His grin finally loses the filthy and you think he might be enjoying this a little too much. Shit, you think you might be enjoying this a little too much. Not ideal. You’re supposed to hate the fucker. But before he can open his mouth to reply with whatever smart-ass bull-shit he’s got going on in that fucking head of his, sirens ring out.
OR: Part two of my GW2022 Fast and Furious inspired fic
AO3
Part one here
I dunno, man. I wanted to write smut, I wanted to write a follow-up to my GW2022 ficlet, and I wanted to write the running-from-cops prompt. That's it. Enjoy.
Hello again! It’s been fun to write two lil fics in a row hehe. This one, particularly, is somewhat of a continuation of bestie @stitch1830‘s “Shovel Talk.” Y’all should read it if you haven’t yet because it’s literally amazing – just like everything that little alien publishes. I hope this ficlet lives up to what she wrote, even if in the slightest bit.
Thanks to both Stitch and @preciousmetalgiirl for helping me out with a couple of the lines in this ficlet lol, love y’all more than anything <3
I hope this is somewhat enjoyable and coherent lol.
...
Sokka had never been more offended in his life.
Toph, after up and leaving for two weeks without prior notification to him, had informed Sokka that she and her new boyfriend were off galavanting at Ember Island with Zuko and Katara. To the councilman’s knowledge, he was Toph’s best friend, or was, anyway. Because the best friend he knew would have introduced her new guy to him first rather than to his sister and broody husband. When she told him that much, he expressed his dismay and pain to her and she said, “Quit being a pansy. I came over here to invite you to dinner at Kuang’s, not for you to whine like a little bitch baby.”
It was gravely offensive to him. Still, he accepted. It was the very least she could have done to make it up to him.
For some reason, as he got ready to meet up with them, he started to feel somewhat nervous. He felt as though he was getting ready for a date of his own – a blind date. It took him an hour to merely find the right tunic to wear and decide whether or not he should shave the scruff off his face for the night. He was convinced that he needed to make a good impression because this was Toph’s first steady relationship in a long time, and she actually seemed happy. And if she was happy, so was Sokka. Even though he still had some resentment at the fact that Zuko and Katara met Kanto first.
But it was fine. He was fine.
Before he left, he quickly phoned Katara and interrogated her on all-things Kanto. She sounded exasperated with him over the line and told him to just be normal – not ‘Sokka normal.’ He gaped at her tone with him and told her to put a sock in it. The line went dead straight after.
With a dramatic sigh, he slipped on the sheath that contained his boomerang because he could never be too safe and left his apartment. The night was cold, but a cold he could manage, considering where he was brought up. He had a pep in his step because he was finally going to meet Kanto, the man who would potentially become his new best friend. He imagined the two of them inviting each other out for beer and making fun of the earthbender that they had in common over the smallest things. Despite this prospect, the councilman was still nervous, to say the least.
As he came closer to the restaurant, he scowled. He couldn’t just be nice to Kanto, could he? He had to at least pretend to hate him for a few seconds; maybe intimidate him a little bit, threaten him with something despicable if he hurt Toph.
He smiled to himself – sounds like a plan, he thought.
In no time, he arrived at the bustling restaurant and his eyes quickly scanned the large crowd inside for his best friend but came up short when he couldn’t spot her. He deflated and told the host that he’d like a table for three. Suddenly, he felt someone tap his shoulder, so he turned around to face whoever it was. The man was a few inches taller than he was, some scruff on his face, sharp jaw, a half-unbuttoned white collared shirt – which didn’t look half bad on the guy, despite how much he held contempt for the style choice. He also had the most amazing hair the councilman had ever seen on anyone – even Zuko, and that said a lot because the fire lord had the best locks. He was handsome, Sokka assessed.
“May I help you?” Sokka asked politely, his eyes still scanning the man up and down.
“Are you, uh, Sokka?” The man asked as if testing out the name on his tongue.
The councilman squinted his eyes at the man skeptically. “Kanto?”
“That’s my name,” he said, fishing into his jacket pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes, and giving Sokka a sly wink and a lopsided smile. “Don’t wear it out.”
The excitement he had to meet Toph’s boyfriend went right out the door he was standing in front of as Kanto brought a match to the cigarette that hung from his lips and lit it. This man seemed boastful and cocky, nothing like what Katara had described to him. Sokka clenched his fists in his pockets, feeling some discomfort as he watched him take a drag from the smoke. “Uh, Toph doesn’t… like smokers,” said Sokka.
“No?”
Sokka nervously shook his head and swallowed. “Uh, nope. She really likes, uh, fresh air.”
“Fresh air, huh?” Kanto asked smugly, breathing the smoke into his face, causing the councilman to lamely cough at the now contaminated air. “This is fresh. Technically.”
“Yeah,” Sokka snapped, still struggling to catch his breath. “Technically.”
Before Kanto could respond, the restaurant host approached them and told them that a table had become available and that they should follow him. When they were seated at a round booth across from each other, Kanto said, fidgeting with his ear, “Toph should be here soon. She had some things to wrap up at work.”
“Great,” Sokka said, leaning into his side of the booth. He sighed and decided that he needed to make an effort to get along with him for Toph’s sake. How many times had she had to put up with his parade of women. Sure, she would tell the ones that annoyed her the most to screw off somewhere, but she tried, so Sokka owed it to her to try, too; no matter how uncomfortable he felt.
After their waiter stopped by with some refreshments, Sokka took a gulp of the water that was set in front of him. “So, uh, Kanto… What, uh, do you like to do for fun?”
Kanto pursed his lips and chuckled before bringing the cigarette up to his mouth to take another drag from it. “Toph.”
For the second time that night, Sokka coughed and sputtered, choking a bit on the water he had been trying to drink before the innuendo. It took him a few minutes to recover, but when he did, he recomposed himself, hoity-toitily grabbed a napkin, and wiped at his face gracefully. His voice was up a few octaves when he finally spoke. “That was inappropriate, Kanto.”
Again, Kanto chuckled before responding, his cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. “So is our nightlife, if you know what I mean. She’s great company.”
Sokka blinked a few times and pinched his arm beneath the table. This couldn’t be real, could it? If it was, how could Zuko and Katara approve of him? He had imagined Kanto to be a polite and courteous guy, not a laidback and objectifying individual. Before he could stop himself, “You’re nothing like the image I had of you in my head.”
“Head?” Kanto questioned, holding back a laugh. “Now, that-that’s something Toph likes.”
The councilman rubbed his eyes. This had to be a dream. “Are you serious?”
---
Kuang’s restrooms were very comfortable, Toph thought as she swung her legs back and forth from where she sat atop the faucets. She was crunching away on the apple she had been working on since she had arrived, a headset on her ears, and a microphone near her lips. “Okay, okay, now tell him that you’re as serious as my climax last night.”
There was a quiet snort on the other end of the line, then she heard Kanto repeat her words smugly. She could imagine Sokka’s erratic heartbeat at the comment and let out an evil chuckle at the sound of his stammering.
That morning, she had woken up with the perfect plan to play a practical joke on her best friend, and she wasn’t going to let the opportunity to get under his skin pass up. Knowing that she and Kanto were slated to have dinner with Sokka that night so he could meet Kanto, Toph wanted her boyfriend to leave somewhat of a lasting impression on the former.
At work the day before, Toph had caught wind of some new spying technology that had been in development involving an earpiece, a headset, and a microphone. It was still in its beta stages, but she had asked around and it was safe to use. With this new information, Toph thought about how fun it would be to give Kanto the earpiece and feed him lines to unsettle Sokka. Initially, Kanto hadn’t wanted to go through with her prank on Sokka, but she was...persuasive in her efforts to convince him, so he ended up humoring her.
“Come on, Hotshot,” Toph had pleaded. “You do undercover work all the time! What’s the difference in this case?”
Kanto had let out a sigh. “I want to make a good impression, Toph. He’s your best friend, and I already almost fucked my chanced up with Zuko and Katara. I don’t want to take part in a prank that could potentially make – let me reiterate – your best friend hate me.”
“He’s really gullible,” she whined. “It’ll be so much fun. Pleeeeease? For me? And I’ll throw in a Beifong Banging session later?”
Kanto bit back a smile at the last bit, then groaned. “Fine. But you have to let me wear my good suit at least.”
Toph hummed. “Hmm, no. You have to wear your button-down, and only button it to your chest. He hates it when people don’t button up their shirts all the way. Oh! And you also have to be sure to bring your smokes – I know you will, but make sure you pack them. He hates that, too.”
“You’re killing me,” he had said, pulling her in for a kiss.
“Right, but you love me anyway.”
Toph smiled at the thought of their conversation earlier and continued listening to Sokka have a conniption at Kanto’s ill-suited responses. She let out a howl of laughter before jumping off of the faucet and saying, “Okay, that’s enough. We’re going to give the guy a heart attack. I’ll be over there in a second.”
Kanto gave her a grunt of acknowledgment. She pulled off the headset, tossing it into the bag she brought with her and exited the bathroom with an extra pep in her step. Through the floor, she could already single out where her two favorite men were, mainly because she felt Sokka’s erratic heartbeat through the floor. And frankly, she could hear his shouts of incredulity as she neared the table they were sat at.
“Hey, Losers,” Toph said with a smile as she slid into the booth next to Kanto and pulled him in for a long kiss, knowing that Sokka would be incredibly uncomfortable at the sight.
“Toph, Holy Shu, you- where have you been?” Sokka stammered. “You- you’re late!”
“Had some work at the station to take care of,” Toph said with a smile. “So I see you’ve met Kanto.”
“I-yeah. I’ve met Kanto,” Sokka squeaked, then slid out of the booth and grabbing Toph’s forearm. “We need to talk.”
“Come on, Snoozles, give a girl a break. I just sat down.”
He ignored her protest and pulled her out of the booth and toward a quiet area near the kitchens. Toph rolled her eyes and pulled her arm out of his grip. “What the hell crawled up your loincloth?”
“Your boyfriend!” Sokka whisper-shouted. “What kind of person are you with? La’s fins, he is so disrespectful, Toph. How could you be with someone like that? You should have heard how he was talking about you just a second ago!”
She couldn’t help the snort she let out as she turned on her heel and started walking back to the table. Within seconds, she could feel Sokka reluctantly following her. “Kanto, will you please tell Snoozles over there what I made you do tonight?”
Kanto pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and pressed it against the ashtray on the table, putting it out. His hand flew to his ear, pulling out a bean-like device, then, he turned to Sokka with a small, bashful smile on his face. “She…uh, all of this was a prank...of sorts.”
Sokka was silent, his face blank, then his jaw dropped. “You bamboozled me! I’ve been bamboozled!”
“That’s another way to put it, I suppose,” Kanto said with a laugh, as he buttoned up his shirt a bit more. “For what it’s worth, I’m so sorry, but your best friend can be persuasive when she wants to be.”
“So… you’re not an objectifying assface, then?”
Toph cocked her head and shrugged. “Not in the slightest, unless I put my-”
“Shut up!” Sokka shrieked, putting his hands over his ears. “I don’t want to know what the next words coming out of your mouth will be. So shut up!”
Kanto let out a laugh as he pulled Toph into his chest and settled deeper into the booth. “Leave the guy alone, Toph. He’s been through enough tonight.”
“Yeah, Toph. I’ve been through enough!” Sokka exclaimed, grabbing his glass of water and gulping down the drink. “I need something stronger than this.”
“How about a round of drinks and some surf and turf? On me,” Kanto offered. Toph brought her hand up to his chest and started drawing little patterns on his exposed skin. “I hear you’re quite the meat-lover.”
“Ah, actually, I think I’m going to go. You know, give you guys some privacy and stuff.” Sokka scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Toph looked like she wanted to have some time alone with her boyfriend and Sokka didn’t want to be the one to hinder their time together. The two of them being police officers probably had little time together as it was. He held out a hand for Kanto to shake. “It was really nice to meet you…uh, the real you.”
“No, why would you leave, Meathead?” Toph protested, sitting up and grabbing his wrist.
“I don’t want to, I don’t know, impose or anything.”
Toph rolled her eyes. “Now why would we invite you if we didn’t want you here, you nut brain?”
Sokka nibbled on his cheek in thought before deciding to settle back into the booth. He smiled slightly and looked at Kanto. “What was that about surf and turf?”
Kanto clapped Sokka on his back and the two guffawed. There was some conversation and the waiter came to take their orders. Toph smiled at the sound of their laughter and voices before the radio that hung from her waist sounded. She let out a groan and stood from the table.
“Let me take this,” she huffed in annoyance. Then, she pointed at the two of them somewhat accurately. “Try not to kill each other or anything while I’m gone.”
The men sat in some thick silence for a few seconds and Sokka was thinking of something to tell him. He seemed nice, especially compared to the false first impression he was given of Kanto, and that brought him some relief. Still, he needed to make a few things crystal clear to the deputy. Sokka cleared his throat and said, “Are you, uh, serious about her? Toph?”
Kanto looked like the question caught him off-guard. He scratched his beard and said, “More serious than I have ever been about anything, councilman.”
“And Toph hasn’t been serious about anyone either,” Sokka said sternly. “But she seems to be serious about you because she’s never brought anyone around for us to meet.
“What I’m trying to say here, Kanto, is that,” Sokka huffed and adjusted himself in his seat to face him directly. “Look, Toph’s my- she is my best friend, and I want more than anything to see her happy. And if you’re as serious about her as you say you are, you must know that she can handle herself. But it goes without saying that I will do my absolute best to protect her, regardless of that. So as much fun as you might have had tonight helping her prank me — and as funny as it was, I will admit — none of it will matter if you so much as give her a reason to feel angered or hurt in relation to you. And if you do, know that I have friends in high places and a trusty boomerang that can chase you out of here the way you came. You got it?”
Kanto’s eyebrows raised. “Was that a-”
“A threat?” Sokka interrupted, his eyes squinting into tiny slits at Kanto. “No, bud, it’s a promise”
“You did?” Sokka was surprised at this, so his eyebrows were raised to show so. He quickly cleared his throat and composed himself. “I, uh, I mean, of course, you did!”
“Zuko prepared me for what was to come from you— the best friend,” Kanto admitted with a light chuckle, taking a swig of his beer. “And he really did put me through the wringer. But I can completely understand why; I respect it. And I respect you, councilman. Trust me when I say that I will never do anything to hurt her; like I told Zuko: she’d be the one to break my heart if it came to it, and I know you know it, too.”
Damn well, he better respect me, Sokka thought. But he also appreciated his response. And despite the protective-best-friend act, he knew that Toph had good judgment, but he still had to lay down the law; he wasn’t going to let anyone think they had a chance of taking advantage of or hurting her – even though she would manage herself just fine as he had told Kanto.
Somehow, though, he knew that Kanto would make out like a bandit, like the blind one he was dating.
Sokka nodded slowly after a moment and swirled his sake in his glass before taking a sip. “Do you love her?”
Kanto looked around, probably trying to see if he spotted Toph before responding. “I- yes,” he took a sip out of his beer bottle and set it down.“I do. So much… I just haven’t told her yet.”
“She knows,” Sokka said quickly. Then, he leaned into the table, looking at Kanto in the eyes intently. “Trust me. Like I said: she wouldn’t have introduced you to us or brought you home, so to speak, if she didn’t know or if she didn’t feel the same way herself.”
“Zuko said the same thing, believe it or not,” Kanto laughed. “Fun guy, that one.”
“It’s okay, you can call him uptight,” Sokka shrugged with a smirk on his face. “I won’t tell.”
Before Kanto had the chance to respond, a thought suddenly occurred to the councilman and his eyes widened when he noticed Toph returning from wherever it was she went. “Uh, hey, so… Will you do me a favor and not tell Toph that I, uh, gently threatened you?”
“So it was a threat, huh?”
“That is not the point, Wise Guy,” Sokka whisper-shouted with a finger in Kanto’s face.
The deputy gave him a wink and whispered just before Toph slid back into the booth, “I won’t tell, don’t worry.”
Sokka jutted out his lower lip and nodded. He liked Kanto. He really did.
“I see no one’s dead,” Toph said with a grin. “That’s unexpected.”
“You never see-”
“That joke will never be funny.”
“It’s funny to me and that’s what matters,” Sokka retorted and childishly stuck his tongue out at her. She didn’t see it, but the intent was there being that it had made Kanto snicker.
“Who was that?” Kanto asked, moving Toph’s drink and pressing it into her palm – a gesture that made Sokka bite back a smile. “The station?”
Toph nodded, wrapping her fingers around the glass and snuggling into her boyfriend’s chest. “They thought they might have found a lede on the supremacist case, but the more we talked, the more it was evident that it was just a dead-end.”
Sokka knew that this case had been taking a toll on her because it was all she had been talking about for some months, so he said, “So after the dinner gets here, are we getting some dessert? What are we having?”
Toph smirked and leaned further into Kanto. “I don’t know about you, but I know what I’m having.”
do you want to meet my babies? of course you do.🌱🌊🔥
I’ve been slowly working on writing a kaiju story of my very own, a graphic novel, and these are the stars!!
Viida is the big praying mantis snake thing, Amalthea is the shark with arms n legs, and Pyres (nicknamed “Apple” in the story fskjhfdskjkjf) is the cat!!! there are human characters too and they’re also great, but these three are, of course, my favorite to draw and think about.
I’ve still yet to formally announce this project and it’ll prolly be another several months before I’m ready to do so, but I wanted to show you my children in the meantime!!
BEANG shook the sleeping hero awake on the cot, “Jameson. Jameson, the nurse is trying to get your attention.” Jackson groggily sat up rubbing his eyes again.
“I’m up, I’m up PQ what’s the emergency?” he asked ruffling his hair with a yawn.
“Once again, Jameson. The nurse is calling for you. It is about your brother, I believe.” Jameson’s eyes widened as the explanation left BEANG. He tossed the blanket off of himself standing quickly.
“Is that forgetful doc letting people see him finally?” Jameson asked extremely fast bouncing in place. A figure caught the corner of his eye but his mind was set on Marvin at the moment.
“I believe that is what she said along with-” BEANG stopped and Jameson raced off towards Marvin’s room. The red headed nurse barely had a chance to stop the man as he crashed through the door.
Inside Marvin was sitting up propped in bed, a mask over his nose and lips, listening to Dr. Bing talk who was sitting next to him. The man gave an airy chuckle before looking at the door.
“J…J…” Marvin said out of breath. He looked to Scott for help as Jameson moved towards them.
“I think what he means is try to be a bit gentler with the doors around here!” Scott said and Marvin nodded.
“You’re awake!” Jameson said loudly. Marvin shook his head at the man.
“No…I’m…dead…” he said before looking to Scott annoyed who chuckled.
“Give your lungs time, Jeremy. You did just come out of a death like sleep.” He received another look from him causing the doctor to roll his eyes. “No, you’re not going back to sleep. Now if you don’t mind I haven’t gotten food yet and Harris went ahead of me to get whatever they’re serving the midday people.” Scott mentioned getting up. Marvin rolled his hand annoyed shooing him away.
“Are you ok, bro?” Jameson asked hesitantly. Marvin sighed before tilting his head side to side before shaking it no.
“I will be…” his voice very shaky and soft. Jameson nodded taking Scott’s seat, as BEANG made his way into the room.
