shatterverse | (no subject)

Current Location: The Cooper Farm, Kansas

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Suki is sitting in the shade of a big beech tree, a little way removed from the buildings and goings on of the main farmstead. It's safe to say that her time at the Cooper Farm has not started very well, what with meeting Sokka and finding out that he's not the one that she left behind at the Western Air Temple, and having to swallow the fact that he's with some other girl here. Hence why she's distinctly unhappy right now.

There are other Sokkas here, allegedly, but she refuses to get her hopes up about that. Meditation hasn't helped at all. So she's just sitting there in her Earth clothes, brooding, and looking nothing like the proud Kyoshi warrior that some folk know her to be.

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"Pleased to meet you, Steph."

Suki completes the handshake cordially. She's not able to match the patented Steph Brown!beam, but it's infectious enough to make her own smile gain a little wattage.

"Uh... yeah. I guess," she says.

And then she sighs. Suki hates lying. It goes against all her warrior principles.

"Okay, not really."

"Oh, that's not good." Steph squeezes her hand sympathetically before letting go. "It's kind of hard changing worlds, huh?"

"Yes," Suki agrees.

"But it's not really that. I've been on Earth for a while now. In Japan. Barbara, Dinah and Zinda picked me and friend up from there yesterday, and brought us here."

As quickly as it grew, her smile fades away again.

"It's more... what I found here," she concludes, enigmatically.

"The Birds are wonderful, huh?" Steph agrees, grinning, but it fades with Suki's.

"What did you find? -- I mean, if you want to talk about it. Msybe I can help."

Suki lifts an eyebrow.

"The birds?"

They never introduced themselves that way.

"Yes. They're great," she answers, while thinking how to reply to Steph's question.

Eventually, she shrugs. "I doubt you can, but I don't mind. It's all just so weird. I show up here and find someone I'm very close to in my world. Except, it turns out that he's not from the same point in time as me. And he has a different girlfriend here."

Bitter Suki is bitter.

"Oh, no." Steph wrinkles her nose, sitting down next to her and looking sympathetic. "Oh man, that has to be hard. Doesn't he still care about you at all?"

"I don't know. Maybe?" Suki offers.

"It doesn't matter. He's not the same guy. He's only kissed me once and he's with someone else now. The Sokka I know... he's older, and we've been through a lot more."

She looks at Steph, and her heartfelt fondness for him shows in her eyes.

"We're a lot closer."

Steph blinks, her friendly-anxious-caring expression dropping completely for several seconds before she manages to pull it back up.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry."

She is sorry. And also, she is staring at Suki a lot more closely, noting down details like hard muscle and warrior grace, and big pretty eyes.

D:

Suki is still looking at Steph when her demeanor falters. It's an odd kind of reaction to that news, but... she lets it pass. People on this world are strange.

She shrugs again, stoically.

"Thanks."

"The other girl seems really nice and all," she concedes, tearing up some grass from between her knees and then casting it away. "It's alright. It's not my Sokka. I'll get over it."

Steph draws her knees up and wraps her arms around them, looking guilty. "Yeah... but it still sucks for you. I'm really sorry."

Not sorry enough to give him back though.

"... I'm sure he still likes you a bit. Sokka doesn't get over things easy."

"No. He doesn't."

Suki tries to sound like she doesn't care. Given the circumstances, why should she? But she only partially pulls it off.

After a moment, she cocks her head over inquisitively.

"It sounds like you know him pretty well too."

"We've been through a lot together." Steph picks a bunch of grass to play with, still guilty. "I met him on the world before this one."

She glances sieways at Suki, frowning. It sounds like she's already talked to Sokka, already had the with-someone-else-now talk. So why hadn't Sokka mentioned meeting her here? Did he not want Steph to know Suki was here? Was he upset? Mad? Worse ... happy?

Augh.

Suki looks a tad confused now. And Steph's frown doesn't help things. Also: why is she acting so guilty?! Once again, things are making very little sense.

"He never mentioned that he'd been to another world before this one," she reveals. "Did he meet Claire there too? Or did they meet here?"

Steph blinks, frowns -- and realises.

"... you met the other one! Oh."

... wait, that's even worse, that means Suki's been upset about Claire and doesn't even know Steph's ...

oh man.

"... oh."

"What?"

Suki's gaze sharpens, hawk-like, but not in any threatening way.

"Apparently, we're not talking about the same Sokka. I know there are others around, so don't spare my feelings on that front."

Steph likes her focused attitude. It makes it a little easier to be blunt.

"... I think your Sokka is mine."

"...What?"

For several long seconds, Suki stares at Steph. And then she face-palms.

"Of course he is," she mumbles. "Of course he is!"

"This really isn't my day."

Hey, at least she's not crying.

That Steph can see.

"I'm sorry," Steph repeats, guiltily. "He's -- older, and you said that, and he's definitely -- I mean, unless he wants to be yours, I guess, he probably misses you, but he doesn't really like talking about his past, and he's -- I really really really care about him a lot."

Steph is has coherence.

Suki nods faintly, her hand still covering the majority of her face. If there are tears, she's managing to keep them to a trickle so far. And she doesn't sound too snuffly when she speaks again. So, cudos to her for that.

"Don't... don't worry. I'm not about to sweep in and steal him away from you. If he's with you, he's with you. I won't be around here long." Not now at any rate. "I want to find a way home."

She scrubs her hand down her face and then cards her fingers into the still disarrayed hair above her forehead.

"The other Sokka, Claire's one, he said the old Sokka probably wasn't mine either. So... there is that. Maybe he isn't?"

"You couldn't steal him if you tried," Steph says sharply. "He's not something you can steal!"

Why do people keep thinking Sokkas are objects? It makes Steph sad.

... and totally not feeling any pricks of jealousy at all. Nope, no way, Steph be fiercely protective? Pff, never.

"Neither of them are yours. The young one is with Claire and the older one likes me." So there, Suki, with your big pretty eyes and perfect skin and hair.

To be fair, Suki's hair looks a little less than perfect at the current time. Steph must be seeing its undeniable potential to be gorgeous, when it's actually brushed and tended to properly.

As for the girl under the hair, she shows great restraint in the wake of Steph's comments. It would be easy to snap back defensively. But Suki, well-trained warrior that she is, refuses to stoop to that level.

...This time.

"Calm down," she advises Steph, serenely. "I meant that he may not be the Sokka who's from the same time as me."

"And even if he is," she dearly hopes he isn't now, "you're right. Stealing was a bad choice of word. He has free will. He can choose to be with whoever makes him the most happy."

Steph shrugs, sulky and even more annoyed with this new girl for being so mature and confident and ... annoying.

"If you hurt him even a tiny little bit, even if you bring up bad memories for him, I'm going to punch you."

She's just sayin'.

Suki looks down her nose at Steph, all her heartbreak shelved for now. Annoyance is rapidly becoming a mutual thing.

"Really," she deadpans.

It's not in Suki's nature to underestimate an opponent. She sees that Steph has a fairly athletic physique herself. And who knows what crazy Earth fighting styles she might be trained in. She hasn't gotten with Dinah to see what judo and boxing and katare (yeah she forgot how it was pronounced) are all about yet.

Still, Suki fancies her chances if they ever did come to blows.

"It's sweet that you're so protective of him," she says, smiling wanly. "But if he's the Sokka I know, or anything like him, he can take care of himself."

"Not that I have any desire to hurt him or mess with his head."

"You better not," Steph mutters, scowling at the ground.

The worst thing about acting like this is that she's perfectly aware of how bratty and obnoxious she sounds. It's just ... hard to stop. Of course Sokka can take care of himself physically. But he'll angst.

"... don't ask him about Katara." It's a suggestion, more than anything else. "If you talk to him. Just ... don't."

An eye narrows now, less hostile and more curious.

"Okay. I won't," she vouches.

"But... why?"