Mai and Toph
Written for Wei Tzu. Three alphabets in as many days go me. I still need prompts (link is in my profile) and a beta for HP. Help me out please. Toph and Aang up next.
Published 10/28/11
Anger
Toph's fists clenched as the ladies giggled pointedly at her bare feet.
Black
Mai's favorite shade is the only color that Toph could comprehend.
China
Both of their parents treated them as though they were fragile things, easily broken.
Dream
Toph dreams in what she imagines color must look like. Mai dreams of silence.
Emo
Toph grabbed the older girls hand and swings it back and forth as they walked back home from school.
Finch
Mai had a pet songbird given to her when she was young. It hated its cage and flew against the bars with enough force to bend them. It broke its neck on the bars and she wept and learned that she should not rage against her fate.
Gold
Toph does not see the value of gold. To her, it is just another metal to bend. Mai takes it upon herself to explain the shine gold has in sunlight.
Hygiene
"That's disgusting Toph. Get your feet off my table." Her monotone makes her sound more dangerous.
Iron
Metalbending is not so hard. All Toph needed was a few hours in a cage with her ability to "see" gone to figure it out. But then Toph was always going to be extraordinary.
Jasmine
They have a favorite flower in common. Toph loves jasmine for its smell, Mai loves jasmine because Zuko used to pluck one from the bush and tuck it behind her ear.
Keen
Mai's first lesson with blades is how sharp they are. Her teacher has her draw a knife over her open palm. She was seven.
Liquor
Toph and Mai both have excellent taste in wine, despite it not being their favorite drink. Toph prefers whiskey and Mai goes straight for the vodka.
Matter
"What's wrong with lil' miss doom and gloom? I can feel her brooding from over here."
Noble
Mai and Toph are alike in that they were trained from birth to hide their emotions. Toph however was never subjected to the dainty whispers from behind gilded fans and as such never had a reason to stick to her training
Outshone
Toph makes a serious effort to rival Mai in the academy because they are very similar, the two of them.
Politics
Who know that Toph could be so... ruthless?
Quote
"Come on knivey, let's dance."
Rain
Toph likes the sensation of rain on her skin, it feels unlike anything else. Mai always carries an umbrella.
Similar
They are not so unlike one another. They were always alone. Their parents were wealthy. They lacked nothing except affection. But Toph learned how bend from badgermoles, whose natural instinct is to stay together and Mai learned her knives from an old soldier who jumped when she was too loud.
Trip
"I finally got my life changing field trip with Zuko! Thank you Mai!" Toph bounced into a hug and then retreated. "Where did you take her?" Mai inquired. Her boyfriend rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and muttered don't ask.
Universal
Young ladies must behave appropriately. Toph had a talent for destroying her gowns and Mai's calm handling of knives frightened her teachers.
Vice
Mai learned how to cheat at cards from her father when she was four. Toph learned how to fix a shell game by accident when she found boys playing it in the alley outside her house when she was ten.
Weather
Toph likes the heat of the Fire Nation. She winters there and manages to draw the young Fire Lady into discusses of tea, a passion Toph turned into an art form
Xylophone
"All young ladies must learn an instrument." A small girl in the back of the class raised her hand. "Ma'am I'm blind." "That is no excuse. You." the teacher gestured imperiously to a girl in black in the front. "Help her."
Yawn
Mai is exceptionally good at description, this means she gets the blind girl by her side as they watch the meteor shower from Appa's back. Toph leans into her around three in the morning half-sleep, and Mai gently covers her with the blankets they brought.
Zip your lips
"Just shut up alright. You're so loud." Mai slumps into Zuko's arms as Toph cackles. "Never give her caffeine again."
Bonus tracks
Cabbage
"Not my cabbages!" Mai and Toph stop fighting long enough to roll their eyes at the idiocy of the merchant.
Zip your lips inspired by freshman. Sometimes I just want to dump them in trashcans.
