An exasperated, drawn-out sigh escaped the not so new but still incredibly inexperienced fire lord. He ruled over the entire fire nation with confidence and grace, yet evidently could not face a simple social event with even a fraction of the same attitude.
"Relax would ya? The whole gang is going to be back together for the first time in a year. You should be excited" A familiar teasing came from Zuko's bed. Sokka had let himself in earlier this evening, already dressed in his best attire, and dropped theatrically on Zuko's freshly made bed with little regard concerning pleasantries that were expected for the Fire Lord.
"How can I relax?" Zuko groans, turning to glare at his annoyingly calm friend, "this outfit looks ridiculous Sokka, and what if they don't like me anymore? Spirits this is dreadful, maybe I can call it off-" He began rambling, his hands patting down the red fabric frantically as he did so.
"Alright seriously, chill. They love you and you know it so shut up, and hey, that outfit is barely different from your usual"
"It's tighter" Zuko complains. Sokka rolls his eyes, pulling himself off the bed reluctantly to stand behind Zuko - who was glaring into the mirror as though he were waiting to grow a second head.
"Just shows of your rocking bod more" Sokka winks, slapping Zuko's ass playfully before turning his friend around and flattening the collar properly.
Zuko pouts, his head falling in defeat to rest upon Sokka's shoulder. "Shut up, like you know what looking stupid feels like. You look ridiculously hot in anything, it isn't fair"
"Hey, that's just my natural charm, can't blame me for that" He grins, it only widening as his remark earns a pointed glare from Zuko.
"Seriously though, you look great alright? Now stop being such a baby" Sokka reprimands, tucking a carefully placed strand behind Zuko's ear.
Zuko takes it straight back out, making his way to the mirror once more, prepared to compulsively check over his appearance when a rather loud knock sounds at his door.
He sighed. This was a travesty indeed. "What is it?" He calls, heading for the doors, barely keeping himself from tripping over his robes when an excitable Sokka shoved ahead of him.
"Oh, ambassador Sokka, Good evening. Might I ask that you inform Fire Lord Zuko his guests are arriving now?" A soft voice requests, Zuko watching in dismay as Sokka nods triumphantly.
"You hear that Jerk-lord? Party's starting" Sokka winks, grabbing Zuko's hand and dragging him out of the comfort and isolation of his room.
"Fantastic..." He mutters as he allows himself to be pulled around corners and through hallways.
They reached the main hall moments later and were utterly flabbergasted at the outcome of the last few days. Rows of brightly lit lanterns were hanging from the ceiling, tables of the finest food lined the back walls. It was decorated with Fire Nation scrolls and paintings in any areas that might have looked uninviting or plain had they not been there.
It all looked so official Zuko had to take a deep breath.
He never would've hosted a party if Sokka hadn't been so spirit damned adamant about it. But maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all...
Sokka smiles, nudging his friend before taking it all in himself. Crowds of people who were well aquatinted with each other were beginning to form in small circles. All sorts of people, there were friends from past adventures, officials of every kingdom and special guests Zuko had invited from the fire nation villages he'd visited.
"Will uncle be attending?" Zuko turns, his eyes trying to submerge any misplaced hope.
Sokka offers a sympathetic smile, "not tonight, but in his letter to me, he said-" Sokka cut himself off abruptly, eyes wide as though he'd let slip something he wasn't supposed to.
"Never mind"
Zuko put on his best glare, hoping it conveyed enough ferocity to encourage an answer. "He said what, Sokka?"
"Oh alright," Sokka huffs, "he's planning on surprising you this week but I wasn't supposed to say anything..." Sokka frowns, knowing he'd missed the chance to see the light in Zuko's eyes upon Iroh's sudden arrival.
Zuko smiles anyway, thankful he'd see his uncle again soon. It had been too long, he'd missed him more than he let on.
"Oh, I see," Zuko nods, "well good, it's about time the old man visited"
"There you are!" A familiar voice calls from the crowd suddenly, and rather loudly. The pair turn to see three smiling faces running towards them at full speed. Aang got there first, nearly sweeping the two off their feet as he jumped into a bear hug. Katara following soon after, engulfing them further into the warmth of their friends.
"Guess I'll join in on the sappy reunion too" Toph smirks, her arms wrapping around the group as her cheeks squished against Katara's back.
"I missed you so much, even if you are a pain" Katara smiles at her brother warmly as Aang informs Zuko of a long-winded tale involving his adventures on the way to the fire nation.
"Ha-ha," Sokka drawls, sarcasm lacing his words but a grin on his face, "I missed you too, keeping this one in check isn't an easy job, especially not on my own" Sokka sighs, punching Zuko in the arm playfully.
Katara smiles, turning to Zuko and looking him up and down. "Speaking of which, spirits look at you Zuko!"
"Yeah, tell me about it, you look so..." Aang trails off, his eyes squinting at Zuko.
"Handsome? Hot? Mind-blowing?" Sokka rambles, completing his duty of helping a friend in finishing his sentence.
Aang laughs through a curious stare, finally shrugging and deciding, "I was going to say fancy"
Toph sighs dramatically, "you look the same to me"
Sokka can't help but grin until his cheeks hurt, touching her arm gently. It felt nice, right, being all together again.
Hours passed and yet the party was still going strong. Sokka and Momo had eaten most of the buffet but everything else had gone according to plan. Zuko had met with a few officials to greet them, doing his absolute best to win them over but other than a few short conversations Zuko had spent the entire night in a spare room with his friends, sending Momo every now and then to retrieve some snacks - which never worked in their favour.
"So come on then sparky fingers, spill the beans" Toph teases, huffing when Zuko remains silent.
"Oh come on, you're telling me you're the Fire Lord and you haven't gotten any" She went on, her own brows furrowing together in disbelief.
"Huh?" Zuko asked, then finally understood what she meant by 'gotten any', "oh, um, no, I guess I haven't" He shrugged.
It's not as though he'd really thought about it. Yeah, there are a few cute boys but he's busy enough ruling the fire nation and rebuilding what Ozai broke to think about dating.
And by a few cute boys he means that one cook that works mornings, the guy he met down the marketplace once, and his painfully perfect best friend.
"Lame" She finished, stretching her feet out onto the table, suddenly uninterested.
"Why do I need a relationship when I've got hot stuff here to help me with everything anyway?" Zuko smirks, eyeing the boy beside him mischievously.
"It's an honour, Fire-Jerk" Sokka smiles, biting his bottom lip suggestively while maintaining eye contact. The two were so absorbed in their teasing they failed to see the confused glances their friends were sharing.
"Get a room!" Katara groans, turning her nose up in fake disgust.
Sokka winks at her. "We have one"
Zuko seemed to have found this amusing as he nudged his shoulder against his friend's, scoffing slightly.
"So have you two been like this since we left or...?" Aang asks, sitting forward as he snatched a carrot from the bowl in front of him, tilting his head as he awaited the highly anticipated answer.
"What do you mean 'like this'?" Zuko asks, turning to Sokka for some sort of assistance.
"Acting like you're married" Katara provided to the dumbfounded idiots sitting directly ahead of her.
"Huh? Dunno what you're talking about sis, this is completely normal bro behaviour" Sokka shrugs, his hand resting on Zuko's thigh. Katara looked at said hand suspiciously and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, sure, friends always heavily flirt with each other, constantly" She says sarcastically, eyeing her brother knowingly.
"Flirting? We are not flirting!" Zuko frowns, shoving the hand from his thigh upon realising they were all looking at it.
"Yeah! We always act like this!" Sokka adds. Raising his hands to drive home his confusion.
"That's completely normal, just guys being guys...nothing romantic about it" Aang smiles, looking towards Katara in knowing agreement.
"Exactly!" Zuko shouts. Arms crossing over his chest in realising that touching Sokka right now was off the table, he didn't want his friends to be unnecessarily suspicious.
They were just tactile. That was all.
"So you're saying neither of you would go there with each other?" Toph asks, smirking and knowing full well her question would cause trouble, but it would also give her plenty of entertainment.
"Well-" They both said in unison. Sokka's eyes wide and Zuko's cheeks tinted red.
"You go first"
"No, you"
"Fine. Well, I'm a good friend you know, if my buddy here wanted to do something then who am I to decline the Fire Lord?" Sokka explains, shrugging as though he weren't declaring the tension between them was existent after all.
Zuko's eyes widen at his best friends confession. If he'd known that were the case then for what dumb reason weren't they doing that already?
"Yeah and I mean, have you seen those eyes? I'm not saying no to them" Zuko states, grabbing Sokka's chin and tilting it up with his finger, smirking down at him.
"You wanna go out with me? I wouldn't mind giving you the pleasure of having such an incredibly good looking boyfriend" Sokka smiles, his eyes glinting as Zuko tilts his chin just a little further to kiss him with a warm smile.
"Idiots, the both of you" Katara scoffs, groaning as she watches her brother throwing his arms around his totally platonic best friend, planting a soft kiss on his cheek like the whipped fool he is.