Chapter 8: The Picnic
The sun was low in the sky, but sunset was still a few hours away. The chill of the approaching night was still far away, so their cloaks were being used as pillows as they laid their heads down. It was far better than the hard rocks that they'd of had to use if their cloaks weren't there.
"My mother used to describe it as a sword and a sheath," Mai said.
Zuko laughed. "A sword and a sheath?" he asked. "How'd that go?"
"Well, my mother was completely awkward about it, so I guess she thought if she related it to knives I'd understand it more." Mai smiled at him, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Still didn't make that talk go any smoother," she said.
"I bet," Zuko said. "I didn't get swords and sheaths. I got petals…and…phalluses…" He whispered the last word.
"Petals?" Mai asked, tilting her head to the side. "In all my life, I've never heard…it…called petals. Or a flower of any kind." She quietly chuckled and laid her head down flat against her cloak. "My mother was right, the term 'sheath' does make a lot more sense."
Zuko thought about it for a second, and then nodded. "Yeah, it kind of does." He chuckled, and slid closer to Mai on the picnic blanket. "So the sword…"
"Yeah," Mai said, hiding a nervous smile. "The sword would be the…phallus…" She whispered the word and looked up at the sky, but that didn't stop her from blushing. Zuko found it cute, and he pulled her in for a quick kiss.
"You're cute when you blush," he said, giving her another kiss.
"I try not to," Mai told him. "It might be 'ladylike,' as my mother says, but I still find it ridiculous."
"Why?" Zuko asked her.
"Because…it makes me feel like a child again," Mai told him. Zuko stroked her cheek with his thumb, feeling the heat that was still there. Her blush eventually went down, and Zuko kissed her again, hoping it would return. It didn't. She felt far too comfortable with him to be blushing at a mere kiss.
"Stop trying to make me blush again," Mai told him, propping herself up on her elbow. "It's not going to happen."
"Oh, I bet it will," Zuko said, smirking at her. "I bet I can make you blush again," he said, sitting up and leaning back on his hands. "All I have to do is say the word…" he dropped his voice to a whisper, "…phallus."
Mai giggled and turned pink, her eyes shifting down to the ground before she regained control of her expressions.
"See?" Zuko said. "I knew I could get you to blush again."
"Yeah. All you have to do is go around whispered stuff about sex," Mai replied. She sat up with him, leaning back on her hands like he did. "Sure hope you don't want me blushing in fronts of lots of people. That'd be embarrassing for both of us," she said.
"Yeah," Zuko agreed with a small, blunt laugh. "Sure would be." His eyes fixed on Mai's, and he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her down with him, laying their heads down on their balled up cloaks.
"Trying to have me here?" she asked him sarcastically.
"Sure," he snarked back at her. "No one around for miles, no one expecting us to be anywhere. Surrounded by a bunch of tall rocks. Can't see any reason not to." But he didn't make any move, just like Mai knew he wouldn't.
She closed her eyes and breathed deep, filling her lungs with the fresh air.
It was a welcome change from the days she spent in Omashu–New Ozai–where the sudden coal burning was starting to clog up the atmosphere. Back then, she'd been praying for a strong wind to carry the stench away. Just another thing that she hated about that city.
"Hey," Zuko said, "what's on your mind?"
"Omashu," Maid said.
"Do you miss it?" he asked.
"Please. I hate that city more than I hate the color orange."
Zuko laughed then. "I didn't know you hated the color orange," he said.
"Oh, I hate lots of things. Most of all, being bored. Omashu was the most boring city I'd ever had the misfortune of laying my eyes upon, must less spending over four months there," Mai told him. "It was truly awful."
"I can imagine," Zuko said. "Never seen it myself, of course."
"Trust me, you're not missing anything," Mai said. "Of course, Omashu wouldn't have been so bad if you'd been there with me."
Now it was Zuko's turn to blush.
Mai snickered when she saw Zuko's cheeks turning red. "Apparently I don't even have to get inappropriate with you to make you blush," she said. "All I have to do is tell you how bearable you make places."
"Oh, stop," he said, giving her a playful shove to the shoulder.
"Stop?" Mai asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "You didn't stop your teasing. Why should I?" she whispered, leaning to close Zuko's ear.
Zuko closed his eyes, letting his hot breath rasp against her neck, but careful not to breathe fire. The last thing he wanted was to burn her neck. He'd hate to see a scar on her skin, especially a scar like his.
"Stop thinking," Mai said, seeing that worried, pained look cross Zuko's face again. "Or at least, think about something bearable for once." Zuko's lips quirked, but he didn't smile. Mai grabbed his chin and kissed him, pushing herself into his thoughts and letting her hand stroke across his cheek.
Zuko relaxed against her, and she could feel the tension leave his body as he melded into her kiss. He put his hand on her arm, and he wanted so badly to lay her down right then and there, to get on top of her and kiss her, to nip at her skin, to make her moan his name.
Zuko licked her lips just as she was pulling back to take a breath.
"Zuko," Mai whispered, and her voice was real and raw. It set a fire within Zuko, and he leaned back away from her, breathing fire from his lungs. Mai smiled, her eyes dark and shining, and she grabbed his collar and pulled him towards her, capturing his lips in another kiss.
His lips were warm, and his tongue was even warmer, leaving a fiery, tingling trail in her mouth. Zuko kissed her jawline, careful not to suck at her skin so he wouldn't leave a hickey. From there, his lips moved down to her neck, and he tugged her collar lower until her collarbone was exposed to him. He kissed her collarbone slowly, taking his sweet time with it.
Mai was blushing again, but out of the heat of desire instead of embarrassment.
"I wish we could spend the night here," Zuko said, his voice vibrating against her skin.
"Why couldn't we?" Mai asked him. "It's not like anyone cares or even notices we're gone."
Zuko chuckled at her and leaned back on his palms. Mai leaned forward, wanting his body pressed up against hers. She put a single hand to Zuko's chest, her nails sinking into the fabric, and she briefly wondered if they were sharp or strong enough to tear the fabric.
"I suppose you're right," Zuko said. "Unfortunately," he mumbled a second later.
His downcast mood didn't last this time, and Mai almost smiled at that. Almost. Instead, Zuko smiled at her, and shifted closer to her, brushing up against her body. Mai leaned her head up against Zuko's shoulder, slowly blinking, savoring this moment. She wished it could last forever and ever and ever. She sighed contentedly, and when she opened her eyes, she noticed Zuko's eyes on her, looking at her with…
…with an intensity that told her he liked her more than normal.
That was the only way she could put it. She'd seen that look on his face, only once before, and she couldn't' remember where. But she recognized it all the same.
And, even worse, it didn't scare Mai. It made her want to be closer to him, and not push him away.
Is this what growing up is like? she thought to herself.
"Beautiful sunset," Zuko said, turning his eyes to the horizon.
Mai chuckled. "I guess," she said, trying her best to keep her usual monotone but failing. "Orange is such an awful color," she said.
Zuko smiled. "You're so beautiful when you hate the world," he told her, leaning in even closer to her.
"I don't hate you," Mai told him.
"I don't hate you too," he said.
They kissed again, this time softer and slower. Zuko kissed her sweetly, and was debating whether or not to slip his tongue into her mouth when he heard a fake cough from in front of them.
There stood Azula, looking at them with her arms crossed. They both glared at her.
Couldn't she see that they were busy?
xoxo
After Azula had left him, he sat alone on the mountainside for five minutes, brooding, mulling over what she had said. Then, he went to go look for Mai.
