Summer Camp

Chapter Two: Something There That Wasn't There Before

The next morning the boys woke up to thin strips of sun slanting down through the window like miniature spotlights. Zuko woke first and lay still for a while, acutely aware of Sokka's face nestled in the slope of his shoulder. Zuko could feel Sokka's warm, steady breath through the fabric of his T-shirt. The other boy's left arm encircled his waist, his hand resting gently on Zuko's shoulder.

Zuko closed his eyes and smiled. He hadn't realised how much he had craved physical interaction that didn't cause him pain. Sokka stirred slightly and took a deep breath, as if his consciousness was returning from whatever imagined dreamscape it had escaped to in the night. Zuko carefully rolled over so that they were face to face. Sokka opened his eyes and gave Zuko a half-asleep smile, "No bad dreams. You?"

"No dreams at all." Zuko said, returning Sokka's smile. This was a lie. He had actually had quite a pleasant dream about a gold pond and some adorable turtle/duck hybrids; but he decided it was a little too weird and personal to share with anyone right now. They were nose to nose, their eyes locked together.

How had Sokka not noticed how incredibly gold Zuko's eyes were? They weren't light brown or even amber. They were gold. Like melted metal. In the soft morning light, they shone with a mix of wariness and vulnerability. Like a sharpened dagger and honey all at once.

And how had Zuko never noticed that Sokka's eyes weren't just blue? They reflected and picked up the colors of their surroundings. The pale yellow of the early sun. The gray-brown of the cabin walls. And then, of course, blue. A blue as bright as the fall sky and as dark as a storm ridden sea. All these colors swirled together like marbled dye in water.

In the silvery quiet that followed, lost in each other's eyes, their heads so close together.... There was something magical about that moment. Both their foreheads dipped together, their lips almost touched- Then horribly, unexpectedly, Jet's voice came from the doorway, "Well this is intimate."

Sokka's and Zuko's eyes flew open, whatever spell that had been cast upon them lost. Sokka scrambled out of the bunk and threw himself back across the room in a panic. Zuko sat up hastily and crossed his arms in defense, "This isn't what it looks like!"

Jet smirked, "Oh I think it's exactly what it looked like."

Sokka inhaled sharply, "Jet-"

"Oh don't worry. I won't tell anyone." Jet's smile was too smug.

Sokka frowned disbelievingly, "What's in it for you?"

Jet's self-satisfied grin was replaced by a look so serious that Sokka actually stepped back slightly.

"I want Katara back. Or the whole camp finds out about this... incident." And with that, he disappeared out the door, slamming it behind him.

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ugh, i hate that j*t kid