First chapter of the re-write for this story. Been a long time coming. Depression hit me like a damn freight train this week, otherwise it would have been up sooner. Anyway, it's here, and we're on the start of our journey into polyamory xD Thoughts welcome as always, and hope you all enjoy this trip into sexy madness.
Bloody Mary
Rating: T for some profanity
Pairing: June x Mai I guess for this one, mentions of Ty Lee x Zuko
I own nothing, just using the characters to have a little fun.
Standing on the stoop in front of Mai's door, Ty Lee felt an intense feeling of unease, her finger unable to press on the doorbell to let her long time friend know she was here. It had been a few months since Mai had ditched out on their mutual trip with Azula (she'd had the right idea, Ty Lee thought to herself), to focus on her somewhat fractious relationship with her girlfriend.
Long distance had a way of exacerbating any issues between lovers, no matter how often they tried to make time to see one another.
That focus had been what kept Ty Lee from contacting Mai first when she got into town, a decision she had nearly immediately come to regret. Thoughts, mental images and emotions from the night before swirled in her mind, increasing the guilt that she felt was close to drowning her.
Shaking her head to try and gain some relief from the incessantly taunting thoughts, Ty Lee sighed heavily, gathering all her resolve as she pressed on the small white button. A delightful ring echoed within the house, the sound resounding gently even to her on the outside.
A small smile graced her lips at how un-Mai like the sound was, the pleasant ring quite different from the image of the perpetually dour young woman.
As she waited on the stoop for someone to answer the door, the young brunette began to fidget in place, shifting from one foot to the other. Gray brown eyes wandered around the simple yet still elegant woodwork framing the large ebony door.
The black door, in contrast to the soft doorbell chime, was very much Mai.
"Coming. No babe, I already told you a friend was coming over. Yes, it sounded pretty serious, so please put some pants on," Mai's voice emanated from behind the door, Ty Lee's cheeks instinctively flushing as she overheard the short exchange between her friend and her older lover.
With a gentle click, the door began to open, Ty Lee's emotions bursting at the sight of her long time friend. Without allowing time for a proper greeting, she closed the distance, wrapping the dark haired young woman in a hug. Arms squeezed harshly, as though the two had no seen each other in many years, as opposed to a couple of months.
"It's nice to see you, too Ty. What's going on?" Mai's even voice rose a shade higher than its usual tone, her inflection showing her concern for her friend. With more than a little reluctance, she placed her arms around the shorter girl, a bewildered attempt to assuage whatever was going on in the brunette girl's mind.
"Mai, I really messed up. Can we go inside and talk? I feel like an absolute wreck. I had all these people staring at me on my way here," Ty Lee mumbled, her eyes still puffy and red from her lengthy bout of crying.
"Yeah, sure. Come on in," Mai offered, her attempt to gesture the girl inside hampered by the unrelenting grasp she held.
"Aww, she missed you. How cute," June's dusky voice echoed from the entryway behind the two girls, a distinctive hint of amusement dripping from each word.
"Ty, we can't go inside unless you let go," Mai drawled, her even tone holding just a hint of annoyance at the gesture.
"Sorry. I just don't want anyone to see me like this," Ty Lee whimpered, her face buried squarely in her older friend's shirt.
"That's going to make it pretty hard to talk. We can just talk here, if you want," the pale skinned girl suggested, sensing that particular course of action was most definitely not what her usually energetic friend would have wanted.
"Fine…" Ty Lee's voice sounded a bit hoarse, a weakness in her speech that Mai had never heard from her friend. Grudgingly loosening her grip, Ty Lee made her way inside, each step heavy with the emotions weighing on her mind.
"Damn, you look like hell. What happened?" June "helpfully" shot out, earning a decidedly heavy glare from her girlfriend.
"Not now, June," she responded, her voice dipping into an icy tone as she held her girlfriend heavily within her sight.
"Whoa, scary. Just trying to lighten the mood, no need for the death stare," the older girl offered in apology, hands held up in a supplicant gesture in front of her.
"No, Mai, it's okay. I do look like crap, which is how I feel," Ty Lee's tone caught both girls off guard, the pair looking at each other with immense pity and sadness.
"It must have been something really bad," June said, her voice losing the edge of sarcasm and attitude as she watched the younger girl trudge past her towards the living room. She had only met Ty Lee a handful of times, and she considered the bright young woman to be probably the most annoyingly optimistic people she had ever come across.
That girl was nowhere to be seen at the current moment, however, a clear sign that it was indeed something quite serious.
"I just don't know what to do. I really messed things up this time," the brunette whined, chocolate toned hair wavering in front of her face as she heavily flopped onto the center cushion of the large, black leather couch in the center of the living room.
"You already said that part. But what happened exactly?" Mai asked, taking a seat to her friend's right.
Ty Lee paused for a moment, considering weighing the matter at hand heavily in her mind. Taking a deep breath, she looked her friend in the eyes, the amber spheres glimmering beautifully in the soft lamp light illuminating the room.
So much like Zuko's.
The vice in her chest tightened, seemingly constricting her very spirit.
"I… kind of… slept with Zuko," she admitted, the breath holding harshly in her chest. The air in the room seemed to grow heavy and cold, weighing down on her with each passing second. Ty Lee didn't dare to look her friend in the face, instead keeping her gaze down at the marvelously entertaining blood red rug beneath the coffee table.
"Oh," was all Mai uttered, her voice its usual even, somewhat callous tone.
"'Oh?' That's it?" Ty Lee shot, disbelief on her face as she lifted her attention to her friend.
"I mean, maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing you didn't, like, force him or anything," Mai explained, leaning heavily against the nearest armrest as she considered her friend.
"Kind of? Sort of?" Ty Lee knew she had been the driving force behind their little tryst, Zuko trying to be the voice of reason, the moral compass in the situation before she had more or less thrown herself at him.
"Okay, tell me exactly what happened," Mai suggested, watching from the corner of her eye as June danced in the kitchen, hips shaking rhythmically as she dug in the fridge for a beer most likely. Mai's lips curled at the corners at the sight, watching the subtle sway of the waist length black hair against her back.
"Mai, are you even paying attention?" Ty Lee huffed, momentarily forgetting her agony over the situation as she pouted at her friend.
"Of course. Just waiting for you," she replied, eyes shifting from her friend to her lover, finding focusing on either one extremely difficult.
With a deep exhalation, Ty Lee went over the events since she had landed at the airport the day prior. How she had loved the food in the little nameless restaurant (which Mai lost almost all interest at the mention of) to calling Iroh if he knew a place she could stay (which Mai most definitely perked up at the mention of).
Finally she recounted how her interaction with Zuko had gone, knees pulling securely against her chest as she spoke. The flutter in her stomach returned, recalling just how great it had felt while in the midst of the act, before being replaced with the gaping emptiness she had felt afterwards.
"And that's what happened. I really don't know what to do," she whimpered, feeling the tears pushing at her eyes for another round of quite unpleasant sobbing.
"Ty Lee…" Mai whispered, placing her arms squarely around her friend, rubbing the girl's back in an effort to calm her down.
"What should I do, Mai?" Ty Lee looked into the girl's glittering eyes, her face full of pleading for answers to get her out of the self induced hell she found herself in.
"Well, firstly, I think this is mostly Iroh's fault," Mai explained, earning a quizzical raising of her friend's narrow eyebrow.
"How is it Iroh's fault?"
"The last time I talked to him, he was absolutely gushing about Zuko's new girlfriend," Mai rolled her eyes at the recollection, an affected gag echoing from her throat.
"So… he knew Zuko was involved and sent me over there anyway? Why?" Ty Lee leaned back, face etched with confusion and anger in equal measure.
"I have a feeling I know what he meant to happen, but sometimes he forgets that young people are a lot more… hormonal than the crowd he's used to."
"What do you think he meant to happen?"
"I think he wanted to help you get some kind of closure, to resolve how you feel about Zuko so you could move on and be happy."
"What!? How does he know I have a crush on Zuko!?" Ty Lee's cheeks burned a dark shade of red, her mind racing at the implications. She had not spent an inordinate amount of time around the gleefully retired older man, so if he knew…
"Come on Bubbles, everyone who's spent more than five seconds with the two of you can tell," June's voice pierced the awkward atmosphere, leaning over the back of the sofa to place a teasing kiss to her girlfriend's cheek as she placed an icy cold beer can against the other.
"June, I told you I don't like when you do that," Mai said, her face showing a distinctly different opinion than her words.
"Whatever you say. But yeah, I think just about everyone knows, it was always just a matter of when you would snap and be unable to hold yourself back. Definitely didn't see you trying to snake him from his girl though, kudos," June teased, casually dropping into the large chair nearest Mai.
Ty Lee was mortified. She had always thought she hid it well, even going so far as to avoid being around him when they were alone together just in case… though maybe that was more telling than anything else?
"So yeah, and then there's Zuko. He's… a soft touch, if you know how to handle him," Mai chuckled at her ex's expense, recalling how easy it was to get him to go along with pretty much anything if given the proper encouragement.
Ty Lee slumped back in the sofa, wishing that the ground would just swallow her whole right then and there. Everyone knew? So, did that mean that Zuko knew that whole time? Her chest squeezed at the thought, casting a doubt over all their previous interactions.
"But I definitely think he's the only one who didn't know how you felt. He can be extremely dense sometimes," Mai added, as thought knowing what Ty Lee was thinking about at that moment.
"Oh yeah, that kid is clueless. He's so much fun to mess with because of it," June snickered, recalling the flustered, annoyed expressions on the young man's face when the subject came up.
"Are you guys even taking this seriously right now?" Ty Lee huffed, cheeks puffing out as she looked the two ladies over.
"Of course. But I mean, what's done is done, right?" June offered, her voice as matter of fact and even as Mai's usually was.
"Shouldn't you be like calling me a homewrecker, or getting mad or something, anything but just laughing it off?"
"I think you already did a good enough job of that, yourself. I'm not going to try to guilt trip you about it any more than you already have," Mai said, a sliver of compassion shimmering in her eyes as she spoke.
"But what should I do? How can I ever be around him again if I ruined his relationship? What if he hates me now?" Ty Lee pleaded, a heavy panic in her voice.
"Look kid," June spoke, bringing both girls' attention towards her, "if he didn't want to be with you, he wouldn't have. And he definitely wouldn't have "warmed you up" the way he did," she explained, again, quite matter of factly.
Ty Lee's cheeks burned as she found herself regretting going into so much detail over how the encounter had gone. The two lovers across from her seemed to be making some kind of plans of their own, eyes locked with a comfortable, knowing look shared between them.
"That's true. It sounds like he's gotten a lot of practice lately, he was always kind of bad at it when we were together. He tried, but he never really got it," Mai said, her voice seething with want as she kept her gaze locked on her girlfriend.
"Oh, you never told me he went down on you. Was it really that bad?" June's brow rose in questioning at the notion, lips curled into a playful smirk.
"It wasn't bad per se, but it just didn't do it for me. Maybe if I gave him a try now, it would be different, because it sounds like he's gotten better," Mai mused, casting a playful look to her lover.
"Never gonna happen. I can just imagine the misery he's in right now, tripping himself up with guilt over the whole thing. Poor guy."
"That's what you're focusing on there?" Mai shot back, blinking in disbelief at the taller woman's careless attitude.
"Well, if I wasn't so confident that I do a good job keeping you satisfied, I might be worried," June replied, shooting her lover a knowing wink.
"You saved yourself with that one," Mai said, a light pink tinting her pale cheeks.
"Uh, guys?" Ty Lee mumbled, bringing their attention back towards her.
"Oh, sorry. Got lost in the moment, you know? But honestly, I don't get what you're so worried about. If you want him, he's clearly got a soft spot for you, so you're already half way there."
"Half way there… to what?"
"I think what my partner here is saying is that it's probably just a matter of keeping in touch with him if a relationship is really what you want here."
"You mean stealing him from his girlfriend?" Ty Lee hesitantly asked, the notion having most definitely been one of the thoughts that had spurred her on the night before.
"Pretty much. I mean, I'd be really nervous to be in a relationship with someone who cheats so easily, but that's not my place to say. The question is how do you feel about the situation."
"He probably doesn't ever want to see me again," she said, a heavy sigh escaping her lips.
"Nah, I'm sure he'd love another roll in the hay. I'm sure you have some fun tricks you could show him," June said, earning a playful smack to her arm from her partner.
"I just… I guess I didn't realize how much I liked him until I saw him again after all that time. Like, it all hit me at once, you know?"
"Then there you go. Problem solved. Just talk to the guy, and I'm sure you can work something out. If it's not that serious with his girlfriend, then it's just that much easier."
"I dunno. That feels kind of wrong," Ty Lee said, her mind working itself into knots.
"Well, what do you know about his girlfriend? I'm guessing they didn't have pictures up or anything if he had to tell you about her," Mai asked, remembering that after the incident with his abusive, piece of shit father Zuko was much less interested in taking pictures. Understandably so.
"I don't really know anything about her. But he did keep saying this one thing in his sleep, but I thought he was just talking about liquor or something."
"Wait," June's voice lost its edge as she leaned forward in her seat, eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at the young brunette. "What did he say, exactly?"
"He just kept talking about gin. It was really weird, because I didn't think Zuko would ever want to think about alcohol after what happened."
"Shit…" the dark haired woman muttered simply, leaning back in her seat with a heavy sigh. "That makes it a little more complicated."
"You were the one telling her to just steal the guy from his girlfriend, what does gin have to do with anything?" Mai asked, her face mirroring the confused look on her friend's face.
"I don't think he was talking about gin, g-i-n. I think he was talking about Jin, J-i-n," June explained, wondering how small the world could possibly be to explain such an astronomical coincidence.
"I still don't get it. Do you know this girl?"
"Well, I wouldn't say I know her super well, but if it's the girl I'm thinking of, then she's one of the students in my class. She's a really good, sweet kid." As June spoke, the heavy atmosphere from earlier returned.
"So just because you know the girl, your advice is different?" Mai questioned, unable to comprehend the abrupt about face in attitude from her significant other.
"That's just how people are, babe. You know that. If your grumpy friend hurt that poor girl, he's going to regret it, that's all I'll say."
"Great. Now not only did I ruin my friendship, but I have the threat of possible injury looming over my head. This situation could not possibly get any messier," Ty Lee whined, throwing her head back against the armrest, eyes focusing on the ceiling above her.
"Them's the breaks, kiddo. You win some, you lose some."
"Ugh, I should have just called you when I got in, instead of calling Iroh. Then I wouldn't be in this total mess."
"Why didn't you call me? I mean, we're friends, right?"
"I didn't want to intrude on your alone time with June. That's why you left me with Azula back then, right?"
"God, you're so sweet. Always worrying about other people. But Ty, when you're in trouble, that's what friends are for," Mai said, a softness to her voice quite unlike her usual tone as she placed a reassuring hand on her friend's knee.
"Thanks Mai. I wish I'd been thinking clearly before all this," Ty Lee responded, a weak smile on her face as she looked towards her friend. "Now I still have no… idea…" she paused, a weird, impossible idea forming in her mind.
"Uh-oh. I know that look," Mai winced, pulling her hand from its perch on her friend's knee.
"June, you said if he hurt your friend that you'd hurt him, right?"
"And you, no offense."
"None taken. But as long as she's happy then there's no problems, right?"
"What the hell are you talking about? Babe, is your friend alright?" June questioned, getting an awkward feeling at the grin that graced the girl who was only minutes ago seemingly on the verge of jumping off a ledge.
"I'm so stupid. I should have thought of it earlier. You guys are the best," Ty Lee chirped, a swell of enthusiasm growing in her chest.
"I know we are. But why?" June asked, confused to say the least at the outburst of positivity.
"You gave me an amazing idea."
"I'm scared to ask, but what brilliant idea did you just come up with in that magical brain of yours?" Mai replied, a dull throb of annoyance throbbing at her temples. Ty Lee truly was difficult to understand at times, as much as she loved the girl.
"I just have to make them both happy. Gosh, it was so simple."
"Make them both… what, you're going to fuck both of them?" June asked, her natural crudeness peaking to the surface.
"No, nothing like that. Well… I'm sure there will be something like that involved," Ty Lee replied, her cheeks tinting a soft shade of pink at the thought.
"I don't get it," both of the other girls present said in unison, staring blankly at the suddenly quite hyperactive girl.
"If this Jin girl falls in love with me, then we'll all be happy," Ty Lee explained, tilting her head slightly to the side as she spoke, as though what she had just said was the most simple common sense in the world.
June and Mai blinked dumbly before looking to one another, then back to Ty Lee.
"Are you being serious right now?" Mai asked, voice heavy with exasperation.
"As serious as ever. It'll be fun. Ugh, I can't believe I got so worked up over it when the situation was right there in front of my face the whole time."
"Mai, your friend is a little loopy. Should we stop her?"
"No," Mai sighed, casting a weary look towards her lover as Ty Lee bounded off towards the bathroom. "I don't think anyone can stop her when she makes up her mind. Can I just ask you one thing?"
"Sure."
"What's this Jin girl like?"
"She's… actually, she's kind of like a more relaxed version of your friend. She's nice and sweet."
"Zuko's type apparently," Mai replied, a sarcastic rolling of her eyes at the thought.
"Heh, this should be fun."
"If anyone could make that ridiculous plan work, it's Ty Lee. I just hope Azula doesn't catch wind of it and come barging in."
"Is she really that bad? Anytime you mention her, it looks like you just ate a whole lemon," June asked, ears perking up at the annoyingly perky humming echoing from the bathroom up the stairs.
"Let's just say she doesn't really tolerate people getting near her precious Zuzu without her permission," Mai drawled, recalling the possessive way her friend would always treat her brother.
"Pfft. Zuzu? Oh my god, that's so cute. Suddenly I have a whole new perspective on the kid," June muttered between chuckles, the name quite unfitting the normally standoffish atmosphere around the scarred young man.
As the two girls talked, Ty Lee began to make her plans, smile widening with the thought.
'If this Jin girls is good enough to catch Zuko's eye, she must be something. I can't wait to meet her. And gosh, I already miss Zuko, too. So much to do first,' she mused to herself, the prospect sending nervous flutters through her stomach.