genessia | ( action

closed to zuko--

"...Sparky?" It comes out like a question, but Toph would know Zuko's heat signature and those solid, confident steps anywhere.

Of course, she hadn't taken too kindly to waking up in a strange city, plopped in a puddle on a metal cradle. All of those welcome goodies were left behind -- didn't really feel like anything important and she couldn't read it anyway.

Toph points in Zuko's direction before grinning and course-correcting him. "Hey! What's going on, here? Where is this place?"

And then: whack, she jabs right up at his shoulder. Because hopefully all of her questions could be answered now, and a preemptive thanks is in order.

open to all--

Running into Zuko meant having to trudge back and pick up all that junk that Toph had left in the Bay. Well, mostly junk -- the flimsy money was kinda nice to have.

She parts from Zuko eventually, to get a feel for the expanse of the city she can see spreading beneath her feet. As much as she appreciates the guidance a friend can provide, Toph wants to know if she can get up to a little trouble on her own. And she's not interested in learning how to use that video phone thing just yet, anyway.

For all intents and purposes, she looks like a lost barefoot runaway. Toph wanders around the city with ease that belies her complete lack of vision. Green and tan robes that are made for smooth movement (and could really use a thorough washing) adorn her stout form, leaving her to make confident steps to avoid collision.

Or, sometimes, to cause one. When she does bump into a stranger, it's a meek apology that squeaks out in a high voice, clutching at one of her feet. "Ohh, ouch! I'm sorry, I was trying to find 11th Avenue so I can find a friend of mine. Gee, are you OK?"

It's a good way to gauge how generally gullible a place is.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The ground beneath Zuko's feet churns like the sea, grabbing hold of his ankles as the street surges up like a snake to usher him in a direction opposite of the one he'd been heading in. He's powerless to do anything about his predicament until the dirt releases him, sending him toppling across grass and gravel until he nearly bumps into a familiar pair of dirty feet.

If not for those feet, Zuko would've bent back at the person in retaliation, but the owner of those feet doesn't get the fierce master firebender poised to strike. They get a confused seventeen-year-old sitting back on his haunches, staring up at her in a mixture of confusion, wonder, and something akin to panic, because his well crafted jig just might be up.

"Toph?"

But then she's asking him questions, and it occurs to him that she's just as confused as he was — as Azula and Ty Lee were — when he got here. Likely even more so, since none of the things you find yourself with in the pod are exactly of any use to a blind girl.

"You're in—" He starts to answer her, but she cuts him off with a good whack to his shoulder. He yelps and glares, rubbing the spot where he's going to have a Toph-fist-shaped bruise later.

But the glare is halfhearted at best, because Zuko's honestly glad to see her, even if she's a part of the truth he's been hiding from Azula for months. She was the first member of the Avatar's team to give him a chance when he first approached them, even if he kind of sort of ruined that by burning her feet. (Never wake a sleeping firebender. Bad things happen.)

"Genessia. This place is called Genessia. I don't know why people are brought here, they just are."

Zuko gets up then, dusting off his rump and the backs of his legs.

"Please tell me you haven't done that to anyone else."

Toph's answer to his question is a shrug because what if she did, huh? What if she did?

Also, he can glare all he wants. Even if she could see it, she'd only relish it all the more.

"That sounds made up." The defensiveness comes out naturally, partially a mechanism built over years of living two lives and finally finding the moment to shrug the lie off. Being immovable is built into her heredity. It takes a lot to break through to an earthbender, though it's not impossible.

Now, though, her guard is up to keep the shock from fully setting in. Though it had been freeing and thrilling, it had been a culture shock when she'd run from her home to help the Avatar and his friends. And voluntary. This situation is wholly different, but she's not about to act like it's affecting her. There has to be an explanation.

"I have to hand it to you, I didn't think you had it in you." If she sounds amused, it's because she is. Hell, Toph is downright impressed at the idea that Zuko could pull off a prank of this magnitude.

One misplaced accusation and suddenly it's like the past six and a half months never happened.

Zuko goes on the defensive. "You think I did this?" He smashes his boot into the dirt, digging the ball of his foot in as far as he can.

"Oh yeah, that's what I did. What a better way to earn your trust than to kidnap all of you and drag you to some unknown world. That'll win the waterbender over for sure."

Edited 2015-01-10 19:53 (UTC)

"Are you kidding? Prissy Pants isn't as uptight as she'd like everyone to believe." And apparently Katara's not in on the alleged gag, either.

Toph's already grown accustomed to Zuko's tendency to take things personally -- considering how he'd started out in this whole thing, she can't really blame him. So she just laughs and shrugs.

"So who's idea was it, then? No way Sokka could pull something like this off." Her arms splay out wide, indicating the spreading city around them. Cities like this are a little distracting with all the movement reverberating up through stone-piled buildings and back along the streets and sidewalks. Even as she chastises Zuko for what she knows is just his personality, she's slowly taking in the hustle and the bustle.

Her eyes, already unfocused, drift as she gives attention to the west and gradually moves north. And it's beginning to set in that Something isn't quite right, now. Metal skeletons reaching up into the sky start to take form; like nothing she's ever seen before.

"This is a prank, right, Zuko?"

But at the point in time Zuko hails from, she wants him to believe that she is. Really, really wants him to believe with all those aggressive (sometimes passive, but not always) shows of dominance she puts on whenever they're in the same room. He saw a much more vulnerable side to her down in those caves in Ba Sing Se, and knows for a fact that she isn't (always?) uptight, but he also doesn't really know her.

He frowns, although she can't see it. Were she anyone else, he would've reached out and made an attempt at comforting her as he delivered this news, but with Toph, he just lets his hands hang at his side in a show of respect for the tough front she puts up. He won't be the one to shatter it.

"I'm afraid not, Champ."

Toph's relationships are all born in conflict and questioning. She doesn't do respect easy, and friendship doesn't mean white lies and blind support. So while Toph can't say she knows Zuko any better than Katara, she can tell now that he's showing her a kindness she never asked for.

"I can handle it." Petulance in the voice of a child, but Toph has never cared about sounding bratty. Even while protesting that she's just a child, she puts it front and center because she wants people to face it. Get over it. OK she's a blind little girl with a high voice, but she demands better treatment.

Even if she's scared. Even if she doesn't want any of it to be true. "So we're trapped. Just us."

"Of course you can." And when he says it, he means it. Zuko's not in the business of placating people, especially those he knows want the truth from him and not the watered down version.

They've been through worse. Once upon a time, Zuko was part of the worse category that made things rough for Toph and the others. Being afraid of something didn't necessarily go hand-in-hand with being unable to deal with it. He had personal experience with that.

"You, me, Azula, and Ty Lee, but I guess they don't really count, so yeah. Just us."

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