PROMPT #65: Air "What are the Odds?" by c3childs, k
Title: What Are the Odds?
Author: c3childs
Rating: K
Words: 495
Genre: humor, family
Char/Pair: Aang/Katara, Sokka
Warning: ...
Summary: It’s not fortune telling, it’s (not rocket) science.
[read more]
The young couple shared an adoring look. Aang pressed a hand over his wife's still flat belly.
"I'm sure he'll be an airbender, sweetie."
"Not likely."
Katara and Aang's twin delighted, oogie-inducing grins quickly fell. Katara into indignant scowling and Aang to confused dejection.
"Sokka, really, could you be a little more sensitive?" Katara chided, already sounding like a mom.
Come to think of it, she'd sounded like a mom since they were kids.
"Hey," Sokka shrugged. "I'm just stating facts here."
"What facts?" Aang asked, part curious, part wanting to stave off a sibling argument.
Sokka grinned like he was waiting for that question. He plucked a scroll from his belt and unfurled it grandly. There were several squares with crude characters that were vaguely recognizable as the symbols for Air and Water and not, written around and within it. Katara was clearly incredulous.
"That's…very nice," Aang said.
So diplomatic, that one. Now, anyway.
"I call it the Square of Predictability. Or I might go with Wang squares. The science community seems to consider my ideas more when I use that name."
"So you're a fortune teller now?" Katara asked.
"No, I am not a scam artist, Mrs. I-Got-Myself-Thrown-Into- Jail-to-Prove-a-Point-but-Only-Succeeded-in-Proving-I'm-Insane."
"When are you going to let it go?"
"When Hawky comes back."
"I said I was sorry."
"Sorry doesn't bring him back, Katara!"
"So," Aang said loudly. "How's this square thing work?"
"Simple. Let's say you guys have four kids - not thinking about it, not thinking about it. Now, Katara since you're a waterbender, but our family doesn't really have a lot of waterbenders, of course that's only going with our official genealogy -"
"Sokka, could you get to the point before the baby gets here?"
He gave a haughty sort of sniff.
"To put it really simply and quick, there's a twenty-five percent chance your first kid's gonna be an airbender, and fifty-fifty on her putting out a waterbender or a nonbender."
"Um, math's not exactly my thing," Aang interjected, pulling on his beard in what was becoming a habit. "Sokka, but I don't think that adds up."
"Okay, yeah, the math's not perfect, but then there's the question of whether or not one of the bending arts is more predominant than the other and normal people, and I haven't worked that out yet. So that's not gonna be totally accurate."
"It looks like scribbles."
"This isn't just scribbles, Katara, this is science!"
"Yes, well, your science happens to look an awful lot like scribbles."
"You think so? You really think so? How'd you like to bet on it?"
"Fine. If you're wrong, every time you say something stupid - which is a lot - then…"
"No meat for a month?"
"Aang!"
Sokka's voice was pure betrayal and shock.
"Sorry, sorry, just you know, vegetarian."
"No, that's good, sweetie. I like it. No meat for a month, Sokka."
"And when I'm right, you have to admit, in public, that I am a genius."
"You're on."
Author: c3childs
Rating: K
Words: 495
Genre: humor, family
Char/Pair: Aang/Katara, Sokka
Warning: ...
Summary: It’s not fortune telling, it’s (not rocket) science.
[read more]
The young couple shared an adoring look. Aang pressed a hand over his wife's still flat belly.
"I'm sure he'll be an airbender, sweetie."
"Not likely."
Katara and Aang's twin delighted, oogie-inducing grins quickly fell. Katara into indignant scowling and Aang to confused dejection.
"Sokka, really, could you be a little more sensitive?" Katara chided, already sounding like a mom.
Come to think of it, she'd sounded like a mom since they were kids.
"Hey," Sokka shrugged. "I'm just stating facts here."
"What facts?" Aang asked, part curious, part wanting to stave off a sibling argument.
Sokka grinned like he was waiting for that question. He plucked a scroll from his belt and unfurled it grandly. There were several squares with crude characters that were vaguely recognizable as the symbols for Air and Water and not, written around and within it. Katara was clearly incredulous.
"That's…very nice," Aang said.
So diplomatic, that one. Now, anyway.
"I call it the Square of Predictability. Or I might go with Wang squares. The science community seems to consider my ideas more when I use that name."
"So you're a fortune teller now?" Katara asked.
"No, I am not a scam artist, Mrs. I-Got-Myself-Thrown-Into- Jail-to-Prove-a-Point-but-Only-Succeeded-in-Proving-I'm-Insane."
"When are you going to let it go?"
"When Hawky comes back."
"I said I was sorry."
"Sorry doesn't bring him back, Katara!"
"So," Aang said loudly. "How's this square thing work?"
"Simple. Let's say you guys have four kids - not thinking about it, not thinking about it. Now, Katara since you're a waterbender, but our family doesn't really have a lot of waterbenders, of course that's only going with our official genealogy -"
"Sokka, could you get to the point before the baby gets here?"
He gave a haughty sort of sniff.
"To put it really simply and quick, there's a twenty-five percent chance your first kid's gonna be an airbender, and fifty-fifty on her putting out a waterbender or a nonbender."
"Um, math's not exactly my thing," Aang interjected, pulling on his beard in what was becoming a habit. "Sokka, but I don't think that adds up."
"Okay, yeah, the math's not perfect, but then there's the question of whether or not one of the bending arts is more predominant than the other and normal people, and I haven't worked that out yet. So that's not gonna be totally accurate."
"It looks like scribbles."
"This isn't just scribbles, Katara, this is science!"
"Yes, well, your science happens to look an awful lot like scribbles."
"You think so? You really think so? How'd you like to bet on it?"
"Fine. If you're wrong, every time you say something stupid - which is a lot - then…"
"No meat for a month?"
"Aang!"
Sokka's voice was pure betrayal and shock.
"Sorry, sorry, just you know, vegetarian."
"No, that's good, sweetie. I like it. No meat for a month, Sokka."
"And when I'm right, you have to admit, in public, that I am a genius."
"You're on."