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“Katara,” Aang whispers. It’s three in the morning, and he has a very pressing concern.
She wakes up immediately. “What is it? Is it the baby?! What’s wrong?”
“Well, no,” Aang admits sheepishly, “But it is super important.”
The look on Katara’s face right now could curdle dairy. Katara’s sleep is very, very important. Aang knows this and respects it. However, this information is highly critical and must be passed on to her, the brains of the house, at once. Well right after he’s placated her impending rage with a full-body squeeze. (Sleepy Katara also likes cuddles).
She sighs, “Okay, what is it?”
“I THINK SOKKA’S TRYING TO STEAL APPA!”
Three weeks earlier.
Sokka swears this is not how he intended this to go down. He had come to visit Aang and Katara in order to see his nephew. His darling, wonderful nephew. Sure, there were rumors of this ‘corona’ thing going around. But things hadn’t gotten bad yet. Not bad enough that he was gonna miss Bumi’s first birthday. So he had made the trip across country lines and had little warning when the borders closed. Yeah, he was stuck. Very stuck.
Now he was quarantined in a house with an overactive one-year old, an overactive thirty year old, and his much put-upon sister, who was also once again in the family way. He had learned the hard way last time. Katara? Easily annoyed by Sokka. Pregnant Katara? Sokka had to watch what direction he was even breathing in.
Sure, it hadn’t been that bad. Bumi had puked on him only once. He had only walked in on Aang and Katara doing mushy things three times (he had blacked out the fourth one from memory). Sokka loved his family. He really, really did.
But now he was going crazy. The only time he gets to go outside is when it’s his turn to walk the family dog. A big newfoundland named Appa. Aang has had him for years. He’s a big ball of fluff and love. He’s the only thing keeping the peace in their awkward four person quarantine pod. And therefore Sokka’s savior.
They do the same route every day. Around the neighborhood. Past the supermarket. Past the dry cleaner’s. And past Sephora .
Sokka doesn’t normally care for make-up. Mainly because he doesn’t wear any. Appa cares about it though apparently, because every time they pass by the place, he darts towards the employee at the front. A man with shiny black hair, and a red face mask matching the red of a burn scar that seems to stretch all the way to his ear. The other eye is lined dark black and Sokka’s willing to bet that under that face mask this guy is definitely wearing lipstick. Not that he’s, you know, thought about it.
He’s seen these people outside of stores before. They’re supposed to monitor how many people are inside at any given time. In the days of corona you have to do stuff like that. Or you should. If you care about your fellow human beings. Which you should.
Appa darts forward and nearly bowls this guy over. Yanking Sokka via the leash along with him.
“Appa, that’s not, Appa follow some social distancing!!!!” Sokka groans. “Sorry about him.”
Sephora guy laughs. “It’s okay. I like dogs.”
Sephora guy likes dogs. Sephora guy has a nice voice, low and kinda raspy. Sephora guy’s eyes look nice up close. Soft and brown. He smells nice too. Must be some fancy perfume they sell in there. Sephora guy is following social distancing! He’s still a few feet away from Sokka. Appa’s the only one not getting with the program.
“I’m Sokka,” he announces, because going another day in this small town without having someone to talk to who isn’t related to him is going to drive him insane.
“Zuko,” the guy lifts his hand, as if to shake Sokka’s but puts it down again. “I can’t...you know. Covid.”
“Yeah. Covid,” Sokka sighs. At least that much is universally understood now. Covid fucked us all. Handshakes included. And that’s the least of it.
So it begins. Sokka offers to walk Appa every day. Sometimes twice a day. Just for a few minutes of small talk with Zuko, alias cute Sephora guy. They don’t even really talk about much. Sometimes make-up. Sometimes Sokka’s job (chemical engineering). Sokka doesn’t usually make friends with random people like this. But quarantine and the resulting isolation has driven up his need for social interaction about a thousand percent. So there’s that.
At two weeks he asks for the guy’s number. Sokka can see through his mask that he’s blushing. Shit. That’s cute. He texts him that night for two hours and falls asleep smiling.
He wishes he could ask him out for a proper date, but he knows that’s not how things work now. There is no more ‘dating.’ There is no more normalcy. There are only Saturday mornings (which are admittedly pleasant), with Bumi on his lap, watching the morning cartoons. Being a frequent spectator to Aang and Katara arguments over nothing. And the internet. A lot of surfing the internet.
He tells Zuko that when this is all over, they’ll go on a real date. Well, there’s more things to sort out than just that. He needs to get a job in this country and immigration and all that. But after that . He’ll relocate here. Get his own place. And yeah, then he’ll date Zuko. It’ll be great.
It’s a good three weeks and it’s all thanks to Appa.
Katara stages an intervention. It’s Sokka and Aang across from each other at the kitchen table. Bumi’s sitting in his high chair. Throwing the occasional cheerio at his father and Uncle’s face. Katara is standing with her arms crossed across her chest, expression fierce.
“Where do you go when you walk the dog?” she asks.
“Out,” Sokka says, “We walk around.”
“You take him out so much you’re over walking him! You over walked a dog. That’s not supposed to even be possible. Dogs love going out. Sweetie back me up here.”
Aang nods. “Dogs love to walk.”
“Aang come on, buddy, I vote with you for movie night and this is how you repay me?” Sokka weeps theatrically.
“I had no choice, you’re trying to steal Appa!”
“Aang, sweetie, no one is trying to steal Appa,” Katara sighs. “We’re just trying to find out where Sokka goes all day.”
“Guys, I’ll tell you,” Sokka says, leaning in towards Katara to whisper conspiratorially. “Every day...I go...to Sephora.”
“Sokka, I’m being serious,” Katara huffs.
Bumi screams, seemingly for no reason. Then enjoys the sound so much he does it again.
Katara kisses him on the head, “Baby no, we don’t scream, we don’t scream.”
“I think my nephew is standing up for me.”
Katara laughs. “Great, since the two of you are on such great terms, maybe you can change him more often.”
“I change him almost as often as Aang!” Sokka snaps. “Besides, more to the point. I really do go to Sephora every day.”
Katara narrows her eyes, “What. For.”
The next time Sokka goes to Sephora he has a lot of explaining to do, so he thinks saying it all really quickly will help.
“So my sister and her husband think I’m trying to steal their dog and I need to prove that you actually exist otherwise our quarantine pod is gonna fall apart and I really can’t have that. Because when Katara’s not happy, Aang isn’t happy. And when Aang isn’t happy he won’t let me use his playstation. Or his switch. And animal crossing is just about the only thing that makes me happy these days they’re just so cute so will you just come to dinner like one time maybe please?”
Zuko just blinks at him. Okay, so clearly that was a lot. That’s a shame.
“Are you...asking me out?” Zuko asks.
“Yes! Yes! Exactly, I’m asking you out, thank you.”
“Okay, what time? I’ll be there. I’ve been self-isolating, mostly, for a while, and I guess you guys have been too. So we could meet-up.”
“Okay,” Sokka says, that’s great, that’s cool, “Grool.”
Grool? Gee, a great time to use that word for the first time.
“Grool? Yeah, uh, definitely,” Zuko says. Good god he’s just as awkward as I am.
Sokka can’t believe his luck.
“Guys, we’re ruined,” Sokka says as he paces around the living room. Katara’s sitting on the sofa and Bumi’s in her lap. Aang is watching a documentary about elephants on his iPad. As a family, they’re mostly doing great. Sokka is the weak, overly anxious link.
“Why are we ruined?” Katara asks.
“Booomboom,” Bumi says. He’s been saying it a lot lately. They think he’s trying to say his name.
“What if he doesn’t like me when he sees me without my mask. He’s never seen me without a mask on!”
“Sokka, if he agreed to go out with you after talking to you for three weeks, I think it’s safe to say his standards are pretty low.”
“Excuse me? You would say that to me? Your own brother!”
“You didn’t load the dishwasher last night when it was clearly your turn.”
“And what about all the years I loaded the dishwasher when it was just me, you, and Dad. What about that?”
“I was going through a rebellious phase!” Katara snaps.
Aang grabs Bumi, who seems excited by all the shouting, and covers his ears, “Guys, you’re gonna make him think this is normal.”
“This isn’t normal?” they both ask him in unison.
Aang shrugs, “I...don’t have any siblings.”
Shouting resumes.
By the time Zuko gets here Sokka should have known he had nothing to worry about. One, because he stops having coherent thoughts the second he sees Zuko without his mask on. He brought flowers too. His long black hair’s usually tied up and today he’s wearing it loose. Sokka’s a little obsessed with the way his bangs fall into his face. And oh god, his lips. Red, bright red, that Sokka’s going to be thinking about for a long, long time.
Appa’s the first to greet him.
“Hey buddy,” Zuko says, giving him a scratch under the chin.
Sokka points at Zuko, and then looks pointedly at Kataang (as he sometimes thinks of them in his head), “See. He’s real.”
Zuko raises an eyebrow. “You guys really thought I wasn’t real?”
“I mentioned that,” Sokka says.
“I thought that was just a bad pick-up line.”
“You thought my pick-up line was bad and you agreed to have dinner with me anyway?”
“Yeah,” Zuko says, scratching the back of his neck, and looking down at his feet, “I did.”
Nice. He thinks I’m cute! Sokka almost does a little ‘whoop’ right there in the hallway. Come on self-control, do your thing.
All in all, given the fact that his one year old nephew, brother in law, and sister are both also there. Plus the inherent awkwardness of a first date with a guy who is just that pretty . It’s a pretty damn good first date.
They kiss quickly on the porch as Zuko’s leaving (only because they both recently got tested and neither have COVID). The kiss is soft and chaste and it’s more of a hello than a goodbye. Zuko feels warm and nice against him. Something steady and real in a time when everything’s crazy and weird. Kind and soft in a time when everyone’s hardened and confused. Zuko makes Sokka want to live for a better time. He makes him want to stay strong for that better time to come. He’s pretty and he’s nice, and when Sokka’s with him, pressing his lips against Zuko’s red ones, he doesn’t feel alone anymore. That’s enough. That’s everything.
It takes several, several weeks. It feels like he’s aged several lifetimes in between. But Sokka finally has his visa stuff figured out. He knows he’ll be able to get out of the country and when he’ll be able to get back in. He’s proud of himself.
As Katara said, “Only you would go into a worldwide pandemic and international emergency and come out with a boyfriend.”
That’s right. That’s Sokka in quarantine for you. A man of many talents. Pronounced with an -okka. He’ll be here all night.