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Zuko hated blind dates.
Unfortunately for him, he was tricked into being on one under the pretense of a casual lunch with Aang and Sokka.
The worst part?
It was a triple date.
“Lighten up,” Aang said. He glanced out the window, watching the gray clouds form in the sky. He rolled the paper wrapper of his straw into a small ball before flicking it into the direction of his longtime friend.
It hit Zuko squarely in the chest. His arms were firmly crossed and he was scowling so much that Sokka could’ve sworn that steam was coming out of Zuko’s ears from how mad he was. In fact, the room noticeably got hotter the longer Zuko was brooding.
“You tricked me.”
“To be fair, it is a casual little hang out. Besides, your date’s totally your type.” Sokka tried to say, but shrunk back once Zuko started glaring at him. He scratched the back of his head rather awkwardly while silently pleading for help from his girlfriend.
Funnily enough, Suki sat next to him, trying to fight the smile appearing on her face. Her short brown hair was promptly tied up into a ponytail, small pieces framing her face. “Don’t worry, if it makes you feel any better, she doesn’t know either.”
“Wonderful,” he muttered, though his shoulders relaxed at the revelation. While he was curious as to who it would be, he kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to know. Despite his initial anger radiating off from him, Zuko couldn’t deny the part of him that was hopeful—the small, inexplicable part that thought this would be worth it.
But the bigger part of him was more reasonable. This surely wouldn’t work out. Not in the long run anyways.
Zuko wasn’t too sure as to how he fell for his friends’ antics. He should’ve seen it a mile away with how jittery they were acting before leaving his apartment. He’d always been called oblivious, but he was so sure that he was quite the opposite.
Obviously not.
So instead of having a quiet lunch with his friends, Zuko found himself trapped in the corner booth of a cafe, waiting for a stranger to walk through the door and somehow change his life.
He really doubted it.
Aang’s phone lit up and he eagerly picked it up. “Katara just texted. They’re already in the parking lot.”
“God, she’s gonna kill us.” Sokka said, slightly flinching as he now realized the consequences of his actions. The way she emphasized the ‘she’ made Zuko snort. He knew well enough that he wasn’t referring to Katara. Not this time at least.
“Yeah, it’s a little too late to be regretful,” Zuko leaned back in the booth, drumming his fingers against the table.
“Relax,” Aang casually said, but the way he kept glancing at the entrance betrayed his nerves. “She’s not that scary.”
Sokka scoffed.
“Maybe a little.”
The bell above the cafe door jingled, causing their conversation to quiet down.
Katara stepped in first. Her wavy brown hair was braided and thrown over her shoulder. She hesitantly took off her jacket, eyes glancing around the room until they landed on the four of them. She gave them a thumbs up with a sheepish smile to which Zuko rolled his eyes.
But then he froze.
Because behind her, Toph nearly walked into her back. “Why’d you stop?”
She stiffened as she took in her surroundings.
The familiar stance, the uneven rhythm of Zuko’s tapping fingers, Sokka practically vibrating with anticipation–Toph wouldn’t have been able to miss it even if she wanted to. When Katara suggested getting a quick bite, she was down. She was ecstatic to know Suki would be joining them too, especially since it was their go to cafe.
But Sokka, Aang and Zuko?
Toph was baffled to say the least and she wasn’t the only one.
When Sokka had said his blind date was his type, Zuko was so certain this whole thing would be a disaster waiting to happen. He didn’t really know what he was expecting. Maybe someone overly preppy or cheerful. A lot of awkwardness, definitely.
But he wasn’t expecting familiarity.
He didn’t think Toph Beifong would appear right in front of him, head tilted to the side in utter confusion as she and Katara walked toward them. She wore a green sweater that matched her headband and she chose to have her midnight hair down, allowing it to cascade down her shoulders as it nearly touched her waist. Toph’s pale jaded eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she still allowed Katara to hold onto her wrist to guide her even though she didn’t need it.
Without even realizing, Zuko had started to smile.
“What are you guys doing here?” she asked, choosing to place herself beside him, allowing their arms to brush just the slightest bit. Toph could faintly smell the mix of his cologne, cedar and smoke filling up her nose.
“Surprise, this is a triple date!” Sokka announced with utmost enthusiasm, throwing his hands up in the air. He wore the biggest grin on his face.
“What?” Toph blinked once. She slowly turned to where she thought Katara and Suki were. “You set me up? With who? Sparky?”
“It was their idea,” Katara and Suki said instantly, pointing at their respective boyfriends before remembering that their friend couldn’t actually see.
“Traitors,” Aang whispered. “You guys literally did most of the planning. Sokka and I just planted the idea.”
Suki weakly raised her hand. “In our defense, we were tired of seeing Toph and Zuko dance around each other.”
Silence.
Zuko choked, while Toph raised her eyebrows.
“What does that even mean?” she asked.
The rest of them looked at one another in pure disbelief.
“You’re joking, right?” Sokka asked.
“Not in the slightest.” She turned to Zuko. “Do you get it?”
“Not really.”
Noting the lack of response she was getting from everyone else, she sighed. “Forget it, I’m leaving.”
“Absolutely not,” Katara held onto her sleeve from across the table before Toph could step out. “Do you know how hard it is to drag you away from work?”
“You told me we were going to watch a movie with Suki after we eat.”
“We are. After lunch and with the boys.”
Toph narrowed her eyes. “You’re evil.”
“Thank you.”
Meanwhile, Sokka had abandoned subtlety entirely. He lifted an accusatory finger toward Toph and Zuko, utterly exhausted with the both of them. “You flirt with each other constantly.”
This time, Zuko laughed. “We do not.”
“I don’t recall ever doing that,” Toph replied at the same time.
Suki pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing. Aang, on the other hand, failed entirely.
“You bought her coffee three times last week,” he pointed out.
“That’s because she never carries cash.”
Toph scoffed. “Oh, whatever, since this is a date or whatnot, are you paying for my lunch too?”
A pause.
Whether Toph was keenly aware of what she said or not, she didn’t move. She had directly implied that this was a date and didn’t lash out in the ways Sokka and Aang had predicted. Instead, she sat there rather patiently and waited for Zuko to answer.
Except he didn’t have a response set right away. It felt like his brain had short-circuited the longer he stared at her face, quietly noting the way her pink lips were pursed and how her eyebrow raised just a bit, almost as if she were challenging him. Her words were practically echoing in mind, except one word caught his attention the most.
Date.
Toph had called it a date so casually that he almost missed it.
“You’re unbelievable,” Zuko finally said, letting a laugh escape his lips as he shook his head in amusement.
“And yet,” Toph replied, smugness dripping from every syllable, “you’re still smiling.”
Sokka groaned. “They’re giving me the oogies all over again.”
Toph opened her mouth, probably to argue, but a waitress appeared, a stack of menus in hand. “Is this everyone?”
“Yes,” Suki confirmed, nodding in her direction.
After a set of pleasantries, the waitress took note of their orders and briefly walked away. The teasing seemed to have died down and the respective couples were having their own conversations, which left Toph and Zuko to themselves, silence accompanying them as they waited.
“This is kind of humiliating,” Toph told Zuko.
“Agreed.”
A beat passed.
Suddenly, Zuko felt a surge of confidence. He leaned down, his breath practically fanning her face. “You look good by the way.”
This time, Toph was the one taken off guard. She slowly flushed red as she tried to process his words.
Because one thing about Zuko was that he never gave out compliments. Ever.
“What?”
Zuko shrugged, a little too nonchalant on the outside but he knew Toph could hear his heart accelerate to the point of breaking through his ribs. “I just said you looked good.”
Toph ducked her head slightly, like she was annoyed he’d managed to get a reaction out of her.
But then the corner of her lips tugged upwards and suddenly Zuko was glad that their friends had pushed them together.
“Well,” she said, slowly. “You clean up okay yourself, Sparky.”
Beneath the table, she felt warmth brush against her hand.
Zuko’s fingers. Not fully holding hers. They were just there—tentative, waiting, and resting on her thigh.
She stilled.
It was oddly careful for someone like Zuko, almost as if he was giving her the choice.
She gradually turned her hand over beneath his and laced their fingers together.
Unbeknowst to them during their exchange, four other pairs of eyes were watching them like hawks, mouths slightly parted as their plan filled with flaws actually worked.
Sokka physically turned away from the table, shoulders shaking while Suki buried her face in his arm.