Standard Disclaimers Apply.
I've decided to continue this story, thanks to the encouragement from my reviewers.
"No plausible deniability, huh?" Sokka stepped back in enough to close the door, but stayed leaning up against it.
"If that's a must have for you, I'm sorry." A slight smile had come to the firebender's face, and he was unapologetically looking the other teen over. It was... flattering in a way, perhaps the unspoken compliment was an advantage of having the lights on. But still...
"I'm not... I mean, this isn't really the time for starting relationships, and I'm not usually into guys, like, romantically if you see the distinction, but-"
It wasn't a mean laugh, which was lucky because the water tribesman was still on edge in this strange twist to a familiar encounter. "I'm not asking you to carve me an engagement necklace, Sokka. I've... started to consider you a friend, and among Fire Nation nobility, it's, well it's not required, but it's also not unusual for close friendships to come with certain perks."
"Perks, huh?" He felt a smile twitching at his lips. "Just as friends?"
"Pretty much, at least from what I gathered from my cousin and the various servant gossip. I left home when I was only thirteen, and I never really had any male friends to begin with, but it makes sense in the culture..." Zuko leaned back and Sokka couldn't help but doing some looking over of his own. "It's all arranged marriages and not being allowed alone with girls after a certain age, so the concept of 'romance' is sketchy to begin with."
He walked over and sat on the bed, starting to relax into the conversation. "So you aren't allowed to be alone with girls, but the servants gossip about the boys and it doesn't cause a big scandal? What's the difference?"
"Well you see, when a mommy noble and a daddy noble love-" WHAP "Hey!" WHAP "Ow!" the prince grabbed the pillow away from the irate tribesman and stuffed it safely out of reach. "Seriously though, royalty and upper nobility value their bloodlines even more than their fortunes. A prince being involved with another boy could cause a scandal I suppose, especially if it was a servant or maybe some ambassador's son, but a bastard who's older than the heir showing up on a fire lord's deathbed? That did cause a war a few hundred years ago."
"Hrm, good point, and I suppose 'emergency weddings' are a bit more of a problem if your folks have been negotiating marriage with another family." Sokka landed a few playful punches grumbling when a mommy noble under his breath.
"Yeah, just a bit. One hundred percent pregnancy avoidance can forgive a multitude of sins- Okay, cut it out!" The prince growled a bit as he caught the other boy's fists and pinned them to the bed. "You make horrible jokes all day long, and you can't take a little?"
"That's the point, you were stealing my schtick. I'm just defending my territory." In the spirit of honestly that had been encouraged, Sokka had to admit that being pinned down by a growling Zuko was a much more positive experience than it would have been a few months ago. He settled back into the bed, gazing up and just enjoying the chance to look without being embarrassed. Golden eyes, fine features, and he slept without a shirt too. Maybe he could be convinced to just give up shirts entirely. "So..."
"So?" Zuko had released his hands and was running warm fingers over his forearms.
"So, before I get fully on board with this 'friends with perks' idea, exactly how much does the rest of the gang need to know about the perks?" He ran his hands up a very nice chest, enjoying the relaxed feel of the moment. It occurred to him that if the night had gone the way he'd planned, he might have been sneaking back to his room by now, having gotten release, but not... not this. "I get not being ashamed, but there's a fine line with oversharing."
The prince smiled, and Sokka found himself thinking that having the lights on had some serious benefits. "I can't say I've ever been accused of oversharing." Those warm fingers had run far enough up to trace the muscles of the water tribesman's shoulders before moving to the ties that held his tunic closed. "As long as I get enough sleep to train Aang, it's really no one's concern what I do with my nights. It's up to you how much you want to share with your friends. Just don't expect me to be making up excuses or going along with cover stories if you run into someone on the way back to your room, or leave a mark somewhere people can see. If anyone asks, I'll tell them it's none of their business. No more, no less."
"Hmmmm, that's fair enough." He sat up a little to take the tunic the rest of the way off and was pleased to see the smile broaden as golden eyes looked down on him in enjoyment. "Of course if either of us ends up with a girlfriend, it will be her business."
"Of course. So are you 'fully on board' now?" Sokka didn't hesitate, just grinned and nodded slightly and his hands went back to that wonderful chest. "Well then," Zuko leaned forward and with a voice only slightly husky said five words. Five words in a tone of friendship and honest curiosity that made it blazingly obvious how much better an idea this was than Sokka's original plan.
"So, what do you like?"