What I Learned at SRU
Chapter 26 - Solid
- Friday, November 5th, 2010 -
"I can haz fries?"
"No fries for you."
"I can haz Skittles?"
"I can haz Dollar?"
"KAY-KAY." A crisp bill already in hand, Toph slapped the single note onto the desk. Aang took the dollar, stuffed it into the safebox, and retrieved a package of candy from the self behind him. The lobby was calm and quiet, while echoes of basketballs rang out from the nearby gym floor.
"There ya go, Miss." Aang barely contained a chuckle as he placed the red bag onto the desk and assumed his position on the stool once again. He admired Toph as she eagerly tore open the bag's corner, dumped a handful of rainbow pieces into her hand, and jammed them into her mouth. She greeted Aang more properly at this point - as proper as one could while chewing and being Toph.
"Sho whuff's sheggin, Tinklsh?"
"Sooooo slooooowww," moaned Aang in desperation, dropping his head into his arms on the desk. "I'm actually doing homework during my shift."
"Poor Twinkle-Toes," Toph cooed. She immediately dropped her sympathy like a stone. "Fff. Working while you're working? Loser."
"What do you think I should be doing?"
"You could be listening to awesome music instead."
"Oh, really?" Aang sarcastically entertained her.
"Look up Pomplamoose. Or-or-" She snapped her fingers. "-or Matt and Kim. Yea, yea. You'd like any of those. They're your style."
"Have I heard them before?" Aang wondered, pulling up his internet browser on his laptop, which proudly displayed a trio of wavy-lined circles - the logo of the House of Aero that he'd painted onto his machine.
"Prolly," Toph muttered. "I bet I've shown you them before."
As a video played of "Mrs. Robinson," arranged digitally with the same voice singing all parts of the harmony, Toph continued to eat her Skittles contently, humming along to the song.
["~And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson~Jesus loves you more than you will know~Whoa, whoa, whoa...~"]
"Huh," Aang blurted in acknowledgment. "This is pretty good. I think I have heard these guys before."
"You think the girl's cute, don't you?" Toph sneakily accused.
["~God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson~Heaven holds a place for those who pray~Hey, hey, hey...~"]
"Wh-what?" Aang mumbled. "Y-yea, she is..."
"Ha, I knew you would..."
["~Hey, hey, hey...~"]
"How...? How would you know that?" Aang doubted, pausing the video.
"Just could tell by her voice. You think she's cute."
Toph dropped the humming and set the half empty candy bag on the counter.
"Now, then. Stop gawking at the singing lady. I can haz kisses?" Toph chirped with a saccharine smile. She puckered her lips out at her boyfriend, leaning over the counter. There was a pause as Aang lowered his eyelid in amused reluctance before Aang conceded to her request and gave her a light peck on the mouth. Before he could pull away, however, she reached out and grabbed the back of his head, pushing his face into hers. She folded her lips around his and slowly closed them, pulling secrets from his throat. He tenderly thumbed her cheek as he withdrew.
"Sorry, Toph," Aang lamented. "I'm at work," he muttered with embarrassment. "I don't want anyone...ya know. Walking in on us...doing...stuff..."
Toph huffed, tossing her bangs across her face, and plopped her head reluctantly into her arms on the desk.
"BlaAaAagh," she groaned, face buried in her hands. She lifted her head up and sobbed her story in Aang's direction with pouting gestures. "It's been, like, a week since we've done any dirty, Twinkles. C'mon, toss a dog a bone, here." She caught herself, realizing the implications of what she'd said, and that trademark set of devil's teeth spread across her face. "Get it? 'Cuz, like, I'm the dog, and the bone stands for your pe-"
"I got it," Aang rapidly spat out with a sheepish laugh. "Maybe I should start calling you Gutter-Face 'cuz you seem to have your mind there more than potatoes lately." Her nose was squished in by his finger as he finished his statement.
"You're such a little Goody-Goody," Toph teased, blowing a short raspberry after she'd brushed his finger away. She reared her head back, untied her ponytail and let her hair hang, and uttered with a British accent - and a spoonful of theatrics: "I'm such a durteh gurl, talk clean to me, you Saint!" She thrashed her head around as she spouted gibberish, tossing her hair all around into a black mess across her head.
"Uhhhhh...-?" Aang clearly didn't know what to say to this, but eventually he snickered and as Toph relaxed her pose, she felt his soft hands push strands from her face and reciprocate her more intimate kiss. "You're such a crazy dork," Aang mused. "And I love you. But don't you have a class to go to?"
"Whuzzat?" cried Toph in bewilderment, pulling on her hair and straightening it back into a tail.
"Class? You have a class at 4, don't you?"
"Yeeeaaaa," Toph whimpered, wrapping her tie around her hair. "What time is it...?" she fearfully asked.
"It's three forty-eight."
"Fuuuuuuck."
"I know."
"'Kay. I'll see you later tonight for dinner. Call me."
"Yup."
"Also," she rapidly pushed out as she snatched her Skittles bag, "I love you, too, Baaayyy-Twinkles." Having almost let slip another 'Babe' but recovered, she gracefully shoved herself out the door, clacking her walking stick along as she did so, an headed off to her net destination.
- Saturday, November 6th, 2010 -
Toph could hear the door slowly creak open as she presumed her roommate entered, but she continued playing her piano without dropping a note. A couple of minutes later, when her song had completed, she could hear the clacking of Katara's keyboard across the room.
"Hey, Toph," Katara greeted, still typing away.
"Hey," grunted Toph with a slight sting. Katara paused, and her chair creaked.
"Hun...What's wrong?" Katara asked once again with a bite of irritation. She'd been asking practically every day all week.
"Nothing, God," Toph groaned, crossing her arms. "Why do you keep asking me that?"
"Because you...you keep acting snippy around me. All week, now," Katara sighed with exasperation. "Is...Is this about the band? I told you to talk with Suki about that. Or is this Halloween? I told you that it's fine, I'm over it. I'm not upset with you, Toph, you didn't know."
"Fuckin' peachy, then," Toph mockingly conceded. "The next time something dramatic comes up that you didn't tell me about I can make an ass of myself all over again, right?" She bobbed her head down and heaved out a grouchy huff.
"I'm-...? Wait, excuse me?" Katara snapped. Fwack. Her hand smacked the head of her chair. "You're upset with me?"
"You fuckin' storm out on me in front of everyone over something I didn't know 'cuz you didn't tell me."
"That-!" Katara sucked in a deep breath. "It's hard for me to deal with that stuff in public, you know that, so-"
"Then why didn't you tell me it happened on Halloween? What the hell, Katara? Kinda important to miss." Toph's scowl had grown and she drummed her fingers on her arm as she spoke. "Anything else I need to know about? Did your fuckin' puppy die on Easter or something? What other secrets do you have I don't know about, huh? You'll go tell Jane but you won't tell your own roomma-"
"You never asked, Toph!" Katara growled, her voice trembling. "You never...asked me about it!" Words would pop out of Katara's mouth after brief pauses, as if she was trying to contain their explosive impact.
Toph's insides churned at the accusation as her memories scanned to think of when she had asked. Of course she had asked. Right?
"Aang, Jane...even Suki, and...and Jet. They all asked how it happened. You never did, Toph. I didn't know it was my...my obligation to just...randomly dive into detailed tragedies from my past just so you don't make an ass of yourself."
And here I am, again - making an ass out of myself right now. She's right...I never did ask her how it happened, did I?
"And I'm sorry that watching my mom...die in an alley - right before my eyes - isn't something I like going out and just...telling people, OK?" She was crying at this point, Toph could hear it, as her breath between words skipped in sniffles. The ferocity in Toph's expression had worn away to reveal the layer of sympathy and regret she'd been hiding behind irritation and jealousy.
She was there when it happened...No wonder it's harder for her than her brother. I had no idea.
"Oh..." was all she could muster, running her hand through her bangs and brushing them out of her face. "Do you...-? Did you want to talk about it?"
"Nooo, I don't want to talk about it right now!" Katara burst out with indignation. "Maybe...later! Or something..."
"OK, OK," Toph sputtered. "Geez, don't...freak out on me..."
"You're the one who was freaking out," huffed Katara.
"All right, OK!" Toph sighed, her palm pressing her forehead. "I'm sorry! There, I said it..." Toph received no response, which she knew was because of the way she had carelessly tossed the words out. "Really," she insisted with more seriousness. She got up out of her foldable chair beside her keyboard and made her way to Katara's desk, bumping her bare foot into a shoe on the way there. With hands extended, she paused when she reached her friend's chair, and while the sniffling had stopped, Katara's breath was still heavy. She wormed her hand from the wooden chair to her friend's back and scratched at it gently.
"It's easy for me to forget how much stuff can get to you, Sugar-Queen," Toph explained solemnly. "I don't know what it's like for all you guys...You, your brother, Aang, Janey...You all, like...lost parents and stuff. I don't...really know what it's like. And none of you are wimps about it, so it's...easy to forget how hard it must be. I guess." Her lips curved into a weak smile as her hand ran down Katara's arm and a slender set of fingers grabbed it. "I really am sorry I was a bitch."
"I'm sorry I went psycho," Katara murmured, steam seeping out of her.
"I'll try to...-" Toph stretched her arm out - it was sore from her guitar playing. "-...not be a douche about stuff like that. But you've gotta tell me about stuff from now on."
"OK. I will." They clenched fingers together in a moment of assurance to one another before letting go. "You just need to ask."
"OK. See? See? I do have a heart, Sugar-Queen. I can have touching moments and crap like that."
"Hee. Yes. Yes, you can, Hun. Good job. Way to go."
"Can I get a Gold Star?"
"You can have a hug."
"Mehhhh...OK. That works, too."
- Sunday, November 7th, 2010 -
"Don't tell me what I can and can't do!"
"Pssh." Sokka chuckled at Toph's expense. "OK, there, John Locke."
"Shut up!" Toph whimpered, a laugh escaping through her discouragement. "I've...got this," she grunted, hefting her tray and wobbling forward, inch-by-inch.
"Are ya sure, there, Gimpy?" Sokka teased. "I could get your tray for ya."
"You can't carry my tray," Toph courteously advised. "I can carry it myself."
"No one's allowed to carry your tray but Twinkoh-Toez, eh?"
"Damn straight. I'm a big girl, I can-eeeeep!" Toph squeaked in surprise as she was literally swept off her feet by Sokka's arms. He wedged one hand under her knees and the other supported her back. She gripped her tray with steady hands, fearful to spill her food.
"I can't carry your potatoes for you, Mr. Frodo, but I can carry you!" Sokka boldly cried, heaving his way through the cafeteria and winding around students, his arms straining but maintaining the weight of his friend. Toph giggled the whole way, confused but amused.
At last, Sokka huffed out a breath of relief as he set her down in front of the closest available booth.
"OK!" he panted. "Here's the volcano, then."
"Thanks for the lift, Gamgee," Toph chuckled, setting her tray down on the table and punching the gasping boy in the arm.
"We're gonna need to get those big-ass eagles to pick us up," Sokka advised as he fell into his seat with a plomph. "You weigh more than you look, Dead-Eyes."
"Hey!"
"Fatty."
"Scrawny...Pants!" Toph growled, winding back her fist. "Move your stupid Meat-Head forward so I can tenderize it."
"Just sayin'."
"Just throwing." Toph picked up a single green bean from her plate and whipped forward. Thap.
"Blind people shouldn't start food fights, ya know." Thap. Her own bean smacked her in the forehead.
"Pussies shouldn't start any fights."
"I didn't start a fight!" came the defense.
"You called a girl fat!" came the rebuttal.
"Meh. Good point."
"Ya know, your existence makes me respect your sister a lot."
"Does it, now?"
Toph fed some beans to her mouth bare-handed.
"She has to put up with you as an idiot brother. That demands respect."
"What can I say? I bring out the best in people."
"By acting like an ass."
"Sometimes the Shepperd needs to bark like all hell to get the sheep in their pens."
"What?"
"Doctor Sokktagonapus...BLARGH!" Whump! Clattatat. He'd slammed his fist on the table and stirred plates and utensils.
"And people say I'm fuckin' crazy," Toph sighed, acting as lady-like as she could as she picked her green beans with her fingers.
"They also say you are handicapped. And disabled. And a gimp."
"You are the scum of the earth. You know that?"
"Thanks," Sokka replied with smug satisfaction.
"If your life had a face, Snoozles, I would punch it."
"Not the face," Sokka wailed.
"I would punch it so hard in the balls."
"Guess I'm lucky my life doesn't have a face. Or balls."
Thiff-bumph! Toph thrust her foot forward, happily ramming her heel into something bony.
"Ow! Damn, woman!"
"Maybe you don't have any balls-"
"Meh-meh," Sokka taunted back mockingly.
"-but you do have wussy shins. Queer."
"I have a girlfriend."
"So? Could just be a cover."
"You're not very nice yourself, ya know."
"Heh. I know. My boyfriend's a fuckin' Saint, though. I'm pardoned."
"Ya know, I may not be terribly religious, but I don't think it works li-"
"Saint."
"Uhh...Buuuut he-"
"Saint."
"I really don't th-"
"Sssssaaaaint."
"So he is, eh?"
"Where do you think he is right now, huh?"
"I dunno, I guess he-"
"Wrong. He's at church. C'mon, you're his roommate, for Chrissake."
"He's at church?"
"Wrong again. Katara took him to the church she goes to downtown. God, you're bad at this."
"Just keep on using those names in vain, Gimpy, I'm sure-"
"Incorrect. Sweet Mother Mary and Joseph."
There was a pause.
"Are ya-?"
"Great Odin's Raven!"
"Ya d-?"
"BLESSED ZOMBIE JESUS."
"OK, ya d-?"
"I'm done."
"Ya done?"
"Done."
"All right, then." Shhlllrrrpp. Sokka loudly gulped from his cup. "Jesus wasn't a zombie, by the way."
"Came back from the dead, didn't he?"
"So the story goes. But being a zombie means you were infected by a virus, or brought back by demonic voo-doo magic. The word 'zombie' came from voo-doo...crap...anyway."
"You don't believe in that junk, though, do ya?"
"What? Voo-doo?"
"Naw, the hippie-Jesus shit." Toph was finishing up her beans.
"I dunno. I guess not."
"Your sister does." Toph said it in a way that conveyed her lack of certainty.
"Yea...She does." Sokka, on the other hand, seemed to admire it in a way.
"She's not like those fuckin' crazies who try shoving Bible pages down your damned throat, though."
"Nope. She's not." He seemed proud of this fact. "Wait - OK - why did Aang go to church with Katara?" Sokka was clearly hung up on this.
"Got me."
"Aang doesn't go to church."
"That's what I said."
"Sometimes that boy doesn't make any sense."
"Pff. He's your room-..." Toph froze mid-sentence, her hand groping across her tray. Where was her bowl of potatoes?
"I said I couldn't carry your potatoes for you, Mr. Frodo - but I didn't say I couldn't eat them."
"You bitch."
"Now you regret not just letting me take your tray, don't you?"
"Psh, no."
"Remember how stubborn you used to be?"
"Psh, yea. Then I wizened up and realized life is better when I make other people do my dirty work for me."
"Then why can't I do things for you?"
"'Cuz you're a bitch. And you steal my potatoes. That's why."
- February, 2010 -
"It's ruined! It...It's destroyed." The devastation in Aang's voice was like a nail puncturing Toph's heart.
"I-I'm sorry!" she quickly apologized. "It was an accident!"
"It's going to take me all weekend to fix this!" He didn't sound pacified in the slightest.
"I know. I know!" she whimpered, rubbing her face with her hands.
"Urgh, and this is...totally shot." She could hear him lifting the wet portfolio from the puddle on the table. "It's going to have to be replaced..."
"I'm sorry, Aang, I...w-wasn't thinking!" Desperate times called for desperate measures. She couldn't afford to have Aang angry with her - she was willing to break out the big guns - the guns of humility.
"Ugh. No, you weren't!" He snapped. "You always do this! You always think you can take care of everything all by yourself. But you can't!" His irritation sent a crack through her mind, her stomach empty.
This was the first real friend she had made since leaving home. She couldn't bear the thought of him being upset with her.
I'm such a fuckin' piece of work. My own damned stubbornness. And now his project's ruined.
"Whoa, hey," came Katara's voice as she approach. "What happened?" she wondered with concern.
"Toph ruined my project! And it's due this Monday!"
"Wh-? How did she-...?"
"She was trying to carry her food by herself and tripped on your backpack, which you left outside of the booth, and she spilled her soda all over everything!"
Aang had been working on a project where he captured scenes from Appa's. The way he explained it, he was drawing perspectives of parts of the restaurant that would otherwise seem boring but by approaching it from a different angle he thought he could breath some unique life into it.
"It was an accident!" Toph defended.
"It wouldn't have happened if you'd let me go get your food for you, but you've always gotta try doing things on your own."
"I can do things on my own!" Toph declared, her brows furrowed.
"If you really could, you wouldn't have spilled your soda all over my work!" Wumple-crump-cripple. Aang crumpled up the soggy piece of paper he'd been working on and, with an exhausted huff, dumped his destroyed work in a nearby trash can.
"Aang," Katara attempted to calm him, "I know you're really upset about your drawings, but you should calm down..."
"Calm down?" he snipped. Toph sat herself down where he had just been, keeping her back to him to avoid the confrontation in his voice. "Do you know how much time I'd spent on that? How much time I spend on all of my work? None of you guys care."
"Of course we care, Aang," Katara insisted. "I know it means a lot to you."
"Well, Toph sure doesn't - or else she would've been more careful! Like it matters to you, anyway - you can't even see it."
Toph face was boiling with embarrassment and pain. She had never experienced Aang so angry before, and she knew the anger was basically being tossed at her, specifically.
"I'm going for a walk," Aang concluded. "I'll see you guys later." Ruffmm. He scooped up his coat and stalked off. Toph couldn't keep back the tiny trickle of water that dripped down her face.
"Aw, Toph, Sweetie..." Katara wiped them away. "He didn't mean it. He's just upset."
"I've never heard him get so...mad before," Toph grumbled, easing Katara's gentle hands away and rubbing her eyes with her wrist. "I feel like an idiot."
"Well...Hun. He's...kind of right. You really to let us help you out more. You keep getting yourself hurt, and now you've hurt Aang."
"I don't...want to hurt anyone." Especially Aang. "I just...want to take care of myself. Pull my own weight."
"Sometimes the best way to take care of yourself is to let your friends help you, Toph."
"Mehhhh," Toph moaned, blowing at her bangs. "I'm used to having servants watching over me all the fuckin' time. I'm done with that shit."
"Toph, we're not your servants, we're your friends. We do it because we want to, not because it's our job."
"Yea," sighed Toph, resting her head on her wrist, her elbow propped against the table.
"Anyway, don't get worried about Aang. He really cares about you, he's just, well...He's kind of emotional right now."
"Big baby," Toph mumbled, a smile crawling across her face.
"You were the one crying just now," Katara pointed out slyly.
"And you'd better not tell him I was," threatened Toph, her face heating up.
- Monday, November 8th, 2010 -
"Nah, Twinkle-Toes and Meat-Head both have to work the dish room tonight and Katara's doing that 'proof-reading' thing."
"Money makes the world go round, huh?" Jane observed coldly.
"I guess." Toph huffed.
"Well, it's not like that's a problem for you, though, right?" observed Jane from beside Toph. They were both laying together on Toph's bed, listening to an assortment of rock music with nothing much to do until dinner. Toph's head was pressed just under Jane's collarbone comfortably. Toph appreciated the physical proximity from her often gruff friend who generally kept her distance.
"Huh?"
"Money. Your folks are loaded, right?"
"Oh...Yea."
"So you can pretty much buy whatever the hell you want."
"Usually," Toph shrugged, scratching her nose.
"I can't really buy much of anything anymore...I'm not with the Fighters now and...I didn't get any work at the start of the semester. Johnny gets me stuff sometimes, though."
"So do we," Toph pointed out. "Especially Katara."
"Y-yea. Obviously," Jane mumbled. "It's, uhh...I appreciate it."
"No prob, Janey Jane. We'll bring the cash, you bring the action, Freckle-Face."
"Heh."
"So, how are things goin' with John-Boy?"
Jane took a deep breath, and Toph read from the sound some doubt and despair.
"He won't...leave the Freedom Fighters," she muttered in defeat. "I can't fucking get through to him. He's all up on some high horse about how it's his duty and some bullshit, that I'm just running away."
"Hmm..." Toph pondered how to reply, picking a dry booger from the edge of her nose. As she carelessly flicked it off the edge of the bed, she asked, "Are you running away?"
"Huh?"
"Like...OK." Toph cleared her head to convey her point. "Last year, I used to hide away in my practice room, right? I didn't really have any friends. There were...I dunno...a couple people in the music department that seemed to care about me for some stupid reason - I was a total bitch back then - but things-"
"Heh, back then?"
"Shut up. But things never...worked out. Ya know? I never took the time to actually get to know any of them, and as soon as there was some kinda problem: bam." She pounded a fist into her palm. "I'd hide away in my dorm room, or my practice room, and I'd play my music. I never actually talked with them about my issues. I just...abandoned them. That's running away, Janey."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that when you've got a fuckin' problem you don't be a pussy and run away from it. You stand your ground. You face it head-on. Gotta be solid - like a rock. Or-or like...a boulder, rolling downhill. Nothin's gettin' in your way. You get shit done and you keep rolling along."
"Hmph..."
"Don't like hearing little ol' me tell ya what to do, huh?" Toph coyly observed.
"Ha. Little ol' you? Nah, I just...know you're right. I never did confront the Freedom Fighters about it, I just...stopped seeing them."
"Sounds like that's your problem."
"Yea. Maybe. So this whole 'standing your ground' shit worked for you, huh?"
Toph smiled wide and closed her eyes to relax in the pleasant pool of memories.
"It's how Twinkle-Toes and I ended up together, anyway. And isn't it how you and Katara started out?"
"Huh?"
"Sugar-Queen stood her ground. She didn't leave you, even when you guys had issues."
"Oh. W-well, yea."
"That's 'cuz she really cares about you - and that's the thing. You need something to hold onto that you don't want changed in order to not be changed yourself."
"Solid as a rock."
"Exactly."
"So what's your rock, Janey Jane?"
"I'm...still working that one out, Toph..."
"We sounded OK, Suki. OK. But we could really use some improvement."
"I get it, Toph. I know where you're coming from, and I know you just want to see the band get better."
"Damn right I do. We kinda suck." She pushed dirty hair strands behind her ears before unclipping her white puff-ball earrings and setting them on top of her dresser.
"I...really don't think we sucked," Suki cautiously disagreed. "Lots of people seemed to like us..."
Toph frowned, heaving air through her nose, her bangs rippling.
"Lots of people - i.e. boys - seemed to like that we have boobs."
"I don't get what the problem is, Toph," Suki sighed, her irritation swiftly rising. "I even let you pick out the song. And I didn't even think it was a good choice..."
"What?"
"It's just that I wanted us to come across as...ya know...hardcore," Suki defensively explained. "That song was a little too...generic."
"The Beatles are not generic, they're fucking brilliant," grumbled Toph in a hurry before cutting to the chase. "But the point is, we wanted a song that wouldn't alienate our potential audience. Who hates that song, huh?"
"Erm..."
"Do you?"
"N-no, of course not, it's fun, it's-"
"Exactly. It's fun. And no one hates it. That gets us popularity points 'cuz we didn't tune anyone out. Next time we play, we play for us." Toph sorted through her drawer and pulled out a comfortable hoodie. She didn't know for certain if it was her Terra hoodie or her Aqua one - but it didn't matter at that moment. She placed it atop the dresser, away from where she'd put the earrings.
"Right. That's exactly what I was thinking," Suki agreed. "Also, I think we should maybe try working on building an image, you know?"
"Beg your pardon?" Toph grunted as she tore off her T-shirt.
"Like...presenting ourselves differently," Suki explained, her tone conveying discomfort from Toph's nonchalant changing. It was night time. Toph felt like changing into sleeping-ish clothes. In her own bedroom. In front of a girl. Suki could deal.
"What do you mean?" Toph's words were thick with pessimistic suspicion as she slipped the hoodie over her head.
"I was thinking it might be kind of cool if we wore, like, samurai stuff, like helmets and-and warrior paint, and-"
"Makeup?"
"Huh?"
"You want us to dress like Japanese whores and wear makeup?" Toph growled, biting her lip. "Geishas, and that nonsense?
"No! No-no-no. Like warriors. Like, ninjas, or samurais, or something like that. And warrior paint, not makeup."
"'Cuz we're...supposed to be a Japanese band?"
"Not...necessarily," mumbled Suki. "I'm just throwing out ideas, I just think we should have some kind of...uniform...going on. To make us pop on stage, like a real group."
"Right, so we lose our identities and then we're just a fuckin' pop band clique of wannabes."
"You know, Toph," Suki matter-of-factly jabbed with her words. "The Beatles had a 'look,' too, with their bowl-cuts, and their suits...But I guess you wouldn't notice that, would you?"
Playin' hardball, huh? Nice throw, Suki...Nice throw.
Toph breathed out a deep, contemplative sigh, closing the door to her dresser.
"Fine. Next practice you can run it by the girls, see what they think. Obviously, I don't give a shit what we look like, so long as we play the songs right."
"All right, then," was Sukui's equally snippy reply.
"Anything else?"
"Erm...Are...Are you doing all right?" Suki lowered her guard for the sake of expressing sentiment. "You seem all...on-edge. Katara told me that you've been a little off lately, and-"
"Katara and I sorted all of that out," Toph coldly advised, her back still turned. "Thanks for the concern, Suki, but I'm good."
"Oh...OK. I'll...see you at practice, then."
"See ya tomorrow."
A/N: A little LOLcats, a little Scott Pilgrim, Lord of the Rings, indie bands on YouTube. Ya know...mixin' it up in this joint.
The Pomplamoose video: .com/watch?v=f-4ZwiW1cPs
The LoTR scene Sokka is mocking: .com/watch?v=O_NmCh42hZM
Doctor Sokktagonapus is mocking: .com/watch?v=ZjRjqOL5IBA
Also, a number of bits of dialogue are inspired by events from the series proper - specifically, Toph ruining Aang's project is based on how Toph lost Appa, her little speech to Jane is inspired by when Toph was teaching Aang earthbending, etc. There's a few others, but those are the most important ones. I try to fit things like that in from time to time but I think those two examples are a little more pronounced than normal.