tushanshu_logs | I am flesh and I am bone

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I am flesh and I am bone | April Catchall

Characters: Pepper Potts, Devin Parker, and you!
Date: Throughout April
Location: Jade Dojo, Sky Sector, all over Keeliai.
Situation: Pepper's living her life, and Devin is getting dumped into Keeliai a little maimed.
Warnings/Rating: Possible mention of murder and probably blood, specific warnings in headers.

A. [Pepper] Jade Dojo | Backdated to end of March | Heather

As promised, Pepper got up early and made her way to the dojo at a time that was unusual for her. She normally trained in the afternoons, so this was a big change of pace. There was no guarantee that she and Heather would make good partners, but it would be interesting to try. It would also give her a chance to get a read on Heather, since Pepper hadn't interacted with her much before now. She hung up her jacket and pulled a set of long, thin cloth wraps and began to circle them around her hands; once they were secured, Pepper began to warm up, keeping an eye out for Heather's arrival.

B. [Pepper] House Spicy Iron Dragon | Early April | Gene

The weather is getting almost reasonable, and on one of the days where it's a bit sunnier, Pepper goes out into the backyard and does some practice summoning. She's getting better at it, and higher level monsters are slowly getting easier to summon, but she still has pretty strict limits. That doesn't diminish her determination - if anything, it makes her push harder. Vee is there, too, standing off to the side with less armor on, observing. Pepper will occasionally speak to her like her ka has said something, although the creature's lips never move.

C. [Pepper] KPD | Throughout April | Open

The new Guild system has definitely stirred things up in the city, and there's a rash of thefts hitting Foreigners that suggests it's systematic. The destruction of the spirit houses is also concerning, although fortunately it doesn't seem to be escalating badly. Pepper is pretty busy, spending a lot of time out on patrols and talking with kedan as well as Foreigners to see if they have any information. Busy or not, she's in a good mood most of the time if anyone bumps into her.

D. [Devin; CW: burns, possibly blood] Healer's Guild | April 5 | Raine

The ground is a lot smoother than he expects. There's a ringing in his ears and he can tell he’d be dead if he hadn’t known what was coming. As it is, his back is charred from the explosion. It was a small price to pay for getting the hunters and the dossier out. He can feel them start to heal, but his wounds must be worse than he thought – someone is saying something, putting a hand on his shoulder and Devin can only lay there, stunned. The person sounds worried, and Devin tries to tell them he'll be fine, to leave him here. To run. It doesn't come out particularly coherently.

Whoever it is doesn't listen, and two sets of strong arms are lifting him off the ground to a standing position, which he couldn’t have managed himself. This is bad, that he can't orient himself properly or see straight. At some point, he must have lost consciousness, because next he opens his eyes he's being led into a building and there's a flurry of activity that ends with him face-down on a gurney.

"I can't stay here," Devin mutters, trying to get out of the bed, but the hands keep pushing him back down. Devin is stronger, though, and he stumbles vertical again, searching for a door. "I don't need your help."

E. [Devin; CW: blood] Thoughout Keeliai | Throughout April | Open

As soon as Devin is fully recovered, he gets out into the city. The situation has him on edge, the fact that his agency has been violated again setting a semi-permanent frown on his face. Devin is familiar with a few different planes of existence, so the idea of Keeliai isn't something he outright rejects. After a week or two, he accepts that he's stuck. From what Devin can tell, he's the only one of his kind here.

That should have been something of a relief, Devin reflects, but it also meant that he's adrift without purpose. What is he supposed to do with himself? Almost all of his energy back home had been spent hunting. Devin can't remember the last time he took a vacation.

Long story short, Devin is not in a good mood most of the month, somewhere between lost and agitated. He does need to find a way to live, though, so when he's not at the Hotel (which he hopes he won't have to stay at for an extended time) he's wandering around and observing, taking in every detail he can, and looking for a niche to fit in.

F. [Devin] Turtle's Head | Mid April | Open

The rumors of the serenity of being near Tu Vishan's beak are appealing amidst the turmoil of Devin's arrival and the impending problem of finding a food source has him troubled enough that he hikes out there one day. The sight of it, actually getting confirmation of what it is he'd standing on, is grounding and the calming influence of a being so much greater than him is familiar in a way. At least this trip doesn't come with a migraine. He spends a few hours there, mostly standing at the shell's edge and staring out at the sea, thinking through his options.

(OOC: Let me know if you want a specific starter or feel free to write your own adventure!)

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Devin seemed to have the same view of Raine that Valdis had once had, he'd either come around, or he wouldn't...it wasn't like Raine would care if he liked her or not.

"Thank me if it works." She replied, watching him walk away. Then she turned and headed toward the city, she'd have to hurry if she didn't want to be late for classes.

"Yikes. Yeah, I found a set of wind chimes that sounded like you were breaking a glass window when they blew. I put those back really fast," Pepper said, resting her chin in her hand. "People picked up lots of weird things."

She frowned at the bit about the bracelet being taken from her house. That meant someone broke in. "Was anything else taken? If it was in your house, that was a pretty specific thing to steal."

It also likely meant that someone knew she had it.

"Like you said, there's not a lot of things we possess. I had my laptop with me, so the list of presumably valuable things was pretty short."

A couple books, a few pieces of clothes?

Gene nods to Vee. He's had to deal with a lot of fear in his life, and it has made him feel weak. But he's done things with the fear. Terrible things.

Maybe he can do good things with it, too.

"I'd need to pass it, first," he says, his voice dry.

"Yeah, actually," she says, making a face. "I got shit to do back home." Working on a paper, studying for trig, planning an assassination...you know, normal stuff.

She grins. "I guess I'm just lucky." Yeah, that's one way to put it.

"Don't we all."

He had just come from an assassination, as it happened, and would plan for more assuming the hunters he'd bumped into didn't try to vivisect him when he got back.

"Lucky, stupid, dangerous, or some combination of the three," Devin remarks.

They really do have a lot in common. It's frightening.

"I'd say all three. I don't make decisions so good sometimes." A lot. She doesn't make good decisions a lot of the time.

"You said this was in your house, though, right? Was the lock forced, or any windows broken or anything? If you can make a drawing of the bracelet, that'll help, too."

Pepper was just collecting details for herself. She'd probably need a list of the people Sonja worked closely with, but even that could be a long shot. That said--

"Who cut it off for you?"

"Nothing that I can find, but to be fair my lock isn't sophisticated, and I can't chain it when I leave."

That was actually a really good reason to stay in the hotel rather than your own place, she supposed. You didn't have to worry about paying for your own security upgrades. The Metal Sector was also an option, but that wasn't free housing.

"Ah, a jeweler, Kedan. Didn't even charge me for it." She provided the address for the shop.

"Mm, no, I'm not allowed to choose our names anymore." Contrary to the logic of it, Fai grins as he says it. "Between Outo and Piffle, where I chose the names for our Dragonflies, I think Big Doggy might strangle me if I tried it again! Even though the names I pick are always cute and very fitting. I really don't see the problem~"

He really doesn't. Who doesn't want an absurdly adorable nickname? Kuro-pin should be happy he goes to the trouble of thinking up so many!

But they've talked about him long enough, time to re-focus the conversation on Devin. "So, you said you were thinking about joining the... police department, was that it?"

'Big Doggy'. Devin can see why the waif of a man was disallowed from further names rather clearly. He'd have a hard time bearing that kind of nickname.

He nods and leans back from the counter, meal finished. "Possibly, if they'll have me. My skills aren't well suited to much else; I'd be a rubbish teacher at any of the other things I could offer, and none of those things are valuable here in any case."

There are modern schools that teach versions of Chen-style even today, so Pepper merely nods.

Since she doesn't know Heather's skill level, when Pepper closes the distance between them it's with careful intent. Each movement is precise, calculated to test Heather's reaction. It's not quite the same as holding back, but she won't use all her strength or speed until she can assess what Heather is capable of.

As Pepper has learned when fighting with a staff, it's important to use all parts of the body, and when it looks like she's striking only with a hand, she's also shifting to strike with a knee, keeping her guard up.

"The more you struggle, the worse you're making your injuries," Raine says sharply, though apparently he's delirious enough he-- what? Isn't feeling the pain? Thinks he'll heal instantly?

Well, that last isn't entirely out of the question, but all the same Raine doesn't like the way those burns look. "Even if you have an advanced healing factor, letting me help will make it easier for you. You can stay here, and you will." He's a mess. She's going to do something about it. Figuring out where he came from, or why he thinks he's above healing like an average mortal, can wait for when there are fewer burns and bleeding.

He is absolutely feeling the pain, he's just very good at ignoring it, for the most part. Either that or his nerve endings have been destroyed by the fire. There are still people trying to hold him up, but Devin's attention is drawn to a woman with white hair.

That's odd enough for the vampire to stop and blink at her, just to check that he's not hallucinating. When he's fairly certain he isn't, and he's processed what she said, he musters up a lopsided smirk despite his injuries.

"Aren't you a little short to be giving me orders?" Devin mumbles at her, inadvertently leaning on one of the kedan that's recaptured his arm. They start trying to lead him back to the bed, and though he doesn't exactly go willingly, he doesn't strike out at anyone either. "You should just let me go. It's not safe."

He has no idea where he is.

Edited 2017-04-23 18:18 (UTC)

"My height has nothing to do with it," Raine snaps back, but she draws herself up nevertheless, reflexive. "I will not be letting you go until I'm assured of your healing. If you're concerned on some danger from your home, it is not here; you've come somewhere else. If you believe there is some danger here, there are also ample protectors."

She nods to her apprentice, who's going to continue trying to get Devin actually horizontal, so Raine can look at him without him thrashing about. "Now lay down, and let me see. I'm a healer; I can help you."

Honestly. Some people's stubbornness.

The logic center of Devin's brain may have been a little muddled by the blast, but he's clearly not surrounded by vampires. Everyone that he can see is alive, and that's a plus. He's not sure why they're insisting on helping him, however. If these people belong to the same group as the hunters, shouldn't they be using this time as a chance to get information out of him, or hurt him further, or simply kill him?

And yet they are doing none of those things, and Devin doesn't understand it. It seems that wherever they've brought him is warded, at least, if there are protections on the place. Smart move.

"I don't have a home," he replies flatly. Sensing that he would have to fight off a small army of worried people to get out of here, Devin weaves on his feet for a moment and then sighs.

"It'll heal on it's own eventually," Devin tells the apprentice, as if appealing to the kedan will somehow improve the situation, but allows himself to be moved. His vision still doesn't seem right. "This isn't the first time I've been blown up," he adds, not entirely coherent as the apprentice tips him over onto his side again.

"Most people don't until they're about twenty five, and that's just an average."

He's guessing Keahi is about sixteen or seventeen, though it can be hard to tell sometimes. Devin definitely still makes bad decisions, but he usually makes them even knowing they're bad.

"Have you learned anything from some of your poor decisions?" he asks, genuinely sounding curious.

"That'll be worth celebrating no matter what, extra credit or not," Pepper says, pointedly refusing to entertain the idea that Gene would fail. She knows it's possible, of course, that he would fail, but belief has power. "If it's something you decide you're interested in doing, talk to Bakura about it. He's basically the resident expert."

Gene couldn't feel it, but across their link Vee shared a sense of quiet pride. The ka had it's own concerns about Gene, but Vee had learned that Pepper's faith in others was usually well-placed, even if the people she placed it in were themselves confused by it. She'd even warmed some to Bakura.

"You'd probably want to go it without the rings, though," she adds after a moment of thought. "They might not interact all that well with the Shadow Realm."

Pepper's smile turned a little sly; there were some advantages in dating a thief, and that was learning about various ways of getting into and out of a building undetected. "Try installing a strip of wood or metal plating on the door that bridges the space between the door and the frame - it'll make it harder to move the latch. If you're able to afford it, I'd think about a deadbolt, too."

That wouldn't stop anyone truly determined, and there were other points of entry to worry about, like windows, but small changes could help. It didn't seem like Sonja was at risk of repeated targeting, but better safe than sorry.

"Okay, I'll go talk to them and ask if they've seen it floating around," Pepper added. "Did the bracelet do anything else or was it just totally impossible to remove?"

"Your home world," Raine clarifies. He must be very new, then; and if he's injured and disoriented, and was brought right here, likely no one has had the chance to explain anything to him in a manner he could intake and comprehend. "Lay down."

He's still arguing even as he lets her apprentice help him do just that. Raine shakes her head, leaning over him to examine the wounds more thoroughly. There's a cursory, gentle examination for foreign material in the wounds. "There are many things which will heal on their own eventually, but it's my job to improve function. I suspect you'll do much better if you don't have to heal this much damage on your own, and the fact that this isn't the first time this has happened to you does not mean you don't need help then, or didn't need help then. Now lay still so I can heal you."

Not that she necessarily needs him to; but it'll be easier to see, and she'd really appreciate it if he stopped struggling altogether.

Heal. She keeps saying heal. Heal and not treat. And 'home world'. Where the hell is he? Devin wonders if he has a concussion bad enough that he's processing words incorrectly.

Fortunately, the burns are just burns. Any glass that might have cut him would be on his front, but there don't seem to be any large pieces that he can feel. "It'll be fine in a day or two," Devin mumbles.

The bed is more comfortable than the ground had been, and when the vampire does stop for a moment, he's reminded that every bone in his body aches. Getting rid of that - healed or treated or by whatever method - wouldn't be unwelcome. "Why are you helping me?" he asks muddily, but remains still as instructed, his eyes threatening to drift shut again.

A day or two, hm? That certainly doesn't match with what she sees of these injuries. Raine upgrades the stranger mentally, noting that he must surely heal faster than most. Perhaps she can minimize the effort she needs to expend.

All the same, even if she doesn't heal everything, she's certainly going to get the process started.

"It's my job," Raine says briskly, taking up her staff when her apprentice passes it to her. White light spins up underneath them in an arcane circle; she focuses. "Heal." It sounds like an imperative as much as the name of a technique, and warm light sinks into Devin's back the moment after, Raine watching judiciously as it goes.

Part of the problem in his own healing may be that pesky first twenty-four hours of magical grogginess - it would probably take at least three days, given that, and it would be three very painful days.

When the spell begins to sink warm into his skin, Devin's eyes close anyway, seemingly of their own accord. Ironically, it starts to hurt more, suggesting that the nerve endings that had burned away were being revived, and only after it gets bad enough to leave him grimacing and with balled fists does the pain start to ebb.

Rather than healing to smooth skin, however, what's left when the burns evaporate is a map of hatchmarked scars, overlaid on the left side of his back from below the shoulder to his hip with a previous burn scar.

It's around then that his head clears, too, and awareness is much sharper than before. Rather than sound any relief, Devin remains still for a moment, taking in his surroundings, tense as a bow string. That kind of magic doesn't exist in his world, and this realization does not make him happy. All signs point to being in more serious trouble than he originally thought.

"Where the hell am I?" Devin demands, starting to raise himself up again.

"Or you could always try something new?" Fai muses, then shrugs with a smile. "I mean, if you ask anyone here, we could be stuck here for quite some time. Maybe now would be a good time to learn something you've never done before? Keep things interesting!"

"Not that I'm one to talk," he adds with a laugh. "But I guess you could say my own skills are a little less specialized." Or at least the ones he's actually chosen to use for the moment.

Now that Devin is done, Fai reaches out to snag the plate and utensils to drag back over to the sink.

Raine isn't expecting the mess of scars left behind, and she has to wonder at what hard use he's seen. Certainly more than a few of these aren't combat-born; there's whip-scars, here. She sets a hand to his shoulder, gently pressing down.

"Be still for a moment longer," she says, coolly, with the air of a woman who is accustomed to being obeyed in her domain. "You're in the Healers' Guild, in the Water sector, in the city of Keeliai. You're safe. What is the world you're from called?" Perhaps immediate and clear explanations will help settle someone who's warrior-tense.

Perhaps not. Raine will escalate to yelling if she needs to.

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I am flesh and I am bone | April Catchall

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D | seriously, Devin

Look, we've established he's a bit of an idiot sometimes

"sometimes"

okay, most of the time

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that's better

not for him so much, but yes

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