Maiko Month day 30: Apathy
AN: I remembered the number of the dayyy ahaha when there's only two more left. This one, will kind of be a two part, finished with the prompt Rage so here ya go.
Summary: BlueSpirit!Zuko x Mai AU and for some reason I needed some Jet brotp thrown in for fun.[That may or may not turn into Jaiko depending on how i'm feelng]
She's beautiful, and she's grown more than he expected. It'd been, about three days, and he silently moved about the rooftops each night, keeping his gaze locked on raven strands, and just how elegantly they laid in contrast with the green of her robes.
It happened on a Tuesday, he'd been out trying to compile a list of tea leaves for the shop, all the while avoiding Jet (to no avail.) In fact, the annoyance that had an odd fixation with wheatgrass had almost blown his cover.
"What's with all the black?"
"Why are you here, Jet?" He huffed, drawing his hand back from the direction of where he had hidden his mask.
"C'mon Lee, you and I, we're friends right? I'm just payin' you a visit."
"Friends, would give fair warning before visiting unannounced." His teeth ground together, and his hands gripped the edge of the dresser, before turning, letting his expression fall into something as blank as he could manage. "—even though, this wouldn't be the first time."
"Okay, so that's twice I came over, so what?"
"Two times, too many."
He'd almost forgot his 'name', hearing the three letters not quite resonate with his mind caused him to wrinkle his nose in protest, before letting out a sigh. Jet finally sits, legs crossed on one of the mats on the floor.
So long as he's quiet, and doesn't speak far too much he isn't much of a headache. That's a compliment in one aspect, that he's tolerable, and someone to actually talk to from time to time, but now, he. Just wanted him out.
"So you never told me what the outfit was for."
"Work."
"You wear an apron for work, dumbass, what's the deal?"
He couldn't tell him, that he found her, that she was—here. After three years of inconsistency she had reappeared, as she always had, and he couldn't even proclaim it. He couldn't announce how it gave him a wave of comfort, how the warmth began to pool in his chest at the thoughts of home.
"I just—I have somewhere to be, you can wait here if you want."
Words played the Freedom Fighter's lips for a moment, and his mouth opened and closed quickly, taking whatever phrase he had planned back with his breath. Once the silence grew, Jet leaned back on the mat, and Zuko took that opportunity to slip the mask out from behind the dresser, and tie its sashes to his belt.
"Fine by me Lee, have fun out there with…whatever it is you're planning on doin'."
Zuko gave a nod, and stepped through the window sill, before taking to the rooftops. It was easy then, although a windy, he pulled up his hood and slipped on the mask, double checking that his swords were still sheathed on his back. Running felt like flying, and the only thing to pull him in aside from gravity was the sound of the shingles against his shoes.
Countless roofs, and various stories brought him to the upper ring. Creaking plaster turned to ornate green and gold, and the patter of his footwork changed. Soon enough, he found his place, positioning himself on the edge of a large apartment building. Below was the small glow of a fountain, the candles lit and bobbing in and around the water's edge. He waited, for hours and some minutes, before she appeared, green tinted robes, and gold sash, and her hair kept immaculately in the same buns he had remembered, aside from the loose bunches of strands.
It was empty, and she sat, her gaze shifting a bit, before her hand retreated into her robes. Zuko watched anxiously, his knees starting to ache from being bent, and his brow furrowed behind his mask. Out of dicomfort he readjusts, and he wasn't careful for a loose shingle slips, falling and shattering like glass on the ground.
Just as quickly he's almost hit.
He thinks to run first, and the crimson tinted metal lodged into the roof almost screams it too, but mindlessly, he jumps down, staying quiet, and lucky the mask hides his expression, and he can see she's hiding her's too. His feet shift silently and he watches as she moves down an alley trying to see where he's gone. At that, he jumps back up, leaping across a few spaces and getting to the roof just above her where she stops.
"Normal people, would run when they're spotted." Her voice comes out in an almost drawl, and her eyes hold an intensity that he can't place. "You're right up—there." Her wrist flicks and another knife flies, he's quick to respond and jumps quietly, cat-like, drawing his blades and crossing them around her neck.
"I don't want to fight."
"You were stalking me."
"It wasn't stalking, I was just…"
"Says the man in the mask, with his swords to my throat."
He stops talking then, questioning if he should walk away, his voice is playing at emotion, and her's plays at none.
"It's childlike really."
"What is?"
"The man in disguise, and you probably see me as something stupid like the damsel in distress."
"You just tried to kill me."
"So you're claiming self defense?"
He let's his hands drop, and immediately she turns, pressing a blade to his throat in return. Zuko inhales sharply, tilting his chin back, and closing his eyes to hide the gold of his pupils. "I said I didn't want to fight."
Her expression doesn't feign, just as apathetic and cold as when she was alone. "It's not much of a fight. If it was, it might be more entertaining."
"Sorry to disappoint you."
Mai's hand draws back, and she places the blade back in her robes. "I've been disappointed plenty, my entire life, what makes you so different?"
"How's that?"
She rolls her eyes and starts heading back, silently, he follows debating whether or not to take to the roofs again. "—stalker."
"I'm not—"
Without hesitation she throws another, grazing his arm and pinning him sleeve into a nearby wall, he takes the hint, and pulls it out, jumping up to pull himself onto the gold trimmed shingles, half looking back, watching the green of her hair, and the flow of onyx, and now as he remembers that subtle shade of gold.
Once he gets back to the shop, Jet's asleep on the mat, so he slips the mask into its crevice, and sits crosslegged on the floor. Zuko let's out a huff, before drawing back an arm and delivering a quick jab into his shoulder, "get out." He directs, watching the tan boy shift on the floor.
"—do what you had to do?" He mumbled groggily, running his hands through his hair wildly before rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah. I did—it was, entertaining."
Jet arched a brow, noting the small smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. "You're such a fruit."
"How's that?"
"All that sneakin' around for a girl?"
"When did I say this was about a girl?!" His face flushed red then, and Jet curled forward letting out a chuckle. "She look good?"
Another eye roll, and he lunged putting the other boy in a chokehold, "It's not like that alright!"
"Oh yeah, judgin' by the fact that you just attacked me I'll believe that." His hands gripped Zuko's forearms and he leaned forward swiftly, taking his weight with him, and slamming him onto his back.
"It was self defense." He grunted, glaring up at the boy who had somehow managed to keep the wheatgrass poised between his lips between all that.
"I can tell you're feeling somethin' for her. It shows on your face, she like you too or what?"
"Can't tell." That was true, through no outright set of emotion he couldn't even tell if he scared her in the slightest, which meant he guessed he'd have to find out.
