{Barnabas sneers at Armin.}

Barnanbas: "I'm sappy? Says the man who has to cuddlebug with the closest woman to him to stave off his nightmares."

{He says mockingly.}
Barnabas: "...If you met her, you would understand, but you'd probably just be another Solnhofheim..."

//I... have no idea what that last word was,// said Armin. //That better not have been an insult.// Securing the second fish in his talons, he paused in mid-air to eye Barnabas from across a short span of water.

Barnabas: "Oh, don't get your knickers in a bunch...Solnhofheim was my romantic rival. He sought my Aphrodite as I did, trying to seduce her with his wealth. He was creepy, like you. He hit on younger women, like you. Overall, just an unlikable guy."

//Did you fall on your head?// said Armin, sounding a little disbelieving. //I'm pretty sure I don't make a point of hitting on younger women. And I'm not creepy. And if I did meet your girlfriend, I'd have no interest in her - regardless of how beautiful she was.//

Barnabas: "Oh really?"

{Barnabas says with mischief.}

Barnabas: "Who's Eliza and Tochi?"

Armin landed on a high rock by the sea, staring down at Barnabas with the most exasperated look a bird could manage.

//Tochi was a young girl who I met on the city streets late one night. I was not creeping on her, I was trying to protect her from /real/ predators. And Eliza was just a friend. She had feelings for me, I think... but I didn't return them.//

Barnabas: "Riiiiiggghhtttt......Because the safest place for a little girl is in a bar. Not creepy at all...And Eliza, Titan told me she looks like she's barely 18, and that you were all kinds of hounding on her. You want to revise your story, sir?"

//Hounding her? All we ever did was hang out like normal friends do. If anything, she was the one hounding /me./ She literally flirted with me the very first time we met.//

(For the record, she was totally hounding him XD)

Barnabas: "Suuuuurrrreeee...."

{He says disbelievingly.}

Barnabas: "Anyway, you got those fish yet? That storm's getting pretty close now."

(XD)

//Yeah, yeah. Come on, then. You carry that one, and I'll fly with this one.//

Leaving Barnabas to carry the first fish, which was larger, Armin took the second fish and flew off back to the truck, where Dianne and Esme were. As he got near, he shifted back and walked up to them.

{Dianne was sitting with Esme on her lap. The fire pit was full of wood and already burning. Barnabas was already there, leaning against a tree.}

Barnabas: "Hey there, slowpoke."

Dianne: "Alright, Armin, the rest is up to you."

Armin sat down by the fire. With practised motions, he assembled two spits, gutted and prepared both of the fish, and set them over the flames to start cooking.

'Why two this time?' he said. 'Just wondering. We've always made do with one before.'

Dianne: "Because we're stopping early. One for lunch, one for dinner. We have a limited supply of food in the truck, so we need to supplement where we can."

'Oh, yeah...'

He made sure the fish were in the right position to cook evenly, then leaned back, watching the ominously dark, stormy clouds coming over from the sea.

{Dianne sat back as well, absently stroking Esme and watching the approaching storm.}

Barnabas: "...Fishy, fishy, fishy.....Always all so squishy..."

Esme was gazing around alertly with her ears pricked, feeling the storm coming.

Armin raised his eyebrows at Barnabas's rhyme, then turned to gaze at the sky again. 'It's beautiful,' he murmured. 'Reminds me of back home, when big thunderstorms would come rolling across the countryside and the village would nearly be flooded by the rain... Caused a lot of trouble for the farmers, obviously, with their crops being drowned... But I always found them exciting.'

Dianne: "Yeah, I guess so...Like I've said, I never really liked them. The prospect of being struck by lightning just sucks...Did you ever try riding horses in the storm? Sounds like something you'd do."

Armin grinned. 'Of course I did. Once, there was a big storm in the middle of the night. I was still awake, listening to it, so I decided to sneak out and take one of my dad's ponies to go for a ride... It was a thrill like nothing I'd felt before. Can't say the horse enjoyed it, though... Or my dad when he found out.'

{Dianne chuckles at that.}

Dianne: "Of course you did. I think you're an adrenaline junkie. So, how much trouble did you get in for that?"

Armin shrugged. 'I won't deny that. And he forbade me from going near the horses for two weeks. That sucked, but he wasn't /too/ angry. He reacted much worse the time I nearly died from being gored by a bull... because I thought it would be fun to try and ride the thing...'

{Dianne grimaced at the thought.}

Dianne: "Ouch. Why would you think that was a good idea?"

Armin looked faintly amused by that. 'Since when have I been an expert on good ideas? I was worse as a teenager. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I just didn't think it would go... /that/ badly wrong...'

He pulled up his shirt to reveal a long, thick white scar that wrapped around his right side, just above the hip.

{Dianne raises a brow at that.}

Dianne: "Yikes. You're lucky you didn't die...What do you mean, worse as a teen? How did you almost kill yourself that time?"

'Oh no, the bull riding incident happened when I was seventeen. I meant, I was more reckless as a teenager than I am /now.'/ He smirked slightly. 'So you might think I'm careless, but at least I have /some/ common sense nowadays.'

Dianne: "Yeah, emphasis on 'some'. All in all, you're still extremely reckless."

{She smiles, shaking her head.}

Dianne: "So, why do you feel the need to put yourself in danger for exhilaration? Is it really that good of a feeling?"

'I don't really think about it. It just happens. I don't intentionally try to get myself killed. I just take options that seem more exciting than others, then realise afterwards that it wasn't a very good idea.' He tilted his head. 'Doesn't everyone enjoy a bit of adrenaline sometimes? It makes you feel alive.'

Dianne: "Not me. I've had my fair share of, "feeling alive". It sucks."

Armin shrugged slightly. 'Fair enough, Like you said, I might just be a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. Always have been.'

He turned the fish slightly, noting that they were getting close to done.

Dianne: "...I'm sure it goes without saying, if you include Esme in any of your...reckless antics, I won't be pleased..."

Barnabas: "I'm sure he won't. He might have the self preservation sense of a lemming, but he's not that stupid."

Armin shot Dianne an unimpressed look. 'Do you really think I'd intentionally put Esme in a dangerous situation? After seeing you nearly have a breakdown at the prospect of losing her? Anyway, I tend to get myself hurt, not other people.'

{Dianne rubs the back of her head.}

Dianne: "...I guess you're right...I really just said that out of...paranoia...You're right though...the thought of losing her is frightening to me..."

'It won't happen...' said Armin absently, as he started to remove the smaller fish from the spit. The larger one, he left on to continue cooking. 'I won't deliberately endanger her, but I will risk my life to protect her, if it comes to that.'

He carved off a small portion of the fish for himself, leaving the rest for Dianne.

{Dianne subsides into silence as she serves herself some fish. Pulling off a strip, she offers it to Esme to see if she was hungry.}

Esme glanced at the fish, but didn't take it. It seemed she'd had enough that morning. Armin ate in silence, his eyes fixed on the approaching thunderheads. //Storm's getting close... Looks like it's going to be a big one.//

'What shall I do with the other fish? Do we have somewhere to store it until later?'

Dianne: "Yeah. I brought some tin foil in the crate, so just wrap it up."

{Looking up at the storm, Dianne stands.}

Dianne: "We should hunker down for the afternoon. That stormfront is getting really close..."

Armin tossed his fish bones into the fire, before beginning to remove the second fish from the spit. 'Yeah, let's pack up and get inside. It looks like it's going to get rough.'

{Dianne gets everything packed in before walking into the back of the truck. Leaning out, she takes one last look at the approaching storm.}

Dianne: "That doesn't look fun. Let's get inside..."

Armin wrapped up the fish and packed it in with their food supplies. He then jumped into the truck, closing the back doors almost reluctantly.

'I gotta admit, I kind of want to stand outside when the storm starts,' he said, as he looked out the window. 'But I don't want to get wet so, probably not a good idea...'

{Dianne proceeds to remove her armor.}
Dianne: "Judging by those clouds, you'd get soaked, and the few towels we have are outside. If you want to get wet, be my guest, but don't expect to get dry anytime soon."

'Yeah, bad idea.' He went to stand near the front of the truck, where he had a good view of the outside scenery. 'Better to just stay inside and wait it out.'

Esme sniffed around the truck a bit, then jumped on top of the supply box, gazing around boredly.

{Dianne looks over at Esme before walking to sit in the passenger's seat.}

Dianne: "So, what should we do now?"

Armin sat down in the driver's seat and began looking over the car controls with vague curiosity, occasionally poking a button or opening a compartment.

'Mhm, I don't know. Know any games that can be played in a stationary vehicle with no power?'

Dianne: "Nope. Do you?"

Armin continued playing with the car controls, contemplating seeing if he could turn the engine on. //This thing still works, right? It worked fine when Billingsly drove it...//

'I've got something. Not really a game, but something to pass the time.' He paused. 'One person makes an assumption about the other. The other person then says whether it's correct or not.'

{Dianne gives a quizzical look.}

Dianne: "Ok, how would this work?"

Barnabas: "Assumption: Armin is a creeper." :3

Armin gave Barnabas an unimpressed look. 'I don't think I need to say whether that's true or not.' He then eyed the ghoul for a moment. 'Assumption about you: you think Turned werewolves are inferior to pureborn ones.'

{Barnabas looked as if he was going to retort, but stopped, looking thoughtful.}

Barnabas: "...Huh...That's a debate that's been around since my day...Honestly, it's a hard question to answer...Sure pureborns tend to be stronger, but they can be...arrogant...and stupid..."

Dianne: "Ok, Armin, assumption: You are a social creature who is uncomfortable whilst alone, and prone to loneliness induced depression."

Armin tilted his head curiously at Barnabas's response. 'Interesting. I always kinda assumed you'd have this superiority thing from being a pureborn werewolf.'

He then turned to Dianne, eyebrows raised. 'That's not really an assumption. You pretty much /know/ that's true.'

Dianne: "Yeah, I guess so. You go now. Make an assumption about me."

Armin remained silent for a while, mulling over what he was going to say. 'OK... here's one. You prefer being in human form because you're used to it, despite your natural form being a dragon.' He waited to hear if he was right or not.

{Dianne laughs a little at that.}

Dianne: "Wrong. I stay in human form for convenience. I can't function in a humanoid based society as a dragon. I'd rather be in my natural form, but it's not really feasible in the long run."

Armin nodded slightly. 'I guess that's understandable. You /are/ a dragon, though sometimes I almost forget that.' He leaned back in his seat, still looking over the dashboard. 'Anyone got another assumption about me?'

Barnabas: "Assumption: You're distant with your son because he reminds you of what you lost, and you can't face the fact that you weren't there for him."

A faint wince passed across Armin's face. 'I never really thought about it before. But I suppose that /might/ have a grain of truth to it. Sometimes when I see him... I find myself thinking about how I left Janet and my daughter. How they spent the rest of their lives mourning me and died without ever knowing what happened to me...'

{Dianne's expression shifts to sympathy.}

Dianne: "Hey, that's not your fault. When we get back, we'll set the record straight."

'In a way, it's my fault. I should've tried harder to find a way to beat Sargon and go back to them before they died.' Armin ran a hand along the steering wheel, his expression hard to read. 'What do you mean, set the record straight?'

Dianne: "...Well...You said you wanted me to summon her. To say things that need to be said..."

'Oh... yes...' Armin was quiet for a moment. 'I still want to do that. Though, I don't know how to feel about it.' A mirthless smile flickered across his face. 'I'd love to talk to her, but I'm also afraid she might resent me for what I did.'

{Dianne pat his shoulder, smiling to reassure him.}

Dianne: "Let's not worry about that now. Here, ask me something else."

Armin nodded, lifting his head to gaze thoughtfully out the window.

'Alright... Give me a minute.' He watched the stormclouds, now almost upon them, as he thought. 'Assumption: the reason you don't like Ivy is because she doesn't take relationships seriously - a bit like Ogden.'

{Dianne takes a deep breath before responding.}

Dianne: "...Yes and no...Do I dislike her because she's a /massive/ gold digging who.re...Yes...But it's because she reminds me of his...replacement....not him."

Armin continued to gaze out the window, his expression serious. 'Understandable. She's definitely not someone whose behaviour I approve of...' He shifted slightly. 'How much did you know about the... replacement? Was she similar to Ivy in personality?'

{Dianne doesn't answer right away.}

Dianne: "I never met her for longer than a few minutes at a time. But, she was always wearing jewelry...and makeup....or what passed for makeup back then...And the night I returned...she had made my...engagement gift into a necklace and was wearing it...That b!tch...She was clearly very material..."

Armin grimaced in apparent distaste. 'Ouch. She /does/ sound a lot like Ivy. Dam.n... Ogden really was insane if he decided he'd rather have someone like that over you.' He shook his head. 'Anyone want to guess anything else about me?'

{Dianne chuckles a bit at this.}

Dianne: "Ok. Assumption: You like me, but you hate my magic. Necromancy makes you uncomfortable, but you're willing to turn a blind eye to it if it means having a closer relationship with me."

Armin barely contemplated this before responding.

'Yeah, that's true enough. I don't exactly /hate/ necromancy - I know it's a useful weapon - but I won't deny that it creeps me out sometimes. But your choice of weapon doesn't change the way I see you as a person. I'll put up with the creepy draugrs and melting peoples' flesh if I can stick around with you.'

Dianne: "Yeah...I appreciate that, Armin. Most people don't see past the magic. They don't care that I'm just a normal person inside, they just think I'm an abhorrent abomination..."

'No, you just create abhorrent abominations,' said Armin with a hint of amusement. 'I'll openly admit that dark magic is creepy to me, but that doesn't mean /you/ are. I can't see you as a monster after all we've done together. Your abilities don't define you, just like me drinking blood doesn't make me a psycho.'

{Dianne laughs at this.}

Dianne: "Yeah, that's true. I wonder if Rex sees me the same way...I hope he doesn't think poorly of me..."

Armin shrugged one shoulder. 'He's not as bothered by dark magic as I am. He might not like it, but it doesn't scare him. You shouldn't worry so much about what he thinks of you.'

He shot her a sideways glance. 'That brings me to another assumption: you care quite a lot about other peoples' opinions of you.'

{Dianne smiles slightly, looking out the window as she responds.}

Dianne: "Sort of. I care about the opinions that matter. My friends. The king. People who are either important to me, or could hurt me substantially. Do I care if Rex dislikes me? Yes, because he's your closest friend, and you're important to me. Do I care what my neighbors think of me? Nope. Not one bit. They can all drop dead for all I care."

Armin snickered at the last part. 'Eh, your neighbours are horrible, so who cares about them.' He slumped down slightly in the driver's seat, getting into a more comfortable position and resting his feet on the pedals. 'I agree that you shouldn't care about the opinions of random strangers. It's none of their business.'

Dianne: "Agreed. I hate it when complete strangers feel obligated to share their meaningless opinions. Makes me want to throttle them..."

'I guess they have nothing more interesting to do with their lives than gossip about their neighbours,' said Armin. 'I pity them, almost... You got anything else you want to guess about me?'

{Dianne thinks for a moment.}

Dianne: "...Assumption: You hate Ivy because deep down, she somewhat reminds you of Ana, who you were forced into close contact with, despite hating her guts."

Armin tilted his head. 'Mhm... I'm not so sure. They're both annoying, yeah, but Ana bothered me in ways Ivy never has. Ana constantly fawned over the guy who tore me away from my family, threw dark spells at me, and kept pet tarantulas... Ivy is honestly nothing compared to her.'

{Barnabas: (Quietly puts his tarantula away.)}

Dianne: "That's true I guess. So, you don't know why you dislike her?"