this is quite short, but i do plan to upload more frequently now that (a) school is starting (b) i'm single (c) new episodes of korra! or (d) all of the above.

if you guessed (d), you get an A+ happy reading babes.

Though Aang knew enough to immediately question Sokka's blundering experiences with 'the ladies,' he still found himself flocking to the older boy for girl advice after his last encounter with Katara. A few days passed, and Aang – feeling increasingly helpless – knocked on Sokka's door with his eyes glued to his shoes. His late arrival at Four Nations had landed Aang an unfortunate dorm room – the 'accidental room' that was built on the pretense of at first becoming a balcony. After the housing department discovered that they had included a balcony in the blue prints (considered a frivolity by the administration), they closed up the little cube of space with four flimsy walls, slapped a lock on the door and called it room 420B.

This would have went well for the future residents of room 420B if their neighbors at room 420 were silent, studious types. Instead, 420 was rumored as the party mill while 420B was the worst room to possibly occupy on campus. The shoddy workmanship left no insulation in the walls, so the room was an icebox in the winter and a sauna for the rest of the year. A beehive occupied one of the far corners of the room and hornets often found their way into the students' bedding. Residents of 420B also had the squirming displeasure to hear everything going on in their neighboring suites – room 420 and the men's bathroom on the left. Had Aang known any better, he would have requested off-campus housing. But he was new, and in his naivety he just peacefully assumed that all college experiences were this bad.

As he always did, Sokka opened the door wide with a sleepy smile. His face fell when he saw Aang on his welcome mat instead of Suki, who hadn't spoken to him at all in the last week. Aang knew they had had an argument (Suki had called Sokka after they talked, and though Aang was still half-asleep at 3 in the morning, the gist of their conversation was not good). In effect, all Aang could muster was a weak, "Sorry." He wasn't sure if he was apologizing for Sokka's appearance or for his own visit.

"No worries," Sokka replied. He opened the door wider and gestured Aang in. "What's up? You need exam answers?"

"You have those?"

"Not for every class." Sokka opened a small file cabinet opposite his bed and removed a pink, overstuffed file. "Well, maybe every class."

Aang took the file from Sokka. "I don't need exam answers. Different answers, I guess." He put the file back into the cabinet. "Sokka… are you drinking?"

Indeed, Sokka's left hand was cradling a martini. The frozen grapes clinked on the side of the glass as Sokka thrust the drink out in offering. "You want some?"

"It's nine in the morning."

"I've been up, okay?" Aang could see that much. Sokka's wrinkled, open blue robe gave Aang an uncensored guess at the night before. The older boy's chest was glistening with night sweat, and his boxers – more wrinkled than the robe – were unbuttoned and loose, as if he had no reason to bother fastening them. Today was Monday, which meant both boys didn't have class until the afternoon, but Sokka's unshaven, baggy-eyed disposition suddenly worried Aang. Not only was he probably unable to help the young airbender, but he was also clearly distressed. Aang mustered up his best parenting voice, which was objectively done well despite growing up without parents.

"Sokka, are you an alcoholic? Do you have a problem?"

"Don't be stupid," he said defensively. He sat down on the edge of his mattress, the sheets for which were balled near the pillow. Aang had only visited Sokka's room once before, but it hadn't looked like this. To the contrary, the bed and desk were clean, and Sokka had organized his suits and pants in the closet by color. He wasn't rich, but he had good taste, and at the time, Aang had been impressed and even pressured to keep his own room up to Sokka's high standards.

The room today didn't look as good. The bed wasn't made, the desk was cluttered with empty Spirit Water bottles and dirty dishes. His clothes for the previous week were tossed over the chair. Aang moved these to the bed now and took a seat.

"I only drink when I'm sad, okay? And I've just had a lot of stress recently. That's all." He took a sip of his martini. "You know," he continued with a laugh, "if I was really drunk now, you'd be able to tell." Then Sokka paused and frowned, the indents to either side of his lips deepening with a sour memory. "I become a damn idiot when I'm drunk."

"Is this about Suki?"

"Obviously." He stood up and placed the empty glass on his desk before throwing his hands through his hair. "I fucked up big time. I shouldn't have told her I slept with the acrobat chick."

"But you'd be lying that way."

"Yeah, but I'd still be with my girl. I fucking miss her like hell. It physically hurts. I've never been this crazy about anyone before." Sokka was speaking to the view out of his window, his hands on the windowsill, his body leaning into his grip. "I should have treated her better… instead I went out drinking like an asshole when she was studying. I don't even know what I was doing. Maybe I was pissed at her for not hanging out with me. She always puts school first, already got accepted for this really elite psychology grad program. Look at me. Fifth year here, and all I have to show for it are average grades and a Four Nations hoodie." He tilted his head towards the ceiling and laughed loud – it startled Aang. "Fuck. She's got a point. I mean, I'd leave me too if I was her."

Aang stood and put his hand on Sokka's shoulder. Hoping to find consultation for his own girl problems, he hadn't expected being pulled into the quagmire of Sokka's own social life. And admittedly, Sokka had it worse than Aang did. He and Suki had been together for years. They had met families, they had traveled together, they had planned for the future, they had went shopping for kitchen equipment. They were as legitimate as possible. Right above Sokka's headboard were several photos of him and Suki together, smiling into the camera as the backdrop of the artic North Pole or temperate Fire Nation cities filled the rest of the photograph. Sokka had posters of the fabled Unagi from Suki hanging over his bed too, the subscript reading, "There is no greater monster than that which lives inside of man." Whether this was a warning or a justification of Sokka's actions was unclear, but Aang thought it morbidly appropriate.

"You made a mistake," the airbender said in a low voice. "Suki knows that. I'm sure she'll come around. I mean, she has to miss you too, right?"

"I wouldn't know," Sokka said to the window. "She won't text me or call me. I picked up my phone so many times thinking I was going to contact her… But I couldn't do it. I'm a pussy, Aang. A big fucking pussy."

"What's the worst that can happen if you call her?"

"She won't answer!" Sokka had turned to Aang now, brushing off his hand in the process. His eyes were fierce and red with tears. "That would be worse! Hell, that would really drive me out of this damn window. If I called her. If I sent her a message. And she just… didn't acknowledge it. That would mean it's really done. At least now I can put it on hold. I can say that she didn't contact me because I didn't try, not because I tried and she hates my guts."

"What if I go talk to her?" Aang realized what he had just offered only after the words left his mouth. When Sokka looked at him with what might have been the only genuine smile he had mustered all week, Aang couldn't let him down.

"You'd do that?" Sokka asked, suddenly animated. "Man, Aang that would really mean the world to me. You have no idea. That's… I mean, that's something, man. Thanks." Sokka took Aang's hand and shook it hard. "You're a real friend, buddy. Not a lot of other guys would get their hands messy with this stuff. And I didn't even have to ask! You're a saint!"

"Don't mention it." Aang took his hand out of Sokka's tight grip and rubbed his neck. "So, um. Maybe you can help me with something too? Actually, I was going to ask you to help… but then I saw that you were facing your own demons, so I'm not sure if you'd be up to it."

Sokka threw a few jabs in the air and took off his robe. He fastened his boxers with his back to Aang and reached for a pair of clean slacks. "Anything. I'm up to anything. You just say the word and I'll be all over your girl, too –" Sokka laughed at his own joke and slapped his own knee. "Ha! Not like that. You know what I mean. Hey, this is actually really great. You go talk to Suki, and I'll go talk to your girl. What's bugging you?"

"You don't have to talk to her!" Aang cried out suddenly. The thought of Sokka having a face-to-face with the girl of Aang's dreams made the airbender uneasy.

"Aw, don't be so modest, man! I've got this! I've got your back. You got mine, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but –"

A now fully dressed Sokka pointed to his own chest. "What kind of friend would I be, letting my buddy talk to my girl, and then refusing to talk to his?"

Aang thought to say, "I don't need you to talk to her, Sokka, I just need you to advise me." But then he looked at Sokka's pink, baggy eyes, his uneven buttoning job on his button-down shirt, and realized that Sokka needed to be needed. It would be unfair and possibly damaging if Aang made it clear that Sokka would be useless to him. So Aang swallowed his concerns and whatever little pride he had left and sighed deep. "Okay, I'll let you talk to her."

"Alright! We got each other's backs, huh? No girls can mess with us! So tell me. What's this lady gotten you into?"

"It's a little complicated," Aang started. Sokka sorted through his dresser drawer for a small, thin blade. He went to the sink at the far corner of his room and shaved off his stubble, wetting his chin with soap and water first.

"Complicated, huh?"

"Yeah. I think she's with someone now. I saw she had a pregnancy test in her bag the other day. I didn't know what to think of it when I was there, but it made me angry. I guess it shouldn't have bugged me the way that it did. But she seemed upset about it. I don't know. I don't know how to… read girls, I guess."

"Aang, you know that a girl doesn't have to be with someone to get pregnant, don't you?"

"I know. That would make it worse for me, though. I would hope she's not the kind of girl to just get pregnant by accident."

"Hey, you could be the guy to change that. Before Suki." Sokka paused here and slid the blade under his nose. Aang could tell he was masking the pause with concentration. "Before Suki," Sokka finished with a gruff cough, "I had tons of girlfriends. I loved girls. Couldn't get enough. But it was missing something, all the girls and attention. When Suki and I were together I didn't want anyone else. That's how I knew that I needed to stay with her." He paused again and hid his face in a white towel. "This means a lot to me. You talking to her," he said.

"Sure."

"And I'll get to the bottom of this pregnant girl, too. Just tell her to meet me at the Avatar Kyoshi statue at five today. No one is ever there after class, so we'll have space to talk."

"She might not be pregnant," Aang reminded. "Right?"

"For your sake, I hope not." Sokka undid his messy wolf's tail and tied up a new one. Aang smiled at the sight of Sokka dressed and felt at ease. Maybe this would be okay. Sokka was a full grown man, after all. He knew more about girls than Aang would probably ever know. Sokka talking to Katara would be a good idea. He had an easy way with words, firstly – even Aang felt he could confide in Sokka the way he couldn't with others – and secondly, Sokka couldn't make the situation any worse.