Armin shrugged. 'We don't change much. We just adapt as the world changes around us.'

Dianne: "Makes sense. You gotta do something with the endless time..."

Barnabas: "Armin, do you even have any hobbies?"

'Of course I do,' said Armin, giving Barnabas a sideways glance. 'What gives you the impression that I don't?'

Barnabas: "Oh, you just haven't told me about any. I thought all you did was drink away your woes and fight with much stronger people. So, what do you do?"

'Travelling and hiking are hobbies,' said Armin. 'I spar. I play videogames. I read books. I used to ride, but I haven't been able to do that in a long time...'

Barnabas: "Ok, that's cool, I guess...When we get home, I'm going to start breeding spiders and selling them."

Armin wrinkled his nose. 'Well, have fun. Just make sure you're not doing this anywhere near me.'

He glanced over at Dianne. 'Hey, what hobbies do you have? I realised that's one of the things I don't really know about you.'

{Dianne just shrugs.}

Dianne: "Oh, nothing too interesting. I like to read, study Dark Magic, trying new and wierd things with souls, I like browsing the antique shops for artifacts, I like dungeon crawling for treasure. I used to go dancing, but....I don't do that anymore."

'I approve of dungeon crawling,' said Armin with a quick grin. 'We're definitely going on some treasure hunting trips once all of this is over. Dancing? Why'd you stop doing that?'

Dianne: "Too much unwanted attention. I just wanted to dance alone, but then everyone starts making unwelcome advances. Too much trouble, it is..."

'That sucks. Sometimes people need to keep to themselves, but they don't always understand that.' Armin rested his head on his hands, watching the deer sizzling over the fire. 'I don't dance. Except for when I attended a ball or party where it was expected of everyone...'

Dianne: "No? What, do you have two left feet?"

{She says teasingly.}

Armin smirked faintly. 'I'm not /that/ terrible. It's just not very fun. And I associated it with formal social events, which I never enjoyed...'

Dianne: "I get that. Formal events suck. I have to get dressed up, wear uncomfortable shoes, refrain from breaking people's arms and spines. It's no fun.

'I just don't like formality. Having to be so... polite and proper with everyone. What's the point? Real parties are actually fun. And I don't like having to wear a suit, or dance with people,' he complained. 'I wouldn't have even dressed up at my own wedding, if I hadn't been pressured into it.'

Dianne: "Heh, your wife really wanted it to be formal, huh? That sounds like a memorable story."

'Yeeaah... Janet claimed that she wanted the wedding to be 'traditional'. So I couldn't get away with not wearing formal clothes. And there was another time, when she and I went to a party, she insisted I do it again, saying it would make a good impression on the guests...' He rubbed his face. 'I think she might have just liked the way I looked in a suit...'

{Dianne eyes him up and down.}

Dianne: "Well....you certaintly have the figure for it. And the face. Yeah, she definitely just wanted to dress you up."

Armin eyed her with a faint, amused smirk. 'Is that a subtle compliment I hear?' he asked.

{Dianne returns the smirk.}

Dianne: "Mmmmm....maybe. You disaprove?"

'No, feel free to say nice things about my appearance whenever you want,' he said with a grin. 'I don't think I mind.'

{Dianne chuckles as she checks the deer.}

Dianne: "Well, I can't lie to you, Armin. You would look handsome in a suit. I can see what Janet liked about it...Hm, deer's done."

Smiling, Armin went to cut off a little of the meat for himself. 'Well, thanks.' He settled down to begin eating. 'You'll probably never see it though, unless we happen to go to a formal event someday.'

Esme yawned and sat up, unenthusiastically waiting for some food.

{Pulling meat off of the spit, Dianne beckons Esme over.}

Dianne: "Well, there's no telling what might happen."

Armin subsided into silence as he focused on the food, though still looked quite pleased. Esme shuffled closer to Dianne, hungry enough to accept some venison despite not liking it.

{Dianne fed Esme as much venison as she would accept. Afterward, she began eating her own meal.}

Dianne: "Camping is nice and all, but I sure do miss the food back home. Don't get me wrong, I like deer, but I am getting a little sick of it."

'I can imagine,' said Armin. 'We caught almost nothing but deer during the weeks we were flying to the mountain. It gets old fast. Well, we'll be home soon, and then you - and Esme - can eat whatever you want.'

Esme settled back down by the fire, licking her jaws slowly and wondering if there were any apples left in the truck.

Dianne: "Yeah, we're only a couple of days from home. Not much longer now."

Armin tossed the remains of his portion into the fire, then sat back to gaze at the darkening sky while he waited for her to finish. As he did so, he felt a cool drop of something fall on his head. Curiously, he lifted a hand and watched another raindrop splash onto it.

'Huh. Rain's starting...'

{Finishing her meal, Dianne scoops up Esme and walks to the truck.}

Dianne: "Start packing. I don't want to get caught in a downpour."

Armin stood unhurriedly and began to pack up, extinguishing the fire - although, the rain was beginning to dampen it already. The sparse drops were quickly becoming a steady patter. He jumped into the truck and closed the back.

'We timed that well,' he said, as he took off his shoes and jacket. 'If we'd stopped a few minutes later, we would've been caught in that.'

{As Titan got them moving, Dianne sat in the corner with Esme and a pair of apples.}

Dianne: "That's good. I hate getting caught in the rain..."

Esme immediately made a beeline for Dianne, trying to grab one of the apples from her.

'It's not that bad,' said Armin, sitting down against the wall. 'It's peaceful. At least, gentle rain like this is.'

{Dianne willingly hands Esme an apple.}

Dianne: "I guess. It does make for a calming atmosphere to fall asleep to."

Esme dragged the apple into a corner, like a predator carrying off its kill, and started to eat.

Armin nodded absently. 'It is pleasant. I like the sound of it hitting the roof. Is there anything nice on the radio right now?'

Dianne: "I dunno, let's see..."

{Grabbing the radio, she skips the stations, finding something that sounds calm.}

We get it on most every night
When that moon gets big and bright
It's a supernatural delight
Everybody was dancin' in the moonlight..."

Dianne: "That one's not so bad."

Armin cocked his head to listen.

'...Yeah, this is OK.' He looked up towards the roof of the truck. 'Rain and music, they go so well together,' he said with a grin, before grabbing a blanket and wrapping it around his shoulders. Though the temperatures were rising, the nights were still fairly cool.

{Dianne then settles down on her bedding, quietly enjoying the atmosphere.}

Armin settled next to her, lying down on his side so that he could watch the rain splattering the dark window. In the corner, Esme was crunching on her second apple - the only noise in the truck that wasn't soft.

{Dianne closes her eyes and begins to doze, not minding the crunching sound at all.}

//Hmm, she hasn't had nightmares the whole time we've been flying here,// Armin mused. //I guess Esme really does help...//

Unsure if Dianne was asleep or not, he didn't try to talk. Instead, he just lay there, relaxing. He was careful not to fall asleep yet, as he'd have to turn the radio off before he did.

{Dianne quickly falls asleep. She seemed to be quite comfortable with the ambiance.}

After a while, Armin stretched out one arm and fumbled to turn the radio off. As the music cut out, he gently settled down beside Dianne to sleep, listening to the pattering rain.

Esme eventually came over, curling up on the lower end of the bed.

(I guess we skip?)

(Sure, you can go first.)

{Opening her eyes the next morning, Dianne surveys the truck, looking at the grey, misty sky outside. She looks at Armin, then Esme.}

Esme was deeply asleep. She'd eaten a lot the night before, and showed no immediate signs of wanting to wake up for breakfast.

Armin was lying close to Dianne, also asleep. He was stirring slightly in a way that suggested he was dreaming, but it didn't seem to be anything violent or terrifying.

{Dianne looks the two over, smiling slightly.}

Dianne: //Awfully cozy atmosphere we have in here. It's nice. Homely, even.//

{She then lays her head back down and closes her eyes to sleep.}

Eventually, Armin's eyes opened. //Mhm... that was quite a pleasant dream. For once...//

He yawned, still half-asleep, and shifted closer to Dianne, resting his head on her shoulder. //Pleasant, but... with a hint of something ominous... because it's hard to believe it could actually happen. But I have to try and believe that we'll all make it through this alive and well...//

{Feeling something touch her shoulder, she opens her eyes and looks at Armin.}

Dianne: "Mmm...Good morning. Sleep well?"

'Yeah, pretty well...' said Armin, drowsily. 'You?'

Dianne: "Best sleep I've had in ages. I think...just by having Esme nearby staves off the nightmares."

'I guess it does. That's good. You needed a break from the nightmares.' Unsure where Esme was, Armin moved his leg slightly and found her near the end of the bed. She was still asleep.

Dianne: "Yeah...They were kind of intense...and vivid.....and upsetting....But hey, you're not having nightmares either. That's no coincidence."

'That's true. I haven't had one for a while now. I just feel at peace with you and Esme... In fact, I had a pretty nice dream last night. We'd beaten the hunters, and everyone was alive and well. That's something to hope for.'

Dianne: "At peace, huh? That's a nice sentiment. Yeah, that's about the best case scenario we can hope for."

'That's what I'm aiming for. We're sure as heII not letting anyone die if we can help it.' Unwilling to get up so soon after waking, he remained there, enjoying the warmth. 'We're all going to survive, and then we're going to have a party.'

Dianne: "Very well. Not a formal party, right?"

'Probably not,' said Armin. 'Unless you want it to be. Which I doubt.'

Dianne: "Ew, hell no. If I get prettied up, I'll never hear the end of it from Ivy..."

Armin chuckled. 'Oh, I can already tell that Ivy's going to be a pain at the party. She'll probably want to be involved with the preparations and everything. I'm just glad she doesn't drink, or she'd be even more annoying.'

Dianne: "That is perhaps the only redeeming quality she has. She doesn't compound her insufferable personality with alchohol. Speaking of alchohol, do you want to have another drinking contest when we get back?"

Armin smirked. 'Yes, I'm always up for another drinking contest. Though, why are you so determined to make yourself suffer for nothing? I beat you last time, in case you forgot... I can easily do it again...'

{Dianne looks a bit offended by that.}

Dianne: "Hey, that was close, both times. You didn't "beat me easily."

'Yeah, it was really close, but I've won before, so I know I'm capable of doing it again,' said Armin. 'Although, I think twelve shots is my maximum. I felt like death last time, after doing that many...'

Dianne: "...Maybe we shouldn't, for both our sakes..."

(Posting new room)