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Sokka’s the plan guy.
Everyone knows this. He’s smart and quick-witted and prides himself in being able to find solutions to almost any problem.
And… sometimes there’s no plan and all they can do is run.
“Go. Go go go!” Sokka says quickly, pushing Zuko into action as he glances behind him. They have (of course) been spotted by the few people that they didn’t want to spot them.
Sokka and Zuko are in Caldera City to investigate another group of Ozai loyalists that have been steadily building a presence in the city. The two are undercover (just wearing semi-concealing cloaks) and are now sprinting through the busy market, Sokka right behind Zuko as he leads them through.
Zuko’s holding onto Sokka’s hand, pulling him past stalls, throwing “sorry!”s over his shoulder every time they knock produce onto the floor. They weave through the market but the group of three loyalists are right on their tail, grinning with some not-so-friendly looking weapons.
Zuko and Sokka make a quick turn and Sokka glances around, finding an alley and pulling Zuko into it. He stops short, swearing under his breath.
“Dead end. Of fucking course,” Zuko mumbles, about to poke his head back out of the alley before Sokka grabs his cloak, yanking him back. The loyalists have to be close.
Sokka’s the plan guy.
He likes to think his plans are good. This one… this one might not be his best.
Sokka pushes Zuko against the wall, Zuko looking back at him with very, very wide eyes.
Sokka swallows. Is he really doing this?
“I need you to kiss me.”
Zuko blinks, eyes impossibly wide, cheeks already flushed. “What.”
Sokka glances back towards the market, heart thumping like a rabaroo in his chest. The loyalists can’t be far. He looks back at Zuko, leaning closer. “I need to kiss you to get them off our tail, okay?”
It sounds dumb, but there’s some real logic here. If the loyalists see two guys kissing in an alley, are they gonna think it’s the Fire Lord and that nonbender who helped end the 100 Year War? No, no they will not. They'll think it’s just some hormonal teenagers, if they see them at all, and ignore them. So maybe it’s unconventional, but it’ll work to get the loyalists off their tail.
Zuko swallows. He nods and Sokka tries not to think too hard about it as he quickly presses their lips together, bringing a hand up to cup the scarred side of Zuko’s face. He moves his body so his back is to the market, trying to cover them up as much as he can.
And oh he’s kissing Zuko.
Well, they’re barely kissing. More just pressing their lips together and standing awfully still. Which. This probably isn’t very convincing to the outside eye. That’s why Sokka kisses a little deeper, not because of some selfish reason, not because he’s gonna take this opportunity while he has it. But because he should, to be convincing. Yeah.
So Sokka’s kissing Zuko, and now he’s kissing back, and Sokka hears footsteps and he’s not really sure who initiated it but now there’s tongue and teeth involved and okay. Zuko reaches a hand up to sit on the back of Sokka’s neck, the other hand snaking around his waist as he pulls Sokka closer to him.
Yes, this is definitely convincing! Zuko’s playing the part really fucking well, almost convincing Sokka himself. Which. Maybe he should stop being so convincing.
“Where’d they go?” A voice says as Sokka moves a hand into Zuko’s hair, kissing him in a way that gets Zuko to make a low sound in the back of his throat, and oh.
This plan is backfiring.
Well, the plan’s working great, no one’s caught them, but it’s kinda making Sokka crazy. It’s making Sokka grab onto the front of Zuko’s tunic and pull him closer, drag his teeth against his lip, kissing him in ways Sokka never thought he’d ever get to.
“I think they’re over here!”
More footsteps, the sound quickly receding. Neither boy pulls away for a good few seconds and then Zuko’s not kissing as hard and oh yeah they can stop now.
Sokka pulls away but stays pressed against Zuko, glancing out into the market. He doesn’t see the loyalists, sighing in relief.
“I think we’re okay,” Sokka says, looking back at Zuko. Zuko swallows, glancing back down at Sokka’s lips.
Sokka clears his throat, quickly moving away from the boy. He brushes his hands on his pants, rocking on the balls of his feet. “Whoo! Just some… good ole blending in tactics!”
Zuko blinks, not looking at Sokka as he thumbs at his lip, and how’d they already get so red? Did Sokka really do that?
Zuko moves to the end of the alley, poking his head out. He clears his throat. “I don’t see them. I think we’re good.”
Sokka straightens the collar of his tunic out. He grins and tries to ignore the blush that he’s sure is still on his cheeks, sauntering out into the market as Zuko follows. “And one of my master plans work, yet again.”
Zuko huffs from beside him. “Let’s just get back to the palace before we have to use another one of your master plans.”
“Great thinking, buddy,” Sokka claps a hand on Zuko’s shoulder, Zuko shrugging it off with a roll of his eyes.
—
Sokka opens the door to Zuko’s room, trudging inside.
“Hey, how was your date?” Zuko asks from his desk, turning around in his chair.
Sokka groans, flopping face-first onto Zuko’s bed.
He hears Zuko huff as he turns his head to look at him. Zuko smiles. “That good?”
Sokka turns his face back into the bed, letting out a now muffled groan against Zuko’s silk sheets.
Sokka hears Zuko’s soft footsteps and looks back up as Zuko sits on the side of the bed, sending him a sympathetic look. Sokka clambers onto the bed, flopping onto his back.
“Am I doomed to be loveless forever?” Sokka sighs, throwing a hand up. He knows why he comes back from all his dates disappointed. The reason is right here in this room. Sokka will keep trying though, because maybe someone will get him to fall out of this stupid unrequited love with Zuko.
Zuko chuckles, nudging Sokka to move over. He complies, and Zuko lays down next to him, laying on his side to face Sokka. “I doubt it. What happened?”
Sokka rests the crook of his elbow over his eyes, sighing. “She kissed me.”
“…That’s a bad thing?”
Sokka shrugs. “Dunno. Felt wrong.”
“Oh. I’m sorry,” Zuko says softly.
Sokka moves his arm away from his face, turning to face Zuko. Stupid, gorgeous Zuko, who’s looking over at him with those golden eyes, all concerned. His dark brown hair falls like water over his shoulders and Sokka just wants to run his hands through it over and over.
Sokka shakes his head. “Don’t be. Hey… how many people have you kissed?”
Zuko quirks his eyebrow. “Why do you wanna know?”
Sokka shrugs. “Just curious.”
Sure.
“Three people. Mai, Jet, and… you,” Zuko says, not meeting Sokka’s eye as he shrugs, smiling softly.
Wait.
“Jet?!” Sokka practically shrieks, shooting up. “Jet Jet?! That motherfucker?!”
Zuko furrows his eyebrow, sitting up beside him and scoffing a laugh. “Sokka, it was forever ago.”
Sokka stares at Zuko, huffing defensively. “When was this?! What did you like about him? Was it his hair, I bet it was his hair. He’s not even that good at fighting!”
“Sokka,” Zuko laughs, resting a hand on Sokka’s shoulder.
“Don’t ‘Sokka’ me!” Sokka exclaims, throwing the boy’s hand off dramatically as Zuko stifles a laugh. “This is serious! Jet tried to steal my sister, then my—then you?! I bet he was a good fucking kisser too, huh?”
Sokka hugs his knees to his chest, huffing. This is unbelievable. Jet’s haunting him from the fucking grave.
“Eh, I’ve had better,” Zuko says, and Sokka looks up to see him shrug. Sokka quirks an eyebrow.
“But… the other person you’ve kissed is Mai, and you don’t like girls. Was she a good kisser anyway?” Sokka cocks his head.
Zuko huffs a small, sort of disbelieving laugh, but Sokka doesn’t get what’s so unbelievable about it. “No, I definitely didn’t like kissing her.”
“That leaves…”
Oh.
That leaves Sokka.
Sokka’s eyes widen. He points to himself. “Me?! I’m the best kiss you’ve had? But… it was in a fucking alley on the run from… whoever the hell we were fighting at the time, four months ago! We were both distracted, and… on the run!”
Zuko shrugs, tucking some hair behind his ear. It’s gotten so long, now down to his shoulders. “Yeah, I guess it barely counted. So not sure you can be on the list.”
Sokka gapes at him, Zuko trying to hide a smile. “Oh, come on! What counts as a real kiss then?”
Zuko purses his lips, thinking. “Doing it somewhere private. Having more time, y’know, not being in the middle of running for our lives.”
Zuko huffs a small laugh as Sokka rolls his eyes with a smile, cocking his head.
“Well, we’re checking all those boxes right now,” Sokka says, not thinking. Oh okay he just said that.
Zuko blinks, glancing at Sokka’s lips. “Yeah. I guess so.”
Yeah, fuck it.
“We could… try again. I could let you know if a real kiss is better than… whatever the other one was,” Sokka shrugs as Zuko’s eyebrow raises. He blinks.
“Oh. Okay,” Zuko says, small smile tugging at the ends of his lips. And oh they’re actually doing this. Zuko sits criss-cross, mirroring Sokka, and Sokka reaches out to take the boy’s chin in his hand.
It’s not like kissing Zuko again is all Sokka’s been thinking about for the past four months. Because no. He’s a busy guy, there are still things for him to do, even two years after the war. Sokka’s mind is filled with far more things than just Zuko’s lips and his hands and his waist and his arms. Yeah.
Sokka’s embarrassed by how hard his heart is beating. His eyes trace Zuko’s face, taking in the boy’s eager, wanting expression as he moves to cup Zuko’s jaw. Sokka leans in but apparently he’s taking too long because Zuko closes the gap himself, moving forward and pressing their lips together. Sokka wastes no time in deepening it, moving a hand to the back of Zuko’s head to pull him closer.
Zuko hums in content, his mouth hot against Sokka’s, already all tongue and teeth and Sokka’s returning it right back. It’s perfect and slow and real and fuck.
Yeah this is definitely better than that alley kiss.
Sokka slips his hand under Zuko’s collar, resting it on his shoulder, thumbing at the soft skin there. He’s kissing Zuko harder, cupping the side of his face, and Zuko’s making low noises—that are making Sokka fucking crazy—and kissing him back. Sokka moves to sit on his knees to get a better angle on the kiss, moving closer, trailing his hands down Zuko’s torso, his skin hot under Sokka’s fingers.
It’s nice, knowing they aren’t actively being hunted. Knowing they have time, not feeling like it’ll all end at any second. They take it slow, they linger touches and draw out each kiss. It’s nice. Really, really fucking nice.
One of Zuko’s hands comes up to pull Sokka’s hair out of his wolftail, a hand tangling in it. Zuko rests a hand on Sokka’s waist, slipping up his tunic, and Zuko’s kissing him deeper. He does some fucking thing with his mouth and holy Tui and La Sokka makes an embarrassing noise in response.
Sokka thought he had the kiss under control, but he’s like fucking putty in Zuko’s hands.
Sokka feels entirely helpless and he doesn’t know how long they kiss for, doesn’t know how long they’ve been on Zuko’s bed when he pulls away.
Sokka stares at him, blinking, trying to fucking process that kiss. Holy shit.
Zuko smiles at Sokka, lips glossy and red, gold eyes so bright and pretty. Holy shit, Sokka’s never been kissed like that.
His own kiss count totals three as well—Yue, Suki, and Zuko. Yue and him barely kissed, and while he and Suki made out a good handful of times, it was never like that.
“So…” Sokka swallows, out of breath. “How’d our real kiss rank on the kiss scale?”
Zuko hums, eyes tracing Sokka’s face. He’s breathing hard too, trying to catch his breath. “Probably… a six.”
Sokka gapes at him. “A six?! Who the fuck do you think I am?!” Zuko laughs, bright and real, as Sokka grins back at him, resting his forearms on Zuko’s shoulders. “I know that was better than a six, you fucker.”
Zuko just hums, smiling as he tucks some of Sokka’s hair behind his ear. “You think so?”
“Oh, I know so,” Sokka smirks, reaching out and thumbing at Zuko’s lip. He doesn’t know why he’s acting so confident, as if Zuko didn’t just get sounds out of Sokka that Sokka himself didn’t even know he could make.
Zuko rolls his eyes with a huff and a smile, playfully swatting Sokka’s hand away. “You are the most ridiculous man I know.”
“You bet your ass I am,” Sokka grins, grabbing Zuko’s hand and entwining their fingers as he kisses one of Zuko’s dimples. Both boys lapse into silence, Sokka swiping his thumb on the back of Zuko’s hand. Zuko smiles at him, so sweet and perfect, and Sokka wants this forever. He has for a goddamn while.
“I have been thinking,” Sokka starts.
“Agni, never a good sign,” Zuko says as Sokka looks up to his smile, laughing back.
“Fuck you!” Sokka pushes his shoulder lightly, shaking his head. His pulse is stupidly fast. “I was going to say that I’ve been thinking, and I’d really like to take you on a date and kiss you a lot more. If you want to.”
Zuko huffs a laugh, smiling and looking at Sokka with those perfect gold eyes and Sokka’s heart fucking swells but he’s not so sure why. He’s stupidly worried that Zuko’s about to reject him but he takes the sides of Sokka’s face in his hands and kisses him. Sokka can feel Zuko’s smile against his lips, Sokka grinning right back and threading a hand up into Zuko’s hair.
Zuko pulls away, only a bit, grinning. “Yeah. I do want to.”
Sokka grins back, heart feeling so light and warm and stupidly fluttery. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Zuko huffs a laugh, kissing Sokka again, and Zuko’s almost as obsessed with Sokka’s lips as Sokka is with his. Zuko pulls away. “Can we get started on that second one right now?”
“Mm, yeah,” Sokka nods, smiling as he looks down at Zuko’s lips. “I think we can arrange that.”
“Good. I’m gonna need you here for a while to make up for lost fucking time,” Zuko connects their lips, clearly intending for another full make out session, but Sokka pulls away.
“Wait, how long?” Sokka starts. “Have you liked me?”
Zuko grimaces, skin around his scar creasing. “It’s seriously embarrassing.”
Sokka scoffs a laugh, lips parted in disbelief. “Stop, no it’s not. Tell me!”
“Like… two years?”
Sokka’s eyebrows raise. “But that’s when you joined Team Avatar.”
Zuko scratches the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact, face flushed—cute. “Yeah. See, embarrassing.”
“Spirits, that is not embarrassing. I’ve liked you for a whole year now,” Sokka laughs, rubbing his thumb against the nape of Zuko’s neck. Zuko’s eyebrow raises as he looks back up at Sokka.
“Oh,” He blinks. “What the fuck were we doing all this time?”
Sokka barks a laugh, leaning forward and resting his forehead on Zuko’s shoulder. He can’t believe he never realized that Zuko likes him back. “We’re fucking idiots. Katara’s been trying to get me to tell you for so long, too.”
“Agni, Aang’s been trying to get me to tell you.”
Sokka moves his forehead to the crook of Zuko’s neck, only laughing harder. He moves away, grinning. “Wow, we fucking suck. It’s honestly a miracle we told each other at all.”
Zuko smiles, raising his eyebrow. “Well I’m glad your stupid hormonal brain decided that kissing me in an alley would be the best way to get those loyalists off our back.”
“Hey, it worked!” Sokka exclaims.
“Barely.”
“Oh, fuck you.”
“Can I kiss you now?”
Sokka grins. “Yeah.”
Zuko leans forward and meets him in a kiss, and Sokka thinks that maybe his plans do end up working out for the best.