lasergrenades: (Investigating)
lasergrenades ([personal profile] lasergrenades) wrote in [community profile] tushanshu_logs2016-03-15 08:36 am

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.)
 
wolf_of_war: (Sideview)

C - Because nothing says "ready to learn" than being a giant metal robodog

[personal profile] wolf_of_war 2016-03-16 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
If Bladewolf's emotional programming was a little more complicated, he might feel a little embarassed, walking into the college as brazenly as he does. Instead he just walks purposefully, his AR mode engaged, scanning for Pepper.

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."
wolf_of_war: (Sitting)

[personal profile] wolf_of_war 2016-04-04 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
To make himself look slightly less threatening, Bladewolf sat down, his haunches making a dull thud as he seated himself on the pavement. He didn't look any shorter, but there was less of him at eye level, at least.

"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."
wolf_of_war: (Shake)

Bladewolf is more like a puppy than he will ever admit. It's hard-wired.

[personal profile] wolf_of_war 2016-04-05 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
Perhaps, almost as though he was unconsciously bidden to do so, Bladewolf tilts his head to the side, mulling over Pepper's words.

"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."
wolf_of_war: (Scouting)

[personal profile] wolf_of_war 2016-04-06 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
At Pepper's suggestion, Bladewolf nods.

"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.
wolf_of_war: (Transmitting)

[personal profile] wolf_of_war 2016-04-07 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
Bladewolf follows in a slow walk, as he could easily outpace her at his normal walking pace, taking in the sights of the college, so that he would remember it whenever he returned.

"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.
denyamenti: (ancient dramatist of eminence)

A.

[personal profile] denyamenti 2016-03-16 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
Bakura is methodically cleaning the bo, because the familiar movements are as much a relaxation for him after the sparring as sitting on the back veranda. He's done a few bouts in the Jagaiz Rings since they landed at Hatal, and that does seem to have helped drain out some of the restlessness from having been cooped up all winter due to the weather and the draining fog.

"Only one thing? You must not have kept your ears very open, biahbenat," he said.
denyamenti: (forms that no man can discover)

[personal profile] denyamenti 2016-03-17 11:28 am (UTC)(link)
"Did he now?" the thief said, raising an eyebrow. "That's a surprise. After how it went with Tony, I'm surprised at that."
denyamenti: (on the foundations of a house)

[personal profile] denyamenti 2016-03-18 06:27 am (UTC)(link)
"Why?" Bakura questioned, sounding genuinely curious. It reminded him of Solomon and Skulduggery tracking him down in the days following that incident, both of them far more concerned about his murder than he was.

"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."
denyamenti: (with no more hope of life or ease)

[personal profile] denyamenti 2016-03-20 09:12 am (UTC)(link)
"Seven now," Bakura replied dryly, appearing disturbingly relaxed about his permanent death in his own world. "Apparently that was the magic number. Given there being seven Items, there's something more than a little ironic about that."

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."
denyamenti: (be content with argument and deal)

[personal profile] denyamenti 2016-03-25 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
Bakura knows... a small portion, of why Gene is the way he is. Certainly not the whole tale of it, but enough to know why Gene's misunderstanding that he'd done something to Bianca had been taken the way it was.

"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.
denyamenti: (can't save you from all your sins)

[personal profile] denyamenti 2016-03-26 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"Empathy or pity," Bakura echoed dispassionately. "For someone who found out he'd murdered me in error, and decided that since no one who could expose him was pursuing it, it was fine to go about life as normal. If the khaikheben and the cat-woman hadn't confronted him, he'd have never done anything about it."

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."
ruinsprofessor: (focus down)

D (for dumb boys?)

[personal profile] ruinsprofessor 2016-03-16 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
Raine isn't quite expecting Pepper's visit, but when she opens the door she takes one look at Pepper's face and simply stands aside to let Pepper enter. She knows that expression, or a cousin of it, far too well.

"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.
ruinsprofessor: (oh!)

[personal profile] ruinsprofessor 2016-03-16 06:23 am (UTC)(link)
Raine puts a couple of things together all at once, previously estranged facts reconciling into a neat picture. Simultaneously, she fumbles the canister of tea leaves, barely managing to keep it from hitting the floor.

"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.
ruinsprofessor: (dissatisfaction)

[personal profile] ruinsprofessor 2016-03-17 05:34 am (UTC)(link)
"I knew Bakura had died while he was here," Raine says. She turns back around to measure tea leaves, but keeps talking. "He didn't go into detail. I knew Gene had done things he wasn't proud of, and I had the implication it was both here as well as in his home world. I didn't know specifics, no, but I can guess."

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.
ruinsprofessor: (focus down)

[personal profile] ruinsprofessor 2016-03-18 11:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Raine knows the scars, simply hadn't linked them to Gene before now.

"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."
ruinsprofessor: (:|)

[personal profile] ruinsprofessor 2016-03-21 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
Raine can tell right away that Pepper isn't angry at her, and so it's easy to be dispassionate. She isn't sure, but she thinks that may be what Pepper needs right now, someone to remain cool and to allow her to let go of her own control without upsetting Gene.

"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."
ruinsprofessor: (a time far distant)

[personal profile] ruinsprofessor 2016-03-26 07:04 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, Pepper. Raine very clearly sees some part of herself, there, the frustration at the inability to help she usually marks in healers at the stretched end of their abilities.

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."
ruinsprofessor: (bwa?)

[personal profile] ruinsprofessor 2016-04-03 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
Raine just waits there for a little while, patiently, allowing Pepper to think through what she's feeling, and she recognizes it when Pepper eases, however fractionally. Good. Something of what Raine said must have had an impact.

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.
ruinsprofessor: (headtip)

[personal profile] ruinsprofessor 2016-04-05 08:53 am (UTC)(link)
"Hm." Raine's head tilts a little as she considers that. Definitely complimentary, then, and even somewhat appropriate, given her heritage. "I can't say quite the same for the elves, but it's true that their longer lifespan leads many to consider that they must be wiser."

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."
ruinsprofessor: (Default)

[personal profile] ruinsprofessor 2016-04-19 07:57 am (UTC)(link)
Raine laughs very quietly at that first. She knows children who comport themselves better than men with thousands of years behind them. "Yes," she says, "I suppose that's true."

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.
ruinsprofessor: (focus down)

[personal profile] ruinsprofessor 2016-04-25 07:36 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes, that is ironic," Raine murmurs.

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."