Monthly Catch-all

[warfares]

WHO: Kylo Ren and you!
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: July 1st – July 10th
WHAT: Taking advantage of his newfound freedom, Kylo Ren decides to poke at some tentacle monsters and drink hot chocolate. More or less in that order.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Disturbing content, primarily: blood, gore, tentacles and the amputation thereof. Violence may come up, depending. Will add warnings as needed.

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( 0 0 1 ) » SAFE-HOUSE

[ It's late – or perhaps it's early, when Kylo Ren slips from his cot and pulls on first his borrowed clothing and then his boots.

He heads directly for the hatch.

Climbing the ladder takes far longer than he'd like; before New Amsterdam, bruised ribs would be a fleeting inconvenience. Fuel to drive him forward, if necessary; easily healed, if not. He had followed Clarke's instructions as best he could but shied from doing more than that.

Above, there's a pack stashed and waiting. He collects it quickly, checking its over its contents and before pulling it onto his shoulder. He has a rough idea of where he's headed. With any luck he won't be gone for a few hours. Hardly long enough to miss. ]


( 0 0 2 ) » SAMPLE GATHERING ( cw: eventual blood, gore )

[ He finds what he's looking for several blocks away: two crab carcasses – the smallest little more than a bloodied pulp, scattered across an alleyway. Even the most desperate scavengers seem to have given them a wide berth. 

Good. 

He sets down his pack and pulls on a pair of surgical gloves. There's a more than good chance that he'd waited too long, that there's no venom left to risk, but he's not taking any chances. Even without the venom there'll be something to salvage, to use, to trade.  And while buying goodwill is still a largely foreign concept he is willing to learn, if necessary. To play along for the moment as long as it gets him answers. ]


( 0 0 3 ) » SKY PARK

[ Later that week, the city begins its mourning in earnest.

Ren slips through the crowds like a scalefish, hood raised and eyes keen. He buys a hot chocolate from one of the many street vendors – lured in by the promise of something not containing insects for a change – and sips at it intermittently as he wanders.

Eventually, he finds himself in one of the city's sky parks: a lush, green place that is untouched by the grief of the city below. He thinks, absurdly, of Chandrila. The home he'd given up alongside his name. He remembers being lead through a park much like this, years ago, his small fingers tucked into his father's calloused palm. He shakes his head, as if to dislodge the memory, then murmurs – perhaps to himself, perhaps to anyone nearby: ]  I don't recognize half of these plants.


( 0 0 4 ) » WILDCARD
 
[ feel free to pm me or hit me up at resurrectionist for plotting! ]

Comments

001

[forcevisions]

[ She's heard that he has offered to join Morningstar. It makes her nervous. Much as hope tells her to believe it's genuine, Rey also know that he has only just refused her offer to return and work with the Resistance. It keeps his intentions from looking authentic, which is really only more confusing for her. Kylo Ren doesn't do manipulation. He's simply not cunning in that way; he's too direct. Like her.

But she has to work with the information she does have, and as long as she has her doubts, she needs to keep an eye on him. For the sake of the other people here. It's hard not to feel responsible when no one else knows him the way that she does. No one else could know him the way that she does.

When she spot him slipping out close to dawn, then, it's natural that she should tug on her boots and follow, scrambling out the hatch shortly after he does, trying to resettle it quietly lest he notice. He takes long enough getting the pack squared away on his back that she can catch up in time to get a look of where he's going. ]

[warfares]

[ Calling it an offer would be generous. It was less that he offered to join than he informed them that he would — and El, more amused than aghast, had said they'd see what they could do.

In the meantime he'd keep busy, find ways to be useful. The excursion now was at least partly to do with that, partly for himself — the city was still focused so focused on the largest beast that many of the smaller carcasses had gone largely ignored.

It wouldn't last, of course. Eventually they'd come for the rest of them, sweep the whole incident under the rug and forget about it. But for the moment there was a window, one he intended to exploit.

He realizes he's being followed quickly enough, considers playing along, luring them in and then snapping their neck. Hiding the body would be difficult, however. It would waste too much time and there was always the chance that he'd be found out. Exposed.

Even so, he is tempted. ]

[forcevisions]

[ He seems to know precisely where he wants to be going. That focus keeps her on his heels. It seems too cold that she should accuse him of reporting Morningstar to the UNA or something similar, but there's no denying they're more his speed. If he could gain power with them, he would. He'd bemoan it, feel conflicted, but he'd ultimately stayed with the First Order after all.

Some part of her aches to be proven wrong. That's why she doesn't reveal herself as she pursues him down the long streets. They're less densely packed at this time of the morning, but it's still harder to track him than she'd like. She reaches out, tries to touch that latent psychic link, but all she gets for her efforts is a headache.

The Force is still blocked from her. It makes following him more of a physical endeavor than a psychic one. ]

[warfares]

[ Evasion had never been his strong suit, even before. It came down to his simply not needing to be, able to lean on his power ㅡ and, more often, his fists ㅡ to defend himself.

Fighting has always been his way.

On the next turn, he goes right rather than left. It buys him several seconds, long enough to duck into the shadows of a side-alley and draw one of the knives from his pack. Then, he waits, listens for that soft footfall. ]

[forcevisions]

[ Rey arrives at the intersection where he's ducked right and glances around, trying to search him out of the crowd and figure out which direction he went. She glances left, puzzling through it with a frown. It should be easy with his height, but his hair's short still, his ears sticking out beneath it, and so her brain has to do extra labor to search out those specific markers instead of the ones that suit her mental image of him.

With no sign of him ahead or to her left, she starts in to the right, but she's walking like she's blind. It's strange to go without the Force, and it denies her the opportunity to sense him and his intent. Hopefully he spots her face under her hood before he stabs. ]

[warfares]

[ It's a near thing.

He grips the knife like it's a lifeline, watching as she steps carefully into view. Glances left, then right and —

Karabast.

He very nearly curses aloud because of course — of course — it had to her. Nobody else would be quite so foolish, especially knowing what she knows. Anxiety still simmers in his blood, the last of that panicked adrenaline leaving his body in a rush. He inhales, slowly. Exhales.

Then he straightens, tucking the knife away and stepping out of his hiding place. ] Rey.

[ It's amazing, really, the level of emotion that can be packed into a single word. ]

[forcevisions]

[ The glint of metal comes with a sharp inhale, and she draws up short, backing off by only two steps before she recognizes that she has seen it only because he intends to sheathe it, and not in her ribs. Rey holds her breath nevertheless as he says her name, rapt attention locked onto his face as a number of emotions flicker through it. Emotions that she could, once, read without effort.

She tries to remind herself that even if the Force weren't lost to her, she'd cut him off. She wouldn't be able to read him anyway. That had been her choice. It wasn't ripped from her. That does nothing to quell the urge to reach out, but she ignores it. It's unwelcome. ]

Ben. [ No sense in just hiding in the shadows anymore. If she can't observe him, she can interrogate him. ] Where are you going?

[ He's a member of Morningstar now in theory, but slipping off as the sun rises with a knife and a bag, paranoid about being seen? It's not a good look. ]

002 ( cw: blood, gore, etc )

[retravel]

[ During the attack, Fitz had toed at the corpse of a dog-like creature, slicing the skin with his newfound abilities to peer at the vessels and bones beneath. Gold eyes and gold blood, with the latter oozing out as any animal's would. Maybe Fitz is looking for more information today, not unlike Ren, or he's simply wandering, mapping the nooks of this unfamiliar city. It's only by chance that he notices movement in the alleyway.

The silhouette strikes him as familiar, though that isn't why he speaks up as he approaches, tread light. Morbid curiosity is what warrants engagement. someone's thinking along the same lines as himself. ]

[ low and even — ] You came prepared. [ The gloves suggest forethought for the task; that's all. ] Clever.

[ When he'd tried his hands at it, Fitz had been, well, sloppy, a byproduct of his off-kilter centre of self. ]

[warfares]

For the venom. [ a finger is extended to one of the creature's tentacles, the flesh still possessing a dewy sheen ㅡ having already suffered through one night of fever-sweats, muscles trembling and breath short, he's in no rush to repeat the experience.

Finally, he casts a considering look Fitz's way. He seems more curious than perturbed. ]

There's a second pair in the pack.

[retravel]

[ Oh, well that's an invitation, isn't it? He closes the distance between them and lifts the pack to retrieve the second pair, noting any other contents in the process. Nosy parker. ]

Is that what you're after? The venom, I mean.

[ intoned casually, as he pulls the gloves on with two snaps of the latex. a few people had run-ins with some kind of toxin. hard not to spy the symptoms in the intimate safehouse, after all. studying it could be of use — put to developing an anti-venom, perhaps, or weaponised.

he crouches beside ren, then, surveying the state of the carcass. the smell isn't bad yet, so that bodes well for their work. ]

[warfares]

Among other things, [ it's best to be upfront about that from the start. Following their conversation about the implants he doubts Fitz would be willing to buy that he's here out of a purely academic interest.

He pulls on his own gloves, continuing:] If a lab was able to determine the properties of the drug used on us, perhaps they might learn something of value.

[ Like where it might have come from. If it had been captured or grown. The timing of the whole thing had been more than a little suspect and with the larger body barred from them, they'd have to make do with what they could find. ]

sorry my inbox hid this! feel free to handwave or continue, etc

[retravel]

[ there's an awareness between them that the other person also knows a little too much — and perhaps wonders too much as well.

not a bad thing, necessarily. ]

Quick thinking. [ a beat. ] Biology's not my expertise, but — I imagine it works like other venomous animals. [ ren has probably already surmised as much. he's just thinking aloud. ] I'll hold the container, and you take the tentacle?

{ 003 }

[frostedplum]

[ Mei's seen enough of the lower portion of the city to want a change of scenery. She's used to exploring and traveling, so being trapped in a city like this has been hard on her. Truly, she knows she isn't trapped, but as Morningstar works on her fake history in the hopes of landing her a job, she can't find good reason to be let out on the walled metropolis.

So she comes here to the park high in the sky to breathe better air and walk among the greenery. On hearing a voice, she looks up to recognize someone from the safehouse. How funny that they've run into each other here. ]

I know most of them, though not all by name. [ She's a climatologist, which means she's studied soil and plant matter that's thousand or hundreds of thousands of years old. This right here is a botanist's area of expertise. ] And the names I know them by are probably different than what someone else would call them anyway. [ That is, she knows their Mandarin names. ]

[warfares]

Oh?

[ He looks over at her, then, his expression one of mild interest. If he recognizes her from the safehouse, he doesn't mention it ㅡ even if her shorn scalp would have been enough to give her away ㅡ but instead steers the conversation to the matter at hand. ]

Then you have the advantage over me.

[frostedplum]

Oh, that's not a bad thing. Now you have the opportunity to learn about them, if you're interested.

[ Though it's hard for her to tell if he's interested, or just making conversation. ]

This is my first time up here. It's beautiful.

[warfares]

[ It's a little of one and a little of the other; time is an unspeakable luxury to a man that's spent most of his life directed according to another's whim. First it had been his parents, then Luke and finally Snoke. Now Morningstar would hold his leash ㅡ volunteered, of course, because even Ren could see the advantages of maintaining that alliance.

His attention is drawn to a cluster of flowers that look like bells; snow white with purple throats and a sharp, green smell that is at odds with its delicate appearance. ]

I'm not sure I'd know where to begin, [ he confesses. There had been a time, though, when he would have enjoyed learning, if only for the sake of it. That time feels long ago, now. Distant, like the memories of the little boy being lead through his own park by his father. ]

[frostedplum]

Well... I think your implant could give you the information. Maybe look at the flower and think of wanting to search for the image, and your implant will bring up the results? It's worth a try.

[ She's still learning how to use them. Controlling things with a thought or flick of her eye is a little harder than typing in search terms, because she needs to not get off track and think of too many things at once. They're all in the process of learning something new here. ]

Why don't you try this one? [ She points to those pretty white bells he was just looking at. ]

[warfares]

[ There's a steep learning curve with technology this intuitive. Her suggestion makes it sound so simple ㅡ likely because it is ㅡ but putting theory into practice is easier said than done. ]

All right.

[ Ren focuses on the cluster of flowers, brows slowly drawing together. Inhale, exhale ㅡ he feels the slow build of heat in his chest, frustration rising ㅡ inhale, exhale ㅡ the feeling is recognized, thankfully, and pushed down before the light and can begin to blossom in his breast, where it would only draw more attention ㅡ inhale, exhale ㅡ and... ]

Digitalis is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennials, shrubs, and biennials commonly called foxgloves.

The scientific name means "finger-like" and refers to the ease with which a flower of Digitalis purpurea can be fitted over a human fingertip.

[ He glances at, the information box still hovering over his one eye. ] It says that the entire plant is toxic.

[frostedplum]

[ Mei looks pleased that he's able to search for answers on the plants here, but then her forehead wrinkles and she sports a little pout. ]

Toxic? Why would they plant this in a public garden?

001

[strove]

[If nothing else, Rey and Stephen Strange have made it abundantly clear to her that she needs to be better about watching after herself. She's done just that, at least. She has a gun hidden away from the safehouse to avoid any suspicion from Morningstar's agents, and she's taken care to keep an eye on everyone else.

That's why she spots Kylo Ren and his slow, steady ascent out of the ladder. Although he's a very large man—taller than most she's ever met—that doesn't make up for the slow movement. It makes her concerned. And she's done enough "field medic work"—apostrophes for a reason, as she was the only one who could for the delinquents—that she can tell when someone is suffering. For no reason, since they can now get help.

Clarke is quick to follow him. His slow movement means that she can go up the ladder quickly. She doesn't have any special fighting or physical talents otherwise. She's just healthy, so she doesn't bother to try to hide her footsteps as she trots after him.]

I hope you're going to see a real doctor. [It sounds like an accusation because she expects that's precisely what he won't be doing.]

[warfares]

[ He freezes but doesn't turn, fights back the urge to bristle at the accusation she levies his way. ]

It's on the list.

[ Near enough to the end that it's all but teetering, ready to drop away to make room for something more pressing. It's finding somewhere safe, somewhere that won't ask questions, that's the trick. For all his wariness of Morningstar, they were a known quantity. ]

Did you come all this way to badger me? [ He glances over at her, finally, as she falls into step beside him. ]

[strove]

I'm not planning on sticking around here forever. [It's not said as a threat. The words themselves don't typically combine into "a threat." She's willing to help. She's been guilted into helping, but she doesn't plan on joining Morningstar. She knows that's in the cards for other people.

Clarke doesn't make a habit of joining organizations like that. In falling in line. That's what it'd feel like to her.

(She's more of a leader than a follower.)]

So I'd prefer for you to get help. Actual help. They prove it for everyone here.

[warfares]

[ ...ah, well.

Ren frowns briefly, then looks away. It's not that he'd expected her to stay ㅡ because he hadn't, they barely knew each other and while he'd been grateful for her assistance that hardly gave him a claim to her or her time ㅡ but there is something jarring in the knowledge, regardless. ]

I'll look into it. [ He'll think of a convincing enough story, later. Maybe something to do with the recent monster attack? Until then he'll just have to be careful. ]

Are you armed?

provide* sob

[strove]

[He'll look into it. Clarke doesn't know what to make of that, but knows better than to prod further. That will act as a contradiction to what she's saying.

Besides, his next question catches her off guard. She goes rigid at first, then tilts her head up, looking down at him. He's much taller than her, but Clarke Griffin has a way of making herself seem larger than her small stature.]

Why, do you think I'll need something soon? [Her tone is flat and cool. She doesn't give an answer either way.]

it's ok sometimes english-ing is tough

[warfares]

I think it's best to be prepared.

[ It's not paranoia if someone is actually out to get you. Several someones, potentially, though he's not sure where to even begin with the UNA and its possible connection to them yet. Wishes he had asked El more questions but he'd been too focused on the implant and wanting it out.

He waves a hand, indicating their surroundings. Quiet now but that will change, particularly if they venture into the more populated areas, as he'd been planning. ]

Situations can turn ugly quickly and most will not stop to distinguish between who is innocent and who is not. [ a beat, then he adds: ] And someone did go to great lengths to bring us here.