driftfleet | one fish, two fish, red fish, (blue fish)!!

[ zuko is just going to stare, because -- okay. sure. whatever. ]

-- so you came here.

[ uncertainly, and zuko closes the door behind him. ]

Why couldn't you sleep?

It's loud there. [ His paranoia is sparked at night, his dreams have been worse, he's been experiencing pain he doesn't want to admit to, and he's a mess with combat instincts in overdrive.

But outwardly he couldn't seem calmer, using a cloth now to wipe that blade clean. ] I knew you had this spare room. The rest is obvious.

[ 'the rest is obvious.'

zuko has a feeling this is not going to be the last time he finds sasuke breaking into his room. ]

Most of the people on your ship seem to be nice.

[ as he moves over to his desk to sit up on top of it, ignoring the sleeping fox. sasuke, apparently, has taken the couch. but then he pauses, glances at the sword -- and the stolen tea, before he leans back and pulls open a drawer in the desk, almost to see how much sasuke searched. ]

You could've relocked the drawers.

[ stop picking the locks you fucking weirdo ]

[ 'Breaking into' sounds so harsh. How about 'surprising Zuko with his pleasant company'. ]

I could have. [ Said simply enough, apparently satisfied enough with the work he's done to carefully slip that sword back into the sheath he's placed to rest against the couch. It's irritating how many small things he has to set up in advance to accommodate a new one-handed lifestyle. ]

One of them attacked me, one tried to trick me into opening the airlock, and one is already afraid of me. I suppose they're what I expected. Yours are all your friends, aren't they?

[ . . . well, that about sounds right, and so zuko doesn't look surprised. sasuke isn't exactly a pleasant person on the best of days. ]

Some of them are from my world. Toph, Sokka, and Katara. The rest of them aren't.

[ he considers some acquaintances (like the starks), and some friends (like beverly and allen), but toph, sokka, and katara are special. ]

[ He wants to question those names as unusual but... well, "Killer Bee" and "Rock Lee" aren't very normal names in his world either and they still have the audacity to exist. ]

Ino claims she's the only one from mine. I suppose that remains good news for me.

Some people from your world aren't that bad.

[ fuck your entire family, but. ]

Naruto and Sakura were nice enough.

[ zuko ignores the sudden pawing of the now awake fox who 100% heard his name. the small thing is clingy af. ]

[ Sasuke's gaze trails over to the creature but he doesn't address it, luckily not making the connection. ]

... yeah, they are. [ Saying it is like pulling teeth, but it's the truth. ] It's strange already, not being able to sense him. During the war...

Well, it probably isn't important.

You're probably galaxies away. It would be strange if you could sense him.

[ zuko absently lets the fox push around his hand. firebenders are naturally warm. it's a curse zuko bears. ]

What's not important?

[ nosy af ]

[ It was Sasuke's less than subtle way of weaseling his way back out of a conversation he regrets starting, and he wonders if it's better or worse to try even harder to shut him out.

That's not his goal here, is it? He told himself he'd learn from this experience, but he's so quick to revert to his old defensive ways. ]

During the war Naruto and I received a power that connected us. Even when separated by distance, I could sense him... It didn't matter how far it was.

But here I can't feel him at all.

[ oh.

zuko can see how that was super problematic for naruto given sasuke's penchant for attempting to murder him.

-- probably not the right thing to say. ]

... worlds like these tend to be cut off from everything else.

[ that power surely would've been taken away in adstringendum, by the animus. surely the atroma are no different. besides, isolation makes people easier to manipulate. you have no choice but to compromise. ]

[ Really Naruto would've been the one to abuse the ability just to hunt Sasuke down rather than the reverse, or at least until Sasuke had decided to enact his own plan. Everything had fallen apart so quickly. ]

I see that now. I'll need to develop a method for adjusting quickly to the change. [ Because he does not handle loneliness well if he dwells on it. And yet he regularly forces himself into situations where he has to. ]

That method being breaking into other people's personnel rooms?

[ it's said without any malice, and zuko picks up the fox to collect up a book he was sitting on, placing it back down on the desk. the small animal yawns before tucking itself into a furry white ball against zuko's leg. ]

[ He still bristles, hearing some accusation of neediness in those words and it makes him want to get up and walk out immediately.

One slow, deep breath. ]

No. Something I can distract myself with individually. I'll start training more. [ Because that's what he needs. ]

[ ooh, a struck nerve. and zuko studies him for a moment before deciding to just

blatantly ignore the training thing ]

... do you make tea a lot?

[ zuko points towards the cup.

bc you make it like GARBAGE nah not really he's just curious. ]

[ ... wait, what? He looks genuinely confused by the shift to small talk, to actual normal people conversation. His specialty. ]

... I used to. It's been a long time.

[ he leans back into the drawers of his desk, pulling open (another picked lock, smh) another drawer to remove some cannisters of tea leaves. hoarded, carefully. ]

I figured. It looks terrible.

[ sorry were you expecting encouragement ]

Though I guess adjusting to only having one hand is difficult when you're pouring.

[ Sasuke just looks down at the cup, not seeming particularly insulted. Zuko isn't wrong on either count, after all. ]

Aa. I wasn't skilled at it as a child either. My father used to say the same thing.

Mm.

[ zuko is pretty sure ozai has Several Opinions about zuko that are far worse than his tea making abilities, but he pushes hiimself up to sit on the desk completely, crossing his legs underneath him as he pries open a can. ]

My old firebending master used to make me pour tea with an arm behind my back to make sure my hands weren't shaking.

[ zuko is certain that had been iroh's idea ]

And to practice control of heat, and water, by boiling kettles -- give me your cup.

[ Ozai was definitely worse than Fugaku, no arguments here. Sasuke looks down at that cup, however, finishing off the last sip and ensuring it's empty before lobbing it over to Zuko with naturally perfect aim. ]

How precise... My first lesson involved standing on a dock over my family's lake, trying to produce as large a fireball as I could. Much less subtle. [ Good... times. ]

[ zuko catches it without looking up, still parsing through his tea canister with his free hand. ]

I wasn't able to produce flames until I was older.

[ older being... four or five. zuko can't really remember, but azula is definitely the faster learner of the two. he's always had to play catch up and work twice as hard for what he has, but that's entirely the reason why zuko is the stable one, right? ]

And when I did, they weren't easily controlled, so -- they thought it was better to focus on the basics, with me -- where's my kettle...

[ there is no hot plate in zuko's personnel room, mostly because he... obviously doesn't need one. and so he unfolds his legs to hop down from the desk, placing the canister on the table behind him to truly go through his desk, figuring out where he put it. ]

Anyway, I found out it's a lot harder to focus your energy to boil water than it is to blow up a building.

[ he found that out the hard way, as it were ]

[ Sasuke only managed at age seven or so and definitely developed a complex over being "behind". ]

I could have told you that one. I always had a habit of using too much power too early on whether my body could handle it or not. [ He watches Zuko rummage around with some quiet amusement, leaning over to rest his elbow on his knee while he watches him work. Helping him would probably defeat the purpose, or at least make it too easy on him. ]

Is it also harder to keep your space organized than it is to blow up a building? You're getting warmer... Ah, colder with that drawer. Go left again.

I usually don't have people break into my room and go through my stuff.

[ underneath his breath, and zuko moves to the drawer indicated, pulling it open to find his small kettle, along with a bottle of water. he undoes it and pours the water into the kettle neatly, without spilling a drop, and sets it on top of a nearby potholder. ]

Obnoxious... there.

[ with a brief touch of his fingers, the kettle whistles. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject