Taang Week Markers

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Slam!

Instead of jumping at the sound (he did hear her coming up the stairs after all), he hung his head low. "Would it kill you to knock first?" Even if he had known her for fourteen years out of his seventeen-year-old life, and was quite used to Toph's lack of mannerism, it was a lifelong habit to ask her that same question. He looked over her and smiled, "I'm sure they tell you that during sessions for the debutante ball."

Toph waved him off as she kicked her shoes off. "After three hours of hearing an elderly lady tell me how to present myself to society, I deserve to be myself again."

Aang turned his gaze to his sketchbook underneath him. As usual, he was sketching tattoo designs for his portfolio but that was after focusing on homework for three grueling hours. He chuckled. "Fair enough."

Toph plopped on his bed with a grateful sigh. Aang closed his sketchbook and grabbed his pencils and markers so he could lie on the other side of the bed. Toph didn't lift her head up when she asked, "How's tattoo designing going?"

"Good," he answered. He dropped the sketchbook next to her. "In fact, I did the ones you suggested. Have a look."

Toph looked up, grabbed the sketchbook and looked through it. Aang studied her face as she turned the pages. She didn't show much emotion but the fact that she stared at each design was enough for him. When she raised her eyebrows slightly, he knew she had finally gotten to his designs for her. As with all the other designs, she studied them before grinning and handing the sketchbook back to him. "They're great. All of them." She sat up. "Of course, the badgermole and flying boar tattoos are the best."

Aang laughed. "Of course."

There was a silence between them. It wasn't awkward; they simply had nothing else to say. Also, it was obvious Toph planned to stay for an hour or two. Not that Aang minded. He gazed over at his markers sprawled over his desk. He looked back at Toph, who was wiping away at the last bit of make up on her face with her hands. Aang smiled. "You know how you said you wish you could actually wear tattoos?"

"Yeah." Toph raised an eyebrow at him. "Why? You're going to sneak me into a shop?"

Aang shook his head and pointed at his desk. "I can draw  them on you. That way you can say they're not tattoos when your parents see them."

Toph smirked. "You've been hanging around me too long, Twinkletoes."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

When Aang filled in the badgermole's tail with a light pink mark, he leaned back to admire his work on Toph's ankle. Toph carefully lifted her leg off of his lap and crossed her legs to study it. A smile formed on her face. "That's one to save for the phone." She took a picture with her cell phone while Aang grabbed for the black marker.

"Where do you want the flying boar?" Aang asked.

Before he knew it, the rebellious aristocrat pulled her shirt over her head but she didn't completely pull it off; she kept it close to her chest. She looked at him with a straight face. "On the right side of my back."

Aang paused. "O-on your back?"

"Yeah," Toph confirmed. "Right above the bra strap."

Aang couldn't believe how straightforward she was…then again…this WAS Toph. And he could tell she wasn't saying it to be seductive. To her, she was in a room with a lifelong friend, which made him family and which meant it was not a big deal for him to see her exposed back. He shook the thought away from his head. He moved behind her, took the cap off the marker, and began to draw.

Think of something else to talk about; that will make this easier , he thought to himself. During the process in which he was drawing the badgermole on her ankle, they talked about their days respectively, especially Toph's debutante sessions and Aang's portfolio. Perhaps this was a good time to really get into his role as a tattoo artist.

"I didn't ask earlier because we were talking about our day but why do you want the badgermole for one of the tattoos?" He stopped drawing, looked up, and saw that Toph wore a blank expression on her face. Her shoulders slumped slightly. Aang felt a bit of dread for asking the question. Did he say something wrong? He quickly thought about the badgermoles. They were large creatures. Intimidating but they didn't attack unless provoked…and anyone would have to be insane to provoke a badgermole. And one of the biggest features about them was their blindness. Aang stopped. Blindness.

Now the dread in her stomach was even stronger. He couldn't believe he didn't think about that. He took a deep breath. "Toph, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Toph lifted her head up, blinking. "Oh, I was busy thinking about earlier at the meeting. I don't care that you asked."

Aang tentatively decided it was safe to draw on her back again.

"'Any day now and she will go blind'," Toph said in a fake "proper" accent. "'How is she going to run her father's affairs in the future when blind?' 'I pity her.' 'Will any aristocratic bachelor marry her after she is blind?' That's what I hear them say when my head is turned." Toph snorted half-heartedly. "It pisses me off. It's bad enough that they're dictating on how I should act; the last thing I want is for them to look down on me."

Aang nodded his head. "They're underestimating you."

"Tell me about it," Toph agreed. "I'm aware that there will be some limitations but they can't treat me like someone who will be completely helpless either. I already know Braille by heart, I'm studying my surroundings by every little detail, and I know what places to go when it happens. I'll show them, including my parents." She sighed. "The badgermoles are strong animals; they don't let their blindness hinder their life. That will be me eventually; a strong woman who won't let blindness define her." She glanced over her shoulder at him. "How's that for an answer?"

Aang chuckled in response. He reached for the pink marker so he could color the skin. "And the flying boar?"

Toph refrained from shrugging. "Hmph, it's just for the day when my parents discover the real tattoos. When they see the flying boar they'll know that, despite our strained relationship, I do love them and I do have some pride as a Bei Fong. That's all."

"And you can use it to intimidate competitors," Aang joked.

Toph grinned with playful malice. "Now that's a good idea."

Aang laughed as he put on the finishing touches. He put the cap back on the marker and leaned back. "Okay, I'm done."

Without saying a word, Toph handed Aang her cell phone. Aang took the picture for her and gave her phone back. Aang fanned at the artwork a couple of times while Toph studied the photo. She nodded her head. "Awesome…is it safe for me to cover my back again?"

Aang lightly dabbed at the flying boar. Nothing appeared on his fingers. "You're safe."

Toph pulled her shirt back on. Once she fixed her shirt, she held her hand out. "Can I see that black marker for a second?"

Aang blinked but he gave it to her nonetheless. "What are you planning on doing?"

Toph didn't say anything. Instead she crawled to his side and tugged lightly at his collar, revealing the lower part of his neck. With her free hand she began to write on his neck. So what he could tell by the marker's strokes, it was a Chinese symbol.  Two possibly. In less then thirty seconds, Toph backed away to admire what she wrote. Once she was content, she put the cap on the marker and gave it back to Aang. He ridiculously tried in vain to see his own "tattoo" by turning his head over. Toph smiled in amusement.

"What did you write?" Aang questioned.

Toph took a picture. "I'm not going to tell you. Not right now anyway." Aang's shoulders slumped. Toph smirked and playfully flicked his ear. "I promise, I will show it to you someday." She crawled off the bed and searched for her shoes. Once she had them on, she grabbed her back. "Thanks for the 'tattoos'."

"Any time," Aang said.

She opened the door but she stopped and turned around. "Okay, one hint; I wrote the two things that you've given me since we've known each other. If you really think about it, you'll probably get it before I tell you."

Aang tilted his head; Toph scoffed at his cluelessness. "I'll see you later, Aang."

Aang, still thinking, slowly nodded his head. "Yeah…"

With one last look, she turned her back on him and closed the door behind her. He could hear her footsteps going down the stairs. It was funny; it wasn't as loud as it was when she first came to his room. Aang fell back against his bed and stared at the ceiling. He felt himself reaching for the back of his neck, pressing gently against the spot where she wrote on him.

"Two things I give her, huh?"

It was easier for him to make a list of the things Toph gave him while they were growing up; she gave him strength for when he doubted himself or when others bullied him, she gave him an ear to talk to, she gave him companionship…. her very existence gave him happiness.

Aang's eyes augmented. That can't be one of the two, is it?

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Toph finally arrived home and kicked her shoes off. Her mind went back to what she told Aang, prompting her hand to reach for her cell phone. She flipped it open and looked for the picture section. When she found Aang's "tattoo", she smirked to herself.

The symbols said "Happiness" and "Freedom".