Work Text:
——February
If anyone asks, Sokka and Zuko are definitely not on a date.
But well, it's Valentine's day, only the two of them are out, and they are holding hands. They aren't exactly the most platonic looking pair out there.
Sokka admits that he has gotten a little too comfortable being affectionate with Zuko in public recently. They don't really get recognized in public, especially not in winter when scarves and beanies cover up most of their faces, and it's giving him a false sense of security.
They're walking by the Han river. The weather is lovely, save for the wind that keeps hitting his face. He looks at Zuko, who looks adorable as always in his massive scarf.
"Are you hungry yet?" Sokka asks. They are planning on going to a new cafe nearby that opened a while ago, and Zuko has desperately wanted to try ever since. Sokka even found him longingly looking at pictures of the pastries posted by the cafe once, so it better be good. Zuko has a massive sweet tooth, which Sokka finds simultaneously cute and funny. It doesn't fit the cool and aloof idol image given to him by the company in the slightest.
"No, but I will be when we get there. There’s always room for dessert." Zuko states determinedly. Sokka chuckles at him. It's not even noon yet, but they had wanted to do something before Sokka has to go to work. It’s ironic that they are coworkers who work together 95 percent of the time, but Sokka has a solo schedule on Valentine’s day of all days.
Zuko lets go of his hand as they get closer to the cafe. Sokka slips his hand into his pocket, and pretends like he's completely unaffected by the action. Its not the first nor the last time he wishes they were normal people who didn't have to do this.
Sokka pays for both of their coffees, his sandwich, and Zuko's absolute monstrosity of a cake slice, which looks like it could kill a victorian child with the amount of sugar and food dye it must contain. Zuko only puts up a little bit of a fight over who's paying, which is a win in his book.
They head over to a corner table near the window for the best lighting. Sokka has an idea for an Instagram post for Valentine's day, so he needs good pictures.
He takes off his scarf and jacket to reveal a red and pink hoodie underneath. Zuko chuckles at him.
"Oh you came prepared," he comments, before Sokka snatches his cake slice to his side of the table.
He hands his phone to Zuko, who had in fact agreed for his cake slice to be used as a prop for the picture. And to act as the photographer. He honestly deserves an award for putting up with Sokka’s bullshit. He’s been Sokka’s photographer for years now, and vice versa. The others just don’t take good photos of him.
Sokka takes the fork and breaks off a piece of the cake. It's fluffy and nice and whatever other words you could use to describe a cake. Sokka would taste it if the frosting looked slightly less radioactive.
Sokka poses like he's feeding the piece of cake to the camera, while Zuko holds his finger on the shutter. He is visibly cringing more and more as Sokka keeps posing, which in turn makes Sokka laugh.
"You're like the one person who's not supposed to look at me like that," Sokka jokes, which makes Zuko laugh as well. The next couple photos are a little shaky from the laughter. Sokka ends the photoshoot by feeding the piece of cake to Zuko and snatching his phone from him.
"Your turn!" Sokka announces as he flips the camera to take photos of Zuko instead. He snaps a few candid ones while he's at it.
"Please don't make me pose like that," Zuko groans.
Sokka laughs. "I could try, but I don't think I'd win that battle."
"I’m glad you’re self-aware." Zuko deadpans, and grabs his coffee to pose with it. Sokka feels like he finally understands the fans who buy photocards of them just holding random shit, because Zuko could pose with anything and still look good doing it. He snaps photos until Zuko gets sick of it and digs into his cake slice. Sokka puts his phone down, and takes a bite out of his sandwich.
There’s a loud gasp on his left side. "Sokka and Zuko?"
He looks up. Standing next to their table are two girls who look to be about their age, or maybe a little younger. In any case, he doesn't know who they are and he doubts Zuko does either. A few heads turn as they hear the loud sound in the quiet cafe, but none of the other patrons seem to care.
"Yes?"
"Oh my god, we love you and your music!" The other one exclaims.
"Thank you." Sokka chuckles. He never knows how to act when someone recognizes him in the wild. It doesn't happen that often, and it's always slightly startling.
"What are you guys doing here on Valentine's day?" The first girl asks. Her tone suggests that she's lightheartedly joking, but Sokka can see a heart shaped keychain with both of their faces on it dangling on her bag. Great. No matter what he says, them being on a date is certainly going to become a rumor on some platform or other. He glances at Zuko before answering her.
"Wait, it's Valentine's day?" Sokka asks in a shocked voice. It's pretty convincing, even if he says so himself. The girls laugh.
What’s not convincing is the hoodie he’s wearing right now. He’s suddenly sweating.
Zuko pulls out his phone to check the date. "Oh shit.. I fully thought it was Sunday." They giggle at him cursing.
"Our schedule has been really messed up recently, I think we might be more out of it than I thought." Sokka states as explanation. It's a complete lie. He has had the most straightforward schedule of his life for like the past month or so. Dance practice three times a week, filming MUshow! on Saturdays, songwriting with Jet whenever inspiration strikes. He's not exactly drowning in work.
"Please don't overwork yourselves!"
"Yeah, try to take breaks when you can!"
"Thank you, we will." Zuko replies. He sounds surprisingly appreciative, even though Sokka can tell that he's a little irritated by the way he's fiddling with his napkin. Sokka nods in agreement.
"We just wanted to say hi, sorry for interrupting. It was really cool seeing you guys!" The keychain girl says.
"No problem at all, thanks for saying hi," Sokka smiles. Zuko waves bye with both hands.
The girls turn to leave. Sokka feels like he’s holding his breath until the door to the cafe closes behind them. Zuko lets out a sigh. Sokka takes a long look around the place, as if they could pop out from anywhere at any moment, before turning back to Zuko.
"Good job on the acting." Sokka says quietly. "Pulling out your phone to look at the date was a nice touch." He adds. Zuko chuckles.
"You were really convincing too." Zuko replies. “I was starting to think you gave me the chocolates by accident this morning.”
Sokka laughs. “You don’t even know sweaty I got when I realized I’m wearing this. This.” He points at his shirt. “I look like a walking advertisement for the damn thing.”
”They were probably too nervous to notice that, and besides, you’ve posted wearing that before.”
”Awww, you stalk my instagram?” Sokka teases in an attempt to hide the fact that the idea gets him incredibly flustered.
Zuko gives him a bashful smile and shrugs. “Obviously? I look at your pictures like a mourning widow every Saturday.” He jokes.
"Oh speaking of photos, Did you see one of them had a keychain with a heart-shaped picture of us? I need me one of those as well." Sokka says and nudges Zuko's leg with his knee under the table. Zuko gives him a small smile.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Well no, but it would be nice. Sometimes I think about how nice it would be for the whole world to know, you know?" he says. Zuko's ears go red, and if he wasn't wearing makeup, his cheeks would probably be red as well. Sokka chuckles. It's criminal that he can't reach across the table to hold his hand right now. Or do literally anything else.
Maybe someday.
—
New Instagram post by user @socks.a
ID: [A carousel of 4 pictures taken in the same setting. The caption reads "Will you be my valentine?"]
Picture 1: [Sokka wearing a pink hoodie with red sleeves and hood. He's sitting in front of an artificial looking plant wall. There's an extravagantly decorated cake slice covered in pink frosting on a plate in front of him, and he's holding a piece of the cake to the camera with a bright smile on his face.]
Picture 2: [Almost identical to the first picture. His eyes are now closed as if he's laughing, and the fork in the foreground is a little blurry, like Sokka's hand is shaking a little bit.]
Picture 3: [Sokka is fully laughing now. His hand is no longer visible in the foreground. The whole picture is a little shaken.]
Picture 4: [He's still laughing, but his eyes are open in this one. He's looking a little past the camera.]
Comments:
sockenjoyer
look at the love in his eyes
_solokkas
bro who's got him giggling like that
— view 8 more replies
madeinline
the fanservice goes crazy
carlos.sa
he genuinely looks like he's in love with us
——March
Sokka is fully zoning out on a random hallway in the music show recording building, waiting for Suki to finish changing out of her stage outfit. He tries not to think about how creepy he must look like right now, lingering near the girls changing room. At this point in the night he's honestly just too tired to care.
Sokka is startled from his thoughts when someone stops in front of him. He looks up, expecting to see a staff member.
It turns out to be Aika, a member of Suki's group, Valkyr1e. Sokka always thinks that she really looks like Ty Lee, just with darker hair. She's also quite a bit younger than him, and even a couple years younger than Aang, who is like the youngest person to ever exist, at least in Sokka's world. Anyone younger than Aang should be like, a toddler, instead of a full grown adult.
They don't really talk much, save for greeting each other in passing in the company building, but for some reason she has decided that the two of them are best friends. Sokka is not sure how to feel about it. On one hand it doesn’t bother him, but then again it’s a little offputting.
”Hiya,” She greets with a nod. Sokka nods back.
"Whatcha doing here?" She asks.
"Waiting for Suki. We were supposed to film a dance challenge but she's taking her sweet time." Sokka explains.
She chuckles. "You'll be waiting for a while, she's the last one to get her feedback."
Sokka groans. He just wants to go home and curl up on the couch to watch whichever movie Zuko and Haru have decided to put on. They've been on a kick of watching intentionally bad low-budget horror movies lately. Sokka can feel in his soul how every minute that passes is a minute he’s missing of the peak of cinema.
"How are your promotions going?" Sokka asks. He doesn't know what else to talk about, but she doesn't seem to be leaving either.
"Alright. Haven't won anything but we've been performing as well as we can. And no one's gotten hurt either which is a blessing."
"Sure is." Sokka agrees. "Hoping for the best for you guys!"
She smiles. "Thanks. Do you have any comeback plans?"
"Not that I know of, not before summer at least. We have been taking things a little slower ever since Aang's back injury."
"That makes sense." A couple beats pass in silence. "Who was the girl that was here with you earlier?" She inquires.
"Huh?" Sokka asks, genuinely confused. The only women he has talked to all day are Suki and Yue, his coworkers who Aika definitely knows, some staff members, and now her.
"The short one with the black bob that came in to recording with you today?"
Oh. He almost cackles in her face right then and there, but manages to hold it in. That wouldn't be very nice of him.
"That was Zuko." he replies, just barely containing his laughter. He can't wait to tell him someone described him as short. And called his haircut a bob as well. "He had some errands to run nearby so we took the same car and he came to hang out here while waiting."
"Do all six of you kiss each other like that?" she asks. Sokka feels like he’s been punched in the stomach as the words leave her mouth. Fuck. First of all, no they very much do not. Second of all, they really need to be more careful from now on.
"What? Why would we do that?"
"You tell me. I saw him kiss you on the cheek before he left."
"No you didn't." Yes she most likely did. "I mean, it could have looked like that, but we were just whispering to each other." A bold lie.
"Ohh… Why whisper in an empty room?" How many questions are there? Is she just wandering the building looking for gossip? There seems to be no way to win in this conversation. She's always going to have a new question to ask him no matter what. He wishes for Suki to come waltzing through the door to save him, definitely not for the first time in his life.
"Gossip. About two people on the camera crew who we think are dating. There are cameras in every room so you can never be too careful, ya know." He explains. Well, lies. It's surprising what he can pull out of his ass when the situation so requires. Maybe he should follow Toph and Katara and become an actor too. He's certainly getting a lot of practice recently.
He should really take his own lying advice too, there truly are cameras in every room of this building. And eyes.
"Ohhh, that's so fun! Love a workplace romance."
Yeah. Love it. "I know right. I really hope they get their shit together soon, it's driving me crazy." He swears he's going to do something drastic if she asks which members of the crew he's talking about.
Thankfully Sokka doesn't have to confront that reality, because that's when the door opens, and Suki is standing in the doorway like a saving angel. An angel in sweatpants, but he can't afford to be picky here.
"You ready?" She asks him. Sokka nods, maybe a little too enthusiastically.
"Get me out of here, I’m so tired and just want to go home." He whines. Suki just laughs at him.
"That depends entirely on your ability to bust a move." She states, and grabs his wrist to lead him to where they are filming the dance challenge. Aika disappears into their dressing room. Sokka lets out a sigh of relief.
"So, did you guys have a fun chat?" Suki asks, once they're in the elevator.
They make eye contact in the mirror. Sokka groans and buries his head in his hands as a response. He can't even begin to unpack all of that right now.
"That bad, huh?"
She doesn't even know how bad. Sokka doesn't know if he wants her to know. He just nods solemnly, as if nodding slower is going to accurately portray the painful conversation he just had to endure.
Suki seems to understand. Well, at least she doesn't laugh at him too much.
"She saw me and Zuko-" Sokka is interrupted by Suki's eyebrows shooting up. "No. Whatever you're thinking it's not that. He kissed me, on the cheek, when he was leaving, and apparently Aika saw that somehow. I had to come up with a story about us gossiping and whispering about the staff here." He explains. "So if she ever asks about it, we found out one of them was married to someone else and there’s nothing more to the story actually." He adds, which makes Suki laugh.
"I don't know if I'm more impressed by you coming up with that on the spot or her managing to see that. Might want to be more careful in the future." Suki states. She's clearly amused but still taking his lamenting relatively seriously, which is what Sokka appreciates about her. If Toph was here, she would be cackling at his misfortune.
"You know, I keep telling myself that. And yet this keeps happening."
—
New Instagram post by user @valkyr1e.official
ID: [A video of Suki and Sokka dancing. The caption reads "#Sokka is #NotMine🚫 @cometz_official." Suki is on the left and Sokka is on the right side of the video. Suki is wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, but she still has her full face of stage makeup on. Sokka is still wearing his MC outfit; loose slacks and a white button up. He's still wearing the tie he had on in the live broadcast, but the knot of the tie is hanging around his chest.
They're dancing to Valkyr1e's newest song "Not Mine." They're both smiling. The dance is energetic, and the focus is on the footwork, which is pretty intense. They end the video by crossing their arms and posing back to back.]
Comments
val.valkyrie
BEST DUOO
sunsandstars
Slay queeeen
sukkinly
Does anyone else feel weird about the caption? It's like they're calling us shippers out #Sukkiforever
valkyrie__updatess
omggg aang and tylee next plss
——April
Sokka wakes up to a sharp knock on his bedroom door. He's really confused for a second, before he remembers what day it is.
Sunday.
Last Sunday of the month to be specific.
Which means dorm checks.
It's beyond him why any group of grown adults would need supervision like that, much less the six of them, with their idea of a fun night being arguing over games and eating convenience store snacks, but it's better than the alternative. The alternative being having a manager live with them in the dorm. The monthly checks were the compromise they had come to with the company two years ago.
And they had worked just fine. Until now. Until now when one of the staff members is knocking on his door and Zuko is laying in bed next to him. The fact that they both slept through multiple alarms is slowly dawning on Sokka as they turn to look at each other in horror.
Zuko pulls the covers over his head while Sokka reaches to pick up a shirt off the floor. It ends up being Zuko's bright red hoodie Sokka would literally never wear otherwise, but he doesn't have time to look for anything else either.
Another knock.
Sokka takes a deep breath and sits up on the edge of the bed. "Come in."
Thankfully the person turns out to be Mr Kim. Or Minho-hyung as Sokka usually calls him. They were trainees together for a couple months, before Minho had left to work on the management side of the company. Sokka likes him the most out of their managers. Not just because they're friends, but because he doesn't snoop through his sock drawers and look under lamps in search of drugs or whatever it is the company expects to find during the dorm checks.
It's clear Minho also finds the practice ridiculous, so his dorm checks usually consist of a regular chat. He has been on vacation for the past couple weeks, so Sokka really hadn't expected to see him today.
"Sorry, did I wake you up?" Minho asks as he scans the room.
"Yeah, it seems like I slept through multiple alarms." Sokka admits.
Minho chuckles. "Wild night last night?"
Sokka shakes his head. "Not at all, just exhausted. They're making us practice like crazy these days." Not even a lie. They were both asleep by 11 pm.
"How was your vacation?" Sokka asks. It's a little awkward to just be sitting there when someone is studying his room like this.
"Fine. Relaxing. I could've stayed there for another two weeks to be honest with you."
"I bet." Sokka replies. Who wouldn't pick a nice island vacation over the rainy weather they've been getting all week.
"Oh by the way, do you happen to know where your roommate is?" Minho asks. "Zuko, I mean. His door was open but he's not there, and I do need to make note of that." He rolls his eyes to punctuate the last sentence.
Well. As a matter of fact he does.
"Uh, yeah. He went home to his uncle's place last night." Best thing he could come up with in the moment. He's fully banking on Minho not being able to tell which shoes and jacket in the entrance belong to Zuko. If he does, he’s completely fucked.
"Everything alright? He didn't mention anything about going home when I saw him at the company yesterday."
Shit.
"I think it had something to do with his cat? I'm not sure, he left in a hurry." He makes a mental note of having to send a bag of cat treats with Zuko the next time he goes home. An apology to Druk for using him in such a bold-faced lie. Hopefully Sokka hasn't cursed the menace by saying that.
"Alright, I won't wait around for him to show up then. Since you don't seem to have anything illegal here, I think I'll go upstairs now."
"Aww. No drugs in Haru's room either?" Sokka jokingly asks.
Minho laughs and shakes his head. "Too good at hiding 'em." He jokes back and turns to leave. He's already out of the room, before turning back to poke his head in.
"Oh and Sokka… maybe ask your lady friend to leave before the dorm checks next time."
"My-" He follows Minho's gaze to the pillow next to him, where Zuko's dark hair stands out against the light sheets despite his best efforts to hide under the blanket. Nothing he can do about it now. "…Right. Yep."
"I'm just saying, the others might not be as willing to ignore this as I am."
Sokka just nods. He's embarrassed. Mortified even.
With a smile, Minho turns and leaves. Sokka has to put a hand over his mouth to avoid laughing while he waits to hear the door. Or screaming. He’s not sure what to feel right now.
As the door closes behind Minho, Zuko throws the blanket off his head and slams it down on his lap with both arms. They make eye contact, and immediately burst into hysterical laughter.
There doesn't seem to be an end to it. It's both the hilariousness of the situation and the adrenaline of such a close call escaping all at once.
"So. Lady friend-" Zuko smacks his leg in protest of the nickname. "Would you like me to make you breakfast?" Sokka asks dramatically once he's finished gasping for air.
Zuko scoffs at the suggestion. They both know Sokka is absolutely hopeless when it comes to cooking, to the point of getting banned from touching anything in the kitchen except for the fridge and the microwave. On multiple occasions. He’s still not sure how he managed to set off the fire alarm with a rice cooker.
"Lady friend is going to let you burn down the whole building if you keep calling him that." From anyone else that statement could possibly sound playful, but coming from Zuko it sounds like a threat from a mob boss. Like he's going to make sure the building is on fire by the end of the day.
The threat is way less impactful if you take Zuko's ridiculous bedhead and little pout into consideration. Which Sokka obviously does.
It makes him laugh again, which in turn earns him another smack from Zuko. He mumbles something about not being taken seriously, before sneaking his arms around Sokka's waist and pulling him closer.
It's actually more like a small nudge, but Sokka has never considered himself anything but a weak man when it comes to Zuko, so he scooches closer immediately. They sit there in silence for a while, leaning their heads against each other. Zuko fiddles with the hem of Sokka's hoodie. Well, his hoodie that Sokka is wearing. He shudders as Zuko’s cold fingers caress his stomach.
"I like it when you wear my clothes." Zuko says quietly. Sokka isn't sure if he meant to say that out loud, it's not the type of thought Zuko usually verbalizes, but he's certainly not complaining.
"Uh huh?"
"You should do it more often."
"Maybe I will." Sokka turns his head to look up at Zuko and grins at him. "You are so going to regret saying that."
Zuko leans in to give him a kiss and smirks. "I know what I’m signing up for."
——May
They enter the noodle shop soaking wet. The place is only a ten minute walk away from the dorms, which is apparently long enough to be caught in a downpour, and slip and fall, if you’re Sokka. Maybe they would be less soaked, if he hadn’t scraped his knee and didn’t have to limp most of the way there. Ordering food would have been way easier.
Zuko practically orders him to sit down, before heading to the counter. From his spot near the heater, Sokka hears him order two bowls of noodles, and then ask for the first-aid kit. It’s quiet, except for the radio on the counter that’s playing some old classics. They’re the only customers there, which Sokka is happy about. He would feel worse about the whole thing if there were people witnessing his unfortunate situation.
Upon his return, Zuko places the first-aid kit on the table. “Alright, let’s see the damage.”
Sokka leans to pull up his pant leg, but before he can do anything, Zuko kneels down and starts doing it for him.
He’s wearing jeans, which is making the task almost impossible. The wet cloth is nasty and cold against his skin, and its too thick to gather up properly. At least the heater next to him is warming him up a little bit.
”Next time you eat shit, please do it when it’s not raining. Or at least in different pants.” Zuko mutters.
”Not the way you thought you’d be taking my pants off today, huh?” Sokka jokes, which earns him a deep sigh from Zuko.
Sokka hisses when Zuko finally peels the fabric off his injured knee. It stings. The hand he used to stop the fall is starting to sting too. It’s not bleeding, but the skin is broken.
Zuko reaches for the antiseptic spray, signaling that the stinging isn’t going to end any time soon. He sprays it on a cotton pad before looking up at Sokka. “I’m sorry but there’s sand on your knee, so this might take a while.”
Sokka grits his teeth through the ordeal. It hurts more than the fall itself. He tries to count the faint freckles on Zuko’s nose to have something else to think about, but loses count around eight. Once that’s over, he offers up his hand to be cleaned as well, which Zuko cleans up quickly. Sokka feels bad about just sitting there helplessly. Sure, Zuko did volunteer to do it, but maybe he shouldn’t just sit there and wait to be served.
”I can do it myself,” Sokka interjects, when Zuko grabs a bandaid.
Zuko glances up at him. ”I got it.”
He seems so determined about it, that Sokka doesn’t protest. Zuko gently places the bandaid on his knee.
”Kiss it better?” Sokka jokingly asks before Zuko can get up. He doesn’t actually expect Zuko to entertain his request, not in a public place like this at least.
Zuko rolls his eyes, but there’s a fond smile on his face. He looks back towards the kitchen, presumably to check if any of them are looking, before placing a kiss on top of the bandaid.
“Happy now?”
Sokka grins at him. “Very.”
Zuko gets up, and slides to sit down on the opposite side of the table. “So how do you feel about your decision to walk to the restaurant instead of ordering food?” He asks.
“Great. I’m having a really good time.” Sokka replies sarcastically. They had been bickering about this the entire walk to the restaurant. Sokka refuses to admit Zuko was right, but he was. Ordering food would have saved them a lot of trouble.
Before they can resume the disagreement, an older woman comes out of the kitchen, carrying two steaming bowls. She’s the owner of the place, which Sokka knows from having frequented the place ever since their trainee years. He’s lost count on how many conversations he has had with the woman, yet he still doesn’t even know her name.
“Enjoy your food,” she says as she places a bowl in front of each of them. She then turns to Sokka.
”How’s your leg dear?”
Zuko must have told her what the first-aid kit was for. ”It’s alright. Doesn’t feel like it’s burning anymore, which is nice.”
”Well, you’re lucky you had your boyfriend here to patch you up.”
Sokka almost chokes on air. “Oh we’re not… we’re not together.” He lies. What a crazy thing to say to a stranger. Sure they’ve had multiple conversations over the years, but still.
“It’s alright, we’re not judgmental here.” She states very sincerely. The warmth in her voice makes Sokka smile. Most people from her generation are definitely not like this.
”No like seriously, we are not a couple.” Zuko chimes in as well.
“Oh. You two just seemed to be having quite an intimate moment over here.” She replies.
“Just very good friends.”
”Yeah, we practically grew up together.” Technically not a lie, if you ignore the fact that they met at 17. Emotional growth counts too.
She picks up the first-aid kit from the table, and gives them a warm smile. “Well, no matter what, everyone is welcome here.” She turns on her heel and disappears back into the kitchen. Sokka is not convinced she actually believes them.
Sokka buries his head in his hands and groans. “How does this keep happening?”
Zuko laughs at him and slurps his noodles. “Might have to get used to it.”
Sokka looks up at him. “I don’t know if I want to.” He thinks for a while. “But it’s not like she was wrong, I am lucky that I had my beautiful pretty boyfriend heroically patch me up.”
“Now I don’t think she said all that.”
“No trust me, she did.” Sokka assures.
Zuko shakes his head affectionately. “Whatever you say.”
——June
Sokka wipes his sweaty face with the hem of his t-shirt.
It's the end of one of their dance practices. They're about a week away from their first fanmeeting, and this is the first time they're going through all of the dances in rapid succession. With the way his lungs feel like they're on fire, it might also be his last. They won't do them back to back like this in the actual fanmeeting, so all of this feels a little unnecessary.
One glance at the mirrored wall of the room alone tells him he looks incredibly rough right now. Strands falling out of his ponytail and glued to his forehead with sweat, one pant leg hiked up to the knee for ventilation. The others don't look much better.
Zuko is chugging water, and both Aang and Hahn are sitting down on the floor looking defeated. Haru is kneeling, and Sokka thinks he might genuinely throw up, whereas Jet looks to be doing the most okay out of all of them. Sokka kind of wants to punch him in the face, because it's really unfair that he's not suffering with the rest of them right now.
Right as he starts catching his breath, the door bursts open. In walks Sozin, dressed in an outfit better fit for a skater than the head of an entertainment company. Aang, Haru and Hahn scramble off the floor to bow a greeting along with the rest of them. All six of them gather around him.
"Hello everyone. I wanted to come wish you guys good luck for your fanmeeting next week." Sozin starts. "Even though it's your first one, I believe the six of you are the perfect group for something like this. Don't be afraid to show your personalities, that's what the fans are there to see."
There's a chorus of thank you's.
"Do you have any last minute tips for us?" Hahn asks.
"Well most importantly, have fun and don't get hurt. And don't be afraid of messing up choreo or anything, those are sometimes the moments fans like the most. Oh, don't be afraid to play up the fanservice either, this is the place to do that."
A chorus of groans this time. Sozin laughs at them.
"Hey, just because advice is given doesn't mean it has to be taken." It looks like he suddenly remembers something. "I also wanted to talk with you two." He says. Sokka looks up to find a finger pointed at him, and another one pointed at Zuko, who is standing next to him.
The first thought in his head is not this shit again, followed by what the hell could it be now? A glance at Zuko tells him he's having similar thoughts.
The others leave with remarks such as "how is it always you two?" and "better you than me." Sokka also asks the first one, and staunchly disagrees with the second statement. And then it's just the three of them in the room. Sozin motions for them to sit down on the couch in the back corner, which for some reason makes a feeling of dread surge through him. If a conversation can't be had standing up, it's usually not good.
"So, I've noticed that you two have become rather… close recently?" Sozin starts. It's phrased as a question, which Sokka has no adequate answer to. He also hasn't seen Sozin in months, probably not since New Years, so he doesn't know where this observation is even coming from.
"Is that… a bad thing?" Zuko asks.
"Yeah, wouldn't you want the group members to be friends and not just coworkers?" Sokka adds.
Sozin smiles. "Well yes, but you two aren't exactly just friends, are you?"
Fuck fuck fuck.
That's it.
Not only did someone figure it out, it just had to be their literal boss.
"What makes you say that?" Zuko asks, interrupting Sokka's panicking.
Right. Talking. Very useful in this situation.
Sozin chuckles. "I might be older than you, but I'm not blind. Besides, you're not the first two idols to date in the same group. I've been there too ya know."
It takes a couple seconds for the dots to connect in his head. Sokka's jaw drops when the realization hits.
Sokka and Zuko react at the same time.
"Wait, you and Ro?!"
"It was true the whole time?"
Sozin laughs at their reactions. "Yes, very much so."
Sokka is not too caught up on the rumors, but he knows the gist of it. In the 90s, Sozin was in a boygroup called F-tion. Even back then, and to this day there are speculations about the nature of the relationship between him and another member, Ro. There are probably hundreds of videos of people analyzing them in interviews and dissecting stories the other group members have told of their time in the group. He's pretty sure one of those was in the list of videos Manager Park told them to watch to prepare for their little fake dating stunt last year.
The group also broke up because of a semi-public fight between the two of them, which in this context seems to have been them breaking up. Sokka tries not to think about that.
"Why are you telling us this?" Zuko asks.
"To let you know that you're not alone. And that you don't need to be afraid of getting fired if you decide to be open about your relationship, or god forbid get outed. Those were my biggest fears back then at least." He explains.
Sokka has never thought of Sozin as a particularly warm or sincere person, but the genuine care in that statement almost brings tears to his eyes.
"Thank you." Zuko says. Sokka nods, agreeing with the sentiment.
"How did you figure it out? And when? We've been so careful." Sokka asks. Zuko stifles a laugh next to him. "Trying to be, at least." He adds. Sozin laughs.
"You might be good at fooling them," He points his thumb towards the door of the practice room, presumably meaning the other staff members. "but not me. I've had my suspicions for a while now. Near the end of your trainee period I would always be surprised if I saw you two and you weren't holding hands, or otherwise touching each other, or looking at each other. Never seen anyone else do that. Seeing you somehow become even closer in the past couple months confirmed it for me."
Sokka is not sure why hearing that feels so painfully embarrassing. Maybe because that was almost three years ago, and he only realized he had feelings for Zuko like half a year ago. The signs have clearly been there if Sozin out of all people had noticed.
Their knees are also touching right now, which isn't helping their case in the slightest.
"Well, thank you for the mortifying analysis of our behavior," Sokka states, which makes all of them laugh.
"Anytime," Sozin jokes back. "That's all I had to say, you know where to find me if you ever need anything." He stands up. "Oh, and I think this goes without saying, but keep this a secret, won't you?"
They both nod.
"Of course. You keep ours, we'll keep yours." Zuko states. His tone is polite, but the words are poignant. If he doesn't keep it, there's no reason for them to keep his secret either.
Sozin raises his arm in salute, Sokka and Zuko salute back of course, before he leaves the room.
Sokka lays down on the couch so that his head is in Zuko's lap. "That was.."
"Crazy." Zuko finishes his sentence.
”He did not have to start the conversation like that though, I genuinely thought we were going to get fired there for a sec.”
”I know. The next time someone asks just the two of us to stay back for a conversation, I’m running away and never coming back.” Zuko agrees.
Sokka chuckles. “And leave poor little old me here alone to suffer?”
”Mhm. You’re capable enough.”
“You wound me.” Sokka states.
Zuko grins at him. “Every man for himself and all that.” There’s no bite to his words. He’s lovingly playing with Sokka’s hair as they chat.
"You know, I always thought Sozin was a little gay." Sokka suddenly states completely seriously, which makes Zuko laugh.
"A little?"
"Well I haven't seen him with a man, like, actively."
Zuko's entire face slowly scrunches up in displeasure. "Please reconsider your phrasing when talking about our boss. I did not need that mental image."
It's Sokka's turn to laugh at him. "I did not ask you to imagine anything."
”Well I did. And I had a bad time doing it.”
"You know what I’d like to imagine though?" Zuko asks after couple seconds of silence. He's now coiling the loose strands of hair that have escaped from Sokka's ponytail around his finger.
"Tell me."
"Us. At home. Probably brushing our teeth and going to bed immediately, because I'll fall asleep right here if we don't leave in the next 5 minutes."
Sokka smiles. "You know, I was thinking of the exact same thing." He rolls off the couch and offers his hand to Zuko to help him up.
"Let's go?"
"Let's go."