if there was one thing sokka could get used to about this whole ‘living in the fire nation’ thing, it was the food. as it turned out, fire nation royal parties did not mess around! and maybe he was only supposed to pluck a single bacon-wrapped scallop (with a little dollop of some kind of fancy... cream... sauce... thing on top, but sokka couldn’t remember what it was; for starters, he’d stopped listening after ‘bacon-wrapped,’ and second of all, he didn’t recognize at least half of the words that came out of the poor server’s mouth) from the cater waiter’s tray, but the fire nation had plenty of money from this whole war thing, right? reparations had to be paid, and they could start with sokka’s appetite, thanks. naturally, sokka grabbed the whole tray instead. 

“don’t worry, i’m with the fire lord. he’ll understand. besides, don’t you know who i am? i’m sokka. yeah, you know me. it’s cool.” he waved off the server, who probably went off to retrieve another tray of elegant h’ors d’oeuvres prepared for the occasion, and headed off into the crowd. zuko’d been coronated; time to party. “man, aren’t you so proud of our little zuko? i sure am. look at him. all grown up,” he said—to no one, really, just whoever was around to answer—and wiped a fake tear from his eye. then he popped one of said scallops into his mouth and tossed the toothpick. whatever. it was compostable, right? “let me tell you, you have gotta try one of these.”

Location: The City Center ( Fire Nation Capital City )

      Qin was feeling like, quite literally, a beach ball being thrown around players ( also known as rioters ) without a goal set in mind. People were surging from all sides of the center of the city, either peacefully watching and trying to stay away from all the mess or actively taking part of it. A woman with an enormous wooden sign had hit him on the head and even after her apology, Qin decisevely ignored her. His hood, he thought, made him blend with the crowd, with the only exception that he was the only one wearing a hood at all. The deductive mastermind that he sometimes was, he hadn’t thought that through, yet he didn’t particularly care at this moment in time. 

     Qin Lee’s heart was pounding. His onyx eyes were wary of any potential guards that might try and escort him for a quick chat, though that was his paronia speaking. Nobody would be able to pinpoint a simple young boy who expressed his opinion publicly, right? Upon bumping his shoulder quite hard against another figure, he suddenly turned around, his hood falling back at his neck. He wasn’t even sure who of the two had initiated the bump at all. The boy’s gaze locked on the stranger, his voice coarse after all this silence.

     “For fucks sake, can anyone here walk without pushing people like crazy?“

The crowd had begun to disperse, once-disgruntled protesters now seemingly satisfied with whatever influence their little gathering might have had on their future. Well, what a first impression, Hahn mused, picking off imaginary lint from his sleeve cuffs. The pitchforks seemed a bit excessive now that they were fumbling back to carry out whatever errands they had, but he supposed he shouldn't be too harsh on them. Obviously, he hadn't meant to stumble upon what seemed like a budding revolution of sorts, but who could blame his curiosity with the ruckus that could be heard from streets away? And now that he had, who could blame the cogs in his mind for starting revolutions of their own?

Dissatisfaction after an abrupt seizure of power (and a rather forceful one at that) came as no surprise, except... lack of representation was certainly an unexpected reason. Hadn't they been brainwashed to love their former Lord Ozai? Were they not angry about losing their beloved leader? Perhaps I give them too little credit, he thought dryly. But that meant he had to reconfigure his approach now that things were a little more... complex, to say the least. Now that the bourgeoisie and proletariat weren't exactly united by a common goal, he’d have to jump through a few more loops to seal the Fire Nation’s trust in him. Maybe he should have done some ground work before this. He sighed, looking up at the remaining protesters dawdling about. His eyes lingered on the few rather vocal ones he remembered from the peak of the protest, before meeting gaze of another.

If anyone accused her of spoiling her younger brother, Mai would deny it immediately. Tom-Tom was annoying. He tugged on her hair incessantly, spoke too much while simultaneously saying absolutely nothing at all, and was all in all a useless member of society. He wasn’t even that cute, no matter how often their mother exclaimed that his chubby cheeks and goofy smile made him the cutest Fire Nation child in the world. Every child had chubby cheeks and a goofy smile. But still, Mai often found herself going all the way to the outskirts of the city, close to the border of Harbor City, to stop by Tom-Tom’s favorite pastry shop. Today was one of those days.

When she got ready to pay for the buns and fruit tarts she had picked out however, the pastry shop owner scowled and tried to turn her away by saying, “We don’t want your money here! I know who your father is, girl.” 

the clothes on her skin made her feel uneasy, like she was a stranger even to herself. but kai had chosen this path. there was no second guessing herself without her only option ending up to be to flee. she was fine. she was emi. more often than she’d prefer, she ended up wondering what the fire nation girl was doing and where she was. it didn’t matter. she was probably fine, living a lush life without any worry. the idea of such a life was unfathomable. still, she envied it — she wanted it.

it was hard to pass through the streets. people had flooded them, most heading in the direction of the palace. kai, on the other hand, was taking the time to stroll through the fire nation city, trying to familiarize herself with the streets and shops. it would take some time to know it well, but she had never struggled with such a thing. 

she passed a little stand filled with fruits, plums and peaches brightly stacked. when she noticed the clerk had his back turned, she reached a hand out without turning her gaze. she picked an apple off of the stand, slipped it into her pocket, and kept walking.

what could she say ? old habits died hard.

the streets were louder than she thought she had ever heard them before. people clamored about change and about justice. she had little knowledge of the former fire lord first hand, but she had heard enough from rumors and tales. this new one ? his banished son ? — “ who would have thought an exiled boy would have taken the throne ? ” a quick look at her would give the impression of a disgruntled fire nation noble “ i suppose he can’t do worse than his father. ”

she spoke to no one in particular, but she had never been quiet. her voice carried.

     Toph had her hands extended and waving helplessly, wandering around the streets of Caldera City and bumping lightly into strangers. Muffled and innocent ‘I’m sorry’ escaped her lips each time she did it, a secret smirk harboring inside her conscience. Today was one of those boring days. She had nothing to do, Sparky was probably doing some boring Fire Lord stuff, Twinkle Toes was probably meditating at some boring cliff and Katara and Sokka probably still slept... boringly. Toph wasn’t sure if Suki would be around, the Kyoshi Warriors were usually early birds.

     “Oof, I’m sorry,“ she said to a stranger who she sensed turning around on his heels after their collision.

     “Be careful, stupid girl!“ he said, a flick of her finger enough for him to stumble on his feet when he later continued down the path, kissing the ground. “I guess pretending to be helpless can also turn out to be boring.“ She turned to the feeling of presence beside her. “Are you gonna bore me as well? Let’s do something fun for once after this hell of protests and political issues. We can throw pebbles at squirrels or go find a mud or a swamp and go soak ourselves in!“

Being fashionably late was something invented for people just like Chan. People who were discontent with their current situation and needed a subtle and socially acceptable way to show that. If he was being truly honest he didn't actually want to be at this stupid coronation, full stop. However it sounded like it could be a fun time. So, Chan decided he would go. If there was one thing he had always been weak against it was a good party.

Alright he was actually likely weak against a great deal of things. But that was hardly the point!

Not to mention there were multiple people insisting Chan show up. He had to. If he didn't agree with this new Fire Lord he had to make that clear right away. That was what he had been told. So, here he was looking out for this 'pretender', with a very carefully crafted casually bored attitude hanging around him.