Welcome to Gaia! ::

He made himself take a breath, and another. It didn’t help.
The hand….felt, that was good, he’d never have forgiven them if they’d given him something that didn’t give him at least the implication of being what fit into his personal idea of normal.
But it still didn’t feel right, didn’t feel the same.
The sensations it gave weren’t the ones he expected, and that meant that playing, even now was far more a struggle than he felt it should have been.
If it had been his bow hand, maybe it wouldn’t have felt so much like a personal offence. More so because there was the uncertainty.

He swore, not so quietly into the dark, pacing back and forth and flexing out the fingers of his ‘odd’ hand. It looked so.. Normal when he wasn’t in uniform, and it almost pissed him off. No, it really did piss him off though he could also appreciate the practicality of it. It just didn’t feel right because it didn’t match what he remembered of his hand, no more than his face -quite- matched up what it should have when he woke up.

He lifted the violin again, exhaling sharply and started carefully to go through the cords, trying to relearn how it felt to move against the strings, how hard to press, how to slide fingers that weren’t really flesh any longer.

The last part being important, he could make some very… unfortunate sounds if he wasn’t careful, let alone what a metal finger tip could do to a string

Eyes narrowed at her, suspicion, and then a small disbelieving laugh. “Before, or after you try and take my energy, or my starseed?”
He arched an eyebrow at her and tilted his head as though he were studying something new and interesting found in an unexpected place.
“I’ll advise against trying either.”

There was a tight set to his jaw as he spoke.

He folded his arms, careful about the instruments, and shook his head slowly.
“You’re new… what’s your, ‘name’?”

“I’ll give you a hint, I’m not with the side of ‘Order’” He rolled his eyes at the last word.

He pursed his lips and sighed.
“Can you feel, any other powered people at the moment?” He asked, carefully putting his instrument into his case. “Because I can, perhaps, answer your question for you in short order.

He nudged the case close and clicked the locks, shaking out the hand that he’d been moving across the frets, hissing through his teeth.

“Why is because I don’t know you, why is because I was gone long enough you slipped in when I couldn’t notice. So I wanted to know your name. It’s safer to ask that than to tell you mine, when I can’t so easily tell if anyone else is listening.”

He gave a bitter laugh
“ I’d just gotten a scholarship, for my ability to play before…. Well…” He shook his head and took a breath, drumming fingers against his hip as though he were weighing the pros and cons of what he was about to do.

He then did a teasing bow, and as he straightened, he changed. From unknown young man, to.. A dark mask, long coat, chains and keys, tall boots and epaulets.

“I don’t suppose, you know my name?” He sighed, lifting the hand that he’d shaken out moments before to glance with frustration at… metal fingers.

He gave a soft laugh. “No, they weren’t… well, correct that, they were, but there’s a, special stone embedded in the arm, it makes it look normal when I’m not in uniform.”

He wave his ‘normal’ hand at the forearm, a vague implication that it was somewhere within.

“Zinkenite, my name is Zinkenite.”

“If you’re willing, I’m game to have someone work with me while I try and make this, damn thing work the way I feel like it should.” He hissed.

“But I’ll warn you, my temper isn’t the best right now. Not that I’d try and take it out on you just because I’m having trouble with music. But, I will probably yell, a few times.” He admitted and shook his head apologetic.

“Tell me about yourself, have you, rather, did you start with us? Or did we perhaps recruit you from the other side of things?”

“Regarding cats, that rather depends, do you mean real cats, or the ones that have the unfortunate ability to talk back to you?”

“As for back talk, Your mentor is correct, you should… respect the rank someone carries, but, respecting them personally, that comes from seeing what they do, and learning what they have done.”
He rolled his shoulder, half a shrug.

“Past that, you must simply be mindful that there are consequences to any action, regardless of rank, or experience.” He flexed the metal hand. “If you’re exceptionally rude, I’ll deal with it, I can live with rude. I am of a sort, accustomed to it, or I was. I am sure I will become so again.”

He squeezed his eyes closed for a moment and exhaled.

“So whom is your superior?” He asked tipping his head Part of him at least hoped for a familiar name, though he was hardly counting on it.

He stifled a laugh into his hand. “Trying too hard to be edgy, I could say that about a few people I’ve known in my time.” He chuckled.

“I take it then that you’re assigned to him?” He tipped his head. “I’ll be sure to look him up. I’m curious now. You’ll grow stronger though, that is the nature of experience.” He shrugged.

“Whatever else you gain out of it though, that is purely individual. You can have very strong people whom are not good leaders, and you can have people whom are weaker than you, but have those qualifications… I’m rambling. Sorry.” He waved a hand as though to brush away the thought.

“... When you say, go out with someone, you’re dating then? That must be a little, awkward, him being your mentor and your ah… partner?” He arched his eyebrows somewhat suggestive.

He gave a thoughtful nod, a distracted look about the level of devotion this corrupted seemed to show.
“Yes, we are all to be devoted, but, I think there are none whom will ever love her, or devote quite so well to her as someone I think you may never meet.” He murmured.

“Did you ever hear, of Tanzanite?” He tipped his head. “I feel like some whom have known about her, try very hard to fill her shoes, they can’t mind you. She was something, unique.”

“I think the more you see, the more...devoted you become. After all, she… they saved me once at least. But, I think people are just as capable of letting their own ego get in the way, making choices assuming that every word they speak is her will, and it’s not. But I can hardly bore you with the details of my last promotion, that would be very tedious indeed.”

He sighed, and pulled down the mask that covered so much of his face to offer a smile.

“I’ve no idea where the person I was last with is. I’ll have to look them up I suppose.”