august rushes by like desert rainfall | open, with starters

[wrathfulkhan]

Characters: Eyebrow Squad Gene, Jackie, Deon, and you!
Date: Throughout August
Location: Keeliai and the rest of the shell
Situation: August interactions for Eyebrow Squad.
Warnings/Rating: None initially, but subject to change.

A. [Gene] House Iron Dragon | backdated to July 18 because I'm a rebel and I can do what I want | closed to Pepper and Tony

Gene is quite intimately familiar with Tony's birthday - being that that's the date he'd accidentally the alien apocalypse, and all. He's determined to get Tony a better sort of present this year now that they are on speaking terms (and considerably more than that). And he has enlisted Pepper to craft a small surprise party for Tony, because he has had absolutely zero experience with birthday parties whatsoever.

So he has a present, but he's a bit at wit's end trying to deal with this strange animal known as a 'party'. Luckily, Pepper's got his back.

B. [Gene] Sky Sector | early August | open

Gene's seemed pretty preoccupied as of late - though with things in Keeliai being how they are, who could blame him? His mood's brightened considerably since leaving Zeshora in their wake, though, and he's back to being as chipper as he usually is. Which is to say, not especially, but at least he won't bite your head off if you look at him the wrong way.

He's taking down notes from time to time, but if you try and read over his shoulder, you may not be in luck. Unless you can read Mongolian script, of course. Hey, some people here can read Chinese, and a whole lot can read English. There are some notes he'd rather keep to himself instead of sharing with any nosey parker lurking somewhere over his shoulder.

C. [Gene] House Iron Dragon | mid-August | closed to Tony

Oh look, an arrivalversary party.

Gene just can't seem to avoid the damn things these days - birthday parties and now a (small, personal) party to celebrate the anniversary of his and Tony's arrivals in Keeliai. Tony arrived a year ago (or two) and Gene arrived two years ago (or three), and as a result Gene at least is one of the longer-tenured Foreigners around.

He doesn't feel very special as he sits at the table in the kitchen, waiting for Tony to wake up.

D. [Gene] Raine's House | mid-August | closed to Raine

Anton's advice had been welcome, but Pepper was still...well, Pepper. And Raine knew more about Gene than almost anyone, so he'd decided to pay her a visit and beg ask for advice. He's arrived at the home she shares with Solomon, and hopes the necromancer isn't in, mostly because he just does not have the mental energy for dealing with Solomon right now. He knocks, a little unsure all of a sudden.

---

OOC Note: If you want another starter, please hit me up over at Chatvert and I'll pull something together for you! :>

Comments

[lasergrenades]

Unlike Gene, Pepper is a bundle of excitement and energy. She loves parties. It's a little weird to be celebrating Tony's birthday again after only a few months, but whatever, timelines are weird, and they hadn't really celebrated what with the apocalypse and all.

While Keeliai doesn't have the same kind of birthday cake as they do back home, one of the confectioneries that Tony had pointed her to earlier has still created a delicious looking approximation. It's currently hiding in the kitchen where Tony won't find it, because what is cooking. She'd bought him a present in Zeshora with some of the money that mysteriously appeared. Pepper had wrapped both her and Gene's presents to Tony as well.

She'd given Gene a list of decorations to buy, or try to buy, since she had no idea if Keeliai had ever heard of crepe paper ribbons and balloons, but he's done a decent job of collecting what she wants - even if he looks like someone is about to taze him at any given moment.

"You can relax a little, you know," Pepper says, fiddling with the placement of the 'Happy Birthday Tony' banner she'd made by cutting out letters and attaching them to string. "Tony would be happy with a bow and a slice of cake. We've got him paper lanterns, and ribbons, and a whole cake. Which we get to eat some of, by the way," she says gleefully.

[wrathfulkhan]

don't tase him, bro

"I guess," he says, but he still seems ill at ease. Parties are odd, birthday parties more so. Birthdays were invented by Hallmark to sell cards, after all.

"It just seems weird to me. The whole 'birthday party' thing. Especially since we both missed our last birthdays."

[lasergrenades]

"All the more reason to have a party," Pepper replies. Not that she needs an excuse. "Making up for lost time. That means extra cake."

She hops down from the chair she's standing on, satisfied with the positioning of the decoration, and watches him. Gene's discomfort probably has something to do with his upbringing; he hasn't stated outright that his step-murderer didn't allow for such frivolities as birthday parties. Her dislike of Zhang deepens, if that's even possible.

"Seriously, Gene, this is supposed to be fun for all of us, not just Tony. It's not the end of the world this time," she teases gently. "Do you have any music on your phone?" she asks, changing the subject as if she hadn't just invoked the spirit of 'too soon'.

[wrathfulkhan]

There's a good reason he keeps his actual birthdate under wraps, Pepper. Just saying.

Oh man, too soon, Pepper, too soon. "Um..." He thinks for a second. "Oh, right, my phone. I haven't been keeping it charged. I don't really think about it since I can't use it for too much here."

Also...why are you looking at him. A body might start to get uncomfortable.

[lasergrenades]

The fact that she's teasing him is, on the whole, a good sign that her anger is starting to abate somewhat. Not gone, but she's been trying to separate Gene Past from Gene Present.

"That's okay," Pepper says, shrugging. "I've got plenty. I figured out how to make the armor act like a sound system so we can play all the tunes we want. And I can use the projector to make a disco ball!"

She beams at him and replaces the chair in the kitchen.

"If there's anything you want to play though, pipe up." Pepper opens a cabinet and pulls out some snacks. "Chips?"

[wrathfulkhan]

"...are you asking me if I'd like some, or if I think we should have some for the party?" he asks after a moment. "Well - it doesn't matter. The answer to both is 'yes', anyway."

Seriously, it's weird that she keeps smiling at him and acting like everything is okay. He'd tried that. It hadn't really gone so well.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you liked planning parties."

[deadclumsy]

Nosy parker, did you say? Why, here comes one now, not exactly curious but certainly nosy enough to peer over Gene's shoulder as she passes. And pauses. And stares, with furrowed brow.

She's never seen Mongolian script before. It looks like the sort of scribbles she had seen in Muggle fantasy books (which, admittedly, weighed down her father's shelves but were of interest to her only in a passing sort of way.) Or tattoos, perhaps. It certainly doesn't look like writing, and thus she has to stop and pester him.

It is the only way.

"Is that the native writing?" One thin finger prods his notes, and she shoves her face over his shoulder with intense intrigue written in every line of her expression - now that she thinks it might be important, of course.

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene's peripheral vision is pretty good, and he definitely does notice someone trying to read over his shoulder as she passes...and continuing to try and read over his shoulder.

Well, it was probably a bit too much to expect that someone wouldn't take an interest. At least it's not Skul, he knows that much; God forbid. Skul might actually be able to read it, and he's not especially comfortable sharing his observations yet.

But it's perhaps a mark of how far he's come with his impulse control that he doesn't immediately punch her for literally shoving her face in his notes. He supposes he has to thank Skul for that, at least. There's at least 200% less murder on the turtle now that he's got a better leash on his anger. (Pour one out for Bakura. Lest we forget.)

"It's not," he says, not looking up, and finishes his sentence, waiting for the ink to dry before he closes the book. "It's Mongolian script."

[deadclumsy]

"Mongolian," she echoes, though there's both a question and a statement in her tone. Is he Mongolian? Is she allowed to ask that question here? You can't just ask someone something like that. (Granted, Tonks never saw Mean Girls, but she did have to take a few training courses with the Aurors that had to do with sexual harassment, racism, and Muggle-Wizard interaction. She's just not sure where the line is drawn just yet.)

The way he closes his book, though, suggests he might not be entirely interested in talking about it - and her Spidey senses start tingling, because someone who writes in Mongolian (which few, she thinks, can read) and then tries to keep it from being observed over his shoulder probably has something to hide.

With a smile firmly planted on her face, she decides to stick around and see if this guy is at all suspicious. Not that she has any authority here, of course, but one never knows. Maybe she can help whoever does have authority. The hand she was using to indicate his writing now juts out for a shake. "I'm Tonks."

oh my god, tonks, you can't just ask someone why they're mongolian

[wrathfulkhan]

"Yes," he says, and there's an element of both 'yes' and 'why do you care' in his own tone. But please, ask him probing personal questions. If he's in a good mood, his answers might even be true.

Tonks would be correct in presuming that he's got a bit of a shadiness to his character, but in this case, it's entirely unwarranted. There isn't anything suspicious about what he's doing (this time); he's just a private person.

Gene looks at the offered hand, considers ignoring it, and then remembers Tony's injunction to make friends. So he shakes it. "Gene."

B!

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery is one of the few people he knows who can read a page without being anywhere near that page. He can read upside-down, yes, but one of the many benefits of unrestricted vision is being able to read tiny print from very far away. Coupled with Skulduggery's ability to memorise an entire page with only a glance, and there's very little about peoples' notes he can't immediately glean.

Except, of course, when his vision is back to being restricted, and his ability to memorise what he sees has been severely hampered by possession of a physical brain.

The result is that Skulduggery is quite a bit more obvious than usual when he reads over Gene's shoulder, though at least that doesn't last for very long. He straightens up with an unsatisfied grunt. "That's not Chinese, is it? Manchu? ... Mongolian?"

[wrathfulkhan]

Whoa, what, whoa.

Gene's beginning to get annoyed with everyone and their mother reading over his shoulder, but at least (most of the time) people don't seem to be so obvious about it. But this guy. This fucking guy. Gene's about to tell him that it's written in Nunya (from the Beeswax family of languages, from the remote land of Fuck Right Off) when he realizes that the voice sounds weirdly familiar, accent and all (though honestly it seems like half the Foreigners are Irish these days).

He turns. Blinks. Shuts the book.

"Skul?"

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery smiles in response. "Impressive. Most of the time, it takes people a few minutes. Your friend Pepper didn't recognise me at all until I told her who I was."

To be fair, what he actually did was give her a very strong hint. Same thing, really.

The surprise and the doubletake make Skulduggery wonder what his usual disguises look like. Human, he knows that much, but something about them must ring incredibly false for his real appearance to be causing such a wide variety of reactions. The skin, or the eyes. The voice. He makes a note to ask someone about it the next time he gets an opportunity.

... An opportunity which might well not come, he has to admit. To himself, if not to others.

[wrathfulkhan]

"Well...Pepper is Pepper, after all." She hadn't cottoned on to the fact that Gene wasn't what he'd seemed, not entirely.

Though he's not sure how he feels about Skul calling Pepper his 'friend'. Not with how she's been acting around him lately, not with the persistent vibe of awkwardness that hangs around their house half the time like a burnt cooking smell that just won't leave. "Really? Did she call me that?"

[skeletonenigma]

"Call you what?" Skulduggery tilts his head. "A friend? Not in so many words, no."

There could be a lot of reasons for that, given Gene's reaction, both centred around Gene and completely unrelated to him - or at least, more related to Tony than to Gene. It takes Skulduggery all of about a second to decide he doesn't actually care. Pepper was Pepper, as Gene so aptly put it.

Skulduggery instead gestures to the notebook again. "Is that Mongolian?"

C

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony had worked late last night, and as a result has now slept in late enough that Gene's already gotten up and disappeared downstairs. Since the bed now contains neither Gene nor breakfast, while the downstairs contains both, Tony is dressed and headed for the stairs in reasonably short order.

Gene's sitting at the kitchen table when Tony walks in, and Tony chirps "Morning!" and smiles. "You had breakfast yet?"

[wrathfulkhan]

"Not yet," Gene says, getting to his feet and turning towards Tony, and smiles back. He hadn't been hungry upon waking, and as much as he'd have loved to stay in bed beside Tony, his brain wouldn't let him go back to sleep. Nor would it let him stay in bed once he was awake. If he was up, then he was up. That was it.

"How'd you sleep?" he asks, and pecks Tony on the cheek.

cw: utterly banal domesticity

[highprofilerichkid]

On his way to the coffee, Tony's arms briefly encircle Gene, and he repays the peck with a playful kiss on the neck. Drive-by canoodle! "Great. You?"

it was just so banal. just really banal.

[wrathfulkhan]

Hey! That's not fair and you know it, Tony.

"Fine," he says with a shrug. 'Fine' means 'anywhere in the realm of 1-3 nightmares'. Tony probably knows that by now, but Tony also probably knows he has little attachment to sleep.

[highprofilerichkid]

In their relationship, sometimes 'didn't wake up screaming' is as good as it gets.

"Want some coffee? Toast?" Toast is, fortunately, something he has mastered over the last year. "Is Pepper up yet?" If she's around, he'll make enough for all of them.

D

[ruinsprofessor]

Fortunately for everyone involved, Gene's picked one of Raine's off-days, and Solomon has his own business; it's Raine who answers the door, looking slightly bemused. She's had a surprising number of visitors lately, and while she does like Gene, she has no idea what he might need.

She blinks at him for a moment, then steps back, leaving him room to come in. "Gene. Is everything all right?" she asks, assuming -- not unfoundedly -- that a friend on her doorstep without prior arrangement may be cause for alarm.

[wrathfulkhan]

Raine is, unfortunately, correct. Gene's doing his best to look fine, and he even smiles at her when she opens the door. Not a creepy smile, either, but it does look a little shy.

"Things are...things," he says, both cryptically and tautologically. "Do you have a minute?"

[ruinsprofessor]

A smile is a start; at least, Raine thinks, it isn't world-shatteringly bad, if he can still smile at her. "Yes, I have some time," she says. The theorizing she was in the middle of will keep. In a moment, she smiles back at him, a little but genuine thing. "Here, or would you prefer to go somewhere? I have tea..."

He's being cryptic. Her smile fades a little as she studies him, concern making a resurgence.

[wrathfulkhan]

'Cryptic' is his bread and butter. Also, 'mildly ominous'. It's an old bad habit he hasn't quite managed to shake, even here.

"Here's fine," he says, his tone neutral, his voice maybe a shade softer than it should be.

[ruinsprofessor]

Raine eyes him a second longer, but she lets him in, trusting him to close the door behind him, and heads for the kitchen table. "All right. Can I get you anything to drink?" she asks, attempting at least for a moment or two to be a polite host. Right on the heels of that, though, she adds, "What brings you here?"