Ooh how about Tokka and 24. “You’re trembling.” and/or 42. “I’m only here to establish an alibi.” for the dialogue prompts! ☺️
Bet you don’t even remember making this ask to me 😎 it’s been like four years LOL. But I’m trying to get back into writing anything at all again, and I finally had some juices for a very very short piece, and voila! Hope you are doing well my friend, enjoy your VERY LATE tokka crumbs. This is set somewhere in the far off future and hints at Sokka traveling for work while Toph is not. Enjoy!
Prompt: You’re trembling.
Her mother used to recite a proverb, early on in her childhood when they thought Toph’s “condition” was curable. Doctors, healers, physicians, apothecaries, shamans and more marched through the doors of the Beifong Compound, and each marched out with either a lie of some sort that they had sold to Poppy and Lao, or the honest truth. Those who told the truth had their reputation besmirched, while those who lied leeched off the Beifongs until a mysterious guru came to the compound one evening. Poppy described the way he looked at Toph as strange, “Like he was looking through you and could see your whole life. It was dreadful and uncomfortable,” but Toph just remembers feeling relieved. “Take heed of the dream that will visit you tonight. Stubbornness usually leads to running head first into a wall.” It was he, with kindness in his tone and surety in his voice, who had finally convinced Poppy and Lao that their daughter was blind, he who loosened the first shackles that her parents had tied around her body.
The years have passed since his visit, but Toph still finds herself thinking occasionally of him and of that proverb her mother used to love. “In a lover’s eye is the foremost beauty,” was almost religion to Poppy. She would whisper it to Toph like she would whisper prayers for healing. Toph never needed healing, and she never understood the proverb. There came an inkling of it when she was called pretty for the first time, standing on a bridge with nothing but water below, but even then —beauty and lovers were a faraway reality to Toph.
Until now, sitting here with her feet planted firmly on the ground, heartbeat thundering traitorously in her chest as the man before her speaks. The air is crisp tonight, tingling with the promise of rain and she can feel the squirrel-mice looking for shelter already, letting Toph know that the clouds must not be so far away. But Sokka is on a mission, and even as the first drops of rain make contact with Toph’s fingers, he continues to speak. “I went everywhere this past year, I went everywhere and you stayed here,” Sokka is saying. He’s agitated, he keeps walking back and forth in front of her and running a hand across his head. She, by contrast, is as still as her element. The only thing that gives way to the thundering of her heart is the way her body has begun to minutely tremble. “You stayed here and even before I left I realized my heart had stayed, too, with you.” He says it almost like an accusation, like how dare Toph make him love her.
“It stayed with you and all I could think about in any spare moment I had —and even in the moments I didn’t have to spare— was you. The dirt under your feet, the calluses of your palms, the sweat of your brow, the strength of your legs, how you always smell like dust and earth. I couldn’t stop thinking about your laugh and your stupid jokes or how you’ll try to convince anyone of anything just for kicks. I was obsessed, and if I didn’t know any better I’d say you’d have bewitched me. I couldn’t fall asleep without picturing your smile, I couldn’t wake up without wishing I was watching you sleep next to me. Every time I pulled into a different port I kept looking for you even though I knew exactly where you were. My coworkers kept trying to get me to go out on dates but I couldn’t, it was like my feet sunk into the earth. Every man and woman looked dim compared to just the thought of you.” Toph lifts her hands to wipe the rain off them, right across her solar plexus, and the movement stops Sokka dead.
Silence reigns among them. It seems he’s finally taken notice of the weather. He clears his throat, loudly, roughly, body hot and heartbeat still agitated, looking around and then at the sky. Quieter, more withdrawn, he says, “I thought maybe once I saw you again the feeling would grow easier to contain. But I was wrong. This past year has been torture, Toph. I left the most beautiful woman I know and all I did was count down the days until I could come back to my heart.” Sokka takes a step forward, and then a step back, just as the storm properly opens and it begins to rain fully. Toph drags herself to her feet as she is literally splashed into action, grabbing Sokka by the hand and pulling them into her home. He kicks the door shut behind them, letting Toph pull him into her living room where they stand in front of her fireplace. “You’re trembling.” Sokka says, voice small. Resigned, Toph realizes, defeated, even as he pulls away from her to light a fire. A million moments rush through Toph’s mind, but ultimately it is this moment that causes her to fully tremble, realization settling into her bones like mud takes to brick. Sokka is convinced that Toph doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, and yet here he is still, lighting a fire so that she can be warm.
Toph pulls him back towards her, hearing the clatter of the lighter fall to the ground and his yelp of surprise as she pulls him into her embrace. “You think I’m beautiful?” She bites her tongue. It isn’t what she’d meant to say, or even what she’d thought to say, but Sokka doesn’t seem to think the question is silly at all. He takes to it like a thirsty man given water.
“Toph, I know you’re beautiful.” His voice breaks. His heart is still fast, but his words are solid and his hands are warm as they return her embrace. “Everything about you, your hair, your nose, your arms, your legs, your…” He clears his throat, heartbeat stuttering, before continuing, “Well, yeah. Everything. You have such a gorgeous smile, the best laugh, the brightest mind.” He’s stumbling over every word, but all Toph can focus on is how solid his grip is and how honest his tone is. “I’m sorry, it’s just really hard for me to, um, concentrate when you’re looking at me like that.” A beat. “Why… are you looking at me like that?”
“In a lover’s eye is the foremost beauty.”
Sokka stops completely, blinking rapidly as he tries to process her words. “What?”
Toph snorts. “In a lover’s eye is the foremost beauty. I grew up hearing that proverb. I never understood it.” She blinks. “Obviously.” It’s Sokka’s turn to snort, even as he brushes hair out of her face with trembling hands. “But I get it now. It took me a while, but I get it now.”
Sokka frowns. She can tell because she lifts a hand to run across his lips, can feel the downturn of them even as his heart once again stutters. “I don’t understand.”
Toph sighs. “It means I love you, you fucking idiot.” His mouth drops open, taking Toph’s fingers with the bottom lip, but Sokka is nothing if not good at recovery. He takes her hand and kisses it, clutching it close to his chest and pulling Toph closer to him.
“I love you too.” Sokka says. Toph is a little horrified to find that she’s pretty sure he’s crying. “You’re trembling,” He repeats his earlier observation.
Toph tightens her grip on his hand. “You’re not much better,” She retorts. And then they are kissing, and soon Toph finds herself warm with no need of a fire. They’re both still trembling, but it isn’t exactly unwelcome this time around.
Adamsfoster always, of course. But I’m also really enjoying playing Pokémon right now. I picked my game back up after like three years and have been playing for a few days now.
85: What’s the last song you listened to?
King of Anything by Sara Bareilles
92: You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?
Do I get to change it? If yes, first time meeting my wife. If not and I just get to re-live it as it happened? My son’s birth so I can experience the joy and relief of having him enter the world and finding out who he is.
Hello! I read your tags and I was just wondering if you’d mind sharing which skin care line is doing wonders for your skin :)
No problem. Leahlani is super expensive (though not as expensive as the skincare line I was searching for less expensive versions of), but it’s doing wonders for my acne-prone, sensitive skin. I started it shortly before I got my latest period and had next to no breakouts (like, less than non-period breakouts). They have skin care rituals for different skin types and a box that you can customize so you can get pretty much everything you need for your skin type (that’s what I did). And, if it’s too expensive for you, maybe their skin care rituals can help you find less expensive things that help you.
I used to have a best friend in real life, but that crashed and burn and all of my friends ended up going with her except for my boyfriend. So, he’s my number one. I have a very close work friend (she’s also my boss now) and I have my best friends that were made in fandom and have carried over. I don’t go a day (normally, real life gets in the way) without talking to @frumpologist, @dreamsofdramione, and @weestarmeggie17.
25. Most Slytherin thing you’ve ever done?
This is going to make me sound like a terrible fucking person, but I’m just going to admit it openly. Up until last month, I had a co-worker that was a right terror. She was terrible in ways I’m not going to go into right now, but she was combative while I was manager and insubordinate the entire time.
So, she was hired last year. She wasn’t working out, but our then boss wouldn’t fire her. They were constantly flirting. Gross, right? Anyway, I like to watch people, and I don’t miss a fucking thing. So, while I couldn’t get her fired, and I accepted that, I would notice things and they would slowly make their way back to my then boss, as my assistant manager, who is my boss now. They would constantly discipline her, and she hated it, right?
I figured if they weren’t going to terminate her, I would find a way to make her want to quit and solve my problems for me.
Then I became her boss for a month and it was even worse, and I had to write her up.
And then she said me and my (now) boss were nice people, but she couldn’t stand to work with us. Spoiler: I am honestly not a mean person. And I’d have never done this to someone solely because I didn’t like them. I wish her well with her new job, and she’s an okay person, but she hated this place and we got constant customer complaints.
Hermione Granger: What is your favorite book, how many times have you read it, and why do you love it?
Besides HP, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series is probably one of my favourites. I tend to randomly pick up whichever one is closest if I’m not sure what to read. Sometimes I don’t even start at the beginning.
I haven’t read it in a while, though I’ve read it a couple, also Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.
Neville Longbottom: Tell us an embarrassing story
Most of the time I avoid using the bathrooms on planes because obviously. One time I had to though, walked back to my seat, went to smooth my skirt before I sat and just felt skin... Honestly, I wasn’t that embarrassed though. Half the plane got quite a view!
Minerva McGonagall: What is your favorite spell?
The first one that comes to mind is Accio -- I’d use it ALL THE TIME
