Post by Jie Shan Lan Dian on Mar 3, 2017 22:22:30 GMT -5
Thread PL: 244,322
Jie Shan sat in the cold, metallic chair, the electronic noises of Rudieri’s laboratory equipment sounding all around him. His mind summoned up images of the lab back on Natto, and this one was a near mirror image. It seemed the Saiyaness was a creature of habit. But this was not Natto and Jie Shan was not the same man he was once before. A lot had changed, for better or for worse, and now Jie Shan had crossed the barrier into the uncertain future.
Rudieri stood behind him, her hand delicately holding up a strand of Jie Shan’s fine, silvery hair. She sighed and let it drop back into place. “Are you sure you want to cut your hair, Jie Shan?” Asked the Saiyaness scientist.
Jie Shan nodded, hard, black, Saiyan eyes staring at one of the lab walls. “I am,” he said, “It’s been far too long since I’ve cut my hair. It’s starting to get unruly.”
“Sure, but it’s so nice,” said Rudieri, “I like it. It’s nice and silvery.”
“It’ll still be silver after I cut it,” remarked Jie Shan, “And besides, these days, my hair only matters when it is gold.”
“I know that,” she muttered, “I just like it long, I guess. It looks on good on you.”
Jie Shan shifted in his seat to turn back and face the girl over his shoulder. He looked at her, mousey, black hair that ran past her chin, occasionally punctuated by the characteristic Saiyan spikes. He raised a single, silver eyebrow at her. “You think so?”
“I do,” she said with a nod, “But if you’ve made up your mind, I won’t stop you. You are my boss, after all.”
Jie Shan cocked his head to the side and frowned ever so slightly. But he said nothing at all, instead turning forward again in his seat. Yes, thought the hybrid, he was her boss. But Jie Shan had thought that they had become friends as well. Hadn’t they? The two had known each other for quite a while now, spent many a late night together, and sometimes he felt as if there were something more. But when it came down to it, Jie Shan supposed he was still her boss.
“Anyways,” he said, waving a hand in the air dismissively, “Let’s just get to cutting it down.”
Jie Shan sat in his chair as he felt Rudieri take up a handful of his hair. A heavy clump of the stuff went up in the air and fell to the earth as Rudieri cut through it, moving her hand and operating the scissors as if she were performing the most delicate of surgeries. The hair fell like fine threads of silver, a pile of the precious stuff growing with every passing moment. The two sat in silence, each absorbed in the moment. While Rudieri might be focused on the task at hand, Jie Shan’s mind wandered back in time, to the last time he had truly cut his hair.
---
Lei Ping held her son’s hair in her hand, examining it with a critical eye as the boy sat in silence, small tears welling in the corners of his eyes. The hair had been long, a fine silver that lacked the fiery heu of her own, bronze-red hair. But the fringes of the hair were now burnt near to ash and the heavy, acrid scent of burnt hair hung all around them in the little room of the inn that Pei Ling had rented for her son and herself for the night.
The Elemi warrior woman sighed. Her little halfblood son had gotten burned during their last encounter. The two of them had encountered a wanted criminal in the back streets of this backwater alien planet’s only true city. And together, they’d brought the man down, claiming his bounty. But not before the man had given them quite the fight, even going so far as to try and take down Jie Shan with him.
But Lei Ping had not let the criminal have his way. A mother protected her children, even if she could not say she had not let him harm a single hair on her son’s head. The boy was about eleven years old now. A child, she thought, but she could not allow him any luxuries. The boy was meant to walk the path of a warrior, the mixed blood of the Saiyan and Elemi races would demand it.
“Jie Shan,” she muttered, “Quit crying. You’re okay.”
“But Mother,” said the young Jie Shan, “It burns.”
“Hush now,” she whispered, her tone firm, “What does not kill you makes you stronger. You lived through it, did you not?”
Quietly, Jie Shan nodded, his young soft face trembling. His lips parted slightly and a tiny gasp fluttered from his lips, falling short like that of a butterfly that dropped dead mid-flight.
“Jie Shan, you need to be strong,” she commanded in her quiet voice, a fire burning beneath the surface, “And that means being brave as well. He will not be the last man to try and kill you, you know that right? A hundred more will come and you need to stand fast so that a hundred more will fall instead of you.”
Jie Shan nodded quietly, that primal fear still working its way through the core of his soul, a heavy pit in the center of his stomach, sitting there like bricks. He blinked once, twice, chasing the tears from his eyes. They fell like stars.
“Now,” said Lei Ping, “Let’s cut your hair. We can’t have you walking around like this.”
Lei Ping pulled a knife from her belt, Elemi-make, and began to cut. And, like strands of charred silver, they fell to earth.
---
Jie Shan blinked back to reality as Rudieri exclaimed aloud, “Ta-da!”
Slowly, Jie Shan lifted a hand to his head and rooted around. His hair felt… shorter, lighter. He looked down at the ground, and saw a massive pile of hair around him, like a small dog had expired at his feet.
Rudieri’s hand popped in front of him, a mirror held in front of his black eyes. Jie Shan stared at the man in the mirror and blinked. The man blinked back. Jie Shan raised his hand to his head once again, and the man in the mirror mimicked him. And now, Jie Shan realized that the man in the mirror was in fact himself, or so he thought.
Jie Shan grinned, flashing pearly whites. “It looks good,” he said, “Thank you, Rudieri.”
“Not a problem, Jie Shan,” she said, “You know I’m always happy to help!”
Jie Shan nodded, still grinning. Part of him pondered what he might look like in the Super Saiyan state now, but there would be time for that later. But for now…
“So,” said Jie Shan standing up from his seat and turning to face Rudieri once again, “What do you think?”
“What do I think?” She asked.
Jie Shan nodded.
“I think….” she said slowly, face churning, “I think it looks good.”
Jie Shan’s grin changed to a small smile. “Good,” he said quietly, “I was curious. Given how you said you liked my old haircut so much, and all.”
“You know, Jie Shan,” she said, giving an approving look, “Maybe silver is just your color. Gold too, now that I think about it.”
Jie Shan cocked an eyebrow. “If I didn’t know any better,” he said softly, “I would say perhaps you just like me.”
“Perhaps,” she said back, “Or maybe I’ve just taken a keen interest in studying such a… fascinating biological subject. I’ve spent dozens upon dozens of hours reading your data, you know?”
“A comforting thought,” he said, “Knowing I’m in such competent hands.”
“Your father hired the best.”
“My father might be a fool,” he remarked, “But I suppose even the foolish are not consistently so.”
WC: 1,347
I'll take PL for this, please. Half-elemi and mansion bonus, please! Thanks!
Jie Shan sat in the cold, metallic chair, the electronic noises of Rudieri’s laboratory equipment sounding all around him. His mind summoned up images of the lab back on Natto, and this one was a near mirror image. It seemed the Saiyaness was a creature of habit. But this was not Natto and Jie Shan was not the same man he was once before. A lot had changed, for better or for worse, and now Jie Shan had crossed the barrier into the uncertain future.
Rudieri stood behind him, her hand delicately holding up a strand of Jie Shan’s fine, silvery hair. She sighed and let it drop back into place. “Are you sure you want to cut your hair, Jie Shan?” Asked the Saiyaness scientist.
Jie Shan nodded, hard, black, Saiyan eyes staring at one of the lab walls. “I am,” he said, “It’s been far too long since I’ve cut my hair. It’s starting to get unruly.”
“Sure, but it’s so nice,” said Rudieri, “I like it. It’s nice and silvery.”
“It’ll still be silver after I cut it,” remarked Jie Shan, “And besides, these days, my hair only matters when it is gold.”
“I know that,” she muttered, “I just like it long, I guess. It looks on good on you.”
Jie Shan shifted in his seat to turn back and face the girl over his shoulder. He looked at her, mousey, black hair that ran past her chin, occasionally punctuated by the characteristic Saiyan spikes. He raised a single, silver eyebrow at her. “You think so?”
“I do,” she said with a nod, “But if you’ve made up your mind, I won’t stop you. You are my boss, after all.”
Jie Shan cocked his head to the side and frowned ever so slightly. But he said nothing at all, instead turning forward again in his seat. Yes, thought the hybrid, he was her boss. But Jie Shan had thought that they had become friends as well. Hadn’t they? The two had known each other for quite a while now, spent many a late night together, and sometimes he felt as if there were something more. But when it came down to it, Jie Shan supposed he was still her boss.
“Anyways,” he said, waving a hand in the air dismissively, “Let’s just get to cutting it down.”
Jie Shan sat in his chair as he felt Rudieri take up a handful of his hair. A heavy clump of the stuff went up in the air and fell to the earth as Rudieri cut through it, moving her hand and operating the scissors as if she were performing the most delicate of surgeries. The hair fell like fine threads of silver, a pile of the precious stuff growing with every passing moment. The two sat in silence, each absorbed in the moment. While Rudieri might be focused on the task at hand, Jie Shan’s mind wandered back in time, to the last time he had truly cut his hair.
---
Lei Ping held her son’s hair in her hand, examining it with a critical eye as the boy sat in silence, small tears welling in the corners of his eyes. The hair had been long, a fine silver that lacked the fiery heu of her own, bronze-red hair. But the fringes of the hair were now burnt near to ash and the heavy, acrid scent of burnt hair hung all around them in the little room of the inn that Pei Ling had rented for her son and herself for the night.
The Elemi warrior woman sighed. Her little halfblood son had gotten burned during their last encounter. The two of them had encountered a wanted criminal in the back streets of this backwater alien planet’s only true city. And together, they’d brought the man down, claiming his bounty. But not before the man had given them quite the fight, even going so far as to try and take down Jie Shan with him.
But Lei Ping had not let the criminal have his way. A mother protected her children, even if she could not say she had not let him harm a single hair on her son’s head. The boy was about eleven years old now. A child, she thought, but she could not allow him any luxuries. The boy was meant to walk the path of a warrior, the mixed blood of the Saiyan and Elemi races would demand it.
“Jie Shan,” she muttered, “Quit crying. You’re okay.”
“But Mother,” said the young Jie Shan, “It burns.”
“Hush now,” she whispered, her tone firm, “What does not kill you makes you stronger. You lived through it, did you not?”
Quietly, Jie Shan nodded, his young soft face trembling. His lips parted slightly and a tiny gasp fluttered from his lips, falling short like that of a butterfly that dropped dead mid-flight.
“Jie Shan, you need to be strong,” she commanded in her quiet voice, a fire burning beneath the surface, “And that means being brave as well. He will not be the last man to try and kill you, you know that right? A hundred more will come and you need to stand fast so that a hundred more will fall instead of you.”
Jie Shan nodded quietly, that primal fear still working its way through the core of his soul, a heavy pit in the center of his stomach, sitting there like bricks. He blinked once, twice, chasing the tears from his eyes. They fell like stars.
“Now,” said Lei Ping, “Let’s cut your hair. We can’t have you walking around like this.”
Lei Ping pulled a knife from her belt, Elemi-make, and began to cut. And, like strands of charred silver, they fell to earth.
---
Jie Shan blinked back to reality as Rudieri exclaimed aloud, “Ta-da!”
Slowly, Jie Shan lifted a hand to his head and rooted around. His hair felt… shorter, lighter. He looked down at the ground, and saw a massive pile of hair around him, like a small dog had expired at his feet.
Rudieri’s hand popped in front of him, a mirror held in front of his black eyes. Jie Shan stared at the man in the mirror and blinked. The man blinked back. Jie Shan raised his hand to his head once again, and the man in the mirror mimicked him. And now, Jie Shan realized that the man in the mirror was in fact himself, or so he thought.
Jie Shan grinned, flashing pearly whites. “It looks good,” he said, “Thank you, Rudieri.”
“Not a problem, Jie Shan,” she said, “You know I’m always happy to help!”
Jie Shan nodded, still grinning. Part of him pondered what he might look like in the Super Saiyan state now, but there would be time for that later. But for now…
“So,” said Jie Shan standing up from his seat and turning to face Rudieri once again, “What do you think?”
“What do I think?” She asked.
Jie Shan nodded.
“I think….” she said slowly, face churning, “I think it looks good.”
Jie Shan’s grin changed to a small smile. “Good,” he said quietly, “I was curious. Given how you said you liked my old haircut so much, and all.”
“You know, Jie Shan,” she said, giving an approving look, “Maybe silver is just your color. Gold too, now that I think about it.”
Jie Shan cocked an eyebrow. “If I didn’t know any better,” he said softly, “I would say perhaps you just like me.”
“Perhaps,” she said back, “Or maybe I’ve just taken a keen interest in studying such a… fascinating biological subject. I’ve spent dozens upon dozens of hours reading your data, you know?”
“A comforting thought,” he said, “Knowing I’m in such competent hands.”
“Your father hired the best.”
“My father might be a fool,” he remarked, “But I suppose even the foolish are not consistently so.”
WC: 1,347
I'll take PL for this, please. Half-elemi and mansion bonus, please! Thanks!
