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“He’s very attractive.”
“Huh?”
“What? He is, it’s all in the bone structure.”
Well, not all of it, admittedly.
Toph is right, he does smell nice. Musky and earthy. Zuko thinks he would probably smell like shit if he’d been encased in ice for centuries on end, but this guy wears it well.
And his size — Zuko isn’t small. He’d grown up tall and broad, and the painful few inches Aang and Sokka have on him don’t compare to this guy’s height, even more obvious now that he’s upright. He’s big. Wide, with strong, thick arms covered in those swirling tattoos.
Tagah, he’d introduced himself as. His name is Tagah.
He’s also obviously noticed Zuko staring across the makeshift fire.
Tagah walks over to him. He’s been curious about the centuries that have passed, questioned them all extensively as though looking for some sort of trick. He probably has more to ask about. Maybe he has questions about where the Fire Nation fell apart. What the beginning of the end looked like to someone who saw it all up-close.
Zuko thinks that he would be mourning more in a similar situation, but Tagah is strangely at peace.
Zuko’s eyes go up - and up - to Tagah’s face. At least now, with the cold coming in, Tagah’s put a shirt on. Earlier his broad chest had been overwhelmingly distracting.
Zuko clears his throat.
He forgot how shit he is at this.
Tagah saves him. “It’s a strange scar, for a firebender to have.” He comments.
It’s not what Zuko expected, but he’s used to it at this point. “It was a long time ago.”
Tagah chuckles. “Not so long ago for me.”
True. Was that insensitive of Zuko to say? He’s suddenly glad he wasn’t there when they found Aang.
“Are you familiar with the Agni Kai?”
Tagah looks down at him. “I am.” He says.
“That’s what happened.”
“As an Airbender, sometimes it seems… barbaric. To engage in these sorts of fights. But I wonder if it would have been better, to have a tradition that allows it.”
“I suppose it has it’s place.” Zuko says. “But I hope I never have to do it again.”
“Then I hope this for you as well.” Tagah says, nodding as though that solves it. “It’s a good scar.”
Zuko looks up at him. “What?”
“It’s good.” Tagah says. “It makes you look strong. It’s a difficult thing to endure.” And then as if to punctuate the thought, he reaches out and cups Zuko’s jaw, running his thumb below his eye.
Zuko is too surprised to even flinch. His mouth feels dry. “Uh.” He feels his face getting hot. Tagah’s palm is warm against his cheek. “Thanks.”
“You are welcome.” Tagah says gently.
He doesn’t move his hand away.
Zuko moves to take a step forward, when out of the darkness he hears the voices of Sokka and Toph drawing closer. He jerks back. Tagah lets his hand fall to his side.
Zuko clears his throat.
Sokka and Toph are distracted when they come into the clearing, so neither comments on the way the two of them are standing. Sokka luckily doesn’t notice the redness of Zuko’s face, or chalks it up to his proximity to the fire.
“Geez, getting cold out here.” Sokka says. “Zuko, can you turn up the heat?”
Zuko tears his gaze away from Tagah’s dark eyes.
“Uh.” He says. “Yeah.”
He turns to the fire, but he can feel the weight of Tagah’s gaze, and the warmth from his hand still lingering on his cheek.