Looking into their eyes - Aang Edition
Literally just using Aang's pretty pretty eyes to practicing my writing. It's been a while-I'm a bit rusty lol.
Here's what looking into Avatar Aang's eyes must be like. I could stare into those things for days.
Few people in the world have eyes like Aang's.
Eyes that signify his heritage as an Air Nomad.
Eyes layered with so many shades of gray it would be impossible to name them all. Graphite, silver, moonstone, steel, stormcloud, slate. If you tried naming every shade in his eyes, you'd lose an entire afternoon to it. Not exactly a bad way to spend an afternoon, in your opinion.
Your favorite thing about his eyes is that they're like quilled chameleons. You tease him about it constantly.
"Huh, you know in certain light your eyes are green." you say one afternoon while resting your head on his lap.
"I promise you, my eyes are not green, skyheart. Last I checked I was an Air Nomad remember? Gray eyes are kind of our thing." he lightly trails his fingers through your hair.
You wave your hand as if shooing a fly away, "Like that means anything. Ty Lee has gray eyes. Last I checked she wasn't a secret Airbender. You wouldn't shut up about it if she were." You giggle. His eyes narrow at you. "Point taken." You grin at him. "Oh! See now they're just straight up brown-"
And of course Aang is dramatic about it, gasping dramatically as he falls on his back, bringing his leg up so one of his knees is bent. In response you move your head up so it rests on his stomach. "My life is a LIE! You're telling me I've been an Earthbender this ENTIRE time?!"
You can't help but laugh, smacking his knee. "You could've had a head start on your Earthbending training. You needed it!"
He let's out a mock gasp, "My own girlfriend erasing my identity how could you?" He chuckles catching his breath. "Do my eyes really change color?" You nod. Has he really never noticed? "Do you think it has to do with me being the Avatar?"
You pause, pretending to think. "That's kind of fun to think about. It would certainly explain why your eyes right now are a really pretty EARTHY green-"
"Okay that's it, c'mere!" you squeal as he hoists you up from his stomach to his chest so you're tucked against his side. You take the opportunity to study his eyes that are shining with mirth as he looks down at you.
"Y'know right now they look kinda -" you shriek as he holds you tight, and takes you tumbling down the hill in a tangle of laughing limbs. When you get to the bottom, you're sprawled on top of him, trying to remember to breathe. Aang is flat on his back, legs splayed out, one arm over those hypnotic eyes as he catches his breath, the other around your waist. When he finally lets his arm fall to his side, those moonstones had shifted again.
"On second thought, they're definitely Water Tribe blue-" Aang surges up and kisses you, smiling into it all the while. You return it eagerly. He really does make it too easy.
His eyes also change depending on his moods, making him rather easy to read. And while you do love looking into those kinetic eyes, you can't help but wonder...well, you always stare. You truly can't help it, but...
"Do you mind?" you ask. He stops tracing his fingers along your upper arm for a moment.
"That I'm always looking at your eyes."
"What do you think?" There's a smile in his voice.
He lets out a quiet sound of protest as you scooch back from where you were tucked under his chin to be able to look up at his face. He situates himself so he still gets to place a warm hand on your shoulder, his thumb rubbing circles as if by habit, the other propping him up on his side. You tilt your head as you look into those moonstone eyes, and-there. There's a glint to them. Like he knew some big secret and couldn't wait to share it.
"I, I don't think you mind?" your voice is quiet. "I mean, you'd have said something if you did, right? I'm sorry, I know it's probably rude, and I'm not trying to pry or anything, I just, they're so pretty and-"
You can't help but let out a little "oop" when he suddenly shifts over you on the bed. Your chests brush, skin to skin, his breath fans out over your face. Resting his weight on his elbows, he presses just enough of his weight on you so its a soft reassuring pressure, like a weighted blanket. You hear him deliberately slow his breathing to match yours.
Ahh.
Well.
Uhh.
There goes your ability to think.
"What do you think?" he repeats, his voice soft as he brushes your hair out of your face. You shoot him a look cause really? He wants you to THINK? Now? This man you swear...
But his eyes are like the skies after a storm now. Clear, immense, and still heavy with rain. Relentless. And the longer you stare into them, you realize you know the answer.
You smile at him. "No. I don't think you do." He grins back, leaning in.
"I wonder what gave me away," he breathes, as he closes the distance. And the smile in his voice is reflected in those eyes that make you feel privileged to get to look at so closely.
Most of the time his eyes shine like light dancing on the surface of water. Where the gray becomes a silver so light, it's as if they're mist. And you're reminded of a 12 year old boy, who never outgrew a love of simply existing, and sharing and connecting with the world around him. When his eyes shine like twin stars, he's one with the world, instead of something that watches over it. That joy is truly infectious and your smile is reflected in them when he leans in close to you before dragging you off to dance to the festival music.
And yet, there are times, rare as they are, where there's no gray at all. Those moonstones get replaced by molten starlight. His tattoos quickly follow suit-sky blue shifting to a luminous river along his skin. You and the others watch him heal the victims, brilliant water curling around him in glowing ribbons. You suddenly understand why Air Nomad Avatars were revered in particular. He looks like something that should be immortalized in a tapestry. A flash of movement catches your eyes, and you give chase to your brother the monster behind this....this project torment. Those eyes that are filled with enough light to blind you will not stop you from killing that thing masquerading as your brother demanding answers...But the moonstones waiting underneath just might.
And once, only once, his eyes went cold and sharp as steel. Some Fire Nation nobleman made a comment during a meeting along the lines of "killing two airbenders with one flame". Aang went stiff next to you. Zuko looked like he was ready to draw his blades. You place a hand over Aang's, and he immediately threads your fingers together hard enough to ache. You end the meeting before one imploded and the other exploded. No one felt like dealing with politics after that. You'd apologize to Zuko later for overstepping. Perhaps it was the light of the room, but you would forever swear that Aang's eyes had gone from moonstone gray to pitch black. You noticed that Aang's eyes stayed that inky black until the nobleman left. And later that evening, you find him in the garden sitting with legs crossed so tightly that his feet rested on his thighs. Giving you a good view of the scar from where the lightning had exited his body. When you walked closer, you could see that his eyes were like soot. You sit down next to him, wrapping your arms around your knees and resting your head on his shoulder. "I fuckin' hate politicians." you mutter. Aang snorts. A win is a win.
And then there are times his eyes stop shining. Instead of those ever changing moonstones, they become lead or stone. Perhaps cloudy quartz is a better way to describe that far away look he sometimes gets. In those moments, you cup his jaw with a hand, and turn him to face you. You stay with him, forehead resting against his until his eyes look as though they were polished river stones, just below the surface of a stream.
A stream that's burst its banks.
And when he lets out a ragged sound, collapsing into you, closing those expressive, beautiful, wondrous eyes, you bring him into you. Just as he did the same for you countless times. When he starts to whisper in a hoarse voice, in a language that's been dead for a hundred years, you know that those eyes would shine like moonstones in his own time.
But for now, you're more than okay with looking into dampened ash.
....IIIIIII have a fckin problem and I'm not even sorry lol.