january catch-all

[ushiri]

Who: "Kyle" and folks
When: January
Where: Thorne, Horizon, Borrel for the quest later
What: Pre-planned threads and a few open starts tbd
Warnings: General warnings for this character. Will add anything specific as becomes necessary!

Comments

[ushiri]

[ Jack's actions seem to encourage the others who've been waiting for the Crab Man to stop so that they could secure bait. An older man with a long beard makes the same move to reach toward the table, which leads to a middle-aged woman doing the same. Safety in numbers seems to prevail, and soon all the others that were waiting are now shoving past the strange young man to get their needed bait.

The older man nods and mutters to another: "S'true, I heard a rumor about a man who's whole family'd been massacred. Damn murderous birds."

The tide has turned.

With bait secured, Kahlil pulls at Jack's coat. ]

C'mon. [ He's not really waiting to see what happens next, he's just going to gently pull his friend away from the table and back toward the outcropping of rocks from earlier. ]

[stations]

( He goes where he's pulled, casting one last irritated glance at crazy crab guy — who seems deeply conflicted, torn between hoarding the crabs against the mob and assaulting the product of the dyslexic version of the rumor he'd heard.

As they go, an older woman reaches out to curl a hand around Kyle's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry about your family, dearie. Birds... they can be a mighty bitch. Dead eyes, those ones. No empathy. Not like horses, or dogs." She gives him a motherly squeeze, and then carries on to bodily elbow Crab Guy out of the way so she can shove her hands into the bait.

Jack shakes his head as he clutches his hard-earned crab. )

Is it just me, or are people in Borrel super weird?

[ushiri]

[ Kahlil, for what it's worth, has not thought about the bird story in months. This is by far one of the stranger things to happen to him recently, and that's including the holes he dug.

All he can do is nod and try to look solemn as the woman expresses her sympathies before continuing to lead Jack away. When they're far enough away that they can no longer hear the arguments and protesting coming from the Crab Man, he finally slows down a bit and grins at Jack. ]

No, not usually. [ He cocks his head to one side, a sly look of amusement across his features. ] But look at you. Hero to the people. Savior of the bird bait.

[stations]

( Well. He's not expecting this turn-around, the abrupt shift in attitude or that smile to be levelled his direction. It brings him a (pleasantly) surprised pause, and he makes to scratch at the back of his neck — only to remember at the last minute he's holding crab, so he lowers his hand back down again before it gets to chest-height. )

What can I say? You know me, I'm just... really passionate about bird bait equality. That's, like, my whole... thing.

( He really wishes he didn't have a fistful of raw seafood in his hands right now. What does he even do with this. )

[ushiri]

[ He lets out a huff and shakes his head, still grinning. ]

Oh? I thought turtles were your thing, now.

[ They've reached the spot, so he stops and draws a little circle in the sand for Jack to place the stinking crab. A few birds are watching with wary interest, circling and landing some meters away. A particularly large one squawks and snaps at its nearest neighbor when it ventures too close. The ringleader. ]

[stations]

( He starts shredding the bait absently, tossing in tiny clumps one bit at a time to keep the birds from grabbing an entire mass of it in one go and taking off. )

Hey, the turtle thing's no joke. ( Despite the words themselves, his tone and body language are mild. ) I'm having a real turtle crisis lately. Did you know that one out there actually knew the turtle from the boat? I'm not kidding. I picked up a memory from it, they were friends. It was heckin' adorable.

( Believe it or not, he's actually... pretty passionate about getting that big boy back into the water. He can't reunite Admiral Chuck with his family, but he can save this fella. )

[ushiri]

[ He watches Jack scatter the bits of crab, slowly circling around him as he goes. ]

Were they?

[ That is actually adorable. ]

What did it feel like to be a... giant turtle?

[ He still sounds amused, like he's not really taking this very seriously. They were just watching cartoons the other day, memories of teenage mutated ninja turtles. Very obviously a sign of something, surely. ]

[stations]

( He has not connected the Teenage Mutant Ninja Dots about why he might have felt particularly compelled to watch that cartoon, but if it were pointed out to him... yeah, that would probably make sense. )

It was... peaceful.

( He decides eventually, eyes flickering briefly up toward the sky while he reflects. )

Ate some seagrass. Swam through a coral reef. Watched the smaller turtle climb on board that boat and sail away, which was kind of sad.

[ushiri]

[ It does sound nice. He hums to himself, stepping into his own circled tracks for one more round before motioning to Jack to duck behind the rocks. ]

Maybe. But if they live a long, long time, they will probably see each other again one day.

[ He would like to think.

Kahlil crouches down in the sand with the net clutched at his side, watching the bait as the birds decide whether or not it's worth it to investigate. He's not using his abilities to do any of this, just his reflexes. Less efficient, but safer. ]