cinderlea | (no subject)

(no subject)

[ Riku disappears first. Vanished in her sleep, in the middle of the night, collapsing in on herself in a shimmer of starlights. This isn't like last time. No warnings, no chances to say goodbye, no hesitation or resistance. She just isn't there.

Lea goes minutes after Riku, in the same way. But she's awake, lounging on her couch, having a conversation as she flips through her phone. Here and then gone, like a flame. This isn't the first time either of them have gone home, but it's the first time it's so abrupt. At least it isn't death. The last time Riku went home was seven years ago. She was gone for a month, and she came back with shorter hair and the Mark of Mastery. The last time Lea went home, no one really noticed. She thought she was used to it by now.

Things are different this time. Disorienting. Lea meets Kai in the training, for real this time. Riku has her memories, or at least most of them. They're hazy, dreamlike, but real. She has them all. She remembers how old she really is and how long she's been gone. She remembers everyone she cares about, and everyone that won't change here. She keeps her ice magic and takes what she's learned here to use there. But time is fluid. She doesn't feel like she's been gone for seven years.

Lea's are gone, for now. She lives everything new and fresh, with the dressing room appearing only in dreams vivid enough to unsettle her.

Things aren't the same for every world.

Things go better than expected.

The core story is the same. The heroes rescue the ones that need it, they bring everyone back, they defeat the darkness, and they go home. How and when and who — these things vary, but they do it all together and they go home together. And then their story is over, at least for now, and they come back.

Unlike how they went out, Lea and Riku reappear together on the beach. Coming back is just as disorienting, and neither has their phone, so they get their bearings and confirm memories with each other, of the dressing room and of home, and then separate to find their friends.

They've been gone two months. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[they were both rather heartsick until they got reassurance that Kai would be fine. Hachibi didn't even really have anything he could do to help at the time. also Riku can get out with her intimate nonsense, this is just normal interaction.]

I remember when Kai went in the pod, that was awful too, for everyone. This time was a lot better, even for our Riku.

[everyone likes Isa, because i say so and also it makes sense.]

[ Look, Things happened while she was gone and she had to evaluate a lot and have gay panic and all that jazz. She's back and Red is here but how do affection once you were sort-of-but-not-really a teenager again, for a little while. Which probably makes kissing your bff a bad thing, oops. ]

I'm glad things were better. I'm glad Isa was here to explain how things really went.

[Axel's like :eyes: right now, except he's asleep.]

I like her, she reminds me of Itoko. And it did help, how much she could tell us. I'm not sure what you would've come home to if she hadn't come over.

[something terrible, probably, if it has Hachibi pondering what-ifs.]

[ No u, Axel. Riku starts trying to sit up, which isn't easy when there's so much person on the couch with her. Maybe she'll just sit on him. ]

Like I said, I'm glad she was here, especially after what Axel told me happened in the game.

[that's fine, he doesn't mind that as much as he used to, and Axel's body doesn't mind it at all. he'll move his arms so she can sit up more easily, at least.]

It was... distressing. And stupid, a lot of it. But he told you about those bits.

[but the minigames were also stupid and Hachibi didn't understand their purpose, and there was a lot that went unexplained that was dumb as well.]

[ Fine then, she's gonna crawl back and sit on him in that way that kind of puts her mostly against the couch with her legs over him. Comfy. ]

Yeah. It sounds stupid. I didn't even know I was leaving, not like last time. I slept really well and then I woke up and I was at the tower. It was just like— "I guess I'm back." I felt like... I would come back here, though. When things were over.

[ A pause. ]

It kind of scared me when weeks started to go by after we won.

I'm sure.

[well if she's gonna get comfy like that he'll just stretch out more under her legs.]

How does it feel now that it's over?

Well, it felt final until Axel told me about Xigbar.

[ It's not often that Riku really looks deadpan, but where she is. ]

I wouldn't worry about it too much, when there's so little information and it may be years before you even go back.

[he won't say to not think of it as a threat, because Xigbar is always a problem, but they have to be realistic here.]

I'll try not to let it ruin my life.

[ She's just sassy because- oh ]

Hey, I was promised barbecue.

So let's go, I'm ready.

[you're the one on top right now, woman. also lbr, only half of what he eats is going to be cooked.]

Alright.

[ God. She wiggles and steps off of him, stretching again once she's standing fully. Having her arms up above her head like that makes her scar noticeable, especially to her, and Riku stops to stare at it. ]

[i assume you mean the one this douche gave her, but regardless, he's obliviously yawning until he notices why she's stopped. even then he just looks at it and then her like "what's up, you weird human?"]

[ The werewolf scar on her arm was the one that came to mind, actually. So Riku's essentially staring up at her arms in the air, but after a second or two she drops her arms and then lifts up the edges of her shirt to see the fucked up rib scars because that's a good point. ]

Everything I got here disappeared. The one from Xemnas, that was still there when I went home. But I wasn't a werewolf anymore. I didn't have any other scars, or proof this place was ever real.

[he tips his head slightly to one side, not to see better but because there's no other way to show this emotion without movable ears.]

Kai at least had his rings still, but otherwise he was the same way, and only fully remembered things some of the time. Are you glad to have them back?

...yeah, mostly. I kind of missed being a werewolf.

[ This is a joke, but they both know what Red knows, which is that it's actually true. She's mostly lucid these days, and she hasn't hurt anyone since she turned Nami. She regrets that, and feels guilty, and also feels guilty for enjoying the full moons. But she does.

Hmmm. She eyes the one he gave her with nonchalance. ]

Maybe the dick who gave me this one could've made it look a little cooler.

Nah, the other options would be bite scars or burn scars, and both are pretty messy and not cool at all.

[not that this one's much better, probably, since it was a wound that went in instead of raking over the skin, but whatever. also if anyone's going to understand about enjoying being a werewolf it's Hachibi.]

No thanks. I have enough bite scars.

[ Admittedly one isn't visible because of the artistic Nami who fixed her arm, but if anything happened to that paper and her arm vanished, she would have some incredible scarring. She does have the bite on her back from him, though. ]

You coming?

[whoops, he was so busy admiring Riku he forgot to get up, but now he is. he'll follow her out and then lead the way.]

It's not far. What's the last thing you got a scar from?

Uhhh...

[ She's heading over to the door and slipping her shoes on, but now she also looks thoughtful. ]

Big scars? I'm not sure. You?

Me personally or Axel's body? I've never had anything last long enough to scar, but those claw wounds Axel got on his face that you stitched up were the last thing for him, I think.

[they're still there, too, but somewhat faded, since it's been... almost seven years since that happened, jfc. that was a good thread and a good time for everyone.]

— Uh. I meant, you were the last person to scar me. I think? I would have always thought you and Axel weren't capable of being scarred, if not for that.

[ Seriously, she saw his face grow back from skull in places. ]

Oh. Yeah, he doesn't normally, but because I mostly left it alone so it could heal the regular way, since it was so bad, it scarred on the surface. Things that I've healed quickly leave scar tissue down in the muscle, but nothing on the surface, usually.

[and facial/head wounds are special anyway, they require so much more delicacy because of all the muscles and nerves involved.]

What's the fastest you've ever healed something?

[ Because she's suddenly curious. It's neat, the way he works. ]

Hmm. You've seen how fast I heal from things like water or ice, but deliberately healing... there was one time, Axel nearly had his arm taken off, some special jutsu that cut through all the muscle and was partway through the bone, but I had it pulled back together and healed almost before the attack stopped, because he needed to be able to retaliate.

[he was never that fast with previous hosts, because previous ones weren't Axel. also these fools left the apartment and are on their way to food now, yes?]