Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.

[anarrowtotheeye]

who. Xiahou Dun and anyone.
what. Dun's been busy doing some renovation work, but it's not for his home thank goodness.
where. A four bedroom apartment somewhere in Zeta District.
when. Any time during the last week.
warnings. Xiahou Dun is an extremely bad tempered man and nothing sets him off like jabs to his one eye. Characters can poke him about it but he may react violently and hostilely.

Any one going by a certain four room apartment will have noticed over the course of the week a one-eye man bringing pieces of scrap metal and wood salvaged from other areas of the Zeta District to the place. There's a lot of sounds coming from the place too; hammering, chopping, sawing. He comes in from morning till night, always leaving the place locked when he's done. But all locks can be picked, and while he's a silent worker he can be approached and questions can be asked.

((OOC: You can approach Dun when he's bringing in new materials, knock on the door to ask what's going on, or even try and break-in into the place. If you'd like to break-in, please contact me and we'll iron out details.))

Comments

[mathemagician]

The analogy didn't work so well when Kengo was still intent on viewing himself negatively. It was rare that he allowed himself to fall into these moods, primarily only when he was stressed or having a hard time with something else. Arriving on Omega had led to a host of negative emotions, which he had promptly buried and told himself that he would deal with at a later time. Unfortunately, more and more negative things happening since his arrival meant more and more time that he went without dealing with anything. The outpouring of emotion had been something he'd needed, though he had hoped it would be something like the anger outburst he'd had just after arriving. Having someone seeing him act like this was ...

Kengo had never wanted to make mistakes in the first place, but he knew that was something he couldn't say easily. It was stupid to think he could go through life without messing up something. Even with the Fourze system, there had been too many times his instincts on a Switch had failed, only for Gentarou to figure out the best use for it. He always thought he knew best, only to have someone else prove him wrong. ... in a way, it was nice. At times.

"I don't think I could have learned that lesson under worse circumstances." Really, it felt as though there was no way to recover from Gentarou's death, the loss of the Fourze system, the potential death of all of his friends, and being ripped away from his home only to survive in a place like this. "It feels like my entire life has been reset. I have nothing here of the person I was before I came." The Kaban was with him, as were the Switches, but even if the Fourze system had come with him, he would have been unable to use it.

Kengo had noticed the other's missing eye, of course, but figured it was likely a touchy subject that he shouldn't bother asking about. If the man wanted to elaborate, he would.

"Do you think we're here for a reason? Maybe we really are meant to start over..."

[anarrowtotheeye]

"I cannot speak for why we are here, but I know that I will not let myself be swept up in the tide. There is much to be done here in Omega, and if you wish to view it as a second chance then that is your prerogative. It is your choice."

He gave Kengo a serious look; apart from the self-esteem issues, Kengo has proven himself a well-intentioned, responsible and skilled young man. It would be too much to require him to enter field work at this moment, not when he is still in need of time to heal from his emotional wounds. But perhaps a job that did not require actual interaction with the harsh reality of Omega; it's always one thing to read about it, another thing to see it with one's own eyes. There's an emotional distance.

Dun doesn't like giving people the short way out of things, but he reasons it out that one day Kengo would be ready.

"As a matter of fact, I am currently planning a neighbourhood watch for the Zeta district with some of my allies. I have a list of potential members, but I only know one who is good with technology and machinery.

It would honour me if you would accept."

[mathemagician]

Honor? Kengo wasn't sure how he could believe something like that. While he knew his own talent for things and could usually be confident in his ability, his current mood wasn't helping. He couldn't be sure if the 'one' Dun had mentioned was him or not, but he managed to crack a small smile at the offer. Something like this really would give him a chance to distract himself -- focus on something other than everything that was bothering him. And there was a lot of that.

"I'll help you with whatever you need, but..." Kengo hesitated for a few moments, trying to choose his words. "I want to learn to fight. I'm not a strong fighter. I probably never will be, but I want to try. I'll work slowly if I have to, if you have the patience to deal with me."

He took another breath, squirming uncomfortably and finally returning to his work after rubbing at his face with his sleeve again. "I still don't know what your name is."

[anarrowtotheeye]

Dun regards Kengo with some surprise; he never pegged the boy as the pugilist type. He thinks over the request carefully. "I can teach you what you need to know," he says slowly. "But I will admit patience is not one of my better traits. However, learning to defend yourself is a crucial skill in Omega, as is controlling one's temper. The lessons would be good for the both of us. So yes, I would be glad to take you on as my student, Kengo Utahoshi. I am not an easy man to get along with but I will do my best to make sure that you will be well trained."

Now that Kengo mentions it, Dun realises that he hasn't introduced himself. Normally he wouldn't have much to do with young teens unless they were in his army unit, and even if they weren't most people knew him by name that he never really had to bring it up. "It doesn't mean anything here, but when I was a man of standing in society people respected the name of Xiahou Dun."

[mathemagician]

"That sounds fair." After the way the man had acted when they had entered the room and from the few exchanges they'd had before, Kengo had gotten a pretty good idea of how the other's temper and personality really were. He hadn't expected the other to be patient. He could have also argued the other's point that he was difficult to get along with, since Kengo hadn't really noticed any difficulties in that area so far.

The name made him pause, wondering if he'd ever heard it before, but a few seconds of contemplation made him realize that he couldn't recall anything specifically. "You said you were a general. Would you tell me when and where you're from? I'm curious about our cultural differences." And the outfit. ... and the weapons. It seemed as though Dun's style was similar to the Sengoku era, but his name wasn't Japanese and nothing was quite close enough.

[anarrowtotheeye]

"The Han Empire. It's the centre of the world, the greatest land ever seen by man. Times may have been hard when I left the Middle Kingdom but my cousin seeks to restore the empire to its proper glory. That is why I must return; I must assist him in his ambition to unite the land and quell the chaos that robs the people of their freedom and dignity."

He stopped and sighed; a brief and rare moment of pessimism. "I am far from my home, both in miles and in years. It was the year 209 when I last saw a familiar face."

[mathemagician]

"The Han Empire...?" Well, at least that was something familiar. China wasn't too far off from Japan and while Kengo didn't know as much as he could, it was a start. Most of his interest in schoolwork had stayed with math and science, but he was still the top student in the school and knew as much as he had to about everything else. It just wasn't an area he spent extra time on.

"That's around the Three Kingdoms era, isn't it? Wei, Shu, and Wu..." Of course, Kengo thought to censor himself only after he started talking, realizing that he might be getting things a bit out of order. Spoiling the future for the other with something, no matter how small, might not be the best idea. "I don't know a lot about the time period, but the Han Empire is viewed highly in the time I come from. A significant part of my country's written language is based on yours."

[anarrowtotheeye]

"Wei isn't a Kingdom," Dun corrects Kengo. "No, we're a force who serve the Emperor under our warlord, Lord Cao Cao." His mouth forms a thin line, merely a twitch away from a frown. "Take care with your words Utahoshi. We might not be near the borders but what you're suggesting is treason and slander. I'll forgive you this once because you're young but do not ever speak such ill will of my cousin ever again."

[mathemagician]

Kengo immediately pressed his lips together and went a bit wide-eyed at the other's words, unsure if he should try to argue his point with the other or not. It was the way the time period was referenced during his own time. "I didn't mean to speak ill of anyone." He wasn't even sure where the other had gotten the idea of an insult.

"My own time is more than a thousand years later than yours, so my knowledge of where you come from isn't thorough. ... aside from that, China's history tends to be romanticized in my culture, so I'm sure there are some details I'd get wrong." At this point, he felt like he was just making excuses to try and recover from the slight.

Rather than keep rambling, Kengo settled for deeply bowing his head in apology. "... I'm sorry."