved my arm so I could squeeze his hand lightly, thinking maybe that him reaching out to touch me was a sign of him feeling insecure like it used to be. "I'd really like that, yeah. We've got all summer, and I live with your friends now, so we've got plenty of chance. Nobody's controlling us anymore. We'll arrange to hang out on our own sometime soon, I promise, okay?"
For the first time, I saw Zuko really smile again. He'd smiled lightly earlier, but right now it was big, and bright, and I could tell he felt truly happy. The moment he parked the car in the apartment complex, a heavy sigh left Zuko's lips. On instinct I had expected to see signs of him nervous, but when I glanced over, he was just looking at me through his good eye and smiling.
"C'mon, we've got some ass to kick," I teased, squeezing his fingers lightly before I tucked out of the little car and headed for the stairwell. I was pretty sure I heard something like, "Definitely haven't changed" from behind me, but I was focused on getting inside. My stomach and my fist were leading the way here.
I threw open the door to my new home, intending on making a dramatic shout but immediately getting a scolding look from Katara in the kitchen. She was hovering over a sizzling frying pan of potstickers in her usual pretty bohemian style top, Aang beside her putting together a bowl of salad. He turned to us and waved slightly, and just as Zuko shut the door there was loud boofing and stomping rushing towards us.
Knowing after only two days of living here that I needed to squat and brace myself, I caught Appa head on and was only slightly knocked on my butt. The Saint Bernard covered my face with licks before moving on to insist Zuko scratch him, and I hurried myself into the living room while mopping myself with my shirt.
When I walked in, Sokka was already there on the couch with a girl I hadn't met yet. He jumped up and quickly yanked me in for a hug.
"Y/n! It's been so long since we've seen you!" he cheered, slightly pulling back to look at me. "I'm really glad you moved out here, this'll be so fun and--damn, you smell like Appa."
"Appa didn't give me a choice, okay. Who's this?"
Sokka gestured to the girl behind him, a bit of a skater looking chick with short brown hair and some awesome green sneakers. I'd honestly say she was probably gay with how tough she appeared, but by my guess she was Sokka's girlfriend.
She stepped forward and extended a hand. "Hi, I'm Suki. It's good to finally meet you."
"You too," I said, shaking it. She was definitely as tough as she looked; that tank top did not lie, I think she could've crushed my fingers if she wanted to. "I like your shoes by the way."
She gave me a sweet smile, and soon the others were bringing food into the living room. I finally found Toph sitting in a recliner nearby, and while bowls were being passed around I went up to her and punched her in the shoulder.
"Ow! What was that for?" she growled. She threw a swing to punch me back, but I sidestepped it and sat on the arm of her chair.
"Next time, just tell me you know my childhood best friend, and you won't get decked."
Aang started trying to serve the salads and pass them around, but Momo decided to make an appearance. The sleek Siamese practically materialized out of thin air at the sign of food, crawling up onto his owner's shoulder and pawing at the salad bowl in Aang's lap until he was given a piece of carrot. I was very much enjoying the show and my dumplings.
"Momo, you shouldn't eat people food, it isn't good for you," Aang said seriously to the cat on his shoulder, who was staring directly at him as if he understood. I spared a shared glance with Zuko beside Aang on the couch, and just as the eldest friend started to say something, Momo took a step forward without looking and absolutely plummeted into the carpet.
I shrieked in laughter, having trouble relaying the events to my cousin. She kept tugging at my shirt because all of us were laughing, but it was several minutes before I could form coherent words again.
"Man, I wish I'd gotten that on video," Aang sighed. Zuko shook his head and patted his friend's shoulder.
"I'm sure your TikTok account will live without that moment, buddy."
Taglist is open!! Just shoot me a DM/comment :)
@urmomoness
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hot-wiings · 5 years
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Requested By: Wattpad User
[Edited: 7-14-19]
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Shoto smiled as he sat down with Toshinori. He was now graduated from UA and embarking on his journey as a hero.
He still lived with Toshinori and [Y/N]. You guys were his home. His family.
"You said you wanted to talk?"
"Yes. Toshinori, I know [Y/N] and I are still very young... But I've been living with you guys for so long. I feel like I'm part of your family. I love you and [Y/N] so much. I want to officially join your family. Could I... Could I have your permission to marry [Y/N]?"
"You already are in this family. You became apart of this family when you started dating my daughter. You've shown me everyday how in love you are with her. I trust you to treat her right. I'd love for you to officially become my son."
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You smiled as you laid on the blanket Shoto laid on the ground. He had told you he wanted to take you on a date. You were expecting a restaurant. Instead, he took you out to a secluded area for a sunset picnic.
Not that you cared. You were happy if he took you on a picnic or a restaurant. As long as he was with you, you were happy.
Besides, there was food. Over the time Shoto lived with you, your father taught him how to cook.
Not to brag, but your father was a great cook.
Shoto poured some champagne into a glass and gave it to you.
"Some bubbly for my lovely."
"Oh, how fancy."
Shoto wrapped his arm around you and you nuzzled yourself into his side.
"This is romantic Shoto. We've got champagne, curry, and a beautiful sunset."
"We haven't had much time for each other. We've both been busy with hero work. I just thought we deserved a night together."
"Mm, sometimes I miss UA. We had a lot more time for each other. It was easier to sneak into each other's rooms when we lived in the dorms."
"You can't even say that last sentence. You only lived in the dorms for two months."
You crossed your arms and pouted.
"Not my fault my dad had to come check up on me while I was drunk."
"What was it you said to him? Uraraka made you do it?"
"It's not my fault!"
"I know sweetie, your just a lightweight. Why do you think I pour your champagne? The last time I let you drink alone, you drunk called me to tell me that I'm Prince Zuko and Queen Elsa's secret love child."
"Stupid cellphones."
Shoto lightly chuckled and looked down at your face.
"I love you, you know that right?"
"Of course."
He stops holding you and sits down in front of you. He pulled a box out of his pants. You smiled and covered your face with your hands. Was he proposing?
"[Y/N]. We've been together for so long. Since the start of UA, and we're heroes now. I can't imagine myself with anyone else. Please do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
"YES! Yes. Fuck yes."
You jump into Shotos arms, the force sending you both to roll on the ground.
"We're only twenty. My dads gonna kill us. No, he's gonna kill you. He's gonna kill you. You thought he was mad when he found me drunk? Oh-ho-ho. We're dead."
"Okay, my little chatterbox. Clearly, we've reached your limit of bubbly for the night. Relax, I asked your dad for permission."
"You're perfect."
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As the days progressed, you became busy with wedding planning. You decided on a winter wedding.
Uraraka and Deku were the bride's maid of honor and the best man. Ever since Shoto was living with you, he became great friends with Izuku.
Finally, the day was here. You smiled as you looked in the mirror. Your make up was done, as well as your hair. The dress was beautiful. Basic dress, but it had a long train. There was also lace that fell over the shoulders and down your arms.
Toshinori came up behind you.
"You look beautiful."
"Thank you, dad. I-is he out there?"
"Yes. Are you nervous?"
"Is it that obvious?"
You hold your hands together to stop them from shaking.
"I am. I don't know... I just- I'm worried he's gonna run off. Or something will go wrong. What if we're making the wrong decision?"
"Don't worry sweetie, I was just like this when I married your mom."
"Do you... Do you think mom would have been proud of me?"
"Yes. Of course, she would have been. That boy is so in love with you it's scary. She's probably in heaven looking down at you right now. She would have loved Shoto."
You let out a small exhale and tried to shake your nerves.
"Still nervous?"
You nod your head.
"I wouldn't be letting you walk down this aisle if I wasn't a hundred percent sure he was the one. He loves you."
You smile.
"Your right, let's go."
You loop arms with your father and walk down the aisle. You reach the altar and your father puts your hand in Shotos.
"Take care of her son."
Shoto rubs his thumb over your knuckles, as he nods at your father. Your father smiles as he goes to take his seat.
The Priest drones on while you look in each other's eyes. Nothing but love and adoration. Yes, you were making the right decision.
"If anyone objects to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace."
"Shoto. Don't do this, your too young."
You grit your teeth and grip Shotos hands.
Endeavor.
He wasn't even invited. You look at Shoto with fear filled eyes. You were still nervous, and Endeavor was just adding to it.
"What are you doing here? I didn't even invite you."
"I'm your father. I have every right to be here."
"No. No, your not. You stopped being my father the day you kicked me out. Not that you ever acted like a father before that."
Shoto let go of your hands and walked closer to Endeavor. He pointed to Toshinori.
"That man! That man over there is my father. He was there when you weren't. He made my school lunches. He gave me advice. He taught me to drive. He showed me how to cook. He was there. He will be four times the father you could ever be."
Rei went up to Enji.
"Just leave before you embarrass yourself even more."
Shoto grasped your small hand in his.
"Where were we before the trash interrupted?"
"Getting ready for the I-Do's."
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zenithpng · 2 years
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COUGHING UP A LUNG pneumothorax | exotic illness | “Definitely just a cold”
[Zuko doesn't quite know how to take care of himself just yet.
It's all right. There are other there to help bear the load.]
Read more under the cut, AO3 link -> HERE <-
It starts, like most of Zuko's sicknesses, as a cough.
But it's really not a big deal at first. He can still do his schoolwork and take orders at the counter. He just pulls a mask over his face so that he doesn't spread whatever this is to anyone else. It's going to be fine. Uncle worries too much.
Sokka comes by after school as he always does, stopping short at the sight of Zuko in a facemask. He raises a dark eyebrow.
"You okay?" Zuko clears his throat (Agni, it's really starting to hurt) and shrugs.
"I'm fine. It's just a cold or something." Sokka gives him a stern look.
"You should have taken today off," he chides. "Shouldn't be working when you're sick." Zuko rolls his eyes silently.
"Yeah, I know, no one wants my germs in their tea." He nods back towards the kitchen. "Uncle's been brewing today, don't worry."
"I meant because you need to rest," Sokka says. Zuko blinks, then shakes off the concern and turns his eyes towards the tablet on the counter, motioning for Sokka to order. He does, albeit reluctantly, and goes to wait for the end of Zuko's shift, pencil scratching across his paper as he solves some infinitely complex equation.
And maybe Sokka is right. By the time five o'clock starts getting close around Zuko is exhausted, barely remaining upright. The only thought in his mind is that he just needs to make it through the last bit of the hour and then Azula will relieve him of his post.
Finally, mercifully, the little dragon-embellished clock on the wall chimes five times and Zuko sighs in relief. Azula comes out of the kitchen and shoots him a concerned look as she passes him.
"I'm fine," he mutters. "Just tired."
"I didn't even say anything, dum-dum," Azula shoots back before clipping on her nametag and shooing him away from the counter. "Go hang out with your boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend!"
Azula doesn't dignify that with an answer, choosing instead to set up the counter to her preference and take the next customer's order.
Zuko slides into the seat across from Sokka, the younger boy glancing up from some physics problem. Sokka grins, standing and leaning over the table to hug Zuko. It's such a nice feeling that Zuko almost moves over to the other side of the table just so he can stay next to Sokka.
But Sokka does a double-take, pulling back to press a hand against Zuko's forehead, then his cheek.
"You're kinda warm," he mutters. "Zu, I think you've got a fever."
Zuko's hand goes up to his own forehead, feeling for heat.
"You can't feel yourself for a fever, idiot," Sokka says, somehow making even the insult sound fond. "I'm telling your uncle." Zuko groans at this, muttering about Iroh's overprotectiveness, but Sokka marches right into the kitchen, emerging a few minutes later with a triumphant grin.
"Iroh just gave me full jurisdiction," he says proudly. "You are going up to your room." Zuko rolls his eyes at this, placing his phone face-down on the table. Nevertheless, he stands shakily, allowing Sokka to drag him upstairs by the wrist.
"All right," Sokka begins immediately after the bedroom door closes behind them. "Binder off and get to bed."
"But-"
"Nope."
"I need to take a shower-"
"You can do that in the morning."
"I gotta brush my teeth."
"Missing one day won't kill you."
Zuko sighs. There's no point in arguing with Sokka. The kid is stubborn and can spin logic in a way that can almost compare to Azula's word manipulation. Zuko grasps at the hem of his t-shirt.
"Turn around," he relents, and Sokka does so immediately.
(Even though he can't see Sokka's face, Zuko can practically hear the smirk.)
With the usual difficulty, Zuko tugs off his binder, pulling a sports bra and a tank top over his head to replace it. He changes his jeans for some sweatpants and takes his hair out of the ponytail he's had it in all day.
"You can turn around now," he mutters offhandedly as he massages his scalp, putting the hairband on his nightstand.
"Into bed you go," Sokka commands, nudging him gently. Zuko rolls his eyes.
"It's like, five in the evening."
"It's five forty-five so shut up."
Eventually Zuko complies, curling up under his blanket. It does feel nice to lay down, and a pressure in his head that he didn't even notice before eases.
Despite the relatively early hour, he's falling asleep just minutes after he lays down. Faintly, he feels a soft brush against his forehead before there's a faint creaking of floorboards and the lights turn out, and he finally drifts off.
*****
When Zuko wakes, the sun is quite a bit brighter than it usually is. His entire body feels heavy, yet still he reaches over to his nightstand to peer at his phone. It's well past seven.
He should have been up more than two hours ago.
Slowly but surely, he drags himself up, forcing himself to put on a shirt and pants and put his hair into some semblance of order. His head is pounding but he's gotta help Uncle, he's gotta get downstairs and help out the counter.
As soon as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he meets Azula's glare from across the kitchen. She's got her hair in a bun that's uncharacteristically messy, and she's filling a teapot with water. Faintly, Zuko remembers that she's supposed to be at school, and he opens his mouth to say as much.
"Back to bed," she orders before he can get a single word out. Zuko gives a weak glare of his own.
"'M fine," he mutters, rubbing at his eyes. "Gotta- Gotta help at the counter. You need to go to school and-"
"Uncle is running the counter today," Azula says, turning the kettle on to boil. "You're going to pass out and I'm not dragging you up the stairs." Zuko doesn't turn for another moment, in which Azula grabs some tea leaves and gets ready to put them into another kettle.
"Well?" she prompts when she sees him still standing there. "Up you go."
Finally, Zuko turns and goes back to his room. Maybe he can just rest for a few more hours and then he'll be fine.
He drifts in and out for a while, only really getting up when Uncle comes in to make him eat and drink. Other than that he buries his face in his pillow against the light and tries to keep his headache at bay.
He's dragged out of sleep by a soft clicking hours later, and sits up wearily. Sokka stands in the doorway, looking guilty.
"Shit, did I-" he tenses, clicking his tongue thrice, "-Did I wake you up?" Zuko rubs at his eyes, raking his hair back the best he can.
"'S fine," he mutters. "Can you...?" He waves a hand vaguely towards his window, which is spilling light into the room.
"Oh! Yeah, of course." There's quiet footsteps and a few sets of clicks as Sokka crosses the room and draws the curtains. The lights dim and Zuko sighs in relief, the pressure in his temple lessening slightly. There's a dip in his mattress and he raises his head to give Sokka a bleary smile.
"Hi."
"Hey, idiot." Zuko pouts at this, but Sokka doesn't dignify that with anything but a breathy laugh.
"I told you to rest yesterday," he says, running a hand through Zuko's sweaty hair. "Look where that got you."
"Just shut up," Zuko manages, flicking at him. Sokka laughs again, clicking three, six, nine times. Zuko's brow furrows the slightest bit.
"Bad tic day?" he asks. Sokka shrugs, interrupting the rhythm of his hand in Zuko's hair for a moment to hit the mattress.
"Just worried about you," he replies, affection layering his tone. "You need to take care of yourself, okay, stupid?"
"'M not stupid," Zuko shoots back, giving a glare that wouldn't scare even the littlest kid.
"Sure," Sokka says.
And Zuko, despite his headache and exhaustion, wishes he could freeze this moment forever. Sokka's steady hands in his hair, the relaxing timbre of his voice filling the room. It's so nice, so warm.
And it's over before he knows it.
"I've gotta go home and finish a project," Sokka says, rising from his seat, "but I'll be back tomorrow. You'd better not be sick by then, you hear me?"
Zuko just hums, leaning into his lingering touch.
"Tui and La, you're like a cat," Sokka laughs. There's hot breath fanning over Zuko's face for a moment, followed by the slightest touch of lips to his cheek.
"Rest, Zu."
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zukkaoru · 2 years
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top 5s! what are your top 5 music artists, books, animes, and ships?<3
okay. i'm gonna do ships first and then put the rest under the cut bc i know ships is going to get long 😅
top five ships:
1. outlaw queen (regina x robin, once upon a time)
where do i begin. literally this is my favorite ship of all time. whenever i'm asked about my favorite ships, my mind jumps straight to Them. oq might be the only ship where i remember the exact moment i started shipping them - the scene where they're in zelena's cabin and regina first notices the tattoo. now, i watched ouat a little out of order bc i had a partially enforced bedtime of 8pm until like. halfway through seventh grade. and ouat came on at 8 so i didn't watch every episode all the way through so anyway i did Not know robin had the tattoo until that moment and i just vividly remember sitting on my couch watching that episode with my family thinking omg are they going to kiss i want them to kiss they should kiss and basically everything has been downhill since then. no but seriously i love them. i love them. it's about loving someone despite the person they used to be, and loving them despite the fact that they believe they're unlovable. it's about finding someone who understands the pain you've gone through and knowing that they can't erase it, but they can help ease it, and you can do the same for them in return. i'm writing way too much but just. they deserved so much better and i will die mad about the way a&e treated them.
2. zukka (sokka x zuko, avatar: the last airbender)
literally they are what brought me back to tumblr. and i am forever grateful for them because of that. i have met so many lovely people bc of zukka (and atla in general). but also they're just,, the prince and the fool. they're just some guys who found love in each other, despite the circumstances, despite a world set up so their meeting was a near impossibility. they compliment each other so well, and they care about each other so much. it's about learning to let someone else love you and take care of you when you've had to rely on yourself for that since you were young. it's about being able to bond over loss and grief, while also being able to celebrate the victories together. i love them
3. matchablossom (cherry x joe, sk8 the infinity)
after i watched sk8 and matchablossom first took over my mind, i did a fun little experiment. i listed out some of my favorite tropes and tallied how many tropes my favorite ships fit. matchablossom and zukka were tied with the most points. i knew from before i started watching sk8 that i was going to love them but oh man did i underestimate just how much. they've got everything. the bickering as a love language, the childhood friends to lovers, the potential for a secret relationship, the i hate everyone but i don't have you, the rivals to lovers, the gold rush i don't like that anyone would die to feel your touch dynamic, the you could have anyone and you still chose me dynamic, the ability for me to relate them to every song in taylor swift's discography-- (no but seriously. you know i love a ship when i start relating every taylor swift song to them skdgdj) it's about knowing someone so intimately that you can predict their next move and explain why they're doing it. it's about trusting someone with every part of yourself when most people are only allowed to see one side of you. it's about having someone in your life for long enough that you're no longer worried they're going to leave you behind. i'm unwell
4. evlynn (eve x flynn, the librarians)
kissing you is exactly how i'd want to spend eternity. literally what the heck. i love them. peak nerd guy x jock girl dynamic. also they're like,, canonically happy and basically married and in love and they got their happy ending???? literally unheard of for most of my ships. i love them. they've got the fairytale / magic / true love vibes but also the domesticity and the trope of two characters being the kids parents and i miss them
5. steli (eli x steve, tales of arcadia)
disclaimer: i've only watched trollhunters and the first like,, season and a half of 3below. but they still have to make the list bc when i tell you they were a saving grace when i was going thru some Rough Times,, literally this ship brought me to the first time in my life post-all the crap that went down at my old church where i wasn't constantly haunted by everything that happened. they brought me to a point where i could think about other things without the past year looming over me and making me angry and hurt all time time which was tiring. they mean a lot to me because the hyperfixation came right when i needed it. and, like, maybe hyperfixating on a cartoon ship is not the Best way to deal with coming out of the most traumatic year of your life but it was all i had at the time. also just,, it's about the learning to trust each other and finding love where you least expect it and all the casual gentle touches in the creepslayerz episode. it's about unexpected allies and learning to be better & break the pattern of abuse. it's about two kids getting caught up in something so much bigger than them not because they were called, but because they were curious, and coming out of it with friendships and relationships they never could have expected. it's about waking up from ur detention nap to get mad someone through a wad of paper at ur bf. i wrote so much for this too i'm so sorry
okay um anyway like i said. that got long. so i'll put the rest under the cut skdgfkdsk
top five artists:
1. taylor swift 2. chloe moriondo 3. halsey 4. mxmtoon 5. owl city
top five books:
1. is it cheating if i say all of the pjo/hoo books? bc i simply cannot choose and if i tried to, 1-5 would all be percy jackson books 2. the invention of hugo cabret by brian selznick 3. before i let go by marieke nijkamp 4. the underland chronicles by suzanne collins. once again i can't pick just one skhfjdsk 5. the candymakers by wendy mass
top five animes: okay so the only anime i've actually watched so for is sk8 so i'll do top five animes that i want to watch skdfjdsk
1. jjk 2. yuri!!! on ice 3. seven deadly sins 4. the disastrous life of saiki k 5. haikyuu!!
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