The History of Renko: Book 1 Emotions (Avatar, boyxboy)

Chapter 25: Morning After

Kuzo woke up dizzy. His mouth tasted like vomit and he had a headache behind his eyes. Sunlight streamed through his red bedroom curtains casting the room in a crimson glow. He felt arms around his torso. His bare torso. He managed to roll over and found that he was the arms of his student, Renko.

He watched him as he slept. His dark hair covered his eyes and he traced his jaw line with his finger. Renko must have brought him to bed. He couldn't remember much after he left the club. He almost opened his mouth to wake him but remembered his breath. It was not pleasant. Slowly, he inched out of bed and to his bathroom. He looked as his hazy reflection in the mirror and smiled. He may have had a rough night, but he could tell that a good morning was coming

Meanwhile, Koa sat in the small house library. Surrounding her and the square table at which she sat were bookshelves reaching to the ceiling and a small window facing south that let in meager light. Electric lamps sat at the three tables in corners of the room creating pools of yellow light.

She pushed her hair off of a map. She had marked spots on the map of where she thought it most likely for the Dark Hand to strike. Her eyes kept flicking towards a scroll with the Fire Nation Royal family insignia as its seal. She had a hunch as to what was inside. It came from the Dragon Bone Catacombs, the burial place of all the past Fire Lords. It was only supposed to be opened by a member of the Royal Family and it bugged her. She knew that the answer she was looking for was in that scroll and it taunted her.

Clearing away the other books that she was reading, she placed the unrolled scroll in front of her. Should she wake Kuzo and have him open it? What would he say if he found out that she did? Would he care? She remembered hearing from her mother about the Fire Lord's bloodline and its connection the Avatar. The Fire Sages, who crowned the new Fire Lord, acted like the bridge between the Avatar and the Fire Lord until a couple hundred years ago. It was just speculation, however, no one but the royal family had any real confirmation. Until now perhaps.

Swearing to herself that she would apologize after, she broke the seal. Unrolling the scroll she could see faint lines that were old calligraphy and paintings of the spirits. This scroll could not have been very old. In fact, she could just make out a signature. Fire Lord...Z...something like that. She continued to read then stopped, her eyes opened wide. Pulling the map closer to her, she circled the location on the map of the Capital city of the Fire Nation. She had found her answer.

Kuzo sat on his bed and watched Renko sleep some more. He pushed the curtains back to let the sun's glow fill the room. Renko stirred. Opening his mouth he yawned big and squinted his eyes open. Something unintelligible came out of his mouth.

"Ren?" Kuzo asked softly.

"Morning Kuzo," Renko replied, his eyes fully open. "Keep doing that."

Kuzo chuckled and kept stroking Renko's hair, from the top of his head to his neck. Renko closed his eyes again and relaxed back into the bed.

"We should go on an actual date I think."

"Agreed," Kuzo said with a smile. "Shall we get dressed?"

Renko opened his eyes and thought for a minute.

"I guess....." he rolled over and sat up. His face became serious. "Kuzo, you know that I haven't really been with anyone before. I trust you but let's not have a repeat of last night at the club."

"About that," Kuzo began. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have behaved like that. And thanks for cleaning me up."

Renko shifted to his knees so he was a head taller than his teacher. He looked down and smiled.

"You're welcome."

They turned when they heard a knock on the door. Kuzo stood and stood tall.

"Enter."

"My lord," a servant man opened the door. "Miss Koa has called for you and the Avatar. In the library."

"I guess our day has begun." 

Author's Note: Hey guys, I hope you like the chapter. It's a little short but I thought it better conveyed the moment between Renko and Kuzo. Enjoy.