Chapter Text
To Zuko, boba had always tasted a bit like rebellion. It had a sugar content of so many grams it would make any fitness trainer cry. It was cheap and common enough that his father and sister scorned it. Most importantly, it was a thing no one would expect him to like.
So when Zuko found himself crawling out of a twelve-hour depression nap to go to the nearest boba shop recommended to him by Yelp, he didn't question it. He put on a simple black button-up shirt, paired with a black blazer and black dress pants because it was the easiest “stylish” outfit to wear, and, in the case the paparazzi were to find him, he definitely didn’t want to hear his sister bitching about his clothes.
Speaking of the paparazzi, Zuko thought, and almost immediately reached for his face mask, securing the loops around his ears. Better safe than sorry.
It was always better to avoid being seen, Zuko had learned. Face covered, clothes fashionable-yet-inconspicuous, Zuko stepped out of the front door and began to walk.
He hadn’t been in town for too long, so he needed to read directions off of his phone. Of course, he had chosen the nearest shop, but it wasn’t far at all— only a block or two away.
Zuko breathed in the fresh air, feeling the wind flutter against his clothes. It was nice to be outside, he decided. It didn’t feel as lonely in the fresh air.
Uncle would have liked to go on walks here, he thought, only for another pang of guilt to resound in his chest. As the peaceful quiet began to weigh more heavily on his mind—almost serving as a reminder of the absence of his uncle’s loud joy—Zuko walked faster, as if boba would cure him of his past mistakes. He only stopped rushing when he stood on the sidewalk just outside the shop.
He tilted his head up to look at the sign. Tea’d Off, it read, printed in cutesy cursive. He felt a flicker of amusement in his chest at the terrible joke and barely registered the little ding! greeting him as he walked through the door. It was a quiet place, and some of the tension in his shoulders loosened as acoustic guitar covers of pop songs wiggled into his ears. The menu items were listed in neat, handwritten chalk above the counter, bad doodles squished in between the lists of ingredients. The very corner of the board had been delegated to “DORK’S BAD JOKE OF THE DAY”, with “BAD” being crossed out and replaced with a scrawled “HILARIOUS!”
Squinting at the handwriting, Zuko read, “The only dinosaur who loved drinking tea was the TEA-REX.” A smiley face was drawn next to it.
Yeah, the corner of Zuko’s mouth twitched. That’s pretty awful.
Zuko patiently waited for the line in front of him to drift to the drink counter and out the door one by one, taking the time to look around the shop some more. When he finally reached the counter, he allowed himself to look at the cashier for the first time.
And immediately froze.
The cashier was just about the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen in his life.
Beautiful, sharp jawline, strong arms and broad shoulders with just enough muscle that it wasn’t bulging but still very much attractive. His dark-brown hair was tied back into a wolf-tail, undercut on either side. His smile was fucking stunning, as if he came straight out of a goddamn Colgate ad, and his eyes — his eyes were a breathtaking shade of blue, like there was an ocean trapped inside them. When the man turned and faced him, Zuko’s breath caught.
Zuko had naturally tuned out the obligatory “Hello! Welcome to Tea’d Off, what can I get for you today?”, only thinking about his order, but the sight of the friendly face in front of him robbed the thought from his mind.
“Uh,” Zuko blurted, eloquent as always.
The man in front of him ( Sokka, he read off his name tag, before his eyes desperately came up to look at his face again) took it in stride. “Undecided? That’s okay. Do you want me to recommend something?”
Zuko nodded dumbly.
“I personally like matcha bubble tea with mint chocolate chip, and a cloud of cotton candy on top instead of whipped cream,” Sokka said matter-of-factly, and another girl behind the counter nearly tripped over herself.
Zuko, meanwhile, didn’t process a single word ( Matcha? Mint… Cotton candy? ) that came out of Sokka’s mouth, but nodded again anyway. “Yeah, sure. I’ll take that.”
Sokka raised his eyebrows, as if surprised Zuko would go with his suggestion, and his face broke into a wide grin. It lit up his eyes, and Zuko was only a little proud of being the cause of it. “Sweet! I’ll get that started for you,” Sokka smiled, typing up the order on his tablet. “I’m glad someone appreciates my…” Sokka licked his lips, “Creativi- tea. ”
Zuko blinked at him. So you’re the dork, he thought absentmindedly.
Or apparently aloud, because Sokka’s eyes went wide. He spluttered.
Zuko did not mean to verbalize that, but the cashier’s reaction was cute enough to make Zuko’s lips quirk into a smile.
Sokka’s somewhat-dramatized expression of shock slipped as Zuko fought off a nose-exhale of amusement. “You’re smiling, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not,” Zuko immediately protested, cheeks feeling oddly warm.
“Mmmhmm,” Sokka hummed. “Sure.” He shook his head, smiling himself. Then he shooed Zuko away. “Off you go! As much as I would like to chat you up, you, sir,” he jabbed a finger, “are holding up the line!”
Zuko rolled his eyes on instinct as he went over to the other end of the counter, waiting, along with a few others (some bald kid, and a girl with short hair), for his drink.
When a girl (who looked suspiciously like the cashier) placed a drink (with a monstrous -looking cloud of cotton candy on top of it) on the counter and called, “Zorro? Is Zorro here?” Zuko blinked in confusion.
Was that supposed to be him? Zuko thought, and looked around to see if “Zorro” was one of the two teenagers beside him. Then it hit him.
I fucking forgot to tell him my name.
Zuko wanted to hit himself. Instead, he glared at Sokka from across the counter. “Zorro?”
Sokka shrugged as he wrote down someone else’s order. “You didn’t tell me your name, so I improvised.” He looked up from his tablet to meet Zuko’s eyes. “And you know, the mask, the mysterious vibe and all.”
Zuko rolled his eyes again, taking his drink from the girl’s hands.
He didn’t realize Sokka wasn’t done talking. A now-familiar voice perked up, “Unless you’d rather I just call you handsome?”
Zuko looked at him in surprise. “Wh—” He started, then stopped, pursing his lips together. He can’t lose his cool in front of this man. Show him how he affects him. He was Zuko. World-known actor. Cool, calm, and collected, just like the headlines said. He sighed, sugary drink tipping slightly towards the worker in defeat anyways. “You weren’t too far off. It’s Zuko.”
“Okay, handsome.” He could hear the cashier grinning, and Zuko couldn’t fight the blush that traitorously fought its way to his face with vengeance, no matter how cool and collected he tried to be. In an effort to hide, he turned to the wall, lowering his mask to take a sip of the concoction handed to him.
He could vaguely hear Sokka taking another person’s order when his taste buds exploded.
It was a mistake. Zuko fought not to spit it out. Instead, he made a choked off sound, and then, slightly louder, he coughed before quickly covering his face again.
Way too sweet, Zuko thought, nose wrinkling.
The line of customers gone, Sokka’s attention turned to him. He raised an eyebrow. “Oh, fuck. Yeah, it’s super sweet. You didn’t know?”
Zuko struggled to clear his throat of syrup and regret. “I didn’t understand what I was getting into, I guess,” he rasped, covering his mouth with his sleeve.
Sokka’s face went from amused to horrified in seconds. “Oh noooooooo,” he whined, “you hate it, don’t you?”
“No,” Zuko lied, poorly. “Uh. Okay. Maybe,” he winced. “Not my favorite?” he offered, not quite understanding why he felt the need to please a boba shop employee he had just met. He tugged the straw below his mask, taking another sip for emphasis.
Sokka slapped his hand down on the counter. “You don’t have to drink it! Here,” he reached for the cup. “Let me get you something else, okay?”
On instinct, Zuko pulled the cup out of range of the man’s arms. “No.”
“Wha—” Sokka spluttered. He shook his head, reaching forward again. “C’mon man, it’s my mistake.”
Zuko opened his mouth to retort, but a feeling like a punch in the chest hit him first. Man? I thought I was handsome.
He shook his head.
Why am I thinking about this.
He turned to Sokka. “No, you’d just throw it out. I won’t waste it.”
“You shouldn’t have to drink something you don’t like!” Sokka whispered, eyeing the other patrons to see if he was causing a disturbance. Zuko had a feeling he had gotten complaints because of his dramatics before.
“But I will,” he replied, stubborn.
“Zuko,” Sokka started again. Zuko froze at the sound of his name. “ I’ll drink it, so it doesn’t kill the environment or your moral standards, and get you some taro or almond or whatever you actually want.”
Zuko tilted his head, considering. In the end, he found that he really would prefer something else to a full frontal attack on everything his taste buds believed in via liquid. “Alright,” he agreed. “Fine.” He thought about what he originally wanted to order before Sokka interrupted his thoughts, and hummed. “I’ll, uh, I’ll take a jasmine milk tea… if you have that?”
“On it,” Sokka said, taking the other cup out of his hands before Zuko could move. As he walked behind the counter to prepare Zuko’s order, Sokka took a long sip of the drink. Zuko watched him carefully, trying to gauge whether the suggestion had been a prank or if the man was crazy enough to enjoy such a monstrosity.
Wait, his heart beat in his ears. WAIT, HE’S DRINKING SOMETHING I DRANK. His eyes widened, and he fought the urge to shove the drink from Sokka’s hands. His lips were on the straw— the same straw that Zuko’s had been on. He felt the bizarre urge to touch his lips like he had been kissed. But, he thought to himself, it’s not like they actually...
Why am I thinking about this.
Sokka, meanwhile, clearly liked the drink. His eyes practically sparkled with the sugar intake. Re-energized, he wiggled his butt, then turned to grab a new cup.
The cup slid towards him.
Pulled out of his thoughts, his mind cleared as he stared back up at Sokka. “Thank you,” Zuko said politely, taking the drink.
Sokka nodded to him. “Anytime, hot stuff,” he emphasized with a wink. Sokka kept his eyes on Zuko for a long moment (Zuko felt his stomach drop), then turned to greet the next patron as they walked through the door.
Zuko blinked, flushed, then headed out the door quickly, chest warm.
Zuko walked around aimlessly until he felt calm enough to let himself think again, helped along by the refreshing drink. The little bursts of flavor that flooded his tongue as he chewed on the pearls took his mind off of things, but he didn’t want to zone out completely. He wanted to keep thinking about the wild cashier with his impossibly blue eyes.
It was only at this point that he looked down at his new cup.
“See you around, beau-tea-ful,” he read.
Zuko flushed for what seemed like the millionth time that day, tightened the mask around his face, and continued walking.