Work Text:
Sokka yawned as he fished in his pockets for the dorm room key. Hmm, not in his jeans pocket, or in the pocket of his Ba Sing Se University hoodie. Must have been in his backpack? The motion of swinging his backpack off his shoulder made him sway where he stood. He thumped a hand on the door to catch himself—
—and pitched forward into the room when the door abruptly opened from the inside.
“Sokka?” said his roommate, sounding kind of put-out by the presence of the Water Tribe boy on the floor in the doorway. Sokka was willing to bet that Zuko was relieved not to have him around in their dorm room all weekend while he was at the engineering hackathon.
“Zuko,” he grumbled, face smushed into the dorm carpet where he’d fallen face forward. “Can’t give a guy a warning when you open the door?”
“Sorry.” Zuko didn’t sound particularly sorry. “Uh. Aren’t you gonna get up from the floor?”
Under ordinary circumstances, Sokka would have found it pretty gross to lie right here in the entryway. But at this moment, he was only looking for the sweet relief of sleep. And a meal. Spirits, he was hungry; he hadn’t eaten since the hackathon organizers provided lunch yesterday.
“Need help. So tired.” He finally rolled over, and in his doing so, a noisy gurgle escaped from his stomach. “And hungry.”
“Oh. How was the hackathon?” Zuko reached out a hand and pulled a grateful Sokka to his feet.
“It was good, my team won second place.” Sokka dropped his backpack and dove into his bottom bunk. Ah, home sweet bed. “I’ve only slept four hours though. And I haven’t even eaten since yesterday!”
Zuko frowned, staring down at Sokka from his perch on top of his desk. “That doesn’t sound healthy. You should eat.”
Sokka plugged his phone in. It was currently 9:30 pm on Sunday night. “You sound like my sister. Besides, you’re one to talk. Can we order a pizza? I bet you haven’t eaten either.”
“Have too! I ate this morning.”
Oh, please. “Well, that doesn’t sound healthy,” Sokka mocked. Zuko crossed his arms, irritated; he was such an easy target. “Let’s get dinner.”
“I’m healthy!" Zuko snapped. "I’ve just had a really busy day.”
Sokka yawned again. “Yeah yeah yeah, okay. You down for pizza?” He pulled out his ponytail and let his hair fall down around his face. Zuko was sitting motionlessly, his gaze frozen on Sokka. “Hello? Earth to Zuko?”
His roommate straightened up so fast that he overbalanced and slid off his own desk. “Right! Yes. I am! Down for pizza.”
Most days, Sokka couldn’t figure out if Zuko was socially awkward in general or especially jumpy around him. He’d get to the bottom of it someday. “Well, I have UberEats on my phone. Let’s get to it, chop chop. I’m starving and I wanna take a nap before the pizza gets here.”
Zuko scowled — so predictable that Sokka would have rolled his eyes, if he weren’t fighting to keep them open. “Don’t you know it’s better to call the restaurant directly? So that they don’t have to take a pay cut.”
This was a surprise. “I didn’t know that you of all people cared so much about small businesses.”
“I don’t!” Zuko snapped reflexively. His face went through a funny little contortion as he realized what he had said. “I mean— Of course I care about small businesses. I just think things should be fair. For the restaurant people.”
“I get it, you’re a fair guy. Good points being made here,” Sokka agreed placatingly, and snuggled deeper into his bed. “But you’re calling them. No take-backs!”
Zuko huffed. “Only because you’re indisposed.”
“That’s right!” Sokka beamed. “Wake me up when you get them on the phone so I can order my side. You never get it right.” He let his eyes drift closed, half-asleep as he listened to Zuko dial the pizza restaurant and place an order for a large triple meat supreme with garlic crest — Sokka’s favorite. He stretched a hand out from between the blankets, ready to take the phone so he could order the side. Instead, Zuko looked at him for a long moment and said into the phone, “Plus an order of baked puffin-seal pasta, triple cheese, extra garlic, hold the vegetables. And a liter of Mountain Dew.”
Well, what do you know. “You remembered!” Sokka exclaimed. He slid deeper into his bed as another wave of exhaustion crashed over him. Mmm. So tired. So hungry. “I guess you’re not the worst roommate ever.”
Zuko shushed him, pointing at the phone, but before Sokka closed his eyes, he thought he saw him smile. Eh, must have been a trick of the light. Sokka was probably dreaming already.