#:D hooray for taang!

[stitch1830]

Tease

Happy @taangweek day 4! Hope you all enjoy, and the story can be read below or on AO3.

......

She called it affection. He called it pain.

Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration. But it did hurt at times.

He couldn’t quite understand it all. It seemed as if she started hitting him more overnight and the reason for that he simply didn’t know. The jokes, the snarky comments, and relentless teasing didn’t stop. If anything, they were worse as well!

It wasn’t like Aang didn’t like all the jokes and teasing remarks, but it was… odd to say the least. One minute they would be talking about something like the future or what it meant to the other that they had a family they found with the group or what kind of thoughts kept them up at night. The next, she’d laugh at him and punch his shoulder until she could make fun of him.

Odd indeed.

Perhaps it was time to get to the bottom of it all, and Aang determined the best way to figure out what was wrong was to face the issue head on!

So he did.

On a warm spring day and while they stopped for a quick lunch break, Aang stormed up to Toph as she was eating her meal. “What’s your problem?”

She pointed her unamused expression at him and raised a single eyebrow. “What’s your problem, Twinkletoes?”

Aang took a deep breath. Right. These were the first words he spoke to her all day. This conversation was unprompted.

But it was too late to retract his fumbling of words. Toph noticed his heart rate rising and she jumped on the opportunity. “Oh,” she began, setting down her meal to focus her attention on Aang. “Croco-cat got your tongue now, Twinkles?”

“Um—”

“Wow, that was riveting,” she remarked. “Now I get why you have a problem with me. It’s all coming together.”

“Toph—”

“Have you ever considered getting into public speaking? I think you have a knack for it. Better than the Avatar crap. This is your true calling!”

“You keep hitting me!” he yelled, clenching his fists and scowling at the earthbender. “You keep teasing and hitting me and poking me firmly and I’ve just about had it!”

“So you hate the way I show affection?”

“Wha—no! No, I love your show of affection, but why are you insistent on hitting me all the time?? I mean, seriously. Every other conversation, you hit me.”

“Twinkles—”

“And another thing!” His momentum was strong, the last thing he needed was for Toph to take over the conversation and tease him or hit him again. “There are nights where we are talking about something kind of serious, and you quickly change the subject and hit me. Now tell me, Toph, what’s going on??”

Toph went silent, but her silence spoke volumes, and so did the flush of color that grew across her cheeks. It took Aang a moment, but he finally put the pieces together.

Oh.

“Oh,” he said aloud in shock. “You were trying to show affection!”

The earthbender let out an annoyed sigh. “Yes, Aang. Didn’t I just say that’s how—”

“Yeah, but I just assumed friendly affection! This was… you—you were trying to flirt!”

She went silent again, and whenever Toph got silent, that usually meant he was onto something. So Aang sat down next to her and continued to prod. “C’mon, Toph. You can tell me anything!” When she said nothing, Aang sighed and looked for the second packed meal for them. He wasn’t going to bother her to spill any information, because matters of the heart were moments of vulnerability not just for Toph, but for Aang too. He sat next to her in silence and ate his food thought to himself.

Because he had a confession to make as well. He started developing feelings for Toph as well. It was subtle, practically impossible to tell, but when he recalled all his favorite moments and days and who he thought of when he wanted to share news with, he thought of Toph. The realization came about a minute or two after he realized that Toph may have feelings for him, but this… this blooming feeling was unique and special than all others.

So, he decided to be brave first and confess what he had been feeling this whole time but ignored.

...Not without a teasing remark or two first…

Aang swallowed the bite of food he was working on and teased, “Gee, Toph. I know they call it hitting on someone, but I don’t think they actually mean for you to hit people!”

Her glare at him was priceless, and he continued, “Same thing with love is like a battlefield, please don’t throw rocks at my head if you want to flirt with me.”

“Can it, Twinkles,” she growled, the blush still prominent in her cheeks.

“Hey, I’m just teasing, Toph,” he reassured her. “I know how my crush works. She likes to cover up all her affection with bruises to my arm.”

Toph let out a tired sigh and began to explain herself, “It’s not that I don’t know what I’m—say that again?”

“Say what?” he hummed.

“That thing. About your—”

“My crush? Oh, yeah. That’s you, Toph.”

It was a rather funny sight to see Toph’s mouth agape at the realization. He let out a loving laugh, and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t punch you to confirm this, but just know that I think you’re the most amazing person in the world. Everything you do amazes me, and anything I work on or a place I travel, I think about whether or not you’d like something.

“I’ve got it bad for you, it seems,” he admitted.

At first, Aang wasn’t sure what Toph was thinking at that moment. But then as time passed, a small smile formed on her face and she asked with a raised eyebrow. “So, that was your problem?”

He laughed at the question. “Yes, Toph. That was my problem this whole time.”

“And what are you going to do about it?”

The airbender pondered the idea for a second, but it didn’t take him long to figure out what his next move would be. Without a word, he turned Toph’s face toward his, leaned in close, and gave her a soft, sweet kiss.

Problem solved.