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.

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

Comments

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene frowns. "I'm not sure that wanting to believe in me will be enough. She did before - want to believe in me, I mean. And I paid her back with scorn and betrayal."

He picks up the cup again, drinks, and pauses. That's...is that oregano? Tea should not be tasting like pasta. He puts the cup down, a little further away from himself than it had been when he started. It's rude not to finish it; he'll keep drinking it. Slowly. In small doses.

"I don't know if continuing to be who I am now would help. Tony says I'm...good...now. But I don't know if I believe that."

[ruinsprofessor]

It might be oregano. It might be a local spice that 'accidentally' got mixed in with today's tea leaves. Don't judge her.

Raine's quiet for a little longer, mostly because she's working out how to reassure Gene without breaching Pepper's confidence, or, in fact, outright informing Gene that Pepper has come to her about this matter. It's a delicate middle ground to tread. "It matters because she still does, despite that betrayal-- despite everything that's come in between," Raine says finally, trying to be gentle. "Your relationship can't be the same as it was. But that doesn't mean it can't be repaired, either. It will take time, of course, but... Pepper's still here."

In other words, she's still trying. Is willing to try. And that means something, in and of itself.

At his last Raine smiles tiredly, tilting her head a little to the side. "You're a good person, Gene," she says, simply, like it isn't even a question. "I know you've done things-- I don't know the specifics, but I can make some educated guesses. Even a good person, in the right situation, can and will do terrible things." And that was, entirely, the voice of experience. "Neither negates the other. What you do with your future is what matters."

[wrathfulkhan]

He'll judge you if you continue to defile good tea, Raine!

Gene shakes his head, smiling a little bit, his expression as weary as Raine's. "People keep telling me that. What do you think the odds are that I might believe them one day?

"But no," he says, and takes another drink of the tea. "I wasn't a good person back then, when I did those things. I still doubt that I am."

[ruinsprofessor]

It's hardly defiling. Unless you happen to place tea on a pedestal, in which case, yes, probably.

Raine sighs a little, but she doesn't immediately try to argue the point. Instead she changes tacks. "If you have verification from multiple independent sources, the chances that they're wrong are slim," she points out. She tests her own tea, pauses, gives it a curious look, but drinks it regardless. "What is it that makes you think you aren't, or can't be?"

She's straying from the Pepper problem, she realizes, but this may also be important.

[wrathfulkhan]

He sighs. "Anton said that my life doesn't belong to me anymore, that it belongs to the people I've wronged. And I can't handle that. I can't give myself over when I've barely had the chance to live it myself."

And he smiles. "You see? Selfish, and bad."

[ruinsprofessor]

"Gene," Raine says, reproving. She frowns at him over her drink -- not angry, more troubled -- and after another sip, sets the mug down and laces her fingers together. Where does she even start with that?

"This isn't just about Pepper," she says eventually. "Is it." As much as it's stating the obvious, they've both gone somewhere a little removed from the initial problem now, and it deserves explicit addressing. "It's true that the past can't be erased. The weight of the things you've done is likely something you will always carry, though the burden may lighten, with time, and with friends to help you bear it. That doesn't mean you're not your own any more; it's simply a responsibility. Like any other, it may be addressed or turned from as you will, but that choice, and its consequences, remain yours."

She's aware even as she's saying it that it isn't really... comforting, and she tilts her head a little to the side, eyes softening. "Being human doesn't make you bad and selfish, Gene. Only fallible."

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene shakes his head. "It's...I don't know."

He sighs and looks into his tea. "Fallibility isn't...it's not something I was ever allowed to have. I can't be fallible. There's been too much counting on me."

[ruinsprofessor]

"Gene," she says again, quietly. She's seen that -- the determination that one must succeed at all costs -- in a very different way, though it still took a great deal of a toll on the person who carried it.

"You don't have to bear all the burden by yourself," she tells him, a moment later, for emphasis. "And now is not then." They're obvious statements, she thinks, but sometimes the obvious needs to be put into words so people can hear it, approach the knowledge consciously. It can make a difference. "What do you do when you make a mistake?" It's a leading question, sort of, but Raine is genuinely looking for his thought processes as well.