'It's too COLD!' With a groan and a shiver, Toph rolled over in her bedroll again. No matter how often she shifted, rolled or pulled her blanket tighter around her, she couldn't get comfortable. It was well after midnight and despite her best efforts, she couldn't get to sleep.
Then the breeze picked up again, sending another shiver through the young earthbender. Toph sat up, opening her eyes groggily even though she didn't need to. She was going to get up and go snuggle with Snoozles, he was always warm.
With that thought, the blind earthbender struggled up, grasping her blanket tightly and leaving her pillow on the ground.
Not that far away, another member of their group was also unable to sleep, though for a very different reason.
He had been tossing and turning all night, vague visions of old nightmares and terrors assaulting him every time he got close to the edge of sleep. It was finally getting to the point where he knew that he wouldn't be coherent in the morning if he didn't get to sleep soon.
Aang buried his face in his pillow and groaned, he knew what would help him sleep, but he didn't want to do it. He could go to Katara and cuddle up with her, go and take comfort just from her closeness… but he really shouldn't…
With a sigh, the Avatar resigned himself to seeking comfort from Katara in the night and having to deal with the embarrassment in the morning. He grabbed the pillow and hugged it close as he stumbled up to his feet, rubbing his eye sleepily as he half-sleepwalked in the direction of the water-tribe siblings.
Both of the younger members of the gaang stumbled around the dying fire towards their goal, Aang clutching his pillow to his chest, Toph holding her blanket around tightly. Neither bender, in their drowsy states, noticed the other until they crashed into one another, tumbling to the floor in a heap not far from their goals.
Toph groaned in frustration, she had been so close to warmth and comfort and unabashed cuddle time with Snoozles! She pushed tiredly at the chest she found her self up against.
Aang on the other hand, was still trying to figure out what had happened. His pillow had fallen out of his arms and had been replaced by something soft and warm. This wasn't Katara… Katara's head didn't rest just beneath his chin when they hugged… Katara didn't smell earthy, musky, and like fresh grass…
But something about this was familiar… he couldn't place where in his half-asleep state, but it didn't matter, he could almost feel the burdens that had kept him from sleep fly away.
So when the comforting mass of warmth tried to push away, Aang reached out and pulled it back to him, hugging it close. With a happy sigh, the Avatar rubbed his cheek against the top of whoever was in his arms. And it was a whoever, not a whatever, because his cheek was rubbing against a mass of silky hair and there was soft skin of a face against his neck.
Toph was almost free of whoever she had ran into when his arms wrapped around her and pulled her right back up against his chest. Ashamed at the little -Meep!- that escaped her, the Blind Bandit pushed tiredly at the hard chest again, only to be pulled right back up against him.
And it was definitely a him, there wasn't any softness to the chest she was pressed against. She groaned with frustration yet again, with his arms wrapped around her like this her hands were trapped against his chest. Even as drowsy as she was, she still blushed when he rubbed his cheek against her hair and brought her attention to the fact that her face was pressed into the crook of his neck.
The earthbender pushed at his chest again only to be pulled closer, eliciting another small groan of frustration from her. She had meant to go snuggle with Snoozles, not… who was this anyways? Frowning as the warm body sighed again, Toph fisted her hands in his shirt. It took her a moment to realize that the warm body she was snuggled up so tightly against was actually Twinkletoes!
Already more than half asleep, it took several moments for Aang's brain to register that it was Toph's voice that went -Meep!-
And strangely, he felt even more comforted. He snuggled even closer to the smaller bender, burying his nose in her loose hair, content with the fact that his closest friend could scare away anything that troubled him.
Toph though, was thoroughly embarrassed. She was cuddled up with Aang of all people! And though her eyes tried to drift close, her brain screamed at her that this was wrong. While she struggled to figure out what was wrong with this situation in her drowsy state she squirmed in Aang's grasp.
She'd gotten up from her bedroll to go cuddle with Snoozles because she was cold and Sokka was always warm! And Twinkles wasn't… warm… at all… just toasty.
Her eyes continued their efforts to close, and she forced them back open, Snoozles was far more comfortable than Twinkles could ever be! He was a warrior and had muscles. Aang wasn't as comfortable as Snoozles! He was too much of a wuss to have steely muscles! And he didn't! His chest was rock hard muscle! It was just firm… warm… and just wide enough to snuggle into…
'NO! There's no way I'm falling asleep on Twinkles!' Toph tried to shake her head and dispel the sleepiness so she could just earthbend her way out of this, inadvertently nuzzling her face against the crook of his neck, and Aang almost cooed, making Toph's face flush a very deep red.
The blind earthbender tried once again to push Aang away from her, though considerably more half-hearted than even her first tired attempts. Her brain was running out of reasons to push away and her body was telling her to fall asleep on the very warm, comfortable, snuggly pillow.
Her brain struggled to think of reasons not to fall asleep on Twinkles, let alone get up and go cuddle with Snoozles.
Well… Snoozles smelled all manly and Aang smelled… Toph took a couple sniffs. Her cheeks flared pink again, 'Okay… that reason's moot…'
Then the breeze picked up and a shiver ran through her, even though her front was snuggled up comfortably ('NO! Not comfortably! Just…uh… at ease! Yeah, that worked.) against Aang, her back was completely exposed to the cold. Now that was good enough reason to get up right?
Aang was getting gradually more annoyed that the warm mass of Toph in his arms kept squirming and pushing, preventing the airbender from getting the sleep he so desperately needed. So when the smaller bender shivered, Aang's sleepy mind somehow made a surprisingly quick series of deductions. She wasn't comfortable because she was cold so she kept squirming around to get warm, so to keep her from moving around and let him get to sleep, he had to get make her warmer.
Thus, seconds after she shivered, Toph found an arm leave her back only to yank her discarded blanket up over the two of them.
In the back of Toph's mind she could practically hear a small voice that sounded suspiciously like a very smug Katara, 'So what's your excuse this time?'
Toph's sleepy mind struggled to come up with a reason to get up, to not sleep on top of the very warm, comfortable Twinkletoes... Why did he have to be so cuddly and huggable?! But… the more she struggled, the more her body won out over her brain.
And it was telling her: GET TO SLEEP ALREADY!
So, she did.
A series of very high pitched chirps finally penetrated the haze around Toph's brain, rousing her just a bit from her sleepy daze.
The blind earthbender grumbled softly to herself, she was warm, comfortable, and content. She did not want to wake up. She practically growled, Snoozles was particularly comfy this morning.
But when her growl made the warm body beneath her make a sound of its own, several things went through Toph's brain. One, it wasn't Snoozles she was laying against, two, she was snuggled a whole lot more closer to this person than she ever dared snuggle with Sokka, and three, she was actually laying on top of this person, leaving her completely out of contact with the ground.
Later, Toph would be proud of herself for not freaking out. But as it was, her eyes snapped open, and she lifted her head just a bit from the warmth of her cuddle-buddy's neck.
The body beneath her made a sound of displeasure, and Toph could feel him rub his cheek against the top of her head, encouraging her head back to his chest.
His scent washed over her, his heartbeat loud in her ear, and Toph felt the very sleep that she had recently escaped calling to her once again. And as she lay her head back down, it took the Blind Bandit several moments to put the scent and groan to her image of one of her friends.
Twinkletoes.
Her cheeks flushed a light pink as the fuzzy memories of running into him during the night, falling atop him, and after a battle with herself, falling asleep on top him.
Sleepy once again, but curious, the earthbender tried to figure out what time it was by the angle of the sunlight grazing against her, and was startled to find that it was several hours after what she usually woke up at. Apparently, despite the fact that she had no contact to the earth or stone beneath her, she was more than comfortable enough to sleep in.
'Okay… I'll admit it, Twinkles might not be the best earthbender, but he was a good pillow… and personal heater… and cuddle-buddy… and I'll just stop there.'
She'd already slept in, what was the harm of falling back asleep? Twinkles was comfortable… and he was warm enough…
Toph futilely tried to snuggle closer to the warm body beneath her, displeased to find she was as close to him as she could get, but pleased to find him returning the sentiment despite his obvious unconsciousness, and tangling the blanket around them even tighter.
And something about him was so… comforting… what was it? In her drowsy state, she tried to figure it out.
His heartbeat was familiar, strong and fast, almost like a really big bird, reminded her of how much internal strength Aang really had. And even though she knew she didn't need protection, it made a part of her feel as though if anyone could, he could. And it made her feel safe.
She could feel and hear his breath fill his chest, the air rushing into his lungs, making her head move with the rise and fall of his chest; and as often as she chided him for it, it reminded her just how strong of an airbender he was, and it made her feel safe.
His scent, that smell that she couldn't put a name too, all those pleasant smells rolled together, was familiar and reminded her just how close she was to him. How well she actually knew him, and how well he knew her… and it was a piece of familiarity that seemed to wrap around her, almost like an old security blanket she had held close to her before she learned to 'see' with her feet.
'Okay…' Toph shifted a bit, fisting her hands in Aang's shirt/robe thing as her eye-lids fell, 'So Twinkles is a good snuggle-buddy…' She buried her face in the crook of Aang's neck, her thoughts becoming gradually more sluggish, 'Might as well enjoy it…'
'Aang… Aang isn't so bad after all…'
The sunlight was far too bright for Aang's taste, especially when it was hitting him on the face. And he was far too comfortable and warm to wake up just yet. And Toph was far too huggable to even think about moving anyti-
'Wait… what?!'
Aang's eyes snapped open and the Avatar tried to sit up, only to have the warm body on his chest push him right back down with a very unhappy grumble.
Bright red flooded Aang's face as his brain tried to comprehend the position he was in. It came to him in bits and pieces.
Toph… Sifu Toph… Greatest Earthbender in the World Toph… 'I'm going to kill you for even trying to hug me!' Toph… was snuggled up against his chest! Her face was buried in the crook of his neck, her warm breath tickling his skin and making the Avatar shiver pleasantly.
When the small earthbending master sighed contentedly against him, Aang blushed brightly, the sound was so soft and nearly angelic…
WHOA! Hold up! He liked Katara! This was NOT Katara. He shouldn't be holding her like this!
Once again, the airbender tried to sit up, and once again, the considerably stronger earthbender pushed him right back to the ground, snuggling closer as she slept.
His face turning beet red, Aang looked around as best he could with Toph's head where it was, afraid that someone would see the two of them like this. Sighing, he lifted his head, and after a moments hesitation, whispered, "Toph?"
There was no response.
Wincing, he said it again a little louder, "Toph… wake up?"
This time there was a small, unhappy sound, and more snuggling, earning considerably more blushing on Aang's part.
"Toph… pleeeaase… wake up?"
A considerably more punctuated groan was his response this time, and he could feel her hands fisting in his shirt.
"Toph-"
A displeased growl cut him off, and his sifu grumbled against his neck, "Twinkletoes, shut up, go to sleep, and let me snuggle," Aang dropped it there, and when she gently rubbed her nose against the soft skin of his neck, he decided that it wouldn't be so bad to just lay there.
With his face still a very bright red, Aang felt the tension ease out of him, and with it's departure in came the drowsiness. A part of him realized that his arms were still wrapped around her under the blanket, but when he tried to move them, a growl made him wrap them back around her.
As the Avatar relaxed and let sleep overtake him again, a part of him appreciated the warm, soft, huggable body pressed up against him.
And as his brain slowly shut down piece by piece, a dim part of his brain noted how good she smelled… and as his eyes drifted closed, he realized that her hair was down… and it looked good.
'Maybe… maybe this isn't so bad after all…'
A.N.): Okay, I didn't think I was going to do anything for Taang Thursday, but then this hit me yesterday and it was just TOO cute. It's probably not done, this will probably end up as a two-shot, with even more cuteness in the next half. I might've made it a one-shot if the idea had hit me early enough to write it all out, but... I only had enough time to get this up and still be on time ;