Normally, Zuko's instinct would be to prefer to be evaluated on his martial skills. He's more comfortable failing there than he is failing in conversation in front of important authority figures, and he's done enough of both to have formed a preference. But he's so cast adrift internally, floundering except for the moments Sokka cuts in and bolsters him with either a sarcastic aside or a chatty, distracting remark. Somehow he always seems to know which one Zuko needs at which moment.
It's new enough having a Companion that Zuko hasn't gotten used to that yet. He gets lost in his own head so easily, like he's slipping bit by bit down a rockslide into a dark cavern, painstakingly slowly, and all his attempts to scramble back up make things worse... and then Sokka cuts in with something irreverent and it jolts him out of it.
He can't imagine giving this up. Zuko frankly hasn't bothered to fathom unconditional support since his mother disappeared. He would endure a lot more than exile in a land of demons and having to pass muster with a fellow traitor, even if he does miss his uncle.
He tells himself all this, but he's still jittery with nerves, and as he follows Alberich toward his office, his accent in Valdemaran thickens, hampered by his self-consciousness. But his grammar is smooth, proving he isn't as terrible a student as he always thinks he is in comparison to Azula. "Do we even really know anything about each other beyond our names?" he complains crossly, defaulting to agitated as always. "I hope you're not planning on testing me on that first, because half of everything I've ever learned has been a lie."
let's return to an AU crossover of two series I haven't canon reviewed in 5+ years
It's new enough having a Companion that Zuko hasn't gotten used to that yet. He gets lost in his own head so easily, like he's slipping bit by bit down a rockslide into a dark cavern, painstakingly slowly, and all his attempts to scramble back up make things worse... and then Sokka cuts in with something irreverent and it jolts him out of it.
He can't imagine giving this up. Zuko frankly hasn't bothered to fathom unconditional support since his mother disappeared. He would endure a lot more than exile in a land of demons and having to pass muster with a fellow traitor, even if he does miss his uncle.
He tells himself all this, but he's still jittery with nerves, and as he follows Alberich toward his office, his accent in Valdemaran thickens, hampered by his self-consciousness. But his grammar is smooth, proving he isn't as terrible a student as he always thinks he is in comparison to Azula. "Do we even really know anything about each other beyond our names?" he complains crossly, defaulting to agitated as always. "I hope you're not planning on testing me on that first, because half of everything I've ever learned has been a lie."