Rebellion (Toph Beifong)
| Rebellion (Toph Beifong) | |
|---|---|
| Date of Cutscene: | 04 February 2014 |
| Location: | New York-199999 |
| Synopsis: | Toph considers some of her choices after spending more and more time in Malibu. |
| Cast of Characters: | 20 |
Sure, she hadn't looked forward to swimming lessons at the Stark mansion. And even /if/ they had been as bad as she had imagined, she wasn't prepared for all of it. Like the effects it had on her hair. It had been a real chore to get all of that massive amount of hair into the cap. And man, it /still/ got wet? Leaning over the sink in the bathroom, Toph reaches a hand up to run her fingers through it, testing it for tangles. Which there are plenty enough of. Hmmm. What to do. She purses her lips in consideration as she considers her choices at hand. The simplest would be to simply cut it all off, like she tried to do when she was four. Except she can still hear her mother's crying and her father's scolding reprimand. As the blind girl narrows her pale unseeing eyes, part of her wonders if Pepper keeps scissors somewhere in this bathroom.
The option she went for yesterday had involved whole lot of patience combined with brushing to get all of the tangles out. Tangles are really horrid to get rid of. Unless...
Idly Toph can recall the bottle that should still be placed on this counter, and her expression softens somewhat as she reaches out, gripping the plastic as she finds the shampoo that was bought for her. Slowly she uncaps it, turning her back to the sink before she sinks down to sit on the warm tile floor, leaning against the counter behind her.
It really does smell like grass...
The soap that her mother used smelled of something. Something that irritated her nose, and she couldn't get it out of her hair so it bothered her for hours afterwards. Just like all the tangles which took ages to brush out, all while she sat there gritting her teeth as Poppy Beifong used the comb that threatened to rip all of her hair out. At least that's what it felt like.
The brush here in this bathroom isn't like that, and they aren't insisting on brushing her hair for her... The towel hanging on the rack by the shower is soft and smells faintly of a scent she can't quite place.
Somehow, Toph doubts Pepper would make her wear one of those scratchy dresses that her father had the seamstresses make. Dresses that were awkward to move around in, especially the times she snuck out of the estate and when she wanted to practice her bending.
Nobody here yells at her for walking off on her own.
It's nearly been a year now, Toph realizes. A year without people reminding her about how tiny, weak and helpless she is supposed to be. Of being told to do things because 'that's just how it's done', which is no real reason at all to do things. No real answers might have just made an unbearable situation worse. Anybody would get frustrated by that, right? But maybe that's exactly why she put up such a big fight every time.
And maybe it has just became a habit, even now when it doesn't serve a real purpose anymore. After all, they aren't confining her. Nobody here expects her to be an obedient little lady who simply does what she's told, nor does she get that silly excuse for why she should do various things.
'But why should I read?' she had asked. 'Because you're missing out.' 'Because it's a good skill to have.'
'But why should I learn how to swim?' she had demanded. 'Because if you don't then you might have trouble in battle later.'
Reasons like that were a whole lot harder to argue against than the simple 'that's just how it's done' that her father had given her at any little inquiry of hers.
The blind earthbender sniffs at the shampoo bottle again, inhaling slowly before sighing heavily. Fingertips idly brush against the edges of the plastic until she moves one hand next to her to push herself up to her feet. "Jarvis... turn it on."
Maybe all of this is okay.
