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As it turned out, yet another perk that came with the absolute luxury of traveling via sky bison was the fact that they would sometimes randomly refuse to fly any further. They would indicate this by landing on any given expense of land and then falling over to their side, throwing everyone and everything off of themselves in the process. It was also an event that reoccurred every other week or so. Which was, in Zuko's humble opinion, wolfbatshit crazy. And, to add to that, the Avatar himself would basically stare down anyone who dared to express being even slightly displeased with the bison's impractical ways. It made Zuko wonder how in the world had no one ended up smashed to their death during their journeys. But the rest of the team seemingly thought nothing of it: their responsibility only came far enough for them to take turns cleaning the mess that this occurrence kept resulting in, over and over again. Ridiculous, stupid, and absolutely enraging of them, especially as it was currently Zuko who got forced into the cleaner's role, by the rule of the oh-so-sacred schedule, written and watched over by, obviously, Agnidamn Sokka.
The very same Sokka, who definitely carried too much stupid stuff like this on him, because it seemed like it was mostly his various notes, maps, plans and doodles scattered in the mud around one happily puffing Appa.
Sighing heavily, and trying not to regret his life choices again, Zuko set to the tiresome, dull task at hand.
It was three dresses, five maps, one Momo and way too many unidentified scribbles later that he picked up a half-unfolded scroll from a lone purple berry bush. It was, as expected, covered in Sokka's scratchings, and gave an impression of having been reread a great many times. There was no title to be found. Probably an adventure story Sokka copied in one of Ba Sing Se libraries. Or maybe something documenting the team's own adventures? Whatever the case, Zuko decided he deserved a break anyway. He dropped on the ground in a nearby tree's shadow.
Oh, there was a title after all, the signs just didn't stand out at first glance. A meeting in an alleyway. Not particularly revealing, Zuko decided, and began to read.
Sokka was walking back to the house where he and the rest of Team Avatar were currently living in Ba Sing Se. It was a stupid city. But the weather was nice. Also Sokka had just saved four bunnypuppies from falling to their deaths on the street and also getting run over by an ostrich horse carriage…
Zuko scrunched his nose, tilting his head slightly. What in the everloving fuck was this? Were more of the scattered papers he had spent so much time gathering shit like this? Because if so, he was going to let Sokka know where he could stick his stupid schedule. Along with his lame stories.
...which would be super bloody and sad, so everyone knew Sokka was a hero and they were clapping and cheering him on super extraordinarily loud. Everyone loved him and needed him. Sokka really was a hero…
Agni have mercy. Zuko couldn't help but roll his eyes. He was on the verge of just throwing the crumpled scroll together with the rest of Sokka's mess, when a familiar name in the text grabbed his attention.
...but there was an even bigger hero in Ba Sing Se. The mysterious Blue Spirit. He was even more awesome exceptional than Sokka. Oh, how Sokka wished he would meet him. He blushed thinking about it.
Wait, what? He looked at the text more closely.
Sokka was so lost in thought that he almost walked into a big colossal wall. (He was in a dark alleyway now so he didn't see it). “Ah!” Sokka yelled. But then he felt strong arms saving him from falling and breaking his neck or even his head. The arms were super uncommonly strong. Sokka looked up and there he was. The Blue Spirit. The wall Sokka walked in was actually a wall of muscle.
Zuko found himself unconsciously crumpling the scroll between his fingers even more. No. This wasn't really happening. Was it? It couldn't be.
“Blue Spirit? Is that really you?”
“Yes,” the Blue Spirit said, still holding Sokka securely in his strong mighty, manly arms.
“You saved my life,” Sokka said, the mask that haunted so many of his dreams now just inches away.
“That's what I do. Hero things.” Blue Spirit said. His voice was deep and hoarse (Zuko yelped) and awesome voluptuous and it made Sokka shiver.
“How can I repay you, Blue Spirit? Please, there must be something I can do!”
Blue Spirit touched his finger to Sokka's lips.
“Shhh.” He said.
“B-blue Spirit…” Sokka gasped. Blue Spirit took off his mask.
“You can call me Mr. Spirit,” Mr. Spirit said. Then he kissed Sokka.
At this point Zuko was absolutely sure he should put the scroll away. He groaned, annoyed and curious and annoyed at being curious, but, most of all, annoyed at Sokka. It was completely on brand for him to go and make Zuko's life difficult with his weird, confusing and, for some reason, absolutely irresistible antics. Why did Zuko always end up in situations like these? Why did Sokka continue to make his life so troublesome? And how was Zuko ever going to look him in the eye again? As if it wasn't hard enough already, with his easy laughter and easier smiles, and the way they made his freckled nose crinkle, making him look both silly and unbearably cute, and with all these things being dangerous, and scary, and making Zuko feel out of control. Just being around him was overwhelming on its own, but adding a- romantic interest in the Blue Spirit of all people?
He was not going to survive this. He was going to firebend himself to a pile of ashes any second now.
And yet. Yet.
A morbid, tingly curiosity tickled his insides as he leaned lower over the damn scroll, and, against his better judgment, resumed his reading.
Sokka moaned loudly.
Yup, no, he should not be doing this, this might very well be the death of him. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Put the scroll away. Groaned. Picked the scroll back up.
He had never been kissed like this before. He felt woozy. Blue Spirit was so hot and he was an awesome stupendous kisser. Sokka was so lucky. He sighed into the kiss because Blue Spirit's hand touched his butt.
“Sokka, you are so handsome. I want you so much. Have sex with me. Let's immerse ourselves in passionately exploring each other's bodies.”
“B-but Mr. Spirit, we are in an alleyway, what if someone sees us!”
Blue Spirit was kissing his neck now and it was super cool exceptionally marvelous. Sokka was feeling warm all over. His breath was heavy. Did Blue Spirit really want him? Was it all a dream?
“Let them,” Blue Spirit said.
“HEY!” a weirdly high pitched voice made him jump a good half a foot in the air. “LEAVE THAT ALONE! IT'S PRIVATE!”
The shouts were followed by a sound of approaching footsteps, quick and hectic.
“It's… pornography.” About me, Zuko completed in his thoughts, feeling dizzy.
“You've read it?!” Sokka was basically squealing at this point, his jaw dropping to the ground and his hands tugging at his hair.
“I wasn't snooping around or anything! I found it in the mud with the other stuff!”
“Well—Because it's Appa's topple day and not because people wanted you to walk around going through their super personal belongings!”
“It's a what?”
“Not important now! Stay on the topic of your betrayal!”
“Betra—It's not like I wanted to read it! I didn't know what it was! I don't read things like that! Why would I! It's not even good!”
He realized he's said too much at the very same moment, seeing Sokka's face turn an almost Fire Nation shade of red.
“Oh yeah?! Or maybe you're just stupid and you don't know the first thing about art!”
“I know art! Art needs structure, and build up and—Nuance! So there!”
“Well this art was about feelings, so sorry if it's too raw for your refined tastes, jerk. So there. Now give it—” Sokka snatched the scroll, “back, and kindly fuck off! Because you're stupid! And I'm not talking to you!”
“Well—Your story structure is STUPID!” Zuko shouted after the grumpily stomping away figure. Guilt bubbling up sickeningly in his stomach, he was left with his clothes suddenly feeling tight for more reasons than he could (or wanted to) count.
*
He had to fight himself not to bring flowers of all things, because this stupid thought kept popping up in his head for no logical reason so many times he'd almost ended up with a headache. He could always trust his mind to sabotage him. And his mouth. And his heart. Unclenching his fists forcefully, he stepped closer to where Sokka was sitting on a fallen tree's trunk, gloomily sharpening some sticks with his machete.
“Hello,” he said, making Sokka throw him a grim, hurt glance.
“May I sit here?”
Sokka shrugged, not meeting his eyes anymore, the sullen expression so foreign on his face it was almost painful to see.
“Right.” Zuko settled down, acutely aware of how stiff his moves were. Not that Sokka would even notice, sharpening his sticks with a scary determination that made Zuko wonder what he was thinking of and whether Zuko really wanted to know. He cleared his throat.
“Sorry. For earlier. I was a jerk.”
“Yup,” Sokka confirmed, still not looking at him.
“That was because I was embarrassed. But—not—not like you think I was.”
This finally made the other boy lift his gaze, the lack of understanding clear on his face.
Right. Time to brave it out.
“You know, I was in Ba Sing Se around the same time you were. And, um- and the Blue Spirit was, too.”
As Zuko desperately dug through his brain in search for the right way to put this, Sokka's eyes lit up, a sky suddenly peeking through the stormy clouds—a thought that made Zuko want to groan at how ridiculous he was.
“Ooooh. Oh, I get it now!” He yelled, all cheerful and way too loud again, putting the weapon away. “Well, if that's the case, how could I not forgive you?”
“Yeah?” Wow, that went so much easier than Zuko expected.
“Yeah! And you didn't have to be so weird about it, buddy! So you had a crush on the Blue Spirit, big deal, we've all been there, back in Ba Sing Se. Katara would never admit it, but I'm pretty sure she had a crush on him too. At least a little.”
“That's not—”
“Shhhh. I know. It’s all between us guys. Manly bonding, am I right?” and with that, Sokka honest to Agni put his hand around Zuko's arms, effectively shutting him up. “Isn't it awesome we share an interest like that?” He squeezed Zuko's arm one more time, and, for better or worse, let go of his shoulders.
“Awesome,” Zuko repeated weakly.
“Awesome as the Blue Spirit himself! I swear, it's because of him that I even survived in that rotten city. You would not believe how many times I wished the Blue Spirit would just—Fall from the sky and scream: yes, there is war in Ba Sing Se, you idiots!”
“Y-eah, me too actually.” Zuko admitted, surprised to be able to tell the truth.
“And then he'd sweep me off my feet and we'd start making out. Passionately. Tongue and all.”
Zuko felt a blush creep between the roots of the hair on his head.
“The m—You, b—The—the mask…”
Luckily or not, Sokka was too far gone to hear him.
“So I get it. Jealousy—It's a human thing, you know? But you don't have to drag someone down to feel like you have a better shot yourself. We're in this together. And insulting my prose? That was just mean.”
“Sorry. I—” he cleared his throat. “I actually liked some parts.”
That made Sokka do an excited little jump.
“Hey! Which ones?” he asked, like Zuko would have probably predicted if he weren't such a damn fool around this weird, amazing boy. You'd rather not know, buddy.
“The—” Agni, come on, think of something. “The—Ideas! You had some. The ideas, they were good.”
“Well, I am the idea guy after all,” Sokka replied, all smug.
Zuko snorted, hiding his sigh of relief.
“I honestly can't believe you wrote things like this.”
“Oh, I wasn't the only one! The girls from the haiku club were exchanging this kind of art all the time. Honestly, the youth of Ba Sing Se are insanely cultured. And I'd say I've learned a thing or two.”
An underground market of amateur Blue Spirit porn thriving in Ba Sing Se at the time he was suffering the tortures of working in a tea shop. A tea shop so many young girls frequented, giggling and whispering and conspiring like they do. Agni, how many of those artworks were written in his presence? Zuko groaned, hiding his head between his knees.
“Spirits, you're so embarrassed it's almost cute!” How in the world could Sokka just say shit like that like it was nothing? It took all of Zuko's sanity to focus on the almost and not the cute, as he mumbled “Shut up,” still keeping his now twice as blushed cheeks safely covered. Sokka's bright laughter filled the air again.
“Can't wait to tell Aang that you had a crush on the Blue Spirit too!”
The comment very nearly made Zuko fall from the tree trunk.
“Don't!” He caught Sokka by the hand, his voice on the verge of panic. “Please don't.”
“Okay, okay, I won't!” Sokka was looking at him with this stupidly soft expression and Zuko had to force himself to frown in return, feeling like otherwise he'd melt or do something equally as embarrassing. Then Sokka squeezed his fingers gently and all his efforts went to shit. “Promise.”
“Thank you,” Zuko replied, and, feeling brave, squeezed Sokka's fingers right back. The phrase and it was awesome appeared in his mind. He suddenly felt a lot less judgemental of Sokka's writing skills.
“Just to be clear, he wouldn't mind. No one on Team Avatar would. They're all cool beans. And you're family now, so.”
“That's—Nice.” Zuko replied, like an idiot, making the other boy snort.
“You said it, buddy.” Sokka smiled fondly, messing up Zuko's hair. “Soft,” he commented nonsensically, and like he didn't even care he was doing it out loud. Like you would do with a friend. Or family. Or—
“Thank you, Sokka.” He felt very proud of himself for not letting his voice break.
“Of course!”
“And—Sokka?”
“Yeah?”
It couldn't hurt, it couldn't, worst case scenario he'll just say no. And Zuko may have to wait another whole lifetime for an opportunity like this to present itself again.
“I was—To make it up to you, I was thinking... I—Found out some stuff about the Blue Spirit, you know. That you could, uh, use? If you're still writing these, I mean. I could—Tell you—? Those. Maybe.”
“Oh, yeah, I'm kinda a busy man these days. Not as much time for art as I'd like to have.”
“Sure.” His throat tight, Zuko tried not to let his disappointment show. “Forget it.”
“But—No, no! Actually, I wanted to say—This whole thing? Reminded me there's more to life than defeating the Fire Lord! Art! Love! Big dreams!” he almost smacked Zuko's nose, gesticulating wildly. “And I—Should cultivate these too! Flex these art muscles again, you know?”
Art muscles, Agni.
“Or if you'd like, I could just—Tell the stories by the campfire? For everyone.”
“No, no! No. Why involve them, you know!” Why was Sokka suddenly screaming? Didn't he just claim it was ridiculous to get embarrassed about stuff like that? It was impossible to keep up with this guy. “Inspiration hits best when it's a one-on-one thing, that's just how it is, the muse doesn't like crowds, or a—Genius is a lonely creature, or a more lonely creature, and anyway, is—Tomorrow's evening fine?” Sokka finished lamely, his voice surprisingly quiet.
Awesome. Super fine. Wait, was Zuko getting infected with this?
“Yeah, I'm—Okay.”
“It's a thing, then!”
“It's a thing.” Zuko quietly told his fidgeting hands, a small smile tugging at his lips. He lifted his gaze to find Sokka grinning like an idiot, and obviously, before he knew it, his own smile grew too.
“Now!” shouting again, the boy shook Zuko out of this smile exchange induced haze. “Onto business!” he announced with a flourish. “Luckily for you, I'm both generous and kindhearted, so what say you I lend you my finest works for, ah—Three days? Then I need them back. I'm—attached.”
“That would be great.” Zuko mumbled, unable to meet Sokka's eyes again. “Thanks.”
“Do you want his poster too?” Sokka asked, his voice all the fake innocence in the world, almost making Zuko choke.
“What- do you even have it for?” Zuko found himself sounding more mortified than he expected.
“Oh come on, don't be so scandalized, we're crush buddies! And teenage boys!”
Zuko was going to not think about it later.
“I'll just borrow the written ones, thank you.”
“Prude,” Sokka's smile was lopsided and absolutely disarming. “Oh, right, I almost forgot! Would you like the ones about the Boulder too?”
With Zuko currently being as lightheaded as he was, it took a good ten seconds for the dread to register, but when it did, it settled deep, deep into his bones.