Sozu Week - Laughter

To Zuko, Sokka's laughter used to be the most annoying thing about him.

Well, to be fair, it wasn't the laugh, it was everything surrounding it.

Before the laugh came the joke, which with Sokka meant an EXTREMELY bad pun. Zuko couldn't count the times he'd had to refrain from rolling his eyes at a painful play on words. He was midly surprised his eyes hadn't rolled right out of his head yet. After the joke was told, there'd be the laugh. Or chuckle or chortle or snort or cackle. Really, Sokka's variety of sounds was rivaled only by Toph.

And then there was what came after.

Zuko didn't know if it was a water tribe thing, but laughter was a very PHYSICAL activity for Sokka. A good laugh was always accompanied by a slap to the back, a punch to the arm, or even a hearty shove. Zuko had almost choked on a piece of chicken after one good slap and had twice been shoved into a wall. One punch had left a nice sized bruise on his shoulder, which Sokka seemed genuinely apologetic about after he saw it.

He wasn't sure when, but somewhere down the line, Zuko realized that he didn't really mind it all so much. The bad jokes, the laugh, and his sometimes violent enthusiasm were all part of what made Sokka... well... Sokka. It was part of his charm, really, and as the years went by, Zuko had to admit to himself that he actually kind of enjoyed it. Sokka's good mood was downright infectious at times.

Today, it was a chortle that he heard first. Sokka was trying to hold back a laugh of a joke he'd probably been laughing about all morning. Then there was the warmth behind him and a strong arm draped casually around his shoulders. Zuko tilted his head just enough to see Sokka's grin and couldn't help but smile a little himself.

"Okay," the warrior started. "You've got to hear this one. So there's this cabbage merchant, right?"

~*~

Awe, I like ending Sozu Week on a cute note~

I had a lot of fun with these pictures, though I think I need to give my hand a break and catch up on sleep that I kinda fell behind on. XD Hope you all enjoyed!