"And I could die
To find that simple kind of love
You can't deny"
–Say It, Just Say It, The Mowgli's
The Ember Island Beach boardwalk is always crowded this time of year. Sokka weaves nimbly between pedestrians, his skateboard trundling along the cracked pavement. He's just skirted around a gaggle of wide-eyed tourists when there's an unfamiliar flash of green in the corner of his eye—and he skids to a stop so suddenly that he almost drops his slushie.
"Shit!" he yelps, flailing to catch it before it hits the ground. A few passerby give him weird looks, but he ignores them, thoroughly distracted by the shopfront before him.
His family has been coming to Ember Island every summer since he was little, so he knows the boardwalk like the back of his hand—and this shop definitely wasn't here last year. What he remembers was once an ailing convenience store has been completely transformed: the peeling white paint has been replaced with a fresh coat of jade green, and the polished windows show the work of a loving hand. Taped up against the inside of the windows are multitudes of ink drawings, interspersed with a handful of colourful stickers. A flimsy cork-board is propped up beside the front door, pinned with paper cutouts of more ink drawings, with a little label at the top that reads "Flash Tattoos" in handwritten characters.
The sign above the shop reads "The Jasmine Dragon Tattoo and Piercing". The front door is propped open invitingly.
Sokka sucks in a sharp breath. He's always wanted to get his ears pierced…
But shit, his dads would totally kill him. Well, maybe not kill him, but Hakoda would give him that disappointed look that makes Sokka feel like shit and Bato would probably judge him but still try to act supportive. Although…Sokka is twenty-one now, he's been an adult for three whole years—he can make his own decisions about his body. Right?
…Maybe he should get a second opinion.
Before he lets himself think about it too hard, he pulls out his phone and hits dial on the most recent number in his contacts. It rings a few times, then:
"What do you want?"
"Hey, Katara," Sokka says. He rolls his skateboard around on the ground with his foot, swirls his slushie around with his free hand. "What would you say if I got my ears pierced?"
"What, like right now?"
"Yeah."
"Sokka…" He knows that tone of voice. It's the one she uses when she knows he's about to do something stupid.
"Come on, you know I've wanted to get my ears pierced for like, forever."
"Where would you even get it done though? There aren't any piercing shops in town." A gasp. "Don't tell me you're planning on doing it yourself."
"No, no, of course not! I'm not that stupid. Spirits, have a little faith in me." He rolls his eyes, even though she can't see it. "There's actually a shop that just opened up on the boardwalk. It's called The Jasmine Dragon?"
The audio crackles a little bit as she sighs. "Don't move. I'll meet you there." And then she hangs up.
Sokka blinks down at his phone. The call didn't even last an entire minute.
Well, good to know that his sister is willing to drop everything to come support his impulse decisions.
Unless she's coming to kick his ass and then drag him home. Or drag him home and then kick his ass. Then that would suck.
He finds an empty bench to sit down on as he waits, rolling his skateboard back and forth beneath his feet. His slushie is doing that annoying thing where he can't suck it up with his straw anymore, so he sets it to the side to let it melt a little in the summer heat. His tank top is starting to stick to his back with sweat—as much as he loves Ember Island, he's still Water Tribe born and raised—but he does his best to ignore it as he scrolls through his phone, hunched over to shield it from the glare of the sun.
He's laughing at some stupid video of a flying lemur—who knew they were so scared of cucumbers?—when a shadow falls over him and he glances up, squinting.
"Hey, stupid," Katara says. She reaches out and ruffles his hair; Sokka bats her hand away with an annoyed huff.
"How many times have I told you to stop doing that?" he whines.
"So many," she says with a smirk.
Sokka pulls the elastic out of his hair and redoes his wolftail as he climbs to his feet. "You want the rest of my slushie?"
She peers over into his cup. "What is that, cherry? Ew, no thanks."
"You're so picky," Sokka says, rolling his eyes and taking a sip.
"Not everyone likes disgustingly artificial sweetness." She crosses her arms. "So, you're really gonna do it this time? No chickening out?"
"Hey, I only 'chickened out' last time because Dad found out at the last second!"
"Sure, whatever you say."
They head over to The Jasmine Dragon, Sokka on his skateboard as Katara pulls him along, the same way they did when they were kids. Katara lets out a quiet whistle as they approach, her eyes raking appreciatively over the refurbished shopfront.
"They really cleaned this place up," she says. "What was even here before, a grocery shop?"
"A convenience store," Sokka answers. "One that specifically sold a lot of cabbages. I have no idea why."
Sokka dumps his empty cup into a nearby garbage can, and then they make their way inside.
It takes a second for Sokka's eyes to adjust to the dimness of the shop—he probably should have been wearing sunglasses outside, but whatever—but when they finally do, he spots a girl with a frankly frightening number of piercings sitting behind a counter against the wall.
"Hi," Sokka says, plastering a winning smile on his face and strolling over. "Do you guys do walk-ins?"
The girl looks up at him—well, in his general direction. Her eyes are a pale, milky white.
"Tattoo or piercing?" she says.
"Um, piercing," Sokka says. "For my ears."
"Mm, yeah, I have time." She jerks her head in Katara's direction, despite Katara not having said anything. "What about you?"
"Oh!" Katara puts her hands up. "Uh, no, nothing for me. I'm just here for moral support."
The girl raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
"Uh, well…"
Sokka turns to look at her, frowning. "Katara?"
She blushes. "Well, I've been kind of thinking about maybe…gettingmybellybuttonpierced," she finishes in a rush.
Sokka's eyebrows shoot up. "Wait, really?"
"What?" she says defensively. "I didn't say anything about you piercing your ears!"
"No, I mean! I'm just surprised. You never said anything about it before. I think it's cool."
"So is that a yes on the bellybutton piercing?" the girl interjects. "Because I can probably squeeze you in before my next appointment, but not if you guys don't stop bickering."
Katara frowns. "Hey, that's a little rude, don't you think?"
"Ignore her!" Sokka says, stepping in front of her. He really doesn't want to get kicked out of the only piercing shop on Ember Island. "Uh, yes on the ear piercings, and uh…" He shoots Katara a questioning look.
She takes a fortifying breath and nods.
"And yes on the bellybutton piercing too," Sokka adds.
"Sweet," the girl says. She hops off her stool and grabs two clipboards, gesturing for them to follow her into the next room. There's a small waiting area with a worn-looking couch, which Sokka flops onto, Katara gingerly settling down next to him. The girl shoves the clipboards in their direction. "Call for me when you're done filling these out; I'll be at my station setting up. My name's Toph."
"Thanks, Toph," Sokka says. Katara just grumbles wordlessly.
As Toph disappears around the corner, Sokka turns to Katara. "You know, you shouldn't be so rude to the person who's literally about to stab you with a needle."
Katara shoves him. "She was rude first!"
They spend the next few minutes filling out the forms—there are a lot more questions than Sokka expected—and then they call Toph back over. She takes the clipboards without even glancing at them.
"You two have your IDs?" she says.
"Oh, yeah, let me just…" Sokka digs around in his bag ("Fanny packs are cool now, Katara, okay?") for his wallet, while Katara roots around in her purse. They brandish their cards towards Toph at the same time.
"Sweet," Toph says, and begins to walk away.
"Um, aren't you even going to look at them?" Katara says.
Sokka elbows her.
"In case you didn't notice, I can't, but I was just going to take your word for it and trust that you guys aren't underage and trying to trick me. But if you really care that much…" Toph sighs. "Aang!"
"Yeah?" A guy's head pops out around the corner, tattooed with a giant blue arrow.
"Check these over for me," Toph says, snatching the IDs out of their hands and handing them to him, together with the clipboards.
Aang takes a second to look over the documents, his brow furrowed in concentration. Then he looks up with a grin. "Looks good to me!"
"Great." Toph gestures for Sokka and Katara to take their IDs back from Aang. "Come with me."
Sokka jumps up, following close on her heels; Katara huffs theatrically but is right behind him. As they pass Aang, Sokka hears him say, "Hey, I like your hair loopies."
"Oh! Thank you," Katara says. "I like your tattoos." Sokka rolls his eyes; he doesn't even have to look back at her to know that she's blushing.
"Thanks!"
"Aang, quit flirting with the customers," Toph says from where she's rummaging around at her station, pulling out a box of black latex gloves.
"I—I wasn't flirting!" Aang sputters.
"Sure you weren't, Twinkletoes." She gestures to the chair in front of her. "Alright, ear guy, you're up first."
"My name's Sokka," he says. He props his skateboard up against the wall and settles gingerly onto the cushioned pleather seat.
"Sokka. Cool name. Water Tribe?" Toph says, but Sokka can barely hear it over the loud buzzing sound that suddenly fills the room. He whips his head around, finally noticing the third station in the far corner of the room. There's a guy hunched over the table, his messy black hair falling into his eyes as he carefully tattoos his client's arm. He pauses for a second, the room going quiet again as he swipes his hair away from his face, and Sokka swears he feels his heart stop.
He's gorgeous.
From here, Sokka can only see the side of his face, but it's enough for him to tell that this guy is beautiful. Like, earth-shatteringly beautiful. Like, you could write poems about that face kind of beautiful—and Sokka has dabbled in poetry himself, so he knows what he's talking about.
Sharp jaw. Strong nose. Stunning, Fire Nation yellow eyes. A head of disheveled, soft-looking hair. The snakebite piercings that adorn his bottom lip make Sokka want to swoon.
And then he turns his head a bit, and Sokka gets a look at his whole face, and oh sweet spirits that is a wicked scar.
"Yeah…" Sokka swallows thickly, his mouth feeling suddenly dry. "Uh, who's that?"
"Who's who?" Toph says.
"Um, guy in the corner. Black hair?" Drop dead gorgeous, he doesn't say. "He's tattooing someone right now."
"Oh, Zuko." Toph grins knowingly. "Yeah, he's one of the tattoo artists here, along with Aang. His uncle owns the shop. Why?"
"Just…curious," Sokka answers. He looks over at Katara, who is watching him with an unimpressed look on her face.
Sokka makes a face at her. Like she's one to talk. She and Aang have been making goo-goo eyes at each other since she walked in.
"Okay," Toph says, drawing his attention back to her. She's holding up a disinfectant wipe. "You ready?"
"Oh," Sokka says. His nerves make a sudden appearance, hitting him all at once, and he feels abruptly like he might pass out. "Um. Yes?"
"We're just talking a standard ear piercing, right? Just the lobes, nothing fancy?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, then you have nothing to worry about." She pats his arm in what is probably supposed to be a comforting way, but it mostly just hurts. "Some people get their ears pierced when they're babies. You'll barely even feel it."
Katara appears next to him. "Do you want me to hold your hand?" she asks. It comes out kind of sarcastic, but Sokka knows that she's being sincere.
"…Yeah," Sokka says, his voice small.
Katara doesn't say anything, and neither does Toph, as Sokka grips Katara's hand with enough force that it probably hurts. He's silently grateful that neither of them make fun of him for it.
"Okay, let's get this show on the road," Toph says, a little too gleefully, and Sokka squeezes his eyes shut.
All thoughts of the beautiful tattoo artist fly out the window as Toph disinfects his earlobe, Sokka doing his best to keep his breathing even. Katara squeezes his hand reassuringly.
The next few minutes pass by in a blur. There's strong pinch on his earlobe, and then the other one a couple minutes later. Katara switches sides to hold his other hand halfway through, freeing up space for Toph. Sokka keeps his eyes shut the entire time.
"Aaand you're done!" Toph finally announces. She pulls off her gloves with a snap.
Sokka peels his eyes open. "Really?"
"Yep!" Toph says, popping the P. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"No, it really wasn't." He automatically reaches up to feel his ears, but Katara slaps his hand away. "How do I look?"
"How should I know? I'm blind!" Toph says, and then dissolves into a fit of laughter.
There's a groan from the other side of the room, and Sokka looks over to see the gorgeous tattoo artist—Zuko—sitting back on his stool, peeling off his gloves. His client is twisting her arm around, admiring her new tattoo from every angle.
"Ignore her," Zuko says. "She does this to all of her clients."
"Because it's funny!" Toph says, slapping her knee.
Sokka doesn't pay her any mind, though, too caught up by the sound of Zuko's voice. Does he smoke? He really hopes he doesn't smoke, because that's bad for your lungs, but holy shit that is a nice voice. So raspy. Spirits, he really hopes that his face isn't betraying any of his thoughts right now, because that would be embarrassing.
"I think it looks really good, Sokka," Katara says. He turns to face her, and she's giving him him that unimpressed look again. So he was being a bit too obvious. "Dad's gonna kill you, though."
"Nah, he won't kill me, because you're getting pierced too. Solidarity!"
"Unless he just kills us both."
"Ah." Sokka sinks back into his seat. "He wouldn't kill both of his children, would he?"
"I guess we'll find out."
"Okay, out of the chair, Snoozles. It's your sister's turn," Toph says. She's already pulling on a new pair of gloves.
Sokka does as he's told. "Snoozles?"
"Yeah, cause I could've sworn you were snoozing as I pierced your ears."
"Genius," Sokka says with a roll of his eyes.
Toph wipes down the chair—and Sokka is a little relieved that she can't see, because that is a pretty gnarly butt-sweat stain that he left on the seat—and gestures for Katara to sit.
Sokka wanders over to the mirror propped up against the wall as Toph lets Katara pick out a piercing. He whistles appreciatively at his reflection, turning his head this way and that.
"Not bad, Sokka, not bad at all," he mutters to himself, admiring the way the metal glints in his ears. He flexes his arms a little, for good measure.
"It looks good," says a voice from behind him, and Sokka nearly jumps out of his skin.
He whirls around to find Zuko standing behind him, hands help up in apology.
"Sorry," he says in that stupidly sexy voice of his. "Didn't mean to startle you."
"It's—it's fine," Sokka says, because what else is he supposed to say when the most beautiful man he's ever seen is standing three feet away from him, and complimenting him on top of that?
Tui and La, he's even prettier up close. Sokka is incredibly thankful at that moment that his dark skin hides his blush so well.
"Um, do you really think it looks good?" he asks, and then immediately wants to smack himself in the face. Fishing for compliments, much?
But then Zuko gives him a small smile, and Sokka thinks okay, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"Yeah," Zuko says. "The silver looks nice. Toph made a good choice."
"Oh." Sokka's hand flies up to his ear. "She didn't even ask me. How…did she know?"
"She's a metalbender," Zuko says, and oh, okay, that explains a lot.
Zuko's eyes suddenly zero in on Sokka's bare shoulder, and he takes a half-step closer. "Is that a tattoo?" he asks, peering intently at Sokka's arm.
Sokka instinctively slaps his hand over it before he realizes what he's doing. He slowly lowers his hand, craning his head around to look at the small crescent moon and stars that adorn his left shoulder.
"Oh, uh, yeah. It's a stick and poke. I did it myself a few years back." He laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. There's a whole story behind it, but he doesn't think he needs to get into his traumatic backstory with a stranger—even if said stranger is mind-numbingly beautiful.
"It's really good," Zuko says. His hand comes up, as if to touch it, and Sokka's stomach drops down to his knees. Zuko seems to think better of it at the last second, though, and he drops his hand back to his side. "It could use a touch-up, though."
"Oh. You think?"
"Yeah." Zuko steps back, out of Sokka's breathing space—Sokka tries not to feel disappointed—looking almost nervous. "Um. I could, do it for you? If you want?"
Sokka perks up immediately. "Really?"
"Yeah." Zuko gives him that little smile again, and Sokka genuinely wishes then that he had a photographic memory so that he could capture the moment and remember it forever. It's that nice. "Um, not right now though. I have another client coming in soon. But I can give you my business card?"
"Yeah, that'd be great!" Sokka says, and shoots Zuko his most winning smile. Zuko ducks his head and motions for Sokka to follow him to the front desk.
Zuko's client is waiting near the counter, looking at her phone. "Just give me a second, Ty Lee," Zuko says, and heads behind the desk. He plucks a business card from the stack and flips it over, pulling a pen from his pocket and uncapping it with his teeth. Sokka should probably find that gross, but he can't stop staring at the way Zuko's lips curl around the pen cap.
"The shop's number is on the card," Zuko says, his words a little garbled by the cap in his mouth, "but my schedule is pretty full, so I'll give you my personal number and I'll text you to let you know when I have some free time."
Sokka wants to pump his fist in triumph, but restrains himself. His personal phone number! Sure, it's for professional reasons, but still. Score.
Zuko proffers the card, and Sokka takes it, their fingers brushing. Sokka tries to cover up the way he shivers at the contact by turning the card over and squinting at the text written on the front.
Zuko Sozin. Tattoo Artist. The Jasmine Dragon.
A single dragon curls around the characters in red ink.
"Sweet. Thanks," Sokka says. He shoves the card into the pocket of his shorts. "I, uh, should probably get back to my sister."
"Yeah, of course," Zuko says. He smiles, and the cap falls out of his mouth. Sokka watches as he scrambles to catch it, but he misses and it falls to the floor. Zuko disappears behind the counter to pick it up—and then there's a loud thud and an "Oof," as the counter rattles violently. There's a beat, and then Zuko emerges, face red and rubbing at the top of his head. It's horrifically endearing.
Sokka presses his lips together, trying not to smile. "I didn't see anything," he says with a wink.
Zuko chuckles. The sound of it makes Sokka's heart beat erratically in his chest. "Thanks."
Sokka claps his hands together. He really needs to get out of here before he does something incredibly stupid, like try to ask Zuko out on a date. "Okay! Well, I'm gonna," Sokka jerks a thumb over his shoulder, "go."
Zuko gives him a little wave. Sokka shoots him some finger guns—finger guns? really?—and spins around, promptly smacking into a potted plant. He rights it with a panicked hiss before it can topple over, makes an embarrassed face at Zuko—and Ty Lee, who is watching this all go down with amused grin—and then shuffles out of the room.
"What were you doing?" Katara asks when he makes his way back to Toph's station. Her shirt is rolled up to expose her midriff, and Toph is busy disinfecting her bellybutton.
"Nothing," Sokka says, too quickly. Katara narrows her eyes at him. "Just, Zuko offered to touch up my tattoo for me, so he gave me his number."
"His number?" Katara's eyes are wide with disbelief.
"His business card." He pulls it out and waves it at her. "Strictly business, don't worry."
Of course, he wouldn't mind if it weren't strictly business, but he's not about to tell that to Katara.
Toph chuckles. "Oh, Sparky," she says, and then doesn't elaborate.
Sokka grabs a chair and pulls it up to sit next to Katara. He can tell that she's nervous, even if she would never admit it. "Do you want me to hold your hand?" he says.
Katara shakes her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm fine."
"Okay." Sokka pulls out his phone, but he leaves one hand free, resting invitingly on his thigh. Just in case.
"Ready?" Toph says.
Katara nods stiffly. When Toph doesn't react, Katara says, "Yes."
"Okay, here we go."
Sokka watches out of the corner of his eye as Katara screws her eyes shut, her fingers digging into the armrests of her chair. The second Toph touches her abdomen, she flinches violently, and whips one hand out to grip Sokka by the bicep. It hurts, like a cat-owl is gouging its claws into his arm, but Sokka keeps his mouth resolutely shut.
"Relax," Toph says, her voice surprisingly gentle. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"I am relaxed!" Katara snaps.
"Katara, it's going to be fine. I barely even felt mine," Sokka says. He pries her fingers away from his arm, and laces their hands together instead. "Come on, are you telling me you're afraid of a little needle? Chicken-pig."
"Don't call me a chicken-pig," she says, frowning. But she does relax a little bit, her shoulders losing some of their stiffness.
"That's better," Toph says. "You think you're ready now?"
"Yeah," Katara says. Sokka squeezes her hand in a way that he hopes is reassuring.
After that, things go rather smoothly. Toph pierces Katara's bellybutton, and Katara only yelps a little, and then the next thing they know Toph is pulling off her gloves with a satisfied grin.
"There you go, Sweetness. Not too bad, right?" Toph says.
Katara gives her a smile that's a little watery around the edges. "Yeah."
Sokka helps Katara out of the chair as Toph begins to tidy up her station. "Just give me a minute, I'll meet you guys out front," Toph says.
Aang looks up from where he's doodling in a sketchbook as they pass him by. "Hey, that looks really great!" he says, nodding towards Katara's still-exposed midriff.
Katara blushes, and pulls her shirt down to cover her stomach. "Thanks."
"You're really brave. I don't think I could ever get any piercings," he says.
"But you're okay with tattoos?" Sokka asks skeptically.
"Tattoos and piercings are completely different!" Aang says, waving his pencil around. "One's just putting ink under the skin, and the other is actually poking a hole through the skin." He shudders.
Sokka rolls his eyes, but Katara looks sympathetic. Sokka grabs his skateboard and pulls her away before they can start making out right in front of him.
"It was nice meeting you, Katara!" Aang calls out as they round the corner. "And you too, Sokka!"
When they get to the front, Zuko is still there, but he's been joined by a new client with a truly unfortunate moustache. Zuko looks up in the middle of explaining something to the guy, and he and Sokka lock eyes. Sokka's stomach flutters. Zuko gives him a small smile, his eyes crinkling minutely, and then he turns back towards his client.
They loiter awkwardly for a minute—Sokka valiantly ignoring the knowing looks that Katara is shooting his way—until Toph arrives, rubbing her hands together.
"Alright, Sparky. Scoot," she says, hip-checking Zuko out of the way. She barely comes up to his chin, but that doesn't stop Zuko from stumbling and nearly careening into the wall. He catches himself with a hand on the desk and shoots Toph a half-hearted glare. It's kind of adorable.
"I'm with a client," he grumbles, but moves out of the way. "Haru, we can move to the waiting room if you'd like."
"Sure," Ugly Moustache Guy says, and follows as Zuko leads him out of the room.
Right before Zuko walks out, he turns around and says, to Sokka, "Don't forget to text me. Um, for your touch-up, I mean."
"I won't!" Sokka says, bouncing on his heels and giving Zuko an enthusiastic little wave. Zuko grins self-consciously and waves back before stepping through the doorway, and Sokka's heart soars.
When Sokka turns back to Toph and Katara, he's still smiling, feeling light as air. They're both giving him the same knowing look—which is really weird, since Toph can't even see—and Sokka does his best to wipe the grin off his face, but he doesn't think he's entirely successful, if the way his cheeks are twitching is any indication.
"…Anyways," Toph says. She pulls out a bottle from behind the counter and pushes it towards Katara. "Here's the cleaning solution for your piercings. It's a big bottle, so you two can probably share."
She walks the two of them through the process of caring for their brand new piercings. Sokka does his best to follow along, but he's about ninety percent sure that he's going to forget most of it by the time they get home. As if reading his mind, Toph pulls out a small brochure and places it on the counter.
"And here are the written instructions, just in case you forget. I've never read them, obviously, but I'm pretty sure they're legit." She taps her chin thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side. "I feel like I'm forgetting something…" Her face lights up, and she snaps her fingers. "Oh! Are either of you guys waterbenders?"
"I am," Katara says.
"Okay, great. No using any healing on the piercings; it'll just close up the holes. You need to let them heal naturally."
Katara pouts, and Sokka jostles her with his shoulder. "Guess you can't use waterbending for everything," he says cheekily.
"Whatever," she says, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.
Toph rings them up, and Sokka pays for the both of them, leaving a hefty tip. If there's one thing that his dad taught him, it's to tip often and to tip well.
"Thank you so much, Toph," Sokka says, putting his wallet away. "Seriously."
"Yeah, thanks, Toph," Katara says, only a little begrudgingly.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, you're welcome," Toph says. She ushers them towards the door. "Now shoo, I have another client coming soon and I don't need you two crowding up the place."
"Tell Aang I said bye," Katara adds.
"I will. Now get." Toph pushes them bodily out the door, and they stumble out into the late afternoon sun, blinking against the sudden brightness.
Sokka turns to Katara. "Well. We really did that."
"Yeah, we did." She giggles. "Oh, Dad's gonna be so mad."
"Spirits. I don't even want to think about it. Wanna go get some ice cream?"
"Didn't you just have a slushie?"
"Yeah, and now I want ice cream."
Katara shakes her head at him in disbelief. "I will never understand you."
They go to the little ice cream shop that sits a block away—Sokka gets a double scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough and cookies n' cream, while Katara gets a single scoop of vanilla, because she's boring—and wander leisurely around the boardwalk as the ice cream drips down their fingers, in no rush to get home.
Eventually, though, their phones light up with twin texts from Hakoda in the family group chat, warning them that dinner will be ready in twenty minutes. Sokka shoots Katara a panicked look; he finds his trepidation mirrored in her own expression.
"Well," Sokka says. "Here goes nothing."
It's really not that bad, in the end. Sure, Hakoda's eyes nearly pop out of his head when Sokka walks through the door with his brand new bling in his ears, and Bato almost busts a rib laughing when Katara meekly pulls up her shirt to show off her bellybutton piercing. But neither of them are angry—even though Hakoda does shake his head and shoots them both that signature disappointed look.
Sokka can't even find it in himself to feel bad, though. As he sits at the dinner table, his family talking boisterously around him, he slips his hand into his pocket and thumbs the hard edge of Zuko's business card. If he runs his finger over it, he swears that he can just barely feel the indent of Zuko's phone number scrawled on the back.
It sends a thrill of excitement shooting through him.
Yeah, he thinks. The piercings were definitely a good idea.