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“Everyone here sucks. This whole party sucks.” Jet bemoaned, burying his face back into the thick fur of the huge sheepdog that lay sprawled out on the bedroom floor, who simply panted softly in response, before lifting its head up to stare curiously at him, confused by the sudden lack of belly rubs.
Peeking through the thick tufts of fur, he briefly glanced up and caught the animal’s puzzled expression, and, for a second, he felt the strongest pang of guilt course through him, largely powered by the alcohol still working its way through his system. It just looked so sad, so offended by his words, and Jet felt horrible for even insinuating that this poor dog was somehow included in his statement.
Reaching over to scratch said dog behind the ears, he managed a small smile as he watched it plop its head right back down, tongue lolling out in content, tail thumping against the floor as it attempted to wag.
“Okay, okay, let me try that again. Everyone here sucks… except for you, Appa. You’re the coolest… well, I guess you're not really a person… You’re the best thing at this party. How’s that?”
Appa just huffed, the small puff of air stirring the fur that hung over his eyes, and Jet chuckled, continuing to lazily pet him as he let his mind wander.
Man, I wish I had a dog like this, he found himself thinking, catching himself chuckling when Appa sneezed and startled himself, looking around the empty room in confusion. After calming him down, the teen turned himself over, continuing to lean back against the dog as he stared at the ceiling, gaze focused on the faint, ever-changing colored light that seeped through the gap of the nearly-closed door. He’s really nice. And soft. And doesn’t hate me, I think.
“I never knew that Aang had a dog- I wonder why he’s never told me about you before.”
Understandably, Appa didn’t respond, electing to stare at the door instead, leaving Jet alone in relative silence, alone with his thoughts.
Well… his whole group never really let me hang around much, did they. So it makes sense that this big guy was probably included in that, too.
With this new thought in mind, the act of being so close to Appa suddenly felt rebellious, and his greatest act of rebellion was to continue to shower his new friend with affection and drunkenly-spilled truths.
“I bet you’d be better than them. If you were a person, I mean. You’d actually be friends with me. We’d be good friends, you ‘n me. You, with your softness and dog-ness and… bigness. And me, with my… my…”
Jet’s brows furrowed as he attempted to find a good word for himself, wracking his entire brain for just one positive thought.
“... coolness? Am I really cool? Should I care if I’m cool or not? Is that something I should be proud of, if I am even cool? I know some people think I’m cool,”
He paused, glancing down at his patch-ridden jacket for a moment, then tilted his head to look up at Appa from where he lay, ignoring the obvious fact that the animal wasn’t paying any attention to him at all.
“Hey Appa, do you think I’m cool...?”
The faint sound of house music blasting from downstairs became the only noise that settled between them as Jet lay waiting for some kind of answer.
And then, Appa sneezed again, and the unexpectedly non-verbal response startled him back to reality, leaving him to face two very important realizations that slowly made their way through the thick haze currently clouding his mind:
One being that he sounded absolutely ridiculous with his filter removed, simply blurting anything that came to mind, and the other being that he was turning to a dog for validation.
It was funny. Hilarious, even. Jet chuckled, mirthless, the sound coming out as more of an empty scoff, if it were anything at all. He’d really let himself fall this low, huh? He chuckled again, allowing his eyes to close, eyelids feeling heavy as he sank right along with his thoughts.
Of course the night had ended up like this.
He’d already suspected that it would all turn out like this for him, from the very moment he’d stepped onto the deceptively-named welcome mat, watching the door open and remembering the face of the boy who’d greeted him, remembered how his face turned from inviting to strained in a matter of seconds, jaw clenching just to hold up what had originally been a natural smile, one that changed just for him.
He remembered the brief introductions, the pairs of eyes that settled on him brimming with hidden judgement right before they tore their gazes away, the hushed whispers that followed as he walked past, making him feel as though he stuck out like some kind of sore thumb, like he didn’t belong. He found a part of himself agreeing with them then, unafraid to admit to the possibility that they were right, and yet the rest of him continued to be much too stubborn to do anything but try and get hammered in an attempt to ignore it.
And now, he was stuck. Stuck at a house party he should’ve never gone to. Stuck spiraling in the dark corner of a spare bedroom of a house he didn’t want to be in. Stuck leaning on a dog that wasn’t his, a dog who belonged to someone nicer than him, someone much cooler than him. Better than him, even.
More than anything else in the world, he wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else, be anyone else, and yet he remained, practically rooted to his place on the floor.
“Bless you,” Jet finally muttered, desperate to say something to break the oppressive semi-silence, and the corners of his lips twitched ever so slightly upwards as he felt Appa settle, resting his head on the floor and curling inwards, as if finally accepting that the boy currently resting against him wasn’t planning on moving anytime soon.
“Sorry about all of this,” he began, a familiar pang of guilt coursing through him as he sighed, “I don’t normally get like this. I’m a lot better at holding it together when I’m not… like this.
“I shouldn’t have asked about the coolness thing. Or anything at all. I don’t care if you think I’m cool or not. Or even if we’re really friends. I’m just glad you’re listening. Or tolerating me, I guess. Most people won’t even give me the time of day sometimes,
“At least I’ve got someone to talk to, and I’m not-“
Footsteps. Someone was coming up the stairs, and Jet’s eyes snapped open, nearly biting his tongue as he forced himself to stop talking, not wanting someone to walk past and catch him drunkenly rambling to empty space.
Jet could faintly hear some kind of mumbling, but he simply ignored it, figuring it would pass as the person did as well. No one ever came up here for anything other than to use the bathroom, anyway.
Wait. They weren’t just passing by. The footsteps were getting louder.
Are they... getting closer?
Before he could react, the door swung open as someone strode in, barely managing to catch and half-close the door behind them with their foot as they headed right past the heap that lay on the floor, caught in the middle of some kind of conversation with something that lay in their arms.
“-put the cat upstairs because he’s knocking stuff over, Haru, oh, could you go do this for me, Haru? It’s like I don’t exist until someone needs me for something,” Sitting down on the edge of the bed that sat in the center of the room, the person then leaned back, falling backwards onto the bed with an unnecessarily dramatic groan of annoyance as they did so. “Maybe I should be thankful that anyone needs me for anything at all,”
Breath hitching, Jet slowly sat up, moving carefully so that he wouldn’t accidentally stir Appa, peering curiously over at the person lying on the bed, attempting to discern their features in the dim light.
Long, brown hair spilled all over the bed and obscured their face, much to his annoyance, but the lack of predominantly blue hues on their flannel quickly told him that, at the very least, whoever this was, it wasn’t Katara nor Sokka, which managed to calm his nerves somewhat.They’d also been griping about some sort of cat; if they were up here to bring a cat up, then where was-
A sudden meow cut through his thoughts, and the bundle in their arms raised its head, sitting up as it simply stared at them for a moment, green eyes appearing to glow in the dark, before it yawned, laying back down as it curled up on their chest, resting its head right under their chin as it purred contentedly.
The person remained quiet for a moment, before they laughed, the soft sound filling the air as they reached over to scratch the siamese cat’s head, appearing to smile as they did so.
“... At least you like me, Momo,” They sighed, allowing their own head to fall back onto the bed with a small thud as they stared upwards, lazily combing their fingers through the cat’s short fur. “Kinda funny how you probably like me more than your owners do, huh.”
Jet couldn’t stop himself from agreeing, and the alcohol-induced lack of filter actually caused him to say it aloud, finding himself blurting like an idiot. “Hey, same here,”
Startled, the person lying on the bed stiffened, eyes going wide as they attempted to move, much to Momo’s annoyance. Managing to maneuver the slightly irritated cat back into their arms, they quickly sat up, gaze darting about the room before finally settling on the inebriated boy in the corner, who simply responded to being spotted with a lazy wave and a grin, which wasn’t returned, as they elected to instead gape at the fact that there was someone in the room in the first place.
“... How long have you been laying there?”
“Long enough,” Jet paused, thinking about it, before settling on the truth, “About an hour, maybe even longer,”
“And you were just… on the floor, staring at me?”
“Well, you sounded like you were in the middle of an important conversation with that cat of yours. I didn’t want to interrupt or anything. And I wasn’t staring, I was just… uh… shit, actually, I might’ve been staring. Sorry about that.” He laughed awkwardly, gaze dropping to the floor, suddenly interested in the carpet he was laying on, and he started to pick at it, desperate for a distraction. “I didn’t expect anyone else to come here while I was busy being drunk and… yeah,”
The other simply stared at Jet for a moment, before finally turning to face him, settling Momo on their lap as they did so. Scooting into the light in an attempt to get a better look, he could see their face much clearer now, framed by a pair of long bangs and wearing an indiscernible expression, raising a brow as they appeared to be looking him over.
Now under someone else’s scrutiny, Jet expected them to be disgusted, to be put off by the boy laying on the floor, the boy with the chewed end of a hoodie string hanging out of the corner of his mouth, laying sprawled on the ground with one leg lazily propped on the other, and currently making it his life’s mission to pick all the dirt out of the carpet for some reason.
What he didn’t expect was for them to get off the bed and sit across from him, crossing their legs and plopping the cat in their lap, petting it as it got settled for, hopefully, the last time, resting its head on their leg as it got comfortable. In the dim light of the room, Jet glanced up and caught their expression, realizing that they were…
Are they… worried? Over someone like me?
“Hey, are you okay?” In the gentlest voice he’d ever heard before, the stranger cocked their head to the side, appearing to be genuinely concerned for the other’s well-being. “Sorry, I know I walked in and interrupted… this, and you probably just want me to leave, but,” They paused, glancing down at the cat curled up in their lap, fumbling over their words for a moment before continuing, “I’ve been like you, like this, at my own fair share of parties, and I’ve learned that it… well, it sucks. Being alone, I mean, while everyone else is having the time of their lives. Just… feeling stuck by yourself, feeling lonely, you know?”
The sudden onslaught of sympathy caught Jet off guard, and his alcohol-ridden brain raced to formulate a proper response, but he found himself at a loss for words, barely able to manage the tiniest of nods, which the other didn’t seem to mind, acknowledging him with a small nod of their own.
“I just… wanted to tell you it’ll get better. Even if, right now, it‘s not… that great.” Reaching out, they placed a hand on his knee, too far away to reach his shoulder due to him lying against Appa. “Which probably doesn’t mean a lot from someone you don’t even know, and you were probably just… drunkenly venting, but-“
“It does mean a lot though,” Jet blurted, and he found himself moving, sitting up, finding the words that fled him before now falling right out of him. “You’re the only person who’s checked on me, and I was laying there for… I don’t even know how long anymore. I forgot. Point is, though. The only person, and it’s a stranger who takes pity on me,”
“No one? Seriously?”
“Yup.” Emphasizing the end of his depressing admittance with a pop, he found himself laughing, a single, abrupt ‘ha!’ escaping him, and he shook his head, managing a half-smile. “Which is funny, ‘cause I really thought at least one of them would start wondering what I’m up to,”
“... I’m really sorry, that sucks,”
“No, god, don’t be sorry,” Waving a dismissive hand, he rolled his eyes as his tirade continued. “I shouldn’t even be here to begin with. Like, I just waltzed in through the door, acting like I belonged, invited just like everyone else. They’re all probably glad I’m gone,” Sighing, he leaned back, uncrossing and recrossing his legs, causing the other to let go as he laid down on Appa again, who barely stirred outside of the occasional ear flick. “I’m a fucking idiot… I really thought these people would be happy to see me here,”
The person sitting across from him clasped and unclasped their hands a couple times, gazing off to the side as they appeared to ponder something. Jet didn’t notice, as he was busy gazing at the ceiling, rolling and tossing wadded balls of carpet felt and dirt up at it, barely reacting even when one of them fell back down onto his face, slowly rolling off and back to the floor from whence it came.
“Hey, uh, is your name Jet?”
Blinking, the teen glanced at the other at the hesitant mention of his name, brow quirking upwards. “Yeah, actually- how’d you know,”
“... They were actually talking about you downstairs, I think,” They admitted, avoiding his gaze. “I don’t remember most of it, but… they did mention being surprised to see you here, along with… other things.” Pausing, they glanced over at him, worry crossing their features once again. “Do you want me to tell you… ?”
“Sure. Hit me,” Jet shrugged, though he fidgeted with the remaining felt, rolling it between his pointer and thumb absentmindedly. “Can’t be any worse than some of the shit I’ve heard before,”
Wearing a rather pensive expression, they took a deep breath, electing to glance down at the cat in their lap instead of holding eye contact with the boy sitting across from him as they began.
“They pretty much called you arrogant, and said you were here to do nothing but stir up trouble,” They glanced up briefly, trying to read Jet’s expression for a moment, before glancing right back down again. “I don’t usually… eavesdrop, but then she turned and started venting to me. Katara did, I mean.”
Jet rolled his eyes, turning on his side to face away from the door. “Of course she did,” He muttered bitterly, “Knew she would. I don’t even know what I did to her… Sorry, go on, what’d she say,”
“... Uh, she said that she’s still very upset that you… rejected her so rudely…?“
“She’s fourteen.” Jet responded flatly to the statement. “And I’m seventeen. She’s nice, but it would've been really weird.”
“Yeah, I get that… Honestly, I didn’t think she had a thing for anyone but Aang,” They laughed softly for a moment, before they stopped, clearing their throat upon realizing that the other boy definitely did not find this fact as amusing as they did. “Anyways, I told her that she should talk it out with you, instead of talking behind your back, and she just said no, because you’re ‘not the type to listen to reason’ or something. Which… I don’t know, she’s usually willing to hear others out, even when they’re being unreasonable, so it was kind of… weird, at least to me,”
“...”
Realizing that Jet had fallen silent, they did as well, taking the opportunity to pet the cat that lay in their lap, who purred softly in response, rubbing his head up against their leg. The purring became the only sound that filled the room, with the two now sitting in relative silence, the partying downstairs muffled by the closed door.
Jet quietly mulled over their words, still processing the realization that, out of everyone, Katara was singling him out, and he didn’t know what else to feel but hurt. The fact that he was still buzzed definitely didn’t help in the slightest, and he blinked quickly, wiping at his face with his sleeve the moment he thought that the other wasn’t looking.
Apparently, he’d judged that moment a little too quickly.
“... Jet? Shit, are you- Here, try to sit up,” A hand appeared on his shoulder, urging him to sit up, and Jet did so, moving mechanically, hair mussed and sticking out in every direction, and he found the other boy reaching up to pluck stray bits of fur out of his hair, tossing it off to the side as they moved his hair out of his eyes, allowing them to see his flushed face. Try as he might, he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the other’s face, which emanated such genuine concern under the focus they were displaying as they fixed up his hair, reaching to pull a pack of tissues from their jean pocket, which they offered to him once they were done. He eyed them for a moment, as if processing what the offer meant, before he took a couple, using them to wipe his tears quickly, tears he didn’t realize were there until he pulled the tissue away and realized it was damp.
Staring at the tissue in hand, he found himself completely dumbfounded by the sight, and even more dumbfounded at the fact that he was allowing himself to be openly upset in front of another- an actual person, this time, which he never did.
And yet… they’re still being so nice to me...?
“I’m so sorry about all of this,” The stranger sympathized quietly, pocketing their tissues as they placed their hand on his shoulder again, squeezing lightly in an attempt to comfort him. “You seem really nice, and nothing like what I’ve heard… it must be a messy situation to be in,”
Jet could only nod numbly, balling the tissue in his hand and shoving it in his jacket pocket, where it would stay, completely forgotten about until he cleaned it out again.
“It sucks,” He finally managed to respond. “They suck.”
“Yeah, people suck sometimes,” They agreed, glancing over at the door for a moment before returning their attention back to him. “But maybe they’ll come around. And if they don’t, well… um, I’m here for you,” Offering him a small smile, they withdrew their hand, and Jet found himself wishing it had stayed there for just a little longer. “And if you need someone to talk to, just ask for the guy in the green headband, they’ll know who you’re talking about... Well, I usually have a headband on, but, uh, I left it at home this time,”
“I’ll… do that, thanks,” Jet managed a tiny smile, then a look of mild horror overtook it as a realization suddenly struck. “Wait, shit, I never asked for your name, did I,”
“Oh, you didn’t, but that’s okay, people tend to forget sometimes-“
“No, not okay, it’s really rude, taking all this kindness and not even bothering to get your damn name, god, I’m sorry,” The shame he felt at this manifested in the form of him putting his face down in his hands, groaning for a moment before peeking through his fingers up at them, chuckling awkwardly. Words partially muffled behind his hands, he finally bothered to ask. “Mind telling me who you are...?”
He swore it was just the alcohol still making its rounds as he felt his face heat up as they laughed, the gentle sound being the nicest thing he’d heard all night.
“Sorry, sorry, not laughing at you, I just… I’m Haru,” He said with a smile, and Jet was glad he’d buried his face in his hands then, hiding his own stupid smile and warm face away from the other boy, who thankfully didn’t catch it this time. “Oh, and this is Momo, he’s not my cat, but-”
Unburying his face just in time to see Haru holding the cat mere inches away from it, Jet yelped, startled, throwing an arm behind him to stop himself before he tumbled back onto Appa, who woke with a start, whipping his head about wildly around as he, too, tried to figure out what was going on.
Haru quickly took the cat back, who seemed offended by the response, glaring directly at Jet as Haru cradled it close, raising a brow at Jet, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips. “I guess you’re not much of a cat person, huh,”
“Not when you put it in my face like that, no!” Scoffing, Jet crossed his arms as the other boy laughed again, half-tempted to rescind his original thought about Haru having a nice laugh, when Appa distracted him with a huff, getting his attention as he gave him some sort of pointed look, before standing, heading right on over to Haru, laying next to him instead, clearly done with these shenanigans. Watching, Jet winced, miffed by the fact that the dog was choosing Haru over him. “I’m not much of a dog person either, apparently,”
“Aw, hey, I’m sure Appa’s just tired, I bet he still likes you,” Haru placed Momo down on the carpet so he could reach over and scratch Appa behind the ears, and Jet gave the cat a look as it stood, staring directly at him, its peculiarly green eyes practically boring into him in a way that put him extremely on edge. This only worsened when Momo decided it wanted to investigate the teen’s jacket, sniffing his shoes a couple times before attempting to climb onto his lap.
Jet froze before attempting to scoot away from the cat, becoming more and more creeped out as Momo simply continued to follow him about, and Haru watched, thoroughly amused as the cat backed Jet into a wall, finally stopping him long enough to properly climb onto him, hooking his claws into a sleeve as he appeared to be trying to climb up and onto his head.
As he managed to accomplish this, resting his head in his messy hair, Jet didn’t dare move a muscle, eyes going wide as he stared over at Haru helplessly.
“Haru, for the love of god, please get this thing off of me,”
Haru ignored his pleas in favor of taking his phone out and snapping a picture, barely able to contain his laughter as Jet scowled at him, definitely not amused.
“You better delete that,”
“Alright alright, fine, I will,” Making a show of deleting the photo from his library, which he absolutely did, Haru finally stood, heading over to the boy currently frozen against the wall, shaking his head with a smile as he knelt down next to him. “He really likes you, though,”
“Well I sure as hell don’t. Seriously, it’s gonna claw my eyes out or something, get it off-“
The moment Haru got the cat out of his hair, literally, Jet combed his fingers through it, attempting to get Momo’s hair out of his own as he gave Haru a look. “You were so nice to me earlier, what happened to that,”
“Hey, I still helped you,” Haru pointed out, setting Momo down again as he decided to sit down next to Jet, crossing his legs as he did so. “It just... took a little while,”
“‘Took a little while’ my ass, you just wanted to see me suffer,”
“Me? Wanting to watch you suffer? Because seeing someone be so scared of a tiny little cat is pretty hilarious?” Huffing, Haru pretended to be extremely offended by the notion, the disbelief on his face only betrayed by how much he was grinning. “No way, I don’t find that funny at all, not in the slightest,”
Jet found that smile to be infectious, and he broke into one of his own, lightly elbowing the other in the side as payback, which earned him an over dramatic huff. “I’ve only known you for, what, ten, thirty minutes? And you’re already making fun of me,”
“Yeah, well, friends do that sometimes,” Haru reached over to pluck a few stray cat hairs out of Jet’s own, smiling coyly, though it faded ever so slightly, and he withdrew, realizing how upfront he was being. “Uh, if you’re… cool with me calling you that, I mean, if you want, I know we just...” Met with stunned silence, he trailed off awkwardly, quickly feeling bad for imposing.
“You... want to be friends with me?” The awe in his voice caught Haru off guard, and he quickly nodded, avoiding Jet’s wide-eyed gaze.
“Yeah, you… seem like a really cool person. Not like… that’s something that matters to me,”
Jet simply stared at Haru for a moment, breath hitching without him realizing, forgetting to respond until the notion struck him, and he found himself smiling softly, genuinely, for the first time that whole night.
“I’d love to be your friend.”