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He was in their office.
Which was good because she had him cornered and was going to give him a piece of her mind. For months Kanto had been acting reckless and smug and throwing himself into burning buildings. Literally. He ran into a burning building to look like some impressive hero Hotshot or something, and this time, he almost didn't escape. The man was out here trying to get himself killed or grab her attention and enough was enough.
Toph swung open and slammed the door to their office in a single, swift motion. Deputy Idiot was leaning on her desk and wrapping his arm with gauze or something similar. His attention turned to Toph, who pointed a finger at the man.
“You,” she hissed.
“Chief,” he replied a little too smugly. “Gimme a sec and I’ll give you my undivided attention.”
“Shut up and listen, you dunderhead.”
“Oh, I’m the dunderhead?” Kanto asked through gritted teeth. He stood up and walked to her. “Me, the one who saved the hostages and got everyone out of the building??”
“Yes,” she replied hotly. “Because you went into a burning building.”
“Like you wouldn’t have done the same thing.”
“I didn’t! I was there and told you to stay put. Which you ignored.”
Kanto scoffed at her and tossed his hand in the air. “Whatever, you know I did the right thing, you’re just mad because I scared you.”
“You? Scare me? HA! Good joke, Hotshot.”
Kanto inched closer to Toph, and she felt the heat rise in her cheeks much to her chagrin. The change did not go unnoticed by the Deputy, for he clicked his tongue and took another step toward her. She stepped back, and he repeated the motion. They began to twirl around the room, advancing and retreating at the same time, all while Kanto spoke in a mocking tone, “Oh, you were scared for me, weren’t you, Chief?”
“I just said—”
“—It’s not about what you said! It’s what you’re doing.You’re blushing.”
The accusation, while true, infuriated her. Everything about this man infuriated her, she just wished her tongue wasn’t so tied up when he was being such a pain in her ass.
“I’m not blushing,” she retorted. “It’s hot in the station and I’m pissed off.”
“Oh, should I leave the room since it’s so hot, Chief?”
They continued to dance around each other.
She pointed her head up in an attempt to glare at him. “Fuck. Off.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“You think you’re slick or something, Hotshot??”
“You said it, not me,” he replied gruffly.
They were still dancing.
“I don’t have to fucking deal with this,” she hissed.
“But you want to, don’t you?”
“You act smug now, wait til I go to the council to have you reassigned to the desert.”
“No one has that kind of authority!”
“You wanna bet?!”
Her heels banged the bottom of her desk, their dance coming to a halt. Toph leaned back as far as she could, and Kanto took one last step toward her and placed his hands on either side of her on the desk, their bodies practically touching.
Kanto looked at Toph, and saw that her eyes were bright with a fiery passion, brows furrowed with frustration, and her lips pressed together in a slight frown. They breathed heavily together, but otherwise silent. Tension filled the air with each exhale. Kanto took a quiet, somewhat defeated breath, lowering his head.
Toph took advantage of the lack of retort. “I don’t need a Deputy that disregards my orders while we’re in the field,” she stated.
The Deputy regained his bravado, snapping his head back up to look at her. “Is that what you want? A pushover?”
“I need someone that listens,” she whispered, the hint of malice in her tone disappeared.
Kanto straightened up in his stance and dared to lean in, touching her nose with his.
“I can listen.”
“No you don’t, you’re a hot—”
His lips were on hers in an instant, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, Toph leaned further into the kiss; it filled her with energy and excitement. Kanto’s hands were everywhere, but then they settled to her hips and lifted her onto the desk effortlessly without breaking contact. He pulled her in closer to him, and Toph placed a hand on his chest.
Suddenly, Kanto pushed himself away and hissed, leaning his head against Toph’s shoulder and she stiffened.
Right… he was injured.
Her hands hovered in the space between them, not wanting to further aggravate his injuries. “Where does it hurt?”
“Is everywhere a reasonable answer?” he groaned.
She said nothing, but gently placed her hand on his cheek, feeling the soft, remaining stubble from where he recently shaved. Toph swiped her thumb against his cheek as she commented, “You should go to the healing center. Get checked out.”
Kanto shook his head and moved his hand to place it over hers. “No, I’m fine.”
“Kanto.”
He looked at her once again, and she pulled him in for a quick kiss.
“Go to the healer,” she ordered.
Kanto gave a quiet chuckle. “You gonna visit me, Chief? Bring over a get-well-soon card?”
Her smirk made his heart skip a beat as she said, “Won’t know unless you listen to me, Hotshot.”
He laughed again. She was always going to get the final word.
“Aye aye, Chief.”