vatheon | (no subject)

Who: Shizuo and Trunks
Where: Park
When: Evening?
Style: Prose <3
Status: Closed

The prospect of having Serph help him may have offered Shizuo a new way to try and get a handle on himself, but it didn't automatically change Shizuo's reactivity. That would take time. It certainly didn't change the circumstances that had him irritated and feeling off - the result of being down and out under the curse, as well as the other factors that have come into play - and so the following day found him in the park, trying to vent some of that excess energy. And, sadly, getting into another altercation. It wasn't as though this was new for him; back in Ikebukuro, no-good punks would often run into him and cause him trouble, whether intentional or not. Vatheon had just eased some of that. But it was back to square one - at least for now.

At least this time, the offender took off before Shizuo had a chance to really erupt. Frustrated, Shizuo tossed aside the park bench he had uprooted and turned, about to pull out a cigarette. He paused, though, noticing someone looking at him.

And, well, he had some anger built up after that interaction, so he was already on the offense. "What're you looking at?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, Trunks hadn't been entirely serious there, but...well, he can understand the anger and the drive to fight.

"...maybe you can. You just haven't found the right way to deal with it yet."

"Maybe." He didn't sound hopeful about it, though. A little emotional unrest, and he was right back where he started. "It's been like this for a long time, though, so I won't hold my breath." He flicked his cigarette.

"I could try to help you." Sitting idle, without anything to do to train, for as long as he had...Trunks was starting to feel restless. Like he wasn't of use to anyone.

He hated that feeling.

"How?" Shizuo knew better than to agree right away, after the last time he decided to accept an offer like that. Vegeta threatened his most important person to motivate him, and that had ramifications that extended further than Shizuo could have ever predicted.

"Well, I'd try teaching you a few meditation techniques. Your ki responds to your emotions, and your strength responds to your ki. My mentor showed me a couple ways to have better control over both." It was a way to make it easier to exploit his anger for the Super Saiyan transformation, as well, and gain better control of it--but Shizuo didn't need to know that.

"Someone else told me that meditation might help." That someone else had been Izaya - he had said something about imagining streams. Shizuo had tried, but he didn't really know what he was doing, and he wasn't exactly great at being patient and calm.

"I do want to learn."

"It does, believe me. I inherited a bit of a temper--meditation helps center me so I can put that to good use."

He picked up a rock, looking utterly calm. "It also helps me be sure I don't hurt anyone else, because, well..."

He then tightened his grip on the rock, shattering it effortlessly in his hand--an effort to illustrate that Shizuo wasn't the only one with abnormal strength around.

Shizuo could bend metal, tear up street signs from concrete, and even uproot trees. He never tried crumbling a rock like that, though. Regardless of whether he'd be able to, it was impressive. Despite having been in Vatheon for a good three months or so, he still hadn't become accustomed to the sight of people being as stronger - or stronger - than him.

"How do you do it?" To be that strong and manage to control it - Shizuo was impressed.

"I train, I meditate, I find other things to focus on. The last hasn't been so easy here. I'm used to being...well, a lot busier."

To say the least. Fighting the androids as often as he did--it wasn't fun, certainly not, and if they were gone tomorrow he'd be nothing but overjoyed. But the fighting had defined his life for so long, that he wondered what he'd be without it.

"Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect. I can definitely lose it." Most often when he went Super Saiyan, though as the transformation got more use the burning rage that sustained it was starting to change into a calm, icy anger. "Sometimes it's the only way."

"Yeah, me too," Shizuo replied. He had been a lot busier in Ikebukuro, where he had a job that actually used his strength and where he chased Izaya around to expend some of his excess energy. Days spent in Vatheon tended to go by pretty slowly, unless there was a curse mucking everything up.

"What do you do if you lose it?" Let it go - try to reign it back in? Shizuo sometimes felt like his body worked on autopilot when he was angry.

"It's...kind of explosive." To say the least. "I get angry, furiously boiling mad, and then all my power just...lets go."

Trunks shrugs. "Usually it's when I need it. So I let it go--I use it. But I have to keep a clear head when I do."

Because if he makes one single mistake, the androids would be all over him and he'd be done.

"Sounds like you have a reason to fight." Shizuo didn't. Well, working as a bodyguard required a degree of violence, but not the kind of violence Shizuo dished out when he was irritated. He could only think of one situation where letting go and using his strength had been the answer - when those blade-wielding people came to tell him that they "loved" him - and that had been a singular instance. It also hadn't lasted very long.

Trunks just nodded. He did--it wasn't one that he liked to get into too much with other people. He had with Vegeta, but it was in a moment of weakness and it was with someone who could understand just how desperate the situation was.

It didn't mean that he would have, but there was a better chance of it.

"But your reason can be just as simple as having something to do, a way to vent or exercise, whatever."

"I guess that makes sense," Shizuo replied. "I've never really though to those things as reasons, though." But maybe if he did, and made himself feel more purposeful, it'd be easier. "How do you meditate, anyway? I've tried and...it didn't work."

"It's not easy, especially if you're used to being active. Picture something that calms you, maybe repeat some mantra in your head. It's hard to learn to turn off your thoughts." Trunks shrugged--he wasn't always the best at it himself, his mind was always going a mile a minute.

"I usually concentrate on my breathing. It's something physical, something you don't normally have to think about, it's rhythmic, and it's always there."

"I can try that." Izaya had told him to picture two streams - or something along those lines - and that had been too abstract for Shizuo. Breathing sounded easier - it was something on which he could keep his attention without too much effort. He nodded, then, feeling a little more comfortable with the idea of meditation at that suggestion. "Okay. I will."