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. ]

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[ That's her, somehow exceeding your expectations at all times, positive and negative. She doesn't really think fifteen minutes is enough time to have this conversation.

But she's not making jokes about it, as easy as it would be to do so and subsequently avoid the mild discomfort of having an emotional conversation with someone with whom you have a history such as this. Lea curls her fingers a little for more hand contact, staring down at them and then lifting her eyes to Isa's face. ]

So tell me what you want.

[who's having a conversation, she just wanted to say this, and the only other option was to kiss Lea some more, and Lea's been flustered enough for one day, probably. but Isa appreciates the lack of jokes, and knows that neither of them wants to talk about this stuff.]

I want to kiss you until we both get tired of it, if that ever happens, and I want to not have the kind of secrets anymore that make us angry when we find out about them. I also want... more than kissing, but not until you're comfortable with it.

[she's a little pink now, but otherwise doing well. this probably won't help Lea being flustered and already not wanting to talk about these things, but w/e.]

[ At least she's only pink. Lea is extremely red in the face, but it's not the angry, splotchy pattern she had earlier. She's looking down again, and hanging her head a little more so that the towel hides it. She's too tall, so it doesn't really help as much as she'd like. ]

I don't know when that'll happen, but... you can kiss me whenever you want. Don't think I'll get tired of it.

[that old '00s emoticon OTL keeps coming to mind as these things keep happening. Isa doesn't mean to make things awkward like this! but she's glad to hear that, and tries to lighten the mood by letting go of Lea's hands to give her a half-assed noogie through the towel. Lea is too tall, but there's nothing to be done about that.]

Good to know. Tell me if that changes, okay?

[ Oh my god. And I'm the one that gets called a nerd? Lea flails, a little, but otherwise keeps her composure and drops her hands to the bed near Isa so she doesn't lose her balance as a result of her own ridiculousness. ]

And what about me?

What about you? What do you want? Besides for me to stop dragging conversations into places like this.

[i assume that's what she means, anyway. and yes, Lea's the nerd here, not Isa. food's nearly here to save the day, also.]

[ They're both nerds, stop it. Food will be great. She throws her head back to remove the towel, and while Lea's tone is her typical teasing one, she's serious. ]

Can I kiss you whenever I want to?

I'd like that very much.

[you're a nerd. also knock knock, candygram. Isa leans forward to kiss Lea gently on the mouth before getting up to go get the food]

[ Hmmm, that was nice, but short-lived. She feels conflicted through all the emotions, but she does want more kissing. Specifically with Isa. Food is a decent, momentary substitute, though.

Fuck it, they can eat in bed. She's going to flop over and stare at the ceiling while she waits. ]

[plenty of time for more later. Lea will hear Isa open the door and get the food, with a quiet thanks to the shadow figures that brought it. she reappears a minute later with a towel over her shoulder and the sushi stacked on the two pizza boxes, with an entire roll of paper towels perched on top. the towel gets dropped on the bed so she can set the pizza on it and not get grease on the bedding.]

Here, take your sushi.

[ She's upright instantly, reaching with both hands to take the sushi and also taking in the scene before her with very round eyes. ]

This is a lot of food. Hey, look at you, thinking ahead.

Someone has to. Do you need anything else, before I sit down?

[momfriend, go. she's spreading the towel out better, putting the pizza boxes next to each other, preemptively tearing off some paper towels for them both, etc. if you get grease in this bed she will murder you, just fyi.]

Uhhhh water, but I can get it. Siddown.

[ She carried all of it and set everything up enough as it is, and here goes Lea rolling onto her feet. ]

[god. fine, Isa will move the candy bag out of the way and get settled so she can lay into her pizza (ham and pineapple). she'll absolutely mooch a little sushi; she's the girlfriend who says "no i don't want anything" and then eats half your food.]

[ There's so much she's unlikely to notice it missing. Lea comes back with two glasses of water, because she's nice like that, and offers one to Isa as she steps into and then sits down in the bed. ]

Good?

Mmhm. Thank you. How much do you think you're going to eat?

[most of a slice disappeared while Lea was gone, you do the math. hopefully there's room in the fridge for all these leftovers.]

Not all of it, but too much to be comfortable. I was gonna bring out the hot sauce for the pizza, but I don't think that flavor combo would work too well with the sushi. You know?

[ She sets her water glass on the floor and picks up the sushi to pop open. This bedroom smells heavenly now. ]

I know that I'd have to make you eat out in the hall if you did that, yes.

[Isa swipes something from the sushi immediately since it's there. P: surely there's some weird food quirk that Isa has that Lea could give her shit about, but i haven't come up with it yet.]

Excuse me, buffalo sauce is more than acceptable as a pizza topping. Especially with chicken.

[ Everyone has food quirks, it'll come to light at some point. Lea just knows she loves cheese. There were definitely moon = cheese elemental jokes. ]

[wow, i had no idea Isa was friends with a ghost, that's so cool.]

I guess that's fair. I must still be traumatized from that buffalo chicken and ranch pizza you made me try that one time.

That pizza was great, I don't know what you're talking about.

[ This pizza is waiting in favor of the sushi. She's gonna stuff her face. ]

[the sushi is good, but the ham and pineapple is better. Isa makes a noise over the fact that Lea is clearly wrong and also gross, and goes quiet for a couple of minutes to chow down herself.]

[ It really is good, and Lea was hungrier than she thought. How long has it been since the mac and cheese? Which they still have leftovers of! Who knows how much else is in the fridge, since she's been gone so long. They'll have to pick up more milk...

Lea stops suddenly, and draws her fourth piece of sushi away from her mouth. ]

Fuck. I'm going to miss the bistro, aren't I?

Yeah... It might exist here, but it wouldn't really be the same without everyone else around.

[it's been a while since the mac and cheese, but there was candy (and pie for Isa) in the interim. the fridge probably has whatever basics it usually has, since Isa hasn't been around a huge amount.]

I don't think I'll bother.

[ She pops that entire piece into her mouth before reaching for the chopsticks. This entire roll has sauce and she wants at least half of it before she moves on to pizza. ]

You know that means you have to learn how to make that beef stew, right.