Toph barely has time to say "Take what?" before she finds her arms full of baby. She's not completely new at this - she'd hung out with Mikey and Shadow - and adujsts her hold on Hana.
"We're holding together - just," Toph replies. "Iroh and Spoon have kinda...stepped in as leaders, unofficially." No one there wants to admit that Zuko and Mel and Sokka might not be coming back.
"Roof of the hotel," Mel says. "That's the two story building opposite us. The second floor's only just opened, so there're spare rooms there. Yanno, if you don't mind that we found bodies there."
If its a choice between the second floor (where she wouldn't be able to see at all) or the roof (where she wouldn't be able to see and could possibly fall off the edge), there's no contest.
"Well, it seems like you've already taken care of the bodies," she remarks. The smell of smoke and burning flesh still hangs enough in the air for her to detect it. "So I'll take my chances on the second floor."
"Well, I don't know," Mel says with a frown. "The one in the hotel's taken up, but the guy there doens't exactly need it. All the other buildings are stores and stuff.
"Hmm." Might have to take her chances on the second floor, then. "Do I want to know why this guy doesn't exactly need his room?
"Well, things are still a bit fuzzy, but I can see better than I could back in the other world. The earth seems healthier here." Even if it is buried under concrete and asphalt. "I tried bending that wall at the end of the street, but I guess from what I was told nothing can move that sucker. Haven't tried to bend anything else yet."
"Doesn't need on on the first floor," Mel says quickly. "He can manage stairs like the rest of us."
But she nods at the news, reaching over Toph's arms to touch Hana's face. "I can't even climb it. But This place is better than the last. Maybe you can try the normal concrete sometime. Be nice to know if there's earth under all of this."
"I can do stairs." The protest is half-hearted. She wouldn't mind a room on the first floor, where she can see, but Toph doesn't want to kick anyone else out or seem like she's getting special treatment.
Toph nods, grinning. "A spot for another garden, maybe?"
Hey, Mel only does special treatment for people who need it. But Toph's useful.
"That's the idea," she says with a smirk. "All the food's tinned again. It keeps getting refilled automatically, but I want fresh stuff. Which means dirt first, then any scraps mixed in. I dunno if we'll ever find seeds, but start somewhere."
At first Toph can only sense Mel, sitting in the gutter. But as she gets closer she "notices" the two babies with her.
Toph grins. She only knows of one mother with twins, and after speaking with that lady at the wall she's fairly sure its her.
"Mel, is that you?"
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Mel glances up, grinning widely enough to hear it in her voice. "Hey, Rocky! When'd you turn up?"
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"Just recently," she replies. "I was on my way back to my room from 202 when all of a sudden, here I was."
She won't mention that she tripped and fell flat on her face.
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Mel detaches baby Hana carefully from her breast and elbows Toph lightly with the same arm. "Here, take this.
"So you're number six, huh? How's the place holding up without us?"
Have they torn themselves apart with leadership struggles yet?
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"We're holding together - just," Toph replies. "Iroh and Spoon have kinda...stepped in as leaders, unofficially." No one there wants to admit that Zuko and Mel and Sokka might not be coming back.
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And because asking about Erin and Katara might just hurt, she changes the subject. "you had the low down on the new place?"
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"Where are you guys living at?"
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"Well, it seems like you've already taken care of the bodies," she remarks. The smell of smoke and burning flesh still hangs enough in the air for her to detect it. "So I'll take my chances on the second floor."
At least she's gotten good at climbing stairs.
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She never knows how hard it is to see through concrete.
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"If you know if there are any empty rooms on the first floor, and could point me in that direction, it'd be great."
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"How's your bending around here?"
Might as well get straight to the point.
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"Well, things are still a bit fuzzy, but I can see better than I could back in the other world. The earth seems healthier here." Even if it is buried under concrete and asphalt. "I tried bending that wall at the end of the street, but I guess from what I was told nothing can move that sucker. Haven't tried to bend anything else yet."
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But she nods at the news, reaching over Toph's arms to touch Hana's face. "I can't even climb it. But This place is better than the last. Maybe you can try the normal concrete sometime. Be nice to know if there's earth under all of this."
Mel has plans for soil.
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Toph nods, grinning. "A spot for another garden, maybe?"
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Hey, Mel only does special treatment for people who need it. But Toph's
useful.
"That's the idea," she says with a smirk. "All the food's tinned again. It keeps getting refilled automatically, but I want fresh stuff. Which means dirt first, then any scraps mixed in. I dunno if we'll ever find seeds, but start somewhere."
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