CORONA

Martín del Mar's curry entry ft. BARNABY FINCH

Thread Summary:

On a night not long after the events of Dawn of the Darkest Day, BARNABY FINCH visits Mars’ office at Rocket HQ. It’s the first they see each other since Necrozma’s attack, and the different ways in which the situation has affected them are made clear. Where Mars has been working non stop for the sake of attempting to remedy Sootopolis’ precarious condition during the aftermath of the attack, Barnaby has kept his distance in the belief that Mars may not care to check on him.

Things start off really tense, with accusations being made by both of them, but when it becomes obvious that both their reactions are born out of concern and out of their worry over the possibility of losing each other, it all really takes a turn. This is the first time Mars reveals another important glimpse of both his past and his true feelings: he has already lost people he loved before, and he’s afraid it might happen again with Barnaby, claiming that Barnaby will never be safe as long as he’s of importance in Mars’ own life.

In the end, Mars decides he trusts Barnaby enough to reveal that he intends to deal with those who have harmed the people he loves, and that he has been planning this for a long time. Barnaby offers to help him with this, and Mars agrees.

Why is it important?:

Neither Mars nor Barnaby are characters who open up easily. Moments of vulnerability are a rarity for both of them, and this is the first one between them since To The Elysian Fields, which is set back in January.

They’re both dealing with a lot of anger and a lot of sorrow, and in both their cases it expresses itself in different ways. This is the first time Barnaby is truly vulnerable with Mars, showing how hurt he feels, but due to how upset Mars still is about being unable to stop the Necrozma attack despite all the warnings he gave, he feels as if he’s being accused of not doing more for Barnaby. This is also the first time they really argue, marking a shift in their relationship and showcasing the problems that may come because neither of them are good at talking about how they truly feel.

The mere fact that Mars apologises to Barnaby is huge for him, because this is not something he does easily, and the same can be said for his admittance of how worried he is that he might lose Barnaby one day. He still won’t call it fear, because he has been conditioned to resent emotions like those, but it is there all the same.

Mars is a very distrusting person, he has many reasons to not want to open up to others, but in this thread he decides he trusts Barnaby enough to speak of some of the most painful events in his life, and that is huge for their relationship going forward, as is the fact that Barnaby decides to stay by his side after being made aware of this.

Furthermore, this thread is also part of Mars’ other large personal arc involving his family, with Barnaby now being one of the people who have agreed to help Mars bring down his family’s syndicate.

As always, Dove is an absolute joy to write with. She had me crying with every post, and I can't even begin to describe how much having her as a ship partner means to me. I'm really happy with this thread, and I'm super excited about how things will be between Mars and Barnaby after this. ILY DOVE 💖 YOU'RE AMAZING