She was persistent, and in the face of this new horror, he commended her for it, wondering if she woke up in strange rooms often enough for it to be some commonplace prank in her life, a youthful passing between new strangers, games and a conquest that always ended with, "and then we woke up." She was conventionally beautiful; thin and desirable. She could have anyone.

But the knocking ceased for a moment, and she confessed to the wood of the door, "You know, this hasn't ever really happened to me before, and you're freaking me out." Sokka guessed she was speaking close to the knob and keyhole. He felt his stomach drop to his knees for misjudging her and consequentially locking himself up as though she was a rabid animal that had bared its teeth.

But there was courage, despite the fear and guilt, and he cracked the door open, making sure his body had settled before making an appearance. He checked the mirror quickly, shocked to see how his face had already betrayed him – his eyes were wide, his mouth forcefully pressed to a serious line, brows furrowed as though he was considering how one appropriately reacts to the inappropriate.

"Judging by how you're handling this, I'm guessing it hasn't really happened to you either, has it?" the girl asked coyly from the door. "Oh, just come out already." When he didn't move, she added in an urgent whisper, "I gotta pee. Want me to go on your bed?"

This convinced Sokka that she was non-threatening, but would become so if the bathroom remained locked, and he muttered, "Uh—um, no. No, this hasn't happened to me. And no, please don't do that." With a gruff sigh, he pushed the door open and motioned for her to go in. She ran in on her tiptoes and sat on the toilet without closing the door. Embarrassed, and again unsure how to react, Sokka sat with his back opposite the bathroom and then forced himself to think about Suki. He knew there were no answers to this, no easy, slimy way to erase his tracks, but he couldn't help flip through the possibilities in his head regardless.

When the girl flushed and washed her hands, he craned his neck to meet her gaze. She pulled the striped panties up and stretched again, this time toward the ceiling, and then – unexpectedly – reached all the way back and grabbed her phone from the floor.

Sokka blinked. He said, his voice cracking and clearing, "You're… uh, really good at stretching." He coughed into the crook of his elbow and looked away.

She bounced to his spot on the bed and reached across to touch his cheek. He turned fast, surprised, and relieved to find her smiling.

"That's cute," she said.

"What is?"

"You. Being polite. You don't have to. I guess we've been through introductions." She rolled her eyes and grimaced, her soft lips folding over in a resolute, nervous frown. "My name is Ty Lee. And I'm only saying that because I can't remember yours." She held out a hand to him, and Sokka took it.

"I'm Sokka. And I'm so sorry. This… this whole thing really isn't my scene either." He paused, considering if he should tell her – but he couldn't lie, and asking for more guilt on his consciousness would be a death wish in full. "I uh… I have a girlfriend," Sokka blurted, pointing to his chest. The scum in him felt pleasure when Ty Lee's face fell, as if the thwarted fantasy was, in some twisted way, a victory for the machismo in him. He even felt a pang of regret saying it, realizing that they would never know what 'this' was – that their future together was doomed to remain platonic despite a night of passion that neither could remember.

But she surprised him. "I don't do the boyfriend-girlfriend thing," she answered.
"But that's cute. She's lucky. You're lucky." Then her demeanor lifted and she giggled. "No worries," she added, making a mock whispering gesture with the cup of her palm against her cheek. "I won't get you in trouble!" She winked.

His laughter surprised her, but he couldn't help it. She was cute. "A relief, my dear," Sokka replied happily. "But I still have to figure out what to say to my girl. I'm an idiot for this. I'm glad you're so cool with it."

Ty Lee sat cross-legged on the bed and smiled at him with her teeth. Perfect teeth, thought Sokka miserably, and he forced himself to focus on the posters behind her. Suki had bought them back in Kyoshi; they were done by a blind artist who had claimed to escape death from the Unagi. The posters showed the eel twisting amid high waves and a sandy backdrop, all with the same words at the bottom, printed as clear as a blemish: "There is no greater monster than that which lives inside of man."

"It's funny," Ty Lee observed as she removed his jersey and handed it to him. "I remember meeting you at the bar with my friend Mai, but I know I've seen you around campus before."

Sokka tore his eyes away from her naked breasts; the whiteness reminded him of Suki and this comparison was enough to unravel his morals. For a second, he half-considered propositioning Ty Lee to remain his secret bedfellow, a concubine in confidence. He couldn't help his twisted musings this morning, it seemed. In his heart he knew he was confused at this turn of events and was thinking of possible worst things to soften the effect of last night.

"I've seen you too." He took the jersey from her with his gaze on the floor and tossed it in the hamper – then, panicking, he remembered Suki did his laundry along with hers on the weekends. He made a mental note to fish the shirt out later and cover it in his cologne. "I'm always at the gym. I might have seen you there."

"No," she said, twisting her body backwards and sideways and picking up the scattered remnants of her clothing with her toes and fingers. He watched as she bent and plucked, dressed and straightened. "If you saw me at the gym, you would have remembered." Then she grinned sweetly at him and bent to kiss his cheek.

"Thank you for… hmm. Thank you for – what I assume was a great night," she said cheerfully. "Maybe get coffee with me tomorrow morning? I can help you out if you need to tell your girl. I can vouch for both of us being high on Spirit Water."

"That would be a dream," confessed Sokka quietly, smiling with the side of his mouth. "I think I'll probably end up doing it alone, though. It's my mistake. My responsibility."

"Here's my number anyway." Sokka noticed she was already programming it into his phone. "I'm always around."

He took the device from her and stood up, unsure what the etiquette was now that they were parting.

"This is the loneliness that gathers strangers," Ty Lee mused, sporting her bright-eyed smile again. Sokka found this rather astute for someone athletic – he caught himself judging her again and rubbed his neck. She was looking around his room and taking it in. "We are butterflies in this net, Sokka. I'll see you." She turned on the heels of her high boots, her tutu ruffling with each flighty step. As soon as she left, he missed her. He made his way to his bed and turned off his phone.