tushanshu_logs | Everyone's dead but me, I can have all the donuts to myself!

Entry tags:

Everyone's dead but me, I can have all the donuts to myself!

Characters: Gene, Jackie, Peridot, Alex, and YOOOOUU!!
Date: Novemberage
Location: All up ins
Situation: ALL THE THINGS!
Warnings/Rating: Will be added as they come up

A. [Gene] | throughout Keeliai | throughout November | open
Gene has been put under strict orders to stop working himself to death, under pain of Pepper. Which is enough of a threat for anyone, really. So he's out and about, trying to enjoy himself, and trying to talk to people. The guilt is easing. Maybe he's not the monster he thinks he is after all.

B. [Jackie] | Hotel and Sky Sector | throughout November | open
Jackie, meanwhile, has been scouting for additional staff for the bar. Desmond had been out of it for a while, but Jackie figured he'd go talk to him about it, since hey, he was back now; but the place was growing, and so was business. He's also heading down to talk to kedan merchants about supplying the bar, since it's clear he's becoming a better investment by the month.

C. [Gene] | House Spicy Iron Dragon | October 25 | closed to Pepper and Tony
Today's the day. It's The Day.

What day, you ask? Gene's birthday, of course. And he doesn't want to acknowledge it in any way. He's sneaking out of the house very early in the morning, trying to evade the reincarnation of Pinkie Pie, Party Planner Pepper.

D. [Peridot] | Metal Sector | throughout November | open
Peridot's garage is quite satisfactory, thank you. She's started to work on projects there; if you walk by, you might be able to see her welding things together, trying to make robots.

E. [Gene] | the Turtle's Head | after that little talk with Pepper | closed to Pepper
Extreme Nope 9000 has brought Gene here. He needs some time to process what he just heard. Time, and probably a not insignificant amount of local moonshine. But right now, the calming effect of Tu Vishan will suffice.

F. [Alex] | throughout Keeliai | throughout November | open
Alex is doing what a field man does best: gather data. As a result, he's limping around, conversing with kedan and Foreigners alike, generally just being a genial, approachable middle-aged man with a cane.

One who files everything he learns into his mental Rolodex.

G. [Gene] | the Dojo | after that talk with Pepper | closed to Bakura
That conversation with Pepper had been interesting, and not at all what Gene had expected. He's pretty sure it hadn't been what either of them had expected.

Time to...not exactly clear the air, because there was nothing to clear, but time to let Bakura know that he knows what he knows.

As a professional courtesy. And as a friend.

After the dojo's closed up for the day, Gene approaches him. "Got a minute?"

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Welp.

That was about the reaction Pepper was expecting, or something like it. Gene had, after all, killed Bakura once upon a time. And Bakura wasn't exactly the person one would naturally anticipate her to end up with. She knows how strange it looks.

She's also a little worried when Gene vanishes. Before too long, Pepper is hopping into her armor and going in search of her friend. Once she finds him at the turtle's head, she lands a few yards away to give him space and opens the faceplate.

"Hey," she calls, offering a hesitant smile. "Mind if I join you?"

Gene looks back at her, and smiles back, just a little. "Sure."

He'd had a little time to think through the shock. The aura of calm from Tu Vishan had helped. He'd been...confused. And betrayed, a little, though he wasn't quite sure why. Not like he'd say that to Pepper.

Fact is, she's like a little sister to him. And he knows Bakura's not exactly a safe guy. He feels protective of Pepper, which is weird. He's not sure he knows why.

After a second or two of hesitation, Pepper steps the rest of the way out of the armor and then moves next to Gene. She leaves some distance between them, since Gene presumably came out here to get away, and folds her arms across her chest to keep from fidgeting too much.

"I, um..." She's not really sure where to start here. Pepper takes a deep breath to figure it out. "I was worried when you left. I know this is all-- very weird."

Gene nods, thinking. "I know it was abrupt. I'm sorry. This is..." He laughs. "It might be an overreaction on my part. But he and I have a history, even though we've gotten past it."

"Yeah, I know," Pepper replies, sighing. "Kinda hard to forget."

It must've sounded a lot like 'Hi, I'm dating the guy you killed that one time' to Gene.

"I didn't mean to upset you. But I didn't want to hide it from you, either."

Gene tilts his head at her, a crooked smile on his face. "I suppose I have no right - you must have felt a similar way when Tony and I told you. That was our logic as well."

"I'm not saying you aren't allowed to be angry, Gene. Or upset, or whatever it is that you're feeling. I mean, I'd love it if you can get to the point of being happy about this, at least for me if not with me or for both of us," she says, shrugging without unfolding her arms. "But I'm not expecting you or Tony to be all sunshine and unicorns about this, because you're right, I do sort of know what this feels like. Not exactly, duh, but close enough, I think. I spent a couple hours locked up in my room instead of teleporting out here because I can't teleport, but I get it."

Pepper is trying really hard not to be irritated about it, too, because she's been on the other side of the table and being irritable won't help anything.

Gene puts his head in his hands and messes up his hair for a moment - a gesture he usually makes when he's frustrated or trying to put together the right series of words in the right order. He's still not good with emotions, or expressing them, or dealing with them about other people.

"I am happy for you," he says in a pained voice. "I'm glad that you have...something, even if I don't quite understand it." He exhales and doesn't say anything else for a few seconds. When he speaks again, he looks at the ground, not at her.

"Pepper, I don't really know how to explain this, so please be patient with me. You and Tony are the closest thing I've ever had to family since Zhang killed my mother. And I know Bakura, I was his enemy; you know that. You know what I did, of course that's uncomfortable for me. Even though I know it's not, it feels like an attack. He's getting close to someone close to me, someone I care about, and I'm...I don't know. I think part of me is worried the same thing will happen again.

"But I know it won't - we're friends now. Hell, I work for him. It's an irrational, paranoid feeling I can't shake nonetheless. I'll get over it, I'm sure. I might just...need some time."

Pepper is quiet while she listens, a slight frown creasing her forehead. She hadn't quite seen it from that angle before, but now she's starting to understand where the news of her relationship (whatever it was, they're working it out) had landed. What wounds it had laid salt to.

Slowly, Pepper reaches out and puts a hand on Gene's arm. "I know he's done things that have hurt people. I know who he is, and how far he's willing to go for something he wants," she says softly. She knew the same for Gene, for that matter. "I'm not going into this blindly, but I totally get why you're worried. It means a lot, that you care so much. I promise you won't lose me."

This conversation seems to have turned to a much broader fear, something that weighs on them in the face of going home. Even if Gene says he knows it's irrational, it bears repeating that she's not going anywhere. Pepper takes a deep breath and continues. "I'm not your mother, and you aren't six years old anymore, Gene. Bakura won't do anything I can't handle, but I know I've got you and Tony to protect me no matter what happens. You're my family now, too, don't forget that. So you can take all the time you need, and do all the big-brother-protection-slash-intimidation you want short of sitting at the table cleaning a shotgun if he comes to visit," she says, and this last is a little playful, a little lighter, and she offers him a small smile.

He nearly flinches when she puts a hand on his arm; he's still not touchy-feely, but he knows that Pepper is. "I know you can more than take care of yourself. You have your ka now, too. I'm not necessarily worried about you - even if he does hurt you, half of Keeliai will be forming a line to take it out of his hide.

"If this place does what it does sometimes, and you vanish...I don't want it to be Bianca all over again. I'll know it's not him, but it'll hurt the same way."

Then he smiles a little at her, too. "Did you know that you and Tony both have terrible taste in men?"

Pepper laughs quietly, though it's tinged with sadness like she's at the edge of tears. Gene and Bakura were so similar in some ways, in the tragedies they had experienced.

"Yeah, I know. Bakura said I had terrible taste, too," she answers, drawing her hand back after a moment.

Then Pepper sighs, and looks out beyond the edge of the turtle's shell. She's not sure how much Gene knows of Bakura's past; the thief wasn't exactly shy about himself but she doesn't want to share something she shouldn't.

"It'll hurt for him, too. Even if we just stayed friends. So it'll be worse now, probably, if I go home first. He's... he's lost everyone he's ever cared about. His whole family, all at once when he was little. I'm not-- I'm not trying to say you shouldn't be upset, or that it's the same, just that-- he'd understand," Pepper says, the slightest waver in her tone. "And that I understand. And I'd rather you guys be on the same side of that pain, if it happens, but that's too much to ask right now, I know. But I'm still here, okay? I'm not going anywhere if I can help it."

Gene nods, staring out at the sea. It's easier than looking at each other.

"He told me that, once," he says. "And I understand it - I lost my whole family, too. If it's up to me, I won't lose another." He looks at her then, a strange smile on his face. "If that means Bakura becomes part of our weird little family too, then so be it. And you're not going anywhere, Patricia Potts, got it? None of us are going to allow it."

Of all the things Pepper had expected Gene to say, that was not it. Not the part about keeping her here - that she's not so surprised by. But the idea of Gene someday being okay with Bakura as part of their family--

Well, it makes her happy. She's also temporarily lost for words, which is no mean feat. If she could stay here permanently, though... would she? The question bears consideration, but not right now.

"I'm going to hold you to that," Pepper finally says when she stops gaping at Gene. "And only my dad gets to call me Patricia," she adds, collecting herself a little. Not for the first time, she wonders how her father would take this news, if he knew of Bakura's past. Probably not very well. "You and Bakura are a lot alike, you know that?"

Nothing is more important to Gene than his family. Nothing. And if Bakura proves himself worthy - and if Pepper really does want that - then maybe one day he can join it.

Gene has considered staying permanently, if given the chance, no matter what the letters said. But he wouldn't if everyone else left, no matter how much Keeliai had become the most of a home he'd ever known. The people were what made it a home. His family was what made it a home. And he'd go with them to the gates of hell.

"I hope you mean that as a compliment," he says, that strange smile still on his face.

"I do. It's also just an observation," Pepper replies. She's not totally sure what to make of the smile Gene is sporting. "You've gone through similar things, and you fight for a lot of the same reasons."

Ironically, many of the reasons why she liked them were the same reasons they'd destroyed so much, just to a lesser degree: love of family, loyalty, persistence. They've got enough common ground to get over the murder incident, and perhaps enough for this to turn out to a bright future.

"Are you okay?" she wants to know, still worried about Gene's state of mind.

Gene exhales, closing his eyes. "I don't know. Like I said, I think it'll take some time. But I'm sure I will be."

He's still paranoid, but there's not much to be done about that. He wants Pepper to be happy, and if that means that he has to be uncomfortable for a little while, then he has to be uncomfortable for a little while.

They didn't do this at him. Even if it feels like that on some deep, bare, wounded level. This isn't a betrayal, it's Pepper living her life, and Bakura living his. And he has no right to deny anyone that, nor would he wish to.

This could have gone a lot worse, all things considered.

"I know I'm sort of the reason why things are weird, but... if there's anything I can do to help...? Even just-- I don't know, answer any questions you might have, or something," she offers gently. "Or I can just back off."

That wasn't really her style, but she would deal if that was what Gene wanted.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," Gene says, just as gently. "I know the situation with me and Tony was just as...weird. Probably still is just as weird. I know Howard's never going to get used to it." He laughs at that, a little sadly.

"Don't back off. I don't want to drive you away. I don't want this to come between us, because no matter how I feel about this right now, you're not only my friend, you're like my sister, and nothing's more important than that."

"I didn't mean generally back off, just on this. Like, I can keep Bakura out of dinner conversations or whatever. It'll take way more than having a super weird relationship to keep me away," Pepper replies, and the faint playfulness makes it a little hard to tell if she's referring to Bakura or Tony and Gene.

She offers him a small smile. "You two are sort of strange, when I think about everything that happened at home. But... I dunno, you fit." Pepper shrugs lightly. "I'll fight for that if I have to."

Gene tilts his head. "What do you mean, we 'fit'?" He thinks that his relationship with Tony works, but he's not sure anyone else does. Especially not Pepper, who knows the whole story.

"I know, I meant on this. Just...be normal. Not talking about it would make things weirder."

"Okay," she says with a nod. "You know I'm good at talking."

Pepper takes a second or two to think about his question before shrugging. "You're good for each other. You challenge each other in different ways and you both take care of each other when either of you forgets to do it themselves," she explains. "And you've ended up together - and stayed together - even when you really probably shouldn't have. You made it work, even when everything about our past says you shouldn't have been able to. You fit," she concludes.

Unfortunately for Gene's plans to escape un-celebrated, Pepper is up even earlier, anticipating that he would try to avoid anything birthday related. She knows he's not a big fan of parties, and she's not planning on making a huge deal of it, but she does firmly believe his birthday deserves marking.

She's actually gone out and come back, evidenced by the pastries on the kitchen table. There are a few, small decorations - some paper cutouts of colorful balloons and some cheerful-looking ribbon ties strewn around the kitchen and living room. Pepper herself is floating around the kitchen, staging things for tea and eggs once they're all awake.

Tony also knows that Gene is ~~a huge grinch~~ wary of parties, especially when he's the focus. Tony, however, is engaged in a neverending quest to get Gene to lighten up (and is also slightly less capable of reigning in his obnoxiousness than Pepper is).

Which is why he's hiding around the corner at the bottom of the stairs, grinning like a maniac and trying very hard not to burst out laughing.

Tony's contribution to the festivities is a tiny remote control quadcopter that will, when Gene exits their room, follow him down the stairs while spiritedly tooting 'Happy Birthday.' It sounds a bit like a kazoo. At intervals, it shoots confetti.

Tony should really know better.

When the first few notes of the song play, Gene yells, turns around, and punches the drone out of the air. Confetti flies everywhere; the drone isn't broken, but it buzzes around.

It's a trap!!

Gene dashes back into his and Tony's room and escapes out the window to the roof.

Pepper hears the quadcopter kazoo first, and then the apparent commotion when Gene encounters it. She frowns and turns towards the stairs, makes sure nothing is about to burn or boil over, and then goes to find where Tony is lurking.

The stairs are noticeably absent of Gene and noticeably covered in confetti. She puts her hands on her hips.

"Where'd he go?"

"He chickened out," Tony says, with an expression that can't seem to decide between 'apologetic,' 'exasperated' and 'amused.' "I'll go get him."

He follows Gene up the stairs and to their room. "You know you can't hide from your birthday for the rest of your life," he says, crossing his arms on the windowsill. He's still fighting back a grin, but he looks at least a little bit sorry.

The quadcopter has caught up, and tries to follow Gene out the window. "Come here." Tony nabs it out of the air. It toots twice and valiantly ejects one last burst of confetti.

Elizabeth has the impetus to be in all corners of the city with her job for the Hotel, and she's just coming back from a delivery when she passes Peridot's garage and slows, standing in the doorway to watch for a moment.

"Hello Peridot," she greets the Gem. "What is it you're building?"

Peridot looks back after a moment. Oh. It's Elizabeth.

"A robot," she says. "Mostly for...'fun'. The technology of this world is somewhat inadequate, and I prefer to save what I got from Hatal for more...important projects."

The brunette laughed a little at the way Peridot stated 'fun', as if she weren't sure of the terminology. "What kind of a robot?" she inquired, stepping more fully inside. "Does it do anything in particular?"

"It will fetch things for me from the other side of the garage," she said. "It's just a simple thing, but it's...like I said. 'Fun'." And she actually did airquotes on that.

Elizabeth is just heading into a shop to make one of her deliveries when Alex is exiting. Noting the cane, she steps back and holds the door politely for him, the other holding the messenger bag slung crosswise on her hip out of the way. "You first, sir."

Alex is used to politeness on this front - and it's still nice. "Thank you," he says, taking the door from her, and pauses. "I don't believe we've met."

She shakes her head, looking him up and down. "No, I don't believe we have. My name is Elizabeth. I've been here just about two months now."

"And I've been here about four. Alex. Nice to meet you, Elizabeth." he says. He notes the thimble on her finger - interesting quirk.

Edited (p u n c t u a t i o n) 2016-12-05 20:37 (UTC)

Raine makes a quick, assessing flick of her eyes as she's approached by the man; she doesn't recognize him off the top of her head, which is becoming more common than it was, but he's certainly a Foreigner. "I don't believe we've met," she says, polite, when they come into range for conversation. "I'm Raine Sage. How long have you been here, if I may?"

"A few months," Alex says. "Since late August. Alex Conklin," he says, and holds out his free hand to shake. "I'd certainly remember meeting you. You're a bit distinctive," he says with a smile.

It takes Raine a moment to process; she's been here long enough that she almost forgets, sometimes, how different she is in her own way. She brushes a hand past her hair, nodding, before clasping Alex's hand in return. "I'm surprised I missed you," she says. "I try to at least know new Foreigners by sight. Have you run into any significant trouble?"

She assumes she'd have heard about it, if he did. Foreigner emergencies usually run into her.

"Not yet," Alex says with a crooked smile. "And I'm surprised by that. Trouble usually has a way of finding me. Not that I'm complaining, of course."

Really. Not that he's complaining at all. No trouble is fine by him.

"I'm not surprised you haven't recognized me by sight, though. I have a way of fading into the background." A carefully cultivated skill of his, really.

"It's a useful skill to have," Raine says, something like an agreement. It's something she's never quite been capable of, even and especially in places where half-elves are common. "As surprising as it may be, I hope that continues to be the case. There are enough difficulties in the city as it is."

She stops to think for a moment, and then takes a completely different tack. "Are you from an Earth?"

Nice non-sequitur, Raine. Still, Alex rolls with it. "I am. I take it you're not," he says, and indicates her hair. Kind of an easy one to go with there; didn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to pick that one up.

She just likes to establish these things. "I'm not, no," she answers, with a brief shake of her head to second it. "It's interesting-- Earth is the world I most commonly hear of variants on. For my own world, all of those others who have been here have been identifiably from the same version of Aselia. It raises some questions about the structure of the worlds, certainly, but I don't have answers yet."

The days at the dojo were ending sooner, with the daylight hours getting shorter, giving both he and the instructors extra time in the evenings. Bakura wondered if Gene was finally going to get around to asking for some time off.

"Sure."

Gene tucks his thumbs into his pockets, looking Bakura in the eyes.

"Pepper told me."

That's all he says. That's all he needs to say. He doesn't sound angry or upset, just...neutral.

Bakura made a noncommittal noise at the reveal, although his gaze didn't leave Gene's as though he was trying to discern what was coming next. "I can imagine how that went over."

"Surprisingly, not quite like a lead balloon," Gene said. And then, "I understand. You're lucky she's chosen you. Anyone would be."

Bakura raises a single eyebrow as though deadpanning, you think I don't know that?

"Aa, well... she clearly doesn't care to listen to better judgments."

It's lightly depreciative, but it's more for gauging Gene's reaction.

Gene snorts, and smiles a little. "I told her that she and Tony both have terrible taste in men." It's both teasing and self-deprecating. That's how you know Gene considers you a friend.

"Well, neither you or he have shown up in armor, so that's something," Bakura answered; lightly though, not as a callback to what had transpired between them. Or rather it was, but more in a way asserting that it was in the past.

"She says she knows what she's getting into," he added after a moment... unspoken was, She knows what damages there are.

The Stalk, sitting at the bar - 'sitting' at the bar (bar stools are awkward with her physiology, it might be more accurate to say 'precariously perching'?) - gestures at the sign Jackie posted as he comes by to give her another fill up.

"Looking for a bartender, huh? I can do that." She was very familiar with alcohol.

She was moderately familiar with bartending too, although she hadn't done it in years. She was pretty naturally pre-disposed to it, though.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Everyone's dead but me, I can have all the donuts to myself!

E!

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aaaand once again i cry while writing an emotional gene tag ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

;-;

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i'm crying again i hate this thread i hate them

agreed they should be grounded

one million years dungeon

without dessert

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C

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D.

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F.

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F | Water Sector?

waaaater sector.

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G.

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B