#emberheir

melt into me starter prompts

at the sound of his voice, yuka's gaze shifted from the dried herbs she had been grinding into powder. when the words fully registered, her hand paused mid-twist of the pestle, eyes going wide and a pink tint slowly flooding her cheeks. " s-- sneak off...? " she parroted in little more than a surprised squeak. ice and cornflower blues dart from his person to the door at the far wall behind him, halfway open. he hadn't been loud by any means, but yuka's lips pressed into a nervous little line as she swallowed hard.

then her shoulders--having previously been lifted with nerves--sagged. her lips relaxed, even parting slightly to let a small sigh escape them, and she turned her head back to the mortar and pestle. " ...sneak off, hm? " but there was no enthusiasm or interest. on the contrary, she seemed a bit dejected. she was. yuka was honest; if he hadn't caught onto that by now, he was truly obtuse. but she was honest in more than just what she chose to convey with words. her demeanor--face, body language, and all--spelled out her feelings as obviously as a brush spells words on a scroll.

her hand retreated back on the pestle, fingers lifting off until just the pads of her thumb, index, and middle fingers gripped the end. she tapped it against the mixture of brittle leaf-pieces and crude powder. full lips twisted slightly to one side of her mouth, cheek lifting on that side. " i... " she began, trailing off, eyes wandering back to him. they didn't settle on his, however; they kept sliding up, until she was staring at his hairpiece. her lips pursed into the slightest of pouts.

she took a slow, deep breath through her nose--so slow that it could be very easily missed, if not for the way the edges of the diamond cutout of her shirt's chest crinkled with the lift of her bust under the tight-fitting fabric. her eyes remained fixed on that hairpiece, and anyone watching her could practically see the gears in her head turning. he's the fire lord, she reminded herself. you're just a healer. from the water tribe, no less. he often told her those facts didn't matter to him... but didn't they? they were intimate in her chambers, only. he had never taken her hand as they walked. in fact, she couldn't recall a time they walked abreast of one another. she was always a step behind. she could count on one hand the amount of times they'd been seen together by anyone else, outside of official capacity.

she gently sucked her bottom lip back, top teeth lightly pressing to keep it trapped in place. now that she thought about it, really thought about it, she had no idea why she expected anything else. the only hint there had ever been at something kindling between them had been the fact that he didn't have a wild sex life. he chose his partners sparingly, deliberately, and monogamously, to her knowledge. (oh spirits, what if he did have other lovers she didn't know about? ...and why would that fact matter, if he did?)

the color rapidly drained out of her face as she realized it did matter, to her. she turned her back to him quickly, abandoning the mortar and pestle to go to the medicine cabinet at the back of the room. her hands were trembling, and she made sure to lift them out of his line of sight, following the center line of her body. she unlatched the cabinet doors and quickly plucked up a bottle, bringing it closer to her chest and holding it with both hands, pretending to be reading the label. but her thoughts were completely on him, specifically, why she felt so awful at the idea of him having other lovers.

did she feel something... more... than just physical attraction to him?

yuka gave her head a few little shakes, headpiece tassels clinking against one another gently as they were disturbed. she put the bottle back quickly (it wouldn't do if he saw the way her hands were shaking, after all). the next was grabbed and pulled out just as fast. once again, she pretended to be examining the label, trying to buy herself time to think. no, no, no, she repeated to herself in her mind. she did not have deeper feelings for zuko-- the fire lord, she reminded herself. she wondered how he was daily, yes. but wasn't that her job, as his personal healer? to wonder after his condition? and if she wondered what he thought of her from time to time, so what? he's her boss. of course she would hope he thought favorably of her.

but that wasn't it. yuka was always honest, even if she didn't want to be, and even if she had to be honest with herself. her chest tightened at the realization that she really, really wanted him to think fondly of her. that she thought fondly of him.

she hadn't realized she'd dropped the bottle until it clattered to the floor. yuka visibly startled with a jolt at the commotion it made, bouncing from one end to the other a few times before finally shuddering fully onto the floor, rolling back behind her. she turned swiftly and fell to her knees. the tremble in her hands was worse with her frayed nerves. the first swipe she made missed the bottle completely. the second nudged it further away. she arched her back, stretching and leaning forward on one hand so her other could reach far enough to clamp around the thing. her eyelashes fluttered for a moment, flustered, before they rested against her cheeks, her eyes closed as she took a quick breath and sighed it out immediately.

when she opened her eyes again, her head tipped back, gaze rising with her face to take in zuko's reaction to her clumsiness. she let out a breathy, stilted laugh, drawing back to sit on her calves and hold the bottle close to her chest again. " s-sorry... i'm... i'm really busy, i don't think i can do that right now. " yuka's head slowly turned towards the door, blinking twice in rapid succession as she realized how very quiet it was. how the corridor beyond must be so very unpopulated. how very non-urgent her medicine-making was, and how very low demand was for her services today.

@emberheir sent : 👫 || 4 relationship headcanons

Toph loves to honor zuko by wearing more red on her . It wasn't grand or noticeable at all at first , like it's just red accent or design on her clothes but eventually it's started to become more noticeable the more zuko notices it and gifts her more accessories to add in her clothing. It become way to obvious to the point that her students, started asking questions to themselves that they thought toph can't hear. Why is her hairband red && gold? her hand cuffs are red now too. so on and so forth . Toph wasn't ashamed of it but out of desire to keep it private , she stopped wearing red , much to zuko's dismay probably . To compensate with her not wearing things anymore . She decided to leave red dai (带) in her accessories to show the world she was his . She would occasionally switch from red dai (带) && or red Liusu ( 流苏 ) depending on her outfit.

Height && built difference. Toph adores how big zuko is compared to her. she loves how his hands covers her small ones , she loves that his clothes, cloaks , && scarves is almost like a dress to her when she wears it. She loves how easily zuko can tower over her , it's the only moment she is willing to feel small , cause zuko makes her feel protected && same time accepted but despite this, toph also loves that she can easily man handle him when she choose to. That she is much , much more physically stronger than him despite her small stature && big frame.

If toph is being super affectionate or very happy, She loves to give those cheek kisses to zuko . The type of kiss where there's a loud mwah that would follow or where she would playfully nibble his cheeks. She would also specifically kiss the left side of his face where the scar rest — in her brain that side of his face is already a reminder of his pain && angst . So toph giving him happy && affectionate kisses there is her way to replace those ugly things with happy && loving memories the two of them shares.

People tend to say that toph is cold , unbothered && doesn't give a damn about others , but in truth , she is overly protective of zuko. The moment Lin was made , toph is willing to leave zuko behind , face the consiquences of their actions alone && be considered as a ruined women for having a kid with an unknown father just to protect zuko's title and noble status cause the Fire Nation is not welcoming of idea that their Fire Lord wants an Earth Kingdom Noble to be his wife. She was certainly ready to leave it all , so he doesn't have to choose between his duty && her , that is why she is so relieved && glad that they managed to work it out. It wasn't immediate , it took them years to make it work but they hard work paid off . Toph is very willing to leave her work in republic city for him as well , cause she would rather give up her work than watch zuko marry some random noble who wasn't her.

@emberheir said ; ❛  if you splash me even once, this means war.  ❜

summer and beach prompts. / still accepting!

Mai sighed, looking at him incredulously.

Where was this coming from, exactly? She wasn't sure. But it was a little worrisome.