Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Crackpot ❯ Smirk: MaiJin ( Chapter 10 )

Thank the capslock_atla community for this.

 

Smirk

 

Mai was traveling through Ba Sing Se. She'd been a couple of times, and it only got duller with each visit. She wasn't stupid, blind, or deaf, which made the city completely pointless for her to be in.

 

There were some interesting places to be, of course.

 

No one would suspect a daughter of such a high ranking man would travel into the slums of Ba Sing Se as if she were walking through the park. It wasn't an unfamiliar place, nor was it a place for respectable young women.

 

Mai did not think much of respectable young women.

 

Instead, Mai headed to dark little corner where respectable women did not see or know of. Mai instead sat in a booth with other girls—older or younger—and acted as she never had before: like a normal teenage girl.

 

The tea was strong and probably laced with something stronger, but she didn't mind. There weren't many people in today. There were a few groups gathered in various booths. Mai found herself seated with one other: a young, dirty looking girl with an ample chest and a sullen look. She recognized her from a few previous visits, named Jin or something of that nature. Horribly common, but twice as interesting as the other girls she'd been forced to interact with. Mai decided to be social.

 

“There's something wrong,” she said dryly, as if she didn't really care. It wasn't her fault that everything she said came out cynically.

 

Jin nodded, pulling at the collar of her dress. It was pretty. “I had a date tonight.” As if it weren't a happy thing. As if it ended badly. Mai knew about unhappy endings.

 

“What happened?” she asked.

 

“There was a cute boy, but he's `complicated.'” She did the air-quote thing with her fingers. “He worked in a tea shop, and he's not a very good liar.”

 

Mai couldn't help but smile. “Do you spend all your time in tea shops?”

 

Jin didn't quite get the joke and nodded dourly.

 

“How was he complicated?”

 

She shrugged. “I have a few guesses. He wouldn't even kiss me.”

 

Mai knew at any other even she might have to attend, this would be labeled a scandal, two unmarried teenagers kissing. But the people here weren't royalty or rich, and the term dating was a common one.

 

The tea was sweet. Mai took another sip. “What are you going to do now?”

 

“Give up on men,” she answered with a laugh.

 

Mai was surprised to see the smirk on her face mirrored her own.

 

Halfway through the night, the tea had done its job.

 

Mai found out she was not a respectable woman after all.

 

Notes:

And with this overflow of sexiness, Zuko's head exploded.

We have a theory that, since both Jin and Mai share the same sexy smirk and the love of Zuko's sexy bod, the only remaining conclusion is that they need to make out.

Makes perfect sense to me.