13980/What's In A Foo

What's In A Foo
Date of Scene:	23 November 2021
Location:	Columbus Park - Chinatown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Xiang Zhao, Willow Rosenberg

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Xiang Zhao has posed:
The previous evening had been... less than entertaining, to say the least. After leaving the general vicinity of Heng Zhihao, Xiang Zhao had wandered for a good long while.. Eventually, he found himself back in Columbus park. Just in time for the second sunset in a row in this park for him.

Presently, the sun is sinking toward the horizon. The clouds in the sky are painted the brilliant colors of an impending sunset. Xiang Zhao is sitting crossl-legged with his back leaned against the trunk of a tree. Of course, he's not greatly visible, as he's up in the tree.

He yet wears the same robes as the previous day. Deep green with rich mahogany embroidery done to resemble branches. The hems match the branches. His long hair is mostly loose, hanging down his back. Upon his lap, resting on the tops of his knees, is his guqin. His eyes are intermittently open and closed as he plucks and strums the strings of the instrument. The melody is one that evokes wistfulness and longing.

Sitting on the branch just behond his crossed legs, Soraya has one foot tucked up into her breast feathers. The eagle's eyes are half closed. She seems to be enjoying the music just as much as Xiang Zhao enjoys playing it. Every now and again, her beak moves, grinding against itself with the present contentment she feels. Xiang Zhao isn't Vitali, but in the moment, he's as close as she's going to get.

Down in the park, the only other occupants are an Asian family finishing up a late picnic. They look toward the trees, toward the music, but don't stop their picnic. Eventually, the music fades to the background for them, and they go back to happily chatting with each other.

Within the tree, Zhao plays on.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow was not able to take the entire afternoon off, unfortunately. So that by the time she got home, and shuffled around Xiang's trunk to find the things that he requested, and got on the train again to Chinatown.. it was pretty late. The sun was going down, and it was cold.

Very cold

It would seem like snow was on the way.

Willow put her scarf around her neck a couple of times, and blew on her hands, despite her mittens. "Zhao? Gosh darnit.. Zhao?" Not for the first time did Willow wish she had stopped for a hot chocolate. Bummer!

Xiang Zhao has posed:
And then there's Zhao. The cold doesn't seem to affect him at all. The bastard. He opens his eyes as he feels a presence he finds familiar approaching. The strings still. The playing ceases. The music fades. Xiang Zhao takes a moment to secure the guqin back into its back and sling it to his back before he rises to his feet. He takes a breath and jumps from the branch.

To the next one below it. And the one below that. His feet are light on the bark, leaving no trace of his passage. At the last one, he makes a small motion with his fingers, and floats down to the ground. To any with magic senses, the power flowing through his body in an apparently fix pattern would be obvious. That power glows like a beacon before it settles within his core once more.

His fight lightly touch the ground and he strides with purpose toward Willow, his robes flowing with his motions. "Willow." His voice is as soft as it ever is, not even risen for this occasion. The ever present fan is.. nowhere in sight. At present. This is very abnormal.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"*There* you are!"

Willow hurried along the path, and beyond it, to the tree. "I was as quick as I could be, but today was my one day that I was on call. Nobody was there except me. Which was horrible, though I guess I could have been in class on the other days. Oh, I'm sorry I had to go through your stuff."

Of course. He asked her to!

"But it's all here. See?" And she holds out a bag for him.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao inclines his head. "I am here," he replies. He shakes his head. "I have only returned recently." It may have taken him some time to get back from the secluded spot Heng Zhihao had taken him to the previous evening. That, and he'd been wandering, lost in thought.

Xiang Zhao actually blinks, now, though. He looks slightly surprised as he looks to the bag. "This is which?" He hesitantly reaches his right hand for the bag. He's watching, and acting like, it might be a poisonous serpent ready to strike him dead.

Gingerly, he does take the bag though. He opens it and his eyes widen. Swiftly he closes the bag and shakes his head. "No no. You must keep this under protection. She is looking for this. She wants it. We must not let her have it." He pauses and takes a breath. "It is a key, I think."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow actually grabbed the bag, and help it close. "You did say.. Oh for goodness sakes." She held the bag hard with one hand, and pulled out of her pocket the note. "Here. Read this."

/~Find Willow. Foo statue in my trunk. Contain fox.~/

"Right there. You did say to bring it! I didn't make it up." Something sticks out from what he had said. "A GIRL.. oh! Now I get it. She was showing me the correct way of putting my hands."

Yes, only Willow would interrupt something as important as this, to bring up the correct way for a female to put her hands.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao releases the bag as it's grabbed, not even trying to keep ahold of it. He does accept the note instead, and reads it. He nods. "Yes. This is what I wrote. The statue can contain the huli. The fox. If she gets it, with Tali's magic, she will destroy it." Zhao takes a deep breath and visibly calms himself. "I meant you to study it. This is my fault, Willow. My apologies. I should have written another message later, to explain. I.. forgot."

For Xiang Zhao to forget something as important as that, his mind must have been in something of a snarled up turmoil. Willow's follow words bring confusion to Zhao's face, and he's silent for a few moments, breath misting in the air before him as the temperature continues to fall. "Hands? I do not understand." He even looks confused. The normally unperterbed Xiang Zhao is showing his emotions all over the place tonight.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Her eyes narrow. "Are you sure you are Zhao?" Because *this* wasn't like him at all.

Still, she shakes her head, and explains the hand thing. "The ..woman.. who has taken over Tali, showed me how to bow properly. Like this." Willow quickly does a fairly bow regardless of the bag in her hand. "See? Opposed than the male hand placements."

She thinks about the note. Really it didn't say to bring it; that was partly her fault, and partly Kit's.

"You know this statue would be better in the apartment. Neither Tali, or Soraya, can came in." Come to think of it, probably Zhoa shouldn't be as well. After all, he wasn't his usual self.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
There do seem to be signs that keep popping up that point at him not being Xiang Zhao. He tilts his head at Willow and glances toward the tree he'd vacated. He whistles, then, a short set of seemingly random notes. A few seconds later, the shrill scream of an eagle. A few seconds after that, Soraya backwings to land on the arm Zhao stretches out for her. His left, which is usually tucked at the small of his back, which hasn't been tonight.

"If I were Heng Zhihao, Soraya would not come," he says. "I am me, Willow." He watches her and then nods. "Ah. I understand, now. Yes. Men and women do not bow the same." He whistles again, a softer tune, and Soraya launches back into the air, to go land on a branch overhead. Close at hand should she be needed.

"I am myself. I am simply.. tired. And.." He shakes his head. "It has .. not been pleasant, watching that huli inhabiting ah'Tali."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"I don't know.." Willow takes the bag and quickly takes out the statue, and puts it in her satchel. Then, and only then, does she hold the bag back to Zhao. "There are mittens and a scarf, The last of my oatmeal cookies, plus a chocolate bar in there. And a pair of socks.

One thing she had heard of when you are camping out in the wintertime, always bring extra socks.

"I'm sorry, I am going to ban you from the apartment too, until we figure out what to do about it. You are too much a risk."

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao makes absolutely no move toward that bag so long as the foo statue is within it. He relaxes only when Willow has placed it into her own satchel. He looks curiously at the bag. "What is this?" He does accept the bag, though, and glances within it once more. "Thank you," he says. He sounds.. touched. More so than he should have any right to be.

He nods about the banning him from the apartment. "She cannot jump into me, but I also agree with your precaution. It is better to be safe than regretful later." But, why did he sound so sure that Heng Zhihao cannot take his body over too?

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow just shakes her head. "I'm not worried about her jumping into you, or else I wouldn't have told you. No. I am afraid of her threatening Tali to make you do something that you would regret."

For example 'stealing' away the statue to bring it to Heng Zhihao.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao shakes his head in return. "She cannot threaten Tali against me. She already knows that I will kill him before I allow him to live the rest of his life as he is now." Ouch. Just ouch. However, Zhao still doesn't argue that Willows idea is a good one. Because it is. She is right. There's always the risk, no matter what Zhao says in this moment.

"It is best to leave it thus, in the future. It is better for all if I do not return. This.. would not have happened were it not for me." He shakes his head and looks up to the sky. "If my cultivation goes awry in the future, I could go mad and try to kill you all. I will not be returning. It is not safe."

Xiang Zhao glances back to Willow, and a faint smile ghosts at the corners of his lips. "Thank you, Willow. For everything." He glances to her satchel, and then back to her face. "Please save Vitali. I will prevent Heng Zhihao from doing any harm to others." He pauses for a moment, dark eyes solemn and serious. "Thank you, for everything." With those words, Xiang Zhao turns, and walks away, further into the park.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Now just one minute!" Willow stomps after him. She catches up with him, and grabs him up by the arm. "How dare you? I mean.. How! Dare! You?"

Her pointer finger accentuates each and every word, poking him in the chest.

"Have you no sense? Are you in need of a symphony?" You can almost hear them playing a violin concerto in the background. "How many time have you seen the garbage that Buffy puts us in, and did you ever see us walking away from her? No. You're right, we never did."

"What make you so special that you can waltz away when it gets bad? What gives you the right to be so special that you leave? Huh?" She glares while she waits.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao shows no signs of stopping. He doesn't even slow down when she when she stomps after him. It's not until his arm is taken that he stops and turns to face her. His expression is finally fully under control. Nothing shows but calm. Serenity.

But then, she's poking him in the chest. Zhao blinks and backs half a step. And then another. Each poke gets a backed step. He looks startled. Gobsmacked. Like he'd been struck to the back of his head with a staff. In truth, he hasn't actually ever seen how the Scoobies put up with the misfortunes Buffy drags them into. Or he might not have acted like he had.

His expression softens as she continues speaking, and his lips ghost up at the corners again. And then Zhao does something he /never/ does. He reaches out his right hand and brings it to rest on Willow's shoulder. He gives a single gentle squeeze. "Willow," he says, pulling his hand back. "I am not leaving. I am not returning to your apartment." He closes his mouth, opens it, and closes it again. Finally he shakes his head. He's at a loss to explain what he's feeling in this moment. Being bad at expression oneself is not helpful. At all.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Oh! Willow in a temper in a sight to see. Normally when she blows her steam she's facing down an enemy. Usually with force lightning at her beck and call. (Zhao should be thankful she isn't even more angry!)

"You're right. You're not coming to the apartment until Tali is freed. But you certainly ARE keeping in contact. I expect you to come up with a plan to exchange information even when we can't talk with one another face to face."

"Sheesh!" And here she stomps. "You aren't supposed to be sillier than me! You had me worried. Something is wrong with you." Willow expects it has to do with the Tali being possessed and Zhao feeling useless against it.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Willow in a temper really is a sight to behold. Xiang Zhao is probably grateful to not be struck with force lightning, all things considered. But other things considered, he might be deserving of such!

He inclines his head to Willow's orders. "Yes. I can send you messages. This is not an issue. I am uncertain how you can get word to me. I do not know how your power works." It's true enough. He can send message talismans to anyone he knows, so long as they are not warded against.

Zhao seems to consider things for a moment, and then nods slowly. "I can create talismans to communicate with you. So long as you are within seventeen kilometers of me, they will work. You simply have to touch it and speak and I will hear. Will that do?"

Xiang Zhao looks at her curiously when she stomps. He nods when she speaks of something being wrong with him. "I am bad luck," he says, entirely serious as he speaks those words. It really does have to do with the stress of what's going on with Tali. Getting Zhao to admit that he's feeling helpless and useless might an impossible thing to get.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Oh good grief!" Willow *rolls* her eyes. "Do we need to enter round two of Willow tells you what for? I am disgusted!"

Normally, she wouldn't express such feelings, but she feels that Zhao would take her sympathies and wallow in them. First, it's not really how she thinks he works. And two, she is just nigh on the edge of blowing up at everyone. Zhao just happens to be the lucky one that caught up.

(No, she's really not disgusted with him per se.)

"That will be fine. I can be in the neighbourhood several times per week. It's one of my usual rounds. They have red candles here, and the sage is okay." Okay, the candles are pink, but she's right, the sage is almost the quality of the little store in Gotham's Chinatown, and there is a little bakery where she likes to buy red bean buns. Amongst other things.

"Are we done?" Meaning, is she going to be angry again, or..?

And depending on his answer, she throws her arms around him to give him a hug. "Don't worry, we'll all work to get him back. You'll see."

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao actually physically winces at Willow's words. He really might not understand. It's entirely possible he's never had anyone tell him off like this before. It also might be exactly what he needs right now. He is entirely silent for a time, as she talks about being in the neighborhood on a regular basis. He closes his eyes for a moment, and then nods slowly. "From here to your apartment is within the useable range. Any further than seventeen kilometers and I cannot make it work."

He does nod about the candles, and the sages. She's right about both. There really are red candles here, if one knows where to look. Red is a very auspicious color and used frequently, especially for weddings. "I.. do not know? Are we done?" The language barrier, and more, the cultural one, mean he doesn't understand her meaning. At all. At least, he doesn't bring up staying entirely away again. Then again, he might not.

Except, then there's a hug. Zhao goes entirely still, and his eyes get a little wide. It takes him a moment, but he does start to relax a little. He still doesn't move, but at least he's breathing again! His eyes close and Zhao nods. "The alternative does not bear thinking about," he says softly.