songerein | This Flame That Burns Inside of Me

Entry tags:

This Flame That Burns Inside of Me | OTA

Who: Soldier: 76 & Anyone
Which: Open Log | March Catch-All
Where: Farmlands, Wildlands, room attached to The Wild Harvest
What: Helping clean up the farm lands for the farmers, falling back in to old habits of spending a lot of time out in the wildlands and visiting bees, and a flower surprise that 76 has brought back to his room that's attached to The Wild Harvest pub.
Warnings: N/A, will add as any come up

Days in the Sun
A.
[76 was no stranger to farm work, far from it; he was born and raised helping out on the arm his family owned on the outskirts of Bloomington. Wasn't a big one, but enough so that he always had farm chores to do every day growing up before and after school. Weekends, too. Always had free time with that, too.

Reason that he was more than eager to get out there, burn some of the anxious energy out of himself in cleaning up the planting fields and mend broken fences to make sure none of the cows or other grazing animals kept could get in to them that easily. Also mean shoring and patching up fencing for the fields those animals would be let out in to as well.

There was a yetox close by where he was currently working on clearing a field. Grazing on a pile of weeds he'd gathered and gave to it. Still wearing a harness, but the topless wagon it was hitched to was closer to 76, filled with other debris he'd been collecting already.]

Hope you've got multiple empty stomachs, big guy. You're goin to be eating well and burning it off today.

B.
[The yetox that was out with him was currently resting in the sun, while 76 himself had spread out some fabric to sit in the shade of the wagon itself, checking over the amount of nails he had and the condition of the hammer. Just beside him was a covered basket.]

Hey.

[Passing by? There was that gruff voice-]

If you feel like it, should sit down and relax a bit. Even if not working it's quite the walk to get out here. Got a bit of food and drink. Rest up for a minute, won't kill ya.

Shade of a Forest
[Was keeping himself far more bus than usual, more so after- well, felt like a good two months or more where he just couldn't get out here like he wanted. Given the work he was doing out by the farms? He was taking it a little more easy. Not camping out in the Wildlands as he had been, but it wasn't stopping him from re-visiting some places.

Been a while since he'd gotten a good eye on the dreamhoney bees after all.

Still would be a bit of a walk, stopping by other areas in the Wildlands between each hive he knew of.]

Should probably see what I can hunt-up to bring back to the Harvest with me.

[On occasion? A rather large dreamotion made wolf would be walking either alongside or a little ahead of 76. Blue eyes scanning the area and ears on the swivel. Sometimes there'd be two more to make it three total. Moving together as a unit and sometimes one scouting ahead if something caught attention.

Rather peaceful looking should they approach someone, at least.]

Thorns & All For A Blazing Dawn
[Once the second half of the month hits, and when not working in and around the Wild Harvest itself, 76 could be found in a room connected to the pub itself and the garden as well. The walls of windows that could be easily looked in to from either passing by or from the garden itself was blocked off by various plants in pots and some rows of very colorful jaws that acted almost like stained glass by how they were arranged; a rainbow of colors and patterns. Both the plants and filled jars gave him enough privacy, so he felt.

But he was sitting on one of the cushioned benched with a pot on the table, what almost looked like a golden rose bush with glass-like blooms and buds sat before him. A gloved hand cradling one of the blooms carefully, blue eyes narrowing as he'd taken off the tactical visor part of his mask once he'd gotten it in and sat down.]

How the hell did these come from me?

[He'd gone back out, looking for the area he'd finally been pulled free and, well. 76 had found a single rose bush, just a bit below his knee in height. Looked like it had actually grown on the trip back.]

What does this even mean.

(OOC: Feel free to hit me up/PM me if nothing here catches interest. I'll also be putting some planned threads in here throughout the month.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Wouldn't be hard to get a few samples free honestly- and hell, he even gestured to go ahead. There were plenty that would continue to grow and spread. Didn't mind at all even if he was still a bit stunned over them just... being there.]

Wouldn't surprise me- was thinking how much these looked like roses, and what might help them grow well and... well. [A gesture over the ones that cropped up.

For the time being he settled to sitting there on his knees, hands rested on them after he'd gotten all of the loose soil he could off his skin. Thoughtful.]

Looks like I've got something else to test out, huh? Slowly. [Rather than push like he had with the shadows and ice, and bit of fire once he noticed it with how the shadows he worked with had started to feel... warm.]

[ With his approval, he starts to pluck some of the blooms, using the clippers for the ones that are more stubborn in their ways. She gives him an approving nod, taking the flowers back to the table where she'd left her notebook. ]

Slowly. [ It bears repeating. ] Do not tire yourself. Remember, too, that you have not been back at work for long. Give yourself time to adjust, and things will surely work themselves out.

[ She picks up her quill, ready to write, but she just ends up wagging it like an extension of her finger as she speaks. ]

Definitely slowly. [Even if it was a little late, it was at least progress in, well. Being a little easier on himself, even if only out of the knowledge he had dreamotion he could use to fight and protect. This? This he could be easier with, and likely would be no less useful.

He'd find a way.

That and Susato wasn't wrong, he still tired out a little easier than usual, body still recovering physically.]

Got a good point there, too. Not used to being able to take that time needed to fully rest up and recover.

[Reaper had also sort of... backed that up, even if more in implication that not, hadn't he?]

[ Now that her acting mom-like was out of the way (how does one manage to mom such a prominent dad figure), she starts writing as planned. She labels the next few pages and isn't shy about leaving plenty of room, because she knows the flowers have to be pressed, and she wants to have room to write about the flowers, as she learns more about them.

As she listens, she's got Blazing Dawn, Glowing Dawn, Catmint, Lavender, and Pink? with their own pages, with the question mark there just because maybe there's a better name out there for it. ]

...I understand. [ What else was there to say? Memory was fuzzy now, perhaps besmirched by the embarrassment that she'd fallen asleep in his room, but she still remembers the stories he told fondly--however fuzzy they may be. ] From what you've told me, it has been some time since you have had someone to look after you while you rest.

[He pushed himself up on to his feet with just a little groan, hands set on the small of his back as he stretched with a bit of an arch, joints popping. Really feeling his age a bit, but it was always like that after something that took him a while to recover from. May have been a hell of a lot sturdier and a lot more to give when it came to the amount of punishment his body could take, but Jack wasn't a young man anymore.

Wasn't stopping him, but it helped lean towards taking it easy. That on top of the visits out to the farmlands- yeah, no. This wasn't a surprise. Still, standing gave him a good look at the patch, leaning down just to pick up the stone tiles he'd pried up; could do something with these later.]

Spent around six or seven years alone. [On the run, it was the first one that had been the worst. That recovery after crawling out of burning rubble- well.

He moved, setting the tiles under the table so they'd be out of the way.]

Of course it might say something that the moment I wasn't alone, first thing that person did was drug me so I'd get some sleep after being wounded. [Right in the tea.]

[ Susato immediately stops what she's doing again upon hearing him groan, ready to leap the table if need be. She seems to let out a breath though when Jack doesn't fall, simply standing to admire his work.

Guilt seemed to sink in. Immediately she'll wish she hadn't said that, though her intentions were noble enough. He's hardly alone anymore. ]

...Ha. [ Even so, a bit of a laugh seems to escape her. She doesn't know whether Jack was intentionally trying to lighten the mood, or what. ] That... seems in line, with what I know of Reaper. [ 'Course, she could be wrong. ]

[The sound of the laugh that came was- well, perhaps it was surprisingly warm, genuine amusement there.]

Oh, it wasn't Reaper. It was Ana Amari herself, pulled me out of a fight with him in Egypt and took me back to her safehouse to patch up where he'd shot me in the back- literally. [He only had a scar there now, ugly and twisted patch of skin, but Reaper had done something to keep it from the constant necrosis going on that prevented it from healing.] She slipped it in to a cup of tea she'd fixed for me- Honestly?

I can't blame her a bit, she knew I'd get back up and charge out of there after him given the chance.

[ Oh... Thinking back to the stories that night, she remembers Ana as his right hand, and that her daughter had become captain. It's a good memory, even if some of it got fuzzy towards the end, though her smile still seems sheepish. ]

Well, considering some of the threats he slung at you at our picnic, I think I stand by my statement. Thankfully he didn't have to resort to such tactics, however.

From what we heard, you slept plenty all on your own, after the whole ordeal.

He's always had a big bark, knew that since the first time I ever met him- thing about him is he could back it up easily, too. [Gabriel Reyes' bark was as big as his bite- and sometimes the bite was far, far bigger. Likely the reason most didn't think Jack Morrison was a danger, because he was more quiet, subtle with the sharpness he carried when he saw the need for it.

His own bite was far bigger than his bark.] I kind of figured he'd pop up eventually.

[Reaper had been watching him since the first moment he could walk out, and- well. They made sure both of them came back to the agreed spot.]

Think that's the most sleep I've gotten in a few years, in all honesty. Was a safe enough place to do that, too.

...I... am glad he was there for you.

[ They never did find out where they were hiding out, though it probably doesn't matter much now. She is going to place one of the Blazing Dawn specimens onto her notebook, but she seems almost hesitant to press it. ]

Were you able to talk at all in between your much needed naps?

Given his threat of a promise- I guess I can't be surprised he got involved as he did.

[He finally moved to sit back down on the other end of that padded couch-like bench, leaning back.]

Mostly got information on what happened while I was turned; Noctaere's behavior and all that, what he could observe. [Better to know about what he became than not-] Otherwise we didn't talk much, other than him getting me to rest and eat.

Still concerned I might push too hard, too.

[ They are all a little concerned about that, though that goes without saying. Susato seems to give him a look that says this anyway though, before shutting her notebook closed on that Blazing Dawn, pressing it hard for the best results. ]

Mmm. I suppose it was too much of me to hope that you might have gotten some other answers you were looking for, from him.

[ Some closure on her partnership, perhaps? But maybe she doesn't want to put it quite that way. Especially since a part of her still doesn't really... feel like it is over. Though she might've just imagined that. ]

At the very least, he might've been more hesitant to attack you this time.

[A slow shake of his head.]

I didn't have the mind for it, and I honestly just... didn't want to break what little peace was managed. [He was too tired to fight- and far too concerned about Reaper himself. There was no mistaking the corruption of nightmare energy the man had attached to him, nor the fact there was injury taken even if it was indirect.

Wanted to monitor, and if he was to do that he couldn't do anything to set the man off- like trying to dig for answers. Already got close returning the henning.

A hand lifted, soothing over facial hair slowly.]

When he won't fight, he'll retreat, and he's pretty good at that given what he can do.

[ In truth, the picnic is the only time she's seen Reaper in action. She has no doubts that he is formidable, but she doesn't really have a frame of reference over what he could do as a super soldier, and what he's gained on top of that, developing his dreamotion.

She hums thoughtfully, and looks at the Dawn flower she pressed with scrutiny. ]

He seemed to suck the life out of those weeds. You seem to do the opposite, now.

[ Bet his new abilities would make being a weed killer that much harder, for Jack. ]

That's something he could do back home- but he usually does it to people.

[He'd seen the news, the reports- the bodies left on a battlefield after some run in for himself. The twisted things that looked like they'd been wrung out of... everything.

Shaking his head a bit as he leaned back against the arm on the side he was sitting on, ankles hooked together as one boot kept flat on the flooring.]

Honestly? Be almost ironic if I did the opposite in more than just plants. [But even he felt he was just... a destructive force. All he was good at half the time.]

To... oh. [ That is a chilling, unsettling thought, but Reaper had been nothing but honest when he told her about the death he brought to the battlefield, so she can't be too surprised. Regardless, a bit of shock does show in her expression as it sinks in, before it slowly fades. ]

That... I suppose that would be. I wonder how it would feel, bringing a person back from death. Perhaps it would be similar to doctors or healers.

[A slow exhale-] Whatever happened after things literally exploded on top of us? I think that's one of the results of it.

[So Jack guessed at least, even if he couldn't be one-hundred percent sure of that. Something had been going on with Reyes in those last few years, but never to this extent for all he gathered.

He was looking at one of his hands, brow furrowed in thought.]

I expect it would be awful for the person brought back. [Softly. Knowing he was suddenly thinking a bit- morbidly? Deeper? Something-] There's no erasing what they felt after all- but some may still think it was worth it, to have that chance to keep going, pick back up.

Think it might depend on the person, huh?

Mm. [ She quietly hums in agreement, visibly shrinking. She had been so focused on the heroics of being able to save someone's life, and never really considered what the right option would be for someone who doesn't want to be saved, or was otherwise suffering.

Or the psychological repercussions, even if they did wish to be saved. ]

Is that when he started to call himself Reaper? Because he could do that?

[ How come Jack didn't get any terrible, destructive powers from the explosion? ]

[He was quiet for a moment, let some stillness just barely linger in the air. Of thought.

Was it? Or was it some other reason, a dramatics that only Reyes himself could pull because of a want to own. To take what control back that he could and just- become it and not allow anything else through.]

It fits the look he chose, and carries that with him death will follow- so it could be. Even if just one reason.

[Jack hadn't chosen what he was called, his was given to him by the news media, and just ran with it.]

[ So even Jack doesn't know for sure. It's still difficult to consider for her, that they had worked together for literally longer than she's been alive. Perhaps it's just as hard for to grasp how long he's been looking for answers. ]

Maybe I will ask him. Someday. [ Though she isn't just talking about his chosen name anymore. Funny as it would be, Susato isn't about to run to a man who has proven himself to be dangerous, just to be like, "Hey, so about Jack. Why did you betray him?" ] A fresh perspective may help. That was him, wasn't it? . . . In your photos?

[A soft chuckle-]

He'd possibly at least humor you a bit- because between you and me? You left a hell o a good impression on him. [A tone that carried don't let him find out I told you it it.] Pretty clear when I told him the sandwiches were from you when I caught up to him later.

[They'd had a talk then, too. About things Jack would rather not entertain much thought on.] Yeah, it was. Think if he ever found out I still had them, he'd shred 'em.

[ A what.

Although, hearing him mention the sandwiches right afterwards, she seems to understand. Even so, they were hardly anything special, and she wouldn't ever think she'd win over Reaper with them. ]

. . . Y, Your secret is safe with me. I certainly do not want that, though I seem to remember things differently between him and I.

In fact, I think I offended him very deeply.

[ But, he did seem OK by the end of that conversaion so... ???? ]

That? Is what did it, actually.

[Managing to offend the man to the point he actually felt that way-]

It's almost funny, one of the first things he brought up as a positive about you. [Reaper had always been a bit of a wildcard when it came to things like that.

Seems that much hadn't changed, at least.]

[ .........Susato opens her mouth

and then closes it again. Repeat once or twice more before she finally finds her words. ]

No, I still don't understand how he could see that as something positive. What... did he tell you exactly?

[ Maybe he didn't mean it. Or maybe he was making fun of her. She said some offensive things she wasn't proud of during That trial, too (of the misogynistic flavor), but at least she could blame it on Ryutaro then. Not anymore... ]

That you called him a dumb soldier- and he brought it up a few times, more so when I told him the sandwiches were from you.

I know that tone he took far too well. [His head tipped a little bit-] You've got a sturdy spine and a fire in your soul was something he said, too.

You impressed him, kid. [Of course he couldn't help the chuckle, the way he shook his head-] Not easy to do, ad probably harder these days.

This Flame That Burns Inside of Me | OTA

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