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My baby and her sweet, amazing, perfect brother @stellanomine​!!

Art by @cockybusiness​ 

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stellanomine

Victor’s smile grows as she talks, all of the dawdling, nervous energy that has been lingering in his joints quelling some. It’s a relief to have something to distract him, to keep him just a little too long from returning to the rink, and although Yakov will have his neck for further insubordination, he can’t bring himself to mind.

It’s a warm day, and if he returns to the rink now, the sweat dripping down the back of his neck and wetting his hair will freeze and become uncomfortable, and Victor so hates to feel uncomfortable.

His fingers tug through the curtain of hair he’s tossed over his shoulder to keep away from the nape of his neck and his warm back and he sends a smile the stranger’s way.

“I spend most of my summers indoors, if I’m honest.” His English is rusty, but hers is certainly no better, he assesses with the narrowing of humor-filled eyes. “But no, not in Russia, this humidity would be the end of us all, we would be dry husks in the street.”

He laughs a light, noncommittal sound at the image of the streets of his Leningrad, deserted.

“It’s not very polite to call someone a foreigner.” His lips tighten in a minute pout, bored, anything to keep from having to leave the air conditioned interior of the shop and continue towards the rink once more. “I prefer visitor. It feels a little more welcoming, like I won’t be chased away.”

"Oh, Russia, matryoshka dolls! I have two." Shiko looked up, excited to ask about the man's country. Her eyes followed the movement of his fingers through long and lustrous hair. She opened her mouth to ask why he spent his summers inside, since they were such a wonderful season, but she'd already messed up again. 

She felt her face burn with mortification, making herself smaller on the chair. This was her own fault of course, she was the one that lacked people skills, her friends always said so.

"Not going to chase you away, of course. Gomene, sorry." Shiko tried a sheepish smile, hoping she'd understood right, and he was mostly teasing her. "How do you say sorry in Russian? I might need it if you keep talking to me."

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stellanomine

The heat in her face was instant, eyes widening the instant she finished the phrase. “Oh, gomen kudasai.” Shiko apologised quickly, head dropping to a short bow, before snapping back to the line ahead of her, hiding her blush from him. Well, at least her English had been properly used, she could be proud of that.

It’s hot—it’s unbearably hot, and Victor will not have the heat. Not when every very molecule of his being yearns to be back on the ice, to get over the strange twist in his left ankle and feel the chill from the rink creeping into his ears and cheeks as he skates. For summer after summer, he’s avoided the warmth with that very strategy, run from humidity in the cool, dry atmosphere of the rink.

Pitiful that he can only escape with an iced drink now.

“That means sorry, right?” His brows quirk upwards in interest as he leans upon the bartop beside where she’s set up, a hand flattened and fanning his brow through the air. Japan will be his end, he thinks—a statement he’s declared time and time again over the course of his visit to the superb rudeness of his host.

“You should be. Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean the rest of us should be forced to put up with such torment.” Still, it’s one of his more dazzling smiles he aims towards the girl, eyelids squeezed shut in an apology of his own. “Or are you saying it can get worse? Because if that happens, I might flatten into a puddle.”

"Oh, are? I-" Shiko's mind did a series of acrobatics trying to follow the man's words, going through the shock of being called out on the weather- over which she had no fault whatsoever- and the way his face scrunched up into a smile at the end.

Was it, okay to talk to him then? She certainly wanted to. It was not usual she got many people to talk to outside of her two friends and small family, and the foreigner seemed to be interested, maybe?

But then again, he was a stranger, and perhaps she shouldn't… oh, ichigo ichie.

"It can get some more worse, yes." She answered hesitantly, twirling the coffee in her hands, considering her next words. "You don't have this summer where you come from? Oh, maybe that was, private? I, sorry. I don't meet many outside people. Foreigners." Shiko gave the man an apologetic smile-meets-grimace, and hid in her cup.

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Continued with @stellanomine

Shiko’s downright mortified when the stranger reaches out to hand her a tissue, which only makes her cry harder. Because she’s ashamed, and then upset because she’s always ashamed over one thing or the other, and that makes her sad, which piles up with her current issue, and it’s only when she’s hiccuping in the library table, Gods know how long afterwards, that she realises she’s not thanked the boy.

“I’m sorry, I don’t really know what’s gotten into me.” She’s barely looking up, her face burning from the furious scrubbing of her hands, embarrassment and tears. “I’d like to say I’m not usually like this, but that’s not exactly true.”

When Shiko finally looks up, she tries not to think of how much of a mess she must look like, and instead gives the boy a grateful smile. “I think that has to count as enough for a couple more weeks, right?” She jokes, nervously.

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bitofthisandthat

Asami sipped her tea and listened with wide eyes, “Well..after mom died, my dad DID have a staff of tutors and one very uptight nanny look out for me, but for the most part, he and I were inseparable. I DID have a bodyguard that taught me how to fight.” She smiled mischievously, and took a pastry from the platter.

Asami laughed warmly and waved it off. “Oh, don’t even worry about it. I don’t. There’s no need to keep up appearances and censor yourself with people you like. That’s for formal banquets, rituals, and board meetings.” Her shoulders bobbed with mirth, as she only slightly blushed. “Well, I used to be self conscious, and watch where I was putting my face and gloves when I worked, but now I realize that just slows you down, and you make technical mistakes when you try to be ‘clean’ in a warehouse. A n d, not to mention, I don’t need other workers thinking I’m some priss that can’t keep up with the rest of them,” She chuckled, sipping her tea. “Plus, I have amazingly good custom make-up made for me that stays on through most anything.” She winked at the royal. “I could get you some, if you reaaaaalllly want to annoy your family.”

She blinked a moment. “Well, I don’t know much about bending, being a non-bender and all, but don’t all benders kind of…develop their own style after they master their element? Katara and Toph didn’t fight 100% like how they were taught, and your aunt made up her own style as well? Bolin does his own thing with Earth and Lava, so maybe you can do your own style? Am I wrong?”

~~~~

“Lava?” Shiko’s eyes widened in surprise. Okay, sue her, but she was excited about pretty much anything under the sun, and the fact that she’d been out and about for so little only made her look like an oversized toddler discovering the world.

“Sorry, sorry, we’ll definitely go back to that custom make-up, but I can’t believe you know a lavabender! I’ve only ever read of them, and I thought after Avatar Kyoshi they were a myth!” The teacup was as good as forgotten in favor of the storytelling. She shifted closer to Asami, buzzing with excitement.

“This Bolin, he’s the one from Team Avatar, right? I’ve read of you on the newspapers. Agni, I can’t believe you know so many great people.”

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stellanomine

“You’ve still got a sane hair somewhere in there?”

It’s—a light enough jibe that he thinks he may just be able to get away with it, punctuated by a shit-eating grin over his copy of the Republic City times. It’s a few days old, always is when it has to be transported across the ocean for Mako to be able to read it, but there’s something about the smell of the paper and the cheap ink that rubs off on his fingers that makes him feel like he’s home, again.

There’s something nostalgic in it, just like in the coffee beans he has sent over from his favorite shop at the city’s marketplace. Playing the part of a transplant means he is particular for what he cannot get here. If it makes him old, if it provides additional ammunition for his brother and friends when they see one another again to tease him with, so be it.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t damn happy, anyway, and that’s more important than something as droll as missing the charred beans from the city and the senseless need to be plugged in at all times.

He looks across the desk towards her, chest aching at how irredeemably soft her face becomes when she’s this far along. Mako’s had the incredibly good fortune to see it not once but twice now, and every time he thinks he can feel himself falling even more in love with her than before. Her, the Fire Lord, when stripped from her titles and fancy robes—and everything else, too—is reduced to nothing more and nothing less than his Shiko, pregnant with his second child.

The thought sends a thrill down his spine.

He debates what he’s able to say next, what he’s allowed to say, but a comment such as “kids do awful things” would fall flat upon his optimist of a wife’s ears, and it’s hesitatingly that he believes he has the right to say anything about royalty at all. It’s miracle enough he was allowed to marry into the family at all.

“Bending sounds good.” his eyes catch hers, brows raising in a challenge. “If you can move at all. If you can’t, I’ll help.”

He’s at her side in three strides, and helps her to her feet, and pinches her cheek to rid her face of the scowl.

She could've complained, or snapped at his joke, even go as far as sending a spark above the desk to make him pay for the teasing, and she was sure he wouldn't have minded. Mako was just like that, too good to, and for her, and Shiko was irreparably in love with him.

Instead, she just watched him read the newspaper, chin propped on her hand in sweet contemplation, looking for the little movements she already knew were there. How his lips twitched one way or the other depending on what he was reading; the way his eyes sparkled with Pro-Bending, or tightened at the corners with news about crime, or how his whole face softened whenever the Chief of Police was on the paper.

"You do know I have a list of all of these transgressions of yours," Shiko stood, even with his help it was tiresome, but at least this baby allowed her more movement Raeden's pregnancy ever had. That she was not bedridden at seven months was a small miracle all things considered.

She wrapped her arms around his waist. Or well, she put her hands on it, the belly in between them making it hard to actually hug. "And in two month's time I'm going to kick your ass, husband dearest." She threatened with her sweetest smile, fingers twining on Mako's to lead him out to the training field.

The garden looked lovely in the afternoon, Shiko let herself lean her weight on Mako's side as they walked through the roses and snapdragon bushes. It was late enough in the day that Agni's call wasn't as strong, and she could bend without it being too much of a strain for her body, and what was clearly another firebender in her big belly.

Raeden could be heard talking the governess' ear off in the gallery, and Shiko was sure once she saw them bending, she'd be drawn like a moth to the light. They were sure the girl's fire was going to manifest any day now, by the way her temperature wavered whenever she trained with Mako. Shiko knew she'd be most proud of her whenever it happened, but she wasn't so sure she'd be able to handle a baby, the crown and the ball of energy that was their girl.

"She told Nima she wanted to be a policeman the other day." Shiko commented lightly, the slab circle already in front of them. She nudged Mako to help her out of her dress robes with polar bear-puppy eyes. "Said she wanted to be just like her dad. The pro-bending career is also on the table apparently." She shook her head, wondering what her mom would say if the Crown Princess went on to pursue a career in sports. 

"We might have to get her a tiny Fire Ferrets' uniform you know, for cuteness reasons. Maybe Pabu's will fit?" A chuckle left her lips.

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“No living creature should have to go out in this heat.” - Victor

Shiko looked up at the man that had just entered the shop from under her lashes, and back ahead, and then back up. He had the prettiest hair she’d ever seen; silver and lustrous, shining so nicely under the light. And now she was staring. But, before she could feel embarrassed, he talked, and her face scrunched up in confusion. 

She was well aware the stranger was not talking to her, and that there was absolutely no need for her to answer. What’s more, it would be rude of her to do so, and yet- “It’s not, it’s not really that hot?”

The heat in her face was instant, eyes widening the instant she finished the phrase. “Oh, gomen kudasai.” Shiko apologised quickly, head dropping to a short bow, before snapping back to the line ahead of her, hiding her blush from him. Well, at least her English had been properly used, she could be proud of that. 

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“Listen, I could get you in trouble for not taking a break, but I won’t.” - Iroh

“And you won’t because…” Shiko wasn’t a stranger to Iroh’s weird ways to blackmail her into doing less, but she was still always wary of what he’d ask of her. If anything because her brother had a knack for getting in trouble and still remain the family’s favorite, whereas Shiko could very well be an angel, and still be found guilty of something.

Still, she shifted on her chair, papers forgotten on the desk, her attention solely on her brother now. That Shiko always missed Iroh was an undeniable fact. That she would do pretty much anything he asked of her, too, albeit somewhat warily.

She threw her arms towards him, hands opening and closing in a grabby gesture, until he conceded and hugged her. “What are you planning in that head of yours, Iroh?”

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Kyoto, Japan | Patrick Vierthaler

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amaarok

He nearly choked. “E.L. James?” Tonraq asked, incredulous. He didn’t want to know… though he’d seen the stock come through the bookshop and swiftly be filed away under erotica. God. “If she has any… taste for that kind of writing, it hasn’t come up yet. Alice is more of a children’s author, so Suzanne Collins, but for ten-year-olds.”

It was out there, then— her name. He realized it a second after quieting, sinking as deep as the couch cushion would allow and looking down at his lap.  He was proud of himself for not shrinking away. He’d been here before with others, right on the cusp of letting himself feel and trust, but ultimately pulling out before either could be hurt.

Maybe he’d learned something finally… how to be happy, or… how to let others in on the unsuspecting ramification of what he’d lost.

Turning a little smile on Shiko, Tonraq wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tucked her in tight against his side. She was tiny compared to him, but he found comfort in her weight, either way. A sister, when Mori wasn’t around to poke and prod him.

“You know, if you want it, you’ll find it. You’re a beautiful woman, Shiko. But, don’t be in any rush because the world tries to say what’s normal. Normal’s boring, anyway.”

~~~~

“Oh, I love that! I would absolutely want to read her work.” Shiko’s teasing left out the window at the mention of kids’ stories. They were always so fresh and exciting in a way that made her look back to her childhood with some fondness. Granted they were good, that was.

But Shiko’s forming years had been surrounded by books, and then books and cats, and she couldn’t help but to feel that spark of joy that came with opening a new cover to see what was inside, even if she was well into her young adulthood years now.

“Anyway-” She smiled at Tonraq, sweet, and filled with love for his love, through the teeth trapping her lower lip. “I’m glad Alice is making you happy. And when you feel like it, I’d love to meet her, yes?” He was a very private person in those kind of things, Shiko knew, so she wouldn’t push it, but she wanted Tonraq to know she’d be a good friend in every step of the way. “In the meantime, next time I’m at your shop, you’ll sell me her book.”

She rested on him, head on the same spot she did Iroh and Bumi, with her face a little hidden in the crook of his neck. “I know.” Shiko said after a moment of silence. She refrained from commenting on how she wasn’t beautiful, because for one, she would not fish for compliments, and also because she cared little about looks in that sense.

“I do.” She repeated, to reassure him or herself, she didn’t know. “Some days it’s just harder to believe that, though. That normal is not that big of a deal. I guess I’ll just have to try harder.”

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hellreleased

         “I always want to adopt them all!” And sometimes she does –– the older ones, the sickly ones. The ones that have been there for a long time. Is she allowed to have more than two pets in her apartment? Absolutely not. Does she, at all times, have more than two pets in her apartment? Absolutely. She’s always had a soft spot for animals, and her childhood home was often found with animals she’d bring in from outside, for no other reason than wanting to give them a home ( of course, now that she’s older, she understands that some animals are just better left outside, for their own sake ).

         She glances away from her phone to look at what Shiko has up on her computer screen, and Aurora takes a moment to really take it all in. After she’s glanced through it, she grins, looking at Shiko brightly. “This is perfect! Seriously, way better than what we had. I’m super bad at doing this sort of stuff from scratch, and the old one was definitely made by some lady who had no idea what she was doing.” Anything would be better than what’s there now, and all they have to do is make this go live. “Can we publish it? Make it the new website right now?”

~~~~

“Of course we can, yes!” Shiko’s smile moved from hesitant to bright with Aurora’s approval, happy and relieved they’d done a good job. “I’m so glad you like it this much.

“Okay, let me-” She made the final adjustments for the page to be up and running, fingers tapping quickly across the keyboard. “And there you go!” A small frown pulled at her brows, a thought making her lips tighten for a moment. “You know, I should’ve really made a couple more promo pics for the Instagram, but well, I can probably send them to you by the end of the day.”

Yes, the dogs were definitely too cute for their own good, and Shiko would make a couple- various couples- more edits for the account. Anything that gave them a forever home. She turned back to Aurora. “Do you need help here? I have the rest of the day off, so I could give you a hand, or buy some coffee... take pictures of you with the dogs? I bet people would love to know the face behind all of this amazing work.” 

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can u believe some people can see a cat & not immediately be filled with absolute unconditional love for that animal. they dont even get the urge to kiss them right on their little baby cat head. thats incomprehensible to me

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bitofthisandthat

Asami gave the royal heiress a bright smile, scooting her place a bit closer to Shiko. “Well, politics in this city are a bit complicated. I know the founders had good intentions, but every generation more is challenged. I trust the people of this city…and it does help that your uncle and Toph are still around to remind them of the old days…Lady Katara seems content to stay as a high elder for the White Lotus and stay out of ALL official political business…And I don’t blame her one little bit.” Asami smirked, offhandedly eyeing her menu then Shiko, gauging her reaction. She set the large folded booklet down and blinked repeatedly. Aside from the activities, her upbringing was similar to her own.

“No, no. It’s alright! Trust me, that is not rambling. It’s…” she spread her hands apart in a gesture of good will. “It’s getting to know one another. Besides, I asked about YOU first.” She nodded when the waitress arrived, bowing towards the two and placing the tea platter elegantly before each. She promised to return to take their orders, and scuttled off. “You know, aside from a few details, we were pretty much brought up the same way…I mean, minus the fussy mother stuff. I had a fussy nanny and a couple aunties that visited that didn’t approve of how my father gave me so many allowances. They were my mother’s sisters…and my mom was a Lady, but my dad was just a struggling engineer and inventor…He had just a sack of copper coins to his name and a lot of ideas. My grandfather believed in him, but you know…my dad still struggled with the differences a lot. He made the climb, and became a great influencer…I guess. But I never knew that kind of life, that struggle. My father made sure I only knew the life of a fine lady.” She sipped her tea and reflected quietly. “Well, he DID expose me to greasy, hard labor and combat.” She winked. “I just had to be proper everywhere else.” She took another drink, then set her cup down. “You know…You can be more than just ONE thing, Shiko. You can create art, and fight. You can be a fine lady but also want to do exciting adventures! This isn’t the world of our great-grandmothers. I fly planes, design machines, kick some butt��AND enjoy the finer, more elegant things in life. And I never smear my lipstick doing any of it.” Another cheeky wink.

~~~~

“I’ve had quite a few helping hands in my upbringing too. My mom, she- sorry, it does not do well to talk ill about something she probably couldn’t help, but- I always saw more of my Zuko, Azula, and the governess than I did her.

“That is, unless I needed to be scolded for one thing or the other, and that happened quite a lot. Still shocked I was allowed the throne once she steps down.” Shiko’s eyebrows shoot up in a disbelief gesture, and she busied her hands with the tea cup while Asami talked words that reminded Shiko of her grandfather’s teachings. She couldn’t help but to feel warmth at the woman’s encouragement. Asami made it sound so easy, Shiko wanted to believe her.

“Well, you did make quite the picture back in the warehouse, makeup and motor oil surely don’t look like that on just anyone. I can only hope I look half as stunning as you did when I firebend.” Shiko bit the inside of her lip at the slipped compliment, wondering if it’d been too much. She hid her hesitance with a drink of the tea. It was good, she had to admit, even if she’d still pawn her crown for coffee any day of the week. “Although if I take my aunt’s word for it, I only have two looks; baby and wild, and I’m not sure I can channel something in the middle, but the poor manners and protocol coach is certainly trying.

“He says a Fire Lord can’t be a koala-sheep, nor a lion-vulture, and I swear to Agni, half the time I feel I’m just spacing out, but apparently I have a look sometimes. I just need to find where it comes from, and make it stay.”

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“You are just fueled by spite and chai tea lattes.” - Mako

Shiko glared at her husband over the cup, perfectly aware of how irrational she was being, but unable to stop and relax. She could only do so much to manage her anger on a regular day, there was no way she’d tame her fire while seven months pregnant, much to the Healers’ chagrin.

“You should be glad I still have a hair of sanity left, and a great deal of respect for the piece of gold in my head and how much it took me to get it, because otherwise I would’ve just- I just-”

She really didn’t know what she would’ve done, if anything at all. Shiko knew her anger was blown out of proportion by the hormones, and her own childhood memories, and this had hardly been an issue at all for Raeden. The girl had listened to their reassuring words- well, Mako’s, because Shiko had been tongue-tied the whole time- brushed it all off, and gone out to play. Her baby girl was already stronger than Shiko, and she couldn’t be prouder.

“I just can’t believe little kids can be so mean to each other.You would think at least they’d wait until they go to school for such things.” She sighed to the cup, taking another resigned sip of the tea. Just two more months, and she could have her coffee back. 

Shiko looked out the opened door to the patio, Raeden happy squeals could be heard from where they were, even if she couldn’t see where they came from. Probably the pond. “I don’t want her to have to fight for what is rightfully hers, that’s all. Not unless she wants to.” There were too many awful memories in her family tied to the crown and the ways of acquiring it to last them ten lifetimes. To add one more so early on, just because a little kid had repeated what he heard at home...

She reached out to grab Mako’s hand. He was her lifeline, and her sanity at moments like this. “Do you want to firebend a little? This one is getting restless, and I could really stretch my legs.”

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Stop it, you’ll make her cry! And then I’ll cry, and everything will be a mess!

Thank you, love, you’re the sweetest, have a kitten.

Quick mobile shoutout to Rory’s Shiko @inazumashiko for being such a strong, vivid OC that she drives the muse I write who is in love with her absolutely mad when he hasn’t interacted with her for too long. I raise my unicorn frappuccino to you, babe.