Thistle and Weeds

[dishevelment]

Who: Cosmic Indulgence, Junkyard Carnival, their friends, and YOU
What: Things have changed in recent weeks, personally and professionally. People need to meet. Things need to be discussed
When: Latter part of March
Where: All around Vista City
Warnings: Carnies, Squalo, etc. Things get wild with these guys.



[Insert your prompts as needed, folks. This is a catch-all for everyone to react!]

Comments

[vivelarevolution]

That's not for you.

[he grabs her hand as she takes it, holding it firmly but not painfully so, watching her familiar eyes. He remembered something about this. A distant memory of heat and... panic. He tries to keep himself grounded though, his feet on the ground his eyes on hers]

I'm looking for the person who dropped it. If it's not yours then leave it.

[thetruehistorian]

[Her expression never changes, but her eyes, ever the traitors, soften just enough. She doesn't move her hand, not yet.]

Shouldn't you be thronged by groupies and bodyguards? How did you sneak away?

[vivelarevolution]

[what is that expression? What does it mean? Sympathy? It's strange that she should be looking at him. But mostly it annoys him that she changes the topic...

Unless of course, it's an answer. An answer without an answer. Was she hiding something? Why? He lets her have the knife, putting his hands in his pockets and eyeing her warily]

I'm not that important and I'm not that big a name either. Not yet anyway.

[thetruehistorian]

[She takes the knife and tucks it away in her jacket.]

You're more important than you remember. That's why they try so hard to tear you down.

[Robin turns to go, then takes another chance and glances over her shoulder. He may not think he has bodyguards or spies around, but even so, he probably does. It's an ill advised risk, but she wants to be clear.]

Thanks for bringing it back to me.

[vivelarevolution]

[important? He straightens. What does she mean? Why does he feel it's true? He knows it's not... at least not in the way he means it. But for some reason it reminds him of something precious that he wants to hold between his hands.

But more importantly, she was the one. The one who had made the coffee and left the note. She was so mysterious. But there something else. He couldn't figure it out. She's thanking him while he's trying to puzzle so he adds absently:]

Yeah... No problem.

[but then as she's about to leave, something makes him say]

Wait!

[thetruehistorian]

[Robin pauses, turning back once again.]

What is it?

[sharktrash]

Ah.

[ flatly; ]

Either way you're doing a shit job.

[traumatizing]

[He's about to ask what's wrong through the door, but then Koumei's there and the look on his face is... It's a shock. He hides what he's been going through well, so this must be something serious.]

What's wrong? What is it?

[twoscompany]

...Just promise me you won't do anything to shorten that time.

[Damnit. Why is this happening!?]

[dishevelment]

[Because their lives were slowly and delicately being torn apart by the hands of Lesedi Santiago.]

Why would I? There's still things that need to be done-- like make sure you're safe.

[vivelarevolution]

[he hesitates because it sounds stupid and in the end just mutters.]

Stay away from lava...

[and turns on his heel to walk away, hands in his pockets and shaken]

[thetruehistorian]

[Robin blinks a few times. Is he talking about the dream, or something else? But she smiles all the same.]

I will, I promise.

[There's nothing in her tone to suggest she's making fun of him. She's touched by his concern. She turns on her heels and makes her way along the street, furtively watching him go from an ojo fleur sprouted just below the light on a lamp post.]

[twoscompany]

[A huff, as if she's totally put out. Its in jest, though.]

That's my job. I'm supposed to keep you safe.

[dishevelment]

...You're joking.

[With how fragile Garnet seemed at times with all of the changes that have been happening in recent months, that sounded like something absolutely absurd.]

You-- the both of you-- need to focus on just keeping yourself together. Situations like this aren't beyond my capabilities, I--

[He paused, recalling that one image he had seen while he was on stage, of a vibrant young man demanding to know why it was that he didn't show his feelings to the people he cared about in the present, and why he was waiting for the future.

Taking a deep breath, he continued.]

Garnet. I've been worried about you for months. Please don't try to protect me. I'm more capable than people give me credit for.

[dishevelment]

[Koumei said nothing immediately, and just cast Terry a pointed look before wordlessly swinging the door open. He mercifully had his pants on, but the garment did nothing to hide the jagged vicious looking scar that was centralized just underneath his heart.]

You wanted to talk, didn't you? [He asked mildly, tipping his head slightly as if this were no different than talking about the weather.] Go ahead and ask any question you want-- I need to find a shirt.

[dishevelment]

[Oh dear. He thought he looked rather rugged like this.]

Would you like to help? I only ask that you don't go for too much black leather-- I don't think that will work any better than this.

[twoscompany]

I'm not what you think I am, Koumei. I--

[Wait, what?]

Months? The--why in the world have you been worried about me for so long?

[sharktrash]

Really? It'd be so not you nobody would suspect a thing.

[ He laughs and waves a hand dismissively. ]

Fine, fine. Suits and ties, then?

[dishevelment]

Because you referred to yourself as 'we' and couldn't explain why, and it seems that you've been becoming more and more fragile as time went on. I promised myself that I'd protect you-- and I'm sorry I failed that.

[twoscompany]

[A sigh. Oh.]

That...that's a long story. All of it is. You probably have a long story, too. It didn't help that when we found out about...well...I ended up regaining a memory. A bad one. One about what happened to those considered traitors back home. And Steven...

[Her hands might be shaking a little, just talking about it, not even thinking of it.]

Its not a question of being strong or weak. Its a question of doing. Assigning ideals of strength and weakness...it does nothing. Life is sacred and those close to me are those I want to protest most vehemently.

[traumatizing]

[Wh-- how can he be so casual about this. Terry frowns, watching Koumei with a concerned expression for a minute before he can even think of anything to say.]

Um, okay. Well let's start with that nasty looking scar I'm pretty sure you never used to have.

[dishevelment]

['Steven'...

That was Tiger, he assumed. He knew that there were strange things happening around the boy, but in all honesty he paid little attention to the kids in System Crash. They could be superheroes and he wouldn't have noticed-- he's been too busy building alliances among the adults within Pride.

Koumei reached out to squeeze one of her hands in an attempt to offer some comfort, or something to ground the woman who had become the Voice of Cosmic Indulgence.]

I never said anything about being weak, just that I'm worried that you will let yourself get carried away with things. In terms of capabilities...I might honestly be the weakest one here.

[After all, the core of all of his powers was surrounding that strange Teleportation skill.]

But we're alike in our sentiments. I'd do anything to protect those I care about.

[dishevelment]

[Blandly:]

It seems I've been impaled by a javelin during my lifetime in Three Kingdoms Era China.

[It was a....gross oversimplification, but he didn't even know where to begin describing the nature of what he was seeing in his dreams without the obvious comparisons-- even if he knew in his gut that his 'country' was definitly not Ancient China.]

[traumatizing]

Okay... [That's. Not a small thing to have happen to you.] How are you so calm about this?

[dishevelment]

[No, it's not....but neither is a lot of other things that he recalls. Koumei just sighed, and reached up to start twisting his thick locks of hair around his fingers.]

That's a long story, [he said at length.] Suffice to say, holding a rank in an Empire that has spent generations fighting in some war, some where, makes you expect an assassination attempt at some point.

I can't say I'm happy about it, but there's nothing that can be done, either. Worrying over things that are impossible to change does nothing for anyone.