Written for Dawen, for a request from a super sappy prompt lines list.
Zuko tugged a decorative drapery aside and stepped through into the half-private space beyond, relaxing a little as the material fell back into place, blocking the view from outside. He loved his people but he was still . . . not really used to being quite so heavily focused on by crowds, even when it was only natural as he stood before them to give speeches or give proclamations.
Sokka gasped, and Zuko eyed him curiously. "Zuko!" Sokka said brightly.
"Sokka." Zuko replied, raising his eyebrow. He nodded a greeting to the others in the small pavilion as he crossed it, then folded himself down to the cushion beside his lover. He leaned away, startled, when Sokka suddenly lunged for him. "What-"
"Pretty. . ." Sokka said, and Zuko froze. Sokka stroked his cheek, leaning close and giving Zuko a soft-eyed look.
Zuko tipped his head and ran his fingers over Sokka's wrist. "What?" he asked dubiously.
"You're so pretty." Sokka crooned, looping an arm around Zuko's shoulders and leaning heavily against him, then pulling back just enough to smooth a hand down his chest. He fiddled with one of the embroidered dragons along the front of Zuko's festival surcoat. "Baby. . ."
"So," Zuko began, "how much did you drink while I was gone?" he asked, clearing his throat.
Sokka sniffed. "I'm not drunk!" he protested, then laughed. "I might be a little tipsy. And you are very pretty." he said again, petting Zuko's cheek.
Zuko laughed, shifting to let Sokka's weight rest against his shoulder more easily, steadying their balance. "If you say so." he said, shaking his head.
"I do say so!" Sokka said firmly, and put a piece of candied fruit in Zuko's mouth when he opened it to reply. "And I don't have to be drunk to notice it - are you saying I never compliment you normally?" Zuko made a muffled noise through the slice of lightly-spiced, heavily sweet fruit, unable to answer if he wanted to. "Are you done doing Fire Lord-y things?" Sokka continued without waiting for a better response, stroking Zuko's wrist lightly.
Zuko grumbled wordlessly, swallowing the bite Sokka had shoved upon him.
"Yes." Mai provided for him from where Ty Lee was, it seemed, thus far unsuccessfully attempting to ply her with some kind of foreign pastry. "Speech, ceremonial blessing, and a display of strength. Now Zuko's performed those things, it's all partying." she said dryly, smoothly deflecting Ty Lee's hand with the rim of her cup.
"Until someone gets too drunk and sets something on fire!" Ty Lee said brightly, and Zuko groaned, letting himself fall backwards. The floor of the pavilion was covered with rich rugs anyway, deadening the thump as he hit the ground.
"Does that happen a lot?" Sokka asked, leaning over Zuko, his balance only a little wobbly.
Zuko raised one hand and moved it in an 'eh, sometimes' gesture.
"We're used to it." Mai said, her voice coming closer. "It won't cause much damage and it's unlikely anyone will get hurt. The force assigned to patrol the festival are experienced in dealing with such outbursts, and those tend to be non-aggressive in any case. But when it starts happening more often, it tends to signify the end of a festival." she added dryly.
Zuko snorted.
"The Fire Nation is weird." Sokka said, straightening and reaching for his cup. "I knew this," he explained matter-of-factly, "but I thought I'd tell you again."
"Riveting." Mai replied as Zuko sat up again. Zuko's lips twitched as he met her gaze. Her own lips quirked upwards a fraction. She hadn't ever said it, because Mai hardly ever said such things, but she liked Sokka.
Sokka made a face at Mai, and she gave a soft sound of amusement but otherwise ignored him as she pushed a pitcher of wine towards Zuko. He eyed it. Mai snorted delicately, and Zuko reached for an empty cup, pouring a drink for himself as Ty Lee leaned over the table to talk to Sokka about the usual types of fire damage during festivals.
Zuko paused barely inside the door as one of the guards closed it for him. His lips curled into an amused, fond smile as he watched Sokka throw off his fine clothes carelessly, leaving them strewn over the floor and a bureau and a low table. Sokka glanced at him with a giggly laugh and a broad grin.
Zuko shook his head and moved across the room, leaving Sokka to happily divest himself of his festival wear.
Zuko began working at the long row of snug toggles woven into the claws and tails of the dragons embroidered along the front closure of his surcoat. By the time he had removed both the surcoat with its heavy embroidery and the only slightly lighter layer beneath, setting them neatly aside atop the clothespress, Sokka had finished changing, now wearing nothing more than a pair of loose blue pants. Zuko turned just in time to see him tumbling into their bed with a laugh, sprawling out like he was trying to take up as much space as humanly possible.
Sokka was good at that, although he didn't do it so much when he was actually sleeping.
Zuko unpinned his hair, groaning quietly as it fell around his shoulders, leaving his head tingling a bit now it was relieved of the slight weight of the Fire Lord's insignia - he set it aside on the dressing table with a dull clink - and the tight pull of his topknot. "Why," he asked idly, running his fingers through his hair to loosen the light kinks the topknot had left, "do you always seem to end up going so silly at festivals and celebrations?"
"Does it bother you?" Sokka asked, rolling over quickly and propping himself up. He was significantly more clear-eyed than he had been earlier, and he frowned slightly as he returned Zuko's look.
Zuko turned away again, glancing over his shoulder at Sokka as he reached for the next set of ties. "No, love." he replied with a quirk of a smile. "You're just- I don't think I could ever relax that much." he admitted, shaking his head slightly. "You . . . really just have fun at those things. Even if it does mean sometimes you get drunk. Or," he paused, giving Sokka an arch look, "tipsy."
"Loosening up doesn't really come naturally to you, does it, baby?" Sokka asked, yawning as he stretched out on the bed.
Zuko shrugged as he folded the final layer of his festival garb and left it over the clothespress with the rest; an attendant would collect it tomorrow for cleaning and storage away from his 'everyday' clothes, formal and not. "I suppose not. Certainly now that I'm," he gestured vaguely, meaning Fire Lord and responsible for so much and subject to everyone watching me, "it's not any easier."
"My poor repressed prince." Sokka crooned, and Zuko snorted, rolling his shoulders.
"I'm not a prince any more." Zuko pointed out, and Sokka laughed, the bright, silly peal of the sound making Zuko smile.
"You're still my prince." Sokka said after a few moments, though, and this time Zuko laughed.
"That doesn't even make any sense." Zuko told him, lightly tying his own loose, comfortable pants before moving towards the bed. "I was never your prince to begin with, Water Tribe," he emphasised playfully, "and I've quite thoroughly been invested anyway. Not a prince any more. You were there." he added dryly.
Sokka giggled, slightly muffled by the hand he'd plastered across his own face as Zuko spoke.
Zuko shook his head again, sliding into bed and putting out most of the lamps with a focused gesture before stretching and lying back comfortably.
A moment later, as he was settling on the mattress, it shifted beneath him - Sokka coming closer.
"You really are, you know." Sokka said quietly, and Zuko gave an inquisitive hum, a lazy shift bringing him almost into the centre of the big bed. Sokka pushed up on one arm, leaning over Zuko and meeting his eyes with a soft smile. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
Zuko's eyes widened and he looked away, flushing.
Sokka cupped his jaw, thumb stroking lightly along his cheek. "You are." He bent, kissing Zuko lightly at one corner of his mouth. "My beautiful prince." He murmured, then kissed Zuko again, humming softly when Zuko curled one hand at the nape of his neck. "Sorry, my beautiful Fire Lord." Sokka corrected himself after a moment, laughing against his mouth. "Zuko." he murmured, sweet and soft.
Zuko felt warmth rising under his skin, and he rubbed at his cheek as though he could make the flush no doubt becoming quite obvious there go away. "But I-" he began.
"Shush, don't argue." Sokka scolded, shifting and stretching out beside him, pressing lazy kisses along the line of his jaw.
". . .as you wish." Zuko turned a little onto his side to get closer. "I love you." he said instead, the words breathed quietly into the small space between them.
Sokka smiled, his pretty blue eyes still soft, as they had been earlier, but clear and focused now. "I love you, too, baby." He nuzzled Zuko's jaw, tugging him close, and Zuko let himself be pulled in, snuggling against Sokka's shoulder.
Sokka sighed contentedly, looping one arm around Zuko's shoulders and hooking one leg between Zuko's.
The request was, of course, for the line "you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen".