[OPEN] I hear them still...

[denyamenti]

Characters: Bakura / Jack Frost / Stork
Date: March catch-all log
Location: Various around Keeliai.
Situation: Assorted run ins. Open starters in the log, closed starters in the comments. Or add your own!
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings if needed in subject headers.


A. [BAKURA] JADE SCHOOL OF KUNG FU DOJO - WOOD SECTOR
He hasn't made a big deal of it, but the dojo has been put back to rights and thoroughly cleaned up over the course of the last month. He's solved the heating problem, purchased replacements for the mats and panels which weren't salvageable (coincidentally, reports of juulan theft in certain sectors had gone up, particularly in public places where it had been pickpocketed). He'd moderately refurbished the sparse living quarters in the back, allowing him to cease renting the small unit in Fire and live at the dojo instead, which was preferable for privacy anyway.

There was no grand opening or announcement made, but when curious once-regular patrons came curiously around, having noted the freshened state of the exterior, Bakura just shrugged and let them have the practice time they requested. When they started leaving payments for the time spent in the small anteroom that doubled as an office between the main dojo floor and the back living quarters, he certainly didn't stop them.

(Equally coincidentally, the number of juulan thefts started going back down.)

B. [BAKURA] MARKET - FIRE SECTOR
With the brutal cold snap finally breaking, Bakura was less loathe to spend any time outside, and had resumed his typical habit of walking the public areas of Keeliai. The Fire Sector was still the most familiar to him, having lived there when housing was still assigned, and the atmosphere suited him. Yet more often than not, his steps were aimless, and he spent more time watching the kedan going about their lives than doing anything of note for himself; it was hard not to feel disconnected from everything now. For those who did for some reason engage him in conversation for whatever reason, found him alert but listless, as if the motions of daily life were a tedious obligation.

C. [JACK] WELCOME CENTER - CENTRAL SECTOR
The Welcome Center had officially reopened, and Jack was proud of the way they'd been able to put it back together. It had taken volunteers, to whom the spirit was grateful for the help, and the lack of harassment by his kedanese neighbours (of which there were many, given that the Center was in the hear of the commercial district of Central). Two consoles, installed by the Metalworkers, were in a bank along the one wall, and there was a holder for pamphlets and maps on the other. There was also a noticeboard for both paper posting and a chalkboard side, for leaving messages.

At the moment, the spirit was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor, pondering over how he was going to put up additional "check points" throughout the various sectors, to lead new arrivals to the Center if they happened to appear in other parts of Keeliai -- which was looking more and more like the standard. At Jack's side is a map of the city and surrounding area, with coloured dots added to it, corresponding to where he'd been told people had arrived recently.

D. [JACK] VARIOUS - WATER SECTOR
As things began to thaw, Jack fretted constantly over the state of the canals in the Water Sector, though for very different reasons than the Woodsmen seemed to be concerned about them. At first he went to every one of them, using his magic to keep the ice thick and dense, as the upswing in temperature actually lured more kedan onto the slippery surface. He was distracted for the first week of the month, constantly zipping on a strong breeze overhead, surveying the ice surface with an expert eye, searching for any thin spots or weaknesses.

When the weather seemed to be on a steady track toward warming, he decided that was enough sign, and started forcefully breaking up the icepacks in the canals so that they couldn't be skated on at all. He got more than a few unhappy complaints about the loss of seasonal entertainment, but he bore the chastisements with rueful grace that only a few people who knew him well would have seen through as genuine unease.

Once the canals were no longer a concern for ice however, they started becoming a problem around the city for other reasons. Flooding started small, but quickly became more of an ongoing problem. The Winter Spirit switched tracks again, freezing gathered pools of water inside people's houses so it could be broken up into chunks of ice and carted out before it caused more damage.

E. [STORK] VARIOUS - METAL SECTOR
Stork has decided that the best way to acclimate himself to this strange city is to build something, which means he's been creeping around the Metalworker's properties, literally going through their trash and fishing out all sorts of discarded odds and bobs. It isn't clear from the scrap he's gathered what he's trying to build just yet, but he's obviously stopped to assemble a few little gadgets along the way. A couple of them are clicking away merrily on sprockets on the ground, while presently Stork has his head inside a scrap bin, three-toed feet lifted slightly to reach something near the bottom.

"Oh, this looks promising..."

F. [STORK] CANALS - WATER SECTOR
Stork has a small crowd of people gathered around him, but he's barring the way to one of the Water Sector canals with both arms. He's also pretty loud, and his antics are drawing more people to come and stare at the obviously addled Foreigner.

"Stay back! The water in the canals is contaminated with Tunurian fire fungus! One swallow and you'll start growing hairy pustules on your insides! If you get anywhere near open flame, you'll explode!"

There are some jeers from the kedan, because that's the most ludicrous thing they've ever heard (and they've heard some good ones), and some of them are tired of having their path blocked and shove the Merb to the side.

"H-Hey!"

Comments

[denyamenti]

Bakura shrugged when Raine pointed out that Ryou had disappeared rather quickly, in comparison to how long the teen had been here originally. That didn't mean Bakura treated Raine's previous agreement any more lightly.

"I anticipate he'll have quite a few eager guardians," he replied, because the Foreigners had always gone out of their way to safeguard the youngest of their group. "But yes... I'll watch for him, as well."

[ruinsprofessor]

"Perhaps so." Raine lifted one shoulder, not disagreeing but neither quite so convinced. There were any number of people who might be kind to Genis for her sake at the very least, but even so Raine preferred not to trust that to luck or anything like it. Whatever else anyone else might choose to do, now, at least she had this assurance.

"Regardless, I appreciate it. Thank you." Did she need to also have a talk with Genis regarding appropriate role models? Entirely possible. But she didn't doubt that Bakura would help keep him safe, which was the main point.

[denyamenti]

Bakura knew how Raine felt, when he'd asked her to look out for Ryou the same way and she'd felt that it went without saying-- he might pay closer attention now, but it wasn't as if he'd have just let Genis wander into harm.

"Aa," he shrugged a second time. "What else are you busy with today?"

[ruinsprofessor]

Judging any other expression of sincere emotion as probably more than either of them had signed up for today, Raine moved on with Bakura's cue. "Little things," she said, waving as if to dismiss them as inconsequential. "I'm in need of a new blank notebook, and there were herbs I wanted to track down before stopping at the Guild, later. And you? What brings you out today?"

[denyamenti]

Definitely more than Bakura had been anticipating (any sharing on that front was more than he anticipated) and he was equally quick to move on. "Appreciating that the weather's not so damned cold," he answered. "Beyond that, nothing much."

With the dojo open and currently running on its own pace with little supervision, there wasn't much that required his attention. At some point he would also need additional supplies, and record keeping if he felt like it, but those seemed like idle time sinks rather than anything he looked forward to doing.

He hated to feel so aimless, and yet nothing managed to stir any sort of urgency or drive in him. There were things he was doing, which was better than nothing, but an absence of anything he really wanted to do.

"I shouldn't hold you up, then."

[ruinsprofessor]

"It's better than Flanoir," Raine said, absent, as if this was something she'd had to tell herself a number of times. As bad as the weather had been, she could be stuck in the Temple of Ice.

Something about his air made her pause a little, instead of simply going on her way, and finally, only a little bit hesitant, Raine asked, "...would you like to accompany me?" She didn't have the most interesting things planned, really, but even what was boring improved with the company of friends.

[denyamenti]

Bakura was surprised at the offer, but after a brief moment's pause, he nodded. "I can," he replied, falling into step next to her. The idea of her company was certainly not unwelcome, in any case. "What's Flanoir?"

[ruinsprofessor]

There was a part of Raine that hadn't actually expected him to accept. She blinked, then smiled, and directed her steps the way she had been before spotting Bakura in the first place. "A city," she explained. "In the northern part of Tethe'alla. Which alone would give it a cooler climate, but it's also situated near the Seal of Ice, where the summon spirit of ice, Celsius, dwells. Her influence, the unequaled concentration of ice mana, means Flanoir practically never thaws, and it's obviously even worse in the winter."

[denyamenti]

The evident distaste on Bakura's expression was nearly comical, as he pictured a permanently frozen tundra not unlike Evidet that they had just left, at least the portion that was outside the protective domes. Intermittent winter was bad enough, but a permanent one? Unthinkable.

"Genis mentioned summon spirits," he said after a moment's thought. "At the bonfire. He wanted to know if they were similar to the duel monsters that I use. I said they were in some ways, like having specific elements aligned to them, but not in others. Is 'Sheena' why you were interested in mine?"

[ruinsprofessor]

Yes, she had rather thought he'd like Triet better.

Sheena's name from Bakura was a little bit of a surprise, though; Raine didn't make a habit of elaborating on her world and history any more than was strictly necessary -- usually -- and as a logical result did not commonly find herself asked about things she hadn't mentioned. Genis, on the other hand, she knew could be talkative, and not prone to examining what he said before he said it.

"I suppose she was, to some extent," Raine said in a moment. "I don't know if Genis told you, but she's the only summoner remaining in our world to the best of anyone's knowledge: the art has mostly been lost. However, even without that, I would have been interested in your magic on its own merits. Learning about foreign systems is continually fascinating, especially seeing the influence the people from such different worlds can have on each other."

[denyamenti]

If Raine took him to Triet, she'd probably never get him to leave again. "There's some parallel there," he said, after Raine's explanation of Sheena's unique abilities. Shadow magic too, was more or less forgotten except by a handful of people in his world, those connected to the Items, or those who were present for past events, like the Guardian.

But her remark about people influencing one another prompted him to ask a question of a bit more personal nature. "Have you two and Solomon reached a new balance yet?"

[ruinsprofessor]

As much as it was something that didn't seem to have any possibility to happen, Bakura was certainly among those people Raine had a more than passing desire to show her home to.

"Some," she agreed. "I think the primary difference is likely in the pacts, unless your own monsters have particular attachment to promises?" She didn't think she'd have missed it if they were, but perhaps.

The latter question gave Raine pause, and she was silent for a moment while attempting to sort through both Bakura's motivations (honest care?) and her own answer to that question. "The dynamic has certainly shifted," she said slowly. "For the better, though not quickly. Things can't be the same as they were, of course, but I wouldn't call the current state balance yet, either." Every time the matter arose consciously it made her wonder, and mostly about herself.

[denyamenti]

At least he had seen Iselia, in the Dreaming. It still gave him a glimpse of what her world was like, even if it had been a small piece. It was more telling the way that she spoke of her world in general that he learned from.

"No, not to promises," he answered. "There is... hm. Duelists command, but it isn't a given. There's an understanding of status there, and while force can override it, it's usually better not to."

Bakura watched Raine's reaction to his other question, reading her body language as much as listening to her reply. "He'll learn," the thief replied. "Hardheaded as he may be."

[ruinsprofessor]

"Hmm." Raine added that to her understanding of his magic, thinking, and in a moment returned the comparison. "Respect, then. Similar to fealty? The understanding that despite a difference in status, the relationship is not one-sided?" Each thus bore a responsibility to the other, perhaps.

"For Summon Spirits, they demand that the summoner make a vow to them, a promise regarding how their power will be used. If that vow is broken, they react poorly-- for instance, Efreet destroyed the majority of old Triet in one day, as the summoner at the time was out of his reach. They're the purest embodiments of mana in our world, and they demand -- rightly so -- that their summoner prove worthy."

This, Raine was conscious, was approaching lecturing, details that Bakura might neither need nor want, and she stopped there for a moment.

Regarding the other, in her body language he'd observe a certain tension-- not much, but at the corners of her eyes and in the way she held her shoulders. Genis and Solomon still worried her. Even so, at Bakura's response some of that ebbed, and Raine laughed, short and startled. "And which one of them do you mean?" she returned, amused.

[denyamenti]

"Respect," Bakura echoed, and decided that was probably the closest analogy. At her second question, he did actually grin. "Oh, did I forget to specify?" Because he had indeed meant it in a way that could be applied to both.

"You can worry just a little less, seba-rekhet."

[ruinsprofessor]

Evidently that was as much of an answer as she was getting out of him. Still, it was something she hadn't known before, as most of these conversations ended up netting her, and so Raine was content to leave it at that for now.

The latter did net him a mildly cross look, as he knew very well he had forgotten to specify. "Both, then," Raine said, with a little sigh. She considered that there were levels on which he knew Solomon that she likely could not approach, and that her brother was talkative and Bakura was observant, and concluded that Bakura probably knew what he was talking about. "I... suppose you're right."

She had no intention of doing without either, so they would both simply have to get along one way or another. Perhaps she could worry less.

[denyamenti]

Bakura merely offered her a sly grin in response to Raine's conclusion that he was correct, and didn't break the relaxed pace at which they walked, even though he was letting her direct their path. "Why more notebooks? Starting to keep patient records in your fancy new Guild?"

[ruinsprofessor]

She looked a little sour for a moment or two after, mostly at his perceived smugness, but let it go in a moment. No use being annoyed because he was correct, after all. "To some extent," she agreed, nodding. "It seemed a prudent decision to have some sort of record. I'm also nearly finished with the one I have for personal matters at the moment, and would prefer not to run out of room without a backup."

And if she spotted something particularly nice that Genis might like, well, that would be an incidental benefit; it was approaching the day they'd always celebrated his birth, anyway.