Work Text:
The new guy at school was probably the hottest human that Sokka had ever laid his eyes on. The guy had this long, dark hair that dusted over his eyes and he had the coolest scar covering half of his face. He even walked like some sort of sex god. His slim legs strutted past where Sokka was sat under a tree with his group of friends, an equally gorgeous girl trailing a few steps behind him.
“Who is that?” Sokka whispered once they were out of earshot.
“That’s Zuko, and his sister, Azula,” Toph said. Sokka had no clue how she could even tell who’d just walked past, considering she was completely blind.
“How do you even know that already?” Katara said. She crossed her arms and watched the attractive siblings walking away.
“It’s a gift,” Toph shrugged, “also, I heard one of the teachers give them the introductory tour earlier.”
“I think I’m in love,” Sokka said. He’d already planned out their wedding and long, happy lives together in his head. He’d never wanted something so badly.
“I think he might have a girlfriend,” Aang said, “sorry.”
“What? How do you know?”
“He’s literally hugging her right now,” Katara gestured to where Zuko was stood a little while away from them, sure enough with his arms around a girl.
“Is that…” Sokka squinted, trying to get a better look, “Mai?! Why would he choose her?” He sighed at the injustice of it all. It hadn’t even been five minutes and he’d already been snatched up by stupid Mai. He slumped back into the grass dramatically. “I’ll never be happy again!”
Turns out, Zuko wasn’t just attractive; he was also the coolest guy that Sokka had ever met. The older boy worked at his uncle’s Café in town and he looked bloody good in his apron. He’d also spend his time putting water and treats out for dogs passing by. He was literally an angel sent to bless Sokka’s eyes. Today, Sokka had dragged Toph with him to do some light stalking, just for research purposes. The whole Mai thing was just a blip in their epic love story, Sokka was sure they were meant to be together.
“We need to put on a sexy voice,” Sokka informed Toph before they entered the building. “Just talk as if you’ve got a cold or something. The deeper the sexier, apparently.”
“I don’t know why I have to join in on this,” Toph said, letting out a sigh.
“Because Katara says it’s creepy and Aang just agrees with everything she says,” Sokka pouted, “please, I’ll pay for your drink.”
“Fine, but I want a cookie too,” Toph agreed and cleared her throat a few times. “How’s this for a deep voice?” At first Sokka thought it had been an old man speaking and not his small friend.
“Uh,” Sokka blinked a couple times, “maybe a little higher?”
“Better?” Toph tried again. Sokka nodded, it still sounded a bit strange but who was he to argue with the advice he’d been given? He pushed open the door to the café and a little bell rang to alert the barista that there was a customer. Sokka was glad to see there was no one else in the queue ahead of them, he didn’t want to wait around getting nervous.
“Hello, what can I get for you today?” Zuko greeted them with an effortless smile. He looked so beautiful that Sokka wasn’t sure that he’d be able to talk at all.
“Can I have a hot chocolate with whipped cream and a cookie, please?” Toph said in her put-on deep voice.
“I can add some honey to that if your throat is sore,” Zuko said, frowning a little in concern.
“It’s fine,” Toph quickly replied, this time in her normal voice. She discreetly punched Sokka in the arm when Zuko tapped her order into the till. The deep voice wasn’t such a good idea, Sokka noted.
“And what can I get for you?” Zuko’s yellow-brown eyes on him almost made Sokka’s knees buckle.
“Can I get a latte?” Sokka panicked, reading the first thing he saw on the menu hanging on the wall behind the counter.
“Of course. Will you be paying separately or together?” Zuko asked.
“Together,” Toph chimed in and pushed Sokka ahead of her to pay.
“That’s 6.30. What’s the name for the order?” Zuko passed the card reader over to Sokka who tapped his card.
Sokka forgot his own name for a moment. “It’s Sokka,” he eventually said.
“Thanks, Sokka, I’ll call you over when it’s ready.”
Sokka kind of wanted to die. That couldn’t have gone any worse. Zuko probably thought he was stupid now. At least he hadn’t been the one to do the deep voice thing, he might’ve just perished on the spot if it had been him.
“Where do you even get dating tips like that from?” Toph sulked as they waited for the drinks.
“I read it in one of my sister’s magazines,” Sokka shrugged, “maybe you just didn’t do it right.”
“Yeah, sure, that’s it,” Toph shook her head. “I hope that he’s attractive for all this trouble you’re putting me through.”
“Believe me, he is.”
“Drinks for Sokka?” Zuko called from the counter. Sokka practically tripped in his eagerness to get them. He ignored Toph’s laugh and tried to play it off cool as he approached Zuko.
“Thank you,” he picked the drinks up from the counter and placed one in Toph’s hand. He was about to make a smooth departure, when his sister and Aang walked through the door.
“Sokka?” Katara looked at the cup of coffee in his hand. “Why are you drinking coffee? You know caffeine gives you the runs.” Toph’s burst of laughter turned the heads of most of the other people in the café. Sokka was mortified. He was going to kill his sister for that. He glanced at Zuko who stood mostly expressionless behind the bar, clearly holding back his own laughter. Brilliant. Now the hottest guy in the world knew about Sokka’s occasional bowel issues.
“No, it doesn’t,” Sokka said through gritted teeth and power walked out of there before he burst into tears.
Sokka wasn’t brave enough to return to the café for a good few weeks after the traumatising ordeal. Toph loved bringing it up whenever Sokka thought he might be able to forget about it. It didn’t help that Zuko seemed to be everywhere, taunting him with his beautiful face.
“I need to borrow Appa,” Sokka said to Aang one day as they walked back from school. Appa was Aang’s giant Malamute, he was pretty much twice the size of his owner.
“Why?” Aang asked.
“Zuko loves dogs. I’ve seen him feeding them outside the café,” Sokka shifted his schoolbag. “So… I have an idea. I promise nothing will happen to Appa, but I’ll love you forever if you let me take him?”
“Fine,” Aang shrugged, “but bring him back by 6pm he has a grooming appointment.” Sokka punched the air. His first step to getting Zuko to fall in love with him was complete.
Saturday came around quickly and Sokka wasn’t sure if he could go ahead with the plan. What if Zuko realised it was all fake and thought he was even weirder than he did now? Either way he had to pick up Appa in twenty minutes, so he might as well go ahead with it now. He pulled his jacket on and shouted out to let Katara know he was leaving. The weather was nice out, the first signs of summer and Sokka had a good feeling. He walked up to Aang’s front door with a new confidence; he was going to get himself a Zuko.
A little while later Sokka was looping around the park for the sixth time. He checked his watch; Zuko and his friends were due to arrive for their soccer practice. Sure enough, a couple minutes later, a group of teenage boys came strolling into the park and began kicking a ball around.
“Now’s your chance to shine,” Sokka whispered to Appa, “like we’ve discussed. I let you off the lead and you just hide here in this bush for a bit, so I get to talk to Zuko. I promise you there’s a load of treats in it for you if it works out.” He unclipped Appa’s lead and shooed him behind the bushes. He’d been watching the boys kick the ball around hoping for Zuko to take a water break so he could approach him. Finally, Zuko broke off from his team and sat himself on the ground with a water bottle. Sokka kicked into gear and walked over, a sad expression schooled onto his face. Zuko looked up as Sokka approached him and he flashed one of his winning smiles.
“Hey, Sokka isn’t it?” Zuko put his bottle down and got to his feet. Sokka nodded and looked down at his feet.
“Hi, Zuko.”
“Everything okay?” Zuko tilted his head. Sokka was momentarily distracted by how good the boy looked in his sports gear. It was quite unfair. Zuko cleared his throat.
“Well, I was looking after my friend’s dog and a squirrel jumped out of nowhere and he pulled right out of my hands. Now he’s gone missing,” Sokka said, turning his lips down for good measure. “I have to have him back to Aang by six and I can’t find him.”
“What’s his name? Do you want me to come and look for him with you?” Zuko glanced back at his friends.
“Really? You’d do that? He’s called Appa,” Sokka grinned before remembering he was meant to be sad about losing the dog.
“Yeah, of course, I’ll just tell the guys. We’ll get him back for you,” Zuko jogged over to his friends and spoke with them a bit before jogging back over to Sokka. “Ready?”
Sokka had spent the last twenty minutes making sure Zuko didn’t see Appa who was lying under the bush, enjoying the sun. They had surprisingly a decent amount in common. Once Sokka got over the whole ‘talking to a literal angel’ thing he found the conversation flowed easily.
“Can I admit something?” Zuko asked. He stopped walking and Sokka almost crashed right into him.
“S…sure,” Sokka recovered his balance.
“Is Appa a malamute? Like this high?” He gestured to somewhere above his hip.
“Yeah… how did you know?”
“He’s been under that bush the whole time, hasn’t he?” Zuko gestured to where Appa was still lying under the bush.
“Uh…” Sokka blushed and scratched at the back of his neck. “How long have you known?”
“Pretty much since you walked over. The dog’s giant front paws were sticking out the bush,” Zuko laughed, “It’s okay though, I wanted to talk to you anyway.” Sokka wanted to cry; even the boys laugh was dreamy.
“You did?”
“One of the boys told me you’ve filled in playing the drums for local bands before. I’ve been putting a band together and wondered if you’d maybe want to join?” Zuko asked, playing with the hem of his t-shirt.
“Me?” Sokka said in disbelief. Zuko wanted him to join his band!
“Yeah, they all say you’re pretty good and you’ve definitely got the look,” Zuko looked hopeful.
“I’ve got the look?”
“Oh, you know what I mean,” Zuko flushed, “you’re… you know.” Sokka thought a blush looked good on the older boy’s cheeks. He couldn’t help but drag it out a little longer.
“Sorry, I have no idea what you mean,” Sokka said.
“Why don’t we just get Appa,” Zuko started off towards the dog, leaving Sokka to scramble after him. Sokka rolled his eyes, but it was getting late anyway. He needed to have Appa back to Aang in an hour.
Zuko had offered to walk Appa back with Sokka, apparently his house was the same way. Sokka ruffled behind the fluffy beast’s ears. Zuko watched the dog with a fond expression on his face.
“He’s a cute one,” Zuko crouched down and made kissy sounds to Appa. Appa gave him a huge lick, right across his face.
Sokka nodded, “sorry about, you know…lying about Appa going missing.”
“It’s okay, I was trying to come up with some excuse to talk to you for the last few weeks,” Zuko shrugged, “I was hoping you’d come back into the café at some point.”
“Oh, right,” Sokka laughed awkwardly, “yeah, I’ve been busy.”
“Maybe next time just order something without caffeine,” Zuko winked, “I got to go now, but who knows… perhaps, we could get a drink together some time?” And with that he walked off down one of the roads to the bigger houses. Sokka was left speechless. Had Zuko just asked him out? He looked down at Appa and let out a little squeal.
“You did it, bud!” He grinned and practically skipped the rest of the way to Aang’s house.