Chapter Text
It's stupid. No, take that back, it's fucking ridiculous the fact that Zuko is actually considering this. The 'dating' app- and he is using that term lightly- asks for all of his information and a copy of his ID for security purposes. Sighing deeply, he digs into his pocket, pulls out his wallet, and quickly snaps a picture of the shiny piece of plastic.
"You know, no one is forcing you to do this. You could just say that you and Jet broke up since... you know... you did break up." Mai's tone doesn't indicate that she has any interest in the particular topic, but she is the one who mentioned it to him and the sparkle in her eyes says otherwise. Zuko sighs again and rubs at his eyebrow in annoyance and frustration. Yes, no one is forcing him to do this, but he won't be caught dead at a family gathering with that piano hanging over his head.
Not even twenty minutes go by and his account is approved and he opens the app. The word FLING comes into view on his screen with a pink Boomerang flying over the screen and coming to a halt just over the 'i'. Taking a deep breath, Zuko creates his account and then is given the tour which immediately reminds him of Grindr- having to scroll through the seemingly endless profiles that give a small description, however, that's where the similarities end. Grindr always seemed to be with either people far outside of his type, incredibly old, or blank profile pictures and Zuko never actually stayed on the app long enough to find someone decent enough to give him a good lay.
FLING immediately spikes his interest and makes him wish that this was an actual dating app, but next to every picture of an insanely attractive male is a price per hour. "Fuck, I feel like I'm looking for a sex worker," Zuko mumbles as he continues to scroll, not really taking in any of the faces he scrolls past.
Mai shrugs and leans back in her chair, raising her mug to her lips, "Technically, it's not far off." Zuko shoots her a scathing look which she only smirks at. He turns back to his phone and makes an in-depth profile explaining what he is looking for and the price range that he is willing to spend.
"Here, tell me what you think," he slides the phone across the table. He really doesn't have any hope for this working, but at this point, he'll take whatever he can get. The wedding of his cousin, Lu Ten, is only 2 weeks away and he needs this to be good since the entire Sozin family is going to be there.
Sighing deeply, Mai reaches for his phone, finger moving over the screen as she navigates his page. "Fucking hell," is all she mutters a full minute later.
"What?"
Mai just shakes her head, places her mug back down on the table, and leans forward, her thumbs flying across the keyboard as she types something and then he can see her navigating through several social media apps before finally returning to FLING. All of this takes a total of 5 minutes before she slides his phone back across. "That shit you wrote before would most likely get you arrested. You can't say 'willing to pay handsomely for discretion' and not thought to be a creep. I rewrote everything and changed the picture you added on there, because really Zuko, a single mirror selfie from 3 years ago isn't good enough."
Rolling his eyes, Zuko picks his phone back up and navigates through the app to see what all she changed, which is, apparently, everything. But he has to say, even he is slightly intrigued by the mystery of what she wrote and the pictures that she added were screenshots of a 'photoshoot' he had done for Ty Lee's photography class earlier that semester.
I have a wedding to go to in two weeks and my date has bailed last minute. The trip would last all weekend, Thursday through Sunday, and I will cover all travel expenses. My family is intense so if you can't handle the homophobic slurs, you won't survive the trip.
"Okay, I'll admit, this looks good."
"So how does it work?"
"Uh so I put my ad up," Mai snorts at his word usage, "and the guys will click the 'interested' button and I'll be able to go through them and weed out the ones I like vs don't like based on whatever preference I want."
Mai's lips quirk up in what could potentially be an amused smirk, "This is truly going to be something of a story."
Later that night, Zuko is lying on the floor of Mai and Ty Lee's living room as he goes through the guys that were interested in his profile and bio. "This shit is too difficult, how am I supposed to go through all of them? There's way too many!"
Ty Lee bounds over to him and plops down onto the carpet next to him, "Let me see," she snatches his phone out of his hands and immediately starts going through the guys. "Okay, I see what you mean, they're all pretty hot. But you have to look at the stuff they're willing to do! Like, do you want PDA, if so, how much, how long are you going to need them, etcetera, etcetera," she waves her hand in the air.
Zuko rolls onto his back, "Uh, I think PDA is okay, I don't really care how far it would go, I mean, I doubt it would have to go beyond hand-holding. It has to be all weekend long since we're going to Grandfather's Estate for the wedding."
Ty Lee is nodding along as he talks and is making quick work of the potential guys. Soon enough, she has the list narrowed down from 87 to 4. "I took some out based on your taste as well as the ones who seem to be doing this just to scam you out of your money, which by the way, I don't think you needed to be so generous with that."
"I mean, they're going to be dealing with my family all weekend. I feel like that deserves compensation." Ty Lee nods her head in understanding and then points to his phone where he can go through the remaining 4 guys before jumping back up to her feet and going into the kitchen to finish making brownies.
The first one is an immediate no, something about him doesn't sit right with Zuko. The second is a possibility and the third isn't really his type. The fourth though, the fourth nearly takes his breath away.
He clicks on the picture of the guy- Sokka- and scrolls through his profile. He's fucking gorgeous for one, but his bio draws him in even further.
Hey, I'm Sokka. I'm down for whatever you have t throw my way. Homophobic parents? Tired of parents setting you up on never ending blind dates? Needing to make your ex jealous? I'm your dude. Homophobic parents are my speciality and I'm always ready for whatever challenge is brought to me. No limit on PDA, as long as you're comfortable, then I'm game. Time length needs to be specified to make sure I can fit it in with school, weekends work best for me!
Zuko scrolls a little further into the profile and sees a picture of Sokka holding onto a cat and he instantly knows he wants this guy to be a part of whatever bullshit he is about to get into. He looks like he could walk into the dumpster fire of his family with the confidence of the Queen herself and not even bat an eye at the slightly homophobic disses that get thrown his way.
He clicks on the 'Send a Message to Sokka' button but then stops there. What even is he supposed to say? Hey, want to come to a wedding that may or may not make you homicidal and doubt your self-worth? It'll be fun, promise.
"Mai, what do I even say to the guy?"
"Oh! Oh! Oh! This is my department," Ty Lee comes running back over and lays back down beside him, plucking his phone from his hands once more; her fingers fly over the keyboard typing out a message. He is just about to object, scared that she is going to send some horrific desperate-sounding message when she hands his phone back to him. Reaching out slowly, he takes it from her, surprised that she is wanting his permission before sending the message.
Hey, I'm Zuko. The reason I'm needing this date, as you read is for a wedding that will be taking place on October 26th. The time I would need you is for 3 days and I think the PDA could stay at the minimum, but there is no promises on that. My family is difficult at best with racist comments, homophobic slurs, and overall demeaning attitude. I know this is a bit much to ask of someone I don't know, but I would appreciate your help
Zuko looks over at Ty Lee in shock. She has a self-satisfied look on her face, "Sounds good, right? I would've just sent it, but I was kind of shitting on your family so I thought you might like to approve of it first."
Swallowing around the little lump in his throat, Zuko nods and hits send on the message, watching as it's being delivered and then sent. Together, they continue lying on the carpet watching the screen. Not even a full minute has passed when the read receipt changes from 'Delivered' to 'Read at 6:03 pm". Zuko bites his lip in anxious anticipation, hoping that this guy doesn't immediately back out at the challenge his family possesses.
Hey man! Yeah, I am totally down for some of that, sounds like a great weekend of putting people in their place. I think we should meet up a few times before we leave to go over our history, background information, and overall expectations of one another. If it's cool with you, I'd prefer to not give out my actual number just yet until we meet in person and we make sure this is a good match. Sound good?
Zuko can't help the relieved smile that comes over his face. They message a few more times, setting up a meeting time between the two of them for the following evening to go over some things. For once, he doesn't feel anxious at the thought of his impending doom.
When he arrives at the Student Center of his college, his nerves begin to get the best of him. He's standing somewhat in the middle of the atrium trying to look like he is a student but knows he is failing miserably despite him actually being a student here.
From: Zuko
3:05 pm
I think this was a mistake
From: Mai
3:06 pm
Don't you dare chicken shit out now
You're already there
Zuko looks up from his phone and around at the mingling students who are walking around the area and swallows hard. He knows she is right, but the thought of actually meeting up with a guy who is going to pretend to be his boyfriend for the sake of his sanity is a little weird. And it's a little weird that he's starting to feel nervous about it now. Looking back down at his phone, he sees that he has a new message from Mai and Sokka.
From: Mai
3:07 pm
Get your ass in there and woo this man before I
put you down as the most pathetic person in the world <3
Zuko lets out a snort and navigates to the FLING app on his phone where the message from Sokka waits.
From: Sokka
3:07 pm
I'm in the back corner across from Panda Express
I'm wearing a blue shirt
Zuko looks up again and immediately spots him. He has his chin resting on the lid of his drink and is scrolling through his phone. His stomach does a little flip at the sight of him. Taking a deep breath, Zuko pockets his phone and starts walking towards Sokka.
He slides into the seat across from him and Sokka instantly perks up, locking his phone and laying it down on the table. His eyes are a startling blue that seems to drown him in their depths and his smile is something of art.
"Hey, man. I'm Sokka," he holds his hand out.
Zuko scrunches his eyebrows a little, "Yeah, I assumed that was your name since it was on your profile," he shakes the other man's offered hand.
"Ha, yeah, you're right." Sokka releases his hand and places them on the table. "Some people like to use fake names on the website just for confidentiality reasons. But yeah, anyway. Where did you want to begin?"
This takes Zuko aback for a moment; he didn't think they would just jump into the details of the arrangement just yet. "Uh, well. Like I said on FLING, I would help for about 4 days. We'd travel Thursday, the rehearsal dinner or whatever is on Friday, Saturday is the wedding, and then Sunday, we travel back."
Sokka nods along like this is all okay with him, "Yeah, sounds great. My rate for over night is $250, so I'd technically only be charging for 12 hours per day, but I'll still be doing the boyfriend thing whenever you need me, even if it goes until 3 am. Like a discounted rate or whatever. Does that sound doable?" Zuko nods along to this, he feels like he is ripping Sokka off only paying him that little per day for what he is about to put him through. He'll probably have to tip him heavily to compensate him for it.
"Doesn't matter, but you're giving a whole day for travel. Mind if I ask where we are going?"
"Oh, right. Uh, Caldera? It's at my Grandfather's so we'll be staying there that weekend. I'll cover your plane ticket of course and all your expenses."
"Holy fuck. Okay, wasn't expecting that far, not going to lie. But yeah, I'm game. How do you want to play this out? I'm good for whatever level of PDA you're wanting, but depending on the type of situations we'll be in, we're going to have to practice some stuff out."
"Practice?" Zuko lifts his brow in confusion.
"Yeah, I mean, we just met. You really think you'll be able to kiss me without hesitating?" he asks with a smirk and Zuko's mouth goes dry. He knew that PDA was going to have to be a thing, but he didn't think anything beyond hand-holding was going to be needed.
Zuko adverts his eyes trying to calm his nerves and fight the blush he knows is threatening to color his cheeks. "You think we're going to have to kiss?"
Sokka laughs a little under his breath but not in a mean way, "I've been doing this a while now and every family event that I've been to, kissing was needed at one point or another."
Nodding his head, Zuko runs through a mental list of his family and who would possibly need to see them be affectionate with one another to truly believe that Zuko was able to pull someone as hot as Sokka. The list is long and the more he thinks about it, the more he wants to just back out of the wedding completely. "Right, yeah. That will probably be smart. I was hoping to not have to do more than hand-holding but now that I'm thinking more about it and who exactly is going to be at this wedding, no one is going to believe I pulled you without some kind of physical proof."
"Damn dude, what kind of family do you have where they don't take your paid fake boyfriend at face value?" Sokka places a hand on his chest like he is shocked.
Zuko smiles at the lame joke, "Yeah, you'll see how bad they are soon enough. But yeah, I guess we'll have to practice being actual boyfriends."
"Awesome, and what's the vibe we're going for? Are we looking to piss off anyone or make an ex jealous on top of everything?"
"Uh, no. I want this to be as low-key as possible. I would prefer if I could just stand in the back and not be noticed at all by my family but..."
Sokka winces in sympathy, "Ouch, alright. So just your arm candy, I can do that. How did we meet?"
Oh shit, yeah. That would be a question that would come up, wouldn't it. Zuko thinks for a bit but honestly isn't able to come up with anything on the spot. How do people meet nowadays? He met Jet at a shady bar while he was drunk off his ass, which isn't exactly something you tell your incredibly judgemental family, and meeting on an app wouldn't be much better.
"You want to say we met in class? Got paired up for a project or something?"
"Oh, yeah that would be fine I guess. What class?"
"We could do just a basic class, speech or something." Zuko nods his agreement and they continue to hash out the minor details of their "relationship" for the next hour and exchange contact information and class schedules so they can find time to practice.
Sokka checks his phone for the first time since they've sat down and started talking, "I have to get to class in 30 minutes and I need to swing by my apartment real fast, would you want to practice tonight?"
Zuko jerks his gaze over up to Sokka who is standing up and pulling his backpack up onto his shoulders. He stands up too and sees that Sokka is a few inches taller than him so he has to tilt his head just slightly. "Yeah, yeah. That's fine. We can start whenever."
Sokka raises his eyebrow, "Really?"
"Yeah, I don't see why not."
The look on Sokka's face changes from polite questioning to something that sets a heat burning through him. He steps into Zuko's personal space so that if he shifts forward slightly, their chests will brush together. "Alright then, babe," his eyes fall to Zuko's lips before flicking back up, "I'll see you tonight then." Zuko knows his eyes are as wide as saucers and his entire body feels alight just from having Sokka this close to him and all words evade him.
Sokka leans in even closer causing Zuko to suck in a sharp breath which makes the smirk on Sokka's lips grow even bigger just before his lips brush Zuko's cheek. When he pulls back, the amusement and heat in his eyes are intense and all sorts of inappropriate thoughts rush through Zuko's mind before he can stop them. Sokka's eyes flick down once more to his lips before he turns on his heel and walks off.
"Oh, fuck," Zuko breathes out.