I blame the Nintendo 64 for brutalism.

[wrathfulkhan]

Characters: Gene Khan, Miles Upshur, Aly Haskell, Kai, and y'all
Date: throughout February
Location: Aifaran and environs
Situation: Why does February feel like one big Tuesday?
Warnings/Rating: Will be added as they arise

[A] | Gene | Xin de Kaishi Dojo | early February, prior to To the Waters and the Wild | open
The dojo's been doing well - better than Gene expected, really. He's got some regular customers and new people poking their heads in regularly, at least to try it out. Unfortunately, he's a little short-staffed, and it's starting to show. He's running himself ragged to the point where his students are landing hits on him more than usual.

When a Castian apologizes profusely for knocking him to the ground, he gets to his feet and congratulates her. "That's fantastic, Chel. Now see if you can get that consistently. You're getting good at spotting openings."

[B] | Gene | the apartment | February 14 | closed to Tony
Valentine's Day had never been a thing in Konryu; the closest was Tine's Commemoration, which luckily fell over the Earth holiday. Gene had never been one for sappy declarations of love, since his emotions were usually locked down tighter than Fort Knox, but he was willing to show it a little more than usual around Tony, and more than that on Valentine's Day.

The dojo is closed today, so he's spent a few hours cooking and making sure everything is shipshape (tidying Tony's mess, mostly, because WHO LEAVES SHIRTS ON THE FLOOR?! Miles. When Tony gets back from the mechanic shop, everything is almost done.

"Hi," Gene says, and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

[C] | Gene | a park | early February | closed to Pepper
Gene had talked to Valdis about kaa, and the only other person left who could help him is Pepper. He's done a lot of thinking about what Valdis had told him, and he'd begun to accept that she was right. Hard pills to swallow, washed down with a bitter brew.

He's sitting on a bench, eyes closed, trying to calm himself to a sort of meditative state. He wouldn't be able to summon Tolui if his mind was full of chaos.

[D] | Miles | the docks | prior to To the Waters and the Wild | open
There's a lot going on lately, and Miles has made his way down to the docks to do a little bit of reconnaissance on the three odd ships that have docked. Naturally, he has his camera, and is filming everything he can, hoping to go over the footage later for anything interesting or anomalies. If he's not filming, he's sitting on the ground - far away from the water - taking notes and interviewing anyone who may have information on it. He'll confront the woman who emerged from the ship later, but he's doing his own investigation for now.

[E] | Aly | the streets | mid-February | open
There's a certain degree of calm to Aly lately. She's been helping with the cleanup and restoration, but she knows that it's time to go home and see her self-appointed mission through. She knows that she can't do that entirely, but she's heard that she can go meditate at one of the turtles' heads. Meditation comes easy for her when she can calm herself down enough to clear her mind, and she's been practicing. She doesn't want to get agitated and fall out of the Dreaming in the middle of what she has to do.

She's preoccupied, walking around with a thoughtful look on her face, and might not hear if you call her name, and might even walk into you. She thinks better on her feet, but maybe she should just pace in her room instead of doing it in public.

[F] | Kai | a park | after To the Waters and the Wild | open
Kai is thrilled to be done with that fishy form, and as a result she's been running everywhere, glad to have the use of her legs. And the ability to transform again, of course.

"Woohoo!" She's running through one of the parks, shooting the ground with ink, and diving into it as a squid, jumping in and out of it to shoot more ink on the ground so she can cruise around. She's having the time of her life.

---

If you want another starter, feel free to hit me up via PM or at Chatvert!

Comments

A.

[zohvin]

Zohvin has already been at the dojo for at least an hour by this point, finished with his warm-up stretches and well into his usual training routine. But even with one foot into a meditative state, he liked to keep an eye on his surroundings, and the commotion didn't escape his notice.

After snapping his staff back to its retracted state, Zohvin strolled over to the two of them, a sardonic edge creeping into his usual soft-spoken tone. "Better than your master is at spotting when he needs a break. Forgive my interruption, but I think you could both use some water and time to catch your breath." Gene needed it the most, of course, but Zohvin wasn't aiming to embarrass him in front of his students.

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene winced a little at the call-out. He'd always pushed himself way too hard, and he'd apparently started to fall back into that old bad habit.

"I was fine," he said to Zohvin once Chel had gone for her break. "Just missed a step, that's all." For once, he's not lying very well. Even if he'd been able to pull off the tone, his physiological reaction to that much sustained fighting and little rest would have been betrayal enough.

[zohvin]

"You missed a step this time," Zohvin corrected, casting his tone a little lower just in case anyone was curious enough to listen in to their conversation. Just because he often ignored other people's problems didn't mean that he always felt the need to, and letting this one pass by would have just nagged at his conscience later.

"The next time, you're likely to put yourself in the hospital. Every time I stop by the dojo lately, you've been pushing yourself harder, but the humanoid body can only go so far. If this continues, you might sprain your ankle or break a bone next."

[wrathfulkhan]

Unfortunately, Gene had to admit to himself that Zohvin was right. If he hurt himself due to his own, dammit, stupidity, he wouldn't be any good to anyone. And he also had to admit to himself that it wasn't just stubbornness, it would be pure stupidity.

"So what am I supposed to do, then? Sit idle?" The very idea rankled; he'd never sat idle in his life. If he wasn't pushing himself, then he was losing time that could be spent on...

...something else.

He didn't have any goals that he needed to push himself to the brink for, not anymore. Zhang was dead, he'd gotten the rings - dear God, how that had backfired - and he wasn't on the police force anymore. There was nothing to fight these days, aside from his students.

[zohvin]

"Are you saying you aren't a fan of vacations?" Zohvin asked dryly. He could tell from the tone of Gene's voice that it wasn't an option - and honestly, it hadn't been his first suggestion. Zohvin wasn't the type to enjoy sitting on his hands, either, but the Jedi had taught patience even before his choice of profession drilled it into him. If waiting was essential, it didn't matter how much you didn't like it.

"My recommendation would be to dial it back a bit. Do you have anyone that could take over a couple of your classes?"

C!

[lasergrenades]

Pepper wasn't sure exactly what this was about, but she's hardly about to say no if Gene needs something. Or even just wants to talk. Besides, it's a reason to get out of the townhouse for a little while. Walking around debris and past gutted buildings makes it clear how much of a mess there still is, but it's getting better. People are hopeful.

She spots Gene easily and foregoes her usual buoyant greetings when she sees his eyes are closed. Focusing; meditating maybe?

"Hey," Pepper announces herself quietly, approaching the bench. She drops down next to her friend and surveys the park. "If you're lost in thought I can send in a search party."

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene cracks an eye open at her when she greets him, and smiles. "Hey, yourself." He seems to be in a better mood than he has been recently, though just why is anyone's guess. "I've got something to ask you, and feel free to say no."

This is definitely an ominous way to begin a conversation. Well - ominous in a way that isn't usually Gene's flavor of ominousness.

[lasergrenades]

Ominous indeed. Pepper turns her head, open curiosity on her face. The fact that Gene is asking for something, possibly help, is already enough to have her leaning towards 'yes' on principle.

"Okay," she says with a nod, head tilted. "What's up?"

[wrathfulkhan]

"Are you ready to talk about kaa?" Gene asks, before hurriedly adding, "It's all right if you're not, I know it might be a sore subject." Vee was around a lot of the time, but that wasn't the same as discussing theory...the theory that Bakura had taught them.

[lasergrenades]

Pepper goes still for a little while. They've talked about kaa and Shadow Magic on and off, but this is the first time since Bakura disappeared. On the one hand, Pepper wants to support Gene on his journey, as the struggle for him hasn't ended yet. His Shadow test was one step along the way, and she knows he hasn't found ease with Tolui yet.

On the other, the thought of delving into what she understands about Shadow magic makes her heart ache. But, Pepper knows, it probably always will. And if nothing else, this is a place to start dealing with her grief around it.

She breathes deeply and nods. "Better not to avoid it, probably. I'm okay," Pepper assures him. "What's on your mind?"

A

[ninjainviolet]

Sheena is off to the side looking over her own schedule of students when she hears a body hit the floor. Looking up, her brows lift in surprise. She had expected to see the student on the mat--not Gene.

But a closer look tells her why, but she waits until the lesson is over and the student gone before striding over to her boss.

"Gene, you're overworking yourself. You need to cut back a little."

What better way to spend the free time before her own class than to chew out her boss? (And yep, this is totally the pot calling the kettle black here considering her own workload, her drawings, and helping with the cleanup.)

let the bodies hit the (tish tish) FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[wrathfulkhan]

Overworking himself? Him? That's not on-brand at all!!!

"I am not," he says, like a liar. "I just lost concentration for a second." Mm-hmm. Liar. It's plain that he's overworked.

In an attempt to elude the conversation, he turns to get some water. Dehydration helps no one.

[ninjainviolet]

Sheena crosses her arms and gives him a stern look.

"Yes, you are," she counters. "Have you forgotten who you're talking to? A loss of concentration happens because of being overworked."

She doesn't let him get away by getting some water, though her tone does ease a bit.

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off? I can combine your classes with mine."

[wrathfulkhan]

Okay - she's right, but he doesn't want to admit it.

"I wouldn't want to do that," he demurs, "that's not fair to you. I made a commitment." And he lived and died by his commitments.

[D] AND [E] ... Separately, of course. |D

[unfavorableinstigation]

[D]

Miles has the right idea of things - as Nita starts spending more time at the docks, she takes more and more notice of what is strange about the boats.

That said-

"Something wrong with the water?" she asks, not altogether far from where Miles is sitting... just also not directly behind him.

"Or are there still warnings of flooding to worry about?"

[E]

"-Are you alright?"

Aly's expression does not escape Nita's notice - and, having just saved herself from being seriously walked into, is cause for concern for the other teen as well.

"Kinda looking lost, there. And I don't mean geographically."

D

[upshore]

And they certainly are strange - not like anything else in Aifaran.

"Hm?" He looks up when addressed, and turns to face the other Dreamfolk. "Not really, even if it's not my favorite weather for a swim." He hefts the camcorder. "It's not exactly its favorite weather for a swim, either." Sure, it's water-resistant, but that doesn't mean he wants to see just how water-resistant.

Re: D

[unfavorableinstigation]

"Ah."

Water; the bane of (most) technology.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to ruin any footage you get from this," Nita accepts, nodding from where she's now plopped down on the sand.

"Still, from everything I've seen around here already - is there something in the water?"

Maybe explaining why the boats don't have anchors...?

[upshore]

"I've already had enough problems with footage," Miles says, thinking about Mount Massive for a moment and how he'd almost lost the camcorder.

"I don't think there's anything strange in the water, unless these ships are leaking chemicals or radioactivity or something. I've got no idea what their whole deal is."

Oh, no. An idea is forming in Miles' head, and, as per usual, it's a dumb one.

E

[wolfishflame]

Aly blinks when she's addressed, and has the good grace to look a little bit sheepish. "What? Yeah, uh, sorry. I was just thinking."

About murder. She was thinking about murder.

"About stuff back home, mostly." Murder. "Sorry. I don't think we've met, and since I was the one who almost smacked right into you, I'll introduce myself. I'm Aly."

I'd say 'and Nita hasn't thought about murder at all!', but I'd be LYING. :v

[unfavorableinstigation]

Now that there's space between them (and no harm done), Nita extends a hand to shake.

"Yeah, I'd say we haven't. I'm Nita. Were you heading anyplace, or just getting a walk in?"

[wolfishflame]

Aly shakes Nita's hand. Finally, someone about her age here. She hadn't met anyone about her age since Ilda, who'd disappeared like so many others.

"Just walking around. I think better on my feet." Especially because she's been restless lately.

B

[highprofilerichkid]

"Hey." Tony smiles at the kiss and shrugs off his bag. He almost drops it on the floor right inside the door, but then he notices how clean the apartment looks, and wisely hangs it on a coat hook instead.

He also notices how great the apartment smells, which means Gene has been cooking. Cooking and cleaning? How domestic, Gene. (He has completely forgotten what today is.)

"You made dinner? Sorry, you didn't have to clean, I should have, uh, done something about that earlier..." He has the grace to look a little sheepish, at least.

[wrathfulkhan]

Good, Tony. You're learning. (And with his co-teachers bullying him into taking a break, he has to find something to do.)

"Yes, you should," Gene says, and smirks at him. "I know it's a habit of yours, but if you could keep your organized chaos to the shop, I'd appreciate it." It's not so much a scolding as a reiteration of a point he's long since resigned himself to being ignored.

"Of course I made dinner," he says, looking at Tony blankly. "I figured that was the thing to do, since going out seems a little cliche at this point."

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony wastes half a second trying to come up with an appropriately contrite lie about how he will definitely change his slobby ways, but before anything comes to him, he suddenly clicks on why Gene cleaned and made dinner in the first place.

"Oh. Oh. Shit, I—" Valentine's Day. Shit. "I totally forgot."

You can hardly blame him, after several months of time displacement, but, still. He feels terrible.

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene laughs a little, because of course Tony would have forgotten. It was probably at the very bottom of his things-to-remember list, what with everything. He's been a little restless after his forced 'retirement' from the Dojo while he stopped trying to run himself directly into the ground.

"So I shouldn't expect flowers?" He's not hurt, just performatively exasperated.