why are we here?

what would zuko wear that makes sokka go feral?

ohohohoh i love this question bc sokka has so many answers for this. here’s top 5, in order of importance :)

1. à la hmlyd, any water tribe braid that sokka catches in zuko’s hair (or literally any blue thread that he just Knows was pilfered from his stash) means that sokka is not going to be able to stop running his fingers along the braid for the rest of the day - or from placing small kisses against it and his temple with such small, lovesick sighs

(it never gets old for zuko. he wears braids a lot)

2. following the same reasoning, sokka adores when he gets to see zuko in swt clothing. he looks really good in blue, but sokka thinks seeing zuko’s face framed by his fur collar with wind-bitten cheeks is a sight that is especially pretty

3. ok it’s not necessarily clothing but sokka still vehemently counts whenever he sees zuko idly swinging his dao swords after they spar. he has a tendency to just lazily twirl them around in low figure-8s as they talk, and sokka really likes seeing a sweaty, shirtless zuko just unconsciously showing off like that (also: high ponytail zuko? absolute chef’s kiss in sokka’s mind)

4. zuko has this really intricately-embroidered robe that mai gifted him after they broke up ("it was a thank you present for me helping ty lee realize her own crush," zuko smugly explained when asked, and sokka just. marvels at that response for a sec tbh)

sokka still doesn’t fully understand the different clothing expectations that zuko has to follow, especially since it means he doesn’t get to see him in this beautiful robe often enough, but he does wear it out occasionally on their dates and sokka can never keep his hands to himself those nights

later, katara gifts him a gorgeous whalebone wrist cuff from home. zuko loves it, and wears it with the robe sokka loves so much for their next date night - which, coincidentally, happens to be the same day that sokka had finished crafting zuko’s betrothal necklace just hours earlier

it’s not meant to happen that night. in fact, sokka has a far more elaborate and intimate plan to when he wants to propose, but the second he glimpses zuko’s hand in his, with that bright white of the whalebone from home on his wrist contrasting so nicely with the deep red of his robes -

"marry me," he breathes out. he only remembers at the last second that he should lift his head up from the cuff if he wants to see zuko’s reaction (and oh is the shocked glee on zuko’s face one of the best things he’s ever seen.)

"marry me, sunshine, and i have the perfect necklace that can go along with that wrist cuff."

5. naked lol

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+1. there’s plenty of things sokka can wear to make zuko go crazy go stupid, but there’s only one thing that will make him go absolutely feral, even after all their years of marriage

sokka doesn’t wear a betrothal necklace like zuko does, mostly because it’s hard for him to part from the necklace he’s worn since childhood - and the fact that he suddenly remembers what his mom looked like, after he tries katara’s on as a joke one time - which is something zuko respects, and he never tries to make sokka switch

instead, right underneath his own choker, he wears a thin strand of gold looped around his neck. when zuko gave it to him, he made sure to stress that there’s a clasp on the back should sokka ever want to take it off - the last remaining amount of anxiety he has over sokka wising up and leaving makes him stammer it out - but sokka puts it on immediately and kisses him so tenderly that zuko can’t even remember his worries after that

(two days later when toph comes into town, sokka asks if she’ll fuse the clasp closed with her metalbending. she does, and she’s the one who then immediately tells zuko what she did bc even if she’s loud and brash, she has a quiet soft spot for true love lol)

growing up as a royal in the fire nation means that zuko is well accustomed to gold and finery, but nothing catches his eye more than when he gets to see his husband in gold <33