tampered | (no subject)

When; Aug 12.
Rating; TBA, but knowing Azula, probably PG13.
Characters; Azula & Katara
Summary; Two words: Handcuff Day.
Log;

Azula rarely awoke gently, even back when her world hadn't been turned upside down by gods knew what/who. It happened even less often here, where nightmares were most prevalent.

But not this morning, where the sun shining through the broken shades was what finally caused her to stir. That, of course, and the strange weight on her wrist. Something oddly cool, the wrong temperature.

And a warmth, something Azula was also very unfamiliar with. She turned quickly and pressed her hands together, ready to push a flame--

No, Azula. You're inside.

Not that her hand was responding correctly. Another arm had come with it. A dark arm, delicate fingers and...

Azula's lips curled into a smile, which was as sincere as she was ever likely to get. (Which wasn't very when it came to kindness, but she was definitely amused.)

She leaned forward slowly, careful to not wake the other girl before she got her first strike in. Her lips fluttered close to her cheek, her mouth still curved into a cruel smirk. "Wakey, wakey, sweetheart~"

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As a waterbender, Katara wasn't the type to rise early-- usually, she stayed up for much of the night, taking in the moon's pale glow and training whenever possible. If it weren't for the fact that she was the only one in the suite who could really cook, she probably would've slept in many mornings, particularly now that the group wasn't on any particular schedule, wasn't in the midst of a war.

Unfortunately, the movement on her cheek made her jump, reflexes still honed from battle as she raised an arm in front of her, pushing against the warmth. If Toph was playing another one of her pranks, Katara swore that she would teach that girl a lesson about ambushing a waterbender in the middle of her sleep.

But the water she tried to call forth didn't come.

And as Katara hazily blinked to wake herself, her gradually clearing range of vision showed the last person she wanted to see, sending her stomach careening somewhere in her throat.

"Not... you."

Oh, Azula had been greeted more nastily than that before.

That was the cute thing about this girl. She thought herself so very vicious, so very wise, so very...very. She seemed to place herself on this pedestal so high beyond anything she figured Azula could reach, that it was amusing to toy with her. As much as the Avatar and his lackeys liked to think that they were the cherries on top...

They got angry so very easily.

"Me!" She laughed, loudly enough to bother Katara, but not enough to be considered maniacal. She lifted her arm enough to rattle the handcuffs.

"As fun as this is, it wasn't my idea. And I'm sure it wasn't yours, either. Just an educated guess." She moved back before Katara could bite her. She seemed like the biting type.

The fact that Azula had stepped back was initially surprising, but the shock gave way to great unease as Katara realized that even Azula probably knew better than to stay close if there was a sudden need to firebend. Worse yet was the fact that no matter how hard she tried, free hand before her back and with the knowledge that there were probably cold beads of sweat on her temple, the water wouldn't come. Her bending was just... nonexistent. Azula, as she always seemed to, had the upper hand.

It was a shame, because Katara knew that she'd be able to cut through that metal, otherwise. The chain certainly didn't look that strong.

The laughing, as anticipated, grated on her nerves.

"Given that I don't see why you'd target me over Zuko or Aang, fair enough," Katara hissed, practically bristling. "But it's just a chain, and you are outnumbered here in the City--without your lackeys, anyhow--so why don't we compromise and just have this chain be undone, and then go our separate ways?"

Azula flicked her free thumb at Katara's nose quickly, removing her hand before it could be squatted away. "My brother's...well, he's Zuko and Aang is prepubescent. Maybe I did choose."

Azula felt her eyes roll at Katara's straight-forward 'solution'. Cute, amusing and yet....so dull. Absolutely so sense of fun, this girl. And Azula's days hadn't exactly been chock full of titillating conversation lately. Not that there was necessarily anyone interesting here, anyway, but still. It was a nice change of pace. One that Azula wasn't about to let slip through her fingers because of Katara's queer sense of delicacy.

"I don't think I believe in outnumbered, darling." She lay back down on the halfhearted futon she'd managed to find in what she'd taken to be an abandoned apartment. Used to decorative ceilings, these white ones bored her to tears. Azula was losing faith in her conversational partner as well.

"Don't be a spoilsport."

Edited 2008-08-12 23:32 (UTC)

Quickly, Katara rubbed her nose, tempted to give Azula a little present in return but having enough self-awareness to keep from biting the bait--not enough, however, to prevent herself from sending a nice little glare in Azula's direction. If anything, it seemed like Azula was enjoying this. But why?

"Aang is still the Avatar, though, so I don't expect you to tear your gaze from him anytime soon," Katara spat, jangling the chain slightly--no good, she couldn't bend with it there. "Although it'll be better for you if you do; daddy isn't exactly here to congratulate you on your usefulness."

Soon enough, still wanting for sleep, Katara laid her head back down as well, glancing over the stark, white walls of the apartment. Reminded herself to take down the address of the place once the presumed curse was over--that much, she could be thankful for, at least, that the deities hadn't plopped the both of them down in the group's apartment.

"If wanting to part ways makes me a spoilsport, then what exactly are you after? My goal isn't exactly to be your source of entertainment, you know."

Katara wasn't telling her what was good for her, was she? No, there was no way she was that stupid. Azula felt her eyes narrow into dangerous slits as Katara crossed the line. She felt the other girl lie down, so she figured her expression was as out-of-view as it was likely to get in this sort of situation. Which was steadily getting less amusing and more irritating. Usually Katara would be the type to storm off before allowing anything escalate into a fight...so Azula had figured that would occur fairly quickly. Obviously not the case.

"And what? I was going to capture him...by handcuffing him to myself with handcuffs that are probably going to disappear as quickly as they came into being? Yes, that sounds like a great plan. Pft. No wonder you're a lackey."

Seeing her as a person wasn't very interesting, though. Azula preferred to see people as little puppets or actors running around a stage, players in a play just for her. It wasn't a fantasy she put too much of herself into, but it helped sometimes when it came to distancing herself. If people got too close, it made it easier for her to look down on them again if she thought of their actions as presentations rather than...

Rather than betrayals, let's say.

Azula yawned loudly. "Well, if you must be here, you might as well entertain me."