ioduanlogs | I was born with lightning in my heels

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I was born with lightning in my heels | March Catchall

Characters: Pepper Potts, Devin Parker, and you!
Date: Throughout March
Location: Around Aifaran
Situation: Pepper and Devin are getting used to their new jobs. Pepper has an encounter with building materials, goes on patrol, and walks into a bad neighborhood. Devin deals with some personal issues and gets followed around by a pack of inan.
Warnings/Rating: None yet, will add as needed

A. [Pepper] Verdant Sentry - Justice 5 | Open

Pepper has been dutifully studying and basically trying to be the absolute best recruit possible (she may be trying to skip a few steps in this process given her existing skills), and has apparently had a reasonably good impression. They're not letting her run the place yet, but some members of the Sentry have asked her to describe the legal system back home. Apparently, they're intrigued enough that they take her on a few patrols and ask her what police would do, on at least one occasion she's out and about with them wearing the Rescue armor.

B. [Pepper] Sci-Tech 1 | Open

As cool as flying is to get to know the city, it's important to explore on the ground level, too. Pepper is exploring an area where some construction is ongoing. This is normal, for her. New York City almost always had some sort of construction going on, and the scaffolding is a familiar sight. The sudden alarmed yelling as she walks underneath it, however, is new. Before she even has time to properly process what's happening, her ka appears in front of her. The Knight catches the large hammer that threatened to land on Pepper's head, and is shooting an annoyed look at the workmen above them.

C. [Pepper] Crime 1 | Open

Apparently, this is not a great place to wander into. She's on the outskirts of the city as dusk is falling, and Pepper has a very certain sense of being watched and possibly even followed. Perhaps counter to expectation, she is not all that worried. The dagger Solomon gave her is in her boot, Vee is but a thought away, and she's got enough training to be hard to handle. The utter lack of concern on her part appears to have hooked an actual tail, but she doesn't increase her pace.

D. [Devin] Dreaming Bridge | Leo

Most of the time when Devin is not working at the Academy library, he's either in his room or somewhere else quiet where he can read and remain mostly undisturbed. He's not avoiding people per se, but he's not being particularly social, either. The incident with Trahearne and Klaus is still weighing on him. As a result, the vampire is sometimes less antagonistic than he was last month - although sometimes more. Today is one of those days when his roommates are gone long enough that he can have a little peace and quiet, and therefore is probably in a reasonable mood.

E. [Devin] Somewhere Serving Classy Alcohol | Klaus

While Devin can't really afford the amount of alcohol required to get drunk, he does enjoy the flavor of good liquor and isn't opposed to savoring it from time to time. Recent events have certainly been enough to want to take the edge off things, but even if he can't Devin tends to like the atmosphere of older, well-established bars. The lighting is warm, and there's a small booth in a corner that Devin claims so he can see most of the establishment while he sips at a dark, amber-colored drink.

F. [Devin] Metaphysics 3 | Open

He's going to complain to Leo about this. After the young man foisted the cat-like creature on him and refused to take no for an answer, Devin has had to figure out how to be a pet owner. This meant, predictably, a lot of research, and since the inan displays a reasonable amount of intelligence, Devin decides to start training it. He's in one of the city parks working on getting it to come when called when suddenly there's a small pack of the things that seem to want to use Devin as their own personal jungle gym. The vampire is baffled, but he allows the attention and even carefully tries to return it when they let him. One does nip at him, but it's too gentle to break skin, and Devin actually laughs.

(OOC: Let me know if you want a starter or feel free to write your own!)

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Well this is definitely an uncanny valley moment.

Kit gives himself a moment to observe the spectacle from a slight distance, cigarette stuck into the corner of his mouth, before he takes it out, breaths out a whorl of smoke, and ambles closer. He doesn't have much choice about the 'coming closer' part, because his bibiru, already deciding that the inan look like they're having too much fun without it, has decided to hop closer to investigate the playtime.

He stops a few paces back, taps the ash off the end of his cigarette, and cocks his head to the side. "Looks like you're done for, salroka," he declares, and there's the bare bones of an olive branch in his tone, in the slight lift of his eyebrows as he looks at Devin where he lies, besieged by inan.

(Like, obviously the guy is still a prick, but he's a prick who's nice to animals, so that's... something.)

Most of the reason Devin notices Kit's approach is because a few of the inan disengage from crawling up his legs where he sits, and it's the bibiru he spots first. Then his eyes meet Kit's, and for several seconds his expression is blank while he tries to figure out how to deal with being seen like this.

He had not exactly been kind to Kit during their previous encounter. Understatement. And now he's covered in inan, with his guard down and a glimmer of his truer nature shining through. Bugger.

"So it would seem," Devin agrees, a little sheepishly. One of the inan - the one with a collar and therefore presumably his - jumps onto his shoulders with a quiet barking noise. She looks very pleased with herself. "I'm honestly not sure where they all came from." A different inan tries to chew on his shirt, and Devin prods it away. "Hey, that can't be good for you - you don't even eat food."

In response to that blank look, Kit cocks his other eyebrow. Up comes the cigarette for another lazy drag off of it, then down again. Is this a stale mate?

"So it would seem."

Kit cracks a crooked grin, just a little twist at the corner of his mouth. Well, at least this proves the guy isn't incapable of a little good humour at his own expense.

"Yeah--what are they anyway? Cats? Foxes?" He finishes off his cigarette and then flicks it aside--litterbug--and takes a couple more steps forward, just to make sure that his little bibiru doesn't end up in over its fuzzy head. (The small animal is sniffing at Devin's shoes, little wings flapping in futile excitement; it's not going anywhere.) "This place has got some weird wildlife."

"It's an odd assortment, but that's apparently what happens when you need to make like Noah and build an ark to survive catastrophe," Devin says dryly. "They're called inan, although calling them a cross between cats and foxes is apt."

One of the little creatures scampers after Kit's discarded cigarettes, but very quickly decides it's too smelly to actually retrieve. It does return to the dwarf's side to chirp at him. Another is trying to engage the bibiru in grooming.

"I blame you for this," Devin tells Luthien, who responds by licking his nose. The vampire closes his eyes, hiding his embarrassment, before looking back to Kit. "They're basically energy vampires, so they don't eat solid food. From what I understand they aren't that common, either, so this…" He gestures to the pack of them. "... Is somewhat unusual."

Make like Noah and what now? Like many things do when you're Kit's height and not from Earth, that one sail right over his head, but he doesn't bother trying to figure out the specifics. He gets the gist of it.

"They're pretty cute for vampires," Kit says, chuckling, and crouches down to hold out his hand to the little inan that has come to investigate him. His bibiru, in the meantime, has taken to flopping itself down happily at the inan attempting to engage it in grooming; a clear demonstration of its comfort at the moment, Kit guesses. It doesn't look like it's in immediate distress anyway.

"...From what I understand they aren't that common, either, so this… Is somewhat unusual."

"Maybe the Veil is thin here or something," Kit muses out loud while scratching the inquisitive inan underneath its chin, before realizing what he's just said and adding, "Uh, that's sort of--a partition between the physical world and the Fade--the spirit world, where I'm from. According to mages and human religious sorts anyway. Doesn't really apply to dwarves." Which is what he is, if his height is any indication. "I guess there isn't really a Veil here, is there."

Devin listens with mild interest to Kit's explanation - many of the Dreamfolk come from worlds where different planes have significance. For now, he's also going to pretend what happened at the beach… didn't happen, until there's a better time to bring it up.

"No Veil, but the Dreaming is responsible for most of the strange incidents around here, small and large. It's less a barrier and more it's own separate entity, but I suppose it's possible there's something locally attractive to them."

Luthien takes this moment to drape herself across Devin's shoulders, her fluffy tail twitching gently from time to time. He's still getting used to how affectionate she is. "That, or the one that's claimed me decided to summon distractions from her schooling. Do dwarves not have much use for religion, where you come from?" He sounds almost approving of this possibility.

"Do dwarves not have much use for religion where you come from?"

"Mm, not like the elves and humans do, I guess. We've got a thing for the Stone, and the Ancestors, but--"

He doesn't trail off exactly; more like he just quiets himself and gives Devin an askance glance, as though trying to suss out in a glance whether this line of questioning is going to lead them right back to the place where they started out: giving and taking shit on the beach.

Chafing a palm against his beard, he asks, "You really want to know?" The question sounds like it's a test of some kind, but not delivered just for the sake of being contrary.

The question doesn't come as a surprise. When they had talked before, Devin had taken his observations and thrown them back in Kit's face. Being found like this, covered in mystical little beasts and laughing about it, diminishes the image he'd put up somewhat.

He looks down, presumably because an inan is digging at his pants fabric but in actuality because eye contact is difficult for him. "I'm better with information-- with knowledge, than with almost anything else." Than people. "History, mythology, cosmology; it's easier to spend time with. So, yes, if being cantankerous isn't too off-putting."

"...if being cantankerous isn't too off-putting."

This guy must be a real hit at parties.

"Well," he starts with raised eyebrows, and ambles a little closer so they aren't speaking across at each other as though they're at cross purposes. He fetches out another cigarette and lights it, maybe more to have something to keep his hands occupied than for any other reason, though the habitual inhale and exhale of the smoke probably does soothe the frayed edges of his nerves. "We venerate the Stone, and the best of our ancestors--we call them Paragons, living ancestors--but we don't worship them. No going down to the Chantry for vespers or pleading with the Maker to forgive us for our sins, any of that sod." He waves a hand; there aren't any Andrastians around for him to offend anymore anyway. "But, uh," he adds, "we go back to the Stone, when we die. Supposedly."

He used to believe that pretty fervently, up until he died and discovered himself here, of all places. Maybe the doubt shows on his face.

He's more typically a hitman at parties.

There's details that Devin doesn't have context for, much like his own reference to Noah. Unpacking the structure of foreign worlds always took a little time. Many Dreamfolk came from a version of Earth, but even those that did were often complex and identifying differences was of some interest.

"Supposedly," Devin echoes, studying the dwarf. "So, it's a tradition of ancestral respect - spiritual but not religious. Hm." It's a thoughtful sound; what Kit describes isn't unlike some traditions and religions in his world. The first one that comes to mind is Shinto.

He recalls the nasty scar he'd seen before, one that must have surely been fatal without immediate intervention. Kit had died, and ended up here, which is literally worlds away from this Stone. "Are you worried you've gotten lost on the way to your afterlife, Kit? Because you aren't the first dead person to show up as decidedly alive in Konryu."

"Shit, salroka, I don't know," comes Kit's response, a little quick to be deeply considered, and he brings up the cigarette for another drag off of it. He breathes out the smoke and looks away from Devin, squinting beyond the bounds of the park as though he expects to find the answers to his problems there. He won't.

He taps off the excess ash; when in doubt, resort to gallows humour. It's worked in the past. "Who knows, maybe my friends just haven't figured out what to do with my corpse yet, and I'll be on my way once they do. This isn't bad, far as detours go. Nice beaches." A flash of a grin, lopsided and unavoidably pained, but he can't say anything more. Nothing about the words that had been drilled into him since birth--that he's nothing without a caste, and the Stone wouldn't take him back anyway.

Devin has an intimate knowledge of death, between being undead and a life spent hunting. It doesn't bother him the way it seems to bother Kit, though to be fair the dwarf had gone out rather violently. He tips his head, remembers Luthien is on his shoulders, and straightens again when she tries to tug on his ear.

"There are plenty of people who arrive here that aren't dead," he points out. "And even if you are, where you come from, you are now currently alive, Kit. This isn't some form of limbo or purgatory, though I can understand how it might look that way." Devin is firm on this point, but not unkindly. He pauses to study the dwarf. "What would bother you more: if you were dead and in limbo, or alive and forced to deal with what happened to you?"

It's a personal question, though slightly less antagonistic than 'so, how did you die'.

"What would bother you more: if you were dead and in limbo, or alive and forced to deal with what happened to you?"

Something lurches in Kit's gut. Devin can't know how solidly he's hit the nail on the head, though not for the reasons he might suspect.

A snort, and raised eyebrows. Kit considers the end of his cigarette. "Don't sugarcoat it for me or anything, tell me what's really on your mind," he replies a little dryly, then grows silent. His bibiru, having had its fill of socialization with the inan, hops back over to his boots to groom itself, preening beneath its wings. Kit looks down at it, then tucks his cigarette into the corner of his mouth and crouches to give the bibiru's small, fluffy body a stroke from head to tail.

"I think," he decides as he scoops the bibiru up and straightens, "that I'm going to go find a bar, and figure out what alcohol here least reminds me of Orzammar." It definitely isn't an answer to Devin's question, but he looks back at the vampire nonetheless. "You in? I'll buy you a beer." Or whatever passes for beer here.

Devin's eyebrows rise towards his hairline. "You don't strike me as the type to appreciate being coddled," he returns mildly. He is not remotely the poster child for directly confronting one's problems, nor a gentle delivery of hard topics.

The invitation is unexpected, but alcohol has a definite appeal. "Make it a bourbon and it's a deal," Devin says after a moment, a sly edge curling into his smile. He lifts Luthien off his shoulders, pulling a leash from his jacket pocket and attaching it to her collar. The inan wriggles a bit, but as soon as the leash is secured she returns to Devin's shoulders. The small pack of inan finally disperse some, their interest in Kit and Devin diminishing.

"I think I saw a bar a few blocks from here," he offers up, getting to his feet.

"You don't strike me as the type to appreciate being coddled."

The look Devin receives from Kit now is a hard one to interpret, but it looks like he can't decide whether to be annoyed by or appreciative of that comment. He puffs on the cigarette; the bibiru, tucked under one arm, chirps at its new inan friend. ( c: )

But if there's one surefire way to unify two men who can't quite figure out how to see eye to eye on any given subject (without providing one of them with a stepping stool), it's probably good alcohol. Kit's lips twist into a lopsided smirk. "Don't know what bourbon is, but it's got a better ring to it than beer," he agrees and starts to take a step back towards the road.

Likewise, Devin can't decide if he would prefer Kit be annoyed or appreciative, however true the comment might be.

The smile on his face is sly, if a bit distant; it doesn't reach his eyes. Luthien's returning trill doesn't do much to warm it, but any coldness has more to do with Devin's uncertainty about reversing his antagonism on the beach than Kit. Really, he should have said no to a drink. He could change his mind before they get anywhere-- but that wouldn't change what Kit has already seen of him here. Too late, perhaps, to pretend he's as bad as he wants people to think he is.

And he could definitely use a drink.

"It has a better flavor than most beer, too," Devin assures the dwarf, remaining at a distance in keeping with their uneasy truce. "And twice the kick. They have something that resembles it here."

Edited 2018-03-13 05:21 (UTC)

"Oh, so it's like whiskey," comes Kit's response, noticeably more affable the further they steer clear of personal topics like his home or his feelings on life and death, or his death(s) in particular. "Well then, sign me up for the bourbon. Or whatever it is here."

(They'd probably look like a fairly formidable pair if it weren't for their respectively cuddly animal companions--Kit's is especially fluffy and chirpy as he totes it along under his arm.)

It's good timing that they've chosen to depart the park and head towards the bar, because within a block of it, the sky overhead grows grey and dense from rainclouds, lending the air heaviness. Kit glances up at it warily. "Think we ought to hurry up before it starts to--"

Annnnd there goes the downpour. "Shit."

"It's quite a bit like whiskey," Devin agrees.

The vampire doesn't mind the rain, having grown up in a country where drizzle and damp is practically the national mascot. Luthien, on the other hand, is Not a Fan. Her claws dig into his shoulder as she scrabbles to get under Devin's collar. "Calm down," he exhorts her, hauling the panicked inan off his shoulders.

He gives Kit a slightly sly grin before zipping beneath the awning of the bar faster than the eye can see. Chirping, Luthien noses into his jacket despite being out of the rain.

Kit is in the process of trying to tuck the bibiru into the shelter of his coat when Devin decides to demonstrate his little parlour trick--and predictably, the dwarf shoots him an annoyed look. The bite has gone out of his displeasure, though. If nothing else, this guy's behaviour is becoming familiar to him; maybe he's always like this.

"Cute trick," he says sourly... and seeing as he can't move that quickly, he trudges the rest of the way through the downpour with his bibiru chirping its annoyance under his arm. "Yeah, yeah, we'll get there when we get there," he mutters to it.

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I was born with lightning in my heels | March Catchall

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