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Zuko is finally having some quiet and peace after his last meeting for the day to work on some contracts when someone barges in through the door.
He doesn't even look up, knowing exactly who the only person is the guards wouldnt dare to stop.
"I'm working!" He grumps instead of answering his favorite water nation ambassador.
"You don't even want to verify I'm not here to kill you?"
Zuko sighs and puts his pen to the side to see a grinning Sokka, giving up his plan to act as if he isn't actually really happy to see those blue eyes.
"I mean it would be super easy for me!" Sokka continues when Zuko doesn't answer.
Yes, because Sokka is the only person Zuko specificly permitted entering his private spaces. Without knocking apparently.
"There are literal Kioshi warriors in front of my door. If you're here to kill me get it over with already. It's better than dying of boredom for sure."
Sokka just chuckles but then his eyes fall on something on Zukos desk and a faint blush appears on his cheeks.
"Hey, did you read through that yet?"
Sokka smiles all innocently pointing at the pile on the very back of Zukos desk.
"What? No - and I don't plan on doing so!"
Sokka looks oddly disappointed, especially considering just a week ago he made it clear that he thinks this entire 'arranged marriage' thing Zukos advisors are trying to pull is in his words 'absolute bullshit' and Zuko deserves to plan out his own future without anyone interfering.
Not that Zuko has a different opinion on that, the only reason he agreed to let them ask potetential matches and create this pile for Zuko to look through was to get them off his back. He never planned on looking at a single one of them.
That's why he's even more irrirated when Sokka speaks up again.
"Oh... Maybe you should."
Sokka scratches the back of his head sheepishly and Zuko tries desperatly not to think about how cute he looks when he's like this.
"Look through them I mean. Just once, you know, so you know what they would have chosen for you"
Zuko lets a sigh escape his lips.
"And see about 20 poor girls who would have to be married to someone who would never love them? No thanks!"
Sokka is certainly trying to tell him something Zuko is just not picking up on, because he STILL isn't dropping it.
"Well... Maybe you underestimated them"
Zuko sighs to himself. He is sure he is not underestimating anyone, since as long as Sokkas name is not on one of the sheets they do indeed not know what Zuko wants.
But still, since Sokka is still right in front of him, shifting nervously from one feet to the other he gives up and takes the pile with an eye roll. Not that he could say no to him anyway.
"If you insist"
He gets up drom his desk to stand next to Sokka and lazily flips through the pages. Some fire nation girl from a good family, the daughter of the earth kingdom ambassador (exactly the kind of people Zuko expected his advisors to pick), but then, a young swordfighting prodgidy that differs from the former pages in that he is definitivly destinctly male.
Zuko doesn’t remember ever bothering to come out to any of his advisers.
So maybe they are a bit more open minded and receptive of Zukos person, doesn't mean they know what he wants.
Zuko flips the page and completly freezes.
His eyes flicker up to Sokka who definitivly looks nervous now.
And then back down to the page.
"Sokka-" He manages after an humiliatingly long pause "Is this - did you?"
"Agree to potentially marry you?" a nervous chuckle "Yeah, apparently I did."
Zuko blinks uselessly a few times.
"...because you thought you could safe me from marrying any of their other suggestions?"
Sokka shakes his head so fast Zuko wonders if he hurt himself.
"what? No! I....." a nervous gulp "Because I atually like you." there's a small pause, Zuko still gathering his thoughts wenn Sokka starts rambling. "It's not that I want to, you know, immediately marry and stuff but I'd rather marry you a little earlier than seeing you married off to literally anyone else. I mean I do want you to be happy but I'd definitivly prefer if that's with me and I-"
In that moment Zuko stops Sokmas rambling by the only way he currently knows how and lunges forward to press his lips to Sokkas.
There's a second of surprise but then Sokka literally melts in his arms, returning the kiss with impossible soft lips, hands in Zukos hair and wow. That was not how Zuko expected this to go.
The kiss stays chaste and soft, and when Zuko breaks away Sokka grins widely.
"So is that a yes?" He asks all cheeky but Zuko breaks out in laughter.
"What? No!!!"
Theres a milisecond of disappointment but Zuko quickly explains.
"I'm not gonna marry you just because they do actually know what I want. They don't get to rush me! Or you for that matter!"
He stops to smile softly at Sokka.
"But yes, I do like you. Like a lot."
Both of them are grinning at each other like stupid but then Sokka steps closer again.
"That's great because I really want to do that again."
Zuko lets himself get pulled in again, soft lips on his, warm fingers slipping through his hair, a content sigh against his lips. And Oh there's a tongue. Zuko forgets to think anything until they break apart and undeterminable amount of time later, both breathless but with smiles still plastered on their faces.
"You know you could have just asked me?" Zuko bickers as soon as he gets his breath back. "There was literally no need for you to fill out an entire marriage agreement for that."
When Sokka laughs, not even a tiny bit embarrased at all he continues.
"You know that's like, super dramatic!"
"Hey! They approached me not the other way around! Apparently they thought that we were already dating and just didn't want to make that obvious. Thats why there were other choices than me in the first place."
Zuko can't stop his eyes from widening. Oh. Thats why they included male prospects as well, wasnt it?
Actually, now that he thinks about it they have been super ovious for a pretty long time now, with Sokka hanging out in his buero more often than not and their visits to the turtleduck pond together... Maybe it was Zuko adding Sea prunes to the weekly menu tipping them off, or the saphire embessled sword he gifted Sokka for his birthday.
Still, he just grins easily at Sokka again.
"Oh. Don't know where they got that idea from!"
Sokka laughs and pulls him closer again, already leaning in for another kiss.
"Yeah, no clue at all!"