paixaorpg | Days for friends and reunions [Active]

Entry tags:

Days for friends and reunions [Active]

Character(s): Kairi, Roxas, and Riku
Content: Kairi has company, which is probably not the best combination of friends.
Setting: Palazzo Townhomes - Kairi's
Time: Week 16, later afternoon~
Warnings: Possible issues between the boys? lol

Kairi was more than pleased to have Riku in the city now, even if she may not have gotten that across. She'd grown more than accustomed to giving the shpeel about Paixao to people. In her mind she checked off that she covered the basics... only to realize she hadn't.

The main point being: they were currently trapped here.

Well, eventually everything would get covered. For now, she finished the cleanup of the kitchen - dishes, counter-tops, the works. Her freshly made cookies rested piled on a plate, centered on a nearby table.

Roxas was already coming... Now Riku was on his way too.

She 'hmms' softly to herself. "Maybe I should have told one about the other..." She could only hope that things would be alright that she didn't.

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Roxas wore his street clothes, just like he had the day he first met Kairi. There was still something so familiar about her, but he really didn't know why. It was more confusing than anything else; he had such a vague feeling of memory of her, but he couldn't actually remember a thing.

He hoped that maybe he could be friends with her, and that they could laugh together and eat ice cream too. Or...cookies. They were still sweet, so they probably still counted, right? Axel wasn't there to ask.

The apartment building wasn't hard to find, but being sent out so often just to defeat Heartless in certain places made most of the city that way. There were places he didn't know very well yet of course, but only a handful. He looked at the journal again to double check the apartment number, then headed into the lobby and up to her floor.

He rapped his knuckles on the door a couple times. "Kairi? It's Roxas!" he shouted to her, hoping she could hear him.

Kairi was determined to be friends with Roxas; he was a part of Sora, after all, and as a Nobody... well, he deserved friends, too, didn't he? It didn't matter if he may still count himself as one of Organization XIII.

At the knock, Kairi pulls herself away and went for the door, opening it with a smile to Roxas. "Hey there! I'm glad you came by. Come on in." She steps back and gestures him in, only briefly peering beyond to see if there was any sign of Riku.

Roxas had mentioned Riku once... did they know each other on good terms, or bad?

The map on the journal made things easy enough. Riku kept taking note of the scenery, ornate as it was, on his way. On occasion, he found himself descretely picking up jade leaves and golden twigs and pocketing them. He passed by a place called Cafe Ersesat. Curious, he stopped by and asked for a soda “to go.” Despite the very odd look he got, he offered up his collection of tree debris and was quickly given prompt and friendly service. A moment later he walked down the streets toward Kairi’s place with a beverage of choice. “Never thought that would work.”

A ways down Riku finally found his destination... Only to find there was someone else there, too. It was easy to spot a mess of sandy hair that could only be Roxas. Riku froze a moment, unsure how the Nobody would react to him. With a slight shrug, he just let the relief of seeing Kairi again take over and waved from afar... Though his wave never was an exuberant one.

"Thanks." Roxas took a step into Kairi's apartment, giving her a genuine smile as he walked past. He didn't notice that there was someone else in the hallway behind him, and instead looked around inside the place.

It seemed that Kairi was pretty neat and tidy, compared with some of the apartments he'd looked into while doing missions for the Organization. The room had a nice feel to it, warm and inviting. It was the exact opposite of the Organization's headquarters.

Kairi cheerfully returns Riku's wave, leaning against the open door and waiting for him to make his way to her. She glances back towards Roxas. "The cookies are on the kitchen table. They're pretty fresh."

She hesitates, wondering where to go from there. Well, soon enough she would find out just how Riku and Roxas interacted with one another. She takes a breath and braces herself.

Riku came in about a thirty seconds behind Roxas. When he came to the door he smiled down at his friend. "Hey Kairi. Thanks for letting me crash here." He looked at her for a long moment before looking away. His shoulders noticeably relaxed after a long, soft inhale.

Holstering his thumb in his pocket, Riku stopped lingering and made his way inside. Riku's raised his brows as he glanced around and hummed a note. "Hm." He nodded slightly to himself before seeing Roxas in the kitchen. The teen paused slightly, knowing Roxas must've come from a time long before he'd been hunted for impersonating one of the Organization. Or worse, captured him. Still, having an active Organization member here with Kairi, even if it was Sora's Nobody, was disconcerting. Who knew how the Nobody would respond to any news. This is it. Let's play.

"Hey."

Edited 2010-01-06 00:59 (UTC)

"Thanks, Kairi," Roxas answered with a Sora-like grin. He picked one up and took a careful bite, not wanting to get crumbs everywhere. He chewed before speaking again. "They're good!"

The Nobody tried to steel himself as he saw Riku come in. The last time he'd seen this guy it hadn't ended well, but apparently this Riku didn't remember that. All for the better...hopefully. "Hey," Roxas answered, trying not to sound as cold as he felt.

This was a good start, right?

"I invited Roxas over for cookies," Kairi tells Riku after she shuts the door and follows in behind him. "And, well, Riku just arrived in the city again," she explains to Roxas. "...You're welcome to the cookies as well, Riku. Of course."

She offers them both a smile, and while she's completely comfortable with both of them, there's a small warning in her gaze for them to behave.

"Okay, thanks," Riku replied, catching her gaze. He narrowed his eyes with a slightly puzzled look, as if to ask "what was that for?" He walked over to grab a cookie from the table and went to lean against the counter.

"Well, we ran into each other," he commented to Roxas. "Time for me to get up to speed. What's the Organization up to, and are you still a part of it? And Kairi, what's the last thing you remember before getting to this city?" He took a bite from the cookie. From his expression, Riku certainly liked it.

"Hey wait, I never said I was going to tell you everything!" Roxas looked down at the floor after yelling at Riku, not sure what he was supposed to do now. That made two people who wanted him to betray everything he knew. ...Well, one person and a talking meerkat.

"Yeah...I'm still part of the Organization. And I don't know what they're doing."

Apparently Riku didn't have a clue what her look meant, but then, when was Riku ever really one to... dance around the point? He'd go straight for it.

At least he liked her cookies.

Still, Kairi sighs. She understood Roxas's words. She understood he was still part of the Organization, and that it wasn't likely to change anytime soon. That was far too dangerous... how could Riku ask that of Sora's Nobody?

"It's fine, Roxas," she says to him, still trying to convey to Riku with a sharp gaze to tread carefully. She unconsciously edges closer towards the Nobody. "You don't have to say anything about it." Right, Riku? her eyes suggest.

"And what I remember... Naminé opened a way back to the Islands. I walked through it and ended up back in Paixao instead, without her."

Riku paused, mid-bite as Roxas shouted. He narrowed his eyes and popped the rest of the cookie in his mouth. With a faintly-annoyed expression, he opened his mouth a little only for Kairi to step in. The teen glanced down a moment, then looked away as he crossed his arms.

"At least we're both about on the same page," he sighed, glancing at Kairi. She still didn't know about Xemnas, but that would be simple enough.

In a typical, casual manner, Riku walked back over to the table and sat down. He leaned on his left elbow and turned his attention straight at Roxas. "Fair enough... Then it's your turn," he gestured with his hand on the table. "If Kairi and I are on the same page, you're an earlier chapter. What do you wanna know?" I promised after all. ...And I can't back out.

Roxas couldn't help but be scared for a brief moment. He was worried that this might be the same as last time he'd talked to Riku, even though this one was different.

The Nobody tried to talk without his voice shaking. "The last time a guy named Riku was here in Paixao, he said that everyone in the Organization was defeated...." He took a deep breath, fear writing itself across his pure blue eyes. His volume fell as he lost confidence in what he was asking. "Does that...include me?"

That was what he really wanted to know. He was Sora's Nobody, that was why he had the Keyblade...but if he was defeated, what was the point? What was the point of any of this?

Okay, okay... things were alright again, for now. Well, to some extent. Kairi pulls herself up onto a nearby countertop and looks over at her two friends. As Roxas begins to speak, she feels her nerves act up again - because what he was saying was right (although she did not know of Xemnas), but then relief takes over and she looks at him comfortingly.

"You were saved, Roxas. You and Naminé - my Nobody - were saved. You became whole again. You didn't fade away to darkness..."

The fear was hard to miss on Roxas, and Riku raised his eyebrows. He supposed if he had asked a couple killer questions, the Nobody was certainly entitled to the same. Riku paused, however. That means the last time Paixao saw me, I knew Xemnas was gone. So maybe I don’t remember because it was a future me? He had to consider how to explain this, since he, or perhaps better-said, Ansem, actually had defeated Roxas. Though he’d technically left the Organization. Roxas’ll need to be told that, soon.

But as Kairi began to speak, the tension he felt slowly ebbed and he smiled. She always knows the right thing to say. “Maybe the best way to say it would’ve been, ‘we didn’t have enemies in the Organization anymore.’”

Less afraid now, the Nobody was left confused. Those answers...didn't help very much. He tried to take a moment to make sense of them. He didn't fade away into darkness...and there weren't any enemies left in the Organization? And there was this Naminé person again...she was Kairi's Nobody? Was he supposed to know her?

The only thing he could do was ask more questions. "What...what are you talking about? That doesn't make any more sense than what Timon was trying to say!"

Kairi frowns, small enough that it wasn't too noticeable, though. "Well, Timon doesn't always make a lot of sense, to be honest," Kairi admits. She counts of Timon a lot, but sometimes... well...

"What was Timon trying to say? I know it's all probably confusing. Trust me. I understand." She listened to Sora explain about who Naminé was the first time she was here... that was confusing.

"Which doesn't make sense?" Riku questioned Roxas. "Because that was clear."

He listened to Kairi and shrugged, only having spoken to Timon electronically so far. Turning his head back to the Nobody, he made an offer. "If you want, we can give you... Well, you in a nutshell. A highly abridged summary of what we know about you and the Organization. And then you ask from there." He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. And now to step carefully.

"No it wasn't!" the Nobody shouted at Riku's question. Roxas gasped. That did not sound like him. He brought his hand up to his mouth. It had happened with Timon, too.

"I-" He paused, making sure he sounded like himself again. "I don't get any of this. What do you mean that I won't fade into darkness? And that you don't have any enemies in the Organization anymore? I...I don't get it."

Kairi then falls silent and her gaze drops to her lap. She doesn't want to explain to Roxas that everyone he worked with were now gone; she didn't know how to. Delivering the bad news about being trapped in Paixao was one thing, but this...

Hesitantly, she glances over towards Riku. Roxas will have to find out one way or another but...

Riku barely blinked at the way Roxas sounded. He continued to sit back with his arms crossed. “And that would be the second time I’ve heard that voice from you.”

The young man briefly met Kairi’s gaze, hoping for her more encouraging turns of phrase. When even she was looking to him, however, he knew even she was at a loss.

“When a Nobody... ‘dies,’ it just fades away,” he began quietly. “Far as I know, that’s probably what happened to most of the Organization. But when a Nobody gets its heart back, they’re restored to their original selves.” Riku’s voice grew firmer. “...Roxas. You’re one of two Nobodies that went back to being human."

Roxas' brow arched. That explanation...was only sort of helping. "I'll...be...human?" The words sounded foreign, almost wrong. Something in the back of his mind was nagging him, telling him that wasn't what he really wanted, that it wasn't the ending that would make him feel better.

But he wasn't going to say that out loud. Riku...Kairi...they wouldn't understand. How could they? They already had hearts, they had no way to know what this was like for him. To be so lost, and to only get more confused every time someone answers a question. It was like he was spiraling into oblivion.

((still on hiatus, but trying to keep with tags... even if it's short >>;))

No... they couldn't really understand, could they? They've never been anything else other than human. What else was there for them? Kairi has been... incomplete, but she's never been a Nobody herself.

"Yeah, I guess that's the best way to put it," Kairi agrees.

((No worries, short tags happen.))

"Yeah. You'll be human. That voice that just came out of you? That'll be yours. No more feeling empty. You'll have every emotion, good and bad. And trust me, you'll be a pretty happy guy for the most part."

However, Riku didn't smile during any of this. He waited patiently for Roxas to ask for the catch, or at least for him to digest the concept a little longer. Regardless of whoever you were, it was a lot to take in.

"..."

That bit from Riku didn't sound very good. "That voice...didn't sound like me. I wasn't trying to say that. And I didn't mean to yell, either." There was really no reason to point it out. Riku probably already knew everything Roxas had just said. But that didn't keep the Nobody from saying it. And it didn't make him feel any better.

Kairi blinks, not quite sure where the conversation was going now, but no one was at fault for that.

Roxas certainly wouldn't want her pity, but she couldn't help but feel bad for what he was going through. It isn't like a Nobody's life ever seemed fair.

"It's alright, Roxas," she says, sliding off the countertop and stepping over to the table to snag one of her cookies. She looks between the two of them, then smiles. "I think maybe we shouldn't worry about anything for now."

"No." Riku leaned forward, setting an arm on the table. "I'm sorry, Kairi, but putting the rest off won't help anyone." His tone changed, reflecting a tinge of guilt. "Things might have been different last time if..." He shook his head. "...But you weren't there for that."

Riku again directed his attention to the Nobody. "No, that voice didn't sound like you normally do. Because it's the same as your other. Roxas, do you know the name 'Sora?'"

A flash of that brown-haired boy dressed in red brought Roxas' brow into a scowl. "Yeah. I'm his Nobody." It wasn't said with anything like enthusiasm; venom, perhaps, would describe it better. "It was another Riku who told me that."

And Axel who kept it a secret from me for so long, he thought. "I keep trying to find out what Sora was like, but no one but Kairi has told me anything useful. Timon tried, but..." Roxas stopped in the middle of that sentence. He shouldn't really need to finish it, Kairi seemed to know what the meerkat was like. Timon hadn't meant any ill by what he was trying to say, Roxas knew that, but...it just...

Kairi isn't a person to ever be much other than cheerful, but it does happen from time to time. Some days it's sadness, other times it was just being too much lost in thought. Right now she was more annoyed. Didn't Riku see that this was going to end badly if he continued to push? That wasn't going to help anyone.

She catches Roxas' tone and shoots another warning glare at Riku. Not that it helped much last time.

The venom in Roxas's voice, the glare from Kairi... Roxas needed to know. He wanted clear answers. But to Riku it really felt like he was about to get chewed out for making sure Roxas wasn't kept in the dark anymore.

"You know what? Forget it." Riku got out of his chair and pushed it in. "I'm just ticking everyone off." As he turned for the door, he raised an eyebrow at Kairi. "I'll be back later tonight if that's okay. I'm gonna talk to the landlord or whoever can set me up."

However, Riku paused at the entrance way to the kitchen and half-looked over his shoulder. "Roxas. If you have a question, track me down. I'll be straight with you." With that he headed to the door.

Seeing Riku's agitation took the edge off Roxas' anger, but the silver-haired boy's words a moment later made the Nobody more aggravated than before.

Roxas upturned his palms in his lap, and let his head fall. "Why...did I even try?" he asked himself quietly, his cynical tone sharply accentuated by the slightest self-loathing smile. "The other Riku couldn't tell me before we started fighting...so why did I think this one could?"

((For some reason I was thinking it wasn't my turn |D))

Kairi falls into the chair that Riku left, already feeling bad, but she could just see a fight breaking out over this and... no one needed that. Not here. And... maybe she was a little biased because it was her home, but what would the fighting solve?

But last time Sora and Roxas fought... though she doesn't know if anything good came out of that. Roxas seemed pleased. But Riku isn't Sora.

Riku means well. He always does.

"Yeah, that's fine," she murmurs, not looking at either of them.

If there's one thing about an adjoining rooms with no one else talking, it's that a single voice, even hushed, can carry. Riku paused with his hand on the doorknob, a scowl flashing on his face a moment.

"Other Riku," he said in a low yet still audible voice. Though he didn't look away from the door, the edge on his voice was the same as the tip of his Keyblade. "You make it sound like I'm just another replica bumming around here. Someone here said it best, though they don't remember it. 'I. Am. Me.' Get it straight." With barely a pause he added, "And good question, I've been asking myself why I did."

"I'll see you later." And with that, Riku opened the door quickly, though he closed the door with a less-abrupt motion so it didn't slam.

"Riku!" Roxas shouted as the door closed, involuntarily jumping up from his seat and reaching out. His arm fell slowly, and he sighed. He looked back toward Kairi with a pained expression.

"Kairi...I...I..." He didn't even know what to say. He could barely keep himself on his feet after that, and he had no idea why. His breathing had sped up, and he worried he might even pass out. He didn't even know this Riku guy...why was this happening?

Kairi winces when Riku leaves, but her gaze snaps up to look at Roxas. "It's... don't worry about it. It'll be fine." She's not sure who she's trying to comfort or even if Roxas needs the comfort or...

Too many 'or's. She doesn't even know where to begin.

She wrings her hands together, glancing away again.

"He wants to help," she murmurs. "He really does. He means well. Maybe he is really going about things the right way, I don't know." It didn't feel right to her.

It was almost as hard to hear Kairi say that as it had been to watch Riku leave. And Roxas was left speechless. What...what was he supposed to do now?

"I'll...see you later...Kairi..." the Nobody said. He took a few wavering steps toward the door.

Why...was he crying?

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Days for friends and reunions [Active]

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