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Taco Night (™) was a longstanding tradition for Sokka and Zuko. It had started after they became friends during the summer they spent working at the toy store next to the mall. It tended not to be terribly busy in the store, and Sokka would frequently come drape himself across the counter in the video game section where Zuko worked to pass the time. As far as jobs went, it was not one Zuko was particularly suited for. He never could decide what was worse, the boredom of having nothing to do when there weren’t any customers, or the annoyance of dealing with people when there were. Sokka, however, loved the job, outgoing as he was. The summer came to an end, Zuko quit to go work with a local non-profit and Sokka got promoted to assistant manager at the store.
It was halfway through that first summer that Taco Night (™) was born. The store had been especially slow, even for them, and Sokka had come over to the video game section to indulge in what had quickly become one of his favorite pastimes, Bugging Zuko. Sprawling face-first across the counter he let out a long annoyed huff.
“What’s up?” Zuko asked, quirking an eyebrow at him as he leaned back against the opposite counter. While Sokka was easily bored during downtime at the store, this seemed aggressively upset even for him. Sokka looked up, a scowl on his face.
“My friends just bailed on me for our dinner plans tonight,” he said. “Something about a ‘special double-date opportunity’ and ‘don’t be mad’ and ‘fucking hell, get a life Sokka.’” He rolled his eyes and propped his head on one of his hands.
Zuko didn’t really know how to respond to that. After a long beat he awkwardly offered up “That’s rough buddy.” Sokka just stared at him after that, he supposed he couldn’t blame him.
“Anyway,” Sokka continued. “I’m mostly just bummed because I wanted to try out a new taco recipe I found. I already bought all the ingredients and everything! Including veggies for Aang! If I don’t use them soon they’re gonna go bad…” He trailed off, looking disappointed at the notion of good food going to waste. Zuko shuffled his feet a bit, not wanting to offer anything else conversationally after how that went a few moments ago.
Sokka looked up abruptly. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you would be interested in tacos? I mean, I know we just interact within the confines of this store,” he gestured around as he spoke, “but I feel like we’re friends…” He trailed off again, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Shaking his head a bit he straightened up to a standing position. “In any case, you’d get a free meal out of it!”
Zuko tilted his head considering the offer. On the one hand he wasn’t much of a taco person, he tended to prefer other cuisine. On the other hand though he had recently had to come to terms with the fact that the swooping feeling in his belly whenever Sokka came to talk to him at work was decidedly of the attraction variety. He had even begun hoping Sokka might ask him out on a date sometime. While this wasn’t a date, it was still an opportunity for Zuko to spend time with him outside of the confines of work.
That settled it in his head. He swiftly nodded an affirmative. “Yeah, that would be great!” Blushing a bit he qualified, “You know, free food and all.”
Sokka grinned. “Fantastic!” he crowed. Whipping out his cell phone he quickly took Zuko’s phone number. “I’ll text you the address right now!” At that moment he was called away to handle a customer issue at the service desk. Zuko smiled at him as he walked away. Looked like this day was going far better than he thought it would when he woke up that morning. The fact that he now had direct confirmation that Sokka was single certainly helped too.
That night Zuko pulled into the parking lot of Sokka’s apartment building. Taking a steadying breath before getting out of the car he mumbled to himself, “Relax. It’s fine. You’re just going to hang out with a friend from work. A hot friend from work. A hot friend from work you want to make out with.” He groaned, lightly smacking his head against the steering wheel, wondering what he had gotten himself into.
After taking a moment to compose himself he got out of the car and walked up to Sokka’s door and knocked. Sokka threw it open with a grin.
“Zuko! So happy you decided to come! Welcome, welcome,” he said, ushering him into the small apartment. Zuko stepped inside clutching the grocery bag he brought to his chest. “What’s that?” Sokka asked, gesturing to the bag.
“Oh!” Zuko said, “I know you said you had all the food bought already but I still thought I ought to bring something as well you know manners and all…” He had only been here two minutes and he was already rambling. Blushing a bit he fumbled to open the bag, managing to pull out the case of beer he had brought with him. “So I figured the drinks could be on me.” He finished uncomfortably.
Sokka’s face lit up even more. “Now that’s my kinda man!” He took the beer out of Zuko’s hands and disappeared around a corner. The sound of a refrigerator door opening and closing indicated that Sokka had put the beer away, though Zuko was still very hung up on what Sokka had just said. He knew he likely didn’t mean anything like -that- by it, but still…
Zuko was lost in thought when Sokka’s head peered around the corner again. “Are you gonna just stand there next to the door all day or are you gonna actually come in?” Flushing a bit Zuko nodded and after taking off his shoes moved further into the apartment. Walking into the kitchen he surveyed the mess Sokka had already managed to make. Every surface seemed to be covered either by food, cooking implements, towels, or knocked over spices. Sokka either didn’t notice the mess or didn’t care. He stood in front of the stove dumping ground beef into a pan, humming happily along to a pop song playing from his phone.
Feeling awkward again, which unfortunately was apparently the order of the evening, Zuko shifted on his feet. “So,” he said, blinking in surprise when Sokka turned his head to look at him with a small smile on his face. “Uh,” he cleared his throat, “is there anything I can do to help?”
“Nope!” Sokka proclaimed cheerily, turning back towards the stove and enthusiastically shaking spices from a bottle over the ground beef. “You are my guest. I promised you a free meal made by me, and that is exactly what you are going to get!”
“I really don’t mind helping…” Zuko offered, only to be met with Sokka shaking his head and turning around to give him a stern look. The stern look was slightly ruined the next second though when Sokka burst into laughter. The combination of laughter and the look on Sokka’s face was enough to send Zuko into helpless giggles himself, which effectively broke the remaining tension between the two.
After that they fell easily into conversation about a wide variety of topics, ranging from work to their families to the friends Sokka referred to as “dumbasses” but from the affection in his voice Zuko knew the insult was actually a compliment. Soon enough the food was ready, and the two set up the table as a sort of make your own taco station.
Zuko was just working on sprinkling lettuce onto his tacos when he noticed that Sokka was spooning what could only be described as a concerning amount of sour cream onto his own taco creations. Zuko hadn’t realized he had made any sort of noise, but he must have because Sokka looked up at him questioningly. Schooling his face into what he hoped was an impassive expression Zuko asked “You okay there buddy?”
“Yeah,” Sokka said, no embarrassment evident at all. “I just love sour cream. It’s like, a god-tier food you know?”
“Uh,” Zuko offered. “Yeah, so fucking good!” He then proceeded to take the spoon from Sokka and begin covering his own tacos in sour cream. The problem of course was that Zuko hated sour cream, and was already beginning to regret his actions in pretending otherwise.
Sokka’s face lit up though. “Once again you are proving to be a man with tastes near and dear to my heart,” he sighed, then motioned for Zuko to join him in the living room area.
The two spent the rest of the night with a slightly bad, but slightly good, Western movie playing in the background as they sat on the couch eating, talking, and arguing. Zuko managed to force down the sour cream covered tacos, with what he hoped passed for enjoyment on his face. Though he mostly hoped he was managing to cover his disgust. By the time he was walking back out to his car he had a dopey grin on his face, knowing that even if he did have to pretend to like sour cream every time he ate tacos with Sokka it would have been worth it. Thus Taco Night (™) was born.
It turned out Zuko did wind up having to pretend to like sour cream a lot more in the future, as Taco Night (™) became a running event. Once every two weeks Sokka and Zuko would gather to enjoy tacos and watch questionable movies at one of their apartments. The rest of Sokka’s friends would often join them, and that was how Zuko was introduced to Aang, Katara, Toph, and Suki. They quickly became his friends as well, to the point that he managed to only be slightly disappointed when Taco Night (™) involved the others rather than just him and Sokka. Still, at least once every couple of months Taco Night (™) consisted of only Sokka and Zuko, in honor of the first time as Sokka imperiously told the others one time. That particular proclamation was met with an eye roll from Katara and a pillow to Sokka’s stomach courtesy of Toph. Zuko was so happy, even if the price of his happiness was sour cream.
“I’m sorry, you want to do what?” Sokka’s voice was incredulous.
“I want to invite her to Taco Night (™).” Zuko said firmly.
“Let me rephrase that,” Sokka said. “I’m fucking sorry, you fucking want to do FUCKING WHAT?!?” This was accompanied by some wild gesturing on Sokka’s part.
Zuko sighed, annoyed. “I want to invite my sister to join us for the next Taco Night (™). I know we have had…” he hesitated. “Issues in the past, but she has been working hard on making positive changes in her life. Her therapist said that it would be good for her, and for our sibling relationship if we start interacting more outside of a doctor’s office. Interacting in the natural environment and all that.”
“Great,” Sokka spluttered. “Natural environment, then let’s take her to the park! That’ll be a nice natural environment with the benefit of a lot of witnesses around…”
Zuko glared at him. “You know what I meant Sokka. Besides,” he added pointedly, “We hang out with your sister all the damn time, why is it so wrong when I want us to hang out with mine.”
“Gee, I don’t know,” Sokka drawled, “I guess maybe it’s because my sister never pulled a fucking knife on me when we were teenagers.” He knows it’s a low blow, and instantly feels bad when he sees Zuko flinch. “I’m sorry, that was…”
“No,” Zuko cuts him off, running his hands through his hair with a sigh as he leans back against the chair he’s sitting in. “I know you’re worried, hell I’M worried too. I just…” he stares out the window. “I’ve spent so long wanting to have a nice relationship with my sister. Like what you and Katara have. I know me and Azula will likely never be able to fully be like that, there’s way too much bad history there, but I can’t help that part of myself that still wants to try you know? If there’s any way for us to have something close to a functional relationship I need to see it through.” He anxiously rubs his fingers against the wood of the dining room table.
Sokka leans forward, putting his hand over Zuko’s stilling the movement. Zuko pauses, even though he and Sokka have been friends for over six months now and he has come to know that Sokka is a very physically affectionate person with his friends, whenever Sokka touches him he can’t help the swooping sensation his stomach makes. They just sit like that for a moment, with Sokka’s hand resting over Zuko’s, both staring down at the table.
“Invite her,” Sokka says softly. Zuko’s eyes shoot up to meet his. Sokka offers a small smile. “I want whatever is best for you, so if having Taco Night (™) with your sister is what’s best…” He sucks in a breath, “Then by all means.”
Zuko beams at him. “Thank you! It means so much to me!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Sokka grumbles good naturedly as he stands up from the table. As he moves into his room to grab his jacket, they have plans to go see a movie, Zuko hears him call, “But we’re having this particular Taco Night (™) at YOUR apartment! No fucking way am I letting her in here!” Zuko snorts, that seems like a fair enough trade.
It was determined that this particular Taco Night (™) would only consist of Zuko, Sokka, and Azula. The others had wanted to come too, Toph was particularly vocal about wanting to meet her. There was also a concerning moment when Zuko could have sworn he heard the blind woman muttering under her breath about comparing notes and strategies. In any case, Zuko stood his ground, firmly asserting that meeting too many new people at once would likely be detrimental for his sister. Sokka being part of Taco Night (™) was a no brainer though, for it to truly be considered Taco Night (™) both Sokka and Zuko had to be in attendance.
The night was actually going pretty well, Zuko mused to himself as the three of them sat around his dining table. Azula had been polite, if a bit quiet for most of the evening. Sokka was clearly doing his best to encourage her to open up a bit, have some fun, which Zuko appreciated so much that if he didn’t already want to kiss the man silly that would have led him to. Here he thought he couldn’t fall more in love with Sokka, he thought sighing inwardly. Apparently the man really loved to prove him wrong.
By the end of the meal Sokka had finally managed to get Azula talking about what her favorite games were, she was more of a board game person it turned out. She apparently enjoyed the looks on people’s faces when she kicked their asses, a treat she found lacking in the online game world. Zuko left the two discussing the merits and drawbacks of various games to go clean up dishes in the kitchen. Once he turned on the water he could no longer hear the conversation in the other room, so he had no idea the direction it had shifted in.
“So,” Azula drawled, eyes following her brother as he left the room. Sokka stared at her, confused at the delay in her speech. She held up a finger, motioning for him to wait a moment. Once the water started up in the kitchen she turned back to him, wicked smile on her face. He instantly knew that couldn’t mean anything good. However, he was totally unprepared for what she said next. “How long have you been dating my brother? He didn’t tell me you two were together, but I suppose that’s to be expected. Can’t expect brother dearest to share all his secrets with me again right off the bat.”
Sokka’s jaw dropped. “No, no, uh, no…” He stuttered. “We’re not, uh… We’re not dating.” He now began to ramble as he tended to when he got nervous. Of course he liked Zuko, and he would be lying if he said he’d never thought about him that way, but Zuko didn’t think about him that way. What was the point in getting so invested in something that didn’t have a chance of happening after all?
Snapping back to the conversation at hand, with ZUKO’S SISTER of all people, he continued. “What on earth would, uh, make you think we are? Dating that is…”
Azula bit her lip, muffling her laughter. “Zuzu put sour cream on his tacos. He even has a big tub of it in his fridge,” she stated simply. Sokka just stared at her. What did sour cream have to do with this conversation?
“Sokka,” she said leaning in, a conspiratorial smile on her face, “Would you like to know a secret?” Sokka found himself nodding and leaning in towards her. Anything for her to explain what the fuck she was on about. “Zuzu hates sour cream. Has ever since we were kids. Mom used to try and persuade him to eat it, but he wouldn’t do it even for her. And he would do ANYTHING for her.” Smirking she leaned back. “Now, what do you think could persuade my brother to eat a food he hates, when even our own mother couldn’t get him to do that.” Sokka stared at her dumbfounded.
“Tell me, Sokka, would you pretend to love a food you hated for someone you were just friends with? Hmmmm? How about for someone you had feelings for?” Zuko chose that moment to turn off the water in the sink and re-entered the room.
“Dishes are all finished up!” he announced. His eyes narrowed a bit when he noted the strange tension in the room that hadn’t been there before. “Is everything alright?”
“Just peachy Zuzu!” Azula trilled. Sokka kept staring down at the table as though it alone held the answers he was desperately looking for.
“Right…” Zuko muttered, looking back and forth between the other two.
“Well,” Azula chirped, standing up, “I had better be off! Ty Lee is here to pick me up.” She held up her phone. “We’re gonna go shopping, so I really shouldn’t keep her waiting!” She whirled around and strode towards the door. Pulling it open she called back behind her, “Enjoy the rest of your night boys! I’m sure it will be very interesting!” The door swung shut on her and her laughter.
Zuko looked over again to Sokka, who had been looking at the door when Azula left, but quickly looked back down again at the table. With a sinking feeling in his stomach Zuko sat down. “Sokka,” he said quietly, “What did she say to you?” Sokka fidgeted uncomfortably. “Sokka,” Zuko tried again, panic rising. “What-”
“It wasn’t anything bad,” the other man burst out, taking Zuko by surprise. “It’s just-” Sokka took a deep breath, then looked at Zuko. “You would have done anything for your mom right?” Zuko is completely taken aback by this. The subject of their mothers was something the two had bonded over, but it could still occasionally be touchy to mention.
“Um,” Zuko said, utterly lost. “Yeah, I would have, but- I don’t see what that has to do with Azula…”
Sokka’s eyes had lit up though, as if he had finally figured something out and was delighted about it. He leaned forward a bit, a smirk playing on his lips. “So, if she told you to go to bed at a certain time you would have done it?”
“Yeah,” Zuko said, rapidly becoming more confused by the minute.
“If she told you not to swim directly after eating, you would have listened to her?”
“Uh...yes?”
“If she told you to eat a food you hated you would always eat that food, no complaints?”
“Ye-, well actually no,” Zuko admitted, chuckling. “She never could get me to eat s-” He abruptly cut himself off, realizing what he almost said. But then Sokka finished the sentence anyway.
“Sour cream,” Sokka said triumphantly. “She never could get you to eat sour cream.”
“Uh,” Zuko faltered, searching for the words to apologize to his friend for lying about liking sour cream, searching for words to explain why he lied about liking it in the first place.
“So,” Sokka mused, enjoying the discomfort now radiating off of Zuko. “If your mother, the person you would have done anything for, the person you loved so much, SHE couldn’t get you to eat sour cream, but you’ll eat it readily for me… What does that mean? I know what your sister thinks it means, but now I simply must hear your thoughts on the matter.”
“Ummm,” Zuko tried, rapidly searching through his head for words to explain, any words at all really. He had been staring up at the ceiling, silently praying for an asteroid to come smashing through it, but then looked back down and met Sokka’s eyes. He was surprised by what he found there. There was teasing sure, but also something that was unmistakably hope. Fuck it, he thought. Standing up abruptly he moved around the table, took Sokka’s face in his hands and leaned down to kiss him.
When their lips met the swooping sensation in his stomach came back, except rather than the normal feeling like he was falling down stairs, it now felt as though he was turning cartwheels. Sokka enthusiastically kissed him back, with one of his hands reaching behind Zuko’s neck and the other knotting in the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer.
Breaking apart Sokka gave an indignant little growl at Zuko moving away from him. “It means that I like you,” Zuko rasped.
“I like you too,” Sokka said. “Now would you please come back here, I've been wanting to do that for months and I didn’t get to properly enjoy it yet.” Zuko happily obliged, but broke away again after a moment.
“Does this mean I can finally stop eating sour cream?”