This disarms Sokka a little more than it ought to, and Sokka's mind is suddenly racing into high gear to come up with a reasonable retort. Because, really, why wouldn't Akito want to be noticed now if he's tried speaking up before in the past?

"What have you even tried to speak up about in the past?!" Sokka says aloud. "I mean, I've never really heard you say—"

Oh.

Sokka's posture goes straight down, and his shoulders slump a little in reaction to the realisation. "Okay, I know we barely know each other, and that we haven't spoken much, but you know Katara and Tony, and they seem to like you well enough. So..." So... what? Sokka's at a loss for words, trying to figure out how to be just a little bit humble.

"So... maybe we should hang out sometime... get to know each other better?"