tushanshu_logs | Event

Event | Yard Sale!

Characters: Come one, come all!
Date: July 21st - July 27th
Location: The City of Keeliai
Situation: The rationing is officially lifted and the kedan are celebrating by conducting one citywide yard sale! Think big! Think small! Think tribbles! Think all!
Warnings/Rating: Tribbles. Lots of tribbles. Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

The morning of the 21st kicks off with heralds roving about the city of Keeliai to declare that the rationing edict has been lifted and that citizens no longer have to contribute one-fifth of their productions (juulan or physical goods) to the communal stores maintained by the police force. These announcements trigger a state of celebration across the city as kedan drag months worth of hoarded items to the street to sell, steal, or trade in a wave of mercantile goodness that stretches for nearly a week. Not even the rising tide of tribbles seems to dampen their spirit, with kedan citywide finding new and inventive uses for the fuzzy paperweights.

Characters are free to do as they will during this event, with police oversight relaxed in the aftermath of the long rationing and strained relations. Impromptu sales out of suites will rarely be inspected and purchase made elsewhere are no longer monitored. Everyone is taking a breath of fresh air, so to speak, and most do not want their first fun in months to be ruined.

OOC: See the OOC announcement for details and this post for subheaders in which you may ~~wreak havoc~~ celebrate the lifting of the rationing. Feel free to start your own thread header if you like! <3

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[He's only 16, of course he lives with his parents! Only not in the basement, because they don't have one.]

We dress up in costume and fight crime. [It's a little hard to figure out if he's kidding about this or being serious. Because he can always pass it off as kidding, but he's already met a lot of people here who do the same thing. So maybe it's normal, like it is back home?]

Wait, like a superhero? [Now he actually has her attention.

Superheroes are unheard of where she's from, but their existence here has been enough to familiarize herself and to be intrigued. She knows it shouldn't make much of a difference, but it does. Superheroes are better people to know, more well connected and the kind to protect a damsel in distress.]

What's your power?

[Oh, now he has her attention. But hey, talking about superheroes? His favorite thing in the world to do, besides talk about comic books. And those had superheroes in them, so it all went full circle.]

Yeah! Like a superhero. [He nodded his head enthusiastically.] Um, well... I have magic. They're not spells-- well, they are, but not like. Having to chant some old time words or anything like that.

How does it work then?

[Hayley completely forgets the stand for a moment, turning to face him fully. It's not the first time that she's heard mention of magic here, but it still surprises her a little just how young he is, to be some kind of here.]

Are you the sidekick for some other hero? Are they here?

No, I'm not a sidekick. You know, most of the superheroes back home don't have sidekicks? Everyone thought we were sidekicks, but we're not! We're just younger then some of the other superheroes.

[No, he's not a sidekick. He's a Young Avenger. And that was better then being a sidekick. Billy is surprised, though, how interested she really seems to be. He was pretty sure she was dismissing him before, but now... well, maybe he didn't have to leave.]

It's actually magic that works by... wishing really hard. I wish for something to happen, and it happens.

[Hayley lifts her hand to her lips as she listens to him, pressing her thumbnail gently between her teeth as a now mostly unconscious gesture of mild flirting. His response about others thinking they were sidekicks as well isn't exactly in his favor, but clearly he's still someone.]

Who's 'we?' Did you know other heroes? And what kind of things can you wish for?

[The mild flirting, in whatever form, goes right over his head. He has someone back home, thank you, and his boyfriend might have something to say to it. But even if he didn't, it would still go over his head. Flirting and things like that, well. He wasn't his brother, he couldn't pick up any signs.]

Me and my friends. We're called the Young Avengers. And we know the Avengers, and some of the X-Men, we fought alongside the Runaways... we know a lot of people. [He laughs.] Anything. Well, okay, not anything, but close to it. It's more... wishing for something, and reality bends to help create it.

[She drops her hand back to her side and her eyebrows raise with skepticism. Hayley wants to believe him, but not much of it really makes sense and the whole wish thing isn't exactly what she thinks of when she thinks of super powers.]

I don't know who any of those groups are, sorry. But that sounds cool? [She doesn't sound convinced.] I mean, I don't know. Your power kind of sounds like a self help book.

[Billy laughs.] That's... actually how I figured out how to control them. I used my boyfriend's mom's self help books to help me focus them, because... when I first got them, I didn't know what to do.

[And he grows a little more serious.] And I didn't want to hurt anyone. So I used what I had at hand.

How could they hurt anyone? [... ... ... ...] And your 'boyfriend's' mom? Are you..?

[The only reason Hayley really cares about someone being gay is that they pose considerably less threat to other women. It's difficult, because some men use it as an excuse to get close to women in order to use them, but she tries to give those who profess being gay the benefit of the doubt. Well, at least more than the average man.]

Oh, yeah, I am. His name is Teddy. He's not here... well, if he was here, I'd be with him and. [He really wishes Teddy was here. And then feels guilty for being so selfish, wanting Teddy to be here and not back home. It's not quite the same guilt he has for wanting his other friends to be here, if only because they're just friends, but more guilt is more guilt no matter what.

He needs to work on that. Subject change!] Um... with the power thing, I mean, there's an issue with anyone who has any kind of power over someone else, and they don't use it for the right reason, right? But especially if they don't know how to control it. And I don't want to hurt someone because I can't control it.

[...Basically what happened back home, before he came here.]

I'm sorry he's not here. [She replies honestly, giving a light shrug to the idea. It's strange to think of actively wishing someone else was here. Hayley can't think of a single person that she would choose to be here if she was given the choice, and not for any selfless reason.]

So you know how to control it now?

[He gives her a smile, though it's a little sad, and he nods. There's not much to say with it, because he... he's not here, and that's how it is right now. That's all it could be.]

Yeah. I mean, well. I'm still learning? But I'm not accidentally using it, I know when I'm using it, and where to focus it, and... yeah. I'm still learning, though. It might take awhile, but I'm getting there!

[Hayley gives a seemingly sympathetic smile. When he explains about still learning how to use his power, some of that active interest fades from her expression and her smile falters with it, becoming something more automatic again.]

That's.. really good. It would be a little terrifying if you didn't know how to, you know?

[He gives her a slightly crooked smile. Because he understands, or understands what he's only assuming from her face.]

It was pretty scary at first. That's how it is for a lot of people back home, they learn about their powers by having something go wrong, and it's just... [Here he gets a little excited, though.] There's just so much potential, though, for what it could be, you know? If I just figure it all out.

Do you think you can? [It's not meant to be as skeptical or cynical as it sounds, but Hayley has never been particularly optimistic, especially when it comes to other people. She gives him a sideways smile before casting her attention to the potential customers again.]

[When she speaks again, it's clear that she's still addressing him.] Is it enough to control it? Or do you really want to master it and to be able to use it for whatever you're going to use it for?

[He doesn't answer her right away, watching as she deals with customers. Does he think he can learn to control it better? Yes. Could he learn to do it, could he learn to do it in a way that wouldn't hurt people?

Everyone thought he could become another Scarlet Witch. And while he didn't agree with that, there was what she did. She'd changed the world with a single phrase. Did he want to do that?]

I want to control it. If I master it, which... eventually, sure, I could, I guess. But I don't want to use it to hurt anyone. So if I can control it, I get that, and... maybe I don't need any more then that.

You don't want to hurt anyone? [She asks with the same nonchalance as before.

Hayley isn't about hurting innocent people, of course, but sometimes people need to be hurt in order to understand some of the pain they inflict on others. Anyone who has that kind of power, but is unwilling to use it for what needs to be done? She's not really sure how to feel about them yet, but it kind of makes her resent them just a little bit.]

Well, no, I mean. I don't want to hurt them worse then they should be, you know? If it's a bad guy hurting other people, then I'm going to try and stop them, and sometimes that gets messy.

[He gives a little shrug.] But I don't want to... kill them, or something. Or not be able to control it and people who shouldn't be hurt get hurt.

[Hayley nods with understanding, though she does her best to play it off as an adolescent attempt to agree with things truly beyond their comprehension. She definitely gets wanting people to get what they deserve and not wanting to kill them yourself; it's practically her M.O.]

That's cool. [A sincere, offhand remark.] So are you still a superhero even while you're here?

[It's something that he's taken to heart, because people don't deserve to die, but most especially not by his hands. But then, when you're tortured, and watching someone you love being sliced open again, and again, and again... he still can't think about it.

He shrugs.] I don't know. Maybe. I don't want to give it up... ever. [He grins.] But there's a lot of superheroes here. That part does remind me of home!

[She thinks on his comments for a moment, then grins over at him.] Do you know Superman?

[At the name, he perks up and grins.] Not really well, but when I showed up here, he said hi. He's kind of different then the usual ones I see, but he seems like a good guy.

He is. [She replies immediately. But, if Billy doesn't know that, then her hopes to get closer with the hero are somewhat dashed. Alas.] And if he's a hero here, then you should be able to be one too, right?

Definitely. [Billy laughs.] Plus there's a ton of Avengers and stuff, here, so. Can't let them do all the work, I think you've convinced me not to give it up.

[He pauses.] Speaking of work, I should let you get back to it, maybe? I need to go find some stuff before everything... I don't know, shuts down for the night or something.

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everylittlegirl - 2013-09-30 02:28 (UTC) - Expand

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witchnotwarlock - 2013-10-01 03:17 (UTC) - Expand

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