Chapter Text
Sokka sat at his usual table by the window in the library where he normally went for some peace of mind. It was a place that was silent and good enough for him to use to get some work done without the distractions that his dorm and roommates offered.
But recently, he couldn't concentrate. And he knew exactly why.
In a room full of people, he could feel her eyes on him, and frankly, it was distracting. Though, she was a very attractive young woman, if he did say so himself.
“Do you– who is that?” Sokka finally asked his sister, who had accompanied him that day.
Katara looked up from the book she was reading. She’d been so quiet that for a minute, he had forgotten she came with him. “Uh, who?”
Without being too obvious, he nodded over at the woman who was sitting about ten feet away from them and was staring right at him. She had her black hair in a single braid, a dark-green-almost-black hoodie, and sunglasses on indoors – a trend that Sokka never understood. In his eyes, they were called sun glasses for a reason. “Her. The only girl that’s staring at me in this room. I mean– I can’t exactly blame her for doing it, but it’s distracting.”
Katara pursed her lips. “That’s Toph Beifong. She’s in my chemistry course.”
“Toph,” he said, testing her name on his tongue. “Hm.”
“And you–you think that she’s staring at you?”
Sokka made a face at her. “Who else could she be staring at?”
“She could be staring at nothing,” she responded, not even trying to hide the smile on her face now. “I don’t know, just a thought.”
“You know, for someone so smart, you seem to know nothing about reading people, ‘Tara. You really need to pick up a social cue or two from me. There’s a lot you can learn.”
“Mm, right. That’s why I’m in a stable relationship and you’re still reeling over your last one. Because I’m the one who needs to learn how to read people.”
He glared at her at the mention of his ex. “Did you really have to?”
“It was right there. Not my fault you’re easy to bully.”
Sokka sighed and leaned back into his chair, hugging the thick textbook he had been pretending to read for the last hour against his chest. It wasn’t like he wasn’t over Suki. They were on good terms, even. He knew that he could call her if he ever had a problem and he hoped that she felt the same way about him. It was just the way things ended. She told him that he wasn’t being communicative or expressive enough, which oddly corrected itself when they broke up. It was something she made fun of him for to this day, still.
But it was one of the reasons why he was afraid of even approaching someone he saw the potential of a relationship with. He’d probably fuck it up all over again, make the same mistakes, and lose something good.
“You should go talk to her,” Katara said, bringing him out of his thoughts. “I mean, she sure is looking at you. That could definitely mean something. Because…. She’s absolutely looking at you.”
Sokka looked at her skeptically. “You think I should?”
“Mhm, no doubt about it,” she said. “I’ve had conversations with her. And come to think of it, you two would actually be good together. And she is looking at you.”
He nodded in determination. Katara seemed to like her, she seemed to know a bit about her, and he trusted his sister’s judgment. “Okay. Yeah. I’m going to– I’m gonna go talk to her.”
“Hell yeah, Sokka. I believe in you.”
As he was getting up, he scowled at his sister. “Why…. do you sound like that?”
“Like what , big brother?”
“All… innocent.”
“Because I am?”
He shook his head in dismissal. “You know what? I don’t care. I’m going to catch the attention of a Woman.”
Some silence. “Good luck with that.”
With that, he stepped away from their table and slowly approached the stranger. Her gaze never left his as he took a seat across from her. Even with her glasses taking up half of her face, she was beautiful.
“Can I help you?” she asked immediately, pulling a side of her headphones away from her ear.
Sokka raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, actually. Uh, I’m Sokka.”
“Toph.”
He nodded. “And, uh, I’ve been coming here to study for a few weeks and you’ve been here, and well, I've seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice.”
Toph snorted. “You’ve seen the way I look at you, have you?”
“I have,” he said with a nod, propping his elbow onto the table and leaning his face against the palm of his hand. “And I have to say that I’m absolutely flattered.”
“Are you?”
“I am.”
“Mhm, okay,” she said with a smirk on her lips that was making Sokka giddy. “What are you going to do about it?”
“I was wondering if you’d like to, I don’t know, go for coffee or go somewhere to… do… something.”
“What did you have in mind?”
Sokka thought about the for a moment, not knowing exactly where to take her, but his mind immediately went to something simple so as to not scare her off right away. “How about a movie? I hear that there are quite a few good ones out right now.”
Toph scratched her head and nodded. “You’re going to have to tell me what happens, then, buddy.”
“I– what?”
With a huge, teasing grin on her face, she pulled off her glasses to reveal a beautiful pair of green eyes covered with a thick layer of cataract. “I, uh, I can’t see. Just thought you might want to know that before you decided on anything.”
He smacked his forehead. He was going to kill Katara.“I assumed–”
“Mhm. I was caught onto that when you said I was seducing you with my eyes.”
“That… did not come out of my mouth.”
“It might as well have.”
Sokka chuckled, slowly standing up. “I’m sorry. I, uh, understand if you’re not interested.”
“No!” Toph said quickly, then sniffled sheepishly. “I, uh, no, don’t go. I’m– I’m interested.”
“Alrighty, then,” he said, a smile on his face, but he remained standing. “I’m actually here with my sister, uh, Katara. She said you knew each other from–”
“Chem. Yeah,” she nodded. Then, she scowled suddenly. “She knows that I’m–”
“Yeah. I gathered that as soon as you told me.”
Toph laughed loudly, garnering stares and shhhs from other students in the library. “I like her.”
“That’s fun because I certainly don’t,” Sokka joked. “Anyway, I’m here with her and I assume you’re not with anyone right now?”
“That’s correct.”
“Do you… want to join us while we finish up what we’re doing and maybe we can hang out after? Only if you want to, of course.”
She smiled, slipping her glasses on, gathering her belongings, and extending her cane to stand. “I’m down.”
With that, Sokka smiled widely, and together, they walked over to the table Katara sat waiting for him. Her eyebrows shot up when she noticed Toph with him, and she had to cover her mouth to muffle the loud laugh that was soon to come when she noticed the glare on his face.
Without ceremony, Toph plopped into the chair nearest to Katara and landed a playful punch on the older girl’s bicep. “You’re my new favorite person, I hope you know that.”
Katara smiled brightly as she rubbed her arm. “It’s just too easy with him.”
“That tracks,” Toph said. “He actually told me that he noticed the way I was looking at him.”
His sister looked at him incredulously. “Even if the girl you’re trying to flirt with is sighted, that’s not something you say, you idiot.”
“Well– I– it’s called honesty,” Sokka said, crossing his arms over his chest with a pout. “You should try it sometime, Katara.”
He looked at Toph, who was biting her cheek before she said, “At least you got a date out of it.”