4953/A Favour Repaid

A Favour Repaid
Date of Scene:	30 December 2016
Location:	Earth-199999
Synopsis:	Usually one might think that Tony Stark is the wrong person to ask for help regarding romance.
Cast of Characters:	20, 301

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Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    There's nothing like celebrating Christmas at home with the family, that's for sure. And Toph seems to have been in an extra good mood this year as well, helping out even more considering Pepper obviously needing more rest. Of course Sokka has helped too, with Toph making sure he's not just been a slacker and freeloader on the Stark family. Perhaps Toph did feel sorry for the game that her best friend had run in the dining room, inviting various people to join them.

    It appears that Sokka isn't on Toph's heels today, giving the girl some much needed time alone to focus on her bending. Something she works on in the gym today. She does tend to get restless if she doesn't get to work on her bending and work up a sweat, and after having eaten so much for the holidays she's got extra energy to work off.

    The sound of dull metal striking the punching bag echoes through the room, and Toph pulls back, her arm joining the movement as the pieces of metal fly back through the air to wrap itself around her fist. All before she rushes forward to punch said fist into the punching bag. A couple of more punches follow, all before the girl pulls back and reaches out for her water bottle and rolls her shoulders. Okay, just a little more and then she can go slack off a little before she has to go read that boring stuff.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony has spent the larger part of the day in his workshop, after being chased out of the room by Pepper for being too mother-henny at her. Seriously, when is that kid going to pop out? The due date was what, three days ago? It's not his fault if he feels bad about seeing her miserable and big as a house (if not a mansion) and needs to keep offering snacks and footrubs until she's driven to distraction.

So, the workshop. Safer there.

Having looked up at some point and noticed he's been working for hours and skipped lunch, though, just now he's strolling through the living room on his way to the kitchen. He pauses to adjust the blanket draped over his slumbering wife on the couch, a private little smile softening his face. He is NOT thinking how like a beached whale she looks. As he passes through the dining room, he pauses again, and purses his lips as he recalls a Talk he'd meant to have with Toph about something involving that... oh yes.

A few minutes later, Tony steps into the gym, munching on a santa-shaped sugar cookie, and observes his adopted daughter beating the shit out of his punching bag with flying metal gloves. "Not working out with MY Christmas gift?" he inquires, with theatrical hurt. For he had indeed engineered something unique and tailored just for her. A steel baton, with a hollowed out center containing a high speed reel and about 20 feet of tightly coiled fine titanium cable. Essentially, a metal bullwhip. He'd thought she might find it handy for snaking around things. Or people. Of course it's just a prototype. The design could certainly be improved with feedback.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Tony isn't the only one worried about Bitchin' Camaro taking his sweet time, that's for certain. Whenever Sokka hasn't been clinging on her Toph has checked up on Pepper, offered her pillows and blankets, drink, foot rubs and the like. And quite a number of hugs.

    As Tony enters the gym Toph turns around slightly, taking one last sip of water before lowering the bottle. "Oh, I figured out that it would make mom worry less if I trained with it outside in the beginning." Not that the gym isn't large, but... the baton whip can extend quite a bit. "Not that I can't control it, but I'd rather get used to it on my own first and figure out how the metal behaves when force is applied to it. Wires can be a bit tricky. Snap it wrong and you could put somebody's eye out at worst," she shrugs. At least they don't have to worry about her running around the house and not being careful with it.

    "So... were you going to work out too?" she asks. Does he want to spar? He's been mostly hanging around Pepper the last days, as well as doing his usual thing in the work shop.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony puts the cookie between his lips to hold it, and has a quick whap-whap-whap flurry at the training dummy standing near the door. "Mm," he takes the cookie out of his mouth, and bites off another chunk of Santa. "Not really. Just remembered I skipped lunch so I came up for some empty calories. I did want to to talk to you though." He walks slowly further into the room, nudging a stray medicine ball out of the way with his foot, until he's leaning on the apron of the boxing ring. He works his jaw and the remainder of the cookie disappears into his mouth, save a few specks of crumbs that cling to his goatee.

"That game night you guys had last week? In the dining room? Really would've liked to be consulted first."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Ah yes, the sugar cookies and all the other Christmas snacks they have around the house. Something Toph and Sokka have been helping themselves to a fair bit. Though when Tony says he wanted to talk to her, Toph arches an eyebrow. And when he reveals /what/ he wanted to talk to her about?

    The change on Toph's expression says it all, as there's no hiding the guilt there. "I'm sorry," she says, not trying to hide the fact that she should have known better. "Sokka wanted to run a game, and I was going to set it up at the academy instead of here, but when I was going to get it all ready, Sokka... had already set stuff up here, and he was so excited about it and he didn't hear me when--" A heavy sigh leaves Toph as she reaches a hand up to her forehead, wiping some of the sweat there away. "So I tried to do damage control as best as I could. If Sokka wants to run a game like that again I'll drag him out early before he can do it, he... just gets carried away," Toph adds, shifting her weight to her other foot, clearly looking uncomfortable. "I'm sorry."

    Clearly Sokka has the same effect on her that Pepper has on Tony.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"It's just that the Union doesn't exist anymore, so we don't really have that exception to fall back on whenever you want to have friends over," Tony continues. "Not that I want you to feel like you can't invite your friends over, but... there's a lot of sensitive stuff around here." In both the technological and intelligence sense. "An argument could be made for the Paladins, maybe, even though I'm not a member, but..." he grimaces. "I just... I don't know. And especially that League guy. /Really/ not comfortable having unknown quantities in the house."

There, he got out what he needed to say, that this isn't just a 'because I said so' thing, he has legitimate concerns.

"It's okay," he adds, after all that, since Toph has already apologized. "Just... keep it in mind for the future. Check with me or your mom first." A pause, and then he fixes her with his patented bemused/annoyed glare. "And how about you /invite/ me next time? You think your old man has no game? After all the join trash talking we've done?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    These are things she already suspected that Tony would say, but Toph does listen, only nodding at certain points. Even if he's not raising his voice or anything, she's taking it seriously and she does look like she does feel bad about it. Which might be why he doesn't do anything besides explain why he was uncomfortable with Sokka inviting people over for that game without asking Tony or Pepper first.

    So she nods again, clearly taking this as seriously as it should be.

    As for invitations to the next game? That seems to surprise Toph a little, but she nods, reaching a hand up to scratch at the back of her neck. "Oh, yeah... I'll mention it to Sokka when he gets back. I think he's using the gift card I got him to buy some clothes..." As for the trash talking? "And I dunno how shooting games translate to sitting around a table rolling dice, but..." A weak grin crosses her lips at the thought though.


    Taking another sip of water, Toph turns fully away from the punching bag. "So uh... is Pepper's family still coming over for New Year's?" she asks, looking a little nervous.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Toph thinks he can't roll dice? He'll have to take her to Vegas sometime.

"That's the plan," Tony replies, segueing smoothly into the new topic. "I think maybe Carrie thinks if she stares at her belly hard enough something will happen. We've already told her we're gonna induce next week if the kid doesn't budge on his own." A beat. "And well, let's face it, we have the nicest house for party hosting," he adds with a sardonic smile. "Which reminds me, I need to put out more mistletoe..."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    To be honest, the people who roll dice in Vegas and those who fight imaginary trolls with dice aren't usually the same type of people.

    Carrie thinks she can make anybody do her will, and including unborn babies into that group doesn't seem like a far stretch. "Heh, she's really in a hurry to get another grandkid, huh?" Toph says with a slight chuckle. At least then she would get to smother somebody else with that perfume of hers. Poor kid... no wonder he's so comfy where he is now.

    The Stark house is indeed large enough for lots of people, with all the guest rooms. Not that Sokka has been spending lots of time in his own guest room, instead deciding to grab his covers and camp out in Toph's bed for some reason. Heck, since he has been on her heels a lot while being a guest here it's been a bit hard, especially with all the mistletoe that Tony decided to hang up. Which is why Toph's face turns a deep shade of red when he talks about hanging even /more/ of that stuff up. "NO!" The protest is immediate, and Toph looks flustered, squirming uncomfortably in place as she swallows. "You have enough mistletoe to smooch mom under, and you lead her to all those places anyway..." Which is clearly not the problem she has with it, as she has made sure to /not/ tell Sokka about the meaning of those weird plant things in many of the doorways of the house.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"I can kiss Pepper whenver I want, I don't need mistletoe," Tony states as if this is an accomplishment to take some pride in. Well, considering how long it took him to Stockholme her into marrying him, it kind of is. "The mistletoe is for YOU, Toffee," he puts a certain inflection on the nickname to indicate that he has noticed it's Sokka's favorite thing to call her, in addition to a stupid paparazzi misnomer. "I mean, it's basically a get out of jail free card; you can kiss him--" who /him/ is needs no explanation, "--and then pretend it was just some dumb my-Earth tradition that you followed to humor me, not like you /really/ wanted to kiss him, how crazy would that be?" He's grinning openly now, and it's audible.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "You certainly don't need mistletoe the rest of the year to smooch her," Toph mutters, crossing her arms across her chest where she stands. True, she's not going to stop them from being oogie, but at least she gets to complain about it now and then considering she's a teenager and it's her duty to think any affection that her parents show are gross.

    Oh no.

    It's not often Tony uses that pet name for her, and it's mostly to tease her. The name is nothing compared to the other things that he's saying though, and Tony gets rewarded for the teasing immediately as Toph's face flares up, her entire body tenses up as her hands twitch, grabbing onto her upper arms tightly until her knuckles turn pale, and she looks like she just sucked on a lemon as her lips draw thin. And don't think she can't hear you grinning!

    "I can't do that!" she protests loudly in frustration, looking like she is sorely tempted to punch out at something. Seriously, does everybody but Sokka know at this point? "I mean, it's not like I can just tell him! W-well, you heard what some people have said on the radio and blabbered their goddamn mouths off, and he still talks to me as if I'm a kid!" And the incident at the pool didn't make things better either! All in all Toph does look rather miserable where she stands.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"Well," Tony points out, very reasonably he thinks, "maybe if you kissed him he'd realize you're not a little kid." He reaches up to play idly with one of the ring ropes hanging by his ear, still watching Toph with amusement. "It's all about establishing dominance. I was younger than you when I went off to college with kids... years older than you, but after the first semester," he shakes his head and laughs a little. "Nobody thought I was a little kid."

Toph, however, seems to find this less amusing than he does, and he takes pity. Pushing himself off the boxing ring he walks over and rests a hand on her shoulder. "I'm just teasing, you know that. He'll come around. He just... needs to do some growing up. Girls mature way faster than boys, just look at me and Pepper."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    This doesn't seem to be amusing to Toph where she stands, hugging her arms close to her torso as she tries to swallow her discomfort. "But... how am I supposed to do /that/?" she asks, clearly finding this entire matter hard to deal with. True, she's the one who's the bossy person in their friendship, and Sokka clearly doesn't have any problems following with her and hanging out with her, not worried about cooties or what other people think for having a girl as a best friend.

    At least she doesn't push away the hand he rests on her shoulder, and she lets out a heavy sigh... before letting her head fall forward so she can rest her forehead against his shoulder. "I know, I just..." She draws a breath again. "... are boys /always/ this dense? I mean, that League guy even referred to him as my boyfriend, and Sokka began protesting. What... what if I mess up and he doesn't even want to be my friend anymore...?" Her voice is weaker than usual, and there's real concern there. Because the two have been friends for longer than she's been in the Union, and it's clear that the two enjoy spending time together.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"I... really doubt that would happen, Toph," Tony replies, audibly holding back another chuckle. "He's obviously crazy about you, he's just... an idiot and maybe he needs to be told straight out that you're interested in... uh, more," he leaves off a little awkwardly. Yes, he may have been his world's most prolific playboy for... decades, but it's a little different casting it in a parental light.

He clears his throat. "Speaking from MY perspective... if he's NOT already trying to get into your pants he must REALLY like you." Frown. "That came out wrong. What I mean is, whatever you guys have is already pretty special. Which means it's not gonna just fall apart overnight." Even if the night is New Year's Eve and kissing under the mistletoe is involved.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    It might not happen, but what if it does? What if Sokka thinks of her as stupid for thinking they can be more than friends and what if he gets uncomfortable and pushes her away and...

    There's no denying that Sokka is a special kind of idiot. Though when Tony suggests that she outright tell Sokka that she wants to get closer to Sokka in certain ways, now that makes her blush return in full force. And she's kind of happy that Tony can't see her face right now. And then the talk of getting into pants and whatnot, that makes Toph idly wonder if Tony is going to return to The Talk that they had two years ago.

    Fortunately he doesn't, and Toph clears her throat, turning her face to the side. "But how do you do it when your gut is telling you to not do it?" she asks. "A-and there's no way I could do that with all you guys there in the house!" What? Toph has something she's not courageous about? The girl who charges into battle and doesn't back down from larger opponents?

    "I... I mean, do I just pretend to bump into him in a doorway and laugh, babbling about traditions that I usually don't give a crud about and act like a freakin' moron?" she laments. Oh yes, she's been thinking way too much about this it seems.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony takes Toph by the shoulders and pushes gently, bracing her up so he can look her in the face, even if she can't return his gaze. "You're overthinking it," he assures her. "Look, your mom and I are gonna be there, yes, and forget the mistletoe. We're going to kiss at midnight because that's just something people /do/. Not because it's 'tradition' but just because it's a fun way to mark the new year. That's when you make your move. And us being there will just reinforce how normal it is."

He lifts one hand to ruffle her hair. "Besides, you are WAY out of his league. If anyone should be nervous it's him."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    When she feels Tony's hands on her shoulders she doesn't struggle against it, letting him move her so he can look at her face or whatever he's doing. There's a look of confusion there when he claims she's overthinking the whole situation, and she exhales through her nose, looking like she's about to protest when he continues talking.

    Yes, she's aware of how lots of people kiss at midnight as the New Year gets welcomed with loud fireworks, singing and champagne. Most of those times she prefers to be in her room with headphones on to drown out the noise of the fireworks that seeing people claim look fantastic. It's not like she can enjoy them after all. But Tony's suggestion, no... plan, seems to take Toph slightly by surprise.

    The hair ruffle doesn't do anything to draw her out of those thoughts, and she's still blushing a fair bit where she stands. "That's easy for you to say, you're used to being all oogie," she comments, then sighs. "Besides, Sokka is in a league of his own." Way too many people underestimate him. Though they can also wonder why the self proclaimed greatest earthbender of all time, a noble girl and adopted daughter of a great super hero of this world has decided to fall for the goofy water tribe warrior of all people. There's not like there's a lot of strong, handsome and fun guys out there in the same age range.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"A league of his own in density, sure," Tony teases back, trying not to let her sink back into thoughts of Sokka being somehow out of her reach. "And hey, we all had to start somewhere. My first... kiss," he was about to say something else and then thought better of it, "was incredibly awkward. I didn't know what to do or where to put my hands. /She/ had to do all the work. I've had a lot of time to practice since then. It's not fair comparing yourself to me /now/."

He re-settles his grip on Toph's upper arms, fingers individually squeezing in a ripple. "So what do you say, I can help you out by providing the context, you make the move. And I'll even promise to be too occupied with Pepper to see it."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    That teasing does bring a slightly embarrassed smile to Toph's face, and she hangs her head a little, trying to obscure parts of her face with her hair. It's kinda weird to hear Tony admit that he wasn't always the suave casanova he acts like around Pepper. "So... where /do/ you put your hands when you kiss somebody?" Toph asks. It's a valid question!

    It's a bit weird to think about. Her father probably wouldn't want her kissing boys, but that's a mute point right now considering she's living in this house under Tony and Pepper's rules. And well... if he was being opposed to this he wouldn't be trying to /help/ her convey her feelings to the boy she likes. A few seconds passes as Toph stands there, cheeks bright red... and then she nods her head quickly a few times. "Y-yeah." Can she do it though? Muster the courage to kiss her crush with several other people in the room? "But... what do I do afterwards?" she asks, a bit lamely.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony shrugs. "Play it by ear," he suggests. "It'll be a party, you don't have to DO anything. Just kiss him, laugh and go on with the partying. It'll give him something to think about. I'd lay money he'll be too stunned to say anything. Which is not a bad thing," he is quick to add.

As for advice on technique? He removes one hand from Toph's arm to scratch at his cheek. "Where your hands go is... uh, that's just something you have to learn to /not/ think about and let it flow," he says finally. He is so NOT demonstrating that for her. "But when in doubt, going for the hair is usually a good one to fall back on."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    So... just don't think so much and just go for it? That sounds like the earthbender approach to a lot of things. So she really should just go with that approach to kissing as well? "So... stunned doesn't always mean that you fucked up and somebody is trying to figure out how to get away from you," Toph concludes. This is a bit difficult to think about.

    So hands go to the hair. Well, that seems like a good suggestion. Plus it might make it easier to kiss the right place too. "O-okay," she nods. Just how long should she kiss Sokka for though? Ugh, lots of these things are things she does /not/ want to ask about. "So uh... what if he freaks out? Do I get to punch him then?" she jokes, still nervous about possible rejection.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"Stunned can just mean that you can't believe that just happened and how amazing it was and you need a minute to commit it all to memory," Tony smiles, thinking back to the first time he really kissed Pepper. Before Rhodey ruined it.

One thing he can definitely agree on though: "If he freaks out, definitely punch him," he nods decisively. He is still grinning though. "Remember: establish dominance. You're the one out of HIS league."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Just.... is she really going to kiss Sokka tomorrow? It's a bit surreal to think about. But Tony's on her team, doing his best to help her, even if sounds like he's having an awful lot of fun with this entire deal...

    "Freak out, punch to the gut to make him stop. And then go out and wreck something after raiding the freezer for Ben and Jerry's," Toph nods with a firm sigh. Oh yes, she's nervous about this all and not sure how Sokka will react. Besides, he might not be the only one freaking out at it all. Establish dominance? "... I really hope you're not suggesting I hit him over the head and knock him out before dragging him off for oogies," she snorts.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony laughs out loud this time, and ruffles Toph's hair again, before turning and planting his hand between her shoulder blades to suggest she head back to the kitchen with him. "Nope. I think if he freaks out you should let him sit and stew for a while. Think about what he's missing out on." He considers for a moment. "Maybe wear meat-scented perfume the next day." Considering the target. He prods her in the back again. "C'mon, I'm still hungry. You can help me get dinner on before Pepper wakes up."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    There's no mistaking those signals, as Toph is used to Tony guiding her around like that before. Sure, he could say it, but he seems to like to gesture for her, which might be a habit from when he first met her and didn't realise she's more capable than she looked. As it's not done out of pity it doesn't bother her, and the blind teen does move as directed to head back up to the kitchen with Tony.

    Let him think about what he's missing out on, huh...? Though at the comment about meat-scented perfume, Toph frowns. "Eww, no! I'll just stick with the grass scented shampoo," she adds with a faint blush, "Sokka seems to like it." Or so he's said out loud.

    Right, dinner. "Fine!" Toph heads up the stairs, reaching behind her to drag Tony with her. "Maybe Sokka will be back in time for that too, he tends to get carried away while shopping!" It's a good thing she gave him a lot of value on that gift card.