tushanshu_logs | ghost by my side, so perfectly clear. [ catch-all ]

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ghost by my side, so perfectly clear. [ catch-all ]

Who	"Jacob Kane" (Cain) & You
When	Month of September, barring plot explosions
Where	All around Keeliai and various establishments
What	Just one of those catch-all things
Warn	Will update as necessary. Please consider filling this permissions post!

Things were tense around the city. The breezy weather had subsided, and with it went some of the feeling of just waiting for something to happen. Now the air was humid and people were scrambling to collect what they could, prepare not only in case the air dried again but for whatever was to come when the Justicar appeared. No one had any idea what to expect. Cain certainly didn't, but he was more or less okay with that; he didn't need to borrow trouble rather than make sure his own interests would be all right should push come to shove.

To those ends, Cain was being a little more directed in his wanderings of the city. Places where the natives seemed more steeled than frantic, still appreciated foreigners or at least was willing to let individuals prove themselves, anything where he could make himself appear more solid. His carefree attitude was great and genuine, but if things went to hell, Cain wanted to make sure people would look at him and not question if he had to take some kind of control. All hail Romulus, father of the Holy Roman Empire. Ha, yeah right. Not that it would even mean anything to most people here.

He went about his business. There were places to be, people to bother, and plenty of things to keep up on.

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Pepper Potts was supposed to be a superhero. Right now, though, she really didn't feel like it. Her job, and Tony's job, and probably Gene's job, was to protect people. To fight the bad guys and take on the enemies that normal civilians couldn't.

Instead, she had done nothing, save preventing Tony from going nuclear on the Chihuelans. It didn't feel good to do nothing, but Klaus made a very salient point. Something else was going on, but as of yet that was unclear, and without understanding the playing field, they could endanger all of Keeliai.

So now she's sulking, basically, in a public area near where the Chihuelans are staying at the college. Pepper spends most of her time ~~glaring at~~ watching the area, but occasionally jots down notes or doodles, trying to connect the dots.

There wasn't a whole lot of reason to overtly hang around the College. Information would be hard to come by, and right outside their front door would be harder still. That didn't mean Cain didn't drop by every now and then, passing it on his way other places or likewise just making an appearance. Human nature dictated curiosity, and it would probably be weirder for him to not check into it. That said, he wasn't very invested at checking things out from this angle.

What he was interested in, however, was the girl hanging out nearby and apparently trying to do some kind of reconnaissance on the area. Probably a foreigner; the kedan were all steering clear or otherwise protecting their own by not getting overinvolved in the Chihuelan affairs. Cain understood that yet knew that involvement would be inevitable after the Justicar's display of the traitors' bodies. He certainly wasn't going to step down after having caught glimpses of a traitor or two before their deaths. It wasn't normal to be able to alter the destined time of death without prior knowledge of it, and yet the Justicar had done just that. If nothing else, he wanted that much stopped.

"Anything interesting pop up?" he asked from nearby. Not close enough to be creepy, but enough that Pepper would know she was being spoken to.

Pepper is doing more in the way of day dreaming than reconnaissance, but she's trying to use what Skul and others have been teaching her as she watches the Chihuelans. They're obviously soldiers, and well-trained at that.

She jumps slightly at Cain's question, but not enough to draw undue attention. Not that a girl with bright red hair and a penchant for pink clothing doesn't draw attention enough. Pepper glances at the man; he looks like a Foreigner. She vaguely recognizes him from the network, but doesn't know his name.

"Not particularly. Unless you count everyone who goes in and out," she replies, putting down her notebook.

It was true that her very nature made her stand out, but to be fair to Pepper that wasn't exactly something she could help. It would probably look weirder for her to be uncomfortable with herself while trying to blend in. Cain just tipped his head and walked closer, made it look like they were having a more casual conversation now that he had her attention and wasn't about to scare the socks off her.

"That might be interesting depending on pattern and configuration," he offered with a shrug. There was a lot of information to be found if you looked in the right directions, even if that information might not be useful enough in the long run.

"It's also interesting if you can add. Assuming you can keep track of faces," Pepper replies lightly. "Our guests seem to be something of an algebra problem."

They also acted far more confidant than she would have liked. Despite being far outnumbered, even just by the Foreigners, they walked around like they owned the place. It did not full her with a sense of ease.

"I'm Pepper, by the way. Pepper Potts." She musters a smile for him.

That gave him a chuckle, and Cain nodded with the assessment. He wouldn't be surprised if there were comings and goings behind hidden doors and secret alleys. These Chihuelans were not interested in keeping up strict appearances, just enough that they looked almost normal long enough to finish their business.

"Jacob Kane," he introduced. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he wasn't afraid to keep his levity. It wasn't without the gravity needed, he just wasn't going to be a downer. "It could be they've made another, less public base or have an expedited entrance somewhere."

"Maybe. I don't think they really feel the need to be super secretive. Even if they have decided to turn their corner of the college into a secret hideout, neither option is super appealing," Pepper muses grumpily. She glances down at her notepad. It's mostly doodles, reminding her that she's not really learning much by sitting here.

"Nice to meet you, by the way. Have you been here long? In Keeliai, I mean."

"Not this go around, but I was here for a few months just before the new year," he said. Then he shrugged, realizing it wasn't as simple as all of that. "Year before new year, I mean. I was one of the ones who had been sent to the Dreaming."

Cain turned to watch the College, for all the good it would do to simply look with his eyes. They weren't going to get anything much from watching; digging would be needed here, and that was going to be some work. The Chihuelans knew what they were doing.

"Timelines are weird here," Pepper says, making a face. "So, you didn't come back at the same time as everyone else? I got here two and three years after my friends. Now they're even older than me," she grouses.

She looks away from Kane to watch the Chihuelans again, her brows settling into a frown again.

"I hate this. It shouldn't be this way," she says, but it almost sounds like she's talking to herself.

"No, I did," Cain said, shaking his head. It was all a bit silly, really, that he'd chosen to stay and woken up with the rest only to end up on some uncontrollable tide or current or whatever metaphor you wanted for getting kicked the hell outta Dodge. "I just... disappeared again for a long while."

Watching her curiously, he followed her gaze before letting it return to her instead of the Chihuelans. "I'd say we should be glad they aren't forcefully invading again, but there's still something very unsettling about this visit. You're right."

"Oh. That must have been bizarre. And you remembered everything from when you were here before?"

Pepper nods at Cain's comment. Everything about the Chihuelans screams wrong but there are so many unknowns that it's too risky to do anything significant to fight them.

"Do you think we could stop them? If they did try to invade again. You know, properly, not while pretending to be on some sacred mission," she clarifies, turning back to him. "I have no idea how to fight like that. We're usually fighting a small group of pretty clumsy bad guys, not a whole country."

"Yeah, that's right," he said. "It was like I'd never left, but things had obviously changed when I came back this time so you could definitely say it was disorienting."

Cain exhaled at her question. Truth be told, he had no way to really know. The strength of the foreigners was formidable but there was no way to account for everyone or know their true capabilities, not to mention how the kedan would handle the issue and if they would all be able to properly work together rather than just not-against-one-another.

"Probably not as we are," Cain said slowly. "But if we get lucky, this visit won't end in violence for the kedan or us and then we might be able to swing for proper training and preparation for those who don't want to fight. Small forces can beat back big ones, but it's a matter of planning, intelligence and cooperation. So... you know, one out of three right now."

"I think I can relate," Pepper replies. "Two of my friends are here. They... were different than how I remembered them. A lot different."

She does smile at Cain's observation, though, and her tension breaks a little.

"Well, it's still better than none out of three. Besides, it's our turtle. We know Asti better than they do," she says confidently. "We're gonna need a bigger dojo."

"Everyone changes," Cain said, understanding in his tone. If his own brother ever showed up in Keeliai, there were likely to be changes in himself to be noticed. Nothing major, but it was just a fact of life that continued existence wouldn't leave you unmarked.

He laughed aloud at the comment, shaking his head with obvious amusement. "A bigger dojo, maybe a blacksmith or a weapons manufacturer. Someplace protected on top of that. If you're serious about it, I'm sure getting the ball rolling on that wouldn't be too hard."

"Well, there are some blacksmiths in the Fire Sector. Somebody around here knows how to make guns. Tony can make weapons, too, but he doesn't like to." She thinks back to their rooftop argument the day the deserters had been executed. Maybe he would change his mind for this. It's not like War Machine was short on firepower.

"I don't think people around here would take me very seriously if I tried," she adds, shaking her head, but the smile is still there.

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ghost by my side, so perfectly clear. [ catch-all ]

After the executions

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