@kakushiha ( akuma ) : ❛ we haven't met yet, have we ? ❜
prompts no longer accepting !
he looks over at the man in the dimly lit there and there's a sense of familiarity he can't quite put his finger on. he pushes the thought away. ❛ i would assume you've been to one of the galas at the palace if you're running everything here now. ❜ his head tilts up, right eye taking in the expression of the man standing before him. there's a scar that cuts through his brow along with smaller ones across his face and zuko wonders at his history. was the man before him another victim of the fire nation or of his father's circumstances. his lips press into a contemplative line as he blinks at him. who was the man that ran ember island ?
❛ unless you remember a different meeting. ❜ he offers a smile, teetering on mischievous and curious in thought. zuko had spent so much time before being fire lord chasing the avatar, running from his father and fire nation law, and hiding in plain sight. perhaps this man knew of a different version of the fire lord entirely than what even he remembers himself.
the ex assassin knows that his face bears a few reactions. to some they knew him by a mask, one hastily sketched on wanted posters almost to be mistaken for the mask of the blue spirit. compared to the mask weathered by time well loved melancholy in colour; akuma's mask was stained with blood the last thing many officials saw before they met their end. to others he was known by a scarred face, an easy smile and something behind his eyes few understood; the mask he wore merely a nod to the governors' heritage.
"i don't make habit of attending galas your majesty, my work is more important than paying lip service to men far beneath their titles." akuma replied easily, with a coolness to his voice. as if his words weren't extreme provocation according to his older contemporaries.
at the almost goading reply, akuma does remember something different. he remembered leaving the boiling rock. remembered the rage that threatened to spill out of every pore of his body. how he had rashly infiltrated the palace what felt like a lifetime ago. how he had never met the headsman's block surprised him even now. "no, i don't think there was another meeting, good thing too, i used to be... quite the character." akuma chuckled, a sound forced through his teeth.
