tushanshu_logs | Event | Turtle Dive | January 16 - 19 | Everything's better down where it's wetter~

Event | Turtle Dive | January 16 - 19 | Everything's better down where it's wetter~

Characters: Any and all PCs, plus an offering of Lieuen
Date: January 16th - 19th
Location: All Sectors
Situation: Tu Vishan begins to dive to the ocean floor and the city of Keeliai seems unbothered by the process. Bonfire funtimes are made available to all!
Warnings/Rating: Underwater situations; to be updated as noted

>See the comments of this post for various situations and areas available for tagging.
>Each header will be set for a date and/or area.
>A unique thread under the bonfires is available for discussions with Lieuen, should there be interested parties.
>Feel free to start your own header for specific situations.
>Refer to the two OOC posts for further details. 01 | 02

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He promised me he would be. [Right after he made her promise the same.] He's fought against supernatural begins before, though. This isn't new to him, either.

It's still dangerous. You should both be careful.

[She inhales sharply at the verbal warning, but somehow manages not to audibly exhale.]

So I've been told. Repeatedly. By just about every adult I know, and a few others who somehow know me.

They worry about you. It's not a bad thing to have people who care in your life.

[She's not being cruel at all. It's just a friendly reminder.]

I never said that.

[She does deflate a bit. Not meaning to come off as bratty as she might've sounded.]

I'm just tired of being treated as a kid, is all. My dad was even worse back home.

Zantanna, you are a kid, and that's not something bad. Being a kid means you still have so much of your life ahead of you that's undetermined. Do you really want to be all grown up with all your life determined for you?

[Pepper understands what it was like. When she was a little girl she always wanted to grow up fast so that she could prove herself to everyone. Now that she's an adult though she often times forgets what it's like to just relax and have fun. That's one of the things that she's been working on since the expo, but it's a slow process.]

["You are a kid." Not exactly the words a 14-year-old trying to prove herself wants to here. She looks away in slight annoyance, not wanting to completely take it out on Pepper.]

That's not the point.

[Okay, maybe a little the point. But not the one she was trying to make.]

How would you feel if you could do something really good? Something that could help other people, but everyone kept saying you didn't have the age or experience or whatever to pull it off? What would you do?

I'd prove them wrong.

[The reply is almost instantaneous.]

Which I'm sure you'll do. People don't worry because they think you can't do it Zantanna, they worry because they care.

[She leans in as if she's going to share a great secret.]

Do you want to know something?

[Which is what Zatanna was trying to do. And oddly contradictory to the entire tone of this conversation until now. First, it sounded like Pepper had been discouraging her from doing anything...and now she was openly condoning it? Strange.]

I know that.

[And she did. She knew her dad loved her. She knew the others on the turtle were just trying to look out for her. She just wished they'd find another way of doing it other than reminding her how young she was.]

What is it?

I still worry about Mister Stark every time he goes out too.

[In fact, she still worries about Tony almost every minute of the day. It's her professional calling.]

...do you love him?

[It was a shot in the dark, but there was something about the way Pepper talked about him. That subtle change in tone she used to hear in her dad's voice during those rare moments he would talk about her mom.]

[To the question Pepper automatically smiles, then frowns slightly in thought. At least she tries to frown. It actually shows as more of a forced pert pucker.]

I do.

[Zantanna is only the second person that she'd admitted any sort of feelings for Tony to; aside from Tony himself of course. To be fair, she hadn't actually told Tony that she loved him.]

But I worried about him even before that.

[When Pepper admitted it so openly, Zatanna couldn't help smiling a little. She had a vague idea what that felt like; ever since she could remember, she would always secretly worry a little about her father whenever he left for a mission.]

Do you think it would be different if you ever got to go out and fight with him? [Assuming, hypothetically, that she even had the means to do so.]

[She shakes her head, but she's still smiling a little.]

I worry no matter what. It's why I'm so good at my job.

[She couldn't deny that.]

I think it does.

I mean, it's one thing to have to sit around all the time, feeling useless. But, at least, if I'm out there with them...I can do something about it, y'know?

[Pepper knows better then to take offence at her comment. Just because a person isn't fighting doesn't mean that they're feeling, or being useless. But Zantanna is a young girl and a person with abilities far beyond Pepper's. She doesn't have to be useful in ways other then what she did.

Instead, Pepper goes for a simple question.]

You don't worry about them when you're fighting with them?

[She had to stop and think about it. The opportunity to fight alongside her father had never come up--not within the same dimension, at least. And whenever she had been with the Team, her adrenaline had been pumping so hard, everything happening so fast, she never really had time to worry.]

Not yet.

[It was as honest an answer as she could offer.]

[Pepper just smiles.]

I don't think I could do that. But I'm glad it helps keep you from worrying.

[Except now Pepper had put the thought into her mind. She glanced back towards the window, lightly pressing her lips together as she thought of the others. Wondering how they were faring with everything. A few of them, she'd already run into. Kara was okay, if attempting to maintain reserves from the sudden lack of sunlight. Superman was, no doubt, facing a similar dilemma.]

[Then there were the others. People she'd been actively hoping to find, yet hadn't. She meant it when she said she wasn't worried about them yet. But she would've felt so much better by now if she'd caught the slightest hint of where they were, and whether or not they were alright.]

[Pepper notices the worried look on her face and frowns. It's her fault the girl is worried.]

Do you want me to go with you to look for them?

[Honestly she'd probably just show the girl down, but if it would help Zantanna then she'd do it.]

[Actually, yeah, she probably would. Not that Zatanna was really one to judge a newbie in the battlefield...but there was a slight difference between the two of them. She was almost certain Pepper wouldn't be able to keep up with even her.]

I think I'd be better off alone.

[No, she wouldn't.]

But thanks for the offer.

[Pepper doesn't pretend to be a fighter. She's an organizer, that's where she's happiest and that's where she shines.

She leans over and rests her hands over Zantanna's.]

Be careful, alright.

Always.

[It was her usual response, though usually she was half-joking when she said it. "Careful" tended to be the opposite of her approach to fighting. Whether it was purposely "borrowing" a friend's motorcycle to go on a joyride looking for trouble...or taking it upon herself to resort to desperate measures in the face of an unthinkable defeat.]

[Careful. Right.]

[This time, however, she really would try.]

Good. Make sure to come back so I know you're safe.

I will.

[Smiling, she heads back for the door leading to the porch. Hopping up onto the ledge before summoning a levitation circle beneath her. As it lifts her into the air, Zatanna gives Pepper one last wave. She definitely wasn't worried.]

[...she also definitely wouldn't be coming back.]

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the_other_eight - 2013-01-29 03:13 (UTC) - Expand

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