Wrathful Reunion

“Yeah, we can just go for something funky, it’ll be fun! I have something in mind already for myself.” Something cool with a wolf themed mask? Yes, that would do quite well, Nero thought. “I’ve experienced Halloween maybe once; an old friend of mine was really into it cuz she loves sweets— still does, she wants to open up a dessert café type deal, if I recall correctly.” Nero wondered how Patrona was doing lately, and he noted that he should contact her telepathically sometime soon at least.

Nero exhaled sharply. “Listen. There is no if. It will work.” He said sternly, with a firm but fair hand. “Still, just one or two outfits would work for training purposes, it would save us some time.” As far as those powers awakening only a handful of times, the answer was relatively simple. “It has to do with your Blutz Wave intake. There are natural sources, and unnatural sources. Particularly potent full moons, if you were to stare at them long enough, would turn you into an Oozaru. There is also the use of the Power Ball technique, commonly referred to as a ’Fake Moon’ for this exact purpose. The Wrathful state is different, it calls upon the Oozaru’s strength without such a wild external change. While it can be triggered by some amount of Blutz Waves, it can also be more closely linked to one’s emotions.” Nero explained, before giving Zhalla a firm but fair look. “Their safety is of utmost importance, yes? All the more reason to do your best, or better than your best if you have to. See it as motivation. If not for yourself, do it for them. They would be so proud of you once you’ve figured this all out, I’m sure of it.”

Zhalla’s reaction to being questioned about Kabe was priceless. “Hey, at least you know now. So, did you two clown on his shithead excuse for a dad then?” At least Nero didn’t dwell on it or tease her further, he was interested to know how deep in shit Callion ended up for whatever it is he had tried to do.

Nero smiled. Why else did he choose to help her out? Simple! “Because, its cute when you’re flustered by my help.” Cheeky bastard. “I would. It also means I’ll help you more, which would fluster you, which is cute, you know, it’s a cycle.”

“What? You’ve been trashing yourself every chance you got. You both messed up, need I remind you of that?” Nero raised a brow. “Blame and hate are two entirely different things. The first implies a sense of taking responsibility, the second does nothing to help anyone. Least of all yourself and Dion.”

“Neither do you.” Nero responded rather swiftly. He exhaled sharply. He supposed he was rather resolute in what he wanted to achieve. In a sense, having experienced the tragic memory by proxy, he wanted to honour the wishes of the one that had passed, so that she did not die in vain. “What she started, I will finish. For those kids, for her, for you.” Once more, his eyes flickered into gold and stayed there for a second before fading once again. Just what in the world was that? It had happened quite a lot now in just the space of a few minutes. Did Nero even notice?

“Yes, I understand. I’m trying to get things into a more whole and true perspective for you, that is all.” Truth was not always kind after all, and given Nero’s ties to Garouan culture and the importance they placed on truth, he would know that quite well. “If anyone is to tell them anything, it will be you. Your trials, your goals, your terms.” Nero figured that was a fair way to put it, not like he had any intention of telling the children, it didn’t even cross his mind.

“Ahuh, cute, you heard me.” Nero said, bandaging up yet another bleeding welt on one of Zhalla’s arms before giving it a small gentle kiss. “Oh, and then have the children help you instead? Watch them do laundry or cook under your supervision without being able to do anything significant? Just sitting resting as they show their appreciation and love for you as their caretaker?” Nero snickered, wondering just how Zhalla would react to such a statement.

Nero gently brushed Zhalla’s hand on his face with one of his own. “Hurting is a much more honest and healthy way to put it, I think. So, let’s go with that, yeah?” He said softly, it seemed as though Zhalla was already making some sort of progress here. Quite the limit breaker, this one. Nero knew that for sure.

Nero raised a brow, he didn’t quite register what Zhalla had just asked, even when she clarified that he was supposedly doing something with his eyes. Nero held a hand up to one of his eyes to check his vision. Nothing out of the ordinary, and he didn’t wink at Zhalla within the last ten seconds, so he was at a loss. “I’m not sure what you mean. Sorry.”

“If you don’t want to, that’s also up to you. That’s the point of the information being given under your terms.” There was another more subtle lesson in this, if Zhalla chose to do so of her own accord, it would show she was capable of introspection, she would be able to heal and grow beyond what she perceived as her failure. Nero didn’t have to speak all of his advice after all, it was good to leave some wisdom for Zhalla to reach herself.

Nero snorted, putting a little adhesive bandage on one of the cuts on Zhalla’s forehead, predictably giving her a little kiss there too. “No, I think I will in fact dare.” While Zhalla was complaining and saying that she would simply speed up her recovery of her own accord, Nero telepathically messaged the more grown up youths that currently lived at her shelter, the ones that she would typically left in charge. He explained only what he knew Zhalla would be comfortable with them knowing, and specified that she was to learn a lesson in patience— healing the old fashioned way. “If you say so, but...” Nero tapped the side of his head with his tail as he continued to patch Zhalla up. “You might find that hard to do~” He chuckled, implying he had indeed messaged someone telepathically. “Don’t test me, I can always just tell mum that I’m taking care of you and you’d have to deal with it.”

Zhalla could deny it all she wanted, but Nero knew for a fact that she could absolutely be cute as all hell. Nero nodded, hoping to encourage Zhalla further, she was on the right track with having a more healthy mindset about her wrongdoings in this scenario. “Pfft. Keep dreaming, Sunshine. I’m as sweet and soft as it gets.” Nero gently wiped away her tears.

“Hm…” Nero blinked hard a few times, he really didn’t feel as though anything was wrong, per se... “No, I can’t say I’ve noticed anything about my eyes. But, I can’t exactly see them, and they’re not in pain or anything.” Strangely, Nero smiled. “I’m sure there’s truth to what you’re saying, I just don’t see what you’re seeing because I uh, kinda can’t.”

Nero grinned wide and giggled even as Zhalla yanked him closer to her face. “I did, and I won’t.” He shrugged, having already told some of the kids, Zhalla was shit out of luck. They’d end up looking after her for a bit whether she liked it or not.. “Well yeah, obviously. Why do you think I’m patching you up first? I didn’t tell them any detailed specifics you know— that’s your job.” Nero wasn’t going to leave Zhalla all crumpled on the floor, and leaving all those kids in her care to do all the heavy lifting would just be rude and shitty of him; so he chose to take the majority of the workload. “Either way, let me get the rest of this medical attention sorted, let me keep an eye on you for a bit then give it a few hours of rest— enough that you can move freely without even so much as a wince, got it? You should be fine to stay at my place if you insist. Just means mum will also look after you. You can handle that though, right~?” Nero added, with a bit of cheekiness to his tone. He knew Zhalla had no chance against his mother!

While he was being quite firm with what he was saying overall, Nero also knew that it was important to help uplift Zhalla’s mood— it would help her heal more readily if she wasn’t completely down in the dumps after all. “Simply put? It fits you. You are big both in size, heart and spirit. You are bright and warm, yet fierce.”

“Naw, I don’t wanna put too much stress on your mind or anything, even if it’s something comparatively small.” Nero smiled bashfully, he wouldn’t do that again unless Zhalla really wanted him to. “I dunno?” Nero’s brow furrowed. Why didn’t he know? Thinking about it a bit more, it was definitely weird that he felt so... normal about something so strange? This always happened when... “... It’s a Garouan thing. It has to be. It’s natural to me, that’s why it doesn’t feel strange to me at all— because it’s a truth engrained deep within me?” Now Nero’s gears were turning a bit faster. “At what points did it start happening?”

“I mean, I’ll check in on them every now and then for you for sure, those kids are awesome— I’m sure you know that.” Nero shrugged, Zhalla was firm on such odd things, though the same could probably be said of him, they were alike in that way— they got along because of it no doubt, as strange as that may be for some. “They’re smart kids. They would have asked why you decided to not come home anyway no matter what you did.” What was she gonna do then? Lie? Nero doubted she would just lie wholesale to those kids without exceptional reasoning.

Nero snickered, he hadn’t caused any messes compared to Zhalla, it was strangely endearing to see her so passionate about some stuff. Man, Nero had some unique taste. “I never said I didn’t want to take care of you, you egg.” He gestured to, well, this scenario, in that he was quite literally already taking care of her. “I hope you’re ready to have me hold your hands, cuddle you, cook you breakfast every day and play boardgames with you, because that’s what you’re gettin’.” Zhalla had no idea what she was getting herself into. Or she did, and this was all part of her nefarious plot to be wholesome on the down-low! Regarding his mother, Nero shrugged. “Honestly, I should have seen it coming, but it is what it is, my mum is still the best.”

Nocti began chirping excitedly when Zhalla asked the nimbus a question. “Nocti would have added a lot of other similar words.” Nocti continued chirping. “... Yeah, a lot more words. Basically, Nocti agrees two hundred percent.”

“Just trust me on it this time, alright?” Nero snickered, it wasn’t necessary for him to do it anyway since Zhalla managed to get his focus on the topic at hand anyway. She told him the times she saw this phenomenon happening, and everything fit into place once she explained it all. Every moment she specified had something in common, something that persisted through each time— how Nero felt about Zhalla, and in wanting to be there for her. “That’s it...” Nero looked at his hands for a moment. “That’s exactly what it is, and it’s the start of something big. That much I can understand right now.” He did wonder though, why would his eyes be changing colour as a result? He would decide to look into it later. “I’ll figure it out sometime, I’m sure!”

Nero smirked, seeing Zhalla proud of those children she looked after at any point just reinforced what Nero had guessed about her all that time ago. “Maybe most other times, sure... But this time you’re hurt more than just physically. As promised, I didn’t give any of those details, just that I found you all dinged up and refusing my help.” Nero sighed, it sucked not telling the full truth, but ultimately he smiled, because it wasn’t like he lied. “But hey, either way they have less reason to worry since I’m on the case!” Nero puffed out his chest proudly. “Not that you’ve ever once made ‘em worry on purpose, I don’t think that fits who you are and how you operate.”

Seeing Zhalla blushing all because Nero offered wholesome mundane things was really something, and this was the same woman that denied she was sweet time and time again. What a dummy. “Oh, I forgot to mention, in addition to all of that— mum will want to show you old pictures and share some child raising secrets with you considering you’re running a shelter.” So, yes, in some sense Nero was going to get teased about his relationship with Zhalla, however— “Doesn’t bother me, I’m proud to call myself your boyfriend, partner, whatever you wanna call it!”

Nocti started wiggling and sqeaking rapidly in some sort of nodding motion, or at least the little magic living cloud equivalent of nodding. Nocti chirped, seemingly wanting Zhalla to continue talking about it. “Oh, Nocti uh, wants you to finish that sentence.”

“Hey, you’ll basically be the first to know, I’m sure.” Among several other people that would find it important, whatever the discovery happened to be in the end. Whatever it was, it wasn’t Nero’s focus at the moment. Typical Nero, of course.

Nero sighed, giving Zhalla a bittersweet sort of expression, he gently held her face with one of his hands. “Hiding physical injuries and all that? Yeah, I’m guessing you’ve managed that for years.” His tone was careful and gentle, it would likely be pretty clear as to what he meant now. “This is different. It rocks you to your core, and I can tell. Not saying you can’t do it, I’m sure you can manage it, but if you opened up to me, why not the kids? Ultimately, it’s up to you.” Nero said, managing a more confident smile as he gently stroked the side of Zhalla’s face. As for speaking the truth, Nero thought for a moment. “Mmmm, kind of, but think about it like this— it’s not my truth to open up on, it’s yours.” Nero held up a hand before continuing. “As the saying goes— ‘to rob someone else of their truth is akin to a lie.’— It’s something my birth mother taught me.”

Seeing Zhalla laughing at the mention of his mother’s antics brought Nero a lot of honest relief. “Oh and you better listen to her every word, lest you incur her almighty wrath~!” Nero winked, knowing well enough just how Zukha had some sort of intimidation factor to Zhalla. “Gross? Then what’s with that wonderful glowing smile of yours huh?”

Nocti, of course, seemingly agreed, chirping and beeping in a sing-songy way. When Zhalla denied Nocti the entirety of what she could have said about Nero, the cloud gave a sad little whine— just for effect, as they giggled in a very cloud-like way immediately after. “Wow, dramatic much, Nocti?” Nero scoffed before a cheeky grin appeared on his face. “I guess I’ll have to expand what I just said so that she totally has to equalize, how about that?” A dastardly cute threat! Blast him!