Hot Boy

She wakes to naked boy. Very naked boy. A squeak escapes her and she quickly places her uninjured paw over her eyes.

"Ah, you're awake," he says without any trace of embarrassment.

But then of course he's not embarrassed that he's getting dressed in front of her. He thinks she's a cat. The idiot even skims his fingers over her fur—gently, always gently.

"Don't touch me when you're naked!" Katara snaps, paw still covering her eyes. "Put some clothes on, idiot!"

"I see you're still grumpy."

"I'm not grumpy! I'm just—you're just—ugh!"

He sighs a little and then all she hears is the rustling of cloth. Her heart is still thudding uncomfortably. It's hard to get the image of him out of her mind: lean, muscled, naked. She's tempted to get another look, but that urge alone just makes her more frustrated.

This is the angry jerk, this is the angry jerk, this is the angry jerk. You can' t gawk at the naked angry jerk!

She sneaks a peek from under her paw. He at least has trousers on now, but his chest is bare. She can't look away. It really is a very nice chest. Sokka and Aang seem so scrawny compared to him. He's got proper ab definition and everything, and his arms are nice as well. Not like Sokka's skinny pea sticks.

Zuko glances at her as he tugs on his undershirt, not yet tied. His hair is sticking up everywhere and his mouth curves a little. It's like a shot to her chest. All she can do is stare.

He looks …

He is really attractive.

Oh crud.

He leans down, putting his face close to hers. "I have to go to work now. You'll be okay on your own, right?"

Her heart just pounds and pounds and pounds.

"I'll take that as a yes."

He pets her head, and this time she doesn't pull back. Her brain might be broken. She doesn't know how she will ever recover after pairing "hot boy" with Prince Idiot. Why can't he be ugly? Why can't he just—

Wait, did he say he has to go to work?

"You have work?" Her eyes widen. "Of course! You're going to hunt for Aang in the city!"

He tilts his head at her as he does up the ties to his undershirt. Now his chest is all covered. Boo.

Er … of course that's a good thing. Of course she hadn't wanted to keep staring at his chest …

Ahem.

In any case, Zuko tilts his head at her with this frowny look on his face. "You really are a strange cat. Sometimes I feel like you're trying to talk to me like a human."

"Because I am! I'm a human girl!"

The creases fade from his brow and his eyes warm a little. "But you are cute."

Oh. Do cats blush? She might be blushing. She feels hot all over.

Zuko tugs on his overtunic, gives her one last pat, and then leaves the room to join his uncle. She takes a moment to unscramble her thoughts before she limps and winces her way after him. The jerk might be pretty, but she has to focus now. She has to stop him from hurting Aang.

He's just about to leave the apartment when she bites onto his trousers. Sadly, she only gets a mouth of fabric, but the slight tug still makes him pause.

"Sorry, Cat," he says, crouching next to her. "I have to go to work."

"I won't let you hurt Aang!"

Uncle pauses in the doorway, glancing back at them. "Problem?"

"I think she doesn't want me to go."

"Pao is expecting you," Uncle reminds him.

Katara frowns. Pao? Who is Pao? A new enemy? Someone else who has infiltrated Ba Sing Se?

Zuko doesn't seem to like this Pao, because he sighs dramatically. "Sometimes I wish I could get a different job."

"Nephew—"

"What? Pao always tells me to smile more. I hate smiling. And the old ladies creep me out, and that girl always just sits and stares at me, and—"

Uncle closes the door to block out any unknown eavesdroppers and then lowers his voice. "The teashop is safer. You know this."

Zuko lets out another of his dramatic sighs. "I don't care about what's safe."

"I know you don't. You're far too reckless, but in this case we need to be careful. This is our chance to start new lives, my nephew. You should try to embrace it."

A heavy scowl. "Well, maybe you can be content with being a nobody refugee and working in a Lower Ring teashop, but I can't."

Now it's Uncle's turn to sigh. It sounds like they have this argument a lot. Katara has to admit she's surprised. Is Zuko no longer hunting Aang? Are these two actually here because they're just refugees?

She thinks back to the abandoned town. Azula had attacked Zuko and the old man. She'd called them traitors.

Katara's frown deepens.

"Come, Nephew," Uncle says, placing his hand on the teen's shoulder. "I promise it'll get better."

Zuko still looks unhappy, but then he catches sight of her in her little cat form and his eyes warm. "Guess I have to go if I want to keep you fed and comfortable," he murmurs. "See you later, Cat."

She blinks and watches him and his uncle leave. For someone who says he hates smiling, he sure does it a lot around her.

Then she realises: that dumb prince has named her Cat.

She is now a cat named Cat.

Ugh.