• day 5 •

[otherness]

[Roxas drifts from place to place without any real life in his eyes. He's soaked from head to toe, dripping rainwater as he goes. Rain's stained his uniform and the little cravat he wears, and there are signs that he's been in a rough fight recently: holes and tears in his opened jacket, a nasty burn slicing apart his waistcoat. He's not in any real danger of dying since the bleeding has long since stopped, but he could probably use a reminder that he has Curaga equipped.

'Still kind of a zombie' has never been more apt. He's grieving and doesn't know what to do about it.]

[ooc: And with that, we've hit the ending which is like fifteen minutes of Riku and Roxas showing off and Victorian scenery porn.]

Comments

[spiritofadventure]

[Well this ain't cool. Castor claps a hand on his shoulder as she catches up to him.]

Hey, you might wanna get out of that jacket - and get that wound looked at.

[otherness]

[Roxas flinches when he's touched, pulling away like he's expecting someone to accost him. Well, that's one way to get a reaction.]

It's not-- I'm fine.

[spiritofadventure]

[She lets him go easily, but doesn't back off]

You won't be if that gets infected. Or if you come down with something because of wet clothes.

[darkercalling]

[Riku originally came to the Plane to have some time to himself before he actually went to find Roxas back home. But, well, now that he's here, who does he see wandering around in a daze but the blond himself...

He shouldn't approach. He should leave well enough alone for now. But Riku has never been good at doing what he should, truth be told. So he makes his way right over, slowly but pointedly. He doesn't want to startle him. He's not here to do that. But he's also not stupid enough to be showy about things right now.]

So what happened?

[Like he doesn't know. But he wants to hear it from him.]

(( mmmm victorian scenery porn and keybladers showing off... ))

[otherness]

[He rubs at his temple. He's not sure when he ended up on the Plane instead of the World That Never Was (But Is Anyway). That would explain the sudden appearance of people who actually gave a damn.

He considers dropping off again just to be rude and have more time alone, but he's finding himself hard-pressed to care about anything besides his own fury. And even that is deep-seated and quiet and cool, burning just beneath the surface, waiting to scorch those who get too close.]

I don't have anything to change into, [he says finally. He's homeless.]

[otherness]

[Riku's presence is enough to set him on edge even though the boy is slow and cautious about approaching. He steps back, dropping out of that weird trance and almost reaching for the Keyblade. But he's not... here to grab him?

-- What's going on?

Only then do his words really sink in. Even processing that question is beyond Roxas right now, and he just kind of growls and tries to hold himself together.]

You knew Xion would end up like that, didn't you? You knew it all along!

[darkercalling]

[Not... not "all along". But he's figured for a while that this would head south, and fast. He also didn't exactly know how it would go down, and the fact that Roxas was the one she went to in the end, just so he would fight her... ]

I didn't know that much. But yeah. Toward the end, I guess I knew.

[otherness]

[He's shaking all over. Soulless aren't supposed to have emotions, even though they're copies of hearts-- after all, the darkness doesn't cry, right? So why would someone made of it?

He hates everything. He hates Riku, he hates the Order, he hates everyone for betraying him and ruining the little life he had. But as much as he wants to take out his anger on Riku, he's just too tired.

He staggers and falls to his knees, and then he stays there. Maybe he should consider getting healed, but that sort of high function is beyond him right now.]

... Was that the only way?

[spiritofadventure]

Do you have a disinfectant or something? Ah nevermind, stay here, alright?

[It takes Castor a few seconds to drop (she's still not quite used to it), and a few minutes after that to come back, but when she does it's with a clean, albeit slightly rough-looking tunic slung over one arm, and her hands filled with a roll of bandages and a glass bottle of something clear but faintly green looking.]

Here, this should keep it clean while it heals.

[otherness]

[Having been seated when she left, Roxas stares at the stuff presented like it's completely alien to him. What the hell is in that bottle? And what is-- is that supposed to be a shirt? Still, he's waited patiently thus far.

He's starting to regret his life choices.]

You didn't really have to go through all that trouble, I can--

[He reaches for his Curaga spell, but nothing happens. He's totally out of MP. Even the effort makes him dizzy, and he struggles to stay upright.]

-- or... not.

[spiritofadventure]

Hey, what good is field aid training if I never use it --!!

[She gets a hand on his back to steady him before he keels over] Stay with me, yeah? Now come on, lets get this off so I can clean that burn.

[darkercalling]

[He wouldn't blame Roxas for hating him. Truth be told, he's still waiting for him to lash out at him, tired or not. He's surprised it's even holding him back.

Hell, even he wishes that all of this could have gone in a million other different ways. He still maintains that he doesn't have anything personal against Roxas, but he stands in the way of waking up his best friend, and dammit, it's hard, but...

No. So as far as Riku's concerned...] Yeah. It was.

[He really shouldn't, but... he does. Here, Roxas. Have a Potion.]

[otherness]

[Roxas stares at the offering with confusion, like he's never seen a Potion before.]

What-- you're helping me?

[The imposter who was possibly Xion's friend-- the one she went to when things got bad-- wants to help him? Riku's only ever gotten in the way. It's obvious that he only cares about his goal, whatever that might be.]

Is this some kind of trick?

[otherness]

Sorry, I thought... I could heal myself. Guess I can't yet. [He puts his energy into stripping off his holey coat. Thankfully the zipper's already undone, so it's just a matter of the shoulders. When it's off, his lacerations are clearly seen; the bleeding has started in at least a couple, and he winces at the burn across his stomach.]

Ow, ow, ow... Okay, stretching is bad.

[darkercalling]

[Okay, he expected that, somewhat.]

It's not. But if you don't want it, that's fine. [He moves to put it away.]

[otherness]

[He's really not in a position to say no. It's not like he can run back to the mog shop now.]

Wait-- wait, I'll... take it.

[He gets to his feet, wobbling a bit but-- he manages.]

[darkercalling]

[He's already halfways turned away from Roxas, but when he speaks up, he does stop.

There's a small pause, but he pulls the Potion back out and turns to him again. He hands it over without a word.]

[otherness]

[Roxas takes it without comment. A little too quickly, but whatever. He downs that thing like he's gonna die.

He still has a lot to heal the proper way, but now he can stand up a little taller.]

... Thanks.

[spiritofadventure]

Self-healing, huh? Now that's a trick I'd like to learn.

[Castor winces at the state of him, and looks at the roll of bandages she brought.] Sheesh. Might need to go get more. Alright hold still. This stuff doesn't sting as bad as you'd think from the smell, but it still tingles.

[As she speaks, she uncorks the glass bottle, dipping a hands-width of bandage into it, squeezing out the excess, and slowly starts dabbing at the edge of the burn. True enough it tingles rather intensely, but no real stinging.] How old is this?

[otherness]

I don't think I can teach you, sorry.

[He carefully shrugs off his torn-up waistcoat so that she can get to his burn easier. Not familiar with this kind of healing, he takes it all in with big blue eyes. He braces himself for the inevitable stinging, but it never comes; instead it feels kind of like--]

I-it feels like my belly is asleep. [Oh yeah, she asked a question.] ... I got that yesterday.

[darkercalling]

Yeah.

[He spends a second just... looking at him. ... And he is pretty sure he will never get past the fact that he looks so much like him, and it just makes his heart hurt.]

So. What are you going to do now?

[otherness]

... 'Set them free.'

[There's no doubt in his eyes, even though he's tired and beat up. That was what she wanted, and it's what he promised.]

They used us for Kingdom Hearts, and I'm gonna unmake it.

[darkercalling]

[You know, that's a noble goal. And Riku would be entirely on board, but... Sora.

And maybe when Sora wakes up, things will be different. Maybe things will go smoothly and they can bring this entire mess to a close together. But he has to wake up first, and that's not gonna happen if he lets Roxas get away now.

... If only he'd understand.

Riku's plans won't change. And when they're back in their own reality, he will find him again.]

I see. Good luck.

[Who can tell if he's actually sincere about that or not...? (Not himself.)]

[spiritofadventure]

It's alright - I probably wouldn't be able to learn it anyways.

[Castor smirks a bit at the second comment as she wets a little more bandage to continue cleaning it.] Yeah, I don't know what Evzam puts in these tinctures of his to keep them from stinging, but I'm not about to complain about them either. All the ones I make end up hurting more than the actual wound.

A day!! Gods, even with this you'll be lucky to avoid an infection of some level. Why did you wait so long?

[otherness]

[Roxas doesn't know if it's sincere or not, either. His feelings on the matter are further complicated by the memories imprinted on his heart-- memories of friendship, and then betrayal.

He steps forward like he's going to say something, but he stops himself. He's too weak to fight and not really in a position to demand anything from the Order's imposter. He has his reasons for whatever the hell he's doing, and so does Roxas.

In the end, he lets him go, not knowing what the other has in store.]