Without waiting, Sokka was most of the way through his rice before Zuko finished explaining. Through half-chewed food, he spoke up, "I don't think I've seen Iroh anywhere but at your side, if he can help it." It was a statement of fact, not Sokka trying to make Zuko feel better, right?

Still, there's a pang of inexplicable sadness there that Sokka tried to swallow down. He couldn't remember that he'd once been friends with Iroh and Zuko, but ever since arriving at Paradisa, he had felt an unexplainable yearning for quality when faced with brewed tea. Which, in turn, made him think of both Iroh and Zuko and the tea shop in Ba Sing Se he'd known them both to work in.

As an addendum, once his mouth was empty, he looked at his sister and added, "He probably left against his will, right?"