take a look at all the pressure

[dragony]

who: Ruka, you saps
where: Heropa, here and there
when: 5/31 - 6/6, varying times
what: A selection of gratuitous slice-of-life scenarios as filtered through the life of someone who's never happy
warnings: ???

---

[ 1 • that high school in Heropa that everyone gets enrolled in but barely anybody attends on a regular basis, morning through afternoon ]

Weekdays are schooldays, but not for everyone. Those outside the proper age bracket, for one, and those with little desire to attend despite their inclusion, for a second. For Ruka, it's the second. As someone who grew up educated on the internet, followed by swinging from homeschooling to testing forward into a specialized university degree, high school literature and economics are hardly an appealing way to spend the muggy Florida afternoons. Heropa is a small town, and a small town means a smaller population, so there's only one high school within the town limits. It means, she knows, that she's not the only imPort enrolled here, when she musters up the energy to attend, but sometimes it feels like it. Maybe it's her spotty attendance or her unusual appearance that does it, or perhaps it's her uneasy discomfort with crowds and strangers, but no matter the day she attends, Ruka can't help but feel on edge. It's a challenge to not use her power, to not form a literal bubble around her in order to establish the boundaries of a metaphorical one. She doesn't trust any of them. She can't. But even if she won't register, it's too big of a risk to evade their every system, isn't it? Those aren't limits she's willing to risk her neck to test.

So from one class to another, she keeps to herself; volunteers no answers, asks no questions, and certainly doesn't try striking up conversation with her fellow students. Arrive, go through the motions, depart; so long as the effort seems to be there, she thinks, it'll be alright. But no matter the day, the pattern goes as usual: ignore the guys on the debate team in first period that spend at least five minutes every morning bandying about new theories about what happened to her face (if anything); glower at the girl next to her in calculus who thinks that just because she's sitting on Ruka's blind side that she won't notice someone trying to copy her work; skip gym class without the faintest pretense to instead commandeer some small table in the library and hide with publications of world atlases through the decades; get kicked out of U.S. History and sent to loiter in the hallway, as usual, for "detracting from the learning environment."

During lunch, sitting in some lesser-frequented area of the courtyard, she wonders if it's worth the effort to finish out the school year... that is, if she isn't at this point simply leaving for the day, too tired and having exhausted even the pretense of caring for her "permanent record."



[ 2 • city bench in the downtown (only) shopping district ]

She can't do everything by herself.

It's something she tells herself--tells anyone who listens--over and over, but perhaps today those words should be, she can't keep trying to do everything by herself. Because that's what keeps happening, isn't it? She assesses how she feels at a given time, determines what she needs to do and how much strength she'll need to do it, and finds herself short. She then determines who would be likely to help her with such minor tasks, and promptly throws the whole mental list away. That's still a cost to her, in the end; those who do favors are kind, or calculating, but regardless expect some prize in return, whether it be friendship or a favor, and the inability to provide either would simply breed resentment.

As for someone who already is her friend, she can't ask Karkat to do everything for her; he resents her enough already.

But the temperature is high today, and Ruka never remembers to account for how much more energy it takes to do the shopping with the sun on her back, when she never allows herself the embarrassment of clothing lighter than opaque cotton or sleeves shorter than the wrist.

She can't keep going on like this, she thinks to herself, and maybe this is heat stroke, and maybe she should just let herself pass out here, but what if someone steals her bags? That would make the whole endeavor even more pointless. So for now, maybe sitting in the shade, heels of her palms pressing against her mismatched eyes, maybe she'll be able to muster enough energy to at least get back to the house from here.

Maybe.



[ 3 • government housing district, dusk to pre-dawn ]

She wishes the buildings were taller. Or perhaps it's better to say, she wishes she lived in a proper city, with proper buildings of proper ambitious heights, and that she once again lived on one's peak. It's been a long time since she saw her childhood home, but a life so far from the ground and so close to the stars is a hard one to forget. Ruka still doesn't know the names of all the asterisms, their constellations, but the night sky patterns are mostly the same here as they were in the City, and as they were in Neo Domino City before that. Te difference lays, she knows, in her position on this globe, rather than the positions of the stars beyond it.

It's about midnight, and she can't sleep — but when it's one, two-thirty, four in the morning, sleep is just as difficult to find. It has been easier these past few weeks, but no solution is perfect. It's not fear of the dark or the unfamiliar surroundings that shake her, but the rumble and ache of a restless heart, a racing mind. Picking out stars seems more productive than looking for shapes in the spackle of her ceiling. Better still, to watch other imPorts make their way into or out of the residential neighborhood this late, to guess their reasons, their plans and motives... it's more productive than dwelling on her own.

It's not like they usually bother her, anyway.



[ 4 • wildcard; tagger's choice ]

[ Housemate in Residence 10 annoyed about someone making tea at two in the morning? Grocery shopper colliding into that idiot loitering in front of the pastas? Forced to sit next to this weirdo because it's the only open seat in the coffee parlour/tea house/restaurant? Door to door salesman? Whatever strikes your fancy, let's make it happen. ]

Comments

2! let's say may 31

[earnedmystripes]

[It's not that often that Kotetsu goes grocery shopping--he's the sort of guy that generally subsists on takeout and microwave dinners, but he needs to be able to make his fried rice, too, and he's running low on ingredients. Rice, in particular, being the crucial component.

So it's with that in mind that he comes to the store that day, and he's in and out in about fifteen minutes, mostly comprised of the ten minutes he spent trying to find the aisle for grains. Anyway, the small plastic bag is slung over his shoulder as he leaves, and he's about to head for home when he spots someone on the nearby bench who doesn't look too well. The plan to go straight home with the groceries is all but forgotten, and he slides onto the bench next to her with a concerned expression.]

You okay?

[dragony]

'm fine.

[ It is, without argument, the least convincing of lies. With the way Ruka's sitting, slouched mostly forward, hands against her face and her elbows on her knees, hunched forward, loose green hair masking all of that from sight. Even Ruka knows she is not fine, but it's not as though she could give an answer like that. Really, what else is she going to say? I'm just getting my heart rate down, because it feels like my chest is going to explode? Hardly.

If his voice is familiar, she doesn't give attention enough to notice. Her focus instead is on physical proximity: where on the bench his weight is resting in relation to where he's sitting, and where in relation to that are his words spoken; the lack of motion from the grocery bag leaning against her calf, or from her purse against her thigh and its strap across her torso. It doesn't seem like he's trying to steal either, and that's good enough right now.

Not that he would be able to see it, but her mouth pulls to one side in an attempt at a disarming smile; she doesn't lift her head. Her words are measured to fit the short length of each exhale. ]

I'm just... waiting, a moment. That's all.

[earnedmystripes]

['Waiting', she says. It might almost be a good excuse, if there were anything she were apparently waiting for. The crosswalk for the intersection is several yards away, her bags are by her feet, and it's possible that there could've been someone who'd come to the store with her, but he severely doubts it, considering everything else that makes the lie transparent.

On some level, he understands it--the desire to keep others from worrying, to shove anything unpleasant under the rug and deal with it by yourself because it's your problem and no one else's. But Kotetsu's also never been the sort of man who could walk away from someone in trouble. He doesn't take his eyes off her for a moment, his shoulders tense from the way her words are clipped and choppy. He doesn't think she's breathing properly, but he can't get a good look with the way she's hunched over.

His throat is dry when he speaks up again, and it's not from the Florida heat.]

Can I get you some water or something, would that help? I could go back inside and ask, I'm sure they have some...

[If he sounds a bit more distressed than a complete stranger (he's too distracted to realize he recognizes her voice) should, it's because he can't really help it. It's something of an old wound by now, but one that will probably never heal completely. Seeing people who are unwell has a way of tearing those scars back open for Kotetsu, even six years later. There's a need to do something, anything, almost a visceral sort of sensation borne of the helplessness from knowing that he can't protect someone from their own body. If Ruka happens to look up at any point, she might notice how white his knuckles have gotten.]

[dragony]

I'm fine.

[ He's on her good side—she always tries to keep her good side in the direction she's most likely to need it—so the motions don't have to be much. Her hands pull away from where her palms were pressing against the hard rims of her sockets, arms folding over one another, left over right. Pushing a little on her arms, Ruka straightens her back, sitting up a little straighter, turning her face to regard her well-meaning interloper.

ImPort was on the table from the start, from the way his voice sounds, but it seems like more of a sure thing just from his face. Older, sympathetic; lacking, she thinks, the put-upon softness of insincerity. Maybe she's seen him before, but without a name, or context, it's hard to pin how recently.

Her bangs still hang in her face, so the shock of red fabric covering her left eye is muted beneath the sweep of pastel green hair; her visible eye, a greenish sort of amber, is only a little pink in the white for fatigue. Makeup conceals the color of fatigue, dampens the red of her flushed cheeks and brow, but doesn't mask it completely.

Again—visible, this time—she tries a weary smile. He's pushy, but she doesn't want to dredge up venom if she doesn't have to. ]

You don't have to do anything like that.

[earnedmystripes]

[The funny thing about someone else using your defense mechanisms is that you can spot them a mile away. She straightens up, removes her hands from her face, smiles...all things designed specifically to signal, I'm okay, don't worry about me.

The terrible, hypocritical irony is that it makes him worry more, when it's someone else.]

I wouldn't mind. If it'd help. It wouldn't be any trouble to me.

[You can almost feel how he's itching to do it, to help in some way, however minor. But the thing about Kotetsu is that for as pushy as he can be, he's very good about boundaries that are laid down. He won't defy a direct no unless her life is in immediate danger.]

Or I could give you a hand with your bags? I don't have anywhere I need to be, so.

[dragony]

It's fine.

[ The words are the pressure of a blade beneath velvet: soft in appearance, and in sound, but the force is something stronger, sharp and unyielding. Only one of her eyes is visible, so the effect is dulled, but it opens wide, pupil shrinking back in the afternoon light. The whole look of her seems harder now, more rigid—as though it were the softness of her recovery that makes her seem weak, rather than the uneven pallor of her face. ]

I don't need any help, thanks.

[earnedmystripes]

[Kotetsu deflates, a bit like a balloon that's had a pin taken to it. For a moment, his slightly sullen, pouty expression might make him look younger than her, even--at least until you look past it to the restlessness underneath. He's still worried about her, and chafing hard under the clear back off signals she's sending. Kotetsu might be a nosy, meddlesome old man, but he isn't the sort to trample over specifically stated boundaries like that.]

...Alright.

[He's quietly debating whether he wants to attempt idle chitchat so he has an excuse to walk her home eventually, or if doing so would wear her out further and he should find some other way to quietly be sure she gets home safe--eventually, he decides on the former. He takes off his hat, fanning himself with it as he leans back against the bench and letting out a sigh.]

Man, I don't think I'll ever get used to the humidity in Florida. Feels like I'm melting here...

2.

[biotically]

As someone who frequently gets migraines, it's easy to pinpoint someone who's struggling with a similar issue. Sure, it wasn't really his business, to bother a young woman was a little...well, Kaidan had thought about moving on. She was obviously working through her own troubles, and he normally wouldn't, but --

Well, he kind of sympathized. And in the heat like this, even if she was in the shade? It was probably best that she had something to drink, wasn't it? With the heat here -- and god was it hot, he thought he was going to pass out. Then again, he was used to a cooler climate -- or space.

It doesn't take him long to swing back around, in the middle of his mid-afternoon walk home, and he turned to stop at a cart, picking up two bottles of water, before he turned back, to stop under the shade, and hold one out to her.

"You don't look so good," he said, offering her the bottle of water. "This might help."

[dragony]

"I'm fine," she says, dropping one hand from her face to wave it in dismissal. Deja vu, perhaps, but her tactics don't change much. She doesn't know who this guy is, not bothering to look, and doesn't even know what it is he's offering. She doesn't want the pity; she just wants some time to recover.

It rarely does her any good.

"I don't need anything."

[biotically]

"Alright," he said simply, and sat down, in the shade. "Your loss," he added, and leaned against a surface, tipping his head back. Oh, he didn't care, that she'd refused it. That kind of thing, showing kindness to strangers, didn't always pan out, and he knew that. It wasn't something he was doing to earn points, and he knew he wouldn't take help either -- some sort of pride and unwillingness to handle things with any support. He'd gotten by so far on his own, after all, right?

"Don't mind me, my head's been acting up today, myself," he added, taking one of the bottles of water to drink. "I get bad migraines, cold water tends to help," he added, maybe not necessarily to lure her to take the water, but...

Sometimes, understanding helped on that front.

SUDDENLY

[dragony]

When he continues, she can tell there's an increased physical distance, small though it may be, but even that little bit is something of a comfort. Ruka knows it's hard for someone like her to not easily draw attention—if she looked like a more ordinary American teenager, she probably wouldn't get half as many looks or comments, no matter how well-meaning—but it's almost as draining to deflect concern as the physical excursions themselves.

"That's unfortunate," she mutters in sympathetic reply, glancing up finally to take in the appearance of this stranger. Definitely not somebody she recognizes. "Even headaches can be pretty bad, by themselves."

HI C:

[biotically]

"Sure, but they're something I'm used to," he said simply, as if he were trying to make conversation. He was, really, but he was trying to suss out why someone who obviously looked a little miserable, wouldn't accept a bottle of water. Kindness offered was often something he found people were quick to grasp.

"You get sick often? Most people I know who do are normally willing to take whatever helps, even from strangers," he added. Desperation, mostly, but you took what you could get, when you were in a pinch.

YO

[dragony]

"You know a lot of sickly people?" She didn't want to much talk about herself—that much was probably obvious—but it was pretty clear this guy was going to stick around for at least a little while.

"Must be rough."

For them, for him—she doesn't clarify.

1

[ironbuttmonkey]

[Sanageyama doesn't think there's a point to attending school either. He's only got one year left of school to attend, but who knows how long he's going to be here? Why waste it attending classes? He prefers doing his job and then just slacking off during his free time.

Speaking of slacking off, that's exactly what he was in the process of doing, while she's out on the courtyard by herself. He passes by the school but notices a familiar face, one he hadn't seen since the day he arrived in fact, so decides to head on over. At least he passes for an older student, if someone wonders what the hell he's doing on school grounds in the first place.]

Yo. [A raise of his hand, gesturing a hello, which then slips back into his jackets pocket.] Long time no see.

eyyyy shonen

[dragony]

[ It's a familiar voice, and not one she expects to hear. It had been a while since they met, and while Ruka didn't believe he was exPorted, it's still a pleasant surprise. ]

Hey. [ She greets his wave with a soft smile, restrained to the cheeks, but doesn't rise to her feet. Not unless she has to, anyway. Now, what was his name again... ] Sanageyama, right? It's been awhile.

[ She looks much the same as when he last saw her, if a little more miserable for the heat. If he's a student here, they must always skip the days the other is absent, or something like it, she thinks, or else her blind spot is larger then she realized. ]

You seem to be adjusting alright.

power of friendship intensifies

[ironbuttmonkey]

[He slips his jacket off while she's talking, folding it up and tossing it on the floor beside him.]

Glad to see I made a lasting impression. [At which point he sits down in between her and his jacket, legs crossed.] I won't lie, things have been pretty boring back home for a while now. I'm actually enjoying being here a lot.

[Although he's gonna assume she understands he isn't saying all the genuinely terrible stuff that happens is interesting, like the Nonah incident.]

Been keeping busy?

[muffled F*R*I*E*N*D*S theme playing in the distance]

[dragony]

I suppose you can say that. [ She watches the affair with the coat with some small amount of curiosity; and though he sits down beside her, there's respectable space enough between them. Ruka often feels a small measure of anxiety when in conversation or close proximity to strangers—everyone has their secrets, and those secrets are so rarely benign—but the distance is great enough that her worries can alleviate in part. ] In either case.

[ He's a hard person to mistake for anybody else. ]

But busy? Mmm... it's closer to killing time, I think, for me. The sorts of things I do aren't very important right now.

What about you? [ That's enough talking about herself, isn't it? ] What do you like the most?

this threads tagged #thingsithoughtirepliedtoalready

[ironbuttmonkey]

Most?

[Yeah, not like he minds. Fortunately, the question isn't exactly all that difficult of one.]

Well, people here all have really crazy powers, right? So I'm taking note of all the most interesting ones and then I'm gonna try fighting them.

Definitely looking forward to that the most.

this whole post is tagged #thingsiwishicouldhavetaggedquicker

[dragony]

Really? You're looking forward to fighting against people?

[ There's a higher pitch of surprise to her voice, but it's rooted more in amusement than it is in concern. ]

Besides that, what powers do you have, anyway?

3

[alofts]

[ Midnight and Levi is moving because his aching limbs can do no less after a hard days' shift with only hot bunking and the cheap blend from the station coffee pot keeping him steady and on his feet. The night air choked as it was by pollution and who knew what else opened up to him the higher, higher he went from street walk to telephone pole to roof- climbing higher and higher. Propelled by the preternatural abilities granted to him by the Porter natural to him as breathing because they mirrored the momentum gained and rushes of adrenaline found in 3DMG free-fall.

The roof he chose by random to catch his breath on was, unfortunately as it was unexpectedly, occupied. Levi straightened up his posture gaining the full height his definition allowed set against the light of the moon with his thin brows furrowed until they shot up into his hairline in surprise. ]

I know you. We met at that overpriced coffee place.

[dragony]

[ It's a quiet night; no police sirens or car horns, no deafening block parties or late-night construction. Just the wind, the thrum of electricity hard to escape in any city, and the one-two whump of footfalls on the roof behind her.

It's the force of the sound that catches her attention, even before that person speaks—it's too heavy for the person she would expect to join her, and there's no accompanied shouting.

Her turn is quick, wariness and uncertainty fueling into a fear at the uninvited arrival of some stranger, though she makes no moves to rise. His face is mostly in shadow, from the way he stands, and his voice isn't distinctive enough by tone for her to recognize immediately.

What he says, though... ]

I remember. [ The stingy guy; memory fills in the cut of his face in daylight. Memory does not take away her caution, even if her voice is level. ] I can't say I expected you to drop by, like this.

[alofts]

( ooc: my tags stacked and I missed this, sorry! )

Roof hopping is apparently popular among the imPorts as a means of getting around.

[ He wasn't wrong, but in his experience they wore masks and piledrived petty criminals into the asphalt from above. Not stare up at the inky orange and blue night sky waiting to see stars poking out through the smoke.

Your information was useful. Not that I expected to run into you up here.

[dragony]

((and I've been sick, so we can have the slowest tagging log party for as long as we want.))

It's my house.

[ It's a blithe statement, carrying little offense. Technically speaking of course it wasn't her house, but one of the many residences owned by the United States military which happened to be the one to which Ruka was assigned, but who cared about pedantic details like that? Not her.

She rolls her shoulders, mimicking a shrug, as she shifts her weight in the turn. ]

I'm glad I was able to help. I don't think it's ever easy, to acclimate to something like this, only on your own.

[ Not impossible, but not simple. Her head tilts for curiosity. ]

Where are you going from here?

[alofts]

( ooc: the slowest because jesus i need to step up for this cr )

Didn't notice.

[ It was almost an apology, at least as far as Levi's unflappably caustic candor could manage. Because it was not as if he planned on breaking in or anything. He only stopped because someone was crazy enough to stand around on a roof at this hour. ]

You seem very knowledgeable...for what goes around here, and whatever came before for you. It would have been fucking stupid not to listen.

[ He only shrugs ]

Home, but I tend to look for the odd stop here and there to work the kinks out of these powers. Armed robberies and muggings. Shit like that.

[dragony]

[ It's a strange way to frame a compliment—especially as he doesn't necessarily mean it to be one—but Ruka finds herself a little bit flattered by the assessment.

Despite her experience, getting people to actually listen to her often seems an impossible task. ]

An admirable way to spend the time, then. [ Her head tilts to one side, assessing. ] If you don't mind me asking, what powers were you given? If they're not ones you had before, I mean.