summer has come and passed, the innocent can never last | open, with starters

[wrathfulkhan]

Characters: Eyebrow Squad Gene, Jackie, Deon, and you!
Date: Throughout September 15 days late with Starbucks
Location: Keeliai and the rest of the shell
Situation: September interactions for Eyebrow Squad.
Warnings/Rating: None initially, but subject to change.

A. [Gene] House Iron Dragon | September 15 | closed to Pepper
So this has been a long time coming, and things have come to the point where Pepper and Gene need to - gasp! - talk their problems out. Gene's sensed this coming for a while. He's made tea, and is sitting at the table, waiting for Pepper.

B. [Jackie] Dove's Place | early September | closed to Dove
Jackie is in an unusually good mood today. Yunxu seems to be ignoring him for now, so he's not sure what to do with himself...aside from hang with his Snake brothers. He's still itching for something more than gang life, and talking to Dove usually seems to make him chill out; while he is in a good mood, there's some anxiety lingering about him for sure.

C. [Deon] China's Place | early September | closed to China
Deon's been avoiding China ever since Erskine had accused him of being a spy. Confrontation is not his style. But learning sigils from her had been fascinating, and he'd been wavering between continuing his studies while keeping his head low, and telling her exactly where she could go shove her information requests. Perhaps if Deon had been taken a week or two before, he might have gone with the former; now, he's more inclined to opt for the latter. But he'll hear her out. She deserves a fair shake.

He takes a deep breath, and knocks.

D. [Gene] Fire Sector | throughout September | open
Gene is keeping a weather eye on the Chihuelans as they make their way through the city. And not a particularly kindly one, either. In fact, it could be read as a downright stink-eye, if they ever took notice of him.

E. [Jackie] Sky Sector | throughout September | open
Jackie can be found in the Sky Sector this month, slumming it with his Snake buddies, gambling in alleyways and generally being a hooligan and a layabout.

F. [Deon] Metal Sector | throughout September | open
Of course, Deon isn't Deon if he's not working on some ridiculous project or other. He's going around the Metal Sector in his off-time, picking up bits and pieces to tinker with. He might even find something worthwhile.

G. [Deon] Deon's Room | early September | closed to Tom
Deon's been sitting in his room all day, working on cracking the security of the laptop that he'd come upon in the market. It's been a side project more than anything - current events had kept him busy - but he's still interested in breaking in. It's not his laptop, but it's Tetravaal, so that makes it a little something of home.

H. [Gene] House Iron Dragon | early September | closed to Tony
Mail wasn't something the occupants of House Iron Dragon were accustomed to getting, so the pair of letters shoved under the door while Gene and Tony were out were a surprise.

"What, is Pepper leaving us notes now?" Gene asks, stooping to pick them up - and stops when he sees the name scrawled on one envelope, in what's unmistakably his handwriting.

铁木真.

I. [Deon] the Morrigan | early September | closed to Shay
Deon has gotten to know the former Assassin's ship (not a boat) passably well, and he knows it's here he can go to find Shay when he needs him. He knocks gently on the cabin door. "Shay?"

Comments

[deadclumsy]

She followed his gaze to the Chihuelans and pursed her lips, smile now gone in favor of an expression of mild distrust. She didn't like their presence here. Something about the way they had simply invited themselves to search for their missing ranks unsettled her.

People who behaved this way were unpredictable and dangerous. She hoped they left before anything went terribly wrong.

"No. I'm staying as far away from them as I can for now." She looked askance at him. "Don't suppose you know much about them and are in a sharing mood?"

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene almost laughs. It's rare that he's in a sharing mood, but he has absolutely no qualms with dishing out dirt on the Chihuelans.

"I know the Justicar's a militaristic bully, but that's obvious. It's also obvious - to me, anyway - that their missing comrades are not all they're after." He frowns a little, thinking. "Though I haven't quite thought of what, it seems...look, watch how they're moving through the streets, like they've been here before, or have a GPS." He glances at Tonks. "I have my suspicions that not all of their missing compatriots are deserters."

[deadclumsy]

"You think there're spies," she commented almost immediately. Tonks was no stranger to the idea of informants - indeed, they were quite common in her world, particularly when there were wars going on. She could name a few, if pressed.

"That would make more sense to me, I suppose, if I knew the whole story." Everyone else seemed to know it; something big had happened before her arrival here, and not many people seemed keen on talking about it. On one hand, that piqued her curiosity as an auror. On the other, sometimes there were things you just didn't want to know. The difference between what was right and what was easy lay in pursuing the matter further. It was right to find out and to offer her aid.

It was easier to stay out of it. This wasn't her world.

[wrathfulkhan]

"Mm." Gene inclined his head towards her. "It would not surprise me in the least."

He glanced at the search party, still moving through the streets like they owned the place. "We'd had an official here on loan - Celaunn, the Basswood Commander. When we were all in the Dreaming fighting Malicant, she apparently turned on us and led an army of her compatriots against Keeliai. Since we were trapped in another plane, we couldn't defend the city. She vanished before we were brought back, and now the Justicar is back to clean up her mess. Allegedly."

[deadclumsy]

For a long moment, Tonks remained silent to digest this information. It seemed that there were troubles like You-Know-Who wherever one went, no matter the time or place: there was always someone grasping for power, and always people taking advantage of the chaos in that person's wake.

Scavengers, lackeys, and those who simply refused to take sides. (More often than not, she found the latter folk caused more trouble than they anticipated when deciding to remain neutral.)

"What's the alternative?" she asked at last. Could the Justicar be here in a grab for power, and what might that mean for the Foreigners?

[wrathfulkhan]

"There are many alternatives," he says. "She could be here on a scouting mission. She could be here doing exactly what she says she's doing. And she could be here with her people to take up arms and kill us all while we sleep one night."

Mince those words some more, Gene.

"But I doubt that last one is the case," he said, the picture of reassurance.

[deadclumsy]

"S'all right. I think I'm cured of ever needing to sleep again," she joked airily. Truth be told, it didn't concern her that they might try to come do just what he said; her magic had returned enough that she was unconcerned about facing down one or two members of this invading force.

"So you're standing here, making sure they know you're on to them, is that it?"

[wrathfulkhan]

Tonks needn't worry in any case. Gene would do his best to dissuade them from killing the Foreigners. Probably by doing something terribly violent to them if they try anything. He's all for being diplomatic - but you have to draw the line somewhere.

"Why, certainly not," he said, with a low chuckle. "I'm just out in public, and whether they happen to notice me or not is moot."

He certainly doesn't look threatening.

[deadclumsy]

She shrugged. "Sometimes it helps to just be present, is all. If people know they're being watched, they're less likely to do something stupid."

A beat passed.

"Of course, that really only goes for misdemeanors. If someone's going to try a political coup or a large-scale hostage situation, they probably accounted for all the folks who might fight back. Usually." There was a lot more to it, of course: fear tactics, magic, how much of a megalomaniac the leader was. So on. But in its barest essence, Tonks didn't think that Gene's passive presence - or her own - would do much if the Justicar was planning something hostile.

[wrathfulkhan]

Given this crowd? Maybe not so much less likely, Tonks.

"Still, who knows? Maybe our reputation's spread a bit." If the Chihuelans feared the Foreigners, so much the better. Maybe that would help to keep them in line for a time. Maybe not forever, but it could at least buy them a little leeway.

[deadclumsy]

That got her attention; she tore her eyes away from the Chihuelans and fixed Gene with an inquisitive stare. "So we have a reputation?"

She had been here long enough to know that there had been some misadventures. She hadn't been here long enough to find the right person to pump for information, however. Gene, for all his prickliness, seemed to her like the sort of guy who just loved to know information when others didn't - sort of like Snape, in a way. Or Mundungus Fletcher, without the pressing need for a bath and full-time employment.

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene shrugged indifferently. "Defeating an ancient world-destroying evil is an accomplishment that tends to stick to you, I'd think."

Oh, look at all that false modesty. "It seems like more than just coincidence that the Chihuelans decided to attack in the first place while we were trapped in the Dreaming, leaving Keeliai relatively defenseless."

[deadclumsy]

"About that," she commented, her brows narrowing as she looked away, not at the Chihuelans, but the few Kedan in the area. "Don't they have their own defense system? Police or something?"

It seemed strange to her that they would rely entirely on the Foreigners for protection, particularly when the phrase 'world-destroying evil' was thrown around as casually as it had been just now. When a place was fraught with trouble it seemed only reasonable that people would motivate and mobilize; relying on only one source of protection could be dangerous.

It was why she didn't wholly trust all of her fellow Aurors, and devoted herself to the cause of the Order. Better to diversify than put all your eggs in one basket.

[wrathfulkhan]

"They have the Snakes," Gene said, and the distaste in his voice was plain. "Little more than a glorified gang upholding law and order - or their version of it, anyway."

Then he smiled at Tonks, and it was an odd expression on him. "I'm not sure you've gotten the whole story. We were the defense system. Eshai, the old Emperor, summoned warriors, and when she was killed, Evandau got Evastelei to keep the spell going."

[deadclumsy]

That earned a blink from Tonks, but she didn't return her gaze to his. Instead, she looked down, pondering this revelation. There had been a lot of information for her to absorb since coming here, and that was likely something she had missed. She didn't like that feeling of having failed to acquire information.

Moody would have berated her for missing it. It was much easier to examine that sentiment than the other which arose, which was her personal discomfort at having been conscripted into what basically amounted to an army.

"Not sure I like that much," she said at last. "Seems like you should teach them to fish rather than fishing for them, you know? Not that I won't do it - fish, protect them, whatever. It just feels wrong. Weird."

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene nodded when she finally spoke. That was something that had bothered him for a while, too. "That's why I teach at the Dojo. Some Foreigners, but mostly my students are kedan. Bakura and Valdis teach, too, and I know there's one Foreigner who's joined up with the Snakes."

He folded his arms. "Of course, we don't want to make ourselves obsolete, do we? I shudder to think what may happen if they decide they don't need us anymore."

[deadclumsy]

"I got the impression they liked us well enough." There was a definite question in Tonks' tone, but she shook her head immediately after, as though to dismiss any answer Gene might have provided. "People don't become obsolete. They just find new uses when they're no longer needed for war, you know?"

The questioning was replaced by hopeful optimism; in some future day and age, Tonks hoped the Order would no longer be necessary, and that the Aurors would be needed only to sustain the status quo. Maybe things could be like that here, too: when the kedan could defend themselves, the foreigners would be free to integrate, to become part of the society rather than the fringe that protected it.

[wrathfulkhan]

"Some do, some don't," Gene said with an indifferent shrug. "Some of them resent us. I don't blame them, even if it's unwarranted. They're not natives to Konryu either. Eshai pulled them from their homeworld and used magic to make them meek and docile. When we defeated Malicant, that part of the enchantment ended." He smiled thinly, and there was no humor in it. "I'm glad she didn't do the same to us, all told."

He inclined his head in her direction. "Do they? I suppose I'm the wrong person to ask. I came from one war at home into another war here, and while we're largely living in harmony with the kedan, to me it feels more like an uneasy truce than anything." That thin smile again. "Or perhaps I'm just paranoid. Still, I have good reason to beware a knife in my back."

Constant vigilance!

[deadclumsy]

"I'm more concerned about all the people being drawn in here from different places. Worlds. And for the sake of fighting a battle that isn't theirs?" Tonks frowned then, and though she was weighing what he said against what she knew, something about that fact niggled at her. She had to sort it out for a beat or two before at last being able to explain.

"Not everyone fights a war the same way. You get people from different countries, let alone different worlds, everyone has their own thoughts on what's all right to do and what isn't. Some people might do things I'd think were beyond the pale. Things that are inhumane. I don't know everyone here so it's a stretch to make the assumption that someone might behave that way...But maybe the kedan have a good reason to be uneasy with us."

It was her turn to shrug. "Any roads, I don't think you're paranoid."

[wrathfulkhan]

"There are those of us who are cruel," he notes, "and those of us who are fair to a fault. I don't blame them at all for being wary of us. But they can be cruel, too. It's the danger of picking from a grab bag."

He shrugged. "We don't have much of a united front to present to the kedan. That's probably why they don't trust us. Anything that reflects poorly on us - like Ravel's little stunt with the fire - only deepens that schism. And herding cats is easier than herding Foreigners."