Work Text:
Zonda and Tenjian both reside at the top of Eden, but they serve very different roles. Tenjian is good at relating to people and bringing out their passions with his own. He is cool and firm but still holds the warmth that any caring person should.
While Tenjian handles initial recruitment, it is Zonda's preaching of gentle love that rallies Eden's forces. The masses are touched by Zonda's ideals and quickly devote their lives to them. Everyone adores the Oracle, their hand forced by desperate times to lead such forces at an unthinkably young age. All selfishness fades away to make room for a paradise where adepts can live free.
None would dare claim Zonda to be heartless. None but Zonda themselves.
There are people who take pride in being so detached, and people who would do anything to feel so numb. What Zonda feels is fear that the love they preach does not truly exist in their heart-- that the past has left it irreparably shattered.
A mirror. Not one of illusory properties; a vanity desk. They practice expressions. They all look fake and empty. Zonda thinks of the many people they've met, and the expressions they've been capable of. They can't figure out how to manipulate their face in such manners.
An illusion, this time. An older adept, the same age as Tenjian, confident and eccentric. They express joy as easily as Zonda wills it. Just as smoothly, their expression falls and their lower lip quivers, eyes filling with tears. It's a simple transition from sadness to anger, head raising abruptly in frustration and brow twitching, barely restrained.
Zonda recognizes these emotions just as they can look at a rainbow and list off the colors. Without the assistance of their septima, Zonda cannot change colors. Their mirrors can change anything they desire.
Zonda speaks to the illusion. When it responds, its voice displays a range of feeling. Amusement, irritation, concern; all can be easily detected in the voice. Zonda's voice is completely level-- unreadable. They have been told this is a valuable skill. They have been told they sound like a robot.
Mourning the loss of both of their childhoods, Tenjian often gifts Zonda toys. He found an art kit once and they painted together. Tenjian liked to paint cloudy skies. Zonda liked to paint heart shapes and people, barely recognizable as such due to their lack of skill with a brush. They stuck to hearts instead.
Zonda has heard such talk as art being an excellent method of expressing oneself. They procure a blank sheet of paper and take a quite used pink colored pencil from the art kit. The pencil touches the paper only once. Zonda has no idea what to express.
They carefully replace the pencil and return the art kit to its place in the closet. Neatly lined plush toys surround the kit, ordered meticulously by favoritism. Their very favorite, a slightly lopsided cheerful snowman, sits in the center. To both of its sides are a variety of animals, with the animals they are most partial to spaced apart from each other, each between a less favored animal. Nobody should be able to detect the pattern, thus nobody's feelings will get hurt. Zonda is "aware" that the toys do not have feelings. Finally, Zonda feels a kinship.
Sometimes, they can cry. It's merely a physical release of stress, Zonda knows, but regardless, they always run to Tenjian when it happens as if to prove their heart is in working order. Tenjian rightfully assumes Zonda must be thinking of their painful past, or the current state of the world, or something hurtful that was said to them. Zonda is thinking that they are an inhuman shell; ironically, the fear of a lack of emotion seems to bring about hints of it.
Tenjian is a wonderful brother, and he has always acted as one to everyone. Zonda was never Tenjian's only sibling, merely the only survivor. He had taken on that responsibility at a very young age-- younger than Zonda's current age, as they recall-- and thus was afforded no opportunity to be the child he very much was. Sometimes, Zonda approaches Tenjian as an illusion, eager to scoop him up into their arms and be the mature, reliable one just for a little while. Tenjian rejects this, openly preferring Zonda the way they truly are. Tears well up again.
Maybe when they're older, expression will come easier. They have been assuming such things for years already, but there is still time yet. Until then, all Zonda needs is the family they have created, and the paradise they work towards.