three words that became hard to say (i and love and you)

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Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Relationship: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Characters: Sokka (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar)
Additional Tags: Praise Kink, Top Sokka (Avatar), Bottom Zuko (Avatar), Feels, Mild
Hurt/Comfort, Light Bondage, Safe Sane and Consensual, Emotions,
Zuko Cannot Handle His Emotions, Sokka Just Wants Zuko To Feel
Loved, Porn With Plot, But Like Very Little Plot, Aftercare, Subdrop,
Domdrop
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2020-06-20 Words: 2,977 Chapters: 1/1
 three words that became hard to say (i and love and you)
by overcomewithlongingfora_girl

Summary

It's only a few weeks in, but Sokka thinks he loves Zuko. Scratch that - he knows he loves
Zuko already, and he doesn't think he can keep it quiet any longer. And if he's going to tell
Zuko, he's going to make sure that Zuko hears him.

Notes
See the end of the work for notes
It’s only been a few weeks. That’s what Sokka keeps telling himself. It’s only been a few
weeks, and he can’t move that fast – he has to play it cool, take things slow, act like he
doesn’t care.

Okay, maybe not that last part, because there are way too many people in Zuko’s life acting
like they don’t care. There are way too many people in Zuko’s life that actually just don’t
care. Sokka isn’t going to fall in either camp, he knows that much. But he also can’t go
falling head over heels for Zuko, even if he wants to. Even if he can’t help it. Even if he
already has.

It’s just that he’s so easy to spoil. It’s just the way that his face lifts in that surprised-happy-
lucky way when Sokka gives him almost anything – a touch on the cheek, a compliment after
sparring, an absolutely awful carving of a bison. When they fall into bed together, they
always move hard and fast and desperate, like they’re each afraid of losing the other, but no
matter how good it feels, the best part is always after, when Zuko curls up next to him, soft
and loose and warm, and Sokka can just, just hold him like the delicate, precious thing he is.

So Sokka is already head over heels. So he spends his free time planning out elaborate little
schemes to make the Fire Lord laugh or smile. It feels like all he wants in the world is to see
the boy smile for real, release the tension from his shoulders, know and believe for once in
his life that he is good, and valued, and loved.

Yeah, fuck it, loved. Sokka loves the Fire Lord, his fierce, short-tempered, guarded friend. He
loves Zuko’s smile and his golden eyes and the way he looks when Sokka compliments him,
surprised-squirmy-pleased, before he changes the subject and pretends it never happened.
Sokka wants him to stop turning away from every kind word he hears. Sokka wants Zuko to
hear that he’s loved, and know that he’s worthy, and feel that it’s true.

So Sokka, master planner, makes a plan.

They’re in bed, low torchlights burning, and Sokka knows exactly what he’s going to do. The
Fire Lord, grinning up at him, has no idea. It’s just a regular night, when Sokka has trailed the
little lord back to his bedchamber, and the two have made out for a solid ten minutes, and
both of the hair-trigger boys are more than ready to go. Zuko’s surprised they’ve already
waited this long. Sokka takes another second to feel his heart pounding in his chest. He can
do this. He can say it. He can make Zuko feel it. This is it.

“Sokka. Sokka, come on.” Zuko’s panting a little and smirking that little sideways grin. It’s
going straight to Sokka’s cock. Still, Sokka’s not going to touch him yet. He’s been planning
this for a while, and he’s not going to give in so easily…even though Zuko looks so perfect
lying there…and all Sokka wants to do is put his mouth on that pale hot skin –

Okay. Okay no, no, stay here. Remember the plan.

The plan is to get Zuko to his bedroom, and strip him naked. So far, so good. Just that now,
Zuko keeps reaching for Sokka’s face, for his cock through his clothes, and that’s not part of
the plan. So Sokka retrieves the scarves from his pockets.
Zuko tips his head, confused. “What’s that for?”

In answer, Sokka takes one of Zuko’s hands, gently, and brings it up toward the bedpost.
“This okay?”

Golden eyes go huge as Zuko puts the pieces together. He gulps, and Sokka watches the way
his throat moves and wants so badly to put his mouth there. Tearing his eyes away, he looks
expectantly to Zuko. “Yeah,” Zuko says, and his voice has gone from fake whiny to raspy
and low, a victory that makes Sokka’s blood sing. “Yeah, that’s, um, that’s good.”

They’re red scarves, of course, because it’s the Fire Nation, and silk, because Sokka’s not
going to use anything rough on Zuko’s skin. “Try ‘em,” Sokka instructs softly, and Zuko tests
the bonds, tugging lightly, and then harder. Sokka watches carefully – he tested the ties on his
own arms, trying to make sure they wouldn’t pinch, but he’s so afraid he’ll somehow hurt
Zuko.

But when he looks at the other man’s face, it’s not pain that he sees. The knots don’t give,
and Zuko looks back at Sokka and swallows again. “Good.” It’s almost a whisper.

Sokka leans down and kisses Zuko, feeling the Fire Lord’s shoulders bunch as he tries to
reach for Sokka. He huffs a surprised laugh into Sokka’s mouth as he remembers his bonds,
and Sokka takes the opportunity to bite his lower lip, turning that laugh into a moan.

Zuko leans his head forward, as far as he can, chasing Sokka’s lips, but the warrior sits back
on his heels, far out of Zuko’s reach. The Fire Lord grins, waiting for the next touch, the next
kiss, still tugging experimentally on his bonds. The smile slips as Sokka remains motionless,
hands at his sides, eyes moving over Zuko.

“Sokka?” Zuko wriggles under his gaze, flush coming up in his cheeks. “…Sokka?”

“You’re so fucking pretty.”

The pink just starting in Zuko’s cheeks flames into a blush. “Sokka,” he whines, twisting a
little, “cut it out, c’mon, hurry up, let’s-”

He still thinks this is going to be fast and hard, their usual tumble that leaves them breathless
and grinning and boneless. Not tonight. Tonight Sokka has other plans.

“No.” Sokka cradles Zuko’s left cheek in his hand, rubbing his thumb across the bone below
his eye. Right over his scar. The Fire Lord is stunned into stillness, and Sokka leans down
and kisses him there, right over his burnt cheekbone. “Not yet.”

Zuko’s chest is rising and falling fast. He looks up at Sokka mutely, waiting to understand the
rules of this new game. “You’re so fucking pretty, Zuko.” There’s that pretty, pretty blush,
Zuko biting his lip like a shy little kid. Sokka’s heart feels like it’s going to explode against
his ribs. “God, I can’t believe I’m yours.”

“I’m yours.” The breathy whisper, the nervous vulnerable adoration in Zuko’s eyes – fuck,
fuck, don’t get derailed now.
One hand still cupping Zuko’s cheek, Sokka uses his free fingers to smooth down Zuko’s
hair, pressing kisses along his hairline. “Beautiful. You’re beautiful, baby-”

“You’re the beautiful one-”

Now Sokka kisses Zuko on the mouth, just once, hard and real and insistent. “Do you want
me to gag you?” he asks softly when he pulls back. Zuko shakes his head. “Then let me do
the talking, Fire Lord.”

Breathless and wide-eyed Zuko nods.

“Good boy,” Sokka purrs, and Zuko whimpers. The blush is spilling down his face, turning
his cheeks bright red, and Sokka kisses him again, gentle as can be, on Zuko’s cheeks and on
his scar. “That’s my good boy.”

“Sokka.” Zuko fairly croaks it, and there are tears starting in his lion eyes, but Sokka shushes
him softly, sweetly, still running his hands through Zuko’s thick dark hair. He bends down,
frames Zuko’s face, looks long into those big wet golden eyes.

“You’re so good for me,” Sokka repeats, just to watch the way those eyes flutter shut, the
way Zuko’s breath stutters and stops as he tries to control himself. Sokka doesn’t want him to
control himself. “Baby.” Shutting his eyes, Zuko moans, fingers fisting around the silk that
binds his wrists. “You’re so perfect.”

Sokka’s hands trail down, down Zuko’s chest, and his mouth follows, pressing kisses to
Zuko’s throat, his collarbone, the place where his neck becomes his chest. “Pretty boy. Look
at you. Look at you, Zuko. Tui and La, just look at you.”

Under him, Zuko twists impatiently, impotently, hands still tied up above his head.
Unbothered by his struggling, the little moans that keep escaping, Sokka takes his time. He
licks and sucks and nips lightly at one nipple, then the other, before he trails down Zuko’s
belly and stops right before reaching his straining, upright cock. There, Sokka pauses, and
Zuko fairly wails with impatience. “Ask for what you want, Zuko,” Sokka tells the Fire Lord
softly, and Zuko shakes his head hard.

“You-you know what I want.”

Shaking his head, Sokka focuses on uncapping the vial of oil they keep by the bed, slicking
his hands. “Ask for what you want, sweetheart.”

The name brings out the soft flush in Zuko’s cheeks, pink mottling his pale skin. “P-please t-
touch my cock,” he says, sounding somehow almost shy. Looking him straight in the eye,
Sokka takes Zuko’s cock in his oil-slick palm and does one long, slow pull. It’s like the Fire
Lord’s been electrified – his back arches off the bed, a true, keening wail erupts from his lips.

“Like that?”

“Y-yes, Sokka, more.”

“You’re gorgeous like this,” Sokka says softly, as his hand moves slowly, steadily, and there
are tears starting in the Fire Lord’s eyes now. “You’re gorgeous right now. You’re gorgeous.”

“Sokka,” he pants, “Sokka, Sokka, I want-”

Sokka leans forward, kisses him again, gentle and reassuring, his hand working the whole
time. As soon as Zuko bucks into the weight of his body, Sokka pulls back, and Zuko whines.
“I want...I want…hurry up,” he gasps, as Sokka’s hand moves at that same steady pace.

Instead, Sokka leans down, and presses his tongue against the underside of Zuko’s cock in a
long, slow lick. The Fire Lord yells, his whole body flexing with the tension. Another lick,
and he’s calmed just a little, although his breath is still heaving in and out and Sokka knows
his heart is going like mad inside his chest.

Somehow, Sokka stays calm, stays steady. He takes Zuko into his mouth, all the way down to
the back of his throat, and the Fire Lord gasps like a fish. When Sokka hollows his cheeks, he
feels the bed shake as Zuko pulls on his restraints.

When Sokka sucks Zuko’s cock it’s just as slow and deliberate as jerking him off, every
move designed to bring him to the edge and keep him there without ever letting him crash
over the other side. While his mouth work on Zuko’s cock, Sokka works his oil-slick fingers
into the Fire Lord’s ass, and when he finds Zuko’s prostate, there’s a minute where he thinks
he might’ve gone too far, because Zuko howls with the electricity of Sokka’s touch, of
Sokka’s mouth, of the stretch and the warm wet heat, the overwhelmingly vulnerable feeling
of being laid out flat and pinned against the bed.

And then Sokka pulls back, and Zuko falls agonizingly down from the peak, and the Fire
Lord looks up at Sokka, disheveled and teary and eyes half-wild, and growls, “fucking get
inside me already,” and Sokka can’t wait anymore.

It takes every muscle in Sokka’s body to sink in gentle and slow. It doesn’t help that Zuko’s
rocking against him, catching his breath with every inch, babbling, begging for it. Sokka
doesn’t relent, moves careful and slow and steady into that crushing heat, until he’s bottomed
out against Zuko and looking down at the desperate, writhing Fire Lord. Once again, he
stops, and Zuko screams from the frustration, before Sokka swoops down and kisses him
hard, nipping down his throat, his jaw, pulling Zuko’s hair just enough to make the Fire Lord
gasp –

“You’re precious, you know that?” Sokka knows what his voice sounds like – not his own.
It’s low, and almost harsh, and it makes Zuko whine and blush and squirm in his restraints, as
if he can hide from the way Sokka’s voice makes him feel. He turns his head into the pillow,
but Sokka just keeps talking. “You’re so fucking precious to me. You know that, baby?” He
cups Zuko’s cheek in his hand, brings his face back around so they can look each other in the
eye. “You know that?”
“Yes,” Zuko whispers, and the tears are spilling for real now. “Y-yes, now – now fucking
move, you idiot, fuck me, fuck me into next week-”

One long, rolling snap of his hips leaves Zuko utterly breathless again, and Sokka leans in to
mouth his jaw once more, to hiss into his ear. “I adore you, Zuko.” He pulls back to see the
wild, almost frightened look in the Fire Lord’s eyes. “I adore you.”

“Sokka – Sokka-”

The piercing, plaintive note in Zuko’s voice – there’s no more time for talking. Taking Zuko’s
cock in his hand once more, Sokka starts a slow, insistent rhythm that has Zuko’s eyes rolling
back in his head. With his free hand Sokka reaches up for that beautiful black hair, pulls his
head back just a little, and kisses Zuko’s face, his jaw, the hollow behind his ear.

“S-Sokka, I’m gonna – I’m gonna-”

“That’s it, baby,” Sokka croons, fighting to keep his breath, keep his rhythm as Zuko’s breath
stutters to a stop, as every muscle in his body seems to clench and quake. “That’s it, that’s my
good boy, uh huh, baby, just like that.”

Zuko comes with a cry that sounds like it’s been pulled out of him, and Sokka fucks him
steady through it, through both their orgasms, only pulling out when they’re both sweaty and
sticky and breathless. Dazed, triumphant, he looks down at his boyfriend, his baby, all messy
and teary and utterly wrecked –

“Hands.” Zuko pulls hard on his restraints, and Sokka feels a chill of fear run through him.
“Hands!”

Sokka planned for this – all it takes is a few quick moves with the knife he placed on the
dresser, and the scarves lie in tatters on the mattress. The water tribe warrior isn’t sure what
he expected, maybe a panic attack, or a shutdown, or some other horrible consequence of a
breach of trust, but instead the moment his hands are free Zuko throws himself at Sokka,
knocking the knife entirely out of his hand, grabbing for Sokka like a drowning man.

“Hey, hey.” Sokka smooths a firm hand down Zuko’s back, wrapping both arms securely
around the shaking, crying boy. “I’m right here. I’m right here.”

“Sokka-” The pleading note in Zuko’s voice brings tears to Sokka’s eyes.

“I’m right here!” Now Sokka’s a little frantic, not knowing what’s going on, not knowing
what he did wrong. “I-I’m right here, Zuko, I love you, I, I’m sorry-”

“No!” If it were possible for Zuko’s arms to tighten around Sokka, they would. As is, all he
can do is bury his face harder into the crook of Sokka’s neck. “No sorry I – I just – I love you,
I love you, I love you, Sokka, Sokka-”

“Oh,” Sokka breathes, voice breaking a little on the word, “oh, Zuko, c’mere, just…” he lays
Zuko down gently, back down on the mattress, going with him so he’s draped right over his
boyfriend’s body. Little by little, with the weight and the heat on top of him, the shaking goes
out of Zuko’s body. For minutes, they’re quiet like that, Sokka on top of Zuko, with Sokka
kissing Zuko’s shoulder and running his fingers through Zuko’s sweaty hair, while Zuko just
sniffles and breathes and weeps into the crook of Sokka’s neck.

“I’m sorry,” the Fire Lord finally mumbles, still pressed so tight against Sokka’s skin that his
lips catch and muffle. “I-I’m sorry I freaked out like that I, I don’t know what happened-”

“Shhhh. Nothing to apologize for.” Sokka presses another kiss to Zuko’s shoulder and feels
fresh, hot tears against his neck.

“Sokka, I love you.” The words come out raw and desperate and broken, and the twinge in
Sokka’s chest takes his breath away. Somehow, it’s a good feeling.

“I know, baby.” The name makes Zuko squeak. “I love you too.”

Face screwing up, Zuko nods into Sokka’s neck. The water tribe warriors pulls back, just a
little, to look at Zuko’s red and teary face. Moving his hands up, Sokka cradles Zuko’s face in
his hands, brushing tears away with his thumbs. Zuko has this stunned, vulnerable look in his
eyes, and Sokka can’t resist leaning forward to kiss him, gently. When he pulls back there are
even more tears, gathering, and Sokka tips his head to the side.

“C’mon, honey, what’s wrong?”

“I just – I just-” Zuko sniffles, squeezes his eyes against the coming storm. “It just feels
like…too much.”

The love that roars up in Sokka’s chest is hard and possessive. “It’s what you deserve, Zuko,”
he says firmly, and he doesn’t back down when Zuko shakes his head. “It’s what you deserve.
Fuck, Zuko, I’d, I’d do anything for you. I love you, Zuko. I love you so much.” The
firebender is crying again. Sokka doesn’t care. “I want to give you everything,” he says
softly, running his hands over Zuko’s face, murmuring the words right into Zuko’s ear. “I
want to…I just want you to understand.” He brushes another tear off Zuko’s cheek.
“Understand what you are. To me. How I see you. How beautiful you are. How good.”

He’s babbling, and Zuko finally stops him with a finger to his lips. “I…can’t.” He laughs, just
a little, blowing all the air from his lungs. “I…I feel like I’m going to fall apart, Sokka, I
can’t…” He sucks in a deep breath. “I just love you. I just…I just love you.”

“I just love you too.”

“Yeah.” A little smile grows across Zuko’s face, and Sokka’s heart lifts painfully inside his
chest. “You do.”
End Notes

Well...that just happened. I blame all the Zukka fanfic I read yesterday - EVERYONE should
check out lesbianophelia and Haicrescendo, for a start, because damn.

As always I live for comments! Hope you guys enjoyed :)

If you want to talk or have any ideas or requests for new fics, I am always looking, and
would love to chat with you on tumblr at overcomewithlongingfora-girl !

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