*barks at you*

first step✒️🌟

first step✒️🌟

Zuko didn’t set up his profile, okay. Mai did that for him while he was showering after their judo practice 

it’s…not especially flattering. the photos are basically two candids Ty Lee took of him playing volleyball with them at the beach and a screenshot of a snapchat he sent Mai. it’s of him glaring into the camera with a caption that says “i’m feeling some gay panic right now”

and Zuko is fully prepared to delete it entirely, like immediately. except that Mai and Ty Lee took advantage of his unprotected phone to swipe right on a whole bunch of random guys

and now he has a handful of matches. or like, kind of a lot of them, but he doesn’t really know how to check that. he just has a lot of messages, and an obnoxious number of tinder notifications

(Zuko is someone who can’t bear to have any unread notifications on his phone, which is why he still opens Duolingo every day, even though he hasn’t completed a single lesson in months. the stupid fucking owl just keeps popping up to shame him)

he’s not feeling very enthused about this whole thing, but Ty Lee told him that he needs to accept at least one date, and Mai was standing over her shoulder when she said it so now he really does. Or Else.

so he picks a guy kind of at random, because he’s good looking and his tinder profile just says “renaissance man. engineer. ACAB.” and Zuko vibes with that

Sokka (of Renaissance man, engineer, ACAB fame) had sent him a message that says

So I’m actually here from 20 years in the future. We’re married and I’m trying to settle an argument about what our first date was

and Zuko just 404 errors at that because damn. solid pickup line for fucking tinder.

so he replies. and he replies “it was this saturday, at bubblefish, at 7pm. be prepared to defend your choice in sushi.”

on the other end, Sokka is basically floating with his sheer happiness. he immediately confirms, and is so fucking pumped for this date with a cute guy who maybe plays vollyeball? but more importantly is cute as hell and has really pretty hair and really pretty eyes

they meet up for sushi and Zuko is feeling a little awkward about it. but Sokka is so friendly and bright and talkative. it’s very extrovert bringing introvert into their sphere 

Sokka is fully prepared to justify his sushi choices. he studied the menu in advance, but it’s not much of a debate because they’re fully aligned on what they want to order 

so they share a handful of sushi rolls and talk about what they do for work and what they do in the city and are just..kind of vibing. 

Sokka is really enamored of this surly guy who has strong opinions about raw fish and which parks are good for biking and the best farmers’ markets in the city

and Zuko is really feeling this guy who loves reading for the sake of knowledge and loves going hiking on the weekends and is really into the local hockey team

eventually they finish their sushi, but neither of them want this to end. so they decide to walk a few blocks and get some bubble tea.

and Zuko is like. “okay. I know a place.”

they walk like four blocks and come to a totally closed building. like this place is obviously not open. and Sokka is like “uhh, we can come back when they’re open?” a little bit angling for another date

but Zuko says “no way. this is my uncle’s tea shop. I have a key.”

and immediately whips it out to open the front door. he ushers Sokka into a seat, and then disappears briefly into the back. there’s the sound of an ice machine, and then he comes back a few minutes later

carrying two cups of bubble tea. “I hope you like it,” Zuko says. “it’s my uncle’s recipe.”

and Sokka is so unbelievably in love. “I think this might be the best bubble tea I’ve had in my life.”

and Zuko, who hasn’t fucking noticed that Sokka hasn’t even tried it yet, says, “well. I work here during the days. so if you want to come back, there’s a good chance I’ll be here.”

“well,” Sokka says, trying to play it cool, “this would be a good study spot. and I’ve got a lot of studying to do.”