[closed]

[blacklord]

Date & Time: 01/24 onwards
Location: civic gardens usually, or just generally out 'n about
Characters: Bariyan e Kodhi (blacklord), Martin Darkov (theguideless), Ranka Lee (symbioses), Koltira Brightdawn (brightdawn), Ico (hornedomen) POSSIBLY MORE TO BE ADDED IN THE FUTURE
Summary: Catch-all log for timeswap Bariyan 'n flower shenanigans
Warnings: timeswap Bariyan is weird

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01/24 | martin darkov | civic gardens
01/25 | koltira brightdawn | THE GREAT OUTDOORS idk
01/26 | ranka lee | civic gardens
01/27 | koltira brightdawn | a bar
01/28 | ico | civic gardens

Comments

[blacklord]

[ Bariyan makes a few sounds as Ico works, hesitating and uncertain -- should he help? But there's not enough room to help, really. And soon Ico's got it dug out, anyway, so Bariyan falls back with a resigned sigh. ]

Let me see.

[ Bariyan gets down on his knees and tries to step through again. It's a tight fit, and he bangs his head against the side of the wall as he pulls in, but he manages to make it through all right.

Once inside, he straightens up and brushes himself off. Then he grins and taps Ico on the shoulder, holding it out afterwards. ]

Thank you, Ico.

[hornedomen]

[He held Bariyan's hand. It was warm, full of life, and intensely familiar. When he tried to think about it, it felt like a bright light chased away his memories. He did not shake his hand. Instead, he held onto him to guide him further into the building.]

Why did you come here? Are you looking for something?

[blacklord]

[ Well, Bariyan had been expecting Ico to let go -- but it appears not. He stumbles along at first, surprised, before managing to find his pace and keep up with rather more dignity. ]

I came looking for the plants, since I can't seem to find many elsewhere in the city. I've been in before, but this place is so big-- I'm still exploring.

[hornedomen]

[He changed his path suddenly. He still grasped Bariyan's hand, pulling him over the remains of broken statues.]

There're flowers this way. I think people come here to water them. Did you know?

[Ico led him to a flowerbed. He did not know what sort of flowers they were, but it looked pretty. He finally let go of Bariyan's hand so he could check the soil. Unfortunately, he did not bring any water.]

[blacklord]

[ Bariyan scrambled over the statues, rather clumsily, but did his best to keep up. ]

I didn't know that. I haven't seen very many others around here....

[ Once they reach the flowers, Bariyan crouches down to look at them, pressing his fingers into the soil to check the moisture. A little dry. But he hasn't brought water with him, either. ]

I'll come back and water these later, I think. [ He gently takes a stem between thumb and forefinger, examining the flower a little more closely. He smiles to himself. ] Shame that this seems to be the only part of the city that things grow in.

[hornedomen]

[Ico watched Bariyan curiously. He plucked a flower so he could smell it.]

Do you like flowers?

[He did not know much about flowers, or Bariyan. It made him glad to have a chance to know him. Whatever caused time to change, Ico hoped it would not be fixed. People seemed happier this way.]

[blacklord]

I do. I used to grow them, a while ago. Not so much in recent times, because-- [ Bariyan pauses, grinning, but the expression doesn't reach his eyes. ] Mostly because of the climate. Hard, to grow flowers in the desert.

[hornedomen]

[Ico did not notice the difference.] But here you can grow all the flowers you want.

[He spun the flower in his hand. After a lengthy pause, he offered it to Bariyan.]

You don't remember this, but when you were here before, I tried to hurt you. Please forgive me. I don't know what I was thinking.

[blacklord]

Oh, no... did you? Thank you. [ Bariyan takes the flower and, unthinkingly, tucks it away into his hair, behind his right ear.

He looks at Ico, critically. Hard to imagine that such a small child could actually try to hurt someone. But he supposes it's not impossible.

He smiles again, gently, and shakes his head. ]

I'm sure I must have done something to deserve it.

[hornedomen]

I don't remember.

[He knew it had something to do with Martin. But Bariyan saved him. Right?

It was no use trying to recover his memories. Ico smiled as he looked at the flower in Bariyan's hair.]

Can I come with you when you water the flowers? I'll help you. That way we can bring more water.

[blacklord]

Of course you can. Is there a good place to get water, from around here? I've just been bringing it in from, er, one of the fountains nearby. [ Not that the fountain is actually working. But the basin still collects rainwater well enough, and there's plenty of that. ]

[hornedomen]

I don't know. I've been bringing them water from my bottle. It's supposed to make the water clean. Flowers like clean water, right?

[However, he knew it was ineffective if they were going to water more than one bed. Ico wiped his hands on his tunic, although his hands were still covered in dirt.

He stood as tall as he could to look around. There were parts of the gardens that he had not explored. Perhaps there was cleaner water there.]

[blacklord]

I think they'll do fine with most any water.... unless the water here is poisoned, or anything of that sort.

[ Bariyan scratches his head and frowns up at the dome, thinking of all the rain. ]

It's not, is it? [ Because. He's been using that to water the plants. ]

[hornedomen]

I think some of them are, like the sea and lakes. There's nothing living in there.

[He followed Bariyan's gaze and looked up.] I think the rain is okay.

[blacklord]

The entire sea? [ Bariyan looks out a broken window, as if expecting to see the ocean from here. ] How sad. How did that happen...?

[hornedomen]

Probably all the pollution. [He sounded nonchalant about the matter.]

It'll be okay. We'll make it better.

[blacklord]

How will you do that? Do you have a plan?

[ Bariyan wasn't quite ready to leave the building in search of water yet, so he decided to move on. He stepped past the flowers, careful not to tread on any of them, and continued forwards. ]

[hornedomen]

No. The Initiative probably does.

[Ico followed him. Whenever there was a statue or other precarious object in the way, he made a game of balancing or climbing over it.]

[blacklord]

[ Bariyan was not nearly as nimble as Ico, and his climbs were far more ponderous and slow. Ico soon overtook him again, which was fine by him; the boy probably knew his way around better than Bariyan did, anyway. ]

Tell me more about this Initiative? I know that they're to blame for bringing me here, but I've yet to actually see them.

[hornedomen]

[Bariyan was slower than Ico thought. He waited for him whenever the distance grew too far. The next flowerbed he went to surprised him. It was covered in weeds that were not there the last time he visited. He searched for any living flowers left.]

They need to stop the United Earth. They're bringing in a lot of us to help them. Sometimes they take us to different places in time. Do you remember? We went to a town in the desert about two weeks ago.

[blacklord]

[ Bariyan shakes his head when he catches up. ]

I don't remember at all.

Different places in time? That sounds like they're working some awfully powerful magic... and I'm not sure if they ought to be.

Why must the United Earth be stopped?

[hornedomen]

Because they're going to our worlds. There's not much left in this world and they're going to our worlds to take from it.

[Ico grasped onto a weed and pulled. It was rooted deep and when it finally released, he fell backwards.]

[blacklord]

[ Bariyan instinctively stepped forwards, catching Ico before the boy toppled completely. He gave him a slight push, to help him get back on his feet.

Absently, he nods towards the pulled weed. ]

Good. You got the roots.

[ Bariyan moved over to the other side of the bed and knelt down; he couldn't identify the plants here, but he could make a guess, and it seemed that the flowers that had lived here once were still alive; just struggling to bloom past all the weeds.

He rolled his sleeves up and got to work. ]

I didn't even know it was possible to go to other worlds... or that other worlds even existed.

[hornedomen]

Thanks.

[He shook the dirt off the roots. A worm fell off one of the clumps of dirt and Ico watched it slip underground.]

I didn't know either. It surprised me.

[After the worm was out of sight, Ico lost interest in it. He began pulling out more weeds.]

But I'm glad they took me. I wouldn't have met the friends I have here if they didn't.

[blacklord]

What about your friends back home, though? Or your family? [ Bariyan looks up from his work, briefly. ] I assume they're not here....