If I can live through this I can do anything

[lasergrenades]

Characters: Pepper Potts, Devin Parker, and you!
Date: Throughout August
Location: Around Aifaran
Situation: Pepper gets turned tiny and is a small terror, and Devin is dealing with the fallout of Bobby's visit
Warnings/Rating: Probable discussions of torture, violence, murder


A. [Pepper] Arts 3 | Around Aifaran | Open

Not having anything particularly against Igheeri and also not being particularly busy at the moment they grab her, Pepper is willing to go along with the gag. It's clearly a serious enterprise for them, and despite literally nothing being either a style that works for her or something that isn't completely hideous, she's having fun. For the first hour, anyway. After that it starts getting a bit ridiculous, and then when she tries to disentangle herself it is not as easy as she would like. "Really, this has been super fun, but, uh, I'm supposed to be meeting a friend nearby."

B. [Pepper] To be a child again | Aug 8 - 14 | Around Aifaran | Open

Well, this is awkward. Pepper woke up about twenty-five or twenty-six once in Keeliai, and that was a bit strange but not substantially problematic. Waking up ten, however… very problematic. Part of that problem is that, while she remembers Aifaran and Keeliai and all of that history, she's also much more her ten-year-old self than her actual age in some ways: more stubborn, more chatty, and more (visibly) insatiably curious. She tries to go to work, and the Sentry tell her she'll have to wait until it wears off (it had better wear off). The kitchen counter is annoyingly high but she insists on trying to cook anyway. None of her clothes fit, which means she can go shopping but everyone treats her like the child she appears to be, and therefore don't talk to her like she's just a human being. Bakura and Gene are elected to help make the shopping nightmare bearable. More than one person is threatened with arrest.

Worse, Pepper can't wear the Rescue armor properly, and the one time she tries she falls on her face in the middle of a park. When her ka is tangible, Pepper looks almost laughably small next to the fully-armored woman, and Vee teases her once by appearing at her ten-foot height. The redhead retaliates by climbing her.

C. [Devin] Apartment | August 1 | X

Valdis tells him that Bobby is gone, and the last shred of composure Devin has been clinging to finally shatters. He doesn't sit so much as collapse heavily onto his couch, head in hands and shoulders shaking. It's over. It should have been over when they trapped her, when they fought on the most even terms possible and when Devin had the chance to just kill her. He had her life in his hands for the first time, and he didn't want it. She wasn't worth it to him; she was still a threat, to be sure, but not in the apocalyptic way he had feared. What was left to her was her ability to destroy Devin from the inside out with just words, a powerful language to manipulate reality, and the knowledge that harming people he cares about would unhinge him.

She will never remember this incident, but Devin is left trying to pick up the pieces of himself in her wake. She's gone but the world hasn't stopped spinning out of his control.

D. [Devin] The turtle's head | Mid or Late August | The Fool

It's obscenely early in the morning when Devin reaches the turtle's head. Neither his apartment nor the Fool's is a neutral enough location for this conversation, and he couldn't think of anywhere else that would be both private and neutral. Visitors usually don't show up until after breakfast here, even though it's no guarantee of complete privacy. What it does offer is a sense of calm that has evaded Devin for the better part of three months. Even if it's only by inches, it is better than nothing. There's a flat spot on the rocks that isn't carved but is like a naturally formed bench, and Devin claims the spot to watch the sun rise.

He told the Fool when he'd be there, but didn't request that he arrive quite this early if he doesn't want to. The vampire doesn't need as much sleep as most humans. He hasn't been getting it either, and it's starting to show even in the pale rays of morning.

E. [Devin] A Bar | Late August | Kit

So, a lot happened last month. A Lot. Taking on his demonic ex-girlfriend and sealing her into a giant bloody cross until she vanished from Aifaran was not undertaken lightly, and Devin has been dealing with the consequences in one way or another ever since. Getting drunk and hiding was the first order of things, but then he had to help keep an eye on a foal-sized Hellhound and was forced to stop drowning in his own self-hatred and misery for five minutes. He knows he needs to have a conversation with everyone who was involved; Valdis can wait, since the whole guardianship thing will take some more unpacking of its own and she wasn't miffed about anything but not killing Bobby. Klaus understood the gravity of her presence even if she was much less powerful than anticipated, and Devin also isn't sure how this situation will affect their already rocky interactions.

Kit, however, had objected strongly to her murder and to sealing her, and as much as Devin would like to Never Ever speak of these events again, he has to. There is too much that Kit doesn't know, and not enough familiarity between them to let this sit by the wayside. Devin purchases himself a double helping of liquor and tells the bartender he'll get Kit's, too.

F. Wildcard!

Comments

D!

[afoolsgold]

The Fool is not, in general, an early riser. He enjoys the luxury of an indulgent lie-in perhaps a bit too much, now that he has the opportunity to enjoy it without fearing for his life or for the course of history that might be upset by indulging his whims. But this is hardly his first time visiting the turtle's head in the twilight of predawn.

For a time he stands still in the tall grass and watches Devin where he sits by the water's edge, but doesn't approach. Devin will know that he's here, of course--not by his scent, for he doesn't have one, but from the sound of his heartbeat, which will always be beyond his power to conceal. He doesn't hesitate in approaching out of fear or reluctance... though possibly to postpone the inevitability of change that has surrounded this encounter since Devin first proposed it. It begs the question of whether the Fool is drawn to change, or if his presence is enough to create it wherever he goes? That's more philosophical than he has the heart for, this morning.

(Though he has heart enough for plenty of other things.)

He doesn't announce himself when he at last descends the gently sloping hill to join Devin on the flat slab of stone, folding himself neatly into a sitting position at his friend's side. He doesn't say anything at first, instead looking towards the gentle softening of the horizon where the sun will rise, eventually.

Then, "This is such a beautiful place." Maybe a trite comment coming from anyone other than the Fool, who rather reverently traces his gloved fingertips across the smooth stone.

E

[bestofthevein]

A bar and a bourbon are neutral ground, for Kit. It sounds like an olive branch of some kind. He'll take it.

He arrives at the bar at the prescribed time, polite enough to finish off his cigarette and put it out before pushing the door open and stepping in. It takes him only a few seconds to spot Devin where he's seated at the bar, and to make his way over to him. "Hey," he says, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the din of conversation around them.

There's a vacant seat next to Devin, which Kit takes, and leans his elbows on the counter. He doesn't say much, scratching uncomfortably at the side of his jaw.

(Who's going to break the ice first?)

A!

[rutility]

Rutile has lived alongside the resident fashionista back home long enough to know how to recognize an impromptu fashion show, as well as how dangerous it is to be in the vicinity of one. They keep their distance when they see the Igheeri pestering an unfamiliar Dreamfolk - the looks are, after all, horrendous, and they're far too busy to get caught up in that sort of thing. Truly. They would never want to take part in one, ever.

Still, as they pass by, they feel a pang of sympathy for the Dreamfolk. It is clear that she wasn't expecting such an outing, either, and even offers a pitiable excuse. A noble attempt, though unconvincing to the truly determined.

Rutile sighs and turns, heading back toward the Igheeri. As they push into the throng, they have no problem summoning a vaguely annoyed look as they say to the Dreamfolk: "There you are! I've been looking all over for you."

Ceeeeeeeeee

[psituational]

X has, very deliberately, not sought out any more information about Bobby. If Devin planned to deal with her in any way, X had no idea. For the space of time in which the temporary Dreamfolk are still in Aifaran, X lets Devin have his space, keeping himself only as visible as he thinks Devin would probably need in order to be sure X is safe.

That changes when he walks in and sees Devin falling apart on the couch.

Instantly, X is next to him, both hands on Devin's shoulders as a solid gesture of I'm here. He stops just short of a hug, recalling all too well what sort of a reaction Devin would have to that, but contact he'll insist on whether Devin wants it or not. This is Bobby, he knows, but -- has she done something else? Or --

"She's gone, isn't she?"

The relief it brings flooding would very easily crack the wall Devin is so skilled in keeping solid.