#(Also thank you so much!! I'm so thrilled you enjoyed the Tysuki one!!)

[erisenyo]

If it’s not too late/you feel like it, maybe “shh, c’mere” for zukka? Because the only thing Zuko’s worse at than showing emotions (other than anger) is being comforted because of said emotions (at least in my brain haha) also ik I said this in tags but I absolutely adored your Ty Lee suki ficlet with the crystals it hugs my heart ;-; she’s protecting her friends

。゜゜(´Ｏ`) ゜゜。

For this prompt game!

“—and the utter gall of them to suggest—”

“Uh huh,” Sokka says, tugging Zuko by the wrist around a clump of slow-moving market shoppers.

“—like I haven’t spent months on the proposal—”

“So much time,” Sokka assures him, taking a moment in the next intersection to orient himself against Caldera’s cratered rim before pulling Zuko left.

“—to just come in and in one meeting—”

“Ridiculous,” Sokka agrees, shooting a quick, apologetic smile to the person who gives him started, half-offended look.

“—think they know more than me—”

“You researched a lot,” Sokka sympathizes, dragging Zuko clear of the line at his favorite food stall, which he's regretfully going to have to come back to later when Zuko—

“I researched—Sei Zun research—we researched—"

—isn’t at risk of popping a vein. Or starting to spit rainbow sparks in public, which would really give them away. Going incognito and relying on people’s expectations of where a Fire Lord won’t be only goes so far.

“And you did a really good job of it,” Sokka soothes, picking up the pace a little as Zuko hisses out a curl of smoke through his teeth.

“To just eel swan in—”

Sokka lets out an audible sigh of relief as he sees the sign for their destination, hand-painted and cheerful, before clearing his throat and quickly offering, “So rude."

“—and imply that I don’t care enough about—”

“Sh, c’mere,” Sokka interrupts as he pushes into the curious crowd thronging the square, Zuko spitting himself to a stop and making a low, seething noise of outrage. “Don’t be like that,” Sokka huffs, rolling his eyes and tugging on his wrist again. “C’mere.”

Zuko gives him a sideways, nettled look, clearly annoyed at being managed. “What are you—” he cuts off as he finally swings his glare up to actually take in their surroundings. Sokka can see the moment he realizes where they are, his face going suddenly slack with shock, mouth working silently a moment before he finally whispers, disbelieving, “…The baby animal adoption drive?”

“Mhm,” Sokka says, breaking free of the crowd and turning to walk backward so he can get a nice, good look at Zuko taking it all in.  

“The one we couldn’t make last year?” Zuko asks, dazed, stumbling along after Sokka.

“Mhm,” Sokka grins.

“And couldn’t make this year?”

“It rained last week,” Sokka reminds him. “They had to move it.”

“Oh,” Zuko says, with feeling, and Sokka doesn’t resist the urge to plant his feet and keep pulling, tugging him into his body so he can enjoy Zuko's closeness and also the dumbstruck look on his face.

“Yeah,” Sokka hums, dropping a light kiss onto Zuko’s lips and murmuring against his mouth, “Want to pet your feelings out?”

“Yes,” Zuko says, plowing forward through Sokka like that was all the permission he needed, face somewhere between determined and transfixed, and Sokka can't help but laugh before spinning to follow.

Sokka trails after at a more normal pace, grinning to see the tension melting out of Zuko’s body one kitten fawn and goat puppy—and inexplicably, a baby puma goat—at a time, until Zuko’s practically a boneless pile on the ground, baby animals crawling over him, head pillowed in Sokka’s lap.

“This was the best idea Aang’s ever had in his entire life,” Zuko mumbles into the side of the tiny kitten owl determinedly navigating his face.

“It was a pretty good one,” Sokka agrees, unable to do anything except smile at the sight. Spirits, he must look stupidly fond and sappy right now, but he can't seem to find it in himself to care about who might be seeing it.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this was happening,” Zuko slurs, both hands focused on giving ear scritches, and Sokka pauses on the braid he’s working into Zuko’s hair.

“It worked out, though, right?” he checks, relaxing again when Zuko lets out a deep sound of contented agreement and after a long moment adding slow, like he’s drunk,

“You have work to do.”

“Eventually,” Sokka hums, perfectly content to be where he is for now.

“Poak and Sun Chen are waiting for a reply?”

“Hawks only go so fast, and they need to rest, too, love,” Sokka shrugs, searching around a moment before plopping another kitten fawn onto Zuko's chest. “It’s nothing that can’t wait a few hours,” he assures him.

And nothing worth missing the sight of this, for, of Zuko’s small, delighted smile up at him before he turns to coo at the new creature, everything else happily forgotten.