Chapter Text
When Katara had said that being part of the group meant being part of the group chats, she had failed to mention just how many messages that entailed. This was definitely the most notifications Zuko had gotten on his phone in his entire life. While it felt nice to be included, the sheer number of messages also felt overwhelming at times. More often than not, Zuko ended up using the emoji reactions instead of actually typing responses.
That wasn't to say that the MessengerHawk app wasn't useful. After Sokka told Toph about their literature professor’s apparent refusal to stick around after class to receive the letters from Piandao's office, she set up a chat with just her, Sokka, and Zuko. Much to Zuko's amusement, Toph had taken the liberty of naming the chat “weaponized geology.” Eventually Sokka and Zuko were able to hand in their letters, but not without the professor tilting his head in confusion and saying “but you're both so articulate.” When they messaged Toph about it later, she filled the weaponized geology chat with all the swear words she knew, which included a few Zuko hadn't heard before.
Zuko was catching up on the latest batch of Toph's swearing lessons when he thought he saw a familiar face in the hallway. He assumed it was his imagination until he heard his name.
“Wait, Zuko, is that you?”
He turned around. “Mai! I didn't know you went to school here.”
“I didn't know you went here either. I know we kinda lost touch after Azula got into that boarding school. I almost didn't recognize you with the new sc–hoodie, with the new hoodie.” There was an awkward pause before she added “Ty Lee's here too. I didn't know until we got randomly matched as roommates.”
“Ty Lee's here? I thought she was Azula’s age because the gymnastics coaches had strict rules about what age bracket everyone trains and competes in, or at least were stricter about that stuff than your taekwondo coaches.”
“She is, but she got her GED early through her tutors at the circus.” Zuko had forgotten about that. Around the same time that Azula had gotten into her super gifted boarding school, Ty Lee had passed her audition for a traveling circus.
Zuko nodded. “Hey, Mai, I'm sorry I didn't really stay in touch after Azula and Ty Lee left. I think Azula was the one who did most of the event planning.”
“It's ok. I was actually looking to apologize to you for that. After Azula left, my parents didn't want me spending time at your house anymore. They didn't think it would be proper.”
Zuko debated whether or not he wanted to draw attention to his scar when he responded, but decided against it when he remembered that they were technically in a public hallway. “It's okay. I know a thing or two about complicated things with parents.”
“I have another class to get to but do you have the MessengerHawk app? At least on my phone plan, it has better security than regular texting.”
They added each other on the app, and Zuko made his way to the Jasmine Dragon. This visit wasn't for a group meet-up, or even to buy anything. When Iroh built the place, he designed the employee break area to have a sensory room. Although Zuko wasn't back on the shift schedule yet, he still had permission to use the sensory room between classes. Technically any Jasmine Dragon employee could use it, but most of the time it was empty unless Gyatso needed to use it as a meditation space. Zuko didn’t need to use the room every day, but he felt like it would be a good place to go wrap his head around the fact that his sister’s friends somehow ended up at the same exact university he had ended up at.
When Zuko arrived, the sensory room was in fact empty. He went inside, closed the door, and turned off the lights. Too much light was overwhelming. If fire codes weren’t a thing, candles would have been a welcome source of light, but tiny lamps that resembled candles were an acceptable substitute. Headphones went on–loud music that Zuko was in control of was infinitely better than ambient noises he didn’t get a say in. Then it was time to set an alarm on his phone in case he fell asleep, wrap himself up in a weighted blanket, and zone out.
After his alarm went off, Zuko put his supplies away and went out to the cafe area to get some tea and a snack. He may have been the owner’s nephew, but he still placed his orders and waited like any other customer. While waiting, he took out his phone but decided to wait before checking MessengerHawk, opting to play a sudoku puzzle instead.
There were five empty boxes left in his puzzle when Zuko saw someone sit down across from him at the table. He looked up and saw that it was Sokka.
“Hey Zuko, glad I found you. Is it ok if I sit here?”
Zuko was confused but said “ok, sure. Did you order anything? Because I placed an order at the counter already so I'm not sure if anyone is gonna stop by to take your order.”
“Don’t worry, I know how to go to the counter when I'm ready to order. Actually I already placed a to-go order since I wasn't planning to stick around super long; I just needed to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“Ok, this question is gonna be in a few parts. First, are you familiar with the musical How to Dance in Ohio?” There's a new production of it opening up downtown this weekend, and one of Suki's friends from her high school stage crew is on the stage crew there, so she was able to arrange some group tickets, plus an audio description listening device for Toph.”
“I’ve heard of it. The Ember Island Players wanted to perform but their application for the rights to the script got rejected because they didn't have any openly autistic actors.” Zuko wasn't sure where Sokka was going with this.
“Ok, cool, you have some background information. Anyway, after Suki arranged the group tickets and the audio description listening device, Yue had an internship interview at the Ba Sing Se Observatory. The good news is she got the position, and it looks like it'll be helpful for her NASA application. In other words, my fake girlfriend is one step closer to the moon!”
“That's great, buddy.”
Sokka smiled. “Yes, yes it is. But there is a bit of a catch, and that's what I wanted to talk to you about. As part of the internship, there's an event Yue has to work at this weekend, so she can't come see the play with us. I don't think we can change the dates for the audio description listening device reservation. Our group ticket is gonna have an open seat. Before she brings it up in the group chat, I wanted to ask you if you were interested. But at the same time, I wanted to make sure you were aware of the fact that the show has autistic actors playing autistic characters beforehand because I was worried that you would think I was using the show to call you out on something or try to imply anything about you to the group. Also I’m glad I found you to ask you this in person because I'm pretty sure that if I were to try to text you about it I would accidentally send it in the ‘weaponized geology’ chat and I don't even want to think about what Toph would say to that.”
“About me being autistic or about accidentally using the wrong chat?”
“The second one.”
“Yeah, I don't even want to think about what type of nickname Toph would think up after that one. It would probably be even more embarrassing than when she calls Aang ‘Twinkletoes.’ Do I even want to know where she got that one from?”
“It's a long story and Aang would probably prefer I didn't tell it. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what was going on before Yue told the group. From what I've seen online it looks like a good show. Plus, the merchandise includes fidget spinners so I'm hoping to stock up on those.”
“I’m interested. It’ll actually be my first time seeing a show that didn't involve the Ember Island Players, so that should be nice to see. I feel bad that Yue can't go though.”
“No worries, I can always go see it a second time the next time we need to do an activity together for some time at a place.”
Before Zuko could respond, Iroh came to the table with the tea and fire flakes that Zuko had ordered, and another tea that Zuko assumed was Sokka's. “It's nice to see the two of you hanging out here.”
“Uncle, do we have anything going on this weekend? Sokka invited me to come see a play with his group of friends.” Zuko did technically feel friendly towards the group, but wasn't sure how to tell if those feelings were reciprocated or when it was okay to refer to the group as his friends. In some ways it was like when he ended up hanging out with Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee while growing up–at the end of the day, Mai and Ty Lee were Azula's friends, not his. In other ways, it was nothing like his childhood memories with Mai and Ty Lee.
“Zuko, you're an adult. You don't need my permission to go see a show with your friends.” Iroh moved on to the next table before Zuko could respond.
As if on cue, both Zuko and Sokka heard their phones buzz simultaneously in the special rhythm that phones only buzzed in for MessengerHawk notifications.
Yue : Hey guys, good news and bad news. The good news is I got the internship I interviewed for. The bad news is it includes a mandatory event the night we’re supposed to see HTDIO.
Katara : Congratulations on the internship and sorry to hear that you're missing the show
Yue : Thanks. I know this means we have an open seat in our group ticket. Zuko, since you’ve been hanging out with us a lot lately, I was wondering if you would want the tickets
Yue : BTW HTDIO=How to Dance in Ohio in case you aren't familiar with the show
Zuko : I’m interested (:
Toph : friendly reminder to please use actual emojis instead of typing your own because the my screen reader just reads the DIY emojis as whatever random punctuation you used
Zuko: sorry, I forgot
Toph : I forgive you
Toph: this time anyway
Yue: Zuko I’ll send you a direct message with the details to download your ticket
Yue : Also now that the ticket logistics have been sorted out I just want the record to show that I got this internship with my hair dyed white which just proves that Agna Quel'a Academy’s rule against unnatural hair colors is just plain ridiculous
Aang : I thought white was a natural hair color?
Yue : not at our age lol
Sokka : Aang you shave your head on a daily basis why do you care which hair colors count as natural?
Zuko looked up at Sokka. “Why do you know Aang's daily routines?”
“I forget if this came up in conversation before but we're literally roommates.”
“Okay, that makes sense.” Before he could say anything else the phones buzzed again.
Suki: Congratulations Yue! We’ll miss you but I’m happy to know it's for a good reason!
Katara : Is there somewhere we should meet before the show?
Toph: Good question. I thought your brother was usually the one who keeps track of the schedules as a coping strategy for his ADHD or whatever
Sokka : Toph next time warn me before you call me out in front of the group
Sokka : Also my schedule thing is about times not meeting places. My collection of maps and expensive atlases is about places
Suk i: okay Mr. Expensive Atlases is there somewhere we should meet up before the show? 🙄
Toph: Thank you Suki for proper use of emojis
Toph : Zuko please take notes
Zuko : One time. I typed my own emoji one time. How was I supposed to know?
Toph : Maybe we should send you out on a wild turtleduck chase of a quest to restore your technological honor
Zuko looked up at Sokka. “You know Toph better than I do. Is she using the sarcasm?”
“Most likely yes. At least in my opinion as the meat and sarcasm guy.”
“I realize that my typing a smiley instead of using one of the actual emojis made an accessibility issue for Toph, but the lack of a special font for sarcasm is starting to be an accessibility issue for me.”
“Ooh, maybe we can send the MessengerHawk developers a suggestion for that!”
“That doesn't help the current conversation.”
Toph: That was sarcastic btw
Zuko blushed as he read that reply. “Did we take too long thinking about how to respond to that one? Are you sure you're the only one in the group who knows why I suck at understanding the sarcasm?”
“I promise I never told anyone. Let me see if I can change the subject in the group chat.”
Sokka : How do we feel about meeting up somewhere to get food before the show?
Aang : as long as I can check the menu of wherever it is before we go I’m all for it
Toph : I would include a reminder to avoid that place that didn't let Badger in with me but rumor has it they shut down anyway so that's no longer a problem 😊
Several thumbs-up reactions came through for all three messages about getting food, along with some suggestions for restaurants near the theatre.
“Sokka, if I head over to the restroom could you watch my stuff for a few minutes?”
“Of course.”
Zuko left his phone on the table. He didn't want to feel the buzzing in his pocket while walking to and from the restroom. Befriending Sokka in class had quickly escalated into the most social interaction Zuko had ever had in his life. It was nice to be part of a group, but sometimes his brain needed a break from processing all the conversations. Before exiting the restroom, Zuko splashed some water in his face to help wake himself up for the rest of the trip planning discussion.
True to his word, Sokka was still at the table. “Hey Zuko, it looks like most of the details for the play have been worked out with a time for us all to meet at the restaurant across the street from the theater.”
Zuko nodded and opened up his phone, adding some thumbs-up reactions to the appropriate messages about when and where they would be meeting. Then he looked up from his phone. “By the way, thanks for thinking of inviting me and for changing the subject in the group chat when I needed a break.”
“Dude, that’s never a problem. I’m pretty much always prepared to make a joke or something if you need the distraction to get away or whatever. When in doubt, reminding people that food exists seems to do the trick.” When Zuko didn’t seem to respond, Sokka added, “the group chat and stuff is all new to you, isn’t it? Not that I expect you to talk about it if you’re not comfortable.”
“You’re not wrong. My mom used to encourage me to join in when my sister had friends over, but after my parents separated under complicated circumstances and then my sister got into her boarding school, the playdates stopped. Making friends my age didn't really work either. I never got to join after school clubs or sports because my father insisted on a crazy intense tutoring and therapy schedule that I don’t always like to think about.”
“You don’t have to share details if you don’t feel comfortable. When I started seriously considering the possibility of ADHD, my social media algorithms included some autism videos in the mix, sometimes with details about negative experiences in special education settings. I don’t want to speculate about your experiences, but if it was anything like the videos I’ve seen I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“Thanks. You’re the first person other than my uncle to say something like that to me. Then again, the therapists my father sent me to weren’t exactly the type to advertise their methods super publicly. Most people probably just don’t know.” As he finished speaking, Zuko touched his scar without realizing he was doing it until he saw Sokka’s face shift to an expression of horror he had never seen before.
“Tui and La, did one of your therapists do that to you?” After an awkward pause, Sokka quickly added, “not that it’s any of my business.”
“It…it wasn’t a therapist. I think that’s all I’m comfortable saying for now.”
Sokka nodded. “Understood. It's your story to tell or not tell, not my story to speculate about. Anyway, from what I hear the show should be good. Plus, the official merchandise includes fidget spinners that I wanna stock up on. I've seen some other shows before but never with official fidget spinners.”
“Stock up? Are there different designs you can collect?”
“From what I saw on the website it's just the one design with the show logo, but you can never have too many fidget spinners.” Sokka reached into his pocket and pulled out a small boomerang, or at least something that looked like a tiny boomerang. “Right now the only fidget spinner I have is this one with a less common shape but I wanna grow this collection.”
“That makes sense. Honestly, I’m just looking forward to seeing a show that doesn't risk being like the way the Ember Island Players used to butcher Love Amongst the Dragons every year.”
“Why would you go see it every year if you knew they were bad at it?”
“Long story short it was my mom's favorite play, and the Ember Island Players were the only theatre company in our area to produce it.”
“Well, I think you're in for a treat this weekend.” Sokka checked his watch before getting up. “I have to go but I’ll see you soon.”
Sokka exited the cafe. Zuko debated returning to the sensory room–this most recent conversation had left him with even more things to process than usual. However, when he checked the time on his own phone, he saw that it was pretty close to the time Iroh had said he’d be getting off work for the drive home. As such, Zuko stayed in his seat and reopened his sudoku app. He’d rather sort through his thoughts in his room than in the Jasmine Dragon’s employee sensory room anyway. In the meantime, he had a musical to look forward to.