"How are you doing over there?"

"…can I resign from Fire Lord and go back to chasing the Avatar? Can I go back to being a tea server? I would take customer service over this."

Sokka gasped dramatically and held his hand to his chest. "You lie!"

"I'm terrible at lying. Miss Chen, who wanted her ginseng tea without the ginseng is infinitely preferable to Councilman Shun's ridiculousness. I just want to fire him, Sokka."

"Like, from his job, or…?" And Zuko apparently took a little too long to answer or looked a little too thoughtful when asked because Sokka laughed and then threw his arms out across Zuko's desk and waved them frantically like he could distract him from writing out that very decision all official-like. "Hey, no, no, no. No."

"Solving political dissent with single combat is tradition! " Zuko defended. "I'm being traditional. "

"You hate tradition."

"Sokka…" Zuko did not whine.

Sokka stretched across the entirely-too-small-for-this-quantity-of-paperwork desk to pat his head anyway. Probably covering his entire top in still-wet ink. "Fire Lord. You can't just go barbecuing your terrible council members."

"As Fire Lord, I'm actually pretty sure that's exactly what I can do. Not that it matters anyway, because I wouldn't be doing it as Fire Lord, I'd be doing it as a tea server. I'm quitting, remember?"

"You can't quit—"

"I can, actually. I have it on good authority that I'm the Fire Lord, and what the Fire Lord says goes and I say I can do that. I'll make a decree and everything, all pretty and official."

"Quitting is for quitters. You're a lot of things, Lord Ponytail, but you aren't a quitter."

And dammit, he was right. Zuko hid his face in his hands and groaned. He dug his palms into his closed eyes until he saw stars and groaned again before pulling them away with a sigh. "Sorry for bitching. Ignore me."

"Couldn't if I tried to," Sokka shot back. "And believe me, I have tried."

"You've been doing well enough for the last—" And Zuko cut off there because he'd been lost in his work and had zero idea what time it actually was right now. "—couple hours," he went with, vying for the safe option.

Sokka snorted. "Yeah, no. See, I've actually done nothing productive at all in the past six hours —" Six hours past dinner was the time, then, apparently. Good to know. "—because I've been sitting over here being useless looking pretty and watching you work and trying not to kiss you."

Oh. He was overworking himself and hallucinating. That made more sense.

"…what?"

"Shit, this was probably not the best way to tell you but? Surprise?"

And Zuko was… something. Shocked, maybe? In a state of shock? Yes, that sounded right. Zuko was shocked.

His laughter was loud and uncontrolled, instantaneous and giggly. Zuko had never giggled before in his life. He'd barely laughed before in his life let alone giggled and he needed to stop immediately. But the bubbly sound wasn't at all deterred even as he tried to smother it with both hands.

Sokka's face went red, then white, then red again. "If that's your opinion, then fine." It was when he stood up with a sharp motion that Zuko thought maybe this actually was real.

And he reacted, without thinking, because that was what Zuko did, who he was, he jumped into things feet-first and acted without thinking and he did that now by lurching forward and grabbing Sokka's sleeve, galvanized by absolute panic. "No, wait! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm just—h-happy?" he tried, tested out. Those words felt weird in his mouth but right in his head. "I'm just—not used to it. That. Being happy. I'm sorry." Giggling over. Done. Gone. He'd never do that again, he swor—

And then he didn't need to hold onto Sokka's sleeve because Sokka had turned and, very slowly and very carefully, framed Zuko's face with his hands, fingers resting against his cheeks like they were touching something precious. Zuko had never been touched like that before. They were warmer than he thought, as callused as he expected, and gentler than he ever could have imagined. "Hey, Zuko, no. Don't apologize for that. Fuck, now I'm an entire ass." Zuko opened his mouth to contest that but didn't get a chance because Sokka barreled on overtop of him and then what he said registered and stole every last word Zuko might have had. "Don't ever apologize for being happy. And if that's what your happiness sounds like? I want to keep hearing it forever, okay? Don't you dare say you're sorry for that."

"…You want to hear it?"

"Every day for the rest of my life," Sokka said without hesitation and. Um.

Um!

He did giggle again, high and a bit hysterical, and then their arms were a knotted mess of fumbling awkwardness as Zuko did his level best to suffocate himself and Sokka grabbed his wrists to… Keep him from doing that, presumably. So the giggles were interspersed with struggling and quick breaths and somehow Sokka got behind him and thought it was a good idea to just hug Zuko into submission?

What was his life right now?

A few minutes and stream of giggles later, Zuko rested in Sokka's hold. "…I think I'm in shock," he finally confessed. "I feel like I'm in shock."

"Good shock or bad shock?"

"G-good? I'm—I'm not sure? I haven't had many good shocks."

"How are you feeling right now?"

Like bubbles and light. But that wasn't right, he couldn't say that, it didn't make sense!

Nothing about this made sense, he was starting to get used to it.

Why did that feel comfortable and warm instead of terrifying?

"Out of breath," he eventually settled on. "And restrained." He tried to move his arms in demonstration. Or the fact he couldn't move them much was the demonstration.

It wasn't bad, he could get out of it if he needed to. A hard jump to tilt them backwards, or a well-placed kick. He could yank his head back onto Sokka's nose from this angle, even, because Sokka was definitely too close to be thinking about the safety of his face right now, Zuko could attest. All of that without even his firebending. It wouldn't even hurt much. He'd injured Sokka more by accident than his escape would.

But he didn't want to hurt Sokka at all.

"I'll let you go, but no more of that, okay?"

"The—the giggling? I was trying— "

"The stopping the giggling," Sokka corrected.

"Sorry. I just— I had to stop it. It's not proper, I have to stop—"

"Being happy? Showing you're happy?"

It was familiar, the feeling of knowing there was a trap at his feet but not knowing where. Not knowing how. He tried anyway, because that was also who Zuko was: stubborn to a fault in the face of hopelessness and impossibility.

"…yes?"

"No."

He went lax in Sokka's arms, giving up. "What do you want, Sokka?"

"Okay, I know shock makes you spacy and stuff, but we literally just talked about this. I want you happy and giggly. Forever. And preferably within hearing distance so I always know."

The sound Zuko made certainly wasn't a giggle, but he had no idea what it was. He'd never made it before, either.

There was a sigh, and then Sokka released him—and grabbed his arm to keep him upright as he staggered because Whoa, head-rush. Out of breath and bubbly was apparently not a good combination for staying on one's feet. Not that he hadn't had worse combinations, but Zuko was smart enough to keep that particular comment behind his teeth.

"You… Let me go."

"You weren't trying to stop the giggling."

He hadn't needed to. "I wasn't giggling."

"One problem at a time."

His huff of laughter that time wasn't a giggle, but it made Sokka beam at him all the same.

It was hard to look at that expression long, so he dropped his gaze to the floor, which made it easier to speak, anyway. "You… really wanted to kiss me?"

"Really-really. You've been too absorbed in your work to notice, but I've been fantasizing about your lips for like the past two hours. It's distracting. You have really pretty lips."

Oh, there was that sound again, coming from somewhere between his chest and his throat and jumping through three different octaves without a care. It somehow made Sokka grin even bigger.

His own mouth smiled stupidly without his permission and Zuko clapped a hand over it to hide the expression. "I'm not giggling!" he defended through his fingers, in case Sokka thought he was and grabbed his wrist again. Yet, he added mentally, because the bubbly feeling was definitely still there in his chest, warm and effervescent and why? He had to stop it.

He was distracted from trying to quash the sensation when Sokka's hold moved from his arm down to his free hand. Well. Not free anymore because Sokka was. Holding his hand?

Ohhh. The bubbles liked that. Zuko liked that.

Sokka played with their hands, turned his over to trace shapes over his palm that sent shivers up his spine and that didn't make sense how was that in any way connected?

He missed what Sokka said entirely. "Sorry, what?"

"Did me wanting to kiss you really make you happy enough to giggle?"

He had no idea how to answer that. Yes? Yes. All the yes. "…Really-really."

Sokka looked up from their twined fingers—when had that happened? How did he keep missing things? He needed to pay attention— and his smile went soft in a way that made Zuko's heart give a startling strong thud against his ribs and leaned forward and—

Sokka kissed him. Kissed the back of his hand, over his mouth. And there was that sound again for the third time.

And for the first time, Zuko understood what it was. "Oh." He pulled his hand away from his mouth to look at it as the realization hit. "That. That's also? A happy sound?"

"You sure?" Sokka asked, but his voice was light. His eyes were serious when Zuko glanced up at them, though.

He looked back down again, clenched and relaxed his fingers once, then twice, and nodded definitively. "Yes." The back of his hand tingled, where Sokka's lips had touched. "Very sure."

"It's a good sound."

He had good sounds. He had happy sounds. Sounds. Multiple.

"Sokka?"

"Yeah?"

"It's good shock, I think. Definitely good shock."

"Good."

"Sokka?"

"Yeah?"

He bit his lip and watched Sokka's eyes immediately drop to the motion, staring in a way that sent another shiver down his back. "Again?" he asked. "Can you— again?"

That grin gained a bright edge as he raised Zuko's hand to his mouth and kissed the back of his fingers. "Like this?" Sokka's thumb brushed back and forth over his knuckles afterward, chasing and causing more tingles.

"Sokka. "

He laughed and leaned forward and Zuko leaned in to meet him half-way.

It really was a good shock, bright and electric but gentle and warm. Sokka's lips were so warm, and Zuko wasn't the only one who could make happy sounds.

He pulled away, somehow out of breath even though it hadn't been that long. It was soft and perfect and nowhere near enough.

"Again?" he asked.

Sokka released one hand to set it gently against his cheek and pull him back in, and it was—

Zuko's fingers tightened on Sokka's where they were laced together.

Sokka was the one to pull away that time. "Again?" he preempted, and Zuko nodded wordlessly. "How many times would you like me to kiss you?"

"All of them?" Was that a good answer? But he couldn't give any other. The bubbles hadn't bothered to stay in his chest and he could feel them everywhere now, down his arms, in his fingers, against his lips. Oh, his lips.

"I can do that."

"Bubbles and light," Zuko murmured.

"What was that?"

"How I feel. You asked me— Bubbles and light."

He loved the taste of Sokka's smile on his tongue. " Gonna kiss you happy and giggly forever," Sokka murmured against his mouth.

"Forever?"

"Forever."

His breath caught, and Sokka kissed him until it smoothed out again into gentle huffs in the moments between their lips meeting again and again. He could have this, have Sokka, be happy, forever? "Promise."

"Promise you, Zuko. Swear it. Happy giggly kisses every day," he vowed, and then did his level best to prove it.

Zuko got lost in the feeling for a— long time.

"Sokka?" he said, eventually, between kisses.

"Hmm?"

He had to take a slow, careful breath to answer, because he was so happy he was shaking with it, trembles absolutely everywhere. But still he had to warn, "Kissing won't stop me from setting Councilman Shun on fire."

Sokka's laugh shook his whole body, and Zuko's by proxy. He laughed so hard he ended up leaning against Zuko for support and oh, laughing against his throat was a good feeling, Zuko liked that feeling very much again please yes more yes.

When he finally managed to get control of himself, Sokka pressed their foreheads together, smiling at him like he was the most important thing ever. And he… kind of did feel like the most important thing ever with that smile. So. If that was what Sokka meant to do, it was working. Very well. "Hey, Zuko?" Sokka asked, breath sweet against his face and distracting because he hadn't known that was a thing before just now how much had he been missing out on this whole time? Because it seemed like an unreasonable lot.

"Mm?" So distracting. He understood exactly what Sokka meant when he'd said that about his lips earlier.

"If you promise to keep kissing me forever, I'll set Councilman Shun on fire for you."

And Zuko… smiled. The grin bloomed on his face like a flower in the sun, and this time?

"Promise."

This time he didn't try to stop his giggles at all.