#zuko when sokka unwittingly tries to flirt with him: absolutely not

[discordiansamba]

Suki and Zuko have been acting weird ever since they arrived at the Fire Lord's beach house.

(Which no matter what Zuko says, is absolutely insane and he's sticking to that.)

They keep pulling the other off to the side and discussing something in quiet whispers. Whenever someone butts in, they immediately shut up. If Sokka didn't know any better, it looks kind of like they're arguing- but that can't be right. Suki and Zuko never argue. They get along so well it's almost scary. Then one morning, they gather everyone together for a group meeting. Whatever it is, it must be serious, because they make sure they're all sitting down first.

"We have something we need to tell everyone," Zuko says.

"-its kind of important," Suki finishes.

They exchange a glance, and then they both point at themselves.

"I'm Zuko," Suki says.

"-and I'm Suki," Zuko finishes.

Toph's feet slam on the floor. Everyone else stares at them in silence. The pair exchange another awkward look, loudly stage-whispering 'what now' and 'I don't know' to each other. Toph helpfully breaks the silence and says that they're either the best actors she's ever met, or they're telling the truth.

"You're- what?" Sokka squawks.

"We swapped bodies," they both reply in unison, "-uh. We just thought we should probably tell you guys."

"What!?" Sokka sputters. "When!?"

"...back at the Boiling Rock?" Zuko who is apparently actually Suki says.

What. Sokka racks his brain, trying to figure out when it happened. He hadn't noticed a single thing! Wouldn't they have said something? Wait. Was it before or after he'd tried to kiss Suki in her cell. It had to have been after, right?

"I don't understand," Katara frowns, "-you two haven't been acting any different since you came back."

"Oh," Suki who is apparently actually Zuko frowns, "-yeah. I guess we should probably drop the act, huh?"

And then, in the blink of an eye, their posture just shifts. Suki folds her arms, taking up a stance they're more familiar with from Zuko. Zuko's entire stance grows looser and more relaxed. Sokka looks at his sister, who looks at Aang, who looks at Toph, who doesn't look at anyone because she never does and-

"Okay," Sokka says, "-now I'm really confused."

"Why were you pretending to be each other?" Aang asks. "I mean, I know we're kind of busy trying to defeat the Fire Lord, but I am the bridge between worlds. I'm pretty sure I can figure out a way to fix this."

"-and why were you so good at it?" Toph asks. "I couldn't even tell."

"Yeah, this doesn't really need fixing." Su-Zuko admits. "Suki and I just do this sometimes."

What.

He must have said that out loud, because a smile that's all Suki flashes across Zuko's face. "We've been doing it all our lives. We just never really saw a reason to bring it up before now. Sorry."

What.

Actually. Wait. Hang on.

"If you two swapped at the Boiling Rock," Sokka began, "-then when I tried to invite Suki to my tent-"

"-oh," Suki's face twists into the kind of awkward expression he'd expect to see on Zuko, "-uh. Yeah. That was me."

"Sorry," Zu-Suki presses his (her?) hands together in apology, "-Zuko and I are going to be like this awhile. We always swap bodies when we're close to each other."

"Kind of annoying, actually," Su-Zuko remarks, "-but if you two want to spend time together, don't stop on my account. Just don't expect me to reciprocate."

"Are you sure?" Zu-Suki frowns.

"Sure," Zu-Suki shrugs, "-I mean, you did help me patch things up with Mai. I didn't even ask you to do that."

Sokka lets his head hit the table. It was official. The spirits hated him. His second girlfriend had turned into Zuko.

(...and why was he considering it?)