{Dianne scowls at Armin from her cocoon of blankets.}

Dianne: "No, I wasn't made for the tundra, and those a$sholes ruined my coat...."

Armin looked faintly amused and concerned at the same time. 'Well, if you decide to jump out of the truck again in freezing temperatures, borrow mine. I'm not in danger of dying from hypothermia.'

Dianne: "Thank you. I really don't enjoy the cold."

{She then sits up, still wrapped in blankets.}

Dianne: "From the looks of things, We'll only be stopping for a few hours at a time, to hunt and cook, then Titan flies us through the night. That's the quickest way to get home."

Armin tilted his head. 'What, so we won't be camping at all? We'll just be in this truck for the whole journey?'

Dianne: "If you really want to get home ASAP, this is how it has to be. Besides, it can't be any worse than camping."

'I'm not sure which is worse, actually,' Armin remarked, gazing around the interior of the truck. 'I do want to get home quickly, and I'd rather not have camping-induced night terrors, but still... being in this thing for a week or more doesn't sound fun.' He shrugged. 'I guess it's the best option overall though.'

Dianne: "Well, I don't see what other choice we have."

{She sighs, looking at the ground.}

Dianne: "This trip was suppose to be fun. Now, it just kinda sucks."

'It couldn't be helped. This is just how things turned out. And it /was/ fun in the beginning,' said Armin. 'When we were just flying through the wilds, visiting towns, and didn't have a pack of hunters after us...'

Dianne: "Yeah...It was nice..."

{She then rubs her face in an agitated manner.}

Dianne: "Gods damn it all! I think for a minute that I can start enjoying life, then jack-offs like this just ruin it...."

Armin shrugged helplessly. 'Yeah, it sucks. I wish you could do things like this without having to worry about people wanting you dead. I still hold out hope that someday, people will stop caring what you did a few thousand years ago, and then you'll be able to.'

{Dianne just slumps against the wall, looking rather sad.}

(Out of curiosity, if Sargon and Ana were miraculously ressurected, and no one knew, what would their first move be?)

(I dunno. Sargon probably wouldn't try to take over the world again, that's for sure. He's already failed twice in his life. He'd probably just slip away somewhere people don't know him, and think about what to do next.
Ana would want revenge on everyone who killed Sargon... But he might not let her.)

(Wait, he failed twice? What was the first time?

If that did happen, Lucci would probably approach him and say:

Lucci: "I'm the reason you failed. I think I should dunk on you with this axe. Change my mind."

Sargon: "D:"

Ana: "D:<")

Armin was quiet for a moment, then he pushed himself off of his blankets, walking over and cautiously sitting beside Dianne.

'Besides,' he said, 'even if this kinda sucks now, we've gotten a lot of good out of this trip. Like finding Esme.'

(He tried a similar thing in another story of mine, which was set on Earth, where he originated from. Though his organisation was nowhere near as big that time. He got thwarted by a team of vampire hunters, and ended up fleeing to Apollo.)

{Dianne eyes him quizzically as he sat next to her, then chuckles a little.}

Dianne: "Since when were you an optimist? But yes, it's not a complete loss. I am glad we found Esme."

(Woah, cool. Was it Van Helsing that pwned him? XD)

'I can be optimistic. It's better than both of us being pessimistic. Besides, it's not like I'm going to complain about the way things have turned out - that won't change anything.'

(Nah. XD
It was a tiny organisation of mostly inexperienced hunters, which I'm sure he wasn't happy about...)

Dianne: "I guess you're right. I just have a past of getting abysmally depressed and pessimistic when things turn out this way. But hey, at least I got all this booze to help me through it. Heheheh..."

(Lol, get low diffed by noobs. XD)

Armin eyed her sideways. 'Well, be careful with it. I don't want you ending up like Rex used to be. And if you drink all of yours in a week, you're not having my share.'

Barnabas: "Wait, like Rex used to be, or how he still would be if you didn't stop him. There's a very distinct difference."

Dianne: "There's no way I could burn through so many barrels in a week. Don't worry, I'll keep myself together."

Armin's eyes flickered towards Barnabas for a split second, then looked away. 'Rex doesn't drink that badly anymore. But back in our Shacklestone days, it was common for me to walk into his apartment at night and find him passed out, surrounded by empty and broken liquor bottles. Not very fun.'

Dianne: "Sounds pretty bad. At least you won't have to worry about me doing that."

{She then glances over at Esme.}

Dianne: "I've too much responsibility to let myself go."

(Quick question:
Are they really going to stay in the truck the whole way back? I had a couple of things to do that can't really be done unless they camp at some point. So I might need to find a way to make that happen.
*crowley thinking emote*)

Armin nodded. 'If I found you doing that while you have Esme to care for, then I'd be assuming custody of her immediately,' he said with a bit of grim humour. 'But I know you won't do that. I think I'll have worse problems on my hands with keeping Rex out of my alcohol stash. He still drinks, just not as much as before.'

(It was the plan, but we can work around it. Maybe they have to stop a few times because a storm front blocks the way, or they might have to pass close to a city, and can only do that at night. There are a thousand ways to skin a cat.)

(Alrighty! Whatever ends up working best. It doesn't need to be for long.)

Dianne: "Yeah, he'll definitely suck down all your ale if you let him. Definitely not good for him."

'I'll hide it somewhere. He doesn't need to know where it is.'

Armin stared contemplatively into space for a moment, thinking about how everyone might react when they got home. He then realised he was still sitting next to Dianne, and began to get up to return to his own side of the truck.

'I might just go back to sleep. Nothing else to do.'

Dianne: "Hey Armin, wait..."

{She stops, contemplating her next words.}

Dianne: "...Would it be inappropriate to ask for a back rub?"

Armin paused, halfway across the truck, seemingly struck dumb by surprise. Then he smiled and returned to sit with her.

'Of course not. I can do that.' He considered for a moment. 'You could lie down, if you want. Would be more comfortable.'

{Dianne then lies down on her front, raising a brow.}

Dianne: "What's with the creepy smile? I just want a back rub so I can relax."

'It was /not/ creepy. You seem to think all my smiles are creepy,' Armin complained. 'I was just surprised that you'd ask, that's all.' Shifting position, he started rubbing her shoulders with a slow, practised motion.

{Dianne closes her eyes, letting out a relaxed breath.}

Dianne: "Hey, in my experience, most of the people who've smiled at me have had nefarious intentions. I'm sorry if I projected that onto you."

'I guess that makes sense.' Armin shifted downwards to rub her back, his expression somewhat pensive. 'You should have seen the way Ana smiled at Sargon sometimes, when he wasn't looking. Now that was a /real/ creepy smile.'

{Dianne laughs at that thought.}

Dianne: "I bet. Ana was super creepy. And being a necromancer who stitches corpses together, I /know/ creepy."

'It's a shame the internet didn't exist for most of the time the organisation was together. I could've collected tons of evidence that Ana loved Sargon, and then blackmailed her by threatening to post it online,' Armin mused, shaking his head slightly. 'Would have served her right...'

{Dianne's posture begins to relax as she rests her head on her arms.}

Dianne: "That would have been funny. But, she probably would have tried to incinerate you."

'She tried to do that whenever I annoyed her anyway. Well, actually, she mostly threw magic spells at me, but... same thing. Sargon had to intervene sometimes, since she never left me alone unless he ordered it...'

Armin fell into a thoughtful silence, concentrating on the back rub.

{Dianne looks very relaxed now, eyes closed and a thin smile on her face. She seemed content with the silence, enjoying the back massage.}

Armin continued rubbing her back and shoulders in a soothing motion, lost in thoughts of what would happen when they got home. //All this adventuring has been fun, but I'm looking forward to getting back now. Still, I think I'll miss the travelling and everything that's come with it...// he mused.

Esme jumped off the driver's seat and took advantage of Armin's bed being vacant to curl up on it, going to sleep.

{After a while, Dianne just drifted off entirely, feeling so comfortable that she just fell asleep.}

Upon noticing this, Armin broke out of his wandering thoughts and smiled faintly. He continued rubbing her back until he was completely sure she really was asleep. Then he pulled back, found one of her blankets, and draped it over her. Stifling a yawn, he quietly got up to return to his bed, nudging Esme aside to make room.

{Dianne was soundly asleep, still smiling faintly. Barnabas had gone back to the passenger seat, glowing faintly.}

Armin glanced over at Barnabas, then climbed into the warmth of his blankets. He wasn't really tired, but lay there with his eyes closed anyway, contemplating, until he eventually drifted off.

(It's been so long since Dianne trusted someone enough to touch her back without stabbing it. Poor girl.)

(I guess we should skip to something?)

(Aww. :(

I'm not actually sure what time it is right now? If it's already late in the day, then I guess we skip to the next morning. If it's early, then we could jump to nightfall. It's up to you, just let me know what you're skipping to. XD)

(I'm going to say it was evening, so we'll skip to morning. who wants to start?)

(I'll go.)

Morning rolled on by. On his side of the truck, Armin was sleeping, sprawled out haphazardly with his blanket half falling off him. Esme was sniffing at the supply box, knowing there was food inside but being unable to open it herself.

{Dianne wakes gently, the memories of the previous evening trickling back. She looks over at Armin, chuckling at his state.}

Dianne: "I guess he wasn't lying about being good at back rubs..."

{Seeing Esme sniffing around the box, Dianne gets up a little groggily and retrieves an apple and a banana for Esme.}

Dianne: "Here you go, sweetie."

Esme gave a squeak of appreciation and nudged her head against Dianne's hand. She then started on the apple first, crunching through it noisily with her sharp teeth.

At the sound of this, and Dianne's voice, Armin stirred. He opened his eyes, looked down at himself groggily, then kicked off the rest of the blanket and rolled onto his front.

'Urgh... morning...' he mumbled.

Dianne: "Morning."

{She gets some food out of the crate and sits on her bedding.}

Dianne: "Well, today, we get to stop and hunt."

'That's good...' Armin replied, not entirely awake yet. 'Will be nice to get out and smell the fresh air...'

Esme just gnawed her way through her meal in the corner, ignoring everyone else.

Dianne: "Yeah. This truck is kind of cramped...and stuffy."

Barnabas: "And it stinks of Armin stank." :3

Dianne: "No it doesn't, Barnabas."

Armin, ignoring Barnabas, slowly sat up. He looked bedraggled, likely from his haphazard sleeping position. 'It will be nice to open up the doors and step outside for a bit. That's one thing I /did/ like about camping - being out in nature,' he remarked, as he attempted to finger-comb his hair into some semblance of neatness. 'With the fresh air and the scenery.'

Dianne: "Yes, the scenery was pleasant as well. The mountains, the forests, the lakes. It was beautiful

'Mhm. Camping does have its perks. If it weren't for the dam.n nightmares, I'd enjoy it a lot. It was peaceful - minus the attacks from highwaymen and dragons, obviously.'

Dianne: "Yes it was. Even if this trip has gone sideways, I'm glad you enjoyed it while you did."

(Should we skip to evening, when they stop?)

(Sure. not a whole lot going on. XD I'll set the scene.)

(Alrighty.)

...

{Many boring hours later, Titan sets down in a small dune field, by the coast. The wind was cold and salty, and the sun was sinking under the horizon. Dianne steps out, stretching and looking around.}

Dianne: "Reckon you could catch some sea fish?"

Armin jumped out of the truck, breathing in the salty sea air, eager to stretch his legs.

'Maybe,' he said, surveying the coastline. 'I'll go and look around... Could you set up a fire for cooking?'

Esme emerged more cautiously, pinning her ears back at the distant sound of waves and cawing seagulls.

Dianne: "Sure."

{Dianne gets the shovel from the crate and starts to dig a hole, keeping a careful eye on Esme.}

Armin shifted to hawk form and took flight, prompting a surprised snort from Esme. Gliding down to the sea's edge, he skimmed low across the water, searching for the shadows of fish. Spotting a medium-sized one - it looked like some kind of bass - he dived, straight down into the water, to grip it with his talons.

While Armin was busy hunting, Esme contented herself helping Dianne dig, using her small paws to scrape away the earth.

{Dianne finishes the hole. then looks around at the barren dunes.}

Dianne: "...How did I miss the fact that there's no wood to burn?"

(Will reply in new room)