Zuko wants to grow up already (myowndestiny) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-06-14 16:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, azula, mai, zuko |
"Maybe you should try doing something for yourself for a change"
Who: Azula, Zuko, and Mai
What: Zuko and Mai have an awkard date, and then a little too much wine
When: Sunday or Monday night
Where: Osaka, Japan
Status: Complete
Rating PG-13 for snark
Azula had laid out a dress for Mai. It was relatively short, in a traditional pattern and clearly tailored to her exact measurements. While it wasn't a Rarity dress, it would do. She'd also laid out a suit for Zuko, and was waiting for them to come out of their hotel rooms wearing the damn things. She had something similar, but she'd asked Ty Lee to wait upstairs. They would leave after her brother was taken care of.
Mai wasn't going anywhere dressed like this. It was like Azula wanted to put her on display, like she was some piece of meat or goods that were up for trade. And the dress was tailored to her measurements. How did Azula know her measurements? They hadn't even seen eachother for years.
Whatever Azula had planned, it was creepy and involved Zuko. Bringing him along as part of the rescue had been bad enough. Zuko was annoying and made her feel things that made her want to rip her insides out or stab him or both. Azula was annoying when she plotted like this, too. But... Azula was also the person she'd be living with for however long this all lasted before her father had a fit.
She sighed, and tugged the hem of the dress down a bit. At least the material felt nice against her skin. The sleeves weren't long enough to hide a dagger in. She felt naked. At least there'd been room in the dainty little purse Azula had given her to go with it.
Which was entirely the reason for the dainty little purse. While waiting for Zuko to come down, Azula rested an arm around Mai's shoulders and fixed up the woman's make-up a little bit, "Stop pouting, Mai. You know he already expects you to stab him. Be unpredictable."
She wanted to distract Zuko and Mai. From herself and Ty Lee, and also from other things. Keeping Zuko in line was key to her plans for the syndicate, and some small part of her did want to see Mai happy. A happy Mai was a useful Mai.
"I'm not pouting," Mai grumbled, in a half-monotone. While pouting. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered why it was that Azula wanted her and Zuko out of her hair so badly. Then she remembered the lipstick love bit on the back of Ty Lee's leg, and smirked every so slightly.
It was barely noticeable.
Zuko was taking forever, too. If she had to go out like this, then so did he. She crossed her arms over her chest, "He's late."
Zuko came out of the room. He looked like a proper gentleman. He also looked uncomfortable and kept adjusting his collar like he was afraid it would strangle him. When he noticed the girls his mouth hung open a little bit.
Azula smirked, "Even I have to admit that he looks good."
He kept adjusting his collar like he thought it was going to strangle him, and Mai watched him doing it, in the hopes that somehow it actually would. Sadly, no strangling occured. She kept staring at him for a while, mask of disinterest placed securely on her face, like it didn't matter to her if he showed up in a suit or a baggy pair of pants and t-shirt, or perhaps didn't show up at all.
She couldn't help but notice, of course, that his mouth was hung open a bit, which she took as a reaction to what she was wearing - after all, he'd never look at Azula like that, and Ty Lee wasn't present. And he better not be looking at Ty Lee like that, anyway. Or she'd kill him. Which she was still pondering doing. Despite the fact that the place inside of her that still knew how to have feelings was flattered at his reaction.
"Stop fidgiting, Zuko."
Uhm. Right. Zuko walked over, giving his sister a glare, "You have us dressed up like dolls. Now what?"
Azula patted his arm, "Now now dear brother mine. You'll get in the waiting car, and it'll take you to a restaurant. You do know how to eat like a civilized human being or has being around Uncle turned you into a savage?"
Zuko felt the urge to defend his Uncle rising, which he quickly squashed. It did no good to appear weak in front of his sister. He took Mai's elbow, "Come on, lets get this farce over with."
"I'm glad you know its a farce," Came Mai's cool reply. She took his arm, though, and allowed him to escort her out of the building and into the waiting car. Nevermind that his touch on her elbow felt amazing, because she didn't have feelings, especially not for Zuko. Who was a jerk. And a cad.
Mai? With feelings? Zuko wouldn't have believed it. It was like talking to a card board cutout, sometimes. If it were for cutting remarks he'd have had more feelings from a real doll.
If he ever said that out loud, Mai would probably gut him then and there, so he kept THAT one to himself.
Zuko opened the car door for Mai, and helped her in, before going around the other side and getting in himself. Azula waved to them as the car departed, then headed back up to the hotel rooms.
It was probably on purpose that talking to or being around Mai was like being with a cardobard cutout. After all, that was precisely what her parents had wanted. A prim and proper live cardboard cutout to attend parties and social functions and help her father attain his career goals. Whatever. She was done with all of that, now, but she couldn't seem to escape it.
She leaned against the window on her side of the car and watched the world pass her by as it started to drive. Her fingers twitched a bit on her purse, and she let out a long sigh to indicate how very boring this whole thing was.
What career goals did Mai even have? Zuko wasn't sure. But he did want to try to talk to her. The attraction was still there. So was the hurt. And there was the familiar sigh, "So did Azula talk to you about the syndicate?"
Not bothering to look in his direction, Mai nodded, "My father would kill me if he knew," which was only about 70% of the reason why she wanted to join. The other 30% of it involved wanting to do something on her own and deciding it would be a smart choice considering her family's leanings in that direction. Also, it sounded fun.
"Maybe you should try doing something for yourself for a change," Replied Zuko, calling the kettle black.
"You don't really want to have this conversation," stated Mai, who was still looking out the window. Her fingers twitched on her purse again, dying to be active and DO something that wasn't just sitting there.
Zuko telling her to get aspirations of her own was like a turtle telling someone to come out of their shell.
Which is why Zuko didn't pursue it. He knew hypocracy when he saw it, and when he felt it. It wasn't worth pursuing. Eventually the car arrived at a swanky restaurant, and he stared out the window slightly dumbfounded. He hadn't been in a really expensive place in a long time, but even so, this seemed a bit over the top. He looked at Mai out of the corner of his eye to see her reaction.
Mai was not impressed. This venue was no more or less swanky than a dozen other places she'd been dragged to since she got here. In fact, it was probably on a list of places she'd actually been to. She glanced past Zuko and through the window at the place, then shrugged a shoulder, "She must really want something," was her only remark.
Because if Azula was spending daddy's money on this, then she had a reason. Mai didn't even need 20 guesses to figure it out.
"I guess so," Zuko replied, tone dry. Mai was a woman who was impossible to impress. He'd learned that the hard way. Not that they'd ever dated, per se. It had been more of a mutual 'fuck you' to their parents. Or at least that's what he thought. He got out of the car, and opened the other door for Mai. He did know how to be a gentleman. One didn't spend time with Iroh without learning that.
Iroh would be proud to hear that!
Used to spending time with gentlemen, Mai gracefully took his hand and got out of the car, then took his arm, expecting the usual escort into the building. She did it without even thinking, easily falling into the roll of a dainty lady at some party or other. She was hard to impress by this sort of thing, it was true. There was a level of standard she expected from anyone she 'dated', and Zuko certainly met it, but she found herself bored with your traditional gentleman.
Which is probably why Zuko meant more to her than the other ones did. If she was admitting that Zuko meant anything to her at all, which she wasn't.
"Let's get this over with," She sighed, and gestured towards the door.
That's why Iroh would never hear that!
Zuko led her inside. It was stifling inside. Not from heat, but from the sheer level of stuffiness of the people. He understood then, how Mai survived, with her sheilds and her masks. It didn't ease the hurt of not seeing behind those, though. They were led to a table. It was a quiet table, with a view of the room, candles, and enough privacy that they could probably snog and get away with it. Or at least make fun of other partons.
Which Zuko promptly did by saying, "There's enough ego in this room to levitate Tokyo Tower."
"If we combined this place with the rest of them we could levitate Japan," Mai said, dryly, while settling herself in her seat. It was a small ritual of making sure she was sitting just so, with the napkin off the table placed correctly in her lap, and a quick brush of the hair to make sure it swung back into place. The perfect cardboard cutout, ready to eat.
It was an odd mixture with her cutting commentary, really. She glanced around the room and frowned, recognizing a few of the patrons and mentally praying they didn't come over.
Zuko eyed her, then looked down at the menu. There were no prices. Why were there no prices? It's best not to ask that. Azula was up to something. She couldn't just want them to kiss and make up, it was never that simple. She hated him. She could find a dozen men that would want to be with Mai, that she wouldn't hate. So why him?
Mai sensed his discomfort with the situation, and perhaps out of small sense of inner compassion, she leaned in a bit and pointed at the menu, "It's a fixed price menu. You pick your choices from each course, and they slowly bring them out."
It was a brilliant move on Azula's part. The prices were probably posted somewhere by the door, but since they'd had reservations, they missed them. Not knowing how much the total came to, they wouldn't know just how much they owed her for all this. In the end, Azula had the upper hand.
In the end, Azula always had the upper hand. Zuko made a face, that mimiced some upper crust member of society, "Well, I suppose we could either really stick it to her, or we could go cheap and not owe her as badly."
"We're going to owe her anyway," Mai shrugged, and pointed at the obviously more expensive 7 course dinner, "Lets waste some of your father's money."
It was a complete waste, after all. Who really needed to spend the kind of money that was obviously being spent here, on a bunch of tiny fancy plates of food that were the equivalent of eating some beans? She would never understand that. At least at some high class steak houses you got your money's worth.
"We should ask them to reccomend wine pairings with every course and take whatever they suggest, too."
Zuko didn't understand it. He didn't always get along with his uncle but at least things at the teashop were worth the money that people spent. Even if he hated tea, with a passion of a thousand dying suns. He glanced at Mai and grinned, "Now you're talking."
Azula was going to hate the bill. That made it all the sweeter. While Mai was scanning the room, he looked at Mai. When Mai looked at him, he scanned the room. He definitely didn't belong here, "So where will you put your tattoo."
"I don't really care," Mai answered truthfully, while still scanning the room. She wasn't making eye contact with anyone who might recognize her, which meant she eventually had to at least feign interest in what Zuko was talking about so that people would think she was too busy to bother.
So she shifted a bit, to look at him, and tilted her head to the side, "You want to pick the spot, zu zu?"
Zuko finally looked at her, and a smile tugged at his lips, "You sure you want that, Mai-Mai? What if I pick an embarrassing spot?"
"That would imply that I have enough feelings to be embarrassed," Mai quipped, her voice just barely taking on a tone that wasn't mono in in nature. She picked up her water glass and sipped at it a bit, every the dainty girl in front of the faces of society, while whacking her foot up against Zuko's leg under the tablecloth.
Grunting, Zuko kicked her back. He'd forgotten how much he'd enjoyed this. He'd forgotten a lot of things. He knew he could use Mai, and that she wanted to be used. Piss off her father, and please his. It would suit them both well.
"A flame tramp stamp? Or something on your breast and butt."
Maybe she didn't want to be used. Maybe she wanted something a little more than that. It was hard to tell with her, and she wasn't really sure where she stood on it, either. Except that she'd had a crush on him since she was tiny, and still somehow couldn't stand him. She wasn't sure, yet, though the reason was probably clear to the outside eye, why it was she was in such conflict over that.
She kicked Zuko back, and half-smiled, "I'm not a tramp, Zuko." The breast or butt might work, and Mai was leaning on the idea of putting it on her butt, where no one would really see it unless she wanted it to, "You just want to watch me get it."
Zuko ducked his head, actually embarrassed at the thought. But yes, he wanted to watch. Who wouldn't. Not that Mai squirming in pain was what he wanted to watch. Azula would probably enjoy that part, "Maybe."
One of the things that Zuko shared in common with his sister was generalized obliviousness to the opposite sex, and romance in general. He didn't even have time to prepare and get a flower, or something. Not that he could ever tell. He hadn't forgotten what had happened with the teddy bear.
"You're not a tramp, that's just what it's called."
That Teddy Bear had spent a lot of time tacked to the wall with shuriken after Mai's last meeting with Zuko. She hadn't been particularly impressed with him winning it for her, and had only grudgingly taken it with her, but she was much more fond of it after that.
She still owned the thing, in fact. It was one of the things she'd been sure to pack and take with her.
"That's so ridiculous," Mai snorted, and shook her head, "I bet Azula makes Ty Lee get one there."
Zuko was sure it had been decapitated by now. He shook his head, "She wouldn't make her get it anywhere easily seen while doing gymnastics. It would raise too many questions." Unless it was something small or just a simple flame. Anyone not in the know would think it was just a pretty design.
"Or maybe she would. How are you still friends with Zula?"
Mai shrugged, "We survived school together. We get eachother," She was a convenient friend to have, and Azula found her useful. She found being Azula's friend to be highly useful. It was more than that, in some ways. There was some amount of kindred spirit between them. Azula tolerated her, usually. Ty Lee was harder to handle.
"If it was me, I'd wait until after. She'll only tolerate gymanstics as long as it gains her noteriety."
"Ty Lee is blind..." Zuko half-kicked her under the table, as the first course arrived, and pretended he hadn't kicked Mai's leg under the table. Sometimes he was five years old. Around Mai it was more often than not, but trying to impress her was impossible. He wondered if there was something he could do that could impress her. Maybe there was a place they could go after dinner. On Azula's credit card.
Azula would have to accept that.
She'd have no choice, since she was unavailable for consultation, and had handed the card to her brother. Mai thought that was just asking for trouble, really.
She nudged Zuko's foot with her own a few times while daintily making her way through the first course, though she nodded at Zuko in agreement over his observations, since... well, they were pretty correct. Ty Lee was completely blind, and when Mai was honest with herself, she could admit to a tiny amount of worry.
"It's probably good that I'm going with them."
"Keep an eye on her." Zuko had a bit of big brother sense when came to the most cheerful member of Azula's entourage. He thought Ty Lee - and Mai for that matter - deserved better friends but there really wasn't anything he could say about. She was still his sister and some tiny part of him still loved her.
He wished he could drown that part in the bathtub. Zuko's foot nudged back at Mai's a few times as well, as he thought through a plan.
"That shouldn't be a problem," Mai's usual monotone was tinged with a hint of annoyance and a tiny bit of affection, "I'm pretty sure she's already picking out matching outfits in her head."
It was hard not to find some inner squishy soft spot for Ty Lee, who struck Mai as too innocent to ever really survive in the real world. The unfortunate problem was that Azula was very much 'in the real world' and insisted on dragging Ty Lee with her. Probably to use her, the way she used everyone in her life, including Mai. She remembered the bite mark again, and smirked as she sipped at her wine.
"I think Azula has a special eye for her too."
Zuko started snickering as he imagined Mai and Azula in whatever rainbow outfit Ty Lee would subject them to. The snicker graduated to a snerkle which turned into an outright laugh. He waved a hand, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He wasn't.
Zuko then replied, obliviously, "Ty Lee is way better with guys than Azula ever was, so I'm sure she has a plan for that."
His laughter almost cracked the usual expression on Mai's face into something resembling a genuine smile. She snorted, instead, and pretended like she couldn't believe she was sitting in this booth with this horribly rude man. When he was done, she actually did give him a look, this time wondering if he was being this obtuse on purpose.
She waved that off as quickly as it came, though, "Yes. That's obviously why she needs Ty Lee. To be her wingman."
Zuko nodded his head. He was genuinely that obtuse. The thought that his sister could ever be interested in another woman, let alone Ty Lee simply didn't occur to him. The second course arrived, and then the third course, and with each course came some new wine. By the fifth course, things were nice and buzzy.
"How haven't you killed yourself here, yet?"
"I throw knives at my bedroom wall," Mai replied truthfully. She was too buzzed to really care about what she did and didn't tell him anymore. Or at least, her usual mental filter wasn't really functioning that well. She'd managed to drain every single wine glass to the dregs, if not by half. The morning was going to really suck.
"Great for stress relief," She added, while snacking on some sorbet. This course was apparently a palate cleanser.
There was...well he wasn't sure how much was left, but he was getting full and getting ready for dessert, "Better than some other things, I guess. I have to listen to Uncle constantly harping on the virtues of tea and that just raises my stress levels. And then father wants me to head up this whole thing and all I can think about is the way Azula looks predatory when she talks about what'll happen when I fail." When. Not it.
Three more courses to go, and Mai was getting a bit full as well. Despite the fact that she'd been picking at her food here and there to save room. She tilted her head to the side and regarded Zuko with her usual stared, before smirking a bit, "So don't fail."
"I'm not going to give Azula the satisfaction." He would succeed, and build the Orange County operations up. It didn't seem that much, from so far away. Just one county, in one state, but it could be a beginning, and he'd get to be the one that determined the direction things went.
"I need to keep things in line, anyway." He finished his course, and the glass of wine, "Overheard one of the Fire Generals talking, about moving cargo. Only it wasn't cargo."
"Was it what I think it is?" Mai's nose wrinkled a bit. This sounded distasteful, the sort of operations that only the lowest of the low criminal gangs got involved in. She wasn't aware the Fire Nation had stooped that low, but if it had, she was going to end up cutting up some of her own gang members.
She wondered how much trouble she'd be in if she did, and thought that might be fun to play around with.
"Don't know." The sixth course arrived and Zuko groaned. Maybe they could just pay for the last two courses to go. He had visions of licking wine off Mai's chest. No. Bad visions. That wasn't happening, she'd stab him.
Zuko shook his head to clear it, "I couldn't find out any more. But I won't allow it on my watch." There were limits. There had to be limits, Zuko believed this fervently. You don't peddle flesh. You don't treat people like cargo.
"You better not allow it on your watch," Mai said darkly, while staring at her food. She stabbed at it with her knife, a scary reflection of Zuko's thoughts, though at least for the moment Zuko was safe. It wasn't him she was daydreaming about stabbing. In fact, she cuddled against him a bit, glad for the excuse of the wine to loosen up her usual manner.
She approved, too, of the way he was thinking of running things. He deserved some kind of reward for that.
"I won't. Allow it I mean." Zuko rested his hand on one of Mai's. There was a danger of it getting stabbed, but he didn't care right now, "I'll need your help in that."
"If I can do it behind Azula's back, I'm yours." For his use, with this crime business. And nothing more. Seriously. She didn't want to date him again, not after the last time. She was emotinally unavailable and he was a dumbass. None of that had changed, it was all still true. Why did Wine have a way of making things all fuzzy and warm, speaking sweet little lies to her about how nice Zuko was being and how his touch on her hand was like lightning?
He wanted to know if those cracks in her mask where still there, if he could still get past them, even a little bit. But her emotional unavailability had been draining. He hadn't been able to deal. He still didn't think he could. He got angry too easily. He got upset too easily. He would lash out.
But her skin felt so soft, and he wanted to know if she still tasted like sweets, "Yeah...I think...maybe she might be on our side in that."
That was kind of how it went with them. He got volatile, and she'd never react the way he expected, choosing to just leave instead of fighting back. It wasn't worth the confrontation to her, and she hated how unreasonable he'd get. All of those reasons seemed so dim right now that she wasn't sure if they mattered anymore.
"You never know, with Azula. That's the problem." It was entirely true. Mai, at least, didn't for once underestimate Azula's ability to be cruel to anyone who wasn't herself. Ty Lee would say that Azula was cruelest to herself, even, but Mai wasn't Ty Lee, and didn't see it.
"Maybe..figure out what she's leaning towards." Zuko still had a hard time picturing Azula okay with prostitution, let alone trafficking. They needed to know where she stood. If they had to, they needed to know where to press her so she stood with them.
"We'll get Ty Lee in on it." It seemed like a brilliant idea!
Zuko waved a waiter over, "Look, I don't think we can finish. Can we get dessert to go or is that uncouth."
The waiter looked at him like he'd grown a third eyeball in the middle of his head for a minute, before bowing at them and heading off to the kitchens to arrange things.
Mai found that more impressive than anything Zuko had done yet today, "That was amazing."
"Huh. I didn't expect him to go for it." Zuko beamed. Mai even sounded sincere. That more than anything else put a smile on his face. Okay, Azula. You win this one.
"He probably knows who you are." The syndicate still owned a great deal of Japan, and everyone knew who the guy taking over for the Fire Lord was.
Zuko grinned, "Guess I need to act tougher then. Too bad I'm in too good a mood. The company was nice." His fingers moved up her arm a little bit.
"That's the wine talking," Mai surmised, vocally. She allowed him to move his fingers up her arm, with all of the facial expressions that said she was merely tolerating his touch and didn't enjoy it at all. It was a carefully constructed ruse to cover up the way her insides were melting. And they were melting, and she honestly hoped that it was the wine talking. She didn't need this to become a thing. HE didn't need this to become a thing.
Zuko wondered where the to go thing was. The wine had shut down any sense of inhibition he might have right now, and his insides were telling him that no, he wouldn't get hurt by Mai again.
As if summoned by Zuko's brain, the waiter returned with the To Go container. He bowed, and presented them with it, complete in a bag, with extra utensils to enjoy it with. That were real, because this place didn't stock plastic ones. Mai was inwardly amused at the man, who was obviously falling all over himself to please the Fire Lord's son.
Zuko smiled at him, "Thank you." He held out the credit card, and added, "Tip yourself 30%." He didn't remember if they tipped in Japan. He didn't really care. You rewarded those who served well - and if it screwed Azula over in the process, well, who was he to say no.
His other hand continued to fondle Mai's.
That hand was beginning to whisper to Mai ideas, and ideas were dangerous. Mainly, the idea it was whispering was that eating that dessert back in his room at the hotel, together, was a fantastic idea.
As soon as the card was returned and signed for, Zuko stood and helped Mai up. He slipped an arm around her - for balance, he swore to himself - and then escourted her outside, where their car was already waiting. He stopped and opened the door, then turned to look down at her.
"I'm sorry Mai. For never calling."
She answered that with a kiss, before gracefully getting into the car. The expression on her face as she looked up at him was anything but cold.
There could have been little flames dancing around Zuko's head just then, before he closed the door, put the desserts on the front seat, and slipped around to the other side, "Back to the hotel." He stroked a hand down Mai's arm, his brain telling him that this was a fantastically bad idea.
Mai was so sick of everything she wanted to do being a bad idea that she didn't even care.
Pulling Mai against him, Zuko tilted his head down and kissed her. He could taste the wine, and it only made his mind foggier. A distant party-pooper part of him said that his sister had planned this. He ordered that part of himself stuffed and tossed in the ocean. He wasn't going to let his sister rule over everything he did. Not even his father - he just wanted Mai.
The car barely made it to the hotel, and they barely to Zuko's room. He had the foresight to slide the bolt into place before wine, want and passion overwhelmed him. His last coherent thought was if Mai's reaction tomorrow was 'whatever' he'd probably put his fist through the wall.