tushanshu_logs | March; catchall; open!

Entry tags:

March; catchall; open!

Characters: Raine Sage, China Sorrows, and anyone else who feels like dropping by! [open]
Date: March, mostly the first half but perhaps others. Specified in threads if necessary.
Location: all around - Healer's Guild, various sectors.
Situation: many, lots.
Warnings/Rating: Obligatory mention of China doing that thing she does, aka magical mental/emotional influence. Any others will be added as necessary.

[A] Raine, Healer's Guild, any time - The Guild has been working almost as intended, lately, and Raine's been kept busy by it. Especially during the first half of the month, with the Dust problems caused by the palace demolition, the building is often found full of people with afflictions both serious and not so serious. Raine's relatively easy to get a hold of here, especially for those having a Dust problem, as she's had some limited success clearing it from some people's systems; if she's not immediately evident in the main hall then one of the kedan healers there can usually track her down, with varying degrees of agreeability about it.

[B] Raine, Earth Sector - With her artes seeing heavy use again, and her efficiency back where it had been when she'd first been summoned to Keeliai, Raine judged that it would be worth her time to streamline them as much as possible. There was a park she'd liked in Earth, back when she'd lived there, and some days she found her way there and took an hour or two to run tests and experiment with the way she shaped her mana. Though she chose a place a little out of the way, there wasn't much she could do about the light show, and anyone passing by would see her with staff in hand, light alternately flaring at her fingertips or spinning beneath her in a circle of intricate shapes. Close enough, and she could be overheard, frowning slightly and talking to herself, not being particularly cautious about her volume. "...No, that won't work that way, the mana has to go through the intermediary stages. If only I had Master Boltzman's work to reference..."

---

[C] China, Fire Sector - China had been working steadily at customizing her residence in the Fire sector to her specifications, and while much of the inside was done, one of the wards she wanted to emplace would be significantly more useful on the outside. The weather beginning to clear offered as good an opportunity as any, and in the early evening she took her tools and began work on the outside of the front door, nonchalant, as if this was something anyone would be doing. Her work was intricate symbols, precise and delicate, graven and inked with black, and one segment had already been completed and faded into the door as if it had never been there in the first place.

[D] China, marketplaces - China had developed a follower. In some contexts she would be concerned by this, but the kedan trailing her was mostly harmless, judging by the infatuated look and the one declaration of love she'd overheard. An annoyance-- but one she could put up with for now, and not worth the trouble to dislodge.

She stopped at a stand with fine jewelry, trying to ignore the nearby hoverer, and gave the necklaces some consideration before her expression turned faintly exasperated. She was already wearing one, after all, a fine if simple piece that was somewhat less than optional if she wanted to remain living. Even so, there was one longer chain that caught her attention as a worthwhile acquisition, and a negotiation in price ensued that, if anyone nearby was paying attention, would sound rather atypical. "I couldn't possibly accept it for such a low price, you're being far too generous..."

---

[ooc stuff; if none of these suit or you want something more specific or if I've forgotten something we meant to do or if you just want to plot for fun and profit, drop me a pm or a plurk at

makaricrow. anything in this month is fair game and I'll backtag basically forever, or backdate if you need it, etc.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, good luck with that one, Genis. One birthday. One.

Raine was still amused as he went for the hug, and she returned the embrace with more or less equal enthusiasm. With his recent standoffishness and the fact he was rapidly approaching his teens, she'd take what she could get.

That cheer dimmed a little, though, when Genis outright asked the question. Of course she'd known giving it was inviting the question, but-- it still wasn't something she liked talking about. "It's your family history, too," Raine pointed out, choosing the most innocuous of her various reasons. "You have as much of a right to our mother's diary as I do." More so, even, because it was the only connection to his parents he would have. "And... I'd like it if you'd hold on to it for now."

Raine was leaving out several reasons, of course, but those were mostly to do with why she didn't want it in her possession at the moment, rather than why Genis should.

Well, let's face it. Genis and Solomon have more or less come to terms with one another. He doesn't necessarily fully like it, but he's come to peace with it. Solomon doesn't sound like a bad guy, and well... he's still got a big world to explore and people to make friends with. So generally speaking, Genis will be back to normal... or at least an approximation of that, as much as can be given the fact that they're on a turtle world.

Still, he can't help but be both intrigued and weirded out by getting Virginia's diary. "It still feels weird calling her mom," Genis admits as he holds the diary close. "I didn't know Tethe'alla existed until you told me about it." He's being absolutely honest about it, even though she already knows all of this deep inside. But still, he could tell it was important, and if nothing else, it did give him extra reading material... on top of all the books he was reading at the university library when he got a chance. So there's that. He tosses a casual smile up to his sister after a moment. "Thanks, Raine. I'll keep it safe."

"Frankly, I had forgotten Tethe'alla existed as well until Sheena came into things," Raine admitted, grimacing at the reminder of her imperfect memory.

She couldn't disagree with Genis, though. Virginia was their mother, yes, and surely they owed her their existence. Perhaps the world even owed its reunited state in part to her decision to abandon them-- now there was a strange thought. But the fact of the matter was she couldn't really be 'Mom' to them, as things were.

In a moment she shook her head, tossing off that contemplation, and smiled at him: a small thing, but no less genuine. "Thank you," she returned, rather than the more customary 'you're welcome.'

If he wasn't going to question it apart from that, Raine was moving on, as rapidly as possible. Emotions about their parents were not something she wanted to go into right now. "Two other things," she said, holding up two fingers. "You've met Bakura, correct?"

Genis, for the most part, trusts his sister. And despite the fact that she does have some sort of ulterior motives, something that very frequently he'd be able to tell, he doesn't this time. It's still weird, and he's not going to admit that Raine's making the most sense of this, but it's not going to trip his "hey wait something is really wrong here" sensors. Granted, he doesn't have the trigger issues with Mum that Raine has, so... he just shrugs it off, perhaps thankfully for Raine.

At least except for her reply. "You're... welcome, I guess?" he says, noticing her "strange" reply. Honestly he can't see how he's helping her out.

But of course, it's not going to be as simple as just celebrating a simple birthday. It's of course going to be more complicated. But Genis' eyes should be in a state of focus where Raine should be able to tell that, yes, Genis does know Bakura. "Yeah, of course. I actually thought he was a half-elf at first. He's kind of mysterious, but he seems nice."

Good. Genis could leave it at that, and Raine was more than happy to. The issue of Bakura, now, and as Genis responded to that question Raine pressed her fingertips very briefly to her forehead, the barest hint of a facepalm. Nice was not the first word she would have used to describe Bakura, though she supposed she was thankful that he'd been extending her brother that courtesy.

She paused over what to say for a moment, picking and choosing her words with care. "Be careful with him," Raine said at length. "Bakura is... I hesitate to say dangerous, for the majority of us here are, when roused to action. That in itself does not set him apart. But..."

The wrong tack. Raine shook her head, came at it from a different angle. "Of all the people we knew in our world, there are none he reminds me of quite so much as Mithos. I do consider him a friend, and he won't harm you, but nevertheless you should keep in mind that there's a goal that's driven him for thousands of years for which there is little if anything that he would not sacrifice, should he find it necessary. Make your own judgments on the matter, of course, but I would encourage you to keep some caution in mind."

Yes, Raine did start going down the wrong tack. There were so many people with magical abilities and were working with the gangs and whatever else that Genis could tell that they were all "dangerous," just like Genis was "dangerous." And he hasn't even met Valdis yet! But there is a look of scepticism when Raine starts down it, but Genis will at least let Raine finish her spiel before he interrupts; he'll give her that much.

It's only when she compares him to Mithos that Genis goes silent. "So wait, you think he's like Mithos but you also consider him to be a friend? Isn't that sort of a contradiction of sorts?" he says. He's not countering what she's saying angrily at all; Genis is in between belief and doubt and trying to find clarity between them. He's not seen any of that in Bakura yet, but at the same time... this is Raine speaking. "Besides, that thing he wants, isn't that something he could only search for in his own world? I mean, if Mithos were to come here tomorrow, he wouldn't be able to revive Martel here."

"Is it?" Raine countered, turning the question back to Genis. She tilted her head a little to one side. She wasn't outright going to point out that Genis had considered Mithos a friend; that wound would still be raw, most likely, and Raine didn't think he'd ever managed to outright hate Mithos. But the point stood. In another time and place, they might have been able to keep that friendship.

In a moment she sighed lightly. "He's less driven now than he was when I met him," she acknowledged. "Part of that goal is now out of his reach, yes-- He's dead in his world, I believe." This did not even begin to approach the number of issues Bakura had. "He seeks justice, or vengeance, and peace for the ghosts he carries. The former appears to be a moot point. The latter he doesn't currently think possible, either. As Bakura is now, he's unlikely to be an active threat to other Foreigners, but that wasn't always the case." Raine lifted her shoulders in a little shrug. "It's a complicated situation, and he is not accustomed to having friends."

Pointedly, though, Raine was not warning Genis off, nor did she seem more than a little bit concerned by the prospect of Genis and Bakura keeping company, which, given that it was her brother in question, was essentially tacit confirmation that she did trust Bakura.

"Of course it is," Genis says. In fact, it's more of a contradiction than she knows... at least the way that he's looking at it, but that's only because Raine never really was friends with Mithos. "I mean, yeah, Mithos was my friend, and I don't hate him. I can't hate him. But I don't exactly think the two of us are friends any longer, and that's not just because he's dead. I think Mithos stopped being my friend way before, don't you?" Genis fumbles into a frown, rather saddened by that. "I mean, I wanted to change him. I still want to be friends with Mithos. And I was willing to do everything I could to change his mind and make him believe that we could all live in peace together."

The demons in Bakura's past don't seem to phase him, even though he can sympathise with them, the same way he can sympathise with Mithos' demons even now. He looks at Raine sincerely. There's confusion on his face because, clearly she's not completely warding him off or telling him not to associate with him. But at the same time, she's still bringing it up... because...

She's seeing Bakura as Mithos, not Yggdrasil.

Sometimes it's hard to remember that they were, sometimes, two very different people.

"I don't know what's happened with Bakura in his world or what it is he wants since you're not telling me that. But if Bakura is willing to be friends with and look out for people, that proves he's more like Mithos and less like Yggdrasil. That definitely means that we should give him a chance."

She said Mithos for a reason, after all. If she'd meant Yggdrasill, she'd have said so, but for all that Lord Yggdrasill threw himself in front of Pronyma to protect Genis, Mithos was the one who -- however briefly -- might have thought of them as friends, as well.

There was very little Raine could say to this; at first she just nodded assent. "I realize I'm being vague," she said, with a little grimace. "I'd like to explain everything, but as none of Bakura's past presents a danger currently, I'm inclined to respect his privacy."

This said nothing of the more pertinent issues. Mithos always was a difficult subject, and for a few seconds Raine regretted bringing him up in the first place. But no, he was the most apt analogy. "I think," she started. Hesitated. "I think there was a part of Mithos that very much regretted that you could not stay friends." She reached out to rest a hand on Genis' shoulder. If she could, she would have spared him that heartache; she still remembered the way Genis had wept over Mithos' betrayal. "Keeliai has offered a number of people second chances, separated from the situations that made them what they are. Bakura is no different, I think, only older and more lost than some."

Genis didn't mind Mithos being brought up. Granted, it still hurt that Mithos eventually betrayed them, but at the same time, Genis had had time in advance to figure that out. When Yggrasil had dropped those pan pipes, the seed of doubt had been planted... and it was well germinated by the time they encountered Mithos again. That's not to say that a lot of who Genis had come to be wasn't shaped by Mithos and his betrayal; on the contrary, much of Genis' own ideology was an attempt to unpervert the ideals that Mithos—the original Mithos before he formed Cruxis during the great war—stood for.

"If you're talking about if Mithos regretted me choosing Lloyd over him, I'm not so sure about that," he says a little more directly. Genis had realised after enough time that Mithos had tried to drive a wedge between him and Lloyd, to bring him into his conclave of half-elves ruling over the world. Regret was definitely not a feeling that Mithos had in abundance, though there's probably a similar word to what Raine actually means. "But that's ancient history, and I think we both know enough who Mithos actually was.

"Still, even if Bakura is like Mithos in some ways, I still want to give him a chance. And if you need me to promise to be careful," he continues, now in something of a sing-songy voice, "I'll promise it." Genis would like to think he's learned the lesson from Mithos enough not to fall into it again.

Raine nodded again, and did not press on the Mithos issue. For all that she could feel compassion for him, she was glad that he was dead, and that he had not succeeded in manipulating her brother, and there was little point in what-ifs by now.

"I never said you shouldn't," she said instead, quirking a little bit of a smile at Genis. She was aware he was probably humoring her on some level, but so long as he had listened, that was the main part. "And I do believe he deserves that chance. I simply wanted to be sure you understand there is significantly more to him than initially obvious."

"You mean more to him than the fact that he can summon creatures?" Genis says after a beat. Yes, Genis already knows that, and Genis is being a bit snarky, but he's also be forthcoming about that at least. But that just leads him to thinking more about what he says. He did say that his magic was shadow-based, but Genis had merely assumed that was something similar to the Darkness element that Shadow mentioned. Which he had merely just discarded at the time. Not that Shadow was more evil than Luna or Aska, but he did have to wonder why a summon that felt more Fire still had that element of Darkness to it.

"Bakura invited me over to talk with him at some point. He was going to show me some other summons he can do." He pauses on that before continuing onward. "I definitely want to go help him if I can. Who knows? Maybe he just needs a friend right now. Sometimes, I'd like to think that's all Mithos really needed at some point."

Ah, child psychology.

"Yes, more than that," Raine said, longsuffering. They'd just been over this. No need to ask who it was that had led Bakura to asking her about Sheena, either. But if Genis had been paying attention, then he'd have felt the same odd shadows to Bakura's mana that she did, the primary reason it had been easy enough to tell him apart from Ryou.

"In any case, I'm glad to hear you two are getting along. Maybe you're right." She couldn't exactly contradict the thought that Bakura might need a friend-- simplistic as Genis' approach was, she rather thought the core idea was sound. Were Bakura and Solomon even on speaking terms at this point? Certainly possible he could use a friendship which was not quite that fraught.

At least Genis had more or less listened to her. That was all she could ask at this point. "The last thing," she said after a moment, clearly hesitating. "...About Solomon."

Sometimes, sometimes, being Raine's brother could be difficult. In this particular moment, it was. Genis was in a hurry to grow up, and at the moment, Genis wasn't super interested in having something mothering him to death. He was listening, and he was paying attention, though the fact that they were now on the second potentially difficult point between the two of them just made this all the more tiresome.

At least this is the last thing for the two of them to discuss. And at least he can kind of predict that this one won't be quite so bad as the last; after all, he'd worked things out with Solomon, right? Right?

Genis lets out a discontented sigh and shakes his head. "Okay, but this better be the last thing. What about Solomon?"

Raine was well aware she was trying his patience, but these things were important to cover. A clearing of the air, as it were. "I understand the two of you had a chance to talk," she said. Another, brief hesitation. "I won't keep you that much longer, I'm aware you have things to do."

And that was still a strange thought, occasionally, that Genis had things in his life she didn't know much about. Raine supposed that would have had to happen eventually, but here it had happened suddenly, and it was-- odd, that was all. "I... suppose I simply wanted to know your thoughts on the matter," she said at length, careful. All joking or teasing aside -- and that she did expect -- Genis' opinion did rather matter to her.

"Well, it's really less about the things I have to do and more that you're not exactly talking to me about my favourite topics," Genis says with a grimace. Really, talking about how Bakura is like Mithos and about Solomon back to back? Seriously, way to keep a kid upbeat and positive for five minutes straight. While you're at it, why don't you just give him a paper cut and pour lemon juice in it?

But Genis was still listening, so there was that.

"My thoughts on the matter?" Genis says, a little bit thoughtful. "Well how long do you have? I have a lot of thoughts on the matter." Yes, that's intended to be a joke, though certainly not a good joke. But Genis will get serious a pause later and be a more honest. Perhaps too honest in part, but honest nonetheless. "I'm still a little surprised that you fell for anyone. Granted, it's not like most of the older humans in Iselia were that interesting, or that you even had time for dating whilst on the Journey of Regeneration..." Yeah, he's liable to get verbally if not physically smacked for that.

"But if you're asking me about Solomon himself... he doesn't seem too bad. I think I can deal with him. So long as he keeps his monsters to himself."

Raine wouldn't bring such things up, but they're important and need to be talked about, and it's better to get them all out of the way at once. Nevertheless, she looked faintly apologetic at Genis' first statement, and she inclined her head briefly in acknowledgment.

"That didn't stop you and Lloyd attempting to pawn me off on Linar," Raine said, quite dryly. There were rather more pressing thoughts to focus on at the time, though that didn't stop Zelos flirting with every woman they met or Genis crushing on Presea. As a kind and benevolent elder sister, she didn't mention the latter.

In a moment she sighed quietly, and lifted her shoulders in a little shrug. "I didn't expect to, either. However, ignoring it proved ineffective." It still startled her sometimes how far they'd come; she wouldn't have suspected it as a possibility, when first they met. "I'm-- relieved the two of you will be able to coexist peacefully."

'Doesn't seem too bad' was high praise from Genis, given the circumstances, and it eased a lot to know she would not have to mediate over much. The two of them were the most important people to her, here.

Now, what did he mean by monsters... ah. "You talked about necromancy, as well?"

Yeah, that look of apology will get you soooooo far with Genis. Like he's going to completely forgive you for bringing it up altogether not.

"Hey, can you blame us?" Genis says in defence. "It's not like you got all that many chances in Iselia to meet other people who go into Ruin Mode. We were just trying to help. You two had so much in common!" Yes, he's being a bit facetious here.

"Besides, it's not like it actually worked or anything. Like I said, you never really did find all that much interest in guys, which is kind of why I'm surprised that changed." Genis is not exactly as kind or benevolent as his elder sister. His brotherly love is more the blunt kind.

"Yeah, we did. I didn't know he could do magic... of a sort, though somehow I'm guessing it's not exactly the same sort of magic that we do."

"Regardless of whether or not it worked, my point is that the two of you were attempting to set me up with someone I'd known less than two days." Raine had progressed to frowning by now, though just a little. 'Quite a catch,' Lloyd had said. Honestly. What had they expected?

She had an array of defenses she could trot out -- just because she'd never demonstrated an interest that Genis had noticed didn't mean she didn't have one, here there was time and she wasn't traveling the world, she'd trusted Solomon with her life before the romantic attraction had even occurred to her -- but none of those would really help the core issue. "I met him as a scholar first, a man after," she said at length. "I suppose that contributed. And you're correct that his magic isn't exactly the same, though an elemental factor still plays in-- you may have noticed he has something of darkness about his mana..."

A pause. Raine returned from that aside to something she'd been half-wondering of herself ever since Genis got here, hadn't quite had the courage to outright inquire. "Genis. Have I really changed so much?"

"It was a joke!" Genis protests. Look, he's even laughing about it. Right now. In front of you, Raine. So much laughing. "We knew that you wouldn't actually fall for him. ...At least we were pretty sure." Is that supposed to make that better or worse?

Genis still listens, though in some ways, listening to his sister describe how she fell in love with him is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Perhaps that's too dramatic a comparison, and perhaps it'd have been different if he had originally been there to approve of things and get used to them little by little. And possibly even nudge the two of them together like Lloyd and him and done with Linar. But Genis' face will not be one of happy happy joy joy when she starts talking about meeting him as "a man later."

"Yeah, I did kind of notice that. Seems to actually be a common trend here, really," Genis says, shrugging. "It was the same way with Bakura actually. Then again, I can't really imagine necromancy being any other element. Unless it's somehow Lightning used to zap life back into dead things."

But of course, Raine would of course drag out that one accusation he'd levied at her that very first day they had met, the accusation that had just left everything wrong ever since. And immediately after hearing it, Genis felt incredibly guilty. And so there's a frown as he looks down to the ground. "No, no, you haven't," he says softly. He fidgets a little with his hands as he talks. "I... I just... I just got really scared, Raine. Suddenly, I find myself in a completely different world, and... it just seemed about as bad as all the half-elf discrimination in Sylverant and Tethe'alla. And... when I saw you, it was that one thing that I thought wasn't going to be different and all. I just kind of... flipped out when things weren't exactly like the were back home."

He looks up to Raine, still wearing a lot of shame on his face. "I'm sorry, Raine."

That was really all the elaboration Raine had planned to give Genis on the subject. He was confused about how she had gone from completely uninterested to very attached; that was a way of summing things up without giving unnecessary detail.

In the moment after he apologized, Raine blinked at him, startled. She'd been considering that she had changed, as people do when left to grow, as even the slightest of outside factors may produce. She hadn't quite thought that it might have been only his perceptions.

That beat, and then she pulled him into a hug in one smooth motion, relief in every bit of the gesture. "As am I," she said, quietly. "But I'm glad you're here. I missed you, Genis."

There were no doubt differences in Raine that would have manifested in "two" years' time of being here on Tu Vishan, though to say that Genis had singularly identified them beyond the fact that Raine had fallen in love without Genis being around for it was perhaps the singular thing that Genis could point to. And that had been his stoic defence ever since, just repeating that line over and over whenever he had to deal with it. With Raine asking him directly about it... and after finally becoming okay with Solomon, well... he really had nothing to hide behind.

While Genis isn't always one to accept hugs based upon random prepubescent reasonings, he will accept this one, and Genis will throw his arms around Raine's waist happily. "I'm glad you're here, too, Raine," he says happily.

After the last month? Raine was going to hold on to him as long as he let her, near-teenaged pride or no. Her brother was here; he was as safe as he could be given that Malicant was gone; something resembling peace with all the people she loved had been reached. Thank goodness. She smiled over his head, a soft expression, and finally let herself relax.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

March; catchall; open!

no subject

no subject

no subject

Oh well now you've made me curious. :P Troll.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Genis? Humouring Raine? Wherever do you get these crazy ideas?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

I just played that part with Linar! :D

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

March; catchall; open!

no subject

no subject

no subject

Oh well *now* you've made me curious. :P Troll.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Genis? Humouring Raine? Wherever do you get these crazy ideas?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

I just played that part with Linar! :D

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Oh well now you've made me curious. :P Troll.