ioduanlogs | Weather told me get inside

Characters: Pepper Potts, Devin Parker, and you!
Date: Throughout June
Location: Around Keeliai
Situation: Devin is making himself extremely scarce, while Pepper is getting into the Tourney excitement.
Warnings/Rating: Probably some mentions of past violence and torture, possible mentions of murder. Will add as needed.

A. [Pepper] Commerce 3 | Mid June | Open

Since first arriving in Aifaran when Pepper saw them being used as accessories in a fashion show, she's been fascinated by the selys. They're waaay too expensive to purchase one for herself, but they're too beautiful to altogether ignore. This particular visit to a shop where they're sold was on a whim, and now the breeder is insisting that she take one of the shimmering creatures or it will be Very Sad. "I, uh, sort of already have a snake… they probably wouldn't get along," Pepper says in an attempt to dissuade the woman; the selys is investigating her hair. "Seriously. Separate tanks wouldn't even work."

B. [Pepper] The Townhouse | Backdated to late May | Bakura

After at least two months of anticipation and excited daydreaming about interior decorating, Pepper and Bakura finally moved out of the Dreaming Bridge and into a modest townhouse in a quieter area of the city. Not quite the outskirts, but far enough out of the downtown core that the bustle and noise doesn't drive Bakura nuts. They don't have a lot of possessions yet, so there's not much to move from the Bridge. New furniture, however, has to be acquired so they can do things like sleep in a bed and eat on a table.

"My kingdom for Ikea," Pepper bemoaned - mostly in jest - as they navigated getting part of the disassembled bed frame upstairs. "Someone should seriously introduce flatpack to Aifaran."

C. [Pepper] Arts 3 | Before June 5 | Open

Pepper definitely didn't volunteer to put up decorations for the upcoming Tourney. She's been roped into it somehow anyway, and the harried manager who had shoved bunting at the redhead had insisted work begin right then despite Pepper's work shift. Fortunately, Pepper is good at being persuasive, so she's managed to convince her supervisor that the decorations are double duty - goodwill is earned for the Sentry for having one of their own involved, and she can get a different angle on any potential security risks while she untangles five different spools of ribbon.

D. [Pepper] City Outskirts | Early June | Yato

After the accidental encounter with Vee and learning more about Pepper's magic as well as her training, Yato had expressed interest in sparring with the ka. Pepper was similarly enthusiastic about the idea, but cautioned him about how the nature of dueling magic might come into play. It would probably limit her more than Yato, if things went that direction, but he might not be immune to the effects, either. Still, it promised to be fun, and they found a suitably open area to meet up. Unlike their first meeting, Vee had shown up today in her reduced size, which she and Pepper had worked on the previous year. The Knight was taller than average, but no longer towered ten feet high.

E. [Devin] City Outskirts | Mid June | Bakura

Finding himself both agitated and of the mind to avoid the people he knew well after the incident with X, Devin had considered locating a gym or somewhere similar that he could try to vent some of what he was feeling into physical action. Unfortunately, he was concerned about breaking equipment that didn't belong to him, and going for long runs didn't satisfy anything. He recalled his brief conversation with Bakura on the network, about summoned creatures that could, in fact, keep up with the strength and speed of a vampire. The idea grew moderately appealing, and after getting in touch, they arranged to meet. The vampire acquired himself another beater sword in the meantime.

"So, how is this supposed to work?" Devin had never sparred with magical monsters before.

F. [Devin] Aifaran and surrounding area | After June 3 | Open

X's accidental call on the network had not explicitly identified Devin or Valdis as the intended recipients, and therefore the subject of his obvious agony and near-insanity. That does not change the fact that Devin heard a reflection of himself in his worst moment - the fear, the betrayal, and the bone-crushing pain. He has tried so hard not to think about the night X was recalling, tried to banish it for a decade, and now he feels like a raw nerve exposed to cold. As a result, he cuts off what little social engagement he has, takes refuge in the apartment no one knows the address of, changes his work schedule, and generally attempts to make himself difficult to locate.

He does still have to work at the library, however, and anyone who seeks peace and quiet may stumble upon him outside the city in a forested area or occasionally at the turtle's head. He may not be the most receptive to conversation.

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

Threaded | Flat

“You too, huh?”

Ilda walks up to Pepper, with even more spools of ribbons, all bundled and tangled up in her arms, some parts of them resting like colored snakes on her head. She’s grinning, glad to see her friend, although there’s also that unmistakable helpless look of someone who’d obviously gotten roped into something she didn’t sign up for.

"Should I even ask what that is?" Bakura raised an eyebrow. "The latter term. I know what Ikea is. We probably could have hired people if we wanted to feel lazy about it."

"It depends on what you want," Bakura answered. He'd worn the Ring out, resting atop his shirt today, gleaming in the sunlight. "Speed? Brute strength? Something dumb and mountain-like that you can beat on with no consequence?"

Yato was more eager for this chance than he'd expected that he'd be, but in retrospect perhaps that made sense. The Far Shore provided a steady stream of Phantoms that he often faced head to head, and it was rare that he and Yukine didn't encounter them on a near-nightly basis. Lacking that in Aifaran had left him feeling-- not rusty, but any stretch, but oddly out of sorts.

The significantly smaller Knight was surprising, but he greeted them with a wave and a bright smile. "Yo!"

After her disastrous text conversation with Devin concerning X, Valdis had largely avoided contact with him, trying to give him space, hoping he would talk to her eventually. She did know better, however, than to trust that he would, so after ten days, she went looking for his unique soul signature, finding his new place far easier than she would ever admit to him, though it still took another day. Despite the lack of current need, he was as good at hiding as she was.

Valdis picked the lock to his apartment, going inside and locking the door again. He'd probably figure out someone was in here, he wasn't stupid, but considering how he'd acted when he invaded her privacy, she didn't care. She had come to apologize for her hysterics and talk about a game plan for X.

Golly gee, if she didn't know any better, Aly would think Devin was avoiding her. This. Would. Not. Stand.

Not like he's usually around, but he's even more scarce than usual. Huff.

After thinking about it for a while, she figures it out - the outfit she'd worn the day she'd fallen into the canal must still smell of him, somewhat, so she turns into her wolf form and sniffs at it. It takes a little while to tease it out, but there it is: blood, old books and binding glue, and somehow, cold human.

She shakes herself out and darts out of the Dreaming Bridge on the hunt. Normally she'd be annoyed to think of performing some kind of dog-type exercise, but, well...wolves use their snootles to hunt, right? And this was good practice.

It takes a few days of sniffing around the city, picking up older trails and leading to new ones, before she finally catches up to him in a small forest on the city's edges. Gotcha.

She debates revealing herself right away, but decides to trot up near him like any other animal. She looks weird enough to maybe be local, who even knows?

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