tsunderebunny | Episode 2: Hindsight is 20/20 [Audio/Action]

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Episode 2: Hindsight is 20/20 [Audio/Action]

[The first time was forgiveable. Even after the incident in Sternbild over the Christmas of 1978 (which he had never gotten to experience before he was spirited away to the beach on the other side of the enclosure last spring), Barnaby was able to find it within himself to accept the small degree of good that came with the emotionally jarring effects of the invasion from last month. It was a lie, he knew, but for a few days there he felt like he had something normal.

That itself bothered him to no end. He couldn't accept it, but...

He had found a few friends for a change.

The most recent incident, however, was a repeated offense. It wasn't the result of the actions of any tertiary parties, like last month. No, this had to be the Management toying with them again, for whatever the reason that Barnaby didn't care to investigate. The few acquaintances he had made over the months had forgotten about him -- and Luceti -- entirely.

That was the true offense.

But, even through his anger, a part of him wondered if this was how Kotetsu felt on that blisteringly cold day last December (the one he had missed, remember?).

To forget. To be forgotten.

Barnaby would never allow that to happen again.]

[Late in the afternoon Barnaby tossed open the journal that he periodically ignored and, for once, decided to openly speak his mind.]

If everyone is done now, I'm heading out.

[With that he flipped the book shut. No, he won't be responding to any replies for a while.

Instead, he could be found in Good Spirits for the night. He had things he needed to think about and notes to reorganize. Perhaps a drink (or three) might help him settle down a little.

The odds of that were nil.]

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[Well finding him isn't that difficult, given the ban and everything. This was a bit too personal for journals, and honestly she could use a drink herself. So, in the early evening before he'd had the chance to get thoroughly messed up, she meandered in and took a seat with him at whatever table he'd parked himself at with a big bottle of plum wine.]

I thought you were heading out.

[He glanced up from the small notebook he was thumbing through and just gives Saori a distracted look in responce to her comment.]

This is out. You yourself said that the hot springs get crowded after things like this.

Edited 2013-09-26 22:30 (UTC)

[Barnaby isn't the only one using drinks to make sense of it all, tonight. As it happens, Cecil is also at the bar, nursing a drink. Well, not quite nursing. He's mostly picking up his glass, setting it back down, spinning it slightly on the counter and restarting the process all over again, humming under his breath the whole time.

He's being quite careful not to spill a drop on the other patrons, but the sound of glass meeting wood over and over again might become annoying after a few minutes. If the humming doesn't reach that point first, of course.]

[Barnaby will find he has a companion next to him at the Good Spirits for this evening at the bar stool. After this event, he's still not how to think of everything. He'll probably even be able to tell the man has a lot on his mind, hence why he's rather quiet instead of speaking up.]

[Shaking her head, she sighs]

It's just the bar. Why not the beach, or a lake? Somewhere...away. But I don't guess that's the point.

[She slides her hand across the table towards him, trying to show him some sort of affection. After he'd explained things to her, she really was grateful. He'd been amazingly patient with Etsuko, and that spoke volumes to her.]

Are you alright, Barnaby?

[He huffed, irritable all over again.]

It's hardly beach weather, and the lake is a little far out there.

[It also means camping. Without a bed. Or central air.

And critters. Ew. His hair would be ruined, and he didn't care for the idea of whacking his boots against a tree before he put them on in the morning.

Although the offer of affectionate support was welcome, all Barnaby could do at that point was set the book and pencil down wearily. He had been patient, but that had faded as the days wore on.]

I'm going to file a complaint with management. This is too far.

Edited 2013-09-27 14:52 (UTC)

[Barnaby could ignore the repetitive clack and the smooth shuff as the man spun it as long as he had a drink and a distraction-- up to a point. It grated on his already wired nerves and slowly became an annoyance like the loud buzz of cicadas in the summer. After the umpteenth time of clack and whirr, Barnaby shot the man a witherng look.]

Could you stop that?

[Unfortunately, Barnaby is even less talkative than the man beside him. He mulled over the drink before him and poured over his notes, although he was fully aware of the man sitting quietly beside him.

There was an odd comfort in the anonymity of being in a bar.

It's just a pity that he was a horrible conversationalist when he was off camera.]

[Cecil startles badly when he's addressed, perhaps because he was not expecting anyone to speak to him. Or because he was not quite consciously aware he'd been playing with the glass in the first place.]

My apologies. I'd not realized I was bothering everyone else.

[He finally downs that drink instead playing with it, and promptly frowns with some disgust at his glass.]

...Or that I'd been doing so long enough for my drink to get so warm. I must apologize again.

[Then she'll just take his hand in hers and give it a gentle squeeze.]

This is normal, for them. It wasn't so bad, compared to this time last year. Or Valentine's Day. Or any number of other things.

[She looks right into his eyes, expression somewhat bland.]

You're probably wondering what happened, right? Why I was...like I was, and why I forgot you?

[After having his drink of wine at the bar, he turns towards Barnaby and speaks.]

Forgive my intrusion, but you seem troubled. Perhaps I may be able to lend an ear if you shall allow me?

[So a pretty blond walked into a bar... ~~Oh wait.~~

Barnaby isn't the only one in need of a few drinks, that much is for certain. Richard had been doing well at not drowning his sorrows at the bar too often lately, but in his eyes that last experiment warranted a few drinks... which he couldn't have during said experiment, because he'd been 12.

All the more reason to make up for it now.

Barnaby is the only patron he recognizes tonight; when he spots the other blond, he heads straight over for the empty seat next to him and gives the man a faint smile.]

Mind if I sit down?

[She wonders what that was about. But...well...]

I hope you're okay...if you need some time alone, I understand. [She doesn't know the details, but that was sort of curt for making a broadcast over the network like that.]

[Grune keeps very odd hours sometimes. It's the result of occasionally forgetting to go to bed for quite some time, often several nights in a row. And so, on his way back from Good Spirits, Barnaby is likely to run into Grune wandering about and occasionally tipping her head back to take a look at the stars. If he doesn't say hi first, then (once she notices him), she certainly will.]

[Barnaby doesn't respond immediately. He doesn't even respond until the next day, after he's unwillingly woken up by the sun. Hair mussed and still groggy from the lack of sleep, Barnaby needed to listen thrice before his tired, hazy mind made sense of it.

It was curt. But, his intention was also to make a point of everyone's childishness. It was annoying.]

It's fine. Don't worry about it.

[Deflecting~]

I thought you were trying not to die out in the woods. Come running back already?

[Barnaby stopped on his slow, wavering passage from Good Spirits to Community House 1 with the stumbling grace of a man who had too much to drink. He braced a hand on a tree when he saw movement and tilted his head as he slowly connected the woman to someone else in his memory (if it truly was his memory. how was anyone to know when the world spun around so quickly?)

He felt too hot in his leather jacket. Only his fussiness kept him from shedding it and slinging it over his shoulder.

The woman was...

Quite pretty.]

...

.......

Grune?

[What was being polite? The woman was quite pretty.]

[Pretty blond, say hi to fellow pretty blond. Barnaby looked up when he heard the familiar voice and set his cup down for the time being. His detailed notebook was quickly shut and pocketed as well. There was no reason to share those details.

He inclined his head and offered a faint smile himself.]

Of course. Go ahead. There's plenty of space.

[And this was a familiar face that he knew wouldn't annoy him or pry.]

[He looked up when he heard that he was being addressed and offered a weary look as he pushed the drink aside.]

No, there's no need. It's not important.

[It was. Just. Deflecting.]

Apologize to your drink. You shouldn't let it get warm.

[Snerk. He appreciates the apology though.]

I don't think anyone else cares. This place fills up after a Shift.

[Just. This look.]

I'd hate to see what the abnormal looks like. I might take up camping afterall if that's the case.

[In a comfy tent with a comfy air mattress and a fully charged anti-bug shield. And a small generator, because he didn't want to smell like campfires.

Snark aside, he looked up at her. His displeasure was obvious, but he was willing to listen.]

That'd be a good place to start. I don't exactly like being forgotten.

[She leaned back and waved a hand, creating a wall of semi-solid air between them and the rest of the bar. It wasn't information she wanted leaving a trusted circle, really.]

Sorry, but even if the Shift wasn't what it was, it could happen again if certain things occur. There are downsides to being what I am. One of them is that memory is different for me.

[She undoes the clasp of her locket and sets it on the table.]

When I first met Yuuna, I was an amnesiac. I had no memory of anything, and I was put under her care. This happened because my connection to an object was severed. My memory is in a small mirror in my bedroom. This locket contains a shard of that mirror, creating a link. The mirror, at that time, had been stolen by a demon and the Shift reverted me back to that time.

In other words, without this locket, or that mirror? I am essentially soulless. It is a physical representation of my divine soul, and while my body is functional...I am lost without it. Yuuna gave me that other name, Etsuko.

[She folds her hands on the table and looks away.]

I'm sorry that I forgot you.

That...that is complicated.

[Far more complicated than he imagined. It was a step beyond the Shifts in Luceti, and a further step beyond the ramifications of the NEXT ability that caused all of his problems. It was more pervasive than anything he had realized.

He didn't dare touch the locket, even if he was curious about it. It wasn't his...but it wasn't a wall between them.]

If that's the case then you wouldn't have been able to control it anyway. You didn't need to apologize...

But, thanks.

It's just a part of being something...different than human. The mirror cannot be broken, and fate will always conspire to return it to me. So, I'll always remember you, in time.

[She tucks it away again, carefully clipping it back.]

If you ever do see my mirror, please don't look deep into it. It might hurt you. You'll...well, you'll know it when you see it. Being close to me will make it resonate with you. If you see someone who isn't myself or Yuuna touching it? Kill them, or call me. It means that something's wrong.

[She's so deadpan about that, and so, so serious.]

Why...is it that being forgotten bothered you so much? That happens here rather often.

[He can sense deflecting in Barnaby's voice and see in his eyes.]

Your lips may say those words, but your eyes tell another story.

If it was fine you wouldn't of said anything. [Her voice is soft, trying not to sound accusatory, and more concerned, really.]

I'm just checking up on things. I get a free moment every now and again, so I like to see what's going on. Nothing wrong with that, right?

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Episode 2: Hindsight is 20/20 [Audio/Action]

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[Video] Forever late

[Action] If this isn't okay, lemme know. <3

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[Action] It's fine!

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