Play With Fire ~Zuko X Reader~

-13- First Week and I'm Already Fighting

I carried the flowers that Iroh had bought. We navigated through the city.

"I just want our place to look nice, in case someone brings home a lady friend!" Iroh nudged Zuko, earning a nice little glare from me.

Zuko just stared out onto the city before us, "This city is a prison. I don't want to make a life here."

"Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not," Iroh smiled, "Now come on, I found us some new jobs, and we start this afternoon!"

"What!?" I looked at the old man, "I left you alone for what..? Five minutes!? And you got all three of us jobs?"

"What can I say?" We had reached our new home, so Iroh got our keys, "I'm very persuasive."

I laughed as I sat down in the vase, "I can be persuasive. What do you do? That's pure magic!"

Zuko glared out the window, "So when are these jobs of ours starting?"

Iroh looked at the clock, "In just a few minutes. Come on, let's head off. It's not too far."

He led us to a small tea shop. Was I surprised? No.

The owner of the shop led us to the back and got us aprons, "Well, you certainly look like official tea servers. How do you feel‌?"

"Ridiculous."

I tried to help Iroh tie his apron string, he decided to tell the owner our predicament, "Uh, does this possibly come in a larger size?"

"I have extra string in the back," the owner motioned to some cups and a teapot, "Have some tea while you wait!"

I poured the tea as the owner went to get the string.

Iroh took a sip and indemnity disgust covered his face, "Blech! This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!"

It was safe to say Zuko was annoyed by the entire situation, "Uncle, that's what all tea is."

Iroh gasped, "How could a member of my own family say something so horrible!?" Has this man met his family? "We'll have to make some major changes around here."

Iroh went and dumped out the tea and went to go make more. We worked in the shop for the rest of the day. Zuko was in a grumpy mood, but Iroh was insanely cheerful. I spent most of the afternoon using my good-ole devil's tongue to keep customers calm and buying.

When we went back to our apartment, Iroh immediately went over to the oven, "Would you like a pot of tea?"

I nodded as Zuko groaned in outrage, "We've been working in a tea shop all day!" Zuko laid down on a bed, "I'm sick of tea!"

"'Sick of tea?' That's like being sick of breathing!" Iroh looked through the cabinets, "Have you seen the spark rocks to heat up the water?"

I shook my head, then Iroh went out the door. He came back in just a few seconds with a set of spark rocks, "I borrowed our neighbors'. Such kind people."

I laughed, then sat on the bed next to Zuko, "Come on. Let's just relax. Who knows when we'll get another chance to. Besides, tea calms the mind."

Zuko groaned and turned over. I stood and went to the kitchen, "I'll see if I can make anything. But I'm not much of a cook. I can really only bake."

Iroh looked at me with slight surprise, "You can bake?"

"My sister had a huge sweet tooth," I found some flour and sugar, "So I picked it up quickly. She loved my Hotcakes. Said it was the only thing sweeter was me."