AtLA Modern: Year 1, Gen. 1

Chapter 3

Athlea's eye twitched. "Excuse you--"

Zuko leaned down to mumble, "Sorry, but thanks?" As soon as they were in the next room he let go of her, his movements sharp and awkward, his cheeks pink.

Athlea quieted down, looking up at him sharply. A faint red crossed her cheeks and she took a step back, crossing her arms. "Who are you, exactly?" She looked him up and down, eyebrow raised.

Zuko took another step back, looking at the ground. "I'm Zuko, Azula's brother--the fiery one. Sorry I called you my side piece." He scratched the back of his head. "Mai has been accusing me of cheating for a while now. E-ever since I caught her." He shook his head, glancing up at her, scuffing the floor with the toes of his shoes.

Athlea glanced around the apparent bedroom he'd dragged her to. It had a couch, a small coffee table, and a TV mounted on the wall. She walked to the couch and sat down, getting herself comfortable. "You should be more confident," she pointed out. "Look people in the eye, not down. Show your superiority." She grabbed the remote and turned the TV on, glancing at him over her shoulder. "Especially with the status you have. Ozai's son. Richest family in the world." She took off her leather jacket, crossing her legs. "Since you finished that relationship, you should regain your confidence... Zuko, or whatever your name is."

Zuko raised an eyebrow, glancing at Athlea and laughing. "Superiority. Right. Being rich doesn't give someone automatically confident. Especially when their baby sister beats the shit out of them every day." He blinked as she sat on the couch, and he sat on the other side slowly.

Athlea glanced over. "Mm... Well then, I hope you don't live with her all the time." She shrugged, returning her gaze to the TV. "Divorced parents. You must be living with your mother, and her with your father?"

Zuko shrugged. "I go back and forth," he admitted. "Here more than not. It's closer to the school. Azula is gone a lot, anyways." He flicked something off of the couch and she blinked.

Athlea nodded. "Makes sense, you need to have a balance of both."

She tilted her head back and closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked at him again. "You need to set boundaries and choose carefully who you hang out with." She shrugged once more. "Also, I'm not going to eat you. You can come closer," she reassured with a small smile. "Whose room is this?"

He raised his eyebrows, smiling a bit and swinging his legs onto the couch, blinking at her. "I hang out with who I want, thanks," he muttered. "It's mine."

She tilted her head to the side slightly, eyebrow raised. "Doesn't look like it," she stated bluntly. "Your choice in friends is shitty, then. I don't know you, but from seeing your baby sister and ex girlfriend and the other girl with your ex, they don't seem like real friends," she said with a shrug and a nod. "The room looks nice."

Zuko shrugged a shoulder again. "You're right," he responded, not in a very friendly manner. "You don't know me."

Athlea raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't." She turned to look at the consoles on the coffee table. "Wanna play?"

He raised an eyebrow and looked up as she grabbed the controller. "Sure," he said, softening, leaning forward and grabbing a controller. He turned the TV on, pulling up a shooting game. "This okay?" She nodded. He cleared his throat. "I'm not big on parties, honestly. Azula always makes me look like an idiot in front of everyone, so I end up in here by the end."

"Sounds about right. I can see that. The party isn't bad, to be honest." She shrugged. "By the way, I'm Athlea." A competitive grin crossed her face. "Now let's win this."

Zuko nodded, repeating her name quietly. "Athlea." He leaned forward with the controller in his hand as the match started, a gleam in his eyes.

Athlea looked at the game as they started to play. "This is easy," she muttered to herself, her eyes moving to him for a second, raising an eyebrow before turning back to the TV. "So, do you firebend or something? I noticed you tried to do something earlier to not get hurt from the fire but didn't manage to."

Zuko bit his lip while he played, his focus on the game. He wasn't having too bad of a time himself. "I do," he responded to her question. "I'm not as good as my sister, but she's a sociopath, so whatever." He glanced at her, an eyebrow raised. "Anyways, somebody jumped between us."

"Oh, really?" she teased, smirking and giving him a wink. "Oops. Anyways, shouldn't a sociopath be put away somewhere?""

Zuko raised his eyebrows, exchanging glances with her. He shrugged a shoulder, glancing back at the game. "I mean, I don't think she's that bad. She's just a bully. She's convinced my mom likes me more, and she spends every. Single. Day making sure of it." He snorted, rolling his eyes. "It actually gets a little funny at times, honestly."

Athlea shrugged, "Insecurities," she stated simply. "Because of her insecurities she projects them to others and so on, to make her feel superior." She shrugged, setting her controller down, a pleased smile on her face. "And we won, like we should," she said confidently, nodding and turning to him. "Bullying you or abusing you isn't funny," she stated in a more serious tone. "You lack confidence because of it," she pointed out.

Zuko nodded. "Exactly," he said, agreeing. He leaned back as they won, a pleased look on his face, before frowning at Athlea. "You sure love pointing out my lack of confidence."

Athlae shrugged and stood, adjusting her dress. "Just pointing out the obvious." She pointed at the big window doors as one side of the room. "You are spoiled. Very spoiled."

Zuko smiled, following her to the balcony and leaning against it, looking out at the Nation. "Yeah," he agreed. "Pretty much." He turned his head toward her, blinking.

Athlea stepped out and leaned on the rail of the balcony, glancing out at the sky. She turned back to him. "At least you admit it," she said with a small smile. "I really wonder how it is to have all the money in the world." She leaned forward, taking out her phone. "I bet it's nice."

Zuko looked back forward, shrugging a shoulder. "It's like having everything you want, except someone to share it with. People don't fuck with rich unless they are rich, and then they act fake."

The doors behind them suddenly flung open, and Athlea jumped, dropping her phone off the edge of the balcony. "Are you... kidding me?!" she shouted.

Mai burst into the room, glaring at Zuko. "Are you seriously hooking up with her right now?"

Zuko blinked and glanced calmly at Athlea. "From the looks of it, no," he responded calmly, his eyes shining mischievously.

Athlea whipped around, crossing her arms. "Maybe we were a few minutes ago. What's it to you? You broke up, anyways." Zuko snickered at her response, covering his mouth with a hand. Athlea let out a sigh. "And now, because of you, I need a new phone. If you'll excuse me." She brushed past Mai, rejoining the party.

Mai followed Athlea, however. "Fucking boyfriend stealer," she spat. "Who even are you, anyways? How'd you sneak into this party?" She looked Athlea up and down and snickered. "You didn't get offered a spot, did you? No, you took the exam."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Mai, so did you. And failed. Twice."

Athlea sighed, glancing at Mai. "Well, unlike you, I passed with the highest grade and didn't have to retake it once." Mai followed her as she continued walking. "You're wasting my time."

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A/N "we couldve been a little while ago" AHAHA THeA PLS