Price of a Dare

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/35184829.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Categories: F/F, F/M
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Background Mai/Ty Lee
Characters: Katara (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar), Mai (Avatar), Ty Lee (Avatar), Azula
(Avatar)
Additional Tags: Fluff and Humor, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Aged-Up
Character(s), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, First Meetings, Azula &
Zuko (Avatar) Have a Good Relationship, Truth or Dare, Katara is a flirt,
POV Zuko (Avatar), I Can't Believe I Wrote This, no beta we die like jet
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2021-11-17 Words: 3,295 Chapters: 1/1
 Price of a Dare
by spacelattes

Summary

Zuko should have known better than to step up to any challenge that Azula put forth.

Notes

This idea has been stuck in my head due to the unhealthy amount of TikToks that I've
consumed lol. I decided to indulge myself with a little bit of fun. Small note that I do not own
the rights to Alicia Keys's "You Don't Know My Name".

See the end of the work for more notes

Zuko should have known better than to step up to any challenge that Azula put forth.

Have a drink with us, she said. It’ll be fun, she said.

He digs his fingers into his steering wheel. The rate at which his heart is beating is anything
but fun. If it beats any faster, he very well may have an attack and pass out.

Zuko pauses. Actually, that may be a much better idea than what he's about to do.

“Are we going to sit and think about our life choices all day dummy, or are you gonna put the
car into drive and get in line?” Azula’s lazy drawl cuts through his reverie like a knife.

“Azula,” Ty Lee’s soft voice is admonishing from the backseat, “Give him time. This isn’t
something you should consider easy to do.”

He hears Mai scoff from beside her. “Oh please. It’s one stupid dare, and no offense Z, but
you were stupid enough to let her goad you into it. You know Azula doesn’t let things go.”

“I was drunk!” Zuko exclaims. Why is that not a good enough excuse? “Of course I’d have
agreed to it then. What I don’t get is why you wanted me to do this sober !”

“Where’s the fun in letting Bold Zuko come out to play?” Azula says, “Turtleduck Zuko is
much more fun to play with.” The mischievous smirk that makes its way onto her lips is
almost enough for Zuko to reach across the car and shake her to death.

“Agni, just get it over with,” Mai says, throwing her head against the headrest. Zuko watches
the way she crosses her arms across her sheer, black top before slowly sinking onto Ty Lee’s
shoulder. “And get me a vanilla frappuccino while you’re at it.”

Ty Lee, realizing the battle is long lost, casts him an apologetic smile in the rearview mirror.
“Sorry Z,” she says sympathetically, “Maybe a caramel frappuccino will cheer you up
afterward? And...maybe you could get two?”

Zuko rolls his eyes. Despite his best friend’s efforts to appear neutral, Ty Lee is enjoying his
struggle just as much as his crazy sister and Mai.

“If it doesn’t get thrown at my head first,” he concedes.

“Oh stop being such a baby,” Azula tsks. She dares to move the gear between them into
drive. Zuko quickly situates his hands on the wheel, easing the car into the drive-thru queue.

The Fox and Fig coffee shop has a decent line of customers for almost ten am. Zuko’s sure it
has something to do with the unseasonably hot weather. The Earth Kingdom has shown to be
just as bad as the Fire Nation with its unfavorable heat. He takes a peek at the drive-thru
window, watching as fruity refreshers, iced coffees, and frappuccinos are passed through the
open glass by a slender hand.

Yes, he thinks, definitely the weather.

He wonders how busy it is at the Jasmine Dragon. Ever since Uncle Iroh began to experiment
with flavored iced teas and (at his suggestion) iced coffees, the business has seemed to pick
up. A tinge of guilt zips through him; he’d be there if it weren’t for Azula and her stupid dare.
Uncle jumps at any opportunity for the siblings to spend time together. It’s not that Zuko’s
unappreciative of it either. No, he loves spending time with Azula—a lot more than when
they were teenagers. It’s the trouble and awkward situations that he always finds himself in
that he’d prefer to forgo. Azula lives for putting him through a variety of shenanigans.

Zuko can’t bring himself to join the chatter as the girls delve into an inane conversation. Bits
and pieces drift through his ears about a trip to Ember Island, but he can’t bring himself to
care. No, all he can do is focus on the way that the drive-thru line slowly inches forward.

His palms begin to sweat. Fuck, how did he let Azula talk him into this again?

Because he’d been drunk. Right.

It’s still not fair, he thinks. Mai and Ty Lee’s tasks were not nearly as bad as this. At this
point, he’d rather have tried his hand at pole dancing like Mai had to. Agni, he’d rather have
taken Ty Lee’s task and read every single explicit text he’s sent in the past six months (Not
that he has any to read, and hearing his best friend since diaper’s messages to Mai were
uncomfortable enough with them both in the room). What’s more, the two at least got to do
their tasks drunk. This? This was just plain cruel.

Then again, he had dared Azula to call her ex, Chan, and act as if she were getting off to the
thought of him.

It hadn’t gone well.

On second thought, maybe he does deserve this.

The line creeps forward, leaving him two cars away from the intercom. Zuko prays to Agni
that the other two vehicles will have big orders, if for nothing else than to give him more
time. The first car stays at the intercom for a mere minute before zipping forward.

Zuko curses.

“Almost there,” Azula sing-songs, her golden eyes taunting. “May want to warm yourself up
a bit, Zuzu.”

“Fuck off Zuli,” Zuko grumbles, his fingers tapping up a storm on the steering wheel.

How did it go again? Damn, he can’t remember—wait, no. He’s got it. Agni, what if he gets
up there and blanks? What if he just ignores the dare, orders their drinks, and goes about his
business? Surely there’s nothing Azula can do about that.

Zuko shakes the thought from his head before it sticks. This is Azula he’s talking about. If he
backs out now, he may as well pack his things and move in with mom and Ikem in the
Northern Air Nation. There’s no way that Azula would allow him to live peacefully
otherwise.
The next car pulls away from the intercom, allowing Zuko to move forward. The girls’
incessant chatter stops as he slowly inches the car forward.

“Shit, let me turn on the music,” Azula says, fingers tapping onto her phone to connect it to
the car Bluetooth. A moment later, the sound of soft guitar and melodic background vocals
drifts through the speakers. Zuko’s stomach clenches.

Fuck.

He can do this.

Zuko tightens his grip on the steering wheel—seriously, why are his palms so sweaty?—and
eases the car to a stop.

There’s a momentary pause from the intercom as he rolls down the window, enhancing the
sudden silence around him. Zuko gulps, willing the awaiting worker to ignore them, tell them
the drive-thru is now closed, to—

“Welcome to Fox and Fig Coffee, what can I get you started with this morning?” A bright,
feminine voice calls from the speaker.

Zuko closes his eyes, swallowing back the lump in his throat, and begins.

“Um,” he cringes at the way his voice cracks and clears his throat, ignoring Azula’s snickers
from beside him. “Hi, how’re you doing?” The song’s background vocals sing a harmonizing
oooh in the background; Zuko can’t think of a more ill-fitting sound.

A pause. “I’m great, how’re you?” The girl answers.

“I’m-I’m good,” he pauses, exhaling. His brain frantically pulls up the words. “Look, I feel
kind of silly doing this, but uh...this is the waiter from the tea shop on 39th and Lao. You
know, the one with the...the bun?” Zuko cringes at his improvisation. He wants to bash his
head against the steering wheel.

Another pause. A light laugh rings through the speaker. Zuko’s insides warm at the sound.
“Um, okay. That’s the Jasmine Dragon, right? Ok, what can I do for you, waiter from the
Jasmine Dragon?”

Agni, she knows where he’s talking about. If this person ever comes into the shop after this,
he’ll never live it down. At least she doesn’t sound annoyed; in fact, her voice remains
pleasantly cheerful, if not a bit intrigued.

“Yeah,” Zuko says, “Well, I see you on Wednesdays all the time. You—you come in every
Wednesday on your lunch break, I think.”

“Oh do I?” There’s amusement in her voice now. “A secret schedule I’ve never heard of, I
see. Go on.”

Zuko chances a nervous glance at Azula, who merely raises an expectant eyebrow for him to
continue. A quick look in the rearview mirror awards him with the sight of Mai, engrossed in
her cell phone, while Ty Lee offers a quick thumbs up.

He turns back to the intercom. “Yeah, and you always order the special with the hot
chocolate.”

“Hot chocolate at a tea shop,” the woman laughs, “sounds like my kind of place.”

Zuko resists the urge to drag his hand down his face. She could at least not enjoy this so
much. An active participant in this damn dare makes it much harder to get through.

“My manager always trips, saying we have to use water, but I always use some milk and
cream for you.” He stops, his facing screwing into a full-blown grimace. “Cause I think
you’re kinda sweet.”

Agni, open the ground and let him melt through the car. Please.

Silence rings on the other end. He prays that the other person has fainted from secondhand
embarrassment, before plowing on.

“Anyway,” his voice is sharp and breathless now, desperate to get to the end of this, “I was
wondering if maybe we could get together outside the shop one day? You know, because I—I
do look a lot different outside of my work clothes.”

The intercom is silent for a long time. Zuko’s heart beats faster with every passing second;
they’re probably wondering what the hell is wrong with him in there. No doubt he’s wasted
their time—hell, the line behind them proves it. She’s probably getting her manager, trying to
find a nice way to tell him to buy something or get the hell out of the drive-thru. This is so
stupid, why did he even agree to do a da—

The speaker springs back to life, a peal of laughter floating through the speaker. “Spirits,” the
woman says, “I needed this! Was that some rendition of Alicia Keys? Are we going to be on
a TikTok?”

“Shit,” Azula curses from beside him. “Why the hell didn’t we think of that?”

She promptly turns to the backseat, her golden eyes narrowing in on Mai and Ty Lee, “Why
didn’t one of you think of that?”

Ty Lee offers a helpless shrug. “We were all drunk when you came up with the dare.”

Mai doesn’t bother to look up from her phone. “If you think he’d have gone through this with
a camera pointed at him, then surely I’m much more his sister than you are.” Her voice is dry.
Zuko can’t help but thank Agni for her.

“Um,” Zuko coughs, turning his head back towards the intercom. “No, uh. It was a stupid
dare. Can we...forget it happened?”

The intercom chuckles, “Sure, ‘waiter from the Jasmine Dragon’. Would you like to place an
order today?”
He stutters through his torturers’ orders, half-heartedly tacking his own caramel frappuccino
onto the end of the order. It’ll probably be a waste, he thinks. Something that will only turn
sour in his mouth after his first sip. He’s not sure he’ll live this sort of embarrassment down
for a long time. He sure as hell will never be darkening the doors—or drive-thru—of the Fox
and Fig ever again.

The woman tells him the total, but the numbers barely register in his head. He grumbles a
quick thanks before easing the car forward. In the time that it’d taken him to get through that
mortifying ordeal, the drive-thru window had completely cleared out. A glance behind him,
however, tells him that the line behind him has done nothing but get longer.

There’s no one at the window when he pulls to a stop beside it, and Zuko thanks the spirits
for small blessings. All he can hope for is that the person handling the payment and drinks is
not the same one he’d spoken to, but another part of him knows better. If there is anyone else
in the facility with a headset, then they’d heard the embarrassing ordeal all the same. They’re
probably somewhere in the kitchen laughing their asses off.

A head of chocolate brown curls bounds up to the window, and Zuko’s foot almost mashes
the gas at the startling, blue eyes that greet him. The girl in the window is beautiful, her
heart-shaped face framed by brown curls. Two streaks of blond break up the color, falling on
either side of her face. Her plump, pink lips pull into a grin, offering Zuko the sight of
adorable, blue braces. He just barely catches the name tag above her breast. Katara, it reads.

“Waiter from the Jasmine Dragon,” the seriousness of Katara’s tone is betrayed by the
budding grin on her face. Zuko doesn’t have to guess to know that it’s the girl from the
intercom.

“It’s Zuko,” He says shakily. He almost slaps himself afterward—what does she need to
know that for? What does she care?

Katara’s grin widens, “Nice to meet you Zuko. I’m Katara, your lovely Wednesday hot
chocolate drinker. That’ll be fifteen.”

He scrounges for the wallet in his front pocket, shakily pulling out his debit card and handing
it to her.

Her fingers graze his as she accepts the card. She passes him a playful wink before retreating
behind the glass window, curls whipping behind her as she turns to the register and brings up
his order.

“Looks like you’ve got a fan,” Mai says from the backseat.

“Oh thank goodness,” Ty Lee breathes out. Zuko watches in the rearview mirror as she
dramatically places a hand over her heart. “I thought I was going crazy back here!”

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Zuko grumbles.

Azula scoffs, “Figures. I come up with a fantastic dare and the one person at the drive-thru
for you to try it on is brain dead. And you, Zuzu? You’re an idiot if you can’t even see it.”
“See wha—”

The drive-thru window reopens, and Katara extends his card and receipt over the sill.

“Here you go,” she says brightly. Zuko carefully takes it from her hands, watching as she opts
to lean against the windowsill. “Your drinks will take a few minutes if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Zuko says.

“So, you think I’m sweet, huh?” Katara asks, her lips breaking into a full-blown grin, hair
glowing auburn in the morning light. Zuko’s eyes dart to the dimple that forms in her left
cheek. He can’t help but notice how dazzling her smile is, despite one corner of her lip rising
higher than the other. The braces fit her, too, seeming to accentuate her features than deter
from her lovely face. Zuko's heart skips a beat. At this moment, no other words seem quite
true: she seems really sweet.

“Stunning.” The words seem to fall from his mouth. Zuko stops himself from clamping his
hand over it, the back of his neck and ears warming with heat, “I-I mean, it was a part of the
lyrics! I—Yeah. I-If you can just...forget I just said that?”

Her lips twist playfully. “No can do,” Katara laughs, “You, sir, have already put it out into the
universe. The world now knows that I’m stunning and sweet, and you, Mister Zuko, are the
highlight of my morning.”

“Highlight of the morning, huh?” Azula mutters across the passenger side, “Did I send him
out to get embarrassed or get laid?” She groans, and Zuko is sure that he hears Ty Lee
snickering from the backseat.

“Told you to let him break into the old man’s shop and try fitting himself into the bakery
display for the night,” Mai sighs over her phone.

“And have Uncle Iroh blame me?” Azula scoffs, “No way.”

If Katara hears his friends and sister, she pays her no mind. Those blue eyes are singularly
focused on him. “I take it you’re the guy with the bun then?”

He feels stupid for reaching towards his top knot, fingers grazing the thick bun before quickly
falling back onto the steering wheel.

“Uh, yeah,” he says. Shit, can he come up with something else to say? “I uh, had to make the
words fit me as much as possible. For the dare, that is.”

“I think she gets it,” Azula’s whisper is full of exasperation.

“I have to commend you for improvising on the song, then,” Katara says, laughing.

A coworker comes up from behind her, and Katara steps away from the glass window. Her
teammate presses a cardboard drink carrier filled with four frappuccinos into her waiting
hands before bolting back towards the kitchen. Zuko watches as disappointment paints itself
across Katara’s features as she handles the drinks. He doesn’t have time to contemplate it
before she shakes it off, fixing another smile on her face, before reaching for the sliding
window to push the glass back open.

“Your drinks,” she says, carefully extending the carrier towards him. Zuko tries to grab the
handle from her grip, but she holds fast to it.

“The Jasmine Dragon, right?” She asks.

Zuko raises a brow. Was she still analyzing the lyrics?

“Yeah,” he says slowly, “My uh, my uncle owns the shop.”

“Really,” she says, curiosity fluttering in her blue gaze before shifting to a more daring look.
“I guess you’ll have to point him out to me on Wednesday then. I’d like to say hi.”

His throat goes dry. “You can’t miss him,” he croaks, her words playing like a loop in his
head. “I’m sorry—Wednesday?” He hates the way his voice raises in pitch as if he’s some
teenaged boy.

The way that Katara runs her pink tongue across her bottom lip is like sin. Her fingers graze
his own around the cardboard handle, and Zuko swears he feels an electric current ripple
through his fingertips as she holds his gaze, intent written in her dazzling, blue eyes.

Ty Lee’s right; she’s not going crazy. The thought almost makes him short circuit.

“Of course,” Katara says, lips tilting into the barest hint of a smirk, “I have a reputation to
keep now, after all. The waiter with the bun is expecting me with a hot chocolate, and I intend
to collect it. Every Wednesday.”

She winks at him again, releasing the drinks into his hold.

Zuko is embarrassed to say that, this time, he does accidentally floor the gas.

Azula’s screams about him wasting their drinks fall on deaf ears as he slams his foot on the
brake, preventing them from colliding with a car rounding the corner. His reflexes do not,
however, prevent their frappuccinos from careening out of the driver’s side window and onto
the gravel. He absently notes that it’s his fault; he’d never bothered to pull the drink carrier
into the car. His mind can only think of one thing.

She’s coming in on Wednesday.

Zuko stretches his head out of the open window, locking eyes with a laughing Katara. Her
head is half stuck out of the window, hand outstretched to take the next car’s payment, but
her eyes never leave his. He ignores the wide-eyed look of her next patron; at this point, he
only has eyes for her and that dimpled smile.

“See you Wednesday Zuko!” Katara shouts, stretching out her other hand to wave towards
him. Zuko can just barely manage a wave back before she’s gone.

He should probably tell uncle to put hot chocolate on the menu.

End Notes

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