Open to all! Dated before the barrier goes funny.

[dustonmyfeet]

The girl making her way through the city probably wasn't anyone's image of Toph Bei Fong, and certainly not the image of the statue standing near the police station. She was small, verging on scrawny (an effect compounded by oversized clothing), face marked with at least a couple of layers of dirt. In that clothing, her features obscured, she might even have been taken for a boy -- were it not for the heavy braid trailing down her back.

Frankly, Toph didn't mind the whole arrangement. The makeshift disguise let her explore the city pretty much as she pleased -- or at least the parts she was currently interested in seeing. No one paid much attention to a street urchin, and there were some benefits to being blind; it tended to make others look away, and by the time they thought something of a blind girl wandering around the city by herself, Toph was gone.

So far, she had a good thing going, except for the lack of idol worship.


((ooc: Pick a setting option. Feel free to pose in with whatever your character is doing in that area, and I'll pose back off of you with whatever Toph is up to. Glad to work out anything in advance -- just PM me or poke me on Plurk!))

A. Toph is in the less well-off parts of town, taking stock of the area and probably noting the triads with interest. You might even catch her at a scam. (Hey, new place, money is necessary, and she has to test the limits.)

B. Up near the bending arena. Maybe it's just a practice day; maybe there's a game going on. She's just as likely to come either time. It's enough like Earth Rumble that she'll be interested.

C. Taking a break somewhere in the city (though likely not in the upper class districts). The satomobile vibrations are still a little rough on her, and a girl's gotta eat.

D. Wildcard -- have an idea? Poke me on PM or Plurk!

Comments

[dustonmyfeet]

The truth of the matter was that Toph had to be a little more careful here than she was at home. After all, earthbenders existed here -- and openly, at that. This wasn't the Fire Nation, where earthbending wasn't expected, giving her an advantage. Whatever she did had to be done carefully, and by virtue of being better than the people she was scamming.

Challenge accepted, as far as Toph was concerned.

She still had some advantage. She was obviously blind, just a little girl in appearance. It made people less likely to be suspicious, at least within the first minute or two. Therefore scams had to be quicker -- get in, get out, and heavy on the cute when necessary.

This particular scam had involved a more subtle form of bending -- in this case, Toph making a playful bet with the lady that, despite the fact that she was blind, she could guess what number came up on the dice when they were tossed, just by the way they "sounded." The dice were (apparently) wood; the lady expected nothing . . . and when Toph had gotten it right, she'd laughed as though a dog had performed a very fine trick, willingly handing over the money.

(A minute or two later, she would find herself tripping in a hole that she hadn't noticed whatsoever, falling flat on her face. But that would be another story entirely, and likely it had nothing to do with the blind girl she'd left behind.)

Toph paused at Duo's voice. But there was no reason to drop the charade. Yet. And his comment was neutral enough.

"Does that mean you're trying?" She held out her hand.

[prettyinhandcuffs]

Duo laughed and shook his head, pushing the hand back. "Please, I like taking chances as much as the next guy, but I'm not stupid. Besides, no money. Wish I had that kind of hearing though. Must come in handy."

[dustonmyfeet]

Well, if he wasn't going to play . . . Toph's shoulders lifted, tucking the dice away into the folds of her clothing. Time to move.

"Yeah, being a magical blind girl is awesome."

The words were half-absent; Toph was already calculating where to move onto next. As far as she was concerned so far, the guy was just a smug onlooker, and she didn't need anyone blowing her cover.