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]

"Hmph," Kurama grunted, leaning so that they could both be comfortable. He wasn't a complete invalid, after all. Just more than half of one.

"Stupid seems to be my main modus operandi for this lifetime," he murmured. He refused to say next what was on his mind, that he couldn't latch on to happiness because his ego encouraged him to be an idiot. That, more than everything else, terrified him. Now that he knew how to care about the happiness of others, not being able to provide that happiness gave him more anxiety than he cared to admit.

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He took Kurama's hand and held it, patted it lightly with his other. "It wouldn't be you if you didn't make the mistakes or blunders you did. If you were perfect, I don't think I'd love you as much." It was slightly teasing, but honest.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama squeezed his hand, a fist around his heart mimicking the action. He'd never be able to get over that, the honesty after so many years of lying.

"I was perfect, until I got a godsdamned conscience," he murmured, but there wasn't any heat in his voice.

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He chuckled. "Poor Kurama," he sighed dramatically. "Cursed to give a shit about other people forever. Such a horrible fate."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Ass," he growled, slapping Kuronue on the tits and watching bemusedly as they jiggled back into place. "I bet those are natural c-cups too, you horrible man."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He squeaked a little, jumping. He hadn't expected that.

He blinked and lofted his head, gave Kurama a smirk and a smug look. "You're just jealous because I have bigger tits than you."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama looked down at himself, then back up at Kuronue, lifting an eyebrow. "Gosh, how ever will I reconcile with not having massive man-boobs. My life, it is over."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He glared a little. "In the female body you got, you flat-chested asshole."

He covered his breasts almost protectively, stroking at the absently. It was kind of a habit now.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"You're so vain," Kurama snorted, poking a boob with the kind of scientific air of a researcher studying a strange specimen. "All that excess to carry around, it's a wonder you don't smack yourself in the face when you walk.

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He dropped his hands, honestly not minding if Kurama poked all he wanted. He must have known, thought Kuronue was playing too, that Kuronue saw possibilities here. Still, he wouldn't push.

He snorted, though. "I have a right to be vain when I look this good, thank you. And if I could smack myself in the face as I walked, I think I'd take up jogging. That'd be awesome." He grinned a little.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama tried to hold back a laugh, and failed. "God, I can just imagine the look of pure bliss on your face, running down the street with a tit smacking your cheek every step," he sank into the cushion, giggling madly at the mental image. Then he smacked Kuronue on the stomach. "Stop making me laugh, you bitch. It hurts." Though, he made no effort to stop himself.

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He couldn't quite stop grinning himself, but since Kurama was happy he didn't complain past grunting a little at the smack to his stomach. For all Kurama was wounded he could still hit decently, even if it only seemed so because this body was human. "Well," he said, "I'm glad I can amuse you."

He watched Kurama, chuckling a little himself, acting the part of female as he brought a hand up to cover his mouth as he did.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"It's something you're notoriously good at," Kurama said, his laughter finally subsiding. It was worth it, definitely, even though he was sure he'd pulled a stitch or ten. He knew what Kuronue was doing, aside from teasing him. "And before you ask, I haven't had a chance to ask Kusuriyuri yet."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

"Well I do try." He waved a hand at the sudden reference. It would have been too good to be true, at any rate. He was somewhat expecting Kusuriyuri to ask him if it was a backwards way of trying to sleep with Kurama, even if it meant he had to sleep with Kusuriyuri before anything happened. He wasn't sure how he'd respond to that, either.

He rested an arm up on the back of the couch, propped his head up on it. "Pity," he said, honestly. "Though so much has been happening, and you're injured, so I don't blame you."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Kurama sighed, looking down at himself. "That's the worst part of this whole thing... I'm pretty much in the doghouse until I heal up a bit more. I know he'd patch me up in a flash if I asked, but I need to learn the 'stop being such a reckless asshole' lesson."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

Kuronue frowned. "You never used to be a reckless asshole, what changed?" he asked, nudging at Kurama with his free hand.

He realised that he probably should have asked how the cat was, but he didn't get along well with cats and had no desire to pretend he did.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Martyr complex," he muttered under his breath. Mostly, though he wouldn't admit it, due to guilt over Kuronue's death. A little louder, he said, "I got so used to gambling with my life the last few years it's kind of gotten to be a habit."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He tilted his head a little, straining to hear that first bit.

"Why did you think you needed to gamble?" he asked, settling in for the long haul. He wanted to help Kuronue get over this stigma. He didn't want him to keep putting himself in danger, as if he deserved it. He didn't. Whatever he thought he'd done to deserve it, Kuronue wanted to prove him wrong or at least ease his worries.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama shrugged. "Most of the people I worked with were either humans or low-level demons, at least at first. I felt obligated to protect them if I could, and that usually ended up in taking a lot of damage. After a while, I just got used to it."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He frowned. "That doesn't seem like you," he said, leaning forward a little. "Someone as heartless as you were? I would have rolled in my grave had I known you were risking yourself for lesser fools."

He was sort of rolling in it now, just hearing about it. Hadn't Kurama valued his life? Had that changed at all, deep down, since gaining a human body?

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"At first, it was because I was a parolee. Reikai had me under its thumb; I didn't have a choice. But, I can't complain over who they paired me with." He missed his old friends terribly, that was for sure. Hiei had been here a while, sure, but now he was popcorn, and the homesickness had set in again.

"I guess in my mind it was either risk my life and have good chance at being free when I died, or try and escape, which would have been impossible."

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

He nodded. "So that's a habit you have to break," he declared. "Even if you do it without thinking."

Kurama did a lot of things without thinking, apparently. "You need to value your life more, Kurama."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama smiled wryly at him. "When the choice is death or slavery, how much thinking would you do?"

[prettypendulum.livejournal.com]

"Well when you put it like that; very little." He'd rather die than go back to that kind of life.

He reached over and patted Kurama's head lightly. "You'll figure it out. Kusuriyuri will help. And I know that myself and everyone else will damn sure we make sure you're alive and happy."