A/N: Okay this chapter is painfully short, but I got through everything I wanted to surprisingly quickly. Probably because there is no dialogue. Rawr, rawr, rawr.
I think I pass the 40,000 word mark with this chapter! Yay! With as slow as this is going I might not even be half way done yet, though. :(
Chapter 21
She moved so agonizingly slow, with such an enormous amount of practiced agile precision. Her perfect rounded hips seemed to have a disconnect with the rest of her body, when she moved left they moved right, pulling her expensive fabrics tighter and tighter then loose again. Gentle ankles bared, then covered, a teasing sight to anyone who might be looking, prying, miming her every movement with silent reverence. Lips, legs, fingers, the curve of a just slightly bared neck were covered in a sheen of delicious glistening sweat that clung to her as little beadlets dripped just so perfectly slow.
Azula imagined her own callused misused fingers moving along those smooth arcs, the slope of a neck, the round of a trembling kneecap, clinging tighter than tight until their was nothing between them but flesh and blood, salt and sweat. More than anything that was what she craved for, yearned for, ached for, but she stayed rooted still, her eyes a slave to the sight before her. Stuck on the back and forth motions of her dear friend.
Her mouth was dry, her breath was moving slowly and loud through her damp lips, like a rhythm, like her own dear Ty Lee's rhythm. In when she arched just slightly to the right. Out when the left. Over and over again. Even then she was stuck to Azula like sticky wet glue. And she knew that she liked it. There was no point denying it now.
A part of Azula's mind told her that her Ty Lee shouldn't behave like this. Not in front of people. Not in front strangers. Dancing was not something civilized people did. It was like sex on hardwood-- not the sort of thing you do in public and certainly not amongst people you hardly knew. Still she couldn't make a move to stop her endless writhing and moving. Ty Lee was just so good at it. Azula was just so entranced.
Their eyes never met, not once, but there was a sort of stringy humid tension between the two of them that made Azula shiver down to her bones. Too many almost looks, too many perfect angles just for her. She wanted to believe all of Ty Lee's boisterous movements were for her alone, a more socially acceptable way to call out an erotic attraction. Shy like a woman's ways, when they couldn't acknowledge it out right. Mentally, however, she knew she was just driving herself around in circles. Just believing all the little things she wanted to believe.
So Azula continued to watch her dance in silence, brushing lightly against fellow patrons and dancers, coveting that lithe female body that moved so dexterously and tempting in front of her. Her eyes full of lust, her work long forgotten.
She arrived at work that morning surprised at all the ceremony. Azula never bothered to count the days or remember any significance to many of the strange Earth Kingdom traditions, so she didn't know about any special events. It happened to be the Winter Solstice that day, December 21st.
The tea shop was covered with frivolous decorations and plumages, people were bustling about and her Uncle was always looking to her strangely. Only later did he tell her that this was day of celebration and fear. It meant for the renewal of positive energies once again, longer days, and a weaker boundary between the spirit world and the realm of the living. It was good to stay with others so one didn't get lost between the worlds when no body was looking. So they festized.
Of course Azula thought the whole ordeal was absolute hogwash, but she played along any way for the novelty of it, still holding a sort of patronizing superiority over the celebrations around her. She put up a bit of a fuss later when she was forced to listen to shrill music all day and squeezed into a brightly colored silk dress that made her legs feel cold. What good would such thing really do to appease anything but the common folk?
Azula had never been much of a believer in spirits. She thought it was all common talk to unite the common folk under a unifying and controlling doctrine of fear and fealty. It was brilliant really, from a political stand point, but outside of context only managed to be moderately annoying. The idea of a life after death was far too appealing to be true. There were no souls, no magic of the hearts, only life, death and all of the drudgery in between. And how wonderful it was to be the only one who knew the truth.
Ty Lee had requested another song, something smooth and jazzy and very foreign sounding. The other dizzy dancing patrons who flitted around her liked the eccentricity of her eclectic Fire Nation tastes. Some men peppered throughout the crowd also watched her dance hungrily as Azula did. Only they were close enough to get a feel of her silky smooth skin, to bathe in the heavenly heat radiating form every little inch of her. They would never be as close to her as Azula was, though, laving up unspoken words and watching with knowing eyes.
Azula slouched back in her chair to find a more comfortable position, a small grin lighting up the corners of her mouth, and for once she didn't even bother to hide it. She wanted Ty Lee to see it, and become more daring, connect their eyes and bathe in the heat there. She couldn't imagine anything but hot palpable fire the next time Ty Lee looked her way.
She had dressed festively too, with much more gusto than Azula of course. How Ty Lee managed to purchase of all these immaculate clothes with nothing even resembling a source of income she'd never know. One of the many mysteries around her. What was worse was that Azula could see how thin the fabric hung on her lanky frame. It was nothing but a light layer of innocent looking green silk. No insulating wool or anything. She hadn't even bothered to put on her usual stockings and let her feet run bare again the twine of her sandals.
When she passed a light Azula could see the outline of her body against the thin material and it made her shake visibly.
How could anything in the world make her feel like this. Even worse something made of flesh and bone. Azula was filled with an incredible want that she had never felt before, except in the company of Ty Lee. The feeling was almost painful in her heart and head. She wanted to touch and feel and have that little innocent thing in front of her so badly it was causing her physical pain. Azula wanted all of her. She wanted free reign. The feeling was just so strong right then and there she was having trouble managing it. Usually she could contain herself but she felt like she was bleeding, ripped apart at the very core. All for her. All for one tiny person that had about as much intelligence as a field mouse.
She really was an idiot too. Ty Lee always thought the world was sunshine and roses. "Lets go play with the children outside!" and "Let's pet the Moose Lion." Moose Lions have been known to eat people. You don't pet a Moose Lion. No matter how cute she looked when she asked-- how her little turned up nose got a little wrinkle in it when her face lit up with an oblivious, innocent, heartbreakingly soft smile. How her eyes were full of that jovial childish laughter that made Azula forget all the bad things she's seen lurking around even the brightest corners.
No. No. No!
It was disgusting. Revolting. It was belittling to her very heart and soul. She was supposed to be strong and powerful. She was supposed to have restraint. Why was she crumbling so easily just by looking at someone? Was she really so weak and savage?
It was frustrating!
Everything she thought always, contradicting, contriving, running herself all around, up and down. Circles of circles of squares. Did the world seem simple to Ty Lee? Or was she crazy too?
Azula got to her feet in a hurry, with just the slightest bit of strength running through her limbs.
She couldn't take it any longer. Ty Lee was a tease, and Azula wasn't one to watch something be waggled in front of her face without taking it-- without sinking her teeth in once and for all.