The Unpredictable Fire Adventurers [General Iroh II x Reader] [Legend of Korra]

『a burden greater than this idiot

Munching on some delicious tofu and lettuce, you happily watch on as Pema serves lunch to the other acolytes. She glides around the room with a smile on her face, and you notice the enchantment she has on Tentacles-- err Tenzin. 

"I'm telling your girlfriend," you mumble as you allow another piece of tofu enter your mouth. 

Tenzin can faintly hear your threat and whips his head around to face you. "Don't you dare..."

"I'm just telling her about your stay here." 

Your disingenuous coy smile greets him and he grumbles. "You and your jests will be the end of me."

A chuckle falls out in response to his seething attitude, and you return to your lunch. After a few minutes of silence, you spot your fellow group members trickling into the cafeteria area. Fortunately, you stand out in the midst of orange acolyte clothing and they immediately spot you two. They grab themselves a serving of today's lunch and head over to your table.

Haku sets himself beside you while Tonraq stations beside Tenzin adjacent to you. "What a day!" Haku exclaims with content. You hum in agreement but stop your involvement in the conversation when you realize Iroh standing behind you ominously. You glance back and notice him glaring daggers at Haku.

You give Haku a gentle elbowing to grab his attention. When you do, he eyes Iroh with his mouth full of tofu. "Cwan't ywou shet ohn hwer owther shide?"

Iroh vaguely makes sense of Haku's question and inspects the tiny space on your left side. A cold gaze envelops his expression as he slides one leg in between you two and begins to shimmy his way in, forcing you both to scoot away from each other. Once his butt plants itself comfortably on the bench, a victorious smile emerges.

"You guys are still childish as ever," Tenzin sighs.

"Are these the rest of your friends?" Pema asks as she shows up behind Tenzin. The rest of the group gaze at her with confusion, and it's up to you to fill them in.

"This is Pema. She's an acolyte here at the temple," you introduce. 

The girl gives a small bow, "Nice to meet you all. If you need anything, please let me know!" Before anyone can introduce themselves, she scurries off to continue helping with lunch.

You send Tenzin another devious gaze and he tries to shut it down quickly. "Stop it."

You purse your lips together and this grabs the attention of Iroh. "Are we missing something?" He wraps one arm around your shoulders as he uses his other to scoop food into his mouth.

"Mhm! Pema said my name is really pretty," you lie as you bring up something you mentioned to Tenzin earlier.

Iroh grins bashfully. "Of course it is!"

You mirror his glee then direct it to Tenzin. He appears more annoyed than ever and shoots up from his seated position. "I'm going to see where we are staying." With that, he huffs away and leaves the group dumbfounded--minus you. 

As your eyes follow his stomping, you notice Pema's worried gaze on him. It sparks a curiosity in you that has caused you a great deal of problems but also triumphs. You tilt your head upwards to gaze at Iroh, your greatest your triumph. When he realizes your attention, he gives you an awkward smile. "Hm?"

"I've learned that Tenzin is a very complicated loser," you respond.

"We all knew that," he laughs as he returns to eating his food. 

It doesn't take long for the group to begin talking about their adventures around the temple, but a small piece of you feels perturbed by Tenzin's range of emotions today. A lot of problems are bothering him yet he feels the need to keep them to himself. 

For a man that is spiritual, he clearly doesn't act like a man that is one with his inner peace.

[x]

A/N: Small update! I promise the next chapter will be longer! Been stuck with a nasty cold but other than that all is good! Hope you enjoyed!