[open] why you mad? fix your face

[eternalshield]

Who: Zeno + you
What: Drowning.
When: June 3
Where: The beach.
Warnings: Drowning.

[Zeno was... subdued. Shin-ah's disappearance was enough of a blow, but having to turn around and... do that... to the people he's loved and lost, well. Hopefully no one noticed him removing himself from society for a week or so. While even he's not sure exactly where the line between his natural personality and his usual exuberance is drawn -- people change so much over the course of their lives, after all -- enough people have seen enough of his unhappiness that he just wanted to rest and recoup before he attempted living again.

So he'd gotten it out of his system and was now idling along the beach, shoes off and feeling the sand burn his feet.]

A

[Some sort of glimmering fin catches his attention near the horizon line... A bit like a large fish waving? Which is silly, fish do not wave. But Zeno waves back, all the same, enjoying the flight of a fancy that a fish might be waving to him.

He wades into the water, just to speed up the process of the sunburn healing on his feet. That same fin seems a little closer... too close, maybe, after so short a period of time, but it wouldn't be the first time Zeno's perception of time failed him.

The fish jumps a little higher than Zeno would expect it to, but maybe that's also because it's too close? Hm.

He starts heading towards it...]

B

Aaah!

[Zeno yells out right as he's dragged underwater, and that doesn't work well, that involves choking on seawater. There's a horrible moment where he inhales, feels it go down his windpipe where liquid is not meant to be, where it's too thick and the inability to breathe makes him gasp in desperation again, suck in more water, and he's not sure if it's lack of oxygen or pain in his chest that causes his vision to blacken around the edges.

He struggles to pull himself back up over the surface, but his limbs are screaming against the strain... for a horrible second he's convinced that this is what will finally kill him and he's resigned to that, because-- but no. It's taking a minute, because he's far from Hiryuu Castle, but his body suddenly expels the water, suddenly the tiredness and strain from the lack of oxygen heals away, and he breaks the surface, gasps in just enough air to hold his breath, and gets dragged by the feet right back down to the depths by this-- it must be an ayakashi, this fish he saw waving earlier.

Zeno closes his eyes, not really looking forward to his options. Either he's going to black out from lack of oxygen, or he's going to breathe in water and drown again-- before his body resets the damage and he gets to make that awful choice all over again. The ayakashi has a hold on him, and unfortunately, inability to breathe is not the kind of injury that will give him the strength to fight his way out.

But his reverie is interrupted by a splash from above, as the ayakashi drags down someone else, and he frantically paddles his way over, the hold on his foot be damned.

You need to breathe, after all!]

C

[From the depths... of the ocean... he emerges.

Water and seaweed drip from every surface of his body as he emerges on the beach. He's shivering in the breeze, a small crustacean is hooked on to his sleeve. There's shells and driftwood stuck in his hair, complementing his beautiful gold medallion.

He begins the trudge out of the shallows and into the beach proper... and grimaces at all the sand that clings to him as he walks.]

Comments

B

[oneblackcat]

[Omi does need to breathe. He doesn't need Zeno's help to do it.

On hearing the cry and splashing, Omi's vision snaps to the water just in time to see someone go under in a very unnatural way. Spurred by the urgency of the victim's lack of oxygen, he races into the water and creates an iceboard that he freezes around his ankles for surfing across the water. He pushes the water past, cutting his own narrow current through the waves breaking on the beach and towards what appears to be a giant fish. By the time he sees what's going on, it's got a snag around his foot too.

The ice board breaks and dissolves as he's pulled under. Thinking quickly, he swirls his arms over his head and funnels away the water around his head until a bubble of air surrounds it. And he sees the other. Recognizes him even, for he met this one just a week or so ago.]

Hang on!!

[eternalshield]

[...Zeno waves. Not a lot to hang on to. That's something for his hands to do.

Actually, the bubble is a neat trick, too-- he wasn't expecting that! He opens his mouth in surprise, but the ayakashi jerks him and-- oh, he's got to-- choke on seawater again. He curls in on himself and closes his eyes because breathing water hurts.]

[oneblackcat]

[Omi briefly panics seeing the other clearly choking on water-- right. Taking a deep breath, he dismisses the bubble of air away from himself so that he can focus his ability on the one drowning. Starting at Zeno's middle, a pocket of air forms and quickly expands to encircle his whole body.

The ayakashi gives Omi an underwater shake now. He clamps his jaw closed and winces because it's all he can do. He's got to give Zeno a chance to breathe before he uses his ability for anything else.]

[eternalshield]

[The pocket forms just in time for Zeno's body to begin negating the damage and he promptly expels the sea water once again, perfectly recovered as if nothing, nothing happened...

Alarmed, though, he spots Omi, and... and now what? He doesn't have any offensive powers, and he really doesn't need Omi's protection... Omi needs his.]

Hey!! Drop this!! Zeno can't die, remember?!

C

[toremainbehind]

[It's strange to see someone suddenly emerge from the ocean, especially covered in seaweed, shell, and whatever else debris laid underneath the ocean water.

It doesn't take long for Izumo to come over to him, a look between concern and curiosity masking his face.]

Are you okay?

[eternalshield]

[Zeno draws a few pieces of seaweed aside, so he can see the person speaking to him clearly.]

Oh yes! [He smiles, and it is sincere. People showing concern... that's sweet. And curiosity, too! That's something that he hasn't felt in a while.]

Did Zeno scare you~?

[toremainbehind]

I think anyone would be scared if someone suddenly emerged covered in seaweed.

[A brief look over to see if the other man is okay and when he sees nothing, he hums.]

But it's best to get you dry now.

[eternalshield]

Zeno would be okay if it was the funny kind of scared, but if you were hurt by it, that's no good...

[He laughs a little, shaking his arm out and letting the crustacean free to run back to the water.]

How? [Very plainly.] Zeno's whole body feels like water now...

C

[savemeomi]

[ Shopping for swimsuits had been fun, but the water is just a little too cold for Ouka's liking. Still, it's fun to walk along the beach and just take in the view.

Until that view turns into a giant sea monster coming out of the ocean! ] Aaaarrg!!

[ She picks up a seashell to defend herself (she intends to throw it if he comes any closer...) ]

[eternalshield]

[The sea monster raises giant, salt-encrusted arms dripping seaweed.]

Miss is collecting seashells...? How cute!

[savemeomi]

Don't come any closer!!!

[ She's so ready to throw this at you--

Wait.

Her head tilts slightly as she finally takes in the tone of the monster. He sounds familiar. ]

[eternalshield]

[Zeno cheerfully mimics the head-tilt. He really hopes she doesn't throw it, because it they already had that one close call... library...]

Zeno will stay here if you want... Zeno needs to dry off anyway.

A

[kokuyoyo]

[And that's when what feels like something round and pretty damn hard smacks into the back of Zeno's head. Hard enough that it might actually knock him over into the water if he's really zoned out.]

[Chikusa tugs the yoyo back into his hand with a snap of his wrist, raising an eyebrow at the youth. His hat doesn't seem exactly beach appropriate, but he doesn't seem to care all that much.]

Hey.

Re: A

[eternalshield]

[Obligingly, Zeno pitches forward, faceplanting back into the surf and imbibing his hundredth-or-so mouthful of salt water.

This time, though? His nose is above the water and he can still breathe while he spits it out and waves lazily.]

Hope you scored a few points... what kind of game are you playing...?

[kokuyoyo]

It wasn’t, really….

[Very explanatory, Chikusa. Still, watching the other boy resurface and focus on him seems to satisfy something in him, because his stance loosens up slightly.]

You were acting strangely.

[eternalshield]

Really?

[He takes a look back out at the surf, where the fish appears again...]

You don't see it...?

A

[handsome_genius]

[Yoon is on the beach as well, thinking that all he's doing is prepping for lunch back at the temple. He's already caught two fish and is looking to get a third with the fishing pole he made when he notices the short blond man heading into the water.]

Hey! Are you really following me after all?

[It really wouldn't surprise him after the reaction he got before.]

[eternalshield]

What?

[Zeno wanders over, seeing the fish. His hands clap together, before he throws them in the air and cheers.]

You are cooking! It's like you were luring Zeno into a trap!

[handsome_genius]

A trap? How could it be a trap if I was just asking YOU why you're over here?

[He's not inherently deceitful by nature, so this baffles him.

But he does ready a hand to bat those hands or face away if Zeno tries to snatch one. They're not even cooked yet, geez.]

A

[idkmybffgon]

[And it's at this point that Killua rushes forward and latches onto Zeno's arm. Nope, nope, no way is he letting this cool guy wind up drowned because of a stupid fish.]

What're you, stupid?! Don't go chasing after that!

[...is that worry in his tone? The world may never know.]

[eternalshield]

[The hand on the opposite arm immediately comes to give Killua a quick pat on the head. Zeno smiles at him, even as his eyes still slide toward the horizon line...]

But maybe he's tasty, you know? Fresh fish would be so good!

[idkmybffgon]

[Killua gives Zeno a deadpan look, like he's some kind of huge moron.]

It's... it's obviously some kind of monster. Are you like blind or something?!

c

[whereyoulead]

Jesus Christ, you look like a fucking kraken. What the hell happened to you?

[Ken looks around, behind him--out over the water, as if he's trying to see if Godzilla or something is going to come out of the waves after him. Maybe the creature from the black lagoon. Or wait, that's the guy standing in front of him.

He steals a towel from an unsuspecting person's stash under a beach umbrella and goes over to the kid.]

[eternalshield]

Zeno looks like a what doing what?

[What is a kraken and when did you see it mating?

Still, he tries to peel off a mass of seaweed before accepting the towel.]

Fish...

[whereyoulead]

Giant squid-monster-thing.

[He wiggles his fingers in illustration of tentacles. Which are wiggly.]

It's all the seaweed.

...um, is that something we should take care of?