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

[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."