They hadn't actually talked about
it, this thing they had with Sokka,
but somehow both of them knew.
Although Zuko had entertained
himself with thoughts of charts
documenting the proper distribution
of Sokka between him and Suki, it
wasn't like that. They simply knew
when it was their turn, the way that
Zuko instinctively knew when the sun
had risen even when he couldn't see
it.
Zuko would admit that he'd barely
talked with Suki at all; polite
words exchanged between them and
little else. He had nothing but
Sokka's reassurances that she didn't
mind to go on, that and the fact
that she hadn't slit his throat in
his sleep. Time alone with Sokka was
a precious commodity and they
weighed every shred of it between
them as starving men would weigh the
last scrap of meat. There were
unspoken rules and both of them had
followed them.
Until tonight.
Zuko lingered near Sokka's tent,
just outside of the warm inviting
glow seeping through the front flap.
He could hear Sokka moving around
inside, humming painfully out of
tune which meant he was still alone.
There was something not quite
uncomfortable in being here. The
light was inviting, the tent
flap just barely open, welcoming
someone to step inside. Someone who
wasn't him.
The fact of the matter was, tonight
was not his night. And yet, he was
here, needing to talk to Sokka.
The problem was he didn't know how
to separate 'time' with Sokka...oh,
for pity's sake, just say it, he
told himself fiercely. Sex with
Sokka was what it was, sweaty, dirty
sex. With Sokka.
So there was sex with Sokka but also
just talking with Sokka and he
wasn't clear on the time share of
that.
The ridiculousness of this didn't
escape him. When he'd made the
choice to join with the Avatar
against his father, he'd never
really even considered the people
who traveled with him. All he'd
wanted was to do something right for
a change. Not to make his father
proud or even to make himself happy.
Just what was right.
And now here he was, the Avatar's
outcast firebending teacher and the
occasional sex partner to a Water
Tribe boy instead of the play prince
of the Fire Nation. The whole
situation was a muddled sort of
absurdity that could have only
happened in his life.
Still, it was what he had and if he
were to be honest with himself, he
wouldn't change it, not to go back
to the hollow comfort of his
not-home. If he stood here in the
quietness and remembered the look in
Sokka's ice-dark eyes the night
before, sweet heat just before he'd
closed them and came...
He didn't see Suki until she almost
ran him over.
"Oh!" Suki startled, before she
caught herself. She gave him a
quizzical little smile, her head
tilted questioningly.
"I just need to talk to Sokka for a
second," Zuko said softly, answering
her unspoken question. "I won't be
long."
"Sure," she said brightly. "Take
your time." She gave him a little
wave and crept back in the direction
of her own tent.
He watched her go, the fading shadow
of her back disappearing again into
the night.
Kindhearted, to allow him this
moment, although it honestly didn't
surprise him. Anyone that Sokka
could care so deeply about had to be
a good person. He didn't quite
understand why she was allowing any
of this but he didn't dare ask, only
grateful that she did.
Zuko took a deep breath and let it
out before he finally gave in and
ducked into the tent.
"Hel-looo...erk!" Sokka's surprised
expression made the heaviness in
Zuko's stomach worse. The tent was
filled with candles and flowers,
perfect for the seduction of a
lovely woman and completely
unnecessary for an exiled prince.
Suki and he knew, they just knew,
and Sokka obviously knew as well
that Zuko shouldn't be here, not
tonight. He knelt quickly, unwilling
to look at the disappointment in
Sokka's face at his unexpected and
surely unwelcome company.
"I just need to talk for a minute,"
he said quickly. Better to get this
over with.
"Sure, what's on your mind?" Sokka's
voice didn't betray emotion other
than curiosity and Zuko wondered
briefly if he was just a good liar
or kindhearted enough that he
wouldn't just kick Zuko out.
"It's about your sister--"
~~*~~
The dull pain in Sokka's eyes as he
spoke about his mother's death was
achingly familiar to Zuko. He'd seen
it in his own eyes before, the
bewildering loss of one of the only
people who'd ever cared for him.
Unexpectedly, he thought of his
uncle, of the disappointment in his
eyes when he'd looked at him and he
had to struggle to push that thought
away. Not now, he told himself
fiercely. He'd made his own mistakes
and he was paying for them. This was
about Katara and how he could help
her.
"Do you remember anything about the
soldiers who invaded your village?"
Zuko asked, "Like what the lead ship
looked like?"
"Yeah," Sokka said, slowly,
considering, "Sea ravens, the main
ship had flags with sea ravens on
them."
"The southern raiders," Zuko
murmured. "Thank you, Sokka." He
started to rise.
Sokka sprawled back on his bedroll,
propping his chin on one hand. "So
now that you've got what you want
from me, you're just going to
leave."
Startled, Zuko stopped, still
half-kneeling. "But Suki is—"
waiting, he couldn't say, not quite
willing to acknowledge what she was
waiting for. I don't want to
intrude, he couldn't say. He was
already intruding, invading Sokka
and Suki's relationship and no
matter how wrong or shameful it was,
he couldn't bring himself to stop.
He'd given up everything to come
here, to do what was right. He'd
given up Mai. Couldn't he be allowed
this, just this one little thing?
Sokka gave him a wry smile, "You
really think five minutes more is
going to make a difference?"
It was the first time they'd openly
admitted what was going on but
Zuko's pride was more distracted by
the actual words, "Five minutes!" he
sputtered, half stepping away as a
hand curled around his ankle.
"If you think you can do better,
prove it."
Zuko wasn't sure where Sokka had
learned that sultry little voice or
how to pout in such a way that his
lips seemed to beg to be kissed.
Natural talent he supposed; it stood
to reason that Sokka would be
talented at something. Warm
hands drew him down and Zuko
followed them, almost mesmerized. He
shouldn't do this, he shouldn’t even
be here but Sokka's mouth was wet
and warm and sweet against his own,
and the hand slipping in his
trousers was making itself at home
in the damp heat there, curling
around him. It was impossible not to
gasp, to push up into Sokka's grip
and the callused thumb pressing just
under the tip.
Burying his face into Sokka's chest
muffled the urgent sounds escaping
him but it couldn't stop them and
Zuko had to moan at the pleasure of
it, the breathy, dirty little
things Sokka was whispering above
him, urging him-
"C'mon, yeah, that's it. So hot like
this, come on, Zuko."
His fingers caught and held Sokka's
tunic, gripping the thin fabric and
bare legs were against his own,
twined with his as Zuko arched up
and came, biting the tip of his own
tongue and choking off his cry.
His clothes were clammy with sweat
and clinging to him, Zuko noted
distantly, the same way he noticed
Sokka was busily rearranging him,
pushing him over to lie on his
stomach, tugging his pants down and
shoving his tunic up so that he
could glide slim fingers over Zuko's
bare back.
"You know, I actually think that was
more like two minutes." Soft
laughter in his ear.
"Shut up," Zuko said weakly. It
wasn’t his fault, he hadn't been
expecting an orgasm tonight, it
wasn't his turn, dammit.
Stroking fingers turned into lips,
Sokka pressing kisses low on his
back and Zuko squirmed
uncomfortably. "I should probably
go."
"I beg your pardon. Some of us are
still waiting for our happy ending."
That much was obvious, as Sokka
straddled him and showed him with
firm pressure exactly what part of
him was waiting. It made him swallow
dryly, to feel it pressed firmly
against his backside even with a
layer of clothes between them. Suki
was waiting, it was Suki's turn--"
"Suki-" he started weakly, gasping
as Sokka rocked his hips against
him.
"Nope, just me. If Suki has one of
these, it's a recent acquirement,"
Sokka said dryly, pressing an
openmouthed kiss against his scarred
ear.
"You know what I mean!"
"Zuko, Suki probably went to bed."
Startled, trying to turn his head
enough to look at Sokka. All it did
was expose the line of his throat to
Sokka's wandering lips. "Why would
she--"
"Because you're here."
Because he was intruding. "I'm
sorry."
"Sorry for what?" That made Sokka
pause, hips stilling.
"For intruding on your time with
Suki."
"My time with--" he felt Sokka frown
against the back of his neck,
"You're acting like I'm a slice of
cake that you have to divide. It's
not really like that. All of us are
going through a lot right now and
you needed this tonight. There isn't
a scale measuring this out, you
know."
"But I--"
"Look, I know you haven't been keen
to talk about this but since it came
up, I gotta tell you. Suki was only
coming tonight because she knew you
wouldn't."
"She's special to you, you shouldn't
have to--" he struggled for an
explanation. "Be away from her," he
finished lamely.
A soft sigh, gusting damp breath
against his neck."You do realize
what Suki and I do while you and
Aang are practicing firebending,
don't you."
"What are you--" talking about, he
didn't say, dawning realization. It
wasn't a fair sharing of time, Suki
was getting an extra portion of
Sokka during the day. He'd thought,
he'd thought...but Sokka's hand was
moving slickly between his legs, one
finger sliding inside him and Zuko
winced, squirming at the unexpected
invasion.
"Relax, will you?"
This they had definitely never
talked about. "Not until you explain
why I have to be on the bottom!" he
panted. That finger pushed in a
little deeper and he still hadn't
decided what to do about it, but the
decision was rapidly being taken
away from him.
"Because, this will probably hurt a
little and you handle pain better
than I do."
"So then why would I want to do it
at all?"
"Suki swears it will feel great."
Suki was probably trying to get rid
of the competition, Zuko thought
sourly.
"Then why don't you do it with
Suki?" That was not a whimper. He
might not be a prince any longer but
he was certainly a warrior and
warriors did not--"Ah!"
"There, that's it," Sokka murmured
almost to himself but Zuko would
have agreed frantically if he could
have spoken, yes, that was it, it
was definitely it, one slick finger
became two and both of them pressing
just there sent him flying, made him
scramble up on his knees to feel it
better and when Sokka slipped his
fingers out, Zuko's moan was pure
protest, fading off as he felt
something larger, hotter, pushing
inside him.
"Oh," Sokka said, weakly, his
forehead pressed sweatily between
Zuko's shoulder blades, his hands on
Zuko's hips as he edged inside. It
did hurt, Sokka had been right about
that, but the pain just made Zuko
want to spread his legs further,
push back against that invading
pressure and get it just there, just
there. There.
He had to move, had to push back
into every thrust and the sounds
Sokka was making echoed in his head,
down his belly and straight to his
cock, fisting it in his own hand and
moving frantically with Sokka,
needing this, and it was so, so
good.
~~*~~
The moon was low in the sky by the
time Zuko crept out of Sokka's tent.
He'd left the other boy snoring,
snuffling into the folds of his
blanket as Zuko silently dressed. He
winced a little at the unfamiliar
ache and his knees still felt a
little rubbery but all and all, it
was nothing that wouldn't fade.
Almost, he wanted it to last a
little, some tangible sign that this
was happening.
But now wasn't the time. With quiet
steps, he made his way to Katara's
tent to wait outside. Sokka had been
a minor detour for the evening, now
it was time to focus on Katara.
Unwillingly, his eyes were drawn to
another tent, still and silent in
the growing predawn light. If Suki
was in her tent, she was as silent
as the grave, not a whisper of
breath from her.
No, he told himself fiercely. Katara
needed to avenge her mother and he
was going to help her. Elbows
resting on his knees, Zuko drowsed
as he waited for Katara to wake up.
It wasn't until the next night that
he thought about it again, sitting
in Appa's riding basket and watching
Katara at the reins. That little
ache was nearly gone, barely a
reminder whenever he shifted his
weight. Sokka was probably with Suki
right now, he knew that, and it was
all right. It was fine.
Tonight wasn't his night.