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storypaint) wrote2011-06-01 12:59 am
storypaint) wrote2011-06-01 12:59 am
Entry tags:
[Avatar] an occasional wildness (Toph/Zuko)
Title: an occasional wildness
Fandom: Avatar
Length: 862 words
Prompt: fic_promptly: Avatar: the Last Airbender, Toph/Zuko, patience is for wimps
Pairing: Toph/Zuko
Other: n/a
Excerpt: So there's no one there to greet her, but in fact, she goes unchallenged right up to the doors of the Palace. There, a pair of guards bar her way, and apparently they're new to the job, or possibly life, because they don't want to believe her when she says she's Toph Bei Fong. So she earthbends them into the pillars that frame the door (they shouldn't have asked her to prove it) and goes inside, bare feet cool on the stone hallways.
Toph has tried the whole pining-over-someone-taken thing. It sucks. She's not doing it again. So when she hears that Zuko and Mai have broken up, she leaves Gaoling (it's about time for a break from her parents anyway; she's seventeen now and doesn't need this hovering). She walks for a week across the Earth Kingdom, headed steadily west, and when she reaches the coast she wrinkles her nose and straightens her shoulders and actually pays for passage on a trade boat. Aang is always happier when she pays for stuff nowadays, given their fame, and it isn't like she's short on cash. Turns out that people will pay her a lot of gold to teach them how to earthbend. She makes them pay up front, because half of them wash out after a day.
When she arrives in the Fire Nation, there's no one there to greet her, and she'd be put out except she forgot to tell anyone she was coming. She could have borrowed Hawky, who was the source of her original gossip, but then she'd have to find someone to write for her, and this kinda thing was better handled in person. She'd already paid two separate people to read Sokka's letter to her, just in case one dared to leave something out.
So there's no one there to greet her, but in fact, she goes unchallenged right up to the doors of the Palace. There, a pair of guards bar her way, and apparently they're new to the job, or possibly life, because they don't want to believe her when she says she's Toph Bei Fong. So she earthbends them into the pillars that frame the door (they shouldn't have asked her to prove it) and goes inside, bare feet cool on the stone hallways.
The guards in front of Zuko's office aren't a problem, at least. One of them is Ty Lee, whom Toph thought was still in Kyoshi, but apparently she's come home for a while to visit her family.
"His aura is just so blue," Ty Lee says, shaking her head and sounding sympathetic. "But seeing you always makes it all red and excited, Toph. You can go right in."
Toph grins and claps Ty Lee on the shoulder companionably before she opens the door.
"Nice digs," she says, measuring the room as she steps across the floor. It's a huge office with high ceilings and a lot of shelves across the wall. From behind the heavy desk, Zuko starts and almost falls to the floor.
"Toph! When did you get here?"
"About five minutes ago," she says, and shrugs. "I took a few minutes to talk to Ty Lee. She says you need cheering up."
Zuko's heartbeat is fast. He holds way too much tension in his body. She wonders if he'd go for boarcupine acupuncture. She's still never gotten to try it.
"I don't need cheering up-- mmph!" he says. The muffled sound occurs because she's just kissed him full on the mouth, and anyone that Toph kisses is not going to be able to speak again right away.
"Well, that cheered me up, anyway," she says blithely.
"Are you honestly insane?" Zuko asks.
Toph shrugs. "I heard you were single again. I wanted to get my bid in first."
"THIS ISN'T AN AUCTION," Zuko declares firmly, and after a minute's hesitation, he says, "...You really like me?"
"Why wouldn't I like you, Sparky?" she says, cuffing him genially. "You never paid me back on that field trip thing, but other than that and oh, burning my feet painfully, we're pretty good, don't you think?"
"That was an accident!" he defends. Someone knocks on the door: they've probably found the guards in the pillars. Toph takes a second to convince the metal of the lock to fuse the door shut. They're not done talking yet.
"So I figure you owe me something," she says. "At least, give it a try."
Zuko scratches the back of his head. "I've never thought of you like that before," he admits, bashful.
"You gotta start somewhere, right?" she says, and -- actually being gentle -- she grabs his hand. The knocking on the door becomes more insistent. She ignores it.
"What did you do to get in here?" he asks when the knocking turns to shouting.
"Nothing permanent," she says. "You wanna ditch work and walk around the garden a little? I can feel the dirt and you can look at the pretty flowers or something."
"I'm going to be in a lot of trouble for this," he says as she fiddles with the catch on the window. Luckily, his office is on the ground floor.
"You're the Firelord! You can tell them to get lost for one afternoon. What's the use of power if you don't actually use it?"
"I don't know, leading a nation?" he says, with familiar sarcasm, and she treats him to a smile before slipping out of the window. She thrusts a hand back over the sill.
"Come on," she says. "They'll probably have to firebend the lock, but that won't take long."
"Field trips," Zuko sighs, but he takes her hand and goes along.
Fandom: Avatar
Length: 862 words
Prompt: fic_promptly: Avatar: the Last Airbender, Toph/Zuko, patience is for wimps
Pairing: Toph/Zuko
Other: n/a
Excerpt: So there's no one there to greet her, but in fact, she goes unchallenged right up to the doors of the Palace. There, a pair of guards bar her way, and apparently they're new to the job, or possibly life, because they don't want to believe her when she says she's Toph Bei Fong. So she earthbends them into the pillars that frame the door (they shouldn't have asked her to prove it) and goes inside, bare feet cool on the stone hallways.
Toph has tried the whole pining-over-someone-taken thing. It sucks. She's not doing it again. So when she hears that Zuko and Mai have broken up, she leaves Gaoling (it's about time for a break from her parents anyway; she's seventeen now and doesn't need this hovering). She walks for a week across the Earth Kingdom, headed steadily west, and when she reaches the coast she wrinkles her nose and straightens her shoulders and actually pays for passage on a trade boat. Aang is always happier when she pays for stuff nowadays, given their fame, and it isn't like she's short on cash. Turns out that people will pay her a lot of gold to teach them how to earthbend. She makes them pay up front, because half of them wash out after a day.
When she arrives in the Fire Nation, there's no one there to greet her, and she'd be put out except she forgot to tell anyone she was coming. She could have borrowed Hawky, who was the source of her original gossip, but then she'd have to find someone to write for her, and this kinda thing was better handled in person. She'd already paid two separate people to read Sokka's letter to her, just in case one dared to leave something out.
So there's no one there to greet her, but in fact, she goes unchallenged right up to the doors of the Palace. There, a pair of guards bar her way, and apparently they're new to the job, or possibly life, because they don't want to believe her when she says she's Toph Bei Fong. So she earthbends them into the pillars that frame the door (they shouldn't have asked her to prove it) and goes inside, bare feet cool on the stone hallways.
The guards in front of Zuko's office aren't a problem, at least. One of them is Ty Lee, whom Toph thought was still in Kyoshi, but apparently she's come home for a while to visit her family.
"His aura is just so blue," Ty Lee says, shaking her head and sounding sympathetic. "But seeing you always makes it all red and excited, Toph. You can go right in."
Toph grins and claps Ty Lee on the shoulder companionably before she opens the door.
"Nice digs," she says, measuring the room as she steps across the floor. It's a huge office with high ceilings and a lot of shelves across the wall. From behind the heavy desk, Zuko starts and almost falls to the floor.
"Toph! When did you get here?"
"About five minutes ago," she says, and shrugs. "I took a few minutes to talk to Ty Lee. She says you need cheering up."
Zuko's heartbeat is fast. He holds way too much tension in his body. She wonders if he'd go for boarcupine acupuncture. She's still never gotten to try it.
"I don't need cheering up-- mmph!" he says. The muffled sound occurs because she's just kissed him full on the mouth, and anyone that Toph kisses is not going to be able to speak again right away.
"Well, that cheered me up, anyway," she says blithely.
"Are you honestly insane?" Zuko asks.
Toph shrugs. "I heard you were single again. I wanted to get my bid in first."
"THIS ISN'T AN AUCTION," Zuko declares firmly, and after a minute's hesitation, he says, "...You really like me?"
"Why wouldn't I like you, Sparky?" she says, cuffing him genially. "You never paid me back on that field trip thing, but other than that and oh, burning my feet painfully, we're pretty good, don't you think?"
"That was an accident!" he defends. Someone knocks on the door: they've probably found the guards in the pillars. Toph takes a second to convince the metal of the lock to fuse the door shut. They're not done talking yet.
"So I figure you owe me something," she says. "At least, give it a try."
Zuko scratches the back of his head. "I've never thought of you like that before," he admits, bashful.
"You gotta start somewhere, right?" she says, and -- actually being gentle -- she grabs his hand. The knocking on the door becomes more insistent. She ignores it.
"What did you do to get in here?" he asks when the knocking turns to shouting.
"Nothing permanent," she says. "You wanna ditch work and walk around the garden a little? I can feel the dirt and you can look at the pretty flowers or something."
"I'm going to be in a lot of trouble for this," he says as she fiddles with the catch on the window. Luckily, his office is on the ground floor.
"You're the Firelord! You can tell them to get lost for one afternoon. What's the use of power if you don't actually use it?"
"I don't know, leading a nation?" he says, with familiar sarcasm, and she treats him to a smile before slipping out of the window. She thrusts a hand back over the sill.
"Come on," she says. "They'll probably have to firebend the lock, but that won't take long."
"Field trips," Zuko sighs, but he takes her hand and goes along.