Summary: After getting kicked out of a haiku competition with a girl in Ba Sing Se, Sokka drinks sake and he can't hold his liquor. After crossing paths with Jet, he finds himself confessing to more than he'd ever have imagined. Fluff ensues.
Warnings: Frottage, partial nudity.
Sokka was depressed.
One tiny, tiny syllable. And he got kicked out!
Oh well. Damn stuck-up snobs, anyway, he thought. Time to go and forget about all this.
Sokka decided to slum it, and so, absorbed in his own thoughts, failed to notice the shadow that detached itself from a building as he passed through the streets of Ba Sing Se.
Jet knew there was no war in Ba Sing Se. Therefore, Jet was to make sure things stayed that way as he executed his first mission. He had hurried to the gates near the passage to the middle ring after Joo Dee had informed him he needed to track down a potential subversive, and had given him some money for expenses.
"Just follow him. Make sure he doesn't do anything rash. Then report back," he had been told.
He caught a glimpse of blue clothing under a flickering overhead lantern, confirming his target: a Water Tribe boy about Jet’s own age. He began following, making sure not to attract his target’s attention.
Sokka left the clouds of his mental meanderings long enough to notice that he was passing by a building called "Deshi's Tavern".
The tavern's lantern was still lit, and Sokka could hear raucous conversation coming through the door. Deciding he had nothing to lose, he went inside. Once inside, he saw several men gathered around a Pai Sho table. Several other tables were occupied by revellers drinking sake or wheat beer. He also noticed a very large man patrolling around the bar, ensuring patrons didn’t get too rowdy.
Aside from the lantern overhanging the Pai Sho table, the tavern was semi-dark, with small candles sitting on each of the tables to give some light to people in close quarters.
The long bar bench was the only other decently-lit area, flanked by two lanterns and some candles along the bar itself.
Sokka walked up, straightened his shoulders, and said in his deepest voice, "Gimme a sake."
The bartender looked at him, lifted an eyebrow, then handed him a sake jar and small ceramic cup. He said, "It's not that warm. Your loss. One copper piece."
Sokka quickly checked the small pouch he carried with him, and gave the bartender one of the funny Earth Kingdom coins. The idea of actually exchanging these bits of metal for things was still a bit new to him; bartering among the Water Tribe had been the usual way to get things he wanted - like trading his hand-crafted spears for blubbered seal jerky.
He picked up the sake and cup and seated himself at an unoccupied table in the corner of the room. He sighed happily and murmured, "Ah, sweet oblivion, here I come. No more stupid showing off for haiku girls." A traitorous part of his brain still remembered how beautiful they had looked... but that was as far as he was going to get tonight.
He poured out some sake and took a healthy shot, savoring the unfamiliar warmth as it burned down his throat. As the bartender had warned, it was only lukewarm. He poured another shot and prepared to drink it.
He was startled when he heard a somewhat-familiar voice in the half-shadows near his table. "Sake. Good drink. Mind if I sit here?"
Sokka, about to tell the other guy to go fly a penguin, decided it wasn't worth another altercation with a very mean bouncer should the one in the bar break up the ensuing fight. He shrugged and said, "Fine. Get your own drink, though."
Sokka decided from the voice the person was a teenager like himself. All doubt left Sokka in a flash as the teenager left a hooked sword on the table and went to the bar.
Sokka's brain rang alarm bells as he realized only one person he knew had weapons like that.
His mind raced. Should he cut and run? Or should he find out what Jet was up to? He gulped another shot of sake to calm himself as he tried to think through the situation.
Jet walked back to the table, and now that Sokka's eyes had adjusted and he knew who the boy was, he could see the familiar shock of hair that stood out, the narrow, angular face, and even a trace of the jaunty grin that had irritated him so when Jet was making moves on Katara.
Jet sat at right-angles to Sokka and held up a large mug of wheat beer. Jet said, "To... what, my friend?"
Sokka frowned and barked, "Friend? Jet, we're not friends."
Jet chuckled. "So we did know each other? I must admit, I'm not remembering some things very well right now. This city... I know I've been here before, but it's like a hazy memory. And you - all I know is you're a Water Tribe warrior."
Sokka said, "Sure. Yeah. Whatever. A bunch of snotty haiku girls kicked me out over one - ONE! - syllable. I'm here to forget being shown up in front of a bunch of rich girls. If you're not here to start a fight, fine. I'm sure I'll forget all about this in the morning."
Jet said, somewhat tentatively, "Well, then... to a... truce?"
Sokka pondered that, and nodded. "Okay. A truce. You did some things I won't soon forget, but tonight - we'll be drinking partners." He hefted his sake cup and clinked it quickly against Jet's wheat beer mug.
"At least the beer's somewhat cold. Barman said he had some ice. How’s your sake?”
"Sake's sort of warm. Tastes good." Sokka took another gulp, trying not to notice that his eyes were drawn to Jet's face in the flickering candlelight.
Jet learned that the Water Tribe boy's name was Sokka. As he became increasingly drunk, he became more voluble, though not all of what Sokka said made sense. Who or what was the Avatar? Why did Sokka not trust him around a girl named Katara? And a real live sky-bison? Surely he was joking!
The wheat beer went down smoothly as Jet matched Sokka sip for sip. He knew the sake was stronger, so by the time Sokka was finished, Jet would be able to find out far more from the other teenager than Sokka would get from him. Joo Dee would be pleased.
Jet wasn't sure who he was normally physically attracted to, but he did find Sokka to be quite good-looking. Something about the way his hair was pulled back, making his jawline look stronger, and the sleeveless tunic showing off Sokka's arm muscles all seemed to draw Jet's attention and not let go.
And unless he mistook himself, Sokka's eyes lingered on his face a shade too long as well.
Sokka blurted, "I know I shouldn't. I know I shouldn't. You're Jet, damn it. But I want to..."
Even in the dim light Jet could see Sokka's cheeks flame red as the boy drained off the last of his sake and looked away.
Jet, noticing his wheat beer was almost finished, left the mug untouched on the table, picked up his hook sword and stood up. He gently grasped Sokka's upper arm, and said, "Here, you need some help standing up."
Sokka's face showed confusion as he tried to stand up with Jet's help. Jet decided his orders included keeping Sokka right where he could see the Water Tribe boy, and if that included things he didn't need to report to Joo Dee, all the better.
Jet looked to see if the bouncer had made his way to the door. As the pair passed the large man, Jet let Sokka’s head rest on his shoulder as he put his arm around Sokka’s waist. With his other hand he discreetly slipped a coin to the bouncer, saying, “My friend needs a room somewhere. Any help?”
“Down the street. Three or four shops. Daiyu’s. An old woman runs it and could use the money. She’s almost deaf, so just give her five pieces and you’ll get a room.”
Sure enough, at the nondescript building with a faded sign reading “Daiyu’s Inn”, a flickering candle was visible in one window. Jet tried the door, found it unlocked, and walked in, hefting a stumbling Sokka over the threshold.
Jet waved at the old lady who was seated next to the candle, staring vacantly at the other wall. She jumped, startled, and bellowed, “I was just resting my eyes, young man!”
Jet put five copper pieces in her hand, whereupon she slowly got off the chair, picked up the candle, and painstakingly made her way to the stairway. Jet thought, Oh, Spirits. She’ll take eternity to get us up there!
Luckily, though, all she did was stand at the bottom stair and gesture feebly at them. Jet winced as she yelled, “Take any empty room! I’m going back to rest my eyes some more!”
Jet nodded and quickly got Sokka upstairs. Oh, thank the Spirits for small mercies.
The first room Jet tried looked clean. The only issue was, there was only one futon mat. Jet sighed. Maybe if—
Later, Jet would swear that drunk or no, Sokka had a gift for seizing the right moment. The Water Tribe boy put his hand on Jet’s shoulder, stood unsteadily on his feet, then firmly clasped the back of Jet’s neck with his other hand and leaned in for a kiss.
Jet’s body’s reaction threatened to overwhelm him. The taste of sake, the wetness of Sokka’s mouth, the warmth of his hand on Jet’s neck, the sudden tightness in Jet’s pants and his hands already reaching up to Sokka’s face—
A few hazy minutes of kissing later, Sokka drew away and grinned. Drunkenly but fluidly, he raised his fists in the air and said, “Oh, wow! That was even better than with Suki!” Then his hands dropped and he rambled, nervously fiddling with the top of his tunic. “But maybe I shouldn’t say that ‘cause I’m supposed to still hate you even though I want to put my hands all over you and I’m supposed to like girls anyway and Katara thinks I’m useless at romance and—mmmph!”
Jet had chosen that moment to effectively silence Sokka’s meanderings with another liplock.
Before long, the two boys had divested themselves, and each other, of their shirts and shoes. They lay on the futon, Jet lazily running his hand up and down Sokka’s leg, feeling the muscle from years of hunting and hiking all over half the world, if he understood Sokka’s tales correctly.
Sokka was running his hand over Jet’s chest, murmuring, “Some nice muscle you got there. Wonder about the rest of you.”
Jet smirked. “Only one way to find out.”
He was rewarded with Sokka’s gasp and moan when he put his hand on Sokka’s erection.
In turn, Jet closed his eyes and groaned as he felt Sokka rubbing, surprisingly expertly for someone who must have not done this before. Then again, Jet mused, Sokka must have had a lot of practice at self-pleasuring…
Jet soon found that it was a lot more fun to grind up against Sokka, the latter discovering the same. Jet rolled on top, and as though he were doing this with a woman, he placed his hands on either side of Sokka’s shoulders and began rhythmically rubbing against him. Jet lowered his head and began licking up and down Sokka’s neck.
It was almost as good as sex.
In fact, it got much the same reaction, because before long, Jet heard, “Oh, damn it, Jet, damn—” He lifted himself up and watched, amazed, as Sokka’s eyes clenched shut and his body jerked as a wet spot flooded over the front of his pants.
After four or five spasms, Sokka’s head rolled back, his harsh breathing settling down. His body went limp as he began to recover from the obviously intense experience.
Jet’s own pressing need made itself known. Trying to ignore it for the time being, he lay next to Sokka, who was now drooling a little bit. Jet chuckled and gently wiped the drool off as he cuddled in next to Sokka.
Maybe he’d get lucky when Sokka sobered up.
Thanks go to
![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
ayala_atreides for beta reading this and for helping with the title. :)