tushanshu_logs | He kinda looks like a boat made of hate.

Entry tags:

He kinda looks like a boat made of hate.

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

A. [Gene] | throughout Keeliai | throughout July | 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.

Someone please come save him from his own bad decisions.

B. [Jackie] | the Golden Koi | throughout July | open
Jackie's trying to run the Koi as best he can these days. He's still sad - his heart hurts because Brigid is gone - but he knows he has to press on. People leave here, and sometimes they come back, but he's not going to count on it.

C. [Alex] | Water Sector | throughout July | 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 July | open
Hell. Goddamn. Fire.

Going home had maybe been the worst choice Miles could have made, and he'd made more than his fair share of shitty choices. Because now? Now he was truly a human-shaped abomination of science. And even more of a murderer than he had been, to boot. So he's trying to look chipper - overly so. In fact, it's downright unusual, considering how single-minded he'd been about the cultists before. Now it's obvious that he has something else entirely on his mind.

E. [Aly] | throughout Keeliai | throughout July | open
Aly, meanwhile, has been taking to Keeliai like a fish to water (pardon). She's in a place where things stay put so she's going to keep learning the city. It's been a few months, but that doesn't mean she's going to stop scouring the area...and maybe climbing things she shouldn't.

F. [Gene] | House Spicy Iron Dragon | July 10 | closed to Tony
Once again, Gene's on the roof.

He was glad he'd made it easily-accessible; it was a quiet spot for him to think, and it also let him be alone. Him being on the roof was a sort of signal for that, that he needed to clear his mind. But sometimes it also meant that he needed to talk and wasn't sure how. As usual, he'd be the last one to know which one of those it was.

G. [Aly] | Fire Sector | July 7 | closed to Valdis
Aly's on a building. She likes to be tall.

Also, it kind of makes her feel like Batman, especially in the middle of the night when things are lit only by the fire fountains. She doesn't crouch, cowled like the man-bat, but sits on the corner of a roof, her foot dangling, watching people walk by.

H. [Gene] | Healers' Guild | July 3 | closed to Raine
This ka thing wouldn't get off of his mind, so Gene figured he'd consult someone else about it. He knew for sure that Raine had one, so when he has the time, he goes to the Guild, requests to speak to her, and waits, suddenly nervous. Pepper might soften what she says to him out of affection, but Raine will tell him things bluntly.

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She waved a hand at him, in the general direction of his back. "Long story short, if I squint sometimes I can see, uh, links? People have important relationships connecting each other. And I can see them sometimes. And you? You've got a thing. Well, a couple, but the one I'm really interested in is the one that loops back around into you. It's silver and gold - only people with a deep soul connection have those. So either you love yourself a little too much, or..." She shrugged helplessly. "You've got a thing. Or another friend I don't know yet. Hello, friend."

It took effort to maintain keep his expression faintly bemused and not spooked. She'd have basically nothing to gain by making up the story (although he wouldn't put it past her), and the accuracy of the claims... he was not pleased.

Not again. Not another. Was there no escape here?

"I think you should get your sight checked, in that case," he said dismissively, appearing entirely unconcerned and holding her gaze. "I don't have a soul."

"Whatever, emo kid," she said, waving a hand dismissively. "Lines don't lie. You've got a soul, and you've got a friend in you, to paraphrase Randy Newman." She met his gaze just as intently. "And I've never seen that before. The silver and gold? Once. Two people destined to find each other, who are whole without each other but make each other something more when they're together. Lines. Don't. Lie."

He did have a soul, it just didn't currently reside in his body. Valdis had indicated she could see a connection to it, but that wasn't the same. In any case, Devin knew exactly what Aly was referring to. Before, having a hanger-on was vaguely amusing.

Now he genuinely wanted to be rid of her.

"I'm not like your special pair," he said as blandly as he could manage, and the corners of his mouth twitched up into another smirk. "Though I am a rare specimen among my kind. You should consider recalibrating your sight to a different reality. Lines may not lie, but the structure of the world might."

"No shit, Sherlock," Aly said with a snort. "Unless you love yourself a little too much, like I said. And it adjusts itself automatically across realities. This ain't my first rodeo, cowboy."

She grinned, then. "So you're rare, huh? Do tell."

He hated what he was, so it definitely wasn't the result of narcissism. This was going down a road he wanted to avoid. Perhaps Devin could send her off in the wrong direction.

"I was born, not turned, for one. And I don't enjoy harming humans. That particular deficiency led to the discovery another, which is that I don't heal like I should, were I normal. I scar," he elaborated, offering Aly a cold, sharp grin. "I'm the family disappointment."

"Neat," she said, "but none of that explains your little buddy. That something unique too, or do all vamps back where you come from have a copilot?"

Like a dog with a bone, this one. Har har.

"I don't have a 'copilot'," Devin replied blandly.

Copilot implied some shared measure of control. What he had was more akin to a passenger. He'll take the pedantic linguistic distinction.

"Little friendly symbiote, then," she said. "A spiritual tapeworm, but one that's like, really in there."

She stretched. "I know someone who's good at exorcisms, if you want a referral."

Devin snorted. Calling the aspect a spiritual tapeworm was about the only thing Aly's said that he's liked thus far.

"Please. Do you really think I wouldn't have tried that already if it were possible?"

The actions of a god couldn't be undone so lightly, if at all.

"Ha!" She tapped the side of her nose. "But you have something, and you admit it. So who's your friend? I'm guessing they don't pay rent. What, they think they've got squatter's rights?"

"I never actually said there wasn't something," he pointed out flatly. "It's neither a friend, nor a 'buddy', nor is it little or symbiotic in any sense of the word."

That last part wasn't strictly true; it just depended on how one defined 'beneficial'.

"More to the point, I don't owe you an explanation simply because you've asked for one."

"No," she agreed, "you don't. But I think fair's fair. You walked into my dream and wouldn't leave well enough alone, so I'm not going to either. Spill some beans, buddy. I'll buy you a drink to sweeten the pot."

Pointing out that he didn't walk into her dream on purpose would do absolutely nothing.

"When did I ever give you the impression that I was fair? You had the choice not to answer me," Devin said dismissively. "Bribery won't improve your chances of learning more."

Aly rolled her eyes. "You intruded on something serious in that dream - as serious as your hanger-on there, I'd say. And you're honestly being quite rude, as usual. Jeez, what do I have to do in order to get you to act like a person?"

"You don't want me to be a person, Aly. You want me to be nice, and I've already told you quite plainly that I won't be. I don't care about intruding on your secrets, or how much it bothers you, and it's your own fault for not believing me."

Except that he didn't want to be rude or cruel, but it was better if she found cause to be disappointed in him.

"No, dipshit, I want you to be a person and not some standoffish caricature of one," she shot back. "You're acting like a tool, and I do mean acting, 'cause I'm pretty sure you're not one. Someone who's really a tool wouldn't have gotten all bent out of shape about when I asked you what blood type's your favorite. You'd have just not cared, and probably tried to be creepy about it, instead of clinging on to whatever makes you human. You know, the soul you claim not to have?"

She crossed her arms. "Like I said. Not my first rodeo."

Devin laughed quietly and shook his head. "Nor mine. You think you've got me figured out just because we've spent a little time chatting and you can see some invisible threads that no one else can? Really, the arrogance of that is astounding."

"And you think you can throw everyone off from looking at you closely just because you act like an enormous asshole all the time? Really, the arrogance of that is astounding. As if a few harsh words are all it takes to make anyone who might actually give a shit leave you alone." She scoffed.

To be fair, it usually worked.

"I am a bastard. I never claimed to be otherwise," he returned with a shrug. "You want to find something that isn't there, but if you feel like wasting your time, go ahead. Apparently, you have nothing better to do than fool yourself."

"Never said you weren't, but the whole 'I'm-so-tough-and-cool-I-don't-need-anyone' act really wears thin, you know? I told you, I know a guy like you, and the more you talk, the more the two of you really show yourselves to be like peas in a pod." She shook her head. "You're not as unique as you like to think you are, and pushing people away doesn't help anything except leave you with nobody at your back in a fight." She flashed a grin at him. "And we both know you're smarter than that."

The vampire breathed out in an irritated huff.

"You really have no idea who or what I am, Aly. And you will never know," he told her. He owed her something, but it wasn't information. She deserved better than someone like him. Devin pushed off the wall and began walking down the street. "I am not a replacement for whomever you've lost; stop trying to make me into one to assuage either your grief or your guilt," he threw over his shoulder at her.

That stung, but Aly snorted and followed him anyway. "You're really just being a jerk for the point of being a jerk, you know," she said. "So no, you're not a 'replacement', because at least when sensei's an asshole, he's being an asshole for a reason. And since nobody's ever a dick just to be a dick, you're probably being an asshole for a reason, too."

She blinked. "Is it related to your little hanger-on in there?"

"Your line of logic leaves something to be desired," Devin replied. Of course she followed him. "Why does it even matter? It's of no consequence to you, and you had best have a better answer than 'because I want to know' or 'because you saw my dream'."

"It is of consequence to me, because for some stupid-ass reason I care about you, idiot. Someone's got to look out for your moody ass. I don't know if it's some part of what I am or what, but I am not going to let you keep yourself in shadows. And I mean that literally and metaphorically."

Then she paused. What the hell. "And you've got another one going off into the distance, to back home, I'm guessing. It looks...sick. Bad. You're unique, because I've never seen that before. Jesus, it hurts to look at."

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