tushanshu | 20 ❄ ( VIDEO )

[ Jack's voice is quiet, nearly monotone and there are dark hollows under his eyes. ]

There's something you should know about the snow in the open areas between the domes. Some of the snow I make has magic in it, and what it does is make people more open to loosening up and playing around in it. It has to do with my center being Fun, it was never intended to hurt anyone but... it did.

Even though this time was an accident... it was also in the big snowfall last March. If you spent a lot of time outside that weekend, you probably got at least a little dose of it. A couple people already knew about this but I'm the one who should have said something before this. Long before, I was just--

I've already tried to break as much of the effect as I can between the three main domes, it should be mostly clear now and back to regular snow.

[ Which might explain the ill effect it seems to have had on him; he's been literally trying to undo the very essence of himself he expended into it. He takes a breath as though to add something else then apparently thinks better of it, reaching over and turning the console off. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't... what do you mean? It doesn't make you want to go out and rob someone or anything like that.

From the way you were talking, it sounded as though you felt responsible because someone got hurt while playing in the snow. Did I misunderstand?

Hurt like... sick.

[ "Emotionally compromised." ]

Like a really bad allergic reaction.

[...Ah. Well, considering how not everyone here is even of the same species, that actually makes a lot of sense.]

You mentioned that "this time" was an accident. Does that mean you didn't intend for the snow to affect people's desire to play in the snow?

[Again, his voice is perfectly neutral. He is just trying to figure out what is up with this, because Jack's abilities aren't exactly NEXT abilities, which puts Barnaby at a disadvantage when it comes to discussing it.]

No, I was... just burning off some energy. Flying around. I didn't realize until I saw people out in the fields instead of staying on the roads.

Well, I appreciate your honesty. Not everyone in your shoes would have taken responsibility.

[ He flinches slightly; responsibility. Another word that had been thrown at him more than once back in March. ]

Y-Yeah.

[He notices the flinch.]

Responsibility isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes it's an opportunity to become truly great at what you do.

Or wise up to never doing it again.

[Wood Sector already has one mopey old man, Barnaby would really rather not see two of them living side-by-side. :| ]

That depends. If something is genuinely apart of you, you're going to be better off if you accept it, then do what you must in order to make it work for you and the people you care about.

[ "I tried that", Jack thinks. "This is the result." But instead he just nods. ]

Thank you, Barnaby.

[Barnaby isn't very convinced that he got through to him. But if Jack wants to end the conversation, then that's his right. No real skin off Barnaby's nose.]

Sure.

[He pauses before he actually ends the feed, carefully considering whether he should divulge this next bit of info. In the end, he decides there's no real reason to keep it to himself. He speaks with an even tone.]

For what it's worth, that was my first time playing in the snow. Even as a young child, I never wanted to, even though we had plenty of it.

Did it make you happy?

[With very few happy memories associated with winter, Barnaby knows he will likely cherish the memory of his carefree snowball fight with Kotetsu for years to come. And maybe, just maybe, the next time he sees next year's first snowfall, he'll think of that instead of the acrid smell of fire. Of course, he can't bring himself to say something that private. But he still answers with a fleeting smile that, for once, actually meets his eyes.]

It did.

[ That. That right there was what he'd melded his entire self around. Usually it was kids, sure... but this was good too. He returns Barnaby's smile with a tremulous one of his own, voice barely above a whisper as though worried he'll be caught for speaking it. ]

I'm glad.

[Barnaby is basically a kid who tries to act like an adult, so it still works. Of course, he takes himself way too seriously to ever consider that, but there you go.

At any rate, his earlier admission seems to strike some kind of chord with Jack, although Barnaby isn't sure whether he accomplished what he wanted by sharing it.]

Good. I hope that can give you a more balanced perspective.

[Because, seriously, Kotetsu is depressed enough without a depressed neighbor who has the potential to become a misery-wallowing buddy.]

[ Barnaby won't have to worry. Within a day or so Jack will be back to his usual comings and goings, at least outwardly. If anything he'll seem a little more uncaring, his quips having a sharper edge to them. As if he suddenly didn't care about what had happened at all. ]

20 ❄ ( VIDEO )

Re: video;

video;

Re: video;

video;

Re: video;

video;

Re: video;

video;

Re: video;

video;

Re: video;

video;

Re: video;

video;

Re: video;

video;

Re: video;