13586/A Pensive Evening

A Pensive Evening
Date of Scene:	02 July 2021
Location:	A park near the SHIELD base
Synopsis:	Wanda pops in to visit Yaozu while he's spending a bit of quiet time in a park.
Cast of Characters:	Yaozu Lin, Scarlet Witch

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Yaozu Lin has posed:
It is late in the evening, and the sky has dimmed with the upcoming twilight. True darkness has yet to come, for it has not grown late enough for it to happen. The sun has vanished behind some of the taller buildings of the city, and yet some light from it still bleeds from between them. There was rain earlier in the day, and things have been left kissed by the raindrops, some areas having been left with that clean scent that rain sometimes leave behing. The park, not far from the SHIELD base, is one of those places.

And Yaozu has, once more, found himself drawn to that park. He stands some distance from the water, choosing not to venture too close to it for reasons of his own. He stands still, not entirely relaxed but not stressed, either. His long black hair rests loose and free, strands of it occassionally touched by the fingers of a stray breeze. Some of it rests at the front of his shoulders whilst most of it rests at his back. He wears a set of black robes, ones which have been altered to accomodate the new shape he has, a white pattern embroidered at the bottom of the back and the sleeves -- mountains and a river and a bird winging by.

His left hand rests in front of him, and his right hand has been tucked away at the small of his back. Hidden away not only within the sleeve of his robes, but beneath a feathery black wing as well. An old maple tree stands not too far distant from him, a bench sitting in what would be the shade of it when the sun is higher.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff had gotten the message that Yaozu is back. She had also replied. But she'd been busy with whatever it is Wandas do during the intervening time. The walks quietly through the park, toward the same spot she'd found Yaozu in the last time. And though she's quiet, there's nothing silent about how she moves. The jeans of her pants rubbing together can be heard, the soft sound of her shoes each time they touch down on the ground, even the beating of her heart and the sound of her breathing. She sounds... calm, if her movements are to be considered.

But her breathing and heartrate indicate stress or agitation of some sort. "I thought I'd find you here," she says. Her voice sounds cheerful enough as she steps up beside him. She sounds and looks utterly normal. On the surface, at least. "You look a lot better than the last time I saw you. You okay?" The concern lacing her tone is genuine. She had been worried about him.

Yaozu Lin has posed:
Feathery ear tufts flick upwards as he catches the sound of her approach. Each step she takes, each breath drawn in and released, each each beat of her heart, he hears them all. Shifting his weight slightly, he turns to face her, and he brings his right hand out of hiding. It comes forward to join with his left, and she may catch a glimpse of the silver ring that he wears. No more does he wear the pulse oximeter ring that had been around his thumb, for there is no longer a need. His mutation has completed, and he's physically stable.

Yaozu tilts his head a touch to one side, studying her for a quiet moment. "I am better than what I was the last time that you saw me," he says, speaking carefully. Speaking softly. He's a bit more used to having a beak, but... it's still an adjustment process. His beak ducks slightly, his gaze holding to her rather than turning elsewhere. "I wished to message you sooner than what I did, but I was without a means of doing so," he says. He's quiet for a moment, his hands pairing together before him, vanishing within his sleeves. "I was taken, on the way back," he adds, in a quieter tone.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff looks out at the water, what she can see of it from this particular location for the trees there are. As she listens, she tucks her hands into her pockets. She doesn't seem to be particularly offput by him, now that he has a beak, either. Curious, but that is all. "I'm glad." Wanda looks over to him. "That you're better. It's good."

Before he can speak again, she's looking back toward the water. Her expression is somewhat distant, but not too terribly so. Like she has something on her mind that has nothing to do with this moment or Yaozu. She glances back at him and nods. She studies him. His hands vanish, and it's something that she notes, but doesn't comment upon.

"I'm glad you're okay. Do you know who took you, and why?" Her green eyes meet and hold to his, and there's something dark in them. Perhaps a measure of just why she's called a witch.

Yaozu Lin has posed:
A beak, wings, feathers all over. Physically, he's changed. Some of the ways are visible, and others are less so. Yaozu tilts his head to one side, watching her, and then he gives a small nod. "Yes. It is good that I am better. I am... not used to it yet. It will take time," he says softly. "It is a strange thing, to be both comfortable and not comfortable at the same time. It is a sense of being off balance. There is no pain as there was the last time we met," he adds, a thoughtful note to his voice.

His hands slip away from one another where they had been met in front of him, easing to rest at his sides. He looks out towards the water for a moment, and then turns his gaze back to her, meeting her green one, and he gives a small nod at her question. "Yes. He told me who he was. He said that he was... helping," he says softly, lifting his left hand to give a faint gesture. "He said his name was Loki, and called himself the God of Mischief. I was with him for a number of days. They were... not without pain," he admits, shifting his wings slightly, his feathers slicking a touch closer. They had been quite painful. But when all was said and done, he was fully changed. And that was something, and it could be called helpful.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
It might seem strange that Wanda is taking this so much in stride... but when one thinks about it, she's kind of been there, done that. Perhaps not this exact situation, but... well. She had had an idea already of what was in store for Yaozu. And she's seen some really strange things. "No pain is good. Off balance... well. That will come with time, I think," she says.

Wanda raises a brow at his words. "... Helping? By kidnapping you? In what way is that 'helping'?" Wanda shakes her head, at a momentary loss for words. She nods slowly. "I have heard of him. He isn't strictly the best of people. Which doesn't necessarily make him the /worst/ of people either. I have met him a time or three. I wouldn't trust him as far as you could throw him." Not as far as Wanda could. She could throw him quite a distance, if she really wanted.

Curiously, she seems to be relaxing more, now, than she had when she'd first arrived. There's still something of the stressed heartbeat, but not like it was. "Well." Wanda gazes at him thoughtfully, then looks him fully down, and back up again. "I can't say I don't like the change. Quite striking, with those dark feathers."

Yaozu Lin has posed:
There haven't been very may forays that he's taken out in public since fully mutating. There is a certain amount of coming to terms with how he now appears, though he hasn't shared that particular part of things with anyone. "Yes. It is from things being in different arrangements. Different shaped feet, wings... a tail, other things. They all affect my balance. It will take practice for my martial arts to be as it was. Practice and time," he says softly.

"Mmm, yes. Helping. He kidnapped me to Japan. Mount Fuji. The elevation was higher there than here. I believe his helping was in that, and in what he did to the mutation. It was as though it was on a slider, of sorts. One end human, the other what I would fully become. What I am now. He would push the slider one way, and then the other. Figuring it out, I think," Yaozu says softly. "I suspect that the mutation would have taken longer to fully finish, had he not... helped. It would have meant a longer period of time that I would have been in pain," he adds, tilting his head to one side and watching her.

"Does something trouble you?" Yaozu asks in a gentle tone, concern coming to his voice. He blinks at her twice in fairly quick succession at her words, and his head ducks slightly. He still isn't used to compliments. "Thank you. It is very kind of you to say," he says quietly, a bit shyly. "It is... pleasing, that you think so," he adds, looking down for a moment before he lifts his gaze to her. His wings ruffle slightly, and then he briefly stretches them out to either side for a moment before flipping them closed and to his back once again.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff nods slowly. She starts walking, then, slowly, in a circle around him to get a look at what she can get a look at. "I imagine it's going to take more than a little getting used to, having what amounts to three extra limbs you can move around." She gets back to the front and smiles at him. That smile fades as he talks of his kidnapper again. She nods about the manner of help, but refrains from comment.

His question brings her to shake her head. "Nothing to worry about," she says. Which doesn't necessarily mean there's no trouble. Just that there's something that she can't, or doesn't want, to talk about. She chuckles in a quiet way. "It's not simply kind of me. It's the truth, Yaozu."

She goes quiet for a moment, and her brow furrows. "My pardon, Yaozu. I must go," says Wanda. She smiles gently to him and then the red flames engulf her, the signature of her magic, and whent hey clear, she is no more.

Yaozu Lin has posed:
The avian tilts his head to one side, and then he gives a small nod to her. The talons of one of his feet tick softly on the ground. "Yes, I would expect so. It was explained to me with a similarity to a growth spurt, as a teenager. There is a sort of... gangly adjustment period," Yaozu says, his tone thoughtful. "Yet different, at the same time. The only way to get used to it is to live it, to do things," he adds.

He considers her statement for a lingering moment, and then he gives a small nod. His feathers fluff a bit and then settle, and he gives a nod to her, his head ducking a touch. "Thank you, Wanda," he says softly, his tone sincere. Those black ear tufts lift and wobble a bit when she mentions that she needs to leave, and then he gives a nod. "Of course. Thank you for the visit. I enjoy your company. Be well, Wanda," he says softly. He watches her leave, and after she's gone he gives the water a long look before he turns to start to head back towards the SHIELD base.