Toph liked the little downtown strip off of Huntington Beach -- it seemed quaint with little shops that were easy to navigate, and the beach in walking distance.
Her fingers twined through Aang's with one hand, she licked at an oversized ice cream cone in her other. It was a mess, she knew -- she could feel the chocolate flavored dairy dripping down her hand and through her fingers toward the ground. She didn't seem to mind any. It was hot, these things happened.
Aang held onto her hand, comfortably, casually; enjoying the contact. He didn’t mind the heat, or the stickiness of dripping ice cream. They could always splash in the water, later on. “This was a good idea.”
“Of course it was,” Toph’s tongue darted out to lick at the ice cream, and then the drips on her hand. Good thing for the ocean, for sure because she was going to need a good rinse off sooner than later. “I thought of it. So clearly, you know. Wicked.” She never seemed to be lacking in ego.
“Clearly.” Aang laughed. It was true, Toph had no shortage of confidence, but she also had some pretty good ideas. “So, when do you think I’ll be able to start learning earthbending?”
She considered that, nibbling on the cone portion of her ice cream. “I dunno,” she said after a minute. “Have you dreamed about it at all yet? Like, about doing it?” Which was really a bit like her asking if they’d met in the dreams for him yet.
“No,” Aang said, sounding a bit disappointed. “I’m still dreaming about water.” And Katara, but he didn’t say that. Katara wasn’t his focus in this life. “I think I’m starting to get the hang of that, though.”
Toph knew about Katara though. How could she not, when she shared the same dreams? Then again, she didn’t look at Aang like that in her dreams either. Instead, she harbored some awkward, secret crush on Sokka. Who wasn’t here at all. “Maybe I could try teaching you here, anyway?”
“It couldn’t hurt to learn the principles, even if I can’t perform the techniques yet, could it?” Aang asked, pondering the idea. He knew there was a reason the elements were taught in a sequence, but if earth was going to be the most difficult for him because it was opposite his first element, then it seemed like a good thing to start laying the foundations right away.
“Eh, if nothing else it’s like a weird martial art yoga, right?” She finished off her ice cream cone and then licked her fingers in a way that she was sure was a bit useless, since she still felt sticky when all was said and done. “And yeah. Couldn’t hurt.”
“Sweet,” Aang said, giving Toph’s hand a squeeze. He thought about grabbing her other hand and licking her fingers, but he was a little leery of surprising her like that yet. “I guess we should figure out when we wanna do that, and if we want to make it part of date nights, or keep it separate.”
She wouldn’t have minded it. Anyway, the worst he’d really get in return was a swift punch to the gut, so where was the harm in that?
“I dunno. We could do it now if you wanted. There’s a beach right over there, anyway. Plenty of sand and rocks to play with, right?” Toph wasn’t big on planning, not really.
"Sure. Why not?" Aang was pretty flexible. Besides, he knew Toph liked to show off, so why not let her? Maybe he'd actually learn something.
“We should probably find a kinda -- you know. Secluded spot, though.” For several reasons, one being not scaring the normal folks with crazy rock throwing. And two being for make outs.
“Right,” Aang said, glancing down the beach. “And one with plenty of space.” Making out could be done in some hidden little nook, but taekwondo-like martial arts moves accompanied by actual earth-shaking? Not so much. “Luckily, we can just pretend to be taking a romantic, barefoot walk on the beach until we find just the right spot.”
Or, you know, actually take a romantic barefoot walk for the same reason.
Either one, really. Toph liked the idea, but it was always nice to pretend she was just too macho for things like that. She moved close enough until their shoulders bumped (sort of, she was very short) when they walked. “So how good are you at waterbending now?”
Aang was taller than Toph, which wasn’t hard, but he wasn’t super tall, so Toph’s shoulder came a lot closer to his than to their friend, Nate’s. Her head probably only came up to Nate’s elbow, these days. But it was all good. “I’m getting pretty good at it, I think. Talking to Korra has helped. Hopefully I’ll be able to help her, too. She seems...pretty frustrated with herself sometimes.”
“That’s because she’s fucking stupid,” Toph said, and her tone wasn’t mean or even wry -- just matter of fact. Korra might have been her best friend, but damn that girl tended to be an idiot when it came to pretty much everything.
“But it’s good she helped a bit.”
Aang wrinkled his forehead a little, but he just shrugged, knowing Toph would feel it through their joined hands. “We can’t all be brilliant and beautiful, like you,” he teased.
Toph perked up at that, smiling a silly little smile -- hey, even she wasn’t beyond enjoying compliments, even the teasing sort. “I guess you’re right,” she said, a smile in her voice.
Aang tugged at Toph’s arm, bringing her around to face him. He pulled her close, cradling her head in his hand as he kissed her. “Of course I’m right,” he quipped, “I’m the Avatar.”
Toph laughed at that, raising her eyebrows just so. “That was wicked romantic of you, Avatar,” she said, and then tip toed upward to kiss him again.