Temujin "Gene" Khan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wrathfulkhan) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ioduanlogs2018-07-11 12:52 am
wrathfulkhan) wrote in ioduanlogs2018-07-11 12:52 am
[angrily sings circus music]
Characters: Gene Khan, Miles Upshur, Aly Haskell, and y'all
Date: throughout July
Location: Aifaran and environs
Situation: hooliganry
Warnings/Rating: Will be added as they arise
[A] | Gene | throughout Aifaran | throughout July | open
Gene's trying to cope. Don't think about it. He wants to live outside the Dreaming Bridge - since it's about that time - and he's looking for somewhere small to live, within his means.
Somewhere to live alone.
Don't think about that.
He's also trying to find a place for the dojo. He wants somewhere in a reasonably high-traffic area, but he also wants to be realistic. He only has so much money, after all. Gene had liked teaching, and seemed to be pretty good at it. If he talked to Bakura and Valdis, maybe the three of them could pool their money and get a reasonably-sized building in a decent location. (If they wanted to go back to teaching at the dojo anyway. He wants to do it, whether they're in or not.)
He can also be found sitting in a teahouse, taking notes, sketching out potential floor plans for the dojo. Once, he finds himself sketching something like the house that he, Tony, and Pepper used to have, and a cold hand grips his heart before he angrily scribbles over it and crumples up the paper.
Don't think about that.
[B] | Gene | Pepper and Bakura's place | June 29 | closed to Bakura
When you feel like your very existence is an imposition, it's hard to spend extended amounts of time in someone else's place. But Gene's accepted the offer to stay with Pepper and Bakura anyway so he wouldn't be alone, and now he's beginning to feel like that may have been a mistake. He doesn't like feeling like he has to stay out of the way, and he knows that's all in his head. Pepper and Bakura are his friends, but his nerves are stretched so thin that he's trying not to go into the walking-on-eggshells state he hadn't been in since he'd gotten out from under Zhang's thumb. Completely in his head. Pepper and Bakura are my friends. It's fine.
Didn't change the fact that he spent a lot of the time when he was in the house staying out of sight, though.
[C] | Miles | throughout Aifaran | early July | open | Justice 1
Though he's undeterred from his main thread about Jack, Miles is still wandering the city, looking for more stories. Got to keep his mind fresh while he's trying to compile more leads on his main story, after all. For now, he's learned his lesson about looking before leaping.
The best way to find a story, believe it or not, is just to be personable. People will drop information whether they know it or not. Besides, at the heart of it, he likes people. Especially here in Aifaran. They're always interesting.
Seems like the Sentry doesn't find him to be too endearing, though, which is partially why he's decided to be, well, Miles, and cheerfully talk to them. They look at him with great suspicion, like they're certain he's stolen something. Seems that his reputation has spread, especially after busting into Valdis' office last month.
"Hey, how's it going? Fancy a handshake?" He holds out one of his mangled hands to a Bresilykian member of the Sentry, who looks at it with equal parts suspicion and disdain.
[D] | Miles | a park | early July | closed to Ilda
What does a grown-ass man do while he is waiting to dance in public like a fool? Climb a tree. Despite his missing digits, Miles actually isn't doing too badly at it. With a little bit of effort, he hauls himself up to the lowest branch, about nine feet off the ground, and sits on it, waiting for Ilda.
"Hey!" he says, waving when he sees her.
[E] | Miles | the streets | July 6 | closed to Valdis
Miles wakes up suppressing a shout. He's in a cold sweat, his mind reeling; who is he? He looks at the end of his arm, and his vision wavers - is there a hand there or not?
There is. There is. Not with all its fingers, but it's there. He can still hear the scratch-scratch-scratching of the pen, the ravings of the madwoman that aren't quite so mad - an experience too like his own.
His skin prickles, and he can't force the Walrider fully down. There's too much adrenaline pumping through his veins. He thanks whoever's listening that he doesn't have a roommate right now, and he opens the window, jumping through it. The nanites slow his fall, and when he lands, he runs.
He has to get the adrenaline out. He has to get himself under control. He knows his eyes are silvered and he can see the cloud of nanites surrounding him, making his form hazy in the midnight dark. And he hopes he doesn't run into anyone while he's out here.
Nobody surprise me. Please, nobody surprise me. I don't want to know what I might do by accident.
[F] | Aly | around Aifaran | throughout July | open | Arts 5
Aly's having fun painting with Ilda (okay, well, graffiti-ing). She'd always liked art, and this was a fun outlet. The danger of getting caught made it more fun, she's pretty sure.
While she's scoping out new spots, she's considering what to paint - and quite suddenly a glowing fish appears before her, floating in midair. She can see the brushstrokes that make it up.
"Blub," it says.
"What," says Aly.
[G] | Aly | a market | mid-July | closed to Rutile
Okay, what do you need for a trip out to the end of everything?
Nothing quite so dramatic, of course, but still - their expedition to the barrier is going to require a good bit of stocking up on supplies. At least Aly has some experience with metaphysical nonsense, so that's a point in their favor. Maybe it'll answer some questions Aly still has about this version of Konryu that Aly now lives in.
Maybe if I cut into the barrier, it'll send me home.
It really does look too much like the aurora she'd seen that one time in the in-between place. Maybe it was related, somehow.
She picks up a bag of curamija jerky and glances over at her companion. "Rutile? Do you eat meat?"
[H] | Aly | around Aifaran | mid-July | closed to Ilda
Is it the middle of the night? Yes. Does Aly have luminescent paint? Also yes. Is she about to engage in some hooliganry with Ilda? Well, it's art, but yes.
"So," she says, stretching, "what are we gonna paint?"
[I] | Aly | Dreaming Bridge | early July | closed to Conan and/or Alice
Aly's gotten used to the idea of roommates, sort of. She'll have to get used to it even more, because of college in a couple years, but she's reasonably sure that one of her roomies won't be a six-year-old.
"Hey, friendo," she says to whoever enters the room, baby child or goth girl. "What's up?" She's laying on her bed, sketching something out. Someone observant may recognize it as a start of a sigil...or, depending on what she's doodling, something like some of the glow-in-the-dark graffiti around the city.
[J] | Gene | Valdis' place | July 26 | closed to Valdis
The temporary visitors hadn't brought Tony with them, and Gene was a little relieved about that. He didn't think that he could deal with an established time limit on their time together, and Tony being taken away again so soon would be so cruel. Average for his life, but so, so cruel.
Valdis, though - she'd been through something similar, and it took him until just now to decide to ask her. He'd leave if prodding the trauma was too much, but he needed to ask.
He knocked on the door and waited. "Valdis?"
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Chatvert!
Date: throughout July
Location: Aifaran and environs
Situation: hooliganry
Warnings/Rating: Will be added as they arise
[A] | Gene | throughout Aifaran | throughout July | open
Gene's trying to cope. Don't think about it. He wants to live outside the Dreaming Bridge - since it's about that time - and he's looking for somewhere small to live, within his means.
Somewhere to live alone.
Don't think about that.
He's also trying to find a place for the dojo. He wants somewhere in a reasonably high-traffic area, but he also wants to be realistic. He only has so much money, after all. Gene had liked teaching, and seemed to be pretty good at it. If he talked to Bakura and Valdis, maybe the three of them could pool their money and get a reasonably-sized building in a decent location. (If they wanted to go back to teaching at the dojo anyway. He wants to do it, whether they're in or not.)
He can also be found sitting in a teahouse, taking notes, sketching out potential floor plans for the dojo. Once, he finds himself sketching something like the house that he, Tony, and Pepper used to have, and a cold hand grips his heart before he angrily scribbles over it and crumples up the paper.
Don't think about that.
[B] | Gene | Pepper and Bakura's place | June 29 | closed to Bakura
When you feel like your very existence is an imposition, it's hard to spend extended amounts of time in someone else's place. But Gene's accepted the offer to stay with Pepper and Bakura anyway so he wouldn't be alone, and now he's beginning to feel like that may have been a mistake. He doesn't like feeling like he has to stay out of the way, and he knows that's all in his head. Pepper and Bakura are his friends, but his nerves are stretched so thin that he's trying not to go into the walking-on-eggshells state he hadn't been in since he'd gotten out from under Zhang's thumb. Completely in his head. Pepper and Bakura are my friends. It's fine.
Didn't change the fact that he spent a lot of the time when he was in the house staying out of sight, though.
[C] | Miles | throughout Aifaran | early July | open | Justice 1
Though he's undeterred from his main thread about Jack, Miles is still wandering the city, looking for more stories. Got to keep his mind fresh while he's trying to compile more leads on his main story, after all. For now, he's learned his lesson about looking before leaping.
The best way to find a story, believe it or not, is just to be personable. People will drop information whether they know it or not. Besides, at the heart of it, he likes people. Especially here in Aifaran. They're always interesting.
Seems like the Sentry doesn't find him to be too endearing, though, which is partially why he's decided to be, well, Miles, and cheerfully talk to them. They look at him with great suspicion, like they're certain he's stolen something. Seems that his reputation has spread, especially after busting into Valdis' office last month.
"Hey, how's it going? Fancy a handshake?" He holds out one of his mangled hands to a Bresilykian member of the Sentry, who looks at it with equal parts suspicion and disdain.
[D] | Miles | a park | early July | closed to Ilda
What does a grown-ass man do while he is waiting to dance in public like a fool? Climb a tree. Despite his missing digits, Miles actually isn't doing too badly at it. With a little bit of effort, he hauls himself up to the lowest branch, about nine feet off the ground, and sits on it, waiting for Ilda.
"Hey!" he says, waving when he sees her.
[E] | Miles | the streets | July 6 | closed to Valdis
Miles wakes up suppressing a shout. He's in a cold sweat, his mind reeling; who is he? He looks at the end of his arm, and his vision wavers - is there a hand there or not?
There is. There is. Not with all its fingers, but it's there. He can still hear the scratch-scratch-scratching of the pen, the ravings of the madwoman that aren't quite so mad - an experience too like his own.
His skin prickles, and he can't force the Walrider fully down. There's too much adrenaline pumping through his veins. He thanks whoever's listening that he doesn't have a roommate right now, and he opens the window, jumping through it. The nanites slow his fall, and when he lands, he runs.
He has to get the adrenaline out. He has to get himself under control. He knows his eyes are silvered and he can see the cloud of nanites surrounding him, making his form hazy in the midnight dark. And he hopes he doesn't run into anyone while he's out here.
Nobody surprise me. Please, nobody surprise me. I don't want to know what I might do by accident.
[F] | Aly | around Aifaran | throughout July | open | Arts 5
Aly's having fun painting with Ilda (okay, well, graffiti-ing). She'd always liked art, and this was a fun outlet. The danger of getting caught made it more fun, she's pretty sure.
While she's scoping out new spots, she's considering what to paint - and quite suddenly a glowing fish appears before her, floating in midair. She can see the brushstrokes that make it up.
"Blub," it says.
"What," says Aly.
[G] | Aly | a market | mid-July | closed to Rutile
Okay, what do you need for a trip out to the end of everything?
Nothing quite so dramatic, of course, but still - their expedition to the barrier is going to require a good bit of stocking up on supplies. At least Aly has some experience with metaphysical nonsense, so that's a point in their favor. Maybe it'll answer some questions Aly still has about this version of Konryu that Aly now lives in.
Maybe if I cut into the barrier, it'll send me home.
It really does look too much like the aurora she'd seen that one time in the in-between place. Maybe it was related, somehow.
She picks up a bag of curamija jerky and glances over at her companion. "Rutile? Do you eat meat?"
[H] | Aly | around Aifaran | mid-July | closed to Ilda
Is it the middle of the night? Yes. Does Aly have luminescent paint? Also yes. Is she about to engage in some hooliganry with Ilda? Well, it's art, but yes.
"So," she says, stretching, "what are we gonna paint?"
[I] | Aly | Dreaming Bridge | early July | closed to Conan and/or Alice
Aly's gotten used to the idea of roommates, sort of. She'll have to get used to it even more, because of college in a couple years, but she's reasonably sure that one of her roomies won't be a six-year-old.
"Hey, friendo," she says to whoever enters the room, baby child or goth girl. "What's up?" She's laying on her bed, sketching something out. Someone observant may recognize it as a start of a sigil...or, depending on what she's doodling, something like some of the glow-in-the-dark graffiti around the city.
[J] | Gene | Valdis' place | July 26 | closed to Valdis
The temporary visitors hadn't brought Tony with them, and Gene was a little relieved about that. He didn't think that he could deal with an established time limit on their time together, and Tony being taken away again so soon would be so cruel. Average for his life, but so, so cruel.
Valdis, though - she'd been through something similar, and it took him until just now to decide to ask her. He'd leave if prodding the trauma was too much, but he needed to ask.
He knocked on the door and waited. "Valdis?"
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First, it tingled a little, which he'd expected. What he didn't expect was that he felt ill for a moment, but that passed quickly. It settled down, but it still felt...wrong in his hand. The rings felt right. This felt different, and wrong.
"All right," he said neutrally, still holding it. "And?"
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She held out her hand, offering to take the sword back if he needed to release it.
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She returned the blade to its scabbard, walking to return it to the stand.
"But you know it wouldn't have brought him back, and you refrained." She sighed, leaning against the wall near her sword and crossing her arms, "You see, Gene, as much as you fear the future, I sense that you still want one. Even your words...you want to fix the wrongs."
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Gene closed his eyes. "There is no future for me back there. Which is why I was willing to tear everything down to have a present for me here."
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Cold, but she had seen it. Valdis had few qualms over her sins, there was no changing them, all she could do was keep moving forward.
"Even if it means ending."
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He's had so little time to be free - and most of it spent in Keeliai and Aifaran.
"It's no exaggeration to say that I'd die before I'd let that happen. But there's another option - I keep running and fix what I can, when I can. And it will keep me away from those I love, forever.
"I have no future. Not unless it's here."
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She sighed again as Anani started mewing, rubbing against Gene's leg and demanding attention.
"When Tu Vishan asked if I wanted to go home, I said yes," she told him, not really ashamed of it, "I didn't know what was going to happen when I finally revived on my world, but I wasn't looking for a future when I made that decision."
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He reached down for Anani to sniff his hand. "I don't care if I right wrongs all my life, I just want to have a life, like everyone else seems to get a chance to have. I want to have a family that isn't cruelly ripped away from me after I've barely had them for a few years."
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"I'm not alive anymore, Gene. I'm just existing. I have no goals or desires." She sighed, "You desire a life, Gene. A life that isn't beyond your grasp. Your desire to live can be enough. Take comfort in that, if nothing else."
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The glow of the blade in the corner wilted as the darkness shifted and red bled into her eyes. Ananis hissed, his back arching for a moment before he decided to flee the room.
"Broken," she scoffed, "I do not remember how Amos and Fenrir took me to that point, but I remember the return of my shattered soul as if it were yesterday. If that agony were even close to what I felt when it was destroyed...You know nothing of being broken."
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During the last few sentences he spoke, his own ka materialized behind him, just for a moment.
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The shadows writhed, pale red eyes slinking through the darkness as the creature tried to rip through what stood between it and manifesting.
"ENOUGH." It was a singular voice, sharp, commanding, one that Gene would recognize as Valdis when she used to get upset with her detectives.
The divine blade in the corner released a bright flash, a light that almost burned. The eyes vanished instantly, the light returning to normal and the weight of death lifting from the room. Valdis took a deep breath, trying to even out her breathing, every muscle shaking. She wished she could call it something simple, like 'fear', but she knew it was more.
"Gene," she whispered, "I think I know what they did...what I did."
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But Valdis shouted and the blade flashed and the atmosphere changed. Tolui still stood behind Gene, unwilling to relax.
"What?" he asked, his fist still clenched around the rings.
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Anani peeked around the corner of the counter, still fluffed up, but less fearful than before. Valdis sank to the ground, pushing against the wall, something solid to center everything.
"I'm probably lucky I didn't tear it."
She waved a tired hand at his ka, "There is no need for you now, I'm in control. I'm not that easy. I do apologize, however."
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He turned back to Tolui. "It's okay," he said softly. He'd have to tell Pepper about that...but maybe not the exact circumstances. The ka nodded and dissipated.
"Well, at least you didn't gut me this time," he said with grim good humor. "Are you all right?"
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The cat skittered across the floor, mewing loudly before throwing himself at her and purring like a motorboat. She stroked him, mumbling reassurances.
"But I'm fine. Too stubborn to be anything else."
Luckily. Perhaps she had more to live for than she thought. The desire to not destroy seemed like reason enough to keep going for now.
"You're an idiot."
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He sat back down, his original reason for visiting forgotten. "You went on the Narrakra?"
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Which was rather strange considering she hadn't even known she could walk among the dead.
miles a. resembles that remark and b. was actually the only responsible one on that expedition
Tony would, if he was here.
Gene pushed that thought - and the accompanying wave of sadness - down.
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