Zuko thinks that's rough, buddy (fireprincezuko) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-04-24 20:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, pansy malfoy, zuko |
Who: Pansy Malfoy and Zuko
When: April 16th ish
Where: Pansy, Draco and (now) Zuko’s place
What: Things are... awkward? Getting over the awkward?
Rating/Warnings: None/Low/Totally Awkward
Status: Complete
So, he’d seen her naked? So what? Did that mean things had to be awkward now? Pansy had spent a lot of time hiding in her bedroom after the incident, when she wasn’t off at class or working. She hadn’t seen a whole lot of Peter lately, because she was still kinda irked with him. Kinda irked with Draco, actually, too, over this whole thing.
Basically, Pansy’s life was a big ball of awkward at the moment. So she was killing stuff. Y’know, on one of those killing stuff games. She was playing a violent video game, yelling up at the screen, playing really loud music, and being flail-y. That’s what Pansys do when they get awkward. Yell.
Zuko, was well aware of all the awkward going on -- particularly when Draco was away at class and it left only him and Pansy in the apartment together. He still had a condo he could have escaped to. Even a library of a coffee shop might have done. And yet? He was determined to just stick it out and deal with things accordingly. If only because Draco would be pleased to know he had.
So, when all the music and the yelling and the killing started, Zuko -- who was in Draco’s bedroom with a thick book in hands -- paused, blinked, listened. When it didn’t subside after a while, he got up, book still in hand, and wandered off toward the living room to see exactly what his sister-in-law (how odd and funny) was doing.
There was a lot of “Come on, that’s cheating!” and “FUCK YOU, MISTER SMARTY PANTS” ... or whatever phrases made sense with the shoot-em-up game she was playing. Honestly, Pansy had no idea that Zuko was in the apartment or she might have attempted to tone it down a bit. Maybe. Probably.
She was about ready to chuck the god-damn remote at the screen when things started to turn a little for the better. One song ended on the stereo, and the next came on. Good tune. It made Pansy’s foot tap. She looked like she would have been right at home with a cigar in her mouth and a bottle of beer at her hip.
She really did, and it was a bit funny, because while Zuko wasn’t effeminate by any stretch of the word, sometimes Pansy seemed a bit more -- rugged than even him. He watched her yell at the tv for a moment and then, bemused, slipped onto the other side of the couch beside her, book in his lap, but eyes on the screen for the time being. He wasn’t a video game sort of guy, never had been, but it was interesting to watch.
Pansy glanced over when he sat down, and gave him a nod, before turning back to her game with livid enthusiasm. She lifted the remote up like she was holding a steering wheel, planted her heels into the ground in front of her, leaned forward and clicked frantically at the buttons. Then, moments later, she was killed.
“The fuck?!?” She tossed it backward onto the sofa and flopped against the cushions. It might be obvious to Zuko that she was irritated at more than just the game. “I hate this game!!”
It really was obvious to him. And he was pretty sure it was his fault -- at least partly. Sometimes he got very swept up in his own problems and life - bad dreams, his father being murdered, hell even marriage -- that he forgot that others might have problems of their own.
His fingers tapped against the hard cover of his book, and he glanced from the television screen to Pansy, and then down to his book again. “Sorry,” he said.
“Eh. I die all the time.” Pansy said, giving a gentle shrug of her shoulders. “I’m not in PvP mode, so it doesn’t count against me or anything.” She turned to glance over at him. Of course, only after she responded would she realize that maybe he was apologizing for more than just her dying in the game. She cleared her throat and sat up a little.
“Whatcha reading?” He was making an effort, and she appreciated it. Honestly, she wasn’t as angry with Zuko as she was with Draco or Peter. He hadn’t really done anything wrong. So long as he didn’t start like, undressing her with his eyes or anything. ...not that she could imagine that possibility. Ever.
Yeah. Zuko didn’t do a whole lot of undressing women in general, so probably that wasn’t going to happen any time ever. “Oh. Uhm. In Search of Excellence.” He held it up to show her the cover. It was a highly recommended book on the topic of running companies and business. He’d yet to really say it outloud, but he planned on taking over his families business sooner rather than later. Well. The clean part of it, anyway. “It’s... pretty good.”
“Sounds kind of... dry.” Pansy said, honestly. She figured that Zuko appreciated honesty, and she wasn’t the type to sugar-coat things, anyway. It wasn’t the kind of thing she’d read on her own, only if it was required for class. “You’re looking to... what, run a business?” She asked. It wasn’t something she ever imagined for herself, but someone had to do it, right?
“It’s really boring,” Zuko agreed wryly. He did appreciate honesty, and so gave it in return. He settled the book back into his lap -- if nothing else, enjoying the comforting weight of it. “My father ran a business,” he said, watching the floor for a moment. “A big one. And he’s dead now so -- I--” He paused, shrugging, but not knowing what else to say.
Pansy couldn’t help but grin herself. She didn’t want to say boring, but he’d said it, so it was all right. But her grin slipped from her features when he started talking about his dad. That was a sore subject, she knew, but she hadn’t asked about it before. “...you’re going to take over the family business?” She suggested, an attempt to finish his sentence.
It was fair she hadn’t asked -- he wasn’t exactly the type to just volunteer information, either. He knew he came across as sulky and mostly angry all the time. Really, he was just quiet. “Right,” he agreed with a nod, glad she’d caught on. “I don’t know what you heard. But. It wasn’t great, I’m sure. I need to -- clean it up.”
Pansy nodded. She’d heard a little. Honestly, she felt a bit guilty that she’d been so absorbed in her own shit, and hadn’t caught on to all that was going on with Draco and Zuko. She’d gone through a lot lately--being attacked by giant machines, finding out she wasn’t actually Draco’s twin, Blue flu, moving, her relationship with Peter, Wonderland, pregnancy scare, singing and losing clothes? It was bizarre.
“How are you... um... how does that work, exactly?” She asked, cocking her head to the side. “Is it going to be dangerous to just... cut ties?”
Zuko was silent for a time, running his fingers over the cover of his book. He didn’t really know how it was going to work, but he was trying his hardest to figure it out. “Maybe,” he said, because he wasn’t really sure. “Probably.” And he felt kind of bad about that, too. “But not here,” he went on, not wanting to worry her. “Don’t worry.”
Pansy was worried. Though, more for Zuko and for Draco than for herself. She had people in her life who would protect her. And she could care for herself pretty well, too, now she had her wand and all of her memories. But John and Peter would make sure she was safe.
“I’m more worried for you than anything else.” Both because of the danger involved, and the emotional stuff he was bound to have to go through. “...right, and Draco,” she added as a playful afterthought. “Do you have a plan?”
The japanese boy gave a half smile at that, even though there wasn’t really a lot of humor to be found in the situation at hand. “Don’t worry,” he said again. “I’m working on one. Nothing solid. Just...” he shrugged. Because he didn’t really have a plan that didn’t center on ‘set a motherfucker on fire if they question it’. Which probably wasn’t the most kosher.
Pansy nodded. She wasn’t really sure what to say to that, so she nodded. It was her default when things got... not necessarily awkward, but close to that. Speechless. She climbed up off the sofa and picked up her controller, then set it on the table.
“You want a beer or something?” She asked, then smirked. “I stocked wine coolers in the fridge for you.”
Zuko snorted, but was obviously amused at her efforts to keep him happy in the land of not-beer drinks. He appreciated it, even if he didn’t say so. “All right,” he agreed.
Pansy grinned, then hopped around the sofa and into the kitchen. “You can turn that shit off, if you want to,” she added, calling out to him. It was strange to have him around all the time now. Now they were related... but she was finding that she kinda liked it. Most of the time she didn’t feel like she was intruding on their honeymoon stuff. The part where she did, though, was a bit hard to swallow.
“So um...” She grabbed a couple of drinks, popped the tops, and headed back into the living room. “...pizza for dinner?”
Zuko was fiddling with the remote and the game system in a way that clearly said he had no idea what to press to make it all turn off. Eventually, he just set it down again. Pansy could do it.
He perked up a little at that suggestion, even as he took one of the drinks from her when it was offered. “Yes. Pizza.” A pause, as he considered it further. “And a game? Do you want to play a board game?” No one could ever tell him he didn’t try.
“Board game?” Pansy asked, coming back into the room. She held out a drink to him, then sat down on the sofa and clicked off the video game system. “Sure, yeah. Sounds good.” Draco would be gone for a while, so... it’d be something fun to do just the two of them. “Which one? We have... a few.”
“Whatever you like best,” Zuko said, eyeing the label of his wine cooler. So girly. He was probably going to love it. He sipped it and found that of course he did.
The point here, though, was that he was trying to be a friend and a sort-of brother to this girl, because he didn’t like the awkwardness. And he was sure she didn’t either. Why not try and smooth it out some?
Pansy was trying, too. Hence the wine coolers. She liked Zuko, and was very much hoping their relationship would grow better and better. Drinks and board games were a good start.