[week one - sunday]

[ceded]

[ It's over.

Though she promised herself she wouldn't cry, that she'd do her best for Tiara, she's still upset over Jason blocking her view, and the sourness in her chest lingers no matter how hard she tries to get her mind off of it.

Is this ... it? They just ... go back to their "normal" lives again, and wait for someone to strike on Thursday?

Almost immediately after that horrible scene, Xion takes off with Pluto at her side. She doesn't know how to be around everyone right now. They're all so ... so human, and in many ways, she's never felt more disconnected from them.

Riku will understand.

Riku always understands. ]

Comments

[ceded]

Is this ... what it's like, to have a heart? It's ... exhausting, feeling so much. I'm certain Axel would say I'm being silly, but there's no way this isn't real.

[ A hand presses flat over her chest as her jaw clenches. ]

Riku ... we have to protect them. Even if not everyone here is good... I have friends, now. And ... I want to keep them safe, more than anything.

[heroinwait]

[She gets a short, low chuckle.]

Yeah, it can be a real pain. But maybe it's because all of this is so new to you that it hurts so much.

[After all, she's only been around since Sora lost his heart, right? He doesn't know exactly how much of Sora's memories she's got, but he's sure that Sora's never seen anything like this before. And to Xion, who's only been around for... what, a year at best? Has it been a year yet since that day in Hollow Bastion? Something like this must be far beyond the things she's seen and experienced.

(Trying to reconcile what he knows and doesn't know, and what he can infer and what he can't, is difficult.)

He glances down at her as she speaks, words full of determination. And he nods.]

We might not be able to save everyone. But we can still protect the things that matter to us. Like our friends.

[Her friends. He hasn't exactly been Mister Congeniality over here.]

We'll do it together.

[ceded]

... maybe that's why. Axel and Roxas were my friends, my best friends. But I've never ... been around this many people before. This many humans. It's so much different than I thought it would be.

[ Xion looks up at him, her spine straight and the set of her jaw stubborn. ]

Yeah. Together.

[ She looks away again, and softens quite a bit. ]

I just ... don't know how, [ she breathes. ]

[heroinwait]

[The devil in the details, honestly. Riku looks out over the water again himself as he thinks, folding his arms.]

Well, we know when we can expect things to be the most dangerous, right? Thursday nights. If we can make sure the people we care about are somewhere safe before curfew, that's a start.

[ceded]

[ ... ]

In the hotel would be best. You know, that's where you should be too, Riku. [ It's said gently, not quite an admonishment, but her worry should be clear. ]

1/2 whoops

[heroinwait]

2/2

[heroinwait]

[Her words startle him--Riku looks up, his surprise apparent on his face before his expression softens into a wry sort of smile.

It's been a long time since he had anybody worrying over him like this.]

Don't worry, I will be.

I came back to the hotel three nights ago. We don't know what happens yet to people who miss curfew. If we're going to go back home, I can't die because of something like that.

[That being said, he might be willing to leave the hotel during the night now that they've seen what happened once...]

[ceded]

[ His response produces -- well, first a look of some surprise in reaction to his own, before the lines of her face soften into a shy smile. ]

Okay. Good. I won't push you, but as long as you're in the hotel on Thursday nights I guess it's okay. You're ... someone I care about, too.

[heroinwait]

[Do you see that smile? That's not going away.]

Nui's my roommate. I think I'm probably safer out at the homestead than I am here.

[Her words about him being someone she cares about seems to sober him up, though. He's let himself get carried away here, glad to have an ally in a place that just wants him to die.

You shouldn't care about me, his brain says. It's my fault you're here in the first place. It's my fault you have to go through all of this.

It's my fault that you exist, so it's my fault that you can't exist, too.

It takes a moment or two before he responds, and when he does his voice is even, speaking with a confidence he doesn't feel.]

...thanks, Xion. But you're somebody important to me, so you have to take care of yourself too, all right?

[Without even meaning to, he puts a slight emphasis on somebody.]