Untouched

Drake VonTrapp

This was getting annoying. He'd been let out of… wherever he was (for some reason he couldn't remember), had tried talking to Li, bringing him stuff, asking him out, but Li just wouldn't—fucking—notice him! He'd apologized for attacking him and everything, but Li just wouldn't give him the time of day. Hell, he'd even gone through Li's uncle to try and get some help, but while the man was forgiving enough, he was ultimately unhelpful.

Jet would have to come up with another plan.

So that's where he was, hauling bales of hay for the ostrichorses (as was his job at the moment), brainstorming ideas to get Li to acknowledge his existence. He'd considered trapping him, good old-fashioned kidnap, and even tackling him, but these seemed to have more cons than pros, sadly. And on top of him being out of ideas, he was starving.

"Hey, Teire!" he called as he flipped a hay bale into a stall. A longhaired young man exited a stall a few feet down, eyebrow raised curiously. "I'm gonna take my lunch break now, okay?"

"Whatever," he said back with a shrug. "Don't take too long." With that, he turned back around and reentered the stall.

Jet sighed, using his forearm to wipe the sweat from his forehead. It wasn't glamorous work, but it put food on the table. Not bothering with a shirt, Jet grabbed his drawstring bag of coins and set off into the marketplace proper for something to satiate his hunger, and hopefully feed his mind.

Hmm, it appeared that, in this section of Ba Sing Se, there was some sort of festival going on. Well, it was a huge city; it didn't surprise him, really. Fried festival food was always a plus. He wondered if Li would talk to him if he offered him one of those fried, iced sweet breads… Nah, Li didn't seem like a 'sweets' kind of guy. That angry countenance suggested a diet of sacrificed goat blood and small children.

Deciding on a bowl of meat and rice, two iced sweet breads and some sort of foofy festival beverage, Jet used is lunch break to wander through the festival. It wasn't huge, but it was lively; jugglers and magic tricks were in every corner, framed by more professional acts of raised stages. One caught his eye briefly; it was a young man doing some sort of dance with a veil. Jet wondered if he was for hire, thinking that maybe Li would be attracted and… No, too much of a risk. The young man dancing was too handsome; couldn't risk Li being more attracted to the dancer than himself.

Two-thirds of the way through his lunch, Jet was getting depressed again, losing hope. That tackling idea was starting to sound doable when he saw his salvation. A redheaded young man with a long braid was weaving slowly through the traffic of people, a guitar in his arms as he strummed, singing softly. He wasn't too handsome, he had a nice voice, and wandering minstrels could be hired! It would cost him two weeks of pay, maybe, but it was worth it if it worked!

"Hey, you!" Jet addressed the young man crudely. He didn't stop singing or playing, but he did turn his attention to Jet respectfully. "Wanna make some money?"

Zuko sighed angrily as he hastily yanked at the strings of his apron, practically ripping it off and stomping out of the teashop. He'd taken his lunch break early that day, due to the fact that he'd heard some ladies not-so-quietly whispering about that angry young fellow with the scar and, oh, how do you suppose he got it? A shame, really; probably doesn't help him get a girlfriend and fuck, didn't they realize he could hear every word they were saying? Stupid peasants.

As he was leaving, his uncle called, "Well, if you're going to be gone long, bring back some bread from the marketplace, would you?"

This only served to anger him further. "Fine," he ground out, fist clenched tightly around his moneybag, heading in the direction of the market instead of… wherever else his feet would have taken him.

…He stopped. Why did he feel like he was being followed? He whipped around, glaring bloody, fiery death upon anyone he spotted, but there was no one. He huffed, starting his trek again. 'I'm probably just paranoid.'

Once arriving at the marketplace, Zuko slapped the money down on the counter to pay for the loaf of bread, leaving him with just enough for a hot, tea-free meal. Before he could turn around to stalk away to find the aforementioned hot meal, he heard someone… singing?

"I feel so untouched, and I want you so much that I just can't resist you; it's not enough to say that I miss you."

Now there was violin and guitar playing. And it sounded like it was coming closer.

"I feel so untouched right now, need you so much somehow. I can't forget you. Been goin' crazy from the moment I met you!"

Yes, it was definitely coming closer. Against his better judgment, Zuko looked over his shoulder to see minstrels, two of them, slowly advancing on him; one had long, curly red hair and a guitar, and the other was playing the violin with short black hair.

'Just ignore them, and they'll leave,' he thought warily, watching them over his shoulder before turning back around to find a restaurant to get his food. …They were following him.

"See you, breathe you, I want to be you..."

Feeling somewhat panicked, Zuko dashed into the closest restaurant he found, not surprised that it was a dump. Surely they wouldn't follow him in here? Quickly, he ordered the first thing on the menu (some noodle dish), keeping away from the windows.

"...even if the world falls down today, you've still got me to hold you up, up, and I will never let you down," he heard through the window. No, they weren't coming in, but they knew HE was in there. Crap. When his bowl was handed to him, he chucked the coins at the man and retreated from the restaurant, bowl in hand.

And they followed him.

Why? Why was this happening to him? Why did these creepy people have to pick him, of all people, to stalk? He hadn't pissed anyone off to deserve this; well, he didn't think he had. Surely someone wouldn't send stalkers after him?

As he rounded a corner, he very nearly ran into someone, but his martial arts reflexes stopped him just in time. About to push the man out of the way, he looked up enough to see that familiar smirking face, tanned skin, hazel eyes. Too close. Much too close. Jet, pleased to have found him, gestured over the other's shoulder to the minstrels. Zuko peeked over his shoulder slowly, hoping it wasn't true, but alas, the two minstrels, too, rounded the corner, still playing their music.

"I feel so untouched right now, need you so much somehow. I can't forget you. Been goin' crazy from the moment I met you."

Those words. …He tried to think back to what they had been singing before. He'd been mostly focused on gettingthefuckaway and hadn't really been listening, but he vaguely remembered some stuff like 'can't resist you'… that's all that came to mind. Zuko turned a bit pink around the cheeks that had nothing to do with his hasty escaping.

The minstrels just repeated those lines twice more before apparently finishing, keeping Zuko's feet rooted. Jet looked obscenely pleased, waving to the minstrels; they bowed before taking their leave, finally. Zuko was avoiding Jet's eyes, wanting to flee again, but unable to make his feet move. He could feel as Jet took a ministep closer, his body heat radiating temptingly.

"Sooo…" Zuko's brow furrowed, glancing up to see Jet looking a bit bashful as well. "Li… y'wanna, y'know… do somethin'?"

Zuko swallowed heavily, eyes darting to the side. "Um… yeah… I mean, whatever. Fine." Why was he completely incapable of remaining cool about this? Those minstrels had obviously muddled his brain.

"Great!" Jet crowed, making Zuko jump at the sudden loud change of tone. Before he could react, Jet seized his face and pulled him into a kiss. Amber eyes widened, unable to be properly surprised as he was kissed.

Jet eagerly pecked at the other's lips, overly excited that he finally got Li to notice him, and even go out with him. Well, maybe he'd only agreed so Jet would stop bothering him. Whatever. It was a date, and that's all that mattered.

Zuko vaguely registered that Jet's mouth tasted extremely sweet before the other pulled away.

"I gotta get back to work now, but I'll drop by when I'm done at sundown, okay? Okay, awesome." Another peck. "See ya then!" And away he went, jogging around the corner and back to work. Zuko suddenly felt horribly tired, the strange events that just occurred weighing on him.

'I guess I've got a date…' he thought dazedly, finally able to get his feet moving back towards the teashop. The lightest of smiles touched the corners of his mouth. Sundown couldn't come fast enough.

I get inspiration from the weirdest places, even annoying pop songs. Please ignore the blatant use of stolen lyrics.