Turned Ruby Red » freedomandeyebrows
Well. That hadn't been what he'd expected to happen at all. Except for the tea. Zuko didn't want to drink another cup of tea for the rest of his life because of how much Uncle had made him drink during The Very Awkward Conversation.
It could have been a lot worse, though.
He hadn't been sent away. True, Uncle hadn't quite seemed to like the idea of Zuko being in that kind of a relationship with Jet, but he hadn't yelled at him or told him to stop. Just sighed and said things like it's not unheard of and sometimes love chooses us, which just made Zuko splutter because he hadn't admitted that part at all.
The rest of the day had gone in a sort of daze. He even forgot to stomp around the teashop.
Uncle had said he was happy. Zuko kept coming back to that. He didn't think he was. He didn't think it'd be possible when he stuck in green homespun with tea leaves ground into his palms. There were moments where maybe he wasn't quite as pissed as he could be, and yeah, most of those involved Jet. Still, Zuko wasn't sure if that counted as happy.
Outside, the bell tower rang out, and Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. Half an hour. He should attempt to pay attention to the four customers left in the dining room.
A quick glance told him they were fine, so he grabbed a broom, started sweeping up, and Zuko didn't bother to try to tell himself he wasn't waiting for the bell at the door to ring.