drabblefest repost, part 1

[glass_icarus]

Not finished with all the prompts yet, but I'm putting these up first as my brain has been decidedly derailed by the need to scream inside myself for a while. (crooked & zarathuse, I will get back to writing shortly! &hearts)

1. flip [A:TLA, Ty Lee & Azula, G] for wingstodust:
Ty Lee's practicing her handstands after school when Azula comes in, scowling.

"Show me how to do that."

"What?"

Azula rolls her eyes. "Uncle Iroh's home, which means that Zuzu gets to go off and practice swordfighting while I get to sit here and play with dolls. I don't want to play with dolls!"

Ty Lee shifts her weight experimentally. "So... don't play with them? I mean, you're the princess, after all."

"Yeah, but he's still my uncle. Anyway, that's not the point! The point is, he thinks that because I'm a girl, I should stay at home and play with dolls, even though I'm a better fighter than Zuko. It's annoying!"

"Well, you do learn things really quickly. Maybe General Iroh spends more time with Zuko because he takes so much longer."

"Didn't you hear me? Dolls, Ty Lee. He keeps giving me dolls."

"You're a firebender. You could always use them for... target practice?"

"Not with my mother around. I burned one of them last time and she made me apologize. I hate apologies even more than I hate dolls."

Ty Lee giggles. "Well, if you don't want them, I'm sure one of my sisters would be honored to receive a gift from the princess."

"Well, yes, that's true- but aren't your sisters older than you are?"

"That's okay! One of them's pregnant."

Azula sighs. "Very well. I'll have a maid deliver them to your family tomorrow. Even if it would be more satisfying to burn them."

"Thanks, Azula!" Ty Lee flips to her feet. "Is there anything I can do in return?"

Azula blows her hair out of her eyes. "Yes. Do that again."

Obediently, Ty Lee puts her palms to the ground and kicks upward, smiling as Azula's face turns right side up in her sight.

2. unfortunate facial growths [HP, MWPP, "five o'clock shadow," G] for ruffwriter:
Remus stares at him with morbid fascination. "Sirius. What is that on your face?"

"A five o'clock shadow?" Sirius tries.

"At ten in the morning?"

"It looks tufty," Peter says, leaning in for a closer look. "And curly. I'm kind of impressed."

"Oh shut up, Wormtail," says Sirius, face flaming. "My family's inbreeding has mixed results, okay? At least I'm one of the saner ones."

"Merlin help us all," Remus murmurs, stifling a grin.

"Hey!"

Across the room, James emits an ill-suppressed snort. "Looks like someone hexed you but good. Hey, d'you think we could invent one to get this result? It'd be an amazing new look for Snivellus!"

Sirius throws an old sock at him. James retaliates with a wad of Spellotape. Remus slips between them before things can escalate into a full-out war, hooking his arm through Sirius's. "Come on, Padfoot. I'll lend you a razor."

"Thanks, Moony," Sirius says, burying his face in Remus's shoulder.

"Yes, yes," Remus replies, patting his head absently. "I must warn you, though- if you manage to shed any of that on my jumper, the deal's off."

3. that unnoticed, & that necessary [HP, Cho Chang, G] for gehayi:
Lunar New Year falls on the day of a Hufflepuff-Gryffindor Quidditch match, which is unfortunate, because while Cho's been dating Cedric for some time now, she refuses to forgo her New Year's red. She's used to having her holidays overlooked, though, so when Cedric gives her a puzzled look over breakfast (red hair ribbons and underwear the best she can do given the dictates of school uniforms- not that he can see the latter) she simply smiles and says nothing.

It doesn't matter if he doesn't understand, she tells herself. This doesn't belong to him, neither the secret rush of joy and firecrackers, nor the mini-banquet and hongbao her mother sends from home. (Well, technically Dumbledore gives her a hongbao too- filled with sesame candy instead of money- but that's not the same thing, even if she hasn't the heart to tell him his gestures are misplaced.) It's not the same anyway- it can't ever be, when she's at school on her own, cast adrift from the warmth of family and community- and she'd rather keep her celebrations private than suffer through awkward explanations.

So she says nothing. Smiles. Kisses Cedric before the match, cheers Hufflepuff even as she assesses Harry's flying, nods at Parvati across the pitch. Afterward, she leaves Cedric to his teammates and climbs to the top of the Astronomy Tower, where she sets up a tiny altar for her deceased ama with Dumbledore's candy and a stick of incense. It doesn't feel like enough, but she knows- she hopes- the sentiment is appreciated somewhere beyond the stars.

Then she goes back to the Ravenclaw common room, where Padma and Parvati and Su Li are waiting for her.

"Gong xi fa cai," says Su, smiling. "No Cedric?"

"Happy new year, Cho," says Padma. "Hope you don't mind that we're adopting a Gryffindor this year- apparently Lav can spare Parvati for a night after all."

"Hey!" Parvati says. "I'm just happy that we can celebrate together; holidays are terrible when you're alone."

"Which means," Padma says severely, "no ducking out on us for Holi this year, or there will be consequences."

Cho has to laugh. "I'll keep that in mind. Gong xi fa cai! And no, no Cedric; this is just for us."

Su drags her into a one-armed hug. "Great. Let's eat! My mum sent us persimmons this year."

Cho unwraps her mother's basket, smiling. It's not quite family, this, but friendship and understanding go a very long way.

4. truth, lies, & cabbages [A:TLA, Aang, Katara, cabbage merchant, "something to do with the Ember Island Players," G] for whymzycal:
Pu-On Tin's sources include singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war, and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage.

They're out buying ingredients for hotpot when Aang sees them: the most beautiful cabbages he could have imagined, sitting in the most dilapidated cart he's ever laid eyes on.

"Hey, Katara!" he shouts. "Take a look at these!"

The man rummaging behind the cart stands up abruptly. "Avatar Aang, is that you?"

Aang claps a hand to his forehead guiltily. "Oh, shoot. Did my hat slip? I'm sorry, please don't tell anyone, Toph's going to kill me if I'm late again-"

"No, no, we've met before. Or rather, I suppose, I've met you; you've merely met my cart. On multiple occasions."

"Huh?" Aang blinks, confused.

"Aang? What's going on?" Katara stops in front of the cabbage cart. "I'm sorry, but you look really familiar. Do we know you?"

"Actually, this man says-"

"- my name is Tai, actually-"

"- okay, Tai, says we have met somewhere before. Multiple places. Except we've only met his cart."

Tai shakes his head indignantly. "Somehow, Avatar, you followed me like a plague. Everywhere I went in the Earth Kingdom, you were certain to appear! You were death to two whole crops of my cabbages!"

"We... were?"

"In Omashu, I saw you careening down toward me in a runaway mail carrier just before it destroyed my cart, and then King Bumi's pet thing proceeded to eat half of my cabbages! So I had my cart repaired and restocked my cabbages and went to Kyoshi Island, and there you were again! But the Fire Nation army arrived and pursued you through the town, and exploded my cart in the process."

Aang makes a formal bow. "Um... I'm sorry?" he tries.

"I certainly hope so!" sniffs Tai. "Because after that I didn't have enough money to hire a repairman, so I had to put the cart back together myself. The loading docks on Kyoshi Island were completely destroyed! It was three whole weeks before I could get more cabbages, and all of the ones I had were either charcoal or singed crispy. By the time I was finally set up, the Fire Nation army was on the move again! I had to make my way here to Ba Sing Se as a refugee, taking half of my remaining stock with me- and then that horrible woman at customs wouldn't let me take them in! She said there was danger of infestation by cabbage slugs!"

Katara blinks. "Why? They don't look diseased to me."

"Exactly! But nobody would listen to me, oh, no. We couldn't possibly have effective pesticides outside of Ba Sing Se, could we? Never mind that when I got into the city, the local cabbages weren't nearly as healthy; I was only allowed to bring my cart. The cabbages were confiscated for animal feed. I had to have the rest of my stock imported, and I ended up paying three separate taxes on it!"

Aang executes a deeper bow. "I'm really sorry for your losses."

"Hmph!" says Tai. "That wasn't even the greatest of them. After I'd finally set up shop here, all the animals escaped from the zoo and demolished all of my cabbages! I had to wait out the rest of the year before my family's new harvest arrived."

"Wait," Katara says, turning. "That's- oh, Aang, tell me you didn't-"

"I'm really, really sorry?" Aang says, grinning nervously from the general vicinity of his shins.

Katara smacks her forehead. "I should have known that herding was involved when you said you 'built the animals a new facility!'"

"I humbly apologize for your loss, Merchant Tai, and I accept responsibility," says Aang, sweating a little. "Um... is there any way I can repay you?"

"Oh, you already have, Avatar. I'm earning royalties." Tai grins. "However, I wouldn't object if you wanted to buy some of my cabbages."

"Actually, that's what we came here looking for!" Katara selects three heads and tosses them to Aang, handing over the requisite coins. "Come on, Aang. We're going to be late, and you know what that means."

"Oh, no," Aang groans. "Toph."

"Thanks for the cabbages! It was, um, nice to finally meet you," Katara shouts as they break into a run.

It isn't until they return to the Jasmine Dragon, exhausted and out of breath, that they realize what royalties Tai was actually referring to.

5. hearthfire [A:TLA, Iroh, "lessons in preparing tea," G] for magnetic_pole & crossedwires:
"Ouch!" Iroh says, shaking his hand.

Setting down her ladle, Chiyo folds her arms across her ample belly. "What did I tell you? For this tea, the first brew-"

"- is to wash the leaves only," Iroh mumbles around his throbbing knuckles.

"Yes. Now rinse out the pot and do it again, properly. And wash your hands!"

Iroh chuckles ruefully as he dumps out the teapot. "You're even more difficult to please than Jeong Jeong."

Chiyo snorts. "If he'd ever brewed his own tea, his students would have a much better grasp of the importance of attention. Besides, if you didn't like it, you shouldn't have married me- no, not that tin! Smell the leaves, don't just goggle at them."

"But they smell exactly the same!"

"For someone who enjoys drinking tea so much, you certainly don't understand how to appreciate it." Chiyo sighs. "Go outside and wait while the water cools. Pour it in too hot and it-"

"- scalds the leaves?"

"Well." Chiyo's mouth curls up at the corner, just a tiny bit. "It's going to be a long road for you, but maybe you won't be completely useless at this by the time I'm done."

She whacks him with the ladle again when he tries to sneak a kiss, but it doesn't sting as much as it could have. When Iroh finally does walk out the door, he has a goofy grin on his face, and the water is stone cold.