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Coffee and White Tea Title: Coffee and White Tea Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: G Summary: Mild AU; Iroh adopts a catsquirrel who doesn't like Zuko very much...
Zuko stops dead halfway into the small camp his uncle has set up, his good eye wide in disbelief and near-horror. "Uncle," he says, "what is that?"
Uncle looks up, his expression smoothing from that of an old woman confronted with a newborn to calm serenity. "A catsquirrel," he replies, then goes right back to talking nonsense to the animal.
Zuko tries very hard not to grind his teeth. "I can see that." Well, mostly he can see the bushy tail waving contentedly back and forth as his uncle scratches it around the ears and makes a strange "waaargh-awwwwkitty-wooble-wooble-wooble" sound.
It is possible that he has been more embarassed to know his uncle, but at the moment he can't think of when.
He walks past his uncle and the catsquirrel and dumps his armful of tall grasses in front of the ostrich-horse. A low hiss catches his ear, and he turns to see that Uncle's new pet is glaring at him with angry brown eyes.
Amused, Uncle gently strokes its brown-furred head. "It's all right," he tells the little beast. "He is my nephew."
Looking at the animal, the colour of coffee and of white tea all swirled together -- white tea, no wonder Uncle likes her -- Zuko gets the strangest feeling that it knows full well who he is.
Utterly ridiculous. It's just guilt over the ostrich-horse, that's all. Which is just as ridiculous. Son-- the girl shouldn't have been to trusting. She knew better.
"It's okay. They've hurt me too."
Zuko flinches and turns back to Birdy.
Twenty sharp, needlelike claws dig into his right shoulder unexpectedly; Zuko yelps as the catsquirrel balances herself and then leaps off of him to land on the ostrich-horse's back. Birdy turns her head to look at the affronting animal, then, to Zuko's complete surprise, allows the catsquirrel to rub its face against hers.
Of course, Birdy is a very easygoing creature, but she didn't even startle at the sudden weight. It's almost as if she's used to such things.
He's imagining things again.
Zuko lets out a sound that's half-sigh, half-snarl, and turns around to look for food for him and Uncle -- and yelps as those claws dig into his left shoulder briefly before the catsquirrel leaps back to Uncle.
"That animal doesn't like me," Zuko snaps as Uncle gently strokes its spine.
"She's just not used to you, Zuko," Uncle replies, still petting the bloodthirsty animal.
"We're not keeping it!"
Uncle just smiles one of those mysterious smiles. "Of course not. She's a wild animal."
"And yet it appears to adore you," Zuko replies, eyeing the old man askance.
Uncle's smile widens. "I do have a way with women."
Zuko doesn't even want to think about that. "I'm going to get some food," he snaps, stalking off.
~*~ Song stretches languourously, then bounds off in search of something to eat. She's pleased with how quickly she caught up to Junior and his uncle -- ah, but the name he gave her was false, now wasn't it? His name is Zuko, and she knows that name. And if that man is really his uncle, she knows who he is, too.
But why are they in the Earth Kingdom - why are they acting like refugees? Are they spying? But there's nothing in her village to spy on. There was no reason for them to steal Tuó Mǎ, either, she reminds herself.
A rustling in the bushes distracts Song from further ponderings, and she stalks and catches a mousevole. Pleased her hunting skill hasn't rusted, Song consumes her kill and then darts up a tree in search of nuts.
Unfortunately, other catsquirrels have been at them already, leaving only the green ones behind. Annoyed, Song washes her ears, then scampers down the tree and heads back to the ostrich-horse-thief's camp.
The Fire boy is back, with food this time. He's shared it out with his uncle, and conversation has apparently stilled. Song lashes her tail, then strolls up to the old man and rubs her head against his side.
"Hello again," he says, sounding amused, and scratches her gently under her chin. Song purrs at his touch - he may be Fire and a thief-accomplice, but he knows the right places to scratch.
"It's a wild animal, Uncle," Zuko says, sounding aggravated.
"I am aware of that, my nephew," the old man replies, returning to his meal. "But Shou Mei seems to have taken a liking to us."
"To you, you mean," the boy shoots back. "You fed it, didn't you."
"She is quite capable of feeding herself, Zuko," his uncle points out in turn. Pleased, Song flicks her tail and paces to the middle of the camp to wash herself at the thief. She will go wherever she pleases.
Zuko reaches for her, and Song lashes out before she can even blink; the Fire boy yelps and jerks back as four red lines well up on the back of his hand. "It scratched me!" he yells, angry; fearing retaliation, Song flees behind his uncle.
But no fire chases her, no too-warm hands grab at her tail or hind legs to pull her back and punish her. When she peeks out at the boy, he does look angry, but also bewildered. Of course -- he doesn't know why she lashed out at him. So far as he knows, she's a wild animal, one who has taken an inexplicable liking to his uncle.
"You frightened her," the old man comments, reaching back and scratching Song behind the ears. Zuko stares for a moment, then makes a frustrated noise and stalks away. Song relaxes and settles against the old man's thigh, accepting his caresses. She can work with this.
Notes: I blame Bex, Kat, and Rin for encouraging me in this.
Yes, Song is a shapebender; I did a mild fusion with one of my favourite books of all time, The Catswold Portal. Does this mean Song has spiritblood? Probably, but all she gets from it is the transformation and some catsquirrel-like attributes in her human form. These will be dealt with as I write other stories in the 'verse.
Current Location: my opa's desk Current Mood: annoyed Tags: avatar, basttal, fanfic
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