"I fed your pets while you were away." and Maiko for the promt thing?
@axolotl-druk I am so sorry this took me so long to do. It took me a second to figure out to write Modern AU again, strangely. And it was a different experience writing pre-relationship stuff, which normally I don't do, but it was a lot of fun, so who knows - maybe I'll do it again at some point? Anyways, enough of my pointless stalling; I hope the wait was worth it and that you enjoy it! And again - I'm sorry about the wait.
“Alright, bud,” he says,” looks like your owner is here.”
The snake glances up at him with lidless eyes, his tongue flicking out from between his lips. Seok tilts his head over a little, and if a ball python could look sad, Zuko thinks that Seok’s face is exactly that. Maybe that’s just him projecting, though - he’s a little upset he won’t get to see Seok again for a while. Or Min, who had currently snuggled up next to him on the couch, gently kneading his thigh with her front paws.
Mai had good taste in pets; Seok and Min were sweethearts. Just like the woman herself. He’d been a little surprised when she’d asked him to watch her pets - a sudden trip home? That seemed a little odd, considering what she’d told him of her relationship with her parents - but he wasn’t about to turn her down, not with the crush he had. Now if only he could actually convince himself to make a move.
But that, he knows, isn’t something that will happen for a while. Not until he’s certain of the way she feels.
“Welcome back,” he greets, waving from his spot as Mai sets her bags down.
“I took care of your pets while you were gone,” he says, standing up.” Just like you asked.”
“Thanks,” Mai breathes as she strides over to the couch; Zuko swears his heart skips a beat as she sits down on the couch next to him. This crush of his was going to get him killed one day, he swears. She lets out a small groan, kneads her forehead with one hand.
“That bad?” he asks after a moment.
She lets out a snort, shakes her head.” You could say that.”
There’s a point of silence before Mai speaks again, pointing at his arm.” It seems like someone has gotten rather attached to you.”
He glances down at his wrist; he’d almost forgotten about Seok and holds his arm out to his neighbor.” Uh, yeah. He just...kinda started doing this?”
“Looks like they like you,” Mai says, reaching down to scratch underneath Min’s chin. The cat’s back arches, and her purring gets even louder at the combined attention.
Zuko chuckles nervously, feeling his face blush.” Yeah, I-I guess they do. Hopefully they don’t get upset when I’m not here every day.”
“Well...how about I just call you, whenever they do?” Mai gives him a small, soft smile - he sweats his heart is about to beat straight out of his chest. Her smile is so rare, he’s only seen it on a few other occasions. But he likes it. Likes it quite a lot, as a matter of fact.
“Yeah, that...that sounds good,” he replies, dumbstruck. There’s something in her eyes, something teasing and challenging, and it makes him sweat a little, but in the back of his mind as they talk, he can’t help but think that maybe he should shoot his shot. Apparently he’ll have to wait, though, because she shoos him out of her apartment just minutes later.
It’s barely a day later when his phone buzzes on his counter, and he has to do a double take as Mai’s name flashes on the screen. He can’t help but feel like he should be surprised - he figured she would want some time to herself after a month with her parents - but...for some odd reason...he really isn’t.
“Miss me already?” he jokes.
“I don’t,” she fires back immediately.” But I think Seok and Min do.”
He might not be the best at picking out lies and half-truths, but this time, at least, he’s pretty certain that her pets aren’t the only ones who miss him.
Prompt was a request from this list but it's an old one, so I'm not sure if I'll do any more from it. But anyone can feel free to send me any other prompts or headcanon asks of pretty much any sort for basically any ship (primarily Maiko and Smellershot but I'm open to almost anything), and we'll see what happens!
dededos
vaporwave
kaledo-art
snowghoul
annaxmalina
romaincrisis
jbbartram-illu
