June sat in the lobby of the inn she and her new partners were staying at, sipping a cup of hot tea while reading a few scrolls and notes lying on the table in front of her. The bounty hunter was going over a map, marking Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation camps in one hand while holding a list of nearby bounties in the other hand. The Earthbending duo was asleep in their room. June herself was getting a little sleepy. She moved the back of her hand over her mouth as she yawned, perfectly on cue.
"Miss?" June looked up, a bit of a startled look in her eyes. The inn keeper poured more tea into June's cup.
"Oh, thank you. You don't have to stay up if you don't want to sir. I'll be heading to bed soon anyway." The inn keeper nodded before walking away. June craned her neck from side to side, trying to work out a way to catch a specific target that caught her eye. Humming quietly to herself as she scanned the map carefully, June noticed a figure walking towards the door. She moved her eyes up, seeing Toph heading to the door. The bounty hunter grew a small smirk of curiosity before standing up from the chair and following the blind girl.
June stood outside of the door, seeing Toph sitting on top of a hill. The chilling night wind blew, doing little more than blowing June's hair across her face. The bounty hunter walked forward through the two inch grass and sat next to the blind Earthbender.
"Hey there," Toph greeted.
"What're you doing up so late," June asked. "You're not planning to hunt anyone are you?"
"Nah, I just wanted to talk to you." June leaned to the side a bit with a puzzled expression. "Man-Boy likes to talk in his sleep...and I snore. It's kinda hard for either of us to sleep when the other person is in the room."
"Well, you know what they say about people who talk in their sleep," June said, looking up to the sky.
"They have some kind of embarrassing secret," Toph asked, nearly bouncing with excitement.
"No, they have a restless soul." Toph slumped over, whining in disappointment. June fell onto her back, resting her hands under the back of her head. "You try awfully hard to give him a hard time. Are you sure you don't have a crush on him or something?"
"NEVER!" Toph whipped her head around, glaring daggers at June with her lower lip sticking out. June grinned before crossing her legs and looking back up to the sky.
"Such a shame. He's kinda cute to be honest."
"Then you hit that," Toph murmured, turning her head forward. "I don't go for that whole trying-to-act-mysterious type."
"He's not really trying to be mysterious. From what I gathered he's pretty content telling you to your face that he doesn't want to talk about himself. It's a quality I actually admire."
"Again: then you hit that. I've got no intentions of being tied down to anyone, especially not Man-Boy."
"Pet names are a cute start I suppose," June mused to herself as she seemingly ignored Toph. The blind Earthbender took notice of it, and grew slightly peeved.
"I give everyone 'pet names.' Even you!"
"Then what's mine?" Toph opened her mouth momentarily, only to close it again. June smirked challengingly, despite the fact her partner couldn't see it.
"Sweet-and-Sour!" June couldn't help but throw her head back and laugh. The bounty hunter slowly came down from her laughter, before letting out a small, shaky breath of relief.
"I like it. Suites my personality."
"I call it as I see it sister."
"You don't see though," June pointed out with a bit of a smirk.
"Details, detail," Toph replied as she waved her hand around dismissively. "So were you close to your parents?" The bounty hunter looked over to her blind companion with a bit of a shocked look on her face. Silence lingered in the air for a moment as June comprehended the personal question given to her.
"I was sort of close I guess," June finally said, her voice quiet. She lifted her legs up and rested her chin on her knees while wrapping her arms around her shins. "Mom always said I had a lot of my father in me. Seeing as how I became a bounty hunter, I'd say she hit the nail on the head with that one. She and dad…they weren't unhappy, but dad was away a lot, and there were a few arguments. Mom and I fought a lot, mostly because I did stupid and dangerous things to try and be more like dad. But all and all, when we were together as a family, we were happy. Nothing too horribly dramatic I'm afraid. No stories of abuse, or how dad cheated on mom, or anything like that."
"Sounds so very normal," Toph smugly stated.
"All things considered we could've been a lot worse. My mom might not be able to fight off a gang of muscular meat-heads like dad or I, but that doesn't mean she wasn't tough." June smirked a bit and turned her head to Toph, "Hell, she had to deal with me every day, and my dad before that. Yet she never once complained about it. She never said once that she'd want dad or I any other way." The bounty hunter looked back to the darkened horizon, her smirk turned into a smile, "I remember one time when I was really young, mom and I had a huge fight. We both screamed at each other, and I ended up saying, 'I bet you'd want me to be just a good little girl, be barefoot and pregnant like a normal girl wouldn't you bitch'?" Toph whipped her head towards June in surprise and sat up in stunned silence. June however, continued to smile as she looked off into the distance, "Needless to say, she slapped me across the face as hard as she could. I was surprised as could be when that happened. I wasn't sure how to react to that. Then…I looked up at mom and saw her crying. She hugged me and told me that she'd love me no matter who I turned out to be. I could end up a good girl, a normal girl, a bad girl, I could end up like my dad or mom, but she'd always love me and call me her daughter no matter what."
Neither woman said a word. June simply smiled as she enjoyed the warm, caring memory of her mother. Toph was in silenced awe of the story, finding a whole new respect for June's mother and the young bounty hunter sitting next to her.
"Wow," the blind Earthbender finally spoke.
"Yeah. After that though, mom and I were close. We still argued all the time, but that's just because people who are so much alike are bound to fight no matter what. Especially if they're family." Toph hummed softly to herself as she thought of her own parents. The blind girl also partially envied June's relationship to her parents. Last time Toph was with hers, they were rendered speechless as their daughter singlehandedly defeated a group of Dai Li Agents. Now she had no idea what they thought of her, or even if they were safe.
Toph turned her head a bit in June's direction, "So aren't you going to ask me about my family?"
June shrugged before she stood up onto her feet, "I figure if you wanted to tell me I wouldn't need to ask." Toph narrowed her eyes as she carefully analyzed June's words.
"So…me asking you about your parents is considered rude?"
"No necessarily rude. Just a bit nosey."
"I am NOT nosey! Jeez, now you sound like Man-Boy." June chuckled a bit before helping Toph stand up.
"Usually a stereotype is a stereotype because it's true," the young bounty hunter pointed out.
"Screw you," Toph snapped as she playfully shoved June.
"Oh, so Kegare isn't your type but I am," June jokingly said. "I feel ya now." Toph's pale face immediately burned a bright red, causing June to laugh lightheartedly.
Morning came, and the sunlight came through the window. The heat and light alone was enough to get Kegare's eyes opened up and out of dream-land. The young man sat up, rubbing his right eye sleepily as he looked over to the other bed. Toph was on the floor, due to the inn actually having no wooden floors, sleeping soundly while the other bed was empty. Kegare got out of his bed and headed towards the lobby.
As soon as he entered the lobby from the halls, June came walking through the doors of the hotel, and held a big bag of coins which she bounced for the sake of hearing the sound of her winnings. June looked up, meeting eyes with Kegare who offered a curious brow in her direction. The young bounty hunter's face was mixed with confusion and surprise. Kegare's eyes traveled to the sack of money, to which June's eyes soon followed. The two moved their eyes back to one another, with June offering a coy grin.
"You really think it's smart to be running around, flaunting a giant bag of money like that?" June let out a huge sigh and brushed the back of her hand over her forehead in unexaggerated relief. Kegare simply raised his brow again.
"I thought you'd be oppose to the whole bounty hunting business," June said as she tied a string around the top of the bag, and secured it to her waist. "What with you being a former Earth Kingdom soldier and all."
"Between Toph and I, we hardly have two pieces of copper to rub together," Kegare stated. "And I dunno what type of work a blind girl and former soldier could get that would pay nearly as well as," the young man pointed to the large sack hanging off of June's hip, "that."
"Well I'm glad to be of service," June said as she held her arms out and took a polite bow.
"Doesn't mean I entirely trust you though," Kegare added as he walked past June and out of the door. The bounty hunter's face fell in disbelief before she whirled around to look at the door.
Kegare moved over the nearest hill so he could try to work in some early morning Earthbending without anyone to see. Behind him, he heard as June violently pushed the doors open and came marching up to him.
"What in Spirit's name do you mean you don't trust me?"
"Just what I said," Kegare answered as he continued walking. "You tricked Toph and I into attacking Earth Kingdom soldiers, who we're trying to avoid, and now because of the blind girl's immediate liking of you, we've got the Fire Nation undoubtedly trying to find us. Plus, you're a bounty hunter, and they're typically not known for their trustworthiness. That is unless you pay the right price for them I suppose."
Kegare's feet were suddenly pulled together and then back, which caused the young man to fall face-first into the dirt. The young man groaned as he hit before he turned to look back over his shoulder. June was holding her whip, which was wrapped around Kegare's ankles.
The young Earthbender slanted his lower jaw a bit as he took in the situation, "…huh."
Kegare rolled onto his back and threw his legs upward. June quickly stepped back and released her whip as a small slab of earth shot up from the ground and threatened to bash her. The bounty hunter scowled as she spun around and kicked the jutting piece of rock, breaking it into dust and pebbles.
Kegare froze for a moment in awe of June's physical strength, "…huh…" The former soldier quickly undid the whip from his ankles and rose up to his feet. June simply crossed her arms, scowling furiously at Kegare. The young man's shoulder slumped as he gave the bounty hunter a look of exasperation. "What do you want from me? I don't trust you, oh big surprise. I'm sure you've dealt with a fair number of people who don't trust you. Why're you making it your life's mission to give me a hard time because I don't trust you?"
June sighed as she started moving forward. Kegare took a cautious step back, eyeing June carefully in case she attacked. The black haired woman simply bent over and picked up her whip before she rolled it up and placed it back on her hip. "Believe it or not, I like you and Toph. Toph because she's very blunt, straightforward, and tough as nails, much like myself. And you because you do your best to keep to yourself and not bother everyone with your own problems."
"So…you like me because I try not to make friends?"
"I didn't say that. You keep a safe distance from other people, and you expect them to do the same. In that aspect, you and I are alike too. You'll tell people about your history, your life, and anything else, but you don't weigh people down with details and keep it so they won't pity you. On the other hand, I can tell by looking into your eyes that you're a nice guy, who would help people in need without a second thought." Kegare turned his head a bit to avoid eye contact. A smirk crept up on June's face as she saw a faint blush on the young man's face. "Am I wrong?"
"No," Kegare muttered bitterly.
"Look, I don't expect us to be best friends right from the get-go, but Toph offered to help me find my family. I didn't ask her, she offered it. Now, I'm not the type of person to turn down free help, so I'm here to stay. And despite the fact you're a capable Earthbender, you know you wouldn't make it long on your own without at least one person there to help you. Whether you like it or not, we're a team now, and we're going to have to trust each other. You holding a grudge against me because I lied and used you is perfectly fine, but if we're going to work together, you gotta trust me okay?"
Kegare sighed and began to rub the back of his neck. June crossed her arms and waited for a response. The young man then turned to face the bounty hunter and looked her in the eye, "You're quite the persuasive talker."
"Is that your way of saying I'm right and you'll agree to trust me," June asked.
The young man shrugged and lowered his arm to his side, "More or less, yeah." June smiled and held out her hand. Kegare looked down and then back up to the bounty hunter before shaking her hand.
"HEY! You two stop making out!" Kegare groaned and rolled his eyes as Toph's voice unnecessarily loud voice faintly echoed around. June smiled and looked back over her shoulder at Toph. "We're leaving so get your crap packed up!"
"What're you jealous little girl," June fired back with a mocking tone.
"Jealous that you're making out with Man-Boy? Hell no! For all I care you two can have hundreds of horribly deformed children!"
"All of which I'm sure would still be able to kick your tiny ass," June shouted as she walked back down the hill towards the inn. At the top of the hill was a baffled Kegare, who was beyond confused at the two women throwing insults back and forth at each other as though it were merely sport. And the fact Toph hadn't threatened, or actually carried out, injuring June was surprising as well.
The young man's face lit up in realization, which soon twisted into an even more horrible discovery, "Oh Spirits…there are two of them now…" Kegare then started to walk reluctantly back to the inn to gather his supplies to move out with the newly formed Team Toph.