Falling For You ✰༄ ѕσkkα

Water || Lies To Oneself

We crash onto a wooden platform in a tangled mess of limbs and rope. "You idiot!" I smack him on the head, causing him to recoil. "Hey! It's not my fault you didn't pull me back down!"
"How was I supposed to know that?"

I finally catch a glimpse of his face, seeing how multiple strands of dark hair has has escaped his wolf tail, along with catching red leaves that stuck out in all directions. "Pfft-" I bring a hand up to my mouth, stopping any sound from being heard. My shoulders shake slightly, and I can feel a huge grin appearing behind my palm.

"What?" I point up to his hair, and his hands quickly travel up to the top of his head. The soft crunching of dead leaves makes his eyes widen in abject horror. He ruffles his fingers through his locks, and I allow myself to laugh at his frantic motions. He's laughing too, and quickly readjusted his hair band.

After another moment, Aang is already jumping through the canopy, exploring our current base. I take a look around, seeing we've been thrown into what seems to be a large network of bridges and platforms. They're constructed out of jumbled planks of wood, obviously done by teenagers. There's thin lines with the appearance of black rope strewn from branches above farther appart platforms. Although, majority are connected by rickety bridges made of the same planks. Small buildings have been placed about, and they greatly jut out from their support trunks. Even though they had the same use of wood, large pieces of fabric or tarps have been draped over various parts. Everything has been shielded by the veil of leaves residing below.

Katara and Jet land one tree away, and Sokka already has a scowl spread across his features. "Something really feels off about him. But I just can't figure out what..."
"Is it because he's trying to make a move on your sister?" I elbow him in the shoulder.
"No there's more than that!" he grumbles, folding his arms over his chest. "I just," he glances over to me and sighs, "I just don't like him."
"Me too."

Soon enough the other Freedom Fighters join Jet, collectively crossing over to us. Katara questions him, obviously ignoring Sokka's remarks and protests.

"Why does the Fire Nation wanna find you?"
"I guess you could I've been causing them a little trouble. See, they took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back," he replies all too casually. Sokka's beginning to get antsy, jumping and shifting around his weight to see if he can get a better view of Katara and Jet from behind Pipsqueak.

"That's so brave," Katara bashfully says.
"Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a treehouse." The Water Tribe boy forced his opinion into the conversation, earning an amused exhale from me.
"Don't pay any attention to my brother."
"No problem, he probably had a rough day."

They're talking about him as if he wasn't literally sticking himself right between them. This practice would seem normal a siblings relationship, but I didn't expect Jet to keep it going easily. This subtle exchange urges him to shrink back towards me, once again by my side.

Time skip: Dining in the trees...

Strung lanterns casted a warm glow over us, illuminating the treehouse. There were some other Freedom Fighters lounging on a myriad of platforms, but those who we've met today are seated at the low table. It was big enough to provide space for everyone to put their elbows on the surface if they pleased.

Lychee nuts and berries brought color to our otherwise dull dinner. They were settled in large bowls open to anyone for the taking, and other dishes included roasted boar, cooked fish, and what I assume to be a calf. They had been sliced into thick pieces, resting atop slabs of wood with cracked edges. Water was served in matching cups, along with a few other of the forrest's natural delicacies splayed about, up for anyone to pick through.