Looks Aren't Everything (Ask)

"I was escorting a recent grad named Atsuro and a first year named Shizo on a date, because Atsuro's villain father had shown up again and it wasn't safe for Atsuro to go out alone." Tanzo explained "Flynn being Flynn, crashed the date for a bit, and sometime after he left, said villain father took him as a hostage and staged an ambush to attack his son. The villain manipulated puppets using metal wires and had Flynn bound up in them tight so he could use him as a puppet too. The wires caused all those scars, I did get him free and me, him, and Shizo took down the villain... and then I kinda sort of maybe stepped on the man's spine to shatter it and permanently paralyze him so this could never happen again... which I then blamed on a tree falling on him during the fight."

Tanzo's expression was grim during the explanation, it was not an event he remembered fondly in any capacity. His failure to stop everything that happened weighed on him... and the moment of sadism he'd unleashed on the villain to blame was concerning to him. It had felt really good at the time to vent some of his anger into permanently crippling a man... that man had deserved it but... Tanzo didn't like the implications for his own mental state that he'd even considered doing it, let alone followed through and enjoyed doing so.

Of course Flynn would crash a date and it would get him into hot water. He shook his head slightly, almost smiling until the fact came up that Flynn had been a hostage. He quietly sighed, subtly flexing his hand, wishing he could have given this man one good punch in the face, maybe broken his nose. But the fact that Tanzo had done it already just left him a little angry, but more tired as he realized the object of his anger was out of reach. He really did have trouble sustaining anger, so with the energy that remained, he instead just forced his hand to relax, and rub Flynn's back in an effort to soothe him. "You did what you had to, to prevent future incidents." Because this sounded like absolutely obsessive behavior that would not have stopped if he hadn't crippled the man. In that respect it had been a practical solution, even though they all knew that wasn't supposed to be something they did. It wasn't their job.

He wasn't timing how long it took, he just held Flynn until the boy had cried himself out. He didn't care that his shirt was messy or soaked from Flynn's tears, he just did what he thought was the right thing to do here, to give Flynn the time he needed to recover. And even when he felt a tug on his shirt, he kept one arm around Flynn's shoulders--until he needed his hands to answer back. Still, he stayed close, so Flynn could reach out and touch him again if he needed to. Yes,, he signed simply, answering first before adding the clarification that was on his mind. Flynn and Tanzo would both know by now, Hal always hated to leave any room for miscommunication. I've never experienced attraction the way you've described it. I don't know if that's what I am feeling now. But I want to try and see if it is, because I do know I get a sense of panic at the idea of your absence.

Tanzo would glance between the two lovebirds as they finally managed to talk out their feelings at long last. It was about damn time. And it was also about time he left the two of them alone for a bit.

"I'll... be right outside then" Tanzo said, making his way to the door as quietly as someone his size could, before slipping out and leaving the two boys alone in the room together. He'd stay in the building in case he was needed, but unless he was called back in he had no plans to re-enter the room anytime soon.