"I don't know, Toph," he said. "It's kind of weird."

"Come on, tell me!" she leaned against him, bumming off his heat as they relaxed beside the fountain in the atrium. "Just whisper it."

His voice was barely higher than the nighttime sounds of crickets and running water. "I'm not going to be able to look you in the eyes after I say it."

"So? I can't ever look you in the eyes. What's your point?"

He sighed. "Okay, well, in, um, in…back in the day…before the Hundred Year War…and I guess during…well, until my grandfather's time…"

"Yes?"

"There were all those rooms in the center of the palace, you know, and they, um, they had…the…"

"The Firelord's, like, ten wives," Toph guessed. "Yeah, 'fraid not, buddy. You only get one. Move on to the next fantasy."

"No, no, no, no!" he stammered. "That's not–"

She could tell he was blushing furiously, and she put her hands on his face to feel the heat, laughing quietly. "I know, Zuko. Go on."

He slipped his arm around her waist before he went on, as if for reassurance. "It's just that…I guess if you want me to try being dominant, I should go by what the book says."

"The…wait, what?"

"The book. You know, the book, the…the um…it's a manual for, um, I guess it's just for nobility, because the only copies are in the royal archives, and it was part of the last year course at the Royal Fire Academy–"

"Back up, Zuko, way way way back. The Fire Nation has a how-to-fuck manual?"

"Well–that's not what it's called, but–"

"Wow. I have so many more questions, but we'll circle back later. So what part of the book are you thinking of?"

"It talks about…being with women, especially foreign women who, um…Toph, I don't know. This is really dark."

"We don't have to do it," she promised, unwontedly gently. "But I still want to hear what it is."

He nodded, but took a long moment to gather his thoughts before he went on. "There were a lot of arranged marriages," he explained, "and wives who didn't really want to be there, so the manual explains how to…make them…want to be there," he finished lamely.

"Are you going to be able to talk about this calmly? Or should you just give me some basic instructions and we jump into things?" she went on, laughing. "I'm alright with that. We have a safeword if something I'm not into comes up."

He was uncomfortably silent.

"What is it?" running her fingertips along his jawline, she listened to his breathing. "You can tell me anything, you know."

"It's dark," he whispered. "I don't want to giv–I don't like to act that way, but if you want it–"

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to." Leaning up, she kissed his lips gently, his skin a little drier than hers. "If you're not into it, I'm not into it. But we're not really talk about sex anymore, are we?"

"Wh…"

"You're talking about the darkness you think you have inside. That anger that crops up sometimes."

"Toph, how–"

"I'm a good guesser," she smiled. "That frustration is still inside you, just the slightest bit, right?"

"Yeah," he breathed.

"You hold it back really well now, but you kind of want to let loose and be that angry, arrogant boy again, just a little…?"

"Sometimes," he whispered.

"Well." Sliding onto his lap, she touched the side of his face, pushing loose strands of hair behind his ear. "Unless you're afraid you'll be totally out of control, I think this is a great way to express that frustration. It's just roleplaying. You won't really be doing anything I wouldn't want. In fact, I'm kind of excited to see how you act," she grinned, tracing a fingertip down his neck to his chest.

He swallowed. "But…don't take anything I say seriously, or…or think that I really think those things."

"I never would," she promised, leaning up to nuzzle into his neck. "And you've got to promise not to take anything I say seriously, either."

"O-of course."

"It's just acting. We can talk a little bit about how we picture our roles…yeah. Really…really sexy acting."

"Toph, you don't even know what I'm thinking of doing. What if–"

"I can kind of guess," she murmured. "And I'm already really into it."

"Of course you are," he said wearily.