ya gotta wanna be a battering ram

[headandhand]

WHO: The entire dang city.
WHAT: Dualis Days, a week-long summer celebration.
WHERE: Central Square Park and the rest of the city.
WHEN: June 17-23.
WARNINGS: Terrorist violence, likely some blood and injuries. Please warn in individual threads!

June 17; Central Square Park.

Every year for as far back as anyone can remember, the start of summer is heralded by the week-long festival known as Dualis Days. This celebration officially kicks off at midday in the middle of Central Square Park with a commencement speech by the current mayor. This year marks Marcelina Dubanowski's third term as mayor of Dualis; she is an average-sized, middle-aged human-presenting woman with blonde hair styled in a short bob and a plastic, toothy smile that never seems to turn entirely off.

"Welcome, one and all!" she begins, with the practiced cadence of someone who is quite comfortable with public speaking. She invites all citizens, new and old, to spend the next week indulging in festivities in all districts of the city and getting to know their neighbors a little better. This is a joyous time of celebration, and the crowd responds with enthusiastic applause as the mayor finishes her speech and introduces this year's parade marshall, Peshtigo Tengfei.

Tengfei blows a whistle six times to signal the start of the parade - and this is where the celebration goes sideways.

A loud explosion tears through the air, and it's followed by panicked screams and the sharp screech of microphone feedback. A bomb has gone off at the platform where the mayor was standing, collapsing the wood and tearing it to splinters and dust. Chaos erupts in the gathered crowd, and as the people shift in all directions to get clear of any possible additional bombs, a loud siren cuts through the cacophony, calling attention to the sudden crackle of video feed present on all television screens throughout the city, including those set up in the park to broadcast the mayor's speech for those standing far from the stage. The picture is plain, a black background and bold white block letters filling the screen:

WAKE UP
WAKE UP
DON'T BELIEVE THE LIES

The final image is an anatomical graphic of a human heart, displayed for about three seconds, and then the feed goes black again.

Confused murmurs sweep through the crowd as citizens resume tending to the injured and evacuating the area until official first responders arrive.

June 17-23; aftermath around the city.

Dualis Days continues as scheduled, though Mayor Dubanowski is unable to enjoy the festival, as she is spending the week in the hospital recovering from her injuries. A team of Iterations guard her door - no visitors allowed - but the news media frequently report updates on her condition. Nothing to worry about, folks! Return to your celebrations, and don't mind the increased visible presence of the Hand as Iterations are stationed every few blocks throughout the city. It's only for your protection, after all.

Comments

Aftermath

[skyward_eyes]

Long day, and somehow Nida has found the niche of time between one crisis and the next. Not much of a niche, soon he is going to have to find Billy and Tommy and Seifer, put his ducks back in a row so to speak. But Hyne does he ever need something to keep him going. His pockets are already emptied of the candies he’d bought earlier, every last piece offered as comfort to kids and teens left unnerved by the blast and waiting for their parents to find them. Learning some sleight of hand magic tricks might not be remiss. Nor would a coffee.

Which is of course ends him up in line behind a blonde girl. Not one he much notices until he hears her voice, and then Nida is as attentive as a metaphorical hawk. Takes him a few moments of listening and watching the way she moves. But then he’s certain. Could he really be that lucky?

“Looks like you got caught by a hawk again, Little Birdie. One of these days you’re going to master those wings of yours. With less ruffled feathers.”

[ichoosefight]

She can only barely remember the last time someone called her 'little birdie'. Years ago in a place she'd come to accept she would never be able to talk to anyone about ever again. Now she spins and stares at the familiar face, looking exactly the same as when she last saw it.

"Holy crap, Nida?"

[skyward_eyes]

“Well someone seems to be a touch older. Not that I can judge,” he smiles, holding his arms open for Steph, just in case she wants a hug. “I wasn’t expecting even move people from the village here. Thought it was just the four of us.”

Four. All he knows about for now. But Hyne he is glad he can chalk down his flying buddy too. And she looks rather healthy, in spite of the small wounds and the like. Frankly, they have both seen quite a bit worse.

[ichoosefight]

"It has been three years," she points out reasonably before giving him a tight hug, ignoring the sting from her injuries. Coffee and friendly faces are exactly what she needs after the morning she's had.

"Four? Who else?" It's a reunion of the most ominous kind, but she can't bring herself to worry about it just now. There's already been an explosion today, so chances are there won't be any more terrorist attacks or city 'Head' nonsense for at least another hour or so.

[skyward_eyes]

“Three years for you? Hyne!”

He actually looks horrified, which she can’t see because she is getting such a squeezing. Bonding did that, even if it was three years old for her, less than a week for him. But he supposed that he took had a sudden change before the end too.

“Why, Seifer is course. Not shocked I ended up tied to my idiot brother. But in better and more attractive news... the twins. Tommy has his speed back, it’s very disarming. And Billy... he glows. If you caught the blue glowing up at the stage after the explosion? Pretty sure he was stabilizing the stage.”

Of course Nida about glows to reference his boyfriend.

[ichoosefight]

"I was wondering about that," she admits. There's a lot to unpack here, but she thinks she's going to go with the easy question.

"Why, how long was it for you?"

[skyward_eyes]

“Magic,” Nida says, pulling back to give her a sparkly sort of hand gesture. “Meanwhile I came through completely unarmed except my Triple Triad cards and the sheathes for my tanbo. I’m less than pleased.”

After how hard he fought Tony for a weapon and having to turn to Leonardo, well... being unarmed sucks. Still, her question is fair. Only spares answering long enough to ask for a mocha with a caramel shot.

“We arrived here directly from the village.”

[ichoosefight]

"Oh." It's a little hard to fathom. The village was long enough ago that she barely remembers what was happening when she left, except that Jason had died. Steph herself has changed enough since then that she wonders if he'll even recognize her now.

"That's so weird. I hardly lost any of my gear, and plenty of it was dangerous."

[skyward_eyes]

“I think size was a factor. Seifer lost his sword but kept the gunblade style knife Tony made him for his birthday last year. I never was one for small weapons. Even a tanbo is arm-length, more or less.”

He moves aside with her to wait for their drinks, leaning against he counter as he does. She looks... more composed? Confident? He does ant know. There is a difference and he can’t pin it down.

“So, after the village last week, you went home, Not-So-Little Birdie? No. Too much. Little you shall remain. Did... you remember it? I didn’t, the first time I went home. Hoping to compare notes.”

[ichoosefight]

She rolls her eyes, a wry grin on her face.

"Or you could just call me 'Steph' like a normal person," she suggests, only half serious.

"Sort of," she starts in answer to his question, checking the counter to make sure her drink wasn't finished while she wasn't paying attention. It was not.

"Sort of home, I mean. I remembered everything, but somehow I ended up on the wrong continent. It's hard to complain about coming back from the dead, though, so..." She shrugs.

"How long have you been in town? I just got here this morning."

[skyward_eyes]

“When did I give the illusion of being a normal person?” he teases lightly. Steph should know better than that. “Been looking at these’mods’ that we got a coupon for. There is flight, supposedly. If it works out maybe I can have a flying partner again.”

Still, he is pleased when their orders are called and he scoops his up. Warm brew, lovely.

“A few days now. Enough to get a job. I can finally be a mechanic like I am trained in. Rather do that than go back to spy or combat work. Though after today I might need armed sooner rather than later. We have too many friends who run into danger head first.”

[ichoosefight]

She sticks her tongue out at him in lieu of a proper answer. Coffee takes precedence, and she takes the lid off her latte to blow on it. It smells like sanity.

"Aww, it's not as bad as all that. Most of them kinda sorta know what they're doing. Besides, it's not like a weapon would've helped much today."

She nods questioningly in the direction of a small table.

[skyward_eyes]

“It would have been a comfort. I’m as bad about mine as you were with yours back there. Once I got over myself,” he says as he moves toward the indicated table to sit down. Which is comforting. His back hurts. His eyes dart around and when he doesn’t see what he’s waiting for he relaxes some.

“This stuff stresses me out. Dealt with a few bombs during the time I was gone from the village, before my second fountain bath.”

The awakening that, after which, he had changed. Had grown more than older. The one after which he had connected more with Steph. The one he’d rather not think of.

“How have you been? Genuine question. I feel bad for not have having a way to watch your back.”

[ichoosefight]

She grimaces. She knows what that's like, even if her own many explosions didn't have that sort of impact on her (pun intended).

"Sorry."

At least she has a good way to change the subject, once she's sat down and had some of her latte.

"I've been good! Well, for a certain definition of 'good'. Just finished my first year of college, which is somehow both better and worse than high school was. The world has tried to end a few times, but it does that from time to time. Nothing permanent."

[skyward_eyes]

“Well at least it was no world ending that stuck. It would just be so inconvenient,” Nida teases between sips of his drink. That was part of why he had come to enjoy Steph’s company. Somehow she always made serious things seem so light and unimportant. Like they were causing her undue burden and hadn’t warranted that sort of stress.

It was an outlook he had actively been trying to cultivate. And... well, he wasn’t succeeding just yet.

“Hopefully this place won’t put too much of a damper on your college aspirations”

[ichoosefight]

It's always been a talent of hers. It comes so much easier now than it did before, when most of her apathy was either ironic or depressed.

She shrugs.

"I haven't even declared a major yet. I just promised my mom I'd give the whole 'normal' thing a try." She makes air quotes one-handed.

[skyward_eyes]

Normal? Nida laughs at the very concept. As if he could figure that out ever before. But trying is its own fun.

“Is there anything you took classes for and really enjoyed? Oh, listen to me, playing at a wise adult. Me, I’ll pass. I got a job as a mechanic and I am so happy to have it. And coffee, without begging off of the supply out overlords sent you.”

Steph, normal. He wants to laugh. Anyone he heard of associated with that Gotham City place was a mess and a half.

[ichoosefight]

She grins knowingly. She'd taken on the Batgirl role barely a week after that promise. At least her mom wasn't mad about that.

"I'm not too proud to beg when it comes to caffeine. For a major..." She hums thoughtfully and rests her chin on her free hand.

"I kinda liked philosophy, but I was thinking I might go for a nurse or something. Social worker, maybe. Help people, you know? Nursing's a whole lot of biology though." She's not really sure she's smart enough.

[skyward_eyes]

“Social worker? I’ve never heard that term before.”

Might explain how he ended up in a mercenary orphanage instead of a real one and thus adopted. Oops.

“What do those do? Also, you’d be an amazing nurse. The sass is good for healing.”

[ichoosefight]

"The sass is good for life," she corrects him before chuckling wryly. She knows enough about his world to know that there's nothing remotely like social services there.

"They do a lot of things. Counseling, legal help, working with kids, families, schools... Basically a professional helper."

[skyward_eyes]

“I sure could have used one off those back home. But I think it would be a reasonable fit for you. You’re just... strong. That has to take emotional strength.”

Something Nida was lacking in. Manual labor was more his pace. But he had to winder what his life would be like if he ever went to college. But that wasn’t in his cards, so he won’t push at that. Instead he considers thoughtful before his next question.

“What sort of classes do you use for that?”

[ichoosefight]

The compliment makes her blush, and she shrugs and rolls her eyes in a nonverbal refute. She's never seen herself that way, despite the evidence.

"Dunno," comes the easy answer. She's not sure GU even has the degree program.

"Psychology, probably. Maybe some law?"

[skyward_eyes]

“Law is vital. Helps you know how to bend it without breaking it,” he grins. What? It seems a fair comment.

Maybe he is a bit too mischievous sometimes. Maybe he deserves to be that though.

“You’d Be a great role model for kids though.”

[ichoosefight]

She chuckles wickedly.

"Now that would be new and different." She does spend most of her time enforcing the law, but it is by definition illegal. Technically she's a criminal!

"Oh my god, stop, you're gonna make me conceited." Mostly he's making her blush, but it's still not a position she's accustomed to being in. This is a whole lot of positive reinforcement in one ten-minute period.

[skyward_eyes]

“And it would be lovely with your complexion,” Nida assures her. What? Steph is someone who knows just how taken he is with his love, which means he can get away with keeping his playful flirting skills sharp without either of them thinking it means a lick.

“So, think I might be able to borrow you to help keep my skills sharp once I’m armed? Not that training Billy isn’t a delight, and getting pounded by Seifer isn’t a gas, but it is nice to have someone used to fighting with the sort of things I use.”