Honey mustard cannot just replace mustard arbitrarily.

[wrathfulkhan]

Characters: Gene Khan, Miles Upshur, Aly Haskell, Kai, and y'all
Date: throughout October
Location: Aifaran and environs
Situation: hooliganry
Warnings/Rating: Will be added as they arise
[A] | Gene | the Dojo | throughout October | open
The Dojo had opened in the beginning of October, since Gene had scraped together enough money for the lease, and had spent a solid week getting the place ready to open. It didn't quite smell of paint, but it was close.

He's done his best to advertize, but it's slow at first, and he spends the time he's not teaching with doing some forms, both to keep himself sharp and to prove to any potential incoming students that he knows his stuff.

[B] | Gene | the Shunt | backdated to August 27 | closed to Tony
[from here]
"Since May," Gene says. "It's August now." But his shoulders sag with relief, because Tony didn't forget. "If I ever expected to see you again here, it wasn't going to be on a shunt."

It's really him, he's here, and he remembers. Gene never thought he'd be so lucky. He'd never even dreamed it.

Gene took a step closer, and then another step, and then hugged Tony as hard as he could.

[C] | Miles | throughout Aifaran | mid-October | open
Crap.

As a rule, Miles refuses to dress up. But the masquerade ball coming up, well. Considering he wasn't likely to be let in if he showed up both stag and slumming it in casual clothes, he'd decided to go look for something to wear. At least if he went stag, he'd look good - and that didn't bother him.

I really wish I wasn't so picky, he thinks in the third shop he's gone to. And as for a mask, forget it. That's a can of worms he does not want to get into yet.

"I hate shopping," he grumbles.

[D] | Kai | throughout Aifaran | early October | open
If Kai wasn't a Dreamfolk, she'd look like a tourist. She does anyway. The city's strange, mostly due to the presence of so many vertebrates and such a weird mix of cultures! It's pretty weird for someone who's been confined to Inkling culture for almost her entire life, with only a smattering of Octoling culture - and that only recently with the wave of Octolings escaping the underground.

She's wandering around, looking up at everything, and of course trying every single piece of food that she possibly can.

"Okay," she says eagerly to a giggling kedan, "so what's a sea prune?"

[E] | Aly | throughout Aifaran | early October | open
Aly's slacked off on the graffiti lately, especially since she heard the Sentry were getting pretty intent on finding the culprit. Without that, though, there's little to distract her from the reality of her situation.

One: The barrier is acting weird, and it's her fault.
Two: It's getting close to Halloween. Aly used to love Halloween, but ever since the whole incident last year with the attempted faerie invasion, it makes her jumpy.
Three: She had messed with the barrier, and now it's acting weird, and it's close to Halloween.

All of this has combined to make her constantly anxious about history repeating itself and the barrier collapsing. She's a lot more twitchy than usual, which she tries to hide under enthusiasm for the festival, but there's an undercurrent of high-strung nervousness under it, making her seem slightly manic.

[F] | Aly | a restaurant | September 14 | closed to Devin
[from here]
"You do everything with purpose, so I assume that you're being rude on purpose, too," Aly said to him, and off they went.

When they sit down, Aly surveys him over the top of her menu for a moment, before saying with infuriating calm, "You're making friends. That's good. I worry about you."

She's building up to something. You cannot escape, Devin. You are already trapped.

---

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Comments

F!

[annihilist]

Devin does not raise his eyes even though what Aly says in unexpected. He thought she would use the setting to read him the riot act, not... whatever this is.

"I'd rather you didn't," the vampire grumbles quietly. Beelzebub's recent visit to Aifaran had highlighted just how dangerous forming attachments was even here - and not only to lives. "Though if past experience is anything to go by, that's the consequence of remaining stationary for any significant period of time."

A

[acicular]

Gene's visitor today is one of those peculiar-looking rock people, whose clear luminescence when they happen to stand in direct sunlight ought to be indication enough that they're definitely more than human. (That and any casual touch against their body, though they do all they can to avoid that, under the circumstances.)

Their duties as the winter guardian back on Earth had required them to engage in combat with the Lunarians, from time to time, but their low hardness rating made that a risky proposition. Nevertheless, they are clearly drawn in by Gene's work with the sword, approaching him as he trains... though keeping a respectable distance between themselves and that sword.

After a moment or two passes and they remain unnoticed, they lift their eyebrows and interrupt quietly with, "Excuse me."

A

[ninjainviolet]

Training around the city had its perks, but there's nothing like the familiar feel of a Dojo. Having heard that one had opened, Sheena had donned the copy of her Mizhuoan attire and made her way over.

Taking a deep breath before entering, she was flooded with memories of other Dojos--where she had learned and where she had taught.

Boots off and bowing before stepping inside, Sheena let her eyes adjust to her surroundings as she took in the layout. Figuring out where the office was, she made her way towards the room and knocked politely to announce her presence.

"Excuse me. I'm interested in training here."

B

[highprofilerichkid]

"Oh. Crap." Okay, it could be worse. Three months is a long time, but it's not long enough to radically change things. Hopefully. "Gene, I'm really sorry." Gene takes a few steps toward Tony, almost hesitantly, and then pulls him into a crushing hug. Tony hugs him right back, as hard as he dares.

"I had no idea. I— I didn't go home, or anything. I woke up in one of the buildings here, and I thought the shunt had just teleported me." He frowns, though Gene can't see it. "...Maybe I should have realized something was up when I had the armor with me." Yeah, that probably should have been a clue. He tries not to make a habit of sleeping in the armor, and he definitely doesn't wear it to bed.

C.

[spoilsfun]

Conan had been out wandering the shopping district, when he spotted a somewhat familiar face. They hadn't talked much, but he did recognize Miles.

"Why? Did you not find what you were looking for?"

A.

[zohvin]

While the word 'dojo' itself wasn't a term he was familiar with, a training hall was something Zohvin hadn't realized he missed until he saw a flyer for it. He had found places within Kaas City to exercise and keep himself from letting his skills slip too far, but it wasn't as comfortable to train in a place where he had to always be on his guard. Zohvin wasn't about to fully let his guard down on a strange planet, but here there was no Empire watching him and no one that would recognize jedi martial arts forms. This dojo would be as close to a place for calming exercise that he could get.

Zohvin arrives one morning to take a look around, in time to catch the tail-end of a class. Not keen on interrupting them, he stands aside to watch instead, indulging his curiosity in whatever alien fighting technique was being taught. It wasn't much like what he was familiar with, but then, he hadn't expected it to be.

A.

[denyamenti]

Bakura had heard that Gene had opened a dojo of his own in the intervening time since Bakura had been away in the Dreaming, and he's stopping by today to take a look at the new enterprise. Gene had always been a steadfast fixture in the Jade Dojo, so Bakura thought it was fitting that he finally have his own.

"What are you going to call this place, hebnay?"