Hana was working the day shift the next time she saw their new well-tipping customer.
He walked in with a couple of other kids. A blind little girl and a young boy with a headband around his head.
"Hello, again." Hana greeted them by the door. "Welcome back."
"Hello," Zuko started. "I just want to apologize if I made too much of a mess with the posters. I just wanted to help with the reputation in case the Captain gave you trouble."
Hana looked surprised. "I didn't know you were behind those."
"Free marketing, amirite." The girl said and elbowed the teen. "We helped a bit."
Apparently the children had decided to do a good deed. Hopefully they had permission to so. Otherwise they could all be in trouble. She told them as much.
"Sokka helped with the design." The short boy supplied.
"Sokka the ambassador?" Hana asked sceptically. Her blank face suggested she was not amused but choose not to call them out. It was not very likely the ambassador sat down to draw marketing posters with the Fire Lord's face on them. It would have been a scandal. "In that case, we are very grateful for your help." She said smoothly and decided that their reasons would stay their own.
"He is the-" the teen elbowed the girl to shut her up and the other boy barely contained his giggles. Teenagers were always a bit unpredictable but they seemed to be really nice.
"It's all good." The teen clarified quickly. The girl stared at nothing but looked gleeful. Hana gave them a calculating look but decided against further investigation. They were assigned to a table in the middle of the restaurant. It was between lunch and afternoon so the restaurant wasn't staffed to full capacity.
A waiter named Daizan quickly greeted them at the table and gave the teen a look, mentally cross referencing with the ugly drawing in the back. It sure was him.
He greeted them happily, knowing a tip would be coming his way.
"Hi everyone! My name is Daizan and I'll be your server today." He said cheerily and started handing our menus to them. The girl didn't take one. Catching a glimpse of her pale milky eyes behind her bangs he felt a bit embarrassed to give a menu to a blind girl. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you want me to read our options for you?" he offered as smoothly as he could.
"I-"she started tensely, then made a split second decision "Sure." Her eyebrows looked more irritated than anything. Like she was bracing herself for something.
"Today's specials are the komodo-rhino steak, served with sautéed vegetables of the season. We also have the grilled skewers with lizard-chicken, komodo-rhino, and vegetables, as well as the hot glazed ribs, served with roasted potatoes and, in my opinion, the best barbecue dipping sauce ever. Our vegetarian options are chick-pea and bean based hot stew with rice, and the fresh sandwiches. There are also dumplings, spring rolls, both can be made vegetarian, as well as sides of fried scallops, soup and salad as side dishes. If you have any dietary restrictions or would like the food with more or less spices I'll talk to the chef about it, it's no problem."
"I'll have the skewers, thank you." She said after a moment to assess her options.
"I want the skewers but only with vegetables, aaaand I want some spring rolls, also vegetarian!" the boy with the headband added to his order. "And water please!" He looked excited to be there.
"I'll have the ribs." The scarred teen said. "And a water please."
"I'll have water too." The blind girl said.
Daizan quickly put down everything on his notepad and continued.
"Excellent, and did you want to hear our dessert menu now or maybe later?" he addressed her directly.
"Maybe after we've eaten. See if we have room." She decided.
"But dessert always fits!" the boy protested.
"We'll have time, Twinkletoes." The girl said calmly, "besides, Sparky's paying."
A hum of agreement followed and Daizan excused himself from the table and took their orders and walked up to the kitchen. He could hear a bit of a soft conversation from the table where the blind girl commented on how he talked to her and not about her. His heart broke a little but he soldiered on nevertheless. Who had treated her as less than and could he punch them? Just a little?
When Daizan went back to the kitchen to relay the orders he quipped, "Your hero is here." In Naku's direction.
"The tipper?" she asked and looked at the seating area to confirm it. "And he's brought friends." She gave a small wave to the table when she saw them looking in her direction.
"Yeah, they seem nice."
He brought their drinks and made sure to announce that he put her glass on her right side.
If the trio noticed that half the staff were talking about them and looking in their direction, they gave no notice because the boys were busy trying to shut up the blind girl who seemed to dominate the conversation. Her info must be good, because the scarred teen blushed while the boy with the headband happily laughed and discussed whatever they were talking about.
"I think he has a crush on you, Naku." Daizan told her when there was a moment of downtime. "First he comes to your rescue, then he gives you the fattest tip I've ever heard of… and now he won't even look in your direction. He's even brought friends as a buffer."
Naku didn't appreciate this sentiment. "Why do you have to be like this? He doesn't like me. He was just being polite just now."
"I'm pretty sure he does. Look at him. And last time was more than just being polite, he literally defended you. And he sure seems interested."
They both looked over at the table and met the panicked eyes of the teen. His friends were losing their minds and laughing hard.
He and Naku blushed in tandem and Daizan thought that that was enough entertainment for a few days. He would tease her mercilessly, as was his duty.
"I don't want to talk to you anymore." She stated and went back to her duties. Daizan laughed at her and decided to bring it up at another time.