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mycomfortblanket · 5 months ago

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Publicist Set Up

Chapter One

Sokka is lying in bed scrolling through Instagram when a message request notification bar appears at the top of his screen. Not thinking too much of it, he hits the bar and it immediately takes him to the message.

From: KateLoftinFireStudios 9:46 pm Hi, my name is Kate, I am Zuko Sozin's Social Media Publicist and Manager. I noticed that you've commented a few times on his posts and was wondering if you would be interested in a Zoom Meet and Greet with him..

Sokka rolls his eyes. Another spam message, although this one seems more realistic, is probably an actual person messaging him and then will somehow manage to get his social secruity number from some special encryption bullshit. But still, it's always fun to mess with these people and see how far they are willing to sell their lies.

From: Sokkas_B00merang 9:48 pm Oh, Zuko's publicist, huh?

From: KateLoftinFireStudios 9:48 pm Yeah, I know, there are a lot of scammers out there, but this is a legitimate offer. It's completely free, you would just have to log onto a Zoom meeting after I set up the times between you two.

Sokka furrows his brow. He's never had a scammer openly admit to there being other scammers on the internet, nor them saying 'completely free'. Usually, they'll throw in a 'small payment' or something along those lines.

From: Sokkas_B00merang 9:50 pm Is there any way for me to know you're real?

From: KateLoftinFireStudios 9:51 pm Oh, I'm so sorry about that. I usually lead with that. Yes, here is my card, I blacked out my phone number for obvious reasons. If you would like, you can request to follow me on Instagram and you can see some personal photos I have with him.

The picture that comes in is crystal clear and it's what she says it is: a business card. Sokka clicks on the photo so that it comes up bigger and he inspects the card. There's her name, and underneath it says Social Media Specialist and Publicist, the scribble of what looks like a Snapchat coloring over the phone number and email.

Okay, this shit is weird and actually kind of real looking. Before he actually starts to get his hopes up, Sokka goes to Kate's profile and hits the Request to Follow button, and within thirty seconds, his request is approved and he is able to go to her page.

The majority of the pictures are of her and several of her at the pool drinking some frozen alcoholic drink. But, every so often, there's a picture with someone famous. There's that girl from that K-Pop group he hears so much about, or that actor from the newest James Bond movie, and a little further down, is Zuko. The caption reads Great night with great company. He clicks the photo and the top comment is from Zuko's official account. It's just a heart, but still, this shit is weirdly realistic.

He goes back to the messages,

From: Sokkas_B00merang 10:02 pm Okay, I'll give you this, your stuff looks legit. Just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for you to ask me to input my credit card number.

From: KateLoftinFireStudios 10:03 pm Lol no, nothing of that sort. I just need to know when you are free within the next two weeks so I can get a meeting set up between you two.

~~~

Even though Sokka still has a sliver of a doubt about this whole thing, he is also having that rush of excitement at possibly meeting a celebrity. But not just any celebrity, the hottest model that Sokka has ever had the privilege of masterbating to. He started appearing in magazines a little bit before the pandemic, and once everyone was confinded indoors, his image seemed to be everywhere.

Sokka has a few magazines that Zuko is featured in scattered about in his apartment, and even though the majority of the time, he is fully clothed, there is that random picture of him in underwear or swimsuit. His lean body has the perfect amount of wiry muscles and his abs are defined but not overly in your face. His scar, although Sokka is sure was incredibly painful, gives the man a sense of mystery and ruggedness.

When it's finally time for the meeting, Sokka pulls out his old laptop from the back of his closet and powers it on. He'd rather be safe than sorry just in case it is actually spam and they give his computer some sort of virus. He has it set up on his coffee table and with him on the floor, his back pressed against the couch.

He's still waiting in the Zoom calls 'lobby' waiting for the host- or Zuko- to start the meeting. Sokka checks his reflection in the little square that shows his picture and he quickly reaches up and adjusts his hair and checks for eye boogies one more time.

The computer makes a sound, letting him know that someone has started the chat and his heart freezes for about .5 seconds as the screen changes. The person he's supposed to be chatting with still doesn't have their camera on so he can't see if it's actually going to be The Zuko or some ramdom guy from a different country trying to steal his identity.

"Bloody hell, you would think I would know how to do this by now," a woman with a British accent says. "Sokka- am I pronouncing your name right?"

"Uh..." he hesitates, but nods his head. "Yeah. You pronounced it right."

"Great, this is Kate," the British woman says. "Zuko is in the other room, said something about his shirt. I can't seem to understand why- Ah!" the camera finally comes on, "There we go!" and a beautiful woman comes into view. She's sitting in what appears to be a kitchen; there's a stove and the edge of a stainless steel fridge behind her. The breath is actually sucked out of him. That's the lady that was in the Instagram posts... which means...

"Is that him?" a raspy voice sounds from off-camera and Sokka's eyes widen. He would recognize that voice anywhere. From all the interviews that Sokka has watched, he would be able to pick this man's voice out of a lineup any day. Kate glances to the right of the screen and gives a small nod and a smile.

"Okay, Sokka. So the way this works, you and Zuko get to chat for about thirty minutes before it automatically kicks both of you out. For legal reasons, Zuko won't disclose any personal information like where he is, phone number, or things of that sort and you also don't have to disclose any information that you don't want to. Sound good?"

Sokka can't even really bring himself to say anything, but just nods, his eyes still as big as dinner plates.

"Great, well here he is." Kate turns to Zuko who is still offscreen, "I'm going to be down the hall in the office, I'll come back a few minutes before the time is u p to give you a warning, okay?" She turns back to Sokka, "Bye, Sokka. It was great chatting with you!" She walks off the screen and a tall figure takes her place.

If it's even possible, the breath is sucked out of Sokka again at the fact that Zuko fucking Sozin, the most beautiful model his eyes have ever laid upon, drops down into the chair in front of the camera.

"Oh my god," Sokka whispers.

"What?" Zuko asks, his brow furrowing.

"I didn't actually think- I mean... you're real!" Sokka says, his voice cracking slightly.

Zuko huffs out an awkward laugh, "Yeah, and you're real, I mean, of course, you'd be real. I just didn't believe Kate when she told me about the Zoom meeting because, I mean, who does this sort of thing? I- I don't mean that I don't want to talk with you, I just- I'm totally new to all of this-" he cuts himself off, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

Sokka cant' help the smile that comes onto his face. God, this guy is cute. In the magazines, he just radiates confidence and sex appeal, but in real life, he is so painfully awkward that it's cute. "You don't talk to fans often?" Sokka asks, deciding to help him out a little.

"I wouldn't necessarily say I have fans..." Zuko mumbles, running a hand through his shaggy hair. "I mean, sure, there are people who like me, but fans- I think that's being a little generous."

"Nah, man. I'm definitely a fan," Sokka gives him a charming smile and Zuko gives him a small one back. "You say you're new to this, but I've been seeing you in magazines and stuff for years now, since before the pandemic."

"Oh, yeah, no. I didn't mean new to the modeling thing, I meant new to the talking to people who... like me?" he finishes awkwardly with a shrug.

Sokka can't help but snort a laugh out through his nose, "I'm finding that a little hard to believe that you- mister beautiful famous model man- is nervous talking to me, a guy who ids barely surviving working at his dad's mechanic shop."

"I don't know about the beautiful part," Zuko grumbles and looks down, his blush deepening just a little and starting to spread down his neck. Sokka can just barely see his fingers picking at something on the table he is at. This is the second time he has been self-deprecating and Sokka can tell he's not doing it in a way of fishing for compliments, but rather, he genuinely believes what he is saying. He also notices how Zuko didn't deny the fact that he is nervous talking to him, but rather, denied that he is pretty.

"Well, what made your publicist choose me for you to talk to?" he asks curiously. Sokka does not expect the full-on bright red blush that overtakes Zuko's cheeks even more and goes down his neck, disappearing into his shirt. His eyes go wide and he quickly looks off-screen and then back at Sokka, trying to stammer out a response. There's something about making Zuko blush with every other question that is really getting to Sokka. "What?" he asks, his mouth quirking up into a smile as he tries fighting off his own blush.

"It was random, Kate just pulled someone from the comments and- set it up," he doesn't look at Sokka when he says this so he knows that Zuko is partially lying, but he won't call him out on it... yet.

"Ah, well, what comment did I leave that made her click on me?" Sokka thought this was an innocent enough question, but the way Zuko's blush deepens, he can only guess. Actually... he doesn't even need to guess, he knows what comment it was. "Oh... yeah, I know which one, don't say that out loud, uh..." Sokka starts. In his defense, he was incredibly stoned when he posted that comment to Zuko's Instagram account.

The picture in question was of Zuko lying on the edge of a pool, his drenched white shirt pulled up to expose his stomach. There were artfully placed droplets of water scattered about on his face and the way the sunlight- or artificial light, whatever- brought out his light brown eyes, making them look like dripping honey.

The comment that Sokka had left isn't exactly something he is proud of and to be honest, he completely forgot about until now. What I would do to have this man underneath me isn't exactly something that screams 'strike up a conversation with me'.

His ex, Suki, had beat manners into him and how awful it is to degrade women by talking like that, and of course, the sentiment extended to men. But, Sokka was never very good at keeping his mouth in check while under the influence, so he knows what he said wasn't exactly 'chivalrous'.

Zuko finally looks back up at the camera and gives a small laugh at Sokka's sudden awkwardness, "Now who is the one that's nervous?"

Sokka snorts, not expecting the joke to come from him, "Oh, he's got jokes?" he asks through his laughter. It's weird how easy it is talking to Zuko, they're talking like they're both normal people instead of half the party being incredibly famous and the other half being incredibly not famous.

Zuko's smile brightens just a little and he visibly seems to loosen up the longer they talk. They start poking fun at one another as if they've been friends for years. It's only when he hears the familiar British accent off-camera that he knows their thirty minutes are coming to a close.

"it was really great talking with you, Sokka," Zuko says, his voice lowering slightly and making a warmth settle in Sokka's belly. God, the way his name sounds on this man's lips.

He gulps at the same time he tries to say, "Yeah-" he coughs a little, clearing his throat, "Yeah, I can't believe I actually got to meet you, it's unreal. You're unreal."

Zuko laughs a little, "I'm really glad we met, hopefully we'll talk again soon."

Sokka's eyes widen, "Wait, what do you mean-" but the Zoom call ends before he can even ask what Zuko means by Hopefully we'll talk again soon. How would they talk soon? There's no chance of them meeting in public, mostly because he doesn't even know where Zuko lives, but also because, what is the fucking chance that he would meet a celebrity when the only places he go4es to are the coffee house down the street, work, and the community college a town over?

He stares at the Zoom home page for a few minutes longer, trying to process the whole encounter. At one point, he thinks they were flirting, but he couldn't be sure, because, like, why the fuck would a fine-ass model flirt with him?

Shaking his head slightly, sure that he will wake up in a few minutes from some coma that he's been in, he stands up from the coffee table, scooping his phone into his hand, and starts down the hallway towards his bedroom.

He flicks on the light when he gets two notifications, one after the other, from Instagram. Opening his phone and navigating to the app, a smile breaks across his face.

Zuko.Sozin followed you

A new message from Zuko.Sozin 7:48 pm And yeah, I'd like to be underneath you, too.

Read the rest of the series on ArchiveofOurOwn.com

#zukka #zuko #sokka #zukoxsokka #zuko x sokka #sokkaxzuko #sokka x zuko #flirting #model!zuko #mechanic!sokka #fluff #atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #modern au #original character

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mycomfortblanket · 3 months ago

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Like it's the First Time

Chapter One Written for Zukka Week 2024

Sokka is sitting at his favorite tea shop slurping his drink while scrolling through his phone when his roommate plops down in the chair across from him. Zuko drops his head down onto the table with a thump and grumbles something unintelligible.

Without looking away from his phone, Sokka says, “Can’t understand you when your face is pressed into the table, numbnuts. We’ve been over this.” He clicks the lock button and sets his phone on the table to look at Zuko, his eyebrow raised expectantly.

Sighing in that deeply dramatic way he does, Zuko picks his head up off the table and reaches behind him to untie his apron before pulling it up and off from around his neck, setting it down on the table. He purses his lips a little as if debating how to form the sentence. Eventually, he raises his chin and looks Sokka dead in the eye. The intensity of Zuko’s gaze makes Sokka sit up straighter, his eyebrows coming together in a worried furrow. “My dad is coming to town.”

“Oh?” Sokka acknowledges in a low voice. For normal human beings, their parents coming to visit can cause a wide berth of emotions, but he has never met someone who has such a strong (and understandable) fear of their father while still maintaining contact.

“And I need you to do me a favor,” Zuko continues. Sokka’s mind is instantly running with all of the things they are going to need to do if Zuko’s dad is as bad as he says he is (and Sokka has the horrifying feeling Zuko is downplaying a lot of things about his dad).

“Yeah, sure, buddy. Name it.”

“I need you to be my boyfriend for the week.” For a split second, Sokka thinks he is joking, that Zuko finally figured out how to make a gay joke except this one doesn’t make sense and the look in his eyes is deadly serious.

Realizing he is 100% serious and there is no punchline, Sokka finally says, his voice cracking a little. “Okay, yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Can I ask why?”

Zuko’s shoulders finally drop and he averts his eyes as if he is ashamed. Oh, Sokka thinks. That wasn’t even the hard part of this conversation.

“I’m going to try and cut him off,” Zuko mumbles, his voice barely comprehensible enough for Sokak to fully grasp what he said. Zuko swallows hard but then sets his shoulders back, raises his chin, and looks Sokka in the eye again. “But I want him to see that I do have a boyfriend, that someone does actually want me. It’s going to be the most polite ‘fuck you’ I can manage.”

Sokka is nodding along even though he still isn’t fully understanding what the fuck Zuko is on about, but he is the type of friend that is a ride or die in any and every situation. “Right, totally,” Sokka says, still nodding. “And me pretending to be your boyfriend is going to do what exactly?”

“Zuko!” both of them turn their heads towards the counter of the tea shop and see Iroh, Zuko’s uncle, gesturing to the register where two women are currently looking at the menu. “Could you take these ladies’ orders while I brew up some more tea?”

Sighing heavily, Zuko stands and grabs his apron, slipping it over his head, “We’ll talk about it more tonight.” Moving back towards the counter, Sokka’ eyes follow his movements and he thinks to himself, This is going to go so badly in so many different ways.

~~~

Sokka has his feet propped up on the coffee table as he munches on a bowl of CocoaPuffs while watching New Girl when the door to their apartment opens. Zuko comes shuffling in looking worse for wear as if his shift really kicked his ass. He falls down onto the couch with Sokka and rests his head on the back cushion.

“I don’t think I can do customer service much longer,” he complains.

Scooping up another bite of cereal, Sokka says, “I don’t know why you work there in the first place, it's not like you’re hurting for money or Iroh needs the help.” He takes another bite of cereal and looks over at his roommate.

Sighing deeply, Zuko rubs the palm of his hands into his eyes, “I know. I don’t know why I do it either, I guess because it makes Uncle happy to have me around.” Zuko lifts his head up and stares at the bowl in Sokka’s hands, “Is that what you’re eating for dinner?”

Sokka is sensing that Zuko wants to avoid the topic of pretending to be boyfriends for a while, but putting things off has never been Sokka’s strong suit. He was more of a run into the burning building and worry about consequences later. He nods his head to Zuko’s question but starts in on the conversation from earlier. “So, this proposition…” He trails off letting Zuko decide where he wants to take the conversation.

“Yeah,” he sighs deeply, “I know it pounds fucking stupid and it’s not going to fucking work, but…” he looks down at his hands, his thumbs twiddling.

“What made you decide to cut him off finally?”

It’s a moment before Zuko answers and he sounds so dejected, “He called the other night and was telling me how I was amounting to nothing, why couldn’t I be like Azula- who, mind you, is not doing too well, but he doesn’t know that, I guess. But he continued on telling me no one is going to want someone who is-” he hesitates on the next word, “as pathetic as me,” he finishes lamely.

“And so you told him you have a boyfriend,” Sokka tries to finish for him.

“Yes and no… I just told him I was dating someone.” Zuko glances up at Sokka and he watches as realization dawns on his face.

“Oh, okay. So this is like ‘Hey, I’m gay and there’s really nothing you can do about it so fuck off’ kind of thing?” Zuko gives him an attempt at a smile that is mostly apologetic. Sokka thinks about it for a moment, would they actually be able to pull something like this off? Flirting with Zuko would be no problem. Sokka’s bi-awakening had occurred the day the two of them moved in together four years ago. The guy is fucking hot, despite the massive scar that takes up a third of his face; actually, his scar increases his appeal. The fact that he doesn’t know the extent of his attractiveness makes it all the better. Sokka always has to restrain himself from staring a little too long when Zuko walks around the apartment shirtless, so no, flirting won’t be a problem. But the physical part of it might be a little difficult.

Although okka can flirt with anyone, especially someone as hot as Zuko, it’s different when it comes to the physical stuff. He has no problem admitting a guy is attractive but actually doing something about it? Kissing him? That seems a little too far for what he is comfortable with- he only fully accepted his bi-ness earlier that year. Before that, it was complete denial and several long talks to himself in the mirror.

Zuko’s panicked look grows the longer Sokka is quiet and he isi just about to say ‘forget it’ when Sokka exhales long, “Okay. I’m all for the ‘fuck you’ part. As for the dating part,” Sokka hesitates. “I’m not going to lie to you dude, I don’t exactly know how comfortable I am with all of it. Flirting, sure… but the rest of it?” he shakes his head.

“No, no. I totally get it. I don’t think there has to be more than just hand holding and maybe the occasional arm over the shoulders, I don’t think it will have to go to-” he swallows, “to do any of that.” Sokka nods to this.

“Okay. Yeah, yeah let’s do it. Let’s fuck with your dad.”

~~~

As the end of the week draws to a close, Zuko and Sokka have finished making their apartment look as presentable as possible. The mysterious stains on the couch have been scrubbed out, carpet shampooed and vacuumed, and they even managed to put the tv stand together rather than still having it in the box with the tv sitting on top of it.

The day before Zuko’s dad is set to touch down in their part of the country is probably one of the worst days they have had since they moved in together. Not because they’re fighting but because the tension and anxiety that is radiating off of Zuko can be felt throughout the apartment. The guy in question has been pacing up and down their flat for the past 30 minutes muttering to himself about possible scenarios that could go wrong. Sokka, having always been the more chill of the two, is lounging on the couch with his Lucky Charms watching as Zuko paces.

“Dude, you’re going to wear a hole in the carpet if you don’t stop,” Sokka says around a mouthful.

“What if he is immediately able to tell that we’re not together?” Zuko asks, biting at his nail, his eyebrows coming together in the middle. Sokak can see imaginary scenarios playing through Zuko’s mind and all the possible outcomes that could come from every single scenario.

Taking another bite of cereal, Sokka sighs deeply. They’ve had this conversation several times over the past few weeks about how they were going to act around each other, around his dad, asd well as boundaries that should and shouldn’t be crossed. It’s only after he slurps the sugary remains of milk from his bowl and sets it down on the coffee table does he stand up and move into Zuko’s path.

“Hey, man,” Sokka’s hands rest on Zuko’s shoulders, bringing him to a stop. Zuko looks up at him, the crease in his brow is still there along with his thumbnail between his teeth. “If we need to go over the rules again, we can. If you want to practice, we can. Just tell me what you need. Let’s not worry about it, let’s work through it, yeah?”

Zuko nods his head, his thumb leaving his mouth but the furrow in his brow even deeper than before. He moves to sit down on the spot that Sokka had just occupied a moment before and he drops his head into his hands. Sokka, being the good man that he is, takes the empty bowl into the kitchen, rinses it, and places it in the dishwasher so that it’s not another thing that Zuko panics about. Coming back into the kitchen, Sokka sits down next to Zuko with a respectable distance between them, but close enough for whatever they’re about to do. .

“So, what exactly did you have in mind? Touching? Kissing?” Sokka says easily enough but it feels like his tongue is incredibly thick. His heart is threatening to beat out of his chest. He hasn’t touched another male since his sexual awakening and although he trusts Zuko with everything and has no problem doing this for Zuko, a part of him is a little disappointed that all of his firsts with a guy are going to be fake.

“Let’s just start simple. I don’t think it would go much further than physical contact like hand holding,” Zuko says in a low voice and then holds his hand palm up resting on his knee. Sokka stares at it for a second and then slowly raises his own hand and interlaces their fingers together.

Sokka lets out a breath and laughs a little. He doesn’t know why he hesitated so hard about holding Zuko’s hand. It’s not the first time they’ve held hands. Their friend group is pretty touchy and sometimes, the games they play require physical contact like this. Maybe it’s because it’s more than just holding hands this time. It actually means something to Sokka this time unlike last time when it was a game.

“Yeah? Good for more?” he asks Zuko and looks up from their clasped hands.

“Seems like I’m the one that should be asking that. You seemed kind of shocked there for a moment.”

Sokka laughs again and looks back down at their hands, “No, I’m good. Just… I don’t know. I’m good, let’s continue.”

Zuko nods and bites his lip a little. “Could I kiss you?”

Sokka jerks his gaze up and maybe Zuko can read the panic in his eyes because he immediately backtracks, “I meant on the cheek. Can I kiss you on the cheek?”

Oh. Right. He literally just said that it wouldn’t have to go further than the physical contact and while a kiss on the cheek is just a smidge further, it’s not necessarily the worst thing in the world. He nods his head and then turns his head so he is facing forward, waiting for the kiss.

Zuko scooches over a little until they’re pressed together from their hips and along their thighs to their knees. He leans in slowly and Sokka feels his breath caress his cheek a split second before his lips do. Immediately, once they make contact, Sokka’s eyes close and he sucks in a breath.

The kiss to his cheek isn’t anything scandalous, nor is Zuko pressing into him heavily. If anything, it’s the barest of touches, could probably hardly be considered a kiss. When he pulls away, Sokka turns his head to face Zuko and they’re close. Incredibly close. There’s a slight blush on Zuko’s cheeks, not prominent enough that Sokka would’ve noticed if they were standing apart like they normally do, but since they’re so close…

Sokka licks his lips and he can’t tear his eyes away from Zuko’s. Had they always been this enticing? Up close, there are honey colored specs littered among the depths of brown. His eyes roam over Zuko’s cheeks, taking in the ever so light freckles that dust the bridge of his nose, the slight ridges of his scar, the thickness of his eyebrows. He takes it all in like he is seeing Zuko for the first time.

He swallows hard and pulls back a little. “That was good, right? You felt good doing that, felt normal enough?”

Zuko clears his throat and pulls away as well, “Yeah. I think we’re good. Shouldn’t be anything more than that I think.”

Sokka nods and stands up, “Right. Well, I need to,” he gestures towards his room and Zuko nods looking away. Sokka walks to his room and closes the door as gently as he can and then rests his back against it, releasing a large breath.

There’s absolutely no reason it felt like that…right?

#zukka week 2024 #zukka week #day one #fake dating #zukka #atla #avatar the last airbender #sokka #zuko #chapter one #okkaxzuko #zukoxsokka

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