Chapter 20 – Sokka's pub crawl
Sokka's wild night of fun and entertainment didn't get off to the best of starts. Sokka was clearly rusty when it came to knowledge about the best Caldera City locales. His first few attempts to find a quirky little dive that wouldn't be so skeevy as to scare off the ladies hadn't gone very well. In one of the pubs, he'd had to literally step over several bodies on his path towards the bar counter.
In the next dive, a dodgy looking character had offered Sokka to join an illegal cockfighting ring, operating out of the pub's basement. After Sokka had expressed his disapproval of this disdainful practice, he'd been chased out of the pub by an angry mob. Sokka had entered the next pub while still texting the Caldera police hotline, unaware that he was walking into a lesbian bar. Looking up from his phone, in his surprise Sokka had made an ill-advised comment about seeing so many ladies in one place, after which he had been chased out of the bar by a bunch of angry lesbians.
After a few more unsuccessful attempts, Sokka eventually ended up in a pub that appeared surprisingly normal, at least when compared to some of the colorful dives he had visited earlier. There were no currently ongoing barfights, and within the first five minutes at the pub, nobody had tried to entice him into activities of dubious legality. There was a welcome diversity among the patrons when compared to some of the previous pubs. Not everyone at the pub looked like a sad and horny git, there were plenty of couples in attendance, as well as a handful of single ladies, ranging anywhere from five to eight in accordance to Sokka's scale of attractiveness.
At first, Sokka decided to simply sit at the bar and enjoy a few drinks while getting used to the pub atmosphere. Sokka was aware that his game had never been great even when he wasn't totally out of practice, and so he definitely needed plenty of liquid courage if he was to approach some of the more attractive ladies among the patrons. Even if Sokka had been in relationships with some very attractive women like Suki and Yue, it hadn't truly given him a massive boost of confidence. When it came to dating Yue, he had essentially taken over from his little sister, which sounded incredibly sad when summarized like that. As for Suki, she had been the one doing the rather aggressive pursuing, not that Sokka had minded it one bit.
For a while, Sokka simply observed the curious social interactions taking place in the pub. Other guys would continuously approach the single ladies, more often than not encountering rejection and walking away with crushed expressions on their faces. Now and then, one of the ladies would chat up an attractive guy, and most of the time it seemed to work and they would leave the bar together. The more Sokka observed the social dynamics of this place, the more he began to remember why he had never truly gotten into the dating scene. It really was a rather brutal number's game, where it was all down to making as many attempts as necessary, while not allowing the countless rejections to linger and build up a deep and depressing feeling of disappointment. Considering how personally Sokka tended to take everything, he just wasn't sure that the whole dating scene was really his cup of tea.
Not that most of the other guys were having a great time of it, either. Many of them seemed to focus on the young lady sitting at the end of the bar, not too far from Sokka. At first, Sokka had put her down as a solid eight, but as he casually observed the attempts of the other guys to woo her, Sokka was forced to admit that a mark of eight was not doing this girl proper justice. She was surrounded by eager suitors almost all the time, so it was hard for Sokka to get a good look without coming off as a creepy stalker.
The girl in question clearly had a fantastic body and the tiny wildflower patterned dress she had chosen offered a very good look at her cleavage, which meant that not staring was definitely a difficult challenge. She wore her hair very effectively, a long-braided ponytail together with elegantly styled bangs that Azula would have been happy to steal and call her own. She certainly looked and behaved like a local, but when their eyes briefly met, Sokka suddenly wondered if he hadn't made a mistake with that assumption, because Sokka had never seen such wide and expressive grey eyes in a Fire Nation girl. It made Sokka think that perhaps there was some Air Nation ancestry in her family tree. In any case, her eyes were almost magnetic and made Sokka mentally erase the eight he had assigned to her, upgrading it to nothing less than full ten.
Unfortunately, even with a couple of drinks downed, Sokka still felt like this girl was way out of his league. Which was a real shame because she was damn cute. The girl in question was currently being courted by a couple of guys, looking ready to fight each other for the lady's affections. Sokka rolled his eyes before looking away. Of course, the general public in pubs would indulge in such animalistic mating rituals, there was nothing surprising about that.
When Sokka glanced again at where the girl sat, expecting her to now share the company of one of her courtiers, he was surprised to note that both of her suitors had left her alone for some reason. The girl in question looked either a little embarrassed or amused, it was hard to tell, but as Sokka kept staring, she suddenly did something surprising, looking directly at Sokka and winking at him. At least Sokka thought that she was winking at him, although he couldn't be sure, looking behind him to see if perhaps there was someone else the girl might have been winking at. He couldn't spot anyone else, though, and when Sokka looked back at the girl, he was now more certain than ever that she was looking at him, by now laughing softly.
Despite still not feeling particularly confident, Sokka saw this as his chance to approach this gorgeous young woman, but unfortunately, as he was taking his time getting out of his seat, a brawny hulk cut in front of him, trying to chat up the grey-eyed beauty. Sighing at his indecision, Sokka returned to his drink, looking around the pub in search for a girl that he considered more in his league. A while later, however, Sokka glanced at the pretty girl at the bar to notice that the hulking brute was now walking away, wincing and rubbing a side of his face. The girl was staring at Sokka again, appearing a little frustrated and letting out a sigh.
Fearing that he had somehow managed to annoy the girl, Sokka returned to finishing off his gin and tonic. He was surprised when the bartender placed a new gin and tonic in front of him, together with a little note. Blinking in surprise, Sokka picked up the note and read it… or at least tried to read it, because the writer of said note appeared to be in possession of particularly chaotic handwriting. The note appeared to say 'by me a drunk bug boy'.
After staring at the note for a while, Sokka finally realized that it was actually supposed to say 'buy me a drink big boy'. Sokka quickly looked at the pretty girl at the bar. She was smiling at him, giving him a little wave. Even to someone as slow as Sokka, it finally became clear that he was being extended an invitation, one that he really didn't want to pass on.
"A drink for the lady, please," he told the expectant looking barkeeper.
"What'll it be?" the barkeeper, a man who slightly reminded Sokka of his father – if his father were a Fire Nation man, that is – asked in a slightly frustrated sounding voice.
"Uh, I don't know…" Sokka hesitated again. What did the Fire Nation girls like, anyway? Even though Sokka had spent the majority of his life in Caldera, he had never dated a local girl, but he reasoned that Fire Nation girls probably had weird and quirky tastes. "Some absinth, maybe?" he asked.
"Look, buddy," the bartender glared at him. "This is a respectable establishment. Maybe you'd feel more at home at the gay bar across the street."
"Uh, definitely not absinth then," Sokka gulped. "What was she having earlier?"
"A margarita," the bartender replied.
"Alright, make it a margarita," Sokka nodded hastily, worried about making another unexpected faux-pas. He tried not to be too obvious about watching the bartender make the cocktail and place it in front of the gorgeous Fire Nation girl. She took a sip of the drink before slipping out of her seat and walking over to sit next to Sokka. Because she had been sitting behind the bar, Sokka hadn't been able to tell just how short her dress was, but seeing it now definitely caused a very interesting reaction in his pants. This girl was somehow even hotter than she had appeared previously, although Sokka wasn't quite sure how that was even possible. She had a killer body that somehow managed to be both a little curvy yet athletic at the same time.
"Hey," she addressed Sokka in a very cheerful and chirpy voice. "Thanks for the drink!"
"Right back at you," Sokka smiled, raising his glass of gin and tonic at her.
"So," the girl stated confidently. "You're clearly not a regular."
"Guilty as charged," Sokka cringed. "It's that obvious, is it?"
"Kind of," his charming companion giggled. "But it worked to get my attention. Which I hope you agree is a good thing, right?"
"A very good thing," Sokka nodded, only too happy to agree. It was such a relief that this girl seemed so easy going and happy to take charge of the conversation, because Sokka still felt a little tongue tied.
"So, if you're not a regular pub-goer, tell me what brought you here tonight?" the girl smiled at him.
"Oh, you know…" Sokka sighed. He wasn't sure what to say, really. There was so much on his chest that he wanted to vent about to someone, but at the same time, he retained enough common sense to realize that his companion probably wasn't interested in his extended life story. "Everything just became a bit too much. Mostly at work. So, I just wanted a break from the usual, I guess," Sokka chuckled nervously. "What about you?"
"Oh, I just wanted to meet someone nice to hook up with," she giggled adorably.
"Fair," Sokka grinned. "Honestly, I was kind of hoping to find someone who was looking to hook up, so…"
"A match made in a dingy pub!" the girl laughed. "Call me crazy if you want, but I immediately got good vibes when I noticed you. And I was hoping you'd notice me."
"Well, you're hard not to notice," Sokka admitted, making the girl blush lightly. Perhaps he was getting into it a bit more, starting to feel more confident. He wasn't sure what to make of the whole thing about projecting good vibes, but he decided to roll with it for now.
"Hey, that was pretty smooth," the Fire Nation cutie grinned. "Say… I want to hook up, you want to hook up… it seems kind of obvious what we should do, right?" her grin broadened. "What do you say we finish our drinks and get out of here?"
"To that I say, let's finish our drinks quickly," Sokka replied, winking at his companion, starting to feel better and better about his decision to take the evening off.
In Azula's opinion, the Thursday dinner service at The Northern Lights was their best yet. The kitchen had chugged along nicely without barely needing any corrections from her. Suki was as solid as ever, handling the proteins and running the pass with ease, while keeping her instructions for Aang and Toph clear and simple. Aang was performing admirably as the sous chef, even if Sokka had set the bar very low. The Air Nation boy was also taking care of the vegan options, and when those orders started to back up, Toph jumped in to help out.
Azula was starting to slowly wake up to the possibility that perhaps they had something like a diamond in the rough in Toph. She seemed to have an interest to do more than just simple prep cook tasks, an interest that Azula suspected was mostly driven by her fear of becoming expendable, like that time when she had feared for her job after Azula's father had nuked the microwaving station. It helped that Aang was a great friend who was only too happy to assist Toph around the kitchen. As a result, Toph could now be trusted to prepare most of the veggie sides, as well as help with plating. The only thing that still bothered Azula a little bit was Toph's occasionally lax attitude towards hygiene, but she hoped that their acerbic younger friend could be drilled to wash her hands more regularly than she liked.
Still, despite the kitchen enjoying a great service, Azula was in a downcast mood when they all gathered upstairs for one of their usual after service hangouts. Azula knew that she had taken things too far when she had snapped at Katara earlier in the day. Even though Katara had returned for the dinner service, acting like nothing had happened, Azula easily saw through the act. Katara was trying to pretend that she wasn't hurt by Azula's words, and somehow, that made Azula feel much worse than if Katara had sought confrontation, looking to come back at her.
Katara had clearly at some point confided in Yue about her spat with Azula, and now Yue was also acting rather standoffishly towards her, which didn't help matters. In addition to all that, Sokka hadn't showed up for the dinner service, and while Azula's initial reaction to that was relief, she knew that this wasn't a sustainable relationship to have with one of the owners. Sokka needed to be one of the pillars of the restaurant, even if it wasn't as a part of the kitchen staff, but right now his role at the restaurant was very much up in the air. Even worse, as they all gathered upstairs, they were surprised to discover that Sokka was nowhere to be found, having slipped out at some point during the service.
"I don't see how me saying that he could be abducted is ridiculous," Katara spoke tearfully, already panicking ten minutes after they had realized that Sokka was missing.
"It's a little ridiculous," Suki laughed. "I don't think we ever got as far as abduction theories when you went missing."
"Speak for yourself," Yue frowned. "I was very close to sending the cops after Jet for arranging a kidnapping together with his criminal looking friends."
"Jet is many things but he's not a kidnapper," Katara snorted. "Anyway, this could be very serious. Sokka usually doesn't disappear on us without a previous warning, right?"
"Well, he was a little upset, so…" Aang spoke up. Azula looked at the Air Nation boy, and as their eyes met, Aang cringed guiltily. "I'm not saying it to blame anyone, just pointing out that maybe he needed some fresh air to clear his head."
"Maybe he's been up on the roof all this time, laughing his ass off while we're panicking?" Suki asked before dashing up the stairs and then returning moments later. "Nope, he's not there."
"I keep telling you that this is totally unlike Sokka," Katara sighed. "I'm starting to get really worried!"
"Uh, this may be a silly idea, but… why don't you text him to ask where he is?" Azula suggested carefully.
"Probably because Katara knows how well that worked when we tried to text and call her throughout the previous night," Suki pointed out. Azula and Katara both winced at the slightly accusing tone, then blushing when they noticed each other's guilty reactions.
"It's not worth calling because Sokka has been abducted by aliens," Toph stated confidently. "And we all know that their flying saucers are padded with aluminum foil or some other material that messes with the reception. So, Sokka couldn't answer us even if he wanted to."
"Okay, now you're just mocking me," Katara snapped irately. "I'm going to text him right now, and he better answer me!"
"Well?" Yue asked after Katara had frenziedly fired off her text and they had spent nearly a minute waiting for a response.
"Nothing so far," Katara grumbled. Her phone buzzed lightly. "Ah, thank the spirits," she sighed in relief. Katara then read the text, her eyebrows furrowing. "He just told me to buzz off! How rude!" she exclaimed.
"Makes sense if he's decided to follow in your footsteps from last night," Yue pointed out with a sly wink.
"You mean Sokka's gone partying?" Aang asked. "And all on his own, without inviting us along? He must have been really upset…"
"It's not a bad idea to go out and blow off some steam now and then. It really helps with clearing your head," Azula said quickly. She didn't like how the conversation kept getting pushed towards the events of the previous evening. It might have been an experience that Azula would remember for the rest of her life, but that didn't mean she wanted a public discourse about her and Katara's hookup. "I'm sure Sokka will be back tomorrow, refreshed and with a much healthier attitude," Azula added.
"I hope so," Suki shrugged, not looking very confident. Azula couldn't really fault Suki for her skepticism, though. "Also, if Sokka wants to hook up with someone, that's perfectly fine with me, as long as it puts him in a good mood. I'm sure he wouldn't begrudge me from enjoying a hookup too, which is definitely something I wouldn't mind."
"Aang?" Toph spoke up, poking the shoulder of her best friend. "Was Suki looking at Azula when she said that?"
"She sure was," Aang was only too happy to confirm.
"Shut up, I wasn't!" Suki protested defiantly.
"Yes, stop making things up, Aang, she wasn't looking at me, she was looking… uh, over my shoulder?" Azula tried to help out, ending up feeling embarrassed by her weak protestations.
"Wow, you two really doth protest too much," Toph laughed boisterously.
"Anyway!" Katara suddenly cut in, looking a little annoyed. "Suki, wasn't there something you wanted to show us?" she asked, clearly wanting to steer the conversation elsewhere. If they hadn't already agreed that they couldn't keep hooking up, Azula would have totally assumed that Katara was just a tad jealous.
"Umm, I'm not sure?" Suki sounded confused. "I haven't gotten any new tats or piercings lately…"
"I think Kat means the rent apartments you were looking at?" Yue asked. "There was talk of you having some options lined up and you wanted second opinion on some of them? That's the main reason why I even stayed behind instead of rushing home to Kya."
"Oh, right," Suki coughed, sounding a little embarrassed. "I was totally distracted by Sokka's disappearance. I've got all the info about the rent apartments saved to my phone. Here, I'll show you," she said, sitting down on the sofa, the others all surrounding her, with the exception of Toph.
Azula had to concede that some of the apartments Suki was eyeing appeared quite nice even for her tastes, even if she would never consider any of them fit for her living space. At least now that Suki was going to receive a salary comparable to a competent head chef in a decent Caldera restaurant, she would have more options other than just crappy studio apartments.
"Hey!" Yue suddenly exclaimed when they were looking at one of the apartments that Azula definitely wouldn't have considered as the best option. "That's on my street! I'm pretty sure it is!"
"Really? I never realized," Suki sounded surprised. "Let me see… 36 Moonlight Avenue?"
"I'm at 28 Moonlight Ave," Yue said. "That's quite the coincidence. Anyway, what do you think about this one, Suki?" she asked.
"It was actually one of my favorites before we discovered that it's on your street," Suki smiled. "I'm really tempted to go for it now."
"Do it, do it, do it," Yue squealed. "I'd love for us to be next door neighbors!"
"Alright, I'll call the landlord tomorrow morning and see if the apartment is still available," Suki said.
"You're in a real hurry to abandon me, I see," Katara remarked, sounding a little hurt.
"Oh, please don't take it like that," Suki sighed. "If Sokka is hooking up with other people and I want to do the same, then the sooner I move out, the better."
"Good point," Katara said. "You just reminded me that I should start looking for a space to rent myself, and because of the very same reasons as you. As soon as I get paid, that is…"
"Very soon," Azula interjected quickly. They were nearing the end of her first month of stay at The Northern Lights, which meant that finally, after many years of not having taken a single cent from the restaurant, Katara and Sokka would finally get paid.
"It's going to feel weird when it's only Sokka living up here, but as long as it remains a place where we hang out, I guess that's fine," Katara mused.
"It'll be great having real places of our own, though," Suki smiled. "Anyway, are we all still on to help me with the move, if I can work everything out with the landlord by Monday?" Everyone except for Toph voiced their affirmation, including Azula. She wasn't exactly thrilled about helping with what seemed like very hard work, but then again, spending time with Suki, Katara and Yue on their day off from work was too tempting to refuse, even if no sexy shenanigans were on the table (because Azula didn't engage in such things with her coworkers). Also, Azula didn't really intend to carry heavy crates or anything like that. She had volunteered strictly in the capacity of an overseer, intending to organize and direct the others.
"Azula?" Aang asked after Suki, Katara and Yue had huddled closer together, discussing the possibility of Katara also finding an apartment in the same area as the other girls, with Azula having become a little lost in her own thoughts.
"What's up, Aang?" Azula asked, deciding to entertain the Air Nation boy.
"Did you see your dad trending on social media?" Aang asked.
"What? No, I did not," Azula shook her head nervously. Ozai trending on social media wasn't necessarily a good thing, and it immediately elevated her anxiety, which was possibly an unhealthy first reaction at the mention of one's parent. "Why would he be trending, anyway?" she asked. "He's spending the week at our summer cottage on Ember Island."
"Yeah, but it seems like while there, he decided to shoot and upload a video, and it… hasn't been received well," Aang said, looking a little amused. "He made a grilled cheese sandwich, and well… let's just say that it… fell short of expectations."
"Why would he upload such a video then?" Azula asked, feeling very confused. "I need to see this for myself," she decided, looking up her father's YouTube channel on her phone. One of the people responsible for maintaining Ozai's channel had indeed uploaded a new video. Also, it was getting ratioed into oblivion, which was definitely very unusual for her father's content. "The fuck is going on here," Azula growled, about to play the video.
"Why don't you put it on the big screen?" Yue asked, suddenly interrupting Azula. "If your father is about to have his fall from grace moment, I think we all deserve to see it."
"Fine," Azula shrugged. Aang turned on the large wall TV and Azula then had to impatiently wait until the bloody thing detected her phone and allowed her to connect remotely. "I'm sure people are exaggerating about how bad this video is. My father would never upload anything truly irredeemable. His assistants are smart and well compensated, and they wouldn't allow for that to happen."
"You mean the well-paid ass-kissers fearing to lose their cushy jobs would dare to tell Ozai Nakamura that he done fucked up?" Suki laughed.
"Your point… is well made," Azula was forced to concede. "Anyway, everyone shut up, I'm about to play the video."
With that, Azula started the playback of her father's latest upload, which was an episode of his 'Ozai Around the World' series of short video recipes. The video began by showing her father enjoying various outdoor activities on Ember Island, including fishing, scuba diving, paddleboarding and sunbathing, with the camera spending an inordinate amount of time zoomed in on his muscular bare chest.
"I don't want to say anything, but," Suki began in a voice that clearly hinted at mischievous teasing. "I didn't understand Ozai's legion of female fans, but maybe now I understand them a little bit better."
"Please, keep comments like that to yourself," Azula growled, feeling a touch nauseated by Suki's statement.
"I mean… objectively, he looks very good for a man who's about to hit his fifties," Yue commented. "It's a pass from me, though. I'm just not feeling it."
"Can we stop sexualizing my father, please?" Azula groaned.
"I'll pass as well," Katara said, ignoring Azula's protestations. "I respect everyone's kinks, but daddy kink is not my kink."
"Do you want me to strangle you, Katara?" Azula threatened.
"I bet it's Azula's kink," Toph laughed.
"Alright, you asked for it!" Azula growled, punching Toph in the shoulder. Toph merely laughed, punching Azula right back. The effortless punch to Azula's ribs stunned her and made her tear up, but she resolutely managed to stop herself from crying out. "Can we please watch the video already?" Azula asked.
"Yes, please," Katara grinned. "Anyway, it's not Azula's kink either," she said quickly as Azula resumed the video.
"Wait, how do you know-"
"We're watching the video NOW!" Azula yelled, interrupting Toph.
Azula and her friends were then treated to Ozai giving a lengthy monologue of just what a delicious grilled cheese sandwich meant to him personally, which Azula immediately dismissed as complete bullshit because she knew that her father would sooner be caught drinking the blood of one of his assistants than eating grilled cheese. Ozai then proceeded to introduce the fantastic ingredients he had chosen for his amazing grilled cheese sandwich.
"Oh no…" Azula groaned when she saw the two cheeses her father had selected. "He did not just do that…"
"Those are horrible choices," Suki laughed. "What are you doing, Ozai?"
"Why, what's wrong with those cheeses?" Katara asked.
"They're both well-aged, very dry cheeses," Azula explained patiently. "The kind of cheeses that simply don't melt well. Forgive me, father, for you have sinned, because this is a beginner's mistake."
"Whoa, this is getting worse and worse," Suki commented as they watched Ozai take a large loaf of country bread and cut two worryingly thick slices, all the while lecturing the viewers about how the secret of a great grilled cheese was not to cut the bread too thin.
"How does he expect the cheese to melt when the bread is so thick?" Aang wondered, scratching his head.
"It's not going to melt. It can't melt," Azula replied numbly, feeling completely dumbstruck. "That would require defying the laws of physics."
"Azula, how come your father can create all those incredibly elaborate and amazing dishes, but he fucks up something as simple as grilled cheese sandwich?" Toph asked, struggling not to laugh.
"I don't know… it's as if a regular grilled cheese is too basic for him," Azula sighed. "So, he's trying to be clever and then he overcomplicates it. This is just disastrous… no wonder he's trending on social media."
"I'm afraid it gets worse," Aang said as they continued to watch the video.
"Is he really going to stick a cast iron pan in an open fireplace?" Suki gasped as Azula and her friends watched Ozai do exactly that. Azula was briefly overcome by a wave of nostalgia as she remembered her much younger self playing in front of this very fireplace during the rare rainy summer days on Ember Island. She remembered once lining Zuko's collection of tin soldiers next to the roaring fireplace and then pushing them into the fire one after another because she simply enjoyed watching the way the little toy soldiers slowly changed into grotesque shapes as they melted. She also remembered Zuko beating her up after finding out what she had done.
"It's this whole new big TikTok trend, rustic cooking on live fire," Azula eventually replied, watching her father pour about half a bottle of olive oil into the cast iron pan while calling it 'just a touch'. "It's a very bad idea to do it this way, because unlike when cooking on the stove top, you have no way of controlling the heat. Grilled cheese needs to be done low and slow. He's going to burn the bread while the cheese inside is still stone cold."
"Spirits, look at how that pan is smoking!" Yue gasped at the video. "I remember what you were telling us about the smoke point, is this it?"
"Yes, exactly, you remembered," Azula smiled, giving Yue a fond stare. "The oil is already burning and he hasn't even put the bread in. Father, what are you doing…"
"I think he's finally realized that he has totally fucked up here," Suki sniggered as they watched Ozai place the sandwich into the much too hot pan and then press down on it with all of his weight in a vain attempt to flatten it and get the heat to penetrate deep enough to reach the cheese. It was clear to Azula that it wasn't going to work, and it was hard not to find Ozai's comments about 'pressing down lightly' and how 'beautiful' the sandwich looked absolutely hilarious.
Ozai then removed the pan from the open fire and flipped the sandwich over, coughing like mad when the smoke from the burning oil hit him in the face. "He's burned the bread!" Katara shouted, pointing at the screen. "Did you see that? He tried to hide it, but the bread was totally burned black!"
"Not only that, but did you catch a glimpse of the cheese?" Aang laughed. "It was still one huge solid block. It hadn't melted even a little bit." With everyone laughing like mad about the terrible sandwich, Azula felt a surge of embarrassment for her father's sake, however, she couldn't feel too bad for Ozai. He was the most renowned celebrity chef in the world and he truly should have known better. If he couldn't execute a grilled cheese sandwich, well, perhaps he deserved to eat the humble pie instead and become the internet's laughing stock for a few days.
Ozai placed the cast iron pan back onto the open fire and once again pressed down on the poor grilled cheese with all of his might, his face becoming red from the effort. Eventually, when the other side of the sandwich had also started to burn and become blackened, Ozai was forced to remove the pan from the open fire. He continued to press down with the spatula afterwards, lecturing the viewers about how it was going to get the cheese nicely melted. Finally, Ozai declared that the sandwich was ready and the cheese had melted. Boasting at how crispy the sandwich was, Ozai began to cut into it.
"Yeah, it's so crispy because you threw it into a raging fire, dude," Suki laughed.
"I like how he covers the sandwich with his hand so that we can't get a good look at what it's like on the inside," Yue chuckled.
"It's because the cheese hasn't melted at all, it's still completely solid," Aang snorted. "And the way he pretends that the sandwich is really hot inside by blowing on it? Come on, we can see that it's stone cold. Sorry, Azula, but this is more like a PSA on how not to make grilled cheese." Azula facepalmed at that rather accurate summary of the video.
"The worst part is how he keeps saying that it's a beautiful sandwich and how the cheese has melted," Katara sighed. "It's like he's gaslighting his entire audience. Azula? Surely, he had to know that this was a terrible video."
"I don't know what happened, I really don't," Azula shrugged helplessly. "I guess this is something that happens when you surround yourself with yes-men?"
"That's probably the explanation," Yue said, getting up from the sofa. "Anyway, it's getting really late for me. I need to relieve Kiyi of her duties and then drop her off." She looked at Aang and Toph. "Are you coming, rugrats? I can give you a lift when I'm taking Kiyi back to her place."
"We might as well," Aang said. He and Toph both got up to follow Yue. "Goodnight, everyone," he said as the trio proceeded down the stairs.
"I should probably leave as well," Azula muttered, still feeling a little stunned after watching the horrible grilled cheese video. Azula wondered if she perhaps should reach out to her father as he was becoming more and more embattled by the social media ridicule. Then again, there was the very distinct possibility that Ozai would simply take his frustrations out on her, so perhaps it was best to lay low for now and focus on the restaurant instead.
"Alright, see you tomorrow," Suki replied. Katara didn't say anything, aside from looking at Azula and giving her a slight nod. It served as a reminder that things weren't right between them, and Azula very much didn't want to leave it like that.
"Can I have a moment of your time, Katara?" she dared to ask.
"Sure, what is it?" Katara asked her, looking like she had no intentions to ask Suki to leave them alone.
"I'll just go and brush my teeth before bed," Suki wisely decided to leave them alone anyway.
"I didn't want to leave without apologizing," Azula said before she lost her nerve. "I was too harsh on you earlier today."
"You were, even if there's probably truth to what you said," Katara sighed.
"Still, I went about it the wrong way," Azula said. "It was not constructive. If you can forgive me, then my suggestion would be that once Sokka is done with his little walkabout or rebellion, or whatever he's up to… the three of us should sit down, put our minds together and come up with the kind of leadership structure that would remain functional once I leave Caldera." Azula didn't miss what looked like a brief flash of pain in Katara's eyes at the mention of her leaving. In all honesty, even thinking about leaving The Northern Lights felt more painful to Azula than she ever expected it to feel.
"Yes, that sounds like a very good idea, actually," Katara replied. "I wish we could have arrived at it without that little spat earlier, but I guess sometimes a bit of drama is necessary to push us in the right direction?"
"I guess so," Azula laughed awkwardly. "I'm just relieved you're not too mad at me, so…"
"Azula, wait," Katara exclaimed quickly just as Azula was already turning to leave. "I know Ozai is your father, and I respect your family bonds, but I hope you can understand why I will never think highly of your father. I think he's a sociopath, because only a sociopath would think that it's a good idea to upload such a disastrous video and then try to gaslight his own audience about it. I also think he's a very toxic person and a terrible influence on you, which does you so much credit for not being at all like him. But at the same time, I wanted to say that I'm sorry if watching that video made you feel bad or embarrassed. You don't deserve that."
Azula felt her chest swell at Katara's words. "It's okay, Katara. It didn't really affect me," Azula tried her best to downplay it, as she loved to do. "But thank you so much for saying it. You're amazing… an amazing friend, I mean," she said quickly, blushing.
"Thanks," Katara smiled, also blushing lightly. "I'll… see you tomorrow?"
"Yes, until tomorrow," Azula uttered swiftly before turning around and running down the stairs, feeling strangely elated. Sure, she could no longer keep hooking up with Katara and that hurt, but it seemed like them being friends was back on.
It was near midnight as Sokka and his new friend were making their way down a busy street of downtown Caldera. His charming companion was still getting chatted up by random guys on the street, so she had decided to hold Sokka's hand, something that Sokka wholly approved of. After leaving the bar, they had been walking for some ten minutes, with Sokka slowly becoming uncertain as to where exactly they were going, because he just wasn't sure who was leading who.
"So, uh… how far is your place, anyway?" Sokka asked eventually.
The girl immediately came to a stop and laughed nervously. "Umm, what? I, uh, thought you were taking me back to your place," she said.
"Damn, I totally would, but I'm sharing the apartment with my sister," Sokka said. The girl was giving him a slightly skeptical stare at the mention of a sister. "Also, my ex is probably still there, because we only broke up yesterday and I want to give her time to find a place of her own," Sokka was forced to confess.
"Oh, I see," the girl nodded in understanding. "So, that's why you were at the bar, trying to hook up. Bad breakup. I hate those."
"It wasn't really that bad," Sokka shrugged. "But yeah, that's why we can't go back to my place. And I'm guessing we can't go to your place because you probably have a boyfriend that you're currently mad at?"
"Ha-ha, what, no I don't have a boyfriend… or a girlfriend, not currently, anyway," Sokka's companion laughed, perhaps a little awkwardly. "We can't go back to my place because I have a… a roomie, yeah, and they might not be understanding."
"Right," Sokka smirked. The roomie story was clearly a lie, but then again, it didn't really matter whether his companion had a partner or not. If she wanted to cheat, that was on her, and Sokka didn't think it made sense to raise an objection based on moral grounds, not when she could just hook up with the next cute guy she came across. "I guess there's always the car option," Sokka suggested.
"I guess," the girl shrugged. She then seemed to think of something. "We're really close to my workplace, though. It's locked for the night, but I have the keys. We could sneak in through the back entrance. There's something exciting about storeroom sex at your workplace, right?" she asked giddily.
"I hadn't thought about it until now," Sokka admitted, laughing. He briefly considered whether this was all a ploy to lure him in and then the next morning he would find himself on the operating table with his organs harvested and placed in neatly marked coolers. Then again, Sokka had told himself that he was going to try something new tonight, and becoming an unwilling organ donor would certainly count as something new. "Alright, lead the way," Sokka said.
After a couple of minutes of traversing the impossibly narrow back alleys of the historic part of downtown, Sokka and his companion arrived at the supposed back entrance of what was probably some kind of store selling cheap souvenirs to the gullible tourists always crowding the city center. The girl unlocked the doors and led him inside, down a dimly lit corridor, before pulling him into a large and well-ventilated storage room. Barely any light fell into the room, but it was enough for Sokka to spot various containers and jars of canned food piled up everywhere. "Is this some kind of novelty grocery store?" Sokka wondered aloud. "Also, could we maybe turn on some lights in here?"
"But isn't this more exciting?" his companion asked teasingly. While Sokka was considering whether this was the moment when he would get stabbed to death, the girl suddenly pushed him against the wall, and then her hands were all over him, pulling him close. Sokka decided to dismiss all of his concerns about meeting a grim fate in the storeroom, allowing himself to be pulled in for a passionate kiss. As they continued to suck faces, his partner was not shy about letting her hands roam and she encouraged Sokka to do the same, an invitation he was only too happy to accept.
"Hah, I knew from reading your aura that I was in for a good time," the girl chuckled, pulling away from Sokka's lips. Her right hand was down in Sokka's pants, doing all kinds of exciting things that were driving Sokka wild. "Want me to go down on you, big boy?" she asked excitedly, undoing Sokka's belt and letting his pants fall all the way down.
"Are you serious?" Sokka asked in disbelief. This definitely wasn't something he expected to be offered during a hasty storeroom hookup. This girl was clearly a little crazy, but maybe that was not an altogether bad thing, especially if he stood to benefit from it.
"Hey, I love giving head to cute boys… and cute girls, if they're nice and deserve it," his partner merely laughed as she dropped on her knees. Sokka thanked the spirits for encouraging him to take particularly good care of all the personal hygiene matters before setting out on his nightly adventures. A while later, he wasn't thinking of anything else at all except about the amazing things this girl knew how to do with her lips and tongue.
Not long after, he finally had her against the wall, the pair moving as one. Her legs were tightly wrapped around his waist and she was moaning heavily into his mouth, rocking her hips against his. Normally, Sokka would take great pride in his staying power, but because of the surprise BJ and just how insanely sexy this girl was, he was really struggling to last the distance. The way she gyrated her hips against his, not giving him any respite, didn't help either. It was only at the very last moment before losing control, Sokka realized that in their shared animalistic lust neither of them had stopped to consider protection, so he barely managed to pull out just in time before finishing.
Feeling guilty for not being able to last longer, Sokka was about to utter an apology to his partner, but she cut in ahead of him. "You got your white sauce all over the other white sauce," she giggled, even while breathing very heavily.
"What are you-" Sokka began, stopping when his eyes fell on the large container labeled as white sauce. "Wait, are we in a restaurant?" he realized immediately.
"That's exactly right," his semi-naked companion admitted. "I'm doing some waitressing for my childhood best friend."
"That's funny, because I also work at a restaurant," Sokka said, in what was the weirdest after sex conversation he'd ever experienced.
"Oh, really?" his partner looked at him curiously. "And what is it that you do there? I don't get the waitstaff vibes from you."
"Uh, I… don't know what I'm doing at the restaurant, actually," Sokka admitted, aware that what he was saying sounded very stupid. His companion certainly looked deeply puzzled. "I used to be the head chef, but… I guess it wasn't going very well, so I'm now being moved out of the kitchen and off to do something else," he shrugged.
"That sounds rough," the girl said, her grey eyes full of sympathy. "Well, I hope this cheered you right up, though," she grinned, giving Sokka a quick peck on the lips.
"It certainly did," Sokka admitted happily. "Anyway, I should probably clean up here. We don't want to mess up the restaurant of your childhood friend. Also, this is probably… uh, unsanitary."
"Eh, don't worry so much about it," the girl shrugged, not looking too bothered. "I'll take care of it tomorrow morning. Or maybe I'll forget and then some customer will get to enjoy a salty surprise," she added with a wicked laugh.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a little bit crazy, aren't you?" Sokka chuckled.
"Only a little bit?" she winked at him.
"Well, it's hard for me to say, because I don't actually know you at all," Sokka winked right back. "By the way, uh," he then said, a little more seriously. "I like to think that I'm usually a bit better as a partner, but you're just so incredibly hot and I really got carried away. I imagine there probably wasn't that much in it for you, so… I'd be happy to go down on you, if you want me to."
"Aww, that's a very sweet offer," she smiled softly before pulling Sokka in for another kiss. "Totally unnecessary, though. I usually find it very easy to get off if the guy or girl know what they're doing, and you sure know what you're doing, so I actually got off twice. I can't remember when I last had this much fun," she added with a dreamy and thoughtful look on her face that made Sokka feel unusually good about himself.
"Well, I also had a lot of fun," Sokka replied, taking the opportunity to kiss her again and again. The feeling that this girl was definitely someone he'd like to hook up with again and again began to gain strength, but he didn't want to come off presumptuous by voicing it.
"Okay, so…" the girl said after they had finally separated, standing there a little uncertainly. "I know we both said that this was just a hookup, and I always stick by what I've said even if I had a lot of fun, but it still got me thinking," she rambled chaotically. "What I'm saying is that if we both had fun, maybe you'd like to hook up again? We don't have to, but I'm just saying that we could. It's not something I usually do, I tend to just move on to the next cute boy or girl, but I don't know… I'm getting good vibes and they're telling me to maybe try something new?"
"I'd love to see you again," Sokka confessed. "But maybe we could call it a date and not a hookup?"
"Oh, I don't know about that," his companion frowned. "Only if we can still have sex on a date."
"I think we can," Sokka laughed. "It would be a real shame not to end the date with sex. Also, if we're going on a date, I really should know your name."
"Oh, that's right," the girl gasped. "I can't believe that never came up! We're a pair of randy weirdos, aren't we? Anyway, give me your phone," she asked, extending her hand.
"Only if you give me yours," Sokka winked at her. Moments later, he was holding a smartphone in a fittingly pink case with little red hearts dotting it, typing his info in his companion's contact list. "There you go," he smiled, handing the phone back to her.
The girl was taking her time typing her details into his phone before returning it to Sokka. "Sokka," she read his name aloud. "Hmm, I feel like I know that name from somewhere," the girl mused. "Or maybe I've seen you on TV?"
"I really doubt it," Sokka said quickly. His appearance on Ozai's Kitchen Nightmares wasn't necessarily something he wanted to share with his new friend, because it wasn't exactly something he was proud of. Instead, he checked his own contacts list, discovering the girl's name surrounded by at least ten heart emojis. "Ty Lee," he read the name aloud, smiling. "A cute name for a very cute girl."
"You're a real cutie yourself," Ty Lee chuckled as they made their way out from the cramped back rooms of what had to be the tiniest restaurant in Caldera City. "It's a shame that I have to get up early for work. Else, I would have been happy to keep going because the night is still young."
"I hear you," Sokka nodded. "How about one more drink for the road, though? My treat. There's got to be a pub nearby."
"There's one right around the corner, and sure, I guess one more drink is fine," Ty Lee smiled as she locked the restaurant's back door, leading out into a dingy alley. "But we're not coming back here for another round of sex. Not that I wouldn't want that, but… you know. Maybe another time."
"Maybe another time soon?" Sokka asked hopefully. Ty Lee shot him a sly wink at that. "Is it alright if I text you tomorrow? That wouldn't be too overbearing?"
"Of course not," his new friend laughed. "If I didn't hear from you tomorrow then I probably would have deleted your name from my contacts, so you better text me often, mister!"
"Alright, then I guess I'll do just that," Sokka grinned, hoping that perhaps this was only the start of something new and exciting.
Jet's Friday had been very up and down. It had started off well when he had finally talked Jin into going on a date with him. Jin had only agreed when Jet had used the same pretext as with On Ji, which was to give her completely made-up tips on how to best capture Zuko's heart. But Jet's mood had then been soured by Zuko going off on him, accusing Jet of neglect. Tensions were running high in the kitchen after several customers had sent back their plates. Earlier in the day, Zuko had asked Jet to bring him a premade batch of white sauce from the storeroom, only to then blame Jet for giving him a sauce that had clearly gone off.
Still smarting from this verbal lashing by Zuko, Jet had been very much looking forward to spending a nice evening with Jin. She was completely insane, but she was also very hot, and Jet definitely wasn't above hooking up with crazy. However, Jet had then been frustrated yet again when Jin refused to accompany him back to his place, because Jin had to make sure that Zuko got home safely and was not targeted by an international cabal of assassins. So, here Jet was at eleven on Friday evening, sitting in Jin's car and helping her keep watch on Zuko and Mai's apartment. The only saving grace to this sham of a date was that Jin was still keen on making out, but only if she could keep an eye on the apartment.
"Are you sure that you can't take fifteen minutes off from watching Zuko's windows?" a very frustrated Jet asked after Jin had broken yet another tantalizing kiss. Somehow, even with all the annoying interruptions, they were both down to their underwear, but frustratingly, Jet just couldn't manage to get Jin distracted from her task no matter how hard he tried.
"Are you crazy?" Jin gave him a reproachful stare. "Have you no idea how quickly a trained team of professionals can perform a kidnapping?"
"Clearly not," Jet sighed. He started to kiss her again, refusing to give up easily and finally managing to slip Jin's bra off. When he began to kiss and caress her breasts while slipping his hand between her legs, Jin finally began to react with sighs and quiet moans, really getting into it. Jet felt like it was finally time to get to the most fun part, but when he began to lower Jin onto the backseat of her car, she stubbornly refused.
"I can't see the window of Zuko's apartment if I'm on my back," Jin pointed out logically.
"Seriously?" Jet sputtered incredulously. This girl was surely going to be the death of him.
"Oh, don't whine, just let me be on top, then I can still keep an eye on Zuko's windows as we have sex," Jin explained. After a brief struggle with naked limbs getting tangled up in the narrow space on the backseat, Jin finally pushed down her panties and sat astride a very excited Jet. "There's just one more thing I want you to do before we begin," Jin said with a very serious expression on her face.
"Just one more thing, huh?" Jet sighed.
"Yup," Jin nodded. She reached out and took something from the glove compartment, passing it to Jet. "I'll need you to wear this while we're having sex."
"What is… that?" Jet asked as he stared at what looked like a brown paper bag. There was a life-sized photo of Zuko's face glued to one side of the paper bag. "You want me to wear a paper bag with Zuko's face?"
"Pretty please?" Jin pleaded. Her eyes were glistening with hope and excitement. "Do it for me, and I'll show you the best time you've ever had."
Jet stopped to consider the situation he was in. Wearing a paper bag was perhaps the most humiliating thing he had ever done, but on the other hand, he was about to have sex with a seriously hot girl. The whole process of consideration took less than a second. "Alright, show me what you've got," Jet said excitedly.
"You won't regret it… Zuko," Jin giggled as she got to work. Jet wasn't sure if he was in for the best time of his life, but there was one thing he knew for sure – it was definitely going to be memorable.