Skating board is for cool kids only.

[wrathfulkhan]

Characters: Gene, Jackie, Alex, Miles, Aly, and YOOOOUU!!
Date: All of April
Location: Keeliai et al
Situation: The Situation. The one with the MAHSCLES from Jersey Shore.
Warnings/Rating: Will be added as necessary.

A. [Gene] | throughout Keeliai | throughout April | open
Well, here's something odd. Gene's being social. A little bit weirdly so. He seems relaxed and at ease...which is probably a pretty good indicator that something's wrong with him. There's something a little stilted about it, even though he's trying to keep things natural. Maybe that's why it's stilted.

B. [Gene] | House Spicy Iron Dragon | April 2 | closed to Tony
What time is it? That's right, boys and girls. It's time for Gene to do his usual emoting up on the roof. At least it's a nice roof? He'd built it with the express purpose of brooding in mind. Clever boy.

At least he's easy to find. It's been two weeks and he's still shaken up about his mother's rather abrupt appearance and disappearance. Why is it that every time there are these incursions, something happens that breaks him a little more?

C. [Jackie] | the Golden Koi | throughout April | open
After March, Jackie needs a breather. Seeing Wei had been...well, it had been interesting. And Brigid's insistence that her uncle was going to murder him for something he'd had no control over hadn't been exactly comforting either. He's just trying to work at the bar, keep his head down, and mind his own business. He needs a quiet month. Without murder.

Doesn't mean he won't strike up a chat, though.

D. [Alex] | Sky Sector | throughout April | open
Alex has finally saved up enough to move out of the Hotel and into his own small place. Which is good, because being around all of those people for six months was starting to make him extremely cranky. Especially after Mo'd come and gone, which was making him even crankier. Everything is annoying him. Living on his own again is probably going to help fix that. Probably.

Now what the hell is he going to do with the place? He has a small patch of green. Maybe try gardening? Ha! He has a Vantablack thumb.

E. [Miles] | throughout Keeliai | throughout April | open
Time to party hard. By which Miles means, go shoot some B-roll for a story he's going to be doing. Yes, he's got some idiot idea in his head to go chase down something dangerous, because that's just how he is, and he's testing out his repaired camcorder. He can be found wandering the streets with his camcorder in hand, talking to himself, occasionally leaning against a wall, filming his face, checking the angles, and adjusting the light levels. He might be working with what looks like a dinky little camcorder, but it's got some serious guts, and he's an f'ing professional.

F. [Miles] | the Turtle's Head | April 3 | closed to Valdis
Miles has been trying to go up to the Turtle's Head every day or two in order to practice meditation under the calming effect of Tu Vishan, and he's definitely noticed that he's not alone. Those Ban Om guys are there every day, and some of them don't seem to leave. It's a little creepy.

He's been inching a little closer to them every day, doing a little less meditation and a little more observing every time. Hey, he can't help it, he's curious. It's his hamartia. (No, not the John-Green-missing-the-goddamn-point version. The actual version. It's what got him all fucked up at Mount Massive, after all.)

(Miles Upshur: Literal, actual, Aristotelian tragic hero. Because he fucked up by being a dumbass.)

And he's about to fuck up some more. He knows that, and yet he can't stop himself. Damn you, hamartia!

G. [Alex] | Water Sector | April 6 | closed to Bucky
The Water Sector is where Alex does most of his shopping, and some of the kedan merchants have at least learned to grudgingly respect the Foreigner who knows the rules of bartering and is very good at getting what he wants - but is always sure not to cheat them out of what they're due. It's while he's getting some groceries that he notices the man with no arm. A Foreigner, clearly. He doesn't stare; he's seen every type of injury and amputation. But he limps nearby all the same, to get the measure of the man.

H. [Aly] | Metal Sector | mid-late April | open
At least the Metal Sector is somewhat familiar. It reminds her of cities back home, almost, or Linali. She can almost pretend that she's Otherside instead of stuck here. Almost.

She's fidgeting with the ring on her hand, walking around and window-shopping. She's obviously quite new.

I. [Aly] | Earth Sector/Wood Sector | mid-late April | open
Of course, there's more than one way to get the lay of the land, and that's from the air. Sort of. She can't transform into anything that flies, and she can't fly on her own, but she's taught herself how to parkour, sort of, and on a good day she can do a wuxia wire-leap that looks impossible. She just has to believe in herself hard enough.

If anyone's around at night, she can be seen walking and running around on the roofs of the Earth Sector, or climbing trees in the Wood Sector.

---

Hit me up at Chatvert if you want another starter!

Comments

G.

[protivvyter]

"No, the other one." Bucky says, bartering with the kedan. He wonders if he's going to get out of here with any money left. But he needs a coat, and this one is easy to put on. He's finding that ease of doing something is coming to be his first priority.

He finally barters the kedan down to a reasonable price and takes the jacket. He's well aware of the looks he's been drawing. Not only from the kedan, but from the Foreigner - he's always a foreigner - that is limping near by. He picks up the subtle clue that the man is using a prosthetic. Something Bucky really wants.

[saintoflangley]

Try and take his foot, Barnes, and he'll beat you silly with it. He's done it before.

"I hope you went easy on him, Sahil," Alex says to the merchant as he walks up, a bit of a smile on his face. "It's bad sport to take advantage of newcomers."

"If they want the asking price, it's not taking advantage," the feathered kedan says stubbornly.

"I've told you, a lot of the Foreigners don't come from barter economies. But I get you. You ask too high, I ask too low, we quarrel about it a little, come to an acceptable price, and have tea." And to illustrate his point, Alex picks a shirt, barters with Sahil about it for a moment, before getting the price down to four juulan from seven.

"You're too good at this for a Foreigner," Sahil says, chuckling as she hands Alex the shirt.

"I know how it works," he says, and winks. "Maybe we'll do tea later."

Then he turns to the armless man (well, mostly 'armless, ha ha). "I think I'd remember seeing you around. You need someone to show you the ropes, or are you getting along okay?"

[protivvyter]

He needs an arm, dammit!

Bucky shrugs into the jacket, glad to have some sort of covering, so his arm isn't out in the open. He'd found a place to sleep in the shelter, but that's only temporary. He needs to find work in this place.

He realizes the footless man is talking to him and looks up. There's a hauntedness to his eyes that he manages to blink away. "I've bartered before." He's misunderstanding, isn't he?

[saintoflangley]

Between them, they need an arm and a leg. :V

Alex has seen that look before. Hell, he's worn that look before. His job had never been easy, even if sometimes it had been fun. "I mean, you're new here, aren't you? I know all the Foreigners by sight. And I haven't seen you around."

Even if he hasn't spoken to them yet, he can at least pick them out of a crowd.

[protivvyter]

They should talk destruction.

Bucky hadn't had the choice of having fun on his job. He'd been mind wiped and destroyed. And he's still half-convinced this is a HYDRA trap. He's keeping his head down and waiting for someone to activate his programming.

"I am." He's new. Is it that obvious? Probably, yes. Armless men stick out. He knows that. He wonders if this man will spout Russian and force him to comply.

[saintoflangley]

Alex speaks Russian, but he won't do it. Pinky swear.

"Come on, then. I don't know if anyone's given you the run-down of this place. There's a good tea house nearby." He indicates that the armless guy should follow him. "I'm buying."

[protivvyter]

They should speak Russian at each other.

He could use something to eat. He's very careful not to eat much here. He doesn't have much money, and he's got no job. Hence him bartering so hard for the jacket.

He squints at the footless man briefly, but nods. "Alright." If someone else is buying, it's not a bad thing to eat.

[saintoflangley]

Once Bucky wouldn't choke him out for it.

True to his word, Alex leads him to a nearby tea house and orders a pot for both of them, and meat dumplings for himself. The new guy can decide what he wants to eat.

"So do you want to give me a name? Doesn't have to be a real one," he says. "I'm Alex." Which is actually technically not his real name, anyway. Thanks, Anglicization.

[protivvyter]

There is that!

Bucky finds himself a seat where he can watch the whole place and the outside. He's half expecting someone to stab him in the back. The other Winter Soldiers are dead, but there's still HYDRA out there.

"It's James." No one gets to call him Bucky. That's saved for Steve. And he's not going to give him the name that HYDRA had given him. He doesn't want to ever hear the words Winter Soldier, ever. "You've been here a while?"

[saintoflangley]

"About seven months, yes." Alex surveys him over the rim of his cup. "So. Anything in particular you want to know?"

He'll answer your questions before asking some of his own.

[protivvyter]

Bucky sips his tea. He could really go for a sharp cup of coffee, but he'll put up with the tea. He sips it and doesn't grimace. It's not that bad, but he misses coffee.

"Who's in charge?" Because that is important. Back in Bucharest, he knew who to avoid, who not to cross, and how to keep his head down. In Wakanda, he'd been the guest of the King. Here, he's completely lost.

[saintoflangley]

Good luck finding good coffee around here. You get used to tea real quick. And they do have some ultracaffeinated sorts.

"A Council, nominally, but they've been quiet recently. In practice, the kedan look after their own, and we Foreigners look after our own. It's rather egalitarian; for someone used to hierarchy, it can be a bit confusing." God knows he'd been a bit confused at first, but he wouldn't answer to anyone he hadn't gotten the measure of anyway.

[protivvyter]

It's not the caffeine, he just likes the taste. Caffeine doesn't affect him. Unfortunately. But he'll drink the tea. He will just grumble about it mentally.

A Council. Well, that's better than a warlord, or something along those lines. He can live with a council. "Law enforcement?" He knows there has to be cops around somewhere. There's always law enforcement of some sort.

[saintoflangley]

Alex nods. "There's the Keeliai Police Department - the KPD. I work with them sometimes." Hey, everyone needs a former intelligence agent on staff. CI is a vital part of disrupting operations. Like those damn cultists. Which unfortunately he hasn't made much progress on.

[protivvyter]

Bucky sips his tea, and his eyes dart around the room taking in everyone and everything in a glance. He keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Only sometimes?" Bucky is curious. Why not be on staff? What about them make them different??

[saintoflangley]

Alex knows that look, and that impulse. James is someone dangerous - someone like David. No, like Jason; the two men were the same, though different, so different.

He shrugs. "I'm retired. I work on what I'm needed for, but a lot of the regular work goes to the regular detectives." All true! He's not going to tell some newbie that he's CI.

[protivvyter]

Bucky is someone dangerous, who has words in his mind to trigger him into compliance. He just hopes that this is not a trap. But he can't quite bring himself to ask Alex about HYDRA, either. Would he believe him if he did know HYDRA?

"Is it both natives and foreigners?" He wants to know what he's getting into. Someone drops a tray and Bucky jumps. He's half out of his chair, ready to run, should it be needed. He forces himself to sit back down.

im so glad i have this icon keyword

[saintoflangley]

Oh sweet Jesus Christ on skates. That is a Jason impulse; this guy's jumpy. He might just be paranoid, but Alex has the feeling that isn't quite the case. And he hasn't survived this long without trusting his gut.

"Yes, it's both kedan and Foreigners. The chief is a young woman named Valdis - a Foreigner like us." He doesn't comment on James' sudden movement.

[protivvyter]

Bucky can't help it. His nerves are singing, and his gut is twisting. But there's no outward appearance of his jumping just a moment before. He settles into the chair and decides to ignore it, just as Alex is. His coat had fallen off the metal stump that had once been his arm. He reaches over and drags it back over, once again hiding the gleaming metal.

"I thought the kedan weren't friendly." At least, not all of them. Several of them had been... less than polite when trying to barter with him.

[saintoflangley]

And Alex knows that well, too. You don't immediately calm down after something like that. Especially if you're still on high alert, like James seems to be.

Well, well. Looks like he picked up an interesting stray.

"Some of them are, some of them aren't. Don't let them push you around." Yeah, that's probably not going to be an issue with James. "They can resent us for showing up and disrupting their way of life all they want. It's before my time, but we were summoned here by the Emperor - before she was killed - to defeat some sort of evil entity. And we did. So I think they rather owe us."

[protivvyter]

Interesting is one way to put it. Completely whackadoodle is another.

Bucky raises his eyebrows at the other man. Does he look like the type to let people push him around?

He doesn't touch his tea any more. He can't. His gut is twisting too much right now. "Emperor? Evil entity?" The kid hadn't mentioned that. Great, did he get dragged to Asgard after all? Isn't that what Thor's for? Fighting evil "entities"?

[saintoflangley]

Does this look like Asgard? This is pan-Asian, not Norse. Get it together, Barnes.

"Relax - all that's over. The worst things get now is just minor political squabbles." Alex takes a sip of his tea.

[protivvyter]

What does he know? Asgard could be Pan-Asian!

Bucky looks skeptical, still not touching his tea. He can't. Too much information has flooded his senses. He didn't know about all this before, and now he has to deal with it.

"Political squabbles are rarely minor." He mutters it, but it's plain that he knows a thing or two about it.

[saintoflangley]

"Yes, well. Nothing we don't keep an eye on. The squabbles have barely touched us. Like I said - they leave us alone, we leave them alone. Granted, not an especially civic-minded system on our part, but it works out."

[protivvyter]

Barely. That means there's an explosion coming. He knows that too. One well placed assassination, one misspoken word...

When will he stop thinking like a HYDRA agent? Probably never.

"Are there no foreigners that work with the kedan?"