[Open] 🚬 June Flames

[burnitblack]

Who: Dabi & others
What: June Catch-All
When: Various
Where: June

Content Warnings: Potential mentions of domestic/child abuse, potential mentions of murder, violence, adult language or subjects

Notes: General and specific starters will be below. More to come, including event prompts. Contact under cut.

If you want to hit me up for ideas on prompts or plots, feel free to comment on Dabi's CR plotting post or his Event plotting post (tbd), hit me up on my contacts – Plurk (StarSeed69) / Discord (StarSeed#3572) – shoot me a PM, or drop an ooc comment down below, and we’ll hash it out. I'm down to write a unique starter for our threads if you prefer.

NOTE: I'll be with limited computer access the first week of June, and will get event prompts up when I return.

Comments

[swellter]

[ Must you be logical?! His head tilts slightly. He's not wrong, but he still doesn't see the issue. Wasn't it better to give away an elevated dish than a basic one? ]

No. I didn't have time to make both, so I chose the better one.

[ He will gladly take cooking advice from him just don't blame him when they end up burning down the kitchen.

As it stands Shouto doesn't know yet that Endeavor trained Touya. By the time he came around, Endeavor had already stopped training him and by the time Shouto was started on his training, Touya was already gone.

It wouldn't be a bunch of Hunters, since they don't exactly get along. Shouto works with a handful of them, but mostly, he's assigned to solo patrol that way there's no clashes among them.

He looks across the cavern to an opening in the rock that seemed to lead to the rest of the cave system, and smiles quietly to himself, pleased by his suggestion. He didn't throw it away. Somehow, he didn't expect that. He'd worried that someone else would find it or that he'd see his signature and burn it, so to hear that he kept it and planned to try it... it validates every hour he spent making each jam. ]

... If you like one [ he scratches at his cheek, looking almost timid ] I have more.

[ Don't even dare choose the raspberry one!!! ]

[burnitblack]

[he half expects to see the man burst into flame as well. it's only three seconds of the intense fire, but while the creature itself is incinerated to ash, nara'a remains standing. if not tense and covered in burns. though the lack of blackening and peeling skin is... somewhat irritating. it reminds dabi of another person he fought against a while ago, who didn't burn up like a normal person should. though with the cat ears and tail, maybe he shouldn't be surprised... tch, these otherworldly people are bothersome.

dabi lowers his hand from the man's back and steps away, letting him move and brush at the claws of the creature hanging onto him. they fall away onto the floor and so long as they don't move beyond that, the villain's not going to waste his time burning them.

slipping his hands into his pockets, the man grinds one of the demon's hands into the ground under his boot... and then ignites his foot to scorch that part too. for good measure. the flames blow off a second later, leaving it blackened and crumbling under his sole.]

Yeah.

[though now the roof's on fire, what of it that still remains...]

[burnitblack]

[yes. touya sighs, though the exhale barely shows leaving his mouth. this isn't something he should be wasting his time on. explaining this concept. didn't the little puppet have friends to talk to him about it?]

Guess you'll find out soon enough.

[if word gets around of some kind of infamous jam poisoning. makes him speculate of the ones he's got in his own place. maybe he'll scan the network and wait a few days to listen. see if anyone's saying something.

like burning down the kitchen's gonna be a problem for him...

depends on if the jam actually works or not. taste aside, if it proves to be a strong anti-corruption tool, he might get some orders for more. and who knows where they'll go once they've been sold...

dabi's only just started working as a hunter, though he's kept some attention on the whole sanctuary thing and the growing rift in the two hunting philosophies. what a surprise. save versus kill. kinda got shades of the war back home, huh.

noting shouto looking towards the cavern wall, the opening nearby, touya moves forward, tired of standing around and being pleasant with his little brother. he's got something he wants to do in here and a conversation while still is not one of them.]

I'll keep that in mind.

[once again, wolf reappears, melting out of the shadows beside touya's leg. its glowing eyes cast a faint turquoise light in the dark. almost akin to two candles. mostly so touya doesn't have to keep his own fires activated.

choose the raspberry? well if you insist.]

[aetherweaver]

[He watches Dabi grind down... something. Maybe he can't see his own demon. He opens his mouth to try to talk about killing Dabi's demon, and then he looks up.]

We should get out of here before it collapses. I've got a few options for taking care of yours, I think. Not fire - I don't think mine gets hot enough.

[He's not going to even pretend he can match that level of elemental mastery that this guy has.]

Come on. Let's go.

[He heads for the door. There's no one else around, so he doesn't feel bad about the fire. There's no reason why he should.]

[burnitblack]

[dabi glances up at the roof. oh yeah. probably should've seen that coming. the fire's hungrily consuming anything that's up there, made even worse with how old this place is. tsk, sometime he feels like he could set this entire city on fire in a night.]

Great. [a more varied toolkit over there. whatever. so long as it gets it off him.]0 This place served its purpose.

[dabi may be a one-trick pony when it comes to his quirk, but it's a hell of a trick. he follows after nara'a, coat tails and cloak brushing against the doorway after him. the guy was right to pick a house with the open space around it. most of the roof would fall inside anyways, trapped within the stone walls.]

Ya don't think these things are the beasts everyone's fightin about, do ya?

[aetherweaver]

No, I don't think so. I doubt these things were people.

[He heads out the door, careful not to get any embers on him, and looks at Dabi's demon carefully. There's not a lot of wiggle room to get a weapon under there. He could try elemental spells, but he's not sure he has anything strong enough to destroy it.]

[Any big spells he has would hit Dabi, too. So he has to use a sword to get it. If only he could cover him from... injury... oh.]

I've got an idea.

[He pulls out a small crystal and holds it for a moment, his attire changing in a flash.]

I can slice it off like this... and make sure you don't take any damage.

[Provided Cover works and the demon doesn't just transfer damage through some means that can break through it.]

[burnitblack]

Good. Don't need that group comin after me bitchin.

[dabi shuts the door behind him, if only to keep the fire inside once it takes the roof down with it. as for his own demon, it's apparently decided to cling tight, though there's still three layers of cloth between it and dabi's skin. so technically something could be wedged between if they went under his clothes...

the villain heads away from the house, preferring not to linger around in case other people come running towards the blue fire starting to raise smoke into the sky.]

Yeah?

[he glances over at the mention of an idea, arching a brow when the man suddenly opts for a quick change. and ends up encased in some pretty thick armor.]

Ya just layered a buncha metal on yourself. How's that supposed to prevent damage to me?

2

[syncopathic]

[Dito's doing his own reconnaissance in the forest. After the worst of the earthquakes had subsided, several Hunters took it upon themselves to investigate. Normally that sort of scouting detail would have been repugnant to Dito, but his curiosity had always been annoyingly difficult to tame.

So here he was, out at the edge of the forest with his hyena omen by his side and a lit lantern in his hand, scouring the grass for anything out of the ordinary. He almost misses the blue flame when it temporarily lights up the sky, and with a glance and a nod to his omen, Dito moves to investigate. A will o' the wisp, perhaps? Or something more sinister?

He finds his answer soon enough. It's hard to see in the darkness, but from the glow of his lantern he can just make out a tall and lanky figure standing at the edge of a particularly large cavern. Dito slides his spear out of its sheath, just in case the person turns out to be not too friendly.]

I'm gonna take the chance that you're not one of those beasty types that get their kicks chewing people's faces off. Though I wouldn't mind if you did that to somebody else-- be pretty cool to watch.

[aetherweaver]

[He summons his internal strength, the valor he has as a paladin, to protect people. He can feel the urge rising in him and he knows that he can cast the spells needed to protect this person - even if protection isn't what he wants. He flexes his hand in his gauntlets and nods.]

Good question. I can cast a spell called Cover, and it'll prevent the damage from transferring to you. It's like a shield of sorts.

[Of course, the damage gets redirected to him, but the other doesn't need to know that - he probably doesn't care.]

I use job stones to change my abilities, so I can do different things with them. The armor coming with it is just a plus.

[burnitblack]

[sinkholes aren't exactly rare in japan. but watching a number of them fall open in quick succession? that's not something he's seen outside of certain quirks being used. unable to guess where the next one will show, he remains in the air until the rumbling and collapsing have stopped. then alights on the edge of one of them, leaving the grass to burn all around from the blast of fire used to catch his fall. hmph... might have to rest a bit. he got dangerously close to his threshold limit.

the hole itself is large, certainly would've toppled a house if it opened under the corner of it. looks like it's opened up into an underground cavern too... guess it shouldn't surprise him trench has an cave system beneath it, though that makes him wonder how much of the place is ready to collapse into itself at any time. the curious side of him dabbles with heading down into the cave to explore. the logical, planning side of him says that's foolish to go alone into an unexplored cave.

a voice cuts into his thoughts and dabi looks over his shoulder, most of his body hidden behind his long coat and the shadows swallowing him. someone's over there; the lantern isn't hard to miss at all. a passerby, here to inspect the hole most likely. he notes movement near the person, assumes it's an omen, but can't be sure of the size or shape.]

Ya ever seen a beast that looks like a person?

[burnitblack]

[the clack of metal against metal answers those fingers opening and closing in the man's gauntlet. considering he burned off the demon from this guy's back and he hasn't suffered any major injuries is at least a positive, compared to the initial speculation of the damage being transferred.

though dabi's still unsure of whether he wants to take that risk. he's not exactly the strongest guy out there physically. stamina's impressive, but...]

And ya know it's gonna work on this thing? [so far his quirk works just as well in trench, so it's probably the same on this guy's magic. the rest is more details he probably doesn't need, but dabi listens with a quiet curiosity.] And that crystal thing ya just had... that's a job stone?

[might be valuable...]

[aetherweaver]

It should. And yes, it is.

[He tucks it back into his pocket, eyeing the other carefully. Don't get any ideas, Dabi. He's had plenty of practice thwarting pickpockets before. He may not be a good hunter, but those ears aren't just for decoration.]

It wears off quickly, so we'll have to do it fast. I can wedge my sword between it and your back, cast it... and you shouldn't feel anything.

[Ideally. Because otherwise, it's going to hurt like a bitch when he slices that thing.]

[burnitblack]

[good to know. dabi eyes the pocket nara'a puts it in, though with all that armor on, isn't planning on trying to pick it later. probably get his hand stuck between the plates. and yeah, he does keep in mind those cat ears up there, to say nothing a that furry fifth appendage. he'll behave. this time.]

What're ya gonna do after you wedge it in there? [he's assuming either bisect it or try and up-and-down slice to take its limbs off. neither of which sound like a good experience to feel along with the beast.]

[aetherweaver]

[Good choice, Dabi.]

Slice through it. It'll be the cleanest way to hit its vitals. I'm quite handy with a blade, so I don't have any doubt that I can do it. It's safer to do it that way than try to stop right before your clothes.

[He's no fool - he knows how momentum works. Has been a victim of it far too many times to not. He nods at the other, offering him a small smile.]

I won't cut you. I promise. You can burn me if I do.

[burnitblack]

And that spell's gonna make sure ya don't end up slicin my vitals when it tries to damage share.

[making sure that's the plan here, going off what nara'a said earlier. the creature was ash after three seconds in his flames, though the man had some obvious resistance to the pain and damage. after learning of his magic, that makes a bit more sense (even if it does irk him a little).

dabi eyes him for a few more seconds. burning him in exchange for a cut would be petty, and amusing. he totally would.]

What the hell. [resigned, he shrugs, closes his eyes, and turns his back on nara'a.] Go for it.

[aetherweaver]

Yeah.

[He takes his sword and carefully slides it between Dabi and the demon. He's cautious not to fray the other's clothing too much - his sword is quite sharp, after all. He focuses and sends a thin goldish translucent line between himself and the other, then quickly yanks his sword upwards to bisect the creature.]

[It mostly does, cutting it diagonally. He has a lot of muscle underneath those scrawny-looking limbs, after all. But about a second after the sound of the sword slicing through... something... rings out, there's a grunt of pain from Nara'a. The line fades and he lowers the sword, wiping at his mouth with a gauntlet. The feeling of cold metal helps pull his focus away from the pain - he didn't feel like he was getting bisected, necessarily, but there was definitely pain on his end.]

Ah... ugh.

[He shakes his head, ears flicking as he tries to regain his senses, and he nods to Dabi.]

It's done. There's pieces hanging on you, but I didn't want to touch you without permission.

[Consent! It's important!]

[burnitblack]

[that's a sensation he's not able to say he's felt before. having a blade pushed flat across his back (at least what parts of it can still feel to any real degree...) it's at this time that dabi actually "notes" the presence behind him, though the real tangible nature of it escapes his mind and burned nerves. annoying and unnerving, making him more than ready to have the damn thing removed. if it's also getting rid of the nightmares, double win.

oy, if you're gonna cut anything, cut the cloak; trench can replace that, not his coat beneath.

there's a quick yank and he doesn't flinch, though dabi tenses up in preparation for the pain- ... and it never comes. guess the spell worked. the grunt behind him he chalks up to the exertion of the sword motion. it's a strange sensation, almost "lighter" in the cliche sense. instinctively he arches his back, rolling his shoulders to shrug off whatever might still be clinging to him. no thanks on the touching. he can shake them off himself.

turning his head to look over his shoulder, he brushes at his back a few times, not hitting anything, but still able to ironically dislodge the now-dead creature. turquoise eyes land on the other man, wiping his mouth and shaking his head. looks damaged...]

I got it. What's the matter with you?

[aetherweaver]

[He chuckles a little bit at the question.]

Cover does what it says - it covers you. But someone's got to take the damage.

[In hindsight he should have just used a spell to make sure he didn't take damage from Dabi removing his own, but ah... hindsight. He's a paladin, but that doesn't mean that he primarily thinks of himself as one. And red mage doesn't have any answers for that.]

I'm... ugh. Fine. Probably.

[Shouldn't have done that so soon after taking damage of his own. If he had a healer here they'd be yelling at him. Never mind that he gets hit so others don't have to be... but that's a constant debate between healers and the people they're healing.]

Are you okay? That's the more important question.

[burnitblack]

[dabi may not come from a world with magic, but he's aware of "powers" in general thanks to the quirks from his world. a damage transfer quirk could theoretically operate the same, plus he's not an idiot, so the pieces click into place easily.]

Idiot.

[there's no monster on the ground he can see to burn, so that's going to have to go unrewarding. leaving nara'a to suffer for his own "heroic" choice, dabi checks the back of his clothes. tch, there's a slice through the cloak, right up the back, and much to his annoyance, it hit the coat from home beneath. luckily didn't get to his shirt or skin, but... irritating.

he knows how to stitch at least.]

"Probably" ain't reassurin. [he shrugs his clothes back into more comfortable place before turning cold eyes on the other man. job's done, one for one, fair trade's fair. should walk right out on him and leave him to lick his own wounds.] Yeah? That's why ya cringin over there.

[he cast the spell, so he should expect the answer, unless he doesn't trust his own magic...]

This a habit for you, takin hits for other people?

[aetherweaver]

Yeah, I am.

[He’ll freely admit his idiocy - he knows it all too well. He keeps jumping into things with no regards for the consequences. He’s got a long history of doing that, to the point where it’s a Problem.]

Wasn’t sure if it’d even work. But yeah, it is. When I’m in a group with a lot of other adventurers, it’s a Paladin’s job to keep the enemy focused on them. We’re sturdier than others and have abilities that help keep us up.

[Unfortunately, Cover doesn’t work with them. Damn game mechanics. He stands and casts Clemency, a white light illuminating him for a moment. He feels the pain fade slightly, and he stands up straighter.]

[It helps, but only a little. A painkiller in the path of a migraine.]

[retsuden]

[ Spikes. Sasuke frowns slightly at the thought as he looks passed the other, back to where he pointed, and he lets out a sigh. ]

Of course it does.

[ Someone's gone through a great deal of trouble to hide something in this place. There's no reason for all this otherwise and he wonders just how useful whatever is buried in this maze is. It's the only reason he hasn't thrown in the towel and gone back to the surface.

His gaze flickers to the pad of paper Dabi has, before he looks back to his face. ]

... A map?

[ He doesn't clarify whether he's asking if he's making one or has one, but he figures it's probably easy to assume he means the former, given that no Sleepers (and hell, probably no natives) have ever gotten to be down here before. But if it is what he's doing with that paper, having someone who can actually jot down the paths taken would be so... handy... Pun horribly intended. ]

[burnitblack]

[was he expecting a garden? dabi's learned to take the cavern paths slowly, gauging his steps as he goes. so far it's not been a trigger panel or a trip wire, but more the hope someone without a light will fall into the traps below. or run into the wall of spikes, as had been the case behind him.

likewise, he also has the idea that something this full of traps would be guarding something that's worth taking a look at. not sure he wants to risk his life for it, but dodging a few traps shouldn't be that difficult. a brow arches when sasuke indicates the paper in his hand with a drop of the eyes.]

Yeah.

[he'd already marked the paper's route an X, indicating a dead end, and heads towards the fork they're both approaching. then stands with his face towards said fork and unfolds the paper. certainly isn't a cartographer's best work, but it's what sasuke thinks it is: paths taken.

you know, if he can see through the back of the paper that is.]

[burnitblack]

[huh, he's willing to admit it. that's either a good or a bad thing. some people can at least pretend they're not and then surprise you later. other's are open about it and then it's shit working with them the entire time.

but if this guy's going to throwing himself on the pyre like that, dabi's not about to stop him. especially if he's getting the better hand out of the deal.]

So you're the party punching bag. [sorry, he doesn't play video games so has no idea what a "tanky cleric" paladin is. you'll have to go see his boss if you wanna do nerd references.] Kinda explains why your bag ain't a boiled mess.

[dabi only sees another light, not even sure what that one does, but rather than ask, merely gives the man a questioning look. must've done something beneficial, since he stands up without as much a crumple.]

Ya heard anythin out there about these things?

this is so late i'm sorry

[dirtdevil]

[ he's heard the whispers. gossip in hushed tones (or not, it's not like what he's doing is illegal) about some guy who has a bunch of random shit from other worlds for some reason—things he's willing to part with for a fair trade.

cool. whatever. why should he care? what could this guy possibly have that would make him go out of his way to figure out what the hell he could trade and then seek out some weird shady figure in an equally shady bar to make an offer?

the answer, of course, is cleaning supplies.

he's not able to stock up on things like sponges and gloves the way he used to; that alone might not have been enough of a push, but that's before he hears about the magic wipes. a single disposable cloth that can disinfect anything from any surface with a simple swipe. what the fuck, right? it's almost like cheating.

he's gonna get some of that shit, one way or another.

and so it's this probably-misplaced enthusiasm that drives him to walk into this bar—someplace that likely wouldn't interest him at all otherwise—and meander towards the back in search of this mysterious tradesman of otherworldly cleaning materials (and probably a bunch of other shit he doesn't care about). it's not terribly difficult to spot him, what with the weird eyes that cast just enough of a glow to make out the telltale burn scars on his face. yeesh.

Levi approaches him with a blank expression that belies the rigid (and ridiculous) determination to acquire disinfectant wipes under the surface. if he looks like he's come empty-handed, it's because he has. ]

You're the guy with all the loot.

[ just to confirm. it'd be pretty awkward if he just started talking about magic cleaning wipes to the wrong person, after all. ]

beautiful ♥

[likethelight]

[ That sword saved your ass! How ungrateful.

Dabi's recognition gets a small blink from him, but he just gives a small nod as he makes note of that. (Have Allen and Shouto talked about, idk, such normal things as the places they were previously from in terms of geography while spending so much time together? So that he might realize things like they're from an alternative/future earth? You know that's honestly highly unlikely...) ]

Mm. Scotland, originally. [ Probably. Who knows, he doesn't technically know when or where he was born but that's what he's decided as true. Same with his age... Also how would he know a gas station sells anything else! A general store sells general items... a gas station should sell gas! Why would you complicate that!! ]

"Modern" painkillers and clothes? [ He blinks, gaze flicking up to Dabi in some surprise at not really getting what he means, but... getting enough of the picture to realize that's probably a good thing, given what other "future advances" there can be. It's as rhetorical as it is curious.

Also he's not a priest, that was his asshole master. And Allen's way kinder and less sleazy than him. ]

Things for pain, fever, antiseptics... anything good for wounds in particular like that would be good. And I can check, but I know he said something about copper? And would be happy with anything mechanical he could take apart. [ He gives a small, thoughtful as he taps a finger lightly against the table, sorting what Dabi mentioned against what has been lamented to him over or that he knows people have already been donating. ] Towels would probably be a good idea too... clothes are fine though, we don't need anything like that. [ They have a tailor who organizes clothing drives after all. Sansa would probably be So Offended if he dared to get anything on his own.

But all of this brings up something he's been wondering about since he first realized it was Dabi, and his head tilts lightly to the side. Not skeptical, just curious, and he sweeps his palm to the side in and offhand gesture. ]

What is it you want in exchange for things like this? You don't seem like someone who'd want to trade in blood.

[ Most Sleepers don't, and Dabi seems too pragmatic for something that's only useful for trading with natives really... or weird rituals and experiments. ]