Day 256 [Open]

[daughterofursa]

Who: Zuko and anyone
Open: Open!
When: Day 256, evening
Where: By the lake
What: A failure to meditate
Format: I'll match
Warnings: Honor

Zuko knows she's always been hard on herself, but she's never really considered it to be too hard. But some of the things people have been saying about her... Well, people in the Bastion have always expressed a more positive view of her than she thinks she deserves, and she always figured it was because they don't know what she's come from, but she's finally starting to wonder. Maybe the flawed perspective is her own.

Which is why she is attempting something else which, like positive thinking, she is not very good at: meditating. Whoever really wants to can find her by the lake, sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed and... definitely scowling more than she ought to be.

Comments

[four_quarts]

Lying down is easier on the back in the event you need to do this for longer periods.

[Obviously.]

[daughterofursa]

I don't think I'll need to do it for that long...

[...or at least not all at once. She has other things she needs to do.]

[four_quarts]

One day you may or may not. Divination is not one of my skills, so the future is a mystery to me.

[Well, not a complete mystery since people are fundamentally people and thus in some ways rather predictable, but that's neither here nor there.]

[daughterofursa]

But you've had to before?

[Spend an entire day lying around meditating she means.]

[four_quarts]

At times when I could do nothing else for whatever reason, or when complete relaxation was necessary.

[And even then almost never an entire day. Things to do, you know.]

[daughterofursa]

I'm not exactly doing it to relax.

[Although it might help if relaxation was a step that she included.]

[four_quarts]

Perhaps not, but it does look as if you could stand to do so. After all, tension tends to inhibit the contemplation process.

[This is his way of saying that Zuko looks as stiff as a board without using that exact phrasing. Tact, he knows how to use it.]

[daughterofursa]

[That's okay, Ghaleon. Zuko can interpret that into something tactless.]

I get it, I'm bad at all of it.

[four_quarts]

[And he can turn his response into something helpful yet terribly snarky.]

Oh really? And here I thought your lack of skill was due to a lack of practice. If you truly lack ability, then speaking of your troubles to someone would serve you far better.

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko shoots him a glare for that.]

Who, like you? Forget it.

[four_quarts]

Perish the thought. This is our first conversation, and you have no reason to trust me.

[daughterofursa]

[After all her "let's be friends!" first conversations, Zuko is actually surprised by him being sensible about this and it shows.]

...exactly.

[four_quarts]

[The surprise is understandable considering how many of those sorts of people seem to have gathered here. He smiles.]

Forgive the unsolicited advice earlier. I was once a teacher, and it seems old habits die hard. I am Ghaleon.

[daughterofursa]

Zuko.

...it's fine, I guess. If it were someone flailing around with a sword, I know I'd interrupt.

[four_quarts]

[He cringes slightly at the thought.]

Yes, far better to damage their pride than risk an injury in that case.

[daughterofursa]

Yeah.

Why did you stop teaching?

[four_quarts]

Teaching becomes rather difficult when one is dead, although events leading up to that point rather damaged my reputation as well.

[Massive. Understatement.]

[daughterofursa]

[Ummm.]

You're not dead.

[four_quarts]

At the moment, no. I am undead.

[Really, you'd think she'd never heard of necromancy.]

[daughterofursa]

Undead?

[Is this one of those things that doesn't translate well?

Yeah guess what she hasn't heard of.]

1/?

[four_quarts]

[Wait, she doesn't know-]

[four_quarts]

[Oh. Oh dear.]

3/3

[four_quarts]

[Well, since there's not really a delicate way to put this...]

...Simply put, my corpse was repaired and reanimated.

[daughterofursa]

...

You're not talking about... like when someone drowns and gets resuscitated. Are you?

[She might be leaning away because this is starting to really weird her out.]

[four_quarts]

I wish that were the case.

[Not too keen on being a walking affront to the natural order of things, but a mage has gotta deal with the hand they're dealt.]