OOO

Day 3: Clandestine

(adj. kept secret or done secretively, esp. because illicit)

Summary: Boring formal parties are boring, and Katara and Zuko can think of a far better use of their time without anyone finding out about it.

OOO

Zuko's family — being the terribly rich and show-offish family that they were — was always in the habit of throwing lavish holiday parties every time Christmas came around, and took the opportunity to invite every family in their address book that was just as elite as they were. The only other person who truly understood the pain of this sort of affair was Toph, whose parents also threw their share of galas after the New Year in a similar display of opulence.

It was the sort of black tie-evening gown affair that both Zuko and Toph hated being a part of, and they always gave their friends the glittering, expensive invitations with eye rolls and a few muttered curses. It was funny: two of the richest heirs in the entire town, and they both hated every second of it.

The only reason these evenings were at all bearable was because Toph stuck close to Aang and Zuko stuck close to Katara. It was the beauty of bringing his girlfriend to galas: if anyone ever asked Zuko to dance, all he had to do was latch onto Katara, drag her out to the ballroom, and never ever let her go. Easy enough, right?

After around their fourth dance — in which Zuko was seriously considering telling that strange girl who kept asking him to dance to just leave the party altogether — Katara hobbled uncomfortably over to one of the dining tables and plopped ungracefully into one of the chairs. She leaned down and discreetly slipped her heels off, wincing as she pushed them under the table. "Zuko, I really do love you, but I can't dance in these shoes anymore. If you had told me we were going to be dancing the whole evening, I would have worn something else." She sighed in relief as she rested her sore feet against the cold marble dance floor. "Ugh, I hate formal wear…"

Zuko frowned as he loosened his tie, unbuttoned the first button of his collar, and sat down in the chair next to her. "I'm sorry," he muttered in embarrassment. "I just really don't want to dance with the daughters of the guys my dad is trying to impress. They're terrifying…"

"So you're using me as a cover every single time?" Katara sighed tiredly. "You can afford one dance, can't you? I won't mind. Heck, I need to massage my feet."

He frantically shushed her in response. "No, no, no. You have to act like you mind. Otherwise, they won't feel threatened. Then one dance will turn into five and then I'm gonna lose my mind."

"You know, they're just girls," Katara smirked. "I'm one, too. We're not poisonous, I swear."

Zuko frowned. "You are lovely company. They aren't. They're like...I don't know...leeches."

"They think you're handsome," Katara leered. "Not that I blame them. You'd have to be blind not to see that."

To this day, Zuko never really understood that concept. He'd come a long way in terms of accepting his looks, and he knew that Katara loved him for far more than the scar across half of his face. But he sorted of expected the rest of the population of vapid females to be deterred by it. If anything, it had the opposite effect. From the whispers he'd heard at dinner parties, it made him look "haunted, mysterious, and alluring." Apparently, that made him a prime candidate for a dancing partner during sufferable formal affairs like this one.

Katara insisted he should feel flattered. Zuko just felt like screaming.

"If you're tired, we can just sit for a while," Zuko assured. "I'm sure they won't try and interrupt us if we're talking."

"You really underestimate infatuated females," Katara pointed out. "But then again, you were always kind of rubbish at romance."

Zuko crossed his arms over his chest. "Excuse you, but I seem to recall you saying that my Valentine's Day present was, and I quote, 'the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for you.'"

Katara winced. "Ehhh, to be fair I haven't had much experience in dating." Zuko's jaw fell open and Katara quickly laughed and cheered him up with a quick kiss. "Kidding, kidding!," she assured. "But seriously, I think you're just putting off the inevitable."

"Or saving myself from certain maiming."

Katara rolled her eyes and looked back towards the dance floor. "Oh come on, you're totally exaggerating." She pointed to a tall brunette in a silver gown standing over by the grand staircase. "What about that girl? She was trying to talk to you before you snatched me up to dance right after I came out of the bathroom."

Zuko's face immediately took on a look of disgust. "You do realize that's the girl that stalked me in my junior year, right? I told you about her."

"Oh my gosh, that's her?"

Zuko nodded miserably. "She left her phone number in my locker every. Single. Day."

"Oooh, okay," Katara muttered, biting on her lip. "That's no good. Oh, what about her?" Katara pointed out a shapely blonde with a crimson holiday dress that was currently plucking a flute of champagne off of one of the silver trays being carried around by the serving staff. "She doesn't look crazy."

"Are you seriously pimping me out to other girls?"

"I'm not!" Katara defended. "I'm just...helping you make friends, and giving my feet a break."

Zuko pushed his chair in closer to the table and closer to Katara. "Then lets go somewhere else. Somewhere that doesn't involve dancing or...socializing," Zuko glared.

Katara stared at him in amusement. "Gosh, you make socializing sound worse than getting boiled in oil. Lighten up!" she grinned, smacking his arm lightly.

"I can easily think of five things off the top of my head that would be more pleasant than this party," Zuko mumbled.

Katara stuck her bottom lip out and looked around at the rest of the party. "...it's not that bad…"

"You don't have to pretend to like it for my sake," Zuko deadpanned.

Katara shrugged and reached down to rub at her feet. "Okay, so the vibe here is a little...stuck up."

Zuko snorted. "A little?"

Katara leaned her elbow on the table and cradled her chin in her hand. Zuko watched her stare out at the younger guests dancing in the middle of the ballroom as well as some of Zuko's father's friends milling about on the fringes of the party, talking, laughing, and schmoozing as was typical. It didn't look like she was particularly enjoying herself and judging by the way she was avoiding putting her heels back on, Katara didn't seem like she was too eager to go back into the crowd. Still, she scanned the room — all the way from the top of the grand staircase and back down to the large double doors that lead to the ground floor — and suddenly allowed her face to light up like she had suddenly gotten an idea.

She waved him closer. Zuko raised a brow, but complied and leaned his head towards her until her lips were hovering just over the shell of his ear. Katara fervently whispered something quickly into his ear, and Zuko's eyes widened in shock as Katara spoke. When she finally pulled away, Katara was grinning from ear to ear and Zuko's jaw was hanging in bewilderment.

"You want us to do what?"

"Oh come on," Katara smirked. She discreetly looked around her to make sure no one was listening and whispered, "I'm pretty sure this will be a hell of a lot more entertaining than just sitting here and not doing anything."

Zuko had to admit that this was probably true, but he still swallowed and nervously rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yeah, but...are you sure?"

Katara snatched her heels back from under the table and slipped them back on. She stood, smoothed out her evening gown, and pulled Zuko away from the tables and towards the large double doors leading out of the ballroom. "Come on, you worrywart. Let's go."

Sneaking out of the ballroom hadn't been particularly difficult. It didn't seem like anyone had noticed them amidst the throngs of people, and Zuko made sure that they were discreet in opening and closing the heavy gilded doors so as not to attract any attention to themselves. Once they were safe in the barren hallway just outside the ballroom, Katara kneeled down, took her heels off once more, and held them in her hands. She grabbed Zuko's hand and immediately pulled him down the corridor to their right.

Now that she was free of her shoes, Katara was practically jogging down the hall — shoes in hand and dress hiked up — while Zuko bounded after her. The sight was so comical that he couldn't help but laugh to himself while they continued their way through the hall. "Where exactly are you taking us?"

Katara was keeping her eyes on the doors lining the hall as she shrugged and laughed back. "A good hiding place." She turned another corner and immediately tried the doorknob to a small looking door that was tucked in between another empty ballroom and a deserted coat checking area. Sure enough, the door flung open and Katara silently cheered in victory. "Haha, yes!" She reached back and grabbed Zuko's hand again. "Come on, come on, quick."

It turns out that the small room was actually an empty closet — probably a room that used to store cleaning supplies, table cloths, and other miscellaneous things, but now looked like it had recently been cleared out. Despite the free space, the fit was rather snug. Katara jumped up to sit on top of a small cabinet of drawers on the left wall, and Zuko had just enough space to stand right in front of her with the opposite wall pressing into his back.

She shut the door behind them, and Zuko was only barely able to see Katara's face under the dim lighting in the closet. For some reason, the entire scenario seemed so outright ridiculous that Zuko couldn't help from laughing incredulously and looking up at Katara through his bangs. "You're absolutely insane," he told her. "What if someone finds us in here? Then what are we going to say?"

"We're in a closet," Katara stated. "Who looks for people in closets?"

"I can't believe we're doing this…"

Katara smirked and let her shoes drop on the ground beside her. "Actually, it doesn't seem like you're doing anything at all right now."

Zuko narrowed his eyes teasingly and Katara returned his stare with a wink. Deciding that if it was a war Katara wanted, it was a war Katara would get, he leaned forward and gently hiked Katara's gown up by her thighs so that he could settle his body comfortably in between her knees. He slid his hands along the fabric stretched across Katara's hips, grabbed her waist, and pulled her closer to the edge of the table, feeling Katara's knees press insistently into his hips.

He reached up and smoothed Katara's hair back so that he could see her face as clearly as he could. "You do realize you're playing a very dangerous game right now, don't you?"

Katara shrugged and crossed her ankles against the small of Zuko's back. "I'll take my chances."

Well, they were already here. There wasn't any going back now. Didn't make sense. Zuko leaned down and pressed a warm kiss to Katara's shoulder, smiling against her skin when he heard sigh out quietly in response. His fingertips pressed into Katara's hips and he slowly kissed his way along her collarbone until he was lavishing most of his attention where her collarbone and shoulder met. He knew from experience that it was a part of her body that always had her gasping and sighing.

His teeth grazed along her skin and Katara immediately let out a moan that she quickly smothered behind her hand. Zuko chuckled and looked up towards her. "You're gonna have to be a little quieter."

Katara bit her lips when Zuko started sucking gently on a patch of skin and she glared weakly at him. "Shut up…"

Zuko shrugged and brought his face right in front of hers. "If you insist."

He didn't hold back when he kissed her — despite her assurances, there was no guarantee that their hiding spot would remain a secret forever, so he decided not to waste any time with gentle kisses or light touches. The small closet was immediately filled with the sounds of their lips smacking together, the fabric of their formal wear shifting, and brief snatches of Katara's deep moans that were promptly swallowed by Zuko's eagerness. Zuko couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of doing this sooner. After all of that horrid mingling, even more horrid music, and terribly dull ambiance, being in this ridiculously small closet with Katara like this was infinitely more appealing.

Suddenly spurred on by their illicit activities, Zuko gently bit down on Katara's bottom lip and laughed when she immediately moaned loudly into the empty room. She snickered at the sound and Katara brought her arms tightly around Zuko's neck, digging her heels into his back and pulling him closer.

They separated from their kiss loudly, and Zuko spoke softly against her lips. "I said quiet. You're ruining the secret."

Katara kissed him slowly and responded, "Stop giving me a reason to be loud."

"But you being loud means I'm doing a good job."

She glared half heartedly at him and gently played with the short strands of hair on the back of Zuko's neck. "Well, then I guess we're in quite the predicament then."

"Indeed."

Zuko reached down and slid his hands across Katara's bare thighs, revelling in how soft they felt and desperately wishing they had found a nice chaise or a fancy bed so that they could really enjoy themselves. But he supposed that could come later. He reached around Katara's waist and pushed their hips closer together, smirking when Katara gasped loudly and glared at him in response. He put a finger against her lips and chuckled. "Quiet I said."

But Katara merely rolled her eyes and pulled his lips back to hers. "No promises."