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In all honesty, it was never Zuko’s idea in the first place. Or second place. He was actually heavily against the idea from the start, but Sokka can be extremely convincing when he wanted to be, and Jet was surprisingly, somehow, completely for it.
And that was how Boomerang Roaches 🔥 formed.
(“I still think that name is dumb,” Jet had said, when they’d finished their first single. Creating a Spotify account was, somehow, a lot more complicated when it was the three of them doing it.
“Oh and you think Freedom Fighters is better?” Sokka asked.
“I-- yes! ”
“Guys,” Zuko said urgently. “I... I don’t think Spotify allows emojis.”)
In the end, their Spotify handle had to be only Boomerang Roaches. This unfortunately made Zuko very upset.
(“I’m a firebender that’s why the emoji is in the goddamn title.”
“Sorry that you’re a bender Zuko, must be hard not being a nonbender like the rest of us.”
“Sokka please shut the fuck up.”
“No I think he’s right,” Jet spoke up.)
Their first single, Stupid Badgermole was, not surprisingly, a complete flop.
Katara had described it as the “dumbest song I have ever had to listen to seriously who came up with these lyrics.”
Jet silently agreed with her, but would never admit to it.
(“I just think that we, as Boomerang Roaches🔥 would be better off writing... maybe other songs. You know, songs with a message?”
“Jet we’re called Boomerang Roaches🔥 .”)
They had just started college, it was about halfway through freshman year when the idea came into fruition, so they didn’t really have a lot of time to focus on music or any intention to take it seriously. The whole thing had started on a whim really, off of Sokka’s whim, which was honestly a surprise because Sokka also spent a lot of time complaining about his work load as an engineering major, to which Jet and Zuko just griped back about stem majors.
Zuko, as a film major, was perhaps the most offended when Sokka went off on those rants. Jet however, was a political science major, so he was just self righteous in general.
“It has like... some streams,” Aang had offered after Stupid Badgermole had been posted.
“Literally just... shut up,” Zuko said, burying his face in his hands.
Aang, as the Avatar, already had an immensely successful music career, it had practically been made for him from the moment he was born, or more accurately, identified as the Avatar.
The Avatar, along with their sacred duties of keeping world peace and ability to bend all four elements, was essentially obligated to continue on the Avatar solo artist line.
He’d been really stressed about it as a kid, actually doubting his place as the Avatar due to the stress. After all, how could he compare to the sheer power of previous Avatar Kyoshi’s rock career?
(“I really wouldn’t worry about it Aang,” Katara had said once when they were younger. “I mean... no matter what you do it’ll be better than Roku’s releases, right?”)
Aang had actually ended up taking a lot of music classes as a kid, dragging his friends along with him. Sokka had loved it, maybe fueling his desire for a band now. Either way, Aang had publicly announced his return to music his first year of college, with a more indie vibe. Fans of the Avatar loved it.
“I can still give you guys some sort of shoutout,” Aang offered. “A lot of people would probably listen to childhood friends of the Avatar--”
“No,” Sokka said vehemently. “We’re not leeching off of you Aang, we can earn our own recognition--”
“I’d be open to that,” Jet said.
In the end, there was no shoutout.
--
As Zuko finished up his first year of college, Boomerang Roaches 🔥 was still a pretty minimal part of his life, and more importantly, unsuccessful. They’d released a few more songs in their spare time, with a variety of different genres.
The three of them, while working fairly well together as a band, and very close as friends, all had completely different music tastes and inspiration.
Some songs were more acoustic based and undeniably indie inspired with fairly edgy and depressing lyrics (Zuko had the most writing influence there) some more electronic based music with lyrics that made very little sense (Sokka was extremely proud of those) and some that were blatantly written about today’s political climate (lyrics were almost always taken directly from Jet’s journal).
He had a decent amount of fun with it, he genuinely enjoyed working on the songs with two of his closest friends. Sokka had been one of his best friends since they were kids, having met through Aang. He hadn’t known Jet as long, being randomly assigned roommates at their college, but they’d actually hit it off once they met, and Jet quickly became one of Zuko’s best friends. He liked making the music, and he liked being with his friends. It never meant that Zuko ever really wanted the band to like... be a thing.
He preferred it as a hobby, something small and fun. It was also super convenient for his film class. He’d submitted the music video for Stupid Badgermole he’d directed for a project, and had actually received a pretty good grade. His professor had been fairly concerned about the music choice though. He liked it being something small, something between just him and his friends. So, he was pretty shocked to receive a phone call from his sister during his shift at the Jasmine Dragon.
“Uh... hello?”
“Zuzu your music sucks,” Azula started strongly.
“...Okay?” Zuko didn’t exactly recall ever showing Azula their music, though it wasn’t really much of a stretch to think she could find it. Mai and Ty Lee both knew about it, and both could’ve easily told her.
“No honestly it does. Also, pick a genre. Shuffling your Spotify almost gave me a seizure.”
Zuko silently knew she was probably right. “Is... there a point to this conversation?”
Azula let out a laugh at that. “I’m just trying to have a conversation about your music, as your loving sister. Is that not allowed?”
“I didn’t think you’d really care.”
“You’re right. I don’t. Anyway you should probably check your little band’s social media.”
She apparently took Zuko’s silence as an invitation to continue. “Stupid badgermole, I just fell into the hole.” she sang, in a sing-songy voice. Zuko stayed silent. Presumably bored with his lack of reactions, Azula just sighed. “Check Tiktok Zuzu, your idiotic song is blowing up. Ty Lee showed me.”
Zuko did not know what to say to that.
Azula hung up.
Zuko stared at his phone in bewilderment, before shrugging his shoulders. Azula never really made much sense anyway. He did send a message to his group chat though.
Zuko: guys what’s tiktok ??
Sokka: r u joking
Sokka: is this a fucking joke
Zuko: ... no ??
Katara: zuko, tiktok is an extremely popular social media app
Aang: yeah it’s like short videos
Toph: did u rlly not know ??
Zuko: shut up
Zuko: i was just asking bc azula mentioned it when talking abt stupid badgermole
Katara:
u talked to azula?
Zuko:
idk she called me
Katara: wait why was she talking about stupid bagermole
Zuko: IDK THAT’S WHY IM ASKING THIS CHAT
Aang: zuko calm down
Sokka: GUYS
Sokka sent a link to a tiktok
Sokka: THERE’S LIKE SO MANY VIDEOS WITH OUR SONG
Sokka: HELP ??
Aang: omg congrats guys <3 i believe in u :)
Sokka: stfu aang
Zuko honestly didn’t know what to make of the video, but after clicking the link he saw that Sokka was right. There were a lot of videos under their audio. Also... a dance it looked like? He also checked the group’s Spotify to see a massive increase in streams on their first song, Stupid Badgermole, and a decent increase in their few other songs.
“...Huh,” he thought out loud.
Jet: wtf guys i come out of class to see THIS
Jet sent a link to a tiktok
Jet: why is our song all over my fyp
Sokka: omg jet u have tiktok ??
Sokka: i didnt think u were the type
Jet: idk i mostly use it for the political tiktoks
Jet: there’s a lot of leftist creators who provide interesting and thoughtful takes. also a lot of fucking idiots with godawful takes that make the discourse and app unbearable.
Sokka: lowkey i have no idea what that means
Sokka: i have it downloaded for the funny videos :)
Zuko: wait am i the only person here who has no idea what tiktok is?
Sokka: yes
Sokka: anyway yeah our song is big on there and ik the trend will probably die soon so i already took the liberty of making us an acc
Zuko: u could not pay me to post on there
--
After the creation of the account, they all had access to it on their phones (Zuko fought heavily against downloading the app to his phone, but lost in the end) and permission to post whatever videos they wanted to “build up their brand” or whatever. Sokka seemed a lot more excited about this than Zuko thought possible, but begrudgingly he could admit it was a little exciting, and Sokka’s own excitement spread. Under no other circumstances would he have downloaded that app.
(“Sokka have you been talking to Aang about having a successful music career?”
“Toph, actually.”)
This of course, turned out to be a massive mistake.
Sokka: jet did u or did u not post multiple tiktoks on our fucking band acc advocating for political revolution and anarchism
Jet: ....
Zuko: idk sokka u did post a dancing vid :/
Sokka: TO OUR SONG
Sokka: IT WAS RELEVANT
Jet: ok so why do my videos have more likes ??
Checking his phone, (Zuko still had no idea how to use the app) he could see that Jet was right. While Sokka’s few videos had a decent amount of likes, Jet’s videos were way more successful.
He checked the comments on Jet’s most recent video.
kyoshisavatar
he do be making some points tho
purpleskies
wait is this actually the official acc for that one band or
joe_29
lmao yeah
roachesfan
omg boomerang roaches ilyyy guys
fallinggdown
u forgot the emoji :/
aangvibing
wait this guy’s actually kinda hot lol
comradejett
idk his eyebrows kinda ruin the vibe for me
Zuko... honestly didn’t understand much of what was going on in the comments. Or in Jet’s videos. Or in Sokka’s videos. Okay maybe he just didn’t understand Tiktok. He was the only member of the band who hadn’t posted anything, so he figured maybe he should introduce himself.
Sighing heavily, he went to film a video.
“Uh, hello! Zuko here...” he waved awkwardly at the camera.
He posted it without caption or hashtags.
Sokka: i cant believe ur dumb fucking video beat both ours in likes
Zuko: ???
Jet: honestly fuck u zuko
Zuko: ?????????
Sokka: CHECK THE TIKTOK ACC
So, Zuko did check it. His video, the most recently posted, did in fact surpass the others. By several hundred thousand likes. It had probably gone viral.
He was almost scared to check the comments.
sattelitesky
HELP WHY IS HE ACTUALLY SO HOT ???
david_t
bruh where tf is that scar from
lgbtavatars
he’s so awkward lmaoo i kinda love him
Zuko was... not quite sure what to think about the comments.
His first year of college ended just as easily as it started. Their band was steadily increasing in streams, and somehow remained some sort of viral Tiktok sensation. Sokka and Jet were both posting fairly often, with an unwilling Zuko in the background a lot, but Zuko didn’t really care much for making videos after his first one (it wasn’t that awkward okay he was trying his best) and with finals coming up, he really just wanted to focus on school.
(“Nerd.”
“Sokka you are literally taking multiple engineering classes, it looks like you haven’t slept in weeks why are you calling me--” )
It was to celebrate the end of the year, that he and Toph ended up sharing tea during his off-shift at the Jasmine Dragon.
“So… you’re working here all summer?”
Zuko just shrugged. “I mean... yeah, I’m staying with my Uncle still. Why?”
After Zuko got in a major fight with his dad, because he’d chosen film as a major instead of the expected business, he went to live with his Uncle, who supported him instead. He... might have been disowned?
He wasn’t completely sure about the details, but his place in the family business had definitely been passed on to Azula, who was starting next year as a business and economics major. She would no doubt eat the corporate world up the second she graduated. His sister scared him sometimes.
“No real reason, I was just wondering how busy you would be,” Toph said.
“Uncle’s super flexible with shifts he literally doesn’t care if I’m working or not. Um, why?” he asked again, because he knew Toph, had known her since they were both kids and he also knew when Toph was up to something.
“Again no real reason. I was just wondering how much time you could put into your band.”
At Zuko’s silence she continued. “You know, the Boomerang Roaches🔥?”
“Yes I know the name. Did Sokka put you up to this?”
“No. Well actually, he may have implied it. Doesn’t matter anyway my point is that my family has had roots in the music industry for generations. And I think your band would greatly benefit from my help.”
“Your... help?”
Toph looked like she was resisting the urge to slam her head on the table, Zuko wondered vaguely what he did wrong. “How dense are you-- Zuko I want to be your manager.”
Zuko paused at that. “I mean... that’s fine?”
Toph sighed. “That was so much easier than I thought, I already talked to Sokka about it and he was cool and then Jet was all like the concept of managers is an infringement on the rights of the artist and a symptom of the plague that is capitalism--”
“Yeah that sounds like Jet--”
“But then he also said that if it had to be anyone as a manager it would be me. And Sokka thought you would be the hardest to convince for some reason, which is weird because I thought it would be Jet, but he did come around pretty quickly--”
“Wh... at least I didn’t go on a speech about capitalism?”
“I don't know, I mean for Jet it was pretty tame--”
“Wait why did Sokka think I’d be hard to convince?”
“I don’t know he doesn’t really think you care too much about the band?”
“I-- what.”
And Zuko thought back to how he had acted when Sokka had first suggested the band, and okay, maybe it wasn’t super enthusiastic but it’s not like he was ever against the idea, and it’s not like he never participated, he helped with writing just as much as the others.
And just because he wasn’t super into making the videos didn’t mean he didn’t care about that band? He couldn’t really explain exactly why the idea that Sokka thought he didn’t care made him so annoyed, but he knew that it did.
“I don’t really know,” Toph said. “I think...” she hesitated. “It’s not like you’re spending a lot of time with him lately?”
“...What does that have to do with the band?”
“You’re literally so dumb.” Toph downed the last of her tea, it had cooled down since they first sat down. “Ah, your Uncle really does make good tea.”
“Toph, what does that have to do with the band ?”
And maybe she was right, he hadn’t really been spending a lot of time with Sokka lately. Mostly he’d just seen him in groups but he didn’t think that it was like... a big deal.
Plus they were busy lately, school was a lot, and his job. He didn’t exactly have time to be with Sokka the same way he did when they were younger, and he knew it was the same for Sokka.
“Why do you think Sokka wanted to start the band?” Toph tried.
Zuko blinked. The answer, he thought, was fairly obvious. “Because he likes music.”
And that seemed to put Toph over the edge, as she breathed deeply, as if this conversation was causing her great pain. “He missed you, dumbass,” she said.
Zuko didn’t know what to say to that, could barely process the words as they came out of her mouth. “He--”
“Look, I don’t want to get in between you guys, I’m just saying if you have time maybe spend some more of it with Sokka. I think he’d like that.”
And with that, she left, leaving Zuko a little bit dumbstruck.
--
From that conversation on, with the permission of all three band members, Toph was officially their manager. Which... actually meant very little in terms of what they actually did as a band.
Which was mostly Sokka and Jet making videos, and sometimes the three of them writing music.
Sokka wanted to take this summer to “focus on music” of all things, so he was staying in the spare room in his Uncle’s apartment instead of heading home. Zuko thought Katara might’ve been annoyed at that, but she’d just burst out laughing when Sokka had told her, and made him promise to visit.
His Uncle was overjoyed to have Sokka be staying of course, Uncle for some reason loved his friends. He’d never forget the sheer joy, and perhaps shock on his face the first time he’d brought his friends (Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Aang) to visit once. From that moment on, they’d all been adopted as his own.
Jet lived nearby, so it made meeting up pretty easy. Zuko’s favorite thing about the band was honestly the free excuse to spend time with his best friends. Sokka and Jet hadn’t gotten along super well at first, but they seemed to be now. Sokka did ask him to be part of the band at least, and they shared a mutual bond of annoying Zuko.
They met up pretty often, planned out an ep that actually made sense (with the help of Toph) and kept up their social media presence. Zuko thought Sokka was having a bit too much fun annoying him with making videos. Sill though, Zuko was... almost excited. Boomerang Roaches 🔥 had somehow gained a lot of traction over the past few months, more than he could have ever expected or even wanted. They had a scary amount of followers on Tiktok, a decent following on Twitter, and probably most importantly, a lot of Spotify streams. It was kind of overwhelming, if he was honest.
--
“Are you... Zuko?”
Zuko looked up at the new customer. He wasn’t exactly sure why she was asking, his name was literally on the name tag on his shirt?
“Uh... yeah? What do you want to order?”
“Like Zuko, from the Boomerang Roaches 🔥 ?” she asked again, as if he hadn’t said anything.
“Oh. Yeah I am,” he said. “Anyway what do you want?”
She paused at that. “Um, iced chai? Medium?”
He nodded and placed her order. “Okay you can wait--”
“What’s it like being in a band?”
Zuko looked at the line behind her-- not super long.
“Um, cool I guess. Anyway if you could just--”
“Could I have your autograph?” she blurted out.
Zuko closed his eyes, breathed in and out. He didn’t even have an autograph.
“Look I’m really sorry but there’s a line, when I’m off shift I could--”
“Oh I’m sorry I totally get it! I just love your music,” she said.
“Um, thank you?” he said as she finally walked over to wait for her drink.
Zuko knew that the band was getting bigger but he was never expecting... that.
Shaking it off, he went to greet the next customer. He actually really liked his job, though it could be frustrating at times. It was less about the job, more about his home.
He liked doing anything he could to help his Uncle out, his Uncle who’d been a better father figure than his actual father his whole life. Who cared about him, and gave out guest rooms and food to his friends and treated them like his own children, who supported him no matter what. Always.
Living with his Uncle ever since college started, he’d been happier than ever before and he wanted his Uncle to understand that, to know he was grateful. The extra money wasn’t awful either.
Thankfully, there were no other surprise interactions during his shift, though as always there were some idiotic customers. Somehow, multiple times upon people attempting to order extremely complicated coffee orders, he’d had to explain that the Jasmine Dragon is a tea shop, and as far as beverages went, exclusively sold tea. The idea was difficult for some to wrap their heads around apparently.
And Zuko had tried of course, in the past after dealing with one too many of these customers to convince his Uncle to add at least some coffee to the menu, but that conversation had ended with him feeling that he might have accidentally offended his Uncle.
(“I-- coffee. Coffee?”
“Uh… yes? A lot of costumers seem to want it.”
Incredulously, his Uncle had repeated. “Coffee. Coffee? My own nephew...”
“...I’ll just take that as a no then.”)
Zuko might not have been the perfect business-oriented finance major shark his father had wanted, but even he could see that offering coffee would broaden the shop’s consumers, and effectively make more money. It would also make Zuko and his coworkers have to deal with less stubborn costumers who couldn’t read menus and thought this was a Starbucks for some reason. (Seriously why would anyone order a frappuccino—)
Shaking it off, he checked his phone as he headed back to the apartment. Sokka, thanks to Toph’s questionable connections and money, now had newfound access to a bunch of music mixing programs and instruments, and judging by his phone call, was excited to use them. Jet was busy, but would be over later to work with them.
Zuko was honestly excited to spend more time with Sokka, he’d been able to do it a lot more now that he was staying with him. Toph’s words from their conversation those weeks ago never really left his mind, and he could recognize now that he’d missed Sokka.
He loved all of his friends, truly, but he knew he had felt the most relief when it was Sokka who had decided to go to the same college as him, Sokka who’d wanted to stay. Even though they hadn’t decided to be roomates. On the advice of his Uncle, and most of their friends and aquaintances, they’d both opted for random roomates, just to not isolate themselves freshman year. It had worked out pretty well in the end, with Zuko’s roommate Jet quickly becoming one of his best friends, something Zuko hadn’t experienced since… well since he was a kid and had first met Aang, and with Aang came everyone else.
He hadn’t had the ability to spend this much free time with Sokka since high school, and he hadn’t really realized how much he missed it until he’d had it back.
Heading into the guest (Sokka’s) room, he dropped his bag on the floor and handed Sokka a takeaway tea he’d grabbed from the store.
“Here, green tea.”
Sokka grabbed it gratefully, taking a deep sip. “Ah, your Uncle’s a genius, you know that?”
“Yeah,” Zuko smiled softly. “He is.”
He curled up on the floor next to Sokka, and stared at the program he had open on his laptop.
“Okay okay, so I don’t know if you’ll like this but, there’s so much to work with on the program I kinda freaked out--”
“Toph’s pretty amazing isn’t she?” Zuko interrupted absentmindedly. Next to probably only Sokka, she’d absolutely done the most to support their band.
“Definitely. This is probably the only redeemable thing her family has done.” Sokka looked lost in thought for a second. “Wait the Beifongs are like-- legit in the industry, do you think Toph could like… get us a label deal?”
“I think Toph could do anything if she tried,” Zuko shrugged. “I don’t think it’s a good idea though, Jet would throw a fit--”
Sokka let out a laugh at that, probably at the image of Jet going on one of his classic tirades, this time on the exploitation and manipulation of musicians and record labels.
“He’s probably right though, and it’s not like I want to actually be associated with the Beifongs, at least not Toph’s parents. Besides, we’re doing pretty well for ourselves right now aren’t we?”
Sokka looked at him, and smiled. “Yeah. Yeah I think we are.”
--
“Toph,” Sokka said softly, maybe a little in awe. “I love your house.”
“Sokka,” Toph said very seriously. “You say this every year. ”
Every summer, when Toph’s parents travelled for vacation and Toph refused to go with them, she liked to host some sort of summer party. Toph’s house and yard was… gigantic, it was no secret that her parents were wealthy. She’d probably be their group’s go to host if her parents weren’t so annoying. It just was a lot more enjoyable to be at her house when her parents weren’t there.
It was kinda weird, Zuko thought, to be back in his hometown like this. He knew his father’s house (his old house) was only a few miles away from Toph’s, he didn’t know how to feel about that. At some point, without realizing it, his Uncle’s apartment had become his home. Not that he entirely hated being back here though. Aside from Sokka, and Toph who went to a school near his own, Zuko didn’t really get to see his childhood friends that often. Being here, it felt like every summer when he was a teenager. He didn’t really mind the nostalgia.
“Well even if he is awfully repetitive,” Katara said. “I’m glad you’re here Sokka.”
“Aw, thanks Katara--”
“Especially considering you refused to come home this summer. Make sure to at least visit Dad while you’re here, he misses you.”
“Yeah. I was planning on it,” Sokka said, a little bit annoyed. Anyway I already explained why I stayed in the city.”
Katara scoffed. “Yeah, to get closer with--”
Sokka nearly dove to stop Katara, “Stop right there.”
Zuko looked around, to see everyone finding this exchange entertaining. He just felt confused, like there was some part of a joke he was missing.
“I-- Sokka wanted to stay to work on music,” he added helpfully to the conversation.
“And how’s that going?” Aang asked.
“Pretty good actually--” Sokka responded happily, until he saw the look on Aang’s face. “Oh shut up, you’re practically born with an advantage, you’re literally the Avatar.”
“You know, it does heavily limit my promotional and creative options.”
Sokka just sighed. “I hate all of you. Actually.”
And with that, the conversation shifted away from music, and towards more neutral topics.
Sitting around a table, they shared the pizza’s they ordered. Three pizza’s, a meat lovers (for Sokka and Toph-- Sokka was always insistent on this) a regular cheese (Aang and Katara) and, after much deliberation and infighting, a vegan pineapple shared by Zuko and Jet.
Zuko was very passionate about pineapple pizza, causing a never-ending debate every time they ordered food. Having Jet by his side though, was helpful, because not only did he add a number to his vote, making ordering a pineapple pizza logical, he was also an excellent debater.
Jet was forced to come to this particular meeting by Sokka and Zuko, and Zuko was happy to see just how easily Jet meshed with them, as he and his friends comfortably joked around with each other.
“I’m glad you guys came,” said Katara. “I’ve missed this.”
Zuko looked around the table, at his friends. “Me too,” he said honestly.
--
Zuko’s trip to his hometown went honestly better than he could have expected. He spent most of it at Toph’s house (his own trip coincidentally lining up with Toph’s parents vacation). He met up with Mai, visited Ty Lee, had an extremely awkward lunch with Azula, and avoided his father’s house like the plague.
After one final day spent with his friends, he left for the train ride home with Sokka and Jet. School was unfortunately starting soon, and they all had to get back.
A little bit exhausted, Zuko was content to just nap, the train ride wasn’t super long. It was Sokka who interrupted the peaceful silence in their carriage. “Uh… guys.”
Jet opened one eye to glare at him. They were all a little tired.
“The mentions in our Twitter account are… kind of insane right now.”
Groggily Zuko asked, “What?”
He checked for himself to see that Sokka was right. Their mentions were always a little bit messy, it’s not like the band was super popular or anything, but it wasn’t verified to sort their mentions. They also hadn’t even tweeted recently, so it was surprising. He squinted as he scrolled through them. “...wait why is everyone asking about Aang?”
Jet’s eyes grew almost comically large as he looked at his own phone. “You know how Aang was posting to his story earlier today?”
“Yeah, why?” Zuko asked. It wasn’t like a weird occurrence, Aang was posting to his story all week. As was everyone with a private social media presence (which was everyone but Zuko).
Jet turned his phone around, allowing Zuko and Sokka to get a closer look. “I think he posted it on the wrong account.”
And there, undeniably, on Aang’s official Avatar account, with millions of followers, were the stories from earlier today. Zuko, Sokka, and Jet could all very clearly be seen, who were all mildly internet famous through their band.
“...Oh shit,” Zuko said.
“I mean,” Jet said. “It looks like we finally got our shoutout?”
Sokka collapsed in his seat, sighing heavily. “I hate my life.”
Being friends with the Avatar, Zuko knew, was a little complicated. Despite his huge public influence, Aang was a fairly private person. He liked to keep his personal social media as private as possible, and did as much as he could to avoid being recognized in public.
Seeing the stories messed up the way they were, while slightly annoying for the three of them (though maybe it was good? Jet was right, it was essentially a free shoutout), he knew it would bother Aang a lot more.
He didn’t bother posting anything or replying to anyone on Twitter, and didn’t check any other of their accounts. It wasn’t like he had anything to say.
Instead, he sent a message in their group chat.
Zuko: aang i think u posted to the wrong story
Aang’s response was thankfully, almost immediate.
Aang: ???
Katara: oh wait aang i think he’s right
Katara: check the stories on ur avatar insta
Aang: fuck
Aang: everyone’s asking about u guys
Aang: it’s like the avatar isn’t allowed to have friends cant they chill tf out
Aang: a lot of ppl recognize u guys from ur band
Toph: hell yeah
Katara: ?
Toph: free advertising
Aang: should i delete them or would that be weird
Katara: idk aang it’s already there
Aang: should i like say something? idk what to do
Zuko: if u just ignore it, it might blow over
Katara: is that ur life philosophy
Zuko: shut up
Aang : no i think zuko’s right i’ll just leave it alone
Toph: no wait give them a shoutout
Jet: i thought we agreed no shoutout??
Toph: that was before aang publicly posted about u guys
Sokka: u know toph ur there too u could act concerned
Toph: yeah not as many ppl care about me tho lmao
Toph: decent amount of follow requests on intsta though
Katara: same
Aang: do u want a shoutout?
Sokka: no
Toph: yes
Jet: yes
Zuko: idc
Aang: yall r so helpful
Katara: honestly aang i dont think it matters, it’s fine either way
Katara: besides the stories themselves were probably enough of a shoutout
Aang: i’ll just @ ur band acc on the story too does that work it’ll be gone in a day
Sokka: yeah thanks aang
Toph: i think u guys should actually post something addressing it though ppl are curious
Sokka: omg we should do a live
Zuko: sokka we’re literally next to u why r u texting this
Jet: why would we do a live
Sokka: idk i just think it’d be fun and we could talk about aang
Sokka: bc rn ppl are just guessing
Katara: everyone’s so invested it’s kinda weird imo
Aang: welcome to my world
Toph: do a live that’d be so fucking funny
Zuko: i dont know how i feel about a live
Toph: too bad
Toph: as ur manager i say u should do it
Jet: lmao
Zuko looked up from his phone, Sokka and Jet were still staring at theirs.
“So…” Sokka said. “Live?”
Zuko buried his head in his hands. “I hate you guys.”
“I mean we probably should address it some way,” Jet pointed out. “Or else no one’s going to shut up about it, because people are crazy obsessed with Aang, and a live is probably better than a post because Aang wants it to blow over. Which is fair.”
“You know, he’s got a point,” Sokka said. “You should join the debate team or something.”
“I did in high school.”
“...Of course,” Sokka muttered.
“Can we just get it over with,” Zuko interrupted. He honestly just wanted to go home and sleep , they were taking a late train so they could spent the most time with their friends, but know Zuko was just kind of regretting it.
They used Sokka’s phone, “the lighting on this train is horrible,” he muttered.
The three of them sat side by side on one of the benches, in the thankfully empty train car.
“Hi guys!” Sokka said brightly, as the live opened.
Zuko sighed heavily.
“Holy shit,” Jet muttered, watching the number of viewers steadily grow.
Zuko squinted, at the comments. There wasn’t a huge amount of people yet, and Instagram wasn’t exactly their biggest platform, and it also was essentially the middle of the night-- though timezones did exist-- but still the numbers were way higher than he’d expected, and only grew as the live went on.
“Um okay,” Sokka said, somehow their official spokesperson. “So this is like… a Q and A, I guess?”
Zuko looked at Jet who, despite being mostly for the idea, looked as unenthused as he felt.
“It’s not really a Q and A,” he interrupted Sokka’s ramblings. “It’s just that everyone won’t leave us alone about Aang’s Instagram.”
Sokka elbowed him “chill out,” he looked to be skimming the comments. “Um, where are we? On a train?”
“Obviously,” Jet said.
Zuko looked closer at the comments, there were a lot of questions about Aang.
“How do you know the Avatar,” he read. “Well that’s easy, since we were kids.”
“It says how not when.”
“Sokka shut up.”
“What Zuko here is trying to say is that we grew up with Aang, he lived near us. Well, just me and Zuko I guess, we met Jet in college--”
“Sup,” Jet nodded, his first real comment during the live.
“And we were really good friends! I actually met Aang first, fun fact, me and my sister, and—“
Zuko kinda just let Sokka ramble, knowing he did this kind of thing when he was nervous.
Having a following like this, and the sheer amount of people at the live was scary for Zuko, who didn’t really have an active part in social media, he couldn’t really imagine how it felt for Sokka.
Embracing his exhaustion, he leaned onto Jet’s shoulders— he too looked like he wanted to sleep— as Sokka animatedly talked. Occasionally he or Jet would pipe in (usually at a nudge from Sokka) but he was mostly content to just rest.
Sokka looked happy, Zuko thought fondly, his eyes drooping as Sokka delivered a particularly funny childhood story involving Zuko. Some part of him wondered if he should say something, interject and joke with Sokka (the story was a little embarrassing for Zuko) but a greater part of him was content to just watch him, and rest. Eventually, during the train ride he feel asleep. It was with a soft smile on his face.
--
Zuko woke up in his bed, the sun peeking through his curtains. He shut his eyes again, let out a sigh. Checking his phone he saw the time, it was decently late in the afternoon. He rolled over onto his back. He thought back to last night, the tired train ride, that mess of an Instagram live... shaking his head, he tried to get up. Glancing at his phone again, he saw a new notification.
Toph: congrats guys u went viral
Toph: check twitter
Zuko, still in some sort of sleep haze did check his Twitter-- and saw that their account blew way up overnight. He was almost scared to check any of their other socials, though he guessed this is what could have been expected-- Aang was the Avatar, quit literally the most influential person both musically and politically and maybe ever. His instagram account had millions of followers, to get that sort of announcement directly from the Avatar… well maybe he had underestimated the impact it would have on the band.
But on the search button undeniably, he could see trending in entertainment (probably at least partially specified to his own interests)-- Boomerang Roaches🔥, along with-- fuck.
Trends for you--
Boomerang Roaches🔥
Trending with
Jetko
Zukka
Jetka
Looking at the words he wanted to throw up. He didn’t really want to look closer at the trends. He wasn’t very active online, but he wasn’t a complete idiot, he knew what those trends meant and he did not like the idea of it at all. It was only some sort of sick curiosity that forced him to click.
ali // new to roaches twt
@avtaraangs
okay but look at zuko resting on jet’s shoulder shfdjkk u cant tell me theyre not cute together #jetko
[screenshot taking during insta-live]
jess :)
@sunsetsdaydream
HELP JSKDJ WHY DO I WANT TO STAN BOOMERANG ROACHES NOW
mara !!
@awkwardzukos
pls do i promise we’re nice
jojo ☆
@bxxmerangroach
okay but sokka talking about zuko….. im not saying zukka but im saying zukka
[video recording of insta-live]
amy | potato?? era
@avatarslovee
okay i know everyone’s kinda just now discovering boomerang roaches🔥 bc of avatar aang’s post, but if u haven’t seen it yet PLS check out their tiktoks it’s comedy gold
[video of zuko’s debut tiktok]
comrade jack
@jetsupremacy
everyone arguing over jetko or zukka. What about jetka
ada
@kyoshis
wait u might be onto something….
lily
@aangsglider
everyone stanning boomerang roaches bc theyre funny that’s fair that live was hilarious plus their tiktoks but pls pls actually listen to their music…. it’s so good
a.
@jetkorightss
why jetko is actually a thing: a thread
[show 14 more tweets in this thread]
sam
@sunnysokka
like/rt to be in a boomerang roaches🔥 gc!! i tweeted this a while ago and it flopped but i think roaches twt is bigger now lol pls dont let this flop
rach ♥
@redrosee
ok but jet’s actually a communist king
[clip of jet’s tiktoks]
bee
@boomrangroachh
i love how boomerang roaches🔥 has been popular for like a day now and everyone’s already fighting over ships lol
jan | roaches gc!!
@starlights
okay i know everyone’s having fun but can we not like… ship real people, i thought we all knew this was bad
ro
@avatarsalbums
they’re probably all straight anyway lol
dan
@rokustan
not the fucking point
Shutting his phone down, he tossed it onto the bed. He’d seen enough.
Zuko wasn’t an expert on social media, he really did prefer to just mind his business, but he knew enough that there was no way the shipping could be actually serious. Most of these people were probably joking. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully.
But he couldn’t get rid of the sick feeling in his stomach, the deep discomfort of someone seeing him and his friends, and their first thoughts being some wild and deep theory on how they were actually dating.
When he was in high school, he and Mai had dated. For almost a year they were together, and Zuko could confidently say to this day that Mai was one of his favorite people ever, and one of his closest friends.
They’d broken up abruptly, Mai offering very little explanation at first. And though he was obviously upset, at the time he had felt something closer to… relief. He’d been more worried about losing Mai as a friend, then he ever was about their breakup.
It wasn’t until later that Mai had explained exactly the reason for the breakup, and it wasn’t until then that things really clicked.
It was hard, Zuko knew, to realize his own sexuality. It was hard to know, to accept, and it was still something he held very close to himself-- really only his close friends knew.
So to see this many people be so… casual about it, to joke in such a way struck a nerve he didn’t really expect. To make assumptions that they had no idea to be true, people theorizing he was dating Jet or Sokka, that he was gay, that he was straight… none of it was their business, none of it should matter. Not to them.
He realized, maybe, why Aang was so secretive about his private life.
There was a knock at the door-- Sokka.
“Hey, we didn’t want to wake you but we were actually thinking about getting lunch and was wondering if you were hungry--” he paused as he walked in, seeing Zuko slumped on the floor, leaning against his bed. “I… guess you’re up?”
He sat down on the floor next to him. “Everything okay?”
Zuko didn’t really know what to say, because yeah he was fine, and he also didn’t really know how to explain exactly what it was he was feeling.
He didn’t know if it was the same or even similar way Sokka was feeling-- if he’d think it was dumb, if he’d even understand what Zuko was trying to say because in all honesty, Zuko didn’t either.
“Yeah just… tired I guess,” he said. Not very convincingly.
“We got back pretty late,” Sokka agreed. “You were essentially passed out it was--” he glanced over at Zuko’s phone, strewn across his bed. “You saw Toph’s text?”
Zuko nodded.
“Aang’s reach is like… insane, I can’t believe I was ever against some sort of shoutout, all of our socials blew up , like I know we thought it blew up already but this is even bigger, and our music is doing great your Stupid Badgermole video has well over a million views which is like… a lot, and it’s still growing--”
Sokka’s enthusiasm was contagious almost, he seemed genuinely excited about this turn of events. He thought back to Sokka on the train, how happy he was, his real passion for the band and what it meant for them, how he stayed in the city with Zuko and Jet to work on the music.
It made everything seem worth it for Zuko.
“That’s great,” Zuko said honestly. “But have you seen like… the ships or whatever? There’s a lot of that on Twitter I think.”
Sokka’s face… didn’t fall, but there was some sort of unreadable expression on his face. “Oh you saw those? Yeah I’ve seen a lot of those lately, they’ve kinda been around forever-- I think Aang deals with it too-- it’s kinda funny I guess, I wouldn’t take it too seriously.”
Zuko took some time to process his words-- he wasn’t active on social media, he didn’t like checking comments on videos or going on Twitter, he didn’t see much of a point-- but he guessed it did make sense that those types of comments had been around forever. Sokka, and probably Jet had forever to deal with them, probably weren’t even that bothered by it in the first place.
“I mean,” Sokka continued. “The ship names, ridiculous, am I right?”
Zuko looked at him blanky.
“Like… Jetko. Doesn’t it… sound? Dumb?” Sokka finished weakly.
“I don’t know,” Zuko said. “I think objectively it’s a good ship name? Like, solid?”
This time it was Zuko’s turn to be blankly stared at.
“I don’t think any of the actual ship names themselves are bad? More like, the concept of it?” he tried explaining more.
“...What do you think of Zukka?”
“...It’s fine? I just said I think all the ship names are good?”
Zuko shook his head, it was too early since he’d woken up to be try to figure Sokka out, he at least needed some tea or something (one habit he’d gained since living with his Uncle was developing an addiction to caffeine through tea rather than coffee). He got up, as Sokka joined him.“I kinda do want to have lunch, give me ten minutes?”
“Sure,” Sokka said, almost a little too fast. “Yeah I’ll just be downstairs.”
Zuko couldn’t really tell if Sokka was acting a little weird, or if he was just tired. Maybe he was a little uncomfortable with the shipping thing, too? He knew Sokka was pretty open about his own bisexuality, and had been super supportive when Zuko first came out, but that didn’t mean theorizing on this scale wouldn’t bother him? He hoped it didn’t bother him, he didn’t want Sokka to feel the same way he felt, didn't want him to be upset.
Either way, when he left to go grab lunch with Sokka and Jet, he found himself distracted again. Spending this time with his friends, no matter how much everything else weighed down on him, he could be happy.
--
It was only a few weeks before school starts up again, that their debut ep is finally finished. Self-titled, Boomerang Roaches🔥.
Zuko can actually safely say that he’s proud of it-- 7 songs they all worked together on, with an interlude that was made entirely of haikus on Sokka’s insistence. Thanks to Toph, the quality and production is a lot better than any of their other songs.
Listening to their ep, Zuko feels… proud almost. They did this, and he did feel a surge of pride for himself and his friends.
It’s officially released that Friday, and the weight of their online fanbase is, kind of scary maybe?
Sokka had posted a rather official looking tweet on their band account with the help of Toph, and was faced with a lot of genuine excitement online.
It felt weird, to have that kind of influence online, Zuko felt. After Aang’s post their following grew so much, to have that many people even know who he is, much less be invested in their posts, music, relationships, lives… it was a new feeling, he was hoping he could get used to it.
So, as they all sat on the floor of Sokka’s room, curled up next to each other, listening to the completed songs for the first time-- not really the first time, they’ve all heard every song an innumerable amount of times while working on them-- but still the completed and official ep in order, for the first time.
As the last song played, it was Sokka who said something, “that… was insane.”
All Zuko and Jet could do was agree.
--
“I got you guys an interview.”
“You… what?” Zuko asked, staring at his phone. He was sitting on the couch in his Uncle’s living room, with Sokka and Jet. Toph was on speakerphone, and seemed to waste no time.
“An interview,” she repeated. “To celebrate your ep or whatever? You’re welcome for that by the way. Anyway my Uncle called me and like, wanted you guys on an interview for his show-- it’s nearby not a big deal.”
Zuko’s looking around the room, trying to understand his friends expressions. Shock, maybe?
“Um,” Sokka said. “Sure?”
“Cool, I’ll message you the details” Toph said before hanging up.
“That was… abrupt,” Jet said.
Zuko just shrugged. “Guess she’s busy?” It wouldn’t be a real surprise, he knew Toph’s college started earlier then their, he had a feeling she was busy packing and spending as much time possible with her friends and out of the house before she could finally leave.
--
The actual day of the interview, Zuko was not as nervous as he expected to be. He showed up to the building, exactly on time, him and Sokka meeting Jet there.
His Uncle had painstakingly picked out outfits for all three of them, and had, nearly against Zuko’s will, fussed endlessly with his hair. His Uncle was happy for him, Zuko knew. He told him often-- how proud he was of him. Not just for the band, but for everything. Zuko’s last year in college had been probably the best of his life, and he owed a lot of that to his Uncle.
“Is anyone else nervous?” Sokka asks, as they wait backstage. Toph had described the building and interview itself as lowkey, and maybe in actual terms it was, but at the building, waiting to be interviewed, it felt anything but.
“Because I for one, am definitely not nervous. Nope. Not me.”
Zuko resisted the urge to sigh deeply-- of all times, it was now Sokka had to lose his cool? Not that he could blame him, they were about to be on tv. Was it live tv? He really hoped not.
And then came the alarming thought-- how many people did he know would see this? His Uncle obviously, and his friends knew, but the idea of Azula or worse his father even knowing… it was shocking and uncomfortable in ways he couldn’t even explain.
“Guys,” Jet said. “Calm down, it’s totally fine.”
And there was Jet. Jet, who had probably never in his life lost his cool-- got angry maybe, but nervous? Never. Zuko felt a pang of envy at that.
“Sokka, do you remember that live stream? How did you feel doing that?”
“Well, I was actually very nervous, you could probably tell because I talked a lot--”
“The important part is, that you did it. And it was fine. Plus, no one could really tell you were nervous.”
“And Zuko,” Jet turned his attention to him. “You’ll be fine. Both of you. It’s an interview nothing can really go wrong. They ask questions, we answer. Chill.”
“Chill?” Sokka asked weakly.
“Chill,” Jet repeated firmy.
Zuko, despite those inspiring words, did not find himself very chill. Either way, they're about to go on camera, and he was practically dragged on stage.
The interviewer, smiled at the camera as they settled into their seats, Sokka between the two of them.
“Welcome, everyone to the Dai Li Show, back again with our daily show! I’m your host, Ju Dee and today we have our special musical guests-- the Boomerang Roaches!”
She looked ready to continue, but Sokka, wasting no time immediately interrupted. “You said the name wrong,”
Zuko cringed internally. The fake smile on Ju Dee’s face twitched, just the littlest bit. “I… I’m sorry what?”
“The band name,” Sokka repeated. “It’s Boomerang Roaches🔥.”
“...How did you say that out loud?”
There was a brief, awkward moment of silence (who is he kidding the whole interview’s going to be awkward) until the cameraman announced a cut. “We’ll just redo that,” he said kindly.
“No wait,” Jet said. “Please include that.”
After a brief conversation, in which Sokka painstakingly explained how to pronounce it, they restarted the interview.
(“Sokka she knows how to say Boomerang--”
“I’m sorry that specific part is just very important to me--”)
“...and I am here with the Boomerang Roaches🔥! A popular group gaining their online success through social media apps such as Tiktok, and exploding into fame after a brief shoutout from their close pal, the one and only, Avatar!”
“He’s not really the only,” Zuko felt compelled to point out. At the disappointed stares of everyone in the room, and the dreading realization that they might have to restart it-- again, he tried to defend himself. “There’s been many Avatars, you can’t really say one and only it’s a cycle of reincarnation--”
“Yeah we know that,” said Jet. “But he’s the only Avatar now--”
“Okay,” said the cameraman, a little less kindly. “We can try again.”
“...After a brief shoutout from their close pal, world renowned artist, the Avatar! Here, celebrating the release of their self-titled ep.”
There was a brief pause, as she looked at them, perhaps daring them to interrupt again.
She smiled brightly continuing on, “now, Boomerang Roaches🔥! That’s a unique name, do you mind telling us how you came up with that?”
“Oh that’s easy,” Sokka said. Zuko was extremely grateful for Sokka’s habit of talking too much when nervous-- with luck he might not even have to say anything. “We wanted something that represented all of us! So, Boomerang,” he pointed to himself-- “roaches,” at Jet-- “and 🔥,” at Zuko.
Ju Dee blinked. Zuko almost felt bad for her. “That’s… how did you come up with that?”
“Well,” Jet offered. “Zuko’s a firebender.” He didn’t elaborate more.
Ju Dee smiled, looking, if possible, even more obviously fake. “Moving on!”
As the questions continued Zuko felt more and more comfortable, he even managed to answer some-- basic questions, inspiration, more about their ep, social media presence… all stuff Zuko felt prepared to answer, and they all took turns answering.
“Zuko!” Ju Dee announced, leaving him feeling much like a deer in headlights. “I’ve been told you film all the band’s music videos personally?”
“Uh yeah,” he answered. “I’m a film major, so I really enjoy stuff like that. It’s been… fun. Really fun.”
Ju Dee’s eyes lit up at the mention of his major-- he sincerely hopes she doesn’t ask either Sokka or Jet about their own majors, knowing them they would never shut up about it-- but she only asks a few more questions about college, which he finds fine to answer.
As the interview wound down, he almost thought that it wasn’t that bad, after the beginning it all cooled down, until Ju Dee asked one final question. “So, my final question to you, is what do you want your band to be be? What do you want the Boomerang Roaches🔥 to represent?”
Zuko felt woefully unprepared to answer that question. He half expected Sokka to answer, he was usually best at these type of question-- but he saw a look in Jet’s eye, as he opened his mouth to answer.
“What do we, the Boomerang Roaches🔥 want to be?” he started. “Well, that’s an easy question--” and then Jet started talking.
And talking.
And talking.
It’s… almost inspiring, Zuko thought, listening to his words. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought Jet had memorized some sort of monologue or something.
It’s actually rather beautiful, he thought, as Jet went on. He felt tempted to shed a tear or something.
Everyone else in the room seemed to be frozen as well-- listening to his powerful words.
It’s the cameraman, once again, who coughed rather loudly. “Uh… time,” he said. “If you could… finish up.”
“Fine,” Jet said calmly, before delivering a particularly powerful closing statement.
Even Ju Dee, seemed to be at a loss for words as she bid them goodbye.
“Well…” Sokka said awkwardly where they stand, having been practically shooed out of the building once the interview was done. They’re all slightly frozen, dealing with whatever… that was. “That went well?”
“I’d say so,” Jet said. Of course he would, Zuko thought almost sourly. He didn’t say anything dumb that would probably air on tv. If anything, Jet had somehow become ten times more eloquent the moment there was pressure.
They pause for a moment. “You want to get dinner?” Zuko asked.
“Thought you’d never ask,” Sokka announced, wrapping his shoulders around the both of them as they went to search for a nearby restaurant.
The interview as a whole had been out of the way for both of them so they weren’t familiar with the area, Zuko really hoped it was worth it.
But sitting at in a booth, surrounded by two of his best friends, able to laugh and joke about a cringy interview (there were some moments he knew none of them would really let go of) discuss music and an ep that Zuko was genuinely proud of making, he couldn’t help but feel like everything was worth it, no matter the stress, fame, invasive tweets, when he could have this.
“To Boomerang Roaches🔥!” Sokka announced happily, raising his drink in the air.
Zuko and Jet echoed.
--
“My nephew’s second year of college,” his Uncle said, almost tearfully. “I’m so proud.”
He stood, fumbling with his hair, clothes, hands on his shoulders. Zuko honestly didn’t think it was that big of a deal, it was his sophomore year after all, nothing new or different.
Still though, he’d be lying if he said he’d didn’t appreciate the attention his Uncle gave him-- always gentle, kind, genuine. He was proud of him, Zuko knew. His Uncle always made a point to say it to him-- good grades, being helpful at the shop, even the band created on a whim-- no matter what he did, his Uncle was endlessly, always proud of him.
It was a feeling Zuko was still getting accustomed to, had only really experienced last year when he’d moved in permanently with his Uncle.
Standing in front of his Uncle, surrounded by luggage he’d have to drag to his room, it was admittedly reminiscent of a freshman year, some sort of huge milestone.
Of course his freshman year, it wasn’t his Uncle who’d accompanied him, or even his father-- he’d payed someone else to drive him, barely even acknowledged him before he’d left. He wondered briefly, if he’d drive Azula-- if he cared enough, to say goodbye. He knew she was starting college this year, made a mental note to check up on her.
And there were other differences of course. Instead of a dorm room, he’d be sharing an off-campus apartment with Sokka and Jet, they’d made that decision earlier that summer. It’d be easier for all of them, and in all honesty dorm life was not something he was looking to repeat.
As his Uncle helped him bring his things in (because his Uncle stayed, always stayed), he noted he was the first one here, which wasn’t really surprising. The last weeks of break Sokka had gone back to his family and had a longer commute to get here, and he knew Jet was planning on arriving a few days later.
He finished setting up his things, with the help of his Uncle, and with one final goodbye- and a promise that he would visit the shop if he had a free weekend-- he was alone.
So of course, against his better judgement, he goes to check his phone.
Zuko had never been one for social media, had always just used it to keep up with his friends. There was something about the enormity of it, all the people he didn’t know, would never know.
He’d also be lying if he said it wasn’t at least partially because he just didn’t really get it. Jokes he constantly heard between his friends, that sometimes flew right over his head.
He knew that some of his friends were online a lot, knew that technically, if only because of the band, he was too.
It was still weird, and he did avoid checking tags or searches of himself for that reason. Sokka and Jet both handled more of the online stuff, and they were good at it. He mostly just appeared in videos with them sometimes. But Aang had been really helpful in giving advice, had dealt with a lot as the Avatar, and it was also Aang who had warned them that they might get recognized on campus, which was not something Zuko had really thought about.
Sure, sometime over the last summer when they’d inexplicably gained some sort of following he’d gotten recognized occasionally, a lot of times when working which was more annoying than anything else, but the thought of having that happen now … was just embarrassing.
Letting out a deep sigh, he tossed his phone back on the bed. He was part excited for this year, part terrified. Still, he looked around the empty apartment, and imagined his friends here, his future year.
Jet, leaning against the counter, arms crossed, amusement buried in his eyes.
Sokka, trying, yet failing miserably to cook.
(Zuko had vivid memories of him almost burning the house down when cooking pasta as a teenager. He was slightly terrified to live with him).
Jet, ranting and raving about literally anything as he stared at his laptop-- anything to not start his essay
(Zuko had been subjected to this many times back when they were roommates. Zuko thought Jet had no right to be as entertaining as he was).
Jet being an absolute beast in the kitchen, single handedly preventing them both from starving-- he had Pinterest board upon board dedicated to vegan recipes.
Sokka, filming videos, Zuko always laughing in the background.
Their instruments in the corner, working on music together.
Sokka’s laugh at one of his dumb jokes, his eyes lighting up, clear like the water.
Sokka next to him on the couch, Sokka’s head on his shoulder, Sokka’s hand in his.
Sokka, Sokka, Sokka.
Fuck.
---
“...You really think this is going to work?”
Zuko glanced down at his new uniform, his first shift back at the Jasmine Dragon since school had started. It had been a few weeks, and he figured he should probably visit his Uncle. Sokka and Jet joined him, if only for the free food.
It had also been a few weeks since he’d come to the realization about Sokka, and he’d simply elected to not think about it. He had bigger problems to worry about. Other problems. Like getting recognized occasionally at a job he had no obligation to work, and rarely did anyway. Yup, much bigger problems.
“I don’t see why not?” Zuko responded. “I thought it was a good idea.”
Jet let out a deep sigh. “Okay but Lee? That’s like… the most common name ever.”
“That’s the point,” Zuko said. After last summer, he was trying to avoid any other people recognizing him, asking for autographs or anything about the band. It held up the line first of all, and took away part of what Zuko actually liked about the job, which was limited social interaction. It was easy to just take an order but he absolutely did not sign up to get asked about music every ten minutes.
After extensive time spent on the subject he figured he would just change his nametag to Lee, his Uncle had been the one to come up with the name. His Uncle had been fine with the idea, though he had expressed some doubts. Not as much as Jet, who just seemed to make it his mission to crush Zuko’s dreams.
Sokka, was staring very intensely at Zuko, looking deep in thought, his hand rested on his chin.
“I think…” he said slowly. Zuko remained hopeful that Sokka would support him. “I think it has potential.”
“Potential,” Jet said incredulously. His arms were crossed, as he leaned against their claimed table in the corner, looking incredibly betrayed. “Seriously?”
“Well the nametag alone isn’t enough,” Sokka said. “I think like… facial hair would help.”
“What,” Zuko said. He did not want to put any more effort into this. He also did not want facial hair.
“Like a fake beard,” Sokka suggested.
“Absolutely not.”
“There’s a Party City down the block,” Jet offered.
Zuko threw a muffin at him. Unfortunately, he ducked in time.
“My meatloaf muffin!” Sokka cried mournfully.
“I think it was the last one too,” Jet commented.
Sokka glared at Zuko.
“We don’t bake them a lot,” he commented, face neutral, not wanting to betray a laugh. “No one really likes them.”
Sokka reached over the table, to steal Zuko’s scone. “Seriously though,” he said. “As I was saying before my muffin’s awful demise-- good disguise concept.”
“No it’s not--” Jet interrupted, but Sokka shoved his hand in his face.
“Good concept,” Sokka repeated, immensely serious. “I just think you need another step. Like, if I needed a disguise… like I said, I’d have a fake beard.”
“Okay Sokka.”
“And my name wouldn’t be Lee. That’s a dumb name. Jet’s right it’s so common.”
“And what would your name be?”
“Wang Fire,” he responded immediately.
“...Okay you put a lot of thought into this,” Jet commented.
“Why… Wang Fire,” Zuko asked, curious despite himself.
“Because I’m from the Water Tribe. Right? And the opposite of that is fire.”
“Sokka I hate to break it to you, but Fire is not a legitimate last name in the Fire Nation. And Wang isn’t even a popular first name.”
“It’s still a better disguise than Lee,” Jet commented.
“No,” Zuko said. “No it’s not.”
“Yeah it is.”
“The point,” Zuko repeated. “Isn’t to completely disguise myself just to change something like my name so I don’t get recognized while I’m working.”
“You know,” Sokka commented. “I don’t get recognized that much.”
“You’re not missing anything. But we can hire you as Wang Fire in the shop,” Zuko offered. “And see how long until someone recognizes you.”
Sokka… looked to be actually considering that.
“And if I worked here…” he said. “I could actually manage to keep the meatloaf muffins in stock--”
“Sokka they’re never in stock because no one eats them except for you. You’re literally the only reason we have them ever .”
Sokka, at that, looked oddly touched. Then his face steeled over. “I still don’t forgive you for throwing the last one at Jet though.”
“Me neither,” Jet said. “I can’t forgive you for even putting that abomination near me.”
“Well, I had to touch it, I think I’m the real victim here”
“Okay okay,” Sokka said. “I think we’re getting off topic here.”
Zuko and Jet, a vegetarian and vegan respectively, never passed up the chance to bully Sokka for his meat-eating habits. Sokka in return, never passed up the chance to bully them for anything.
“And what’s that topic?” Jet asked. He very well knew what the topic was.
“Zuko’s actually fucking awful disguise--”
There was a loud clamor, as arguments arose again.
In the end, they did make it to Party City. They did however, also get permanently banned from all store locations before they could buy the beard.
Zuko still thought the nametag was enough on its own.
---
Zuko felt that, out of all his worries for this school year, no one had warned him just how annoying Sophomore year was. Not necessarily difficult, thought it was plenty of that, just annoying. Like a lot of work for absolutely no reason.
All of his friends were swamped with work, he was barely able to visit his Uncle on the weekends, his group chats were all dead save for complaining about work, he had no time to work on music, he had to cancel his last three meetings with Toph because they were both so busy, Azula as a freshmen took great enjoyment in gloating about how easy her classes were and how much she enjoyed her business major (and really, keeping up with sister was an endeavour in itself), midterms were soon, his life was hell.
The only consolation, perhaps, being that he and his friends hadn’t managed to get banned from any public space since Party City, if only because they didn’t have the time.
And then there was the whole Sokka problem. He did not like to think of it.
Because, when he did think of it, when he thought about Sokka, it just became too much.
Sokka who always made him laugh, laughed at his own jokes in return. Who would stay up with him when he couldn’t sleep, distract him when he was sad. Who at the age of eight, had proclaimed himself Zuko’s best friend. Who his Uncle loved as his own, enough to continue baking the most disgusting muffins known to man, and give him a guest bedroom for the whole summer. Whose family had accepted Zuko, always, even when his own hadn’t, all the dinners he’d spent at Sokka’s house. Sokka, who had decided to form a band, simply because he missed Zuko. Who had gone to college with him, because he’d wanted to stay. Stay with him. He remembered that summer senior year, almost every moment they’d spent together. Zuko had never wanted to leave.
And that was the crux of it because when he thought about Sokka, he thought about everything.
The moments when they were kids, when they were teenagers. Sokka’s hand in his. Sokka’s eyes settled on his. Sokka, always.
Sokka, his best friend. One of his best friends.
And that was what Zuko didn’t want to fuck up.
Because Sokka was his best friend. But so was Jet, and so was Aang, and Toph and Mai and Katara and Sokka was friends with all of them. Sokka, so intertwined in his life.
He just didn’t want to mess it up, he remembered how messy his breakup with Mai had been, and it wasn’t the same but it was awkward and Zuko couldn’t imagine that with Sokka. Didn’t want that with Sokka. Didn’t want anything to go wrong, didn’t want anything to end up affecting his other friends. Didn’t want to look at Sokka and feel anything but what he already felt, didn’t want to feel sadness or regret, any anger or awkwardness.
And this was why Zuko had wanted to talk to Toph, and maybe also why he didn’t, why Zuko always seemed to cancel last minute, scared to finally have that conversation. Toph could always see right through him, could tell when he was lying and he knew there was no way she would just let him go. He’d tried, so many times, to text her about, to call, wanted her advice, but he always stopped himself.
Sokka’s hand in his, Sokka looking at him, the way his eyes would light up.
He wanted to talk about it. It was all he could do to not scream, to yell, to expose every one of his wants every time he so much as looked at Sokka.
His Uncle, concerned in his phone calls, could always tell that something was up. (He was just stressed-- school was a lot). Jet, Zuko knew, was curious. But Jet would not push, not until Zuko himself said anything. He found himself nearly ignoring all his friends messages-- because it was obvious, now, what they had been trying to say all those months, and who were they to know Zuko’s feelings before he knew his own? How obvious could Zuko have been?
(Zukka had trended, all those months ago. The two of them together-- it had made him uncomfortable then. It still did. Still, it was different now. Maybe worse. Maybe better. He didn’t quite know.)
And of course, in the middle of it all, was Sokka.
Now that Zuko knew, he did not know how there ever could have been a time he wasn’t in love with Sokka. Did not know if there ever truly was.
And now, for the first time in weeks, they were trying to write.
The three of them, sat in a circle, curled around a laptop, working through samples.
Zuko next to Sokka next to Jet next to Zuko next to Sokka--
He could feel Sokka arms, wrapped around his shoulders.
“I feel,” Sokka said softly, eyes trained on the screen as it played the first lines of their song, “like we haven’t done this in a while.”
Jet nodded in agreement.
“School’s been a lot,” Zuko commented.
“Don’t I know,” Jet said. “Barely have time to even see my boyfriend lately.”
Absolute dead silence. Zuko could only stare blankly at the reveal of this particular detail, something he thought that perhaps, he should have known, about his friend. Best friend, he had thought.
“...I’m sorry what? ” Sokka asked quietly.
Jet blinked. “Oh shit, I didn’t tell you.”
“No?” Zuko asked. And then-- “boyfriend?”
Part of Zuko felt betrayed. He’d spent weeks, agonizing over his realization, over so much as the thought of a boyfriend, and here Jet was, merry as could be, already having a partner? Without even bothering to tell him?
“Oh sorry, it’s just been so busy I kinda forgot. It was pretty recent too, we were just friends for a while.”
Certainly not best friends for over ten years, Zuko thought. Not like him and Sokka.
Jet kept on talking, as Zuko and Sokka seemed to be shocked into silence. “We met online, you know? His name’s Longshot-- we were in a group chat together, the Freedom Fighters, but we had some mutual friends-- he goes to the same college as Toph you know? So it’s not super far, but not super close either, we text a lot. He’s pretty shy, so I didn’t want to rush anything by telling--”
“A boyfriend,” Sokka repeated. “Like, dating.”
“Yeah,” Jet said, like Sokka was the dumbest person alive.
Zuko was still shocked, that while he’d spent weeks, literal weeks agonizing over his own love life-- Jet, his own best friend, roommate, bandmade, had just went and gotten a boyfriend--
“So… you and Zuko weren’t dating,” Sokka blurt out.
Dead silence. Somehow, even quieter than before.
Jet blinked. Once. Twice.
Zuko didn’t even think he processed what had been said.
It wasn’t until Jet repeated it incredulously that it sunk in.
Sokka thought… he and Jet.
“Why?” Jet asked.
Zuko still did not say anything. His mouth felt dry, as he simply watched the carnage unfold.
Sokka’s ears were red as he stuttered, “I don’t know, it’s just the two of you, ever since freshman year… I don’t know the way you acted I just thought…”
“We’re friends,” Jet said.
Zuko still could not say anything.
“Oh,” Sokka said. “Oh.”
Zuko was looking at him. And then, Sokka’s hand were in his. Zuko could not remember if he had been the one to grab them or not, but they were there and they were warm, and Zuko was looking at Sokka, and Sokka was looking right back, eyes dead set on his and Zuko wanted to say something, to finally admit what he’d wanted to say all these weeks, that revelation at the beginning of the school year.
What came out was a choked laugh. “God you’re dumb.”
Sokka smiled, softly. “Shut up.”
And there it was-- the smile, soft and true, it split his face, eyes crinkled, lit up brighter than anything else Zuko had seen.
He’d been scared, he remembered, of messing it up. What they had, their friendship. But now, finally, as Sokka looked at him and he looed right back, he couldn’t understand how he’d ever thought this could have been a mistake.
“I like you,” Zuko said. “Love you, I think. Like a lot.”
Zuko did not know where Jet was, thought maybe he left, maybe to give them some sort of privacy. Zuko was distantly aware of the background, of where he was and what was happening but the only thing that felt real was Sokka in front of him.
“Me too,” Sokka said. “I think… always, maybe. A long time.”
Sokka’s hand on his tightened, faces close together, eyes set directly on the other. Zuko wanted to close the distance.
His lips were soft, Zuko noticed. Soft and warm, and when Zuko finally leaned away, Sokka was smiling.
--
Sokka: hey :)
Sokka: me and zuko r dating :))
Everyone is typing.