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During the days before the anniversary of Aang beating the crap out of the Fire Lord (or as other people called it, the end of the hundred year war) Sokka and his friends always stayed at Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se. It had become a tradition that felt much more like a real celebration of what they had achieved than the big fancy party the Earth King threw every year.
Though Sokka was looking forward to the food.
He was up earlier than he had intended, an annoying habit that tended to happen the first few days of sleeping in a normal bed. His body was often so used to being on the road and sleeping on a flying bison that it took him a while to adjust to a comfortable bed that didn’t move. Sokka briefly considered trying to go back to sleep, but his stomach gave a rumble in protest at that idea. Time to get some food.
Iroh's tea shop was closed for customers while they all stayed here, but Sokka had seen some tasty looking leftover cakes on display the previous day. He hoped there were still some left. Humming softly to himself, he made his way down to the main room of the shop, looking over at the counter hopefully.
A slight movement to his left made him jump and turn in surprise. He had expected to be the only person up this early. He had been wrong. Mai was sitting at the Pai Sho board near the window, her gaze moving from Sokka back to the board in front of her. Immediately, he felt slightly awkward. Both Mai and Ty Lee had switched sides before the war and were definitely part of the group, but Sokka still didn't know Mai all that well. Even now, three years after the end of the war, Sokka didn't think he'd had more than a handful of conversations with her. He used to think of her as Zuko's gloomy girlfriend, then Zuko's gloomy friend once they had broken up. She also got along pretty well with Aang. Mostly because everyone got along well with Aang.
Curiosity piqued, Sokka couldn't help changing course and walking over to her instead. Mai was fully dressed, her hair up in her usual elaborate style. He wondered how early she had gotten up. She was staring at the board now, ignoring Sokka's presence.
Something about that made him want to bother her, so he did.
"What are you doing?" He asked after watching her for a few quiet seconds.
"Painting the roof," she replied dryly without missing a beat, her hand moving forward to move a tile. Her pale gold eyes flicked up at him then. "What does it look like I'm doing?" The idiot at the end was definitely implied, even if she didn't say it out loud.
"It looks like you're playing Pai Sho, but you can't be because it's a game for two people and you're… alone." Sokka said, gesturing vaguely to the board.
"It's not uncommon to practice strategies on your own," Mai answered quietly, her gaze moving back to the board. It irritated Sokka, for some reason he wanted her to look at him again. He resisted the urge to lean forward and wave his hand in front of her face. That was probably a good way to get stabbed.
"I didn't know you played."
"Well, I do."
Sokka's hand hovered over the back of the other chair. "So do I."
"Okay."
He pulled the chair back and sat down, feeling a small burst of triumph when it made her look up at him again, even if she looked slightly annoyed. For some reason, he felt the urge to needle her. It was an almost childish urge, like pulling her hair for attention. Not that he would actually do that, that was another good way to get stabbed.
"Wanna play? It's probably better to practice the strategies with another person."
Mai watched him for a moment. "I've played against Iroh," she said.
"Impressive, how many times have you won?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.
A slight twitch of her lips, but Mai didn't answer. Instead, she started taking the tiles from the board. Sokka felt a twinge of disappointment, until he realized she was placing the tiles back in the starting position, ready for a new game.
He grinned, getting a rare smile in return.
Oh, his mind supplied, we should make that happen again.
"Fine, let's play," she said as she placed the final piece. "Show me what you can do."
She beat him.
But it was close. Sokka could tell that that bothered her.
He wasn't someone who played Pai Sho a lot, Bato had taught him the rules and they occasionally played a game. It was interesting how differently Mai played. Her style was a lot slower and more deliberate than Sokka's. He was used to quicker games where he tried to trick his opponents into making mistakes. Mai didn't let him rush her. It was interesting to watch her, to see her deliberate her moves and think through the next steps.
He noticed her watching him as well.
They played another game. Sokka forced himself to focus more on the game than on his opponent, intriguing as she was. This time he won, managing to catch her off guard with an unexpected strategy. He beamed at her and she narrowed her eyes in return, a clear challenge in her gaze. Without exchanging another word, they set up the board for a new game.
Sunlight moved slowly over the board as they played, the time passing by unnoticed. The others started waking up, walking through the room and grabbing food or drinks. Sokka and Mai were so focused on their game that they barely noticed. At one point Aang hovered over the board at Sokka's side, trying to give him a few pointers until Katara pulled him away.
They finished their fourth game, a win for Mai. They were at a tie, both having won twice. Sokka started moving to set up the board again, when his stomach rumbled loudly. It snapped him out of the moment. He blinked, looking down. Oh, right. He'd come down for food. How long ago was that now?
Glancing around, he noticed everyone was here, chatting, eating and drinking tea. When had that happened?
Mai cleared her throat, pulling his attention back to her. He felt a twinge of disappointment when he realized she was putting the tiles away now, stacking them nearly in the box.
Sokka felt slightly disappointed, it felt like a shame to end on a tie.
His disappointment must have shown on his face. Mai closed the box, placing it down on the table. "Same time tomorrow?" She asked. Sokka nodded quickly, relived. He was already looking forward to it.
She gave him another small smile, then she got up and joined the others. Sokka swallowed, watching her go.
He might be in trouble.