Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The engine revved around Zuko as they kept their eyes on the road. They felt the thrill of the race pulsing through their veins, the adrenaline coursing through their heart.

4… 3… 2… 1… go!

They slammed their foot down onto the gas pedal, quickly cutting off a racer. The wind blew all around their helmet, and under it they smirked, getting ahead of another racer- ‘Jet’, Zuko noticed idly. That didn’t matter, they were in the lead.

It was exhilarating, just being able to be themselves in their race car, speeding down the lanes and just having fun. The bonus of anonymity was nice too, combined with the fact that they didn’t have to even pretend to be a man was amazing. Out here, they were simply The Blue Spirit, the mysterious nonbinary racer. Everything they ever could have wanted. Electrifying. Their mind provided.

Despite the blindness in their left eye, they were able to race well. That was better than their driving skills, which were better left unsaid, but on the racetrack they were notorious for all the right reasons.

By the end of the laps, Zuko was sweating in their helmet. Today’s races were more for practice, in preparation for a competition that was coming up in the Spring. Immediately taking off their helmet and replacing it for their much less sweaty mask. Getting out of the race car, they walked over to the water fountains.

“Hey, Blue!” Someone called. Zuko turned, fixing their mask back over their mouth. They turned and- oh.

“Hm?” Zuko felt their face heat. That voice was someone who Zuko had closely associated with a very specific chain of gay thoughts. ‘Wang Fire‘, as he was known by the racing community. It was the dumbest name ever. Zuko was in ‘like’ with a dumbass.

“Good race. Say, was that drifting?” ‘Wang Fire’ or, as most people called him, Sokka said, leaning on the wall beside Zuko. He had taken off his helmet, replacing it with a mask of his own. Due to the policies of the racing company, along with their guarantee to keep everything anonymous, everyone had to provide their own mask that covered the person’s entire face.

Zuko rolled their eyes. “Yeah. You didn’t do half bad, either.” They fumbled as they attempted to return the compliment. Sokka laughed, unconsciously moving towards Zuko. Zuko pretended not to notice as their heart, which had been slowing down after the race, sped up once more.

“Thanks. Did you do anything with your outfit, choose a darker shade of black this morning?” He joked. Zuko sighed, flattered yet annoyed by the horrible pick up line. Come to think of it, that summed up their relationship dynamic.

“I don’t know, did you do anything with yours?”

Zuko could feel the flirtatious wink from behind the other racer’s mask. “Sure know what I’d like with yours.”

This had been their little song and dance for weeks. Finish a race, flirt with each other, which sometimes degraded to making out in the back of the building. Sometimes more. Zuko was careful to not let their name slip, though.

Today seemed like a something more day.

“Would the mysterious Blue Spirit like to rent a hotel room?” Sokka whispered in Zuko’s good ear, and a hand snaked down to rest on Zuko’s hip. Zuko shivered.

“Only if you split it.” They said quietly, totally not leaning into the touch.

“Then it’s settled.” Zuko was now pinned against the wall, face probably flushed red. “I’ll see you at 7.”

“S-seven it is.” Zuko weakly answered. Sokka suddenly left, and Zuko felt themselves yearning for Sokka’s touch. Oh dear. They had it slightly bad. Okay, kinda bad. Never mind that, Zuko steeled themselves. They needed to take a shower.

-

The bell rang over the door as Sokka entered ‘The Jasmine Dragon’. The tea shop, thank God- or in this case the owner, was always open late. The golden-tinged lights illuminated the shop, giving it none of the ‘late-night-gas-station’ vibes. Thank goodness for that because Sokka had the worst sleeping schedule known to man. This was also good because Sokka was in the mood for some heavily caffeinated tea before he started studying until 1am.

“Are you going to have your usual blend, Sokka?” A familiar voice said. Sokka broke out into a wide grin.

“Uncle Iroh, you’re a life saver!” Sokka cheered. Even though Iroh wasn’t his actual uncle, everyone that went there called him that. Sokka doubted that if he ever met Uncle’s actual nephew, who Uncle talked about a lot and honestly cared for so much it could melt even the coldest heart, he would not be able to recognize them (Uncle had mentioned that despite being nonbinary, they were not opposed to being called nephew).

“Wait a moment, Sokka, it should be ready soon.” Iroh disappeared to Magic Tea Land. Sokka plopped down on a table, slinging his backpack on the ground beside him. Some days he stayed to study at The Jasmine Dragon, but not today. It was a post-practice day, and that meant that Sokka was going to study at home, that way Uncle didn’t have to awkwardly wake him up when it was closing time.

The telltale sound of Iroh’s footsteps approaching. Sokka looked up, smiling gratefully. “Thank you, good Tea Master.” He said, taking the tea from Iroh.

Iroh grinned. “No matter how small a task, I always put the same amount of care for each step.”

Sokka finger-gunned at Iroh. “Smart.” He picked up his bag off the floor, grimacing at its weight as he slung it over his shoulder. “Thanks for the tea, Uncle.”

“Come again soon,” Iroh called.

“Will do!”

-

Sokka had always been a night cat-owl. It ran in his family, that was for sure. He was sitting at his shared kitchen table, pouring over the equations again. Mainly checking for spelling mistakes- he was much better at math and science than literature (but that didn’t mean that he didn’t like poetry, he loved poetry)- in the explanation.

“God dammit.” Sokka cursed at yet another glaringly obvious spelling mistake. With someone. At the same time. Accompanied by the sound of something that sounded suspiciously like broken ceramic. Sokka immediately whipped his head to face… someone. He had a mouse-deer-in-headlights look that no doubt mirrored Sokka’s own. Well, only one eye was able to do it because his left eye was covered in a huge burn scar- Wait a minute, Sokka knew this guy, he was his roommate.

Oh fuck, Sokka now felt like an asshole, his roommate went by they/them pronouns. Okay, he’ll correct himself from now on this is okay.

“Why are you up.” He finally said. In sync. With his roommate. This is weird. Sokka subtly glanced at the clock on the wall. 4:19. AM. Sokka had stayed up too late again, hadn’t he? Yes. Yes he had.

“I just woke up. Like I always do.” They scowled. Wow. What a jerk. A jerk with a hot morning voice- no, bad bisexual spirit, having a roommate as a casual hookup will never turn out well.

Wait a minute did they just say that they’re waking up at 4:20 am??? “What the fuck, dude.” Sokka said out loud. Magically, Roommate’s scowl deepened, they turned their non scarred side to Sokka- oh that sounded bad.

“Wow. Thanks.” Roommate deadpanned. Sokka wasn’t an asshole, he corrected himself.

“I meant that how the everloving fuck do you wake up at this time?” Sokka amended. Roommate flushed, their pale skin going red, finding the table in front of Sokka to be interesting. “I’m going to sleep now? How do you even get up at a time like this?” He exclaimed.

Roommate rolled their eyes, bringing up a hand to rub their right temple. “Maybe because I don’t ruin my sleep schedule? Getting up early is good for you.”

Sokka scoffed. “Maybe for you.”

Roommate made their way to the kitchen. “Well if you’re not going to pull an all nighter, get out of my sight.” They tried a look that was probably meant to be intimidating but it just didn’t work on Sokka.

“Okay then, Prince Jerk-face.”

They stiffened at this. Sokka, for good measure, scooped up the papers into a messy pile and stuck out his tongue at Jerk-face. “Because you’re always scowling.” He smirked at the shocked look on their face. That was a sight to remember. And probably not the best way to interact with his roommate. Too late for that, though, he was sleep deprived and ready to pass out. Tomorrow Sokka would have to deal with this.

-

Zuko has always been an early bird, so was the nature of their being. They laid in bed for a moment, taking in the pale moonlight filtering in through the window. They sighed and got up out of bed, lazily putting on a shirt from off the floor. It was in the semi-clean pile, so it was okay. Ah, the water cup from before they went to bed. They picked it up.

Rubbing their eyes and trudging out of their room, cheap ceramic mug in hand, they turned down the hallway and-

Tripped over that one section of rug because they were clumsy as all give out and dropped the ceramic mug on the hardwood because due to their lightning fast reflexes, they deflected it from hitting the nice, soft rug and instead slapped it to the hard floor.

“God dammit.” They cursed. And if their hearing aid wasn’t broken, someone else was cursing those same words with them. They froze, eyes darting to the source of the other noise. Met with an identical wide eyed, hand-in-the-cookie-jar expression.

They both paused, just staring at each other, the other only breaking the staring match to dart their eyes to the clock. 4:19am. Pretty early. Oh yeah, Zuko’s brain finally caught up, this is my roommate. Roommate was native, Inuit if Zuko remembered correctly from their first meeting. Their only previous meeting. His darker skin was… Zuko was ashamed to say it reminded them of Sokka. Stop being attracted to your roommate! Zuko scolded themselves. There were a million things that they could ask. What are you doing? Why are you so hot? Is it legal for me to go up and kiss you right now?

They settled on: “Why are you up?” Which they obviously said at literally the same moment, word for word, as Roommate. Screw this. They scowled at Roommate, which was much better than blushing at his voice.

“I just woke up. Like I always do.” Roommate scrunched up his face, scrutinizing them. No matter how hot Roommate was, Zuko drew the line at being an asshole. They weren’t going to have a repeat of Jet.

“What the fuck, dude.” Roommate said. Zuko scowled deeper. Wow, what an absolute prick. (Zuko knew that they were deflecting the blatant fear of rejection because of their physical deformity with anger but they didn’t need the Therapist Voice right now, they wanted to be angry)

They spoke as much. “Wow. Thanks.” They commented dryly, subconsciously turning their right side to Roommate. From the corner of their eye (their only eye, really. Being half blind sucked), they saw Roommate flounder for a rebuttal.

“I meant that how the everloving fuck do you wake up at this time!” Roommate corrected. Zuko found the papers that Roommate had on the table to be very interesting. Very white. Much writing. Their face was totally not red right now. Yeah, and they weren’t gay. “I’m going to sleep now? How do you even get up at a time like this?” He continued loudly. Zuko was sick of people insulting their sleep habits.

“Maybe because I don’t ruin my sleep schedule? Getting up early is good for you.” They snapped, rubbing their right temple at the emerging stupidity headache. They hadn’t even really talked to their roommate and he was already giving them a headache. Roommate scoffed.

“Maybe for you.” Yes it’s better for me. Force of habit. Not that you’d know. Zuko thought angrily.

Standing here was getting awkward. Zuko made their way to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast. “Well, if you’re not going to pull an all nighter, get out of my sight.” They growled, frowning at Roommate. It worked on other people, it would probably work on him.

“Okay, prince jerk-face.” He said, scooping up the papers on the table. They froze. The insult repeating over and over and over- “Because you’re always scowling” He explained. Zuko was shocked. It… wasn’t an insult? That was strange.

And then Zuko was left alone in their kitchen.

“It’s too early for this.” They muttered, and began to prepare their bowl of cereal.

Chapter Text

“So therefore the contract still holds.” Someone finished. Zuko tapped their fingers on the table, idly taking notes about the general idea. Basically how to con people legally, aka being a lawyer.

This is honestly the best decision I’ve made. Zuko mused to themselves. Besides running away from home, that is. They continued their tapping, the other hand fiddling with the sleeve of their black hoodie, the person next to them (they were wearing an orange shirt with two blue stripes. They looked way too happy to be in this class) was doing the same thing but for some reason it bothered Zuko. Eh, they weren’t confident enough to tell them to stop. Eventually, the class ended and Zuko got up- but then noticed that the other tappy-person left their beanie on their chair. Zuko picked it up.

“Uh, hey?” Zuko called towards Tappy-person. It was at the volume that Zuko was trying not to disturb people but also trying to get one person’s attention. Aka the volume that never worked. This meant they had to run after Tappy.

They weaved between fellow students, slightly jogging after Tappy, occasionally trying to get their attention and then-

BAM!

“Oh my Agni I am so sorry!” Zuko exclaimed. Ah shit, now their papers were on the floor, not to mention they had crashed into someone- this was a horrible day.

Tappy was… smiling??? “It’s okay!” They looked at the beanie in Zuko’s hand. “Oh! Thank you!! I completely forgot about that!” Zuko awkwardly handed it to Tappy.

“Uh yeah. You left it in class.”

Tappy jumped up with surprising agility, and offered a hand to shake. “I’m Aang! What’s your name?”

Zuko began to gather up their papers. “Uh, I’m Zuko. They/them.” They stated awkwardly, avoiding eye contact as they shook the other student’s hand.

Tap- Aang grinned. “Neat! I use he/him but I don’t really care.” Aang suddenly gasped. Zuko felt their stomach sink, this was where people commented on the huge scar that made up the side of their face, the reason that people stared and that they-

“You wanna study together in the library? My friends will be there so then-“

Zuko cut Aang off, heart beating fast and their hands beginning to sweat. Today really wasn’t the best, especially for Zuko’s nonexistent social skills. “No.” They said bluntly, and promptly walked away, papers still askew in their arms. Agni, that couldn’t have gone any worse.

Wait a minute, Aang didn’t ask about the scar. Oh fuck, Zuko had just walked away from a person trying to make friends with them. Why were they so bad at being social!

Eh, Zuko would regret this later, right now was time for stopping off at Uncle’s tea shop.

-

Sokka frowned, taking another long sip of his ‘bisexuali-tea’ from the Jasmine Dragon. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, leaning into his elbows as they dug into the table. “So, Aang, you’re telling me you invited a random guy to the gaang’s library hang out?”

“Yeah, why?”

“And they just said no and walked away?”

“Yeah why?”

Sokka sighed again. “And you’re still trying to ask around to ask them to hang out.”

Aang grinned like it was the simplest thing in the world. “Duh!”

Sokka gestured around to the tea shop they were in. “And you had to drag me out to here to tell me that? How long ago did this even happen?”

Aang, Tui and La watch over him, checked his watch. “Oh, about 10 minutes ago. Of course I did, Katara would be mad if I didn’t make sure you drank some type of water while she’s in her bio class.”

Well, Sokka couldn’t argue with that logic. Still. “You literally could have just told me to-“ Sokka was cut off by the door of the Jasmine Dragon slamming open and stomping feet across the floor. Sokka was about to yell at them when-

“Uncle!” A very familiar voice said. Sokka whipped his head to see who it was. Aang did the same, and both of them widened their eyes with recognition.

“My dear nephew!” Uncle said. WHAT?! That was his roommate! His roommate was Uncle’s nephew? The same nephew who had once smuggled in an entire family of turtleducks into Uncle’s house was the same jerk who Sokka mentally called hot? Uncle didn’t even notice Sokka’s distress. “I’ll get you some Jasmine tea, unless you want to help make some tea with your favourite uncle?”

Roommate rolled their eyes but the smile on their face was genuine. “Fine, Uncle.” They said and walked to the back.

And as if that couldn’t get any worse, Aang grinned and nudged Sokka. “That’s the guy I told you about!” Sokka’s jaw dropped.

“Aang, that’s my roommate, you can’t do that.” Sokka exclaimed. Aang tilted his head.

“Why not?” Sokka scowled (do not think about how you totally want to talk to him again).

“You just don’t!” Sokka huffed. “Conversation over! I have to, uh, go talk to Suki.” He picked up his bisexuali-tea and stormed off, ignoring the small, stubborn voice in his head that told him to stop.

-

“Suki!” Sokka’s face broke out into a wide grin. “Just the person I wanted to see!”

Suki rolled her eyes. “Sokka, what do you need to talk about this time?” She put down her phone, smiling at her idiot ex-boyfriend. They were at Suki’s favourite corner of the library, mainly because it was where the couches were. Suki was sitting at her table, legs kicked up to lounge comfortably around the papers.

Sokka collapsed dramatically on said library couch. “Say bye to your girlfriends cuz this will take a while.” Suki chuckled, quickly typing something out on her phone.

“That bad, huh?” Suki joked. Sokka nodded.

“Yeah! This guy- well they’re nonbinary but this guy just is infuriating!” Sokka threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “I mean, I’ve been a good roommate for a while but then this asshole asks me why I’m up and then they tell me to basically fuck off! And you know the worst part?” Sokka leaned up on his elbows to look Suki in the eye, waiting for her acknowledgement.

Suki quirked an eyebrow. “What?” She said after a moment.

“They’re Uncle Iroh’s nephew!” Suki’s jaw dropped, but Sokka didn’t notice that it was for a different reason.

“What?”

“Yeah! I can’t be mean to them because otherwise Uncle will lecture me about how my roommate is not such a bad person, because Uncle would totally do that to me

Suki cracked her knuckles, a wild grin on her face. “Give me their name then I’ll vibe check them into next week.”

Sokka collapsed back down. “Uh oh.” Sokka could feel Suki’s look of confusion.

“Uh oh what?” Suki asked, slightly nervously. (This was not at all related to the last time Sokka said ‘uh oh’, which resulted in Suki and Sokka accidentally gassing themselves due to Sokka forgetting that vinegar and bleach make chlorine gas when they tried cleaning up a coloured baking soda volcano.)

“So, uh, I don’t know his name.” Suki groaned, face palming dramatically.

-

“Uncle!” Zuko stormed into the Jasmine Dragon.

“My dear nephew!” Uncle greeted as if Zuko hadn’t just been here yesterday morning. Zuko huffed, but Uncle’s presence helped. Screw it if ‘nephew’ was gendered, gender was a lie sold by bathroom companies to sell more bathrooms. “I’ll get you some Jasmine tea, unless you want to help make tea with your favourite uncle?” Zuko rolled their eyes, but they grinned at the inside joke.

“Fine, Uncle.” They headed to the back, and began helping to make tea. It was familiar and easy to do, and leagues easier than law class. Repetitive. Comforting.

“So, nephew, what has got you so troubled today?” Uncle Iroh said as he assisted Zuko with the Jasmine tea. Zuko avoided Iroh’s eyes. They should have done better, they should have listened, this was why they always screwed up, wasn’t it-

“Zuko.” Zuko turned to their uncle. “I can tell that you’re thinking a lot.”

Zuko sighed. “Yeah, it’s just my roommate.” Uncle quirked an eyebrow, an invitation to go on. Problem was, Zuko wasn’t one for long winded explanations of their feelings. Unless it was about Love Amongst The Dragons. Well, first time for everything. “I met him for basically the first time. It wasn’t the best.”

Uncle patted Zuko’s shoulder. “Ah.”

Zuko felt a bit more confident now. “And that wasn’t even the worst first meeting I’ve had this morning! Earlier this morning someone asked me to hang out at the library with all his friends and I said no and walked away!” Zuko gestured wildly. “And of course this was right after I crashed into him. This day has gone great.” Zuko finished sarcastically.

Uncle stroked his beard. “Perhaps this is for the best, a hand first knows the thorns of the rose before plucking the stem.” Zuko groaned.

“Not another one of your confusing proverbs.” They frowned, attempting how this could possibly relate to lost opportunities of friendships. Or their roommate. Wait. “Oh no.”

Uncle hummed in confusion. “What is it, nephew?”

Zuko felt their face colour. They buried their face in their hands to hide it. “I don’t know my roommate’s name.” They mumbled.

Uncle put a hand on their shoulder, continuing to prepare Zuko’s tea. “Zuko, I love you like my own but-“

-

Suki sighed. “Sokka, I hope you don’t mind me saying this-”

-

“But you’re an idiot.”

-

Zuko’s jaw dropped in outrage. “Hey!” They crossed their arms and refused to meet Uncle’s eyes as he chuckled loudly.

“Would you like some calming tea?”

Zuko huffed. “I don’t need any calming tea!” They said loudly (yelled), but took the cup anyway. Jasmine was their favourite and they weren’t just going to waste it! (Outside in the sitting area, at least three people who had been eavesdropping on the louder parts of the conversation just looked to the side, a few going ‘oop’, and took a sip of their calming tea.) They (stomped) calmly walked away. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Uncle.”

“Have fun, dear nephew.”

-

Sokka shot up straight and gaped at Suki. “I am not!” He yelled, which was met with numerous shushes from various sections of the library. Sokka rolled his eyes, and this time he whisper-yelled. “I am not!”

Suki inspected her nails with a seemingly bored look, but she was forcing back a smile. “If that’s what you say.” She paused. “Idiot.” This time she didn’t even try to hide the sly grin on her face as Sokka opened his mouth to yell at her but realized that they were in a library.

Sokka glowered at Suki. “You’re not invited to my birthday party anymore.” He settled on. Suki put a hand to her heart in mock-indignation.

“Then you’re not invited to mine either!” Suki managed to get out before breaking into a fit of giggles. She calmed down. “Seriously, though, talk to them.” She mumbled something and Sokka frowned.

“What’d you say.” Suki’s expression went solemn at Sokka’s question. She sighed, looking to the side.

“It’s not my place to say.”

Sokka pondered. How would Suki even know their roommate- wait! He gasped. “This means you know their name!” Suki smirked- oh no.

“Not gonna tell it to you.” She peered at her phone. “I’ve got class, you can go do whatever it is you do when you’re not writing poetry.”

“That was one time!” Sokka yelled at, ignoring the shushes. Suki only stuck her tongue out playfully before walking away. Sokka peered at his phone to check the time. Ah, shit, he had classes too. This would be fun.

-