aether

spilled ink and half-filled papers littered your work desk, while some lay crumpled and balled up by your feet. you tapped the end of your pen against the hard wood incessantly, your other hand clutching the side of your head, glaring at the few lines you just wrote. you’d been brainstorming ideas for your next book for the past two hours now, but none of them hit the spot just yet.

you sighed, leaning back on your chair as you rubbed and smoothed down your furrowed eyebrows.

two familiar beefy arms gently wrapped around your neck from behind, your girlfriend’s chin resting on the top of your head.

“ah, toph. it’s you.” you smiled, caressing her forearms and pressing a gentle kiss on them.

“writer’s block again, or whatever you call it?” she asked, feeling up the wads of paper on the floor with her toes.

you nodded, exasperated. “it’s terrible.. whenever i think ‘wow, yes! this idea is definitely it!’ i end up finding trouble inserting it into a decent plotline with good development.. i can’t even come up with a good starting paragraph!”

toph hummed, nuzzling your hair, “i have no idea what you just said, but that sounds cool.”

you chuckled, rolling your eyes fondly, “it’s anything but cool, tophie.”

“say,” her arms slightly flex around the delicate skin of your neck, “can you teach me how to write?”

that piques your attention. you glance up at her, curious, “you want to learn how to write?”

“if it’s not too much trouble.” she quickly adds, and you almost melt at the sweetness. you pat her forearms, “slide a chair closer.”

she lets go of you to do just that, reaching for the extra chair you always keep in the corner of your room, dragging it to the desk.

she sits by your side, and you allow yourself to stare for a minute. she was only in a tight tank top and shorts, her glorious muscles in full display for your feasting eyes. her dark hair was loosely brushed back in a low pony, porcelain skin marred with a few bruises from her last sparring match.

what a catch. you high-five yourself in your mind.

she scoots closer, and you set your daydreaming aside to grab an empty paper.

“mhm..” you scratch your head with your pen, thinking. “well, i’m not sure where to start. maybe the basics? we could start with the alphabet?”

she scoffs, “that’s boring. i wanna write proper words.”

“well, you need the alphabet to do that, toph.”

“make me write words!!”

you were already regretting agreeing to this. she was worse than a toddler.

you sigh, “how about we first write all the letters, then we can make words with—”

“no,” she reaches for your hand, taking the pen for herself. “hmm.. show me how to write my name.”

you glare at her, but you know better than to argue with your stubborn excuse of a girlfriend.

“fine then.” you sigh in defeat, holding her hand tightly along with the pen in her grip. “follow my lead.”

she nods, and you start with your instructions.

“first,” you move her hand with yours, “we dip the pen in ink, like this. then we tap it against the edge to remove the excess ink, so we don’t get blots on our paper. a very important rule is that it’s never dry. remember, dry equals bad. the tip must always be wet.”

she snickers, “like you.”

you give her a deadpan look, “why are you like this?”

“okay okay, yes.” she sits up straight, dipping it in the ink bowl and tapping it, then bringing it to hover over the sheet. “like this?”

“good girl. now, carefully feel my strokes,” you shift her hand with yours, drawing out the letters as she commits them to memory. “t-o-p-h.”

“so that’s my name,” she hums, bringing the pen to dip it again, “let me try it alone this time.”

you nod, and you watch her almost accurately write the same letters again.

“wow, impressive.” you kiss her cheek, looking down at what she wrote. “the letters are on point. your only problem is.. your spacing.”

“mhm? what about it?” she asks, gazing down at you.

“well..” you stare at the sheet of paper. “they’re kind of.. all on top of each other. but that’s fine, we can work on that.”

she shrugs, “it’s fine. i don’t mind them being on top of each other.”

your brow raises in confusion, but before you can question your weird girlfriend, she interrupts you with another request. “now, teach me how to write your name.”

you blink, spotting the eager glint in her eyes, then you chuckle. “my name? sure. are you really sure you don’t want to learn the alphabet first?”

“duh,” she rolls her eyes like you just asked the dumbest question in the world. “now show me.”

and once again, your lithe fingers find hers, teaching her the gentle strokes of your name.

when you let her do it alone on her second attempt, she repeats the same mistake of stacking all the letters on top of each other.

she says it’s not a mistake, though.

₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚

“mhh— tophh..” you mewl against her lips, your floor a mess of paper and ink when your girlfriend suddenly sweeped it all off your desk, deciding to do you instead of her homework.

her thumbs press and rub on your peaked nipples, swallowing all your moans with saliva-wet kisses, the sheer force of them keeping your head pinned against the wall behind you.

her hands squeeze your tits, sliding up and down the curve of your waist, grabbing at whatever flesh she could.

she licked the saliva that dribbled off your lips, tonguing it back into your mouth as her hand finally slid down to cup your clothed pussy.

you kiss her harder, desperately sucking on her tongue while her fingers graze your soaked folds through your panties. you buck your hips against her hand, and you whine when she leaves your swollen lips with a wet pop.

“shh..” she presses a hot kiss to your neck, “i’ll take care of you.”

one thing you loved about toph is that she never kept you waiting.

it took less than ten seconds for your legs to be spread wide open and hiked up on her shoulders, her hands finding the fat of your backside to pull you closer, bringing your aching cunt to her needy mouth.

she catches the panties between her teeth, tugging them to the side, her fingers refusing to leave the nice swell of your ass.

your eyes cross and roll to the back of your head when her tongue finally finds your leaking pussy, licking a big languid stripe right across the center.

you uselessly thrash in her grasp, tears already welling up in your eyes, the desk clattering with your movement while her unrelenting grip tightens around your thighs. the pace of her feverished eating increases and so does the pitch of your screams.

“toph— oh! oh my god!” you moan, glassy-eyed, her tongue swirling in oddly familiar patterns you couldn’t quite place.

“rule one,” she grins against your swollen pussy lips, “dry equals bad, must always be wet. done.”

before you can even register her words in your pleasure-addled haze, fast strong strokes are licked across your folds and your back almost breaks from the unnatural arch it snaps into.

“oh my fuck! toph!!” you cry out, writhing uncontrollably as you finally make out the pattern she was following.

fucking hell— she was spelling your name out with her tongue!

“mhhm,” a low chuckle rumbles through her throat, the vibrations only making your thighs spasm harder around her head. “see? i told you i didn’t need any spacing.”

her tongue laps at your puffy clit in harsh flicks, and your vision flashes white.

“t-o,” she continues sucking and licking through your orgasm, using the fresh gush of your slick to coat your folds even better, “p-h. toph. that’s who this pussy belongs to.”

her effortless eroticism is almost enough to have you cum again immediately.

weak whimpers slip out of your lips, your hand finding her head to push it off your overly sensitive cunt. she grins, pressing one last deceptively sweet kiss to your swollen bud before mercifully pulling away.

she lifts herself up to capture your quivering lips into a slower kiss you easily accept, tasting yourself on her tongue.

“did i do good?” she asks, and the knowing smirk on her face is answer enough to her own question.

you wipe the remaining tears off your face, wrapping your arms around her. “.. you’re so filthy.”

₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚

toph masterlist ᢉ𐭩

Toph stands closer during training. Careful to avoid being obvious, just enough to feel you. She doesn't chase a fight anymore; instead, she takes advantage of the moment to see more of you, in the only way she knows how.

At night, when the world settles and the ground stills, your presence is sometimes… louder. Your breathing becomes uneven. You move too often as you toss from one side to another, but slowly, like you're trying not to disturb anything, but can't stay still either.

Toph notices it immediately. And it bothers her, more than it should. She's become too accustomed to your softness; when you're anything but, she can't shake the feeling that something is wrong.

The night is calm, there's a chilly breeze flowing outside that announces the arrival of fall. Your bedroll still rests right beside Toph's. It had been a decision made out of convenience on the night you first arrived, yet none of you insisted on a change for the nights that followed.

Toph rolls onto her side once, pushing her long hair away from her face. She turns her head slightly, as if she could see you if she tried hard enough. It's not often that she still muses about her lack of sight, but since she met you, Toph's been… wondering. Wondering what it might have been like to be able to truly see you. She tries not to let the thought consume her for more than a second.

"You're awake," she says into the quiet. She doesn't need to raise her voice more than a whisper for you to hear it.

A pause.

"…Yeah." You shuffle and shift, and Toph assumes you've pulled the covers closer to yourself.

Toph huffs softly. "You're awful at pretending otherwise."

Another pause. Then, faintly, almost embarrassed, "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Toph mutters. "Just stop tossing around like a fish out of water." Her voice doesn't hold any bite to it, still heavy with sleep.

Silence stretches again. The dead of night feels like an intimate place for a conversation, as simple as it may be.

"I'm not moving that much." You speak quietly, too. Everyone else is asleep, and you don't want them waking up, either.

Toph hesitates, her teeth nibble at the inside of her cheek. She doesn't have a map for where she's trying to go with you. But something is pushing against her ribcage, insistent and decided on what it wants; it must be her heart. Without thinking, Toph extends a hand forward. Her arm crosses the floor that separates you, until the tip of her fingers brushes against your bedroll.

"I… can still sense you," Toph says, voice lower now, like sharing a secret. But it's not a complaint so much as a soft observation. A realization of something she'd been chasing.

You. Toph's been chasing your presence more and more. The feeling is new and raw enough that she's still afraid to name it, but it lingers anyway.

"I know." There's something tight in your voice. Toph can tell you're speaking through a lump in your throat. If she weren't so bad at her own emotions, she'd probably ask what keeps you awake during most nights.

Neither of you moves for a long moment. The night stretches, and Toph can hear the wind and crickets outside. The distant sound of water flowing, changing shape between the rocks in the river.

Toph becomes acutely aware of everything around her—your breathing, the subtle warmth near her hand that's closest to you, the almost imperceptible shift of your weight on the ground. It’s overwhelming. Too much and not enough at the same time.

"…You're weird," Toph mutters out of impulse.

There’s a soft exhale from you that might be a laugh. Toph feels strangely proud of managing that.

"I've been told," You say. And when she hears your smile, she can't help but mimic it.

Toph should pull away, let the night end there. She doesn’t.

Instead, impulsively, she shifts closer, just a little, lying on the very edge of her bedroll and closing the space between you. The tip of her fingers finds yours. You'd been lying on your side this whole time, too, watching her. There's a timidness in how she hooks her pointer finger with yours. It's a small gesture, one that could be ignored come morning. But now, it's present and grounded.

Your skin is warm against hers, soft, as she knew it would be. She doesn't hate it.

Toph can sense the spike in your heartbeat; it starts pumping blood more quickly when her thumb brushes against your hand, too. She doesn't admit that her own heartbeat matches the rhythm of yours.

That's when it hit her. All clear, and unavoidable.

Toph doesn't just notice you. She's starting to need you. The quiet of you. The softness. The way you exist in adaptability, without forcing, without ever making Toph feel like she has to be anything other than exactly what she is.

The feeling, gently and without permission, settles into her bones and refuses to leave. Like water through the cracks in the stone, you found places in Toph's heart that she didn't even know were there

──•◎•──

One afternoon, after training, when the sunlight is like liquid gold on the falling tree leaves, you step away first. Just a few steps. Without hurry, not far.

But far enough that Toph feels the absence immediately. It happens again, the slowing of your breathing and your heartbeat, your steps becoming something soft. You start pulling yourself away from the world. And suddenly, you are just an echo against a void of darkness, your presence more like a dream than something real. Toph hates it now; it's no longer just annoying, it's the absence of something she's beginning to miss.

Her jaw tightens. She turns in your direction, feeling how the wind carries the loose strands of her hair in front of her eyes. "Where are you going?"

You stop, looking back over your shoulder until Toph can feel the weight of your gaze on her. "Just to the river," You tell her, somewhat sheepishly.

Toph raises a brow at you, amused. "We were there this morning."

"I know." You take half a step closer to her and hold the silence for a beat. Then, quieter, "You don't have to come."

Toph hesitates. The words land heavily. Not because they're harsh, but because they aren't. Because they leave the choice entirely to her. And she wonders what it means that she doesn't have to think twice before deciding to accompany you.

Birds are singing in the distance, people are chatting on the other side of the training grounds, and Toph can hear how they step on the fallen leaves carried by the wind. The afternoon sun is warm against her back, and she wonders bittersweetly, for a brief moment, how you must look under its light.

Toph exhales sharply, stepping forward before she can stop herself. "I wasn't asking." She closes the distance quickly, until she's right there again, solid and unyielding at your side. She smiles, one corner of her mouth quirking up, "…I'm coming."

You don't tease. Don't question it or make it bigger than it is. You just turn around again, adjusting your pace so you two walk side by side, and the silence that accompanies you is a comforting one.

You eventually reach a part of the river that Toph is not so familiar with, which flows further down the mountain from the training grounds. Judging by the colder air, Toph can tell trees and bushes must surround you; the water flows more heavily here, too, louder and all encompassing as it dances between the river rocks. The ground is what she perceives the most, however. Near the water, there is soft sand beneath her feet. It swallows vibrations and shapes, blurs edges. Makes everything feel… distant.

Toph pretends it doesn't bother her. But her stance is tighter than usual, shoulders drawn just a fraction too stiff, fists clenched. Her steps become shorter, more careful.

You notice the change in her on the same heartbeat. Toph hears your steps first, deliberate and measured. Then feels your gaze on her as your worry escapes you; it lingers on her face, and Toph visibly gulps. Why does it make her nervous?

There's a pause before you get too close, like you're second-guessing if you should or not. Then, your fingers ghost over her arm, it's a small, timid touch against Toph's wrist.

Toph stills, instinctively. Not pulling away, but not leaning in either. Her lips hover open before she asks, "…What?"

"There's sand here," You say gently, somewhat apologetic. "Harder to read."

Toph exhales through her nose, shrugging softly. "I noticed."

There's no pity in the silence that follows. No softness that doesn't feel sincere. Your hand shifts ever so tentatively, brushing lightly along Toph's wrist until you find her hand.

She holds her breath, almost involuntarily, when she feels your fingers slowly finding a place between her own. There's an intimacy hidden in the small gesture, in how your hand fits so comfortably against Toph's, and in how your thumb brushes over the small scars all over her skin. Toph wouldn't even be able to sense if a sky bison was running at her right now, not so much because of the sand, but more so because her heartbeat is like thunder in her ears.

You tug at her hand, guiding her toward a firmer patch of ground. It's an offering, hesitant because there's barely any strength in your hold.

You move like water; impossible to hold, impossible to predict. And somehow, despite everything Toph knows about standing firm and never depending on anyone, she finds herself wanting to follow wherever the current takes her.

Toph could pull away. She doesn’t.

She grips your hand a little firmer instead, something heavy settling low in her chest. She fears it feels a lot like affection, and there are words caught in the back of Toph's throat; part of her wants to tell you that your presence matters, to her.

Toph still doesn't say it. Wouldn't even know how.

But it's there in everything she does; in every step she matches, in every moment she stays just a little too close. Even if it scares her. Even if it means she's crossed into foreign territory where she can't fight her way out of.

Toph Beifong, unshakable, immovable—and somehow completely, hopelessly, anchored to someone who was never meant to stay still.

⋆* ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Next chapter

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Judging by the silence outside, it must be late into the night. The wind dances between falling leaves and loose curtains, it carries the smell of approaching rain.

Toph shifts, sitting up fully now. A soft groan escapes from her lips, and she frowns, never being one to wake up instantly in a good mood. One of her hands holds herself up, while the other runs through her loose hair, pushing a few long strands behind her ear.

"You're doing it again," Toph mutters into the dark, voice rough with sleep.

The steps stop immediately. A small pause. Toph can feel how you're staring at her now, hesitating on what to say.

"…Sorry."

Toph clicks her tongue, pushing herself to stand up. "You keep saying that like it fixes anything." The ground is cold against her bare feet. She moves slowly, her body still asking her to lie back down and sleep, even if she defies it by walking towards you.

"I didn't mean to wake you," You whisper into the night, taking the final step to shorten the distance between you and Toph. She can tell you're standing near the open window, the cold air causing both your and her hair to flow with the breeze. Toph frowns, trying to remember for a moment if she was really the one who forgot to close that window, or if maybe you're the one who just opened it.

"You didn't," Toph shrugs. She purses her lips to hide a grin. "You just made it impossible to stay asleep."

There's a faint exhale; half a sigh, half something quieter. You lower your head, shifting your eyes away from Toph. She can feel it. It creates a distance, ever so small, but she's still not fond of it. It's still noticeable.

Toph's mouth hovers open with uncertainty—she's not good at this. She takes half a step closer to you, and the night holds its breath when Toph reaches a hand toward you. Her fingers only graze the side of your arm; it's a ghost of a touch, unpracticed.

Part of her yearns to feel more of you, but she doesn't know how. She feels, though, the stumble in your heartbeat, how your breath shakes. Maybe it tells her enough.

"Is something wrong tonight?" Toph asks, her voice is soft in a way that's starting to belong only to you.

Silence lingers longer than usual. You shift, leaning closer to where her hand now rests gently against your arm. Then, softer; “No- it's nothing.”

Toph raises a brow at you. She shakes her head faintly. Her touch moves; she lets go of your arm, hand coming to hover above your chest. Toph falters for only a second before she lays her hand flat against your chest, right above your racing heart. Her palm is warm on your skin, a little calloused from training but still soft in her own way.

"Don't lie to me," She breathes.

Another pause. Toph worries about how long you're holding your breath, until you exhale in a gasp. And if she could see you now, she'd spot tears hanging on your eyelashes, as you look at her as if she hung the moon in the sky; all breathless because her long dark hair falls in waves over her shoulders and shapes her face just right, and the silver glow coming from the window outlines her features and complements her bright eyes. You knew you were a goner the moment Toph gave you an attitude about not fighting her and still didn't treat you as if you'd break. She was captivating like that.

You reach for Toph's hand resting atop your chest, your fingers close around hers tightly, and you don't let go. Still hanging onto your bravery, you take a final step forward until you're able to lean in the tiniest bit. Your hair brushes against Toph's, just shy of touching your forehead to hers.

"I… just couldn't sleep."

Leaving Toph speechless is no easy feat, but you do just that. Her tongue feels tangled in itself, when all she can sense is the warmth of you oh so close to her. And the beat of your heart, steady underneath her hand, becoming familiar like the rhythm of a dance. Boldly, part of her wants to lean closer still. "Yeah, I got that part."

But Toph shifts back slightly instead, focusing—not on the words, but on the way you're standing. The way your weight shifts, barely there, like you're trying not to leave an impression. Like you're trying not to be felt. Toph's chest tightens; she wants you here.

It takes Toph less than a beat to make a decision; "…Come on," she says, decidedly holding your hand on her own and tugging you along with her when she turns and starts walking out of the room.

Toph guides you outside. The wind is colder here; tree leaves rustle on the ground as you walk, crossing the training grounds until you find the overgrown stone path that leads to the stream that flows down the mountain. The night is serene, rain clouds gather in the distance, but for now, the moon still shines.

"Toph, I…" Your words fail you. Because Toph walked you outside, in the middle of the night, just because she knows of the comfort you find near the flowing water.

She hums, bumping her shoulder into yours with a cheeky smile on her lips as if it's no big deal. "Sit with me."

Toph tugs you down with her, settling comfortably on the grass by the river. "Closer," Toph adds, quieter. Timid in a way that is wholly unfamiliar to her.

This time, you don't hesitate. The space between you two disappears. Your shoulder is a warm and constant presence against hers, your knees are pressed together, and she still has your hand clasped on her own.

Toph lets out a slow breath she didn't realize she was holding.

There. That's better.

You sit together like that for a while. Not talking, just the quiet presence of each other, the night pressing in around you, the rest of the world distant and irrelevant.

Toph leans back slightly on her free hand, grounding herself. You sit beside her in that same careful way, not as distant as it once was. But Toph can feel it, like a shiver on her skin, the difference; how you slow your breathing, your heartbeat. And suddenly, your presence beside her threatens to feel like a memory again.

"You always do this," Toph mutters eventually, the only sounds other than her voice are the water flowing downstream in between the river rocks and the wind rustling leaves.

You hum curiously, "Do what?"

Silence hangs for a beat. There's a faint shift; you turn your head in her direction.

Toph tenses slightly, feeling the grass between her fingers, the earth beneath, and how it helps her find the comforting weight of the woman beside her. "You get all… quiet. Lighter than usual. Like you're trying to disappear or something."

Your composure wavers, with a stumble of surprise. "I'm not trying to disappear," you say, but there's something uncertain in it, hesitant. Your finger taps against Toph's hand rhythmically. You're aware of what you do; of the times you slow yourself down, until all that's left is an echo.

Toph frowns. She still faces forward, but her head tilts to the side, toward you. "Then stop acting like it." She shifts, something restless starting to build under her skin. "…It's annoying," she adds, a little sharper than she means to.

There's a hitch in your breath, and Toph holds her own too until she can feel you again. Subtle, but unmistakable. And suddenly the space between you, even this close, feels a little wrong again.

Toph's jaw tightens; she curses herself mentally. She doesn't know how to fix it. Doesn't know how to say things the way other people do. So she defaults. Back to blunt, direct. "I just mean-" she exhales sharply, frustrated. "I can't tell where you are when you do that."

You shift your posture, and both your hands are now holding onto her one, "Toph-"

"Everything else is clear, okay?" Toph pushes forward before you're able to continue, her words coming faster now, less controlled, "The ground, the people moving, even the trees and the water—I know where things are. I know." Her fingers tighten slightly around your hand. "But you… When you get like that, it's like you're barely even there."

Toph stops. Because she hears it; what she just said. Feels it, more like. The weight of it settles into the space between you like electricity.

Your voice, when it comes, is quiet, but closer than it was a moment before. "You're saying you can't feel my presence? You… can't feel me?"

Toph's throat tightens. She purses her lips because there's an insistent sting behind her eyes that she refuses to let spill down her cheeks. "That's not-" she starts again, but it is.

She exhales, slower this time. Toph shakes her head, turning away from you and allowing her loose hair to hide her face. "…I hate it," she mutters. That wasn't what she meant to say either. But it's closer.

"I hate when you seem like you're not there." It comes out more vulnerable than Toph wanted to. Her pulse is loud in her ears now, her awareness locked entirely onto you—every shift, every breath. "You know I already can't see you," she adds, much quieter. Rougher. Biting back a wince at the rawness of her own words. But now they're out there. Unavoidable.

Toph stills completely, as if she doesn’t move, she can take it back somehow. Something in her chest tightens, caught somewhere between fear and longing.

For a long moment, you don't say anything. Still digesting everything those words have brought to the surface. Every unspoken moment, every instance where the lines between you got blurred, every what-if that none of you had dared entertain too much until now.

Eventually, you finally move. Not away, but closer. Slowly enough that Toph feels every inch of it; the shift of your weight, the soft press of your presence closing the gap until your head comes to rest against Toph's shoulder. You lean into her, your warm breath fanning over her collarbone when you speak; "I'm sorry, Toph. I- I didn't know."

Toph freezes. Her breath catches until her lungs ache, sharp and quiet all at once. It's the closest you've ever been, and she can feel all of you, entirely. She doesn't know what to do with the butterflies in her stomach.

"But… I'm right here. Now I am," you promise softly. There's something apologetic behind the gentleness of your voice.

Toph swallows heavily. Her fingers twitch slightly against the ground, like she needs to anchor herself to something. "Yeah," she mutters.

Toph's thoughts are louder than anything she's ever felt through the earth. Yet she doesn't move away. Doesn't think she'd be able to if she tried. If anything, she twists her body just slightly closer to you, and her cheek timidly comes to rest against the top of your head. Her hand is tight as it still holds onto yours, fingers intertwined, and she doesn't plan on letting go anytime soon.

"Sometimes I do wish…" Toph's voice breaks the slightest bit at the end. The small smile that tugs at her lips is a melancholic one. "I do wish I could see you."

The dead of night has a way of breaking through one's defenses all too easily. Because it's the most vulnerable and honest you've ever heard Toph be.

It catches you off guard. More than anything else ever could. You pause for a moment beside her, feeling your mouth go dry. "Oh…" You don't know what to say. What could you even say, when your heart bleeds for her so?

Instead, you bring her hand to your face. First, you place a tender kiss on Toph's knuckles; a brush of lips that tastes like a confession. Then, you raise your head and hold her hand to your cheek, allowing her to feel as much of you as she wants to. She straightens when she realizes what you're doing, her brows softening as she begins seeing you with her fingertips. Toph's thumb traces the arch of your eyebrow, her fingers find the corner of your mouth, the curve of your cheek, and the tip of your nose. She's quiet as she maps the shape of you, committing details to memory.

Her bright eyes shine with unbridled affection under the moonlight when she whispers, "I always knew you were pretty."

Your face goes all warm against her touch, and you hide yourself on her shoulder again. She had a way of making your chest feel all warm and fuzzy with nothing but her words.

Minutes of silence go by, and only the hazy glow of the moon is witness to this fragile thing blossoming between you.

You are the first to break the quietness eventually: "Did Katara ever tell you why she brought me here?" Your voice is nothing but a whisper, careful not to break the bubble of peacefulness that surrounds you two now.

Toph shakes her head subtly, her cheek presses more into you. "Not really, she just told me you needed something fresh," She shrugs, "A new place, I don't know."

You smile, Toph feels the shape of it against her. "She was probably my only friend growing up. I really only had her, and my mom." You begin tracing the faint scars on Toph's hand with your fingers, brushing over patches of raised skin, committing her to memory in a way that makes Toph shiver.

After a beat, you continue, "But then Katara left with Aang, and for a long while it was fine; she wrote me hundreds of letters, telling me all about her travels. But… when my mother got sick, I…" Your words tangle on themselves. You press closer to Toph, chasing her comfort until you can feel the shape of her lips against your forehead.

You clear your throat, "Well, one day I woke up and realized I was all alone. I guess I became too vague with my letters back to Katara. She came back shortly after, and the next thing I knew, she was dragging me to a sky bison and taking me to the Earth Kingdom." A chuckle falls past your lips, and that genuine smile returns.

Toph is silent for a long moment, and only her soft breath tickles your hair. But she lets go of your hand to bring a strong arm around your waist, decisively pulling your body impossibly closer to hers. She is warm against you, steady in a way that makes you feel wholly safe. "I'm sorry about your mom," Toph whispers eventually. It's all she can say to try to ease the hurt.

Lazily, you reach a hand to the dark strands of Toph's long hair that fell past her shoulder. Your fingers mindlessly twist and twirl her silky hair. "It's become easier now," You admit quietly, "The night… Just reminds me of her sometimes, and her absence."

"I understand." Toph's thumb is gently tracing patterns on your waist. Your shirt has ridden up the slightest bit there, and you feel the heat of her touch against your skin.

You shift subtly, just enough so you can lean your head up and look at Toph under the moonlight. "Katara told me you'd keep me busy."

At your words, Toph grins. A small chuckle escapes her in a breath, and she raises an eyebrow at you.

Toph is so close now, the hazy glow of the moon reflects against her bright eyes and outlines the shape of her small grin, a teasing quirk of her lips that seems to pull you in like gravity. If you dare to lean forward just an inch, your nose might brush hers. "I… didn't quite understand her at the time," Your words fall dazed now, as if entranced. But Toph's arm around your waist is not merely holding you now, it's pulling; asking you to come closer, closer, closer. You feel heat creeping up your neck, "But, she told me if there was someone who could take my mind off things, it was probably you."

The words are nothing but a breath against Toph's lips; she feels more than hears the shape of them. And oh, how sneaky Katara had been; she had to have known Toph would inevitably become entirely infatuated with you.

Something stronger than herself beckons Toph to close the small gap that separates you. As stubborn as the rock that she bends, she may be, but for you, Toph would shift the balance of earth itself, if you asked. She leans forward until her upper lip touches yours, and a shiver runs down Toph's spine, because suddenly she realizes she'd imagined this very feeling a thousand times before.

Toph's free hand finds your cheek, her fingers carefully trace the line of your jaw when she speaks, "Then I should probably thank Katara, huh?"

You hear the beating of your own heart. Yet all you feel is Toph; the warmth of her arms around you, the perfume of her hair, her breath against your lips. In front of you, the river water flows between the rocks in an eternal dance. Forever intertwined in unlikely harmony.

All you can whisper before crashing your lips against Toph's is, "Yeah, me too."

⋆* ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Thank you for reading this story. Feedback and reblogs are literally what keeps me motivated to continue posting here, so I’d appreciate it if you could take some time to reblog and comment. <3

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toph was supposed to be away on a work trip.

it had been eight days since she left, pressing an apologetic kiss to your pouty lips as she excused herself and explained the urgency of the matter.

you knew you couldn’t hold your wife back just because of your selfish whims, so you reluctantly sent her off, but you did not go a day without pestering her with constant phone calls or letters.

she’d often snap at you for calling her at work, scolding you for how unprofessional you made her seem, but then you’d apologize so sweetly and whine about how much you missed her so needily that she’d spare you the long lecture.

it was always so short, though. she was so swamped with work she was barely giving you any attention, and as the days went by, she only got more irritated, her replies shorter and meaner.

that pissed you off! you were just being a good spouse, checking in on your hard working wife, but now the only reply you’d get as soon as the line connected was “hang up. talk to you later.” and of course, that “later” would rarely come.

if she wasn’t going to give you proper attention, you were more than petty enough to make her regret that.

she thought your well-intended calls were “unprofessional”? oh, you were going to show her what unprofessional meant alright.

your fingers swiftly dialed her office’s number, holding the phone snug against your face, readying yourself.

beep.

“hello, chief beifong’s office here.” you smiled at her assistant’s voice.

“please,” you let out a soft breathy moan, “i need toph.. immediately. mhh, put her on the line.. it’s an emergency, please. hurry.”

you heard the poor assistant’s flustered gasp, her voice lowering to a whisper, “e-excuse me? who is this? chief beifong is busy. this is not funny—”

“ah, please,” you whimpered louder, “this is her wife. please, put her through, right now. i can’t.. hold on much longer.. mmph..”

you had to bite back a laugh as you heard her scandalized tapping away on the phone pad, murmuring a quiet “i don’t get paid enough for this” under her breath before a sharp click interrupts all sound.

a short pause followed suit, then erupted the voice you’d been longing to hear all this time. “beifong here. in a meeting, so make it quick.”

bingo. that meant she likely had her coworkers nearby.

“tophhh..” you drawled out, hearing her breath hitch. you pressed the phone tight against your lips, gasping out a small whine, “mmh, toph, i need you so badly.. need your hands all over me.. i miss your—”

the line abrupty cuts. well, that was quick.

you chuckle, setting your phone down, as you lean back against your couch.

she was probably a mortified mess right now, you made sure to be loud enough for at least someone near her to pick up on your sounds.

you wondered how she’d try and fix this. would she say she had no idea who you were? that this was a completely random prank call by some unknown? or maybe she’d just deny it all, reframing the entire context into something more innocent?

she deserved it. if she found you embarrassing for simply calling her, you’d go ahead and show her true embarrassment.

you get up, your smile only widening the more you imagined her flustered face as she’d try and justify the mess you got her into, then you decide to get started on laundry.

you’re about halfway through the second batch of clothes when you suddenly hear steady, rhythmic knocking on your door. you hum, a little confused on who would be there. did a friend drop by without warning you? or maybe some old delivery just came?

you lift yourself up from the floor, dragging your feet until you reach the door, hand on the knob. “yes? who is it?”

no answer.

you scoff, “haha, very funny. if this is one of you kids again, i’m coming to kick your sorry butts next time!”

just as you turn on your heel, the knocking comes back, stronger this time. oh, those little twerps.

you groan, slamming the door wide open, “ugh! i told you i would kick your— .. ah..”

the air is knocked out of your lungs, your brain trying to make sense of the sight before you.

a very, very displeased toph was standing in front of you, one hand on the door frame, a finger tapping on it insistently. you noticed a prominent crack forming under where her finger laid.

you swallowed, your gaze travelling back to her face.

lips tightly pursed, brows sternly straight, silently glaring you down — and you knew quiet toph was always the most dangerous toph.

but what was she doing here?

she was supposed to be miles away from you! this didn’t make sense at all, your mind raced to come up with any plausible explanation for this utterly unpredicted appearance.

you were only confident about your brattiness because you thought you were safe enough with her so far from you.

her low, gravelly voice cuts through your frenzied thoughts. “i’ll count to ten.”

you stopped breathing.

you blinked, panic brutally setting in, “huh? no no no, toph please, wait, i—”

“ten.” her voice remained level as a crunchy crack of wood reached your ears, her hand clutching the door frame tighter, scrunching it like it was styrofoam, “nine.”

you didn’t even have the time to negotiate.

you trip over yourself and quickly stand back up to run up the stairs, your breathing erratic while your eyes sweep around your surroundings for a good spot to hide.

“five.” her voice resounds from the entrance, reaching you even a floor away.

the bathtub? the closet? the kitchen pantry? the problem was that you’d exhausted all those options before.

“four.”

you rush to your room, not closing the door so its shutting “click” wouldn’t reach her ears, as you crawl under the bed. it wasn’t an extraordinary spot, but it was the furthest one in the house.

you thought of it as reverse psychology too — your other spots were often always in the first floor, all witty and well-chosen — so maybe she’d suspect this one last.

the hiding place didn’t even have to be some perfect place that fully concealed you — it just had to be good enough to stall her for three minutes.

only three.

if the timer ended before she found you, all would be forgiven. the only rule was to get through those three minutes.

but if she found you..?

you shuddered at the thought.

and additionally, she was blind, so this was a huge added advantage to you.

yes, it’d take her around two minutes to go through your usual spots on the first floor, and maybe a minute to actually go up the stairs, so by the time she’d find you, time would be up.

“one.” you heard the frame give out under her death grip, loudly crashing down on the ground.

you gulped.

“i’m coming, ready or not!”

you exhaled, trying to even out your breathing as you listened to her slow steps on the floor beneath you. yes, nothing to panic about. she wouldn’t get here in under three minutes.

drawers were being pulled. cabinets opened. fabric rustled.

“where’s my sweet baby?” she cooed, voice deceptively sweet, followed suit by a terrifying door slam that had the entire house shaking. “where’s my sweet, needy baby who wants my attention so badly? hmm?”

you swallowed, curling in on yourself, your cheek pressed against the cold tiles of your room.

“where is she? the sweet, sweet girl who thought embarrassing me was a great idea? hmm? i wonder.”

you counted down two minutes in your head, a shaky sigh escaping your lips. just one more minute to go — or less, even — and she was still on the bottom floor. you still had a chance.

“ah,” a humorless chuckle rumbled through her throat, her steps coming to a halt, “sounds like somebody’s hyperventilating upstairs. in our room, actually.”

you froze.

your heart sank down to your gut.

you heard her pace pick up, quickly going up the stairs, and you almost threw up.

you crawled further under the bed, curling into the deepest corner of it against the wall, your hands over your mouth to muffle your frantic breathing, peeking at the entry way from the gap beneath your bed.

please, please, just twenty seconds left.

“now,” you have to bite back a scream when her shoes come into view, walking into the room, “where’s my bunny? you’re muffling your breathing, hm? smart girl.”

she roughly opens the closet, feeling up the clothes.

ten seconds left. please, please, time, go faster.

“aw, shucks,” she dramatically sighs, heading back towards the door, “i guess my darling’s not here. i must have heard things.”

five seconds left.

no way, you were going to win?

you squeeze your eyes shut in hope, prayers jumbling up in your poor panicked head.

three. two.

relief started slowly setting in your bones.

“there she is,” a firm hand suddenly shot out, finding your ankle. a startled scream rips through your throat as you’re dragged out from under the bed.

“aw,” she laughs, and it’s not kind. “couldn’t muffle your heartbeat though, could you?”

your head spinned from the sheer fear, her teal eyes set on you with such terrifying accuracy you wouldn’t think her blind.

you trembled, her fingers tightening around your ankle, cutting blood flow to your foot, “t-toph, please, just listen t—”

“be quiet.” her voice brooked no disobedience. she leant down, ditching your ankle to grab a huge fistful of your hair, dragging you on the ground.

you cried out in pain, hands flying up to your scalp.

“you lost,” she threw your head against the bed, and you scrambled up to get on it properly, “and you know the rules.”

₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚

you squirm, wrists pinned above your head so tightly you thought they’d crack, as she crawls on top of you, “mmph— toph—”

“shut up,” her free hand roughly grips your jaw, squeezing your cheeks to pry your mouth open. her thumb prods at your teeth, tugging your lip up further, before you watch her gather up a glob of spit in her mouth.

you open your mouth wider, complying as best as you can to hopefully soothe her nerves, but she decides to spit right on your eyes instead.

“whoops,” she huffs, clearly lying. “bad aim.”

you can’t even rub it off, unable to use your hands, the gross texture forcing you to keep your eyes shut.

a mean prod of her thumb at your cheek makes you wince.

“open them,” she whispers softly, smearing the saliva over your shut eyelids. you want to cry.

when she doesn’t feel your eyelids move, her nails dig into your wrists in warning, sending chills down your spine.

she hums, the threat obvious in her tone, “are you disobeying me?”

“n-no!” you quickly reply, shaking beneath her touch, “i’m.. not..” you try, slowly cracking them open, biting back a sob at the burning sting as the saliva seeps in.

she scoffs, impatient. you don’t feel her hand leave your jaw until your head whips to the side, a firm slap landing on your cheek.

you gasp, eyes blowing wide open in shock, and she grins, rubbing over them, “there. well open. much better.”

you stare at her, baffled and deeply upset. you knew she’d punish you, but you didn’t deserve a treatment this.. degrading. after all, this was her fault in the first place! she was the one who kept ignoring you, kept pushing you away when the only thing you wanted was reassurance.

“toph.” you use up all the strength you have to spit her name firmly, and that does catch her attention. bad or good, you couldn’t tell yet.

she silently gazes down at you, and you clear your throat, “l-listen, i know i.. shouldn’t have.. um, done what i did.. b-but this isn’t entirely my fault! i—i just needed you! you’ve been gone for over a week, and you didn’t even—”

“ah,” she cuts you off, thumb swiping over your bottom lip, a small smile tugging at her lips. “so you just wanted my attention, hm? just wanted me to touch you, sweet baby?”

she was actually listening to you?

you blink, a little surprised, then eagerly nod, “yes! yes, it’s all i wanted, tophie. i never meant to—”

“alright,” she interrupts you again, her voice uncharacteristically airy as her hands find your thighs, “i’ll touch you, then. if my touch is what made my poor, innocent wife pull that very bratty stunt, i’ll take responsibility.”

she slots herself between your legs, then fumbles with the belt of her uniform, and you note the hazy look in her eyes, “i’ll give it to you, baby. oh, i’ll give it to you so good. so good you’ll never want it again.”

what?

you don’t get to process her words before her belt finds your wrists, looping around them and pulling you up with it. you yelp at the stretch of your arms getting pulled, making you sit up. she ties the leather to the headboard, pinning you against it, then settles back down between your thighs.

she smiles, and it makes you break into a cold sweat. “are you ready?”

are you?

₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚

“a—ah! toph!!” you desperately cry out, tears streaming down your face as you grind down on her palm. she stripped you down to only your panties — the one item you wanted her to take off the most — and stubbornly cupped your soaked cunt, kneading it through the damp fabric.

it was nowhere near enough stimulation, and it was driving you insane. her thumb would teasingly join in to rub over your clit, sending a hot jolt of pleasure straight to your gut, but the touch would leave just as quickly, and you’d only cry harder.

“you wanted my touch,” she sighs, condescendingly patting your aching pussy, “there you go. i’m touching you.”

it was so, so unfair. you forgot how much you missed sex with her, the pent-up frustration from this toph-less week crashing down on you, rendering you so needy for her touch, and she refused to give you more.

your hands tingled with numbness from how much you thrashed against the tight belt. these were the worst ten minutes of your life.

“please..” you pleaded, rutting up against the base of her palm for some friction, “i-i can’t do this. please, i need you to— mmph.. p-properly touch.. mm.. me..”

“no you don’t,” she argues simply, and her hand digs into your clit, earning a startled gasp of pleasure from you, “this is all you’ll get, and you will cum from it.”

you whimper, writhing, shamelessly riding her palm, “p—please! j-just your fingers— ahh..— in me, please—”

“no.” her voice is firm and unmoving, just like her hand. this time, she stops her measly kneading too, letting you do all the work.

it was so agonizing, feeling her fingers faintly graze over your clothed folds, you wanted nothing more than to just tear off your fucking panties and sink down on them, but whenever she felt you angle yourself over her fingers, she’d move her hand, only allowing you to use her stupid, useless palm.

“toph, please..” even your crying got weaker now, your voice hoarse, begging for reprieve, “i— i can’t cum like this, and you know it..”

she tuts, “that a challenge, sweet girl?”

all your words die on your tongue when her palm deliciously digs into your swollen bud again, and you arch up despite your exhaustion, mewling as you shamelessly grind down on it like an animal.

she pulls a startled yelp out of you when her fingers fiddle with your sensitive folds through the cotton of your underwear, slightly thrusting the fabric in you with each prod.

“t—toph??” you mewl, confused and aroused. was she half-fingering you with your panties still on?? what the hell was she doing?

“you will cum like this,” she states it like the weather report, her thumb skillfully toying with your puffy clit while her fingers continue doing whatever the hell they were doing.

she crawls over you, her thumb pressing more insistently as her eyes met yours.

her lips hovered over your quivering ones, an invitation you had to resist. then she smirked, her voice a low authoritative murmur, “you will cum like this.”

you’ll later come to cringe with second-hand embarrassment whenever you remember this exact moment, because you had no idea what happened.

whether it was the feral look in her eyes, or that smug smile, or the effortless authority in her voice — you don’t know which one of them had you gushing all over her hand immediately.

you don’t even process it until she laughs, disgusted and mocking, “well, you certainly didn’t keep me waiting. look at the mess you made, you slut.”

you blink dazedly, eyes drifting down to the big, wet patch you left on the sheets, your slick dripping off her hand in embarrassing quantities. she pulls away, shaking the wetness off her fingers in a bored manner, “you even ruined your pretty, pretty panties. isn’t that a shame?”

she plays with the hem of them, then sighs, “aren’t these the ones i got you as a gift last month? what a bad girl. how could you ruin my lovely, handpicked gift for you? you’re so ungrateful.”

not only did none of her words make sense to you, they barely registered into your brain, completely out of it from that hell of an orgasm. you didn’t even understand how or when you came, you just felt that blinding hot climax crash down on you, wracking your whole body, and this was the result.

“not even answering me now?” you gasp in pain, one of your peaked nipples caught between her fingers. she tuts, giving it a hard tug, “i’m so, so disappointed in you.”

you want to reply, you really do, but never in your life had you felt this mushy, only your earlier orgasm looping over and over again in your addled brain.

she suddenly stops, her eyes widening, and you can almost see the little cartoonish lamp flickering over her head at whatever idea she just got.

“righttt..” her hands find your panties again, and she pats your hips, “lift them up.”

you take a minute to understand her words, but quickly obey at the warning pinch it gets you, then she slides the sopping wet underwear off.

she chuckles, and that brings you out of your stupor. you stare at her, puzzled, when she starts toying with the ruined fabric. you flush a deep shade of red when she coats her finger with some of your slick, giving it a taste.

“good enough,” she comments before crawling back towards you. your confusion only grows the closer she gets, then she sits up, undoing the belt around your wrists.

god, the relief was incredible.

you shake your hands, curling your numb fingers to get the blood flowing again, a pleased sigh leaving your lips.

it doesn’t last long, because the second they parted open, damp, soft fabric was harshly stuffed into your mouth, the taste tangy and oddly familiar.

toph grins, and that’s when it clicks. she just gagged you with your own used panties!

“mmh—” you try to spit them out, flustered, but she scoffs, giving you a light slap on the cheek as she shoves them back in, “they’re my gift for you, slut. first, you ruin them, and now you won’t even take them back? since when did you get so bad?”

you were blushing furiously now, baffled and completely taken off-guard. she taps your temple, smiling down at you, “taste what the base of my palm alone did to you, my little whore. not even a bitch in heat would come that fast.”

and with that, she wastes no time in waiting for your reaction before grabbing your waist and flipping you over on your stomach.

her hands hook under your hips, lifting them up, and you protest uselessly against the fabric.

you were too sensitive from how much you cummed just a minute ago, so you tug the panties off your mouth to tell her that. but the instant a proper syllable slips out of your lips, an angry smack lands right on your bare backside, earning a startled yelp from you.

“who the fuck allowed you to speak?” she spat, one of her hands slipping to lower her pants enough to free her hard, flushed dick, “put them back in. i don’t want to hear anything but moans from you, you stupid slut. you hardly deserve me fucking you, so i suggest you don’t test my patience any further.”

you shamefully stuff them back into your mouth, the taste of yourself still so strong on your tongue.

she was so mean, so cruel, so inconsiderate.. and yet you couldn’t help but clench around nothing at her demeaning words.

a garbled moan is coaxed out of your lips when the fat tip of her cock glides over your drooling slit.

“does everything get you wet?” she grunts, her cock already well lubed with only your wetness, sliding deep into you with humiliating ease.

she huffs out a small laugh, “zero resistance, too.”

you writhe, mewling around the gag, desperately pushing your ass up against her. your eyes roll to the back of your head when she picks up the pace.

she leans down to nip at your ear, her hot breath hitting your sweaty nape, “you’re so fucking easy.”

the bed creaks violently under you, the sound of skin slapping and the nasty squelching of your pussy filling the room, your moans increasing in pitch by the second — you two sounded straight out of a porno.

your vision blurred with pleasure, drooling over the gag as your saliva dribbled down your chin.

you felt so disgusting, the smell of sweat and sex along with the taste of your arousal overwhelming your senses, but pure ecstasy overtook all of that, clouding your judgment and allowing yourself to enjoy the animal pounding you were getting.

you were so blissed out you didn’t even hear her pick up your phone, using the speech feature to make the device start a call for her.

you only realized it when she nudged your warm cheek with the cold frame, jolting you into attention.

you lifted your hand to take it, confused as to why she would want you to check your phone right now of all moments, but when you take a look at the screen and see the “boss” text on it, along with the call being ten seconds in already, your heart flipped over itself in panic.

you shakily bring the phone to your ear, removing the panties from your mouth, “y-yes? boss?”

her furious thrusts didn’t stop, and your boss’ awkward reply only made you want to shoot yourself immediately.

“i.. see this isn’t a good time? so what’s with this unprofessional behavior, miss?”

please, a gun to your head right now.

“b-boss,” you briefly cover the mic to let out a high pitched moan when her cock finds your g-spot, then bring it back to your lips again, “i-i’m very sorry, please forgive me, i.. i don’t know how the call went through. i suppose i didn’t pay attention. ah, d-don’t mind the sounds, please. i-i’m just.. renovating my room?”

out of all excuses, seriously?

“that’s.. great,” the reply is very unconvinced, but he really didn’t want to engage in this conversation any longer. he sighs, rubbing the crease between his brows, “may i ask you to come to my office early tomorrow morning? to discuss this.. unprompted call further? you can go back to.. renovating your room now.”

yes, this sealed it. tonight, you were going to off yourself.

“y-yes boss.. i’ll— mmph.. talk to you tomorrow..”

you hang up immediately, tossing the phone away as you bury your face in the sheets. this was the one boss who actually liked you and consistently promoted you, admiring your seriousness and dedication— and now, there you were. having to explain to him why your ass was getting busted while you renovated your room.

“that was so funny, right?” she chuckles, pulling out to brutally slam back into you, making you cry out. “just wanted you to know what it felt like. wasn’t that just hilaaaarious, baby?”

“i-i get it..” you grumble against the sheets, flushed with humiliation, mulling over what the fuck you were going to say tomorrow.

“you can worry about that later,” she angles your hips up better, striking your spongy spot with toe-curling precision, “for now, focus on cumming all over my cock.”

seriously? did she just expect you to forget about—

“augh!” you scream, eyes blowing wide open, her hand slipping between your legs to rub fast circles on your swollen clit, causing your walls to clench around her twitching cock.

she moans at the sensation, somehow fucking into you even harder, “fuck! fuck, you’re so good— so fucking gooood.”

and with that, thick, hot bursts of cum paint your insides white, making you in turn sob as you come all over her, your sensitive walls milking her dry.

“shit,” she presses a harsh kiss to your neck before sitting up straight, her hand feeling the wet mess of your cunt, dripping with your slick and her own cum. she scoops some up with her fingers, taking them to your trembling mouth, and your lips weakly close on them, too exhausted to even suck properly.

“mhh,” she pulls them away after you’ve licked them clean, slowly pulling out. she caresses your ass, her touch gentle for the first time since this whole ordeal started, “good girl.”

she lets go of your hips, and you plop down like a rag against the sheets, completely knocked out.

she smiles and lays down next to you, propped up on her side, running her fingers through your sweaty hair, “good job, baby. you were so good for me. don’t sleep now, though, you still need a shower. you made a big mess, remember?”

you mumble sleepily, eyes fluttering shut as the intensity of your two orgasms catches up to you.

she chuckles, pressing a sweet kiss to your squished cheek, like she didn’t just fuck the living daylights out of you. “i suppose i’ll carry you then. since you made me come home early anyway, time for a nice, warm bath with toph.”

that is the last thing you hear before sleep overtakes you, snoring against her arms as she pulls you closer.

she sighs, burying your head against her chest, “you’re so stinky.”

₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚

* i’m TERRIBLY attracted to mean toph and i will never stop writing her i fear.. anddd yes consent is implied thank you

Darkness.  Muffled voices.  Your head hurts.  You feel woozy.

You blearily open your eyes, and your stomach drops at the scene.   You have no idea where you could be, and you don’t see any of your friends.  You look around at the rocky walls, unable to tell if you’re in a cave, or a building.  The walls hint at a cave, but there are metal support beams throughout.

You shake your head, trying to focus.  This must be another mine.  You know there are a lot in this area, and it would make sense as a hideout.  Looking around, you see a large cage.  You squeeze your eyes shut and shake your head again, not quite believing what you’re seeing: a small, red dragon.

The poor thing looks half-starved and weak.  A leather strap is wrapped tightly around its eyes, where you can tell it has been chafing, judging by what looks like dried blood on the edges. Raw skin peeks out from underneath.

Long shadows flicker on the walls to your left.  Someone has built a fire, and you count at least seven shadows.  Pretty outnumbered . . .

You realize your wrists are tied behind your back, and your ankles lashed together.  A moment of struggling proves to be quite futile against your ties.  Mind racing, you try to think of your next move.

“Ah, awake, huh?” a voice comes from behind you.

You whip your head around, and catch a glimpse of the grizzled, bearded man sitting on an overturned mine cart.  He has clearly been watching for when you awaken.  You don’t say anything, but you continue trying to surreptitiously loosen your bonds. 

“You’ll be a little groggy,” he says, holding up a container that rattled dully as he shook it.  “Shirshu-laced projectiles.  Knocks almost anyone out.  Nice, huh?”

You scowl at him, not answering.  You want him to leave because you think you could get your hands out in front of you. 

“I’m sure your group will be looking for us,” he continues.  “Predictable, really.  But while we wait, I thought maybe you could help us with some info.”

His words are met with silence.

The man chuckles.  “You’ll tell us eventually.  Everyone does.  We just want to know how best to take on the Avatar.  You travel with him . . . you must know some of his weaknesses.  The non-bender should be easy enough.  But maybe you can also share how to dry up the water-bender?  Or crush the earthbender?”

You glower at him, still saying nothing.

The man unsheathes a jagged knife.  Apprehensively, you look at it, but remain quiet.  He walks to you, and pushes it up against your left ear.  You wince as you feel the blade dig into your tragus.  You think you feel a trickle of blood run down your jaw.  The man is breathing heavily.  “Most people talk after they lose an ear . . . “

“Rolf!” another man calls, closer to where the fire seemed to be.  “They saw movement.  I think they’re already coming.”

The grizzled man clicks his tongue.  Disappointed.  He keeps his knife out, but removes it from your ear.  “Don’t even try to get out of here.  Any sudden movements with your bending will send this ceiling crashing down on you.  We’ll make sure of it.” 

He moves to follow the other man towards what you assume is the mouth of the tunnel.  He stops for a second, grinning at you.  “And let’s hope your friends don’t try anything crazy . . . or they’ll bury you themselves.”

The minute he’s gone, you roll onto your back, struggling into a seated position.  With some difficulty, you manage to get your hands to your front.  You still can’t untie the binds on your wrists (chafing now, with all your movements), but you’re able to loosen and then slip the ropes on your ankles.

You can hear distant shouts.  Were they really here?  Could you risk trying to walk out?  The words of the grizzled man – Rolf – echo in your head.  Would they send the ceiling down on you if they caught you trying to escape?  You could probably earthbend it away from you, but you’ve never really tried with so many pounds of rock . . .

Almost as if on cue, you hear a loud bang, and some rock tumbles from the ceiling, pelting the floor.  Heart racing, you look around for an escape route.  Suddenly, you hear a sad moan.  The dragon.  It’s clawing at the ground of its cage, nervously, hearing the commotion outside.  You can’t leave it.

You walk towards it, trying to see if there is a way to open the cage.  In the back of your mind, you also know there’s no way to predict how the dragon will act once freed.  Another loud noise, and more bits of the ceiling crumble to the ground.  You’re running out of time. 

You look around at the metal support beams, some scattered on the ground, old carts placed here and there . . .  You could form a shield over the both of you.  With your hands tied, it would be difficult, but your legs were free . . . You’ve seen Toph use her feet to control earth and metal before.  But was that too advanced?  You hadn’t quite reached that territory yet.

You can hear the shouts getting louder, but that also means the ceiling is becoming more and more unstable with the results of the battle outside.  If it was true that the poachers would send the tunnel into collapse, you were definitely short on time.

Desperately, you sit back down next to the cage, spreading out your feet and holding out your hands.  “Come on . . .,” you grumble, willing the metal beams on the floor to move.  At first, nothing.  “Come on!” you growl.  They begin to shift.  You focus on your breathing and your movements.

Without warning, you can hear Rolf shout, “They’re too close!  Bring it down!”

A deafening sound in your ears, as the tunnel begins to tremble.  Concentrating hard, gritting your teeth, you continue to will the metal to move towards you.  The ceiling begins to fall in larger chunks.  You give an anguished shout of exertion as the ceiling starts to fully collapse.

You are plunged into darkness.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your ears are ringing.  You can’t see.  Someone is shouting and shaking your shoulders.  For the second time that day, you blearily open your eyes. 

The first thing you see is Toph’s face, scrunched up in distress.  Behind her, you can see the outlines of the rest of your friends.  You give a weak smile.  “Hey, Tophee Nut . . .,” you mumble.

Toph lets out a sound between a strangled cry and a laugh.  She hugs you tight, one hand cradling the back of your head.  She whispers in your ear, “You disappeared.”

“I’m okay,” you say, unable to hug her back with your hands still tied.

“Don’t do that!”

You laugh weakly.  “Sorry, forgot to run it by you.”

“I couldn’t feel you!”  The fear in her voice shocks you.  She’s breathing hard, hands gripping your shoulders, as if she needs reassurance that you’re real.  “Are you hurt?”

“Nothing too serious,” you say, quickly tallying any aches and pains.

“Where?” she asks urgently.

“It’s really not – “

“Where?”

You hesitate, not wanting to concern her any more than needed.  “Just some scrapes from the ropes and, um, I think a nick on my left ear.”

Toph’s fingers brush carefully against your ear, feeling the drying blood.  You flinch slightly at the sting of it.  Her brow furrows, angry.

“Is the dragon okay?” you ask, suddenly remembering the pitiful creature you had been trying to save with you.

“What?” Toph seems to snap out of a thought as she's undoing the bonds on your wrists, gently rubbing the skin there to check the damage.

“There was a dragon – “ you start, pointing towards where you’d last seen the cage.

You hear the others gasp.  “Wow!” exclaimed Aang.

The dragon was okay.  You then notice what you’re sitting in.  Miraculously, you had managed, at the last second, to form a rough cocoon of metal around you both.  By the looks of it, Toph had bended an opening to get to you.  You sigh, relieved.  Exhausted.

“You . . . did you cover yourselves?” asked Toph, voice soft.  Amazed.  “Instead of running out?”

“I couldn’t leave it,” you say.

There’s a short pause before Toph smiles, “You idiot.”

Before you can respond, she kisses you.  Hard.  Immediate.  Relieved.  You make a startled sound against her mouth, but she’s already pulling you up, one hand sliding to your waist like she needs the solid conformation that you’re standing here.  That you’re alive.  Safe.  With her.

The kiss deepens almost instantly.  Not because she’s trying to make it romantic, but because she’s overwhelmed.  The fear turned into such great relief, she doesn’t know what else to do with it.

You kiss her back, wrapping your arms around her shoulders, grounding her the same way she grounds herself through the earth.  Slowly, you can feel the tension leave her.

“Wait, did I miss something?” you hear Sokka say, confused. 

You can hear Katara chuckle at him, sounding ecstatic.  When you both pull away, you look over at the rest to see Aang and Katara beaming, Sokka looking shocked, mouth open.  You blush, slightly embarrassed, but not enough to let Toph go yet.

“You’re incredible.  But don’t scare me like that again,” she mutters, kissing your cheek.

Your chest aches at how vulnerable that sounds.  You can see her wrestling to get her feelings back under control.  For once, you don’t let her.  You touch her face gently.  “I’m okay,” you say reassuringly. 

Her hands tighten at your waist again, like she’s reminding herself.

“Yeah . . .,” she says quietly.  “I know.”

“Thank you.  For finding me so quickly,” you say to everyone.  “That guy was just itching to cut my ear off.  He wanted information on you guys.”

“Which man did you say it was again?” asks Katara, eyes narrowing in rage. 

“Older guy.  Greying hair and beard.  He had a jagged knife.”

Toph lets out a mirthless laugh, entwining one hand with yours before turning towards the group as well.  “I sent some guy flying into the side of the mountain after he shouted about bringing this place down . . . hope that was him.”

Everyone else cringes. Katara makes a small "Ugh" sound.

“What?  He’ll live,” says Toph flatly, as if that were the most unfortunate part of it.

“Oh, man.  Zuko would have loved to see this,” Aang proclaims, walking around the dragon.  “Well . . . maybe not in this state, but just seeing the majesty of this little guy.”

Sokka smirks, “He’ll regret having to tend to his ‘duties’ when we get immortal dragon luck.”

“That’s not a thing,” Katara retorts, rolling her eyes.

Everyone laughs.  Relief is thick in the air. 

You had a feeling when you woke up that morning and dressed for your date with Toph, that your life was about to change. At the time, though, you couldn’t have guessed in what way.

By evening, the world seemed to hold its breath around you two. A cool breeze wandered through the sweeping branches of the great willow trees, stirring their silver-green leaves into a hush of whispers overhead. The air around you was heavy with the rich perfume of blooming jasmine, its sweetness drifting through the secluded clearing like something soft and sacred.

You and Toph were nestled close atop a soft woolen blanket spread thick across the grass, an open wicker picnic basket resting between you like a small offering. Inside lay the remains of the quiet feast you had prepared with careful hands.

Spicy fire-flakes sat scattered at the bottom beside a platter of half eaten miniature sandwiches you brought from one of your favorite spots. To satisfy Toph's sweet tooth you packed some ripe moon-peaches which were rare and difficult to find, their fragrant skin still warm from being plucked fresh.

Tucked carefully beside them was a steaming thermos of tea, brewed for nearly an hour until it was crafted exactly the way Toph liked it. Every once in a while she would offer you her cup so you could heat the liquid with your bending because if it wasn't scalding hot she wouldn't drink it.

The two of you had been wrapped in the rare luxury of complete isolation, hidden away in a forgotten corner of the park. It was a tranquil refuge Toph had stumbled upon during one of her patrols, a place so far removed from the rest of the world that she insisted no wandering crowds would ever find you here.

Yet, as the sun slowly dips below the horizon and the quiet afternoon softened into dusk, you picked up on subtle change in the air.

Over the slow sips of her tea, you notice that Toph has grown uncharacteristically still. The easy, playful banter from earlier had faded into a gentle stillness that seemed to settle over her shoulders, grounding her in a deep, contemplative silence.

Toph frequently drifted into these silent spaces beside you, retreating into the depths of her mind as though navigating a world entirely of her own. It was never a sign of distance, she made it undeniably clear that every moment spent enveloped in your presence was something she deeply cherished.

But you could tell with the approach of your one year anniversary that a force was pulling at her. An unvoiced turbulence of thoughts and hidden vulnerabilities she wasn't quite ready to lay bare before you just yet.

“Toph?” You turned to look at her, your hand reaching out to cradle her jaw as you pressed your thumb into her cheek, soothing the tension forming there.

Toph leaned into your touch, her eyes closing as she let out a shaky breath. The usual rigidity in her posture began to ease beneath your hand, leaving her looking softer and more vulnerable than she ever allowed herself to be around the rest of the world.

“I can tell something is bothering you.” You say as your fingertip swept gently beneath her eye, brushing away a fallen lash that had caught there. “You're never this quiet.”

She hums thoughtfully, the sound rumbling in her throat. Without a word, she moves the picnic basket out of the way, closing what little distance remained between you. Toph then eases down onto your lap. Her muscular arms wrapping tightly around your waist as she buries her face against your stomach.

The sudden need for physical closeness catches you completely off guard, sending a spike of concern through your chest.

Something was really troubling her, and you had no way of reaching whatever storm had drawn her so deeply inward.

“Just thinking,” Her voice emerges after a long moment, softened where it was muffled against the fabric of your shirt.

“About what?” You wondered aloud, encouraging her to keep going as you thread your fingers through her hair, gently massaging her scalp to ease her mind.

She attempted a shrug, but the movement was awkward against your lap. So she simply pressed her face deeper into your stomach, as if trying to burrow away from the sudden intensity of her own vulnerability.

“You, us, everything,” Toph mumbles, the words bleeding into the fabric of your shirt.

Your fingers faltered in her hair, freezing entirely as a sharp spike of anxiety hit your chest. “Oh.”

“It’s nothing bad,” She added quickly. Sensing the sudden, erratic leap of your pulse beneath her cheek, she knew you were already starting to spiral.

Toph pulled away just enough to turn, rolling over onto her back so her head remained comfortably rested in your lap. She stared blankly up at the vast, darkening sky, her fingers loosely curling around the hem of your shirt to keep you close.

“I just love you a lot,” Toph proclaims, her voice dropping into a low, almost inaudible whisper. “And sometimes I just wish-”

She grits her teeth, stopping herself mid-sentence. You can already feel her slipping away, the familiar metal walls slamming back up as she tries to bury whatever she was about to reveal.

Refusing to let her retreat, you tighten your fingers gently but firmly in her hair. Your other hand moves swiftly to curl around her jaw, tilting her head so she has no choice but to face you, her clouded eyes staring into yours earnestly.

You don't need to say a word. Every measured, unwavering thump of your heart revealed everything she needed to know. Through that shared pulse, and the gentleness of your touch. You promised her that she was entirely safe here. No matter what confession she voices in this secluded clearing, it would never change how you feel about her. In fact, her honesty would only make you love her more.

“I wish I could see you,” She finally settles on, the admission tearing out of her as tears begin to gather in her eyes. “Your smile, your eyes, even that tiny dimple in your cheek that pops out every time I kiss you, the one you always claim you don't have.”

“Because I don't!” You manage a soft laugh, though your heart aches for her, Your thumb soothingly traces a reassuring pattern across her cheek in hopes of calming the racing of her heart.

“You do, baby, I can feel it every single time,” Toph insists, her voice cracking slightly under the gravity of the moment.

“Whatever you say, Chief.” You relent affectionately, yielding the point this one time.

“Anyways,” Toph’s voice trailed off, the sudden swell of emotion catching painfully in her throat. She lifted her hand slowly, her fingers trembling faintly as they traced along the line of your jaw with a reverence that made your chest ache.

“What I’m trying to say is,” Her thumb drew circles across your cheek. “There are parts of you the rest of the world just gets to have.”

“They get to see you walking down the street, hear your laugh, watch the sun land on your face.” Her voice roughened with quiet longing. “And they don’t even realize how lucky they are to witness that.”

Toph swallowed hard before leaning closer, her forehead nearly resting against yours.

“It makes me jealous sometimes,” She stated. “Because you’re mine.” Her fingers curled gently against your skin. “And there are days I wish I could keep every single part of you all to myself.”

You remained motionless at first, completely caught off guard by the raw honesty in her voice. The confession settled heavily in your chest, so intimate and raw that for a moment all you could do was stare at her in stunned silence.

Then, slowly, you lifted your hand from her jaw and let your fingers glide gently along her skin until they found her unsteady hand resting against your cheek. You carefully intertwined your fingers with hers, giving them a soft, reassuring squeeze before guiding her palm fully against the side of your face.

You leaned into her touch without hesitation as you closed your eyes for a brief moment, silently encouraging her to feel every piece of you she longed for.

“Then let me show you,” You intoned, the words wrapped in certainty as you pressed her palm more firmly against your cheek. “Don’t look at me with the world’s eyes, Toph.”

Your expression softened beneath her touch. “Look at me the way you always have. With your hands and your heart.”

You slowly guide her index finger up to the smooth skin at the outer corner of your eyelid.

“If you could see my eyes,” You whispered tenderly, allowing her to feel the delicate flutter of your lashes against her fingertips, “You’d see a deep, radiant gold.”

A soft breath left you as you leaned further into her touch.

“Not the kind of metal you bend beneath your hands every day. Nothing cold or rigid.” Your voice softened into something almost dreamlike. “More like the liquid light of a setting sun spilling across the horizon.”

You kept her hand there, letting her map every delicate detail through touch alone.

“Think of them as a serene kind of comfort that always settles whenever they find you.” Your thumb swept lovingly across her knuckles. “And mirrored at their very center would be a sanctuary of amber fire, a steady, devoted flame that was kindled in the dark just to guide you home, burning only ever for you.”

You guided her hand downward, letting her fingertips wander along the elegant slope of your cheekbone before tracing the clean line of your jaw. You could feel the careful way she memorized every contour beneath her touch, as though she were sculpting your face inside her mind.

“My features carry that distinct grace the Fire Nation is known for,” You explain, guiding her palm to rest fully against your skin. “There’s refinement in the shape of them, sharp, deliberate lines softened by warmth.”

“My face is smooth beneath your hands, but there’s still strength in it. The kind your fingers would recognize immediately.” A faint smile touched your lips. “The striking edges of my nation shaped into something softer by the fire living inside me.”

You leaned further into her touch, your voice lowering into something achingly sincere. “But I want you to understand that it only burns this calmly because it reflects you.”

“Because when I look at you, baby. I don't just see the fierce warrior everyone else admires. I see a beautiful, intricate landscape, someone whose hidden softness is a treasure that I am lucky enough to hold.”

Toph’s breath hitches sharply at your words, the sudden depth of your confession striking a chord deep within her. Her fingers faltered faintly against your jaw as emotion tightened painfully in her throat, forcing her to swallow hard around it.

You could feel the realization settling over her in quiet waves- that you truly saw beyond the loud, unbreakable image she showed the rest of the world. Beyond the stubborn bravado, the sharpened edges, and strength she wielded like armor.

A silent tear slipped from her sightless eyes, tracing a slow path down her flushed skin as she melted fully into your embrace.

Your own chest tightened painfully beneath the sheer weight of the moment, emotion swelling so intensely inside you it nearly stole the breath from your lungs. And still, you refused to stop, she needed to hear this.

You needed her to understand that while the rest of the world only ever saw fleeting pieces of you- passing glimpses, surface-level beauty, and fragments they would never fully comprehend. Toph was the only person who had ever reached beyond all of that. She was the only one who truly held the keys to your soul.

Carefully, you move her finger along the edge of your eyelid, where the smooth texture of your skin changes slightly.

“And right here, I wore something special for you tonight,” You shared sweetly, guiding her fingertip along the elegant sweep lining your eye. “A delicate stroke of Fire Nation ink tracing the curve of it, meant to make the gold of my eyes stand out more boldly.”

“And above it, there’s a dusting of shimmer across my eyelids,” You added, your voice lowering beneath the hush of the clearing. “So fine it feels almost weightless beneath your fingertips, like the softest silk.”

The willow branches swayed gently overhead while you leaned further into her palm, savoring the careful way she explored every detail.

“To everyone else, it only catches the light for a fleeting second before it disappears.” Your voice wavered under the weight of your affection. “But tonight, it was meant for you. A private canvas made entirely for your touch.”

Toph’s tears fell completely unchecked now, tracing a hot, relentless path down her cheeks as she clung to every word leaving your lips. Even though there was a quiet ache blooming inside your own chest, you kept going.

Slowly, you gathered a thick section of your long hair into your free hand before carefully guiding her unsteady fingers through the silken strands. The dark locks slipped smoothly between her fingertips, cool and weightless against her skin as you let her explore them at her own pace.

“You always tell me it feels like water running through your hands,” You said with a small smile. “Long, soft, almost impossible to hold onto for too long.”

You guided another thick curl through her fingers, watching the strands spill between them like flowing silk.

“And when the sunlight touches it,” You impart quietly, “It catches along the waves in streaks of warm amber and burnished gold, as though pieces of the evening sun became tangled inside it.”

Your gaze softened as you wove her fingers through the curls once more. “Tonight, it falls in deep waves all the way down my back. They twist and wind around each other like a midnight breeze caught in motion.”

A gentle hum settled in your voice as you spoke. “It’s beautifully wild, but it always settles back against my shoulders in the end, waiting for your hands to card through it again.”

You guided her hand lower, letting her fingertips trace the elegant curve of your collarbone before drawing them slowly downward. Her touch ghosted over the softness of your chest, then along the warm plane of your stomach, until finally you settled her palm against the sweeping curve of your waist and hip.

“My body is softer than yours,” You tell her openly, your voice carrying no shame now, only devotion. “Not weak, just different. Warm in places where yours is carved from stone and muscle.”

You pressed her palm more firmly against your hip, letting her feel the seamless transition of your shape beneath her hand.

“My body is an expanse of soft, generous curves because you know how much I love to eat,” You explained with a quiet, playful warmth. “It flows effortlessly from one curve into the next, holding a full, rounded weight that belongs entirely to you.”

Your thumb traces slowly across her knuckles as you guided her touch along the slope of your hips.

“Imagine it like this, baby,” Your voice lowered into something rich and intimate beneath the willow trees. “The curve of my hips is shaped like the gentle incline of a quiet valley at dusk. Soft beneath your hands, but resting firm and certain beside you.”

You held her there for another lingering moment before speaking again.

“Every line of me was shaped by fire,” You revealed quietly, “But not the kind meant to destroy.” Your expression warmed as you were overcome by emotion. “Something steadier than that. A flame that offers warmth instead of ruin. One that only burns brighter whenever you’re near it.”

Toph’s breath shudders completely at the touch, her palm flattening against your skin as if trying to memorize every line of the map you are giving her. Her fingers flexed against the softness of your hip with sudden intensity, grounding herself in the overwhelming realization that you, this breathtaking, living person wrapped in warmth and firelight, belonged entirely to her in this hidden corner of the world.

Her chest rose rapidly as another wave of tears slipped free. The emotional weight of it all had stripped her completely bare. Even now, her hands shook faintly against your body while she fought to steady herself, biting down against her lower lip as though it were the only thing anchoring her to the moment.

And still, she leaned closer.

Now completely defenseless in your embrace and undone by the safety of your body pressed against hers and the impossible depth of love woven through every word you spoke.

You gave her a moment to breathe through it, your thumb brushing slowly across her knuckles while the jasmine of the willow branches wafted in the air. Then, with endless care, you guided her hand lower until her fingers settled around your wrist, where you pressed her thumb gently against a small patch of raised skin there.

“Right here on my wrist is a birthmark,” You stated, guiding her thumb along the delicate edge of the raised skin. “It’s small and uneven in shape, almost like a tiny island drifting alone on a map.”

A faint, nostalgic smile touched your lips. “My mother used to tell me it looked like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered whenever I asked about it as a child.”

You let her continue tracing it as you stared off into the distance, briefly losing yourself for a moment.

“It’s been there since the day I was born.” Your voice lowered slightly. “I usually hide it beneath makeup because I always thought it was ugly.”

The confession settled heavily in the air between you before you curled your fingers around hers.

“But I’m showing it to you now because I want you to know every part of me, baby.” There was this far off tone in your voice. “Even the pieces I still struggle to look at myself and the parts of me I’ve hidden away out of shame.”

Toph freezes at your words, her thumb lingering against the small patch of raised skin as though she could somehow feel every insecurity you had ever poured into it. A quiet breath caught painfully in her throat, the fragile confession settling deep within her chest.

Slowly, she lifted your wrist toward her lips.

Her movements were impossibly careful now, stripped of all her usual roughness, as though she were handling something sacred in her hands. The warmth of her breath fanned across your skin for a brief moment before she pressed the softest kiss directly against the birthmark.

You knew she wasnt doing this out of pity or kindness born from sympathy. Toph loved the way mountains endured storms, without hesitation or fear of the damage it might leave behind. She took this hidden piece of you, buried beneath years of shame and held it with the same reverence one might cradle a dying flame through winter. Beneath her touch, those wounded parts no longer felt ugly or burdensome.

It was as though she had pressed her hands into the deepest soil of your heart and found something living there still.

Toph hovered there for several long seconds, her lips resting against the hidden piece of you the world had never been allowed to touch. The moment felt ancient somehow, sacred in a way words could barely contain. Like the earth itself had shifted softly beneath you, recognizing the quiet miracle of being loved so wholly in the places you had once condemned.

When she finally pulled back, her forehead fell gently against your wrist, her shoulders shaking faintly beneath the gravity of what you were sharing.

“Don’t ever call this ugly again,” She said, her voice hardening with a protective edge. “You hear me? This is part of you. Which means it’s beautiful too.”

“And until you can see that for yourself,” Toph says, her voice faltering with fierce tenderness. “I'll love this part of you enough for the both of us.”

Your eyes slipped closed, an unsteady breath escaping your lips as the unfiltered truth of her words hit you with a force you weren't prepared for. Something that felt alot like sorrow climbed painfully into your throat, you felt the sting of tears threatening to spill over despite your efforts to keep them contained. But you forced it down, tonight was supposed to be entirely about her, about easing the burdens that she carries.

It was just, Toph has always possessed an uncanny ability to reverse the roles between you. No matter the circumstance, she somehow made sure that you felt seen, understood, and protected within the shelter of her love.

Even now, when all you wanted was to pour every ounce of your devotion into her, Toph had unconsciously turned the focus back toward you, prioritizing your heart with the same unyielding care she gave to everything she loved. You've never had a partner quite like her and the fact that she could reach the darkened places others couldn't made you feel deeply cherished, and incredibly whole.

Sucking in a labored breath to quell the fluttering in your chest, you finally lift her hand back up, letting her index finger follow the outline of your lips. You parted them just a fraction beneath her touch, letting her map their shape while you leaned into the heat of her palm.

“They’re soft,” Your lips grazed her fingers as you spoke. “Always a little warmer after kissing you. Tonight, I wore a glassy gloss over them that tastes like the sweet watermelon you always buy me from my favorite stand.”

You gently press her fingertip more firmly against your lower lip, letting her feel the slick texture there. “It almost feels liquid beneath your touch, doesn’t it? Like water reflecting moonlight.”

You smiled faintly at her as you gazed into her clouded eyes. “And I’m sure you can feel the way my lips are curved into a breathless smile. It's an expression meant only for you to feel in this space with me, baby.”

Toph's fingertip rested against the glossy curve of your mouth as though she were trying to memorize the feeling of your smile beneath her skin. The delicate hitch in your breathing did not escape her either. Through the constant pulse vibrating beneath your lips and fingertips, she could feel exactly how deeply her touch affected you too.

Her finger remained on your lower lip, languidly tracing the shape of your happiness as another tear slipped down her cheeks.

“I can feel it,” She voices, sniffling. “I can feel all of it. You’re gorgeous, baby. I love you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me. I would give anything to see your smile right now even if it was just for a moment.”

You gazed at her, your chest aching with an immense, all-encompassing warmth that makes your own eyes blur. Leaning forward, you brushed a kiss against her forehead before resting your brow against hers, allowing Toph to feel the soft rise and fall of your breath mingling with her own.

“You do see me, Toph,” You assure her, your voice unwavering and resolute. “In the only way that will ever matter to me.”

Toph's breath catches, her fingers tightening around your shirt as she pulls herself closer into your lap.

For several heartbeats, she remains entirely still, absorbing the distinct, soothing thump of your heart against her cheek. You watch as a small, watery chuckle breaks through her tears, and she burrows her face right back into your chest, clinging to you as if you were her sole sanctuary in the dark.

“Yeah,” She mutters, her voice thick but returning to that fiercely affectionate tone you love so much. “I guess I do.”

You leaned forward, closing the final distance between you before pressing your lips gently to hers. It was a kiss that held nothing back, a passionate exchange brimming with a love so deep it felt capable of rewriting the very essence of your soul. You poured every ounce of your adoration for Toph into the kiss, hoping that with each slow sweep of your tongue against hers, she could feel the unwavering constancy you knew you would carry for her always.

As the kiss deepened, Toph’s hands rose to the back of your neck, holding you there with quiet desperation. With her head still resting in your lap, the angle allowed you to kiss her more deeply, until the rest of the world seemed to disappear into the space between your breaths.

Her fingers threaded through your hair as she pulled you closer, pouring every fiercely protected fragment of her heart into your mouth. In your embrace, the hard edges she carried so carefully began to melt away, leaving behind the gaurded softness she trusted no one else to hold besides you.

As your lips continued to move with hers, the unwavering certainty of everything Toph had just shared settled deeply in your chest, soothing something profound and broken within you. A choked sob slipped from your throat, muffled softly by her lips as she kissed you more intensely, drinking in every ounce of your emotion without pause.

Toph knew.

She understood exactly what had unraveled inside you, and through the aching press of her lips and the grounded way she held you, she affirmed that she felt it too, that neither of you were alone in this, and somehow, in each others arms, you were going to be okay.

As the kiss gradually softened into something slower and more unhurried, your mouth finally curved into a wide smile. You were so hopelessly in love with this woman that it felt almost unreal. Your heart was unbearably full beneath the protective presence of her touch.

With her lips molded seamlessly to yours, you felt Toph’s mouth mirror your own, her smile soft and luminous in a way that made your heart thrum. She pulled away only a hair, barely sufficient to catch her air, her fingers still quivering faintly as they mapped along the curve of your face.

“See? Right there,” Toph mused, her thumb pressing affectionately into the small indentation beside your mouth. “You’re smiling right now, and your dimple’s there. I can feel it.”

You let out a boisterous laugh, tossing your head at her playful insistence. You tilt forward to press another kiss directly upon her cheek before resting your forehead once more to hers, a genuine solace settling over you.

“Fine, if you’re so sure it’s there, then it’s there.” You leaned into her touch, your teasing tone dropping to a quiet, fierce promise. “As long as you know that every single piece of me belongs to you, Toph.” Your hand rose to cover hers against your cheek. “Dimple and all.”

Toph let out a content sigh at your words. Still faintly glowing from the emotional day she'd had, she eased backward, sliding down until her back rested against the woolen blanket, pulling you down with her in the process.

You lay side by side in the quiet clearing, the echo of your heartfelt promise hanging in the air between you. Your shoulder pressed solidly against hers, your fingers laced securely together while your lips still tingled from the kiss you had just shared.

Toph rolls onto her side, pressing her cheek against your shoulder as she absorbs the cadenced pattern of your breathing.

“You know,” Toph spoke into the darkness, her voice lowering into something quiet and fiercely honest, heavy with years of unspoken longing. “I spent most of my life believing I was destined to be alone.”

A tightness seized her throat, forcing a brief pause before she could find her voice.

“I stood on the sidelines as every single one of my friends fell in love, got married, and built homes and families with the people they loved.” Her voice roughened faintly, cracking under the strain of a lifetime of quiet isolation. “After a while, I just assumed that kind of life belonged to everyone else, while I was meant to stay in the dark.”

Toph squeezes your hand with a sudden, desperate strength, her fingers wrapping around yours tight enough to bruise. She looked so vulnerable as she tried her best to anchor herself to the reality of your presence before the dread and that familiar solitude consumed her whole again.

“I wasn’t even sure what true love was supposed to feel like,” Toph admitted, the words wavering beneath the raw strain of finally exposing something she had buried for years. “Growing up locked away in that estate, hidden like some shameful secret, love always felt like a cage- suffocating, controlling, and completely isolating.”

Toph paused before continuing, and you drew her even closer, molding her frame against yours until she was completely enveloped by your protective embrace.

“It twisted the way I understood affection. Made me believe that being cared for required losing your freedom, and love meant being trapped somewhere dark and impossible to escape.” Toph sucked in a breath as she blinked away tears. “So when Katara used to talk of love- finding someone who makes the world feel lighter, safer, whole. I honestly thought it was just some impossible fairytale meant for other people.”

“I didn’t need my parents to tell me I was difficult to love,” Toph said, the words carrying the shadow of a truth she had known far too young. “I understood that from the second I was old enough to understand words.”

“Whenever I feel control slipping away from me, I build walls so high that nobody can get close enough to hurt me.” Her fingers flexed against yours. “After a while, I stopped believing anyone would care, or fight hard enough to break through all that stone just to reach me.”

“But then you came along,” Toph shifted closer, her voice trembling with an urgency that told you if she didn’t force these words out now, she would regret the silence for the rest of her life- and when it came to you, she refused to risk that.

“And you shattered every rule and expectation I thought the world had set for me.” A tremulous exhale left her. “You didn’t just look past the armor I built around myself. You made me want to tear it down with my own hands.”

“I never thought I’d find a partner like you, baby. Someone who makes me feel this adored and safe.” Emotion thickened her voice until each word sounded painfully sincere. “I love you so much it scares me sometimes, baby. I trust you with every single piece of me I have left that wasnt ruined by my life experiences or the world.”

“And one day, I’m going to marry you.” The words settled between you like an unspoken vow. “I know exactly how rare what we have is and I’m never letting you slip away from me.”

Your heart stops at her declaration, your entire body stilling as tears welled in your eyes now, completely ruining your makeup. Toph, who guards her independence like an absolute fortress, had just offered you her entire future with zero hesitation.

The realization that she is already choosing you for a lifetime causes your throat to tighten with a sudden, joyful ache as the sheer magnitude of her love completely rewires your world. You slide your arm beneath her, cradling her head closer against your chest so she can feel the deep, steady resonance of your voice when you spoke next.

“You were never destined to be alone, Toph,” You answered quietly, your voice filled with absolute conviction and a fierce protectiveness that wrapped itself around every word. “And you were never supposed to spend your life hidden behind walls or treated as something that needed to be tucked away.”

“It breaks my heart to know they ever made you feel difficult to love, because you are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, baby.” Your heart thudded in your chest as your eyes burned with more tears. “The world just took its time bringing us together because like you said, a love like this, what we have right here is rare. Beautifully rare, and worth every lonely second it took to find.”

Toph buries her tear stained cheeks deep into the crook of your neck.

“You have me now, completely and entirely.” You promised her. “I’d marry you in a heartbeat, baby. I am yours for as long as you’ll have me.”

Her quiet sighs fanned over your bare skin as a tearful laugh escaped her. Her fingers gripped your shirt with a sudden intensity. Toph locked herself in your embrace as a glowing smile completely transformed her features.

You marveled at her in silence, overwhelmed by the breathtaking sight of her vulnerability. It was a beauty untouched by anything superficial, something visceral and enduring that eclipsed every shallow definition the world tried to force upon it.

Pride swelled painfully within your chest. You knew how much courage this had cost her, how terrifying it must have been to dismantle walls she had spent a lifetime building, and you would never take the gift of that trust for granted.

There was something truly sacred about watching her now with that unshielded expression softening her features beneath the sweeping canopy of willow branches. A few wild wisps of her midnight-dark hair caught the evening breeze, lifting like shadows against her skin. You realized right then that Toph Beifong was a masterpiece shaped equally by storm and stillness.

Toph was a woman powerful enough to shake the earth itself, and still she had chosen to soften within the safety of your arms. You made a silent vow to yourself in this darkened corner of the clearing to protect her fiercely and hold every vulnerable part of her soul for as long as she granted you a place by her side.

You tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear as you took in the beautiful flush spreading across her cheeks beneath the dim glow of the evening sky. You would never tire of seeing her like this, softened by vulnerability and wrapped so openly in your love. It made your own heart thrum in your chest.

Before you could stop yourself, you leaned forward and scattered a flurry of kisses across every inch of her face, each one tender with affection. The quiet clearing soon filled with Toph’s breathless laughter as she squirmed beneath your attention, giggling while she playfully shoved at your shoulders in a half-hearted attempt to make you stop.

“Baby, you keep talking about my smile,” A quiet, lovestruck grin pulled at your mouth. “When honestly, you’re the most beautiful thing in this entire park.”

Toph was caught entirely off guard by the compliment. She shied away from your touch, pulling back just enough to break the direct contact as she tried to salvage what was left of her composure.

“You’re laying on the compliments kinda thick,” Toph cleared her throat, you could see how fast her heart was beating in her chest as she spoke. “If I didn't know any better, I would think you were trying to get into my pants.”

You let out a knowing chuckle, your lips ghosting the shell of her ear as your arms tightened around her waist. Your voice dropped into a smooth, seductive murmur that was warm enough to send heat crawling beneath her skin.

“Well,” You husked softly, punctuating each word with a playful nip against the sensitive spot beneath her ear, “We both know if I really wanted to get into your pants, I wouldn’t need to sweet talk you first.”

Your smile deepened against her skin. “You’d just spread those gorgeous legs for me, wouldn’t you, baby?”

Toph hid her burning face in the crook of your neck, her breaths breaking into shaky, uneven hitches against your skin. You felt her nod quickly against your collarbone. You had rendered her speechless now that your voice had dropped into that devastating tone she could never resist.

“Good girl,” You purred beside her ear, your voice low and delivery, sending a flush of heat directly to her core.

Her reaction did not disappoint, a quiet, helpless moan escaped her lips before she could hide it, the noise dissolving into the stillness of the night as she buried herself further into your neck.

“Baby,” Toph breathed, the word breaking apart into a helpless whimper as her fingers clawed tightly into your shirt, clinging to you with quiet desperation.

“I know.” You cooed as your hands slid lower, mapping the graceful curve of her hip before your fingertips traced slow, deliberate patterns against her skin, each touch drawing another labored breath from her.

“Let’s get you home, sweetheart,” You rasped into her ear. “I wanna take care of you properly.”

Toph didn’t need to be told twice. The charged energy between you shattered instantly as she shot upright so fast she nearly sent you sprawling backward onto the grass.

She immediately began scrambling to gather the abandoned picnic supplies, her movements rushed and completely lacking the usual composure she tried so hard to maintain. The urgency behind every motion revealed just how desperate she was to get you home.

You managed to stare at her for all of two seconds before completely losing it. Bright, helpless laughter burst from your chest, your head tipped back as the sound echoed freely through the secluded clearing.

Across from you, Toph was muttering a heated string of curses under her breath while aggressively trying and failing to force the picnic basket shut after stuffing everything inside with absolutely no organization whatsoever. Causing the basket to sprang back open, the contents nearly spilling out again.

“Spirits,” Toph snapped under her breath, shoving at the lid harder. “Why is this stupid thing fighting me right now?”

“Somewhere urgent you need to be, Chief?” You asked innocently as you rose to your feet beside her.

You reached down to help fold the blanket, your movements intentionally unhurried, giving yourself every excuse to admire the sight in front of you. Heat was practically radiating from Toph’s flushed skin in powerful waves, her cheeks now permanently stained a deep crimson while her hands fumbled helplessly with the basket for what had to be the fifth time

And spirits, she was breathtaking like this. So unraveled beneath your attention, all of her sharp composure and confidence completely stripped away before you had even truly touched her. You bit back another smile as her fingers slipped again, sending a pair of chopsticks clattering noisily back onto the grass.

“Baby,” Toph groaned under her breath, sounding one step away from combusting entirely under your heated gaze alone. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“I dont think I will,” Your voice sinks into a dark, alluring tone as you invaded her space, crowding her with the intensity of your presence.

Your hand slid across her waist before settling possessively over the curve of her hip, drawing her body flush against yours with enough intent to force her breath to hitch in her throat.

“You’re already unraveling for me,” Your lips caressed the skin beside her jaw, your smirk evident in the low vibration of your voice. “And I’ve barely even touched you yet.”

You pressed a slow, deliberate kiss beneath her jaw, savoring the way her intake of air faltered the instant your lips sealed against the sensitive skin there.

“If I slid my hand into your pants right now,” You husked directly to her throat, your voice melting into a sultry hum. “Would I find you already wet for me?”

Your fingers continued their possessive map of her frame, sliding down her sides and spreading across her back until they found the slope of her backside. You palmed the plush curve of her ass, feeling the fullness of it as Toph molded herself into you. Because she stood shorter than you, her head nestled naturally against your chest, which only seemed to amplify the charged energy now that she was locked in your embrace.

“I think I would,” You added, your tone dripping with a smug confidence. “You get so worked up from the smallest things, baby.”

A deep chuckle vibrated in your throat, sending an intentional shiver straight down Toph's spine. “All I have to do is talk to you like this, and you melt for me.”

Toph tenses instantly, her face flushing a deep crimson as your fingers locate the sliver of bare skin where her shirt has ridden up. The moment your fingertips trace that exposed line, her entire body erupts in goosebumps.

Toph bites down hard on her lower lip to smother a rising moan as her entire body burns with an aching need. She pushes back slightly against your chest. She still has a reputation to uphold, and she knows that the longer this continues, the harder it will be for either of you to stop.

“Shut up,” Toph gasps, her voice strained as she shakes her head, trying to find her footing. “Baby, we are out in public! Anyone could walk by and see this.”

Before the conversation can continue, she reaches out and snaps her hand around your wrist. Her grip is firm, leaving no room for argument, as she begins to march away from the clearing, pulling you along with her, you barelt had time to grab your things.

“Since when has that ever stopped you before, Chief?” You counter, allowing yourself to be dragged along just so you could deliberately slow your steps to keep the tension.

Toph swallows thickly, her throat tightening hard as she struggles to maintain her brisk, commanding pace against the sheer weight of her arousal.

“Stop calling me that,” She mutters, her voice dropping into a breathless register that completely betrays her.

“Why?” You grin, your thumb stroking the sensitive skin of her inner wrist. “Is it turning you on, Chief?”

Toph pulls you forward with an urgent, unyielding strength until you finally reach the car. Snapping open the passenger door with her bending, she pauses for a single, breathless second, casting a fierce, burning glare blindly into the darkness where she knew you stood smug.

“You’re impossible,” She huffs, her voice a tight, husky friction before she slides into the seat with a frantic sort of haste, completely silent as she tries to master her own unraveling senses.

As you pulled out of the parking lot and eased onto the quiet road, the low hum of the engine settled warmly through the cabin. Streetlights flickered past the windows in soft golden streaks while the lingering tension from the park still clung thickly to the air between you.

One of your hands remained loose on the steering wheel while the other drifted instinctively onto Toph’s thigh. Your palm sank against the firm muscle above her knee, fingers curling there with slow familiarity as though they belonged nowhere else.

Toph’s entire posture locked instantly, a sharp gasp catching in her throat as her back pressed flush against the passenger seat. She didn’t pull away, but her thighs drew tighter together beneath your hand, the tension in her body almost palpable in the confined space of the car.

While seated at a red light you glanced over. Toph's fingers twisted helplessly into the fabric of her pants while her breathing turned uneven, every slow pass of your palm along her thigh sending another visible shiver through her.

The sight alone nearly ruined your composure. Your thumb dragged lazily over the tense muscle beneath your hand, relishing the way Toph’s lips parted around another strained breath.

“Don't,” She chokes out, though the words lack any real conviction, her voice entirely broken and vibrating with the heat of the moment. “You're going to get us killed out here.”

You only hum, your thumb torturously stroking higher up her leg, feeling the furious, erratic thumping of her pulse vibrating through the seat.

“Just lean back and enjoy the ride, baby.” You instructed, your eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead as you press down on the gas. “We're almost home.”