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

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

Kuronue cast a glare at the Doctor and River too, both of which he'd only ever seen around the place, then went right back to being severely unimpressed at Kurama.

He stood to the side and left room for Kurama to lead, then gestured impatiently for him to get a move on so he could show him just how frustrated and not-amused slash frightened he was.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama managed not to limp (much) as he led the way to the fourth greenhouse, long since converted into a growing experiment/late-last-century Japanese teahouse. He figured if Kuronue was going to be pissed off at him somewhere, it might as well be where they could both sit comfortably for a while.

He did, much to the chagrin of his own ego, give a little sigh of relief when he sat again. There had been entirely too much excitement over the last few days.

"What's the matter, Kuro?" He asked, propping himself on a cushion. "You usually only get pissed at me if I do something personal."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

"Like you going all kamikaze on us? Fucking hell Kurama, I thought you would have more brains than running out to go head on with a psycho like Karasu before at least telling one of us first!" While it might have been a furious below as a male, now it was a feminine shriek as he thrashed his arms about in rage, standing before Kurama.

"Do you have any idea how idiotic it was to not tell us? However the fuck Kusuriyuri is reacting it's not fucking good enough. You should be sleeping in the fucking greenhouses for a month for being such a colossal fucking self-centred, arrogant, 'look-at-me-I-can't-die-har-de-har-fuckin'-har asshole!"

He panted.

Huh, he actually felt a little better now.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"I didn't have time to tell anyone," Kurama growled just barely keeping his own cool by reminding himself that backhanding Kuronue would be a bad idea in more ways than one. "He'd taken Belhphoebe, and before you say anything on that account I do actually care for my pets enough to not want them to be tortured."

He was on a roll now, though, angry not only that Kuronue had jumped on him, but he hadn't, like just about everyone else, asked why Kurama had decided to go after Karasu in the first place. "He took her and my chances were find out where he was hiding as quick as possible or fuck around and possible end up with a dead cat on my conscious and him laughing all the way back to safety. Go ahead and hate me for taking an opportunity when I saw it, but my choices were limited, and I won, so fuck you."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He twitched.

"No, fuck you! We would have lost more than a cat if you had died instead of Karasu!" He screamed, barely keeping himself from lunging forward and strangling him. "You lost your fucking eye! I don--Fuck you! Jus--just fuck. You."

He was too angry to speak properly. That and he had enough issues with people disappearing. He didn't want Kurama to up and disappear out of stupidity rather than let someone in the castle know when he was going to confront Karasu.

Fuck, it couldn't have been too hard to send an owl or something.

He paced, and pulled at one of his forelocks, grinding his teeth.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"A temporary inconvenience," Kurama snapped back. "I am, and have been, stronger than him for a long time. Once I had the means at my disposal of making sure he won't fuck around and come back any time soon, it was just a matter of time before we fought anyway." He bristled, wincing as cuts and burns protested at too much movement.

"What the hell was I supposed to do? Risk someone else's life instead of my own? Going in alone was better because the only one being put in danger was myself. I know he's hurt you, and Yukimura, hell, he's hurt almost everyone here from goddamn Wishbone on up! But pulling a tag-team would have been worse. Can you imagine fighting him when he's got someone else for collateral? I'd rather be struck down fighting him than have the rest of you suffer him ever again."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

"I--Argh!" Frustrated he walked to the nearest chair and collapsed in it, looking up at the ceiling. He was silent for a long moment.

"You didn't even tell me that something had happened...I had to overhear you to know." He rubbed at his chest with his palm, somewhat annoyed with the breasts in his way for the moment. Something there almost hurt, though the pain wasn't quite tangible.

How could Kurama tell Mello before him? Had be been completely removed from the Kurama's life now? Was he just his once-dead kind-of-friend now? It hurt.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"I didn't tell most people," Kurama said, his voice softening. "I didn't think it would be wise until I had everything squared away, until I made sure he was popped, at least." In this place, like Mello said, one never knew. "Mello just knows because he has an instinct for the right questions." And he knew how to get under Kurama's skin. "Kusuriyuri knows because he found me. Kaga knows because... he needed to know, and tonight was the first opportunity."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

It still hurt. He wasn't sure if words or explanations would make it go away. He was loosing his first love. The long-term reality of Kurama having moved on was sinking in.

"...For what its worth I'm glad you're okay then," he offered a little grudgingly. Like a child admitting they'd done something wrong.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama wilted. He wasn't sure... no, that was a lie. He knew exactly what was wrong and couldn't do a damn thing about it and that hurt.

"Kuro, I didn't not tell you out of spite," he said, scooting over to him with some difficulty. "I just... wasn't thinking the way I should have been. I wanted him gone so badly, because I didn't want him hurting you or Kusu or Yuki or anyone else any more. I couldn't stand not knowing when I was going to hear some awful news next, and even more it scared me that you might be next." Kusuriyuri, he knew, was always protected, but Kuronue was reckless and cocky and gave Kurama minor heart attacks just by walking around somewhere.

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He fidgited a little in his seat trying to keep his hands to himself. he wanted to hug Kurama just to remind himself that he really was okay. "...In retrospect, I know that." He was just stubborn.

Eventually he gave in, turned, and wrapped his arms around Kurama, trying to be gentle with his wounds and leech as much comfort from him as he could.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Being touched stung horrible, but it would have been much worse if Kuro hadn't gone for him. Kurama returned the hug as best he could, a little smile twitching the corners of his mouth. It would be a long time before he could look at Kuronue without the pang of longing, tits or no, but at least there were little things, like this, that he could look forward to. even if he had to be monumentally stupid to get them.

"I need to learn how not to be a moron," he said, admitting more to Kuronue than he ever had in his life. "And I can't do it without someone reminding me when I'm being one. Mello helps, but you know me better."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

"Come to me when you think you might be doing something stupid then," he murmured, lightening his grip on him a little. Boobs were in the way. Urgh. It would have been easier to keep close and not hurt him if he didn't have the things, but he liked his female body. "Either that or submit to me checking in on you every two minutes."

He pulled back properly and looked at Kurama's good eye, then lay his hand over Kurama's damaged one. Wordlessly he offered Kurama as much of his youki as he needed thoughtlessly.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Or submit to you listening in on private conversations?"He smiled, and took just a little from Kuronue, adding it to the healing energy that was already making his eye itch annoyingly.

Then, his smile faded. He hadn't been able to track youki since all of his extra energy was being poured into healing. "How much... did you hear?" Had he heard what had been said about Kusuriyuri?? About Kurama's fears and doubts?

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

Kuronue let his hand drop, just a little miffed that Kurama hadn't taken more but pleased that he'd taken some all the same.

A pleased little smile crept to his lips however. "Quite a lot." He tucked some of Kurama's hair behind his ear and fixed some of his bandages. "These ears you know....can't help what I over hear."

He thought he was doing quite well in remaining rather expressionless and opinionated about it. Heartless and selfish or not, Kuronue would still love Kurama whether he was his old self or knew. Or this pseudopersonality he was at the moment.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Shame burned in the pit of Kurama's stomach. Had he heard what had been said regarding Kusuriyuri then? No, if he had, he'd probably have trotted that out already, maybe used it as leverage to boost the argument against Kurama's actions.

He managed a soft "Oh" in reply and let Kuronue play with his bandages, unsure what to say otherwise. Afraid of knowing, but desperate to know... his life in a nutshell.

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

"I think you have some issues you need to sort out, 'Rama," he said softly, running his fingers through his hair. "But then, who of us doesn't?" He smiled gently and caressed his cheek.

"You love him, I know. Otherwise you wouldn't feel guilty over it. But you need to sort out all your underlying shit." Kuronue had, and so he knew that Kurama could. He'd had a lot of things to work through, and it had taken him twelve months, but he'd done so. Nearly all of his problems were gone. "Mello and I are here for you either way."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

He sighed heavily and nodded. "It'll take time, and effort. And," he smiled wryly, trying for humor to take away the sting, "I still have to reconcile with being a walking hamburger half the time."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

"I bet you'd be one of the more tastier hamburgers though," he said, smiling softly.

"I think I've become a hell of a lot more accepting of humans simply being around them as much as you have." Yukimura had helped too. "I don't hold your humanity against you... I don't think anyone could apart from yourself."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"I... need to learn how not to. It's hard, being prey after so long as predator. But I've got to try." He smiled wryly, and poked Kuronue in the chest. "It's kind of like how difficult it was enjoying being a woman that one time. Now that I know it can be fun I don't loathe it so much. You seemed to have learned that one a lot quicker, though."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

"Yes, but I don't think I've ever seen you fuck a woman. You're Gay McGaystein, and I considered a sexual relationship with a poster." He held up two hands and made a show of pretending to weight things.

He cupped his breasts and squeezed them a little. "Humans you'll have to do on your own, but I can help you get used to females." He chuckled a little, even though he was entirely serious.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"You're so confident in yourself, titzilla," Kurama drawled. "I've been with women, but they're ultimately rather boring. It says something when the only woman I'd consider," this with a pointed look to Kuronue, "happens to also be a man. But, being one... that was a fine experience. Even when Jackal was being all pervy at me."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He shrugged. "An informed fag is still a fag." He grinned. The term was, of course, used with great affection. He dropped his hands from his chest after rearanging his hakama.

"Scalpel-come came on to you? really? Ew." He made a face.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Ew, says the one who actually had sex with him," he grinned slyly. "I'm sure we can all be happy there aren't little halfbreed scalpelbabies running about. Can you imagine the pitter-patter of little metal feet? And of course he came on to me, I make a stunning woman."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

"You did, you did," he said, nodding sadly and ignoring the comment on his fucking Akabane. he was trying to forget that had ever happened, dammit.

"Speaking of which, how is someone wrapped in bandages meant to be scary?" His eyebrows rose a little.