insertdadjoke: (♊ switch up the batteries)
Jacob Kane [ Cain ] ([personal profile] insertdadjoke) wrote in [community profile] tushanshu_logs2015-09-01 10:46 pm

ghost by my side, so perfectly clear. [ catch-all ]

Who "Jacob Kane" (Cain) & You
When Month of September, barring plot explosions
Where All around Keeliai and various establishments
What Just one of those catch-all things
Warn Will update as necessary. Please consider filling this permissions post!

Things were tense around the city. The breezy weather had subsided, and with it went some of the feeling of just waiting for something to happen. Now the air was humid and people were scrambling to collect what they could, prepare not only in case the air dried again but for whatever was to come when the Justicar appeared. No one had any idea what to expect. Cain certainly didn't, but he was more or less okay with that; he didn't need to borrow trouble rather than make sure his own interests would be all right should push come to shove.

To those ends, Cain was being a little more directed in his wanderings of the city. Places where the natives seemed more steeled than frantic, still appreciated foreigners or at least was willing to let individuals prove themselves, anything where he could make himself appear more solid. His carefree attitude was great and genuine, but if things went to hell, Cain wanted to make sure people would look at him and not question if he had to take some kind of control. All hail Romulus, father of the Holy Roman Empire. Ha, yeah right. Not that it would even mean anything to most people here.

He went about his business. There were places to be, people to bother, and plenty of things to keep up on.

gistful: (why give up?)

[personal profile] gistful 2015-09-06 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
Anton didn't look up immediately, but waited until he was at a point he could pause and know where he was at. "I see a piece of paper," he said, "but would I be correct in assuming you're talking about what's on the paper?"

He reached out to take it, only actually doing so if Cain let him. Either way, he could read the note. "'You're doing just fine. He's still in there. Remy says hi.' It's signed, 'Roman'."

Anton paused, and then looked up at Cain. "Who gave you this?"

It was Cain's handwriting. Anton hadn't seen much of it, but he'd seen enough, when Cain was making notes about the patron headcount and a timetable for the rotations.
gistful: (so let this life begin)

[personal profile] gistful 2015-09-06 08:55 am (UTC)(link)
"No," said Anton, still regarding Cain thoughtfully. He held the note out, having not missed Cain's reticence to hand it over in the first place. "And I imagine you didn't write it yourself, or don't remember writing it, so I would think the Dreaming may be at fault here."

It wasn't exactly unusual, though this was the first overt manifestation Anton had seen since that month with the appearing and disappearing objects which had created his bottomless jar of coffee-beans.
gistful: (i feel it growing colder)

[personal profile] gistful 2015-09-26 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
"No," Anton admitted. Cain had already experienced the Dreaming--being inside it, at least. But he hadn't stuck around the last time long enough to witness the effects the Dreaming had started having on the city. "A few months ago there was a period when the Dreaming caused things to become real. That's how I got the never-ending coffee jar."

It still hadn't gone away. Which was fortunate, given how many hungry engineers he often housed.

"It's possible your note came from a similar source," Anton continued without pausing. But then he did, only to ponder the words of the note. The last time they'd spoken about names and identities, Cain had admitted to identifying as ... well, Cain. It wasn't a story Anton had heard in a long time. The name he'd heard recently, yes, and wondered whether Skulduggery's young protegee really knew whether she'd named herself after a killer; but the Cain here was unlikely not to have chosen it cavalierly.

And he was old. Very old. Very old, with a note in his handwriting, signed 'Roman'. An undying man who called himself Cain, whose brother had died 'a very long time ago'. Anton tilted his head. "How did history get right about your brother's death?"
gistful: (why give up?)

*much how MUCH

[personal profile] gistful 2015-10-04 09:42 am (UTC)(link)
That left aside the Dreaming creations. Anton hadn't been sure how well Cain would take the question, but he answered it honestly enough, if in a circuitous way. More like a man who hadn't spoken of this in a while, or didn't enjoy speaking of it--understandably.

Anton rested his chin on his hand. "And when you say 'you' killed him, do you mean you held the weapon, or you ordered his death, or you feel responsible?"

All of which were important things ... more so than most people considered. Anton doubted that Cain would see much difference, which was interesting, given Cain's age. He was more than wise enough to know the differences between culpability and responsibility.
gistful: (it never is)

[personal profile] gistful 2015-10-08 08:41 am (UTC)(link)
As Anton thought. "Would it be worth pointing out to you," he said, "that knowing when he would die is different to knowing how, and that deliberately leading him to a place with the intention that he would be killed is entirely different to knowing he would, in some manner, be so?"

Probably not. Cain was very old; so old that there was an element of indulgence in the way he interacted with most people. Too set in his ways to be simply accept changing, despite the changing nature of eras. He'd taken the name Cain, after all; the entirely of his identity was based around his brother's death.

It wasn't precisely healthy.

Then again, Anton hadn't done much differently, save that he had more than one brother. It still struck him as more like Skulduggery than not--clinging uselessly to guilt instead of growing through it.
gistful: (it's not enough)

[personal profile] gistful 2015-10-13 10:49 am (UTC)(link)
A pack of dogs. That little detail tagged Anton's mind. A pack of dogs tearing apart Cain's brother would undoubtedly be a source of trauma. He ought to make sure Valdis didn't use her hound form in public. She hadn't on the regular, of late, but still. Until he knew more.

"That's usually all one has," Anton murmured. At least Cain was aware of it, which meant he was unlikely to let it control him if it came to that--or so Anton hoped. Sometimes, what one knew was a lot broader than just what was in the heart. Sometimes it wasn't.

Anton looked back at Cain, his gaze even. "What are you going to do with the note?"

It wasn't precisely a call to action, that note ... but still. Cain had been rattled.
gistful: (why give in?)

[personal profile] gistful 2015-10-25 10:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Possibly," said Anton, "but possibly not. Visions and evidences of the future are so difficult to pin down." He reached out to tap the edge of the page. "I wouldn't say to be rid of it. But don't make your choices based on the little this implies. You can't know the future until you're there. Trying to manipulate it is likely to only turn out wrong."