But I feel something is wrong

[tobendthetide]

Who: Zuko (whatturmoil) and Katara (tobendthetide).
Where: The kitchens.
When: Early morning, January 20.
Rating: PG to PG-13.
Summary: Awkwardness, making tea, conversation, and did I mention awkwardness?
The Story:

Katara woke up that morning with a craving for five flavor soup. It wasn't something most people would enjoy, but it was a staple from the Southern Water Tribe. She walked to the kitchens and opened the refrigerator (an object she was still unfamiliar with... though it was very impressive and fascinating) and began to look through it.

She stopped to look at the stoves and sighed. She remembered getting angry at her brother and Zuko for their mishaps with the stoves, but really, she knew she probably would do the same thing. Stoves didn't exist where she came from. Making soup would be difficult, but she wanted to try it anyway, so she kept on gathering the necessary ingredients, completely absorbing herself in the task.

Comments

[whatturmoil]

Morning requires tea. There's no alternative. Zuko slips quietly into the kitchen, as he usually does, with the plan of making a pot of lychee flavored tea.

Katara being here comes as a complete surprise to him. He stops in the doorway to greet her.

"..Hey."

He then goes over to the cupboards. Zuko thumbs over various jars of tea. Some he's never even heard of. He falls silent. Zuko should ask Katara if she wants some tea, right? Making tea for the group was something he did pretty often.

[tobendthetide]

Katara doesn't even hear Zuko's entrance, with all the clinking noises she's making as she looks through the refrigerator. So when she hears his greeting, she jumps and hits her head on the refrigerator ceiling.

"Ouch!" She backs out, rubbing her head. "Oh. Hello, Zuko," she says, just standing there watching him for a second before adding, "You're up early."

[whatturmoil]

"Uh..are you okay?"

So far not so bad. They're not arguing, or yelling, or being too awkward. He finally finds a container of lychee tea and puts it on the countertop.

The next order of business is to find a teapot, which he locates fairly easily. She's right, though, he is up early.

"Yea."

Zuko pauses.

"Hey, do you want some tea?"

[tobendthetide]

"I'm fine. You surprised me." She glances back at the refrigerator before deciding she'll make her soup another time.

"All right..." She eyes the container of tea suspiciously. He can't have added anything to it, because then he wouldn't be getting ready to drink it himself. "Thank you, I guess."

[whatturmoil]

"Oh. Sorry.."

He gets to boiling the water. Zuko actually knows how to work the stove now. There's no explosions or turning the knob the wrong way. He just lights it.

Now comes the awkward waiting for the water to boil thing. He fidgets slightly. The thank you, even if it ends with 'I guess', is still appreciated.

"How have you..um..been?"

[tobendthetide]

"It's okay. I was focusing on finding what I needed for five-flavor soup." Why she's telling him that, she's not sure. He probably doesn't care what she was doing before he came.

She feels a little nervous watching him use the stove, but nothing explodes and there's no smoke so she manages to relax. "I'm all right." How does she talk to him about herself? This is uncomfortable and strange. "Um, how are you?"

[whatturmoil]

Hey, he doesn't know what to say!

"I'm okay."

Well, he's okay as he can be, given the circumstances.

"You can pull what you need from one of the closets."

[tobendthetide]

"That's good."

She crosses her arms. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you around very much." She figures he's been keeping to himself, and she feels a little guilty for that. Not that she wants to reach out to him, but it can't be very fun being alone for long periods of time. If that's what he's been doing, anyway.

She realizes she really doesn't know what Zuko does when he's by himself.

[whatturmoil]

Zuko has been keeping to himself. He doesn't really have many friends. Some people have difficulty dealing with his temper, which is even a bit worse than normal because of being trapped here.

"Nowhere."

Fun. Zuko doesn't know much about fun.

[tobendthetide]

Well, that was illuminating. "What do you mean, nowhere? You have to have been somewhere." Katara frowns at him, even though she knows she hasn't done a thing to reach out to him. "What have you been doing, then?"

[whatturmoil]

"I mean I've been here."

Sadly he's still here. Where else would he be? This place is a prison.

The water starts to boil. Good. He takes the teapot off the stove and prepares the tea, while talking.

"Nothing."

Well, he's telling the truth. There isn't anything for him to do but try in vain to think of a way out. He's not giving up, even under the circumstances.

[tobendthetide]

"So you've been sitting around by yourself doing nothing?" Well, she guesses he's been thinking about ways to escape or training, but that isn't the point. "Haven't you tried getting out and talking to people?"

She watches him making the tea, wondering why she's even talking to him. She should be yelling at him or at least being angry at him for... For what?

She shakes her head. She's still angry with him, though she's starting to forget what it was that started everything anyway. There's the part about the Fire Nation being responsible for her mother's death, and Zuko's from the Fire Nation, but.... She shakes her head again. Thinking about it isn't going to help right now.

"The tea smells good," she says finally.

[whatturmoil]

"No. I've been trying to figure out how to get outta here."

And training, of course. Those are the two things he does. He tries to keep in top condition, and tries to escape. That's his life. Add in a little brooding about how he misses his uncle, and that sums up everything pretty well.

"I have been talking to people, too, but a lot of them are crazy."

Yeah. Half the people he runs into are either insane, hate him, or enjoy sparking his temper. Such is the problem with being so easily trolled. It doesn't help that he isn't good at social interaction. He never really learned how to interact properly with people his own age.

He idly checks the tea. Almost done brewing.

[tobendthetide]

"And have you found anything out?"

Katara doesn't like being in the mansion any more than Zuko does, so if he's discovered anything, she wants to know about it. The truth is that she does pretty much the same thing. But she also tries to make new friends, in case they don't find a way to escape.

"Not all of them are, though. You just need to give them a chance." That's probably not easy for Zuko, but she states it like a fact. "We're all in the same situation, right? It's not like they don't understand what you're dealing with."

[whatturmoil]

"No. Nothing." Sigh.

Well, the tea's done. Zuko takes two cups from the cupboard and fills the glasses. It does smell good. Zuko has gotten pretty good at making tea. He's much better than he used to be, before working in the shop.

He hands her a cup.

"I know. I've..made a few friends, I guess."

[tobendthetide]

"Oh. I really didn't expect anything, but... it would be nice to go home."

Katara sighs, and takes in the scent of the tea. It smells good, and she hopes that it tastes as good as it smells.

"Thank you." She takes the cup but doesn't drink from it right away. "What about my brother?" Yes, that is the perfect solution. She can't be his friend now, so she'll volunteer Sokka instead.

[whatturmoil]

Sokka? Oh, yeah, Sokka. How could he forget the crazy shit the mansion made him do fairly recently? Zuko isn't about to talk about that to anyone, let alone Katara. Some things are best kept swept under the rug, and the hilarity of that event is one of them.

"Uh..I haven't..spoken to him in a while."

Yes, Zuko is a horrible liar.

[tobendthetide]

The funny thing is that Katara vaguely remembers that something strange happened between them, but it's not enough to stop her from mentioning Sokka.

"That's too bad. I thought you two could get along."

She finally takes a sip of the tea. "This is really good."

[whatturmoil]

Maybe they could have gotten along, but not now. Things are too strange to be friendly. Zuko sips his tea. The smell, the flavor, just reminds him of home, and of his uncle. He wishes he was out of this place already.

Well, he's glad she likes the tea. It'd be bad if she hated it.

"Thanks. I've gotten a lot better at making it."

[tobendthetide]

Well, that's just silly. If they're not getting along, then that means the responsibility falls on Katara to be friends with Zuko (or something), and she just can't do that. She sips her tea a little more irritably than she intended, scalding her mouth in the process.

"Ouch!" She sets her tea down and stares at Zuko. "I'll talk to Sokka. He's always sitting in his room staring at maps and talking to his stupid sheep. He really needs to get out more." Her mind's pretty made up about this. "I'm just glad you didn't make the stove smoke again," she adds with a hint of a smile.

[whatturmoil]

"..He still has that thing?"

Of course, he's talking about the sheep. Zuko still is iffy about it, especially since it's a live farm animal in his room.

Wait, the stove comes up again. Even with the smile, he takes it badly.

"I just didn't know how to work it that time."

[tobendthetide]

"Yes, and he's never going to get rid of it."

Katara's not happy about it either. It's a sheep, for goodness' sake.

"Well, you do now, so that's good, right?"

[whatturmoil]

"I can't believe he's still keeping it."

Farm animals are supposed to be freee, yes? Well, not that free, but free enough to roam around on the grass and such. He doesn't know much about farm animals, but being indoors can't be good for it.

"Yea. I..uh..found out the closet can make food, too, but it's not as good."

How does he do conversation??

[tobendthetide]

"I know. I wish I knew what he was thinking sometimes." And she says that even though they are brother and sister. She knows what he's thinking about some things, but as far as the sheep is concerned, she has no idea.

"That's what Sokka said once. But I think I like making my own food."

How do either of them do conversation?

[whatturmoil]

"..Doesn't it rip up the floor?"

When Sokka brought that thing in his room, it went nuts. His carpets were a mess, and the animals were ruining everything. He can't imagine living with one of those things.