[closed]

[stonefaith]

Date & Time: backdated to 12/23
Location: EAST COAST.
Characters: Bariyan e Kodhi (stonefaith), Painwheel (painfeels)
Summary: CUTE BEACH WALKS bc they were promised
Warnings: N/A

---

[ He's late, extremely late, but there'd been no helping it. So much had gone wrong in the past few weeks, there hadn't even been time to even contact Painwheel. He'd called her as soon as he was able, as soon as he thought it safe to do so, as soon as he found the time -- which was only a few days ago. His call had been short. Just long enough to establish when and where they were going, and how he'd get them there.

Today. The coast. His car. So Bariyan is now idling in front of the apartments, waiting. His car looks like it's been to hell and back, and he's running on the last of the gas that he owns, but he thinks it's enough to get them to the coast and back.

He leans against the side of the vehicle, crosses his arms, and keeps an eye out for Painwheel. ]

Comments

[painfeels]

[Frankly she wouldn't even considered doing this, no way. It was too sudden and frankly, she still felt uneasy over being out in public like that. However, the fact that it was Bariyan that was asking her... She couldn't really say no to him.

Painwheel rusheed outside, and she was pretty easy to spot. Then again, so was Bariyan and his... car. Was that it a car? It sort of looked like one, at least.

Maybe it was an antique. A poorly treated antique.]

Hi.

[come on, act natural.]

Nice to see you, again.

[stonefaith]

[ Antique is pretty damn right -- Bariyan's not sure how old this car is, but he's under the suspicion that it might be older than Exsilium itself.

He straightens up as soon as he spots Painwheel, and nods to her. ]

You too. Sorry about the delay.

[ He opens the passenger-side door for her. ]

Ready to go? Do you have everything you need? We'll probably be out for most of the day.

[ Bariyan frowns, hesitating. He's wondering about food and drink, really... but he's not even sure if Painwheel needs to eat. Or if she can, with that mask. ]

[painfeels]

Yeah, I'm good to go.

[Painwheel manages to get in the car. It's a tight fit, considering the metal wheel coming out of her back, but it's nothing she can't handle.]

Are... Are we really going to the beach?

[She's pretty excited about this, you see!]

[stonefaith]

[ He'd been worried about that, but it seems that she's eased herself in. Good. He closes the door, as gently as he can. ]

'Course we are. I wouldn't lie to you.

[ He hops into his own seat and starts the car up, but pauses before switching gears. ]

I'm... sorry about being so late, though. I never forgot, but I did get quite busy after the masquerade. For a long time.

[ That said, he shifts into drive and starts off. Hold on to your seat, kiddo: Bariyan's a hell of an aggressive driver. ]

[painfeels]

It's... alright. Really, it is.

[She never really considered that he would've lied to her, or even flat out forgot. Things did get kind of bad real quick after the masquerade. Yeah, definitely.]

I'm just glad that you're okay and that we're-

[See, this would've been a particularly touching moment, if not for oh god driving.

Please don't crash.]

[stonefaith]

[ They are in some SERIOUS DANGER OF CRASHING while Bariyan scowls his way through the city streets. The first time he'd gotten ahold of a car here, no one else had been on the streets. Just him. But now there's other vehicles and he's not much good at sharing.

However, once they clear the city, the roads empty again and the worst that happens to the car is the occasional bump. ]

So how have you been? How did you fare, through the... [ uh oh awkward ] undead situation.

[painfeels]

[Zombiedad please, don't crash. It's really impolite!]

I'm... fine, yeah. I guess this place sort of prepares you for what to do with that kind of stuff.

What about you?

[she looks at him.]

Were you okay? Any of your friends get hurt?

[stonefaith]

I was set back a while. [ hence the lateness. though, really, that happened before the zombie outbreak. ] But it wasn't anything bad. No, everyone I knew made it through without getting hurt....

[ He takes his eyes off the road to glance at Painwheel, curiously. ]

What about your friends?

[ That question takes him back a bit. He always assumes that the children here have other friends, other people to go to. He just assumes. ]

[painfeels]

Jaina was kidnapped by that Arthas guy, when everything happened. I was worried... and angry, but she managed to come out of it alright.

[Which was good. Very good. Otherwise, things would've happen... And more people might've gotten hurt thanks to a very angry and unstable Painwheel.]

So did everybody else, and it better stay that way.

It's bad enough just having to worry about those United Earth guys.

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan blinks, quite a bit more disturbed by this bit of information than he lets on. Jaina is someone he only knows by name, and he hadn't been aware that Painwheel knew her. He hadn't been aware that Painwheel had been involved in the Arthas business at all....

But she's come out of it all right, at least. ]

Yes. That's true. But I suppose this is the sort of thing we have to put up with, if the Initiative can't even control who they bring in here. I'm sure they're not entirely pleased about Arthas being here, either.

[ They spend a while longer in the car, and Bariyan fiddles with the radio out of curiosity, but all it picks up is staticky segments from some sort of United Earth broadcast -- which is nothing that he cares to listen to. So he winds up shutting it off again.

The sky lightens up a bit when they reach the shore. Bariyan pulls off the road to a stop, and unlocks the doors for them to get out. He raises a hand and looks into the sky with eyebrows raised. ]

It's stopped raining, for once.

[painfeels]

They're only making more problems for themselves. And at the rate they're going by bringing people like him over here.

And it's just gonna get worse.

[A sigh. Just what were they thinking, those people.

Putting aside her many criticisms, Painwheel steps out of the care, looking up at the sky as well.]

Must be our lucky day.

[stonefaith]

[ He gives a small shrug at Painwheel's words; there's still little they can do about it, as far as he can tell.

He moves forwards to the edge of the cliff and looks out over the water, twenty feet or so below. The waters are about as mild as the weather. Much better than he'd remembered them being.

He straightens up and beckons for Painwheel to come along, as he starts walking. ]

That way-- [ he gestures out past the water. ] is the United Earth. It's not actually very far from here.

[painfeels]

[She follows him, standing next to Bariyan as she looks at the water below before looking at the horizon. Painwheel hadn't ever given too much to what things were like outside of the island.

She had read about it, yeah, but that was as far as it went.]

So those are the guys that are trying to kill us all.

[Painwheel frowned as she looked on.]

Must be a real nice place to live in.

[The sarcasm is all too noticeable.]

[stonefaith]

I went there, a while ago. [ Shrug. ] It's not very nice at all. But it reminded me a lot of the place that I came from. Very... stark. And controlled.

But you can see why the Initiative has to go back in time to fight them. They're too big right now. Too big, too strong. It was just me and three other people when we went the first time, and we could barely get around back then.

[painfeels]

Sounds like a real crummy place to live in.

[hang on.]

How'd you manage to go all the way over there? Was it part of some sort of super-secret mission?

[were you a spy, zombiedad.]

[stonefaith]

[ IF ONLY HE WERE THAT COOL ]

Not an official mission. Me and a few others decided that we wanted to go, so we found our own way-- the Initiative didn't care. I went over twice. [ shrug. ] It was hard, both times. And we were only a few.

I don't think I'll be going over again, though. Not unless the Initiative makes us.

[painfeels]

[You'll always be cool to her...

The coolest!!]

Wow, you guys managed that without any help from those Initiative guys? That's pretty amazing.

I wonder what it was like, before everything got... bad. Not just the United Earth, but I guess the rest of this place.