FEBRUARY CATCH-ALL

[khajidont]

WHO: JAIME REYES & YOU
WHERE: All over!
WHEN: Throughout February!
WHAT: A catch-all for February! Jaime will be in school, walking his dogs, working at the garage, etc. as usual, Blue Beetle will be doing superhero shenanigans, hanging out at JL HQ and possibly training any baby superheroes that need a helping hand. Want a log? Hit me up via PM, write a starter here, or contact me on plurk @ WISDOMBITCH and I'll be more than happy to whip you up a starter.
WARNINGS: None anticipated!

Comments

FOR IRIS

[khajidont]

[ Now that February's well in-motion, Jaime's found himself in the unenviable position of realizing that going to college takes more than one semester, which honestly seems unfair. He already went through it once! Why does he have to do this, like, eight more times? Wild.

Either way, he's here! He's here, equipped with a backpack full of one heavy, expensive book and an obscene pile of photocopied sheets stapled badly together (he is not paying for all those textbooks, even if he has to stand in front of a photocopier for a couple of hours and regret his life decisions) and a big ol' cup of coffee, ready to get to work! He can do it! He's going to do it! He's an adult, and he's ready!

Oh, but there's Iris.

He's going to do it after he talks to Iris for as long as she'll talk to him for! ]

Iris, hey!

[eloquentness]

Jaime! Hey!

[ Iris grins, scooting over her seat and making plenty of room for Jaime at the table she'd snagged about ~15 minutes ago. The academic library gets a ton of foot traffic, and so conversations? People chatting while they do work? 110% accepted. Having coffee while she works? ... Well, the librarians know to turn a blind eye to her by now. ]

How's it going? It's been way too long.

[khajidont]

A lot better than it was going the last time I saw you! [ He says cheerfully, sliding into the proffered chair and setting his bag onto the table with a thump that's just a touch louder than he meant for it to be. ] I mean, I'm not hooked up to bags this time. Always a plus.

[ Jaime takes a sip of coffee (okay, he's not supposed to have it either, but Iris isn't gonna tell) before peering curiously at her. ] What are you doing here, anyway? I can't imagine you'd wanna go back to school.

[eloquentness]

Oh, god no. I just find that I can get work done whenever I'm over here.

[ Iris moves her laptop so Jaime can see what she's working on: a food history article for Mardi Gras, and how each Porter city plans on celebrating (or not celebrating, as it were). ]

Well, that, and the reference librarians here know their stuff better than the ones near my place.

[khajidont]

I didn't think you hated yourself that much, [ he says, shooting a barbed little smile her way, feeling mildly rebellious for complaining about school while in the librarians' midst because he is, at heart, a very tame sort. ]

So do you have, like, a regular gig now? In the... [ He studies it curiously. ] Culture section?

[eloquentness]

Kind of! Their usual Culture people had to be shifted to Metro, so I've been filling in with freelance work.

[ Iris isn't sure why, but she tries not to ask when it means extra work and extra cash for her at Heropa Daily. ]

But between this and something I've gotta keep hush-hush on, I'm thinking the Daily will finally give me a formal job offer at the end of the week.

[khajidont]

[ Something's hush-hush? ]

Oh! What's the secret? [ He leans forward, grinning. ] I'm trustworthy, promise.

[ And exceedingly nosy. ]

[eloquentness]

Jaime! [ she laughs, ] I wish, but I signed an NDA. Like a formal "I literally can't tell anyone, no matter how much I want to" kind of thing.

[ . . . she likes him though, so she'll relent a little. ]

But I can promise you it's writing related, and it's one of those things that comes with an advance.

[khajidont]

Hey, congratulations! You should be celebrating, not cooped up in here!

[ He grins at her, genuine happiness for her radiating out of him. It's always something else to see how many imPorts can truly excel and thrive here, no matter what obstacles they face, and it always warms him.

Unless he doesn't like them, in which case he resents their success, but that doesn't matter now. He likes Iris. ]

Seriously, that's hard to do. When are you allowed to start talking about it?

[lempereur]

[ On Friday, Yusuke is going to pick a fight with a telepathic supervillain-mob boss with a laser sword. If everything goes according to plan (which it has to, there is no backup plan) he'll be confessing his crimes shortly thereafter, likely implicating Yusuke in the process.

It's a necessary sacrifice. He isn't sure what, exactly, is going to come of it, but it's only days away now, it's coming out. This is happening, and Jaime deserves to hear it from him instead of on the news.

It'll be easy. Maybe. He already knows how the Phantom Thieves operate, at least. ]

Jaime.

[ He finds Jaime on the couch, lazily watching whatever happens to be on the tv. Yusuke (rudely? No, this is serious and necessary) snatches the remote off the table to turn it off, and sits beside his roommate on the couch. ]

I may be arrested this weekend.

[khajidont]

[ Jaime blinks blearily up at Yusuke, frowning a little as the boring documentary he was half dozing off to shuts off. At first, his words don't register - is Yusuke just objecting to what he's watching or talking about something he doesn't understand again? - and he sits up, hiding a yawn behind the back of his hand before grabbing back the remote. ]

That's nice. Call me when you're back and I'll make dinner.

[ Then, before he can turn it back on again, he freezes and drops it. ] Wait, what?

[lempereur]

[ Documentaries are fine. They're educational, even if this one does look boring. ]

Maybe. That is not the plan, of course.

[ Does he start from the beginning? With whatever's the most relevant? Apologize for sneaking around under Jaime's nose for the entire time he's been here?

Yusuke picks the remote up off the floor to lay it on the table, out of the way, and turns towards Jaime, pulling his legs underneath him. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, watching Jaime's face. It's been a long, nervous week, and he might have noticed that he's been a little skittish, if he's been able to catch Yusuke before he locks himself in his room. ]

I have been operating undercover within the Constellation since I got here. They are planning a major heist on Friday evening, during which my partner and I will ambush their leader, Count Dooku.

[ ...easy as that. ]

[khajidont]

You've been -- you're --

[ Jaime sits up a little now. He's a little different when he's on-duty, or what counts as on-duty - his spine is straighter, his eyes more focused, and there's an air of competency about him that is, quite frankly, completely absent from him in his everyday life. ]

Okay. I have, like, a gazillion questions, even though I think you've just answered fifteen others I already had, but... first of all: what do you need me to do?

[lempereur]

[ He's seen this from Jaime before, but rarely. It's in the midst of battle, when he's wearing his bug...goo...thing. Urgency looks strange on him paired with too-long hair and a t-shirt. Despite the severity of the conversation, a finger frame is necessary. Don't question it. ]

I don't need you to do anything. I am telling you this as a courtesy, so that you are not blindsided by having to hear about it on the news. Once we steal his heart and force his confession, I could be implicated. I had to do things to remain convincing that I am not proud of.

[ This is not a plea for help. Yusuke doesn't do pleas for help, not even when he desperately needs it, and between the Phantom Thieves and Adachi, he probably doesn't. Still, he knows Jaime enough by now not to waste his time trying to dissuade him. He puts his hands down, tucks his hair behind his ear. ]

I won't ask you to help unless you really want to. Our plan is fine as is, but more hands would not hurt.

[khajidont]

[ Jaime leans away when Yusuke starts doing... that thing that he does sometimes, but remains focused otherwise. He's become used to the guy's idiosyncracies by now, which means he can let them pass without comment.

(Still weird though.) ]

I mean, I appreciate the heads-up - but if you've gone this far deep into this criminal organization and this is the time you've got to bring him down? I want in.

[ Admittedly, he also just wants to watch Yusuke's back. He's not too well informed about this whole affair - something he hopes will change very, very soon - but he knows enough to know that it's dangerous, and he's not about to let a friend face that without his help. ]

Besides, I know you could use me.

[ If there's anything he's confident about, it's the fact that he can make himself useful - especially when he's got the powers that he does. ]

[lempereur]

[ Jaime's call to action is part righteousness, part the power of friendship. Not pity and condescension. Yusuke can see that, so he can agree with it. He gives his roommate a short, serious nod. ]

Alright, then. The Phantom Thieves will be greatly outnumbered, we could use you, if you are sure. You have been an excellent ally, in the past.

[ He produces his communicator from his back pocket, punches in some things, and looks back up. ]

The target is the headquarters for LOOT, the military contractor. I will send you the floor plan. The police have been tipped off, and Dooku's high profile enemies, if any of your... [ Corporately funded super cops? Ugh. ] ...team, would like to fight their genetically mutated super soldiers, then by all means.

[ And there it is. About as insanely huge as one would expect. ]

You said you had questions.

[khajidont]

[ Jaime considers the Justice League... and what the boss would think about this, a guerilla team of teenagers tackling it on their own. Nobody seemed to have a problem when it was the Titans going out there and killing themselves, he thinks bitterly, but as much as he respects Batman, he can't gamble on his assistance. The last thing he wants is for the League to swoop in and start heckling the people who put their lives on the line - even if it was a terribly foolish thing to do. Jaime assumes it was. Going undercover usually is. ]

I think I'll get a better handle on what's going on before telling any of them, [ he decides with a nod. ]

I guess... before we go over all the details of what's going on, I'd like to know why you decided to go undercover in the first place. What'd this guy do?

I'm not late YOU'RE late

[storyseeker]

[There's nothing too dangerous about this scenario. Elena got a tip about a small crime gang gathered in an abandoned Heropa warehouse, making experimental weapons that mimicked superpowers, so of course she had to investigate. What a story it would make. Nate would flip out if he knew, but she didn't invite him to come along because he's working tonight and anyway, she's a professional and doesn't need her boyfriend as a bodyguard.

So now she's up in the rafters, looking down upon way more gang members than she'd expected, none of whom have looked up so far. This is fine.

Except then one of them, a big, burly guy with something mechanical-looking strapped to his arm, cocks his head.]

"Hey. Did you guys hear that?"

shhh nobody's late

[khajidont]

[ Jaime's been tracking these guys down for a while too - and, as it so happens, he's perched inside of a vent, peering out. It's not his favourite way of conducting business - it's small, it smells, and his leg keeps cramping up - but sometimes it's necessary. But he knows for a fact that he didn't make any noise. So who...

Oh no. Khaji tells him about Elena before he sees her, but once he does, she'll receive what is, essentially, a call through the neural link they all have through the communicator. ]

What are you doing here?!

[storyseeker]

[Elena jerks slightly when the sounds from below are interrupted by a sound in her head—though not enough to make her slip.

What the hell? She doesn't intend to send that as a mental reply, but she's never actually used the neural link before. Oops. Not the most convenient first time. Jaime? Is that you?]

[khajidont]

Yes, it's me! Look straight ahead, over to where the grate is.

[ If she looks, she'll see just the faintest yellow glow coming from the grate. It's the sort of thing that's impossible not to notice, but only if you're looking directly at it - and Jaime's depending on the fact that nobody's staring that hard at the ceiling anyway. ]

I appreciate journalistic integrity or whatever, but hanging out in the rafters for what could turn into a fire fight is a little much! Unless you're here for some other reason?

[storyseeker]

[She looks, and it takes her a few seconds, but then she sees the yellow—and scowls. Not that she dislikes crossing paths, but...]

I can handle myself—I've been in plenty of firefights before, and that was without superpowers. There's a story here; I'm going to get it.

I take it you're here for more than eavesdropping?

[khajidont]

That's not exactly reassuring!

[ Making a habit of being in firefights isn't exactly a good one. God, he's going to have to keep an eye on her if she keeps doing stuff like this, because self-sufficient or not, there's such a thing as going too far. ]

Yeah, I'm the guy who's about to turn this into a firefight. I got enough intel from them - now it's time to bring 'em in.

[storyseeker]

[She likes and respects Jaime, she really does, and certainly she acknowledges he has more experience in superheroics than she does. But is she going to back down? No.]

Okay, so go ahead! Pretend I'm not here. [Ha. Fat chance of that, she knows, but she has to try.] I was planning on observing anyway, not starting a fight myself. This is just more to observe.

[khajidont]

I don't like having civilians around during a firefight, let alone my friends! Come on, I can just tell you what happens afterwards. Get out of here!

[ And then, of course, the muttering gangmembers, roving suspiciously around the place to see if their hunch is right, wind up moving towards the door. He can hear a couple strains of conversation, most of them revolving around getting out of here. That won't work - he needs to ambush them here. The second they step outside, he's got a much bigger problem on his hands.

Jaime doesn't curse. It's not polite, and he was raised better. Unfortunately, Elena's on a mental link right now, which means there's no brain-to-mouth filter, so all she hears is an exasperated: ] Oh, goddamn it.