Miles To Go Before I Sleep

by picturesonthewcll

Summary:

"Sokka?"

"Mm?" Sokka cracked an eye open, head balancing heavily upon the heel of one hand.

Zuko was watching him, mouth tight but eyes bright with amusement. “I think you should get home and go to bed now.”

“But I want to stay here with you,” Sokka protested, voice almost a whine.

“Sokka…” Zuko repeated, and Sokka swore he could see the corners of Zuko’s mouth begin to tip upwards.

“What?” He complained again as his eyes slipped shut once more.

“You’re drooling.”

———

Zukka college au, where Sokka and Zuko are both desperately sleep-deprived. Because insomniacs deserve love too <3

Chapter 1

If there was one thing Sokka hated most in the world, it was being unable to fall asleep.

Sure, there were plenty of other things in the world to hate—war, famine, disease, and, alright, now he was just listing the four horsemen of the apocalypse, c'mon man, focus—but, selfish as it was, tossing and turning for hours on end to no avail was more unpleasant to Sokka than all those things. Combined.

Fortunately for him, Sokka hadn't had to deal with the problem for most of his life.

From childhood all the way into young adulthood he'd watched his sister struggle with insomnia the week before every big exam and listened to Aang ramble on about all the meditation techniques he used to help himself fall asleep, all while smugly knowing that no matter how much caffeine he consumed in the late afternoon, Sokka would be out like a light as soon as his head hit his pillow. And he'd lived that way for years—enough to get completely used to it, enough to be completely thrown for a loop the first time he laid in bed for thirty painfully consecutive minutes and realized his mind was more awake than ever.

He blamed it on the stress of college—or rather that was what others told him he could blame it on.

Sokka knew it made sense, engineering was a difficult major and he did worry quite a bit about passing his classes and securing internship opportunities and just generally not fucking up the future he'd worked so hard to build. But the pieces just didn't line up, and Sokka was frustrated. Why had the problems only started in the middle of his junior year? He'd been plenty stressed in the years prior, yet he'd never once had an issue before. And the first night he had had an issue, it wasn't like he'd had some big exam looming over him or a project he should've been finishing.

It had actually been a very mild, very regular day in the middle of a uniquely free week. Sokka had gotten home from a longer session at the gym—something he could only afford to do when his homework schedule was light—and taken a hot, relaxing shower, reading a few chapters of a book before bed and avoiding his phone purely out of coincidence (he'd been in the middle of being ghosted by a girl he'd met online and just hadn't felt like dealing with it that night).

Logically, every measure he'd taken that night, despite not being intended to aid with sleep, was an aid to falling asleep faster. Yet when the time came to shut the lights off and pass out, Sokka had just laid there, exhausted but uncomfortably awake.

For the three hours that followed, he flipped his pillow to the "cold side" probably ten million times, tossing and turning and resisting the urge to shout in frustration and wake up Aang in the next room over, who probably would've given him an early preview to the meditation advice he'd given Sokka the next morning when Sokka had explained his plight to the bright-eyed hippie.

As a result of his misfortune from the previous night, Sokka was utterly exhausted the rest of the next day, yet strangely enough when it was finally time to call it a night, a similar pattern ensued. It happened three days in a row that week, and only when Sokka was driven mad enough to debate either seeking out the campus's free clinic to consult a doctor or buying all the melatonin gummies CVS had in stock had he finally been able to get some rest.

The pattern continued on like that, some weeks worse than others, but most of them having at least one day where Sokka debated joining the nearest church or temple just to find a god that could help him. By midterm season of his spring semester Sokka was more tired than he'd ever been in his life, so much so that when he got sick the week after spring break it followed him all the way into the summer.

By some kind of miracle, summer provided Sokka with the respite he was in desperate need of and he was finally able to sleep again. He wasn't sure if it was the rigid schedule of his full-time internship or the melatonin gods he had to thank, but Sokka prayed nonetheless that he would never have to experience such a long period of restlessness again.

Someone in higher places than Sokka clearly wasn't finished making him pay for all the times he'd teased his sister for the bags that would develop under her eyes whenever she got less than 6 hours of sleep, though, and when he returned to school in the fall, his newfound insomnia picked right back up in full force.

About two weeks into his senior year, Sokka made his peace with it.

He began to skip his 8am lectures, desperate for any hours he could make up in the morning when he was forced to lay awake every night well past the time he got into bed. To ensure he didn't fall behind in content, Sokka began to fall into a routine that he thought might be more in line with this new circadian rhythm his body was trying out—he'd head to the library every night around 10pm dressed in his finest sweatpants-hoodie combo and either study, make up lecture notes, or work on homework until he felt like he was putting too much effort into keeping his eyes open. He'd then pack up his stuff and walk home, using the ten minutes in the cool, early autumn night air to ground himself. Usually by the time he got home he was tired enough to go to bed and get a good four-to-six hours of rest depending on his schedule the next day. Seeing as it was his last year anyway, Sokka figured he could deal with this new schedule for at least the rest of the year, though he wasn't sure he was prepared for how cold the library was bound to be as the seasons continued to change and they entered the thick of winter. But that was a problem for later.

 

————

 

It was following this schedule that Sokka first met Zuko, on a particularly quiet night in a dimly lit back corner of the second floor of the library.

Typically Sokka stuck to the first floor, seeing as how they had computers that ran much faster than his shitty laptop and he usually needed online access for some part of his many assignments. That night, however, he'd snuck up to the second floor to avoid having to talk to the girl who'd ghosted him the previous year when he'd seen her through a window in the first floor computer lab laughing with some other guy.

Sokka had been more than prepared to bury himself within practice problems and his misery, but as he turned the corner from the staircase, he instead knocked straight into a hard body and wrinkled his nose when his hand came up to block the impact and instead made contact with something wet and warm.

His eyes found the teabag first, and the relief that flooded him was enough to distract Sokka from the sharp, amber eyes that were now focused on him—at least for a few moments.

Despite the hostile-looking gaze the guy held, Sokka assumed his attacker would be absolutely no harm once he stepped back and actually got a good look at him. The guy was dressed in a thick, woolen sweater, after all, and the bags under his eyes seemed to negate all the contempt he was clearly trying to show for Sokka. Really, the guy looked more like the star of a rom-com than a John Wick movie, but Sokka thought maybe in a different setting, with a more threatening weapon than the teabag he was currently wielding, this guy might've actually stood a chance at looking intimidating.

Realizing after a few moments that he was more or less staring, Sokka flashed the slightly shorter boy a bright smile and tried not to let it falter with the scowl he received in response.

"Hey! Sorry, I am so sorry, I did not see you coming. Did not mean to assault your teabag, either—uh, hopefully you weren't gonna reuse that one." He joked, doing his best not to flinch at the simple frown it received as the man in front of him let his gaze slide off Sokka and to the teabag squished in his hand. Without responding, he slipped past Sokka and dropped it silently into a trash can, turning and walking away without another word. Unsure of what to do, Sokka followed, and ended up sitting a few tables away from him, though the obvious annoyance on the guy's face nearly made Sokka abandon this floor as well.

All conflict was soon forgotten, though, when Sokka's eyes caught sight of the seven full pages of thermodynamics problems he had to finish by the weekend, and he resigned himself to another treacherous night of homework.

Getting started was slow as always, but eventually after an hour or two Sokka was in the zone, so much so that he didn't notice someone standing directly in front of his table until the stranger's hand was placed carefully in his line of view. Sokka jumped, startled to find the teabag guy there, expression more sour than before, somehow. Sokka wondered for a second what kind of skin routine the man must have to frown like that and still not have wrinkles, but then he focused back on the situation at hand and asked, "Um, can I help you?"

"Stop clicking your pen."

The stranger's voice was rough, quiet but raspy like he used it a lot. Based on the interactions they'd had so far, Sokka doubted he did, but maybe it was a genetic thing. Whatever it was, Sokka was taken off guard by both the voice and the question, and found himself only able to form one word in response.

"What?"

"Your pen," the man looked down pointedly at the ballpoint pen positioned loosely between Sokka's fingers, and Sokka followed his gaze dumbly.

"Oh. Oh—shit, sorry, was I? Yeah, that's like a nervous tic I think... Sorry man, I didn't even realize," Sokka admitted lamely, knowing it was a crappy excuse but also entirely the truth. This wasn't the first time he'd had this conversation—actually, it was the reason he'd been kicked out of every study group he'd ever been apart of. He felt sort of inclined to share this with the stranger, as the guy still looked like he didn't believe Sokka for a minute, but before he could the man was already walking away, muttering something under his breath that Sokka couldn't quite make out.

Sokka felt his face flush red at his second embarrassing interaction of the night, sighing out the frustration he was feeling from the confrontation. It was late, and the situation had been entirely his fault, and there was really nothing else to do but let it go and get back to work. Before doing so, though, Sokka leaned down and dug through his backpack for a minute before finding a pencil and pulling it out, figuring the quiet alternative was the least he could do at this point.

He quickly got back to work but found it was harder to focus this time, and after two more long hours and only three more problems, Sokka leaned back in his chair and yawned. He was exhausted now, and felt both giddy at the idea of being able to sleep and dreading the fact that the walk home—which was bound to be freezing—would probably wake him right back up.

It was no matter, he thought, as he wiped a hand over his face and began to pack up his things. He'd still be tired enough to fall asleep within the hour, and that was better than he could really ask for right now.

As Sokka stood up, his eyes drifted over to the teabag guy, who was squinting at his laptop like it had offended him somehow. Must just be his natural expression, Sokka thought vaguely, and shrugged the whole night off. He was too tired to overthink social situations right now anyway, so Sokka just let his feet lead him back down the stairs and outside, digging his hands into the pocket of his hoodie and following the familiar path home to his apartment.

The lights were all off when he got back, an indication that Aang had already turned in for the night, and even with the cold outside, Sokka still felt like he could fall asleep standing as he closed and locked the door behind him. Thermodynamics had a special way of tiring him out, and as he walked to drop his backpack in his room, he wondered if he might retry a previous experiment he'd done last year where he'd tried to cure his insomnia by doing a few practice problems just before bed. More often than not it had just caused Sokka to lie awake longer, thinking over the solutions and how to improve efficiency, and the whole thing had decidedly been a failure.

Maybe, he thought as he moved to the bathroom and began to brush his teeth, I should fight with strangers more often. That had certainly seemed to leave him drained, the shame he'd felt creating a problem combined with the humiliation of not even knowing he was doing it. Maybe he should hunt down Teabag Guy on campus and hire him to stand by Sokka's bed and argue with him until Sokka fell asleep. It certainly would be a change from the lullabies his mother used to sing to soothe him to sleep.

Sokka was still thinking about potential insomnia experiments when he finally pulled off his shirt and slid into bed, but as soon as the light was out and his head was down, all his thoughts simply melted away into a dreamless sleep.

 

————

 

The next day, Sokka returned to the library in the afternoon to meet up for a group project.

He found his group members on the second floor and they worked for a number of hours, until the sun began to sink into the horizon and the fluorescent lights overhead began to flicker on to compete with the dying sunlight. Besides some initial distraction and conversation, the group managed to knock out the research and most of the analysis for their project, which left just the write-up to be done before the deadline the following week. This had been the plan, as all of them had their first round of exams quickly approaching and needed to stay ahead of their work to still have time to study.

As his group members packed their things to leave, Sokka yawned and glanced around the library, figuring that while he was here he might as well try to get some other work done. After all, it didn't make much sense to leave just to come back in a few hours anyway. He'd already been to the gym in the morning and Aang was hosting a meditation night—or was it yoga? Sokka really didn't know the difference—in their apartment starting at sundown, which Sokka really had no desire to walk in on. So, after waving his peers goodbye, Sokka stretched in his chair and then rose to walk a lap around the floor, weaving in and out of bookshelves in an attempt to stretch his legs before finally returning to his seat and getting to work.

He finished half a lab memo and another seven problems in that massive thermo set before his stomach reminded him that he hadn't packed any dinner, so Sokka stretched for the second time before getting up and deciding to walk to the sandwich shop nearby. He glanced quickly around the floor to see if anyone might disturb his stuff, but all the tables were empty. It was still early enough in the semester that the library was rarely packed, which meant it was basically desolate at night. Sokka had been at the library enough in his three-years-and-counting to notice these trends, and tried to think that majoring in engineering made that less pathetic than it seemed as he descended the stairs and made his way outside.

When Sokka returned half an hour later with a sandwich and a hot cup of coffee, he noticed someone sitting two tables away from where his bag was set up and felt a tinge of disappointment at the fact that he no longer had the floor to himself. The stranger was hunched over a notebook and scribbling furiously, seemingly too distracted in whatever he was doing to notice Sokka at all.

Approaching the table where his things were brought Sokka close enough to realize that the guy wasn't actually scribbling but writing in cursive, which Sokka honestly didn't know people still did. From what Sokka could see, it looked pretty neat, but the quality began to deteriorate as the writing got further down the page to the pen, which had stopped writing and was now hovering a few centimeters over the paper.

Sokka realized a second too late what this meant, and consequently jumped when he looked up and met narrow, amber eyes glaring back at him, startled by the wordless confrontation.

It was the same guy from yesterday, because of course it was, and Sokka felt his cheeks burn red at the embarrassment of both his staring and his reaction to being caught.

"Jesus—sorry, dude, caught me off guard. I, uh—" Sokka paused, gesturing lamely down to where his things were spread out on the table, as if it served as an explanation to his staring. Realizing after a second that it probably wasn't enough, he continued with, "I wasn't expecting company."

At that, the man rolled his eyes and shut his notebook with an audible snap, though Sokka assumed that had more to do with whatever he'd been writing and less to do with Sokka. Comforting himself with that thought, Sokka slid into his chair and began to quietly eat his sandwich as he scrolled through his emails on his laptop, wanting to give his eyes something to focus on so they didn't drift off and get him in trouble again.

The floor was quiet for the next twenty minutes or so before Sokka heard the man begin to scribble furiously in that notebook again, the scratch of his pen on paper drawing Sokka's attention away from the email he'd been drafting. It continued for a good ten minutes, then stopped, and Sokka imagined the guy reviewing his work, rereading the jumbled mess to approve it before he inevitably began to type it up because who else would be able to read that crazy handwriting?

Sokka waited for the familiar click of keyboard keys to begin, or the scratch of the pen revising and editing the work first on paper, but all he heard was a loud ripping sound and his eyes darted up to see the man crumple the entire page up and drop it into the nearest trash can before turning the corner and disappearing.

Sokka stared after him, a frown set on his face as he tried to imagine what the guy had written that deserved to be thrown away like that. He seemed frustrated with whatever it was, there was no doubt of that, but Sokka had never completely scrapped his own work before. He was a firm believer that anything could be saved and improved upon, and documenting past failures to learn from them was a part of the design process that Sokka took very seriously.

This guy is an adult, though, Sokka thought, finding his arms crossed against his chest without remembering ever moving them there. Surely he can figure out his own problems, and he definitely doesn't need advice from some stranger, especially one who has been so weird to him up to this point.

Logically Sokka knew this was true, but helping was in his nature; so, after a few more minutes of deliberation, he decided he ultimately couldn't sit by and do nothing.

Wanting to act quickly so he wouldn't be caught once again being strange, Sokka jumped up from his seat and placed a chocolate chip cookie on a napkin next to the guy's notebook, one of the two that he'd picked up at the sandwich shop and had planned on eating on his walk home that night. He then quickly returned to his seat and threw himself back into the thermo problem set from earlier, wanting to look as non-suspicious as possible when the man returned.

He couldn't help but glance up when the guy did return, though, and met his puzzled look with a sheepish smile. "Sometimes sweets help me refocus after a particularly defeating set of problems. Figured it might help you, too."

The man stared back at Sokka blankly for a moment, then looked down at the cookie, as if rediscovering its presence. He met Sokka's eyes again, and another beat passed before he finally said, "Oh. Thank you."

Sokka simply nodded in response and got back to his homework, unsure of how the gesture had been received and not really wanting to push his luck.

Later that night, though, as Sokka packed up to leave, he spared another glance in the stranger's direction. He was bent over the notebook again, moving his pen in much calmer strokes but still fully immersed in what he was doing. The cookie had been broken up into pieces, a few of which were missing.

Sokka smiled to himself as he turned to leave the building, and the smile remained on his face the entire walk home.

 

————

 

On the third day, Sokka chose to sit on the second floor. He'd gotten to the library later than usual, so Teabag Guy was already in place when Sokka turned the corner and scanned the room for a place to sit.

Feeling slightly emboldened by yesterday's events, Sokka chose a table directly adjacent to the man, and pointedly ignored the narrowed eyes trained on the side of his face as he sat down and set his things up.

He got right to work, then, but after about forty-five minutes had passed, Sokka saw the stranger take a sip out of an insulated cup and decided this was his moment to approach.

"What kind of tea?" He asked, offering a friendly smile to the confused, and slightly displeased, look he got in response.

"Pardon?"

"I'm assuming you have tea—what type is it?" Sokka asked again, gesturing to the cup.

"Chamomile," responded the raspy voice.

With all that tea, you'd think his voice would be syrupy smooth, Sokka thought vaguely, but nodded in interest anyway.

"Oh, cool. My roommate drinks that almost every night before bed—says something about relaxation. He told me I should try it, but I've always been more of a coffee guy. Is it good?" Sokka asked. Though the stranger was still frowning, he seemed to give Sokka's question a moment of thought before he responded.

"Good is subjective. You need to just try it."

Sokka laughed, "I guess that's true. Although sometimes it seems like I could try all the relaxation this world has to offer and still never fall asleep when I want."

This seemed to give the stranger pause, and his eyebrows furrowed. "Um, can I... help you with something?"

Sokka's expression fell a bit.

"Oh, no, sorry. I've just seen you in here a lot—always really late, like me. I figured I've been weird to you enough already, so...y'know, I might as well introduce myself."

Then, with the words causing him to remember the actual purpose of this plan, Sokka threw an awkward hand out to the space between them and said, "I'm Sokka."

The stranger looked surprised but not very impressed, accepting the handshake with much less enthusiasm than Sokka had hyped himself up for. His hand was ice cold and retreated back into the sleeve of his dark sweater as quickly as it had come, but the handshake had been pretty firm considering the awkwardness of it all.

"Zuko," the stranger, Zuko, responded, and gave Sokka a look he could only describe as doubtful.

Sokka nodded and decided to leave it at that, returning one more polite smile before he focused in on his work again. They didn't speak again for the rest of the night, until Sokka was finishing packing up his things a few hours later and looked up to find Zuko holding out a tiny bag of leaves to him.

Sokka met his eyes, surprise growing when he recognized an embarrassed blush growing on the other's cheeks.

"Um, chamomile. Tea. For you to try," he said, and dropped the bag into Sokka's hand when Sokka extended it. "I carry around some extra's in my bag, just in case. Wanted to... thank you, for the cookie yesterday." Zuko looked almost uncomfortable by his own gesture, hands pulling at the cuffs of his sweater and eyes fixed purposefully on the table.

Sokka, however, had no trouble showing his enthusiasm.

"Oh, wow, thank you, man! This is great, I'll definitely try it and let you know what I think," He promised, and Zuko finally looked up to meet his eyes, eyebrows raised slightly. When Sokka just continued to smile back at him, he seemed to relax a little.

"Yeah. Sorry it's loose leaf, it's a homemade blend. Good for relaxing, though."

Sokka nodded again, carefully tucking the tea into the pocket of his sweatpants and swinging his backpack over one shoulder as he stood up from the table. "Seriously, dude, thank you. I can't wait to try it."

As he made his way towards the stairs, Sokka turned back once more, lifting a hand halfway in a wave fashion. "Have a good night!"

He grinned at the small wave Zuko managed to return, jogging down the stairs and leaving the library feeling like he'd won a contest. Sokka knew now, one way or another, he was going to become friends with Zuko.

Even if he had to pretend to like tea to do it.

Notes:

AHHH it’s been so long. I’ve had this drafted for like two years, back when I was the insomniac engineering student lol (time flies!!!). Anyway, it was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but I recently had an idea for the next chapter so I’m thinking we’re just gonna see where it goes.

Never published any of my zukka work before so I’m very excited to finally get this out! Hope people still enjoy this ship lol.

Oh and if you read and enjoy, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, I live for them!!! Next chapter to hopefully follow semi-soon 🤞

Chapter 2

"Zuko? What the hell kind of name is that?"

"What the hell kind of name is Toph?" Sokka shot back, wondering if he scowled hard enough she'd somehow be able to feel it. He wasn't even sure how she'd gotten into their apartment, she'd just been there when he'd woken up—and Aang had spent the night at Katara's.

"It means expanding lotus, asswipe. Like the flower?"

"Yeah, like you're some delicate flower," Sokka scoffed, rolling his eyes. 

Aang furrowed his brow in disappointment at Sokka as he turned to beam at Toph. "I think it's beautiful, Toph! It's like I always say, we're all connected to nature in more ways than we think!" 

"Good theory, twinkle toes. I bet Sokka means dirty pinecone," Toph taunted, sticking her tongue out in his general direction. 

Maintaining his status as the ever-faithful subject-changer of the group (the rest of them were too stubborn to do it), Aang quickly interjected again. "Who are we talking about, anyway? Is this the Tea Guy?"

"Yeah, so apparently Tea Guy's real name is Zuko, which I think sounds just as mysterious as he looks," Sokka filled Aang in, pointedly ignoring the way Toph wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at him. 

"How can someone look mysterious?" Katara asked skeptically, entering the room from the kitchen with a mixing bowl tucked between her forearm and body. "What, does he wear a trench coat or something?" 

Toph snorted at that, and Sokka shot Katara a glare that did absolutely nothing to subdue the grin on her face.

"You know what— never mind. You guys are so annoying," Sokka muttered, rolling his shoulder when Aang laid a supportive hand on it (even though he was grinning too.)

"No, come on Sokka, you know she's just kidding. I think he's mysterious as hell— he gave you some of the best chamomile blend I've ever had, and said it was an original mix! I think you need to befriend this dude just to get access to his tea stash!" The boy said with an encouraging smile, and Sokka felt his own smile slip back onto his face. 

"It was pretty good, wasn't it? I mean— for tea."

Katara nodded. "I liked it, and usually I find chamomile too earthy." 

Sokka didn't have any idea what that meant (like dirt?), but it sounded pretty good anyway. 

They'd all tried the tea earlier, when Sokka had asked Aang to help him brew the loose leaf because he hadn't had a clue how to handle the bag of leaves he'd been given. Despite the complex preparation, Sokka had been pleasantly surprised how much he'd actually liked it—or, at least how much he'd not hated it.  

Typically tea had never appealed to Sokka, the lack of caffeine and lack of flavor fighting hard for top spot of justification. He'd tried it a few times when he'd been searching for insomnia remedies the previous year, but had given up after burning his tongue one too many times and never seeing any results. Both Aang and Katara loved the stuff, but Sokka had just never seen the point. 

That is to say Sokka had been very impressed by the chamomile tea he'd been gifted, especially since Zuko had mentioned something about the blend being homemade. He couldn't really imagine what kind of social life led someone to start putting together teas as a college student, but seeing as how they'd met at the library, Sokka really didn't have any right to judge. 

"So, are you gonna see him again?" Aang asked eagerly, and Sokka focused back in on the conversation enough to shrug casually in his direction. 

"I dunno."

Sokka was definitely going to see him again, but his friends didn't necessarily need to know that. He'd wanted to fill them in on the developments he'd made the previous night only because he had mentioned Tea Guy to them before, and that had been mainly to clear his conscience of the awkward encounters he'd been creating the whole week. 

Now, though, he wasn't so sure he wanted them asking so many questions. 

Zuko seemed skittish, after all, and Sokka really didn't want to scare the guy away. Sokka loved his friends, but the group was undeniably eccentric, and he wasn't even sure he could call himself Zuko's friend yet. He wasn't about to unleash his little group of lunatics on the guy and send Zuko running for the hills before Sokka even got a chance to get to know him.

"Well, are you going back to the library tonight?" Katara asked impatiently, stirring whatever was in that giant bowl a few times. "He's been there every night this week that you have, right? So if you want to see him, just go back." 

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Yes, Einstein, I'm familiar with the concept. But what if he doesn't talk to me again? I mean— what if he was just being polite?" 

"You think this dude is handing out his precious homemade bags of tea to be polite?" Toph asked, laughing suddenly. "God, have you always been this stupid or did you hit your head recently?" 

This time Sokka threw a pillow at her; but, like she always did, Toph somehow knew exactly when to lean to the side enough for it to just miss her. Sokka swore she had bat ears, but Aang had dismissed his theory. 

"Well I think you should go back, Sokka. This guy seems really cool." Aang said definitively, and Sokka shrugged again.

"I don't know what I'll do. I still have to go to the gym today after class, and I don't really have that much work since I've been going to the library so often," he said, weighing his options in his mind. 

"Fuck, your life is boring," Toph yawned, kicking her bare feet up on the coffee table. Sokka just sighed, resisting the urge to start a fight and deciding instead to talk to Aang soon about changing the locks. 

 

————

 

At the end of the day, Sokka did decide to return to the library that night, walking there just as the sun began its colorful descent toward the horizon. When he arrived Zuko was at his usual table on the second floor, but he didn't even glance up as Sokka made his way across the floor and planted himself a few tables away, which Sokka tried not to think about too hard. 

He wanted to play this cool—as much as Sokka didn't want to admit it, Zuko intimidated him. He wasn't exactly sure why; after all, the guy strictly wore oversized sweaters and carried around homemade bags of tea. He wasn't exactly James Dean. 

Still, though, he was cool—compelling in that quiet, mysterious way you'd see in an A24 film. And objectively attractive (Sokka would've had to have been blind not to notice that). And they had something in common, or at least that was what Sokka had been assuming with Zuko's nightly presence at the library and the bruise-colored circles beneath his eyes. Sokka had never met anyone before who really understood his struggle with sleep, but something told him that Zuko would... if Sokka could actually get him to talk about it.  

Unfortunately, he was turning out to be too much of a wuss to do that. 

On the walk to the library, Sokka had hyped himself up to talk to Zuko as soon as he sat down, breaking the ice early on so they would chat casually the rest of the night like old friends. His rehearsal, however, had not planned for Zuko to be buried in homework when Sokka arrived, an agitated look on his face as he scribbled red-penned annotations on a stack of what looked like essays. That, plus the fact that Zuko didn't even seem to notice Sokka's arrival, had made Sokka just sit down and get to work without saying a word, not willing to risk potentially bothering Zuko and dooming their whole friendship with one ill-timed joke.   

Sokka allowed himself a glance over at the boy every now and then, though—just a peek away from copying down notes from his vibrations class to see if Zuko was still working. 

He always was, unfortunately, and this pattern continued on for a while, the time between glances growing longer and longer as Sokka finally settled into work-mode. 

Once, though, Sokka looked up to see Zuko already looking at him, amber eyes shining almost golden under the warm lighting, and Sokka (graceful as ever) jumped, startled. 

In an instant, the golden eyes were gone, flitting quickly back down to the papers on the table. Despite the embarrassment he felt at his reaction, Sokka refused to let the moment slip away. "That tea was really good, by the way!" He blurted out, desperate to break the silence before the tension grew any further. His voice was louder than either of them expected in the noiseless library, and Zuko looked back up with wide eyes. 

"Oh— um, really? Or, uh, I'm glad you... liked it," Zuko spoke hesitantly, a slight frown set on his face as if he wasn't sure how to take Sokka's outburst. Sokka could see his fingers moving in repetitive motions under his sleeve, picking at the skin around his thumbnail, and tried to convince himself Zuko was just nervous because he wanted to be Sokka's friend, too. 

That could make sense, right? (Faintly in his head, Sokka swore he could hear Toph laughing at him.) 

To distract himself from thinking about it too hard, Sokka continued his ramble. "Dude, it was great! My roommate won't stop talking about it. He knows a lot more about tea than I do, and he said he's never had chamomile that good. He's desperate to know what you put in there." 

An embarrassed flush began to climb up Zuko's pale cheeks at the compliment, and Sokka felt his mood begin to lighten. 

"Oh— thank you. My uncle makes it, so I would have to ask him, actually. But it's good that you liked it. I wasn't sure, some find chamomile too bitter."

Sokka nodded thoughtfully, though he was really thinking about how melodic Zuko's voice sounded, even though it still had that characteristic rasp. He wondered vaguely if Zuko had grown up playing music, and then wondered if that was a normal thing to slip into conversation or if he was really starting to lose his mind. 

"No, seriously, I really liked it, and I don't usually like tea unless it's got milk and tapioca pearls in it." 

A mix of faint surprise and amusement seemed to play on Zuko's face, and though the corners of his mouth didn't lift more than a millimeter, Sokka took that as a smile. "So... what're you working on? Looked like you were really engrossed in it," he said, eager to keep the conversation going. 

Zuko glanced down at the papers scattered on the table in front of him, then back to Sokka. "I'm a grader for one of my professors, and these are proposals her students' submitted. They're mostly shit, but I guess it's only a first draft," he said with a small shrug, then looked surprised when Sokka laughed.

"That's brutal, dude. Hope you're not being too hard on them," Sokka glanced at his computer, then back to Zuko again. "Guess that's better than having your own homework, though. We're only a few weeks in and I already feel like I'm drowning." 

Zuko looked down, sliding his thumbnail carefully along the edge of the table as he spoke. "Well, I have been using this as an excuse to ignore my calculus homework, so I'm sure I'll be closer to your state soon enough when I have to get back to that," he admitted.

Sokka perked up. "Calc? Dude, I'm great at calc, I can totally help you if you need it."

Zuko looked unsure again, but Sokka put on his most sincere grin until the other boy nodded slightly, turning to pull a laptop from his backpack. Sokka stood and walked the short distance over to his table, pulling up a chair as Zuko slid the laptop in front of him. It was open to a pdf of a calculus textbook, and the page showed various practice problems, all having to do with integration. 

When Sokka glanced at him again, Zuko looked embarrassed. 

"I haven't had a math class since high school, besides economics and statistics, and even those aren't super heavy in the management program. I just have to pass this as a general education course, and I couldn't put it off any longer."

Sokka listened to Zuko's explanation with a small smile on his face, nodding sympathetically. "Hey, man, I get it. I did the same thing with my english classes and now I've gotta read, like, six books by the end of the month."

To Sokka's surprise, Zuko let out a huff that almost passed for a laugh, the corners of his mouth tilted up. "That's quite the predicament."

"You're telling me. But this stuff isn't too bad, I can show you a couple problems and you'll by integrating like a pro by morning. Seriously, this shit only looks intimidating at first. I see it in almost every one of my classes now and it's really not a big deal," Sokka assured him. 

Zuko's eyebrows raised slightly in curiosity, and he asked, "What's your major?"

"Oh— duh. Should've mentioned that. Mechanical engineering, I'm in my fourth year. And I'm assuming you're some sort of business...?"

"Business management, yes," Zuko nodded. "Also in my fourth year, though I'll be staying an additional year for my masters degree."

"Don't masters usually take two years?"

"I started the program this year," Zuko explained. 

Sokka grinned, impressed. "Show off." 

Zuko stiffened slightly at the comment, and Sokka wondered if he'd accidentally touched a nerve, but before he could even think to apologize, Zuko was speaking again. "Yes, well, that will only happen if I can pass this calculus class first," he said, shooting a pointed look at Sokka. 

That allowed Sokka to relax again, and he let out a short chuckle. "Guess that's my cue to get teaching, huh?"

As they started in on Zuko's problem set, Sokka felt most of his lasting anxiety begin to ease. He found it surprisingly easy to talk to Zuko, even about something boring like homework. Sokka was just so fascinated by the other boy— the deliberate way he chose each of his words, the slight frown that seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face, the quiet frustration he showed with a subject that came quite naturally to Sokka.

Though Zuko seemed unwilling to announce his confusion, Sokka could tell whenever the other boy was having trouble following along by the way his eyebrows scrunched together and his pencil lines got noticeably darker as his pressure against the paper increased. He figured out very quickly that Zuko had been avoiding calc for a reason, and even though Sokka didn't mind taking a little extra time to explain, he could tell that Zuko seemed to only grow more embarrassed as the time passed. Fortunately, Sokka had been a teacher's assistant for some form of math or physics class since his second year of college, and had quite a few different teaching techniques to pull from when something else didn't work. 

Realizing that Zuko wasn't understanding the problems when Sokka tried to help him through each step, Sokka pivoted to working through one of the problems himself, explaining each step as he did it and encouraging Zuko to ask questions along the way. When he finished, Sokka had Zuko try a problem on his own, answering any questions he had along the way. He found that Zuko seemed to prefer quietly observing the whole process first and then trying to repeat steps on his own, rather than Sokka's preferred method of struggling through step by step until he understood, and the whole thing went a lot smoother from then on. 

This technique also allowed Sokka to crack jokes as he worked through the problems, which he noticed eventually helping to ease the residual tightness in Zuko's jaw from his initial struggle. Evidently the guy did not like to be wrong, but after a few successful problems and some light small talk, Zuko was doing well enough to seem almost relaxed. He seemed much more comfortable with the situation, at least, and after only an hour or two, Zuko had finished the homework completely, setting his pencil down with a quiet exhalation of relief. 

Sokka grinned over at him, leaning back in his seat. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

He laughed at the look Zuko shot him, holding his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, so it wasn't quick, but it wasn't supposed to be. Now that you learned it, you'll probably fly right through the rest of this class. Seriously, calc one is just different forms of integration like the whole way through."

Zuko sighed quietly, eyes flitting over the notebook in front of him. "And if I can't figure those different forms out?" He asked, sounding slightly defeated. 

Sokka bit his lip. "Tell you what, here's my number," he started, pulling Zuko's notebook toward him enough to scratch out his number in the upper margin in pencil. "Text me with any issues you have and I'll walk you through them. Or just ask me whenever you see me in the library."

Zuko eyed the number carefully before sliding his gaze back up to meet Sokka's. "Do you come here regularly?" He asked, and Sokka was confused by the random question. 

"Um... well, I've seen you the past few days haven't I?"

Zuko frowned. "I've never seen you before this week, I meant. I wasn't sure if you came less often other weeks," he explained, and Sokka laughed a little, shaking his head. 

"Ohh— no, man, I'm here all the time. I just used to sit downstairs, but then I started coming up here and, well—" he paused, not wanting to finish that sentence with something too cheesy. "So, uh, anyway, I'm sure I'll continue to see you here. If you, uh.. if you want."

Sokka felt lame and embarrassed by his ramble, but Zuko almost looked amused. "Alright, yeah. I'll see you here," he confirmed. 

Sokka grinned again as he stood up, leaning against the top of his chair as he slid it back under the table. "Alright, sweet! I'm gonna head out for the night, I think, but definitely text me if you have any questions, yeah?" He asked, and waited until Zuko nodded a little in confirmation before he turned to pack up his things and leave. 

Though the night hadn't gone exactly as he'd planned, Sokka felt good as he left the library and began his walk home. He really felt like he was making strides with Zuko in person, and now that the other had his phone number, texting would make communication much easier. Thank god for the digital age, Sokka thought with a grin, and went to bed that night thinking about what Zuko would text him first. 

 

————

 

Zuko did not text anything, though, and Sokka tried not to feel too hurt by it. 

He probably just didn't have any questions, Sokka tried to assure himself, though he wasn't sure why Zuko wouldn't have just texted to save the number in his phone so Sokka was easily accessible if he did have a question. 

That's what Sokka would've done, at least. 

But Sokka was still sure it wasn't a big deal, even though it ate at him the entire weekend and the following Monday, when he showed up at the library and for the first time since they'd met, Zuko wasn't there. 

That day, Sokka ran through a million scenarios in which he must've scared Zuko off and the quiet boy would never return to the library. He'd been condescending without realizing it while helping with Zuko's math, or Zuko was offended that Sokka had shared the tea that was meant for him with his roommate. Maybe Zuko had just been weirded out by Sokka's insistence on seeing him again, after all that "I'll see you here" bullshit he'd rambled on about. What had he been thinking?

Sokka spent the entirety of his study time that night getting absolutely nothing done, just worrying the whole time about every little joke he'd made the previous week, every stupid, awkward thing he'd done. When he finally decided to call it a night, he was frustrated with himself both for his lack of work and his inability to let this whole thing go. Seriously, it wasn't like they'd taken a blood oath to be friends forever. He'd taught the guy a little calculus and drank some of his tea, so what? 

Even so, Sokka was bummed the entire next day and into the night, when he showed up at the library again to find Zuko still absent. It doesn't matter, he thought. It wasn't like he'd started coming to the library to make friends. Besides, the start of a new week had brought much more homework to keep Sokka busy, and he was able to throw himself into his work quite easily, reveling in the distraction. He was so distracted, in fact, that he didn't notice anyone walk up to his table until Zuko was standing just a few inches from him, peering down at Sokka's thermo homework curiously. When Sokka jumped in surprise, Zuko glanced away, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. 

"Hey. Uh, could I bother you for some help again? If it's not too much trouble..." 

Sokka was still staring blankly up at the other man, eyes wide. "Um— you, uh... wait what?"

Zuko's eyebrows raised ever so slightly, and he turned his body halfway to gesture back to where his books were set up, just a table away. "More calculus homework, if you have the time," he offered in explanation. 

Sokka frowned. "Oh— fuck, right, yeah, I know. Er, sorry— I mean, yes, I'll help you," he stammered, beginning to stand up. 

Zuko took a step backwards toward his things. "Thank you. I tried to work on it over the weekend to get ahead but... well, you'll see."

"Why didn't you text me?" 

Zuko turned back to Sokka suddenly, looking vaguely like a deer caught in the headlights. Sokka hadn't meant to blurt it out, but now that it was out there he watched the other boy's expression carefully, somehow still afraid that he was about to be rejected. (From what, exactly, he had no clue.) 

It took a few seconds, but Zuko's face finally began to transform into something a little more sheepish, and he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly once more. "Truthfully, I—uh, couldn't read your handwriting. But if you want to just put your number in my phone..." He offered, holding out an archaic iPhone to Sokka. 

Sokka couldn't even focus on the ridiculous relic of history (seriously, the phone must've been made when Steve Jobs was still running the company) because of the relief that flooded through him, and he smiled as he took the phone, saving himself in Zuko's contacts. 

"Oh," he finally said, when he'd regained more than half his mind. "Sorry— I didn't mean, uh... I had just been wondering if you had any questions, and, yknow," he said lamely, and Zuko just nodded. 

"I will definitely send them your way by text now so I don't keep taking away from your study time."

"What? Oh, no, don't even worry about that! I'm, uh, happy to help!" Sokka assured him, finally sitting down and beginning to review the new set of problems Zuko had been given. It wasn't too much different than the first, so Zuko only had a few specific questions to ask this time, instead of needing full explanations. Still, Sokka remained at the table even after the questions were answered, working on his own homework in tandem and answering any other questions Zuko had along the way.

After about an hour and a half of work, Sokka yawned and leaned back, stretching over his chair. "Fuck, man, I need a coffee or something. You down?" He asked, turning his head slightly to look at Zuko. 

Zuko, who'd still been hunched over his current homework problem, glanced up at Sokka now with raised eyebrows. "Down? For coffee?"

"I mean you don't have to get coffee, but yeah, if you wanted to go. I definitely need something if I'm gonna have any hope of finishing this thermo homework, and the place on the corner has the best muffins of your life. Have you tried them?"

When Zuko shook his head, Sokka stood up and gasped as if he'd been personally offended. "Well now we definitely have to go. Come on," he encouraged, holding a hand out. 

Zuko eyed it carefully before meeting Sokka's gaze again, his mouth pressed into a flat line. "...Okay, fine," he said, ignoring Sokka's hand as he began to stand up from the table. "But they better be really good muffins."

Sokka laughed, sliding his hands into the pocket of his hoodie as they began to walk toward the stairs. “They are.” 

Notes:

Hi everyone!!! I am SO SORRY this took forever, life has been a little crazy lately. I had a family member unexpectedly in the hospital (why does god hate archive writers??) and had to travel home for a bit and then between that and work I just could not find time/motivation to write. But i’m back!!! and hoping I’ll be able to post maybe every other week, since I think every week might be a little too fast for me.

Anyway, hope you all like this chapter! I swear I’m trying to make this a slow burn but it’s so easy to romanticize Zuko thru Sokka’s eyes I just can’t help myself. Good thing he’s too dumb to realize it’s a crush yet!

I appreciate all of your comments on the last one so so so much, I haven’t gotten the chance to respond but they are all so sweet! Feel free to leave comments if you like this one too, they keep me alive!

That’s all for now, thank you all for reading!

Chapter 3

As they stepped outside into the cool, autumn night, Sokka took a deep breath, relishing in the way the cold air filled his lungs and rushed through his system. He tilted his head up to the sky, eyes searching for the moon until he spotted it just peeking out behind the roof of a building across the street. 

"Full moon tonight, sweet!" He beamed, shifting his gaze to find Zuko already looking back at him. Zuko's eyes widened suddenly before quickly flitting away to the sky, and Sokka swore he saw a tinge of pink on the other's pale cheeks in the light of the streetlamp. 

"Pretty," Zuko commented after a moment. 

Sokka shoved his hands in his pockets. "So... your semester going well so far?" 

Zuko shrugged. "Yes, I think so. My major classes can be a bit dull but I'm in two classes for my english minor that I really enjoy. It's all a lot of work, though."

"An english minor too? Jesus, man, when do you sleep?" Sokka asked, grinning. 

Zuko shrugged again, his eyes focused on a building across the street. "I've never had much luck with sleep. Might as well fill the time with other things." 

Sokka breathed out a small laugh, nodding his head. "I get it. I mean— I only recently started struggling with sleep, so I'm sure I don't understand it to the extent you do, but fuck dude it sucks. It's like, I know my body is tired and yet no matter how hard I try I just can't fall asleep. So frustrating."

"When did it start?"

"Around the beginning of spring semester last year, so pretty recent. Went away over the summer, but it's been pretty bad since school started again. Almost every night I'm up until four or five."

Zuko frowned. "That sucks, I'm sorry. Perhaps it'll go away again for good once you're out of school."

Sokka laughed. "Yeah, thats what I'm counting on, otherwise I'm going to have to find a real solution. What about you? How long have you had trouble sleeping?"

"Oh, since I was a child, I guess. It'll sometimes get better or worse for a while, but it's never come easy," Zuko explained indifferently, as if it were a fact of life. 

Sokka stared back at him in astonishment. "Jesus, dude, you've been dealing with this for your entire life?? How do you function?"

"Your body gets used to it, I think... as much as it can at least. I've found little things to help spend the time as peacefully as possible, so that I'm giving my body the chance to become tired whenever it feels like it."

"Like what?"

Zuko flushed a little, embarrassed. "Um, writing, mostly. In a journal with a pen, because the blue light from technology makes things a thousand times worse. And I'll light candles in my room instead of using the lamp, drink tea, keep my room cold and use a white noise machine. Meditation never really worked for me, but there's a few breathing techniques that are helpful... Sorry, I don't mean to over explain or anything."

Sokka laughed. "No, I appreciate it! I, uh— I don't know anyone else who's ever... dealt with this before, so I take all the help I can get. My roommate Aang is like a total hippie, and he suggested the meditation thing like a million times but it didn't really work for me either. Neither did melatonin, which was disappointing."

The corners of Zuko's mouth turned up a little. "Sometimes I think melatonin must be a scam. It's never worked for me, no matter how much I take."

"Big pharma at it again, digging their hands right in our pockets," Sokka agreed seriously with a firm nod, and was both surprised and delighted when Zuko actually laughed. It was quiet, sure, but definitely audible and much more than any reaction Sokka had gotten prior, which caused Sokka's chest to tighten in a way he tried not to think too hard about. 

 

————

 

When they finally reached the coffee shop, Sokka held the door open for Zuko and tried not to grin at the way Zuko flushed red. They stood before the counter reading the menu screens for a few minutes, but Sokka already knew what he wanted since he always ordered the same thing, so he used the opportunity to subtly study Zuko in his peripheral vision.  The boy's face was screwed up in concentration, mouth set in a frown and eyebrows furrowed as if glaring at the menu would make the decision any easier. Sokka finally decided to help him out. 

"I always get the mochacchino, it's delicious," he whispered, leaning over so he was a few inches closer to Zuko. 

Zuko's frown deepened, and he gave Sokka a strange look. "It's winter."

"So?"

"You get a cold drink in the middle of the night in winter?" Zuko asked, and his tone was so incredulous that Sokka couldn't help but laugh. 

"First of all, it's only 10:30 and it's technically still fall. But I'm sure you can get whatever the hot version is if you don't want a cold drink... what's that, like a regular mocha?" He asked, unsure because Sokka really only ever ordered cold coffee drinks. If he wanted boring old hot coffee, he'd just make it at home. 

Zuko shook his head. "Yes, but I shouldn't drink caffeine this late; it'll keep me up all night." 

Sokka shrugged. "So get it decaf."

Zuko gave him another look. "It's made with espresso."

The confusion on Sokka's face from that comment was enough to make Zuko sigh in exasperation, but Sokka just laughed and nudged him over to the counter, stepping up behind him and smiling at the girl there. "Hi! Could I please get a medium mochacchino, a banana walnut muffin, and a blueberry muffin? And— Zuko, what do you want?"

Zuko raised his eyebrows a little at first before stuttering, "Um, I'll do a ginger tea, please. Medium." 

The girl nodded, smiling shyly at Sokka. "And the name for the order?" 

"Oh! It's Sokka—" He said, spelling it out for her since baristas typically liked to rename him Sock-o when given creative freedom. 

"That's a really cool name," she commented as she wrote it on the first cup, and Sokka laughed. 

"Why thank you, wish I could take the credit. What do I owe you?" 

"Oh— um, $14.79."

After Sokka paid, he and Zuko stepped to the side to wait for their drinks. Sokka leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest and suppressing a yawn. "Fuck, I'm tired. Should probably take the opportunity to sleep when I can get it, but I really wanted to finish that thermo set tonight. I'm glad you came with, though—dude, you are going to love these muffins." 

One corner of Zuko's mouth turned up a little, and he glanced sideways to Sokka. "I sure hope so, the way you keep talking about them. What kinds did you order?"

"A blueberry and a banana walnut. The blueberry is solid but the banana walnut I think is like the best muffin I've ever had. Seriously, it's gonna blow your mind." He said, mimicking an explosion by flicking out the fingers of his right hand and making a whooshing sound. Zuko rolled his eyes and focused his attention back on the counter where their drinks were supposed to come out, as if they might somehow miss their names being called in the nearly empty cafe. 

Sokka took this as an opportunity to observe Zuko once more. The other boy was standing rigidly upright, looking a little awkward as he gripped the muffin bag tightly at the top. Sokka suddenly realized Zuko had the best posture of anyone he'd ever seen, and found himself wondering not for the first time how Zuko managed it. 

"You could probably balance books on your head, if you wanted to," Sokka commented idly, watching with amusement as Zuko's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed again as they slid over once again to meet Sokka's. 

"Pardon?" He asked with exasperation, though Sokka knew him well enough now to take the upturned corner of his mouth as a good sign. 

"Your posture is great, I mean. You could probably balance books on your head, like they do in those princess movies," Sokka said with a shrug, which made Zuko exhale in amusement.

"And what exactly are you doing watching princess movies?" Zuko asked carefully, making Sokka flush pink. 

"Hey, I have a sister! That's not weird if you have a sister!"

"Sure," Zuko smirked—then, after a moment, he conceded, "My mother used to make us balance books on our head, actually, to practice posture."

"Hah! Who's the princess now!" Sokka laughed, but Zuko only rolled his eyes. Before the conversation could continue, Sokka's name was called and he was retrieving the drinks from the counter, nodding towards the door for Zuko to follow. 

"Figured we could eat the muffins at the library, you might not want an audience for your reaction anyway. These muffins are basically orgasmic." Sokka explained with a grin as he held the door open for Zuko to exit through, ignoring the fact that the comment earned him another eye roll. There hadn't been many people in the cafe to begin with, but Sokka had still felt oddly exposed there. He wanted to return to the second floor of the library, their floor, to hang out. The exact reason why... he could figure out another day. 

"Jesus christ, it's freezing tonight," Zuko muttered suddenly, tucking the muffins into his deep coat pocket along with his hands. 

Sokka just laughed. "Unfortunately, this is nothing. It's only going to get worse until, like, March."

Zuko nodded, though the movement was hard to see as he buried his face down in his scarf. He was much better dressed for the cold than Sokka, whose sweatshirt actually had visible holes in it. "Yes, I unfortunately had to learn that when I moved here. The warmth it provides is half the reason I started drinking tea regularly," he said, and Sokka passed him his cup as if on cue, watching as Zuko removed a hand from his pocket to grip the warm cup and press the other side to his cheek. 

Sokka laughed again. "Oh, see I grew up around here. You definitely get used to it after twenty-two years. Where are you from originally?"

"California," Zuko breathed out, and Sokka made a face. 

"Jesus, man, now I'm starting to understand why you dress in a million layers. That must've been a rough transition—what made you move here?"

For the first time since the beginning of the night, Zuko looked at Sokka with uncertainty. It was hard to tell what crossed a line with him, the man was private about such random things. "I— um, I needed a change. And my uncle lives here, so he invited me to live with him instead of paying for housing."

Sokka nodded, smile softening. "That's great, it's good to have at least some family nearby. Do you still live with him?" 

Zuko nodded, and Sokka decided he'd gotten enough Zuko lore for one night to give the questioning a rest. He sipped his drink instead, eyes brightening. "Mm, dude, you should try this. Swear to god, it's delicious."

Zuko made a face. "Thanks, but I was actually hoping to avoid hypothermia tonight."

 

————

 

When they finally got back to the library they took a few minutes to warm up their limbs enough to regain feeling, and then Sokka laid out the muffins and began sawing each in half with the plastic knife he'd stolen from the cafe. When he was done, he grabbed a half of the blueberry and scooted the bag closer to Zuko, who picked up the banana walnut curiously.  

"Starting strong, I like it. Cheers, dude," Sokka declared, tapping his half-muffin to Zuko's lightly before taking a bite. He tried not to look too interested in Zuko's first bite, but after a few seconds, Sokka just couldn't help himself. "So??"

Zuko chewed for a moment, expression stony. Finally, he said, "It's good."

"Good?? It's the best muffin you've ever had, admit it."

Zuko laughed softly. "It's good, I like it. I just think I could probably make better."

Sokka scoffed as if he'd been personally offended. "You? Make a better muffin than this? You're nuts."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "And you're dramatic. I'm just saying, it's a good muffin but it's not award-winning. I think I could make something pretty similar."

"Well, you're definitely going to have to bake me muffins one day and prove it. Until then, I'm gonna eat this," Sokka said, stuffing the rest of his blueberry half into his mouth and lining up the banana walnut to devour next.

The next two hours were dedicated to homework once again, but around 12:45, Zuko finally laid down his pencil and rolled his head to one side, stretching his neck. "I think I should get home. My uncle will start to wonder," he said, watching as Sokka leaned back in his chair and yawned. 

"Yeah, it's probably time to call it a night," Sokka agreed, then smirked. "Although, I have a hard time believing your uncle thinks you're out partying."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant," he said, beginning to pack up his things. 

Sokka laughed lightly and began to do the same, sliding his laptop into his backpack. "Oh I see, big ladies man, huh? Well now I feel bad, your uncle thinks you're out with some girl and the whole time you're just doing calc homework with me," he laughed.

Zuko's eyebrows furrowed together at the comment and he stopped what he was doing, staring at Sokka like he was trying to figure something out. After a few long seconds, he shifted his gaze, and Sokka felt like he could breathe again. "All I meant is that he would begin to wonder if something had happened to me," Zuko clarified, and Sokka rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. 

"Sorry, my jokes get worse and worse the later it gets. So definitely for the best that we're wrapping this up," Sokka said, zipping his backpack and beginning to stand. 

"Hmm," Zuko hummed, sliding his backpack onto his shoulders as he stood up as well. "I didn't think your jokes could get any worse." 

Sokka let out a startled laugh, face lighting up as the corners of Zuko's mouth tilted up. Any awkwardness lingering between them disappeared instantly as they headed to the stairs and back outside, where the wind had picked up enough to feel like it was blowing straight through to Sokka's bones. He hunched his shoulders a little, shoving his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. 

"Are you headed to the parking lot?" Zuko asked, nodding his head to the left where he must've parked. Sokka shook his head. 

"Nah, I walk. I only live a few blocks from here, plus I don't have a car."

Zuko frowned. "You walk? It's freezing..."

Sokka shrugged. "It's ok, really. Just makes getting in beneath the blankets on my bed that much better," he said with a laugh, but Zuko still looked concerned. 

"Well I... um, I can give you a ride home tonight, if you want. I live across town, so my uncle lets me take his car when I'm going to be out past the time the buses stop running," Zuko explained, pulling a set of car keys out of his pocket. 

Sokka felt himself shaking his head. "No, really, Zuko, it's ok. It's only like a fifteen minute walk. Seriously, I'll be fine."

Zuko looked unconvinced. "Let me take you home, Sokka. It's the least I can do to repay you for the calculus lessons," he said, which made Sokka laugh again, and finally give in. 

"Alright, alright, you make a good point. I hope it's not too out of your way..." He said, following Zuko across the street and to a little toyota corolla that had seen better days. Zuko dressed like he had money, but everything he owned or used seemed incredibly outdated. In fact, when Sokka thought about it, even Zuko's laptop was pretty crappy. It was confusing— Zuko acted very proper, like those prep school kids Sokka had played in soccer a few times when he'd been on his high school's team. But everyone's poor in college, Sokka thought vaguely, and decided to drop the thought for the time being, even though something still didn't quite make sense to him. 

He climbed inside the old car at the same time Zuko did, rubbing his hands together to try to get some warmth to reach his fingers. After Zuko had turned the key in the ignition, the car instantly started blasting cool air at them, the fans set to high. Zuko cursed under his breath, turning the knobs quickly so the air was on the lowest setting until it had a chance to warm up. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, glancing over at Sokka in the dim light. "I had the heat blasting on the way over here, too."

Sokka laughed, shaking his head. "Hey, I get it. It's been a uniquely cold fall... I worry about what winter has in store for you."

"You and me both."

After a few minutes, the air in the car began to warm slightly, taking the icy edge out of the air. Zuko pulled out of his parking spot and onto the road, listening to Sokka's directions on where to turn. 

"So you normally take the bus to school, then?" Sokka asked after giving Zuko a direction to turn right, knowing that he'd be driving straight for a few minutes. 

Zuko nodded, glancing at Sokka and then focusing his eyes back on the road. "Yes, I just take the city bus when I have classes. My classes are consecutive most days, so it's not too bad. I only have one day this semester with a four hour break between classes, and I usually just hang out at the library during that time."

Sokka nodded, smiling at him. "Well, that's nice. Sounds like you don't have too many late classes either, which is good. In engineering we always have super late labs... on Thursdays I don't even finish lab until 9pm. It sucks."

"That does suck. Do you have class before it?"

Sokka shook his head. "Only in the morning. But my apartment is close, so I don't really care. Typically I just go home or to the gym. I really only come to the library at night."

Zuko nodded in agreement. "I study better at night, too."

"Aw, and here I thought you just kept coming back to the library to see me," Sokka joked, and then pointed to a building on the right side of the street. "That's me. Thank you again for the ride, you probably saved at least one of my toes from freezing off. I don't think there's any amount of calc tutoring that compares to this."

Zuko laughed lightly, pulling up to the curb and putting the car in park. "It's really not a problem. Have a good night, Sokka."

Sokka smiled back at him, opening the door. "You too, Zuko. I'll see you soon."

 

————

 

In fact, Sokka saw Zuko much sooner than he planned. Around noon the next day, Sokka spotted Zuko about fifty yards away, leaving a coffee shop with a paper to-go cup in hand. Sokka had been walking from class with his friend Haru, who had been explaining the plot of Dune to a mildly interested Sokka. Haru was proposing it as the next friendgroup movie night pick, but Sokka knew there was no way Toph was going to let that happen, so he really didn't care enough to fully listen. 

When he saw Zuko, Sokka stopped walking, laying a hand on Haru's shoulder. "Hey man, I just realized I forgot to talk to Professor White about taking that make-up quiz, so I have to run. I'll see you later for soccer though, yeah?"

After getting confirmation of their plans, Sokka hurried off in the direction Zuko had gone, catching up to him after jogging a minute or two. Sokka would've been embarrassed if he wasn't absolutely elated to see Zuko in the wild for the first time since they'd met. Before this, he'd begun to wonder if Zuko actually went to their school at all. 

"Zuko! Hey man, what's up?" Sokka exclaimed, laying a hand on Zuko's shoulder from behind and then immediately pulling it away when Zuko jumped, startled. "Fuck, sorry, didn't mean to scare you. You okay?"

Zuko nodded, though his tense shoulders and furrowed brow said otherwise. "Hey Sokka. Uh, how are you?" 

"Great, man, I just got out of class. What about you?"

"I'm headed to class now... calculus, actually. I think we have a pop quiz; I was trying to study in my free hour, but I don't really think it helped," Zuko admitted, and Sokka shook his head, nudging the boy with his shoulder as they walked side by side. 

"Nah, I'm sure you'll do great. You seemed to really have it down last night... just don't psych yourself out. Seriously, you've got this," Sokka assured him with a smile, feeling good when Zuko nodded a little in agreement. "Hey, uh... kinda weird and last minute, but you wouldn't want to play soccer tonight, would you? A couple of my friends get together every Wednesday to play a game or too... it's super casual, there's only like 7 of us, including me. We usually get McDonalds after, it's super fun." 

Zuko frowned for a second, which Sokka knew by now not to take offense to right away. It was sort of his default expression, along with concerned and vaguely annoyed. After a few seconds, Zuko nodded stiffly. "Um, sure, I'll come. I don't play very well, though, just so you know."

Sokka laughed. "Most of us don't. In fact, Aang is so bad he won't let us keep score, even though he claims it's to keep the game fun and less competitive." Sokka leaned in a little closer to Zuko, whispering, "It's really because he fucking sucks."

This made Zuko laugh softly, and Sokka felt positively giddy the rest of the walk to Zuko's class, even though it was the complete opposite direction from where he'd been heading. 

Notes:

…I have no excuses. So so so sorry this took forever, my motivation went out the window. I started a different Zukka fic that I was working on for a little bit (very unfinished but publishing may eventually be on the horizon…) and then I completely hiatus-ed for a very long time, and now we’re here.

I do really really want to continue this fic, it may just be slow going for a bit as I continue to sort my post-grad 9-to-5 life (rip). But I appreciate any and all positive comments you guys leave, they are 100% of the reason I post. Also happy holidays to anyone celebrating soon, I’m thinking one of my resolutions for the new year should be a consistent publishing schedule.

Thank you all as always for reading, and for any stray mythic quest fans out there, have a little mochacchino reference in this one as a treat <3