#shoutout to both ash and I deciding that Zuko needs to be looking over his shoulder seductively in a shallow body of water

[escyn]

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So, it's a surprise then, the day Sokka comes across Zuko in a shallow pond, fully nude, his pale back translucent in the dappled light of the waning afternoon sun. It's a surprise when after months of Zuko's insistence that he not be bared, Zuko only looks back at him, a small smile ghosting his lips and asks if he is coming in, the gruff tones Sokka has become accustomed to barely understanding, softening around the offer. The question is almost lost to the space between them as Sokka is overcome by the need to touch, to map, to feel the new expanse of skin given freely—wants to know the puckered valleys and ridges of the ashes the glorious phoenix on Zuko's back rises from—wants to taste the sweet peonies on Zuko's shoulder— —He wants, he wants, he wants— And here Zuko is offering—and Sokka wants to offer whatever supplication he can to the man in front of him— —but Sokka isn't sure what this offering means—doesn't know how best to hold it in his hands, afraid that it will flow just like the water around them— —because even unsure Sokka has stepped in the water, drawn ever closer— away. away. away, at the slightest touch

or

are you living in the real world? Chapter 3 of "You are going to carry that weight" is up ft. an offer that Sokka cannot refuse, a pond, and my obsession with full-back tattoos