Care for a tea? Zukka au

3

                 Zuko awoke in startled matter, he swung his head around to look at his surroundings and sighed in relief. He was at his  uncles house, he safe. Before his woke up he had a nightmare about what would've happened if he stayed. He dreamt that his father was beating him, and screaming at him, like he used to after his mother died. He touched his face and noticed he was crying. He wiped off his tears and got up to get dressed. He wasn't going to deal with that right now. He put on a big yellow button up, with a red vest over it. To complete the outfit he put on black skinny jeans. As he finished he checked his phone, no messages, but he saw the time "8:00 a.m" it read. He groaned at himself for waking up so early, but he was all dressed and there was no point in going back to bed now. 

       As he left his room he saw uncle Iroh making tea, not a huge surprise. Iroh, upon hearing Zuko walk in turned to him with a smile. 

      "Good morning, did you sleep well?"

      "Morning'. I slept fine." Zuko said lying, as he sat himself at the dining table.

       "That's wonderful. I was wondering, would you like to work at the jasmine dragon with me? Seeing as you can't go home, aren't getting an allowance any  more and need something else to keep your mind on. I thought it would be good for you!" 

     Zuko pondered the question for a second looking up from his phone. Maybe this will be good for me. Especially since uncle needs the help. But what if somebody recognizes me?  I mean i could just deny it. He then finally decided. "Sure." He replied.

        "Great! You can start today!"

         "Wait what? I thought I'd start in like a week!"

           "Thank you so much Zuko! I really appreciated the help!" Iroh said sneaking away downstairs, not giving Zuko a chance to reply.

      Zuko groaned loudly and dropped his head on to the table, banging it a couple of times. He was not mentally prepared for this. He was a very introverted person, and this job required a lot of talking and interaction. He thought that if he started this job next week he'd be able to prepare to be social. But he wouldn't let his uncle down, so he stood up, grabbed a muffin from the counter, and headed downstairs to start his work.

     He began helping by opening up the shop, there wasn't much business until 9:30 when there was a huge rush of people ordering tea. Zuko was frantically taking orders, and serving food. It was extremely stressful on is part. Not to mention all the people who called him to their table, or who were unsatisfied with their drink. Zuko truly didn't know this is what working would be like. The wave of people continued on until around 12. Zuko was tired out, and irritated from dealing with the people and pretending not to be bothered.

     When one of the only customers for a while came in Zuko was ready to murder somebody if they asked to have their drink remade. A happy looking boy with a wolf tail and bright smile walked up to the counter. He walked up to the counter his hands in his blue jackets pockets. 

      "Good morning, what can I get started for you today?" Zuko grumbled looking down at the paper on the counter.

       "Well good afternoon to you too! I'm really sorry but I have a big order," Zuko visibly cringed at that, "I lost eeny miney moe with my friends and now I have to fetch everyone boba." The man then started to list the order, and Zuko finally looked up at him. His face immediately heated up. Oh my fucking god. He's so cute. Why was I so mean earlier? Gah! I hate myself.

      "Um sir? Are you okay? Your face got all red and it looked like you were about to faint." The man asked.

       "Huh? Oh yes! I'm so sorry, it's um just been a little stressful around here, heh. Uh that will be 25.95." He said weakly smiling. He then went to start making the order.

      "Oh I understand, when I used to work at a Wendy's it was like that all the time! One time a lady redid her order 5 times! I was so frustrated, like lady if your unsatisfied with you burger and fries go somewhere else! She even went on a whole tangent about how the ketchup was to spicy! But anyways, I feel you." Zuko giggled lightly at his work stories.

       "Actually I didn't ask this before but, are you new here? I haven't seen you around before, Mr. Iroh is usually the only one here."

         "Um, I'm his nephew, just started today." He replied finishing up the last drink.

      "Nice! Your uncle is the coolest, one time he invited me over to-"

               The man continued speaking, but Zuko was to focused examining every beautiful inch of his face. His radiant dark skin, his deep eyes, oh and that glowing smile, he couldn't handle it. Suddenly the man got a phone call.

             "Hello? Yes I'm getting the tea, no need to fret katara. Yes I'm about to be on my way, why don't you and your little boyfriend take this time to make out or something? Jeez calm down I'm just messing! Anyway bye, see you guys soon." He then hung up the phone.

         "Here's your order sir."

        "Thank you a' very much mr. Well duty calls, adios!" He said saluting as he grabbed the drinks.

         "B-bye?" Zuko said as the man left. 

     That was the strangest interaction he'd had since the 8th grade boys locker room. He was frazzled for sure, actually that was an understatement. He was so confused that for a second he just stood there with deep red cheeks. Finally uncle Iroh came back from his break. Zuko jumped when he heard the break room door slam shut, as it had snapped him out of his trance. 

                                                                                   -—-

          Zuko lied on his bed thinking about his dream. It hadn't been a pleasant one for sure. He reached up to his scar and ran his fingers over it. He hated the scar, he hated how it made him look, he hated how he got it, and he hated how it hurt when he cried. He thought about the boy at the shop, and what his father would think of it. He knew his father would hate him and zuko alike if they ever got together. Though Zuko knew this would never happen. He was probably straight. But Zuko could dream. He thought about how silly he was for falling in love with a man he just met, hell he didn't even know the mans name. But he could just imagine his touch, soft and warm.

       "Zuko! I brought Chinese food!" Iroh yelled coming up the stairs.

     Zuko got off his bed and went to join Iroh in the kitchen.

A/N: um hi, thank you all so much for the reads, comments, and votes. It makes me so happy to see people enjoying my writing! Sorry this chapter was a bit all over the place, and that it took so long to update. I've just been really unmotivated lately. How would you feel about a 80s zukka au?