Vapor
–-
Beverly Hills
“I ain’t nobody
Got nothing in my pocket”
“I’ll be seeing you.”
I’ll be seeing you??
Zuko spent most of his band practice contemplating on the seemingly impossible interaction he had the day before.
After all, who would’ve thought that the same guy he had been thinking about daily would show up in the place that Zuko frequents most.
Not even just going there, but talking to him.
It felt like his two worlds were clashing together.
He must’ve seemed like a lunatic. Falling over himself and stuttering- Did Sokka even recognize him?
There's no way he did. There's no way he could .
“Zuko, are you ready?” Kuzon questioned, knocking Zuko out of his haze of thoughts.
“Nope, he’s still thinking about his boy-crush.” Mai taunted
After Sokka left, Kuzon found Zuko in a less than presentable state. He had been hiding his infatuation with Sokka from the band as he never thought it would go anywhere. And there was no way he was going to make any sort of move.
But now after telling them, he wishes the whole interaction never happened.
“Don’t call him a boy-crush!”
“Aah soo he's a crush-crush?” Kuzon implored.
Both Kuzon and Mai got a kick out of his embarrassment, taking every chance to pry him about it.
Maybe Ty Lee would have his back. She always did.
“Can you call it a crush when they've only had one conversation? Plus he didn’t even know it was you.”
In two sentences, his entire delusion was crushed, and what sucked even more is that Ty wasn’t even joking.
In fact she was right.
He was still in the same place he was before.
Even worse, at least when Zuko had never talked to Sokka he could believe that- maybe Sokka wasn’t the angel he saw him as. Now that he has, he can’t even deny it.
Sokka was handsome, and smart, and… hilarious .
All that was left for Zuko to do is suffer in silence.
Catching her breath from laughing, Mai took a second to think.
“Didn’t you say he was coming back tomorrow?”
Fuck.
--
Cherry Wine
“I’ll bet you 20 bucks I’ll put a smile on your face”
Despite all Zuko’s worries, the performance was great, just as always.
He hadn’t even seen Sokka yet, which in one way calmed him, and in another sent him spiraling.
He walked around the floor pushing through people, trying to at least spot Sokka from a distance.
But it was done in vain.
“That performance was amazing!”
Looking down, Zuko jumped at the short sight of Aang.
“What… what are you doing here?”
Zuko’s blood ran cold at the sight of the avatar and he felt himself grow goosebumps.
“Wait a minute…” Aang scrunched his nose, starting to ponder something deep.
“Zuko? It’s you! How are you dude?” Aang realized.
“Um…fine I guess.”
Zuko didn’t hate the avatar. After he left the Fire Nation, there was nothing to hate.
When he and Iroh moved they were allowed to stay at the central White Lotus building in Ba Sing Se until they found a place.
That was when he met Aang for the first time.
He spent so much of his life hating someone he had never seen. Even thinking that the avatar was his “arch enemy”.
But when he first saw Aang, he had no hate left to express.
Living there for a few months made the two acquainted, but no matter how many times he saw Aang, he couldn't dispel the fight or flight reaction that was brought out of him whenever they met.
It was like a weird truce was built between them, only Zuko was the only one who cared.
“Y’know my band is actually gonna be playing here in a few weeks.”
The pieces came together almost irritatingly, Zuko remembering the name that Sokka had told him when they had talked.
“Is it…Raava?”
“Yup! How’d you know? Can you read minds?!”
Aang's sporadic thinking amused Zuko in a way.
“I guess I’m just special like that…” Zuko awkwardly sassed.
He had always worried about his classmates finding out he played at the Garage. But now it was an actual possibility.
Would the Garage still give him the same comfort if they started to show up?
After chuckling at Zuko’s comment Aang’s mind appeared to jump back on track.
“Y'know I was so surprised when I saw you and Kuzon up on stage. It’s such a small world.”
“You and Kuzon…know each other?” Zuko inquired.
Aang tilted his head and spoke with a perturbed expression.
“I used to visit him in the Fire Nation when we were kids. What…He didn't tell you that he was friends with the avatar?”
It was a topic that Zuko sensed he shouldn’t delve deeper into. Kuzon didn’t speak much about his life.
It wouldn’t be right to pry.
“I guess it never came up.” He murmured, taking a second to start the next subject, “What genre is your band?”
--
Zuko’s capacity to be social was starting to run out after his conversation with Aang, and as the venue was starting to get stuffy from the amount of people he resolved it would be good for him to get some fresh air.
Standing at the edge of the alley, Zuko let the cold breeze wash against him, as the steam from his breath poured out.
He hated the cold, and yet watching the water vapor waft off of his naturally searing hot skin calmed him.
“...old you I was coming!”
A stifled voice huffed behind him.
Without even having to look, he knew it was Sokka.
“Do you really need to know where I am every second? I don't even know where you are right now.”
“...”
“Whatever, we’ll talk about it later.”
With a loud bang, Sokka hung up the pay phone, and peeking over the corner Zuko watched him.
It was Jet on the phone.
Sokka only wore such a sad expression when he was with him. Even though Jet was supposed to be the person to make Sokka the happiest.
The thought of someone as radiant as Sokka being in love with someone so…shitty– It threw Zuko for a complete loop.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t his place to decide who was worthy of Sokka’s love.
He wasn’t even worthy.
Sokka’s head lay face down in his palms while he grumbled frustrated remarks. Then, as though nothing ever happened, he composed himself and walked back over to the alleyway.
Zuko swiftly shuffled to make his way back inside before Sokka could see him, yet hesitated at the doorway to the stairs.
“Spirit?”
“...Hey Sokka.”