The Zen and Fury in Healing

Anything you might want to try out that doesn't temporally or thematically fit the serial should go here. This is an ideal space for all your what-ifs and might-have-beens, as well as for your average silliness.
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IamLEAM1983
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Re: The Zen and Fury in Healing

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Allocer tried not to let his empathy show too much, and failed. A wince briefly twisted at his mien. He'd met plenty of Pitspawn with one or two ranks under their belt that looked similar to Vlastos' proffered image, but he knew this specific instance started with a common man's shape. The changes to the dermis, the stiffening involved, the way he assumed Marius' almost-complete musculature and skeletal structure shifted under the Blood of the Dragon's influence - none of it had to be comfortable. The first few times the nocturnal change would have proven impossible to hide must have been nerve-wracking.

As for the old dragon, the sliver of positive thought wasn't lost on him. He smiled at Vlastos' last few words. "It isn't for us to take back our past, Marius. Even mortals are not always given the luxury of being able to make amends for their own mistakes. I, myself considered my nature to be as a curse for several generations, in my youth. To be born of the wind and to have no direct control over it, to spend decades simply learning to walk as you do after undulating and dancing in the gusts rising and falling off of the Yangtze River... Pair this with an adolescent's urges and flaring temper, and you have a recipie for disaster. For arrogance and disappointment. For lost lives, as well. I traveled under a bevy of assumed names, challenged whomsoever I wished and killed and spared China's first clumsy martial artists indiscriminately."

He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I may have killed a dozen unexpressed stances and disciplines in their infancy, thousands of little flourishes that were snuffed out before anyone could recognize their beauty. I came back home to my mother and father, expecting a round of applause from our court - and received only a sound thrashing from my father, my first sifu. For a dragon to fall at the hands of Fuxi, the apocryphal Celestial Emperor who refused to officially stake his claim on the lands he had pacified... The dishonor incurred was immense - as great as was my shame. I became a man that day, knowing I would never be able to restore what the mustache-twirling boy had so senselessly destroyed."

Walt whistled. "And here you are, saddled with the reputation of the one person in town who's more patient and more polite than our Canadian expats..."

Long laughed a bit more earnestly at that. "Oh, trust me, I was - how do the kids put it, these days? A douchebag, I believe is the term. A Competitive Martial Arts prick thousands of years before his time who would not relent until his opponent lied bloodied and senseless - because his pride left little else to his imagination. Some other comrades of mine from the greater Asian subcontinent have already suggested I may have inspired a small army of narrative tropes in the making, from Dong Zhuo's ruthlessness in the Romance of Three Kingdoms all the way to Pai Mei's arrogance in Executioners from Shaolin."

He sniffed. "It should make the other victim of today's scheduling issue fairly easy to endure for me, unless Lucifer has kept his word and allowed Pride to be reforged."

On that, at least, the former Duke could comment. "He has. It hasn't been that long, but Herbert's had all the same positive influences he's had in Magnus Tower - or so I'm told. Aspasia might be better suited to comment on the new Prince."
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TennyoCeres84
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Re: The Zen and Fury in Healing

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Aspasia smiled and commented, "Wormsworth's definitely been shaped by all of the good at Magnus Tower. Being around us has eaten away at the doubt he felt and replaced it with a new form of Pride. One that's healthy and beneficial for all, not merely for its bearer. I wouldn't have thought it possible when he first showed up on Shield's doorstep, but it's been quite the amazing and subtle transformation. It's a stark contrast to his predecessor. However, I do think he hasn't completely settled into the role completely; that'll thankfully come with time and experience. Lucifer just gave him the tools to form a new definition of the Vice."
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Re: The Zen and Fury in Healing

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"How many other misfits are going to float in here today, hm?" Marius asked with a chuckle, shaking his head and wondering how often Long's scheduling software 'malfunctioned' like this.

He wondered if Long would accept him as a regular student, to learn martial arts and precise physicality if nothing else. He could moderate his strength to mortal levels of course, but as the episode with Al indicated he had much to learn still about control of other kinds.

In the meantime it seemed they were waiting for the next patient, so he retrieved his water bottle and sipped from it, leaning against one of the pillars to wait and relax a little. The Noise was a dull buzz as usual, and he idly taunted it while doing exactly what it warned him not to do.
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Re: The Zen and Fury in Healing

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Allocer's next line of questioning happened to point in the same direction as some of Marius' musings. "You've got all this space," he said, looking about, "and all I can see here that looks a little personal is a bathroom door on the far side, the kitchen nook and a spot you've set up behind this rice-paper divider, over there... How many students do you get on average, sifu?"

Shen Long smirked and hung his head in humility for an instant, perhaps reminiscing on a few decades prior, when the martial arts craze was sweeping America and every kid with so much as an eye for Saturday-morning cartoons imagined themselves as either a ballerina or a ninja of some persuasion...

"I have a few dozen regulars, which I used to more dilligently train before the incursions. Most who still come are those who fancy themselves my sons and daughters - you've seen the white varsity jackets around Chinatown, the pocket rockets, the never-brandished pocket knives... There are others who will seek the new freedoms this era brings, even in the rejection of all applicable laws. I knew in coming here that I would attract them, and I knew I could not protect everyone either here or in the temple's walls. I knew I needed a fighting force. A proper fighting force."

He chuckled lightly. "I never asked for it, but my first few pupils here began calling themselves the Sons of the White Dragon, giving the name an almost Arthurian bent. They could blend in with the Triads or the Yamaguchi-Gumi, if not for their focus on direct action and community support. This streak of militant goodness called to others, and the small back yard I used to keep in the rutongs no longer sufficed."

Allocer nodded. "We've been seeing less of them because of the reconstruction efforts. They have families, friends to tend to. Keeping patrols or offering protection to store-owners that aren't so much as targeted by anything at present would eat away at their own obligations."

Shen Long nodded. "So they train at home, for the most part. Half of my dojo is on Skype or Zoom, now, and some of my appointments are fifteen-minute segments that are all that these family pillars or new den mothers can spare. I don't mind, honestly. Raising a family teaches one almost as much about combat and negotiation as any battlefield. Outreach is an easier thing to obtain when you leave it to your star pupils to start their own schools."

He smiled at Miranda. "Teaching you still feels like a return to form, in some ways," he admitted, smiling.
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Re: The Zen and Fury in Healing

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Miranda smiled back at the dragon. "I'm glad that being your student reminds you of your earlier days as a teacher, Shen Long," she responded. "Maybe I can pass on what I learn to somebody, whether it's my own kids or someone else."

"Whoever will learn from you will share it with those close to them and their community. Whether you have children of your own or not, you'll be an ancestor of sorts. That's how you gain immortality without the concern of longevity," Aspasia noted.
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Re: The Zen and Fury in Healing

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"I would like to come more often, sir, if you would have me," Marius told Long, unexpectedly formal all of a sudden, as if to hide the awkwardness. "You've seen my quality as a student here today, no doubt, so the decision is yours, to allow me around or not." The expression on his face made it clear which outcome he was anticipating.

The Noise was not happy with this decision, and his expression bent in on itself as he endured the petty abuse. But he stiffened his back and finished the water bottle, awaiting Long's call. Then again, maybe the next guest would arrive and spare them all the spectacle?
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Re: The Zen and Fury in Healing

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The dragon could only nod in accordance with Miranda's statements - and Marius' request. 

"All I have ever sought is to give this world some measure of peace," he said. "My first attempts were arrogant at best, yes, but I've had thousands of years to understand that this peace is attained through those lives we touch. Immortality matters far less to me than rememberance."

He then smiled at Marius. "I'll admit I am amused that you thought I could even so much as refuse, Marius. If you have the will, I still have time and resources to impart."

A few seconds later, a dull thud resounated outside, back where Marius had stepped out earlier. A finely-clawed reddish-orange hand pushed the windowpane in, and an immaculate pants-leg slipped through, ending in the kind of black patent leather brogues that you typically either found immortals or aristocrats pulling on their resources wearing. Herbert Wormsworth hadn't changed much since his coronation as the new Prince of Pride, but you could also argue that some alterations were difficult to miss. The vaguely slimy sophistication he sported now felt more like cool, if sometimes glacial self-assurance, and it seemed to have positively affected his sense of physical control. He'd previously had a hard time assisting Neasa in a bout against some of the Goat's collaborators, and now instead looked like he didn't simply use his Ego during shielding spells alone. He walked along the rafters as if the others below hadn't been there, and finished a conversation he'd started on the phone. How practical was it to start a hands-free call in mid-flight, anyway? Did that so much as matter to the new Prince?

"Yes, Signore Ianuzzi, I understand you're quite keen on hiring me in the aftermath of the last year's events, but I must remind you - I am both a Defense Attorney and the Prince of Pride. I may find ways to absolve you in the eyes of the mortal plane's laws, but there are such beings who see through such petty things as legal interpretations and who may fully grasp the weight of a person's moral core. Yours, as I am given to understand, is quite hefty-"

He raised a finger. "Do not interrupt or threaten me, good sir. Things never end well for those who do. Send your men and I shall promptly dematerialize their weaponry and clothing. Ruffians with no care for this world's rules wizen up rather sharply, as I've observed, if rendered as vulnerable as mewling babes..."

Herbert hadn't forgotten who waited just a meter or so beneath him, obviously. He looked down, flashed a greeting and a smile to the group, then rolled his eyes and mouthed the words Kill me now, before returning to his pacing-about on the rafter, spaded tail swishing like a vaguely annoyed cat's.

"Such a shame, then," he then said, feigning a pout. "That said, I shan't be ungrateful; here are my five pro bono pieces of advice. One, find a priest, monk, friar, therapist or barman - whichever one suits you best. Empty that pestilential sack of yours and leave nothing behind. Number two, saunter over to the nearest police precinct, state your name and address as well as the fact that you wish to be imprisoned for a grand total of sixteen unsolved murders between 1989 and 2022, remain quiet from this point on and allow the Department of Justice to assign you an attorney. Three, contest no charges, as you knuckleheaded Sicilians are wont to do, and serve your time without incident. Then, if you should die in prison with a makeshift knife lodged in your gut, then perhaps Sammael will deem you worthy of Pandemonium.

Let me be blunt, sir. You are not Heaven-bound, and all the fruits of your labor are strictly terrestrial - and as such, fleeting by definition. You can either consign yourself to an eternity of suffering out of which you shall be the only one to crawl out of if enough work is put in, or to several thousand years of relative drudgery. Take it like a gentleman, hm; instead of swinging paid flunkies around left and right. Good day."

He hung up, pocketed his phone in his jacket, sighed and merely stepped off the rafter, landing in front of the others with a light thump on the tatami mat.

"Ugh, you would have thought that a slice of Armageddon would have put the fear of God in diamond-encrusted murderers known for an incestuous relationship with their haberdasher, but it seems the richer they are, the dumber they become. This one was the fourth Sicilian capo seeking to use me as leverage!"

He scoffed. "Me, Shen Long! Can you imagine? Me, with my cabinet staffing mortal secretaries and with offices located in a tower that is a veritable trans-planar cornucopia!"

Allocer frowned slightly. "I mean, you're the Prince of Pride, Herbert. You could practically blip an army of gunmen out of the tri-State area by snapping your fingers."

Herbert did just that, only for his suit to blend away into the kind of two-tone tracksuit that looked simple enough to be a thrift store find, but that would've actually needed to pay an arm and a leg for in Paris, all in gold and red trim on a white base. "My predecessor didn't care about collateral damage, Allocer, whilst I do. I spend every day ensuring due process is offered to individuals who would rightfully be consigned to an oubliette in the Middle Ages - and I sign the paychecks for every mortal secretary and law clerk Ezekiel, Leonard or myself keep on the payroll. Innocent blood is the hardest to wash away - that and, well, I've been around people like Aspasia and Miranda here to actually like the death-prone buggers."

The former Duke smiled. "So no out-of-place sense of self-importance?
- Why affect snobbery when you can affect sophistication? Granted, I'm not Naberius and Azazel has his new rank down-pat, but for a sizable amount of people, I still am the first demon they get to see up-close. Add a little empathy and you earn yourself a ton of savory opportunities," he said, smiling. "Friends, business associates, people to spar against online with a dash of repartee and a sprinkle of human warmth... The problem is it paints a target on my back. That informs my being here. I'm protecting those around me by learning to use tools other than my supernatural boons, so I can properly de-escalate situations."

He pouted slightly. "Speaking of situations, it seems we've hit a bit of a scheduling problem, I'd say...
- Apologies," nodded Shen Long. "I guarantee it has nothing to do with each one of you having something to gain from someone else's knowledge and skills.
- Ah," replied the more scrawny demon, an impish smirk touching his features. Sitting down cross-legged, he gave Marius a smile, eyes hooded in what had to be complete ease and comfort.

"And how are things with our favourite vampire, hm?"
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Re: The Zen and Fury in Healing

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Aspasia sent Wormsworth a light-hearted, teasing smile. "Well, we like you too, Herbert. Our tenacious, kind mortal hearts will continue to infect you," she joked, Miranda giggling in response.
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Re: The Zen and Fury in Healing

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Relief washed over him, and he wanted to try to explain himself, but the next patient was here and he was cut off.

None other than the new Prince of Pride himself had arrived, slinking in from the rooftop like some sort of Spider-man or other. From the sound of the conversation, he was on the phone with a potential client; Marius strained his ears to overhear the other side, but Herbert had the volume turned too low for him to do so. Either that, or the phone itself had some feature to prevent supernatural eavesdroppers like himself. Oh well.

At length the lawyer hopped down and made his greetings, and the vampire smirked at the expensive track suit. It made his own somber black and gray outfit seem pedestrian by comparison, but that was fine. "Things are improving for me, with each day that goes by. Today has been quite the flurry of improvements, one might say."
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Re: The Zen and Fury in Healing

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"Good," nodded Wormsworth, "absolutely wonderful news."

He then extended his smile to Miranda and Aspasia. "As far as infections go, History has recorded far, far worse. A little empathy, I've found, does wonders for sarcastic temperaments like myself. I realize now I previously was a bit one-note, shall we say and now, well..."

A sniff was added. "Children, I've found, are easier to bear than before. It used to be that when a case brought me here and happenstance made me cross paths with a raggamuffin, I simply ignored them. Immature mortals, I would think, not yet worthy of my talents. Leonard's provided me with several teachable moments, in that respect. I now find myself thinking that children are still immature, yes, and still technically unworthy of my new boons - but largely because innocence is still theirs to claim. Truly, Miranda, I'll be immesurably sad the moment you stop by the office for more than to customarily play clerk or delivery girl between Shield and the office."

That said, he brought his hands behind himself, palms to the floor, so he could lean back a bit. "Ah, but enough about me, old boy - you've mentioned improvements, and any such ameliorations are music to the ears of any Lucifer-appointed potentates. Do tell."

Allocer smirked. "Well, he's here, for one."

Herbert canted his head, smiling as well. "Touché. That, in and of itself, is cause for celebration."
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