ioduanlogs | Be my shelter from the storm

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Be my shelter from the storm | October Catch-all

Characters: Pepper Potts, Devin Parker, and you!
Date: Throughout October
Location: Around Aifaran
Situation: Pepper is enjoying the festivities, while Devin is not
Warnings/Rating: Possible mention of murder, violence; will add in headers as needed.

A. [Pepper] Arts 2 | Open

Usually, Pepper is not a clumsy person, especially not with the level of physical training she's been doing since coming to this world. Her balance is better, her situational awareness is better - on every day but today, apparently. One moment, she's walking down the street taking in the decorations and wares of one of the pop-up fair. The next, she's stumbling to the ground as cake - and an ungodly amount of fondant - topples off its stand and onto her. The baker of said cake is now staring at her like she's an actual demon. At least one of the tiers survived?

"Sorry! Oh my god, I am so sorry," Pepper says in a rush, holding her hands up.

B. [Pepper] Sci-Tech 4 | Mid-late October | Open

Thanksgiving and Christmas may be some of Pepper's favorite holidays, but the whole city getting into a melting pot version of Halloween has her super excited, too. And she's gotten a ticket to a wicked cool haunted house that promises to be every bit as spooky (and hopefully not nearly as dangerous) as a Makluan temple. The free candy doesn't hurt either, so she's practically vibrating while she's waiting in line to go in, peering around every now and then to see if any of her friends are here, too.

C. [Devin] Academy Library | First week of October | Open

It was only a matter of time until Devin fell prey to the Dreaming sickness. He had been worried that it would be displays of one of his many hunting missions, or Bobby, or his family. He had been worried that all he would see was violence and not knowing the difference between dreams and reality, he would hurt someone. Privately, Devin had decided that the moment it started, he would go on a camping trip somewhere isolated and wait it out.

He turns down an aisle at the library and stops dead, nearly dropping the stack of books he's holding. Shock overtakes his features. Leaning against one of the shelves with a soft smile on his face is a young Asian man with shoulder-length hair pulled back into a tail. Devin barely manages a whisper: "...Sam?"

"And you said this wasn't a hobby," the dream needles.

D. [Devin] Commerce 4 | Open

Devin has a day job, but the owner of one of the bars he's taken a liking to is harried with preparations for the Night Parade. Since the whole idea of the Parade has him a little uneasy, Devin agrees to run an errand and retrieve a box of slow-burning red candles. Once he's made the purchase (and quite a few rhinn lighter, until the owner reimburses him), Devin considers them pensively. Red was meant to ward off the spirits, and he has a whole army of dead in his past that he would like not to meet again.

E. [Devin] Outside Aifaran | 2nd Week of October | Trahearne

This is an extraordinarily bad idea. Granted, it's a bad idea that could potentially resolve as many problems as it could create. Trahearne doesn't like him, and would probably continue to feel they have unfinished business until they got the chance to finish the fight they started. Or, Devin allows, until he has spent long enough proving he is not, in fact, like the undead Trahearne knows. It might take longer than either of them have here, or it might never happen. In any case, Devin has no intention of hurting the sylvari. The Fool is going to be angry with him enough just for sending the embossed invitation, much less getting into a real altercation.

Though he appears unarmed, Devin isn't stupid enough to leave all of his weapons at home and has daggers hidden on his person. He arrives at the field in the early morning. When Trahearne arrives, Devin is leaning against one of the sparse trees in the area, the picture of relaxation.

F. Wildcard!

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"Yeah," Kai says. "And not like the weird thing that showed up before. Like, what was that all about?" Everyone had seemed pretty spooked by it.

The Inkling takes the offered hand and shakes it. "I'm Kai. Nice to meet you, too!" She looks around, trying to take in the whole situation. "Nah, I'm here on my own. I haven't met enough people yet. Mostly I've been tryin' to find some new clothes." Gotta stay fresh!

"Nah, don't worry about it," Miles says, shrugging. "That was worth the price of admission."

Being treated to cake, though, was right up his alley. "Deal times ten. You're on." Not like he would have left her to fend for herself, anyway. Letting her be embarrassed by herself just wouldn't be nice.

This was not the first time Devin found himself appreciating Klaus' discretion, and it probably wouldn't be the last. Plenty of other people would begin needling or prying immediately.

Devin finished replacing the remaining few books before answering. The fact that he contemplated leaning against the shelf suggested making it to the end of his shift would be difficult. "That sounds like the right kind of bad idea I could use at the moment," he conceded with a brittle, mirthless smile. Alcohol probably wouldn't encourage his headache, but Devin had definitely gone this route before. In an effort to show he wasn't unbalanced enough to lose all his edge, he added: "Especially if you're buying."

The collision of the planes when they were in Keeliai had become alarming by the time the left, so Devin doesn't blame Aly for being concerned. Those last few months had been on his mind a lot as events unfolded here in Aifaran.

"If something like that starts happening inside the barrier, I don't think colored candles will have much effect." The Dreaming still plays up in their protected bubble, but they do escape the worst of it. "It is odd that this happens as regularly as it does, but I think there is reassurance to take from that as well," Devin tells her. "Divergence from that consistency is unlikely. I wouldn't worry too much about planar breaches."

He raises the box of candles he's purchased. "All the same, I intend to spend that evening with my head down." For other reasons than the planes going to hell.

Trahearne watched warily as Devin moved, backing away to create more distance himself, one hand tugging free the simple rod at his hip. "So now you're blaming this on my pride? With nothing to say about your poisonous personality? I don't usually fight duels over small slights, but for you, I'm making an exception."

Then Trahearne raised the rod, pointing it at Devin. "I'll remain here as long as it takes. Prepare yourself!" With that warning, Trahearne gestured his hands in a circular motion before beckoning to the ground, multiple greenish-black portals opening in the space between him and Devin. Out of one came the hulking flesh golem that had been sent against Devin before, but the other portals sprouted different minions, including two flesh wurms that remained rooted in place, and two rat-like bone minions that seemed much more jittery compared to their fellow golems.

Having that many minions out at once could be called an intimidation tactic, but Trahearne had his reasons. He hadn't arrived at this duel without a plan in mind.

"Yeeeah, that was, uh. Creepy. Very creepy. I don't actually know what the deal is with that, honestly, but I try not to think too hard about it." She musters a smile to cover the troubled look that was forming. "But it seems like everything's back to normal now. Or normal enough for this place. Normal is pretty relative."

She perks up more genuinely at the mention of clothing. "I can help with that, if you want! I love shopping. I mean, if you want company, I don't mean to butt in or anything." They have literally just met, after all. "It's just fun, and I know a bunch of nice places where you can get good deals. If you're new to Aifaran, you're probably still on a budget, yeah?"

Pepper shoots an annoyed glare at Miles, though her smile sort of diminishes the effect. "Alright, come on then," she needles, gesturing for him to follow her towards the townhouse. Fortunately, it's not too far. She wouldn't want to take the Skyway covered in cake and a coach probably wouldn't be thrilled with her either.

"Man, I gotta figure out how to wash this stuff out. I don't know any tricks to deal with fondant," Pepper complains, trying to get more frosting out of her hair. "Speaking of cake, when's your birthday? So I know when to give you one with candles on it instead of just 'thank you for getting me out of a mess of sponge and buttercream and angry bakers'."

Normal was relative here, even though this place was a little more like what she was used to than what everyone else seemed to expect.

"Oh! Yeah!" Kai grins. "I'd love to have company, I usually go with my friends, but..." She trails off. Obviously they weren't here, and she couldn't be sure what looked good on her without a group consensus. She was confident, but she needed confirmation that she was, in fact, staying fresh.

Still, Pepper offering to help has cheered her up about that immensely. "Yeah, I'm tryin' to stretch every rhinn I can. Usually I get money from competitions, but I haven't found any I could really get into here."

"You'd be surprised," she says. "Anything that has enough belief put into it can overwhelm pure strength." It sounds cheesy, she knows, but it's what she's come to learn. "Maybe that's even true here."

When he tells her not to worry, she snorts. "Worrying is how I've stayed alive and usually in one piece." The scar around her neck itches at that. She ignores it. "And I'm going to stay out of trouble, too. A first for me, really." She's not going to go out in search of trouble, but if it happens to find her...well.

Even if she'd properly sent him an annoyed look, it wouldn't have fazed him much. That's the usual reaction to his nonsense.

"I don't know, I never deal with fondant. It kinda always tastes like food coloring to me." Miles shrugs. "Maybe you can just peel it off?"

When she asks about his birthday, he winces just a little. "March 31st. I've technically had two here already, but I don't want to count them." Turning 30 while in some weird interdimensional city? Not exactly how he'd pictured it.

Then again, he hadn't really expected to live to 30, given the fact that he regularly pissed off a megacorporation back home.

Edited 2018-10-27 00:17 (UTC)

"You're not incapable," X replies, almost before he has a chance to think better of it. "You're not." And quite apart from the fact that X would know, he's also seen what being incapable looks like, and Devin is nowhere near.

... Actually, Devin might benefit from hearing that story.

"A muscle unworked isn't the same as the muscle not being there," he starts. "A disaster -- well, I won't argue that. But... my husband could turn off his ability to feel. He could make himself incapable of emotion, and love. I know what that looks like. It doesn't look like someone twisting themselves into knots to justify staying comfortable in misery under the guise of protecting their loved one."

He's gentle, despite the challenge. Always gentle.

The story reaffirms that X has perspective Devin lacks, and more than he could have guessed on this particular subject. It helps, a little. Convincing Devin will take more than that, but it does help.

"You'd think it would've been beaten out of me by now," he mutters, mostly to himself. Devin still doesn't understand why he hasn't lost his humanity after everything he's seen and done. "I usually think it's better not to try. To just let it stay a 'what if'. Then I can't get an answer I don't want."

No one can steal that future from him, that potential, if he doesn't prove one way or another if he's still able to feel love. Though if he can, he'll also never find out. Perhaps that would count as stealing it from himself.

The kettle starts to whistle softly, and Devin turns to take it off the stove and pours the just-boiling into the mugs. "Besides, comfortable in misery is nothing new," he reminds X. It's not strictly a disagreement with X's assertion. He wouldn't self-describe as always being miserable, but Devin knows he prefers to be around people or he wouldn't need his rules about attachments.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Devin said, and then Trahearne presented quite a pointed subject change.

At the Dreaming Bridge, Trahearne had not had time to bring all of his toys out to play. The two new varieties looked like animals that had been turned inside out, and he could only assume that their abilities were different than the golem's. They weren't small, either. A sword might have been useful to cut them down, but his general strategy of avoidance would do, for now. Devin shifted his weight over his feet, eyes darting between the minions and back to Trahearne.

"Can't you summon something that looks a little less like you dug it up from a pet cemetery?" Devin complained. The vampire pulled a dagger out of his jacket and held it at the ready. His cavalier attitude was mostly a mask; he would have to be careful.

Devin darted forward to slash at the flesh golem's side, just enough to get it's attention in the hopes of getting it to follow him where he came to a halt near one of the wurms. They had limited reach but nasty-looking mouths, so Devin kept an eye on those pincers and waited to see if the golem would charge. If Trahearne fully controlled their minds and they didn't just react on their own, he was probably going to have to come up with a different strategy than getting the minions to accidentally attack each other.

It sounds less cheesy than Aly might think. Although he's never figured it out for certain, he's suspected that belief plays a strong role in how things function. Maybe not quite that on the nose, but Devin knew better than to dismiss it out of hand.

The similarities between himself and Aly continue to be source of some consternation. "Think you can manage it for a night?" Devin needles in lieu of more philosophical conversation. They've had enough of those for a while. "You'll probably have to find somewhere that isn't a bar, unless the Bridge makes a point to sequester itself for the residents. That might not be the worst plan, actually."

The Dreaming had a type, after all.

At the teasing, Aly smiles just a bit. Back to how things were, at least for a little while. And being too serious is as bad for you as being too flippant. "I don't know, can you?" she says sweetly. "And I don't go to bars. I don't even really go to parties back home. You might not know this, but I'm kind of an introvert."

She grins. "The worst place I'll be might be on a roof. I don't know if the ghosts look up."

Nothing, X knows, is ever beaten out of anyone. Not misbehaviour, not hope, and not love. It solves absolutely nothing.

He watches quietly while Devin makes the tea, noting absently how many different forms emotional difficulties can take. He's seen the refusal to acknowledge emotions. He's seen active conflict with every single emotion, both good and bad. He's seen emotional deadening, emotional over-excitement, and nearly everything in between. Somehow, Devin manages to encompass every single issue X has ever read, even the ones that should be incompatible. He's a strange mix of emotional maturity and flat denial.

"In the end," says X, "after all the agonising and weighing of options, all you really have is a choice. You can do nothing, or you can tell the Fool how you feel. If you were set on doing nothing, you wouldn't be asking for my help, which means you've already made your choice. The rest is just... cake frosting."

"Of course," Klaus said. "I'd not offer otherwise."

He checked out his books, stowing them in the spring-green tote bag he'd brought with him, and then they were off to the pub. Klaus knew nice place, reasonably quiet, especially in the late afternoon. It wasn't particularly fancy, but it was clean and comfortable, and the food and drinks were good.

"That person you saw before," Klaus said slowly after they'd placed their orders, "do you want to talk about it?"

The pet cemetery comment makes Trahearne's lips curl in an expression that was a little too cold to count as a real smile. Controlling this many minions was a mental exercise, and one that demanded most of his concentration. He didn't need to respond with words when he had his minions to do that for him.

The flesh golem immediately turns to lumber after Devin, but it didn't seem inclined to charge at all, simply rounding on him with a slower but steady pace. The wurm closest to Devin did attempt to snap at him a couple of times, but then it reared up and spit a glob of sickly green gunk at Devin's feet, one that lightly sizzled as soon as it hit the grass. None of the minions had minds of their own, but neither could Trahearne control them directly - instead, he was giving them commands through the link he retained with them, which accounted for why he simply seemed to be standing still and observing the fight.

The influence of the fragment of Abaddon that he carries plays a stronger role in his emotional state than Devin knows. It simultaneously protects him and weighs on him, and someday he will come to understand why.

Devin steps out of the kitchen and hands X a mug as he passes; it's a green tea with some kind of roasted grain in it. He sets his own mug on the low coffee table and settles on the edge of the couch like he's prepared to get up again quickly.

"He knows how I feel." Beat. "Or that I feel something, at least." Devin doesn't have words for it; only that it's there and frankly beyond his capacity for description. "I think he would wait a long time for me," Devin confesses softly, clasping his hands together. The Fool had said as much at the beach. "I have no desire to be a weight around his neck, so I can't do nothing. The choice is whether to push him away or-- to let him get closer." He rubs a thumb against his palm, frowning. "So far I've got plenty ideas for the former, and none for the latter. No surprise there."

"Yeah. We don't usually show up here in groups," Pepper understands. Having not just one but two other people from home was rare, especially given the length of time they had all stayed here. Most Dreamfolk were on there own the entire time they spent in Konryu.

She lets that subject go in favor of the much more fun one. "I'm always looking for people to go shopping with, it's fun even if we don't buy anything." And more often than not, she bought nothing or only one or two things. She doesn't have Tony's credit card to exploit. "What do you compete in, sports? I think there've been a couple Xa Xa photo contests but I don't actually know about many more than that," Pepper says a little apologetically.

"I think I got most of the big parts, its whatever got into the weave of the fabric that has me worried," Pepper elaborates, looking sadly down at her shirt. It might just be ruined. "But maybe enough hot water and soap will do it. I guess I'll find out."

She tilts her head, wondering what the wince was for. "Yeah, I've had, wow, three, and I'm turning twenty-one next month. It kinda loses it's charm since I can already drink here," she says with a laugh. "Next March, though, you should have a party. Or let me throw you one, everyone should celebrate when there's chances to," Pepper insists.

Kai brightens at the idea of shopping. "That'd be great! I love looking at clothes and stuff. Always gotta stay fashion-forward, right?"

Uh-oh, Pepper. You asked, and now you're gonna get it with both barrels. "Yeah, I do sports! Most Inklings my age do. I usually play Turf War, but sometimes I go for Rainmaker. I'm awful at Clam Blitz, though. I mean, I guess I could do the photo competitions, I've got a lot of followers on Inkstagram." Kai, fourteen followers is not 'a lot'.

"It'll be fine," Miles says, trying to reassure her. "I've had a lot worse come out in the wash." Blood, effluvia...really nasty stuff.

"Twenty-one, huh? I remember when I was twenty-one. I was already drinking anyway, though," he says with a grin. "College parties, and all." He does look a little unsure when she mentions a party for him, but...hell, she's right. He's had few enough chances to celebrate, anyway. "Sure. I'll let you throw a party, 'cause I'm really bad at throwing them myself. Usually it ends in a lot of political discussions." He's great at interacting with people. Really.

Pepper beams, delighted to have found another person enthusiastic about clothing. Maybe Kai, Ilda, and Pepper can all have a day out together sometime.

There are a lot of unfamiliar terms in Kai's explanation. "So, you're an Inkling," she parses, intrigued though she still has no actual idea what that means. She's sensing a marine theme, however. "And I'm guessing Inkstagram is like Instagram 2.0? Do you have humans where you come from, too? What about school? Most people I know don't have time to be winning money from competitions - we're all too busy doing homework."

Ugh, it's still waiting for her when she goes back.

"Inkstagram's kind of like Xa Xa. Is Instagram what humans use? Haha, I can't believe it's almost the same thing!"

At the mention of school, Kai sighs. "Yeah, I've got school. We have a 'work hard, play hard' kind of idea, so all our games are after school. And then I do homework after. It's a lot, but I wouldn't give up games for anything. I mean...aside from the fact that I'm here and don't have any games or teammates." She scowls.

She'd left her explanation of humans til the end. "Um...yeah, we had humans." If she pushes, Kai will tell her, but it's kind of a downer.

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Be my shelter from the storm | October Catch-all

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