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tushanshu_logs2016-03-15 08:36 am
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I know what you did last summer
Characters: Pepper Potts, Yami no Bakura, Bladewolf, Raine Sage and you!
Date: Throughout March 2017
Location: Around Keeliai and Hatal
Situation: Let's start a government! And so on and so forth.
Warnings/Rating: Mentions of death/murder
A. Jade Dojo | Early March | Bakura
The truth compulsion last month had largely been innocuous (if not outright positive) for Pepper, with one glaring exception. Gene had admitted to something that was very much Not Good. It was upsetting to hear, but she's continued to remind herself that Gene has changed. However, that admission bears discussion with Bakura, seeing as he was the subject of Gene's actions.
"I heard something interesting at the truth party last month," Pepper ventures after they've finished sparring for the day.
B. Around Keeliai and Hatal | Throughout March | Open
Pepper is still working on building support for a new government, and based on advice she's received she's hoping to find herself a lion to go to bat for democracy.
Hatal is still a major attraction, and she continues to visit a couple of times a week. Window shopping hasn't gotten old, but Pepper is also spending time oohing and aahing at some of Hatal's technology.
C. College campus | Early March | Bladewolf
As promised, Pepper is meeting with the turtle's newest resident AI, who also just happens to be an enormous metal hound. While she might think that's pretty cool, he's might startle the kedan if he just walks into a classroom. Some of the researchers probably would take a more fascinated stance, but in any case orientation is in order. She's waiting on the edge of the campus for him, bouncing on the balls of her feet until he arrives.
D. Earth Sector | March 1 | Raine
Things are once again rife with drama at House Iron Dragon, and this time it's both Gene and Bakura on her mind. What do you do when you find out your best friend killed your other friend? Pacing. There was a lot of pacing. Also some crying. But neither of those things resolved much. The next clear step is to reach out to another friend, one who probably already knows about this event, and who has proven time and again that she can handle the heavy stuff.
And so Pepper is back at Raine's apartment with hunched shoulders and a rather dour expression on her face, knocking quietly.
E. Sky Sector | Before the earthquake | Abigail
As promised, Pepper is suited up and ready to take another of her friends for a spin around the city. Abigail had seemed just as fascinated than Raine, if not more, probably because she's more of Tony's scientific bent. Pepper isn't much interested in the mechanics of how the suits work, but she's more than happy to show them off. For now, she's left the faceplate open while she waits outside her house in the Sky Sector.
(OOC: Feel free to make your own starter or to ask for one over PM or plurk.)
Date: Throughout March 2017
Location: Around Keeliai and Hatal
Situation: Let's start a government! And so on and so forth.
Warnings/Rating: Mentions of death/murder
A. Jade Dojo | Early March | Bakura
The truth compulsion last month had largely been innocuous (if not outright positive) for Pepper, with one glaring exception. Gene had admitted to something that was very much Not Good. It was upsetting to hear, but she's continued to remind herself that Gene has changed. However, that admission bears discussion with Bakura, seeing as he was the subject of Gene's actions.
"I heard something interesting at the truth party last month," Pepper ventures after they've finished sparring for the day.
B. Around Keeliai and Hatal | Throughout March | Open
Pepper is still working on building support for a new government, and based on advice she's received she's hoping to find herself a lion to go to bat for democracy.
Hatal is still a major attraction, and she continues to visit a couple of times a week. Window shopping hasn't gotten old, but Pepper is also spending time oohing and aahing at some of Hatal's technology.
C. College campus | Early March | Bladewolf
As promised, Pepper is meeting with the turtle's newest resident AI, who also just happens to be an enormous metal hound. While she might think that's pretty cool, he's might startle the kedan if he just walks into a classroom. Some of the researchers probably would take a more fascinated stance, but in any case orientation is in order. She's waiting on the edge of the campus for him, bouncing on the balls of her feet until he arrives.
D. Earth Sector | March 1 | Raine
Things are once again rife with drama at House Iron Dragon, and this time it's both Gene and Bakura on her mind. What do you do when you find out your best friend killed your other friend? Pacing. There was a lot of pacing. Also some crying. But neither of those things resolved much. The next clear step is to reach out to another friend, one who probably already knows about this event, and who has proven time and again that she can handle the heavy stuff.
And so Pepper is back at Raine's apartment with hunched shoulders and a rather dour expression on her face, knocking quietly.
E. Sky Sector | Before the earthquake | Abigail
As promised, Pepper is suited up and ready to take another of her friends for a spin around the city. Abigail had seemed just as fascinated than Raine, if not more, probably because she's more of Tony's scientific bent. Pepper isn't much interested in the mechanics of how the suits work, but she's more than happy to show them off. For now, she's left the faceplate open while she waits outside her house in the Sky Sector.
(OOC: Feel free to make your own starter or to ask for one over PM or plurk.)
C - Because nothing says "ready to learn" than being a giant metal robodog
Once he locates Pepper, he disengages AR mode, and trots over, taking care to look as non-threatening as possible. I difficult task, given that he's as tall as she is, and thrice as wide. Noticeably absent are any of the weapons that usually adorn Bladewolf's shoulders and hips, as he figured that the college, like most places of learning, banned weapons of any sort on the premises.
"I appreciate your assistance in this matter, Pepper. I am aware that an individual such as myself pursuing a traditional education is...unusual, at best."
Clearly a student, yes.
"Yeah, totally happy to help," she replies, smiling. "We're all weird here, anyway. And the kedan at the college are probably more open-minded almost by default. Anything in particular you wanted to check out first?"
Everyone has a favorite subject in school.
no subject
"Physics, and World History. My knowledge of the former primarily came from Dr. Wilhelm Voigt, a cybernetics expert in the employ of the PMSC I volunteered for, and my knowledge of the latter is severely lacking. I should, perhaps, start with general education, to assess where my current knowledge level falls."
no subject
"That might not be a bad idea," Pepper remarks, putting a hand to her chin in thought. "Keep in mind it'll be more Konryu-oriented for things like history and literature or whatever, but it's still cool to learn. Anyone in physics will probably love having you - I bet you can make demonstrations a lot more interesting."
Bladewolf is more like a puppy than he will ever admit. It's hard-wired.
"Becoming more familiar with the local history is probably a wise idea, given that I am to remain here indefinitely. It will assist me in navigating the local culture, knowing the events that shaped it."
Bladewolf's cultural awareness was about zero. The way he figures it, anything that can help him relate to people is a step in the right direction.
"I will do my best to be of assistance, as long as I can learn."
Joyous \o/
"You probably won't be here indefinitely, but who knows how long you'll stay? Some people have been here for years and fitting in... well, it's hard enough when you're not a giant metal wolf, so any brownie points you can win," she says lightly, shrugging. Then, after what might be some careful thought, she nudges him with an elbow. "They've got a sort of central spot to sign up for classes, we can head there now if you'd like?"
no subject
"I say 'indefinitely' only because I do not know how long I will stay. While I have a mission to return to in Pakistan, I am content to make the most efficient use of my time here as I can, hence my choice to pursue an education. The more I know of Konryu and the Keelai, the better I can interact with the natives of this place."
Bladewolf stands, waiting for Pepper to show him the way.
no subject
"Pakistan? You're from Earth, then? What year?"
Apparently even for the more unexpected varieties of Foreigners, Earth origins were disproportionately represented. She can only guess he's from what could be her (distant) future.
no subject
"Affirmative. It is the year 2018 in the Earth I come from. As I have come to understand, technological development is significantly further along on my version of Earth, than it seems to be on many others."
Thanks largely to Russia, robotics technology, and it's application to armed conflict had exploded in the 1970's, which had led to even more rapid development. Things like the ongoing Metal Gear project, and byproducts of it such as Bladewolf himself, and the Irving bipedal UG.
no subject
Even with Bladewolf walking slowly, Pepper feels like she needs to move faster; it's sort of like being on an escalator where the handrail is moving at a different speed than the stairs themselves.
"We did have that one AI Tony made that got into some nanobots and then tried to eat everything, but I don't really call that a successful technological advancement," she remarks. "But our armors are a couple decades ahead of anything else, apparently."
A.
"Only one thing? You must not have kept your ears very open, biahbenat," he said.
no subject
"I mean, I heard a lot of things from a lot of people. One of them involved a lot of yelling and leaving." She exhales slowly. "Gene told me what he did to you."
no subject
no subject
no subject
"I came back, that was what mattered. That was the sixth time I've 'died', biahbenat. And though I didn't know it at the time, I did find out that he thought he was doing it for a good reason... one I'd have done it for, had it been me. I've killed for less, in the past."
no subject
"I- That- Six? Just because you've died before doesn't make dying again any less serious," she argues, gripping the staff tightly. "Like, sure, yes, I can understand why he did it and even understand why he would ever do something like that." Gene had told her what his stepfather had done, and now a lot more made sense about his behavior in general. "And maybe Keeliai is the kind of place where you can just get over being murdered. But what he did was vicious, and I know he still feels guilty about that, and he probably always will, but... You have to wake up every morning and see what he did to you." She glances down to where Bakura's scars are beneath his shirt. "How does knowing why he killed you make remember that any easier?"
no subject
He rested his bo across his knees to regard pensively Pepper at her outburst; he hadn't realized she'd be upset about it on his behalf.
"It was vicious," he said eventually. "I won't deny that. It was a very unpleasant way to go, and I've got some experience in various unpleasant ways of dying. You know, when he came to me to apologize, he expected me to kill him. I told him it was pointless, and more than that, cheap because death isn't permanent here. I said it made it too much like a business transaction, one for one."
no subject
"That sounds like Gene, all right," Pepper acknowledges, shaking her head. "Or how he used to be, anyway. He doesn't think he's worth very much."
She sighs, clamping down on the urge to justify or explain why Gene is the way he is; she's still too angry about that to speak of it calmly. A life for a life; that would be how Gene was taught. Still, Pepper is struggling to grasp how the two of them reached a resolution.
"What did you want from him, then?"
no subject
"No, he doesn't," he agreed. "And realizing that, was part of my decision."
He gave Pepper a ghost of the grin he'd given Gene when the younger one had asked what he wanted: hard, and not kind. "I was going to put him in his own mind for a while," he said. "You've seen the way the Shadow Realm tests people, now imagine it doing that with the intent to break someone."
Malik's darker half had tapped into that, to trap Jonouchi and Mai, and even Malik to an extent.
no subject
"That would've destroyed him," she says, barely above a whisper. Would have, because if Bakura had actually followed through on it, Pepper can't see that Gene would be any more than a vegetable right now; dead or shattered mind, living body. She tries to find the energy to be angry, but all she musters is more sadness. As with Gene, Pepper knows quite a lot now about why Bakura is the person he is and has been.
"You could've tried empathy or pity. That might almost have been worse for him," Pepper remarks dully, her shoulders sagging.
no subject
He stares at her for a moment, as if giving her time to consider just how much of a stretch it would be to disagree with that... but then he shrugged.
"But they did, and Gene apologized -- poorly, but that's inexperience -- and I recognized that he was doing worse things to himself than I was planning to. So I told him to knock it off, and get his head on straight."
no subject
She does actually laugh a little at his last comment, but it's a strangled sort of thing, like her throat is being squeezed.
"It sounds like you kinda did that anyway." Gene's guilt still lingers, that's for certain, but he seems to have learned at least something from the experience. "Who're the khaikheben and the cat-woman?"
D (for dumb boys?)
"Bakura?" Raine wants to know once Pepper's inside. She's already heading to take down the tea things and put water on to boil, judging that this is the sort of expression that warrants a hot beverage and understanding ears.
probably
"Gene," she answers quietly, shaking her head. "Gene told me what he did to Bakura."
No point in beating around the bush.
no subject
"Ah," she says, carefully setting the container down. She busies her hands with the kettle, and sets it to boil before turning to face Pepper. By this time she has mostly regained her balance. "...It was Gene that killed him, then."
She doesn't sound entirely surprised, despite the fumbling of the tea, and her voice is credibly even. She knew Bakura had died, before, and she had put together something of the circumstances, and it is not the first of her friends to make a grievous mistake.
No wonder Pepper is troubled.
no subject
"Yeah. You didn't know," she observes pointlessly, the statement dull and flat. Gene probably won't be happy that Pepper's spilled the beans to Raine - he appreciates the healer's counsel and wouldn't want her to think less of him. Too late now. "I know... I know he's changed, but..." But it still hurts.. "I've been here almost a year and he didn't tell me."
no subject
For there to be enough supporting data that she's comfortable guessing is almost as good as a sure thing, in any case.
She leans against the counter, facing Pepper once more once everything's ready and only awaiting boiled water. "It's between Bakura and Gene," she points out, not unkindly. "How does Bakura feel about having been killed?" Raine remembers talking to him about it -- it had seemed like Raine cared more than Bakura did about that death, when it came up.
no subject
"He doesn't seem all that bothered by it. I mean, Gene has been working at the dojo for a long time; I doubt Bakura would let him if he wasn't over it. Like you can even 'get over' being murdered." It didn't make a lot of sense in her own mind. "And it's not just between them - not when it comes to family," Pepper argues. "Not when you tell someone you think of them like a sister and then 'oh, by the way, I killed one of your friends because I thought he killed someone I thought of like a mom,' and I know he was probably afraid I'd be angry and he wanted me to see that he was different now before telling me. And yeah, I'm angry with him, but I'm also angry for him. Family gets you through crap like this," she says almost fiercely, more out of a sense of protectiveness of Gene than any disagreement with Raine.
no subject
"Perhaps you can't, but there are those who have," Raine says. "Ghosts in my own world, and certain of the people here as well." There's a beat, wherein Raine taps her fingers on the counter and waits for the kettle and thinks carefully about what she's going to say. Then: "Myself included. Keeliai is unique in that the binding of our souls to this plane seems to ensure that death doesn't stick-- as concerning as that is on a metaphysical level. It's certainly not something to rely on, either, and death shouldn't be considered cheap -- but it does mean that there is a certain leeway. The wound inflicted on the victim's friends and loved ones can be salved, and the crime, however dire, can have some resolution. Therefore, the primary point to address is whether Bakura and Gene have resolved their issues."
She's very level all the while, though a bit soft. It's helping her think it through as much as it is Pepper. When the kettle whistles she takes it off the stove, letting it cool from boiling for a bit. "I don't disagree," Raine says. "Family gets you through things. But I can understand why Gene would have kept it to himself."
no subject
"I get why he wouldn't want to tell me. And I can even get that Bakura doesn't seem to care anymore," she starts, her voice shivering with rage. "But Gene cares; it still eats him up inside, I can see it every time I look at him and I hate it because I know what happened to him, I know what happened to turn him into the kind of person that would tear another human being apart and I'm beyond furious with the people that did that to him but they aren't around to nail to a wall so I'm just angry and I can't put it anywhere! I can't not be angry when I see him and he thinks I'm angry just at him and that I'll leave and- and I am angry at him because he's still the one that did it but I can't-!"
Pepper stops, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment and trying to sort out what she's actually attempting to say. There's a hair's breadth between passionate explanation and lashing out at an ill-placed target who only has the best intentions.
"I can't tell Gene that yet because I'm just too angry with someone who isn't even here that it'll all come out at him instead if I say anything! It's hard enough trying not to scream at you and you had nothing to do with it. He said I'm like a sister to him and I won't do that to him; I won't let him think that yet another person is going to abandon him because he's not good enough. I already yelled at him enough," she finishes, suddenly overcome with sadness to match the wrath that's seething out of what she's just said.
no subject
"Will you feel better, if you yell at someone?" Raine wants to know. She pours the tea, even-handed and careful, and sets a mug in front of Pepper, just far enough away from her fists that a sudden movement shouldn't hit it. Then she's leaning against the counter, cupping her own mug in both hands. It's a little hot, enough to sting, but she's gotten used to more extreme heats lately. "There's no target here that you can hit which will help anyone, but if it will calm you in the end, go ahead."
She takes a careful breath, inhaling the steam of her tea, and adds, "None of us can change what's happened." It sounds -- faintly -- apologetic. "Your love for Gene is admirable, but, especially right now, anger will do nothing, not even make you feel better. So if it will help you work through it, by all means, scream away."
no subject
Yelling at Raine or simply in her presence has a certain appeal, but she wants to scream with more than just her voice: she wants to scream with her entire body, to act and to defeat and even to destroy. The urge is not to kill but to completely and utterly undo a man who is a plague upon her home and her family. Take all that he has without spilling a single drop of blood, and then leaving him at Gene's feet. Fear of accidentally directing that at her friend ripples across Pepper's thoughts.
"Maybe. I don't know," she says, quiet and unusually still. Opening her eyes, she looks up at Raine with a sort of rigid composure. "I want to do something but there's nothing I can do. I can't- I can't make it right, I can't fix it, I can't do my job!"
With a noise of deep frustration somewhere between a sob and a growl, Pepper slams a fist on the table, making the tea waver in the mug, and then buries her face in her hands.
no subject
She wishes she had some comfort to give.
"No," Raine says instead. "You can't fix it. Some things, once broken, can never be repaired." People hangs in the air unsaid. Gene. Bakura. So many of the people they both count friends have something in their past that should well have broken them.
She sets her tea down, and comes to lean against the table beside Pepper instead, one hand resting gently on Pepper's shoulder. "But you can do something," she says, a little more gently. "The people you want to hurt aren't here. Gene is. Bakura is. They're hardly beyond help. Healing artes don't make it so that the wound never existed; they put the pieces back together, afterward."
no subject
She doesn't shift away from Raine's touch. After a minute or so, the tense line of her shoulders relaxes slightly. The name Rescue had been chosen for her armor, and who she was when she wore it, but that name is hers even without the shell of steel around her.
"You and Spock would get along well," she remarks more evenly, half-emerging from behind her hands. The healer bridged the gap of logic and emotion without sacrificing either; it's something her friend does often, Pepper has noticed, and she's very good at it.
no subject
With Pepper re-emerged from behind her hands for the most part, Raine picks up her tea, though she returns to leaning against the table beside Pepper as well-- putting the table between them seems too much separation, right now. "Spock?" Raine inquires, tilting her head a little. It isn't a reference she recognizes, unfortunately, though it certainly sounds complimentary.
no subject
"He's a character from a show called Star Trek," she explains with a hint of tired amusement. "Half human, half Vulcan. And the Vulcans are all super logical and suppress emotion, but Spock kind of... skirts that line a little. I think you'd like him."
The healer does much more than skirting it, but the point stands.
no subject
And she herself finds it important, to be able to reason through emotion. To do otherwise results in rash choices with unpleasant consequences, more often than not. As well as people being slapped.
"Were there the option, it's possible I might," she agrees finally. "Acknowledging emotion without entirely bowing to it is a useful skill."
no subject
She hums thoughtfully at Raine's last observation. It makes sense, but as often demonstrated by Spock himself thinking rationally through intense emotions was... difficult. She doesn't say it out loud lest Raine scold her in some fashion, but Pepper can't help but think sometimes it was okay (and perhaps even right) to let emotion rule you. The healer's point holds, though: in order to choose when to acknowledge emotion and when to let it take you, one needed to know the difference in the first place.
"You know, they never tell you about this stuff in school. It's always atomic bonding this and Civil War history that - not so much with the 'here's how to deal with getting magically transported to a different reality and finding out your friend is a murderer'," Pepper says, sounding far less upset than she had earlier.
no subject
In all fairness, the situation Pepper describes is rather a niche one. "History is a valuable lesson, though," Raine points out. Atomic bonding is temporarily sidelined. "Many principles about how to move forward can be derived from it. And a good teacher should give their students the tools they need to work through such things. But only you can figure out how to deal with it for yourself."
She speaks, however, confidently: she is sure that Pepper will be just fine.
no subject
The tea has cooled enough that Pepper can take a careful sip, casting her mind back to classes and school and 'normal' teenage life. More valuable lessons often occurred well outside those sheltered walls, or perhaps just the ones she liked better.
"Maybe if we'd paid more attention to the Mandarin's history, things would've turned out a little differently."
That had hardly been the trio's primary focus, but it had been Howard Stark's. Sometimes age did bring about wisdom.
no subject
Pepper seems to have eased somewhat, and Raine estimates that the risk of anyone being yelled at is past, at least for now. Raine picks up her own tea again, though she holds it in her hands for the warmth of it instead of drinking it at the moment.
"Perhaps," Raine acknowledges. "I wouldn't dwell on how things might have been, though. If you know that history now, however, you can apply it going forward."