heavy is the head

[princeinexile]

When the door opens, Zuko come striding through in full regalia -- sweeping mantle, hair done up tight, the crown of flame set in his queue. Layers upon layers of red and gold and black. He'd look resplendent... except for the fact his expression is the one that you might make when you bit right into a really sour lemon.

Irritated and grumpy, he goes to the bar, gets a cup of Soothing Tea (the type his uncle always hands him when he's about to lose his temper) and then goes to sit down by the fire, cup warm in his palms.

It has been, to say the least, quite the day for the young Fire Lord.

Comments

[yinyangwizard]

Abe no Seimei, who has some business pending with Zuko, gives him a little time to decompress before approaching. "Zuko-san, that is one of the most uncomfortable-looking royal outfits I have ever seen."

And Seimei has seen a lot. At least the headgear seems to be minimal.

(Seimei himself is wearing a spring kimono and black hakama, which qualifies as relatively simple.)

[princeinexile]

"'A Firelord Must Project An Image of Power At All Times,'" Zuko repeats some societal canard in a deep, mocking voice, before he deflates a little under his shoulder pads.

He's emptied his tea cup and had it refilled. Twice. This has not been a good day for him.

[yinyangwizard]

Right now, Zuko is projecting an image of discomfort and irritation, but he probably doesn’t need Seimei to tell him this.

“The Fire Lord does not have to project to anyone here, and may take the opportunity to wear more comfortable attire.”

Seimei thinks, for a moment. “Do you need assistance to dismantle this?” he asks, gesturing at Zuko’s outfit.

It definitely looks like the kind of thing he would need one or two servants to help him put on.

[princeinexile]

Zuko does not. He held it together for the event, but now he' just terribly uncomfortable.

"I know. I just-- ugh. Needed to cool down so I don't set it on fire. It's not like-- I mean, I had a junior version of this for events as a child," Zuko said, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

At Seimei's question, though, he nods. "Just to get the pauldrons and the over-robe off. The under robe is basically casual wear, but it'd be scandalous to be seen in the palace like that," he explains.

[yinyangwizard]

“That has always been a problem for those who dwell above the clouds - they can hardly be at ease even in their own house.”

Of course, Zuko had other, more significant stressors in his own house.

“What needs to be unhooked or undone to get those pieces off?”

[princeinexile]

"There are hooks for the overcloak under the pauldrons. Once they're off I can unlatch the pauldrons, and then the collar."

Why must dwelling in the clouds mean so much bulky clothing?

[yinyangwizard]

“All right, Zuko-san. If you will stand up for me...”

It does take some time, but Seimei manages to unhook the over-robe and between the two of them they get the pauldrons and collar off, and all without mussing Zuko’s hair. When they are done, Seimei weighs the items in his hands, scowling mildly at them as if they have disappointed him.

“Perhaps it would be worth introducing new regulations for court dress at some point. Or at least achieving the same effect with different material.” Seimei puts the offending articles down on the coffee table and starts laying out and folding up the over-robe. “But of course there are more pressing matters at hand.”

[princeinexile]

Zuko leaves his hair up and his crown in, despite everything. It's just safer that way. The growth is starting to come loose and form some fringe, though -- he's at that stage where the grow-in from shaving one's own head and then living in the fringes without having a stylist is starting to show.

"I'll be sure to make a note of it," Zuko says with a sigh. "I'm sure someone will learn of it, and say I'm too proud or too scared to take on the mantle of my father, depending on what the narrative of the afternoon is."

[yinyangwizard]

“This is why one introduces new court dress after a momentous change, like the declaration of a new dynasty, a major military victory, or the thorough removal of a troublesome faction.”

Seimei neatly places the close and pauldrons on the folded robe.

“Times when all the ministers or nobles are too much in awe of their sovereign to put up much resistance.”

[princeinexile]

The hint wasn't subtle. Zuko's lips pursed together, before he settles into something -- well, more Lord than Zuko. This is a Problem. She's not Family anymore, in as she can't be trusted not to murder children to achieve her goals. She's at threat, and Uncle Iroh has always been right: she needs to go down.

"I need Azula captured and contained," Zuko says quietly. "I don't want her dead, but I need her... neutralized. We don't need her to be a martyr, and she..."

Well, she is family. She is his sister. Maybe he can't be so removed from it as he'd like to be.

[yinyangwizard]

“Since she has escaped from prison before, you will have to think carefully about how to keep it from happening again.”

Which is not to say that he is advocating for a lethal solution to the Azula Problem (although perhaps Zuko should keep an open mind about that sort of thing), but rather that the Azula Problem might require a special custom-built containment facility.

[princeinexile]

"She escaped because she was the only way we could track down my mother," Zuko admits with his shoulders suddenly slumping. "She was the one who -- she knew. We needed her."

He's not really proud of that particular screw up, but it is what it is. Now they just need to put her back in the box and not take her out of it.

[yinyangwizard]

"Well, one could hardly say no to finding one's mother."

Seimei is not going to tell Zuko not to feel bad about it. But he won't judge the young man, either. Mothers are very important.

[phantasmal_resplendent]

Lup catches sight of Zuko and raises her eyebrows.

"Quite the outfit, my man."

[princeinexile]

"Royal functions require a certain uniform," Zuko says with a twist to his lips that probably started out wry but veered right into bitter. But it smooths out and he says, "How have things been with you, Lup?"

Because he doesn't want to talk about his shitty life, and hers was a magnitude more shitty what with weird planet eaters and shit.

[phantasmal_resplendent]

Lup can read that look. "Yeah, I've never cared all that much for formal wear myself." Most of the clothes the twins have ever worn have been hand-me-downs or dumpster finds, anyway.

"Not too bad. We're on a planet with a giant swamp right now."

(ooc: This arc has a lot left up to the listeners's imagination, so time to make up my own plotlines!)

[princeinexile]

"This is dressage event wear," Zuko said, gesturing to the huge pauldrons. "Stuff I wear for big palace events that aren't military focused. For those I wear formal dressage, whic is all this and tunic instead of robes, vambraces, armor -- mostly useless armor, honestly. Then there's daily wear for committee meetings and court meetings that aren't major events. Casual wear is for when I sneak out of the Palace."

He's been trained up into it, though, so it's not like he didn't know it was coming or hadn't been in the junior version of it before.

"...swamps are gross," he adds, brows lifting. "Why are you there?"

[phantasmal_resplendent]

"Wow." That's enough costume changes to make even Taako's head spin. Speaking of...

"Taako's been saying the same thing." She brings her voice to a falsetto, imitating her brother. "I can't walk two feet without getting wet, shit sucks."

[princeinexile]

"I'm with your brother on this," Zuko says, shaking his head. "Swamps suck. Maybe it's Fire Nation speaking, but if the water isn't steaming it isn't good."

Swamps do not steam. At least, not the right way. Swamp gas is not the same, thanks.

[phantasmal_resplendent]

"Yeah, I'm not much for it either." Lup shrugs. She's just not quite as prone to complaining as Taako.

"The people there are pretty cool, though. They live underwater and glow, with bioluminescence."

[princeinexile]

"...wow, really?" Zuko's brow shoots up, maimed 'eyebrow' moving less easily. "What are they like? Do they glow like -- fish? With patterns and things?"

Something totally not like his world? Has nothing to do with weird Fire Nation politics? He's all ears.

[phantasmal_resplendent]

Lup notices Zuko's mood brighten a bit, so she's happy to keep talking.

"Yeah, they have gills and everything. They've got an entire city under the water, it's pretty rad."

[princeinexile]

Zuko is a kid who never got to indulge in the wonder of being a child. His mother was gone when he was young, his sister tormented him, and his father dueled him before his voice had even changed. Being allowed to find the new exciting and interesting and not being immediately shamed or punished for it is like a little bit of treasure.

"I wonder what kind of cities they have," Zuko says, letting his mind turn completely to the new topic. "How they make things. Obviously they can't have forges."

[phantasmal_resplendent]

"They haven't really shown us - we're still kinda trying to gain their trust." Lup shrugs. "We're guessing that the Light has something to do with it."

And then, because she realizes Zuko doesn't know what that means:

"The Light of Creation is what we originally set out to find - every world it lands on inspires change, and even evolution, among that world's inhabitants."

[princeinexile]

Listening intently, Zuko is happy to hang on every word. Still, the thing Lup describes is not something he's ever encountered on his world. "So this -- Light just goes place to place and changes things? Is it a spirit?"