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Sokka has had many bad ideas in his life, but this? This might take the prize.
In Sokka’s defense, Toph had bet him he wouldn’t, and then bet him he wouldn’t follow through, so if Sokka backs out now, he’s going to be upwards of fifty bucks in debt to her, which he really can’t afford. Then again, maybe the bad idea was just accepting Toph’s bet in the first place. She might have chastised him for turning her down and called him a coward, but she would’ve let him and eventually moved on to someone else.
But Sokka has had so many bad ideas that this one really didn’t seem terrible at the time. Of course, Toph had wryly asked him over the phone. Now that he’s standing here in Iroh’s apartment facing her maniacal grin as she clutches the case that holds Sokka’s fate in it tightly against her chest, Sokka is beginning to realize Zuko was absolutely right and this was a terrible idea.
As if he can read Sokka’s thoughts, Zuko calls, “I told you you were going to regret this,” from the couch. He doesn’t even look up from the play script he’s reading when he says it.
“Babe, you’re supposed to be my emotional support!” Sokka whines.
Zuko hums like he didn’t even register what Sokka said, and Sokka groans.
“Come on, Snoozles.” Toph kicks the door shut behind her. Her guide dog, Badgermole, is standing at attention next to her feet. “Don’t tell me you’re going to chicken out now. I didn’t make my mom drive me all this way just for you to go back on your decision.”
Sokka sighs.
Yeah, he probably hasn’t had many worse ideas than letting his blind friend give him a tattoo using the tattoo gun she convinced Suki to order for her, but Toph is right. It’s too late to go back on his word now. And Sokka is far too stubborn to do that anyways.
“Let’s just get this over with before Iroh comes up here and realizes we’re using his apartment as a tattoo parlor.”
Toph’s grin widens. “That’s what I thought!” She looks over in Zuko’s direction like she can see him. “Sparky! You gonna hold your boyfriend’s hand while I stick needles in his body or what?”
Zuko lets out a very long and drawn out sigh like holding Sokka’s hand is some sort of chore despite the fact that he reaches for Sokka’s hand any time Sokka is within hand-holding distance. “I suppose.” He sticks a bookmark in his script and sets it down on the side table. “Also, I don’t think we really have to worry about Uncle coming up here. Chan called in sick this morning, so he’s down a cashier right now. Besides,” he stands up and eyes the tattoo gun kit in Toph’s arms warily, “he probably wouldn’t care even if he knew what you two were up to, as long as you’re taking proper sanitary precautions. He’d probably look at you and say, ‘Ah, the spontaneity of youth’.”
Sokka snickers at Zuko’s impression of his uncle, mostly because he isn’t wrong. Sometimes, Sokka wonders what Iroh might have gotten up to in his childhood and young adulthood to give him the outlook on life he has, but then he realizes figuring that out would probably include listening to him talk over tea for hours on end, and Sokka can’t sit still for that long.
(Speaking of sitting still, that brings him back to another reason why a tattoo from Toph is so high up on his list of bad ideas.)
“Yeah, Iroh’s cool like that,” Toph agrees. “So anyway, Snoozles, what am I tattooing on you and where?”
Sokka looks over at Zuko, but his boyfriend meets his gaze with a confused expression. “You two didn’t discuss this ahead of time?” When neither Sokka nor Toph answer, he rolls his eyes. “Of course. Why am I surprised?” He shakes his head. “Why don’t you two figure that out while I get everything set up?”
“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Toph questions.
“Do you?” Zuko retorts. “Remind me which one of us can actually read the instructions?”
Reluctantly, Toph hands the tattoo gun kit over to Zuko.
--
A good thirty minutes later, everything has been set up and Sokka’s tattoo has been decided on. Sokka climbs up onto the table in the kitchen while Toph sits in a chair, giving her access to Sokka’s ankle. Zuko is seated in a chair next to Toph while Badgermole lies on the floor on Toph’s other side.
“So what’s it going to be?” Zuko asks, fiddling with the tattoo gun. “And am I going to have to help with changing ink colors?”
“Nope!” Sokka replies. “We just need black ink.”
Zuko nods. He finishes whatever he was doing with the tattoo gun and hands it over to Toph, guiding her fingers along it as he explains how it works. Once he’s finished, he looks back up at Sokka. “You still didn’t tell me what you’re letting Toph permanently ink onto your body,” he points out.
Sokka smiles sheepishly. Toph had technically been joking when she’d suggested it, but Sokka had taken the joke and run with it. Katara, on principal, would call him an idiot for it and remind him there’s always a chance that he’d need to get it covered up. (Which, technically, goes against the rules of he and Toph’s bet, but it’s not like Toph could see if Sokka ever got it covered up.)
Besides, Sokka really doesn’t think he’d ever need to get it covered up. It’s not like he’s planning on this relationship ending in a breakup, and he’s fairly certain Zuko isn’t planning on that either.
“Well?” Zuko raises an eyebrow. “Or do you not want to tell me because it’s stupid enough I’ll talk you out of it?”
“He’s getting a tattoo of your name,” Toph blurts out, apparently done with Sokka’s silence.
Zuko’s eyes widen and his cheeks color. “Oh.” Then, he shakes his head. “Toph, do you even know what letters look like? Or how to spell my name, for that matter?”
Toph scoffs. “Of course I know how to spell your name! I’m blind, not illiterate! I can read Braille, and I know what the letters in the English alphabet feel like. ...Mostly. My parents had my tutor teach letter shapes to me.”
Zuko’s frown deepens. “Sokka, tattoos are permanent.”
“Uh, babe, I know. That’s why Toph didn’t think I’d let her put one on my body.” He leans back and meets Zuko’s eyes. “And anyway, I’m not really planning on breaking up with you at any point.”
Briefly, Sokka considers maybe he should’ve toned down the I want to spend the rest of my life with you, even if it is true, but then Zuko’s shock is fading into a soft smile. He reaches for Sokka’s hand and squeezes it. “I’m not planning on breaking up with you either.” He lifts Sokka’s hand to his mouth and kisses his palm.
“Gross,” Toph states, very matter-of-factly. “I’m here to stick needles in Sokka’s leg, not listen to you two be oogie.”
“You’re literally tattooing my name onto him,” Zuko points out.
“I literally didn’t ask,” Toph retorts. “Now help me position the tattoo gun right, because I’m not trying to actually kill Sokka by tattoo gun and unleash Katara’s wrath.”
“Wait,” Sokka interrupts. “Zuko can’t help you. He has to hold my hand.” That was the deal, right? That’s the whole reason Zuko is even here - as Sokka’s emotional support, not Toph’s guide.
(Okay, okay. Maybe Sokka should be glad Toph is letting Zuko help her but Sokka really wants to hold his boyfriend’s hand if he’s going to be getting a tattoo, and that really shouldn’t be too much to ask for!)
Zuko rolls his eyes. “I have two hands.” He adjusts his position so Sokka can hold one of his hands while he uses the other to help guide Toph.
As soon as the tattoo gun makes contact with Sokka’s skin, he winces and squeezes Zuko’s hand tighter. He swears under his breath. Maybe his ankle wasn’t the best spot to get a tattoo, but there’s no turning back now.
It’s slow work, but Sokka can tell Toph is genuinely trying to make the tattoo look as good as possible, so he’s not going to tell her to hurry up. He has Zuko’s right hand clutched tightly in both of his hands, but Zuko doesn’t seem phased by his death grip. He can vaguely hear Zuko talking to Toph, verbally helping her to know what the tattoo looks like, but his brain is too occupied by the burning sensation in his ankle to make out any actual words.
Sokka doesn’t know how long it takes for Toph to finish the tattoo. The pain wanes and waxes as Toph pauses between each letter and Zuko guides her to the spot where the next one should go, but Sokka doesn’t really register it until Toph is sitting back, announcing that she’s finished.
Sokka opens his eyes and eases his grip on Zuko’s hand. Before he can move to look at the tattoo, Zuko is pressing a kiss to his cheek and wiping away the tears that sprang in the corners of Sokka’s eyes. He tucks a strand of hair behind Sokka’s ear. “You okay?”
Sokka nods, taking a deep breath. His ankle is still hurting badly, but the pain is nowhere near what it was while Toph was doing the actual tattooing.
“Well?” Toph asks. “What’s the verdict? Did I do a good job?”
Sokka twists his leg so he can look at the final product. The letters aren’t the neatest, but they’re honestly better than what he’d expected. Somewhere along the line, Toph and Zuko must’ve also had a discussion Sokka didn’t catch, because after Zuko’s name, Toph added a heart.
Sokka can’t say he doesn’t love it.
“It’s perfect.” He reaches forward and ruffles Toph’s hair until she bats his hand away. “Seriously, Toph. I’m impressed. And Zuko,” he turns to Zuko, making grabby hands towards him until he’s close enough that Sokka can rest his hands on Zuko’s cheeks, “my love. The light of my life. Thank you for stopping this from being a complete disaster.”
Zuko flushes, then scoffs like that cancels it out. “I was just trying to prevent Katara from attacking either of you for being stupid.”
“Right,” Toph drawls. “Very believable.” She rolls her eyes (which - how did she learn to do that?), “You two are absolutely disgusting. You better not ever break up.”
“Why not?” Zuko asks, leaning in closer to Sokka and nuzzling his cheek. “Afraid Sokka will cover up your masterpiece? Or do you actually have a soft side?”
Toph’s fist makes contact with Zuko’s arm, and he has the audacity to look surprised like Toph hasn’t always had some sort of sixth (fifth?) sense that tells her where her friends are whenever she wants to punch them. “Don’t push it, Sparky.”
Zuko rubs his arm and chuckles. “Okay, okay. I apologize.”
“Good.” Toph slides out of her seat and picks up Badgermole’s leash. “I’m going down to get some food. I think I can talk Iroh into giving me a free cookie and I’m hungry.” With that, Toph disappears, her dog leading her to the stairs and down to the tea shop below the apartment.
A laugh bubbles up out of Sokka. He looks down at his new tattoo again. “We should probably bandage this up or something,” he comments. “Did the tattoo gun come with instructions on aftercare?”
Zuko nods, reluctantly pulling away from Sokka to pick up the instruction booklet and flip through it until he finds what he’s looking for.
--
After they’ve cleaned and bandaged the tattoo as instructed, they clean up the kitchen and pack the tattoo kit back into its case so it’s ready when Toph is done getting free food out of Iroh. Then, they settle on the couch and Sokka turns on the TV, searching Netflix for something to watch.
“I still can’t believe you let her do that,” Zuko says as Sokka scrolls through an endless list of mediocre movies and TV shows. “Seriously. You’re about the only person I can think of who would let a blind person give you a tattoo.”
Sokka shrugs. He lands on a documentary about the ocean and decides to go for that. He kind of doubts he and Zuko are going to end up paying much attention anyways. He tosses the remote to the side and snuggles closer to Zuko. “I admit, it wasn’t a great idea. But it went a lot better than it could have,” he points out. “Which I guess I should probably thank you for again.” He looks up at Zuko and is met with a soft smile and a forehead kiss.
“I’m just doing my job. Making sure you don’t do anything stupid you’ll regret too badly, and holding your hand when you insist on being an idiot anyways.”
Sokka reaches up for Zuko’s face. “I might be an idiot, but I’m your idiot.”
“That you are,” he agrees. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He leans down and seals the statement with a kiss.