[Masterlist]
Oh my god, you have no idea how much trouble this one gave me. I’ve been banging my head against this prompt for ages, and I’m still not entirely pleased with how it came out. What even is a diva, anyway? So, yeah, have some Dancer AU nonsense.
OT3 for this drabble: Sokka/Toph/Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The sudden rapping on the door of the apartment made Sokka groan. He’d just got comfortable, settling down after an entire day of practising for that upcoming audition in a couple of days that Zuko was, in his usual way, pathologically set on winning. The knocking came again. “Not it.” Zuko protested lazily from where he’s flopped across his half of the couch.
“Katara?!” Sokka yelled hopefully.
“I’m talking to Aang!” Katara hollered back from her room.
Sokka groaned again. The knocking became an insistent banging, and Sokka resigned himself to having to get up. He hauled his aching, weary limbs up and went to get the door. It only occurred to him once he was there that it was probably emasculating or something to open the door in a leotard and tights. Oh well.
Of course, given that the person on the other side of the door was blind, it wasn’t like it mattered, he mused. “Toph?” He questioned, and at that, he heard Zuko peel himself up and join him. The younger girl – who nonetheless was their equal or better at their dance classes – looked ragged, stressed and angry and near to frustrated tears.
“Can I sleep on your couch for a while?” She asked briskly, and only then did Sokka notice that she had a backpack slung over one shoulder, and her dance kit in one hand.
“Why? What happened?” Zuko demanded, scowling.
“Uh, he means sure.” Sokka added, stepping out of the way to let Toph inside. “Although, I second those questions.”
Toph stepped carefully over the threshold, one hand coming out to find the wall. “My parents said I couldn’t try out for the show, since obviously no blind girl could dance well enough to get the lead in an actual performance, so I ran away.” She explained, navigating her way to the couch with a level of ease that would have surprised Sokka, since she’d never been to their apartment before, if he hadn’t seen how eerily good she was at mapping out the spaces around her just through feel and sound.
“Fair.” Sokka acknowledged, drawing a grin out of Toph that made him feel ridiculously accomplished.
“But why come here?” Zuko wanted to know, still scowling his confusion. It made Toph scowl right back, very nearly offended. “You couldn’t know we’d- We’re rivals, for god’s sake!” He protested, and Sokka snorted in amusement.
“Duh.” Toph agreed. “So I knew you’d get it.”
“Oh.” Zuko said, all the frustration draining out of him all at once.
“How did you even know where we live, though?” Sokka wondered.
“You mentioned it one time leaving practice.” Toph informed him, but she was going pink, and she’d turned her face away.
Zuko snorted. “Paying that much attention, huh?” He asked, dry.
Toph’s blush darkened, and she jumped to her feet with a scowl. “Shut up!” She ordered, and then grabbed Zuko by the front of his leotard and kissed him. Zuko fairly spluttered as she drew back, wide-eyed and blushing as well, now. “But- but I thought- Sokka?” He questioned desperately.
“Huh? What?” Sokka asked, not sure if he was feeling confused, jealous, or what.
“Yeah, him too.” Toph agreed. Sokka’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he choked. “But don’t think this changes anything at school!” Toph snapped, pointing a finger unerringly in Sokka’s face, and jabbing Zuko in the chest with her other hand. “I’m still going to beat both of you into the ground on Saturday!”
Sokka shared a look with Zuko over her head, and found that, despite their utter bewilderment, they were both smiling a little. A sort of agreement, an acceptance, settled in the air between them, and Sokka laughed, catching the hand that Toph was pointing at him and lacing his fingers between hers. The fact that she let him get away with something that soppy was a good sign of how much she liked him.
“You can try.” Zuko retorted, grinning like something feral.