tushanshu_logs | Grave digger, grave digger

Characters: Pepper Potts, Devin Parker, and you!
Date: Throughout October
Location: Around Keeliai
Situation: The spooky happenings has everyone a little on edge, and Devin is having an especially bad month.
Warnings/Rating: Death, possible mentions of violence and abuse. Will specify as needed.

A. [Pepper] KPD | Throughout October | Open

The uptick in crime doesn't leave the KPD extraordinarily busy, but between the rise in illegal activity and the strange, unsettling things resulting from the odd planar activity, things are definitely more tense. Pepper tries to just focus on work, but occasionally she'll do something slightly odd around her desk, such as tossing grains of salt over her shoulder. She does try to keep the superstitions out of the office, for the most part, but the creepy incidents are more distracting than she'd like. Sometimes, she's actually quite cheerful, and begins decorating some areas of the headquarters as though nothing is amiss.

B. [Pepper] Jade Dojo | Mid October | Bakura

Pepper has taken to spending some nights over at Bakura's apartment lately, complete with having claimed one of his drawers for some of her things. The concerns over the planes thinning hang over most of the city, but nothing explosive seemed to be happening, and really she ought to be more accustomed to ghosts and spectres given who she's dating. Lounging around together under the blankets seems like a good option to distract from anything unsettling, especially as the temperature starts to drop since cold weather is not at all Bakura's favorite.

C. [Pepper] Earth Sector | Mid October | Raine

So, ghosts. Yeah. That's-- that's a thing that's happening. That's a thing that's currently happening to her, along with lots of other people in Keeliai, and it's unsettling and scary and also... kind of amazing, in some ways. She hasn't seen her mother since she was six, and a ghost is still better than nothing, and everyone at the house has something going on, so instead of rambling her panic/excitement at Tony and Gene and Bakura all month, she goes to visit Raine. It's been a little while since they've just hung out, and if anyone can help her find some more calm about this situation, it's her friend. She knocks a little hesitatingly on Raine's door, glancing at the redheaded ghost over her shoulder with a nervous smile.

D. [Devin] Sky Sector | Early October | Open

The chill in the air doesn't both Devin at all; England was cold and misty for no small part of the year. The sudden shift is a bit odd, but that was par for the course in this city as far as he could tell. He spends part of his time continuing with his mapping routine, and while he's at it he considers more seriously where he might move to. Devin has very few possessions, so one of the smaller lodgings made available to Foreigners would be ideal. He's more aloof and even irritable, avoiding extended conversations and familiar faces.

E. [Devin] Metal Sector | Mid October | Open

Devin returns to the Metal Sector to test his memory of the streets partway through the month. The tension in the city is evident wherever he goes, and while he's not immune to it, routine has always helped. That is, of course, until he spots two faces he hasn't seen in over a century, and his blood runs cold. He stops abruptly as their attention turns to him, frozen in what can only be described as fear. This is dread he doesn't even know how to hide - so he runs, darting away in a blur and only halting when he's half a sector away and hidden in an alleyway.

F. [Devin] Turtle's Head | Mid-Late October | Open

His family hasn't ceased haunting him no matter where he goes, and now it's all five of his siblings as well as his parents. The sense of calm at the turtle's head helps a little, but Devin keeps away from anyone else who's there, finding as secluded an area as he can. He's shaken in a way he hasn't felt in years and years, and he's giving very serious consideration to leaving the city altogether in an effort to distance himself from it's inhabitants and battle with his panic in peace. If anyone decides to interrupt the spectres currently following Devin with abusive, personal diatribe, they should be prepared to deal with a nasty vampire. See: cornered animal.

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Valdis hadn't spoken to Pepper in awhile and was just about to walk through the door to her office when she saw Pepper toss something over her shoulder. She knew things were getting weird, but this was new.

"Is that salt, Pepper?"

Edited (tenses) 2017-10-06 15:41 (UTC)

"Uh." Pepper had the good grace to look a bit sheepish. "Yes? It's a superstition thing. I thought about making a ring around my desk but I have to walk around to do things, and then I thought about trying to make one around the entire headquarters but the problem just keeps getting bigger that way, so I figured a few grains here or there when the hair on the back of my neck goes up seemed like a good compromise."

Valdis arched a brow, trying very hard to not appear as amused as she felt.

"I know it's a superstition thing." Kind of like people thinking Holy Water would deter certain parties. "Is it helping?"

A slight pause.

"If not you could try paprika."

"Uh... 'helping' might be an exaggeration, but I figured something is better than nothing. Most of the ghosts that've been showing up apparently aren't all that nice."

Pepper blinked for a moment. "Paprika? Why? Also I don't know if there's actual paprika in Konryu but there's probably something similar."

Valdis thought back to her ghosts, who had seemingly grown bored and vanished for the moment, and then to Devin's, who had been over-the-top unpleasant. On that basis, She couldn't exactly disagree with Pepper when it came to ghosts not being nice.

Valdis shrugged, still trying to keep the amused smile from her face, "I don't know. Salt. Pepper. Paprika. Umm, how about garlic powder? That's a condiment too, right? Or maybe cinnamon?"

Maybe it wasn't really that funny...

Pepper's gaze narrowed, though more in amusement than irritation. Valdis was clearly making light of what Pepper knew to be moderately ridiculous superstition. She didn't think the salt would make that much of a difference, but salt had disrupted magic and technology not so long ago.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, it's a silly myth, but if it does have a chance to work, isn't it worth trying? I mean, a lot of people aren't happy with the ghosts that have started following them, although I have to give props to the ones outing cultists left, right and center - although I don't think ghost testimony is admissible in court."

"Pepper," Valdis sighed, "I don't think that table salt will do much. The ghosts aren't fun, but they are here and we'll have to keep doing our job despite that." Now she smiled, "But those accused by the ghosts do give us leads. With names we can gather evidence and find connections. So I don't consider this the worst possible situation."

Though the two hounds following her were still annoying.

"Well." A beat. "Not all the ghosts are so bad. Some of them are... it's good to see them again."

It wasn't as good as if her mother had shown up during the influx of temporary Foreigners, but it was something.

"Yeah, at least it gives us people to investigate and collect other evidence on. I mean, we can take witness statements from the ghosts, if they stick around. It's definitely helping to know what to look for. Putting them all away is gonna be hard, though - if they know they've been outed, then they'll start destroying any evidence they know of. Maybe I should be thankful that the kedanese legal system is a little off the wall on this one."

Valdis tipped her head, not sure what Pepper meant by it being good to see 'them' again, though mostly because she had no idea who 'them' was. She considered Pepper's points about the ghost in relation to the cultists for a minute, and then another.

"Well," she said slowly, "There are...way around certain things."

She didn't think Eliyen would mind when it came to the cultists. Probable cause didn't apply to terrorists.

She might bring up her mother later. The subject was bittersweet.

"I see you've been scheming and plotting without me," Pepper remarked with amusement. "C'mon, spill. What's the grand plan?"

"I wouldn't call it scheming." Valdis smiled darkly, but her eyes still glittered with a sort of amusement, "In my world, terrorists are not offered the same rights as citizens. Being accused of being a cultist is a very serious matter, if we have cause to believe the accusation, then I believe we can detain the accused for a time until proof is or isn't found."

She'd have to double check, but laws could bend for such circumstances.

Pepper considered that for a moment. "Well, even if it's dead witnesses, witness testimony can provide probable cause, especially if the accounts are detailed." Another thought occurred to her, and a sly smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "And maybe they can even tell us where their secret hideout is. Seems like being a ghost means you come with built in targeting for whoever you're haunting."

Valdis laughed, "That is also true, dead men are currently telling tales, I'm sure they'd be eager for their murderers to come to justice."

She tipped her head, thinking about how to go about speaking with the ghosts and getting the appropriate paperwork in place.

"As for the salt, I'm sure the janitor would prefer if you didn't leave tiny granules all over the floor."

Grave digger, grave digger | October Catchall

A is for Apparition :P

Excellent alliteration

Re: Excellent alliteration

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