Snapshots of Life After [Day Off]
Rating: high T/low M
Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender
Pairing: Jet/Zuko, Jetko
Wordcount: 1,133
Summary: Part of the "Snapshots of Life After" drabble series. The Fire Lord enjoys a day off with his lover, courtesy of his Water Tribe Ambassador.
WARNINGS: Long for a drabble. May cause cavities. Introspective!Sokka. Boys in compromising situations? Yaoi.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or any related trademarks
Notes: Pure, cavity-inducing fluff. Pseudo-AU set three years after the war, Jet's still alive. (He's magical like that.) My tendencies to be overly-descriptive and not much inclined to dialogue. Actions speak louder than words anyway.
It was a warm, lazy sort of day, and the Fire Lord was nowhere to be found. Normally this would cause quite a ruckus, but the Water Tribe Ambassador had assured everyone that he'd merely taken the day off with his consort. When they had still raised a fuss, Sokka had informed them all, rather sharply, that if they seriously wanted to work their Fire Lord to death, after he'd helped to bring peace and prosperity to the entire world and had been maintaining that peace with a firm and gentle hand for three years now, fine, but he was not going to help them in the slightest. That had shut them up rather quickly and they had all shuffled off to perform their varied duties with a minimum of mutinous murmuring.
In reality it wasn't all that hard to find the two, Sokka mused. They were holed up in their favorite spot in the second floor (the reading-room, or was it more like the reading floor? Sokka wasn't exactly sure what to call it) of the library. Admittedly, it was a hard-to-find corner, a small, secluded, octagonal room that had a raised, cushioned floor much like a comfy couch. Sokka couldn't help but think that it was designed more with children in mind than students of the books, seeing as the door (like the inside floor) was raised to about mid-thigh level on an adult. Four of the inside walls were made of glass, the other four paneled in warm, ruddy wood, and the room was angled to catch the mid-afternoon sun perfectly, making for an excellent hidden place for shirking work. Sokka smiled vaguely at the thought, knowing how much the nineteen-year-old Fire Lord loved sunshine. And also how much the young man's lover had been whining to Sokka about how little he'd been able to see Zuko.
And just a little about how very odd it had first been to see Jet accept a firebender (not to mention the actual honest-to-Agni Fire Lord) so completely.
Sokka was correct in figuring out where to find them, though he graciously stayed away. Jet stretched languorously, setting down the book he'd been trying and failing to read for the past half-hour. There was a drowsy murmur from beside him, and he glanced, amused, to where Zuko was sleeping, head pillowed on Jet's thigh. Long, ebony hair spilled over his face, obscuring it from view and fluttering gently with his breath. He'd let it grow, and kept it just past his shoulder blades now. Jet had teased him for it, but really, he wouldn't have it any other way. He liked the way it felt like cool silk between his fingers, the way Zuko nearly purred (like a catrabbit) whenever Jet played with it, twisting it around his fingers, braiding it, or merely stroking it.
The younger teen was dressed casually today; wearing silk calf-length black pants with amber cuffs and a silk sleeveless, mid-thigh-length black tunic with the same amber edging, a high collar and amber-colored frog clasps down the front. Jet preferred it to the ornate robes he usually donned, although he knew why Zuko did. It was just expected, and Zuko knew that dealing with the advisors who were more set in their ways required slow change and a delicate touch. Everything had been turned on end in the aftermath of the war, and it had only just recently become stable once more.
Zuko stirred again, sleepily swiping some hair out of his face, and Jet chuckled. It was times like this, bathed in the afternoon sun and sleeping, when Zuko looked downright angelic. His pale skin glowed healthily in the light, and his face looked almost childlike and definitely angelic. (Jet had asked him once why he never got any darker, but at the same time never burned when he spent so much time in the sun. Zuko had just smiled, full of that shy mischief that completely seduced Jet without even trying, and told him that he was a son of Agni, and did he really need any more explanation?) Zuko blinked, rolling over onto his back and smiling drowsily up at Jet before covering a yawn and sitting up to stretch. Jet's eyes followed the gentle curve of the younger man's back hungrily, before he gave in and pulled Zuko flush against him, nuzzling the nape of his neck.
Zuko laughed, squirming slightly, and Jet mock-growled, reaching around him to deftly undo the clasps of Zuko's tunic. Zuko offered no resistance, leaning his head back into the crook of Jet's shoulder and pressing a soft kiss against his jaw. Jet smiled broadly, sliding the silk off the other's slender frame and pressing a kiss to his shoulder. Zuko hummed softly and twisted in Jet's grip, lean muscled arms wrapping around his shoulders and long fingers burying in his unruly mop of ruddy brown hair, bringing Jet in for a slow, lazy kiss. Jet's hands smoothed down Zuko's back to rest gently on his hips as Jet's mouth coaxed Zuko's open.
They parted, breathing heavily, Zuko's expression one of shy affection that nearly broke Jet's heart. Zuko had been so awkward at the beginning of their relationship, so unused to human contact that didn't have to do with pain. He'd explained to a confused Jet, and everything had made a sick sort of sense – the only people who had ever paid him positive physical attention had been his mother (gone for about twelve years now) and his uncle (not really one for physical attention either, but for the occasional hug or pat on the shoulder.)
Still, it sent a thrill through Jet's system to know he was the first (and if Jet could help it, last) person to know the young Lord so intimately. Zuko had been getting better about accepting casual contact from their friends, and Jet was cool with that – he knew Zuko was just as addicted to Jet as Jet was to Zuko.
Zuko snuggled into him, tucking his head under Jet's chin. Jet grinned, shifting his hands so one of them was tucked in the small of Zuko's back and the other was cradling the back of his neck and gently flipped them over. Zuko protested the sudden movement; he'd been halfway back to dreamland. Jet just smiled and leaned in for another kiss, settling comfortably against his lover.
"Y'know I love you, right, Zuko?" He drawled quietly, kissing the place behind Zuko's ear that he knew was ticklish, just because he liked to hear his lover laugh. He was rewarded with a chuckle and a delicious squirm.
"Yes. I know. I love you as well." He said softly, tugging playfully on a lock of Jet's hair. Jet grinned, kissing Zuko's forehead.
"I know."