Description: Ken Masters catches up with Zach Glen in the wake of Quon's death.
Zach had heard about the death of Quon Chen while at the Dynamite Glove Boxing Gym, and left fairly quickly. People let him be; while the regulars generally included him in the regular shenanigans, they knew just by looking to leave the psion be.
Zach had retreated to a remote residence that Chun-Li had gifted to him after that whole rescue insanity. He sits on the porch, staring out at the pond and that bamboo water thing that makes the 'tonk'ing sound occassionally. It's hard to tell what is going through his head, and the people wiring the place for some more modern conveniences. They've left Zach be for the time being.
While Quon has left a mark on quite a few people, Ken is making it a point to at least try and seek out some of them to offer his own condolences. While some of them will be a real pain to track down, one of them is fairly easy. Having made a few calls, the Blonde Ansatsuken master tracked down Zach, knowing that this could be a disaster if it isn't handled with care.
Walking up to the residence, Ken makes his presence known to the psion. "You holding up okay Zach?" He doesn't bother waiting for an okay to sit down on the porch as well, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket. "I'm sorry. I really am.."
Zach knew Ken was on the property almost as soon as Ken knew he was. Ken Masters was becoming a familiar 'presence' to Zach's mind. He doesn't turn to face Ken. "Ain't your fault," Zach says flatly, reaching almost absently to the print up of the press release. He doesn't read it, he's read it a dozen times already. Denial is over and done with.
Zach takes a deep breath, shoving the sheets away. He still doesn't look at Ken, staring out at the pond. It keeps the psion calm, which is more important than a lot of people know. "What didn't you say," Zach says in that flat voice. "To the press, I mean. You didn't tell them everything." 'Tonk' goes the tonker. "There's only one thing I want to know. And that's who's responsible."
He hasn't caught Sagat's statement. The God of Muay Thai clearly knows more than most.
"That he commited suicide? That he left a note barely explaining anything as to why? He voided the check for the payment of the interview he did with Adon. I honestly don't know what else there is to it. In the end, he doesn't give us many clues to go on." Ken sighs loudly as he hands the piece of paper to Zach.
"I'm going out on a limb here and putting words in his mouth, and turning his payment over to you for use for your school. I don't.. No, I won't try and pry further into it. I can't say Quon and I were close enough to truly pry. I'd love to know more, of course. I rather liked Quon and thought he truly had potential to become a face the world truly knows..."
Zach stares blankly at the quarter of a million dollars Ken just handed him. He looks at Ken, then at the check again. He blinks slowly. "...Suicide?" Zach asks with more than a little confusion.
That confusion clears up quickly, Zach's face contorting to rage. "He didn't fall," Zach says, trying to keep a level fall. "Figuratively, I mean." His hand balls into a fist around the check, a growl emerging from his throat. A couple of plants near Zach's perch start to sway away from the psion despite the lack of wind. "He was pushed," he says. "I intend to find out who."
"Jace Timmons already let the cat out of the bag in regards to just how Quon passed away. He's blaming Adon, like most of the world right now. Unfortunately, they're wrong." Ken lowers his gaze to the ground, a couple of tears slipping from his eyes.
"Adon isn't to blame. Yes, he's a monster in almost every sense now, but in the end it fell on Quon. We all had our hands extended out to him. I don't think seeking out fights right now is what we should do. We should honor his memory and remember that he was truly a good man no matter what."
"Aggregate, then," Zach says as much to himself as to Ken. "Wasn't /just/ Adon's crap." A part of Zach, the rational part of him, /knows/ that the person Cammy White is now has nothing to do with Quon's burdens. The rational part of Zach's mind, however, is having a hard time getting a seat at the table.
Zach's hand almost spasms open into a claw-like shape. Energy, dark red-tinted gold licks up his arm, boiling off of the hand as if echoing the current of emotion just under the skin. The psion takes several deep breaths, but doesn't seem like he's really calming down. "He's dead. They aren't," he says in a low tone. "Ain't /right/."
"No its not. I'll be the first one to agree with you there. Right now though, we can't do anything we'll ever regret. None of us." Ken's voice is low, as its obvious he's struggling to keep himself together as well. "You can't let yourself fall apart. You have to keep it together."
The blonde Ansatsuken master raises his head once more, "Your school is going to need you. I can't tell you what to do, but I'm going to suggest you use this as a focus for it. Now is going to be thest best time to reveal it."
The comment about announcing the school now snaps Zach back out of whatever black pit of rage his mind was dwelling in. The rage gauntlet evaporates into so many motes of red and yellow light as Zach regards Ken.
"Now?" he asks hoarsely. "Now? I..." There is a /ton/ of things Zach wanted to get done before he went public with this. Ken knows the list. It's not so much long as substantial, and while Zach has been pluggin away at it... there's things Zach would have done as the bare minimum before a public announcement. "...I don't know that we're /ready/ for it."
"Right now, you're showing me that you need it more then ever to be sooner then later." Ken places a hand Zach's shoulder, gently squeezing it. "No matter what, you're going to have to drum up intrest in it, and using Quon's passing as a motivator will help get you more then just my involvement."
There is so much Ken could honestly say about it, but in the end it lies on Zach to decide on how to proceed. "I'm going to leave it at that Zach, but if you don't find a way to refocus your sorrow.. it'll eat you up and tear you apart."
Zach doesn't meet Ken's eyes. He looks back to the pond, staring for a long moment. He swallows once, before bending over to pick up the crumpled check. "Seems wrong to cash in on his name like that," Zach says quietly, before pulling the piece of paper straight. He hands it back towards Ken.
"Put it towards the account," he says roughly. "I... I need to sleep on this." Zach takes a deep, cleansing breath. "Need to do this right."
"It's not cashing in on his name. It's using his memory to further something that will help so many people. I don't quite think he'd have objected to it." Ken takes the check and places it back into his pocket, only to climb to his feet.
"Zach, I need you to listen to me because this is very important. Grieve for what was lost, but remember that you can't just.. Don't blame yourself, okay?"
Zach takes another deep breath. "That," he says slowly, is a thought that will be hard to fit in my head for a while, I think." He blinks once or twice, something returning to those emerald eyes. He heaves a sigh.
"Could use a nap," he mutters, before continuing in a more conversational tone. "Need to find Rust, first. Make sure he's okay."
"
"Rest first, then go find Howard." Ken gives a slight wave to Zach, only to start walking down the path away from the house. "I'll be in touch. Let me know how Howard is doing, would you?"
Log created on 20:37:42 05/15/2012 by Zach, and last modified on 18:39:43 05/16/2012.