Chapter Text
Sokka let out a sigh as he collapsed onto his bed. The last of his boxes were unpacked. He was officially moved into university.
He looked around the dorm room set to be his home for the coming year. There was a desk, a twin sized bed, a bookshelf, and a closet. It was a small space, nothing fancy. Even so, it did not feel that way thanks to the large window which looked out to the city from the 8th floor. Sokka turned his gaze out the window. The sun hung low in the sky and cast a warm golden glow over the streets. He could see the traffic, cars bumper to bumper, everyone rushing to get home.
He closed his eyes and took in the moment.
Growing up in the suburbs, he had always felt like he was right on the cusp of something big. The city was always right there, just ever so slightly out of reach. No matter how many weekends he and his friends spent downtown, they were still outsiders. There was just so much happening in Toronto, more than they could ever see. But now, Sokka was right in the middle of it, he was a part of it.
Sokka opened his eyes. He let out a breath, pulled out his phone, and opened up facetime. The screen was black for a moment, but then lit up with a familiar face.
“Suki!” Sokka grinned.
Her brown hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, and her cheeks were slightly flushed from unpacking her things. “Hey, Sokka!” She replied, “How’s university?”
“So far so good. My dad and Katara helped with the move earlier today. They left early so Katara could catch her flight to BC. I just finished unpacking now. How’s college?”
“Right! I still can’t believe she chose a school on the other side of the country, that’s wild. As for college; not even 12 hours in and I’ve already been offered two drinks and a joint,” she reported.
“Ah yes, this is why students are the backbone of our society. Did you take them up on the offer?”
“Nah, my folks were sticking around to take me out for food after the move.”
“Coward.” Sokka joked.
Suki laughed.
There was a beat.
“It’s going to be weird not living so close to each other anymore,” Sokka said with a twinge of sadness.
He and Suki had been friends since middle school. Her house was only only a few blocks away from Sokka’s back in the suburbs. They had spent countless hours getting up to teenage shenanigans together. But now there was a whole city between them.
“Come on, I’m not that far. Just an hour and a half by transit.”
“Oh, so it’ll be no problem for you to visit me then, glad to hear it!”
“Like hell, our friendship isn’t that strong,” Suki teased.
“That cuts deep,” he deadpanned.
This time they both laughed.
“How are you feeling about everything?” Suki asked. “I know it’s been a tough journey for you to get here, and I’m really proud of you. Kya would be too.”
“Thanks, Suki,” Sokka smiled softly. “I’m nervous but excited. I still can’t believe they let me in. Classes haven’t even started, yet I feel like I’m already leagues behind everyone. I don’t know shit about engineering,” he joked, “what was I thinking?”
“Well of course you don’t, but isn’t that the whole point of going to university? To learn about the thing you want to do so you can do it?”
“Good point,” Sokka sighed. “I just feel a bit like a fraud because I didn’t go straight off to university after high school. I guess it’s just the imposter syndrome getting to me.” There was a beat. “What about you?”
“Hey, I did the same thing. We’re in this together.” Suki smiled at him through the screen of his phone. There was a warmth in her words, and a tenderness that calmed Sokka’s nerves. “Even if I’m not physically there, I’m always here for you. And I suppose I could always brave the hour and a half trek to see you, but I expect payment in the form of pizza.”
Sokka laughed. “Of course. I appreciate the sacrifice.”
As much as they teased each other, both knew the truth. They would always be ready to go the distance for one another. Their time together in high school proved that.
…
Orientation week came and went, and before Sokka knew it, classes had begun. So far he’d only gotten lost on campus twice and had managed to make a handful of friends. He had a mission: make at least one friend in each lecture so that if he ever had questions, he wouldn’t have to go straight to the prof.
Next on his schedule was PHL275: Intro to Aesthetics in Philosophy – an elective course. He walked into the lecture hall, phone in one hand, laptop in the other. Head down, scrolling through some memes, Sokka made a beeline for the seats in the back left. So far that was where he had the best luck meeting people. It wasn’t until he was a few feet away that he realized someone else had already grabbed a seat in his preferred spot. Which wasn’t a problem; but, Sokka was not getting a friendly vibe off this guy.
In the chair sat a student, probably the same age as Sokka. He had jet black hair with a mullet, several piercings, and what looked to be like quite the burn over his left eye. A red dragon tattoo on his upper right arm peaked out from his black t-shirt. He had his headphones in and laptop out. If people had signs over their heads, his would probably say something like “Fuck Off”.
Sokka looked around, seats were filling up fast. Well, too late to turn back now. Sokka thought to himself, and he went to sit down beside the stranger. As he pulled out his chair the dark-haired man glanced up.Sokka nodded his head in greeting.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi.” The stranger replied before turning his head back to his laptop, killing any hope for conversation.
Great seating choice, Sokka. He thought to himself. But it was fine, they had tutorials after this, and he’d probably get a chance to chat with someone friendlier there. He shrugged it off and got ready for the lecture.
...
“… And if you have any questions my office hours are on Wednesday’s from four to five, but you can always send me an email if you want to meet at another time.” Professor Piandao said. “Some of you have your tutorials right after this, I encourage you to use that time to get to know your fellow peers. Remember, all of Socrates’ work was done in conversation! Share your ideas and learn – not just from me – but from one another.” He gave a warm smile, and with that, the lecture was over.
The hall filled with the sound of rustling papers, bags zipping, and general chatter. Sokka took another quick glance at the student beside him. The man had already put his headphones back in and was sliding his laptop into his bag.
Jeez, this guy packs up fast .
It didn’t matter, Sokka had a tutorial to catch.
…
Sokka paused outside the door to his tutorial room to catch his breath. He mentally upped the number of times he got lost this week to three. Somewhere along the way he took a wrong turn and ended up having to double back. But, it was fine, he wasn’t late. There was still - he glanced at this phone - 35 second before it was supposed to start. Even though he knew he was allowed to be late for class, he also knew that his mom would have never let him hear the end of it if he was.
After taking a deep breath he walked into the classroom. It was already pretty much full, except for one seat off to the left, right beside someone with jet black hair and a red dragon tattoo.
Great . Sokka thought. It’s that guy from the lecture.
Once again, Sokka nodded his head in greeting, “Hey.”
Once again, he was met with a dry “Hi,” from the stranger.
Sokka settled into his seat.
“Alright,” their TA began, “it’s ten past, so I’m going to start the tutorial. Before we get into it, I just want to go around and have everyone give their name, pronouns, year, and field of study. That way I can get a feel for where you all stand in terms of experience with philosophy. I can go first, I’m Jin– she/her, I am a graduate student working on my master’s degree in philosophy.”
She pointed to the student in front of her, and one by one people gave their brief introductions. Eventually all eyes were on Sokka, it was his turn.
“Hey, I’m Sokka, my pronouns are he/him. I’m a first year working on an engineering major and philosophy minor.”
The eyes collectively redirected their focus on the student to his right.
“Zuko. He/him. I’m a second year, in business and music.”
Music was not what Sokka expected to hear from the mystery man, but then again, he wasn’t quite sure what he expected. At least now he had a name for the person who wasn’t interested in talking to him.
The rest of the hour was mainly spent on admin stuff. What to expect from the course, resources for essay writing, things to keep in mind while reading the texts, etc.
“Well, that’s pretty much it. You’re free to go. Tutorials are going to pick up next week so be ready for some class discussions.” Jin concluded.
Sokka began to pack up.
“Hey.” Said a voice.
Sokka turned in mild surprise to see it was Zuko talking to him. “Uh, hey.”
“You were, um, beside me in the lecture, right?”
“That’s me,” Said Sokka.
There was a pause. Zuko readjusted his bag on his shoulder. Then he spoke, “You want to swap contact info?”
“Sure!” Sokka gave him a smile, pulled out his phone, and opened up a new contact before handing it over to Zuko. “I like your tattoo by the way.”
Zuko took a moment, as if registering that it was him Sokka was talking to. “Thanks.”
There was a beat.
Alright, cool. This is going great . Sokka thought to himself sarcastically. This Zuko guy was hard to read.
Now that he was actually facing him, Sokka noticed that Zuko had intense, golden eyes. His jaw was sharp as hell, and – wow – this guy was built .
“I sent myself a text.” Zuko said, pulling Sokka from his thoughts. He handed back the phone. “I’ll see you around, Sokka.”
“Right…” Sokka said.
And with that, Zuko was out the door. Sokka looked down at his phone. The outgoing text simply read:
Sokka, PHL275.