Family breakfasts with Tommy have become somewhat of a routine.
He comes over on the days Maria leaves for her work early (which is more often than not), eats her granola and drinks Joel's coffee, and they talk about whatever they feel like, though Ellie loves asking him about his recent patrols. She kicks her feet up into Joel's lap and draws it out as long as she can before sprinting all the way to school, but it's worth it if it means just one more story.
Today, though, she's late. Really fucking late. It's not her fault she got a bit distracted by the new book Tommy had brought her last afternoon (it's about SPACE Joel, that trumps school and sleep by a mile), but now she had about five minutes to get out of the house and into the classroom. Ellie barrels down the stairs, bag slung over her shoulder, and has to catch herself on the banister to not slip on the floor once she jumps over the last few steps
"Careful, baby," Joel calls over, worriedly watching her put on her shoes while standing on one leg, jumping to keep her balance. Tommy, on the other hand, looks majorly amused, and she can hear him chuckle.
"Yeah, yeah, old man, I can keep my balance just fine."
She ties her laces so she doesn't trip once she starts running and is about to leave when Joel whistles to call her back.
"Breakfast, Ellie."
Fucking Joel and his stupid rules, but Ellie spins on the spot and uses the kitchen door frame to propel herself toward the counter and pick up two apples for later, stuffing them into her bag with a happy? thrown over her shoulder.
"Mh, have a nice day at school, kiddo," he tries to sound all parental, but she can hear the softness bleeding through and just knows he's holding back a grin. Ellie crosses the distance between them with two big steps and slings her arms around his neck, allowing herself the luxury of melting against him for a few precious seconds when he gently rubs his thumbs over her wrists and lifts her clasped hands to press a kiss to her knuckles.
With a heavy sigh and a silent fuck you to whoever invented math, she pulls back, but not without pressing a kiss to Joel's cheek, basking in the smile he gives her; it's so easy to make him happy, and she does it as much as she can.
Ellie can feel Tommy's eyes on them, he always watches them with a gleeful mixture of amusement and affection, and over the last year, he has settled into the warm parts of her heart, too. He is right between her and the door, sipping on his coffee, so, really, it's not even a conscious choice, more of a reflex.
Her hand comes down on the table when she steps toward the front door and away from Joel, balancing herself so she can lean around the back of his chair and press a quick kiss to his cheek, too. Ellie bites back the small laugh bubbling up when she sees the expression on his face, mouth slightly open, eyes seeking help from Joel, who simply shrugs and picks up his cup again.
Another minute ticks by on the kitchen clock, and she is finally on her way out, the goodbye she yells at them cut off when the front door slams close behind her.
-
("What the hell was that?"
"She is laying her claim on you."
"Whatever that means, Joel, she's your kid, not mine."
"Better get ready to give up your personal space and half your closet."
"My clothes, really?"
"You never know what she might do next, prepare for the worst."
"Are you sure she's not yours? 'Cause this sounds oddly familiar."
"Oh, she is, she just found me all on her own."
"Glad she did, haven't seen you smile like that in twenty years."
"Give it a week and I'll tell you the same thing.")
Reunion for Dadrius week @sergeantsporks
Hunter: Don’t kill me, I have a new family! I just reconciled with them!
Belos: You think I care about that?
Hunter: No, this isn’t a plea for mercy. It’s a warning.
Belos: Wha-
The entire owl house gang and team RED, kicking down the door: ARE YOU READY TO DIE?!
sorry if you've posted something like this before and i just can't find it, but how & when do you think suki &/ toph learn the full story of what happened to sokka in the north pole?
this is a great question because sokka is truly such a repressed little freak and so his friends (and girlfriend) will probably never learn the full story unless they explicitly dig for it. like, let’s think about what we know:
katara was there in the spirit oasis when yue became the moon spirit. she saw aang go koizilla mode, she saw yue sacrifice herself, she saw yue become the moon and kiss sokka. i doubt she knows about what exactly was going on between yue and sokka before that moment, but after that, she has a pretty clear picture of the nature of their relationship. the only other person who witnessed it in full is iroh.
aang turned into koizilla before yue became the moon. he probably vaguely knows that she’s the moon spirit, but i don’t think he really registers it, or understands why it matters to sokka. he seems downright confused the few times sokka talks about her, so presumably katara never told him about their relationship.
zuko knows that sokka’s first girlfriend turned into the moon. technically, he was also there that night, but i don’t think he was paying attention to anything other than capturing aang and beating zhao’s ass. so he actually has more information than aang does, because he’s actually aware that sokka considered her his girlfriend (although i would contest that claim, if anything sokka was yue’s mistress), so that’s like. something.
suki knows that “something happened at the north pole” and he failed to protect someone he cared about. she does immediately connect the dots and realize that a girl he liked died and he failed to save her. but she doesn’t know that she was the princess or that she became the moon spirit until watching that play on ember island. at which point sokka gets really mad that she dares to tease him about it, and she gets mad that he’s refusing to talk about it (or she playfully pretends to be jealous? unclear). either way sokka clearly thinks he’s opened up enough and has no need to further discuss it with her.
toph just straight up has no clue about any of that. if katara wouldn’t tell aang, she certainly wouldn’t tell toph, and sokka obviously isn’t telling anyone. although perhaps at some point zuko is like “yeah, sokka’s ex girlfriend the moon, everyone knows about her” and toph, aang, and suki are just like WHAT. why did he tell this to YOU of all people 😭😭
my favorite ship dynamic is betrayal. not when they betray each other but when one or both of them turn against their cause, their principles and/or loved ones for the other. bonus points if the person they're abandoning everything for didn't remotely expect it. ultimate declaration of love. "you mean more to me than everything i ever believed in. i am more loyal to you than my conscience. i love you more than the thing i would die for."
“I had a vision of my own death.”
“Spooky. Was I there?”
New Zutara fanfic trope: Zuko is so worried about how deeply Katara sleeps that he starts constantly preparing for the worst.
- He stays up/wakes up a lot in the night to check on her and/or their surroundings.
- If there's Only One Bed? Zuko insists he'll sleep on the floor between her and the door. Katara thinks he's offering her privacy but in reality Zuko is just terrified that Katara will sleep through an ambush/robbery and he needs to be ready to defend her 🤣
- Katara is staying/going somewhere alone overnight? Zuko panics and insists on providing her a guard. (Bonus points if the guard falls asleep too and Zuko loses his shit at the guard, and then guards her himself 🤣)
- Zuko (trying to be) super quiet - maybe something has made him upset and he is crying softly to himself. Katara wakes up from the other side of the room and asks him what's wrong. Zuko is torn between feeling touched and feeling flabbergasted - "What do you mean you heard me?? Where was this "hearing" of yours when Azula exploded the temple you were sleeping in!??!?!"
Bla bla bla, you get the gist. Go on grab some tropes don't be shy, it's free real estate let's gooo
drew some fanart from one of my favorite jetko AUs: boarding school! jet and zuko are sneaking some alone time on the school roof after closing hours
Zuko gets adopted by [insert character here]
I was just reading For Hearth and Home by Haicrecendo on a03 and I was thinking how amazing it would be for Firelord Zuko to offer a daycare within the palace so parents don’t have to worry about their young children and can pick them up after work. I just love Our Firelord.
I love this so much
Zuko likes to check in on them (re: procrastinate from paperwork) and inevitably ends up on the ground getting used as a jungle-gym
The kids aren't really young enough to remember Ozai, and the idea of a monarch is nebulous and far-off. To them, Zuko is just Some Guy in pretty robes and with a shiny headpiece, who they can easily bully into getting them more snacks and letting them go hang out in the royal gardens and see the turtle-ducks
The new staff are horrified. Everyone else just laughs and continues going about their business. Another day, another toddler drawing on their Fire Lord's face while he naps on the floor.