Chapter Text
Sokka is wearing the Kyoshi uniform again. At this rate, Zuko thinks he's going to spontaneously combust before he gets to celebrate the ten-year jubilee that they're supposed to be planning.
It isn't even supposed to be that complicated – they'd gone all out when it came to commemorating the war and celebrating ten years of peacetime a couple of months ago, and it really isn't fair to his country to announce week-long festivities to celebrate him personally. So it's a smaller celebration, just at the palace and maybe spilling over into Caldera City below and only one day of national holiday, not getting other nations involved in the planning, and it really shouldn't be as hard as it's turning out to be.
But like Zuko said. Sokka and Suki in their matching robes and facepaint, Sokka's hairbeads and eyes startlingly blue in the sea of browns and greens of his Kyoshi guards, are absolutely ruining him. And they know it, they have to, with the way Suki keeps whispering and hiding smiles behind her fan, Sokka shooting little sideways looks at Zuko's end of the room from bright kohl-lined eyes, and it's really just not a good time for discussing the impact of firework smoke from festivities on the state of the international cabbage market.
Sokka sidles over to him after Zuko has dismissed the merchant with promises to very seriously consider having several cabbage-based dishes at his feast, apparently to symbolise renewal and determination in the face of adversity, and after Zuko has announced a short break before resuming more standard event organisation. And to stand up and stretch his legs, because Agni above, how many hours of seiza can some of these men stomach in one go?
"D'you think he saw?" Sokka says behind his fan, and Zuko blinks at him and doesn't say who, me? "The cabbage guy," he clarifies after a second. "He hates me, I have no idea why, but last time he tried to invade a trade delegation he ended up screaming at me for ruining his life."
"Is that why you changed after breakfast?"
"So you don't think he's spotted me?" Sokka grins, and Zuko notices a smudge of red on one white tooth, then immediately tries to unnotice it again before he gets the urge to wipe it away and tries to do something stupid like stick his thumb in the man's mouth . "And yeah, but I mostly just wanted to look cute. Did it work?"
Zuko flounders, because yes, it fucking worked, but he can't just say that, and Sokka laughs and then stifles it as some nobles return to the table, like a good guard who definitely isn't Zuko's best friend. The Ambassador from the Water Tribe occasionally moonlighting as a Kyoshi warrior is a semi-open secret, but Zuko knows that there's definitely a good number of men at his court who have never paid either persona enough attention to notice.
"I'm jealous of how comfortable your robes look when I'm stuck in all this shit," he says instead, adjusting the crown adorning his topknot and trying to lessen the tight pressure on the top of his head. "And the fact that you can gossip behind your fan all the time. What were you talking about?"
"Admiring you," Sokka says blithely, then as Zuko chokes on air, adds, "and the fact that you managed to keep a straight face while that guy was ranting about the spiritual benefits of cabbage. You okay?"
"Fine," Zuko manages, gulping down a mouthful of water. "Absolutely fine. And it's practice, that's all."
Practice, just like how he can keep a straight face while Sokka meanders back over to Suki's side and ducks his head close to hers to murmur something, Suki's headdress catching the light as she swings her head around to look at Zuko and flash him a grin. Sokka leans closer for a moment to press their faces together, forehead to forehead, nose to nose, half Water Tribe tradition and half practical measure to avoid lipstick smears against white paint. When Sokka's not on duty as a warrior, Suki kisses him freely – it's rare that he doesn't have at least one crimson smudge on his cheek or forehead or lips, or on some memorable occasions his throat or collarbone, and Zuko is certain there's so many he's never been able to see under clothes. Sometimes they can almost blend in against Sokka's dark skin in the shadows, until he steps into the sunlight and it catches Zuko's eye, and he wonders how vividly the paint would stain his own lips if he were ever kissed.
And then he stops thinking about that, because they need to finish this meeting. And because, as he's been reminded every time he thinks about seeing his friends again when they arrive for the festival, Sokka and Suki will finally be publicly announcing the betrothal that Zuko has been privy to for weeks now.
If they were forbidden to him before, they're untouchable now.
"How is he still so cute when he's bored out of his mind?" Sokka complains under his breath, and Suki sneaks another little glance in Zuko's direction. He probably doesn't look bored to an outside observer, lips slightly pursed, watching the speaker, nodding occasionally, but there's a distance in his eyes and a little crease between his brows that she wants to kiss away.
"He's fucking exhausted, is what he is," she says, because she's Zuko's guard before anything else, and because apparently being the Firelord's personal guard means reminding him what rest and self-care are. "I'm sure we can fake a paperwork emergency soon. Get some food in him, then wrangle him to bed no matter how much he complains."
"To bed, or to bed?" Sokka wriggles his eyebrows, hiding behind his fan just in case Zuko looks in their direction again. Suki's pretty sure that he already knows they constantly gossip about him, but it seems to make Sokka feel better.
"You're the one who just went over there. What do you think?" She already knows what the answer will be – the same one it's been every time either of them have got a little too casual, too hands-on, flown a little too close to the sun.
Sokka sighs, clearly in full agreement. "That man is unflirtable. It's enough to make a guy think he's not hot anymore. Except he does it to you, too, and you're incredible, so at least I know it's nothing personal."
He's not wrong, really. For a while, back when it had been nothing more than a mutual acknowledgement that Zuko was surprisingly hot once he'd grown his hair out and scowled less, she'd wondered if he maybe wasn't bothered about women, which would have been fair enough. After a while longer, Sokka had wondered aloud if he wasn't interested in anyone, because he seemed like he was going to be one of those married to his nation monarchs.
But no, at this point Suki is pretty sure there's something going on there. If nothing else, the way he reacts to Sokka in his Kyoshi uniform – simultaneously unable to keep his eyes off him but also blushing and flustered and trying to pretend he's looking anywhere else – has convinced her that he at least sees the appeal in that. Fair enough. Her boyfriend is a very pretty man when he wants to be. Her fiancé , even; she's still getting used to it. And then their gentle hinting and flirting and pointed comments had begun in earnest, and Zuko clearly knew what they were doing, because he kept blushing and stuttering and being insufferably attractive about it.
And never once reciprocating. Bastard.
She doesn't mean that, mostly, but it feels like a game they play at this point – they catch Zuko watching, staring, and they make few gentle or joking or less-than-subtle overtures, and Zuko continues to pretend that they aren't doing any of the above.
Although as time goes on, Suki is increasingly suspicious that Zuko has no fucking idea that he's being as obvious as he is, which is somewhat complicating matters.
Still, that's something to deal with later once they've got this damn anniversary year out of the way, because there's no way Zuko is getting enough sleep these days to deal with a conversation that will have to open with so have you been deliberately ignoring us flirting with you for the last several years, or are you more oblivious than we thought?
Sokka watches Zuko, and tries not to notice Zuko watching him, and also tries to, y'know. Do his job of being generally watchful of the entire room. Because that is his job when he's in the Kyoshi uniform, despite what he is when he's out of it.
It's one of the things he appreciates about it, getting to wear the robes and skirts and paints, sharp-edged fan tucked in his belt – the ambassador gig is pretty sweet, and he loves that he gets to help his nation and spend so much time with Suki and Zuko, but sometimes the paperwork and tedium is never-ending. Not that guard work isn't tedious too, but he's not stuck behind a desk.
And, of course, it's just fun. Getting to dress up and let Suki critique his makeup, hanging out with her and the girls – and carefully placing himself in Zuko's eyeline on a regular basis, of course. He's adorable when he's flustered.
He and Suki reach the same conclusion at the same time, apparently, right as Zuko shifts from kneeling up straight to leaning forward, resting one hand on the table like he's about to write something on his notes – although Sokka knows from wandering over there earlier that his page mostly just consists of calligraphic doodles, and Zuko slouching in a meeting instead of kneeling upright is a sure sign that he's running on empty.
"You know he's going to complain that it's only mid-afternoon, right?" Suki says under her breath, but still sticks her head out the door to issue inaudible instructions to whichever girl is on guard outside. There'll be food waiting in Zuko's rooms by the time they get him back there, something simple and quick and easy to digest so he can be manhandled into bed without too much of a wait.
"I don't think mid-afternoon means much when he didn't eat at midday and apparently barely slept," Sokka says. "And if he tries to pull that firebenders can't sleep during the day bullshit, at least he'll be relaxing instead of stuck in a meeting he can't escape."
"Will he be relaxing?" Suki asks dubiously, and Sokka bops her on the top of the head with his folded fan.
"Says you."
They collectively prioritise getting Zuko to meals and to bed, because he's the leader of an entire nation and because for a firebender he somehow manages to completely lack any sense of the passage of time, but he's not the only one who needs to improve in the general area of self-care and insomnia. These days Sokka wakes up a few nights per week to a cold bed – well, as cold as anything can get in the Fire Nation – and Suki hunched over paperwork by the light of a single candle. Two massive events in the span of a few months – and the security and stress that comes along with them – aren't doing good things for any of their mental states. Sokka's been having nightmares about assassination attempts, and he isn't even the one who's meant to be in charge of the security details and patrols.
He hasn't even been able to start thinking about weddings, even when Suki has been preemptively teasing him about how many spreadsheets he's going to need for planning a wedding celebration that's spread across three different nations and involves all the most important people in the world.
He doesn't remember anyone being this stressed out about Zuko's actual coronation ten years ago, not even Zuko himself, and tells Suki as much.
She rolls her eyes at him and heads purposefully in Zuko's direction, hands folded courteously behind her back as she leans in to whisper in his ear; Sokka wonders what he would do if Suki leaned in a little further, pressed her lips to his cheek, whispered that he should come to their bed and not his own lonely rooms. Zuko's eyes flick towards Sokka for a second, and he grins and tilts his head towards the door. C'mon, we all know you don't want to be here, won't it be better if we all just…?
Zuko clears his throat and glances away again, rising from the table and being hidden from Sokka's view as the counsellors rush to their feet. "Something has come up that needs my attention, and I'm sure that nothing else left to discuss today requires my input. I'd appreciate you all coming to a consensus on how the road closures will be implemented so that I can review your proposal and sign off on it tomorrow – I'm sure any of the routes we discussed today will be acceptable. Thank you for your time today." He shapes the sign of the flame with his hands, bows to the table, and sweeps past them to the door.
Tui and La, Zuko is attractive when he's being all regal and commanding. Sokka knows he's got it bad when the man talking about paperwork is enough to get him going. To be fair to him, pretty much anything Zuko does is attractive when he's wearing those damn robes. Something about the layers, how strict and uptight it looks, makes Sokka want to peel them off him.
The look Suki shoots him, as Zuko passes and they both fall into step behind him, suggests that he's making eyes far too obviously, but so what? Zuko's counsellors don't acknowledge guards, and Zuko has proven time and time again that he either doesn't notice or doesn't care. So what if he's a little too obvious sometimes?