#...oh well

"I mean, all that work, and yet they couldn't afford to be even a little bit nicer! Show some proper appreciation!" Greylock continued. "All I am is another way King Magnus can show himself up to the rest."

He grimaced as he took another long sip of his tea. "And no matter how much you enjoy something...when you're forced to perform all the time, only what the king wants? Ha! It takes all the joy out of the job, Kendrick."

"It's Cedric," came his friend's usual reply, which drew a chuckle out of him.

"Of course, Toothpick." He settled back now, wondering only now what had come over him. Honesty of this kind did not come to him easily. But perhaps it was the fact that he was glad to be reunited with an old friend, and perhaps it was also the comforting quietness of the workshop and the hot tea that Cedric had poured them. And so he did not regret spilling his heart out like this, at least not yet.

Cedric set his own teacup down on the floating saucer in front of him. "But you're right, yes. These bloody royalty simply do not appreciate us! And really, I think we should do something about it."

He smirked. "I mean, imagine if we took their thrones from them! And they were the ones to follow our orders! And maybe then they'd get a taste of their own potion, when they're forced to have to do everything we said and..." He faltered a bit at Greylock's widening stare as he realised, in a rare moment of foresightedness, that it may bot be the best idea to be revealing such plans as this during casual conversation, even to Greylock.

He cleared his throat. "Of course though, I'm not being serious. You know that, right?"

Greylock shook his head quickly. "No, no, of course you're not, Cedric. No proper sorcerer goes about taking the place of a king...his place is by their side. As miserable as it may be," he muttered.

His face broke out into a grin. "It reminds me of when we were at Hexley, though. You were always muttering about some silly little evil schemes..."

Cedric scoffed. "Well, they were less ridiculous than your tricks! At least my schemes didn't simply have the aim of blowing things up and ending up in the headmaster's office! They were more complex!"

And so their conversation drifted to topics unconcerned with acts of treachery. But Cedric's supposedly nonserious words constantly drifted back into Greylock's mind both during their conversation and afterwards, not leaving him alone for weeks after the jubilee, always showing up whenever he was feeling the same dissatisfaction again that he expressed that night. And eventually he decided to let those words stay and root themselves properly in his head.

Infection | Protective | Confession (not the romantic kind though so idk if it counts)

"I'm disappointed in you, Hero." Superhero's voice, which was usually so rich and warm, was tired and rough. Hero tried to ignore the sting they felt in their chest. Instead they cleared their throat and avoided eye contact, their gaze roaming around the abandoned warehouse Superhero dragged them into.

"I can't imagine why," they fixed their eyes on a crack on the wall, "I save your sorry ass and this is the thanks I get. So typical of you."

Superhero ignored the blatant disrespect. "You deliberately disobeyed my orders."

"What orders?" Hero scoffed.

"You were supposed to stay put." Their superior's voice echoed loudly, a grating voice in Hero's ears. "Your orders were clear. You were to wait for my fucking signal. You were to stay hidden. You were not to attract attention to yourself. You were never supposed to be in the field. Not in this particular mission."

"Why?" Hero couldn't help huffing out a humourless laugh. "Because of Supervillain?"

"YES, BECAUSE OF SUPERVILLAIN!"

Hero flinched. Both they and Superhero were surprised by the sudden outburst. The usual perfect image that Superhero so carefully maintained, even when it was just the two of them, was broken. In front of Hero stood a trembling figure, from anger or fear, they did not know, with disheveled hair and tired, red eyes, possibly from all the sleepless nights. Their tall figure, usually held straight, towered over Hero, who just now noticed how big and intimidating their mentor actually was.

They stood like that for a few moments that seemed to last for eternity, until Superhero realized how harshly they were breathing. They leaned back and ran a hand through uncombed hair, not meeting Hero in the eye.

Hero's mouth felt dry. "Why..." they croaked, their throat suddenly tight, "Why are you..."

"Hm?"

"Why are you like this?" Superhero raised an eyebrow. Their eyes widened slightly at Hero's teary eyes. Hero gulped and continued, their voice wavering. "Why are you pretending you're worried about me?"

"I am worried about you!" Superhero looked like Hero was being the unreasonable one here. It pissed them off. "Hero, I'm... I'm always worried about you."

"Don't give me that crap!" Hero shouted, their face hot and their tears even hotter. Superhero looked shocked. That only pissed them off more. "You were not worried when you trained me until my bones broke and my ribs cracked. You weren't worried when you abandoned me on my first ever mission, leaving me to face Villain alone. You weren't worried when I left on countless missions where I came back with my spirit shattered and with blood on my hands." They took a shaky breath, locking eyes with their usually aloof superior, who had a very strange look on their face. "And you're certainly not worried about me now."

Hero took a small defiant step forward and Superhero a smaller step back. "Admit it." Hero spat with venom. "The only thing you're worried about is your pride."

They panted, feeling big fat droplets of tears on their face. Superhero was eerily silent, with a very odd look on their eyes. Then...

"Is that what you really think of me," their voice was so broken, Hero thought they were imagining it, "Hero?"

Hero blinked. Superhero continued. "Hero I... I care about you. All those things I did, I did it to prepare you for all the dangers this job comes with."

"Then why never show it!?" Hero's voice cracked.

"To protect you!" Superhero sounded both desperate and authoritative. "If I went with you on your first mission it would've attracted more dangerous criminals than what you're facing right now! Criminals that want to get to me! I had to keep you at arms length at all times, less some spy or villain noticed I was starting to care about you!"

Hero only stared shocked as their mentor's eyes filled with tears. Superhero. Crying. Because of them.

"Hero," Superhero looked like a normal civilian then, so small despite their size, so vulnerable, "Hero, you're like a..." their voice trailed off. Hero waited.

"You're like family to me."

And Hero couldn't take it anymore. Their breath hitched as they hunched forward, tears blurring their vision as they sobbed. They felt a warm, gentle hand on their shoulder.

"Whatever I did, all those times I went too rough on you, all those time I ignored you or abandoned you, just know, Hero," Superhero's free hand cradled Hero's cheek, wiping their tears with a thumb. Their face was as teary as Hero's. "I never meant to hurt you."

They slowly wrapped their arms around the smaller hero, hesitantly and when Hero moved closer they held them tight against their chest, stroking their back slowly. Hero's body shuddered and convulsed at every sob they let out, hands clasping tight their mentor's shirt. "I'm sorry." They heard Superhero whisper in their ear, their voice raw. "Please, please, forgive me."

Hero chocked. Superhero's hold on them tightened. "Please."

They stayed like that for a while. Hero was positive their mentor's shirt was sogged with their tears by now. How embarrassing.

"You two are so cute." A cold voice was heard behind Superhero suddenly. Both heroes tensed.

Hero's heart pounded wildly and they felt Superhero tighten their hold before releasing them from their hug. They straightened their back and kept both hands on Hero's shoulders instead. Their face was back to their usually stoic and guarded one, as if they were not crying just a second ago. It was concerning how fast they managed that.

"Supervillain." Superhero greeted, their voice betraying nothing. They gave Hero's shoulders a small squeeze before turning their back on them, facing Supervillain. "It's not like you to lurk around abandoned warehouses."

"There's always a first time for everything, honey." Supervillain's voice drawled in a playful manner, but Hero could've sworn they heard something else in their voice. Bitterness? Superhero didn't answer, keeping Hero behind them.

Hero wiped their remaining tears quickly, stepping slightly beside Hero so they could see their enemy. Supervillain caught their eye and grinned. Hero refused to flinch. How long have they been there? Hero wondered, hands turned to fists.

Guess what I'm sketching (　-∀-)....

I really should have seen this coming when I get back into Atla (；^ω^). I have always supported Kataang, but I have always been heavily aware of Zukaang before even knowing about shipping them. Plus, being a huge fan of Aang had me very aware of the parallels between him and the banished Prince as the show goes on.

Propaganda under cut