i'm useless! but not for long... the future is comin' on

[eternalshield]

Who: Zeno + Open (Most prompts)
What: Do you prefer your Yellow Dragon Original or Extra-Crispy? Or shopping?
When: Initially September 20 (post-event, late night), Sept. 21
Where: Yona's temple + other places, too!
Summary: Zeno's been canon updated. He also needs new clothes.

i. 9/20: Closed to Yoon & people who happen to be in or at Yona's temple.

[Zeno staggered. Steam and smoke rose from his body, charred fabric streamed down from his limbs, and nearly invisible in the darkness of night, he stumbled. His skin was black with ash and he cried out when his badly-burned hands touched the ground.

He looked up, and beneath the moon, here before him... some structure...

There shouldn't be any building still left standing, he thought; he held up the foundation until the foundation was all that was left. The flames had only just died down enough for him to pass through them, and the searing sharpness of the pain was clouding his thoughts more than he was accustomed to. It wasn't passing and healing the way he'd come to rely on. The distance... the distance from Hiryuu Palace... it slowed the healing down, and with the fire re-burning him before his body could fully heal the damage, yet still healing fast enough that he couldn't lose consciousness from smoke inhalation or go into shock to block his mind from perceiving or remembering the true extent of the pain...

Yet here he is, on his knees, wincing in pain, looking up at...]

Hiryuu Palace... grant me strength.

[The sight was entirely wrong... too far... and yet perfectly right, because he knows he was welcome here, too, in the recent past...

He collapses, then, a loud THUMP resounding from the impact... even as the burned-black skin starts to give way to the brilliant gold of the dragon's scales.]

ii. 9/21: Open

[...not really enjoying wearing borrowed clothes, since his all burned to ash, Zeno tugs and ruffles at his hair restlessly. Nothing to hold it back, and nothing to hang his pendant on, it dangles and glimmers from around his neck, catching all the light and clearly visible even looking him dead (ha) in the face.

He pulls a pair of flipflops off an outside display in front of a department store, and sighs.]

Zeno never liked the sort of sandals that led to cold feet, but beggars and choosers and such things...

[Back down they go. He isn't begging today!]

The year's going to turn soon! Maybe there's furs inside! And wool! Cashmere, from the far lands...! Aaaah, the warm things!

iii. 9/21: Open

[...but warmer still! There's a nice cafe, and Zeno has taken to handing hot drinks out to anyone passing by. He's really enthusiastic about this one! It's the chocolate! With fresh mint!

But some of those crows, man! With all the self-preservational skills of someone who has never once cared about self-preservation, Zeno steps on a briny, prickly chesnut, and tosses his last two cups of hot chocolate in the air.

He glances up right before they begin to fall back down--]

Not another bur--

[--and spill over his head, causing him to yell out in pain and try to get his long clothes off before the hot liquid soaks them and burns his skin.]

iv. 9/21: Open

[Pursuing the crow ayakashi, Zeno is teetering on the edge of a one-story building. He's not especially coordinated, but he's doing better than some of the non-athletic humans trying to climb up and join their inky feathered overlords.]

Don't you want to go inside where it's warm~?

[He ruffles the edges of his new scarf down at them, in a shooing motion.]

There's nothing up here but cold wind and colder hearts...!

Comments

i. because you are a terrible person

[darkestbefore]

[ It's the thump she hears outside that has Yona hurrying to the door in mild alarm, peering out and spotting... the charred, still form in the courtyard outside her temple. Frozen, she can only stare in horror for a moment, unsure what it even is, before rushing out to check what has happened, her heart in her throat.

It's only once she gets close that she spots golden scales glinting beneath the burned black and that's enough to horrify her further, because while she knows - in theory - what Zeno can do, and is, seeing it firsthand, like this...

She freezes, her stomach churning sickly at the sight, before dropping to her knees beside him, hands hovering in the air over him, afraid to touch him when he looks hurt so very badly. ]

Oh, Zeno!

Jumps on here??

[handsome_genius]

[Yoon is just out walking around when he hears Yona calling Zeno's name. The last time they'd spoken at length about the connection between Zeno and Yona, Zeno hadn't fully remembered everything that Yoon did. It had been something he could just put out of his mind - it was strange, but then so was Zeno himself.

Then he catches sight - even from a distance - of that familiar silhouette charred black. And he remembers it instantly. He remembered everything about Zeno already - this was just one part of Zeno's abilities and he'd been more than happy to keep it buried. There's no comfort knowing that Zeno can recover from it. Yoon knows he feels the pain all the same.

So he starts to rush down but then thinks better of it, racing for his medical bag - thanks to Shizuo and Izumo's recent stint of injuries, he'd fully replenished it - and a skin of holy water from Yona's pools. And eventually he manages to sprint back towards Yona and Zeno again.]

taking responsibility BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER DENIED I AM TERRIBLE

[eternalshield]

[Even as it all goes on, the Yellow Dragon sheds the burned-up skin like a snake. The sound of Yona's voice is enough to stir him almost back to consciousness, but the sound of Yoon's sprinting is what makes him open his eyes and the sight of the water skin makes his eyes widen in alarm.]

Don't... waste that...

[Even as he speaks, the gold scales have spread up his arms and across his face and chest, and most of the charring is gone. He's breathing hard, but has to prove that he's fine, not useless, can protect his princess-king, finally.]

Just a... a five more minutes. A single five more minutes...

[The glimmering gold finally finishes its creeping climb all across Zeno's body, giving him an inhuman shine in the moonlight. With it, he sighs in contentment, as the pain finally recedes.]

Better! All better, do you see? Nothing... nothing can hurt Zeno now.

[He starts to push himself into a sitting position, but, uh--

Uh, he has to heavily reconsider the placement of his everything-below-the-hips, once he realizes how much of nothing he's wearing and also there is a lady present.]

...is it getting cold? Anybody other than Zeno would be getting sick, going from hot to cold like this, so suddenly!

[darkestbefore]

[ She waits, because she's not entirely certain what's happening, but the gleam of gold beneath the black had been hard to miss, so she settles back on her heels, hands clutched to her chest in worry as she waits. The gold spreads, the black fading away as scales renew what had been burned beyond recognition, but she's still not sure how anyone could survive what he'd been through and her stomach is clenching sickly, her chest tight and making it hard to breathe.

It's not until he picks his head up and starts to move, all gleaming gold and none of the charred flesh left that she finally makes a low sound and flings herself at him, tears spilling from her eyes. Uncaring that he's got nothing on (and it's not like she can see anything through her tears at the moment anyway) she holds him tightly, fear still thick in her throat. ]

[handsome_genius]

It's not a waste!

[ He dumps some on Zeno's head - avoiding Yona - out of sheer frustrated, angry relief. ]

You just survived a fire, didn't you? You had to walk into a whole burning building to get that bad!

[ This is Yoon's way. Unlike Yona. ]

Dragon scales or not, I'm going to make sure you don't have any blight on you with Yona hugging you like that! AND THAT'S THAT!

[ THEN he joins Yona for the Zeno sandwich hug. ]

[eternalshield]

[It's a waste now, since he's no longer hurt... but Zeno isn't the sort to be contrary, and honestly, he looks so cute and rosy-faced when he's frustrated, Zeno could just melt.]

No, no, Zeno heals from that, too! Kaya had to keep blighting and re-blighting Zeno for a week before it was too noticeable!

[...she's still gone, isn't she? Maybe he'll just stay inside this hug a while longer. They've got him so boxed in, he can't quite move enough to hug back... though that's probably best for whoever has any modesty left.]

[darkestbefore]

[ Yona makes a strangled sound at Zeno's denial, because she hadn't realized that was happening at all either and what else has she missed?

But she's relieved that Yoon had taken the measures he had, for Zeno's sake at least. her arms remain wrapped tightly around him. ]

Just because you can doesn't mean we can't try to make it easier for you! What happened, Zeno? How did this...?

[handsome_genius]

[Yoon is likewise afraid to ask. He can imagine all kinds of scenarios where Zeno just came from a prayer that involved a fire, or Amaterasu's temple got burned again. Anything like that. But he wants Zeno to answer before he goes voicing all of those thoughts. Instead he just focuses on holding one of Zeno's hands - ostensibly so that he can look at the scales up close instead of in a memory. This way, at least he knows what to expect next time.]

[eternalshield]

The kid has the right of it... there was a grand house, and it caught fire, and the foundation would have failed and crushed all the people and kitties inside, if someone didn't keep it standing.

[He forces himself to breathe. With the pain gone, he feels exultant. Yes, his powers are grotesque and discomfiting, but this, finally, is the way they were meant to be used. It is as if he's been asleep for 2,000 years and didn't wake up until those Kai Empire soldiers cut him apart. He has to force himself to slow down and explain coherently--]

It's not so bad as it looks, promise, promise! The dragon gods' blessings are strongest at Hiryuu Palace, so our powers slow down the further away we get. If this happened inside Kouka's borders, even, the regeneration would be faster.

[darkestbefore]

[ She listens to him, still holding tightly, although she does shift back just a little so he can breathe. And then remembers he's still got nothing on, so quickly sheds her outermost garment to drape it over his shoulders and grant him at least some cover. ]

So you... you held up a burning house?! [ There's something incredulous in her voice as that and she takes a moment to rub at her temples, upset and still a little frightened. ] I'm relieved that you could save everyone to get them out, Zeno. [ Just in case he'd ever doubt she would be grateful for his actions. ] But you... You can still get hurt. Yes, you can heal, but this... This is...

[ How could she put it into words, when he was still smiling there so happily, pleased and smiling that familiar smile.

She looks to Yoon for help, although she was uncertain how to convey what she felt right now. ]

[handsome_genius]

[Yoon spares a sympathetic look to Yona before going back to glaring at Zeno.]

Just because you've done it before doesn't mean you should try it again, you damn gold beast.

[He lets Zeno's hand go and stats to put his medical supplies back into his pack.]

If your powers get weaker the farther away you are from something, you should just assume they don't work and get pleasantly surprised when they do. That would be safer.

[He hasn't caught the fact that 1) Yona's temple looks like the palace that he's referring to and 2) that Zeno's experience with the burning house is the same one he already remembered.]

1/2

[eternalshield]

[This is...? Yona doesn't finish her statement and Zeno can't exactly fill it in for her, leading to a look of confusion passing over him.

For his own part, Zeno can complete the thought: This is the reason he was made. This is the reason he's still alive. To be a shield. To have the luxury of throwing his life away. To absorb the harm and the danger that others were in, to let them live their lives without fear, with peace and joy. It is a gruesome fate, to be so overflowing with life that his life becomes essentially worthless, but if it means that the more meaningful lives, the short ones, the fragile ones, the ones vulnerable to weapons and sickness and natural disasters... if it means they're happier or safer or something, isn't that worth the trade off?]

2/2

[eternalshield]

[But he shakes it off.]

Aahaha...! That doesn't work for old grandpas like Zeno. Zeno knows better!

[darkestbefore]

[ Yona lifts a hand to her face, needing a moment to re-gather her shredded composure over seeing all this firsthand. But she thinks over something else Zeno had said and looks up in surprise again a moment later. ]

Hiryuu's Palace... Does that work the same way here as well?

[ Or not, because this is a duplicate, of sorts? At least, she thinks it is. She's not actually sure how that works.

Although if it was the real one, she imagines there are some people back home very upset that she's stolen it away... ]

[handsome_genius]

[ Yoon looks up at Yona's temple. ]

Hiryuu's Palace? I thought this was a temple to Áine?

[ They're edging closer and closer to things that Yoon doesn't remember, but he does recall that term being spoken by Zeno in his memories before. Just not any further significance or what it looked like. ]