Okay so this is an extraordinarily late birthday gift for Leigh aka storyquipster, who has probably been one of my biggest headcannon buddies and has listened to dozens upon dozens of story ideas that are all sitting half finished in my drive. And regardless of how many times I fail to deliver she keeps supporting me and getting just as excited about every new plot bunny I breed.
So Leigh this is for you, and I know that you're excited about a dozen other stories but I know this is your crack and let's face it, there are a million and one Gruvia stories to be told. So this is for you lovely! Happy belated.
When Zuko's day started by being woken up by a call from Azula, he should have known it was a sign. His sister never contacted him. Had he not been caught up between the shock of her call and the drowsiness of being woken at six in the morning he surely would have known it was a bad omen for his day.
Instead he was blinded by the fact that they'd managed to get through a conversation with relative civility and that she'd even gone so far to ask for his help with a task their father had entrusted her with. In his sleep fogged mind he'd managed to mistake a sign of the apocalypse as a sign of the good luck and had drifted back to sleep believing the day would be a good day.
He hadn't even made it out the door before amending that thought. Today officially ranked in his top ten of worst days ever. It was a feat he had been certain was near impossible at this point in life; but yet again he'd been proven wrong.
After falling back to sleep he'd slept through his alarm, the hot water had run out two minutes into his shower, his bearded dragon had bitten him while being fed, and he'd forgotten to put the filter in when he made coffee this morning. All of this before even getting out of the house.
Had it been any other day Zuko would have just called in sick, and stayed home. But this was the one day of the year he couldn't. Instead he left the apartment and headed out to open the Jasmine Dragon.
Probably the only good thing about his whole day was that he'd only been ten minutes late in opening the tea shop. Not that any of the customers waiting for him to open the door appreciated the miracle he'd performed in getting there: that, and his love for his uncle, were the only things getting him through the day, as it had yet to get any better.
Normally by now he'd at least have been able to go on break and get a much needed cup of coffee, but he was working alone and thus couldn't just leave the place. He silently cursed out his uncle for refusing to have a coffee maker in the shop. Sure he could just have tea like his uncle suggested, but Zuko never found the drink all that enjoyable. It came with too many bitter memories, feelings of loss, and failure. Every time something had gone wrong his uncle had been there with a cup of tea, as if the warm beverage would miraculously solve all of his problems.
No Zuko prefered the bitter harshness of coffee.
Zuko looked around the shop and sighed. Two old men had been playing Pai Sho for hours, and a lone girl with a myriad of text books scattered over the table in front of her. He recognized her as a regular; Jin. His uncle has all but drilled the name into his head. To him she's the girl who asks a million questions and spent hours at a time in the shop, often taking up an entire table, despite rarely buying more that one or two cups of tea.
His uncle never seemed to mind though, and often conversed with the girl happily. He was starting to feel like the two were conspiring against him though, as more than once he'd caught them smiling at him while in discussion, and in the last few weeks his uncle had started passing on hello's from her on Zuko's day off.
"Umm… hey Zuko." Zuko jolted backwards, suddenly finding himself a lot closer to the subject of his thoughts. His heart hammered in his chest and he forced himself to take a couple of deep breaths to slow it again.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" The girl offered him a guilty half smile, "I was just hoping to get another pot of tea."
Zuko tried not to frown as he nodded. "Sure."
He turned around and began preparing the pot, figuring she'd take the hint and go sit back down. He really didn't have the energy or patience to make small talk.
"I'm surprised your uncle isn't here today, I don't think I've ever seen him miss a day of work. Is he okay?"
"Yep." As much as he can be.
"He's not sick is he?"
"Nope."
"Well that's good. He deserves a break, he works so hard. Is he taking time to visit family? He was talking the other day about how he misses them."
Zuko winced. "Something like that."
"Oh… well then will he be gone for a while? It's really nice of you to look after the shop for him."
"He'll be back tomorrow. Here." His words were punctuated by a thump as he placed the fresh teapot on the counter with more force than he'd really meant to. Seriously if she had to talk to him why couldn't it be about normal things, like the weather. Why was it always stupidly personal questions.
Her smile faded slightly as she stared up at him. "Are you okay?"
"Yep." He placed his hand out waiting for her to pay. Anything to end the interaction as soon as possible, before he said something rude. His uncle would no doubt reprimand him if he upset one of his favourite customers.
She reached forward and dropped the money into his palm, but didn't move from her spot, even after he placed the money in the register. He frowned. Was she expecting change? He was pretty sure she'd paid him the exact amount, she almost always did.
"Are you sure you're okay? You seem more out of it than usual."
"I said I'm fine! Seriously can you just drop it already."
He watched as her smile completely fell away; his gut twisted and he could just hear his uncle's reproach. "Now Zuko, that's no way to talk to a lady. Just because you are having a bad day does not give you the right to mistreat others around you."
"Shit." he cursed, "Sorry! A-about snapping… and about swearing too I guess. I didn't mean it, I-"
"It's okay. Sorry for bothering you." She offered him a small smile, but it looked kinda forced and it didn't seem to make it too her eyes. She took the teapot from the counter and was quick to turn away from him.
Without thinking he reached out and grabbed her wrist to hold her in place. Familiar pain seared the skin of his hand and he let go as quick as possible. "Ahh. Fuck!"
He looked down at the blotchy pink skin and winced, gritting his teeth to prevent himself from allowing any further words from escaping. He was vaguely aware of the old men looking his way, but he paid them no mind as he cradled his scalded hand and moved towards the sink, quickly running it under cold water.
As the water hit his skin, it offered a temporary relief to the pain and he assessed the burn. Really it didn't look too bad, certainly he'd dealt with worse.
"I'm so sorry are you okay?" her voice was right behind him and he turned to face her. She took a quick step back as he did, but her eyes remained trained on his injured hand. She was biting her lip and her hands were fluttering about at her sides.
"It's not that bad. Really."
"But…."
"Just one of the hazards of working in a tea shop. It was my fault anyways, I wasn't paying attention when I grabbed you. I'm just glad it wasn't you that got burned, my uncle would be furious."
"I doubt it. Even if he was, he wouldn't stay mad for long. Besides I would have explained that it was an accident." She offered him another smile and he felt his chest relax a little.
"Listen, umm… I really am sorry. I'm just having a really off day. No coffee this morning, and I can't even take a break to go get one cause I'm on my own."
Jin's grin suddenly widens, her hazel eyes lighting up at his admission. "Why didn't you just say so silly! I'd be happy to go get you one."
"Why would you do that?" The words slip out before he can even register the thought.
"Why not? It's just coffee and if it'll make your day better I'd be happy to do it. Besides you and your uncle are always kind enough to let me stay here and study between classes. It's a lot nicer than the university library that's for sure." Before he can say anything else in protest, she holds up a hand to silence him. "You can either tell me how you like your coffee or I can guess, either way I'm getting you a coffee."
"Black." He answers with a sigh, and just the slightest of smiles. It's been a long time since anyone had done anything nice for him. Well discounting his uncle that is.
Jin's already turned, bolting towards the door, presumably before he can change his mind.
Once she's gone he lets out a breath and leans back against the counter, closing his eyes. He supposes she's not as bad as he assumed, his uncle would surely be happy to say he told him so. Not so bluntly but that's the underlying message.
His uncle was always right, not that he'd ever tell the man.
And it wasn't like he wanted to think the worst of people, he hadn't always been cynical, but in the same way his cousin's death had changed his uncle, Zuko's mother's death had changed him. Just not for the better.
He let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair, tugging the ends roughly. He hated where his thoughts kept going, but that seemed to be the nature of the day.
The entrance bell called his attention to the door as Jin skipped back into the shop, still beaming as she pranced up to the counter.
She placed an extra large coffee on the counter in front of him and then placed a few paper bags down beside it causing him to frown.
"I thought you might be hungry as well, or that you might get hungry later, so I grabbed you a sandwich and a few cookies. I wasn't sure what kind you'd liked so they're all different." She flashed him a bright smile, leaning on the counter with her arms crossed.
Her shirt was loose and hung forward, And he felt the heat creep up his neck and on his cheeks at the view.
He swallowed hard and forced himself to keep eye contact. "Thanks, you really didn't have to go through all the trouble."
"No trouble at all, I wanted to do it."
"Well it was really thoughtful of you. I owe you, that's for sure." His hand reached out and grabbed the coffee, bringing it up to his lips and he savoured the moment as it ran over his tongue and down his throat. He immediately felt more awake, and less irritable, this was what he'd been missing.
"Well if you really want to repay me maybe we could go for dinner some time?"
Zuko abruptly choked on his coffee. He felt her fingers brush against his as she pulled the cup from his hand, then a few moments later felt a gentle rubbing on his back.
"Are you okay?" She asked, her hand still rubbing circles on his back. Zuko coughed once more but nodded.
He glanced over at the girl, and felt his heart flutter anxiously.
"You want us to what?" He croaked.
Jin jolted back, and her cheeks flushed brightly. "Umm well…" she glanced away from him and bit her lip as she shifted about. "I asked if you'd like to go for dinner... together. If you want, I'm not trying to force you!"
Her hands shot up and her eyes kept darting up to peek at him through her lashes before whisking back to the floor.
"So like a date?"
"If you're not inter-"
"Sure." Zuko interrupted with a shrug, now pointedly avoiding her gaze as well. He could feel the blush on his cheeks.
"Sure as in yes?" He glanced and her only to find her chewing on her lower lip and fidgeting with her fingers.
He took a deep breath and tried to steal his nerves. "Uh, yeah, dinner sounds good. I have to close up tonight but I'm done tomorrow at six."
Jin's expression immediately lit up and she offered him a blinding smile. "I'll meet you here!"
"Uh, okay." If he was honest he'd rather she didn't. He didn't need his uncle meddling or getting ideas, but she looked really happy and he was drawing a blank on alternatives.
Besides it would at least help take the old man's mind off of other things.
"Tomorrow at six then." He offered her a small smile in return.
"I can't wait!" Before he could react she'd leaned across the counter and placed a small peck on his cheek, then grabbed the forgotten pot of tea and returned to her table.
It took Zuko about five minutes to recover from the shock and he spent the rest of his shift awkwardly stealing glances at the girl, and being caught in the act more often than not. Still after the day was done he had to admit it no longer ranked in the top ten worst days, in fact maybe his first instinct had been right all along.