tushanshu_logs | [July and Magic Mini-Plot Catch-All]

Entry tags:

[July and Magic Mini-Plot Catch-All]

Characters: Tony and others
Date: Throughout July
Location: All over Keeliai
Situation: Various
Warnings/Rating: None yet

1. For Vincent | Tony's lab at the College | [Backdated to whenever]

Vincent wants to work on the radios. Tony, in his wisdom and beneficence, has deigned to allow this.

(Also, he's really, really busy and he could actually use the help.)

He's pulled all his notes together, and let Vincent know he's in his lab and available.

2. For Raine | Tony's lab at the College | Early July

Tony can't lie and say he misses Solomon, but he does feel bad for Raine. He knows how much it hurts to lose someone.

He can't bring Solomon back, but he can offer companionship and distraction, and to that end, he extends her an invitation to his lab. He thinks she'll be interested in the work he's been doing with the koxalu scorpion silk.

3. For China | TBD | Early July, soon after Anton's disappearance

Anton's departure feels almost unreal. He's been such a pillar of the Foreigner community for so long, and the Hotel such an integral feature of Keeliai, that it's hard to believe he (along with most of the Hotel) is gone.

The biggest impact of his disappearance might be the loss of the Hotel as heavily-protected neutral territory. While some of the improvements to the host building remain, Anton's wards are gone, and that worries Tony. The Hotel had been a sort of embassy for the Foreigners, as well as a safe house - their final fall-back in case of disaster.

And now some of that burden has very suddenly fallen on Tony, because he's pretty sure he's studied sigilwork more extensively than any remaining Foreigner.

Well. Except for one.

Tony is not thrilled with the idea of continuing his sigil lessons with China, but it seems like he doesn't have a lot of choice. If any of the protective wards are going to be recreated, he has to convince China to either do it herself, or teach him how to do it. Oh boy.

But he cares more about the Foreigners' safety than his own personal issues with China, so he swallows his distaste and sends her a polite message to ask if she's willing to take on a new student.

4. {MINIPLOT} For Pepper & Gene | House Spicy Iron Dragon | Late July

Tony starts awake with a snort, sitting up abruptly. Aw, crap. He fell asleep in the lab again. What time is it? He checks the clock: it's already morning. No point in tromping upstairs to get some sleep in a real bed, then. Might as well just get some coffee and get on with the day.

Tony yawns and rubs his hand across his face - and stops. Okay, he's used to waking up with a little bit of stubble, but that is not just a little bit of stubble. The hell? What is this Rip van Winkle bullshit??

There's no mirror down here in the lab, so Tony hops off his stool and stumbles up the stairs. "Pepper? Gene?" he calls plaintively. "I just woke up with a beard. Did I get hit with that stupid spell? How old am I?" Goddammit.

5. {MINIPLOT} For Sheena | The Dojo | Late July

Tony is not sure what to make of this age-changing magic business. He's lucky that he'd only gained a few years, not been zapped back into toddlerhood like Gene (man, though, that had been so funny) but it's still a weird adjustment. And as tempting as it is to hide in his lab and wait for all of it to blow over, he has stuff to do, and people are counting on him - beard or no beard.

So he mostly goes about his business like normal. That includes his sessions at the dojo. He doesn't have as much time to devote to them as he really ought to, but he tries to get in at least a little bit of practice every day. If nothing else, it makes Gene happy, he thinks.

It's definitely off hours at the dojo right now - Tony's the only person in the main practice room. He prefers it that way, honestly. This magic crap has made him way more self-conscious than he usually is, and he'd rather practice his forms in solitude.

Today, he's working on the sword. To an expert, it would be obvious that his skill level is 'advanced beginner.' It might also be apparent that he's not quite... comfortable in his body. He has the forms down pat, but he's frowning slightly, and his movements are stilted and lacking in confidence. He's not used to this new body yet.

6. {MINIPLOT} Pepper & Gene & Simon | House Spicy Iron Dragon | Late July

[coming soon to a theater near you!]

7. {MINIPLOT} OPEN

Tony is now approximately 25 instead of approximately 21. More notably, he has a BEARD. Which Pepper and Gene have managed to convince him to keep, at least temporarily. He can still be found at his usual haunts (The College, Jackie's bar, Iroh's tea house, the dojo). Anyone who knows him might notice he looks a little different - and anyone who knows an older version of him might notice he looks a lot more familiar with the beard.

[This will involve some suspension of disbelief, as Tony has aged several years from his canon appearance already, so the difference is not as drastic as the PB change would suggest. Just assume he looks slightly older ~~and beardier~~ than usual, and is more obviously an intermediate step between his babyface canon appearance and the prototypical Tony Look.]

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It's... a kind invitation. Raine takes him up on it gratefully. It will mean time she can devote her attention to things that aren't necessarily her present emotions, and in any case she has some data which Solomon thought Tony might find useful.

And Tony's project sounded like it might be fascinating.

Maybe a week after Solomon's disappearance Raine shows up at Tony's lab, knocking carefully at the door. Her staff is in one hand, and a small book under her other arm. "Tony?"

Edited 2016-07-21 08:43 (UTC)

Tony looks up at the knock, smiles, and waves Raine in. "Hey, Raine. Come on in. How are you doing?"

It's a harmless enough question, with no inflection to indicate that it's anything other than a standard formulaic greeting. No pressure to answer honestly, but an opening if Raine wants one.

Raine offers Tony a smile which is somewhat wan, but nevertheless a smile that functions for its intended purpose. "It will take some time," she says, which is not exactly a proper answer to the question. She comes in, though, crossing to where Tony is and offering him the book she's carrying. It's a slim thing, not much in it but a careful circle of symbols and some associated data. "He wanted you to have this, on the off chance it would be useful to you."

Tony nods understandingly. Even that vague answer is more than he'd been expecting.

Tony takes the book, but before examining it, he says, "I know I'm probably not the person you want to talk to," his long-standing grudge against Solomon being well-known, "but if you need anything, let me know."

And with that offer extended, he turns his attention to the book, leaving the ball in Raine's court again. He doesn't think pushing is what Raine needs right now - and when it comes to grief, he tends to trust his instincts. Social grace may not be his strongest suit, but loss is a familiar experience.

He flips through the pages. "What is this?" He's intrigued, but also confused. What is all this data from? And why had Solomon wanted Tony to have it? He didn't think Solomon would will him anything other than a heartfelt 'good riddance.'

Raine inclines her head in assent, though she doesn't say anything about it. The sheer number of people who have expressed their sympathy and their willingness to help is staggering-- somehow, she hadn't quite expected all of it.

"Sigils," she says, reaching to tap the circle. "This is a project Solomon was working on for a different reason. It may yet be useful for that, but-- it also delayed his fading from this world. Not long, but enough." It's a little easier to talk about it now, with some space from the actual event. "He thought you might be able to extrapolate, one way or another."

Tony's head snaps up. "Solomon found sigils that influence Eshai's spell?" Tony's expression is suddenly one of intense interest. "How did he know he was going to get pulled home, and that this delayed it? What was the original project?"

He looks down at the book again, scrutinizing the symbols. "I didn't know Solomon even did sigilwork."

"I doubt the two of you spoke of it, but after Solomon was blinded he became more aware of souls," Raine explains. Her tone is remote, her gaze a little distant, like she's not entirely present. "In lieu of sight, he developed that sense. I believe he became aware of a change in the state of his own, and compensated as quickly as he was able. It was... something of a last resort." Desperation, not any certainty that it would work. "The initial purpose was to hold fragmented spirits for the purposes of restoring them-- I don't know if it would have worked. He was still developing it."

More aware. Oh, isn't that nice. Solomon was already too aware of souls for Tony's comfort to begin with, so it's really swell to hear he'd been walking around for months with his creepily invasive metaphysical senses further heightened.

But given the circumstances, and the new data it had provided, Tony finds he can't summon up his usual animosity, and lets it pass.

"This is amazing." Tony flips slowly through the pages. "If sigils can affect the magic that brings us here, if it's possible to sense when someone's going to get pulled home... this could be our ticket to figuring out the whole system. We could fix it. Figure out how to get home. Maybe even find a way to transport people intentionally, and go home with our memories."

"I'm not sure anyone else could manage to sense it the way he did," Raine says, frowning slightly. "As you may be aware, Solomon's magic became something of an anomaly. However... this did work. Not for all that long, but enough."

Not enough; but if she could not have him forever, at least a good-bye was some little consolation.

"All the same," she adds, quietly, "it is a start. I believe the sigils affected Solomon, rather than the spell itself: working against it, rather than changing or redirecting it. And if we could find even just a way to protect our memories..."

Memories could change things.

"We know it's possible. That's what's important, " Tony agrees, his eyes still glinting with excitement. "Now we have a starting point. Even if it's just counteracting the spell, not changing it, that's still data."

Now Tony frowns a little, another thought occurring to him. "... What spirits was he trying to restore?"

"Is that important?" Raine inquires neutrally. She shifts, folding one arm across her chest. "Suffice to say that they are not complete souls, not fully cognizant, and would need to be held in place before anything to help them could be done." She doesn't want to compromise Bakura's privacy, especially not when she's not completely sure how Bakura and Tony get along.

This is a starting point. Surely Tony can extrapolate from there, and Raine will help as she can.

"It might be. Are they..." His brows furrow again as he considers the proper descriptor. "Local? Native? Or do they come from outside this universe, like the foreigners? That could be important."

He gives Raine a curious look - it sounds like she's holding something back. He's really like to know what. Especially since Solomon is involved. Tony and Solomon had never meshed on ethical considerations (to put it politely), and Solomon is the only area in which Tony would question Raine's judgement. What had he been up to with this spell, and what will Tony be getting himself into if he starts messing around with it?

"They're foreign," Raine says, inclining her head slightly. "They're not a threat, as things stand; I'd prefer to respect their anchor's privacy, but I'll answer what questions I can, if you need a better understanding." She nods to the notebook, meeting his curious look with only politely raised eyebrows.

"'As things stand'?" Tony repeats, raising his eyebrows in return. "That's comforting."

But he's smiling a little, and he doesn't sound too worried. He has plenty of time to pore over Solomon's notes and investigate just what, exactly, this spell is all about. If it's dangerous, he'll figure it out before he does too much messing around.

He even has an expert second opinion lined up. "I'll look over it with... China." It's still hard not to automatically say 'Anton' when talking about sigils. Tony sighs. He doesn't look to happy about the switch. "She might be able to tell me what Solomon was going for if any of this goes over my head."

"Tony," Raine says, sounding now a little exasperated. "Look at the Foreigners. How many of us wouldn't be a threat, in the right circumstances?" Most of them are dangerous, it's simply that they don't direct it indiscriminately.

Her expression goes a little narrow when Tony brings up China. "Miss Sorrows, correct?" Raine says, and hesitates. "I'm sure you already know this, but... be careful with her. Doubly careful, if you plan to bring up Solomon; she holds an old grudge against him. I don't know how far she'll carry it, now that he's gone, but she seems from what I've heard like she can be... spiteful."

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[July and Magic Mini-Plot Catch-All]

2. friiiiiendship

F is for friends who do stuff together

u is for... uh. you and me?

N is for anywhere and any time at all

i'm not convinced that's how letters work

DOWN HERE IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA you ruined it makari

look, i only know the reference like. thirdhand.

I feel so betrayed

yes me and my pop culture deprivation have stabbed you right in the back

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