#zuikko

       𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒚𝒐𝒏,    a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful.                                                         @zuikko​    ;     prompt.

behold,    the looking glass    —    vitreous apertures to the equinox and an era long expired:    the springtide of youth,    its easy idyll.      two eminences sit draped in hard - won puissance,    and between them,    a teaset in porcelain,    inlaid with gold;    steam soars from brimming cups in a summoning  for the dewy - eyed.       beyond the windowsill,    a pair of  fledglings  traipses across virescent fields,    unmarked by whiteouts and conflagrations both.        (      children allowed to be children,    𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆.      )

the voyage of sound vouchsafes them the  melliferous canticle  of guileless laughter.      it draws,    from elsa’s own mouth,    a quiet flowering    —    camellias half - abashed.      neither child is flaxen nor auburn and yet she spies them anyway,    𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬  consigned to the nightshade gorge of her memory.      twin sapphires in thaw,    peering through the  scene  and the  steam,    and    —        (      what do you see,    i wonder?    a brother and a sister,    before the hand of cruel fortune fractured the crucible of sentiment?      )        the war,    she thinks,    bowed mouth turning rictus,    is a terrible,    necessary  thing.

corruption is power,   corruption is key in this world.      this city is a walking data shard,   rotting   &   decaying with every passing second;   a virus leaking through to its core.      (tick tock,   the time clock bomb is ticking!)      the streets gloss of neon hues,   an attempt to masquerade what’s hidden underneath the façade of it all.      death is among them   /   the graveyard is beginning to be built,   a volcano threatening to explode directly in front of their feet.     whenever she closes her eyes,   riley’s face is on the opposite side   &   the lonesome tear streaming from her left eye,   carmine soaked digits.      when they reopen,   she’s greeted with zuko’s face   &   the same expression worn across his features as hers.         [a hybrid of vexation,   exasperation,   &   carnage.]

❝     i’ll fucking kill him the next time i see him.    ❞      necation of the soul,   she blinks   &   cranes her head in his direction.      his name doesn’t need to be spoken;   they both know who she’s speaking of.      (his own blood,   his own family.       could you have stopped this tragedy?      would you have?)      girl rotting,   girl decaying   /   boy rotting,   boy decaying   —   a kinship could brew amongst them if allowed to blossom from its roots.      verdant eyes are clear   &   speak loud enough:   which side are you on?

a song had been playing for what seemed like an eternity;   enough for her to trace the rim of her glass five times in a row,   a bad habit she’d been trying to quit for weeks now.       her chartreuse gaze has become glued to the ground of the church,   studying the scuffs   &   specks of dried blood besmirched into the roof   &   crevices of her converse shoes.      ellie didn’t belong here;   a social pariah in a sea of people not even remotely close to her.      she’s drowning   /   she’s been drowning for awhile,   trying her hardest to keep her head above sea level while ghosts from her past yank on her legs,   dragging her further down.

zuko’s voice is a relief in a sense,   an unexpected solace which offers a chuckle in response.     scarred digits trace over the rim of her glass once more before finally being brought up to her lips,   the beer finding its way down the back of her throat.        ❝    dina invited me   &   i guess i didn’t want to disappoint?    ❞      the words come out voiced as a question rather than a statement,   gaze finally lifting itself up from the wooden floorboards.      they greet him,   lips edging upwards into a mild smile,   before glancing outwards into the crowd of jackson county citizens.       dina’s immediately spotted   /   a star with the spotlight placed right upon her,   shining from the crowd in all her glory.       the smile spread across her face is quickly faded,   mouth hastily downing the rest of her beer.        ❝    fuck.        what a fucking duo we are.    ❞        chuckles are breathed out,   head leaning backwards momentarily.        

                apologetic   is    her    tone,    fumbling    with    the    red    skirt   of    her    attire,    Tsubaki    remains    standing    a    few   feet    behind    the    stranger,    and    in    the    dim   light    of    the    full    moon,    only    their    cloaked   silhouette    is    visible    to    her,    lit    up    from   time    to    time    by    the    flames    of    the    fire   dancers    below.    While    the    spectacle    is    definitely   something    to    behold,    Tsubaki    prefers    solitude    to   large    crowds    gathered    below    the    rooftop    to   witness    the    autumn    festival.    And    there    is    also   the    fact    that    she    is    currently    searching    for   her        energetic    companion,    long    lost    in    the   ocean    of    fire    nation    citizens    celebrating.

                                                 @zuikko​​    —             ❝     this would be hard for you if you were weak, but you are not weak.     ❞                                                  (    prompt.    )

laughter,    languor - kissed:    a muzzled  pentatone  portending the waning crescent of  pretense    —    revealing inchmeal,    alongside louring daylight,    the ferrous hand of providence,    its  𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒚  upon the country of woman.      how weighty,    this collar made  coronal,    that a winter - cress cranium might  withstand  its tonnage,    without snapping its petiole before  evenfall?      it takes,      [  she has learnt,  ]      a delicate balance;    𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐞,    springtide glaciation.        (  winter as preservative:    lest she wither whilst the vultures circle,    mandibles unhinged,    inclement in starvation.  )