[ OPEN ] And now for something completely different-

[iomnic]

CHARACTERS: Zenyatta and OPEN!!
DATE: Late November to early December
WARNINGS: None, hopefully.
SUMMARY: So there's violence, fighting, drama all over the place, and Zenyatta just wants to chill and help people find their chill.

[To those who mentioned to Zenyatta they were interested in meditating, he sends out a message to each individual to let them know the location he has taken to for practice. For those he did not speak to, well... It was a public post, available for all to see. Or, perhaps one notices the floating robot monk, and his journey in the wee hours of the morning, and take to following him or asking him where he's going. His answer, in this case, will be "to find peace of mind."

The spot he has taken to is on the edges of town, in the opposite direction of the fracking mines and Deemers camp, to avoid contact and overall distraction brought on by the town itself, and the ever encroaching dangers brought on by the Taraxa.

It is along a path decently high enough up that one can look out over the completely uninhabited parts of Q-65. Below lies the scrublands, and further still lies a small pine forest that lines the edge of a mountain that the Q-65 equivalent of a sun begins to peek out over.

Zenyatta will be there from dawn until dusk, leaving only at night when the temperature begins to drop. For the time he is there though, he hovers just a few inches off the ground, legs crossed and arms spread, with his index fingers touching. He is completely silent with his head bowed, except for the chiming sounds of his orbs circling him, and giving off a light 'ding' as they rise and fall a few inches during their orbit.

Should one choose to join him, they are allowed to, of course. This is what he had hoped for, when he had extended the invitation. And if those who join also have no idea where to start, he would happily give any instruction needed. ]

Comments

[pummelling]

[It's not unusual for Jin to be hanging around said robot monk for meditation. They're not as regular about it as they used to be-- Perdition's Rest being a little bit of a shitshow lately, and all-- but today's one of the days that Jin's actually observing his routine and seeking Zenyatta out.

It's far too early for anyone else to be up, which is good: the fewer people around, the less likely it'd be for Jin to be distracted. Zenyatta's presence, at least, is consistently a calming one. He catches him at his meditation spot as the sun is just beginning to rise, Jin's light footsteps punctuated only by the soft chimes of Zenyatta's ever-present orbs.]

Nothing gets in the way of your meditation, huh?

[iomnic]

It is times such as now that meditation is most important. "Do not delay, lest you later regret it."

[ Zenyatta hums from his spot, completely unmoving aside from the gentle up and down of his floating orbs. ]

You have been quite busy lately, I take it.

[pummelling]

'Busy' is a nicer word than I would've used, but yeah.

[He sits beside him and idly watches the orbs move.]

What about you, Zenyatta? Are you staying safe?

[iomnic]

I seem to be encountering less trouble than you have, yes.

[Since "busy" is the nice word here.]

I have been staying with the Qorral and helping them with their tasks, if I am capable. I feel this is where I can provide the most help.

[pummelling]

Ouch. Accurate, but ouch.

How do you do just that? [It's kind of a loaded question, he realizes. He shifts uncomfortably where he sits, tilting his head to get a better look at Zenyatta's face.] There's so much happening on this planet. And you... kind of know how I am with picking battles.

[i.e. that he wants to fight every single battle, forever.]

[heroforhobby]

[Saitama wouldn't have noticed Zenyatta so high up if the tinkling oh his orbs hadn't drifted down on the wind to faintly tickle his ears.

He looked up and spotted him in the morning, shrugged, and continued on his business.

Many hours later, he returns down the same route, a bit disheveled and with some poor creature's blood splattered on him. Hearing the tinkling again, he squints back up and spots Zenyatta in the same position.

His brows furrow, wondering if Zenyatta was broken--or frozen, like his laptop sometimes would do if he hadn't restarted it for a long time.

So, vaguely concerned, he finds his way up there and approaches. Standing behind him, he leans over to peer over Zenyatta's shoulder to his face.]

Hey. You all right, or were you hit by a blue screen of death?

[iomnic]

[Rude.

Zenyatta is slow to respond, having been doing this for a few hours now, his mind is still focused in his meditation. Eventually though, he wakes, and raises his head. The orbs stop their sounds, and he looks up to the other.]

I am fine, Saitama. I was meditating.

[heroforhobby]

[Wow, he was just worried about you, bro.]

Oh, good. 'Cause I have no idea where your restart button is.

[iomnic]

And I do not think I would intend on telling you. I am not intended to "reset" like your computer would.

[Like he could LOSE EVERYTHING, or maybe nothing, he doesn't know.]

[heroforhobby]

[He steps out from behind him, shrugging as he goes.]

That's cool. If you ever freeze I can just take you in somewhere.

[secondnature]

[To be fair to Keith, the balls are really tempting, and not just because this can be a double entendre and therefore it was funny to include. No, when he shows up and watches Zenyatta quietly, he finds himself distracted by the orbs floating in the air almost immediately. Spin, spin, spin—right until he reaches out to try to grab one of them.

For what it's worth, Keith is here to practice with Zenyatta. The last few weeks have been hard on him.

But sometimes, a kid gets distracted.

That's definitely what happened here.]

[iomnic]

[Sure, Keith can grab one, but at the cost of Zenyatta being Startled. You see, his meditation practice revolves around him counting his orbs, and with one suddenly disrupted... The omnic looks up at Keith very quickly, staring for a few seconds, before finally shaking himself back into full consciousness.]

Oh, it is you, Keith. Welcome.

[secondnature]

Hey. [Keith tosses the orb from one hand to the other, debating the weight and shape of it. It's really not why he's here, but it's obvious that he's somewhat absorbed at the moment.]

Can you only do this with these, or can you do them with ... any kind of ball?

[It's not that Keith can't tell that he was meditating. They'll get there. Heck, he wants to get there.]

[iomnic]

[ It's okay Keith, he'll just wait until you're sleeping and then violently shake your shoulders. Since you know, they seem to be on that kind of level with each other.

As for the weight of the orb- it's heavy. There's also a chime inside the hollowed center, that makes a deep 'ding' sound upon Keith's tossing. ]

I would need to find a way to connect with it, through my own signals and energy... But I suppose it is not impossible to do?

[secondnature]

That might be useful in a pinch. [It is heavy, but he supposes that since Zenyatta seems to telekinetically direct them around himself, the weight might not bother him all that much. He extends it forward after his examination.]

I mean—if someone steals all your balls. But I guess they'd have to come prepared.

[Keith is the last person to show up to a fight completely prepared. What preparation he has always has that element of improvisation.

He moves to sit down, crossing his legs.]

[twinkle_toes]

[Aang scrambles up the hill right at dawn, surprisingly energetic given the early hour of the day and his (relatively) youthful age. But early morning meditation sessions remind him of the Southern Air Temple, of Monk Gyatso and all his friends, and it's something he finds he misses dearly as his feet pad across the dusty ground towards the Omnic not too far in the distance.

It won't be the same, obviously, but it'll be nice to have a friend to meditate with again.]

Hey, Zenyatta! [Aang gives a cheery wave before coming to a stop a few feet away.] Brrr, it really is cold in the mornings.

i know im literally 5 centuries late so if this is too late you can just ignore this

[iomnic]

Hello, Aang.

[Zenyatta greets with a nod of his head, coming out of his meditation.]

It may be cold in the mornings, but I find it a good deal easier to concentrate in a colder temperature, than one that is too warm. Perhaps I simply am more accustomed to the cold. I apologize, if it is too much.

[He knows some humans really don't like the cold... And perhaps, human children are even more susceptible?]

never too late

[twinkle_toes]

It's okay! It was always cold in the mornings back on the air temple when we meditated in the mornings.

[He huffs out a few more chilly breaths before hopping over to where Zenyatta floats, plopping his butt on the ground in preparation. But he's still got a few moments before he has to settle down and buckle up and so he lets his inquisitive mind take over momentarily.]

Is it really cold for you back home too?

Re: never too late

[iomnic]

Oh yes. The temple I lived at was in the mountains of Nepal. We lived so far up, that there was almost always snow. I do not feel temperature like a human with skin does, but I will still freeze up if the temperature drops too low.

Judging by your clothes, I would say it would still be a bit warmer than that, in the air temple, yes?

[twinkle_toes]

Snow...!

[The thought of a mountain range covered in a blanket fills him with absolute delight and his eyes shine brightly at the image. He's seen snow before, plenty of times, but he'd never really grown up around it. What a life that must have been like.]

The Southern Air Temple was always really nice, we never got snow up there. [And now he's realizing his chilly is probably vastly different from Zenyatta's chilly.] Does that mean you guys got to play in the snow all the time then?

[figureitout]

[ Stiles wasn't a morning person by nature — he liked sleeping in, just five more minutes, loathe to push the warm blankets aside and face the day. but more than that, he wasn't someone to sleep easy, either, even less now that they'd been relegated into sleeping outside in tents that barely held off the snow and the cold, now that it seemed like fighting or Deemer attacks could happen just about anytime, anywhere.

the morning finds him outside his shared tent with the Spiders, drawing runes into the light layer of snow, mumbling their names in well-memorized order. even in concentration, it would be hard for him to miss Zenyatta, floating along.

he leaves the runes (though not before wiping the ground over them, obscuring the shapes from curious eyes) in favor of following after the monk, hearing his answer to someone else close enough to ask where he's going. Stiles follows, until they reach the edge of town and Zenyatta settles there in silence.

Stiles knows the pose, knows the meaning — it's what he's been practicing, these past weeks. for the first five minutes, all he does is sit on the ground, close his eyes and try to empty his mind, to focus on visualizing a shield, but one thing keeps diverting his focus... and so he asks, cracking one eye open, ]

So... peace of mind?

AND THEN A THOUSAND YEARS LATER im sorry im so late, decembers been a wreck

[iomnic]

A notoriously difficult thing to possess.

[Zenyatta replies, having noted when Stiles first sat down to join him, but kept to himself until the other wanted to speak. He wouldn't want to have disrupted the other's meditation, if he came here simply to find his own "peace of mind" so to speak. But now that the other has asked a question, he takes it as a go ahead.]

I assume that is why you are here as well? To find your own peace?

it's okay!! don't u worry about it december & the holidays are killers every year

[figureitout]

Yeah, for real.

[ his answer comes with the kind of resigned sigh only someone who has come to the same conclusion through repeated attempts of trying to prove the contrary could possibly give. ]

You could say that. A peace, anyway.

[ enough peace for him to be able to keep his focus for his mental shields. ]

<3!!

[iomnic]

A piece of peace.

[ And he laughs lightly at his own stupid joke. ]

You have done this before. Maybe not quite like this, but something similar- yes?

[figureitout]

Ha, yeah.

[ he breathes out a laugh, too, wryly amused even as he nods in answer to Zenyatta's question. ]

Aang taught me to meditate. I mean, I knew how to do it, but keeping my focus... it's, uh, hard. A lot of the time. The whole "empty your mind" thing.