13608/Paying it Forward

Paying it Forward
Date of Scene:	09 July 2021
Location:	Suite A5 OPEN - The Triskelion
Synopsis:	Skye visits Yaozu and talks with him about the 'change' he is going through.
Cast of Characters:	Quake, Yaozu Lin

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Quake has posed:
It has been a few days since the team had come with Yaozu, and he was scarce. Now they had practice with Skye when she had gone through her change, though she had been looking for her mother as well. No luck. But with training and figuring out what she was good for, eventually they had moved her back onto a 'regular' schedule. Which was to say, she was back..

But Yaozu wasn't.

Still she figured he had had enough sitting around and moping. So she went to his door and knocked. "Hey, Yaozu? I know you're in there. It's been a week. Time to let your friends in. I brought tea? My own special blend." It really wasn't *her* special blend, but she got it special from the lady in Chinatown. "I can't drink both of them."

Yaozu Lin has posed:
It has been an intentional choice on his part, to be scarce. Yaozu purposefully picked times of day or night when there would be few people around for his comings and goings, whether those happened to be times he was leaving the base or just times that he was getting food. He hadn't been prone to being overly social before the kidnapping had happened, and now he was even less so.

Yaozu was aware of her approach before she even reached the door. He could hear her steps in the hallway. Maybe she was headed to her own room. It was just across the hall. And then, there was the knock on the door, and he turned his head towards it, his head tilting a touch to one side as he does. She isn't wrong about him being within the room. He turned away from the projection of a window, and he crossed the room towards the door. His feathers and ear tufts are flattened, and his wings are held close against his back. The robes he wears have been altered, and they're relatively simple in their colour -- plain black, with a dark red trim that goes around the lower edge of the sleeves, the sash a dark red as well.

Lifting his left hand, he reaches out to unlock the door with a snick of sound, and then he draws the door open. He doesn't look the same now as what he did before he'd been kidnapped. The mutation that had been so slowly happening before is complete now. "I am sorry, Skye," he says quietly, bowing to her in traditional Chinese fashion, a gesture that will show the new tattoo that's on the back of his left hand simply from the fact that it's the outermost hand. He straightens and moves aside before lifting his right hand in a slight gesture. "Please, come in. Thank you, for bringing tea," he adds, giving a small nod to her and sounding pleased.

Quake has posed:
"I almost brought you coffee, but I figured you would be more likely to open the door for tea." Skye grins and shrugs. "Is this too loud? I heard you have had some adjustments to your senses. When I became who I did I could hear everything in miles. I had to relearn everything. Everything has a sound! Weird, huh?"

She entered.

"Nice tat, by the way. I got one when I was in Hong Kong. Nobody has seen it, except for Clint. It's.. hidden away. Oh, one tea for you." And she passes it over.

Yaozu Lin has posed:
There is a smile that comes, though it's a harder thing to tell with his avian features, and he gives a small nod. "I prefer tea to coffee, very much so," Yaozu says softly. His ear tufts lift, perking slightly at her question, and then he gives a small shake of his head. "Your volume is good, and I appreciate you asking," he says, a touch shyly perhaps. Most people don't really think to ask of such things. "I am having to relearn many things. They are different now." He's different now.

"My hearing is changed, and my sight is changed. Much more sensitive. There are sounds in many things that I did not realize had them, before," he says, his tone thoughtful. The words seem to be spoken carefully, but it's different to try to speak with a beak than with a human mouth.

There's a brief glance that he casts towards the tattoo, and his left hand vanishes within the sleeve of his robe for a moment. "It was not by choice," Yaozu says quietly. His left hand slips out of the sleeve in order to reach out and accept the tea from her with a small nod. He closes the door a moment later, and then he lifts his right hand to gesture slightly. "You are welcome to make yourself comfortable, please," he offers.

Quake has posed:
Skye takes a seat on the couch.

"The hardest part was the sound. Did you know that snowflakes have a sound. The first little bit was hard. Nothing was normal. Little things would be loud as fuck. I couldn't tell you what or who anything was. I think I was passed out for the initial parts of that. The doctors thought it would be easier to adjust a little bit at a time. Eventually I began to figure out which sounds were important, and which sound were in the background, for which I am eternally grateful to Clint."

"He had just been cured from his deafness." Thanks to Castiel. "And he had to learn by himself."

Yaozu Lin has posed:
With the mug of tea in hand, Yaozu starts to make his way towards the couch as well. He settles, neatly tucking one of his feet beneath him and carefully lowering the tea so it rests in his lap. Then he gives a small nod. "I remember hearing them sometimes, when we were outside when I was young, if all was still and quiet, then they could be heard to fall. It was not often things were quiet enough," Yaozu says softly, about snowflakes.

"It is overwhelming, sometimes. I hear much more than I did before. It is sometimes hard to discern what is not important to hear and what is. Which sounds to ignore and which ones to pay more attention to. The fireworks were... unpleasant," Yaozu says, looking down into the mug of tea before looking over to her. The fireworks on the fourth of July had been jarring. "I would have liked to not be able to hear that night. I cannot imagine losing all hearing... it must have been difficult for him, and it is good he was cured of it. I am glad that you had someone to help you figure it out. I have been trying to get used to the rest of everything else that has changed as well. My shixiong has been helping me to amend my martial arts, to make them right for what I am now, physically," he says softly.

Quake has posed:
"Someone said to me, think of it like the country vs the city. When you first get into the city you hear noise everywhere. And until you get used to it, it bothers you. And then, eventually things work out as important and background. You're in the first stage. Everything is 'important'. Take your time."

"Some things you may need to take extra care of, like fireworks. Thankfully, the Trisk is pretty much soundproof from the outside on the residential wing."

Skye had coffee.

But as for the rest.. Skye speaks softly. "I know what a pain in the ass the rest of it can be. I'm still finding new things that can injure me more than the usual. I can't walk around without my braces on, unless I can guarantee I won't use my powers. I had to learn how to use them because regardless of what I may have wanted for my future, I was in more danger of being untrained. It's been a real rough time."

In other words, she understands what Yaozu is going through.

Yaozu Lin has posed:
"Mm," Yaozu affirms, giving a small nod. "The country is very quiet in comparison to the city. It became... overwhelming, earlier in the mutation. Liansong helped me to plan a small trip away for a few days, to a park. It helped, very much," he says softly, his tone thoughtful. Then he gives another small nod. "Yes. It is as though all of the sounds are demanding attention. I am trying to be patient with it," he adds.

The mug of tea is lifted and he takes a sip of it, though even this simple thing is a thing that needs to be done differently. "I was outside when some of the fireworks were going off. It was much better inside, yes," he says, giving a small nod. He listens to what she says, and then he tilts his head to one side, a gesture that comes across as being more avian than human in the moment. "Everything is a danger until it has been proven not to be," Yaozu says softly, his gaze lingering on her. "Not all adjustments are ones that are easy to make. The one that you went through, and are still going through, and the one that I try to find my footing with... the road may be a rocky one, but we will be stronger after we have walked it," he says softly, giving a small nod to her, his beak parting with a bit of a smile.

Quake has posed:
Skye breaks out into a smile. "It's not like we had a choice with it. Anything you need? To vent? To practice without prying eyes? A friend?"

Yaozu Lin has posed:
The avian gives a small nod to her, agreeing to her words. "This is true. There was no permission given for what was done to us, and there was no choice. There is naught we can do to change what has been or to change what we are," Yaozu says softly, his tone thoughtful. "We can only have faith that there was a reason for it to be done. That it will come to help us in what we do," he adds, tilting his head a touch to one side. "Thank you, Skye. I am grateful to have your friendship. There are times when I need all of those things. I have kept much to myself since returning from Japan, but... perhaps it is time to change," he says, a touch apologetically, and he gives a nod to her.