Avatar // So, Who Are You? // Part 1 of 1
Title: So, Who Are You?
Fandom: Avatar
Rating: K
Word Count: 860
Summary: Team Zuko has joined the Aang Gaang universe. Zuko is keeping Toph awake. Something must be done to remedy this.
Other: 31_days 09/01/06
September 01. and the hearts of all mankind can be embittered
*
Toph can ignore almost anything: she is immune to the nuances of touch and sound she wishes to pass by without her notice.
(When she listens, however, there are hordes fruit-eating batterflies out tonight, their vibrations ricocheting through the air and back to their ears. Toph knows this because they used to make attacks on the garden back home and kept her awake until she got used to them. Seven hundred yards away, a family of meerchameleons have not yet bedded down for the night. They feel like they're irritated. Things that get eaten always feel like they're irritated.)
Zuko feels like he's irritated not because he's something that gets eaten by larger somethings, but because that is his default state of being. Fourteen feet away, he is tossing around and sighing and acting like someone put a large, honorable stick up his rear. Zuko is keeping Toph awake.
No one else notices; they're all asleep already. Aang sleeps still as a rock, unconciousness brought on by exhaustion and worry. There's nothing to be done about that. Sokka and Master Iroh snore, counterpoints to one another. Katara shifts twice every night: left to right at midnight and right to left three hours later. Leave it to her to be unhappy about the ground, even if she doesn't know it when she wakes up.
Some nights Zuko doesn't sleep at all, and Toph hasn't gotten used to that yet. This is intermittent enough that she doesn't think she will get used to it.
"You're awake, Zuko."
He turns over. Like that's going to fool her, ha.
"Go to sleep," she says.
He makes a noise. It is most definitely not one that means, "Okay, Toph, I realize my failing and will correct it right now. See you in the morning! Do you know if it's my day to do breakfast? Because I should really start planning that if it is." Zuko turns back over, facing her.
"There are other people here besides you, Sparky," Toph says.
He doesn't say anything for a while, then, "Stop while you're ahead."
"Get up," she is not asking. Toph is surprised when he does. Zuko seems like the kind of person who lives to question. The kind who needs a good reason to obey, and who doesn't count 'because I said so' as a good reason.
"It's not like I have something better to do," he mutters.
Toph replies, "I heard that."
"I meant for you to."
She lets it go and crawls out of her rock-tent. Toph stands and moves off twenty feet or so, motioning for Zuko to follow her. She leans back against a tree. The birds roosting there flutter nervously.
Zuko take his own time following; when he finally makes it over, Toph taps her foot once to make sure he's paying attention. When she realizes that he isn't, she says, "Look at me while I talk and listen."
He starts. His posture says what he is too proud to: How did you do that? You can't do that - it's against the rules or something, it's too weird. She taps her foot again; the not-prince is looking at her, which is the whole idea.
Toph smirks. "So, who are you?"
"What kind of a question is that?" Zuko sounds affronted. He probably looks affronted, too, but Toph doesn't bother to check.
"What kind of a question does it sound like?" She wants to tack 'idiot,' onto the end, but doesn't. You can only go so far with this guy and still get through, and outright insult is the way to tread right past the lines he's drawn around himself.
"The prying, impolite kind," he replies.
This time she does check his expression, standing on tiptoe and settling back down in a single sharp motion. His features are fuzzy - they're too far from the ground to turn out well in her mind - but the set of Zuko's jaw suggests a scowl. That's normal, at least. It seems like he's always scowling.
"So are you going to answer it or not?"
"Give me a reason why I should."
"Because I asked."
In the pause that follows, neither speaks. Someone needs to, any longer and they might as well just head back to bed. Zuko huffs, then waits a moment longer. The set of his shoulders changes and he starts to turn away.
"I'm the person no one really expects much from at first," Toph says.
That does it - he stops and turns back. "One can only hope that you use the stupidity of others to your advantage."
She grins outright, "Yeah. You?"
"I - "
"Whatever you think you are, you aren't anymore," she says. "You can't go back, and you need to deal with that."
Toph taps her foot. Zuko's mouth is hanging slightly open. She guesses that no one has ever said something like that to his face.
"I'm going to bed," she says, and walks off. When she gets back into camp, Toph bends the inside of her tent to sand to muffle the noise and vibrations Zuko is sure to be making for the rest of the night.
Fandom: Avatar
Rating: K
Word Count: 860
Summary: Team Zuko has joined the Aang Gaang universe. Zuko is keeping Toph awake. Something must be done to remedy this.
Other: 31_days 09/01/06
September 01. and the hearts of all mankind can be embittered
*
Toph can ignore almost anything: she is immune to the nuances of touch and sound she wishes to pass by without her notice.
(When she listens, however, there are hordes fruit-eating batterflies out tonight, their vibrations ricocheting through the air and back to their ears. Toph knows this because they used to make attacks on the garden back home and kept her awake until she got used to them. Seven hundred yards away, a family of meerchameleons have not yet bedded down for the night. They feel like they're irritated. Things that get eaten always feel like they're irritated.)
Zuko feels like he's irritated not because he's something that gets eaten by larger somethings, but because that is his default state of being. Fourteen feet away, he is tossing around and sighing and acting like someone put a large, honorable stick up his rear. Zuko is keeping Toph awake.
No one else notices; they're all asleep already. Aang sleeps still as a rock, unconciousness brought on by exhaustion and worry. There's nothing to be done about that. Sokka and Master Iroh snore, counterpoints to one another. Katara shifts twice every night: left to right at midnight and right to left three hours later. Leave it to her to be unhappy about the ground, even if she doesn't know it when she wakes up.
Some nights Zuko doesn't sleep at all, and Toph hasn't gotten used to that yet. This is intermittent enough that she doesn't think she will get used to it.
"You're awake, Zuko."
He turns over. Like that's going to fool her, ha.
"Go to sleep," she says.
He makes a noise. It is most definitely not one that means, "Okay, Toph, I realize my failing and will correct it right now. See you in the morning! Do you know if it's my day to do breakfast? Because I should really start planning that if it is." Zuko turns back over, facing her.
"There are other people here besides you, Sparky," Toph says.
He doesn't say anything for a while, then, "Stop while you're ahead."
"Get up," she is not asking. Toph is surprised when he does. Zuko seems like the kind of person who lives to question. The kind who needs a good reason to obey, and who doesn't count 'because I said so' as a good reason.
"It's not like I have something better to do," he mutters.
Toph replies, "I heard that."
"I meant for you to."
She lets it go and crawls out of her rock-tent. Toph stands and moves off twenty feet or so, motioning for Zuko to follow her. She leans back against a tree. The birds roosting there flutter nervously.
Zuko take his own time following; when he finally makes it over, Toph taps her foot once to make sure he's paying attention. When she realizes that he isn't, she says, "Look at me while I talk and listen."
He starts. His posture says what he is too proud to: How did you do that? You can't do that - it's against the rules or something, it's too weird. She taps her foot again; the not-prince is looking at her, which is the whole idea.
Toph smirks. "So, who are you?"
"What kind of a question is that?" Zuko sounds affronted. He probably looks affronted, too, but Toph doesn't bother to check.
"What kind of a question does it sound like?" She wants to tack 'idiot,' onto the end, but doesn't. You can only go so far with this guy and still get through, and outright insult is the way to tread right past the lines he's drawn around himself.
"The prying, impolite kind," he replies.
This time she does check his expression, standing on tiptoe and settling back down in a single sharp motion. His features are fuzzy - they're too far from the ground to turn out well in her mind - but the set of Zuko's jaw suggests a scowl. That's normal, at least. It seems like he's always scowling.
"So are you going to answer it or not?"
"Give me a reason why I should."
"Because I asked."
In the pause that follows, neither speaks. Someone needs to, any longer and they might as well just head back to bed. Zuko huffs, then waits a moment longer. The set of his shoulders changes and he starts to turn away.
"I'm the person no one really expects much from at first," Toph says.
That does it - he stops and turns back. "One can only hope that you use the stupidity of others to your advantage."
She grins outright, "Yeah. You?"
"I - "
"Whatever you think you are, you aren't anymore," she says. "You can't go back, and you need to deal with that."
Toph taps her foot. Zuko's mouth is hanging slightly open. She guesses that no one has ever said something like that to his face.
"I'm going to bed," she says, and walks off. When she gets back into camp, Toph bends the inside of her tent to sand to muffle the noise and vibrations Zuko is sure to be making for the rest of the night.