002 ☆ Dream
Effects: The feeling of being insecure at the beginning, lifting into pride near the end
Warnings: Nada!
Disclaimer: Set before residents gain knowledge on "dreamwalking"
( A child, small, quiet, hands in his pockets... )
Warnings: Nada!
Disclaimer: Set before residents gain knowledge on "dreamwalking"
( A child, small, quiet, hands in his pockets... )
Comments 75
Briefly - very briefly - he debates whether or not he should watch. It seems like prying - it is prying - but when it comes to his partner, he can't bring himself to resist.
So he watches.
He finds some sort of empathy with the child - Kotetsu, it's Kotetsu, he reminds himself - standing on their own, away from the rest. Though he'd been isolated for different reasons - isolated himself, no less - he can still understand that feeling. Being on the outside, looking in.
Barnaby watches intently, studying what he sees. It's strange, compelling to see his partner like this, a child, insecure and lost ( ... )
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A dream.
Dreaming.
He's dreamed, and it's become customary for him to compulsively check the network every morning for any signs of them showing up. A phone call in the middle of the night doesn't sound at all promising, though, and he lifts the device to his ear to answer it.
The caller ID says the name of his partner. The voice he hears over the line is that of his partner's. He's not sure how he should feel about that...]
Oi, my snoring isn't that loud. [He pauses to yawn, his response halfhearted and a little suspicious.] Did it wake you, Bunny?
[He sighs a little, clears his sleep-fogged mind enough to question why he's talking with his partner over the phone, when he's just in the next room. He doesn't put the pieces together, maybe Barnaby hasn't viewed the dream, just wants to ( ... )
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[Busy with the retort, he doesn't hear much of Kotetsu's shifting - assumes he's just moving in his bed. The knock, therefore, manages to surprise him - he blinks at the door as if wondering what on earth that could be. When Kotetsu speaks up again, however, he hears it through the door more than he hears it through the dreamberry at his ear.
With a sigh expressing some sort of reproachful amusement, he hangs up, turns a little to lightly toss the dreamberry back onto his bed. Crossing to the door, he opens it, canting his head. It looks like he's going to give another little quip about the older man, but when he speaks he sounds softer, a little dere hesitant, even.]
I wasn't sure if you'd want to be disturbed.
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[He waits to respond to that until the door is opened. A small flick of concern washes over his otherwise sleepy expression, and he hopes his partner can see it in the darkness of their apartment. He can assume why, and he's confident his assumption would most likely be correct. His partner didn't seem to have the most steady sleeping schedule, and understandably so.
He lifts a hand to rub at his eyes, and he continues to rub as he stands there, acknowledges Barnaby's words with a small, quiet hum. He takes a moment to consider what's been said, knows that his dream's been viewed.
He doesn't know how to react. He's always kept everything to himself, held it all in his heart and his mind and shoved it off to the side. He doesn't want people to worry about him. He's the one that should be doing the worrying, not them.]
You saw it then, huh? [He doesn't sound bitter, just tired and perhaps a little hesitant himself ( ... )
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He's quick to perk up, though, at the mention of Mr. Legend. He's also perked by the fact that the Judge used his name, just like he had pressed previously. He's relatively pleased with both turns of the conversation already, and so what's once drowsy in tone is now enthusiastic.]
He opened my eyes on being a NEXT, sir. I mean, not only was he the coolest Hero around, but I really looked up to him.
[He practically beams as he says this, and he's almost happy the Judge chose audio. It bleeds into his voice regardless, though, and quite heavily.]
I have all of his action figures, his posters and his magazines. [He continues, rather proudly:] I'm pretty sure I'm his biggest fan.
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"I once thought he was the coolest Hero around," he thinks to himself. "I once really looked up to him and was his biggest fan. I wanted all of his action figures and magazines, looked at them and thought, 'wow, that's my dad!' He opened my eyes on being a NEXT, too, though not in the same way that he opened yours."
The vigilante keeps quiet, breathing quietly to himself, mulling over the things he wants to say and what he should say to Kotetsu. He can't fault the man for respecting Legend, most of Sternbild does, after all, but only because the truth has been hidden from them.]
Legend has millions of fans, Kotetsu. Every child in Sternbild has wanted to be like him for the past 35 years. [He pauses] How old were you when you had the pleasure of meeting your Hero?
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[If he ever knew the whole, entire truth, his opinion would be altered significantly, but as it stands this old man is blissfully unaware, and thus still Legend's "biggest fan."
He takes a moment to compose himself, even just a little, but his response is still proud, maybe even a tad sheepish.]
He influenced me to be what I am today.
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It's a fear she once had too. A fear which makes you a loner and a coward. But she's somewhat glad to see someone who has overcome that as well ...*
... Mister. Can I ask you a question?
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Um, of course! I'll try to answer it.
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Do you think if someone with special powers have already ... hurt someone, do you think that someone can atone for it?
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The very idea of hurting someone is a bit of a touchy scenario for him, though.]
Are you talking from experience, Miss?
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[Sealand finally speaks into the dreamberry]
You have special powers, Mister?
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But it's not here with him, and all the masks he's seen in the costumes shops near by have not been to his standard of cool, and so he now tries his hand at lying a little.]
Uh. No... no, I don't! [He laughs.] You know how it is with dreams, I just dreamed that! It would be cool to have them, though, don't you think?
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[He trails off. That dream though...
He lets it drop. For now.]
Yeah! That would be so cool to have powers and become like a hero or something!
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[He's totally not a Hero, nope. He sounds pretty damn enthusiastic about it, though.]
Everyone should strive to be like that!
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But this dream was very interesting, once he got over the wow factor of watching someone else's dream.]
So you're a hero, huh? [Said with more curiosity than anything. What did the boy mean when he said he could hurt people if he touched them?]
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No... no, no. I'm not a hero! [He laughs a little. Convincing, isn't he?] What gave you that idea?
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Saving people, putting your life on the line. I agree, that's what makes a hero. [Not that he'll ever call himself one, of course.]
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[He laughs a sort of awkward laugh, the type one would use to brush something off.
But he smiles a warm smile at the next bit.]
Saving and helping people is always goal number one when you're a hero! If I were a hero, I'd want to find a way to help everyone, somehow.
[His job title is "Hero" and he takes it very seriously. It's a shame he doesn't have anything to conceal his identity in Somarium yet, however unnecessary it might be. It's not like anyone here even knows who Wild Tiger is, anyway.]
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