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[darkercalling]

[Riku is having some... problems in his life right now. The least of these problems involves the fact that he's currently stuck with Roxas.

No. Seriously, they're stuck. Riku's forearm is resting against the blond's and it doesn't look like they're allowed to move from that particular position - at least not without some careful planning. And what better place to try and find a way out of this mess than the one that put you in it...?

And as if that wasn't enough, they've also managed to get another little tagalong: a lovely little Terrible Terror, and even though it's currently curled up at Roxas's feet and purring up a sweet little storm, if you ask Riku, the thing lives up to its name.]

... I think I've almost seen everything now.

Comments

[otherness]

[Roxas' free hand is occupied with the little dragonling. He doesn't seem to be having any objections to his newest addition, though he has some Thoughts about Riku.]

It's just a baby...

[He scritches beneath the terror's chin.]

I wonder if it's a boy or a girl.

[darkercalling]

[To be fair, Riku has some Thoughts about Roxas, too. He just also doesn't trust that little dragon to stay cute.]

Don't know. Think anyone around here is a dragon expert?

[He watches them, glad that, for the moment, the dragon seems perfectly content to be subjected to pets and chin scritches. Roxas can keep right on giving it all of the attention, for the moment. Maybe when Riku thinks it's safe, he'll warm up a bit.]

I wonder where all these eggs came from, too.

[otherness]

[He tilts his head, thinking.]

Castor knows a lot of things. If I see her, I can ask.

[Roxas hasn't had a pet before. There weren't even rats in DiZ's lab, so, so he's never had the chance to try out Disney princess powers.]

It was probably Meredith or someone like her. Though... I haven't seen anyone for a while.

[darkercalling]

Castor? I remember her. The Plane stuck us together, too. Not exactly like this, but...

[Man... what is this place's weird obsession with sticking people together?

But it's okay. You can be a Disney princess with a dragon, Roxas.]

I don't think anyone has. [He hesitates, but he does reach down to very lightly pet the Terror's head.] If we had a reliable way to try and find them, I'd say it would be worth looking into.

[otherness]

[Roxas hasn't seen Riku give the dragon any affection so far, so his eyes widen. The Terror is very happy, and not terrifying at all; it purrs heartily and licks Riku's hand.]

We can go to the shop. Though, I guess they could just ignore us.

[He watches Riku for a moment too long, distracted by how... /different/ Riku looks when he's distracted. He's not the egotistical asshole he saw in his dreams at all.

... Well, okay, Riku was still kind of a jerk. But he was Sora's best friend, and Roxas could... kind of see why. Sort of. Maybe.]

[darkercalling]

[It's... purring. ... Dragons purr? ... Wow. This is so far from Maleficent-dragon other dragons he's known, it's... kind of weird to wrap his head around! But hey, if it likes it, then he'll just keep on petting it while they talk. It's not like they're going anywhere anytime soon, right?

Ngh. The faster this is over with, the better.]

Yeah. I get the feeling they'd try. [Beat.] But it's not a bad place to start anyway.

[Which is true. But far be it from him to keep admitting in so many words that Roxas might be right about something djfkladjsl]

[otherness]

[Roxas blinks at him, not expecting Riku to actually agree with him on something.

He glances away again, gently petting the dragon's spine.]

We can always break stuff until they pay attention.

[grip_on_reality]

[when Menzies comes upon Riku and Roxas in their current position, she is actually rendered speechless for a moment. because to the best of her knowledge, the relationship between those two could be described as uneasy at best, so seeing them together like this is, to say the least, surprising. more surprising even than the small dragon with them]

[and at Riku's comment, she can't resist echoing his sentiment] I'll say. What's going on?

[otherness]

Hi again. Um, we're stuck.

[She was nice enough to explain what a police was, and they'd spoken about connected worlds before.]

Oh, and we found a baby. I thought it was a big rock, but then it wasn't.

[darkercalling]

[He sighs at Roxas's answer - he has nothing to add, he's already Not Thrilled with this situation. At the mention of the baby dragon, he finally reaches down with his unstuck hand to tentatively try petting its wing.]

I had a feeling it wasn't just a rock, but... Well, now we know. [He looks up at Menzies.] You've managed to keep away from them?

[grip_on_reality]

Literally, I take it. [she frowns at their connected arms] What 'ave you tried so far to separate?

[but she nods at that question, looking somewhat amused that Riku even felt the need to ask] Knowing this place well as I do, I figured I'd, ah, better keep clear. [an idea that she'd thought would have been more obvious to more people, but apparently not. still, she did end up with a small advantage early on, so she adds:] And I won't pretend it didn't 'elp when I saw somebody else touch one and end up with a dragon of 'is own.

Has it been hostile at all? [coming closer, she watches the purring dragon curiously]

[otherness]

We tried running at the same time, and using something to pry us apart... but it just didn't work. It's worse than when I got stuck with the guy in the suit.

[The dragon purrs even louder. Roxas eyes it curiously, then scritches EVEN MORE. Now it's kicking its legs. How cute.]

Not really. I tried to feed it chicken and it almost bit my finger, but it was an accident.

[darkercalling]

[Riku stares at the dragon for a moment, too. It's... it's kicking it's legs. Like a puppy. What in the name of... ??

He just shakes his head, rolls his eyes a little bit at the memory of Roxas almost getting his finger nommed, and looks back up at Menzies again.]

At least when I was stuck with Castor, we didn't have to maintain physical contact like this. I don't know what the purpose of this is. I don't think I care, either. I'm just ready for it to be over already.

[too bad it's only just started, sucker~]

[bit_impossible]

[Unlike others who have taken it upon themselves to walk around the Plane with their dragons, the Doctor has taken his back to the TARDIS to frolick and play in the garden while he takes a break from it here. The two-headed dragon has been quite the handful, and while he's had experience with weirder creatures, he's sure there's someone on the Plane who must have experience with them, especially if the eggs are there in the first place.]

[But when he comes across Riku, he has to admit he didn't expect to see him with a friend, or who he assumes he is a friend. Being together like that usually implies a level of intimacy, at least where humans are concerned...]

So...are congratulations in order? [He says it with a broad, cheeky smile. It's been a while since he's seen Riku, after all.]

[otherness]

[Roxas looks at the Doctor with some confusion. It's clear from his expression that he has no idea what the man's implying. At all.]

Congratulations? For... what?

[He hasn't done anything. Unless you count jailbreak as one of them.]

i feel like this icon is going to get some serious mileage dfakl

[darkercalling]

[fdjsakl NO.]

It's nothing like that. We're stuck together. [For proof, he holds up their joined arms. Yes, it tugs Roxas's right along.] And we can't stop it. We've tried.

[Way to sort of fluster him, though. It's pretty obvious that under the calm he's trying to maintain, his brain's going a little bit djaflkdjkl.]

Oh, no doubt about it!

[bit_impossible]

[He's still grinning, though seeing that their arms are, indeed, stuck together, his smile starts to fall.] Ahhh, I see. And don't worry about the congratulations--[he says as he claps Roxas on the shoulder.] We'll save that for after we've gotten you apart!

Now. [He looks between them both, his hand casually reaching into his inside coat pocket for his sonic screwdriver.] Let's see if there's anything we can do about this, hmm?

[Without another word, he starts to scan their arms, lifting Riku's, then bending them up and down and all around with Roxas'. One of his eyebrows is quirked upwards far above the rim of his glasses the entire time, and he's softly muttering to himself, but nothing entirely coherent other than the occasional, "ohh" and "look at that...!" His entire examination lasts no more than a minute (or less if either of them get fed up with his scanning with the sonic screwdriver and eventual pokings and proddings.]

Well... [He slowly runs a hand through his hair as he thinks.] The pair of you are well and truly stuck together. How long have you been like this?

[otherness]

[Roxas' eyes widen as the Doctor takes something out of his coat. The hell is that? THE HELL IS THIS? He draws back somewhat, though not enough to really make a difference; he has a dragon basically in his lap and he's attached to Riku besides.]

What-- what are you...?

[And then it's over. And he feels no different. Well, there's that, he supposes.]

What was that?

[darkercalling]

[Riku only stares for about a moment, before he resigns himself to being scanned and looked at and poked and prodded. This is the Doctor after all. He's known him long enough to know he's gonna do that much, even if they haven't spoken in a while. He even looks to Roxas.]

Don't even bother. Just wait for it.

[Because stopping him is impossible.

But once he's finally done, he waits for an answer... and the one he gets brings out a rather impressive, unamused lineface! Good job.]

Yeah. We noticed that. It's been a little while now.

[spiritofadventure]

[Mention her, and she will arrive!!! Though right now Castor is kind of shuffling around slowly, wrapped up in her own wool cloak, and generally looking like she's, well, sick. Leda trots a few paces behind her, snuffling at things here and there.

Castor doesn't seem to notice the pair until she's pretty much on top of them, but the sight does elicit some mild surprise.]

Roxas? And Riku! ...what're you doing...?

[otherness]

Castor! [Roxas brightens considerably, then feels a bit embarrassed when he gets that weird look. He ducks his head, incidentally tugging the baby dragon more into his lap.]

We're not doing anything. The Plane is being dumb.

[darkercalling]

[He looks up when she approaches, gives her a small smile in greeting - but that fades right about when her expression shifts and Roxas ducks his head. He's clearly just as embarrassed.]

We... can't separate, for some reason. We've tried, but there's nothing we can do. [He looks down at the dragon in Roxas's lap.] That won't stop following us, either.

[spiritofadventure]

...I didn't even know you two knew each other.

[She folds herself down to sit in front of them, and Leda follows suit, lying down next to Castor, but leaning forward to snuffle at the baby dragon on Roxas' lap.]

What do you mean you can't separate?

[otherness]

We-- we're from the same world.

[He looks at Leda with interest. The baby dragon stiffens, a bit scared of the much bigger creature, but then it sneezes and confuses itself.]

No matter where we go, or what we do, we can't let go. If I move really far away, we'll still be glued at the fingers. It's weird.

[darkercalling]

[He lets Roxas answer, choosing to watch Leda and the dragon instead. He snorts, amused, at the display of snuffling and the resulting baby reptile sneeze.

And then, he nods.] We tried prying ourselves apart, too. I think we're out of options, at least for now.