FIC: Manly Pursuits (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sokka/Zuko)
Manly Pursuits
By Keelywolfe
NC-17
Sokka/Zuko
Summary: Set just after 'The Southern Raiders', Team Avatar has arrived on Ember Island.
Fourth in a series:
No Turning Back
Division of Time
Conflicted
~~*~~
Sokka had known for a long time that he was the one who had to make the plans. It was the way of the world, the flow of the chi, if you would. Some people were benders, some people, or, well, one person actually, was the Avatar, and he was the one who could read a map so they didn't end up flying in circles all day long.
That was the way of things and it'd worked pretty well so far.
But he had to admit, that as a guy with a plan, Zuko wasn't too shabby. The Fire Lord's vacation home was a heck of a lot nicer than camping out and living near an actual town meant there was actual food to be had. Meaty food, a little spicy, true, but meat! Yeah, Zuko could definitely be second in command as far as plans went.
It was a shame that the plan for sex tonight wasn't working out quite as well.
When they'd first arrived on Ember Island, Zuko and Aang had wandered off to talk to Katara and he'd been pretty fine with that. It wasn't that he didn't understand Katara's desire to revenge their mother's death. No, he had a pretty good handle on that one. But he'd figured out a long time ago that even if he did kill the bastard, it wouldn't bring their mother back. All he'd have was an empty heart and blood on his hands.
But if Katara had needed to figure that out on her own, that was okay, too. She could even borrow Zuko to do it but dammit, she was supposed to give him back. It was dusk now and the jerk was nowhere to be found.
Part of the problem was the house was too big. Who needed a vacation house with a dozen bedrooms, sitting rooms, two kitchens, and even servant's quarters? Sokka knew because he had already searched all of them and found zip. No Zuko.
Slipping outside through one of the way too many doors, Sokka walked silently around the path that wound through to the courtyard. It was dark, light barely seeping out through the windows to color it in shades of dim and Appa was curled up near the fountain, his bulk a pale smear against the darker night.
Appa made a soft, lowing sound and Sokka started towards him, only to stumble to a stop and stare at his suddenly found objective.
It was times like this that he could really use a witness because all of the world should know about it. The former prince of the Fire Nation with two hands buried up to the elbow in shaggy white fur as he scratched behind Appa's ear. The bison huffed out another groan of appreciation, tilting his head and Zuko obligingly scratched there as well.
"There you are, big guy, that's a good boy," Zuko murmured.
Sokka held back in the shadows, silently watching. Sometimes it was hard to reconcile this gentle, slightly awkward boy with the one who'd been chasing them all that time.
"You really are an ugly thing, aren't you?"
And sometimes it wasn't.
Appa crooned as Zuko found a new choice spot to scratch and then took the opportunity to give the boy a slobbery full body lick, soaking him in saliva.
"Ugh," Zuko sputtered, shaking out his arms. "Ugly and drooly." He still smiled, fending off another attack to reach into his tunic. "I know, this is what you're really after."
Sokka narrowed his eyes, peering into the dimness to see what Zuko was holding. Round and red, the perfect specimen of an apple. Appa eagerly opened his mouth and Zuko tossed it in the wet cavern of tongue, still smiling faintly as Appa crunched away, nuzzling at Zuko's tunic in search of another.
"So here you are," Sokka said, crossing his arms and leaning back against a stone pillar. It was completely worth it to see Zuko startled, faint sparks tingling from his fingertips as he moved automatically into a firebending posture.
Sokka yawned, unappreciative. "Are you sneaking Appa treats? After Aang just said he was getting a little round and needed to cut back?"
Zuko started guiltily, dropping his hands. "It's one apple! How much difference could one apple make in a creature this size?"
Sokka raised an eyebrow.
"And he was hungry," Zuko said, a little sullenly. "He was begging me!"
"Appa started talking today, too? No one ever tells me anything."
With a last glare, Zuko turned away, focusing his attention on Appa as though if he stopped scratching the bison, the world would end in despair. Shifting a little from foot to foot, Sokka tried to decide if Zuko was actually upset. It wasn't like he was a happy ray of sunshine at the best of times and trying to tell the difference between sad, depressed little Zuko and completely normal depressed Zuko was sort of giving Sokka a headache.
Oh, man. What if he needed to talk? This was definitely not his area of expertise. Aang was the 'in touch with his inner girl, please, chat me up' guy of the group and Sokka was more than happy to steer anyone who seemed like they needed any verbal massaging in his direction. Sokka preferred the more manly pursuits, like insults and wrestling and sex. Very manly.
Except for how this was Zuko, and Sokka had been in and out of his pants, and other parts of him, for the better part of a couple weeks now, so if there was any massaging to be done, verbal or otherwise, it really shouldn't be Aang doing it.
Talking. Right.
"So, ah, how did everything go with Katara?" Sokka fumbled out, twisting his hands together awkwardly and readied himself mentally for the flood of emotional goo that was sure to follow.
Zuko's hands stilled and he slowly drew them away from Appa despite the bison's groaning protest. Biting his lip, he turned to look at Sokka, his eyes still bright in the shadowy twilight. Sokka braced himself; here it came.
"Could we not talk about it right now? Because I'd really rather just suck you off."
It took a minute for those words to trickle through the angst filter that Sokka had thrown up in his brain and another minute for him to stop gaping at Zuko, and geez, who knew a prince could talk so dirty and not even hint at a blush. He really needed to do it a lot more often.
He found himself squeaking out a feeble little, "Okay!", his mouth obviously deciding that it didn't have time for his brain to catch up and then Zuko was fisting his hands into Sokka's tunic, turning him and pushing him up against the warm, furry wall of Appa's side before he just dropped to his knees.
They hadn't done this all that many times, barely more than a handful that they had to sneak when his father was around, and Suki, too, but Zuko was obviously a fast learner, barely fumbling at his belt before he tugged Sokka's trousers down to his knees.
His mouth was wet and pink and hot, this fantastic cavern of damp heat around him, and Sokka couldn't even strangle out a yelp before Zuko was swallowing him deeply, the sweet curl of his tongue around the head made Sokka throw back his head and gasp at the sky, briefly, insanely, grateful that the moon was hidden by clouds tonight.
Firebender, he thought dizzily, his hips rocking forward without his permission and he had two handfuls of Zuko's hair clenched between his fingers, whimpering as Zuko obligingly tipped his head up and took him that much deeper, velvety wetness and heat inside, so wickedly hot and he came so hard that the cloud-hidden stars swam instead behind his eyelids, weakening his knees until he sank down to the ground, sprawled out and just plain used.
He opened his eyes just in time to see Zuko lick his lips, the wet gleam of his mouth enticing enough to make him twitch painfully in hidden parts.
"You really do like that, don't you." His own mouth apparently didn't know how to shut up while his brain was still on vacation and Sokka winced at how that sounded. He could have possibly phrased that so it didn't sound so...astonished.
Zuko didn't seem offended; he actually smiled a little, lips still faintly swollen. "Yeah, I really do. It's powerful."
"Powerful?" Sokka frowned. "Buddy, it looked a lot like you were the one on your knees to me." He bit his tongue a fraction of a second too late, stupid, stupid, mouth, he wanted Zuko to like it, wanted him to do it again, so stay shut!
This time he got an offended look, golden eyes narrowing in that pissy little way Zuko had. Without a word, he bared his teeth and clicked them together sharply.
Sokka flinched, cringing from the very thought of it. "Okay, yeah, powerful."
Hesitantly, not because his mouth was stupid but because he just...he had to know. "In the prison, would you...would you have bitten the guard?"
Heat flared in Zuko's eyes that was nothing like passion, almost glowing in the darkness. How had he and his uncle ever managed to hide in Bai Sing Sai, you could see the fire in him, some indefinable core of him burned hotly in a way that could never be disguised.
"I don't take orders well," Zuko said, that heat filling his voice.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Sokka said dryly and because he'd had enough of all the chatter, he decided to go with the more manly pursuit of more sex, leaning in to lick at Zuko's swollen mouth. It was like he'd given permission for something to break free, Zuko grabbing him by his shoulders and pushing him back against Appa, warm fur at his back and eager hands at his front, bordering on frantic.
It made Sokka laugh, breathlessly, into Zuko's mouth as he tried to get past those fumbling hands and onto a little bare skin himself. "If you'd hold still, I'll give you what you want."
"If I keep moving, I can just take it," Zuko whispered against his mouth, tongue dipping inside. It almost distracted Sokka from the hand sliding down his back to his ass, cupping one cheek and squeezing firmly.
Sokka's breath froze in his lungs, his tongue stilling against Zuko's and with startling perception, Zuko paused, pulling away and searching Sokka's face. "No?"
The sticky-sweet afterglow faded abruptly away, leaving him feeling chilled in all the places Zuko wasn't pressed against. But he couldn't say no, didn't have the right, he'd gotten his turn and he was a man, he could do this.
Where Zuko had suddenly gotten his perception Sokka wasn't sure, but he had poor timing. "Sokka, we don't have to."
"I want to," he said firmly, skinning his pants down and off. He could do this, he wasn't stupid, he understood the concept of fair trade and Zuko had barely offered a protest when Sokka had taken his frustrations out on his ass, so it was okay. He could do this. It was his turn.
He slipped down to his knees, resting his weight on his elbows. It was almost worth it to see Zuko's shocked expression, slowly turning again to heat and that made Sokka look away, focusing his attention on the rocky ground beneath him. Okay, they could have picked a better venue, but Sokka was nothing if not adaptable.
Warm hands skimmed over his backside, smoothing over his skin. The bare brush of a fingertip between his cheeks made him tense a little. Sokka took a deep breath and forced it out, holding perfectly still as Zuko prodded slightly deeper, testing lightly. That fingertip slipped away but before Sokka could feel more than a moment of relief it returned, slick this time and when the hell had the prince of Fire Nation decided to start carrying around lube? How was he planning on explaining it to anyone, that he had it in case someone needed an emergency massage?
That finger pressed a little deeper, just inside, and Sokka grunted a little, burying his face in his folded arms.
"You need to relax," Zuko murmured, his breath warm against Sokka's bare hip.
"I'm fine!"
"Sokka, I can't--"
"Just do it!" he snapped, pushing his hips up like he could force Zuko inside. He could handle the pain, dammit, they didn't need to natter on about it like cowbirds.
The sudden increase in pressure against him and suddenly Zuko's finger was completely inside him and oh, gods, it burned, deep and unrelenting and he couldn't help tensing against it, his whole body stiffening in rejection.
As quickly as it had come, it was gone, the burn fading. A faint involuntary sob of relief slipped free of Sokka's throat. He swallowed it away, shooting Zuko a look over his shoulder.
"Wh--you stopped?"
"I can't do this," Zuko said with quiet firmness.
"What? Why?" Sokka rolled over, frustration thick in his throat, bitter and hot. "I didn't say you should stop!"
Zuko sighed heavily. "Sokka, I couldn't even if I wanted to." He gestured at his body and even in the dark Sokka could see he wasn't the slightest bit aroused anymore. Frustration surged into humiliation, how could Zuko not want him?
"You're sixteen!" Sokka exploded, "How does that even happen!"
The other boy's lips thinned into a white line and he stood up, roughly straightening his clothes. "If you think I can fuck you while you're shaking and terrified beneath me then you have a much lower opinion of me than I thought."
Sokka gaped at him, his own anger draining away. He was as shocked by the obscenity as he was by Zuko abruptly storming away, ignoring Appa's lowing farewell. The most heated thing he'd ever heard Zuko say before was 'stupid'.
It took him a second to realize that every moment he sat here bare-assed, Zuko was getting further away and probably into a better hiding spot.
"Wait!" he yelped, yanking on his pants, hopping after Zuko on one foot as he desperately tried to tug them up. He gave up on the ties, holding them closed with one hand as he darted after the other boy.
Zuko had managed to get a fair distance away in his temper, refusing to look at Sokka when he jogged up.
"C'mon, wait!" He caught at Zuko's elbow gingerly. Zuko slowed but kept his head turned away, letting Sokka see only the scarred half of his face. Sokka sighed, scrubbed a hand over his own face. "I don't think anything like...what you said, all right? I don't think that."
"Then what do you think?" Zuko asked acidly and Sokka winced at his tone. Pure princely sullenness in that one.
"I just--I need to do this!" Sokka burst out. "I have to!"
"You have to?" Zuko repeated, tipping his head enough to look at Sokka in disbelief. "Why do you have to?"
"I--" Sokka trailed away and now it was his turn to look at the dirt. The rocks didn't provide any answers. The tips of his boots were worn and scuffed but had nothing to add. "I have to..." Sokka muttered, finally. "It's my turn."
"Your turn," Zuko echoed him again, utterly bewildered. "Your turn to what...to bottom?"
"I have to!" Sokka burst out in a furious whisper. "You did it!"
For a long moment, all Zuko did was stare at him, mouth working slowly, soundlessly, until he finally turned away, shoulders quivering. Oh, geez, he wasn't...he couldn't be crying, could he? But when he turned back his eyes were clear and shining perhaps a bit too brightly.
"Okay," Zuko said, a bit strangled. "I understand where you're coming from. I get it. But, Sokka, you do know that I'm not exactly keeping score, right? I--" he choked up again, biting his lip fiercely as a sound almost like a laugh slipped free. "Sokka, I swear, this is the first time I've ever heard of anyone trying to get fucked to prove their manliness."
Proving your manliness had nothing to do with fairness, Sokka didn't point out, mostly because the sound of Zuko's raspy voice spitting out obscenities like jewels was kind of hot. Super hot.
"Say that again," Sokka demanded, grabbing the front of Zuko's tunic.
He smirked, tilting his head so that his hair spilled lightly against his cheek in inky trails, golden eyes shaded under his lashes.
"What, fucked?" Zuko purred it, breathed it against Sokka's shoulder and he couldn't form a single word of protest when Zuko tugged him down, shoving him back against a stone pillar as he loosened Sokka's pants, hot hands slipping inside and touching him in entirely wonderful ways.
"Wait...I have to...it's..." Sokka shook his head as words, his trusty companions, failed him and left him utterly inarticulate.
"Shhh," Zuko murmured, easing his own pants open until they were pressed against each other, the feel of bare skin making him gasp and his last orgasm could have been years away instead of only a few minutes as Zuko took them both in hand, stroking with wicked, quick touches.
"But I--" Sokka tried, weakly.
"Let me do this?" Zuko begged softly, "I want this."
Fairness would have to wait. The hot pressure of Zuko's a hand holding their cocks together was tangled in with Zuko's mouth on his own, the hot sweep of his tongue sliding slickly against his own as Zuko stroked them brutally, going for his own orgasm as only a man could and just dragging Sokka along for the ride. And that was fine, that was perfect, Sokka arching up with a cry as wet heat spilled between them, Zuko's low moan muffled into Sokka's shoulder as he shivered and came.
"Oh...gods...Zuko...you..." Words were just not going to make peace with him tonight.
"Just Zuko is fine, I'll leave being a god to someone more qualified," Zuko murmured, faint laughter in his voice. It made Sokka want to say something, do something, to make that laughter come out for once and what had made Zuko so determined to stifle his emotions away? That burning he felt when he thought of the Fire Lord was sharpening into a purer hatred, colder, like deep, black ice.
It was hard to think about it with Zuko still pressed against him, terribly sexy with his cheeks flushed and his lips wet, panting slightly.
"Come back to bed with us." He said it without thinking, words that had abandoned him suddenly tumbling stupidly free to form just the wrong thing.
Zuko flinched; there was no other word for it. All that sweet, heavy bliss pooling between them faded like steam and wordlessly, Zuko did up his trousers, hopping to his feet in a graceful little move that made Sokka want to roll him right back to the ground. His expression warned Sokka against trying, completely closed, eyes shuttered.
"Zuko..." he exhaled, let it trail away.
"Goodnight," Zuko whispered, barely audible. He left Sokka sprawled on the ground, walking too quickly away as he was absorbed into the darkness.
Sokka sighed and let him go, wincing as all the little rocks and pebbles from the path made themselves known. Squinting a little down on the ground, Sokka suddenly realized that he and Zuko had actually had sex on the path where anyone could have just walked on up and gotten an eyeful. Or in Toph's case, a footful.
He basked a little in the manly pride of that before he finally rolled to his feet, trudging back to the house with less enthusiasm and more exhaustion than Zuko had shown. At least one warm body was waiting for him to come back and she wasn't going to take off and play hard to get.
That night he dreamt of the moon, the pale oval of it hanging behind his eyes as he buried his face in the sweet curve of Suki's shoulder and slept the justifiably exhausted sleep of the well-sexed and in his dream there was warmth behind him as well, the almost too-hot pressure of bare skin and in sleep, he never noticed the emptiness, dreaming of something more.
-finis-
Next Chapter
By Keelywolfe
NC-17
Sokka/Zuko
Summary: Set just after 'The Southern Raiders', Team Avatar has arrived on Ember Island.
Fourth in a series:
No Turning Back
Division of Time
Conflicted
~~*~~
Sokka had known for a long time that he was the one who had to make the plans. It was the way of the world, the flow of the chi, if you would. Some people were benders, some people, or, well, one person actually, was the Avatar, and he was the one who could read a map so they didn't end up flying in circles all day long.
That was the way of things and it'd worked pretty well so far.
But he had to admit, that as a guy with a plan, Zuko wasn't too shabby. The Fire Lord's vacation home was a heck of a lot nicer than camping out and living near an actual town meant there was actual food to be had. Meaty food, a little spicy, true, but meat! Yeah, Zuko could definitely be second in command as far as plans went.
It was a shame that the plan for sex tonight wasn't working out quite as well.
When they'd first arrived on Ember Island, Zuko and Aang had wandered off to talk to Katara and he'd been pretty fine with that. It wasn't that he didn't understand Katara's desire to revenge their mother's death. No, he had a pretty good handle on that one. But he'd figured out a long time ago that even if he did kill the bastard, it wouldn't bring their mother back. All he'd have was an empty heart and blood on his hands.
But if Katara had needed to figure that out on her own, that was okay, too. She could even borrow Zuko to do it but dammit, she was supposed to give him back. It was dusk now and the jerk was nowhere to be found.
Part of the problem was the house was too big. Who needed a vacation house with a dozen bedrooms, sitting rooms, two kitchens, and even servant's quarters? Sokka knew because he had already searched all of them and found zip. No Zuko.
Slipping outside through one of the way too many doors, Sokka walked silently around the path that wound through to the courtyard. It was dark, light barely seeping out through the windows to color it in shades of dim and Appa was curled up near the fountain, his bulk a pale smear against the darker night.
Appa made a soft, lowing sound and Sokka started towards him, only to stumble to a stop and stare at his suddenly found objective.
It was times like this that he could really use a witness because all of the world should know about it. The former prince of the Fire Nation with two hands buried up to the elbow in shaggy white fur as he scratched behind Appa's ear. The bison huffed out another groan of appreciation, tilting his head and Zuko obligingly scratched there as well.
"There you are, big guy, that's a good boy," Zuko murmured.
Sokka held back in the shadows, silently watching. Sometimes it was hard to reconcile this gentle, slightly awkward boy with the one who'd been chasing them all that time.
"You really are an ugly thing, aren't you?"
And sometimes it wasn't.
Appa crooned as Zuko found a new choice spot to scratch and then took the opportunity to give the boy a slobbery full body lick, soaking him in saliva.
"Ugh," Zuko sputtered, shaking out his arms. "Ugly and drooly." He still smiled, fending off another attack to reach into his tunic. "I know, this is what you're really after."
Sokka narrowed his eyes, peering into the dimness to see what Zuko was holding. Round and red, the perfect specimen of an apple. Appa eagerly opened his mouth and Zuko tossed it in the wet cavern of tongue, still smiling faintly as Appa crunched away, nuzzling at Zuko's tunic in search of another.
"So here you are," Sokka said, crossing his arms and leaning back against a stone pillar. It was completely worth it to see Zuko startled, faint sparks tingling from his fingertips as he moved automatically into a firebending posture.
Sokka yawned, unappreciative. "Are you sneaking Appa treats? After Aang just said he was getting a little round and needed to cut back?"
Zuko started guiltily, dropping his hands. "It's one apple! How much difference could one apple make in a creature this size?"
Sokka raised an eyebrow.
"And he was hungry," Zuko said, a little sullenly. "He was begging me!"
"Appa started talking today, too? No one ever tells me anything."
With a last glare, Zuko turned away, focusing his attention on Appa as though if he stopped scratching the bison, the world would end in despair. Shifting a little from foot to foot, Sokka tried to decide if Zuko was actually upset. It wasn't like he was a happy ray of sunshine at the best of times and trying to tell the difference between sad, depressed little Zuko and completely normal depressed Zuko was sort of giving Sokka a headache.
Oh, man. What if he needed to talk? This was definitely not his area of expertise. Aang was the 'in touch with his inner girl, please, chat me up' guy of the group and Sokka was more than happy to steer anyone who seemed like they needed any verbal massaging in his direction. Sokka preferred the more manly pursuits, like insults and wrestling and sex. Very manly.
Except for how this was Zuko, and Sokka had been in and out of his pants, and other parts of him, for the better part of a couple weeks now, so if there was any massaging to be done, verbal or otherwise, it really shouldn't be Aang doing it.
Talking. Right.
"So, ah, how did everything go with Katara?" Sokka fumbled out, twisting his hands together awkwardly and readied himself mentally for the flood of emotional goo that was sure to follow.
Zuko's hands stilled and he slowly drew them away from Appa despite the bison's groaning protest. Biting his lip, he turned to look at Sokka, his eyes still bright in the shadowy twilight. Sokka braced himself; here it came.
"Could we not talk about it right now? Because I'd really rather just suck you off."
It took a minute for those words to trickle through the angst filter that Sokka had thrown up in his brain and another minute for him to stop gaping at Zuko, and geez, who knew a prince could talk so dirty and not even hint at a blush. He really needed to do it a lot more often.
He found himself squeaking out a feeble little, "Okay!", his mouth obviously deciding that it didn't have time for his brain to catch up and then Zuko was fisting his hands into Sokka's tunic, turning him and pushing him up against the warm, furry wall of Appa's side before he just dropped to his knees.
They hadn't done this all that many times, barely more than a handful that they had to sneak when his father was around, and Suki, too, but Zuko was obviously a fast learner, barely fumbling at his belt before he tugged Sokka's trousers down to his knees.
His mouth was wet and pink and hot, this fantastic cavern of damp heat around him, and Sokka couldn't even strangle out a yelp before Zuko was swallowing him deeply, the sweet curl of his tongue around the head made Sokka throw back his head and gasp at the sky, briefly, insanely, grateful that the moon was hidden by clouds tonight.
Firebender, he thought dizzily, his hips rocking forward without his permission and he had two handfuls of Zuko's hair clenched between his fingers, whimpering as Zuko obligingly tipped his head up and took him that much deeper, velvety wetness and heat inside, so wickedly hot and he came so hard that the cloud-hidden stars swam instead behind his eyelids, weakening his knees until he sank down to the ground, sprawled out and just plain used.
He opened his eyes just in time to see Zuko lick his lips, the wet gleam of his mouth enticing enough to make him twitch painfully in hidden parts.
"You really do like that, don't you." His own mouth apparently didn't know how to shut up while his brain was still on vacation and Sokka winced at how that sounded. He could have possibly phrased that so it didn't sound so...astonished.
Zuko didn't seem offended; he actually smiled a little, lips still faintly swollen. "Yeah, I really do. It's powerful."
"Powerful?" Sokka frowned. "Buddy, it looked a lot like you were the one on your knees to me." He bit his tongue a fraction of a second too late, stupid, stupid, mouth, he wanted Zuko to like it, wanted him to do it again, so stay shut!
This time he got an offended look, golden eyes narrowing in that pissy little way Zuko had. Without a word, he bared his teeth and clicked them together sharply.
Sokka flinched, cringing from the very thought of it. "Okay, yeah, powerful."
Hesitantly, not because his mouth was stupid but because he just...he had to know. "In the prison, would you...would you have bitten the guard?"
Heat flared in Zuko's eyes that was nothing like passion, almost glowing in the darkness. How had he and his uncle ever managed to hide in Bai Sing Sai, you could see the fire in him, some indefinable core of him burned hotly in a way that could never be disguised.
"I don't take orders well," Zuko said, that heat filling his voice.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Sokka said dryly and because he'd had enough of all the chatter, he decided to go with the more manly pursuit of more sex, leaning in to lick at Zuko's swollen mouth. It was like he'd given permission for something to break free, Zuko grabbing him by his shoulders and pushing him back against Appa, warm fur at his back and eager hands at his front, bordering on frantic.
It made Sokka laugh, breathlessly, into Zuko's mouth as he tried to get past those fumbling hands and onto a little bare skin himself. "If you'd hold still, I'll give you what you want."
"If I keep moving, I can just take it," Zuko whispered against his mouth, tongue dipping inside. It almost distracted Sokka from the hand sliding down his back to his ass, cupping one cheek and squeezing firmly.
Sokka's breath froze in his lungs, his tongue stilling against Zuko's and with startling perception, Zuko paused, pulling away and searching Sokka's face. "No?"
The sticky-sweet afterglow faded abruptly away, leaving him feeling chilled in all the places Zuko wasn't pressed against. But he couldn't say no, didn't have the right, he'd gotten his turn and he was a man, he could do this.
Where Zuko had suddenly gotten his perception Sokka wasn't sure, but he had poor timing. "Sokka, we don't have to."
"I want to," he said firmly, skinning his pants down and off. He could do this, he wasn't stupid, he understood the concept of fair trade and Zuko had barely offered a protest when Sokka had taken his frustrations out on his ass, so it was okay. He could do this. It was his turn.
He slipped down to his knees, resting his weight on his elbows. It was almost worth it to see Zuko's shocked expression, slowly turning again to heat and that made Sokka look away, focusing his attention on the rocky ground beneath him. Okay, they could have picked a better venue, but Sokka was nothing if not adaptable.
Warm hands skimmed over his backside, smoothing over his skin. The bare brush of a fingertip between his cheeks made him tense a little. Sokka took a deep breath and forced it out, holding perfectly still as Zuko prodded slightly deeper, testing lightly. That fingertip slipped away but before Sokka could feel more than a moment of relief it returned, slick this time and when the hell had the prince of Fire Nation decided to start carrying around lube? How was he planning on explaining it to anyone, that he had it in case someone needed an emergency massage?
That finger pressed a little deeper, just inside, and Sokka grunted a little, burying his face in his folded arms.
"You need to relax," Zuko murmured, his breath warm against Sokka's bare hip.
"I'm fine!"
"Sokka, I can't--"
"Just do it!" he snapped, pushing his hips up like he could force Zuko inside. He could handle the pain, dammit, they didn't need to natter on about it like cowbirds.
The sudden increase in pressure against him and suddenly Zuko's finger was completely inside him and oh, gods, it burned, deep and unrelenting and he couldn't help tensing against it, his whole body stiffening in rejection.
As quickly as it had come, it was gone, the burn fading. A faint involuntary sob of relief slipped free of Sokka's throat. He swallowed it away, shooting Zuko a look over his shoulder.
"Wh--you stopped?"
"I can't do this," Zuko said with quiet firmness.
"What? Why?" Sokka rolled over, frustration thick in his throat, bitter and hot. "I didn't say you should stop!"
Zuko sighed heavily. "Sokka, I couldn't even if I wanted to." He gestured at his body and even in the dark Sokka could see he wasn't the slightest bit aroused anymore. Frustration surged into humiliation, how could Zuko not want him?
"You're sixteen!" Sokka exploded, "How does that even happen!"
The other boy's lips thinned into a white line and he stood up, roughly straightening his clothes. "If you think I can fuck you while you're shaking and terrified beneath me then you have a much lower opinion of me than I thought."
Sokka gaped at him, his own anger draining away. He was as shocked by the obscenity as he was by Zuko abruptly storming away, ignoring Appa's lowing farewell. The most heated thing he'd ever heard Zuko say before was 'stupid'.
It took him a second to realize that every moment he sat here bare-assed, Zuko was getting further away and probably into a better hiding spot.
"Wait!" he yelped, yanking on his pants, hopping after Zuko on one foot as he desperately tried to tug them up. He gave up on the ties, holding them closed with one hand as he darted after the other boy.
Zuko had managed to get a fair distance away in his temper, refusing to look at Sokka when he jogged up.
"C'mon, wait!" He caught at Zuko's elbow gingerly. Zuko slowed but kept his head turned away, letting Sokka see only the scarred half of his face. Sokka sighed, scrubbed a hand over his own face. "I don't think anything like...what you said, all right? I don't think that."
"Then what do you think?" Zuko asked acidly and Sokka winced at his tone. Pure princely sullenness in that one.
"I just--I need to do this!" Sokka burst out. "I have to!"
"You have to?" Zuko repeated, tipping his head enough to look at Sokka in disbelief. "Why do you have to?"
"I--" Sokka trailed away and now it was his turn to look at the dirt. The rocks didn't provide any answers. The tips of his boots were worn and scuffed but had nothing to add. "I have to..." Sokka muttered, finally. "It's my turn."
"Your turn," Zuko echoed him again, utterly bewildered. "Your turn to what...to bottom?"
"I have to!" Sokka burst out in a furious whisper. "You did it!"
For a long moment, all Zuko did was stare at him, mouth working slowly, soundlessly, until he finally turned away, shoulders quivering. Oh, geez, he wasn't...he couldn't be crying, could he? But when he turned back his eyes were clear and shining perhaps a bit too brightly.
"Okay," Zuko said, a bit strangled. "I understand where you're coming from. I get it. But, Sokka, you do know that I'm not exactly keeping score, right? I--" he choked up again, biting his lip fiercely as a sound almost like a laugh slipped free. "Sokka, I swear, this is the first time I've ever heard of anyone trying to get fucked to prove their manliness."
Proving your manliness had nothing to do with fairness, Sokka didn't point out, mostly because the sound of Zuko's raspy voice spitting out obscenities like jewels was kind of hot. Super hot.
"Say that again," Sokka demanded, grabbing the front of Zuko's tunic.
He smirked, tilting his head so that his hair spilled lightly against his cheek in inky trails, golden eyes shaded under his lashes.
"What, fucked?" Zuko purred it, breathed it against Sokka's shoulder and he couldn't form a single word of protest when Zuko tugged him down, shoving him back against a stone pillar as he loosened Sokka's pants, hot hands slipping inside and touching him in entirely wonderful ways.
"Wait...I have to...it's..." Sokka shook his head as words, his trusty companions, failed him and left him utterly inarticulate.
"Shhh," Zuko murmured, easing his own pants open until they were pressed against each other, the feel of bare skin making him gasp and his last orgasm could have been years away instead of only a few minutes as Zuko took them both in hand, stroking with wicked, quick touches.
"But I--" Sokka tried, weakly.
"Let me do this?" Zuko begged softly, "I want this."
Fairness would have to wait. The hot pressure of Zuko's a hand holding their cocks together was tangled in with Zuko's mouth on his own, the hot sweep of his tongue sliding slickly against his own as Zuko stroked them brutally, going for his own orgasm as only a man could and just dragging Sokka along for the ride. And that was fine, that was perfect, Sokka arching up with a cry as wet heat spilled between them, Zuko's low moan muffled into Sokka's shoulder as he shivered and came.
"Oh...gods...Zuko...you..." Words were just not going to make peace with him tonight.
"Just Zuko is fine, I'll leave being a god to someone more qualified," Zuko murmured, faint laughter in his voice. It made Sokka want to say something, do something, to make that laughter come out for once and what had made Zuko so determined to stifle his emotions away? That burning he felt when he thought of the Fire Lord was sharpening into a purer hatred, colder, like deep, black ice.
It was hard to think about it with Zuko still pressed against him, terribly sexy with his cheeks flushed and his lips wet, panting slightly.
"Come back to bed with us." He said it without thinking, words that had abandoned him suddenly tumbling stupidly free to form just the wrong thing.
Zuko flinched; there was no other word for it. All that sweet, heavy bliss pooling between them faded like steam and wordlessly, Zuko did up his trousers, hopping to his feet in a graceful little move that made Sokka want to roll him right back to the ground. His expression warned Sokka against trying, completely closed, eyes shuttered.
"Zuko..." he exhaled, let it trail away.
"Goodnight," Zuko whispered, barely audible. He left Sokka sprawled on the ground, walking too quickly away as he was absorbed into the darkness.
Sokka sighed and let him go, wincing as all the little rocks and pebbles from the path made themselves known. Squinting a little down on the ground, Sokka suddenly realized that he and Zuko had actually had sex on the path where anyone could have just walked on up and gotten an eyeful. Or in Toph's case, a footful.
He basked a little in the manly pride of that before he finally rolled to his feet, trudging back to the house with less enthusiasm and more exhaustion than Zuko had shown. At least one warm body was waiting for him to come back and she wasn't going to take off and play hard to get.
That night he dreamt of the moon, the pale oval of it hanging behind his eyes as he buried his face in the sweet curve of Suki's shoulder and slept the justifiably exhausted sleep of the well-sexed and in his dream there was warmth behind him as well, the almost too-hot pressure of bare skin and in sleep, he never noticed the emptiness, dreaming of something more.
-finis-
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