CATCH-ALL FOR NOVEMBER

[khajidont]

WHO: Jaime Reyes & YOU
WHERE: Throughout the Porter cities (possibly beyond)
WHEN: All month!
WHAT: A catch-all for a bunch of plans!
WARNINGS: Want a thread with the Blue Beetle or Jaime? I'd be delighted to make a starter for us! Just PM me or contact me on plurk at wisdombitch, and we'll plot something out. If you'd just like to tag in, please feel free to do so as well; generic domestic chores for Jaime and patrolling for Beetle are both free game!

Comments

DIABLO

[khajidont]

[In all honesty, Jaime's not sure what he was thinking when he offered to take Diablo to his Church. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and conceptually speaking, it still is a good idea. Diablo's clearly suffering from a demon or two of his own, and while Jaime can't entirely relate, he knows that when things started to feel overwhelming to him, going to Church helped. It helped a lot. So maybe it will help Diablo too. Who knows, right?

Except for the dude's name is Diablo, he's covered in tattoos, and oh god, all the nice Church people he's made friends with over the past year and a half... what are they going to think?

No, no, it's fine. It doesn't matter what they think. It matters what God thinks.

(Except, Jaime knows, what God thinks happens to be I am the Spectre, and I'm gonna kill a bunch of dudes!, so that's not that helpful.)

Either way, he's committed now, and he's going to remain committed, thank you very much. He asked to meet Diablo a little ways away from the Church, just so they could go together, right by a local park. Jaime periodically leans against a tree as he waits, seems to remember he's in nice clothes, steps away from the tree, rinse and repeat.

Diablo, come meet him and save him from this Hell of his own making.]

[arsiento]

[ It's hard for Diablo to really remember the last time he went to church, especially on any sort of regular basis; certainly not decades ago or anything ridiculous like that, but if he had to guess he'd probably guess it was five, maybe six years since he'd been any kind of regular, attending mostly on those holidays everyone went to church for, but every year since his attendance had tapered even further. He'd known no one really wanted him there, but at least by then he'd given them a reason; it was really no love lost, for the most part. Diablo had a complicated relationship with church since he was young.

Complicated still even now -- much more so, unsurprisingly -- but Diablo has reached a point where he doesn't care about complicated so much anymore. He doesn't care if he's welcomed, or forgiven, he just wants the opportunity to be heard. As long as he can prove that he's sorry to his family and to God, he'll be as dedicated as he needs to be to putting in the time to show it.

That said, he is not at all dressed up when he meets up with Jaime, except for that he has new white Nikes on his feet and his rosary pulled out so that it hangs over his shirt rather than under; otherwise, white tank, grey slacks, and chains, but he's at least had the sense to leave his branded jacket at home.

Diablo looks Jaime over, then gestures, saying: ]

Stand up straighter, homie. You wrinkling your jacket.

[khajidont]

[Jaime was raised as a polite, obedient child. Not blindly obedient, of course - his parents would never instill that sort of ignorance in him - but polite and obedient nonetheless, used to answering questions to the best of his ability, obeying whatever is common-sense. Which means, of course, that though he's an adult now, he straightens through force of habit alone, an immediate response rather than a thoughtful one, shoulders moving back a bit as he separates himself from the tree...

And then he immediately wrinkles his nose at Diablo, a markedly immature expression from someone who's been mostly philosophical towards Diablo. Still, it annoys him. He can slouch if he wants to slouch! Who is Diablo to tell him to stop?]

I know, [he says, quarrelsome, but that doesn't stop him from looking down at himself to make sure he's not too rumpled.] Hey, you're not even wearing a jacket!

[He looks him up and down then says, a little feebly,] Maybe go for something with sleeves next time?

RC

[khajidont]

[Before guests arrive - expected guests, anyway - Jaime tends to make a point of cleaning up. Not much, of course, he's not a total neat freak, but he likes to make sure that the place is presentable enough, and that nothing he doesn't want others to see (whether it's oh, I don't want others to know that I did eat an entire box of Cookie Crisp Cereal because I was in denial about cooking dinner or well that book has an unfortunate cover) is hanging out there in the open.

Today, the only thing that he has that he'd want to hide is a Japanese workbook, filled with cringingly simple tasks. It's not something he can write off on a whim, either; it's filled with Jaime's chickenscratch as he tries his best to replicate the characters and write out the phrases he wants to remember. Sure, he's got Khaji and the communicator to help him translate, but that's not quite enough for him. His Japanese friends have made an effort to learn English, so he has to learn their language too. He'd just rather people not know the fact, is all.

But there's no accounting for a surprise visit, is there?]

[rassera]

[It's almost perfect timing, really. Because just as that workbook works its way into his fingertips, the sound of a door opening and closing sounds. Could it be one of his roommates? Possibly, after all, this is a free country and people can come and go out of their houses as they please.

Surely it's just one of them, right.


Well, you know what they say about making assumptions.]

Oi!

[Oh look, it's the call of the fuckboy.]

Jaime!

[Oh Kaneda, where's the sitcom based laugh track that should follow whenever you enter in a house that's not yours? And in true Kaneda fashion, he makes a break for the kitchen, and more importantly, the fridge.]

[khajidont]

Wha --

[That workbook of his is being flung unceremoniously on the coffee table, right in front of the TV. He has no time to hide it when he's busy dealing with someone breaking into his house! He hops up to stand on top of the couch with socked feet and hollers,] Kaneda, knock! [As he, you know, jumps over the back of the couch. As you do.

He leans against the doorway of the kitchen and then, with an aggravated sigh, says,] Snacks are in the bottom drawer.

[If he really wanted Kaneda to leave, he wouldn't be telling him where the snacks are, probably, but he's a pushover. Also, it's his speedster drawer. Someone needs to chow down on that.]

ULVIDA

[khajidont]

Saturday, 11 AM. Let's meet at the park we were talking about. And if you work up an appetite, there's plenty of places to grab lunch afterwards at too.

[That's the only notice Ulvida will have received from Jaime as a notification of her training finally getting into motion. He tried to sound professional but, well, he couldn't resist from adding in the part about lunch. 11 AM is so close to lunchtime! What if she gets hungry?

Professional or not, though, Jaime's looking forward to this, to helping people in a way that he knows that only he (okay, only he and a select few others, semantics are just that) can. He gets to the park early, right where they decided to meet, and while he looks around for her once or twice, he eventually settles down, content in the fact that she'll be able to know where he is based on his appearance alone.

Besides, he has no idea what she looks like. Or, for that matter, if she's even a she. He'll just have to wait and see.]

[sasaeru]

[Short, polite, and to the point is exactly how she likes it (sweetness, on the other hand, is not that high on her priority list). Ulvida responds promptly when she receives the message -- All right. Thank you. I'll see you then. -- and that's all Jaime will hear from her until the day of. The meeting does fall right around lunch time, so she appreciates the early notice as it allows her time to get Gran's lunch arranged. Her first priority as usual. After that, she doesn't have much else to worry about.

She travels to the park in ordinary clothes as not to draw any more attention than she already does, but when she gets to the park she takes a moment to change. All it takes is a wave of her hand over her front and her black and white Aliea uniform appears on her body. When meeting over something like powers, she felt a little more secure dressed in her alien garb. Especially when she was meeting a man that looked like a beetle.

But at least that appearance makes him easy to spot. Ulvida arrives just a few minutes before eleven, blue hair and her outfit giving away her imPort status but otherwise looking very humanoid and very young despite her attitude through text. She's not a talll girl, and she hardly comes up to Jaime's chin.

"Are you the Blue Beetle?" she asks, just in case.

[khajidont]

...oh.

[He hadn't been expecting this out of the terse responses he's been receiving throughout their entire correspondence. He had been expecting a man, for one, and one much older than this. He doesn't quite sigh, but he thinks it; after all the kids he's known, he should have seen this coming. It goes to show you: the most immature of the bunch tend to be in their 30s at least, and the distressingly mature are preteens.]

So that's what you look like! I was beginning to wonder, [he says brightly, choosing instead to laugh it off. He extends one hand towards her to shake, even if it's something of an intimidating prospect, all scales and bright lights.]

WENDY

[khajidont]

[Just come anytime, Wendy said. Stay in my room, she said. He's not sure whether or not she was being serious about that, but he likes Wendy, and he wants to help her, if he can. Especially with something as dangerous as superstrength, before she breaks anything that had been important to her. He waits around outside of Lucky Cat Cafe for a little while - she may see a little blue face pop in the window once or twice - but every time, she looks so busy. He can't make a hubbub in there, can he? Everyone would get distracted, and it would just make more work for her.

So, he decides, she did say to wait in her room. So he does exactly that. At first, he sits there cross-legged, not doing much at all, but that gets boring fast. So instead, he's projecting a screen out of his fingertips, everything tinted a distinct light blue, and entertaining himself that way.

Once Wendy enters her room, she'll be greeted not only by a superhero, but a giant projection that currently happens to be playing youtube videos of animals who don't want to take baths.

...sorry, Wendy. This is the superhero you've chosen.]

[hardcorduroy]

(there was some offhand conversation from customers, here and there, something about a blue faced, yellow eyed... thing peeking into the cafe. most people could recognize him as a hero, but wendy sadly didn't have much time to do else aside from listen to the chatter as background noise as she went about her duties.

after the cafe winded down a bit, the usuals in there for a simple bit of break time, tapping away at computers, after schoolers chatting it up, wendy felt it was a good a time as any to call it a day. she's only right above the cafe, they can always call her back down if need be. she tosses off her apron, buttoning her flannel back up as she yanks the hair tie gracelessly out of her hair.

heading back upstairs, she almost yelps in surprise at seeing the blue beetle currently... well, making himself at home in her room-- is he watching cat videos. he's only about three minutes in when wendy slides up behind him with an amused:) Dude. That cat sounds like some eldritch horror creature.

[khajidont]

Oh! Hi, you're back!

[Jaime closes his fingertips together, and the yowl stops immediately as the screen turns off and he hastily gets to his feet to greet her properly instead of, well... while giggling at animal videos, which isn't the worst first impression he's ever made, but isn't the best either.]

Yeah, they're really not happy about it. It's cute. [Okay, Jaime, enough derailment. He sticks his hand out for her to shake.] It's nice to meet you in-person! I really hope you were serious about me waiting in here, by the way. If not, I can squeeze out the window again.

SUPERGIRL

[khajidont]

[If Jaime stood back and really thought about it for a moment. he would be astounded by the state of Porter cities. The people here have had their lives irrevocably changed, not just because of current events or politics, but because of what lives in their midst. You can hardly walk a few blocks without running into someone who's terribly, visibly an imPort, or go out at night without looking up and seeing something or other soaring across the sky.

No wonder people here are terrified and awestruck by imPorts in equal measures.

That said, Jaime's not particularly taken with the habit of thinking a whole lot about stuff like that. What he's busy doing is, of course, being one the aforementioned fliers. Supergirl might see him flying in the air at a pretty decent clip until all of a sudden he stops, staring into space, as if hearing something nobody else can.

Maybe a friendly fellow superhero can do the kindness of stopping and seeing what's wrong.]

:D

[mostlysunny]

[A friendly fellow superhero would be delighted, in fact she'd spotted the familiar blue shape across the sky, but he'd looked like he was focused on something already and they were pretty far apart anyway. But when Blue Beetle suddenly stops in midair, Supergirl pulls up too, frowning, and changes direction, angling around to approach from the front. It's a courtesy thing, startling someone in midair just doesn't seem like a great idea.]

Hi. Um. Problems?

[She listens too, but there isn't anything from the usual background noise that's catching her attention, not yet.]

[khajidont]

[Jaime stares at Supergirl without seeing for a second, glassy-eyed, but snaps out of it pretty darn quick as he shakes his head, then greets her with a smile and a little wave of his hand. He's not psycho, he promises -- just a little preoccupied sometimes.]

Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you, I -- I'm hooked up to some of the emergency feeds around here? [He looks at her, assessing, then asks,] You as fast as your cousin?

KEN KANEKI | HAISE SASAKI , 3rd Nov

[ghoulking]

[ he arrived this very day, but it felt like thousands of hours went by. There were many things to process, to think about, to decide, to speak of, people to meet and talk to, and in the end he wasn't able to do any of that.

In his world, many good things happened which make him happy. Kaneki no longer wishes to die and to open his eyes in this world and think that it's no longer just about protecting everyone until the moment he is finally allowed to sleep forever, that's amazing and it gives him a very different perception of everything. He saved Hinami, he met up with old friends who now he remembers and was able to save himself. At the same time, his father and mentor Arima killed himself right in front of him, and Kaneki had to carry the lie that he was the killing Arima; he learned about the CCG's true existence and history and how the family who created this Committee of Counter Ghoul is actually a family of ghouls who decide who lives and who dies, and they have even made breeding experiments to create ghoul hybrids. And not only all of that, but he has been given the title of the "One Eyed King", the ghoul who represents hope that ghouls and humans can understand each other.

It's a lot to take in, and honestly Kaneki didn't have much time to process all of it because it all happened a couple of hours ago, to him. He came in in a state of euphoria and that second he decided to cut all ties with the goverment, going "Fuck the goverment - Viva la revoluccíon" style. The good part of it is that he made clear he was not going to be kept on a leash anymore; the bad part is that he is now homeless and jobless and everything-less (including limbs) because he doesn't want goverment charity.

Kaneki could stay at his old apartment for a while, with Josuke and Hinami (no one would kick him out and they sure would prefer if he stayed) but to be fair, he already spoke to them and that was heavy too. It brought him down to earth, his euphoria slowed down, but it also felt a bit like pouring gasoline into the fire; it only added more to Kaneki's already full mind. He needs sleep for five days and maybe cry for a whole week. he needs to stop.

He'd do that at Daryl's place, but they are having a party. He doesn't want to ruin it, and he doesn't want to celebrate anything, so he won't go to Daryl's tonight. He could ask Ken or Hazel, but he realizes that their place has 56783298585748925636735 people living there, and he isn't ready to look at that many people at the same time. Kaneki found the library instead and he decided he could at least rest there for a moment.

Or pass out. His quick nap turned into a 3 hour sleep soon enough. And since his hands and feet are currently claws and he looks like some mutated thing (he did get a bath and clean clothes, at least, so he doesn't look THAT horrifying), people don't dare to approach that guy currently sleeping at a corner.

Hey, at least he found a place to sleep. ]

[khajidont]

[On the other hand, Jaime's visit to the library is downright ordinary. He still reads as a hobby - shock and awe! - which means that he makes healthy use of his local library. He's here to dump off books he's already read and is in the middle of grabbing one or two new ones when he sees someone slumped over on the table. He circles the table to get a good look at him, see if he's doing okay, and then sees --

Well, what can he call them, really? Claws.]

Oh. [Jaime bends over, craning to get a good look at his face so he can get confirmation that yes, that is Kaneki - or Sasaki, whatever - and takes a deep breath before saying, softly,] Sasaki...? Sasaki, wake up. Are you okay?

[Which is a nice way of saying: why are your hands like that.]

[ghoulking]

[ the very second he hears his name, Sasaki's eyes snap open with confusion, looking around with a "what, what happened, what's going on, how, when where" face until he sees Jaime. ]

I'm fine, sorry- fell asleep- [ like a rock, obviously. And he tries reaching for his own face to rub his eyes, but there are claws in the way so he just stares at them like a lost boy.

These are actually really annoying.

Okay, so he remembers to look back at the other and finally greet him ] Sorry- Hi Jaime.

[catchacold]

[Professional and personal interests are usually tied with Leonard and so it's not that surprising how frequently he can be found around museums, galleries and expositions. He has the brochure in hand, thoughtfully lifting it to tap against his upper lip as he stands in front of the car that supposedly shows how ImPorts deal with their existential angst.

He doesn't look all that convinced.]

[khajidont]

[Jaime, on the other hand, is not someone who often visits museums. It's not out of a particular dislike of museums - they're fine enough places, and he'd roam around one happily if invited - but this particular visit is happening for a different reason. That godawful piece of art that he and Wil had made nearly a year ago has finally made its rounds back to Heropa's museum, in an exhibit of imPort and imPort-related art.

Now, normally he avoids the limelight, but this time? He got an invitation that he couldn't say no to. It would only be respectful to go, after people cared so much about he and Will just screwing up a car and getting called artists for it.

And by invitation he couldn't say no to, he means, of course, an invitation with a paycheck involved. He's only human. Conscience be damned; if others enjoy it, then it can't be too immoral to make them happy for a day, right? Either way, here he is, milling around a gallery of paintings of flying figures, political art both condoning and condemning imPort, posters and real-life artifacts recovered from one of the many Swear-Ins of the past and, of course, smack dab in the middle of the room? His art, a car that's been bashed to hell and back, stuffed with glitter and ribbons with the windows knocked out and an obnoxiously loud horn built into it.

His part in the evening over and done with, Jaime is in the middle of trying to excuse himself when he bumps right into Len, saying,] Sorry, sorry, you know how it is, very busy! Um, lots to do!

[And then, once he turns to Len, his expression is a decidedly embarrassed one. This is not the palce he wants to be caught in with any other imPort who will definitely know that something stinks.]

[catchacold]

[Len recognises Jaime by now and so he looks from him to the car and back again, slowly tilting his head to the side.]

I'm guessing by your moral code, vandalism doesn't count as a crime if somebody calls it art?

[There's a smile as he steps aside and past Jaime, closer to the car again. The smile has less to do with the exquisite art piece being featured here and more with the next sentence he's uttering.]

What does your mother have to say to this?

[tadeadshi]

[continued from here]

Whoa- [Tadashi's almost accosted when his friend hugs him. He figured he'd been gone for a while, but not long enough to warrant this kind of reaction. And definitely not with Jaime obviously looking like he was about to sleep. There's a little bit of guilt there, Jaime feeling like he had to come down that fast.

Still.

Tadashi hugs him back, phone still in one hand, gives a little squeeze.]

Hey, Jaime.

[khajidont]

Hey, buddy. [Okay, Jaime's busy mashing his face into Tadashi's shoulder, which isn't necessarily his fault, because Tadashi is so dang tall. But it's also because this is a little overwhelming. His friends don't come back. They don't. It doesn't happen. But Tadashi's here, and he remembers him, and Jaime's not entirely sure what to do with this weird bubble of emotion swelling up from his gut and into his chest, crawling steadily up his throat, something that's sort of happy and sad all at the same time. The sadness isn't because of Tadashi, not really, but what this reminds him of. He shouldn't be nostalgic for a time that wasn't so long ago, but he is anyway. That's just the way it works.

It's odd, and not something he really wants to analyze, so he doesn't, just tries to swallow past that lump in his throat to force it back down to his gut where it belongs, and hugs Tadashi a little tighter than necessary.]

Really? [He says, voice muffled, which is good, because that means that Tadashi won't be able to tell that he's gotten all emotional, right?] You come back, and the first thing you ask for is candy. I'm insulted.

[...yeah, he's not letting go yet.]

ooc: let me know if this is okay!

[renamaer]

[Every once in a while - not too often, but enough that it was almost an expected, regular event, rather than something surprising or too out of the ordinary - Estellise picks up BB for a day or a brief overnight or a weekend while Jaime is...doing something important, she'd never really asked. In all honesty, she wonders sometimes if he just made up his errands so she wouldn't feel weird about 'borrowing' his dog while she was still waffling about the responsibility of actually raising a pet of her own. (Bad enough that her friend from home was summoning cats at every other opportunity to the point where her shared house was overrun sometimes while everyone was kept busy trying to redistribute them back to their rightful owners. Maybe she just wasn't cut out for pet ownership.)

BB is feeling especially boisterous this early in the morning as Estellise is bringing him back to Jaime's place. She'd gotten firmer with him, at least, so he wasn't getting into too much trouble these days when she's watching him, but all her attempts to teach him new tricks have been failures so far. He'd gotten pretty good at 'shake' and 'sit' at least, to the point where she only has to bribe him every few times.

In addition to BB tugging on his leash as they reach the more familiar environment around his home, Estellise is also bringing some kind of...experimental breakfast casserole - eggs and cheese and bacon and sausage and potatoes (they came already prepared and frozen in a bag) wrapped up in a flaky dough with more cheese sprinkled on top. Jaime looked pretty tired sometimes when she came to drop BB off, especially in the early mornings, so the food offering probably wouldn't go amiss. And there was more than enough to share, though BB had already stolen some of the meat during the cooking process.

BB tugs more insistently on the leash as they near the house, but Estellise keeps a firm hold on her end to keep him from running off. That had not been fun the last time she let that happen, and she didn't want to drop anything running after him. At least she was dressed more casually - jeans and a t-shirt - since she wasn't heading to work.

She just manages to stop BB from running into the door when they reach it, but he barks loudly enough that her polite knock has probably been rendered unnecessary.]

Jaime? Good morning! I brought BB back...

yes, it's great, thanks for popping in!! estellise continues being adorable ❤

[khajidont]

[For once, Jaime doesn't have work, so when he shows up at the door, he's not in the coveralls that he wears at the garage; instead, he's clothed comfortably, in loose sweatpants and a T-shirt that's -- okay, it's a little ratty, and definitely too big for him, but it's comfy! He's also holding a mug of coffee, but that's put aside on

When he swings open the door, he's a bit rude, he'll realize in retrospect, which is to say, BB's getting greeted before Estellise is.]

BB! Hey, buddy, didja miss me? [BB jumps on top of Jaime and licks his face, and Jaime pushes him away half-heartedly, already laughing.] Nah, you didn't. You love it there, don'tcha?

[Finally, he looks back up at Estellise with a bright smile.] Good morning! Thanks so much for taking him in again. I think it's actually good for him, you know? Did you want some coffee, or anything?