With more hands to help with the cooking than one harried sister, the meal Sokka ate should have been the best he’d had in months. But all he can think about is Prince Zuko’s thin, pale skin stretched over his ribs. Sokka eats perfectly salted meat, laughs at the men’s stories. Then, when no one is looking, he wraps seal meat in a piece of seaweed and slips it into his pocket.
Guilt gnaws at him like a polar-dog with a bone, but after bidding goodnight to everyone he doesn’t go to his sleeping bag. He slips away to the cave instead.
I’m being stupid, he tells himself. This is Prince Zuko… He’s an evil, hateful guy. Dad knows what he’s doing. You can’t hold a firebender on a wooden ship. This must be the only way…
But he doesn’t stop, and to his mild surprise no one is guarding the mouth of the cave.
The moon is high overhead, casting just enough light to see by, and to Sokka’s surprise Zuko is awake and alert – and still bound. Did they let him down to sleep, at least?
Zuko jerks in reaction at his approach. His gold eyes flick to Sokka, then to the open doorway and back again. “What are you doing here?” he growls. “Come to gloat?”
Spirits, this guy is such an asshole. “Maybe.”
The prince says nothing. Only takes a deep, shuddering breath through his nose and out again through his mouth. Sokka can see his thin ribs expand with the movement… and he really hopes that’s just smudges of dirt on him, and not an impressive collection of bruises. … Why wasn’t he given a shirt? It cold and clammy in the cave. Had to be, even for a firebender.
Better get this over with so he can get out of here. His head drifts down to his pocket. “Are you hungry?”
Zuko’s eyes snap to his again, and there’s a weariness in there he wasn’t expecting. “What do you mean?”
“Um, you know, food?” Sokka asks and withdraws the seaweed wrapped meat. He doesn’t like the way Zuko’s shoulder’s slump in relief. What had he been expecting him to say?
He unwraps it and steps forward. Zuko’s hands are held so he can’t use them, but he takes the meat with his teeth. No hesitation. No embarrassment. He’s plainly too ravenous for embarrassment. Sokka holds the meat up to him anyway and after a moment’s thought, balls up the seaweed and feeds that to him as well. He withdraws his hand once it looks like Zuko was ready to lick Sokka’s finger’s clean. There’s so much a man can take.
And Zuko’s eyes are on him again. “Why?” he asks. His voice breaks on the word. “What do you want from me?”
Sokka doesn’t know what to say. He’s saved from answering by the sound of footsteps on the loose rock outside. Tatum, one of the captain’s under Sokka’s father, swaggers in. He looks like he owns the place, but stops midstride at the sight of Sokka.
“Sokka,” he says, and Sokka doesn’t miss the slight flicker in his eyes: the look of someone who just got caught. “What are you doing here?”
Sokka shrugs. “Giving the prisoner some dinner. What are you doing here?”
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timeasmymeasure
Hakoda's Secret Weapon PART 3
Guilt gnaws at him like a polar-dog with a bone, but after bidding goodnight to everyone he doesn’t go to his sleeping bag. He slips away to the cave instead.
I’m being stupid, he tells himself. This is Prince Zuko… He’s an evil, hateful guy. Dad knows what he’s doing. You can’t hold a firebender on a wooden ship. This must be the only way…
But he doesn’t stop, and to his mild surprise no one is guarding the mouth of the cave.
The moon is high overhead, casting just enough light to see by, and to Sokka’s surprise Zuko is awake and alert – and still bound. Did they let him down to sleep, at least?
Zuko jerks in reaction at his approach. His gold eyes flick to Sokka, then to the open doorway and back again. “What are you doing here?” he growls. “Come to gloat?”
Spirits, this guy is such an asshole. “Maybe.”
The prince says nothing. Only takes a deep, shuddering breath through his nose and out again through his mouth. Sokka can see his thin ribs expand with the movement… and he really hopes that’s just smudges of dirt on him, and not an impressive collection of bruises. … Why wasn’t he given a shirt? It cold and clammy in the cave. Had to be, even for a firebender.
Better get this over with so he can get out of here. His head drifts down to his pocket. “Are you hungry?”
Zuko’s eyes snap to his again, and there’s a weariness in there he wasn’t expecting. “What do you mean?”
“Um, you know, food?” Sokka asks and withdraws the seaweed wrapped meat. He doesn’t like the way Zuko’s shoulder’s slump in relief. What had he been expecting him to say?
He unwraps it and steps forward. Zuko’s hands are held so he can’t use them, but he takes the meat with his teeth. No hesitation. No embarrassment. He’s plainly too ravenous for embarrassment. Sokka holds the meat up to him anyway and after a moment’s thought, balls up the seaweed and feeds that to him as well. He withdraws his hand once it looks like Zuko was ready to lick Sokka’s finger’s clean. There’s so much a man can take.
And Zuko’s eyes are on him again. “Why?” he asks. His voice breaks on the word. “What do you want from me?”
Sokka doesn’t know what to say. He’s saved from answering by the sound of footsteps on the loose rock outside. Tatum, one of the captain’s under Sokka’s father, swaggers in. He looks like he owns the place, but stops midstride at the sight of Sokka.
“Sokka,” he says, and Sokka doesn’t miss the slight flicker in his eyes: the look of someone who just got caught. “What are you doing here?”
Sokka shrugs. “Giving the prisoner some dinner. What are you doing here?”