Prompt 3 - Noisy (#45)
A/N: At some point I'm going to get tired of finding creative ways for Sokka to declare his love. That point isn't for a long while though. Enjoy more mindless fluff. I swear I'll write something of substance eventually.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, but even the sound of lightning crackling through the air was drowned out by the incessant roar of torrential rainfall beating against the ground. Again and again, tiny droplets struck the earth, each drop insignificant but combining with billions upon billions of other minuscule, microscopic impacts to create a roaring, deafening drumbeat.
Sokka could probably write something philosophical about all that to send to Master Piandao, to show that his teachings had stuck with Sokka, but he had more pressing concerns in mind. Mainly, he and Toph were huddled under a hastily erected earth tent, soaked to the bone, and stuck there until the rain let up.
"WHAT?" Toph was not doing too well with regards to the deafening noise. Her seismic sense may as well be useless with the near constant vibrations from the rain, and her sensitive hearing developed to compensate for her blindness was completely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the drumming of the rain.
"I didn't say anything, Toph."
"Oh." Toph paused for a moment. "…what?"
Sokka sighed, and reached over, placing a finger on Toph's lips, hopefully getting the message across. "Shh."
In the darkness of the earth tent, he missed the blush that immediately spread across her cheeks at the contact, though he did notice the slight jump that she tried hard to suppress.
"Oops," He shrank back, immediately self-conscious. "Sorry."
She rubbed at her ears, dimly aware that he apologized. "…S'okay." She muttered, wincing as another round of thunder and roaring rain came pouring down. "Ow."
"You okay?" Sokka put a hand on Toph's shoulder, squeezing gently. "Is it too loud?"
"I can't hear anything… or sense anything." Toph grumbled, hugging her legs. "You sound like a faint buzz against the roaring of the storm. I hate being blind sometimes."
Sokka's mouth parted into a small o. Of course. Deprived of the senses she developed specifically to compensate for her lack of sight, Toph must have felt blinder than ever. He nodded quietly, and wrapped an arm around the small girl, pulling her closer until their shoulders touched. Toph tensed up, but acquiesced to Sokka's gentle but insistent pull after a few moments, leaning against him.
"So you can't hear me at all?" Sokka asked, turning to look at Toph. Her face was pale - paler than normal, even, which was surprising considering her usual porcelain complexion. With her clothes wet and clinging to her form, Sokka realized just how small and vulnerable she looked - and must feel. Blinded, deafened, cold, trapped… A surge of protectiveness came over him, and he held her just a little tighter, hoping that his intention could translate to some sort of miracle to help her feel better.
Toph flushed, though willingly nestling closer to the boy. "Save your breath. Whatever dumb thing you have to say, you can probably say it later."
Sokka nodded slowly, his other hand reaching out automatically and brushing a bit of wet hair out of Toph's face. "…Toph?"
She blinked, recognizing her name on a subconscious level. "Yeah?"
"Toph Beifong - I love you." Sokka said, with utmost sincerity and seriousness.
She smiled softly.
"…Okay."
Outside, the rain slowly started to clear.