Chapter Text
It was already hard enough to work on the paper for one of his engineering courses in the busy mall food court, but adding Katara and Toph’s incessant giggling on top of the constant noise of shoppers pushed Sokka over the edge.
“Okay, could you two try to be a little quieter, please?” Sokka huffed, tearing his headphones off. “I know you’re having a good time, but I’m trying to work here.”
“Don’t be such a spoil-sport, Snoozles,” Toph said, leaning back in her chair across the table from him. “It’s the weekend – live a little, why don’tcha?”
“I’d love to, but this paper is due on Monday morning, and I’m not nearly as far as I should be,” he told her, frowning as he checked the word count on his laptop screen. “And it’s pretty hard to get anything done with all this racket. I appreciate the free Wi-Fi, but I don’t think I can stay here any longer.”
“Okay, we’ll go home right away,” his 15-year-old sister Katara promised. “But first, I reeeeeally need you to take us to Sephora so I can get my eyebrows done, okay?” She gave him a hopeful smile, as if that might help.
“You wanna do what now?” Sokka asked, frowning. “Katara, what’s wrong with the eyebrows you already have? Those fuzzy little caterpillars of yours look just fine to me.”
“I hate you,” Katara exasperated. “Come on, Sokka, literally everyone does it now.” He had seen lots of girls in his program with eyebrows that had been tinted, waxed, filled-in, or otherwise altered, and he didn’t exactly feel that his baby sister needed to join in on that trend.
“I bet Toph doesn’t get her eyebrows done,” Sokka reasoned, saving his paper before closing his laptop and sliding it back into his bag. “And if she did, it wouldn’t make any difference; she still wouldn’t be able to see them.”
“Hilarious,” Toph deadpanned as she rose from her seat and grabbed her white cane. “You’re lucky I rely on you for rides, or I’d definitely tell your dad about all the blind jokes you make about me.”
“At least my jokes are usually in good taste,” Sokka smirked, reaching out to ruffle the girl’s short, black hair. Toph smacked his arm away with a growl of annoyance, and Katara shot her brother a dirty look as she readjusted her friend’s headband and smooth the flyaways he had created. “Time to go, girls. You can get your eyeballs done on a day I don’t have so much work to do.”
“You’re such a brat sometimes, Sokka,” his sister sighed dramatically. “And to think we were going to introduce you to a cute guy.”
“You were going to do what now?” Sokka asked, looking up from his bag as he zipped it shut. He thought he’d heard something about a cute guy, but it was possible his brain had just morphed his sister’s words into what he wanted to hear.
“Oh, no one,” Katara shrugged. “Just this really handsome guy that works part-time at Sephora. Dark hair, gorgeous eyes, cheekbones you could cut diamonds on. But since you’d rather just go home…”
“No, no, let’s go get your eyebrows shaved off, or whatever it is you want,” Sokka insisted, doing the worst job of faking enthusiasm either girl had ever seen. “I love that Seraphina store. Great pace.”
“It’s ‘Sephora’,” Toph corrected, landing a hard smack on Sokka’s shin with her cane as she moved past him. “Didn’t know you were so into makeup, or we’d have taken you there before.”
“Oh, you know me,” Sokka laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. “Love watching those tutorial videos on YouTube.” Katara rolled her eyes, but because Sokka had agreed to take her (she needed permission from someone over 18), she set her hands on Toph’s shoulders and gently turned her in the direction of the store.
* * * * *
A familiar face greeted the trio when they walked into the cosmetics store: Suki, who had been Sokka’s first (and only) girlfriend back in high school.
They hadn’t worked out as a couple, mostly because Sokka had fallen into a sexuality crisis of epic proportions halfway through that year. He decided to spare Suki the confusion of dating a guy who was so confused about himself. Once he’d come out as bisexual, they had gone on a few more dates, but ultimately decided it would be best to just be friends. They attended the same university, but it had been quite a while since they’d last bumped into each other.
“Hey you!” Suki greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Funny seeing you in here.”
“Oh, you know,” he shrugged. “Katara wants to get hair ripped out of her forehead or something, so she and Toph dragged me down here.”
“He only agreed to come because Zuko is working today,” Toph announced, singing the boy’s name. Suki and Katara exchanged a conspiratorial look, which made Sokka vaguely uncomfortable. Were his sister and his ex in cahoots, trying to set him up with some guy he’d never met?
“Oh, well Zuko’s over at the workstations, if you wanted to say hello,” Suki informed the group. “He’s great at eyebrows, if you’re looking to get them done, Katara.”
“Well, let’s go on over, then!” Katara said decidedly. Toph offered the crook of her elbow, allowing her best friend to loop her arm through and walk her over to the long row of chairs and mirrors situated across the store. Her white cane had been the cause of a lip gloss display avalanche once before, so they thought it best if Katara acted as Toph’s eyes, just for a bit.
“So, Zuko…” Suki said with a sly smile.
“I haven’t even met the guy!” Sokka protested, covering his face with his hands to hide how much he was blushing. “Katara said she wanted to come here, she mentioned a cute boy, and that’s all I know.”
“He’s cool,” Suki promised. “He can be a bit…blunt, at times, but he’s a good person.” Sokka considered her warning, and wondered whether she was exaggerating, or making a massive understatement. Who was to say whether they’d get along or not? But, he figured this wasn’t a particularly high-stakes meeting; if he wasn’t interested, he had no obligation to stick around any longer than it would take for Katara’s eyebrow thing.
“Sokka, get over here!” He heard his name being called from across the store, so Sokka waved goodbye to Suki, and followed his sister’s voice.
“Ever heard of using your inside voice when you’re in a public place?” he asked, glowering as he approached the workstation. Katara had seated herself in a bucket chair that spun, similar to the ones in a barber’s shop. There was a long row of mirrors, a countertop running along below it, and chairs spaced evenly to allow multiple people to have makeup or hair done at once. Little light bulbs acted as a border around the mirrors, reminiscent of backstage dressing rooms for stage actors and dancers. This place is kind of cool, Sokka thought to himself.
“Sorry, you were just taking forever,” she reasoned. “Zuko just went to grab—oh, here he is!” Sokka turned in the direction his sister was looking and saw a young man in all black approaching. It took every ounce of self-control in him to keep his mouth from dropping open in surprise. ‘Cute’ was a massive understatement – this guy was gorgeous.
“Did you find your brother?” the man asked Katara, his voice a soft, timid tenor. Suppressing a smug grin, she gestured towards her awestruck brother with a bob of her head.
“Zuko, I’d like you to meet my older brother, Sokka,” she introduced them. The pale young man regarded Sokka evenly, and held out a hand in greeting. “Sokka, this is Zuko.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said pleasantly, giving Sokka a firm handshake before releasing him. “I think I’ve seen you around campus – I recognize the, uh...” Zuko ran a hand over top of his head and mimed tugging at a ponytail, in reference to Sokka’s trademark hairstyle: buzzed to his scalp on the sides, with the longer bits from the top and back pulled into a short, high pony.
“Oh, yeah,” Sokka chuckled, feeling suddenly self-conscious. “I guess it’s kind of an odd look. But um, good to meet you as well.” The two young men shoved their hands in their pockets and glanced around the shop, pretending not to be checking each other out.
“Okay, Sparky, no more flirting,” Toph scolded the stylist. “Katara wants her eyebrows threaded, but apparently Sokka has to get home to finish a paper for school. So make it speedy, okay?”
“Toph!” Zuko hissed under his breath. He couldn’t believe she had called him out like that, especially in front of an equally cute guy.
“What, am I wrong?” she asked, feigning innocence. “Sorry, didn’t realize it was a secret.” Zuko scoffed at her excuse, and purposely avoided Sokka’s curious eyes.
“Uhh…I’m getting the feeling that either you girls come in here to harass the staff way too often,” Sokka guessed, “Or that Toph and Zuko know each other from somewhere other than here.” Toph elbowed Sokka’s arm hard, earning a surprisingly high-pitched yelp from him.
“Of course we know each other. Zuko lives with Dad and I,” Toph explained, frowning as though Sokka should really know this fact by now. “My dad is his uncle.” Her adoptive father, Iroh, she meant, but Sokka understood.
“Cool cool,” Sokka acknowledged with a nod. “Well, it’s good that you’re just harassing your cousin at work, instead of some random stranger. I was getting kinda worried for a minute there.”
“I’d rather she didn’t harass me at all…” Zuko mumbled darkly. He had Katara switch to a chair that tilted backwards, which allowed him more room to work, and offered her better neck support. Sokka watched curiously from a few feet away.
Zuko really was a looker, he noted right away. His dark hair was shaggy, and styled to look messy without actually being a mess. A bit of a fringe hung down over his forehead, partially obscuring his left eye.
That was his next observation: Zuko's eyes were incredible. Sokka had never seen someone with irises such a bright, golden hazel. He wondered if that was something that ran in the family, or if it was unique to him.
When he noticed Sokka hovering, Zuko waved him closer, thinking he wanted to watch as Katara’s brows were being done. Sokka stood at his sister’s head, shifting his gaze between the stylist’s hands as he worked, and the young man’s angular face. He was glad – not for the first time – that Toph was blind. She might be able to pick up that a person was flirting using verbal cues, but she couldn’t call him out for staring if she couldn’t see it happening.
When Zuko turned his neck to get a better view of his workspace, Sokka noticed for the first time that he was wearing eyeliner. The black liner wasn’t as thick or bold as he had seen it done on some girls, but it visibly extended past his eyelid and ended in an angled wing; a cat eye, he thought he’d heard it called once.
“I didn’t know boys wore makeup,” Sokka blurted out, suddenly unable to hold the thought in. He hadn’t said it to be rude, but it came across that way nonetheless.
“Tui and La, Sokka!” Katara groaned, clenching her teeth at her brother’s utter lack of tact. Usually she would have given him a good smack for such a comment, but with Zuko attending to her eyebrows, she was forced to keep her eyes closed and lie back in her chair. The stylist stayed calm and collected, but Katara thought she could hear an edge of annoyance in his voice.
“Does it bother you that I wear makeup?” he asked evenly, meeting Sokka’s eyes. “I do work in a cosmetics store, so I don’t really think it should come as a surprise to anyone.”
“N-no, of course not. I just meant—no, it’s fine,” Sokka stammered, kicking himself for his occasionally faulty filter. “It’s just, um. I don’t really know any boys that wear makeup. So I was curious. It looks cool, though, on you.” Zuko narrowed his eyes, wondering whether Sokka was mocking him or not, but decided after a moment that he really had just been curious.
Sokka’s gaze shifted to watch Zuko’s hands as he worked, his fingers deftly manoeuvring the ends of threads to pluck stray hairs from Katara’s brows. He had black polish on his nails, surprising him once again. Sokka had assumed that nail polish on boys was more of a punk trend, and Zuko didn’t seem the type.
“Ouch!” Katara yelped as Zuko threaded a hair closer to her eyelid. He stopped for a moment, seeing that her eyes had started to water.
“Do you want to take a break for a minute?” he offered gently. “We can stop if you need to.”
“No, let’s just keep going,” Katara said determinedly. “I’ll power through it, and then it’ll be done faster.”
“Let me know if you do need me to stop,” Zuko told her. Sokka watched on in abject disgust as his sister continued on with the painful procedure. He didn’t understand why a girl as smart and confident as Katara would feel the need to have this done. Did she really feel that left out by having eyebrows with a bit more substance?
“I can smell you thinking, Sokka,” she murmured. “Don’t be judgy.”
“I—why would you think—how did you know?” he spluttered, setting his hands on his hips. Katara couldn’t appreciate how dramatic his shifting expressions were, as her eyes were closed, but it didn’t keep her from grinning deviously. She knew him too well.
“I’m doing this because I don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb at school anymore,” she explained. “I don’t feel the need to wear tons of makeup or buy the same clothes as every other girl in my class, but…” Katara paused, pressing her lips together as she searched for the right words. “I guess I just feel like this is one little thing I can do to fit in. I heard some boy in my gym class call me a ‘caveman’ to his friends because my hair is so dark and thick, and for the first time, I felt embarrassed about the way I look. I know it shouldn’t matter...”
“But it does,” Sokka finished for her. “I get that. I’ve thought about growing my hair out about a thousand times, because every now and then, some asshole says something rude about it. And it’s stupid, because I love the way I do my hair. It’s an integral part of my image. And it really hurts to have someone attack that.” Zuko pulled his hands away from Katara’s face for a moment, allowing Sokka to step closer. He set a hand on the top of her head and ran his thumb across his sister’s forehead in a gesture of affection.
“If this is what you want, then you should do it,” Sokka said firmly. “If this will make you proud of yourself when you look in the mirror, great. And if not…” He glanced up at Zuko and flashed him a dazzling smile. “If not, then I’m sorry, but it’s too late. This guy’s already done one eyebrow, and you’ll look goofy if you stop now.” Zuko tried hard to suppress a smile, but it made Sokka’s heart beat a little faster when he saw the corners of Zuko’s mouth twitch upwards.
“Wow, for a moment there, I almost thought you were being heartfelt,” Toph said, her voice heavy with sarcasm.
“That was Sokka being heartfelt,” Katara snorted. “You know us, Toph. We’re not such a serious family that we can’t laugh at ourselves sometimes.”
The girls chatted about school as Zuko finished Katara’s eyebrows, and when she sat back up, Sokka was actually impressed by how well he had done. They were perfectly symmetrical, not too thin, and could hardly be called caterpillars at all anymore.
“Thanks, Zuko, they look awesome!” Katara beamed as she looked them over in the mirror. “Do I just pay up at the front?”
“Yep, I already had them ring it up,” he nodded. Katara pulled Toph from her chair and yanked her along towards the checkout desk, leaving Zuko and Sokka alone.
“So, um, you’re pretty good at this,” Sokka observed, cringing when he realized how lame he probably sounded.
“I’ve had lots of practice,” Zuko shrugged. “But thanks.” He was tidying up his workstation, as well as doing his best to avoid just standing and staring at the lovely man beside him. Sokka made it difficult, though, with his deep blue eyes, and brown skin Zuko knew would be deliciously warm if he were to reach out and grab hold of Sokka’s hand.
“So, uh…when do you usually work?” Sokka inquired, nervously rocking back and forth on his heels. “In case I need to come back and get something, I mean.”
“What kind of something?” Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought boys didn’t wear makeup.”
“I don’t know, uhh…something for my sister?” Sokka felt himself fumble over his words. Zuko probably hated him, because he had said that stupid thing about the eyeliner, and now he would never see him again, and he’d have to go to Toph’s house just to get the occasional glimpse of him—
“Anybody home?” Zuko said, pulling Sokka out of the train wreck of his thoughts. “I think I lost you for a minute there.”
“Haha, uh, yeah,” Sokka grimaced, scratching at the back of his neck as he tried to come up with something mildly intelligent to say. “Well, here come the girls, so I should probably go.” As Sokka raised a hand in farewell, Zuko reached out and touched Sokka’s arm, startling him.
“I’m on evenings next week, Tuesday to Friday, starting at 4:00,” Zuko murmured, holding Sokka’s gaze just a moment too long. “If you needed to get something for your sister, I mean.”
“Yeah, of course,” Sokka nodded, swallowing hard. He knew without looking at his class schedule or list of assignments that he’d be back at least once next week. There were so many different kinds of cosmetic products that he could probably stop by every day for two years and still come up with something to ask Zuko about.
“See you around then,” Zuko said, smiling so slightly it was nearly imperceptible. But Sokka saw it. He saw that he was being given a chance, and he wasn’t going to mess it up, if he had any say in the matter.
“See ya,” Sokka grinned, walking backwards towards the entrance of the store. He bumped into a cardboard display stand and knocked a few bottles of setting spray to the ground, which he hurriedly tidied up. Katara and Toph giggled as they followed him, waving goodbye to Zuko and Suki on their way out.
Suki sidled up beside Zuko and was quiet for a moment, allowing the events of the last half hour to soak in. She had been watching carefully as the boys interacted with each other, and it had tickled her pink when she overheard Sokka asking about Zuko’s schedule.
“So, what d’you think?” she asked, glancing up at her friend. He chewed mindlessly at the inside of his cheek as he gathered his thoughts.
“He’s kind of an idiot,” Zuko said eventually. “Cute, but an idiot.”
“Cute and an idiot,” Suki corrected him. “They aren’t mutually exclusive when it comes to Sokka. He’s a genius at building and inventing things, but his flirting skills could use a bit of work, I’ll admit.”
“He asked when I’m working. What do you think that means?”
“You know exactly what it means,” Suki accused. “He likes you. He wants to get to know you.”
“I suppose I’ll have to let him. Know me, that is.” This thought made Zuko’s stomach churn. Getting to know him was messy. Sometimes, it scared people off.
“When you’re ready,” Suki agreed, slipping her hand into Zuko’s and giving it a squeeze before releasing him. “Just take things slowly. He might not look it, but Sokka can be very patient.”
“I hope so,” Zuko whispered to himself.