‘You just introduced your boyfriend to me for the first time. I know he’s a supervillain. You know he’s a supervillain. He has no idea that I’m a retired hero and you’re training to be one, does he? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?’ ‘Please stop glaring at my boyfriend, yes I know he’s a supervillain but I’m trying to convert him to the light side without him noticing…what are you talking about, this is an amazing plan’ for zutara feat. hakoda if ur doing prompts? love ur writing btw
a/n: this is from forever ago, wow. i started writing again recently and wanted to fill out some old prompts. here you go!
“Dad, I invited my boyfriend over for dinner. Are you going to be home tomorrow night?”
Katara says the words without thinking about them, because she’s already rehearsed them in her head a hundred times. Practiced in front of the mirror, even, because that makes total sense when her dad can’t see her over the phone.
If she thinks about it too much, she’ll chicken out.
Again.
And she’s too invested, at this point, to be an Arctic hen.
(She hopes.)
…
The ease with which her dad accepts her request for dinner—and the way Katara is able to go on autopilot in the kitchen, making her dad’s favorite meal like she has so many times before—allow her to lull herself into feeling a false sense of hope.
It won’t be so bad.
They’ll like each other.
Given some of her dubious love interest choices in the past, at least this one is not a raging rebel leader.
(He’s only a supervillain with poorly-controlled temper issues.)
The doorbell rings, and all her falsely-constructed hope drops to the pit of her stomach like a boulder falling off an ice cliff.
…
“It’s nice to meet you,” Hakoda says, offering a hand to shake before he realizes the recipient.
Katara sees the exact moment her dad’s autopilot crashes and he recognizes the young man at their front door.
Tall, with straight black hair worn too long and a broiled scar that gashes across half his face.
To his credit, Hakoda doesn’t outwardly falter.
And when Zuko takes his hand, shaking it firmly in return despite the nervousness Katara knows he’s feeling—she feels a surge of pride for the man she’s coming to love.
Also trepidation, because Zuko has no clue who her dad is.
Somehow, the local crime syndicate’s most innocent, angry member doesn’t recognize the leader of the local law enforcement’s special investigations division.
(She’s been quietly deceiving both of them—or can she just call it delaying the consequences?—and she’s about to reap the fruits of her labors.)
…
“What the—?”
Sokka stops still in the doorway, then turns on his heel and exits the kitchen before he even enters.
Katara follows him, and talks him down.
He exhibits stiff civility at dinner, but no more.
…
On the front porch after dinner, Katara kisses Zuko goodbye.
An emphatic, emotional, but short joining of lips before she lets herself wrap her arms around him.
“They hated me,” he whispers, his breath tickling her braid where it lies heavy on her neck, protection against the chill in the air.
“They didn’t,” she says, and he gently extricates himself from her embrace to stare at her, unimpressed.
“They’ll come around,” she amends.
…
She hopes to be able to slip up to her bedroom unnoticed after Zuko drives away in his restored Ostrich-Horse convertible, but her dad calls to her from his office, where a single desk lamp illuminates the falling dusk.
He’s sitting in front of mounds of papers—without her mom around, he never has gotten into the habit of keeping an orderly desk; those memories from Katara’s childhood were Kya’s influence exclusively.
“When were you going to tell me, Katara?”
The resignation and disappointment in her dad’s voice cut through to her conscience more than any resounding scold might have done, and the way she crosses her arms over her chest is pure remembered instinct from her adolescence.
“Tonight was telling you, wasn’t it?”
“A warning would have been appreciated.” Hakoda shakes his head, and the braids that frame his face sway with the universal movement of paternal judgment.
“You wouldn’t have let him come,” Katara protests.
Evading that filial icicle, Hakoda only says, “I only hope you know what you’re getting into, Katara.”
…
“What do you mean, your dad leads the special investigations unit?”
The stony chill in Zuko’s voice stands in stark contrast to the fire shimmering at his fingertips.
He hurls a fireball at the wall of the practice chamber, then another, then another, before he turns to face her again.
“Why did you even go out with me, Katara? To make a fool of me?”
“Because I liked you,” she replies, hurling a mound of water that sizzles in the fire’s aftermath.
“I liked you, too!” he shoots back before crumpling into a position of seated defeat on the floor.
Katara hates seeing him like this, hates knowing that it’s all her fault.
“What else haven’t you told me?” he asks, staring at her from dull yellow eyes.
She takes her time replying, wanting to be honest. “I think that’s it,” she says finally, and hopes it’s the truth.
…
The ensuing firestorm that comes their way when Zuko decides to leave the syndicate far exceeds any sparring-practice fireballs Katara has fended off.
In the aftermath, she wonders if that was enough adventure for the rest of her life—or if they’re just getting started.
Despite the unsteady start of their acquaintance, her dad still walks her down the aisle at her wedding to Zuko, though, and when her wedding photo joins her mom and dad’s—and Sokka and Suki’s—on the mantel, she thinks all the dinnertime awkwardness and ensuing danger was worth it.
If nothing else, she’s ensured that their family dinners are always interesting.
there's also "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" which conservatives are oh so fond of saying
bootstraps are, well, straps on your boots. you cannot physically pull yourself up by them, and that's what the original phrase meant. "pulling oneself up by the bootstraps" is meant to be an impossible task
"Birds of a feather flock together- until the cat comes." - The first part gets quoted a lot in a "find your people" kind of way, but the full quote was meant to be a warning about basing relationships on "feathers" (looks, surface details, etc) only.
"Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back." - The first part is often used like a warning against curiosity, but the full quote is meant to encourage it.
"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." - The first part is often used to get people to do stuff first/fast/early, but the full saying is meant to impart that sometimes, not being the first can work out better.
"Rome wasn't built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour." - The first part is often quoted in a "cool it/relax/stop" type way, but the full quote is meant to encourage slow and steady progress.
"Great minds think alike, though fools seldom differ." - Just because it's an idea y'both had, doesn't make it a good one.
when i say i like hiking, i don’t mean “eight mile backpacking trip with special gear and an emergency beacon” sort of hiking, i mean a three mile loop to go look at pretty things and then a huge brunch after.
Even three miles is very hard if you're not already fit and active. I always think that many parks and reserves need to have some shorter and more accessible trails for people who have disabilities or are elderly or are just not accustomed to that level of physical activity. The joys of experiencing nature should not be limited to young, healthy, able-bodied people in good-to-excellent shape.
It's genuinely bizarre to me that there are people out there who are like, competitive and hardcore about hiking. "I only go on nice walks outside on NIGHTMARE difficulty like a REAL GAMER."
Would you also feel the need to prove your superior prowess and tolerance for suffering when listening to your favorite music and getting a nice massage and going to a candy shop where everything is free? I don't understand.
