A Change in Routine
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inventrix's Let's Pretend
Class is in Session
A Brief Reunion
inventrix's Unexpected Visitor
Lessons in the Dojo
inventrix's from RP logs
Education and Collars
Much offscreen RP lies between that last post and this one. Summary: It's been a long time since Cya handled an unwilling Kept, and Apollo reminds her far too much of her crewmates when they were young andstupid reckless. Also, she didn't used to be running a school and a city. Leo can see how it's stressing her out and has offered to take Apollo off her hands.
Re. Olindo and Adeen; Olindo is a cy'Linden crewmate of Apollo's who, being as stupidly headstrong as Apollo, had managed to get himself caught by unsavory people of a handwavey sort. Adeen is their stabilizing force, but she's still in Addergoole.
Apollo looked both thoughtful and nervous as he walked back into Cya's house, a combination of expressions that made her nervous and told her he'd probably been talking to Leo.
She was mending a pair of pants - the hard way, because unutu had never been one of her good words - so she let him pace and hem and haw nervously for a few minutes before looking up. "Yes?"
"What do you want?" he demanded, and then winced and sat down with a thump on the floor. "I mean... I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I didn't know I was making you miserable -"
"Didn't care, you mean."
"Didn't know! But I didn't really care at first, either." He coughed and looked away. "Until we found Olindo. Then I started to get the point, I guess."
Nothing like a well-placed object lesson to hammer things into thick skulls. If only that had worked with Leo.
Leo had been insane. This kid was just young.
And very plaintive. "And I don't want to be Kept. I really... I still don't think I need a babysitter. But I don't want to be making you mad all year, either."
"That's the bond." Hell of a time for it to finally kick in.
"I mean, I've been Kept, I went to Addergoole. But if I've got to be Kept, I don't want to be a burden. And I don't know what you want!"
She studied him, hands up in frustration, tears unshed in his eyes. "I want..." Careful, careful. Phrasing was everything with a Kept. "What I'm hoping for is that you can take this opportunity to grow up a bit, and to look at life more carefully, so that when you leave here, you and Olindo and Adeen don't dive headlong into trouble." Which she would probably get them out of, if she noticed in time. But no need to let him know they had a safety net.
"But it's not like you can see me thinking! I.. You... You're just... unhappy with me all the time!"
Shit. Cya took a deep breath. She set down the pants she'd been mending and walked across the room so she could pet Apollo, carefully, mindful of his crown of horns. "I think it's time we go talk to Leo."
inventrix's Let's PretendClass is in Session
A Brief Reunion
inventrix's Unexpected VisitorLessons in the Dojo
inventrix's from RP logsEducation and Collars
Much offscreen RP lies between that last post and this one. Summary: It's been a long time since Cya handled an unwilling Kept, and Apollo reminds her far too much of her crewmates when they were young and
Re. Olindo and Adeen; Olindo is a cy'Linden crewmate of Apollo's who, being as stupidly headstrong as Apollo, had managed to get himself caught by unsavory people of a handwavey sort. Adeen is their stabilizing force, but she's still in Addergoole.
Apollo looked both thoughtful and nervous as he walked back into Cya's house, a combination of expressions that made her nervous and told her he'd probably been talking to Leo.
She was mending a pair of pants - the hard way, because unutu had never been one of her good words - so she let him pace and hem and haw nervously for a few minutes before looking up. "Yes?"
"What do you want?" he demanded, and then winced and sat down with a thump on the floor. "I mean... I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I didn't know I was making you miserable -"
"Didn't care, you mean."
"Didn't know! But I didn't really care at first, either." He coughed and looked away. "Until we found Olindo. Then I started to get the point, I guess."
Nothing like a well-placed object lesson to hammer things into thick skulls. If only that had worked with Leo.
Leo had been insane. This kid was just young.
And very plaintive. "And I don't want to be Kept. I really... I still don't think I need a babysitter. But I don't want to be making you mad all year, either."
"That's the bond." Hell of a time for it to finally kick in.
"I mean, I've been Kept, I went to Addergoole. But if I've got to be Kept, I don't want to be a burden. And I don't know what you want!"
She studied him, hands up in frustration, tears unshed in his eyes. "I want..." Careful, careful. Phrasing was everything with a Kept. "What I'm hoping for is that you can take this opportunity to grow up a bit, and to look at life more carefully, so that when you leave here, you and Olindo and Adeen don't dive headlong into trouble." Which she would probably get them out of, if she noticed in time. But no need to let him know they had a safety net.
"But it's not like you can see me thinking! I.. You... You're just... unhappy with me all the time!"
Shit. Cya took a deep breath. She set down the pants she'd been mending and walked across the room so she could pet Apollo, carefully, mindful of his crown of horns. "I think it's time we go talk to Leo."
A Change in Routine
inventrix's Let's Pretend
Class is in Session
A Brief Reunion
inventrix's Unexpected Visitor
Lessons in the Dojo
inventrix's from RP logs
Dinner with Leo had been... Interesting. Educational, Luke decided, like every visit to the Ran- to Boom's place. Wherever Boom's places were.
For one thing, it had taught him that he needed to visit Howard, or maybe talk Shira into doing so.
For another, it had taught him he owed Apollo an apology. So, sitting in Cynara's living room while Cynara and Leo made small talk about their students, he looked Apollo in the eye. "I shouldn't have split your crew up. I'm sorry."
There was a pause while Apollo processed that. Then, "Yeah. No biggie, I guess." Apollo tugged on his collar and looked away.
Luke coughed. That. "I'm not going to apologize for asking jae'Red Doomsday to Keep you."
Apollo glanced at him sideways. "Why not?"
"Because you needed it. Because being here is good for you." He could see Apollo readying a scoff. He kept talking. "I failed you as a Mentor. But I've seen what Cyna- Cya can do as a Keeper."
"Yeah? Have you seen her collar collection?"
Luke snorted. "I've watched her pick her Kept for the last sixty years. If I were Regine I could tell you their survival percentages..."
"Please don't," Cynara murmured. When Luke glanced over, she was once again chatting to Leo about something one of their Students had done.
"...I can't. I'm not that good at numbers. But I'd bet you anything it's higher than that of the rest of the Addergoole grads."
"Anything?" Apollo leaned forward, a fierce twist of an expression on his face. "Would you bet a year under this collar yourself?"
( more )
inventrix's Let's PretendClass is in Session
A Brief Reunion
inventrix's Unexpected VisitorLessons in the Dojo
inventrix's from RP logsDinner with Leo had been... Interesting. Educational, Luke decided, like every visit to the Ran- to Boom's place. Wherever Boom's places were.
For one thing, it had taught him that he needed to visit Howard, or maybe talk Shira into doing so.
For another, it had taught him he owed Apollo an apology. So, sitting in Cynara's living room while Cynara and Leo made small talk about their students, he looked Apollo in the eye. "I shouldn't have split your crew up. I'm sorry."
There was a pause while Apollo processed that. Then, "Yeah. No biggie, I guess." Apollo tugged on his collar and looked away.
Luke coughed. That. "I'm not going to apologize for asking jae'Red Doomsday to Keep you."
Apollo glanced at him sideways. "Why not?"
"Because you needed it. Because being here is good for you." He could see Apollo readying a scoff. He kept talking. "I failed you as a Mentor. But I've seen what Cyna- Cya can do as a Keeper."
"Yeah? Have you seen her collar collection?"
Luke snorted. "I've watched her pick her Kept for the last sixty years. If I were Regine I could tell you their survival percentages..."
"Please don't," Cynara murmured. When Luke glanced over, she was once again chatting to Leo about something one of their Students had done.
"...I can't. I'm not that good at numbers. But I'd bet you anything it's higher than that of the rest of the Addergoole grads."
"Anything?" Apollo leaned forward, a fierce twist of an expression on his face. "Would you bet a year under this collar yourself?"
( more )
A Change in Routine
inventrix's Let's Pretend
Class is in Session
A Brief Reunion
inventrix's Unexpected Visitor
Luke had been curious who this Nanaya was that could get Apollo training against haybales. As it turned out, she was an Amazonian strawberry-blonde woman with an easy smile and a mischievous lift to her eyebrow. Watching her run through kata with the other students, Luke was willing to bet she was deadly in a fight.
He noted, too, that although most of Leo's students managed to hide their surprise when he called Leo jae' - as was right, he reminded himself; he still had a couple centuries on Lightning Blade - Nanaya just smiled more broadly. She'd be an interesting one to hunt alongside.
That was a thought for another day, and probably for some other world. He was here to see Apollo and Leo, and he was talking to Leo.
"I'll be starting class in a few minutes; would you like to stay and watch?" Leo had grown up somewhere along the way. Luke had seen it the last few times he visited Cloverleaf, and yet he still found himself surprised by it every time.
"I'd love to." Luke smiled. "I hear you've got some interesting tricks here."
"Oh, well-"
"They're sneaky," Apollo interrupted, half in awe and half in complaint. "You think they're coming up to your left and then all of a sudden, boom."
Luke chuckled ruefully. "Sounds like a hunt, doesn't it?" He raised his eyebrows at Leo. "It doesn't usually work well with my Students, but I remember when you were training with Ciara." His expression slipped. He wanted to be proud of her, he really did, but...
...another day, another world. "It's a good thing to learn." He pulled the conversation back to the dojo. "The Nedetakai and the monsters don't usually fight fair, do they?" He was talking to Leo, but his words were still aimed at Apollo.
inventrix's Let's PretendClass is in Session
A Brief Reunion
inventrix's Unexpected VisitorLuke had been curious who this Nanaya was that could get Apollo training against haybales. As it turned out, she was an Amazonian strawberry-blonde woman with an easy smile and a mischievous lift to her eyebrow. Watching her run through kata with the other students, Luke was willing to bet she was deadly in a fight.
He noted, too, that although most of Leo's students managed to hide their surprise when he called Leo jae' - as was right, he reminded himself; he still had a couple centuries on Lightning Blade - Nanaya just smiled more broadly. She'd be an interesting one to hunt alongside.
That was a thought for another day, and probably for some other world. He was here to see Apollo and Leo, and he was talking to Leo.
"I'll be starting class in a few minutes; would you like to stay and watch?" Leo had grown up somewhere along the way. Luke had seen it the last few times he visited Cloverleaf, and yet he still found himself surprised by it every time.
"I'd love to." Luke smiled. "I hear you've got some interesting tricks here."
"Oh, well-"
"They're sneaky," Apollo interrupted, half in awe and half in complaint. "You think they're coming up to your left and then all of a sudden, boom."
Luke chuckled ruefully. "Sounds like a hunt, doesn't it?" He raised his eyebrows at Leo. "It doesn't usually work well with my Students, but I remember when you were training with Ciara." His expression slipped. He wanted to be proud of her, he really did, but...
...another day, another world. "It's a good thing to learn." He pulled the conversation back to the dojo. "The Nedetakai and the monsters don't usually fight fair, do they?" He was talking to Leo, but his words were still aimed at Apollo.
A Brief Reunion, a story bit of Doomsday
Dec. 31st, 2015 09:42 amA Change in Routine
inventrix's Let's Pretend
Class is in Session
Regine had sent Luke for the kid because he was in a bad neighborhood, as far as their data could discern, he was a descendant of Aelfgar, and he was male.
It made as much sense as most of her decisions, so Luke had armed up, tapped their current staff teleporter, and headed into the wasteland that had once been St. Paul.
It had been surprisingly easy to find the kid; Luke had followed the shouting and found a scrawny, filthy, sunburnt kid holding a stick in each hand and fending off three grown men. Not from himself, Luke quickly noticed; the kid was protecting three smaller children who were, it seemed, roasting a pigeon over a small fire.
"Hey!" Luke had absolutely no problem getting everyone's attention. "Let's even this fight up!" He noticed the moment where the kid thought he was going to attack him, and the way the boy's stance, untrained as it was, shifted.
( Read more... )
( appendix A )
inventrix's Let's PretendClass is in Session
Regine had sent Luke for the kid because he was in a bad neighborhood, as far as their data could discern, he was a descendant of Aelfgar, and he was male.
It made as much sense as most of her decisions, so Luke had armed up, tapped their current staff teleporter, and headed into the wasteland that had once been St. Paul.
It had been surprisingly easy to find the kid; Luke had followed the shouting and found a scrawny, filthy, sunburnt kid holding a stick in each hand and fending off three grown men. Not from himself, Luke quickly noticed; the kid was protecting three smaller children who were, it seemed, roasting a pigeon over a small fire.
"Hey!" Luke had absolutely no problem getting everyone's attention. "Let's even this fight up!" He noticed the moment where the kid thought he was going to attack him, and the way the boy's stance, untrained as it was, shifted.
( Read more... )
( appendix A )
after inventrix's Let's Pretend, which is after my A Change in Routine.
When Leo walked into Cya's front yard carrying her Kept over his shoulder, she found that she wasn't surprised, and that she was more than a little relieved.
It wouldn't be enough, of course. Apollo was the most stubborn, ridiculous, arrogant man she had had the misfortune to deal with...
...since Leo and Howard were that age, a thought she was doing her best to suppress, especially considering how Leo's fierce smile vanished when he caught her looking at him.
He set her Kept down on her porch as Cya opened her door and deftly avoided the angry punch Apollo attempted to throw.
"I see you've met Professor Inazuma. Come in." She made it an invitation for Leo and an order for Apollo. "Leo, I see you've met my new Kept. I hope he wasn't too difficult."
"He wasn't difficult at all!" Leo was having fun, a smile flashing onto his face before he remembered he was supposed to be feeling bad. "Ah, we got in a bit of a fight..."
"You kicked his ass, you mean." She watched Apollo's face; she didn't need to watch Leo's to know what was going across it. He'd be hang-dog for a moment, and then proud of himself again.
Apollo was warring with something simpler: pride and fear. He'd noticed, then, how much stronger, how much more skilled than him Leo was. Good. "Are you just going to let him manhandle your Kept like that?" He spat out the word Kept. He always did. But the end of the sentence was more like a plea. "Or--"
"We were playing a bit of Let's Pretend." The pride was clear in Leo's voice, and the anger and fear were sparking in Apollo's face again.
"You were playing! I was--"
"You were saying you could handle yourself." She could hear the sharp smile in Leo's voice. "If I'd been a slaver, you'd be in chains by now."
It was hardly a fair challenge. They had great-grandchildren older than this boy.
Slavers wouldn't be fair, either.
"Leo was cy'Luca, too, Apollo, back when we were kids. A lot of kids have been, through the years, if you do the math." She kept her eyes on him. "One or two in every Cohort... One or two cy'Fridmar, too, and they're just as vicious in a fight, more likely to cheat, and more likely to turn evil. Never mind the cy'Sakamoto; nobody knows which way they'll go. And most of the cy'Doug would rather kill you than look at you."
"I get it!" He flung his arms upward violently. "Yeah, sure, there's lots of assholes out there. But I'm good, okay? This jackass got the jump on me, that's all."
He didn't believe it, or Cya would have been more harsh with him. Instead, she raised her eyebrows and waited for the moment where he shifted from foot to foot and dropped his arms and his gaze.
She glanced back at Leo, wondering if he remembered when he was that young and stupid. Time enough for that conversation later.
"By the time I'm done with you, it will be a lot harder for anyone to get the drop on you. And step one is realizing that somebody can and will."
And, because he was her Kept and this one, damnit, she could protect, she kept going. "In the meantime, this is my city. If anyone other than Leo here attacks you, you tell them that you Belong to me. If that doesn't stop them, you can feel free to tell anyone who can hear you that you're mine. For this year, at least, that ought to keep you safe."
inventrix's Let's Pretend, which is after my A Change in Routine.When Leo walked into Cya's front yard carrying her Kept over his shoulder, she found that she wasn't surprised, and that she was more than a little relieved.
It wouldn't be enough, of course. Apollo was the most stubborn, ridiculous, arrogant man she had had the misfortune to deal with...
...since Leo and Howard were that age, a thought she was doing her best to suppress, especially considering how Leo's fierce smile vanished when he caught her looking at him.
He set her Kept down on her porch as Cya opened her door and deftly avoided the angry punch Apollo attempted to throw.
"I see you've met Professor Inazuma. Come in." She made it an invitation for Leo and an order for Apollo. "Leo, I see you've met my new Kept. I hope he wasn't too difficult."
"He wasn't difficult at all!" Leo was having fun, a smile flashing onto his face before he remembered he was supposed to be feeling bad. "Ah, we got in a bit of a fight..."
"You kicked his ass, you mean." She watched Apollo's face; she didn't need to watch Leo's to know what was going across it. He'd be hang-dog for a moment, and then proud of himself again.
Apollo was warring with something simpler: pride and fear. He'd noticed, then, how much stronger, how much more skilled than him Leo was. Good. "Are you just going to let him manhandle your Kept like that?" He spat out the word Kept. He always did. But the end of the sentence was more like a plea. "Or--"
"We were playing a bit of Let's Pretend." The pride was clear in Leo's voice, and the anger and fear were sparking in Apollo's face again.
"You were playing! I was--"
"You were saying you could handle yourself." She could hear the sharp smile in Leo's voice. "If I'd been a slaver, you'd be in chains by now."
It was hardly a fair challenge. They had great-grandchildren older than this boy.
Slavers wouldn't be fair, either.
"Leo was cy'Luca, too, Apollo, back when we were kids. A lot of kids have been, through the years, if you do the math." She kept her eyes on him. "One or two in every Cohort... One or two cy'Fridmar, too, and they're just as vicious in a fight, more likely to cheat, and more likely to turn evil. Never mind the cy'Sakamoto; nobody knows which way they'll go. And most of the cy'Doug would rather kill you than look at you."
"I get it!" He flung his arms upward violently. "Yeah, sure, there's lots of assholes out there. But I'm good, okay? This jackass got the jump on me, that's all."
He didn't believe it, or Cya would have been more harsh with him. Instead, she raised her eyebrows and waited for the moment where he shifted from foot to foot and dropped his arms and his gaze.
She glanced back at Leo, wondering if he remembered when he was that young and stupid. Time enough for that conversation later.
"By the time I'm done with you, it will be a lot harder for anyone to get the drop on you. And step one is realizing that somebody can and will."
And, because he was her Kept and this one, damnit, she could protect, she kept going. "In the meantime, this is my city. If anyone other than Leo here attacks you, you tell them that you Belong to me. If that doesn't stop them, you can feel free to tell anyone who can hear you that you're mine. For this year, at least, that ought to keep you safe."
Luke was waiting for Cya at the fence around Lady Maureen's.
She was, she'd admit, predictable, but never in the sixty years that she'd been doing this had Luke stopped her. Talked to her, yes. Chatted, asked questions, sometimes even second-guessed her choices.
Something was different in his posture this time. There was something about the set of his feet and the spread of his wings that told her he wasn't going to wait patiently, and he wasn't here to chat.
Cya shifted her own posture, making sure she could feel the weight of every weapon she carried. She couldn't win a fight with Luca Hunting-Hawk, certainly not on his territory. But she could make sure she got away and survived long enough to call in Boom.
He stepped forward. "Cya."
"Sir." She noticed, then, that he had his body and wings angled oddly. Hiding something? "Nice weather this year."
"I have something for you."
That's what I'm worried about. "Sir?" He never had been great at small talk.
"I'm not something!" The complaint came from behind Luke; he shifted, folded his wings, and hauled a young man in front of him.
He was blonde, with a look Cynara recognized well - the chin, the nose, although the eyes were different. He looked more like Howard than like Leo, but they often did. And he looked not very close to either of them -- but that made sense, because it'd been generations, and not every child of Aelfgar could've managed to have children with a sibling.
Unlike any of her favorite Aelf-get, he had a crown of horns radiating out of his blonde curls like a sunburst. Like many of them, he was wearing a seemingly perpetual scowl.
"Cya Red Doomsday, this is Apollo the Sun-fire. Apollo, this is the woman I was telling you about."
Cya raised her eyebrows. "I don't really do unwilling, Luke." She couldn't miss the way the Hawk's fingers were pressing into the boy's forearm.
"You used to."
"I used to be a child. We were all children, once." This conversation was not going where she'd thought it would. "I grew up."
"That's the problem." He pushed Apollo forward; the boy tried to resist, but Luke was a force of nature. "This one didn't. He managed to sit through four years of Addergoole and I don't think he learned a damn thing, not the important stuff. He's going to get himself killed out there."
"He's right here." Apollo shifted as far away from Luke as the grip on his arm would allow. "And I'll be fine. Look, I know how to fight. I'll be able to take on anything I run into out there."
Cya sighed quietly. "I see what you're saying. But the thrill of the fight got old a long time ago, Luke, and I have my hands full."
Apollo leered at her. "I'll give you a fight, Lady."
"Red Doomsday." Luke's voice grew soft and formal. "I am fond of this idiot, and he was my student. I am asking you a favor, that perhaps you might succeed where I have failed. It is not a small favor, and I pay my debts."
Cya let that hang in the air. She looked the boy, pout, spikes, blonde hair, up and then down again.
"You." She nodded at the kid. "You Belong to me for the next year."
She was, she'd admit, predictable, but never in the sixty years that she'd been doing this had Luke stopped her. Talked to her, yes. Chatted, asked questions, sometimes even second-guessed her choices.
Something was different in his posture this time. There was something about the set of his feet and the spread of his wings that told her he wasn't going to wait patiently, and he wasn't here to chat.
Cya shifted her own posture, making sure she could feel the weight of every weapon she carried. She couldn't win a fight with Luca Hunting-Hawk, certainly not on his territory. But she could make sure she got away and survived long enough to call in Boom.
He stepped forward. "Cya."
"Sir." She noticed, then, that he had his body and wings angled oddly. Hiding something? "Nice weather this year."
"I have something for you."
That's what I'm worried about. "Sir?" He never had been great at small talk.
"I'm not something!" The complaint came from behind Luke; he shifted, folded his wings, and hauled a young man in front of him.
He was blonde, with a look Cynara recognized well - the chin, the nose, although the eyes were different. He looked more like Howard than like Leo, but they often did. And he looked not very close to either of them -- but that made sense, because it'd been generations, and not every child of Aelfgar could've managed to have children with a sibling.
Unlike any of her favorite Aelf-get, he had a crown of horns radiating out of his blonde curls like a sunburst. Like many of them, he was wearing a seemingly perpetual scowl.
"Cya Red Doomsday, this is Apollo the Sun-fire. Apollo, this is the woman I was telling you about."
Cya raised her eyebrows. "I don't really do unwilling, Luke." She couldn't miss the way the Hawk's fingers were pressing into the boy's forearm.
"You used to."
"I used to be a child. We were all children, once." This conversation was not going where she'd thought it would. "I grew up."
"That's the problem." He pushed Apollo forward; the boy tried to resist, but Luke was a force of nature. "This one didn't. He managed to sit through four years of Addergoole and I don't think he learned a damn thing, not the important stuff. He's going to get himself killed out there."
"He's right here." Apollo shifted as far away from Luke as the grip on his arm would allow. "And I'll be fine. Look, I know how to fight. I'll be able to take on anything I run into out there."
Cya sighed quietly. "I see what you're saying. But the thrill of the fight got old a long time ago, Luke, and I have my hands full."
Apollo leered at her. "I'll give you a fight, Lady."
"Red Doomsday." Luke's voice grew soft and formal. "I am fond of this idiot, and he was my student. I am asking you a favor, that perhaps you might succeed where I have failed. It is not a small favor, and I pay my debts."
Cya let that hang in the air. She looked the boy, pout, spikes, blonde hair, up and then down again.
"You." She nodded at the kid. "You Belong to me for the next year."
