００２ 。 VIDEO - backdated a tad to this morning!
[Sup Somarium. Instead of Barnaby's usual sullen expression, he's showing a small, cordial sort of smile today.]
As a new member of Somni's police force, I thought I might attend the Banquet tomorrow evening. But I've been left with a small problem.
[The smile grows minutely as he eyes the camera, ever so charming. He's a celebrity, it's well- ( Read more... )
As a new member of Somni's police force, I thought I might attend the Banquet tomorrow evening. But I've been left with a small problem.
[The smile grows minutely as he eyes the camera, ever so charming. He's a celebrity, it's well- ( Read more... )
He'd had his answer, simple as it was to conclude. Unfortunately, convincing someone who couldn't remember was a task he wasn't prepared to deal with, and he didn't know where to start.
He allows the scene to quietly unfold before him, watches his partner bonelessly collapse in his seat, listens to the pleading (which, admittedly, throws him off a little). With a brief, slightly defeated sigh, he makes his way over to seat himself next to the younger in close proximity.
He takes a moment to organize his thoughts, arrange them in a hopefully concise manner. He likes the way he explained it previously, but he knows that it won't cut it this time. Not with his partner like this. Not when he finally understands how this place works.]
Jake started picking Heroes at random to fight him. [He leans forward, elbows on his knees, hands wrung together.] He demanded that it be broadcasted, said that if one of us could beat him, he'd call off the exosuits.
[He pauses, the hands wrung together tightening their hold, his shoulders tensing in residual anger. The whole thing still gets on his nerves, despite it being old news.]
The bastard was just toying with all of us. [He all but spits it out.] He took out Sky High and Rock Bison like they were nothing. Drew me, and then you. [A pause, in which he swallows his pride.] ...Took me out, and then you started your fight.
[He decides to spare his partner the details on just how severely Jake "took him out," it's not relevant right now. Not something he really wants to talk about. He leans back, though, a hand absently going to his side to rest there, as if remembering phantom pains.]
You were losing. So I left the hospital to come help you. [His voice takes on a more proud volume.] I figured out his power, you see. I managed to land a hit on him, no one else did.
[He turns to the blonde sitting next to him, and holds out a hand, two fingers raised.]
He had an extra one. He could read minds, along with the whole barrier thing. So I gave you a stun grenade...
[He then stops, feels like he's spoken enough, hopes Barnaby can put the rest of the pieces together. It's a lot of information to take in all at once, he understands that. He allows a silence to fall over them, shuts his mouth instead of commenting on his partner's mental state, decides against asking his thoughts, knows he'll receive them anyway.
He merely sits, and hopes his presence there is at least a little comforting in light of the information he's offering.]
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Kotetsu has left the rest to him and so he tries to pick up where his partner has left off, lowering his gaze to think about it. They stunned him, attacked, saved the day. It doesn't tell him how Jake died and, (more importantly) doesn't tell him why his parents were murdered, but he finds himself taking that in his stride for now.
This was what he'd always wanted, wasn't it?
A child, obsessively scribbling - the ring, the cross, a symbol he could not name, could not know. He remembers lying on the carpet, drawing the curled snake as other children might draw a house, a garden, a family under a smiling sun. In places, pen had burst through paper.
Only a few years later his drawings had been the only hope he had, the only connection to that night. He had never had the answers, noone had ever had any to give. But there had always been his uncle, a reassuring hand on his shoulder, encouraging him. Next time. Next time.
It wasn't until his teens that he even heard the name, that one, cursed word that haunted his every thought, lingered at the back of his mind like the snake it depicted, coiled in wait.
All of that, every moment of it since the moment the door opened on fire, flames towering, a shadow that room, that scene. It had all been for this. Jake Martinez stalking towards him, grinning down at him. Hey, kid.
When he sucks a breath in it sounds suspiciously like a dry sob, high and thin. He sinks further, head falling into his hands. All of it - Martinez dead, Stern Bild saved, Sky High and Rock Bison taken out, Kotetsu in hospital - Kotetsu, his partner, leaving the hospital to help him.
His eyes are stinging now, his throat taut. He bows his head to hide eyes brimming with tears, the revelation utterly overwhelming, and then he finally speaks.]
Kotetsu - [The single word comes out in a rush, sounding almost like a hevay sigh, thick with relief. He looks up for a moment and he might be smiling - his head falls again, as if he hardly dares to do so.
Everything he's lived his life for, finally --
And then, with some sort of tremulous resignation:] It's done.
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He shifts a little closer, touches his shoulder to the quivering one next to him, hopes that the touch is grounding, and sits there. He'll sit there as long as he needs to, as long as his partner needs him to. He doesn't need to deal with it by himself, he won't let him.
Kotetsu.
At the mention of his name, he can't help but laugh. His bright honey eyes gleam and his lips curl as the tension from his explanation leaves his body. He places a hand on one of his partner's arms, rubs up and down in a calming motion.]
You know, you called me that everyday before I showed up here. [He leans down, tries to get a better look at Barnaby's face through the curtain of hair covering it.] You smiled a lot more, too.
[He pulls back his hand, lifts his head and leans back once more, breathes a sigh of relief.]
It's done, Bunny. [He confirms it quietly, but proudly.] You haven't experienced it yet, but things get better.
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Especially here, in Somni. Here, in Somni, where he can't even be the man he was. At least, it doesn't feel that way. Barnaby is so fixated on finding that justice, that vengeance, that he almost equates himself as being little more than a tool.
Here, ripped from that - what is there left?
It's done. Things get better. The soft pride in Kotetsu's voice does not go unnoticed, and once again, he's left wondering why it's there.
Eventually, he looks up at him. There's a clear confusion in his eyes, but beyond that there's some kind of gratitude when he looks at the old man. It's bordering on suspicious, resigned at best - but it's there.]
You were there with me, then.
[He'd always thought he'd be alone then.
But then, he'd always been alone.]
After what had happened... [His gaze drops again. His hands tense, knuckles pale.] I had thought...
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As Barnaby turns to look at him, an uncertain gleam in his eye mixed with a brief spark of emotion he hasn't seen in quite some time, he meets it with confidence.]
Of course I was. I couldn't just sit there and watch, I had to help somehow.
[He's not sure what the other is referring to, what event. After what had happened between them, or after what had happened to his parents. All the same, though, he still nows how to appropriately respond.]
I'm your partner. [You're not alone.] I'll always be here to help.
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[The words are murmured, almost too low to hear. He looks up again, this time holds Kotetsu's gaze. His eyes no longer sting, but his chest still feels taut. He's conflicted.
The last thing he remembers of Kotetsu, before arriving in Somni, is still the knowledge that their partnership was worthless, that Kotetsu didn't trust him, wouldn't trust him. He still can't shake that from his mind - it's been weeks, but the sting of what had seemed like betrayal is still fresh and sore.
But now he knows for certain what lies ahead. Now he knows that he doesn't face Jake alone, but with Kotetsu. Kotetsu, who trusted Barnaby to look out for him when a death-like sleep was claiming him. Kotetsu, who dragged him out for a late night walk after that dream. Kotetsu, who calls him partner, even now.
He sucks in a breath.]
You really never can resist meddling, can you?
[But he says that with a small, lop-sided smile.]
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He shakes his head, and were he to be called out on his "meddling" at any other time, he'd vehemently protest it, defend it, but his partner is smiling a genuine, calm smile as he says it, and so he lets it slide.]
It's irresistible, so you'd better get used to it.
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For an uncertain moment, he wrings his hands.]
This is - strange, [he says, for wont of a better word.]
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He thinks he knows what the younger is referring to. The strangeness of being told the future, the strangeness of their relationship, strained and broken in his time and bonded closer in his own. He decides against asking, instead offers a simple answer.]
I'm sure you'll get used to it in time.
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[He smiles again, in spite of himself. His hands are wrung again and then he stands, as if brimming with restless energy. Kotetsu hasn't asked or probed for an answer, but Barnaby finds himself speaking up regardless. He paces a little whilst speaking, awkward, hesitant, but continuing regardless.]
My whole life has been devoted to tracking down their killer. Everything, since I was a child... Drawing the symbol, asking people, trying to track down more information... I've always been chasing him. [A pause. He stills, then his hands tighten into fists and the name comes out with no small amount of venom - ] Jake Martinez.
[He stops again, rolls his shoulders, easing the tense lines of his back.]
I was so angry. I was so - close, and then I thought it had been ripped from me... Another dead end, after all this time, and finally finding out who...
[He comes back to Kotetsu and sits down beside him again.]
Knowing it's done - or that it will be... Knowing that I - [wasn't alone, he doesn't say, instead trailing off.]
I'm glad it's done, but just hearing about it... It's still hard to believe. But - I believe... what you've told me.
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He can't help the twinge of guilt at the mention of how close he was, how easily it slipped through his fingers. He'd acted on a whim, hoped that it was in his partner's best interest, but it wasn't and he suffered for it a lot more than he had considered.
He relaxes as his partner reseats himself, and can't help but lean a little closer, the fact that things are starting to right themselves is as comforting to him as his partner's smile. He hopes to be seeing that a lot more now, too.]
I told you that you'd find him before, and you did. I'm telling you that you find him now, and you do.
[And like always, his reasoning is as clear-cut and simple as ever.]
Thank you for believing me, Bunny.
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I guess I really can't ignore it then. We really are partners.
[It doesn't change the last thing he remembers, and the sting of betrayal still lingers in his mind, but he knows that regardless of that, he can still put his faith in this person. That his trust is mutual.
The corner of his mouth curls into something like one of his usual cocky smirks.]
However, don't think this means I'll let you show me up, old man.
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The brightness of his partner's eyes and the tone of his voice seemingly goes unnoticed, but only because he's used to seeing it back home, in his time. He's more than pleased to see it again, and it reflects in his own tone of voice as he speaks.]
That's what I've been trying to tell you all this time!
[The laugh is cut short, however, the enthusiasm dipping into the negative area just a little at the next part.]
Huh? [The hand held palm up before him points into one finger, and he jabs it at the blond.] Show you up? That sounds almost like a challenge!
[His smile slowly returns, though, despite his ongoing overdramatic flails. He wants to keep this side of his partner, encourage and nourish it. It's the way he should be, and he silently makes it his task, but not his burden, to keep him smiling.]
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Then it turns genuinely serious, and he looks at the other man for a moment before he says:]
Thank you... Kotetsu.
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You don't need to thank me... [His smile doesn't fade, if anything it only becomes brighter, more lopsided.] But, y-you're welcome!
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[Amused again, he shakes his head. This time, when he sighs, he seems a little more at ease, some of the tension in his shoulders unwinding.]
I've waited this long. Knowing I just need to wait a little longer...
[His hands form fists again, but he smoothes them out on his knees.]
I can hold out.
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