Chapter Text
There was something relaxing about walking through a city at 6 in the morning.
The sun still hadn’t risen yet, the sky just a vast expanse of soft grey that brightened more and more with every minute. Only a few cars were driving along the usually crowded streets of Hong Kong, with even fewer people walking along the sidewalk.
When Sokka had first started his job, he thought that morning shifts were going to be the bane of his existence. While he wasn’t necessarily bad at getting up early, it definitely wasn’t something he enjoyed. But after working at his coffee shop for almost a year now, Sokka had come to realize that the morning shift was by far the most enjoyable.
One, the commute was stupidly easy. Usually Sokka wouldn’t dare walk so many blocks in the middle of summer because that would almost always result in him becoming a dripping, sweaty mess. This would mean that he would have to take the train to work, and while that wasn’t a difficult thing to do per se, there were only so many bodies he could be crammed up against without losing his mind a little bit. But in the mornings, the temperature and humidity were at tolerable levels, and walking to work was actually a pleasant experience.
Another reason he liked the morning shifts? He was usually finished for the day by the time noon rolled around. This left him plenty of time to spend the afternoon catching up on just about everything he needed to—sleep, school, friends.
So yeah. Sokka didn’t really mind the morning shift, which meant he was in a good mood as he walked down the empty streets and towards his coffee shop.
Tucked away at the corner of a bustling intersection was the old-fashioned coffee shop that Sokka had called his work home for the past year. Unlike many shops in Hong Kong—a city constantly running low on space—Sokka’s shop was actually pretty decently sized. It was an old cafe, one that had been around for over thirty years now. With concrete floors, soft yellow hanging lights, and a dark wooden coffee bar, the place was practically the definition of quaint.
Unlocking the door, Sokka made his way inside the shop, shutting the door behind him. Suki would be here soon to join him in opening, but Sokka was usually the one to get the bulk of the opening process started.
The routine was ingrained into him at this point. Throwing his jacket in the backroom, the first thing Sokka set about doing was making himself a latte. Just because he didn’t mind getting up early didn’t mean he wasn’t absolutely dead every time he did it.
Hands going through the motions, Sokka pulled two espresso shots, got out the almond milk to steam, mixed in some honey, and put it all together into a honey almond latte. The smell of roasting coffee beans began to waft throughout the shop, and as Sokka took the first sip of his drink, he leaned back against the counter, tilting his head back and taking a deep breath. The sun’s rays were just starting to creep through the front windows, brushing golden light over the furniture.
That was the third reason Sokka loved the morning shift. The sunrise was always really pretty to watch.
His phone buzzed, and when Sokka glanced down at the screen, he smiled when he saw the notification.
thebluespirit: Good morning
Taking another swig of his latte, Sokka set the cup down and typed out a quick reply.
boomeranguy15: you’re like clockwork dude
boomeranguy15: you always text me exactly at sunrise every morning
boomeranguy15: do you just like?? Set your alarm for sunrise exactly???
thebluespirit: I dunno, I’ve always just risen with the sun
thebluespirit: How’s your morning going though?
boomeranguy15: it’s going gooddddd i’m just doing the opening shift at work
thebluespirit: Oh sorry, I’ll let you get back to that then
thebluespirit: I’ll dm you later
boomeranguy15: ttyl ;)
Putting down his phone, Sokka grinned into his latte. Pretty much all his interactions with his friend, no matter how short, always made him ridiculously excited. What was even more ridiculous though was how he didn’t even know the guys name.
The Blue Spirit was Sokka’s mysterious internet friend. They had met about 6 months ago on reddit where they had gotten into an intense discussion (read: argument) about sword fighting. Eventually, after nearly ten replies to each other, Sokka’s surefire certainty that single wielding was far superior to dual wielding led to the guy dming him. After arguing a bit more about the superiority of materials used to make a sword (Sokka was trying to convince the guy you could definitely make a sword out of an asteroid), they eventually found common ground when they realized they both watched the same sword fighting teacher on Youtube—an older man named Piandao.
One thing had led to another, and eventually they ended up exchanging discord usernames. From there, they started talking about all sorts of things they were into. Other youtube channels, cooking, podcasts, etc. Over the course of the past six months, Blue Spirit had slowly become one of Sokka’s closest friends, despite not ever having seen his face.
Sokka only knew three things about Blue Spirit. He was a guy, he was 25, and he was in the same time zone as Sokka. This meant he could be basically anywhere in either East or Southeast Asia, somewhere in Russia, or even in Western Australia. So that really didn’t narrow much down.
Still, he didn’t mind. If Blue felt comfortable telling Sokka more about himself, he’d do it on his own time.
By the time there were only a few sips of his latte left in his mug, Sokka heard the clinking of the front door opening, and he glanced up to see Suki shoving her way inside. She gave Sokka a half-hearted wave as she shut the door behind her, her eyes drooping as she stumbled towards the counter. Without having to be asked, Sokka got another two espresso shots ready, chuckling as Suki slumped over onto the counter, her forehead pressing against the cool wood.
“Tired?” He asked, very familiar with Suki’s horrible morning grogginess. Suki only mumbled something half-coherent in response, and Sokka hurried to finish Suki’s drink.
He slid the cappuccino over to her, and she lifted her head to wrap her hands around the ceramic cup. “Sokka, you’re my favorite person,” she mumbled, bringing the drink up to her lips and downing half the cup in one go.
“I better be or else I’m gonna be really offended,” Sokka teased, finishing the rest of his latte. “Did you have a late night last night?”
Suki nodded, straightening up so she was actually standing properly. “Yeah, I went out with the girls and forgot I had this shift today.”
Sokka winced in sympathy. “Please tell me you didn’t get shitfaced.”
“Eh, I got drunk but not enough to have a bad hangover,” Suki shrugged, taking another sip of her drink. “Still gonna pass out the second this shift is over.” She hummed and closed her eyes, the rising sun hitting the back of her head, and creating a glowing aura around her hair. “How was your night though? Did you talk to your secret boy again?”
There was a mischievous glint in her eyes as she asked this. Pink lips pulled up in a knowing smirk. Of course Suki knew about Blue, Sokka hardly shut up about the guy. She also teased him relentlessly for his ‘crush’, which Sokka would vehemently deny was a crush, even though he knew that wasn’t exactly true.
“We watched a movie together,” Sokka said, trying to sound casual and totally failing to do so. Suki snorted at his dreamy tone, and he ignored her by turning around to start setting up the coffee bar for the day.
“What did you guys watch?” She asked, resting her chin in her hand.
“A Korean zombie movie,” Sokka snorted, thinking back to his and Blue’s all caps screaming texts to each other every time one of their favorite characters died, or when one of their streams would buffer right when something bad was about to happen.
“Wow, so romantic,” Suki deadpanned.
“Hey! It was really good!” Sokka protested. “I even got a little teary-eyed at the end!” By ‘a little teary-eyed’, Sokka really meant he had been full on sobbing, but Suki didn’t need to know that part.
“Like I said, how romantic.” Finishing her coffee and looking a bit more alive than she had a few minutes ago, Suki moved around the bar to help Sokka continue setting up. “One of these days you gotta find out what he looks like. I need to know if he’s up to my standards for you.”
“Your standards for me are yourself,” Sokka replied, raising an eyebrow at her.
“You can’t deny I was one of the best people you ever dated,” Suki joked, folding her arms over her chest. “So what if I want to make sure my ex-boyfriend is with someone as great as I am?”
“I’m not dating Blue though,” Sokka pointed out, wetting a rag to wipe over the counter.
“You practically are. If you guys lived in the same city you would’ve been together for three months already.” Suki paused, a consideration flickering across her face. “Where does he live anyway?”
Sokka shrugged. “I dunno. All I know is that we’re in the same time zone.”
“Wouldn’t it be funny if he lived here in Hong Kong too?” Suki asked, setting a container of oat milk on the counter.
“I’m pretty sure the odds of that are astronomically low,” Sokka replied. “Anyway, it doesn’t even matter because like I said, we’re not dating.”
“Alright alright,” Suki relented, holding her hands up in surrender. “I’ll stop interfering in your love life, but only if you let me set you up on a blind date.”
Sokka snorted and shook his head. “Trust me, I don’t need any help in that department. If anything you should be focused on getting Katara set up with someone, she definitely needs the help more than I do.”
“Are you kidding? Aang has been pining over Katara since secondary school. I’m not gonna just crush his dreams like that,” Suki explained, darting down to grab her apron and throw it over her head.
“If Katara ever agrees to go on a date with Aang again I might just die of shock,” Sokka replied. Katara and Aang had been a bit of an item back in secondary school, with Aang’s puppy-like adoration eventually winning Katara over enough to agree to go on a few dates with him. But it fizzled out eventually, and the two remained good friends. However, it was obvious to everyone in their friend group that Aang had never really gotten over Katara, despite Katara having moved on rather easily.
A part of Sokka was almost worried about how hung up Aang was on his sister. If Aang hadn’t dated Teo a few years back Sokka would’ve probably pulled him aside and told him to move on. But it was clear he was trying to do that, even if his other relationships so far hadn’t worked out.
Still, Sokka knew how Katara talked about Aang sometimes. When she’d go on about how he’d made her laugh by doing something goofy, or how he cheered her up when she was having a terrible day. There would be a certain look in her eyes that gave Sokka the feeling that Aang wasn’t completely out of luck.
The rest of the opening routine passed by rather quickly with Suki’s help. The two set up the coffee shop for the day, Sokka taking down the chairs while Suki set up the rest of the coffee bar. As the sun rose higher in the sky and the light in the cafe grew brighter and brighter, it wasn’t long before opening time was on them.
Like every morning, there was already a line of people waiting when Sokka switched the sign hanging on the door to ‘open’. Soon enough, the first customers of the day flowed in like a faucet being turned on high.
For the next few hours, he and Suki worked together in a choreographed dance. Sokka would man the register, putting on his best customer service smile to ask each new person what they would like to wake them up before their morning commute. He was forcibly polite to the rude people, while joking along with his regulars. Meanwhile, Suki manned the back, darting around from machine to machine, pumping out drinks with a speed that only came with experience.
When the line of customers eased up a bit, Sokka would jump back to join Suki. She would pass him the oat milk while he would pass her the caramel bottle. She would slide a half filled macchiato over for him to finish while he would toss the next empty cup at her head, knowing she would catch it without issue.
The time flew by, and soon it was nearly 11 in the morning. The rush had died down, with the shop no longer crowded by stretching lines and instead populated with a few students or businesspeople here and there. The clicking of keys against laptops and the hushed murmur of conversation echoed throughout the shop, the faint sound of Suki’s playlist being played by the speakers overhead.
When there was a momentary lull in their orders, Sokka heard a ding from his phone. He had a text.
Ty Lee: Can you come bring me a large iced white mocha with extra mocha syrup when you get a chance??? Pretty please???
Laughing to himself, Sokka replied with a thumbs up emoji, pocketed his phone, and set about making the drink for his friend. When Suki raised an eyebrow at Sokka, he shrugged.
“Ty Lee gave me her order of the day,” he explained. Suki made an ‘aah’ noise in understanding, and went back to running caramel ribbons up the side of the cup she was holding.
Despite the fact that their coffee shop was unusually large for a small Hong Kong business, that didn’t mean that the overcrowding didn’t affect them. The one really unfortunate thing about the shop was that the one person bathroom that was used by customers connected to the building next to their own, which so happened to be a tattoo parlor. As a result of both having to work out a schedule for which side cleaned the bathroom when, Sokka had gotten to know a few of the people who worked at the tattoo parlor. And one of those people was Ty Lee.
Ty Lee was a bubbly girl with an infectious smile who absolutely did not seem like she would be a tattoo artist. Seeing her sparkly eyeshadow and baby pink crop tops did not lend itself to the idea of the punk aesthetic that went hand in hand with tattoo artists. However, at closer inspection you’d realize Ty Lee’s arms were covered in small doodle-like tattoos (many of which she had tattooed on herself). From strawberries to angel wings to circus tents, Ty Lee had really adopted an aesthetic all her own. Sokka thought she was great.
He’s not sure when the coffee ordering had become a common thing between the two of them. One day Ty Lee had just texted him asking him to bring her a coffee saying she would pay him in cash when he got over there, because she had been in the middle of tattooing a client and couldn’t get up. Now it was a near daily event.
Once the drink was made, Sokka shrugged off his apron, waved to Suki, and weaved his way through the customers and out the doors towards the tattoo parlor next door.
Stepping inside the tattoo parlor was a much different experience than stepping into his coffee shop. For one, instead of being greeted with the smell of roasting coffee beans and sugary syrup, Sokka was hit with a face full of antiseptic. The sound of angry buzzing usually filled the room, with some pop punk music playing faintly from the speakers overhead.
The tattoo parlor was much smaller than the coffee shop. There were only three ‘service’ chairs set up, with two being reserved for tattoos and the third being used for piercings. At the moment, the piercer at the shop—a goth girl named Mai who kind of scared Sokka—had a customer at her chair, and was leaning over the young man with a needle hovering over his ear. One of the tattoo chairs was empty at the moment, lacking both customer and artist. The other chair had no customer in it, but a grinning Ty Lee texting rapidly on her phone, having not even looked up as Sokka had walked in.
“I come bearing presents,” Sokka announced in a grandiose voice, setting the iced mocha down on the table next to Ty Lee.
Ty Lee jumped at the noise, and when her eyes darted up to meet Sokka’s, her cherub cheeks spread into a wide grin.
“Sokka!” She exclaimed, leaping to her feet. “Thank you! I needed this so badly you don’t even know,” Ty Lee said, and before Sokka could try to dodge, Ty Lee was wrapping her arms around him in a hug.
As the air was crushed out of his lungs due to Ty Lee’s (weirdly) strong grip, Sokka tried to wiggle out while forcing out a response.
“No problem, anything for my favorite tattoo artist,” he gasped, wondering if his face was already turning purple.
Luckily for him, Ty Lee dropped her arms and the blood rushed back into his brain. She sat back down at her chair and picked up her drink, taking an experimental sip. Then, her expression brightened as an excited noise squeaked out of her. “It’s perfect like always!” She giggled and set the drink back down, before digging into her purse for the money. “By the way, I wanted to tell you that your aura is a super pretty color today. You must be in a good mood.”
Trying to hide the roll of his eyes at the mention of Ty Lee’s ‘auras’, Sokka let out an uncomfortable chuckle. “Oh really? What color is it today?”
Glancing up from her purse, Ty Lee narrowed her eyes at Sokka. “I’d say… a bluish silvery kind of tone.”
“I like the sound of that,” Sokka shrugged, right as Ty Lee yelled ‘got it’ and threw her hand with the money in it in the air. Straightening up, she dropped the cash into his hands, and he quickly shoved it in his pocket.
Turning on his heel, Sokka went to move towards the door. “I gotta get back to my shift but, as always, it’s been a pleasure Ty Lee-”
Sokka was cut off by a raspy voice coming from the back of the room. “Ugh, he’s here.”
Freezing in place, Sokka took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment as he swiveled on his foot to turn back around. Opening his eyes, he was met with the scowling face of none other than Zuko.
Zuko was the tattoo artist to whom the third chair in the shop belonged to. Before Sokka had befriended Ty Lee and actually met the guy, he’d only seen Zuko when he passed by the front of his own coffee shop every day. At the time, he’d thought the shaggy dark hair that almost fell to his shoulders, the angry red scar that covered nearly half his face, and the shockingly dark tattoos that were stark against his pale arms made him seem like some sort of really cool and hot punk dude that Sokka would totally flirt with at a concert.
However, Sokka soon learned that the guy was a total bastard.
“Yeah, I’m here. Is there a problem?” Sokka challenged, raising an eyebrow at Zuko.
“There is. You’re distracting me and my coworkers from our work,” Zuko shot back, totally missing the fact that Mai had completed a piercing and given aftercare instructions all in the last five minutes without being distracted by Sokka’s presence.
“Oh yeah, because you’re clearly so busy right now,” Sokka said, pointedly glancing at Zuko’s empty customer chair.
“I have an appointment in half an hour!” Zuko huffed. “I need to finalize my sketches and make sure I have the proper gauge needles-”
“Did someone put a stick up your ass? Or did you shove one up there yourself so you had an excuse to be a total prick?” Sokka asked, cutting him off.
Zuko’s scowl deepened. “Go back to making your shitty latte’s or whatever,” he scoffed, waving Sokka off and falling back into his chair.
Not wanting to stick around for any longer than he had to, Sokka turned on his heel and stomped out of the tattoo parlor. Like always, his interaction with Zuko left Sokka gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.
That smug bastard just got under his skin like no one else did, and it drove him crazy.
His and Zuko’s poor relationship had started off nearly six months ago, when Sokka had gone into the coffee shop like usual to bring Ty Lee her drink. It was only around the third or fourth time Sokka was bringing Ty Lee coffee, and while he knew both Zuko and Mai’s names, he’d yet to actually interact with either of them.
Walking into the parlor on that day in particular had led to Sokka running into someone he had never wanted to see again.
There, sitting on the customer chair and smirking at Zuko with all the charm he could muster, was none other than Jet. The same Jet who had broken Katara’s heart only 2 months before after they had dated for almost 6. The breakup had been sudden and come without warning, with Jet unwilling to explain what exactly had gone wrong and basically ghosting Katara on all social media. She had cried for days.
So to see Jet again only 2 months after, threading his fingers into Zuko’s hair and looking like he was about to make out with him right then and there, was a bit of a shock to say the least. When he had asked Ty Lee about it, she had said that they had been dating for a while at that point, which led Sokka to believe that Zuko could’ve been the reason Jet had broken up with Katara.
Since that day in the shop, Sokka hadn’t seen Jet again, and hadn’t heard Ty Lee mention him. But still, Zuko was dating that bastard, and of course that meant that Sokka not only resented Jet on behalf of Katara, but he had to resent Zuko too.
And to be fair, Zuko took the rivalry in stride. Every shot Sokka fired at him, he’d fire right back. In all honesty, if Zuko hadn’t been able to dish out as much as he could take, Sokka would’ve stopped the petty insults more for boredom than anything else. But that wasn’t the case, and the two were able to go at it for ages.
Huffing to himself as he stepped out of the shop, Sokka made his way back into his coffee shop where a new line had formed in his absence. Suki was scrambling to fill orders, so Sokka darted back behind the counter and slid in front of the register so she could get started on making the drinks.
In between making drinks, Sokka managed to send out a text to Blue.
boomeranguy15: goddddd the guy next door is pissing me off again
thebluespirit: Ugh really? I’m sorry
thebluespirit: That prick who works near me also just pissed me off
boomeranguy15: jesus why are people such assholes
boomeranguy15: istg this guy acts like me just existing annoys him
thebluespirit: I don’t understand how anyone could be annoyed by you
thebluespirit: But yeah the prick near me also acts like that
thebluespirit: I literally was just minding my own business trying to work and he had to come over to distract me
thebluespirit: And then acted like it was my fault he was there
boomeranguy15: god what a dick
From the register, Suki barked out an order in a sharp voice, and Sokka knew she was getting annoyed.
boomeranguy15: anyway I don’t wanna disappear but I’m still working so I’ll text you later
boomeranguy15: just wanted to rant
boomeranguy15: hope your day gets better tho
thebluespirit: You too
thebluespirit: Good luck
boomeranguy15: <3
The last hour of his shift passed by in a blur. Sokka burned his hand on the espresso machine, Suki dropped ten ice cubes on the floor which led to Sokka’s life flashing before his eyes when he slipped on one, and Suki had to explain to a customer that no, they did not have caffeine packets, and even if they did they certainly wouldn’t add one to a quadruple shot latte.
Sokka was so tired by the time the clock struck twelve that he nearly cried when he spotted Aang walking through the front doors of the shop.
“Hey Sokka! Hi Suki!” Aang greeted, waving as he pushed behind the counter. “How was the morning shift?”
“Exhausting,” Suki said, chucking her apron at Aang. “Though things slowed down again, so you should be able to survive until Haru gets here.”
“I think I can manage,” Aang agreed, tossing the apron over his head. “Anything interesting happen other than the usual rush?”
Sokka snorted as he folded his apron and put it away. “Gave Ty Lee her coffee and Zuko was a dick to me, like usual.”
“I don’t understand why you two don’t get along,” Aang pouted. “He’s a nice dude once you get to know him!”
“And I don’t understand how you can say that about him when he’s dating the same guy who broke Katara’s heart!” Sokka shot back.
Aang shrugged. “I mean, it’s not like it’s his fault Jet broke up with Katara. I don’t even think he knew Jet when he and Katara were together.”
“Sure he didn’t,” Sokka muttered, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, he’s just a jerk, plain and simple. You know what he said today? He said I was distracting him from his sketches. Just by standing there!”
“I mean, maybe he’s the type who needs complete quiet to focus?” Aang wondered.
Sokka rolled his eyes. “Rock music was blasting over the loudspeakers,” he deadpanned. Aang didn’t seem sure how to respond to that, but Sokka continued on. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’m gonna go to Noodle Noodle for lunch and then I’m gonna go home and pass out.”
“God I wish that was me,” Suki groaned. “I have a judo class I have to go teach.”
“Here, let me make you a cold brew,” Aang said, already grabbing a cup for the girl.
“Aang, you’re my favorite,” Suki muttered, letting her head drop onto the bar.
Making his way out from behind the bar, Sokka gave a small wave to his friends. “I’m heading out now. I’ll see you guys later!”
Aang and Suki both waved goodbye, and Sokka stepped out into the oppressive afternoon heat. A contrast to earlier that morning when he’d first arrived at the shop, now the streets were bustling with people, the honking of car horns filling the air as Sokka pushed his way through the congested sidewalk.
Turning towards his apartment, Sokka walked down the street, already daydreaming of the noodles he was about to eat. Noodle Noodle was a restaurant that specialized in fish noodles, and Sokka had a particular penchant for their sichuan beef fish udon.
The smell of roasting meat and fish filled the air when Sokka stepped inside. He went up to the register to place his takeout order, and then found himself a quiet booth in the corner to wait for his food to be ready.
There was a buzzing from his back pocket, and when Sokka pulled his phone out, a grin lit up his face at the sight of the notification.
thebluespirit: I know you’re working rn, I just saw this and it made me think of you
thebluespirit: [image.jpg]
Blue had sent Sokka a picture. It was a standard baseball hat, and on the front in small blue embroidery it said, ‘women want me, fish fear me’. The image made Sokka let out a surprised laugh, causing a few other patrons sitting at the table next to his to give him startled looks.
boomeranguy15: LSDFKJAD DUDE I NEED THAT
boomeranguy15: did you think of me because my dad’s a fisherman??
thebluespirit: Lol yes
boomeranguy15: perfect
boomeranguy15: also I’m off work now
thebluespirit: Oh sweet
thebluespirit: How was it?
boomeranguy15: pretty good, I’m just exhausted and wanna nap lol
boomeranguy15: but I’m getting takeout first before I go home
thebluespirit: What’re you getting?
boomeranguy15: there’s this AWESOME place called Noodle Noodle near my apt
boomeranguy15: they have this dish of like fish udon with sichuan beef on top and it is literally the best thing i’ve ever put in my mouth
boomeranguy15: so i’m waiting on that rn
There was a pause before Blue responded. Sokka saw the notification that he was typing, but it went away after a moment, and Sokka wondered if something was going on.
The woman behind the counter called his name, and Sokka got up to grab his food. When he had the bag in his hand and was walking out of the restaurant, he could see Blue was typing again.
thebluespirit: Do you mean Noodle Noodle as in the noodle place in Hong Kong?
Sokka’s breath caught in his throat. How the hell did Blue know where Noodle Noodle was?
boomeranguy15: uhhh yeah?
thebluespirit: You live in Hong Kong?
boomeranguy15: yeah?
thebluespirit: Holy shit
thebluespirit: I live in Hong Kong too
And just like that, Sokka’s steps froze in the middle of the sidewalk. Everything in his mind came screeching to a halt. For so long, he had assumed he and Blue were never going to be able to meet. Maybe they’d video call one day, maybe he’d get to hear Blue’s voice. But never were they going to see each other in person, because more likely than not, they lived really far away from each other. Like, what are the odds someone you meet randomly on the internet just happens to live near you?
Apparently the odds aren’t that low, because Blue lives in the same city he does.
boomeranguy15: oh my god
boomeranguy15: OH MY GOD
boomeranguy15: DUDE!!!
boomeranguy15: WE COULD MEET UP
thebluespirit: I thought you lived in Australia what the fuck
boomeranguy15: I THOUGHT YOU LIVED IN AUSTRALIA!
thebluespirit: I can’t believe we lived in the same city this whole time and never even knew
boomeranguy15: I’m literally freaking out rn
boomeranguy15: when are you available?? We gotta set a date to meet up???
thebluespirit: Does it make me sound too eager if I say I’m free tomorrow after work?
boomeranguy15: oh thank GOD I wanted to ask about tomorrow but I didn’t wanna sound weird
thebluespirit: Not at all
thebluespirit: Where do you want to meet up?
boomeranguy15: uhhh
boomeranguy15: ngl I’ve been craving grass jelly like hella badly the last few days
boomeranguy15: you wanna go to Meet Fresh?
thebluespirit: I love grass jelly
thebluespirit: Yes that sounds awesome
thebluespirit: My last appointment tomorrow should end around 4 so after cleaning everything up I should be able to get over there around 5?
boomeranguy15: that totally works for me
boomeranguy15: holy shit I’m so excited
thebluespirit: Me too
thebluespirit: I can’t wait to see you
boomeranguy15: same :)
boomeranguy15: OH WE SHOULD HAVE SOMETHING TO SIGNAL TO EACH OTHER THAT IT’S US
thebluespirit: Couldn’t we just send each other selfies?
boomeranguy15: nah it’ll be more fun this way
boomeranguy15: element of surprise y'know
boomeranguy15: how about we each hold a specific type of flower
thebluespirit: Flowers? Really?
boomeranguy15: cmonnnnn it’ll be cute
boomeranguy15: plus I’m sure you’ll look cute with a flower in your hair ;)
thebluespirit: dslkjfdlsfjl
thebluespirit: You don’t even know if I have hair!
boomeranguy15: omg are you bald
boomeranguy15: have you been bald this whole time
boomeranguy15: if you have been that’s really gonna fuck with my mental image of you
boomeranguy15: nothing against bald people tho I have a friend that used to be bald
boomeranguy15: honestly he might still be bald I haven’t checked under his beanie recently
thebluespirit: I’m not bald!
boomeranguy15: are you sure
thebluespirit: Yes I’m sure
thebluespirit: I have black hair
boomeranguy15: wow that narrows it down so much
thebluespirit: I thought you wanted our appearances to be a surprise
boomeranguy15: I do
boomeranguy15: but I’m still gonna try to guess of course
boomeranguy15: anyway
boomeranguy15: flowers
thebluespirit: Oh yeah
thebluespirit: Um
thebluespirit: We should have something that no one else is likely to have
boomeranguy15: oh yeah we wouldn’t want a mix up
boomeranguy15: that’d be awkward lmao
boomeranguy15: so definitely not roses
boomeranguy15: I don’t think you see people with chrysanthemums that often?
thebluespirit: Oh yeah those are cool
thebluespirit: I think a flower place near my work has some
thebluespirit: I could get a red one and you could get a white one maybe?
boomeranguy15: sounds gucci to me
boomeranguy15: I can’t wait
thebluespirit: Neither can I
thebluespirit: I gotta get back to work now but I’ll see you tomorrow :)
boomeranguy15: See you tomorrow
That afternoon, Sokka was barely able to rest. As soon as he had gotten home with his noodles, he had called Katara to frantically tell her all about how he was going to meet Blue tomorrow. After that, he had texted the group chat he had with her, Suki, Aang, and Toph to tell the others about the good news. As expected, his friends were thrilled for him.
He tried to keep himself occupied by focusing on his homework. And when that didn’t work, he switched to watching anime, but even Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood couldn’t hold his attention for long. Every time he tried to switch his brain to something else, he’d just remember that he was going to finally meet his best friend in person tomorrow, and the excitement would bubble up inside all over again.
He couldn’t help but daydream about what it was going to be like tomorrow when he saw Blue. Was he going to be taller or shorter than Sokka? Was his hair long or was it short? What kind of clothes was he going to wear? Was he a hoodie and jeans type of guy, or was he more into fashion? Sokka wondered what his voice sounded like. If it was high-pitched and soft, or low and raspy.
Eventually, Sokka managed to tear his thoughts away from Blue by focusing on a project he had for one of his classes. The project wasn’t due for another two months, but Sokka was really excited about it, and currently in the middle of sketching out his third set of revised blueprints for the machine.
Soon the sky outside turned to orange, and then to deep red as the sun fell below the horizon. Sokka’s eyes were growing tired, but his mind was wide awake as he bounced from idea to idea, writing and erasing lines on his sketch as he tried to figure out how to maximize efficiency. Pencil scratched against paper, and without realizing it, Sokka smudged pencil lead across his nose.
It wasn’t long before Sokka heard the front door of his apartment swing open. Checking the time, his eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw it was almost 10:30. Katara never got home that late.
Putting down his papers, Sokka padded out of his room and into the kitchen, where his sister had draped herself across the counter, groaning into her hands.
“Long day?” Sokka asked, walking up behind her.
Lifting her head, Katara gave him a tired smile. “Yeah, I was studying at the library all day. I have an exam tomorrow.”
Sokka made a face at that. “You were at the library this whole time?”
“That’s medical school for you,” Katara snorted, pushing herself up and turning to open the fridge. She dug through and pulled out a pitcher of water, and poured herself a large glass before downing half the cup in one go.
“It’s only your first year and I feel like I hardly ever see you anymore,” Sokka said, frowning at his sister. “You’re so busy all the time. Are you doing alright with that kind of stress?”
Katara laughed softly. “I appreciate the concern, but I promise you I’m fine. Yeah, I’m really tired because of school, but I also really like what I’m learning, which makes it a lot easier to get through.” She took another sip of water. “If I was too stressed to deal with this, you’d know, trust me.”
Once she set the cup down, she then grinned at Sokka.
“Anyway, enough about me and my day. I can’t believe you’re actually going to meet Blue tomorrow!”
“God I know, I’m still in shock that we’ve lived in the same city this entire time and never realized it,” Sokka said, leaning against the counter.
“Who knows? If things go well tomorrow, you may have just found yourself a new boyfriend,” Katara teased, putting the pitcher back in the fridge. “Are you nervous at all?”
Sokka frowned. “Why would I be nervous?”
Katara shrugged. “I dunno. You’ve just never met the guy before. He might not be what you’re expecting, that’s all.”
“I don’t really have any expectations for him,” Sokka shrugged. “All I know about him is that he has black hair.”
“Well that’s a start,” Katara snorted. “I’m glad you’re not worried. Honestly, you have no reason to be. I’m sure it’s gonna go great.”
“Thank you, I really hope it goes well,” Sokka said, folding his arms over his chest. “And hey, maybe if I get a boyfriend, we can focus on getting you one too.”
Raising an eyebrow, Katara pulled an extremely thick textbook out of her bag and pointed to it. “While I appreciate the fact that you wanna help me, right now the only thing I’m dating is my textbooks.”
“Boooooooooring!” Sokka sang. “C’mon, Katara! Just because you’re in medical school doesn’t mean you can’t date around!”
Katara shrugged. “I dunno. I’m not really looking to meet anyone new right now.”
“Who said anything about someone new?” Sokka pointed out. When Katara gave him a questioning look, Sokka shrugged. “I think Suki wants to try setting you and Aang up again.”
This made Katara laugh. “While I’m not totally against the idea, Aang mentioned the other day that he’s texting Teo again, so I think that door is shut for the time being.”
“Wait, he is?!” Sokka exclaimed. “How come no one told me!”
“He brought it up when it was just me, Toph, and him hanging out,” Katara explained, moving towards her room. “It’s not a big deal though. They’re just texting.”
“Excuse me, I expect to be kept up to date on all of my friends' love lives,” Sokka huffed. “Including yours.”
Katara laughed again. “I’ll keep you updated, but I doubt anything is gonna happen for a while.” Opening the door to her room, she stepped inside, and spared one last look back at Sokka. “I’m exhausted so I’m gonna go to bed now, but I’ll see you in the morning, right?”
“Yeah, I don’t have the morning shift tomorrow so I’ll be around before your classes,” Sokka reassured.
“Alright, g’night Sokka.”
“Sleep well, Katara.”
And with that, his sister closed the door, leaving Sokka alone once more. While he was in the kitchen, he grabbed himself a bag of shrimp crackers and a bottle of water, before heading back to his room.
He spent the next hour pouring over his blueprint, occasionally popping a cracker in his mouth. When his vision began to go blurry, Sokka realized he should probably leave it for the night, and decided to turn Fullmetal Alchemist back on until he fell asleep.
Sokka didn’t even make it through an entire episode before he passed out with his hand still in the cracker bag.