A/N: please sir, can I have some reviews?
I own zilch. Nada. Zip.
Some minor swears included. We're not ready for the rating increase yet.
Jaw
Zuko's somewhat lighter mood was dashed fairly quickly when he arrived back at his dorm to see Hahn was awake and adding to his collage of shit all over the right side of the room. He would have snapped then and there if he had thought it would have achieved anything other than making the square-jawed boy purposefully make a bigger mess.
The first day Zuko had met Hahn, he had managed to score himself a tenure on Zuko's hate list and offended his sensitive sense of smell. Granted Hahn had just finished a 'workout' but he could have at least showered and cleaned up knowing he had a new roommate coming.
Zuko let out a deep sigh as he wordlessly collected his things for a shower, at least his side of the room was clean, he could take some pride in that. Zuko had been raised to keep a clean house and cleaner appearance, one of the few lessons his mother had instilled in him while she still cared enough to try. He bit back the urge to scoff at the idea of his mother ever trying. The woman had checked out long before she'd left him, ran off with some lover to start a new life.
Didn't stop her from hitting the bottle though. Immediately he pushed the dark thoughts from his head. He didn't want to think about her, not while Hahn was already dancing on his nerves.
"Sleep well, Roku?" Hahn spoke as he threw his dirty feet against the wall, Zuko scowled at the marks his feet left. He really, truly did not understand what girls saw in this kid, especially since he never bothered to pick up after himself, even when he had a girl coming over.
"Don't talk to me" Zuko spoke flatly as he closed the drawer he'd kept his toiletries in, he'd have left them in the shower if he didn't think Hahn would use or tamper with them. The truth was Hahn hated Zuko just as much as Zuko hated Hahn. Hahn had just learned that Zuko hated small talk and mess equally as much.
"Suit yourself, Roku, just making small talk" Hahn dragged out the latter part of the sentence on purpose.
"Well don't" Zuko spat as he once again found himself slamming the door to the bathroom on his irksome roommate. It was almost tradition at this point, the bathroom was the only place Zuko could get any peace in his dorm. If Hahn wasn't treating their room as a revolving door of girls he was seemingly using it as the hottest hang out in town for him and his equally tiresome minions.
He felt himself relax a little as the hot steam filled the room, the warmth leeching the tension out of his tight muscles. Stepping into the shower he made a mental note to check on the status of his roommate swap request. Surely there was someone else on this campus who hated their roommate as much as he hated his, or maybe he'd get lucky and a single room would become available. That way he didn't have to dread the winter, and could sleep with the window closed. The thought brought warmth to his chest. God's, he hated his roommate.
Once he'd cleaned and dressed, Zuko grabbed his messenger bag off the chair by his desk and trudged his way across campus. He never really bothered to take in his surroundings too much but he'd found it increasingly important now that he had people he wanted to avoid. By people he mostly meant Sokka. He could have gone the next three years at BSSU without knowing he walked the campus.
He spied girls to his left dancing and chatting between themselves, their short skirts and crop top all green with gold accents. Cheerleaders, he assumed or maybe a dance troupe. He didn't dwell on it too much as he spared a glance to his right, pretty much the same idea only this time it was a group of guys who were watching the girls with rapt attention, mouths hung and all wearing the same grey coloured jeans and some variation of a white top like they shared a brain. He rolled his eyes, at least he didn't see anybody he knew.
"Zuko!" The voice broke through his flimsy reverie. He groaned inwardly and pinched the bridge of his nose, he had no idea what he had done to annoy the gods in a past life but he knew whatever it was must have been bad because he was now paying for it.
Zuko decided to ignore the person calling out to him as he picked up his pace and headed to his class, he assumed the guy would have taken the hint. He was wrong. By the time Zuko had entered the doors to the business building, the owner of the voice had caught up to him.
"Hey, Zuko! I was calling out to you, I guess you didn't hear me" The boy spoke as he fell into step with him.
"I heard" Zuko answered. His tone was flat as he didn't offer the intruder a glance. He figured if he did that he'd take that as an opportunity to continue this one-sided conversation.
"That's cool. Anyway, did you do the reading? Man, I couldn't wrap my head around it all at all. Do you think all academics speak like that in person?" The boy continued to chatter endlessly as he took up the space in the lecture hall next to Zuko.
Take. The. Hint. Zuko all but growled inside his head as he pulled out his notepad. Most other students used laptops for note-taking but he found the lessons sunk in easier if he wrote them down, a lesson his father had instilled in him on one of his 'nicer' days.
Zuko scoffed to himself. As if Ozai Sozin had a nice bone in his body, the only reason he bothered to instil that lesson into his son was to inflict pain, his methods had meant forcing Zuko to write all his school-work by hand until he was personally satisfied with the results. Sometimes that meant forcing the boy to rewrite a thousand-word essay four to five times without making a single error. He felt his wrist throb at the memory.
He only has the power I give him. He reminded himself as he forced another childhood memory down.
"Hey, Zuko? Do you have a pen I can borrow? Mine just exploded" The boy spoke as he leaned in a little closer than Zuko would have liked. Zuko inwardly groaned as he threw the boy a sideways glance, this boy's lame attempts at making jokes where almost on the same level of annoyance as Sokka's. Almost.
Zuko bit down hard on a laugh as he turned to see the boy, who'd spent the last few weeks pestering him into a friendship he had no interest in, covered in ink. He kept his face a mask of impassivity as he eyed the stain on the boy's white tank top and mouth, if Zuko had to guess, he'd have said the boy had been biting the pen when it exploded.
"No" Zuko replied in as flat a voice as he could manage. Laughing now, regardless of how ridiculous he looked, would only give the boy hope that they could be friends. This wasn't the case, Zuko didn't want friends. He wanted his degree and he wanted Katara. Simple.
"Care to share with the class Mr Pabbu?" The booming voice of their professor cut across the class.
"No professor Varrik, er sir" The boy grinned seemingly forgetting the ink that was artfully splayed across his white teeth.
"Are you aware you have ink on your face?" The eccentric professor spoke with a cock of his eyebrow, his moustache rising as he did. Zuko coughed to conceal the laugh he was fighting, the boy looked ridiculous.
"My pen exploded" The boy offered lamely as he kept the grin, inky teeth still clearly visible, large.
"Ah. I see, have you asked Mr Roku to borrow a spare?" Professor Verrik offered as he twirled his moustache through his pointer finger and thumb. Zuko froze, he hated unwanted attention, suddenly the situation didn't seem as funny.
"Not yet" the boy offered.
"Well, might be a good idea" Professor Verrik spoke before turning back to the board to continue whatever tangent he had been on.
"Sorry about that," The green-eyed boy said in a low voice. Zuko sighed, at least he wasn't covered in ink and called out by the already questionably sane professor.
"Now stop talking" Zuko all but hissed as he shoved a spare pen in front of the boy before he turned his attention back to the lecture.
"Thanks. My name is Bolin, by the way," Bolin spoke. Zuko ignored him but made a mental note of the name. Bolin didn't seem to be all that bad, he reminded him of a less irritating version of Sokka with the innocence of beanie boy. He didn't particularly like Bolin, but he guessed he didn't hate him either. Still, he had no desire to be his friend. The kid seemed like a walking disaster.
Katara's class had been less eventful, Aang had filled in any silences with his usual optimism, which Katara had been thankful for. He had been quiet at the start of the lecture but seemingly perked himself up after the twenty-minute break. She had been right in assuming he wanted to speak to her, he had mentioned feeling guilty about having another friend at college. Katara had assured him it was normal and no one would be angry with him.
Once the class had finished, Aang and Katara made their way to the mess hall where Sokka was waiting for them with Yue. It hadn't slipped her notice how awkward the two of them looked sitting together, or how Yue kept her eyes on the table. At first, she'd assumed Sokka had made the usually quite Yue uncomfortable with one of his stupid jokes but was convinced otherwise when Yue assured her he didn't.
She was thankful by the time Suki arrived, escorting Toph on her arm, to break up the atmosphere that had fallen on the table. Thankful still when Toph immediately started quizzing Sokka about his choice of shirt. Sleeveless, as per usual, with some tribal print across the back.
Less thankful when Toph started quizzing her about Zuko. She bit back the urge to scold Toph about minding her own business when Aang stepped in to move the conversation along. At some point during Toph's cackling and Sokka's one-man stand-up act, Yue's longterm high-school boyfriend Hahn appeared. Katara didn't like him all that much but she always made an effort to be civil with him. Sokka never did and surprisingly neither did Aang.
"I was thinking, since it's Friday and all, we should watch a movie in my room" Sokka spoke aloud to the table. He had been in some quiet conversation with Suki about something Katara had no business listening too.
"Yeah! That'd be great" Aang was the first to speak.
"I'm down to listen to a movie," Toph agreed. "If you provide the snacks, snoozles" she added.
"What? But I'm providing the movie!" Sokka cried flailing his arms at the injustice. Suki laughed, placing a hand on her boyfriend's arm to pacify his dramatics in only the way Suki could. Katara could have sworn she saw Yue shift in her seat from the corner of her eye. She felt bad for the introverted girl, Sokka could draw attention to himself in an empty room, she guessed that was difficult for a shy person to deal with. But at the same time, Sokka was Sokka and Katara did love her goofy big brother.
"Sorry snoozles, we're all poor students and no one has a snack budget big enough to supply your demand" Toph offered with a shrug of her narrow shoulders.
"Yeah okay, Toph Bei Fong" Sokka jibbed with a chin pointed in her direction. Toph seemed to emphasise her case by turning her pockets inside out and shaking her head, her long bangs tickling her brow as she did.
Toph was the only daughter to the Bei Fong family, massively wealthy museum owners; who had amassed a vast fortune by cultivating and preserving the culture and histories of the world. It also helped that they struck oil beneath one of the various lands they owned.
"She has a point Sokka, you eat like a horse" Katara added as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Well, You can bring the snacks then Katara" Sokka replied in a mock tone. Katara felt herself stiffen, she wasn't going to Sokka's movie night, she had plans. Plans she wasn't willing to change for no man. Plans she had hoped she could carry out without Sokka or Suki knowing about until after the fact.
"I can't. I'm not going" Katara mumbled as she suddenly found her nails more interesting than Sokka's eating habits.
"What do you mean you're not coming?" Sokka sputtered incredulously. Katara would have laughed at the comical expression plastered across his features if she wasn't already dreading the line of questioning she knew was inevitable.
"I have plans," she added vaguely. She wondered how Zuko had mastered the art of vague answers and one-worded conversation enders and desperately wished she possessed that power. In her defence though, Zuko didn't have to deal with Sokka and his 'male intuition'. She rolled her eyes inwardly, Sokka's male intuition was just Sokka code for bugging her until she caved.
"With who? Everyone you talk to is here, plus Hahn" Sokka replied, his voice gaining a higher pitch as he spoke, Katara had to admire the way Sokka could seamlessly throw an insult at Hahn without making too big a deal out of it.
"Not everyone" Suki sang as she wiggled her thick eyebrows in Katara's direction.
"SG means Sparky, Snoozles" Toph cleared up for the table. Katara suddenly felt less grateful to Toph and Suki as she threw a glare at the girls.
"What? Him? Katara! Seriously?" Sokka cried. The range of emotion's Sokka had displayed on his face in those four words would have been quite a feat if Katara wasn't already annoyed by her unsuccessful mission. She had expected Sokka's reaction but she'd just hoped to have had her date before Sokka decided to weigh in.
Not a date, Katara. She thought as she mentally corrected herself, much to her disappointment.
"Yes, Sokka. I'm going to say hi to uncle Iroh" Katara sighed.
"But with him? Mr rage and resentment?" Sokka pressed. Katara could feel the heat rising to her face, not only had her plans been uncovered but Sokka was dissecting them and Zuko for the whole table to hear. She felt her temper flaring. He had no right.
"Sounds like my roommate" Hahn scoffed from somewhere to the left of Katara. She ignored him, Hahn's opinion was the option she cared the least about.
"That's not fair Sokka, you don't know him" Katara fought back. She could feel the pull in her jaw that meant she was sticking her chin out at him, her fists balled against her sides. He had no right to judge Zuko, whatever pain was in his past had made him that way, she knew that. People don't just wake up screaming like that, not that Sokka would understand.
"And you do? You dated the guy for like a minute two years ago!" Sokka huffed as he threw her a hard stare of his own. Katara felt her stomach lurch at the sight, he looked just like their father had when she and Zuko had run into him while they were on a date. The memory formed a lump in her throat, she'd argued with her father that night too.
"How dare you! That's-" Katara felt her own words get caught in the dryness of her throat, Sokka wasn't wholly wrong but she would be damned if she admitted that to him. Regardless of how short a time they had together, Zuko mattered to her. He was important to her. She loved him. And Sokka had no right to decide whether or not she chose to spend her time with the man she loved or not. Even if it was too soon for her to admit that out loud.
"He's your ex for a reason Tara" Sokka's tone was too cold and too pointed for her. She felt the tears stinging the corners of her eyes.
"Because we moved Sokka! We always goddamn moved!" She spat as she leaned forward in her chair to meet his challenge. She had all but forgotten there was a table full of people now, her anger burning in her gut as it began to lick its way up her throat.
"And you honestly think you two would have lasted if we didn't?" Sokka scoffed. Katara felt the cold fury fill her veins, did he not realise how hard it had been for her to lose him the first time? Or did he just not care? Did he even care how embarrassed he was making her feel or how deep his words cut her?
Zuko aside. The constant moving had taken a toll on her, she wasn't like Sokka. She didn't have the ability to make people laugh the way he did or too constantly find something new and exciting in every town they moved to. She lost her wanderlust when she realised she would never have a cornucopia of memories to share with longtime friends, a childhood home or even a pet. She got none of that, what she had was a best friend she lost touch with and a lonely senior year spent trying to force memories with a boy who just wanted her for her body.
Sokka had Suki. Sokka had Hockey. Sokka had his brains and his humour. Katara didn't. Hell, she even shared a friend group with Sokka. What Katara had was a second chance with the boy who had made her feel safe and loved. Why didn't Sokka see that?
The thought brought the ice into her eyes as she stood up, her chair clattering to the floor behind her as she did. She glared at her brother, hard, before scooping her bag up off the ground.
"I guess we'll find out" Katara hissed as she stomped out of the cafeteria.
She had plans for that tonight. She had to get ready.
A/N: We write them apart to bring them back together.
Please R&R