[sticky entry] Sticky: Open Post

Please feel free to tag into any characters posted here, with new ideas or things we've discussed, I am open to just about anything and even surprise threads are fun.

Feel free to also respond to the character you would like to tag with and request plotting I am also here for that!

Hit my kids up below!

I see a bad moon rising

Jason is stand-offish with Bruce and the other former Robins at the best of times, but they've all noticed him being more distant than usual recently. Bruce, of course, is fine to leave him alone and let him figure it out himself, but Dick doesn't want to leave it alone, he never does. As soon as he gets the full moon out the way he's going to get to the bottom of this.

It turns out he doesn't have to wait that long.

Dick's been a werewolf since he was a child, he was born that way, and back in those days full moon meant chains and cages or, if the schedule allowed, it meant the circus stopping as far from civilisation as possible so that he and his parents had room to run. Those full moons were always his favourites.

After his parents were killed it meant a special room in the batcave, at least until he got a little older and could seek out safe areas himself - parks where nobody went at night, places a wolf wouldn't be spotted and he wouldn't risk hurting anybody. He was still aware when he changed on a full moon, but he had far less control over his instincts, it was like being a passenger in his own body, only able to make suggestions and hope the wolf listened. He'd been six the first time he couldn't stop himself from killing a rabbit and he'd spent most of the next day in floods of tears - he can manage without crying these days, of course, but he still feels a little bad whenever a rabbit or a deer falls to the wolf's need to eat, no matter how much steak he tries to sate it with in the days leading up to the full moon.

He's never hurt a person and he hopes he never will.

He's also, in all his years, never seen another wolf in Gotham. It doesn't mean there aren't any, maybe they just spend their full moon elsewhere, but he's never so much as caught the scent of one before.

That night, he does - and it's familiar.

So he tracks the wolf, runs with it, goads it into playfights and races, anything to keep them entertained until the early hours of the morning when they're ready to flop into a pile of fur and sleep until dawn. Or, in Dick's case, until just before dawn, which is when he untangles himself and slips away, back to where he has his clothes stashed.

Once the sun has risen and he's back in human form, he goes back to his apartment for a change of clothes and a quick nap, and then around mid morning he's knocking at Jason's door with two coffees and a bag of breakfast food.

Coffee and a Cupcake

Part one - Part two


Trying to decide what to wear for a date is hard when the date is in the afternoon, why did he pick the afternoon? Why did he decide to take Jason to see the circus? What if somebody says something embarrassing? What if the reality of the world Dick grew up in completely puts Jason off?

He asks Alfred all of these questions and more, while the old man just quietly listens and then hands him some clothes and tells him everything will be fine, because Alfred is the best.

So he's standing where they agreed to meet, in a pair of nice black jeans (that he knows Alfred picked because they're clean and reasonable smart, but which he likes because they make his ass look great) and a dark blue henley, a couple of the buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up - casual, but in a way that makes him look good. His hair is actually styled rather than whatever mess it's ended up in from training and running to the coffee shop and he's even wearing a little cologne, so he's definitely scrubbed up from the usual look Jason gets.

He's leaning against a lampost and casually scrolling on his phone without really paying it any actual attention, looking up every few seconds to try and spot Jason.
belegendary: (Default)

Someday my Prince Will Come

Life on Ithaca had seemed like it was settling down once Odysseus was finally home, but then the fishermen were struggling, and nobody could safely leave the island, because the seas were constantly beset by storms and rough waters. So a deal had to be made, a peace treaty with Poseidon for the sake of the people.

Telemachus had understood the need for it, had even understood when his father told him the deal had been a betrothal - him to a child of Poseidon. He was a prince, he'd always sort of resigned himself to the fact that his marriage would likely be decided for him for the good of Ithaca.

He knew the gods could be fickle, and tricky, so he was at least relieved to know his father had been very clear to close off any loophole that would allow Poseidon to present his betrothed as, say, Polyphemus.
Unfortunately the agreement was not protected from the loophole that allowed Poseidon to decide Telemachus would marry one of his future children, the trick that took Telemachus away from home and put him into a magical sleep, awaiting the day a suitable match would come of age, while the world moved on around him.

For Telemachus, when the day came, it felt like waking from a restful sleep, as though only a night had passed.

It had been significantly more than one night.

And now he's standing in the hallway of a strange building in his best chiton holding a missive from Poseidon to his son to explain the situation and this he didn't understand at all.

Still, he does as he was instructed and knocks on the door, waiting for whoever was inside.
loser_baby: (3)
[personal profile] loser_baby2024-09-19 11:05 pm

You gotta know when to hold em (Angel and Husk)

The evening had started so well.

Sure, things had been a little rough with Val lately but that was understandable, it happened, they'd been working really hard and Val was stressed out and Angel just didn't think sometimes, that was all, they'd been through these rough patches before and Val always made up for it, he'd shower Angel with affection and things would be good again for a while. So when Val told him to dress up pretty because they were going out, he'd been delighted, assuming the storm had passed.

He should have fucking known.

For most of the night, he's able to bask in the illusion that everything is fine again, Val is charming and warm and complimentary, showing him off to everyone. When he gets invited to the high stakes game, he takes Angel with him and Angel hangs on his arm and keeps his glass full and watches him play.

He's doing okay, but Angel gets the feeling he's just being toyed with, he's really not that good and Angel's noticed half a dozen tells in Val's fellow players that the moth demon has completely missed (because he can't see for shit), but he knows that Val would just get pissed if Angel tried to tell him, so he lets him get on with it.

He just hopes Val will quit while he's ahead, and not lose big and take it out on Angel when they get home. It doesn't even cross his mind that there's another possible outcome, not until Val's chips are dwindling and he gets a semi-decent hand. He's already all in but Angel can see the greed flashing in his eyes, he doesn't want a split pot if he wins this, he wants the pile of chips from everybody else's bets, so he's going to need to add in something else, something special...

"I want to bet a soul." Val says smoothly, and sure Angel's surprised but it's not like he's the only-

"Angel Dust."
notaturnip: (Default)
[personal profile] notaturnip2024-04-11 05:15 pm

The moon glows, the river flows (Sizhui and Ling)

There are any number of people who would be very surprised to see Lan Sizhui in a bar. Some of them are even still alive. It would, he thinks, be a foolish surprise - he learned from Wei-qianbei how useful wine houses could be for learning gossip on a night hunt, and even Lan cultivators stayed in taverns when away from Cloud Recesses, it isn't that strange.

Admittedly, wine houses and taverns are a far cry from a trendy cocktail bar on a Friday night, and it isn't just time that separates them. Everything is different now, but while his father hides away and begrudges the changes, Sizhui finds himself endlessly fascinated in the way the world is different every time he ventures out. They're both waiting, and they're never going to find what they're looking for if they stay in Cloud Recesses forever.

He has a system, now, he'll travel to Gusu first, where 'monks' aren't such a strange appearance in their outdated robes, and take some time to learn about the latest fashions and the modern world. Then he'll choose a place on the map, find somewhere to live and a simple job, and he'll go and experience life for a bit as a 'newcomer to the area', fresh from a fairly sheltered upbringing (an excuse that allows him to get away with not understanding some things about the world).

He's been here about six months now, working customer service (it's trying even his patience) and learning what he can. He likes to get out and meet new people, though, so when one of his coworkers invited him along to drinks after work, of course he agreed.

He's at the bar, waiting to be served and toying idly with the ends of his ribbon - tied around his wrist, these days, when he's outside Cloud Recesses - when he chances to glance along the bar and catches sight of a face that makes him gasp.
xie_er: (lean)
[personal profile] xie_er2023-10-15 01:46 am
Entry tags:

Oh, oh, oh it's magic (Xie and Kevin)

Zhao Jing used to be a nobody, born into influence and wealth but always in the shadow of those around him. In magical circles he was even worse, a barely-remembered witch that didn't have enough power for any familiar to even consider looking twice at him.

Somehow, though, after many years (and a few suspicious deaths), he's managed to climb his way to the CEO of Five Lakes, his power - of both kinds - growing exponentially.



The previous CEO was surrounded by some unfortunate rumorus before his death, so Zhao Jing has been focused on repairing the reputation of he company and solidifying his support, mundane and magical, which means it is far too delicate a moment for Xie to be in the spotlight, even if he was promised he'd be allowed to stop hiding when the position was in Zhao Jing's hands.

He just has to wait a little longer, that's all, and it's not like it's difficult to only appear in his animal form whenever Zhao Jing is in public, just uncomfortable, and the last thing they need is for somebody to recognise Xie for any of the things he's done to help his witch get where he is today, when his position is still so precarious...

He tells himself all the excuses he's heard from Yifu, repeats them in his head like a mantra as he sits through all the meetings and negotiations, a little black cat and Zhao Jing's feet, watching the men and women he's speaking to for anything Yifu can use. He hangs around when Zhao Jing steps out the room, listens to what they say behind his back - that's his job with normal people, to be a pair of ears they don't realise are there. Even paranoid types who scan for bugs would miss him, which he finds funny, privately, because he is a bug of a sort.

Not that he's allowed to take his original animal form - a scorpion would be out of place if anybody caught sight of him, and Yifu doesn't like the idea of him hiding in pockets or anything like that. He says it's dangerous, that something could happen to him, but Xie privately thinks he just finds the form creepy. Even around other magical people, the cat is preferred - his job with them is to be a reminder that Zhao Jing has a familiar, and a relatively powerful one at that.

It's hard for familiars to change the form they can take, but he did it, for Yifu.

He tells people the cat is called Scorpion, and that somebody else named him - which is technically true, Xie does mean scorpion, and his parents named him - and that he's vaguely embarrassed to have such a fiercely named cat.

(He doesn't tell magical people anything at all, they know Xie isn't a pet so they're less likely to ask, at most they will wonder why his familiar always stays in animal form. Zhao Jing just tells them he's shy. He isn't, he doesn't care about people seeing him, but it's easier to do the things Yifu wants him to do when nobody knows what he looks like)

Xie hadn't always known he was powerful - when Yifu had taken him in he'd been told he wasn't much, but that maybe he could be useful. Later, when some witch had made an offhand comment about it, the story had become that Yifu recognised his power and took him in before anybody else could steal him away, that he just wanted to protect Xie from the people who would use him for his power. Xie was already so far gone by that point that he accepted it, that he told himself he was lucky he had Yifu to protect him, to guide him.

It's funny how easy it is to lie to yourself.

When the meetings are over for the day he finally shifts back to human form, spending a few minutes stretching out the kinks that come from forcing himself into a form that isn't quite his, especially with how much he's had to do it over the last few weeks, and then going in search of something to eat. He could probably just head back to his own apartment since he doesn't think Yifu needs anything else from him, not today, but the outsiders have all left and everybody in Yifu's manor at least knows Xie, even if they don't know that Xie and Scorpion are one and the same, so it's safe to be around them.

He likes to spend as much time here as he can get away with, likes to remind Yifu he can be useful in other ways... and maybe he likes to keep an eye on this new apprentice Yifu has taken on. He doesn't understand why he needs anybody else when he has Xie, but the last time he'd questioned somebody new in the house Yifu hadn't spoken to him for a week, so he doesn't voice that thought out loud - he just watches the guy suspiciously every chance he gets, and wonders how easy he would be to get rid of.

He's halfway to the kitchen when something makes him stop. A tug of power, the vague echo of chanting, there's a ritual happening and something about it is drawing him close. He frowns, confused, and follows the pull...

chocobobutt: (dramatic)

More than ones and zeros (Prompto and Cor)

They'd told him he was faulty.

Well, that's not strictly true, other people had been told he was faulty and that he wasn't suitable for combat (even though his shooting was excellent), but he'd been there at the time and that sort of counted - at least, it was the only way he was ever told anything, anyway.

They'd said he was to be decommissioned. He didn't know what decommissioned was, but he knew it was something a trooper didn't come back from. There were a lot of things a trooper didn't come back from, though, so at least he didn't know enough to be scared. Mostly, he was curious.

Maybe that was the problem. None of the others seemed to ever be curious. He was just supposed to follow orders, he wasn't supposed to know what why meant, let alone ask it.

It had been easier, before, being raised the same as all the others, given the same instructions. None of the others had talked, so he didn't either - but he did listen. He listened, and he learned - not much, just bits and pieces here and there, things that meant nothing to him and things that sounded interesting. Anything from state secrets to petty dramas between colleagues, and he didn't know one from the other truth be told, didn't know enough about the world to slot any of it into places that fit - he just liked to hear people talk. It made him feel less... lonely.

Another problem. He never realised he wasn't meant to feel anything at all.

Whatever decommissioning was or wasn't, he never had the chance to find out, though, because while he was being transported from one end of the facility to the other, the vehicle carrying him was hijacked. He didn't know it at the time - his armour had been deactivated, rendering him practically blind and barely able to move, and all he could hear was the sounds of a fight and then the vehicle was moving again - and it seemed like it was going much, much further than just the other end of the facility...

After a long journey and some disorienting moves, he becomes aware that someone is activating the release catches on his helmet, and he barely has chance to react before he's wincing at the sudden flood of painfully bright light (it's not overly bright, it just seems it after so long in darkness) - followed immediately by an uncomfortably loud clatter as whoever removed his helmet drops it.

"Holy shit." somebody in front of him breathes, as he's still trying to adjust to the light.



"Get... get Marshal Leonis. He should see this."

notaturnip: (Default)
[personal profile] notaturnip2021-07-15 11:44 am

It's been a long day without you, my friend (Wen Yuan and Wei Ying)

In his dreams, Yuan remembers.

He dreams of kind faces, playful teasing and being buried in the radish patch. He dreams of being poor but happy, of people who love him, of a cousin who shares soup and a visiting man in blue who buys him paper butterflies. He dreams of a life he barely recalls when he's awake.

When he's awake, he doesn't want to remember, because it's hard to think of paper butterflies and people who love you when you're just trying to get through the day - and the night.

It's only been a few months since the Madame of the Golden Hare saw his face and encouraged him to swap begging for something more profitable - he'd been reluctant at first, but two miserable, hungry nights in the rain later he decided he really would do anything for a good meal and a night in a warm bed.

At first, he really had appreciated it - he'd been given a bath, combed his hair for the first time in months (or more), eaten well and slept. The next day Madame gave him fine robes and he finally felt like a human being.

The feeling hadn't lasted, of course it hadn't. Madame's offer had been the essence of be careful what you wish for...

The day everything changes, Yuan wakes the same as he always does, he breakfasts with the other boys and girls of the house as usual, and the only hint that anything is going to be different is the briefest of conversations over the breakfast table.

"Ay, Yuan, is it true your surname's Wen?"

No matter how many years have passed since the Sunshot campaign and still he has to be careful about letting that information get out. He hates it. He was just a child at the time, how can anybody hold a grudge against him just because he is, however distantly, related to the Qishan Wen sect?

"Who told you that?" he answers with a question of his own.

"Doesn't matter, is it true?"

"Of course it is, or he would have just said no!"

"I want to hear hi-"

"Enough." Madame interrupts in a firm tone and Yuan feels himself breathe a sigh of relief. He knows that probably won't be the end of it, but it's the end for now, and that's enough. They all fall silent as they continue their meal, though some of the others still shoot furtive glances his way, which he ignores.

He doesn't think anything of the servants who had overheard the conversation as well, or the way they might gossip amongst themselves, the way that gossip might travel through people until, that afternoon, two men in a wine house across town happen to share a crucial piece of information out loud, where just anyone might overhear-

"I heard the new boy over at the Golden Hare is a Wen"
notaturnip: (Default)
[personal profile] notaturnip2021-07-14 08:43 pm

This is our fate, I'm yours (Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling)

Lan Sizhui has known who his soulmate was since he was six years old.
He used to lie awake tracing his fingers over the characters on his inner arm, amazed at how it came to pass that a foundling boy like him could have a soulmate in the great and influential Jin clan. He vowed, back then, that he would try and become the very best disciple of the Lan clan he could possibly be in order to be worthy of his soulmate. He worked hard to follow all of Hanguang Jun's instructions, to learn as much as he could. It wasn't just about his soulmate, of course, he was grateful to Lan Zhan for taking him in when he had nobody else, and he wanted to do well for his sake as well, but he'd be lying if he said the name on his arm didn't motivate him even more.

When he met Jin Ling, back then, accompanying Lan Zhan on a visit to Carp Tower, he hadn't gotten on very well with him. Sizhui was serious and thoughtful and remembered his manners, and Jin Ling... well, he was a little volatile. Sizhui decided he must not have gotten his mark yet, and he didn't want to embarrass him by bringing it up, so he patiently waited for Jin Ling to be the first to mention it.

The years went by and it became more and more likely that the lack of mention was deliberate. In fact, when Sizhui tried to bring up soul marks as a gentle way of getting to that point, Jin Ling would shut him down - angrily, too. He did that with everybody, and soon they all learned not to bring it up around him.

Eventually, Sizhui was forced to come to the heartbreaking conclusion that Jin Ling was disappointed. That he didn't want him.

He threw himself into his studies again, this time to try and forget. If he couldn't have the happiness of true love in his life, he could at least be someone his father and his sect could be proud of.

Mostly, he was glad that one of the many Lan principles forbade discussion of soulmarks, it meant people were less likely to bring them up around him, too, and that he had a reason to change the subject when they did. Even Jingyi didn't know what his mark said - though not for lack of trying, certainly.

Still, he became friends with Jin Ling - he couldn't bring himself to stay away, and the other boy certainly didn't seem to mind him being around either - and they often went on Nighthunts together, along with Jingyi and Zizhen, and they were getting pretty good at it, they worked well together.

This one was proving a little more difficult than usual, though, and the four had become separated.

"Jin Ling?" Sizhui called, moving carefully through the forest "Jingyi? Zizhen?"
just_ask: (2)
[personal profile] just_ask2021-06-02 12:25 am

It's Written in the Stars (Jesper and Wylan)

Ever since he was a kid, Jesper's been confused by his soulmate.
Whoever they were, they seemed sweet, and smart, if the cute doodles and complicated math equations were anything to go by, but no matter what Jesper tried to get them talking - jokes, questions, statements, deep dark secrets - they never replied. He didn't even know their name.

He thought, maybe, that he was annoying them - but then he'd get a cute little drawing or a smiley face on the back of his hand and surely that meant they didn't hate him, right?

Then he wondered if maybe they just didn't speak the same language, but he'd looked up how to write 'what's your name' in so many languages the words were scrawled across his skin from wrist to elbow and he never got a response.

When he moved to Ketterdam and got mixed up with the Dregs and started getting regular injuries that he knew his soulmate had to see, he tried writing apologies. He had no idea if they were accepted or not, because no matter what he wrote his soulmate still responded with the same things - drawings and maths.

(Once, when he was a little drunk and feeling sorry for himself, he wrote a long angry rant about how he just wanted a name and surely they could give him that much and why didn't they want to talk to him. That hadn't gotten a reply either)

In his darker moments, he thought maybe it was for the best. His soulmate was clearly intelligent, and not nearly as inclined towards danger and risk as he was (he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a scar that wasn't his own on his body), maybe they'd be better off without him... but, well, weren't they soulmates for a reason?

And then Wylan had shown up, and Jesper thought maybe if his soulmate had to be soft and well-educated maybe that wouldn't be so bad, as long as they were something like Wylan - because as much as the merchling rubbed him up the wrong way sometimes, he was so much fun to tease, and Jesper found himself drawn to him more often than not.

Which is why he gave only minimal grumbling when Kaz told him to go and collect Wylan for a job, and why there's a jauntiness to his knock when he raps on Wylan's door.

He hasn't even looked at his arms all day today.

I'm not okay (Dick and Steve)

It wasn't that Dick objected, as such, to the idea of spending two weeks in the Caribbean with his boyfriend, it was just that, well, why did it have to be now?

He knew, really, that everybody was worried about him and that the last few weeks had been a lot, even for them, and that some time to rest and recuperate was exactly what the doctor ordered (loudly, and at length), but the idea of being in close quarters with Steve, without anything else to distract him, without any way to hide? It was daunting, to say the least. He hated that it was, because he wanted nothing more than to be able to enjoy this time with Steve, but he didn't know if he'd be able to.

The journey hadn't been too bad, as much as he didn't want to flash his father's cash he had to admit it kind of came in handy for situations like this, everything ran smoothly and he had just enough other things to think about that he didn't have to worry - in fact, he actually managed to let a little excitement overtake him. Two weeks with no villains to fight, no plots to stop, no cities to save? He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a break like that.
The fact that Steve insisted on carrying everything, regardless of how many times Dick pointed out he still had one good arm, had been a little frustrating, but more in a fond exasperation kind of way, he just hoped the other man didn't keep fussing like that, it was only a sprain.

Except now they're in their hotel room, and suddenly Dick has nothing else to think about, nothing but how difficult it was going to be to pretend everything was normal when he knew it really, really wasn't.

Some things run in the family (Spot and Bucky)

[The school auditorium is busy with families of students, gathered in little groups around the various presentations scattered around the room - much like a science fair, but these are history projects of a far more personal nature. The number of people around each table varies, but most of them have at least got someone.

Spot doesn't. He's sitting in the corner with his project by himself, just like he expected to be. He's still kind of proud of it (not that he'll tell anyone) and yea, it's pretty cool that he turned out to be related to Captain America - but even the other students who thought that was awesome are now busy with their own families.

He doesn't care, or at least he's doing a really good impression of not caring, he'd rather be sitting here on his own than in class anyway.

And by the door, his teacher keeps an eye on the people entering and hopes that her attempts to find someone who might have known Steve have paid off]

You're In Trouble Now, Kid (Spot and Betty)

It started with a raid that went wrong.

Private Conlon - better known as Spot - and the rest of his platoon were lost when a German base they were attacking turned out to be a much better defended HYDRA base. The survivors - Spot included - were taken prisoner and most of them died there. Perhaps that's where the story might have ended. Perhaps Private Conlon would have been buried in an unmarked grave halfway around the world from the family who never even knew he'd joined the army, and years later when Betty Barnes was free from HYDRA's grasp and went in search of the family she'd left behind, she'd never know that Private Conlon was actually her youngest brother, and all she'd hear about Teddy Barnes is that he disappeared at 15 and was never heard from again. All she'd ever hear.

But that isn't where the story ended.

Because sometimes careless talk costs lives, and sometimes it does the opposite.

A misplaced word here, a name dropped there, and suddenly Spot becomes acutely aware that, despite being in a damp cage in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by armed guards, he's apparently closer to the whole reason he came to this stupid country in the first place - they have his sister.

He hatches a plan, breaks free from his cell and makes it halfway across the facility before he's stopped. He catches some attention, but probably not enough to save his life - not until he lets slip the reason he's trying to get to Zola's latest science project. Then he catches a lot of attention.

He's never brought face to face with his sister, dragged off instead to be subjected to similar experiments and then, when they were done with him, put on ice - a back up. Winter Soldier 2.0, not trained with the other assets but kept in reserve in case they ever needed him. They never needed him.

Seventy years later it started with a raid that went right.

SHIELD had been systematically clearing out known HYDRA bases - with and without the Avengers - when they came across one that, interestingly, included an asset in cryo. The records had been destroyed during the raid, but the HYDRA scientists trying to dispose of the evidence hadn't managed to do anything about that asset directly.

Which is why a SHIELD base had ended up hosting a teenage boy and trying to figure out who he was and where he'd come from. He was not particularly cooperative.

And over at the Avenger's compound, a file crossed Steve Rogers' desk with reports from the latest SHIELD raids and he flipped a page to see, for the second time in his life, a HYDRA asset with a face he recognised.

"Betty." he raised his voice, staring at the page in front of him. He's already reaching for the phone to call the base - there's no way they're not going to see this kid the second Betty clocks eyes on that picture, he should probably warn them they're coming.
cplradar: (Default)
[personal profile] cplradar2021-01-25 06:42 pm

Weddings and Funerals (Klaus and Radar)

When the news first started spreading and passed through those personnel of the 4077th who paid attention to these things, nobody thought to take word to Corporal O'Reilly - what did Radar care about the death of some eccentric billionaire halfway around the world?

It wasn't until Colonel Potter - the only man in the unit who knew Radar's actual surname - overheard a conversation in the mess tent several hours after the news had broken that anybody realised just how much he would care.

Which was how Radar found himself signed off on compassionate leave in less than a day and whisked away on a flight home before he even really got a chance to say goodbye to anybody, before he even got a chance to call home and let them know he was coming.

It's late by the time he gets home, or at least it's dark out, he's not sure what time it actually is because he's fresh off a 14 hour flight and he's gone through so many timezones he barely knows what day it is, let alone time. He drops his duffel bag by the stairs and fidgets nervously with the hem of his fatigues as he moves towards the study.

"Hello? Anybody home?"
imageine: (9)
[personal profile] imageine2021-01-19 12:24 am

We're Off To See The Wizard (Adelaide and Joric)

The market was bustling despite the early hour, the people of the small town flowing around each other like a well practiced dance as they went about their daily business. Adelaide moved through them just as fluidly, but rather more aimlessly; she drifted from stall to stall idly looking over things, trying to find the herbs and such she might need to top up her medicinal supplies, as well as good cloth for bandages and anything else that might be useful. She lingered around stalls with more magical ingredients and items as well, looking longingly at the more esoteric things on sale and dreaming of a day she would be able to understand and utilise them all.

It was there that she overheard something of interest - a man she didn't recognise, new to town she suspected, asking one of the stall holders where he might find a particularly adept mage. She couldn't be much help to him in his search, she knew that, for she had no more information than he did in that regard - but if there was some way of, perhaps, travelling with him to meet the mage in question, she might find somebody willing to tutor her in the arts she so desperately desired to learn.

She'd spent long enough in this town, apprenticed to the healer and learning to treat illnesses and injuries through more mundane methods, never quite daring to leave because they said the roads were not safe to travel alone - with someone like this man, clearly a fierce warrior? What would be not safe about that?

"Excuse me," she said softly, approaching the newcomer "Did you say you were looking for a mage?"
two_handed: (1)
[personal profile] two_handed2020-11-14 04:10 am

I admit that in the past I've been a nasty (Harry and Mal)

[Continued from here]

That could have gone... better. A lot better.

At the same time, though, Harry felt like he should probably have seen this coming. Uma was not, as a rule, very good at being the kind of person who was happy for their friend's success when they had no success of their own - which is to say that hearing Harry had found a way through the barrier, was being allowed to stay there, and had found his true love, had not exactly been met with warmth and congratulations.

More like rage and accusations.

Harry wasn't sure which he'd disliked more - the heavy implication he was using Mal to achieve his own ends while betraying his friends at the same time, or the comments about how Mal was 'slumming it' to have gone from king to pirate.

At least Gil had been happy to see him alive.

He'd tried to smooth things over with Uma, but with her temper it was hardly surprising he'd been unsuccessful, so by the time they crossed back through the barrier - having promised he'd return to talk about this, despite Uma's protestations that he should never come back - he wasn't feeling so great.

"I think that went well." he tried, unsuccessfully, to joke.

Culture Clash (Dick and Jason)

In hindsight, it had been pretty stupid to take that shortcut. Gotham's streets were pretty notoriously unsafe once the sun went down and an alley only really lit by the streetlights at either end? He'd really been asking for trouble. Truthfully, Dick had assumed he was far too well known for anybody to risk trying to hurt him - he hadn't counted on the fact that being so well known was exactly what was going to get him into trouble. Everybody knew his father had more than enough money for a ransom, after all.



He'd been aware of the people walking into the alley behind him, which was the first point that he'd thought maybe he hadn't made such a great life choice that evening. Maybe he should have just taken the cab rather than telling his friends his apartment wasn't that far away. When a couple others stepped in to block his path, he'd known he'd made the wrong choice, but by then it was too late.



Pain flashed through his skull and the world went dark.



When he came to he was in some kind of basement, by the looks of it, the back of his head throbbing and his arms stiff and sore from being cable-tied behind his back.



This was bad. This was very, very bad.

Not the bird you think (Dick and Jason)

There wasn't anything strange about the evening when it started, he finished up his shift and swapped one uniform for another same as he always did, and patrol was relatively quiet.

Then he dropped in on a mugging in progress - only to find somebody else had beat him to it. Somebody with a very familiar R on their chest - and that was where the familiarity ended, because it sure as hell wasn't Tim.

He held back until the mugger was dealt with and the victim had long since fled, since the stranger seemed to have the matter well in hand and he didn't want to ruin anything by joining in the fight unexpectedly. He did step forward before the 'Robin' could disappear, though, head titled curiously.

"Funny, I'm sure Batman would have told me if he was hiring somebody else, I normally get to be on the interview panel." he quipped.

I'll tell you all about it when I see you again (Keirus and Marcus)

Keirus had never been that good at being, well, good. He had been pretty good at charming teachers and not getting caught, which was probably why he'd manage to snag head boy in his seventh year - but that was behind him now, and it turned out in the real world there was only so far you could get with a winsome grin and feigned innocence, especially with grades as mediocre as his.

He had other skills to fall back on, thankfully, but while his ability on the broom had gotten him the position as the new keeper for the Bats, he knew he couldn't rest on his laurels and he'd have to put slightly more effort in than he had in school (well, in any lesson that wasn't care of magical creatures, anyway) - which is a lengthy way of saying that he turned up to his first practice almost embarrassingly early. Early enough that he was the first person in the locker rooms - for now, anyway.
cplradar: (Default)
[personal profile] cplradar2020-07-31 02:25 pm

Sometimes you hear the bullet (Radar and Klaus)

Things had been pretty crazy around the house recently, crazy enough that a lot of things had gone unnoticed by most. Radar, though, he noticed things. He paid attention to his siblings, as best he could, and the fact that Klaus hadn't been around in a few days was starting to worry him.

Then all of a sudden he was back, only... only he had a new tattoo, and he'd taken to wearing a khaki vest and, most telling of all, dog tags. Walter couldn't entirely make sense of it, because they were kind of old fashioned tags and how the hell did Klaus only disappear for a few days and come back with all that - all that and the kind of haunted look in his eyes that Walter'd seen more times than he cared to.

It was more than enough to catch his attention, more than enough to have him approaching Klaus' room the second he had a chance to and knocking lightly on the door.

"Hey, uh, Klaus? You got a minute?"