When does the reason become the blame

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

He's been spending more time in Torchline than he expected. What started as his first trip here last season, to relieve an itch in his mind, has since become several return visits. There's a lingering too, like he's found something worthwhile among the sand and the surf.

He steps barefoot across the glittering beach, hands in his baggy black short's pockets. An angry blush full of heat slopes over his shoulders that poke out of his red tank-top—the front marks him a tourist as it reads 'TORCHLINE' in thick letters that depict a sunset. That same warm flush highlights his nose and forehead, a reverse racoon mask of white ringing his eyes, the after effect of shades that he'd since lost over the side of the boat trip here. Good thing it's night now.

He glances up at the monolith of guidance, Safrin's marks even more evident under her moonlit touch. He doesn't know her well, but something in him calls out to her again, needing that divine wisdom to soothe the parts of him that are beginning to muddle with ache and confusion. He exhales slowly, and with his breath sends a complimentary prayer up to her, and wonders about wishes on shooting stars.

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again

JACK

In Jack's experience, wishing on a shooting star isn't all that advisable. You might be wishing on a member of The Family, soaring from the black void of space to land on their little rock to cause trouble. Worse still, you might end up wishing on one of his Safrin-born children, and he'll argue that they can do worse than The Family when it comes to raw fucking mischief.

Heading down the steps from the top of the lighthouse where he's been leaving his own offering and saying his own prayer, quiet and quick and private as it might be, as the captain steps out into the wash of moonlit sand, he pauses to reach into his pockets for his cigarettes and matchbook. A quick glance shows some sunburnt tourist gawking up at the lighthouse like he's peeking up Safrin's skirts - and given that the letter so kindly addressed to him had contained no name, and his telepathy doesn't extend to reading thoughts from parchment, he's none the wiser.

So, lighting his cigarette, the cherry a soft bloom of heat and light in the cool darkness, he steps out from the entrance of the Aumakua and prepares to go the fuck on his way.

you wanted perfect, you got your perfect
but now I'm too perfect for someone like you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

So, here's the thing. Kaisel knows of Jack, but he doesn't know Jack, including what the man looks like. In fact, what he knows of is pretty minor, not the least of which is because the Captain is a secretive guy to begin with. He's a kid from the city, he doesn't pay much attention to the goings on of smuggler wars and rogues dipping in out of tides and airstreams. All he knows about Jack, is that he broke Flora's heart, which makes him enemy numero doe (The Family is uno, obv).

Not that Kaisel is even thinking of the shit stain captain at this moment, not even when he glances over at the man himself lighting up at the bottom of the steps. No, all he's got on his mind is stars not granting wishes and pretty blondes, of which Torchline Caido is rampant with. "Hey!" he calls out when he notices the silhouette of the stranger, backlit by stars and framed with that red glow. He lifts a hand in greeting and steps towards him, a polite smile affixed. "Sorry—I've never been here before. This is Safrin's shrine right? I don't wanna fumble such a baddie so I'm making sure I'm praying at the right place."

"I'm Kaisel, by the way."

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again

JACK

Empty stars and pretty blondes are fairly generic in terms of wistful thinking in a place like this, so that in itself doesn't spark any particular recognition in the captain either. Taking a long draw from his cigarette and exhaling a stream of smoke that curls up and away into the sea breeze, he's almost made his way past the tourist entirely when he speaks up, halting Jack in his footsteps.

"Sure looks like it," he rumbles in response to the boy's question, turning and following his gaze up the pale length of the lighthouse and gesturing to the very top of it. "Shrine itself is up there, if you're lookin' to leave offerin's or speak with the lady herself." People do leave things around the edges of the moon-white tower - candles and flowers and star-related gifts - but he knows from experience where the actual magic happens.

Y'know, when it isn't happening in his (wet) dreams.

"Jack," he delivers in terms of his name, polite if only because of the location. "Best of luck with the goddess." Flicking the ash from his burning cigarette, he moves to step past once again.

you wanted perfect, you got your perfect
but now I'm too perfect for someone like you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

Kaisel's gaze follows the gesture, peering up at the tall beacon of light and its offering of steps to climb. It's beautiful, in its own way, though vastly different from the Celestine he knows. This one feels a bit more cold, surrounded by surf and sand, something strong to withstand the waves and warn the passing ships of danger steeped in darkness. It's opposite the gentle care she placed into her starlit gardens and recovery zoo, though both seem to be a quiet urge from her to live.

"Thanks," Kaisel says with appreciation as his attention flicks back to the stranger. No, not stranger, Jack. Kaisel's eyes narrow marginally at the name, lips thinning with the easy word. Jack. The Jack? The Jack that left his friend tear-soaked in the bar, questioning hard decisions? The Jack that made her pause amid her closet with memory and kindness? The Jack that left her taut on the deck of her boat, yearning and raging simultaneously?

That Jack—here, now, with him, in punching distance?

"Say—" he asks to keep the man anchored for a moment longer, a poor plan forming underneath an offered easy going smile. "Is it worth it?" he asks a bit too casually perhaps, of such a strong notion. "Safrin, I mean. I've seen Frey afterall." Both are beautiful, that can't be argued, but with Safrin there's a certain grace and warning. With Frey...it had been all heat and fun. Maybe they're different when they're not summoned in an ice-cream packed kitchen with the Torchline Crow gleaming devious and wicked with her upper hand.

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again

JACK

Jack picks up on the boy's distaste with the same narrow focus as a shark scenting blood in the water, and he pauses perhaps a second before Kaisel actually calls out. His own name looms large and malevolent in his mind - just the way he likes it, in truth - his presence growing and magnifying like ripples in still water. One of Flora's friends, then. Obviously, given the punching distance. Jack almost begs him to try.

Instead, the captain turns back to him, back to the lighthouse, lifting his cigarette to his lips for another slow drag. The moonlight spills across his face, picking out the two stars at the corner of his eye; brands from the cosmic lady herself.

"Oh, she's always worth it," he drawls, raising a casual brow towards Kaisel. "Safrin puts Frey to shame, if it's one man's opinion to another. She'll keep you on your toes an' have you questionin' what you swore was true only seconds before. The real question you should be askin'," he adds with a casual glance across to him, "is whether you're worth it to her."

you wanted perfect, you got your perfect
but now I'm too perfect for someone like you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

Jack speaks of Safrin with a strong appreciation, almost affection even. It suggests time and experience that pales the singular moment Kaisel has met her, and is firmer still than how Koa speaks of her. He wonders what the goddess has done for Jack to earn such loyalty, especially when Flora hadn't been able to wrestle it from him. The stars at the corner of his eye, paler than the rest of him in the brief light of the inhale, seem testament to that.

"Yeah?" Kaisel smiles faintly at the challenge pressed into that answer. "I'm still figuring that out too." Would Safrin favor or frown upon him striking someone she's got such history with? Although he wouldn't really be doing it for Safrin. Not even sure he'd be doing it for Flora, when all is said and done. "You sound like someone who's got a story or two about the goddess," Kaisel says with invitation, arms crossing against his chest. He's curious to know this man a bit more, because he meant something major to Flora once, and even if Jack fumbled the bag there's gotta be that same person she first saw still in there, right?

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again

JACK

What indeed. Raising his eyebrows as he's engaged - nay, invited - to further conversation with a boy who apparently wants to throw a punch at him at any moment, Jack watches him with the quiet neutrality of a man who has been invited to drinks that have become fights and vice versa more times than he can count. It's only the quiet, almost laughable curiosity that prevents him from ignoring Kaisel completely.

Instead, huffing out a laugh in a stream of cigarette smoke, Jack shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe," he agrees. "Ain't stories suitable for such young ears, though. Besides, you'll find the goddess herself to be much more impressive than any secondhand tales." A polite way, if he does say so himself, of saying mind your own fucking business.

you wanted perfect, you got your perfect
but now I'm too perfect for someone like you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

Well, that is definitely not enlightening. Jack is as forthcoming as a whore in church. "Loose lips sink ships, hmm?" Kaisel jokes, one hand reaching up to ruffle his hair at the back of his neck. Alright, if he's pious in private, perhaps there's a better subject to get him singing a bit more. "Yanno," he begins, casual, innocent. Admittedly, Kaisel is not built for subterfuge. Too loud, too honest, too focused on the now and not the later. Still, a man can try.

"I actually think I know you." His grin is punctuated with a short, disbelieving laugh. The kind that isn't really because something's funny at all. "Yeah," he says, two fingers extended and shaken towards Jack, head tilted towards them, like lining up some sights. "You're the one Flora's mentioned, I think. The one that's kinda old, so he has a hard time getting it up. That's you, right?"

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again

JACK

"Somethin' like that, sure," Jack mutters, flicking the ash from his cigarette onto the ground. He senses the shift in Kaisel's thoughts almost like it's permission, like he wants to reach out and grab the barbs attached to the words he's preparing and squeeze them to see if they're sharp enough to draw blood.

Spoiler alert: they aren't.

"Oh, I bet you do," he drawls, half under his breath and half around another drag on his smoke. Still angled partially away from the boy, the moonlight nevertheless makes the smirk curling across his lips easily visible.

"This normally ruffle feathers, does it?" he asks on a cloudy exhale. "Hurt feelin's, get the blood runnin' hot?" He does look at Kaisel then, expression amused if anything.

"Go on," he invites. "Have another go. If you're lookin' to pick a fight, you gotta have better insults in you than that."

you wanted perfect, you got your perfect
but now I'm too perfect for someone like you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

It's a smug off. One titanic ego set against the other, although only one's got the ship to back it up, but let's not focus on that just yet.

Jack's unimpressed expression backlit with an oceanic starlit night and billowing smoke rising around him like a warning is the picture of a villain about to fuck some shit up. The scene is set, the badass is badassing, and even the cigarette's characteristic red glow against the lines of his face is a paid actor on the you might regret that set. Except, smoking kills you addicted idiot. Kaisel only sees someone taking the L, too caught up in his own vices to realize the bag he's fumbled.

"That's not a denial," Kaisel remarks with a wider smile. "You left because you got tired of her asking you to just put it in when you were already balls deep, huh?" Kaisel clucks his tongue, heaving out a big sigh, like Jack is an extreme disappointment. "You just couldn't handle her taking care of shit, could you? You're too much of a pussy, Jack." Kaisel's gaze sharpens as he turns it upon the Captain, fingers itching to curl up and kiss him.

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again

JACK

As bardic rap battles go, this one's entertainment value is stellar. The only problem is the lack of an audience - that and the fact that one of the participants doesn't remotely play fair. As Kaisel waxes internal lyrical about the state of Jack's lungs and gears up for another round of let's talk about my dick, the captain holds his nearly spent cancer stick between his lips and casually begins to take off his rings. Two in particular, actually - and a tangle of leather and silver around his wrist, as well.

Only once he tucks them into his pocket does he glance back up at the boy, inhaling deep on the smoke. "You been in many fights?" he asks. "I wanna say no. If you had, you'd have punched me by now. Stops me doin' this."

The smell of ozone fills the air a split second before Jack invites the heavens for their opinion, summoning a bolt of lightning to carve through the moonlight, aiming right between Kaisel's heroic little shoulders.

---

Jack takes off his mageglass and pulls his punches, using Lightning magic at Basic.

---

Regional Score bonus: +15 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +15 should be included). Residents cannot be cursed at shrines in this region.

Type: Dark | Style: Defensive | Level: Mastered
KingMaker Coat | A coat made from the elephant-portion of the mythical KingMaker. Type 3 armour, blocks physical damage.

Lightning manipulation (Abandoned/Hybrid): Can create and control Lightning. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered Basic

you wanted perfect, you got your perfect
but now I'm too perfect for someone like you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Jack's attack hits.

---

Kaisel HP: 7/32
Jack HP: 300/300

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

What was that about titanic egos and ships? Ah, guess it's more like Jack is the iceberg and Kaisel is the Titanic. Also, Jack will indeed let go, except he'll be the one on the floating wood in this version, practically kicking Rose's face into the water.

For all the curling grin of satisfaction (insert Grinch gif here) Kaisel feels at his dick jokes landing, Jack remains unimpressed, maybe just speechless at hearing the truth laid out so bare. He's more focused on his undressing, each item pulled off with a careful patience. Gods he's not gonna whip it out and show Kaisel, is he? Also, does he always strip his rings off just to take it out? Flora must have gotten a hand cramp once or twice trying to keep busy while she waited for Jack to disrobe completely.

He's about to answer the very rhetorical question with some peacocking, but whatever words he's prepared squawk out instead in complete and utter pain. The shift in the air, of particles gathering just to be shred apart by manifested energy, is the only warning. It comes too small, too late, striking Kaisel with a whip of retaliation so brutal he's dropped to the ground. Every bit of him seizes up, electric pathways in his body misfiring as a new stream of electrical pulse invites mayhem. It's hot, as if his bones have become molten, and it roasts an ugly line between his shoulders where it enters, his souvenir shirt torched away in a surprisingly clean vaporization of fabric over his back. His heads swims, stars joining him readily on the sand, and an echoing hum reverberates around him with a peal and and a pressure.

Fuck

He has enough wherewithal to pray, fear and adrenaline grabbing each other's hands and plummeting into his brain with a desperate attempt to keep him alive. "Get me out," he croaks to the sand, tongue fat in his mouth, the taste of batteries overwhelming despite his thoughts dimming to darkness quickly. He channels for a spirit, almost second nature as bits of him threaten to fail for good.

---

Kai begs for a spirit to take him the fuck out of here (thanks Koa!)

---

Channeling (Accepted) : Allows an Accepted to channel a spirit during a time of crisis (1x a season). Can be combined with other accepted channeling to increase power.
Type: Light | Rank: Basic

Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again