[it's a nice day in the gift shop! if you ignore the entire circumstances that brought them here, at least. rupert's wandering around trying to keep himself busy, inspecting a snowglobe at the moment. when he notices he's not alone, though:]
Either that or a decoration... But imagine how much work it must have taken! I mean, shaping the glass, and then carving out the little scenery inside there.
[he's about to apologize before zuko tells him to watch it, and then he's about to say something mean in return, but then he apologizes. after a moment:]
presumably by now he has gotten a change of clothes and washed all the blood off; the wound on his arm and back are hidden by what he's wearing now, and he still has a patch of gauze pressed over his left eye socket. gross. he pauses when he sees zuko, though.]
anyways, he's wandering around on wednesday, and while he's trying to keep his distance from others enough that nothing awkward gets shared - he does not manage to do this and something awkward absolutely gets shared when he passes by zuko.
this memory begins in a forest; it's dark, even though you're in a clearing, so it's probably sometime either late at night or very, very early in the morning. there's a boy standing before you - well, not quite standing. the two of you are fighting, after all, and not a spar or a practice battle. you knows that the stakes for this fight are life or death - only one of you can leave this forest. but as the battle (11:48 to 14:11) with two very enthusiastic observers continues, it becomes clear just how much neither of you want to be involved in this conflict. you can barely even hear the two giving their commentary in the background, and you don't spare them a passing glance - even after your sword is knocked out of your hands and you drop to your knees, you're entirely focused on the person in front of you, and the way the feelings you've been holding back for days come pouring out.
[ watching this play out, it's a little dicked up actually!!!! and familiar. fathers pitting kids against each other... in his case, it was him and his sister, but this is still fucked ]
[ what to say, what are the words? ]
.... That's rough, buddy.
[ a beat. ]
N-Not the love. Just that.... you have to fight him. Why do you have to fight him?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
w0, saturday.
Oh, hey. These are pretty neat, right?
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What is it supposed to be?
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[handing one to zuko!!]
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I guess... it's like snow? But paper?
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[is it]
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[ don't be rude, zuko. ]
I mean, what's the point of it? A toy?
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[nerd]
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[ neeeerd ]
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[ zuko goes to look at the stickyhands ]
I guess it's better than... whatever this is supposed to be.
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...Yeah, I don't really get it, either. I think you're supposed to aim them at people?
[learning good lessons from lup]
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[ it hits rupert instead ]
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...That wasn't an invitation, but okay.
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[ interesting. ]
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[ yes. yes he did. ]
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w0, post-exec
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so they are probably going to accidentally walk into each other in five seconds like winners]
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Watch it!
[ .... a pause. ]
Uh. Sorry.
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...It's fine. You okay?
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[ he won't even pretend otherwise. ]
You're not, either.
w1, thursday.
presumably by now he has gotten a change of clothes and washed all the blood off; the wound on his arm and back are hidden by what he's wearing now, and he still has a patch of gauze pressed over his left eye socket. gross. he pauses when he sees zuko, though.]
Ah... Hey.
[awkward]
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[ this is indeed awkward. zuko is not good at this stuff, he's just kind of. awkwardly hovering. ]
You need anything?
w3, wednesday.
anyways, he's wandering around on wednesday, and while he's trying to keep his distance from others enough that nothing awkward gets shared - he does not manage to do this and something awkward absolutely gets shared when he passes by zuko.
this memory begins in a forest; it's dark, even though you're in a clearing, so it's probably sometime either late at night or very, very early in the morning. there's a boy standing before you - well, not quite standing. the two of you are fighting, after all, and not a spar or a practice battle. you knows that the stakes for this fight are life or death - only one of you can leave this forest. but as the battle (11:48 to 14:11) with two very enthusiastic observers continues, it becomes clear just how much neither of you want to be involved in this conflict. you can barely even hear the two giving their commentary in the background, and you don't spare them a passing glance - even after your sword is knocked out of your hands and you drop to your knees, you're entirely focused on the person in front of you, and the way the feelings you've been holding back for days come pouring out.
(happy last day of pride)]
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[ what to say, what are the words? ]
.... That's rough, buddy.
[ a beat. ]
N-Not the love. Just that.... you have to fight him. Why do you have to fight him?