Open RP, Greenhouses (Eleventy, Kurama, River)

[eleventyrags.livejournal.com]

The Doctor hadn't always loved Halloween, but on those worlds that celebrated it (or something like it) he definitely tried to join in the fun, if there was nothing overtly intent on re-enacting a favorite horror film but with real knives instead of rubber props. He supposed at Hogwarts there was no danger of this (and even if there was, the danger was minimized) and thus strolled confidently over the grounds, rambling until he came to a pile of rather gorgeous pumpkins. He stared at them a minute, then at the door they framed. A sign read:

Pumpkins, free to a good carver.

Candy within, Trick-or-Treaters welcome.

Any tricks resulting in broken glass will be met with a boot up someone's back end.

The last bit, he noted, was scrawled rather hastily in something that his mind wanted to read as Japanese, but his eyes were registering as English. The rest was in big, spiky, dramatic handwriting, with bats, cats, and pumpkins scribbled all over the place. It very nearly covered a plaque that read 'Professor Minaminaminamino." What a name. He grinned and ducked in.



She, with brown hair all shocked out by too much curling iron, an ironic pointy black hat on her head, a very witchy dress, too much makeup, and boots that looked like they could stomp a Dalek. The other (she? No, the shoulders were too broad, but the hair just screamed girl) sat with their back to the doctor and looked like the costume of the year must be a mummified werewolf. The tail was even moving, too. Nice touch.

"Trick or treat!" He called, waving a hand. The girl looked up at him and beamed and the - yes, that face was as close to male as it was going to get - man turned around to look at him.

"What's your costume?" The girl asked, putting her head to one side. The man flapped a hand at her, and she stuck out her tongue at him.

"A time traveler," The Doctor said grinning at their interaction. They might have been bickering siblings, for all they didn't look a thing alike.

The man gestured to a cauldron on the floor next to the table. "Take your treat then, oh wanderer. You might have to forgive River her impetuousness."

The Doctor blinked at the name, but before he could say anything, the girl cut in.

"Not that River," she said, her eyes intent on the Doctor for a split second before turning back to her companion. He had the unsettling certainty that she'd just casually read his mind. People weren't supposed to be able to do that.

"And that isn't even a real word," she was saying. "Bad foxes should read more dictionaries."

The Doctor grabbed a bag from the cauldron - fun-sized jelly babies - and extended a hand to the suffering redhead. He noticed that what he first thought were bandages on his head were furry ears to match the tail. "Nice costume. Professor Minaminaminamino, I presume?"

The Professor made a face and took the offered hand. "Kurama, if you please." He shot a withering look to River, who contrived to look innocent. "I thought it had been covered."

"I'm The Doctor," he introduced himself. "I'm surprised you're indulging the tricking and treating, though. That's more of an American holiday these days, isn't it?"

Kurama shrugged, breaking the handshake with a smile to go back to what he was working on. They looked like flowers that had decided to be lanterns, all in orange and black. River was stringing them together on a long line.

"There are plenty of American students here, and it's an amusing enough tradition." Between his hands another flower seemed to appear from nowhere, and went to the pile for River to tend. It even glowed faintly.

The Doctor watched them work for a moment, munching on his jelly babies, until River completed a strand and jumped down from the table. "I'll take care of these," she said, and then stopped to look at the Doctor with a lot more knowing solemnity than a teenaged human girl should have. "Not that River. If she's the Amazon, I'm a waterfall."

And then she was gone, even grabbing a broom on her way out. The Doctor looked quizzically at Kurama, who shrugged.

"I don't even know. I stopped trying to guess months ago." He stretched, winced, and then flexed his hands. "How much of that time traveler business is the truth? In some way all of us are, at least in this place, but that bow tie is giving me some pretty specific questions."

"All of it," the Doctor replied, adjusting his bowtie with a grin. "I just happen to know that the bowtie has never not been cool."

Kurama's smile was wry. "Those Croats, pulling us all kicking and screaming out of the fashion dark ages."

"You know your history."

"I've lived my history."

They stared at each other for a beat, the Doctor half-poised to grab his screwdriver and see just what Kurama was, Kurama smirking at him and practically daring him to ask.

"Mind if I take a look around?" The Doctor asked instead; there would be other times to pry, and there was a flower one room over that was so blue it was making him TARDIS-sick. Kurama waved a hand at him in a 'by all means' gesture.

Such interesting folk there were here. He was beginning to enjoy himself.

_{((OOC: I suck at making things short. Specify if you want River, Eleventy, or Kurama to play with, or be surprised <3 ))}

Comments

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"I traded a favor with one of the new students," he said, a little louder and a little too sharply. "He gave me a thing called 'materia,' in exchange I'm keeping an eye on his boyfriend." At least for now. He had no idea what Sephiroth would decide to pull out of his ass regarding their agreement. They'd have to talk soon.

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

"Watching his boyfriend? Why don't I believe that particular answer. There's more to it, isn't there?" I narrow my eyes at him. "You weren't stupid enough to give your word on an open ended favor, were you?" I already know the answer. I wonder if he'll deck me for the question.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Oh, piss off," he growled, thumping his fist on the table and wincing when it made his bones sting from wrist to shoulder. He glared at his own, traitorous arm for a beat, and then rubbed the unbandaged side of his face with a sigh.

"I traded for a single favor, equivalent to the power of the materia he gave me. He doesn't know what I used it for, and he really did just ask me to keep tabs on one of the new kids. Zack, the one with all the spiky hair and the stupid non-armor."

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

"He doesn't know what you used it for but he knows how powerful it is. Or how powerful you are, then, I take it." I draw one of my legs up, hooking my heel on the edge of the seat and wrap my arm around it, staring at him for a moment. "When it comes to dealing with Karasu, I find it very difficult to believe half of the stories I've heard about you." I swing my leg and tilt my head. "How did you become the king of thieves when you plan strategies like you do when it comes to him?"

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama shrugged, dejected and angry and knowing that Mello was right but not wanting to admit it.

"Half of it's that I've never had an opponent I couldn't kill right off," he muttered. "Another part is that I..." he faltered, thinking about what Kuronue told him before. He fiddled with a piece of candy before tossing it back in the cauldron. He loved Mello, really and truly, but he also couldn't bring himself to lay all that baggage on him, even if it was just for the purpose of inquiry, or because they were friends.

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

I wait for him to answer, but when it seems like he's not, I prompt him, "You what?" I'm pretty sure he doesn't really want to talk to me, but he needs to say this stuff and he's not likely to talk to anyone else about it. I doubt he's even gone this far talking to that pointy eared lover of his.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"It's because he's so much like me," he said, each word like pulling teeth. It was the truth and he hated it more than anything. "And because... do you know what it's like, going from that to being human? It's like being turned into someone's dog, or a fucking hamburger. And he reminds me that I went from being so much more than humanity could ever achieve to little more than dirt." It wasn't kind, but it was true. Kurama may well have treated most humans like intelligent pets, but he had still eaten human flesh, still killed swathes of them like wheat at a harvest.

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

Not the most flattering of statements, but it was better that he say it, I think. "So, you fail at strategy because you feel like your plotting against yourself and hate to find your own weaknesses as well?" I ask, my tone still level, not clinical, but not taking what he's saying personally.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

He hunched his shoulders not wanting to meet Mello's eyes. "Precisely. I want to purge, but I also don't want to let anything go."

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

I lean my chin on my knee. "Wasn't it some great warrior who said something about not being able to defeat an enemy until you have conquered yourself?"

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Sun Tzu," Kurama murmured, taking another piece of candy from the cauldron and tearing the wrapping to pieces. The sweet itself rolled onto the table, soon to be forgotten. "And I'd like to know how the hell I'm supposed to conquer myself. Kusuriyuri tries to help, but I don't even know who I am sometimes."

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

I frown a little. "Going back to Socrates, even before, self-knowledge is hailed as the ultimate goal. A lot of their methods for finding yourself involve psychoactive substances and privation." I shrug. "You could go pray under a waterfall. That does seem to be very popular in Japan."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"I fail to see how giving myself pneumonia is a helpful conduit to self-discovery," he said flatly. He was skirting the subject again, and sure Mello would catch him on it: He didn't want to know.

Sure, he knew his own ego inside and out, and the arrogance he wore on his sleeve, but after the first few layers he couldn't stand to look any deeper. He couldn't find where the balance was supposed to be between human morality and demonic lack thereof, and had no idea where to start. And, despite how helpful Kusuriyuri wanted to be and how good Mello was at being an impromptu psychoanalyst, he doubted anyone else knew either.

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

I shrug. "Fine, any method will work, but if you don't stop trying to bullshit your way out of it, you're never really going to be able to win against him because he'll always be there," I point at his head, "even if he's not here," I point outside. "Maybe you need to lock yourself in a room with an unbreakable mirror so you can't get away from yourself until you breakdown and really look at yourself."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"I hate how right you are," he muttered, and then realized he'd said that out loud and hunched further, hiding behind his hair. He didn't need this shit, he didn't need having his faults thrown at him after what should have been a great victory. He'd killed Karasu, and everyone was giving him fucking stern looks over it.

He couldn't get a goddamn break.

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

"You think I like it?" I ask. I reach over and lift his hair a little. "Listen, I know it wasn't easy for you to defeat him, but you're not done. The hardest part is still looming over you and you know it. Take it from someone who's been there." Not exactly there but close enough. It took a while to find myself once I left Wammy's and again when I got here.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"I know," he muttered, taking the cue and pushing his hair back. "I feel a fool, being afraid of myself. But it just seems so necessary."

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

"To defeat him before facing yourself?" I ask to clarify, though I'm sure that's what he means. "My advice," I continue before he can answer, "is finish your battle before you go look at that plaque, before you find out what this place has done."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

He shook his head. "No, to be afraid of myself. Which is also why fighting Karasu was important: I could focus on how much I hated him instead of thinking about how much of myself I was trying to bury."

He drew his knees up to his chest, perching on the stool and closing his eye, twitching when he couldn't feel the other lid moving the way it was supposed to. "You're right, though. I can't be Youko anymore, here. I don't think I'm even much like I was back home, before coming here."

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

"Is it Youko you fear? or who you've become?" I ask. "Or are you afraid of finding a balance that no one else would like or could deal with, especially Kusu?" I probably should have left the last off, but he needs to hear it. I brace myself, though, half expecting to hit the floor for that, regardless how he looks.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Quit wincing like I'm going to hit you," Kurama growled, agitated. He rapped his fingers on the table again, trying to quantify what the worst bits were.

"About sixty percent three, twenty percent one, and twenty percent two. And..." what the hell, Mello wasn't the one he should be opening up to about this. But he was so desperately afraid of turning Kusuriyuri away with his stupid, stubborn refusal to change and his constant psychological turmoil. He sighed, though, knowing that once Mello had a bone he wasn't going to stop gnawing at it.

"It's... being Youko was idyllic because I didn't have to worry about morality or emotions. Not outwardly, anyway. Everyone was perfectly content to let me be a bastard. Later, when I died, I had to learn how to make a pretty shell so no one would realize I was doing thing deliberately to hurt them. I can't get away with that anymore, because Kusuriyuri won't let me, and as much as I love him for it, I think I resent him, too." And the thought of any emotion but love for Kusuriyuri made his skin crawl, but it was there.

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

I relax a little. "It's not like you haven't before when I've stepped over your lines," I say. "And, screw morality. Most morality is bullshit that's used to coral people into behaving a particular way within a group, usually imposed with religion or by those who believe the world has to be black and white with no middle ground and yet act against those morals constantly." I gnaw on my lip a moment, considering the rest of what he said. "And, I think, in some way, you've tried to make Kusu your conscience, which is why you resent him. You're dodging responsibility, or trying to, for making decisions that go against what your id wants you to do." I take a bite of chocolate. "Freud gets a lot of crap, but he did have a lot of good ideas or he wouldn't have been plagiarized so much."

I tilt my head and look at him a long moment. "Maybe what you're suffering is more an identity and honour crisis than a moral crisis. You've got a very strong id, the 'Youko' part of you, and your superego is well developed, but your ego, not the pride part of it, but the identity part of it, the part that balances the id, the basic drives, the superego, the approval-seeking part, and the real world. I think that because Kusu's ego is so well-developed, that might be why you resent him and part of what draws you to him." I shrug. I'm sure there's more to it, but that's enough to start with for now. Unless he's going to tell me I'm completely off base, but I think he's receptive now, so...

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama was quiet for a very long time, filtering and placing the information, matching with what he already knew (and didn't want to admit) about himself. He realized he was digging into the poor table with a claw and stopped, folding his hands.

"You're right. Or at least mostly right. He's too easy to depend on because being dependable is what he does." Which is probably why Kusuriyuri never stayed in the same place for long; he'd find people basing their own morals and consciousness on what he would do.

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

"So, what are you going to do about it? Because if you just try to ignore it, it's going to fester worse than any of those," I wave my hand at him, "and make everything worse in the end." I look at his face, trying to look him in the eye. "I also think Kusu expect you to be able to make a good decision on your own and find your own feet, mentally, even if he doesn't actually say so aloud." I pause and then add, "He trusts you. That's something to start with. The rest is up to you."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama sighed and put his chin on his knees. "Things were easier when I could pretend I didn't need anybody." But no one could keep that on and stay sane. "I want to be worth the trust he puts in me. I'll have to... I don't know, pray maybe. I've never been good at meditation because it brings me too close to Inari." He blinked. "Which... admittedly might be part of the problem."