tushanshu_logs | [extended groan of frustration]

Entry tags:

[extended groan of frustration]

Characters: Gene, Jackie, Alex, Miles, Aly, Eliyen (whaaat) and YOOOOUU!!
Date: June
Location: Keeliai et al
Situation: Everything. All the things. All of them.
Warnings/Rating: Will be added as necessary.

A. [Gene] | throughout Keeliai | throughout June | open
Gene has decided to take it upon himself to be Public Relations for the KPD in the aftermath of the cultist attack. Why? Because he has no regard for his own sanity. He can be seen talking to kedan; some of them at least respect that he's in the Guild of Justice and Arbitration. Others don't care and shun him for being a Foreigner, even one they know well and one who was seen immediately rushing to the site of the tram derailment.

Someone please come save him from his own bad decisions.

B. [Jackie] | the Golden Koi | June 7 | open
Devin had given him a good suggestion - it had been a little over a year since he'd opened the Koi, and that called for a celebration, didn't it? Especially since nothing here was guaranteed to stay.

So he's holding a party. It's not huge, but word's gone out; he'd put flyers up in the Hotel and the Welcome Center, and there's reduced-price drinks and food. He just wants to celebrate being here and alive and how he's changed just in the past year, not to mention in Keeliai in general.

C. [Alex] | Water Sector | throughout June | open
Alex may be part of the Foreigners Guild now, but that doesn't mean he's not involved with the city. On the contrary. He's more than willing to talk to the kedan, joke with them, and haggle. He spends a lot of time in the Water Sector; it reminds him of what he considers home, in a way. He'd spent a lot of time in the Far East, after all, and while Keeliai as a whole reminded him of it, the Water Sector did most of all.

They'd always called him bright and diplomatic, and honestly, the Foreigners could use a shot in the arm of diplomacy right now.

Of course, he's not without his own agenda. The cultist attack had been terrible, but it had also taught him some things about their tactics and their motivations (even if the culprits had had nothing of use to say). He's making careful note of everything everyone says, every little twitch and turn of phrase, looking for something incriminating.

D. [Miles] | throughout Keeliai | throughout June | open
Miles, in the meantime, is all business. He has a bone to pick with the cultists. Several bones, in fact. All 206 bones in the human body, or however many the kedan who're in the cult have at the time when he gets a hold of them.

Terrorism doesn't really sit well with a post-9/11 New Yorker. And the chemical attack that caused so much destruction was definitely terrorism. Calling Daseng out had been stupid, maybe, but at least 60% of what he does is stupid, so he doesn't really care. At least he'd only put himself in danger. And if Daseng decides to come after him, well.

Hope he likes being the latest subject of a Will It Blend? video.

He's hunting around for clues, anything he can find, asking anyone who might know anything. Good job putting a target on your back, dummy. Stupid hamartia.

E. [Aly] | Metal Sector | throughout June | open
At least the Metal Sector is somewhat familiar. It reminds her of cities back home, almost, or Linali. She can almost pretend that she's Otherside instead of stuck here. Almost.

She's fidgeting with the ring on her hand, walking around and window-shopping.

F. [Aly] | Earth Sector/Wood Sector | throughout June | open
Of course, there's more than one way to get the lay of the land, and that's from the air. Sort of. She can't transform into anything that flies, and she can't fly on her own, but she's taught herself how to parkour, sort of, and on a good day she can do a wuxia wire-leap that looks impossible. She just has to believe in herself hard enough.

If anyone's around at night, she can be seen walking and running around on the roofs of the Earth Sector, or climbing trees in the Wood Sector.

G. [Eliyen] | the Iron Circle | throughout June | open
Obviously, Eliyen is not best pleased with the cultist attack. She is especially not best pleased with Sherlock Holmes and his continued existence due to the deaths caused by the attack. She's taking out her frustration in a constructive way, quire literally; she's assisting with the reconstruction of the Iron Circle. How would a 5'3" kedan of a certain age assist in reconstruction? Shapeshifting, of course! She's still recognizably herself, but she's bulked up, blue, and spiny. She'll talk to anyone who comes up to her, but if you mention Sherlock, well. Prepare for fireworks.

H. [Gene] | the Jade Dojo | June 3 | closed to Bakura
Gene's been stretched a little thin lately, which he has been extremely annoyed by. Being in Keeliai has made him soft, perhaps - or perhaps everything is different. This isn't what he'd grown up with. He'd run a criminal empire, fine, but running a legitimate business and being a deputy chief of police at the same time? His entire world is upside down, even though he hadn't been involved with the Tong for years. It's hard to shake what you'd grown up with, after all.

At least Bakura's back now. Gene's happy to return to his former position of instructor, and he's finished leading his last class of the day, sitting down and drinking some water. Gotta stay hydrated.

I. [Miles] | the Hotel | backdated to just after the Dust attacks | closed to Tony
Miles feels just awful.

Really, he feels just awful. Nausea, puking, sweaty shakes, that kind of thing. You know, standard coming-down-from-drugs stuff. Oh, and he feels fucking terrible about what he almost did to Pepper.

After he'd been given the all-clear to leave the Healers' Guild (and not a moment too soon - place is too much like a damn hospital) he'd gone back to the Hotel to be miserable in his room. As one does.

J. [Jackie] | the Golden Koi | June 7 | closed to Valdis
Jackie's all smiles at the party, but he can't hide his heartache from an empath. Brigid's gone again, and who knows if she'll ever come back? He'd held this party to celebrate things that stayed. Now that just seems like a cruel joke.

K. [Miles] | the Hotel | June 20 | closed to Pepper and Tony
He feels like everything's still a dream - no, a nightmare. He'd been antsy enough about the Gha'nal venom, and he was all ready to dismiss what he'd seen as a nightmare except for that aside from being surrounded by a cloud of nanites when he came out of it, he was also splattered with blood.

He'd coughed and thrown up a good three or four times before he'd even been able to calm the nanites down and answer the very most basic of Milyn's questions.

Like the BAMF that he is, of course he hadn't told Pepper beforehand, because he could totally handle it. Big macho man, right? Let him have this one. (He's glad she was spared the sight.)

When he gets back to the Hotel, ignoring the few stares he gets for being splattered with blood, he walks up to his room and turns on his radio, sending a message to Pepper and Tony.

"Guys," he says, his voice still rough, "I went to Milyn."

Hit me up at

Chatvert if you want another starter!

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Pepper had let him know that attendance at the dojo had been down since his attack on Chesala -- that had been expected (once his head had been clear enough to think about it) but the reduced number of patrons was at least steady. Those who remained either didn't give a damn about the theoretical risk, or they assumed it would be otherwise taken care of.

But the fact that the dojo had been kept both running and neat, he also knew who to thank for that. So when Gene's done with his instructors class, Bakura sits down next to him.

"You don't think you've earned a break?"

Valdis isn't entirely certain how to help with the cleanup, without the authority of the KPD behind her, she's pretty much been reduced to the background. In short, she wants her job back, despite being 'suspended' of her own volition. However, she'll have to prove herself or offer something useful to be cleared and her interrogation of the captured cultists turned up nothing helpful. These poor souls were pawns and nothing more, but their free lives were probably over. They were seriously misled kedan, but their devotion to the cause probably wouldn't fade.

Valdis didn't plan to plea on their behalf, but fact would need to be relayed to Eliyen anyway. Valdis surveyed the damage to the Iron Circle, her sword on her hip, glowing softly as always. She spotted Eliyen, a blue hulk of a woman at the moment and made her way over, picking her way through the debris.

"Eliyen."

Of all the things that were to happen, Gene did not expect that particular combination of events - Bakura sitting down and asking him if he needs a break - to happen.

"No. Why?" Gene didn't earn breaks. He wouldn't know what a break looked like if it walked up and introduced itself. He worked; that was just what he did. He'd done it his whole life, for one thing or another.

Eliyen was so absorbed in the construction that she didn't notice Valdis walking up until her name was called. "Valdis," she said, and set down the piece of debris she was carrying. "How are you?"

Valdis is one of the few Foreigners with whom she's on cordial terms. And at least she wasn't responsible for this...mess.

Despite knowing that the kedan were shapeshifters, Valds might have been a bit taken aback by the arbitrator's appearance. The woman was usually petite, though she always appeared fierce, filled with conviction. But the hulkish figure could be considered intimidating, though Valdis didn't entirely know why.

"I've been better," she replied her tone shifting to something more bitter, "This mess is quite upsetting, I wish I could have done more to prevent it."

Devin's been taking a lot of walks around the city; his goal is to memorize the layout of every street, if not every building. It's going to take a while, but it keeps his mind occupied and keeps him away from regular interaction with people outside of the police department and the Hotel (where he knows he's not terribly welcome anyway).

He waffles over going to talk with Keahi-Aly when he spots her, but eventually decides that the realization of her real name is something he can dangle over her.

"Afternoon," Devin says pleasantly, appearing a few feet to her left. "Good to see you in the waking hours."

~~She'll punch you in the nose, Devin, see if she doesn't.~~

Fuck.

She grimaces at him. "Likewise." God, if she could rip that knowledge out of his mind, she absolutely would.

He wouldn't come up to her out of a desire for small talk, so: "What do you want."

Devin shrugs, apparently untroubled by the way she's already bristling at him. Maybe he can hammer that nail of irritation further until she ceases to find anything redeeming in him.

"I want any number of things. You may need to be more specific," he replies, peering through the window at a set of tools on display.

"Don't get cute. It doesn't suit you, Gerard."

Aly folds her arms. "I'm waiting for an apology." She knows she's not going to get one, but she wants to make clear that she's waiting for one anyway.

Oh, she's well and truly pissed. Beautiful.

"For what, exactly? I didn't ask to be drawn into your dream," Devin points out, sparing her a glance. "I was there by accident and by no fault of my own. If you want an apology, go pester the dead spellmaker."

"You could have left me alone!" Aly growls, not quite shouting. "You didn't need to pester me! You should have just left me alone, Devin!"

Years of practice is what overrides the instinct to turn and give her his full attention. She's right, he could have let her be, but he can't appear to care.

"And then what, watch you sobbing on a rock from behind the trees? I'm not much interested in voyeurism," Devin replies, far too casually by comparison. He smiles coldly. "Tell me honestly, would you prefer to remain in ignorance of the fact that I was there and saw what I did?"

She stares at him as coldly as his smile. "You could have walked away and pretended you never saw anything instead of interfering. We all pretend not to know things we know." And she's definitely not just talking about him seeing her curled up on the rock now.

This is all totally hypocritical, of course, because she would have done the exact same thing.

"I could have, but I didn't, so it's somewhat pointless to argue about now. You didn't answer my question," the vampire remarks, and finally turns to her. "Keahi."

The use of the pseudonym serves two purposes: to tell Aly that he knows her name and won't be forgetting it, but also to tell her that he doesn't intend on sharing it around idly. Also implied is that her real name will only come up if Devin thinks using it will be to his advantage.

"No, but you didn't have to do what you did," she said. "You just don't know when to leave well enough alone."

At the use of the pseudonym, she suddenly smiles. It's not a nice smile. Then she raises her hand, and a crimson fireball appears in it. "You want to play hardball, fine. But you spread that info around with that smarmy little grin on your idiot face, and I'll give you the worst case of heartburn anyone's ever had."

Well now that's interesting. He wasn't previously aware of the... pyrokinesis, or whatever this is. The vampire is not a big fan of fire, seeing as it's one of those things that can potentially kill him permanently, but all he does is raise his eyebrows.

"A threat and a pun all in one breath. Artful, if blunt," he observes, maintaining the casual demeanor. "What if I do some sharing sans the smarmy grin? Do I still end up crispy fried?" he muses idly, aware he's walking a thin line. "I'm a bit more subtle than that, you know. You're not the only one who's had to carry other names like a shield."

She eyes him, the flame still in her hand, the same color as the leaves in the Dreaming forest. "Then you know how valuable that little tidbit is. And you have something to hold over me. Now, I can't have that, Devin," she says, her voice entirely pleasant. "I don't like when someone else has the upper hand."

Then she closes her fist, and the fire disappears. "You saw what happened. You were there. You know why that's important, that I slipped up there. Unless you're dumber than you look."

"I'm taller than you; I always have the upper hand," he snarks, as if in total disregard for his safety. At least the flame is no longer in the immediate vicinity of his face.

"I have enough of an idea to understand, yes. I don't plan on giving you information of equal measure, but suffice it to say I won't make idle use of that knowledge." Devin's expression shifts subtly, a shade more sincere. "Something that precious should be given the respect it's due, whether it's held in secret or applied as leverage. There is a time and a place for everything."

He'll at least be honorable about using her real name. Sort of.

Old habits die hard. He can't help but spend a few of the bad nights, up a tree in the Wood Sector, sitting with his back against the trunk. He doesn't sleep on those nights. There are nights when he can't sleep, when the shelter is too loud, too full for him to stay there. He's still not used to people being around.

So when his tree shakes, he's instantly alert, rolling slowly to the balls of his feet, when someone climbs the tree he's in. He waits until they are level with him before grabbing them in a hold. He's at a disadvantage with his missing arm, but he still knows what he's doing.

Even though Conan hadn't been there for any of the actual attacks, the moment he'd been released from his promise to stay within Sherlock's sight he had headed off to investigate all of the sites involved in the attack. Eventually he ends up at the Iron Circle. Just in time to watch some of the construction going on.

He stands and watches for some time, not trying to get anyone's attention yet. At time like this, he found it useful to be ignored.

Terrorism was a little out of Danny's usual superheroing portfolio. Like most things that didn't involve ghosts.

Still, he felt like he should have been able to do something more to help. For lack of any other ideas, he'd taken to wandering around the city, hoping something would jump out at him.

He really was not very good at investigations.

Danny blinks a little as he runs into a somewhat familiar face.

"Hey, it's Miles, right? What are you doing out here?"

These trees are comforting, in a way - they remind her of the great dark trees in the forest, even if they don't look the same, and even though they actually have branches close enough to the ground for her to climb on.

Of course, that means other people can, and have, climbed up on them too.

"Hork--!" She struggles to get out of the hold from the much stronger person, and then realizes, duh, she's got another option. She lights up like the Human Torch, suddenly wreathed in crimson fire, ready to give her assailant a good scorching.

Holy shit! He releases the person he'd just grabbed and stumbles back against the tree. His hand shoots out and grabs a hold of the bark, praying he can keep his feet.

"Holy shit. Is that coming out of you?" He feels like he's heard that before. Not the problem right now. He's hoping his hair hasn't caught on fire.

~~Well maybe if it's not as greasy-boy as it usually is, you'll be good, Bucky.~~

At least that did the trick and made him let her go, which is good. That's exhausting to keep up. She stumbles backwards and crouches into a fighting stance, fists raised.

"Um, duh!" She is so not here to answer stupid questions.

"Not if I throat-chop you," she mutters. She's at perfect throat-chopping height, Devin. Don't test her.

"There's a time and place for keeping that shit to yourself, and it's all the time unless I say otherwise, got it?" she says. "I'm feeling better about it here, but...it could still be a trap." Aly wraps her arms about herself, suddenly looking her age.

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[extended groan of frustration]

H. for hello

G

Hello

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F

G. Because.

D

F is for Fire

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