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Toph opened the door of the small coffee shop and made her way to the barista. She knew exactly who it was since she’d sort of memorised Zuko’s schedule. She settled an elbow on the counter and snapped her fingers. She heard a sigh and then the bubble of the coffee machine.
“You know, I’d think at a coffee shop, you wouldn’t use the same machine that I would at home,” she said, just to fill the silence.
She heard a snort. “Oh? Then why don’t you make your own instead of pestering me everyday?”
She put both her arms on the counter now. “So I can see you embarrass yourself in front of that hot guy who keeps coming in.”
“Shut up, you lesbian. You can’t even see.”
Toph just grinned to herself. “Speaking of him, where is he? Is he here yet?”
“Yeah, he’s at the table over there, left corner, right next to the window. He’s with someone, I think she’s his sister, maybe? This is not permission for you to go there and pull some shit."
Toph laughed. “You’re no fun. I’ll just be here then, drinking my coffee. Speaking of which, hurry up with that.”
“I do not control how fast the coffee machine works, Toph.”
“Cry me a river.”
~
“So, how’s today going for you?” Toph asked.
She heard someone tap on the table. It sure did sound nervous. “I guess. He keeps looking at me weird.”
“Who? Your crush?”
“Yeah, he didn’t even come up to order, his sister did.”
“This is all so fucking dumb.” She scoffed. “Why don’t you just, I don’t know, ask him out?”
“That’s very rich coming from you. Have you asked out that girl in your sports class yet or not?”
“First of all, her name is Song, and second of all, you ruined any chance of me dating her when you did! You’re gay, for fuck’s sake. Third of all, you don’t get to yell at me for not dating someone when I can literally feel you staring at the guy, and I’m blind!”
Zuko startled, not expecting Toph to hit the nail on the head. He angrily brought out the now-filled cup, and for added measure, he drew a >:( in for Toph’s latte art. He was kind of disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to see that, but he didn’t bother to tell her about it.
She picked up the cup from where he put it down and internally shivered. “Why do you feel happy, what the heck dude?”
“It’s nothing.” He still grinned, though.
~
Toph didn’t come in the next day. she didn’t have a boring class, so she didn’t technically need the coffee. Besides, she had Song in one of those classes.
She also kind of hoped that without her around to annoy the shit out of him, maybe he’d finally ask his crush out.
~
This was not the case.
She came in, and immediately heard Zuko sigh. She grinned at where she knew the table was. “What? I just got here and you already want me to leave?”
Zuko shot her a nasty look, and then remembered she couldn’t see it. “It was very peaceful around here without you around. I even got to finally talk with my coworker. He’s making coffee now, don’t disturb him.”
“You’ve worked here for two months now and you still don’t know his name? Exactly how antisocial are you?” To prove her point she raised her arm and waved wildly at the other dude, completely disregarding what Zuko told her. “Hey! You! What’s your name?”
She heard a confused voice answer back. “Uh, it’s Aang. Nice to meet you!”
Zuko grumbled at Aang. “Don’t encourage this. I don’t need both of you teaming up on this.”
Toph just grinned. “That’s besides the point. You make any progress yet?”
The noise of frustration she heard was enough to guarantee that there was none made. “Fine. There’s always tomorrow.” She sipped her coffee in silence after that, enough to spook Zuko for the rest of his shift.
~
The next day, she got in early. From what she’d seen the day earlier, Aang’s shift ended some time before Zuko’s began but Aang liked to stay in for some extra time, for what she doesn’t know.
She raps on the counter in front of her, a bit uncomfortable about how to interact with Aang. With Zuko it was much smoother, having already established their boundaries during their first encounter at the shop. With Aang she didn’t know what she should be doing.
She needn’t have worried, though. She immediately heard a warm voice respond, “Hey! Toph, wasn’t it?”
She waved unnecessarily at him. “Yeah. Can I get a simple mocha frappe?”
She heard a chuckle. “I wouldn’t have thought you as a frappe kind of person.”
“I am full of surprises.” Toph smiled back.
She waited at the counter until Aang was done with her drink. She sipped at it and hummed. Honestly? It was better than Zuko’s. She’d have to start coming in earlier just for Aang’s coffee.
She looked up at where she assumed his head was and asked, “Hey, are there any customers behind me?”
Aang’s tone turned questioning. “No, today’s pretty slow usually. Why?”
She smiled again. She needs to get Aang’s number soon. “Cool! I need to ask you something.”
“What do you wanna know?”
“You know that brother and sister duo that always take that side table over there?” She pointed in the direction Zuko had once pointed her towards.
Aang brightened audibly. “Oh! Sokka and Katara! Love those guys!”
Toph blinked in surprise. She thought the guy might have known them better than Zuko as they were regulars and he wasn’t a coward, but she didn’t know that Aang was personally familiar with them. “Uh, how do you know them?”
“Me and Katara are dating!” His voice turned disgustingly sweet. She wanted to barf for a moment. “Sokka and I are best bros!” His voice was still just as sweet. If only Zuko was as nice as this when introducing her to people.
“So their names are Sokka and Katara? Good to know.” She nodded to herself.
Aang, for one, didn’t even question it. “Do you think Zuko will finally ask out Sokka? Me and Katara already have a bet going on.”
She looked shocked at him for a second, before chuckling. “He’s so obvious, isn’t he?”
She heard a different voice this time. She assumed it was the other barista who shared Aang’s shift. “Are we talking about Sokka’s ridiculous-ass crush? They’re the definition of unstoppable force meets immovable object. Sokka’s been oblivious the whole time. He’s pining, too!”
Toph grinned at the new voice. “Oh my god. They’re idiots.”
“We’re still the ones stuck here setting them up. We’re all just idiots living in their worlds.”
She grinned wildly. “What’s your name, then?”
She heard a wild laugh. “Suki. Now, when do you think they’re gonna start dating and how much are you willing to fork up?”
~
She stayed in the shop until Zuko arrived. She checked her phone for a time and grinned again as she heard a half-baked choke coming from the direction of the door. So, he was here.
She heard Aang yell Katara’s name and waited a short while longer until the door shut behind them again. She swiftly made her way to the table she knew Sokka would be still sitting at alone. Once again, she heard a half-hearted choke, now followed with a “You traitor!”
She sat down at the empty table and said, “Hey,” to no one in particular.
“Uh, hi?” was the reply, and now she faced the voice head-on.
“You’re Sokka, right?”
“Do I know you?”
“Aang told me who you are! Yeesh, don’t be so uptight.”
She heard an intake of breath. “Shut up.”
“Wow, you are much easier to rile up than Zuko, and that’s saying something!”
~
She didn’t start off with the “my best friend likes you and your best friend says you like him so can you just ask him out and put us all out of our misery,” spiel. She would wait for a bit before saying anything, and besides, she did like hanging out with the other three.
She still chatted with Zuko most days, and now that she had Sokka’s phone number, she spent less time antagonizing the idiot. He knew she was planning something and she imagined him narrowing his eyes at her every time she talked with the other two, but he knew better than to ask.
Sometimes on days where she had earlier breaks, she’d swing by earlier, and talk with Suki instead. Finding out she was Sokka’s ex who was now dating Sokka’s other ex was a riveting story. She liked the company, especially since between Sokka and Zuko, she’d had enough of boys for now.
The days flew by fast. She asked out Song, and they had a nice coffee date. Not in this coffee shop, though. Zuko had enough to do with relationships without butting his head into hers. Sokka and Katara left later than normal. They still hung out with her and Aang, but most of the time, they preferred to be alone together, just studying with each other. She wouldn’t have thought it would work with their normally clashing personalities and different majors, but the determination and attention to detail they both shared must’ve helped the process.
Even Zuko took lesser shifts, sometimes not coming in for stretches at a time. She sometimes joined him with studying, but she had her own courses to take care of, and spending more than a few hours with a lit. major studying was enough to piss her off for the whole day.
Because of finals week rapidly approaching, she hardly had time to go out to the coffee shop, and in true Zuko fashion, he hadn’t yet asked out the man who spent even more time around him than usual. In true Sokka fashion, as Katara had whispered to her one day as Sokka went up to order, he hadn’t either, simply content to live in bisexual silence and pining.
Every time she heard Zuko talk about the other like a lost cause, she forced down the urge to either smack herself or Zuko (she still hadn’t decided yet) and just focused on her coursework. She could pressure Sokka after the stress of their finals lifted.
~
After a hellish week, they finished all their exams. Toph decided to celebrate with her three new friends at the coffee shop again.
She offered to order for all of them, including Aang, who was off his shift, and Suki, who’d swung by to join them. They all knew that Zuko had already memorised all their orders, but she still went up to the counter anyway.
As he prepared their coffee, she whispered to him, “So. It all comes down to today, buddy. I’m not gonna let you wallow in self-pity any longer. Ask him out or I’ll do it for you.”
She heard a miserable choke. “We’ve been friends from proximity for weeks now. If he wanted to date me, he’d ask me out.”
She sighed. “He’s single, you’re single. He’s bi, you’re gay. You both have an unnatural propensity for gay yearning and pining. Literally what more confirmation do you want? Just ask him out already.”
“Are you going to beat me up if I don’t?” Zuko sounded scared.
“Me, Katara and Suki are all going to beat you up together.”
That was enough to get him to listen. “Okay, okay! Yeesh, I’ll ask him after my shift’s over.”
She smiled a huge, toothy grin at him.
The coffee tray was shoved into her face, nearly spilling everywhere.
~
As they all shuffled out of the coffee shop, Zuko included, he stopped Sokka at the door.
In his irritably gruff voice, he asked, “I — I need to tell you something. Could we maybe talk in private, away from them?”
He heard a reply. “Sure, man.”
She and the other three continued walking to give them a little privacy.
She heard a slight chuckle, and Katara’s voice came through. “Is he going to do it?”
Aang responded. “My money’s still on Sokka. He actually asked out Yue that one time.”
Suki snorted. “Yeah, and he was so traumatised from that experience he didn’t ask me out. I doubt he’s going to be able to ask out Zuko.”
Toph grinned. “It’s gonna be Zuko.” A disappointed silence hung in the air. “You guys don’t believe in him? That’s disappointing.”
“What did you do?” Katara might’ve sounded angry, but she started laughing immediately after Toph answered with a casual “I told him I would beat him up.”.
Aang clapped his hands. “That’s gotta do it. Guess I lost $20.” He didn’t even look disappointed.
Before long, and with more predictions being thrown around, the other two finally managed to catch up. Aang immediately wolf-whistled.
She whispered to ask Suki what was going on, and the other girl responded simply with, “They’re holding hands.” She joined Aang.
Katara broke it up with a, “Alright, who asked who out?”
It surprised them all to learn that it was actually Sokka.
(“See! What did I tell you guys? No one ever listens to Aang when he’s right.”)
~
Toph thought she already knew Sokka. Not by a long shot.
Her sleep was interrupted by calls from the guy himself, asking her “What’s Zuko’s favourite restaurant?” and “Do you think he’ll like flowers?” and “Why the fuck is he working at a coffee shop when he lives at a teahouse?” Though, to be honest, she has no idea about that last one either.)
It gave her solace to learn that Katara was also haunted by Zuko. (“I swear I am this close to blocking him already,” she had ranted to her one day over ice cream, and Toph patted her back calmly. “You should block him. Maybe then he’ll ask Suki, who can actually answer his ridiculous questions.”)
But whatever. She was happy seeing him happy. She’d let those two lovesick idiots be in peace. As long as they didn’t kiss in front of her. That would be the worst.