~The Drill~
Ryuu POV
The front of the que was no better than the back. The ticket lady had turned away a man and his son, so what chance we had was limited. Iroh handed over our tickets and put on a broad smile. Zuko took my hand out of comfort and squeezed it gently.
"Names?"
Iroh coughed for dramatic effect, "Mushi, Lee and.. err, Yoshi."
The lady wasn't impressed. The lowered the tickets from her eyes and bored her eyes right into Iroh's. He kept smiling, hoping it would work. It didn't.
"So, Mr. Lee, Miss. Yoshi and Mr. ummm ... Mushy, is it?"
Iroh put a finger up and shook his head,"It's pronounced Muuushii."
The lady glared from the counter at Iroh. He laughed nervously, "Uh, no, no." Then he switched to old tactics, "But may I just say you're like a flower in bloom. Your beauty is intoxicating.."
Zuko paled at the comment. I stuffed my fist into my mouth to stop on coming laughter. The lady flickered her eyebrows and leaned further over the desk - exposing a little bit of.. err... bosom. She took up the stamp to her left.
"You're pretty easy on the eyes yourself, handsome. Raorr! Welcome to Ba Sing Se."
I actually bit down on my fist to stop laughing. Zuko closed his eyes and took some shuddery breaths as Iroh began leading us away towards a waiting room for the trains. He harshly spoke to his Uncle through gritted teeth.
"I'm going to forget I saw that."
My laughter escaped as I joked to Zuko, "Want me to hit you over the head with a rock?"
He took it as a real offer and politely declined. If very confused that is. Iroh eagerly led us to a tea stall in the centre of a cavernous room, decorated with green rock and jade that was supposed to be a waiting area. We sat down, waiting for the line to clear up. Zuko still hadn't let go of my hand - but I wasn't going to complain.
A familiar voice moved towards us, "So, you guys got plans once you're inside the city?"
At that point, the tea seller came around to us. Iroh ordered one for each of us bar Jet, who declined the offer. Jet went to speak again but Iroh interrupted.
"Blaugh! Ugh, coldest tea in Ba Sing Se is more like it! What a disgrace!"
Jet rolled his eyes, "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"
Zuko met my eyes and reluctantly let go of my hand before moving away with Jet. I sipped my tea and - as Iroh had complained - it was disgusting, but I drank it anyway - gagging occasionally. Zuko came shuffling back and flopped down onto the seat. He turned to his Uncle and knocked the cup out of his hands. For good reason, Iroh was heating it with Firebending.
"Hey!"
"What are you doing firebending your tea? For a wise, old man, that was a pretty stupid move!" Zuko hissed through gritted teeth.
Iroh began lamenting the loss of his tea, "I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but ...it's just so sad!"
Zuko sighed and thrust his tea into his Uncle's hands on the condition he wouldn't Firebend. We were sat there for a few more hours, waiting for a train that we could actually get on without being squashed to death. At one point, Iroh fell asleep against Zuko, who sighed heavily but didn't move.
When he woke up, a guard called the last train for Ba Sing Se. When we got on the train, a family had settled next to us. The baby went to grab Iroh's beard as he talked to the mother.
"What a handsome baby."
The woman smiled and her husband put his hand on her shoulder. She thanked Iroh. Her husband commented the baby looked like her mother, that's why she was pretty. The mother smiled and playfully swatted her husband's hand.
Zuko rolled his head back on the seat, "How far is left until we get there?"
I knelt on the seat and squinted out of the window. Rolling my eyes, I answered Zuko, "Not far. Why'd you ask?"
He stared up at me, "Just wondering."
I slid back down into the uncomfortable seat and as soon as I did, Zuko put his arm around my shoulders. He smirked when I blushed bright red. The husband and wife who spoke with Iroh began asking after Zuko and I when they saw our little exchange.
"So, what's going on with you two?"
Zuko answered too quickly, "Just friends. Good friends. Alright?!"
The lady knitted her brows and went back to speaking just to Iroh. Zuko removed his arm from my shoulders - firmly crossing his arms over his chest. I chuckled lightly and nudged his abdomen with my elbow.
"Only friends, you could've just said that. You are real smooth, Junior, real smooth."
He turned his head from me, "Shut up."
While I was joking and being amiable on the outside, inside my organs twisted. Only friends? He had kissed my jaw and head twice now and I had kissed him on the cheek. He kept holding my hand and snaking his arm around my shoulders. From what I could tell from observing others, just friends don't do that. Although Zuko hasn't had friends his age for roughly 3 years - so...
With a sudden unexpected jolt, the train stopped - it made everyone sway wildly. Our stop was in the lower ring. As soon as we stepped through the doors, the smell of manure smacked us in the faces. True, Ba Sing Se was mainly drawing its vast wealth from farming so the smell wouldn't be unexpected. Zuko recoiled in horror. Iroh pinched his nose and laughed.
"I remember that smell," he spoke through pinched nose.
Zuko gagged, "It's the most revolting thing I've ever smelt!"
Putting arms akimbo, I breathed in a lung full of manure air, "You better get used to it."
A man in a long brown tunic hoisted up above the knee glided across the platform towards us. He flicked a lotus Pai sho tile at Iroh - the men shook hands in an unusual, probably secret society way, by forming a lotus with both hands. The man, who had a large green sun hat that covered his face, led us from the station and through the streets.
Eventually, we stopped infront of a ground floor flat. The man tossed me a key before gliding away wordlessly. Iroh took the key from my and unlocked the old wooden door. It clicked and swung open to reveal our new home. Across the street was a tiny little tea house. The sign above the door read 'Pao Family Tea House'. In the window sat a 'Help Wanted' sign.
As you could guess, Iroh was ecstatic. Zuko - less so.
"It smells revolting in here. And look, it only has two rooms!"
I rolled my eyes, "Just because you are accustomed to the high life, Princess, doesn't mean you'll automatically get it. In the Earth Kingdom there is one way of getting what you want: Suck it up and work your butt off."
Zuko groaned. Iroh locked the door behind us and set about arranging the house by opening shutters and putting a kettle to boil for tea. In the cabinet, he found it stacked full of food. From Noodles to Jook. From Bean Curd Puffs to a bottle of Wine.
I sat down on a rickety old chair and sighed happily. I was in true Earth Kingdom territory. I was truly safe. And, as long as Iroh and Zuko were here, I was happy.
The chair nearly broke when I fell backwards because Zuko started yelling. He had scared me half to death. He stomped from another room which was separated off by a painted screen, fuming visibly. He growled and took Iroh and I into the room.
"What?! Anyone would think you're sleeping in a potty," I joked as he pulled me by my wrist.
"They set this up! There are only two sleeping mats! "
He was surprised by my relaxed attitude to it. He insisted that it was set up until I - somewhat nervously - explained that it was usual, in the Earth Kingdom, for extended families to live in a house together and that children would often sleep on the same mat. Cost effective: both on sleeping mats and heating during colder spells.
"You are kidding me..." he blinked.
Iroh agreed with my explanation, saying that he had seen this happen on his own trips in the Earth Kingdom. Zuko was neither pleased or disappointed. He stared at his feet, void of emotion, until he finally gave a yell and gave up.
He helped prepare dinner (Mushroom soup and Fried dough) but when he asked where the toilet was and I said the guttters in the street. Boy, he wasn't happy.
