Being new to the group was somewhat frustrating, to say the least. Granted, Zuko was grateful that after the Boiling Rock prison break he was no longer cast with the distrusting glances, the mutter of hushed whispers in his presence now that he was unquestionably on their side. But it didn't keep the others from saddling him with a bit more work than everyone else (part of Zuko admitted to himself that it was the absolute least he could be expected to endure for his past interactions with them), and the one thing that he was always expected to do, especially during the chilly summer evenings, was to keep the stone baths in a deeper part of the Western Air Temple from turning to pools of ice.
It was with this in mind that Toph had called him to the baths that night, a smirk on her face as she watched him reluctantly climb out of bed, as though she was enjoying torturing him for what he'd done to her feet. By the time he'd climbed the stairway to the upper part of the main temple, still rubbing his eyes and grumbling about the interruption, he was surprised to find that Toph wasn't alone.
Katara was there in the bath with her, leaning against the carved stone with her back to the entrance, tresses of elegant dark hair spilling across cocoa skin. The shorter Earthbender was seated on her right, and Zuko was struck by the impossibly long sheet of black that pooled over her shoulders like a cloak; it somehow made the brash girl seem much older, more mature, even more confident than normal. The two Benders were talking closely to one another, whispering things that provoked giggles and playful grins. Zuko assumed they were simply visiting, talking the way that good friends do until he caught the suggestive inflection in Toph's voice, the touch of red on Katara's face and a look in her blue eyes that he could only describe-- having seen it from Mai himself-- as adoration.
Zuko suddenly felt uneasy, as if he wasn't supposed to be here, and began wondering when Toph was going to acknowledge his presence; she must have heard him already. But if Toph knew he was there she made no indication-- she seemed oblivious to everything but Katara.
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It was with this in mind that Toph had called him to the baths that night, a smirk on her face as she watched him reluctantly climb out of bed, as though she was enjoying torturing him for what he'd done to her feet. By the time he'd climbed the stairway to the upper part of the main temple, still rubbing his eyes and grumbling about the interruption, he was surprised to find that Toph wasn't alone.
Katara was there in the bath with her, leaning against the carved stone with her back to the entrance, tresses of elegant dark hair spilling across cocoa skin. The shorter Earthbender was seated on her right, and Zuko was struck by the impossibly long sheet of black that pooled over her shoulders like a cloak; it somehow made the brash girl seem much older, more mature, even more confident than normal. The two Benders were talking closely to one another, whispering things that provoked giggles and playful grins. Zuko assumed they were simply visiting, talking the way that good friends do until he caught the suggestive inflection in Toph's voice, the touch of red on Katara's face and a look in her blue eyes that he could only describe-- having seen it from Mai himself-- as adoration.
Zuko suddenly felt uneasy, as if he wasn't supposed to be here, and began wondering when Toph was going to acknowledge his presence; she must have heard him already. But if Toph knew he was there she made no indication-- she seemed oblivious to everything but Katara.