kinkfest | A Work of Genius [Avatar, Sokka, G]

Title: A Work of Genius
Author:

laurus_nobilis
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word count: 1191
Prompt: Avatar: the Last Airbender, any pairing or none, office!AU - Sokka and the wonders of Powerpoint
Summary: Sokka just wants the world to know how smart he is.

White Lotus Corporation was known for valuing creativity and originality most of all. That is to say, they took in people that other companies wouldn't even consider and turned them into perfectly successful employees with unusual qualities that gave them an advantage over the regular, boring corporate world. Rumour had it that the board of executives was full of eccentric old people with very particular views on the world.

Sokka didn't know if that was true. What he did know was that Piandao was a pretty awesome guy and that getting a recommendation from him was practically the equivalent of being in already. And Piandao had liked him, he was sure of that. Maybe he wasn't very expressive and, okay, so he had rolled his eyes a lot during the interview, but he looked like he'd got a good impression overall. Sokka loved this company already. It was the first time in his life when someone other than his father called him "creative" and meant it in a good way.

He was going to live up to that, he promised himself. He was going to be efficient, proactive, original. Basically the best employee ever. And he would start acting like that from the very first day.

That plan turned out to be much more boring than he had expected. His work during the first few weeks wasn't the kind of thing where he could show off his genius. The person in charge of him, a smart but slightly intimidating old man named Jeong Jeong, insisted on giving him the most menial of tasks. But he didn't let this change his attitude; no, this was simply the beginning! Like a warrior, who needed to learn basic exercises before he was ready to prove his worth in battle, he had to brave these first moments of boredom and routine until he was ready to startle the whole company with his wit.

And then, not too long after he had entered the company, it happened. Opportunity showed up at last.

"Here is all the data from the past week," Jeong Jeong told him, leaving a thick pile of papers on his desk. "We need a presentation about it by next Monday."

Sokka could almost feel his eyes shining.

"Of course, sir! I'll do my best!" he exclaimed, making a point of showing just how enthusiastic he was about it.

Jeong Jeong simply shrugged and walked away mumbling something about young people and too much coffee.

* * *

During the days after that, Sokka worked as hard as he could, making sure that every detail was perfect. But in the boring, ordinary sense when it just meant that everything had to be predictable. No, that wasn't his style at all. He wanted the kind of perfection that came from someone who followed his deepest instincts and let his imagination fly, no matter how small the task at hand. He would give them something they weren't expecting at all.

If they thought he'd just present the data with a boring graph and a couple of obvious explanations, they were in for a big surprise.

There was no reason to let the wonders of PowerPoint go to waste, after all. He had so many great tools at hand! And he was going to make the best of them, using all of his cleverness. He was a genius and he was going to prove it.

When the day of the presentation came, wearing his favourite suit and a smile that had Success written all over it, Sokka entered the conference room and greeted everyone in there. And then he realized that this wasn't, in fact, just any presentation – in spite of Jeong Jeong's lack of warning. The whole board of executives was there.

So it was true that they were all old, then.

In any case, after the first moment of shock, he didn't worry. He knew he had no reason too. His instincts had proved useful! He'd done well by taking this chance to show off! He knew it!

… then he also realized that everyone was staring at him an waiting for him to start.

"Uh. Sorry. Hi," he said. "I mean! Good morning, gentlemen! I will now show you all the information you need to know!"

And so he started. True enough, he hadn't just stayed with boring graphics, not at all. The title screen alone was a mess of colours and animation effects. And then it got better. Sokka showed them graph after graph, and took his time to explain each slide. It wasn't as if he had a choice, anyway. The animations slowed him down considerably… but he was sure that they'd have a good effect. Who didn't like magically appearing circles and blinking arrows, anyway? Or funny clip art? There were so many jokes about those, too. He made sure not to forget any single one of them.

Sure, he was supposed to focus on the data, he knew that. He was doing that. But no one had ever said that he couldn't add more stuff to make it interesting, right? There was no need to make his audience fall asleep.

He finished the presentation with a wide, wide grin. And a winning pose. That was important; it made people realize that he already felt like a winner!

The board of executives just… stared. They all looked quite thoughtful. Sokka could only hope that the silence meant they were awed by his genius and not, well, the opposite. But it was starting to get hard to tell, really.

Then Pakku raised an eyebrow. He didn't exactly look impressed.

That was it, Sokka thought. He'd ruined it all.

"Well," said Pakku at last. "That was… unusual."

Sokka knew he really shouldn't ask, not right now, but he just couldn't help himself.

"You mean unusual in a good or in a bad way?"

"In a… personal way," Piandao intervened, tilting his head just a little. "You certainly put a lot of yourself in that work, Sokka."

"As you do with everything," added Jeong Jeong with a slight nod. "You just need more patience for routine. That kind of tasks are important, too, even if you don't get to show off."

"So… you liked it?" Sokka asked, feeling his face light up and his smile widen. From the other side of the conference table, Iroh, the famous Iroh, beamed at him.

"It's exactly what we've been looking for!" he assured him. "You need… a bit of polishing, yes. But you definitely have a lot of potential. We are going to be proud of you, I can tell that much already."

"Just tone down the jokes," pointed out Pakku. Bumi frowned at him from the opposite chair.

"I liked the jokes!"

"Thank you!" said Sokka. "I knew someone would appreciate them!"

And, while the rest of the men argued about Bumi's taste in humour or lack thereof, Sokka took the warm cup of tea that Iroh offered him and beamed. It wasn't so much that he was perfect for the corporation, he realized. The thing was, White Lotus Corporation was going to be perfect for him.