Skating board is for cool kids only.

[wrathfulkhan]

Characters: Gene Khan, Jackie Ma, Miles Upshur, Aly Haskell, and y'all
Date: throughout April
Location: Aifaran and environs
Situation: Standard mucking about. Jackie's depressed, Gene's paranoid, Aly's got half a death wish, and Miles is driving local priests away! So, a normal Tuesday for these nerds.
Warnings/Rating: Will be added as necessary

[A] | Gene | throughout Aifaran | throughout April | open
Gene's finally gotten over being shy - shy! Rare, for him - and is out and about in Aifaran. He's still worried that Nick Fury is going to pop in from nowhere and haul him off to a SHIELD cell, but it's just as likely that he'll pop back to Earth.

Earth. Not home. It'd be a disturbing distinction if he hadn't come to terms with Konryu being more of a home to him than Earth had ever been long ago.

First point of order, rank the teahouses. Things have changed in the past five hundred-some years, so of course he has to stake out the best places for brooding thinking. With the best tea.

Second point of order, get...eh...friendly with some of the other Dreamfolk. The locals, he's been able to connect with easily. His fellow Dreamfolk, though...not so much. It's a personal failing, and he knows that, but it's one he's working to correct. So...A for effort? He seems to look like he knows what he's doing, at least; he certainly looks at home in Aifaran, more so than one might expect.

[B] | Jackie | throughout Aifaran | throughout April | open
Despite the heartbreak of having Brigid back for such a short time and losing her again, Jackie has to keep going. He's lost her before, and this is just...it's his life now. He could wake up any day to find anyone else he knows gone, and he knows that at any moment he could 'no longer dream in Aifaran' - or, to put it more bluntly, disappear back to being a strung-up disemboweled corpse in North Point.

The Dreaming's anchored him in Konryu for a while, but he knows that may not last forever.

He takes a lot of time to speak to shopkeeps and make himself known throughout the city, because he's trying to get the Golden Koi started again. Another iteration of the bar he'd started in Keeliai, named after the restaurant that had always been a safe place to him back in North Point. A little piece of home, one that he'll hold onto as best he can.

He might be walking alone, but he's certainly not averse to company. He's friendly enough with the denizens of Aifaran, and he's stopping at many of the local cafes and teahouses throughout the month, making friends and potential future business partners.

[C] | Miles | throughout Aifaran | throughout April | open [Faith 2]
Oh, boy. Miles is getting pretty p.o.'ed about getting cornered by a Sabonile priest, but since these guys haven't tried to kill him (yet), he's not going to hit the guy. And just as the guy's really beginning to spin up, he stops and gives Miles a strange, apologetic look, declares that he can't preach what he doesn't believe in, and just. Leaves...?

Fine by Miles, but that's a new one on him. Maybe he has a new anti-religious aura. That'd be cool. "What the fuck just happened?" he mumbles to nobody in particular.

[D] | Aly | look up. no, further up. there. the rooftops. | throughout April | open
In an attempt to get her frustrated energy out, Aly has taken to the skies! Or as much as she can, anyway. She can't fly, as much as she's tried, but she's pretty agile. She's running around day and night like a little ruffian who thinks she's Batman. Watch the skies for a blur! Or watch your head, because sometimes she doesn't look too well where she's landing.

[E] | Aly | down by the piers | April 7 | closed to Devin
Aly's agile, but even the most agile runners miss a step.

And so it happens.

Unfortunately for her, she misjudges distance - again! - over a gap between buildings. And especially unfortunately for her, it's a gap over water.

Her stomach and heart seem to fall faster than the rest of her, and a choked squawk tears itself from her throat as she tumbles. Everything else she could deal with, broken bones she could take, death she could deal with again, but water? No!

There were two ways to kill a Flame: Suffocation, and drowning. And she doesn't want to drown.

This time, there's no Princeps to give her a gentle push to the other side with some mastery of air, and she hits the water like a stone.

[F] | Jackie | the Dreaming Bridge | April 6 | closed to Valdis
Jackie's been doing his best to keep it together, but after he makes the announcement over the Lae (he'd phrased it as a question, but he knew in his heart that it was really an announcement), he needs to go somewhere quiet. He finds a little-trafficked lounge in the Breakwater wing and sits down, his head in his hands. He can't go back to his room, because Chase may be there and ask what's wrong, and he doesn't want to explain.

There's pretty much one person here in Aifaran who's familiar enough to him, unless she leaves, too, and he'll be all on his own again. He'll need to go find her. He doesn't like the idea of being entirely alone again; it had been bad enough when they'd thought only a year would pass. Here, everything was so different, he feared that he'd give in to his old habits and patterns and turn back to crime, because it was easier.

I'm not that guy anymore. He hoped not.

---

Hit me up at Chatvert if you want another starter!

Comments

F is for Friends

[redlightgreenlight]

After she sees Jackie's video post, Valdis does a quick check with her awareness of souls. She'd never interacted much with Brigid, but the werewolf had been in Keeliai, and she knew the souls of those from that time better than anyone. Moving around the Dreaming Bridge without leaving her room, she finds no trace of the girl. Reaching out further, as far as she can sense someone familiar, she still finds nothing. Slowly, Valdis wanders down the hall, searching for the soul that is still here, the ones that is filled with sadness and uncertainty.

"Jackie?" she says as she enters the small lounge, "I'm sorry."

U is for Uranium....BOMBS

[jinzhong]

Jackie looks up when he hears the voice. Valdis. At least she's still here, at least...

"Yeah," he says, and wipes his eyes with a tattooed hand. "Thanks. I'm. I don't know, man."

Then he takes a deep, shuddering breath. "It's happened before, you know? But when we were less serious. She came back, but I don't know what's gonna happen. I don't know if I'll ever see her again. I didn't think I would when she decided to leave, because, I mean...she has a life back where she's from, y'know? And I...don't." He laughs, a little bitterly. Valdis knows why not. She'd seen him deal with the man responsible, after all.

Let's not blow the city up yet

[redlightgreenlight]

"If I could give you your life back," Valdis says softly, moving to sit in a chair across from him, "I would."

There isn't much more to say. She knows how it feels to lose someone you love. She and Dante hadn't had as much time, but it had still been love. Truth be told, Jackie is handling this much better than she had.

spongebob reference denied :(

[jinzhong]

"I know," he says, just as quietly. He knows she'll hear him. And he remembers Dante, and the heartbreak and pain she'd suffered. Of all people, she understands. And of all people, she's the last person he could lose.

"It hurts, yeah?"

I never watched Spongebob....

[redlightgreenlight]

"It does," she replies, "And it never really goes away, but it does hurt less with time."

At least she had had Wan and Anton to help her get through it, and by the time Anton had gone, she had learned how to deal with loss in a healthier manner.

"In the meantime, I'm here and I don't plan on going anywhere."

:0

[jinzhong]

Jackie only nods, because he doesn't know what to say. Hurting less with time is cold comfort when it feels like he's going to keel over with heartbreak right now.

"Thanks," he says at last. "I hope you don't. 'Cause I think you're the last person I've really got here."

[redlightgreenlight]

"We'll just need to get you some more friends," Valdis says, offering a small smile, "You are far more likable than I am, so you shouldn't have any trouble."

As far as she is concerned, that statement is true, but whether he believes her or not is up to him.

[jinzhong]

"Is it bad that I don't really want more friends right now?" he says. "Everyone...everyone goes away. Wei left, and when he came back he was a cop. And now everyone here's leaving, too."

[redlightgreenlight]

"Well," Valdis said slowly, "I'm technically still a cop, and while I can't promise I won't leave, you must realize that I wouldn't do it on purpose, and Brigid didn't either."

[jinzhong]

"Yeah, but...he was my best friend when we were kids, I was loyal to him, and he comes back and betrays me like that?" Clearly Jackie has been stewing on this for a while, and this is, somehow, easier to talk about than Brigid. "Brigid didn't make a choice to leave. Yeah, he didn't really have a choice to go to America, but he had a choice to become a fucking cop and lie to me. We never...we never lied to each other, man. Never." He wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

[redlightgreenlight]

"I don't think it's that simple," Valdis replied, "I didn't know him, but I'm sure that how he felt about you wasn't a lie, even if he had to hide that he was a cop, he probably wasn't lying about how you interacted, not in essence."

She really hated not knowing how to deal with these situations, but words would hopefully be enough.

[jinzhong]

"Man..." Jackie ran his hands through his hair. "He..." Then he sighed.

"You know I died protecting him, right? Mr. Tong, that pok gai, he killed me to get to Wei."

[redlightgreenlight]

"And then you killed Mr.Tong," Valdis pointed out as gently as possible, "And you did that with your own strength."

[jinzhong]

"Yeah." Jackie exhaled. "Still. It...I died protecting a guy who was lying to me. I kind of wish he'd come back just so we could talk about that."

[redlightgreenlight]

"No, Jackie," Valdis replied softly, "You died protecting a friend and there is no nobler cause than that."

[jinzhong]

Jackie put his head in his hands. "I didn't want to be noble," he said bitterly. "I want to be alive."

Not 'wanted'. Want.

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis looked down, uncertain of how to answer, "Do you believe in anything beyond death, Jackie?"

She gestured to the world around them, "Because this is real. These people are alive, this world is alive. You are alive. Maybe not on your world, maybe not with Wei or Brigid. But you are here and you are breathing and you still have a chance."

[jinzhong]

Jackie rubbed at his eyes, trying not to cry. "She can go home, Wei can go home, but I can't. I'm dead already - this is the last chance I get. If I disappear, Valdis, I'm gone. I'd have...I'd've gone with her if I could."

He's still alive here, but that's cold comfort.

[redlightgreenlight]

"Jackie, that's how life is," Valdis pointed out, "Even on your world, on mine, life isn't infinite. Anyone could die at any time."

She shook her head, "That's how it's supposed to be."

None of this immortality. No exchanging of souls to return to life. Such things were abominations.

[jinzhong]

"I know." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "It just...it sucks being a dead man walking, and I try not to think about it, but when pretty much everyone I know starts to disappear, I start to think, y'know, I'm gonna be next."

He swallowed, and then said, very quietly: "I don't wanna die again."

[redlightgreenlight]

"I imagine leaving this place is far less painful," she replied. His last death had been painful, she knew that. "You might even find peace."

She released a long sigh, "Death isn't to be feared, Jackie. Death isn't evil in any way, it's just the next step."

[jinzhong]

Jackie shook his head. "I don't wanna think about that...it was always a thing back in Old Prosperity, but that didn't mean it was good. Didn't mean any of us ever wanted to die. Didn't mean I ever did."

[redlightgreenlight]

"I'm not saying that people want to, or need to, embrace Death as a good and wanted thing," Valdis pointed out, "Just that it isn't the monster people believe it to be. Death is part of life, and I just want you to embrace the life you have right now, right here."

[jinzhong]

"I do," he said. "I just don't want more people to go. It's not...it's not any different from dyin', y'know?" He sniffed. "Even if they're still alive back where they come from, it's still like they're dead here."

[redlightgreenlight]

"I know the feeling," Valdis replied, looking down, "But...it doesn't always stay that way. Anton was alive when he came to Keeliai, but Skulduggery was from a time where he wasn't."

Thinking about all the people she had lost was painful, but she couldn't dwell on it.