Standard disclaimers apply.

The best thing about Winter Vacation, if you asked Sokka, was curling up on the couch and watching holiday movies. And the best thing about this particular Winter Vacation, if you asked Sokka, was having some company on the couch. It reduced the curling up space, but increased the warmth, and it gave him someone to entertain with a running commentary on the classics. Well, maybe he was entertaining himself more than Zuko, but the other boy gave him an excuse to do so and he didn't feel like he was talking to himself.

"Ooh, ooh, Rudolph is next!" He bounced happily, causing the popcorn bowl to almost tip over and Zuko to give him A Look. "With the elf who wants to be a dentist!"

"I hate that movie."

"How can you hate Rudolph? It's a classic! With claymation! And songs!"

"I just don't like the story, I never did."

Sokka looked at his scowling couch-mate in shock. "How can you not like the story, it's just the story of the song? Rudolph the red nosed reindeer! Had a very shiny nose!"

"Yes, yes, I know... never mind..."

"But what don't you like about it?" He grabbed a handful of popcorn, not minding missing the beginning of the film in favor of gathering evidence on Zuko Being Strange.

"It's just... okay, so Rudolph has a weird nose and all the reindeer act like cruel kids and make fun of him and shun him, and the adult reindeer and probably even Santa all go along with it because it's all right to ostracize people when they're different."

"Um, I can honestly say I never looked at it that way..."

"But it's true, that's the whole story. And the ending is even worse, because they only like him when it turns out that his difference is helpful to them - like everything they did was fine, and the solution wasn't for them to stop being dicks but for him to find a way to be useful to them, like some poor picked on nerd doing the jocks' homework so they won't beat him up."

"You've thought way too much about this."

"I'll tell you how it should end, Rudolph should get some friends who aren't total dicks, and stop caring what those assholes think of him and when the foggy Christmas Eve comes, he should tell Santa to suck it, and he and the rein-dicks can smash into a mountainside because they're too dumb to just bring some lanterns anyway and good riddance to them all!" Zuko ate a large and angry handful of popcorn.

Sokka, meanwhile, had skipped past giggling and laughing straight to the hyperventilate with hysterical amusement stage, which was only made worse when he received another Look. Finally he couldn't help it and lunged across the couch to hug the other boy. "This is the best damned Winter Break ever," he said when he could breath normally and gave Zuko a kiss on the cheek. "I am never watching holiday classics without you again."

His friend blushed and growled slightly, but moved the popcorn bowl and let Sokka curl up into his shoulder. "Just don't make me watch the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, I might burst something..."

"I think I have a DVD off all the Charlie Brown specials around here somewhere..."

"I hate you."

"I love you too."