TWO || DREAM

[barnabydesu]

[The dream begins amidst the ruins of what was once a very large house. Where a warm and welcoming home stood there is now charred debris. The furniture is all scorched, if not outright destroyed. Only some of the walls are still standing. Most of the roof appears to have fallen in at some point, and it accounts for a fair bit of the burnt wood

Comments

[redacted_error]

[Chell raises a hand to shield her eyes from the rain, looking around to gather her bearings. Her gaze settles on movement nearby. She sees it's one of the newer arrivals. What was his name again?

She is silent as she slowly approaches the young man and takes a peek at the items he has removed from the rubble.]

What happened? [Her voice is quiet, uncertain.]

[barnabydesu]

[He jerks when he notices her, startled.] Ah--

...A very large fire. [Of course there's more to it; that's clear from the look on his face. But he doesn't expand on it.]

I'm trying to recover what I can.

[redacted_error]

[Ah, unfortunate.]

I'm sorry. [Aaaaand awkward.] Do you...want help?

[barnabydesu]

[He's about to say no right off the bat, but there's really no way he can go through all of this himself... Still, he's not good at accepting help.]

...I'm sure you have more important things to be doing. I don't want to take up your time.

[albinoidiot]

[Quite personally, Dante's got his share of experience with fire. Did he like it? Quite personally, it was better than ice. He stared for a long moment, crossing his arm.]

Sorry for your loss. The place looked like it could have been nice.

[barnabydesu]

[Barnaby sounds a little detached when he replies.]

Mm. It was a stunning home.

[albinoidiot]

You know this is a dream, right?

[barnabydesu]

[He frowns slightly. That would explain quite a lot.]

I do now. ...It wouldn't make sense for this to be reality anyway.

[knowledgephilia]

[What an event as an introduction. She's not exactly sure what to say or whether she should do something about it. She merely moves over beside the owner of the dream, hands on her sides.]

You know, in some cultures, fire doesn't necessarily symbolize destruction but actually a new beginning.

[barnabydesu]

[From where he's kneeling he turns to look at her, expression dubious.]

This fire isn't going to herald any sort of new beginning.

[knowledgephilia]

[Forgive the girl. She's so curious sometimes...]

M-may I ask what happened?

[barnabydesu]

[Aw, Hermione.

He sighs heavily.]

Arson. As far as I'm aware.

[whatwouldvedado]

[Purple hair is messily swept across his forehead, wet from the rain, as he steps through the debris, not bothering to step carefully around things that could be preserved. He doesn't care about sentimental things, especially since these things don't belong to him.

He does, however, recognize that the man kneeling and digging through the debris and he notices the few things at his side (the photo, the small robot). He stares at them for a moment, his brow furrowed. He doesn't really know what to say or how to react, because this is a situation he can't really relate to - Tieria has no family, has no home on Earth - things like this are meaningless to him.]

What happened?

[His voice is cold, not an ounce of sympathy to be found. His body language conveys the same - hands situated one on each hip.]

[barnabydesu]

[Barnaby greets him with a scowl.

Part of him would want to automatically reject sympathy anyway, and yet a lack of it bothers him too--]

What does it look like?

[whatwouldvedado]

[Tieria returns Barnaby's scowl with one of his own.]

You expect me to know what caused this fire? There are countless possibilities.

[barnabydesu]

[He forces himself to chill out, just a little. It's a legitimate question.]

I don't know the details, but I'm sure it was deliberately set.

[wildtora]

[Concerned on finding this scene, he's tugging his hat just a bit lower to avoid getting rain in his eyes as he looks around... but on seeing Barnaby, Kotetsu is quick to step over to him and be extra careful not to step on the things he's pulled up.]

Bunny--?

[barnabydesu]

[Barnaby flinches, and then lowers his gaze directly to the ground when he hears Kotetsu's voice. He shouldn't have to see this pitiful sight, Barnaby thinks.]

What are you doing here?