backdated to mid-morning yesterday, oops!

[fading]

[if anyone has attempted to contact Nami to wish him a Merry Christmas, they'll have been informed that the number is currently not in service. this might have something to do with the fact that, inside Nami's trashed apartment, his phone is sitting in a puddle of paintwater, sparking. Nami's nowhere to be found!


there's a frantic Kai calling for Nami as he makes his way through the park. he can feel that Nami's still in the dressing room, but there's a wall between their connection so solid he can't sense anything other than that.]



(ooc: Nami got a heart for Christmas. unfortunately, he's had a lot of negativity 'bottled up' so to speak, and the sudden onslaught of proper emotion wasn't taken well. he's in hiding, having taken a portal straight from his apartment! responses will be from Kai, at least at first, despite the fact that the post is from Nami.)

Comments

[dawnrise]

[She is a bit surprised, but of course she doesn't try to pull away from him or anything. She drapes her arm over him more, a hand over his shoulder, as if it's a protective wing or something equally good for sheltering him from this, even though she knows she can't.]

I'm sorry.

[fading]

I'm not ready for this, Riku. I'm not.

[he also doesn't think he deserves it, deep down. Riku may be right about the fact that Marluxia and DiZ aren't really good people to be basing one's self worth from, but it doesn't change the fact that, for a good chunk of his existence, they were the ones in charge of him.]

[dawnrise]

... I know. You're not.

[She agrees. That he's not ready, that is. She doesn't think he's ready at all. Her hand moves up to the end of his hair, but doesn't go any farther.]

But you'll have to learn how to deal with it anyway.

[fading]

I don't know how.

[he doesn't know what to do at all, really.]

[dawnrise]

That's why I said learn.

[She leans some of her weight on him, eyes closing. It seems like a lot happened very suddenly, and she feels like she should call Kai and let him know what's going on. But Nami's more important right now.]

[fading]

[Nami's not ready for Kai to know. he's got some really mixed feelings about him right now. he doesn't Kai to be disappointed by how he reacted to the sudden heart. but he's also angry at him. not for anything he consciously did, technically, but over the fact that in the end, before the DR granted him his own body, Kai was just another cage.]

[dawnrise]

[If Riku could know that, she would likely say something about Kai just being happy he could be angry at him, or something. Anger's a good emotion to feel. Honestly, Riku thinks it's a good thing that he has a heart, and not just because she cares about him and wants him to be able to feel things. If he's angry, he can deal with these things over time.

She waits a few minutes, not moving them at all, before she says anything else.]

Why did you come here?

[fading]

...I don't know. I wanted to be alone. I was always alone here.

[dawnrise]

Mm.

[She sounds understanding, and she is. Or at least, she feels like she can understand. A little.]

Guess I should tell you now I don't plan on leaving without you.

[fading]

Why?

[he already knows the answer, technically, but it's easier hearing it.]

[dawnrise]

Because you're my friend, and I care about you, and if there's anything I can do to help you through this I want to be here so I can.

[fading]

[he's quiet again, shifting against her as he tries to gather his thoughts.]

I don't want to go back yet.

[dawnrise]

You don't have to. Not yet.

[Not at this moment, anyway. In the next couple of hours, maybe.]

[fading]

I don't want to stay here either.

[but he doesn't know where to go. ;; take him somewhere, Riku. he'll open the portal for you!!]

[dawnrise]

[She's quiet as she considers it, then leans back to look up at the sky.]

The woods? The ocean? Pick a world and we'll go. A place where we don't have any attachments.

[fading]

I don't know what to pick, Riku. I can't think clearly.

[dawnrise]

...let's go to the woods between here and Halloween Town.

[fading]

Alright.

[he'll pull away from her slowly so he can stand. he looks shaky and miserable and emotionally exhausted, but that's not stopping him from calling up a portal. it doesn't seem to be paining him the way it did Riku though.]

[dawnrise]

[Riku looks alarmed, and straightens up to put a hand on his arm in warning.]

You don't need to be doing that. Not yet.

[fading]

[he looks at her in surprise, but the portal halts in forming. it's just a little lump of darkness on the ground at the moment.]

...How do you think I got here?

[dawnrise]

[She frowns, then shakes her head.]

The same way I did. That doesn't mean it's not dangerous.

[fading]

Fine.

[he frowns as well, and lets the darkness disperse. they're taking the long way, then.]

[dawnrise]

[Maybe it will do some good. She drops her hand down and offers it for him to take, but she won't be offended if he refuses.]

[fading]

[are you kidding, he's definitely not refusing that contact. in fact, she'll even get a tiny little halfhearted smile for it.]

[dawnrise]

[She smiles back at him, a real smile, just small. If he'll let her, she'll start leading them off.]