incomingchoppers: (are you serious sir?!)
Radar O'Reilly ([personal profile] incomingchoppers) wrote in [community profile] ph_logs2024-10-08 08:22 pm

[OPEN] city flower, wrapped around my heart

Who: Radar ([personal profile] incomingchoppers) & YOU
What: A rare breaking point, a new member of the O'Reilly Menagerie, and Radar's 20th birthday!
When: October through the beginning of November
Where: The Oak & Iron, Baker Ranch, and a few other spots around town
Warning(s): None yet -- will add if needed



1) you find me in the shadows and the shade

For a week or so after the gala, Radar's uncharacteristically scarce around town. He doesn't show up bright and early at Town Hall with coffee for all the filing clerks. Doesn't go to Baker Ranch for the weekend. If he pops into a store for something, he doesn't linger.

I got a lot to do at the estate, he says when asked, subdued. That's only part of it, but it's a big enough part that he doesn't wanna elaborate further.

Gradually, that changes: he begins to stop by the Oak & Iron again, making small talk here and there, though he clams up pretty quick whenever the topic turns toward Dahlia Leeds. Just because he's not talking about it doesn't mean plenty of other people aren't, though. When the gossip gets bad, it's easy to spot him scowling from across the way, visibly biting his tongue like he's listening to Major Burns spout off another boneheaded rant about the enlisted men.

What can he do, though? What they're saying might be awful, sure, but a lot of it's true. She's Aster's daughter; part-demon. She's eaten people. She never told anybody. That keeps him quiet, more or less -- until it doesn't anymore. Even a guy like Radar has to snap sometime.

So yeah, somebody comes in to the Oak & Iron talking about how they're gonna try to kick Dahlia off the town council, and Radar kinda loses his temper (a little at first but then a whole lot), and suddenly there's a real bad shouting match where he's yelling like he would when Colonel Blake wanted him to quiet down the whole mess tent -- You think she wants this?! You think anybody would if they could just be normal?!! --

Anyway. It's bad. And loud enough that it interrupts a lot of people's days -- maybe including yours.


2) the city bells ring soft in the night

He holes up at Baker Ranch for a bit after that, cycling back toward scarcity, keeping to himself when he can. Radar takes it upon himself to pick up the worst chores nobody else wants to do, like mucking out the stalls and scrubbing down the chicken coop. And he only assumes the fetal position in the hayloft once! Success!

That's where the barn cat finds him. And look, Radar had a real bad September, so when something that cute and fuzzy nuzzles up to him and starts purring, he just about bursts into tears. Even when it swipes his sending stone right out of his pocket, he can't find it in himself to be mad; he just pries it out of the cat's mouth with a weak, "Hey, c'mon, I need that."

Which is when he notices the stone's glowing like he just placed a call. Oops.

"Uh -- hello?" he says into the geode, sheepish. Radar rubs his eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to call, sir. Ma'am. Who's this?"

In the background, the Purrloin keeps purring smugly.


3) show me how to bloom; i promise i won't fade (forward dated to November)

Radar's mood finally begins to lighten toward the middle-end of the month. Mostly because once they turn the corner on October, it's just over a week until his birthday. He doesn't actually want a big party or anything, but if he mentions, oh so casual and offhand, that his twentieth birthday's coming up pretty soon, that's not gonna hurt anything, right?

So on November 8th, he wakes up -- and there it is. He's twenty. The big 2-0. No longer a teenager even a little bit. Maybe technically he was twenty before this, since it was September or October or maybe even November already when he died, and he's been on Marrow Isle for almost six months, but now it's official. He can do anything! He could even go to the Velvet now if he wanted!

....He doesn't actually want to, but he could.

Obviously he doesn't take off work (who do you think he is?!), but he miiiiight cut out a little early to celebrate. It'll be a quiet one -- a drink at Empty Pockets, some more time up at the ranch with all the animals, and eventually wandering toward the Leeds estate -- but if anyone wants to celebrate with him, he definitely won't say no. Hopefully it'll go a little better than Dahlia's birthday did.


4) wildcard

[find me on discord or PM me to plot!]
notinflictthem: (Gray)

[personal profile] notinflictthem 2024-10-29 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
"Nobody, it was a hypothetical."

That's a lie so blatant that Radar wouldn't even need to be psychic to work it out.

"You sure you don't want any of this? It's awful."
notinflictthem: (Vesalius)

[personal profile] notinflictthem 2024-10-29 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
Hawk hands over the bottle, quietly hoping Radar's reaction is as bad as he's anticipating. He needs a win, here.

"Hypothetical like 'I don't know why I brought it up' hypothetical. Hypothetical like 'one half of this conversation doesn't think murder is a deal-breaker and I don't especially want to hear why I need to stop worrying and learn to love her kill-count' hypothetical."
lovethyneighb_or: (lacrimosa)

[personal profile] lovethyneighb_or 2024-10-29 05:06 pm (UTC)(link)
You keep telling people that you love them because it’s so easy to forget. Radar’s little reminder is a balm on the soul, and the little smile he gives him means everything. Another breeze to stir the fog.

“César Salazar’s farm has a greenhouse with citrus,” he chirps. “Terribly useful for preventing scurvy. And baking. If she likes anything here, I can always make more. I’m sure she could use the cheering up.”
notinflictthem: (Gray)

[personal profile] notinflictthem 2024-10-30 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
"You're right, she could start eating two people for supper instead of just one," he grumbles. Radar sputtering is kind of funny, but it's ashes in his mouth.

He takes the bottle back- no point in wasting good rotgut- and deposits it back on the floor.

"You're going to do what you're going to do. Just don't drag me into it. I signed up to be a doctor because I prefer people when they're alive, I'm not about to go back on that for anything. Not for love, not for money, and not even for you, and I'm not sorry about it."
notinflictthem: (Vesalius)

[personal profile] notinflictthem 2024-10-30 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, hell.

It's a good thing Radar isn't actually Hawk's little brother, because that sad look would have robbed him of every cent of his allowance, every treat, and every toy. Radar looking sad could probably stop the war if weaponised correctly. He wants to take most of it back, to just scoop him up and tell him Dahlia can come over for dinner if she agrees to pack her own and eat it in another room, but.

The cold stone in his gut remains unmoving. It's made of simple truths. The first is that he was duped by someone he cared for, who turned out to be a monster. And the second, is that he nearly forgave her. Nearly let his heart rule over his morals, the fabric of his very self. Hawkeye won't be making that mistake again. Even if it keeps him this bitter. Better to remember what he's here for. He's married to medicine, Carlye told him that. A lot of things, but never a hypocrite.

A slow exhale. The slightest grimace. It's Radar, but it's also bigger than that too. Like many things, he can't quite work out how to square this circle.

"I'm going to try not to."

It's the best he can do. He hopes Radar appreciates it.
pineapplesalmon: (arms crossed talking)

[personal profile] pineapplesalmon 2024-10-30 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
César isn't always the best judging the age of faces, and maybe Radar is just abstaining, but the order makes him gauge Radar's age more accurately. ... oh, he's closer to Rex's age than his own.

And Rex is a capable superhero that saved the world even though he's only sixteen, so no judgement about ages there. Just a thing to note.

"At least for the moment, no one she kills needs to stay dead." César says quietly, and he looks at Radar fully. "And now that her problem is out in the open, the people available to collaborate for a solution has multiplied by a hefty factor, I'd take it. I'm raising something called blood onions that live up to their name. There has to be a solution."
notinflictthem: (Chauliac)

[personal profile] notinflictthem 2024-10-30 06:04 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, he wasn't expecting a fantastic reaction. But it's not like he's going to lie and give his blessing about it. Radar's got a fantastically soft heart, and they're both compassionate, but Hawk's has always been an angry sort of compassion. Maybe it's a doctor thing- you learn to hate shrapnel and germs, to stem the bleeding, to cauterise and stitch your way to wellness. Not everything belongs in a body, if you're too kind to an infection it'll kill a patient.

Maybe that makes Radar a better person. He doesn't know. Hawk hasn't felt solid ground under him since he got that letter saying he'd have to march to Uncle Sam's tune those years ago. But some things you have to do, some ground you have to hold.

"Hey-" he reaches over, hating how well he seems to be doing at making Radar cry lately, "I wish I could be happy for you."

Mostly because he wishes Dahlia wasn't eating people, but still.
notinflictthem: (Seacole)

[personal profile] notinflictthem 2024-10-30 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Some part of him notes that he should probably be proud. The moon-eyed Radar who showed up to the war with a teddy bear and too much wholesome farm-boy hero-worship probably would've just agreed and dumped Dahlia out on her head. He just wishes that his rebellion and independence was something closer to what he had with his dad, namely growing his hair out and listening to bebop rather than dating a cannibal.

Ugh. Add it to the list of apologies he's going to have to make to his dad when he gets back. It is actually hard to watch some little twerp you care about make decisions you don't want them to.

"Remind me next year to not get you an argument for your birthday," he lightly grumbles.
notinflictthem: (Chauliac)

[personal profile] notinflictthem 2024-10-31 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
"When did that happen?" he asks aloud, and yeah- another thing he's going to need to apologise to his dad for. Radar still seems like such a baby to him.

"Well, don't expect a second hat next year, you've only got one head that I know of," he jokes, lifting up the hat to ruffle his hair.

It doesn't even occur to Hawk that he wouldn't still be here with Radar in a year's time. Even if he hates this, even if he comes to hate Radar for being complicit in it, he'll still be here. If Radar has Dahlia covered, then Hawk just has to have Radar covered.
imjustaman: (Default)

[personal profile] imjustaman 2024-11-01 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
Sephiroth nods. “Your name was given to me when I wondered about people who had information on the town’s history. I am researching everything in the hopes of finding clues to breaking the curse.”
notinflictthem: (Bethune)

[personal profile] notinflictthem 2024-11-01 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
"Not yet, anyway. I promise if I see one I won't tell you, I'll just knock you out and operate," he maintains the game of acting like he's avoiding Radar's batting just to tease him, swapping hands. Hawk can always be trusted to make the jokes others won't in the name of taste.
Edited 2024-11-01 03:13 (UTC)
pineapplesalmon: (a long explanation)

[personal profile] pineapplesalmon 2024-11-01 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
César looks surprised for a moment, and then he understands.

He balances something in his mind before he finally speaks again, voice low, gentle. "I didn't say it as an empty platitude. ... the laws of physics, of technology, of reality itself are malleable. I broke their code, learned how to mold reality itself. Magic and demons are a part of reality."

A pause. "... and I've seen intersectionality between what demons can do and what I discovered then developed on a team of some of the most brilliant people I've ever known. And there are people here who rival if not exceed my intelligence."
lovethyneighb_or: (lacrimosa)

[personal profile] lovethyneighb_or 2024-11-01 05:29 pm (UTC)(link)
“I’d like that very much, Radar. And feel free to let me know if there’s ever more that I can do for you or her.”

So far it’s mostly amounted to diffusing arguments and discontent in the Temple. It’s not a zero amount of people that have come into the House of the Mothers with ideas in their head about what’s to be done about the infernal on the island. None of the priests have been having any of it.

“It’s… good to know that there are people there for her.”
Edited 2024-11-01 17:30 (UTC)

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