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!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It would be easy to make himself impossible to move, but Devin doesn't see much of a point in being obstinate. The casual contact is a bit odd, and if he weren't already essentially play-acting, it might cause him to hesitate. What does happen is the briefest flicker of surprise, there and gone again in an instant, before he allows himself to be led towards the kitchen.

He notes where Fai places himself, such that he can see Devin better out of the eye he has remaining.

"I will probably be forever hopeless in the kitchen. I'm sure Klaus wouldn't want me burning down the Hotel," Devin replies. The offer is intriguing, even if the skill isn't terribly useful to him. If Fai is willing to teach a complete stranger, he must trust pretty easily, or at least be confident enough that his hand won't get bitten if he holds it out to someone new. "As for requests: surprise me."

Devin isn't the first bigger man Fai's been able to drag around through sheer force of will--he's been leading Kurogane around for ages. Apparently big guys don't usually mind being hauled around by waifish (albeit tall) blonds, who knew?

(Fai totally knows.)

"I'm sure you're not that bad!" he laughs, curling himself like a cat around Devin's arm as they pass through the hotel toward the kitchen. "It's really not as difficult as you think it is. Although it is my job, and I certainly don't mind doing it."

Oh Devin, if only you knew. Smiles can be used just as effectively to shut people out as they can to invite them in. Fai's friendliness is his shield.

"Hmm~ Anything you can't stand? Any allergies?"

It helps that Fai is pretty, Devin can admit. There are worse forms of distraction from his various predicaments than an impromptu lunch.

That said, he has to remind himself not to tense up when Fai curls even closer. Play the part.

"It's only a mild exaggeration. I hardly spend enough time in my own house to make it worth learning," Devin returns with an elegant shrug. "I suppose it would be cheaper here to cook for myself, however."

He has an egregious sum of money to his name, and takeout and premade meals were often easier, especially when traveling.

"No allergies. I think the only thing I really hate is zucchini, if there's such a thing in Keeliai. I'm a veritable omnivore," he supplies, grinning. His canine teeth are just a bit longer and sharper than the average person's.

"Ah, I see. I learned most of what I know about cooking secondhand, actually, so I can understand that. If I were just cooking for myself I probably wouldn't bother either. But it's nice to make things for other people." At this Fai's smile mellows--a little less bright, a little more heartfelt. "You're always welcome in the kitchen here, of course! Although you probably won't want to live in the hotel forever, not when you can get a house for yourself." He and Kuro-rin are still planning to move out, they just need to go out scouting for a suitable place first.

Oddly enough, Fai doesn't possess fangs like Devin's sort of vampire, so he doesn't necessarily balk at the sight of sharp teeth. "All right, let me see what I can do~"

They pass through into the kitchen, just after the lunch 'rush' as it were, so the place is nearly empty. Fai lets go of Devin's arm and pats a tall stool near one of the counters. "Have a seat? I'll throw something fast together so you won't have to wait all day."

That smile, just subtly different, and the repeated offer-- Fai is probably just a relatively nice person. No need to read into it too far, but it's hard to turn off his analytical mind. "I've lived alone for most of my life, so this is definitely... unusual. This is much nicer than when I was serving in the military, however. I'll be moving out when I can afford it."

In all honesty, it was difficult for him to be this close to people. He wasn't used to it, and it made him uncomfortable for a number of reasons.

Devin sits where Fai indicates, leaning his elbows on the counter. "How long have you been in the city?"

"Oooh, a military man? Not helping your knight in shining armor image here, by the way~" Fai smirks as he moves toward one of the cupboards to pull out a few things. Stars above, Flourite, do not think about gorgeous men in uniforms. Not helping. "What did you do in the military?"

(Okay, maybe he could stand to think about Kurogane in a uniform. Although really that's... not going to help matters either. Not helping.)

As they talk, Fai collects the ingredients to make a slapdash kind of stir-fry. "Mm, let me think~ It's been since just before Valentine's Day, so... almost two months, I suppose? Not terribly long."

"Fight two world wars, on a number of fronts," Devin answers, looking around the kitchen. Disguising that he's looking away, really. "Infantry officer the first, enlisted the second. There was very little nobility in my involvement, I'm afraid." Just a lot of death. "It was a long time ago."

A lifetime, maybe two, by human standards. He'd had to do some unpleasant things to survive, but he'd also made a few, rare friends.

"I heard a lot of people like us come and go, even in such a short time," Devin remarks idly, intending that to mean the Foreigners rather than vampires.

Fai nods, still smiling but less overly cheerful about it. There's obvious sympathy in his expression when he looks back at Devin. "I see. I can't imagine it was easy on you. I can't even imagine two world wars. The little experience I've had with war was enough for me."

The blond takes a moment to wash his hands, and then long, deft fingers make quick work of chopping vegetables to throw into the dish he's preparing. "If that was a long time ago, what do you do now? Before you came here, I mean."

He nods at the comment about Foreigners. "So I've heard. One of my companions appeared for a brief time, but she didn't have a soul gem. Apparently sometimes that happens; people arrive without soul gems and then disappear a few weeks later." Fai manages to keep his voice even and his smile firmly affixed as he's talking, even though it still aches to have lost Mokona all over again.

"There were certainly some challenges," Devin agrees. Finding ways to not feed on his allies if possible had been one of the most complicated and most difficult things, and most gruesome when it was impossible to avoid. Getting shot and blown up had merely been painful. He drags his thoughts back to the present.

No soul gems? Interesting. The comment has him tugging gently at the bloodstone pendant around his neck; he still hasn't gotten used to it. He's also still a touch confused as to how he can have one in the first place, seeing as he has no soul, but the magic here was very different.

He considers how to answer Fai, whether to lie or tell the truth. Creative word choice prevails, since talking about his lifetime of murder isn't great conversation over a meal. "Pest control, in a manner of speaking. It's not at all glamorous."

Challenges. Fai knows all too well that where war's concerned, that's the understatement of the year, even if their experiences may have been vastly different. Of course, fighting someone else's war when you can't even speak the language and you don't look like anyone else in the army ~~and half the army's trying to get in your pants as a result~~ may have been a little out of the ordinary.

He uses the edge of his knife to scrape everything from the cutting board into a pan and lights the burner. "Ah, that's okay!" Fai turns his head to grin at Devin over his shoulder. "Work doesn't have to be glamorous to be necessary. Cooking isn't especially glamorous but everyone needs to eat, don't they?"

A dash of this, a bit of that, and the smells coming from the sizzling pan are nothing short of mouth-watering. "If it helps, I'll keep imagining that you're a monster-slayer or a demon-hunter. That's a bit like pest control, isn't it?" The demons they'd encountered in Outo Country had certainly needed exterminating, even if they hadn't ended up being real at all.

"I think cooking can be glamorous; it's certainly become something of an art form in my world, even if it's edible art." Usually it's edible, anyway.

It helps, perhaps, that Fai is more focused on the pan and less on Devin in that moment; he smiles at the other man's imaginings of his 'work', but it's brittle. The expression smooths back to neutral after a second or two, the persona re-applied flawlessly.

"Monster-slayer would be another way of putting it, yes," Devin concedes. "That's not an inaccurate description. I'm the one getting hunted by the demons, though."

"Well, food can be pretty, of course!" Fai laughs. "I do my best to make everything look nice. It's even easier with baking; cakes and pastries are so easy to turn into art. But cooking itself isn't glamorous. It's hot and time-consuming and nothing but rush-rush-rush. The best part is getting to see people's reactions when they like something you've made. Making them happy." He enjoys cooking, finds it soothing, but he's trying to make a point here.

"Ah, so your world does have demons and monsters?"

Fai turns to Devin, leaving the stir-fry for a moment to finish while they talk. He's never heard of a vampire who hunts monsters, but again he doesn't have much of a practical knowledge base on his own kind. "Then you keep people safe! You've been holding out on me, Sir Knight~" he adds, flashing Devin another sly smile and poking his spatula playfully toward the other man. "There are a lot of worlds out there with monsters who prey on humans. Monster hunting isn't an uncommon job at all. Some worlds even give their hunters special perks for keeping the rest of the population safe. But what do you mean, they hunt you?"

Making people happy. Fai doing his best to put a smile on Devin's face is not what he wants. "Food certainly brings people together," is his response, feigning the sort of gentle appreciation Fai is probably expecting.

Maintaining it is harder, and Devin sighs quietly. He does his best to keep people safe, but he's no knight.

"My world has vampires, myself among them." They're the only monsters. Do the math on that, Fai. "As for the demons...I have something they want rather desperately."

Fai's blood runs cold, the smile on his face freezing in place. Thank the heavens he's had so much practice lying, pretending to be something he's not. Pretending to be happy and carefree when he's confused or hurt or terrified. It's a good skill to have.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little confused," he hears himself saying in a cheerful voice. "Are you saying you hunt vampires, as well as being one yourself? Why would you do that?"

Pest control, he called himself. Because we're vermin. Monsters. I'm a monster and I shouldn't even be alive.

Devin feels the shift as much as he hears it, the way prey sense they're being watched by a predator. He's not surprised by the reaction, and the vampire hunches his shoulders. There's resignation in him, something grim that settles at Fai's realization.

"Because we're creatures of destruction," Devin sighs. "Where I come from, we're practically built for it. My kind treat humans like property at best, and use our biological need as an excuse for brutality and depravity. We're bound to hell from the moment of our creation. Humans have enough problems without us being involved," he explains, staring a hole into the counter. "We have no place in the light; I'm simply returning my race to darkness, where we belong."

The worst part is, Devin's explanation makes sense. Brutal creatures that feed from humans without a care for anyone else... who wouldn't want them hunted, destroyed? Surely Kurogane hadn't meant to make him like that, to make him a monster, but intent doesn't change what he is. It doesn't make him human again.

But the ninja has sacrificed too much for him to let this life go, even if it's a waste of a life and Fai still doesn't know why he cares so much. Fai can't let that sacrifice go to waste by letting this hunter know what he is... if he hasn't figured it out already. The blond turns back to the stove to hide the way his hands are shaking, using the meal he's cooking as his excuse, and forces himself to keep up the smile in his voice when he speaks again.

"They can't all be bad, can they? I mean, you've been nothing but a gentleman so far. Aren't there others who feel the way you do?"

This conversation has turned dark rather quickly, and Devin is only faintly apologetic. If Fai finds it unsettling, the likelihood of him becoming comfortable is low. He can only do what he does because he pushes people away.

"I don't generally give them the chance to articulate that," Devin tells him. "Unless I'm placed in a longer-term situation. I suppose there are some among our number that might be less objectionable, but the problem of our damnation remains. Vampires belong to hell." Then he shrugs. "As I said, I'm no knight. I deserve no titles, and frankly I'm a bit of a bastard. I'm very good at destroying things, but there's no use for me in a place like this."

Devin smiles coldly at Fai's back. "Fortunately, self-restraint is among the few valuable skills I can employ here. I've no interest in harming people."

A heavy, sick feeling lodges itself in Fai's gut. Don't give them the chance...? He doesn't even wait to find out--

"I don't believe that." Fai turns, the skillet held in one hand with a potholder around the handle, the spatula in the other, and moves over to the plate he's already set out on the counter near Devin. He's still smiling, though at a lower intensity this time, as he plates the meal, his one blue eye trained for the moment on the food rather than on Devin. "I don't believe you're as bad as you think you are," he continues, softly. "Otherwise you wouldn't care about harming people, would you? You wouldn't care about saving humans from other vampires. You'd be just like the others, using people for what you need and then breaking them. Or you'd hide what you are instead of being honest about it--"

He has to stop. His own heartbeat is too loud in his ears and his hands are shaking again. The smile stays plastered on, a little too bright again.

He doesn't know he doesn't know he doesn't know

Devin shakes his head; he does hide what he is. Being open about his rather murderous lifestyle means people rarely want anything further to do with him, and means they won't discover his unique traits - the ones that would get him killed, and that have put a demonic bounty on his shoulders.

"You don't have to be nice to me, Fai," Devin tells him, his tone about as blandly neutral as it can get. The other man is rattled, that's easy enough to see. The tremors in his hands, the pounding heartbeat he can detect when he listens a little harder (the thing that marks him as living, and - ironically - therefore what Devin fights to protect). "Pretended or otherwise. Nor do you have anything to fear from me. There really is no purpose or use for me here; any vampire that showed up would come back to life if I killed it, rendering the point of the whole thing rather moot."

He sighs again, and gestures to the plate. "I can take that to my room, if you'd prefer I leave you be. I can tend to the dishes afterwards. Thank you for taking the time to make it; I fear I've repaid it rather poorly."

Oh dear sir. You have vastly underestimated Fai.

He's right. If what they say is true... even if this goes south, I can handle this. I can handle this.

"I know I don't have to. I want to." The blond shakes his head at Devin's offer to leave. First and foremost, he takes the skillet and spatula to the sink to soak, then returns to push the plate and a bundle of utensils wrapped in a napkin toward the other vampire. Then he pulls up a stool to the opposite side of the counter from Devin and takes a seat.

"If I don't have anything to fear from you, then why wouldn't I want to be nice?" Fai folds his arms together along the countertop. "You've been nothing but kind to me. I'm not going to yell at you or shun you because other people think I'm supposed to. That isn't how things should work. If you aren't planning to hurt me or the ones I love, then we've got no problem."

"Hurt the ones I love, and I'll make you wish you'd never existed. But that's a blanket statement, because I don't believe you would." Fai smiles brightly. "Now eat up, before it gets cold~!"

A moment passes where Devin can't decide what to do or what to think - Fai's just learned that Devin is a monster among monsters, and despite being obviously shaken he's still letting Devin sit with him. And he still wants to be nice to Devin.

Damn. He's like Elliot. That memory brings with it a jolt of emotion he doesn't want to deal with, so he turns his attention to what else Fai has said.

For all that Fai looks like he could be blown over in a stiff wind, he's got guts and backbone to threaten Devin and serve him a meal in the same breath. It does pull a wry smile from Devin, though even he's not quite sure if it's real or feigned.

"People like me have long since given up the right to nice things. I knew full well what I would become when I started on this path," he says lightly, pulling the plate a little closer and busying his gaze with selecting a utensil. "I hope I never give you cause to act on that assurance. I certainly have no plans to. It's simply an unfortunate function of my being that I have to rely on the life of others to survive."

And he already wishes he didn't exist, not like he is, so that part of the threat has less bearing then it might, though he takes Fai's point.

Devin stabs the fork into a vegetable, and takes a bite. It's delicious, and it makes him realize how hungry he was. He needs to be more attentive about that. "This is quite good."

Edited (Added a thought) 2017-04-10 06:08 (UTC)

"When you started on this path...." Fai echoes. "Do you mean being a vampire, or a hunter?" Fai wasn't given a choice, but he has no idea if that's out of the ordinary for most vampires or not.

The mention of having to 'rely on the life of others' brings up an interesting problem, though, doesn't it? Fai has only one food source, in that respect, but the ninja is present and willing. For someone like Devin, though? "Hmm... so how do you plan to survive here? Willing donors?"

Despite the darker turn their conversation has taken, and the fact that mere moments ago Fai threatened Devin's life--however vaguely--the blond beams at the compliment. He props his elbows up on the counter and rests his chin in his hands, smiling at the other vampire. "Thank you! It's a recipe I picked up a few worlds ago, it's not native to my own world. I've been trying to branch out and learn new things~"

"The latter. I didn't have a choice about the former," Devin answers quietly, keeping his eyes on the food rather than Fai. The other man is close enough that he might see the slightest tensing of Devin's jaw at the question of donors, despite otherwise appearing relaxed. "And yes, if I can find them. It's... not an appealing prospect in the slightest, but it's that or become uncontrollable. I have a little time yet to figure it out."

He raises his head at the mention of other worlds, intrigued. It's also a far more attractive subject than his lifestyle. "This isn't your first time being transported from one world to another then," Devin observes. "That's an unusual form of travel."

They haven't known each other more than an hour by this point, but they've spoken enough and he's observed enough that Fai wouldn't have actually expected Devin to look for unwilling donors. Still, it's a good thing to hear it confirmed. "Uncontrollable?" Fai's eyebrow arches at that. "You become uncontrollable if you don't--"

The hesitation, in this case, is entirely for effect. "--if you don't feed?"

"Mm, nope! Not my first time by a long shot." The flirty tone in the blond's voice is back; if he still had more than one eye he'd be winking. "It is unusual, yes, but it's not unheard of. It just takes someone with enough magical power and know-how."

"I do," Devin confirms. "I'll also die rather quickly after that happens if I can't get blood. It's only happened once, and I'd very much prefer it never happened again."

It would be much, much worse if it did. He's an adult now, and an elder, and he's under no illusions of how much destruction and death he would wreak if he lost control.

Fai seems to have reacquired a sense of calm, though how much of that is practiced is hard to tell. "And here I thought getting to all seven continents was an accomplishments. Which was your favorite?"

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