(Theme Seventy-One) Scented Lotion
(As Prompted By) KawaiiEyeliner
Azula does not find Ty Lee back in her room, but she does not like the idea of trekking across town to see if she is at the embassy or not. Instead, the princess sits in her clothes for a while, jots down notes that she tears up about how she should lead into this conversation.
This vital conversation.
She winds up taking a hot bath and cutting her losses, as much as that hurt. However, as she is in just a flimsy bathrobe and rubbing cherry blossom scented lotion on her scalded skin, the door creaks open.
And before Azula can snarl at her brother or Mai, Ty Lee says softly, "Hi. I'm sorry it took me so long."
The room now feels very uncomfortable, and Azula hyperaware of that fact. "I... I did sort of run this morning."
"Yeah," Ty Lee whispers, knowing that it is not entirely Azula's fault for panicking. That would very predictably be her reaction. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Azula looks at her feet and nods. Ty Lee comes in and gently closes the door behind her, glancing over her shoulder with a moment of paranoia. She can smell the perfume of the lotion on Azula and she wants to kiss the princess's leg, but promptly decides against it. Not the time, definitely not the time.
"Were you telling me about it because you wanted to break up with me or because you wanted to know what I wanted you to do or because you wanted me to be a parent with you or...?" Azula thinks that is all Mai listed.
"I'm not sure," Ty Lee says as she sits down near Azula, hoping that her gesture will not be rejected. Azula remains still and calm, although she eyes Ty Lee warily. "Okay, so, I do know who the father is although I'm sure you probably wish I didn't."
"Well, it's certainly not me."
"We agreed that this didn't have to be exclusively monogamous when we go without seeing each other for months and months," Ty Lee snaps defensively before groaning. "But I am sorry. I'm really sorry and I should've been more careful, because you are the person that I love, the only person that I love and..."
"So, who is he?" Azula asks, eyeing Ty Lee. She bites down on her lip; the debate in her mind over whether she should tell her extremely jealous girlfriend about her one night stand or not rages quietly.
At last, Ty Lee decides to open up. She thinks Azula might like him, and maybe that will make everything easier. "He's actually in the Fire Nation right now."
"What? That's not alright! I am in the Fire Nation always!" Azula shrieks before staring at her feet. She hates how she is not doing a very good job looking responsible and trustworthy.
"I didn't sleep with him in the Fire Nation, Azula! I slept with him in the Earth Kingdom while I was working for him for a few months this year," Ty Lee snaps before again feeling guilty. Azula may be responsible for many issues and vile things, but none of this is her fault.
"How do you know he's in the Fire Nation now?" Azula asks quietly, trying to keep under control. She smoothes the lotion over her legs again, her nose now burning with the sweet scent of cherry blossoms.
"Because tonight he's having some party," Ty Lee replies softly and Azula stares at her.
This, to Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, is only getting worse and worse. "Did he invite you? Are you going? Are you leaving me for him?"
"No. I, I'm only breaking up with you if you want to break up," Ty Lee says, grabbing Azula by her hands and clinging to her. She is slick and smooth with lotion, but Ty Lee refuses to let her slip away. Ty Lee loves her, and Ty Lee did not sacrifice two years of her life to put Azula back together to let their relationship fall apart.
Silence. Azula seems to sense Ty Lee's feelings, thankfully.
"What's his name? Do I know him?" Azula asks calmly, clearly, like an adult. Good.
"Are you going to have him arrested or killed?" Ty Lee inquires uneasily, still not letting go of Azula.
The Fire Nation Princess shrugs. "Probably not."
"His name is Zei Goto, and I worked with him on some possibly less than legal job in Yu Dao." Ty Lee sighs faintly as she remembers her brief work as a mercenary. Her travels around the world have been very fulfilling to her, the adventures, the danger. Her night with Zei was fulfilling at the time, but Ty Lee regretted it later. She regrets it now, even if she and Azula have agreed to allow one night stands without getting angry.
"So... I could have him arrested if my goody-goody brother knew?" Azula tries to play it off as a joke, but Ty Lee is well aware that it has a kernel of truth.
"I don't know. Well, yes, but," and Ty Lee runs her fingers through her hair. "Do you want to go to the party with me?"
"Wait, so you plan to trap this guy at his party and tell him about ─"
"No. I think that I know literally nothing about this man and I want to... snoop, and the party is a really good way to find out. Would you like to join me? As my forever girl and a person who can pretty much read minds?" Ty Lee asks hopefully and Azula thinks she might understand. Even if Ty Lee were not to wind up leaving Azula for said Zei Goto, she probably couldn't help but be curious about him, and the knowledge would help her make her decision.
Mostly, it just makes everything much, much easier for Azula to go on an espionage mission than to actually discuss the baby problem with Ty Lee as an adult.
"Well, I will join you as your date."
Azula contemplates kissing Ty Lee, but is too afraid to do so.
Zei Goto's party looks fairly nice. Most importantly, it looks like the type of party Azula is decent at navigating ─ the type with the light music and expensive clothes and talk exclusively of politics and high culture. If anyone is trying to bed someone, it will be subtle and not include people making out on sofas.
The only thing that Azula dislikes about it, is that clearly Zei Goto is an affluent man with plenty of friends, and perhaps Ty Lee will prefer that as an environment for her child other than chaining herself to a washed up and imprisoned war criminal.
"So, what was your job in Yu Dao?" Azula inquires as Ty Lee wraps her arm around Azula's waist.
"A little bit of everything, actually," Ty Lee whispers. "But mostly theft. Look, there are a lot of people in the Earth Kingdom who don't know how to do anything but fight in wars; they find other ways of using those talents. And not everybody can be hired for private security, like the Kyoshi Warriors."
"Mercenary. He's a very, mmm, classy mercenary. I'd peg you for more of an assassin," Azula purrs, loath to admit how hot she finds the idea of Ty Lee being an assassin. Ty Lee perhaps intending to assassinate Azula, but then maybe they just very passionately and roughly ─
"Your highness, what a pleasant surprise." A slippery male voice skewers Azula's brief fantasy. "And Ty Lee. I didn't know if you would be able to make it. Did you rehire Miss Ty Lee?"
Azula looks at her girlfriend and sees those familiar eyes of someone expecting Azula to lie for them.
"Yes," Azula says sweetly. "As a bodyguard and other body related things. Perhaps you would be familiar with them, Mr. Goto?"
While Ty Lee could vomit, Zei takes it well and with a smile. A crooked, reptilian smile.
"I'm afraid I've never been in the business of protection, your highness," he says smoothly. While he seems slippery, Azula quite likes him. He has an attitude that she is not aggravated or offended by; he is what he is, yet he is not afraid to be serpentine.
Maybe Ty Lee would like him more, Azula cannot help but think, but she quickly clears her mind of that thought and tightens her grip around her date.
"It's lovely to join you," Azula says as she tugs Ty Lee inside.
His home is beautiful. Azula imagines the gorgeous historical tapestries, relics of war and modern amenities are ill-gotten, but that does not disturb the princess much. She is not bothered much by people doing illegal things, now that she is no longer in control of the law.
Azula and Ty Lee make their way to a terrace, where they can somewhat be alone. They pass quiet conversation, most of it political. And they settle down in the warm summer breeze, beside each other.
"This is a beautiful home," Azula remarks and Ty Lee purses her lips. "Would you like to live here with him?"
"Are you mocking me?" Ty Lee snaps and Azula shakes her head.
"No, no, I'm just throwing it out there."
Azula kisses her neck, and they drift together in the party.
"Azula, I have to go throw up in the bathroom for an hour," Ty Lee says quietly in her date's as they are speaking with a merchant from Sondai. "See you."
Azula nods at her, she is gone, and the princess begins to wonder if perhaps this is her chance to... snoop around a bit and figure out just who this man is who impregnated her girlfriend.
She excuses herself politely, and locks her eyes on Zei Goto. He is towards the back, mostly alone, two people at his side. And the princess confidently approaches him.
"Well, I certainly haven't had my turn to speak with the host," Azula purrs as she sits down across from him. He cocks an eyebrow. "So, how do you know my bodyguard."
"Work in Yu Dao. If it weren't for your brother─"
"Do I strike you as the type of person who likes to talk to her brother?" Azula asks sharply, her lips twisting. Zei Goto shakes his head. "Right. So what were you up to?"
"Smuggling. One of my more innocent jobs, I'd have to say. Things went wrong, though, somewhere along the way. Your bodyguard and I got trapped in the wilderness and nearly died. It was a bonding experience, but I, uh, never heard from her again after she got her paycheck," Zei explains with slight wistfulness in his amber eyes.
"That's unfortunate," Azula says, studying her glass of wine. The one Ty Lee poured the rest of hers into when Azula was finished, so afraid for anyone here to notice. Azula does not know why she tolerates these things. "You must have been military, then?"
"Before the war was ended and most of my friends were tried and convicted of war crimes," Zei replies with a slight heat in his chilly tone.
"Well, I support your endeavors. Finding things to do with your abilities that the world says are useless is invaluable. And it is people like you, who do the dirty work, that keep everything running so smoothly. Shame my brother and his dear friends just don't understand," Azula says sweetly and she knows she has won him over enough.
Good.
Two hours into the party; Azula is unclear how she got in here, into an isolated room with Zei Goto. Azula is also unclear of when she lost Ty Lee, or if she ever even reunited with her after she started her subtle interrogation of the host. She does feel rather tipsy right now, and a bit more than angry.
"It does amaze me, I must admit," Zei Goto says as she cavalierly explores his room while he sits with his glass in his hand, "to have you here. I can't imagine the Fire Lord was eager."
"He doesn't care what I do so long as no one ends up dead," Azula says earnestly with a shrug. She leans against his desk and squints at the bedroom door. This room is boring, and has given her no information outside of the fact that he seems interested in Fire Lord Yaoya Dynasty Art and collects a lot of paperweights.
"Wise of him, perhaps."
"So, are you hiding something in your room?" Azula asks softly, pointing. She has never seduced someone before, much less tried to trick someone like this. But it somehow seems to be working.
"I didn't know you were interested in going in." He looks excited by that, and Azula knows that look, and Azula has suddenly lost track of just what she was trying to learn.
As he takes her hand, her hand that still reeks of cherry blossom lotion and her hand that craved the smooth yet strong grasp of her girlfriend, and not these, clammy calloused ones of a stranger, Azula really wonders why she is doing this. It only hits her once they enter the bedroom, and he lights the lamp with a quick burst of bending, that she was taking her time isolated here to make Ty Lee think she was with Zei Goto for just this reason.
And that makes Azula's stomach do flips. Agni, Ty Lee is pregnant, and probably horrified about it, and all Azula can think about is petty revenge and jealousy.
The minute his lips touch hers, Azula pushes him full force onto his bed, pushing him off of her.
"Hmph?" is his clearly confused response.
Azula pauses. "You knocked up my bodyguard. No, not my bodyguard, my girlfriend. That's why I came here; to see what kind of person you are."
"I..." His face is ashen. "I wish she had told me, and not..."
"Well, what would you say if she did?" Azula asks, her words no longer sweet and slurred.
"That..." Pause. "That I already have a wife and two children, and it would be best if she kept out of contact."
Azula wants to say something about that before the fact that he was just trying to sleep with her hits her in the face.
"You're married with two children and you just tried to fuck me?" is all Azula can say, brimming with rage. "Stay away from her. And don't you dare even think about telling her about this! My bodyguard and I will be leaving. If I were you, I would get to work hiding the stolen goods around here, because I would not be at all surprised if tomorrow perhaps some law enforcement might just stumble to your doorstep."
She storms away without another word, without caring about his motives or any of it.
She seizes Ty Lee by the arm the minute she sees her, splashing tea all over both of them. The crash of glass and their sudden departure makes the entire party stare, but Azula does not care.
Once they are outside, Ty Lee just stares. Azula squeezes her hand tightly, imprinting her on the cherry blossom lotion, and then kisses her fiercely to erase the other, very, very unworthy lips that even dared to touch hers.
"How about we go home, and talk about our future? Parties suck and I don't know how you tricked me into going to one."
As if we have a clue, but, it's better than this...
Ty Lee has no idea why Azula has just done this, but she is glad to oblige.
To Be Continued...
