To further interrogation

(The lockdown theme aged well, didn't it?)

Azula went straight back to the living room where she sat down on the chair she had been in a few minutes ago. And so I went back to the couch. I immediately noticed her sizing me up, as if she was still trying to figure something out. I was all for more conversation but the last time I had offered something to her I was shot down, so I simply looked at the turned-off TV and tried to mentally prepare for any questions that she might have had for me.

I didn't have to wait much longer as a few minutes after silently sitting she asked me something that I did definitely not expect.

"Just what do you do for a living?"

"What?" It was such a simple and -at least in my eyes- unimportant question. It hadn't come up before in any way, and frankly I would've thought that Azula would be more interested in further information about the lockdown or it's enforcement or even my personal opinion about it but... my job?

"Well" she explained "it just doesn't add up. You're not a bender and you don't do anything that involves physical activity and you are much too young to be a commander, so you're not in the army."

"How do you know that I don't do anything that inv..." I tried to interject while trying to sound as offended as possible but Azula simply spoke over it.

"You're not a trader or craftsman. Your house is much too big for that, especially at your age. You're not an artisan or artist, after all your only decorations are books and a few plants that are on the verge of dying."

Oh yeah, I needed to remember to water these.

"With how your breads tasted you are definitely not some accomplished cook for the royals."

"Hey!"

"You might be a royal yourself, but your house is not guarded and you don't have any servants. Also if you were you'd have to be the humblest royal I've ever met. You didn't even react to me calling you a peasant."

"Ah yes, Jonathan Doe, Count of Blackrock." I said mostly to myself, because I found the idea very amusing.

"So the only reasonable explanation is that you are some kind of criminal. Obviously not one who uses physical strength but some sort of fraud or usurer. This would fit with your dislike of the law enforcement, high intellect and quick wit."

"First off, not everyone who works in investment banking is a fraud, okay? I'll have you know that my assets perform better than..." I started a speech that it felt I had given thousands of times already before I realized something.

"Hey, you just paid me a compliment." I told Azula with a grin.

For a split second her eyes seemed to be in a state of shocked confusion, but she quickly regained her composure.

"I am known to be quite perceptive, so of course I would find your positive traits aswell, no matter how... miniscule they might be."

"Yeah, just don't overdo it, it'll get to my head." I deadpanned. And for what felt like the first time, her smile spread to her eyes. Her cold and superior snark melted into a genuine pleasant smile. Although it didn't last more than a second before she turned her head away it was what felt at least like somewhat of a breakthrough to me.

As Azula stood up and faced me she was back to her stoic self.

"Come on, I want to take a shower."

"Right" I said as I got up myself "I'll show you how the tapware works and then I'll need to start working anyway."

"Of course not. You are going to join me."

"Oh, alright th.. Wait, what?"