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10 things I hate about Subject.
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Subject is a jerk!
I have hidden his fireflakes again! This time in a place that neither he nor Toph will find them.
I have decided to make a list. A list of the things about Subject that drive me bananas. That way if I feel him impinging himself into my good graces again, I will simply look at this list and feel the righteous fury of this moment and be impinged upon no more!
The list:
1 Subject is from the firenation and is a stupid firebender! All firebenders are jerks! It's how they make fire! Their fire is actually concentrated jerkiness!
2) Subject is sullen and moody and temperamental and who wants to hang around that?
3) Subject is as stubborn as all hell! If he could just admit I'm right, I wouldn't even need to be writing this list!
4) Subject is prone to bouts of idiocy! Subject is, in fact, one giant walking human catastrophe waiting to happen!
5) Subject is also prone to poor decision making! See Subject's entire life up until this point. It has been one long saga of poor decision making and fireflakes!
6) The fireflakes! What is with the fireflakes! It is not possible to have them for breakfast, lunch and dinner and he needs a balanced diet if he wants to be able to teach Aang properly. He will thank me later for hiding them. It is for his own good. He says he can eat what he wants and it's none of my business! Pah! Everything in this temple is my business!
I mean really!
If a girl ever wants to kiss him, he is just going to taste like one big fireflake and they are nasty! I'm doing him a favour really.
7) That incident with the pirates is Subject's fault. Pirates Subject? Really?
8) I also hold that whole shenanigan with my mother's necklace and the tattooed lady who thought Subject was my boyfriend against Subject.
9) The North Pole also rates a mention on this list and is connected to point 5: Subject's poor decision making skills. Who the hell faffs off into a blizzard with no map, no supplies and no plan? Subject! That's who!
10) Ba Sing Se! No explanation necessary!
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Some time later…..
Have just had to heal Subject again. Left wrist this time. Fractured. He has been training with Aang all afternoon with it fractured and that has made it worse. All because he is too proud and too stubborn to call a break for a few minutes and he didn't want to let on to Aang. Subject is an idiot! It would have hurt like all hell, which serves Subject right. I had half a mind to tell Subject to bugger off, but I am the BIGGER person out of the two of us and so I healed it for him.
Though I hate to admit it, I am mildly impressed with Subject's ability to push on regardless of injury and to hide said injury from his opponent. I said this to Subject and he said that he had a lot of practice pretending he wasn't hurting when he really was. Subject said that one of his firebending teachers impressed upon him the importance of never showing weakness or vulnerability because it gives your enemies an opportunity to strike you. He would make Subject train regardless of injury, unless Subject had been knocked unconscious and then Subject was allowed a break.
Subject's former firebending teacher- What the hell is wrong with you? This is not a good philosophy for anyone, especially not for Subject, who I'm sure had knuckleheaded tendencies even as a child. As a healer I know that this sort of stubborn behavior will only exacerbate injuries.
I do not understand the firenation at all.
Subject thinks this was a useful skill to learn and that it has made him stronger. I think that this sort of behavior is only further proof that Subject is intractably stubborn and foolish. We have had another small argument about this. I think I have used up all my anger for the day because after our argument about the fireflakes at lunch (gah!) I just don't have the energy for a second big argument with Subject.
We have come to a compromise. If I am nearby when they are training (Subject is under the impression that I will be. Does he suspect I am stalking him?) and Subject is injured, he will announce a tea break and I will meet him in the kitchen and heal him there. No more exacerbating injuries. Subject is of no use to anyone if he cannot teach Aang firebending. He cannot do that very well if his concentration is on being a stubborn idiot and trying to pretend that the bone is not protruding from the skin.
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Some time later…
I am not mad about the fireflakes anymore. Subject is still looking for the fireflakes and occasionally swearing while he searches. Ha! Take that Subject.
I am so wily.
Things I have learned about Subject:
Subject's love of fireflakes knows no bounds. He will fight to the death for his right to eat them.
Subject is STUBBORN.
Subject can be an idiot.
Subject has been heavily influenced by a strange philosophy as a child: That it is better never to show any weakness.
Subject seems to really believe that he should never show weakness at all in combat.
Subject, in fact, hates the idea of showing weakness and will most likely not comply with our tea=healing code word compromise. If this is the case, Subject will feel my wrath.
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Subject knows I am watching him during the training sessions at least. Thankfully, Subject has given no indication that he knows I am stalking him at other times. Some times I watch them train overtly, but sometimes I watch from a hiding space (I have several now). I never took this much interest when Aang was learning earth bending and I wouldn't want to throw him off by constantly observing. Aang gets easily distracted in my presence and wishes to show off for me before he has mastered a certain skill, normally with disastrous and/or explosive results. This drove Subject crazy those first few lessons when I watched from the sidelines the whole time, so I decided to start watching in secret. Today I was watching them from one of my favourite hiding spaces behind this big pillar.
Today at training Subject explained what they would be doing to Aang. It was experimenting with blue fire. They are trying to see if Aang can do it. Subject knows how, but cannot do it himself. Then Subject explained to the pillar I was hiding behind, in case I hadn't heard him.
Aang found this behavior most unusual and wanted to know why Subject was talking to pillars. Subject stuttered/sputtered/muttered something about not wanting the pillar to worry. Aang made a very humorous, incredulous, worried face. Subject tried to make it better by blathering about how he thought the pillar deserved an explanation in case it freaked out because what they were experimenting with was a little dangerous. Aang was now most dubious about Subject's mental state and said that he thought they should take a break for tea (not the healing kind). They have gone for tea now.
Things I learned about Subject:
Subject is aware of my presence at training.
Subject thinks learning how to produce blue fire will be of use to Aang and thinks he can teach him how to do it, without being able to produce blue fire himself.
Subject cannot lie to save himself and is a terrible dork when he tries to come up with excuses/lies on the spot. I find this strangely endearing. I have consulted the list again to counteract the effects of Subject's dorkiness.
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Author's note: Did you want to know the reason why Zuko is such a jerk at the start of this chapter? They had a fight. It was about fireflakes. It would have started out harmless but escalated into one of those 'you can't tell me what to do!- well! you suck!" arguments.
The list is Katara's reaction to what will be the first of many fights about the evils of fireflakes. Since I'm writing in first person and it wouldn't make sense for her to detail the whole argument, I tried just writing her reaction to it complete with exclamation marks of emotion! I actually used to do this when I was angry, I'd go off and write out all my anger and feel a bit better. So there you go, tidbit about me!
About Zuko not wanting to show weakness: I just always got the feeling that this sort of philosophy would have been drummed into him as a young child. But YMMV. Katara is slowly finding out these little tidbits as she stalks him and she doesn't know quite what to make of them. I think both Katara and Sokka are very upfront about most things and with them, what you see is what you get for the most part. Whereas Zuko is more like parfait- he's got layers.
Big thank you to all my lovely reviewers! I really appreciate them! They put a smile on my face!
p.s. this chapter is a little short, but the next one is a fair bit longer and will contain many shenanigans.