tushanshu_logs | [OPEN] I hear them still...

Entry tags:

[OPEN] I hear them still...

Characters: Bakura / Jack Frost / Stork
Date: March catch-all log
Location: Various around Keeliai.
Situation: Assorted run ins. Open starters in the log, closed starters in the comments. Or add your own!
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings if needed in subject headers.

A. [BAKURA] JADE SCHOOL OF KUNG FU DOJO - WOOD SECTOR
He hasn't made a big deal of it, but the dojo has been put back to rights and thoroughly cleaned up over the course of the last month. He's solved the heating problem, purchased replacements for the mats and panels which weren't salvageable (coincidentally, reports of juulan theft in certain sectors had gone up, particularly in public places where it had been pickpocketed). He'd moderately refurbished the sparse living quarters in the back, allowing him to cease renting the small unit in Fire and live at the dojo instead, which was preferable for privacy anyway.

There was no grand opening or announcement made, but when curious once-regular patrons came curiously around, having noted the freshened state of the exterior, Bakura just shrugged and let them have the practice time they requested. When they started leaving payments for the time spent in the small anteroom that doubled as an office between the main dojo floor and the back living quarters, he certainly didn't stop them.

(Equally coincidentally, the number of juulan thefts started going back down.)

B. [BAKURA] MARKET - FIRE SECTOR
With the brutal cold snap finally breaking, Bakura was less loathe to spend any time outside, and had resumed his typical habit of walking the public areas of Keeliai. The Fire Sector was still the most familiar to him, having lived there when housing was still assigned, and the atmosphere suited him. Yet more often than not, his steps were aimless, and he spent more time watching the kedan going about their lives than doing anything of note for himself; it was hard not to feel disconnected from everything now. For those who did for some reason engage him in conversation for whatever reason, found him alert but listless, as if the motions of daily life were a tedious obligation.

C. [JACK] WELCOME CENTER - CENTRAL SECTOR
The Welcome Center had officially reopened, and Jack was proud of the way they'd been able to put it back together. It had taken volunteers, to whom the spirit was grateful for the help, and the lack of harassment by his kedanese neighbours (of which there were many, given that the Center was in the hear of the commercial district of Central). Two consoles, installed by the Metalworkers, were in a bank along the one wall, and there was a holder for pamphlets and maps on the other. There was also a noticeboard for both paper posting and a chalkboard side, for leaving messages.

At the moment, the spirit was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor, pondering over how he was going to put up additional "check points" throughout the various sectors, to lead new arrivals to the Center if they happened to appear in other parts of Keeliai -- which was looking more and more like the standard. At Jack's side is a map of the city and surrounding area, with coloured dots added to it, corresponding to where he'd been told people had arrived recently.

D. [JACK] VARIOUS - WATER SECTOR
As things began to thaw, Jack fretted constantly over the state of the canals in the Water Sector, though for very different reasons than the Woodsmen seemed to be concerned about them. At first he went to every one of them, using his magic to keep the ice thick and dense, as the upswing in temperature actually lured more kedan onto the slippery surface. He was distracted for the first week of the month, constantly zipping on a strong breeze overhead, surveying the ice surface with an expert eye, searching for any thin spots or weaknesses.

When the weather seemed to be on a steady track toward warming, he decided that was enough sign, and started forcefully breaking up the icepacks in the canals so that they couldn't be skated on at all. He got more than a few unhappy complaints about the loss of seasonal entertainment, but he bore the chastisements with rueful grace that only a few people who knew him well would have seen through as genuine unease.

Once the canals were no longer a concern for ice however, they started becoming a problem around the city for other reasons. Flooding started small, but quickly became more of an ongoing problem. The Winter Spirit switched tracks again, freezing gathered pools of water inside people's houses so it could be broken up into chunks of ice and carted out before it caused more damage.

E. [STORK] VARIOUS - METAL SECTOR
Stork has decided that the best way to acclimate himself to this strange city is to build something, which means he's been creeping around the Metalworker's properties, literally going through their trash and fishing out all sorts of discarded odds and bobs. It isn't clear from the scrap he's gathered what he's trying to build just yet, but he's obviously stopped to assemble a few little gadgets along the way. A couple of them are clicking away merrily on sprockets on the ground, while presently Stork has his head inside a scrap bin, three-toed feet lifted slightly to reach something near the bottom.

"Oh, this looks promising..."

F. [STORK] CANALS - WATER SECTOR
Stork has a small crowd of people gathered around him, but he's barring the way to one of the Water Sector canals with both arms. He's also pretty loud, and his antics are drawing more people to come and stare at the obviously addled Foreigner.

"Stay back! The water in the canals is contaminated with Tunurian fire fungus! One swallow and you'll start growing hairy pustules on your insides! If you get anywhere near open flame, you'll explode!"

There are some jeers from the kedan, because that's the most ludicrous thing they've ever heard (and they've heard some good ones), and some of them are tired of having their path blocked and shove the Merb to the side.

"H-Hey!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Raine wasn't really intending to seek Bakura out, but she'd only seen him from a distance during the bonfire night and now, in the markets on errands, when she caught white hair out of the corner of her eye she was redirecting her path before she'd made the conscious decision.

When she did notice, however, she didn't change her mind; it had been a little while, and it would be nice to know how he was doing. Raine wove across the street to eventually fall into step with Bakura, glancing over at him in part to gauge how welcome her presence was. "Good afternoon, Bakura."

"Hello seba-rekhet," Bakura answered, having not reacted to her sudden appearance at his side, which could be attributed to him having seen her approach or simply not caring if he was surprised.

"You're out less often, now that you spend your days in that Guild building."

It was-- something of a relief, to hear that nickname from him again, and it seemed conversation was on the table; Raine relaxed a little, a fractional difference in the set of her shoulders. "I suppose so," she agreed, thinking over her recent allocation of time briefly. "It's something that both can't and shouldn't be given half measures. I haven't seen you in a little while; have you been keeping busy?" Well was on the tip of her tongue, though she changed her mind at the last moment.

"Busy enough," Bakura replied, and because she'd changed her question at the last moment, he was able to answer affirmatively. "I decided to claim the dojo in the Wood Sector, rather than let it sit empty. It needed some work to get it back into usable condition."

And he didn't mind said work, doing most of it himself rather than hire kedan for the tasks. The things he couldn't do, that he didn't have the skill sets for, was contracted out, so that the dojo had remained largely quiet for the past month.

"The dojo?" Raine echoed. She knew Ryou had gone, but hadn't expected Bakura to pick up where he left off, excepting perhaps in possession of the Ring. "Ah-- you did work there before, didn't you." He'd mentioned it the first time they talked, now that she thought of it, back when he'd still been pretending to be Ryou. "It'd be a shame to let the space go to waste."

And it was good to hear Bakura had something to do with himself.

"I notice also you've met my brother," she added in a moment.

"Rest assured, I've already been adequately told off for daring to take possession of it," the thief muttered. Midii had certainly made her opinions on the matter clear; not, of course, that it had been enough to change the thief's mind, but he'd still had to put up with it.

"I did," he agreed. "It must be good to see him, after this much time."

The muttering earned a brief, quizzical look from Raine, because it was nowhere near what she'd meant. She was aware that not everyone held him in positive regard, but in the absence of direction from Ryou or a secondary person having been specified by Korra, Bakura had the closest thing resembling a right to the space, didn't he? "Will you encounter trouble on that front?"

His second comment, however, drew a smile from her, even if it was one with something a little bit sad around the edges. "It is," she agreed. A pause. "You seemed to be getting along." She'd seen them only from a distance that night, but enough to see how animated Genis had been.

"From the hemuiket?" Bakura scoffed. "Hardly. She's so wrapped up in proving to the rest of the world how determined and resolute that she is, she's basically forgotten how to actually live. The only trouble from her I'd expect is that she'll drop comatose in the street from lack of air up as high as she holds herself, and still find a way to blame me for it."

But then he shrugged, as if putting the issue of Midii from his mind and turning it instead to interactions with a much more pleasant child.

"He's much as you described," Bakura replied. "He thought I was half elf too, at first. Now he seems to think he'll look like me when he's older. We talked a little of different types of magic... he liked a Fire-type I summoned during the bonfires."

A raised brow, mostly because Raine hadn't heard hemiuket before and had no idea to whom it might be attached. "If she does, let me know," she said finally, wryness coloring her tone. That problem, at least, she could fix, though she was sure Bakura had meant it as hyperbole.

But she let that matter slide in favor of the other, which was restraining a startled laugh. Now that was a thought, Genis maturing to look somewhat like Bakura. And not, Raine discovered as she processed the idea, wholly out of the question, and her gaze turned a little contemplative, studying Bakura's features. "Half-elves are often marked out by atypical coloration," she explained, absently. "It's the most common mutation."

There was a noticeable pause, like she was deciding something, but her expression remained roughly the same, simply considering. "I take after our mother," Raine said at length, "but I don't recall our father's face. It's... not inconceivable. Improbable, I suppose, given our disparate origins, but..." She trailed off, shrugged the idea off as a flight of fancy as well, amused. "He always has liked fire."

"If it crosses my mind," Bakura retorted, because frankly helping Midii would not be topping his list of priorities at the moment. He glanced away as Raine studied him thoughtfully, but looked over at her again when she spoke about her parentage. He's surprised to hear the admission, and he hesitates several seconds longer than a normal consideration before responding in kind.

"I-- looked like... mine, too," he said; the words sound as if they're being pried loose one syllable at a time. "Not... colour, but features. Didn't know any father, it was just her and I." He paused before adding, "Though if he'd been the reason for it, she'd have said something."

There were several moments where Raine simply didn't know what to do with that. She hadn't expected-- anything, really, and while Bakura was rarely outright untruthful these days she didn't think she'd commonly heard him this honest.

And it would be the one time she hadn't actually been seeking to press any additional knowledge out of him, too. Perhaps that was why.

She tucked those little bits of his history away in her mind, in the same way she did anything of her friends, especially that which deserved to be remembered. Inclined her head in deliberate acknowledgment, and didn't push farther. "Genis was only a few days old when I became responsible for him," she offered instead, stepping around the edges of the issue. "It's... natural, I think, that he'd look for..."

Raine paused there as she came to the idea of Genis looking up to Bakura. Trust Bakura with his life-- yes, evidently she did. Trust Bakura as a role model? ... less likely. Then she shook her head, clearing that line of thought and beginning a new one. "It's-- frustrating. Having questions with no realistic chance for an answer." And that might well apply to any of them.

Likewise, Bakura was surprised that Raine had inherited responsibility for Genis so young. She had mentioned offhandedly that she had practically raised him in absence of their mother, but he hadn't realized that it had started so young on her part; still a child herself, at that point.

"You did well," is what he says, and that's as much compliment as anyone could give.

But he wasn't touching the half-remark about what Genis could be naturally be looking for. "He'll figure it out."

A blink, not quite startled, and then Raine smiled. It was a little softer than usual, reflective of the fact that the conversation involved her brother and that Bakura had caught her a bit off-guard. "High praise," she said, without a trace of sarcasm in it. From Bakura, it certainly felt like it.

She was almost glad he had let the other remark slide -- even she wasn't fully certain where she would have gone with that. "Eventually," Raine agreed, nodding. Her job was to look after him until he did. Though, come to think of that... hm.

"I-- wonder if you might do me a favor."

"Hm? I should think I do owe you one, given that you agreed to mine before I left the Dreaming," he answered.

She herself hadn't been keeping track, but if Bakura took it that way, she supposed it was at least passingly accurate. "Ryou didn't remain all that long," Raine pointed out. "It's not dissimilar, however. Genis is... I can't watch him here, the way I used to." To say nothing of all the other contributing factors. The city was large, and she couldn't keep him close. "And while for the most part he can take care of himself, it would set my mind somewhat more at ease to know someone else was keeping an eye out for him, as well."

Bakura shrugged when Raine pointed out that Ryou had disappeared rather quickly, in comparison to how long the teen had been here originally. That didn't mean Bakura treated Raine's previous agreement any more lightly.

"I anticipate he'll have quite a few eager guardians," he replied, because the Foreigners had always gone out of their way to safeguard the youngest of their group. "But yes... I'll watch for him, as well."

"Perhaps so." Raine lifted one shoulder, not disagreeing but neither quite so convinced. There were any number of people who might be kind to Genis for her sake at the very least, but even so Raine preferred not to trust that to luck or anything like it. Whatever else anyone else might choose to do, now, at least she had this assurance.

"Regardless, I appreciate it. Thank you." Did she need to also have a talk with Genis regarding appropriate role models? Entirely possible. But she didn't doubt that Bakura would help keep him safe, which was the main point.

Bakura knew how Raine felt, when he'd asked her to look out for Ryou the same way and she'd felt that it went without saying-- he might pay closer attention now, but it wasn't as if he'd have just let Genis wander into harm.

"Aa," he shrugged a second time. "What else are you busy with today?"

Judging any other expression of sincere emotion as probably more than either of them had signed up for today, Raine moved on with Bakura's cue. "Little things," she said, waving as if to dismiss them as inconsequential. "I'm in need of a new blank notebook, and there were herbs I wanted to track down before stopping at the Guild, later. And you? What brings you out today?"

Definitely more than Bakura had been anticipating (any sharing on that front was more than he anticipated) and he was equally quick to move on. "Appreciating that the weather's not so damned cold," he answered. "Beyond that, nothing much."

With the dojo open and currently running on its own pace with little supervision, there wasn't much that required his attention. At some point he would also need additional supplies, and record keeping if he felt like it, but those seemed like idle time sinks rather than anything he looked forward to doing.

He hated to feel so aimless, and yet nothing managed to stir any sort of urgency or drive in him. There were things he was doing, which was better than nothing, but an absence of anything he really wanted to do.

"I shouldn't hold you up, then."

"It's better than Flanoir," Raine said, absent, as if this was something she'd had to tell herself a number of times. As bad as the weather had been, she could be stuck in the Temple of Ice.

Something about his air made her pause a little, instead of simply going on her way, and finally, only a little bit hesitant, Raine asked, "...would you like to accompany me?" She didn't have the most interesting things planned, really, but even what was boring improved with the company of friends.

Bakura was surprised at the offer, but after a brief moment's pause, he nodded. "I can," he replied, falling into step next to her. The idea of her company was certainly not unwelcome, in any case. "What's Flanoir?"

There was a part of Raine that hadn't actually expected him to accept. She blinked, then smiled, and directed her steps the way she had been before spotting Bakura in the first place. "A city," she explained. "In the northern part of Tethe'alla. Which alone would give it a cooler climate, but it's also situated near the Seal of Ice, where the summon spirit of ice, Celsius, dwells. Her influence, the unequaled concentration of ice mana, means Flanoir practically never thaws, and it's obviously even worse in the winter."

The evident distaste on Bakura's expression was nearly comical, as he pictured a permanently frozen tundra not unlike Evidet that they had just left, at least the portion that was outside the protective domes. Intermittent winter was bad enough, but a permanent one? Unthinkable.

"Genis mentioned summon spirits," he said after a moment's thought. "At the bonfire. He wanted to know if they were similar to the duel monsters that I use. I said they were in some ways, like having specific elements aligned to them, but not in others. Is 'Sheena' why you were interested in mine?"

Yes, she had rather thought he'd like Triet better.

Sheena's name from Bakura was a little bit of a surprise, though; Raine didn't make a habit of elaborating on her world and history any more than was strictly necessary -- usually -- and as a logical result did not commonly find herself asked about things she hadn't mentioned. Genis, on the other hand, she knew could be talkative, and not prone to examining what he said before he said it.

"I suppose she was, to some extent," Raine said in a moment. "I don't know if Genis told you, but she's the only summoner remaining in our world to the best of anyone's knowledge: the art has mostly been lost. However, even without that, I would have been interested in your magic on its own merits. Learning about foreign systems is continually fascinating, especially seeing the influence the people from such different worlds can have on each other."

[OPEN] I hear them still...

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