Work Text:
Breathe in, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four. Breathe out, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four. Breathe in, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four. Breathe out, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four. Breathe in, two, three, four. Hold, two, thr- Breath out, two, three, four. No. Breathe in, two, three, four. Breathe out, two, three, four. Come on. Breathe in, two – breathe out. Please.
“Jae?”
“D-Datu! When did you get here?” Jae rapidly ran his fingers through the front strands of his hair. Air pulsed in and out of the room. Datu’s expression was immediately replaced with concern. “Breathe.”
“I’m trying that.”
“Stop pacing, at least.” Datu gently stepped over, holding his hand out. Jae stopped in front of him, putting his hand in Datu’s. Drawing shapes on Jae’s palm, Datu sat down on the bed. He carefully pulled Jae’s armour off and put his own with it. “Did you want to talk about something? What was it?”
“That can wait, Jae.”
“It might help to have something else to focus on.” Datu sucked in a breath. “I feel like they’re probably related.
“Datu.”
“I wanted to ask what was stressing you out so much that you’ve not slept properly for ages and now you’re panicking in your room. It’s definitely the same topic.” Datu kept drawing on Jae’s palm, pulling him closer to kiss his forehead. He started weaving his other hand through Jae’s hair. Jae dropped his head against Datu’s shoulder.
Slowly, the air in the room steadied. Datu rubbed a thumb over Jae’s cheek. “Feeling better?”
“Not overly.”
“Feeling less actively panicky?” Jae nodded. “Okay, I don’t like how stressed you’ve been recently, so what’s going on? What is it?” Jae hesitated. “Did you stumble across some kind of state secret?” Jae looked at him. “Well, it could be worse, you could have found the Avatar.” Jae stared down. “I’m going to stop suggesting things.” Gently, Datu moved Jae’s hair around. He paused. “Is the Avatar that girl you rescued from the sandstorm?” Jae immediately leant back. “No, no, no, that just also happened – and she more rescued me, honestly.” Jae swept a hair strand behind his ear. “Ohh… that’s why you asked me what I thought of the Avatar, wasn’t it? Because she saved you. Shush for a moment. If I figure this out on my own, there’s plausible deniability.” Datu hummed. “The girl saved you from something during the sandstorm, you returned the favour, somewhere in that, she used multiple elements. You wanted to help her, found her sister and their pet rocks and are helping them hide somewhere. No, if it’s a state secret, someone had to already know… Karthik.” Jae stared at him. “I hate how close you are.” Datu let out a slow breath. “Okay. For you, I am willing to meet this Avatar once and see what she’s like. But, if I think there’s any chance she’s trying to trick you, I’m taking her back outside the wall. I’m not risking another cataclysm and especially not you being at the centre of it.”
Karthik sighed. “How is this the first time you break a rule?”
“It’s not the first time, I’ve already lied to the council for you.”
“Actually, he also snuck me into an air bending training session when we were six.” Karthik raised an eyebrow. “He did freak out so much he had to spend a day in the hospital and told his teacher immediately, but he did break a rule before now. And in hindsight, you should’ve been diagnosed way earlier. And technically, he didn’t do anything this time, I figured it out on my own.”
“Correct, I didn’t tell him anything.” Jae hid behind Datu slightly. “Right. Jae, take Datu out of the compound without going into any rooms.”
“I think it’s a good idea. A non-bending instructor might help them.”
“He’s not meeting the Avatar. He’s forgetting anything happened and never mentioning this again.”
“Actually, I’ve already met her. I ran into Jae when he was bringing those twins into town, it’s one of them, right?” Cringing, Jae shrunk further behind Datu. “Stop hiding behind your boyfriend. It’s not happening.”
“I want to know Jae’s safe. He trusts you, but I don’t know you as well, so I want to see the situation for myself.”
“Karthik, it couldn’t do that much harm.”
“And I’m a much better liar than Jae, so I could cover for him if anyone questions why he’s being weird.” Karthik groaned. He beckoned them to follow him.
“Being weird?” Jae whispered as they walked behind Karthik. “You were just stood there freaking out instead of helping with the wall repairs.”
“It was only you who noticed.”
“Everyone noticed, they just ignored you and got on with their work. You brought two twins and their pet rocks –”
“The rocks are her siblings, I think.”
“You still brought twins and their rock collection with faces into town like a tired uncle when everyone knows you don’t have any family members in your care. I don’t think you’ve stopped fiddling with your hair for a week, it’s all over the place.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“If you don’t get some sleep soon, you’re going to spawn a tornado around yourself. Again.”
“That was because of the exams.”
“Yes and this whole thing seems significantly more tornado creating than the brigade exams.”
“Could you two save this for later?”
“Yes commander, sorry commander.”
Nisha pulled the water out of her clothes and dropped it back in the lake. Pavi hummed, looking at the board. She stood up and took a stance. The air moved with her, a spinning ball forming in her hands. She released it and it disappeared. “Aw.” Finally, Datu stopped staring and walked over to whisper to Jae. “What the fuck do you mean there’s two Avatars?”
“Please don’t ask me questions, I know the least out of everyone.”
Jae ran his fingers through his hair as he watched Datu. “I guess the girls do seem nice.”