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Pillows, their cases, and blankets are strewn across the floor in an aggravatingly untidy manner. She puts her hands on her hips, lower lip fixed into the slightest pout. This is becoming entirely ridiculous. She shoots Sokka a glance and the main quirks a brow, “go on.” He gestures
Azula stares at the fitted sheet in her hands and frowns, her brows pinched in concentration. She takes a deep breath; this time for sure. She lifts one corner of the bed and fits one corner of the sheet over it before scrambling to lift up the second corner. She repeats the gesture and moves onto corner three.
She takes another deep breath. It is time for the last corner, the trickiest corner. This time she has saved the top right corner for last instead of either of the bottom two. Three times the charm. She scrambles over the mattress and hoists it up. This, of course, is a balancing act. She has to stand upon the bed frame whilst holding the mattress up and tugging the last corner.
Her mouth curls into a strained scowl as she tugs and tugs, the sheet doesn’t seem to have enough elasticity. When she finally does manage to yank it into place it holds taut for only a second before snapping out of place, taking the top left corner with it. She gives a gruff and frustrated groan, throwing her hands to her side and leaping off the bed, landing with excessive force.
“What am I doing wrong!?”
Sokka chuckles, “well…”
“No!” She shouts abruptly. “Let me figure it out! This is a simple task, I should be able to…” she breaks off into a musing hum. Maybe she has the sheet the wrong way. She was almost sure that she had it vertical but maybe it has been horizontal this whole time? Of course it wouldn’t fit if she had it on the wrong way! She snaps her finger at the realization. She spreads the sheet out again this time, presumably, the right way.
She scampers off to try each corner again.
Bottom left, bottom right, top left…
The sheet doesn’t even reach begin to cover the corner this time! She flops down onto the naked mattress and screams into it.
Now Sokka is absolutely cackling.
“If they’re called fitted sheets then why don’t they?” She whispers sadly to herself. She wipes at her eye. Is she really crying over an unmade bed?
She doesn’t know how much harder Sokka could possibly laugh. He is crying too but with a very different emotion. “Can I help you now?”
Azula sits up and folds her arms. “Fine.” She grumbles. “What’s the trick?”
“You’re such an idiot.” He nudges her shoulder with a roll of his eyes. “The trick is that you have to ask someone to help you lift the mattress, you literally can’t do this on your own. Not when your mattress is this big!”
She balks at the man. He hadn’t told her, hadn’t even implied that this wasn’t a one person job!
“It needs to be this big.” She stammers. It is all she can manage in her perplexity.
“To make room for all of that pride you have?”
“Yes. No! Just help me put the sheet on, Sokka!” She throws it at the man.
He is laughing so hard that he is practically doubled over. Her cheeks color, “I hate you. I have you very much.”
He hooks her around the waist and kisses her flushed cheek. “C’mon, lets this bed put together so we can finally take our nap.”
He lifts one corner of the mattress while she lifts the other. And they move onto the top corners. “You’re going to actually have to get off of the mattress, you know.” Sokka points out.
“I am having trouble reaching and balancing and holding a mattress up at the same time, can we switch sides?”
“You were doing just fine with all three of those things when you were on your own.”
“I was standing in the middle of the mattress on at least one of those attempts!”
“Both sides are the same, why do we have to switch?”
Azula shakes her head. “The bed posts are slightly larger on this side.” And she is losing her balance.
“Just pull the sheet over the corner.” He replies.
Azula carefully edges her way closer to the corner only to lose her footing. Sokka yelps as the mattress falls upon his foot. And Azula grunts when her back hits the ground. Perhaps she hadn’t been able to fit the sheet over the mattress but she sure as spirits tangled herself in it.
She rubs her elbows and fixes Sokka what has to be the most pathetic, pitiful expression.
“Okay, maybe there is no trick…” He mutters.
“There has to be some trick!”
“Tonight the trick is sleeping in the guest room until your servants get back from their vacation.”
“Not the guest room.” She whispers.
“Oh come on, what’s wrong with the guest room?”
“It isn’t my room and it doesn’t have my...the aura that I’ve spent fourteen years filling this room with.”
“Well you can start filling the guest room with your aura. Assert your dominance by leaving traces of your presence for future guests.” He scoops her off of her feet and carries her into the guest bedroom.