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

Oh, good idea. We can head over there whenever you're ready, you know I could just sit here forever and eat meat otherwise.

[he will, in preparation for this, put everything left that hasn't already been cooked on the grill, because yes.]

As much as I'd like to, I wouldn't have any room left.

[ She has eaten a lot though. More than she thought she would. Guess she really was hungry. She drops her chin into her hand to watch the grill though, because that's kind of funny. ]

[listen, food is not allowed to go to waste around him, this is known.]

There's gotta be somewhere around here that could replace your legs with hollow ones like mine.

[ Yeah but all of it, right at the mention of leaving this place? Still funny. ]

You mean being a werewolf isn't good enough?

Nah. And actually it's not that I have more room for food, it's that I digest it so fast. Maybe some day the dressing room'll body swap us for longer than a day so you can see what it's really like.

[he's already getting the last couple of ribs off the grill, like they're in some sort of hurry here.]

I— Maybe? Hopefully not. I like staying in my own body.

[ Nothing personal, Axel. Wow those are barely hot, c'mon. ]

[shh they're room temperature, it's fine.]

Fair. It hasn't done anything like that in a while, anyway. Do you want any specific bits before I suck up everything left on the table?

No, I meant it. Help yourself.

[ She's going to stretch and lean back in her seat while she waits, because they aren't actually in a hurry. ]

[well, as with tinyxel, part of him still feels a little embarrassed by the way he normally inhales food, but this is Riku, and while she's only rarely seen him eat at the speed he'd prefer to, she has seen it. so brb, ingesting a decent quantity of meat right off the grill in like < 2 minutes. he's not in a hurry, he just likes to get ahead of his digestion sometimes.]

[ She doesn't even really pay attention to it anymore. The only thing she really feels is awe, and respect. While he's eating she's going to be chilling here, one hand scrolling wistfully through her phone. ]

[well, if she actually told him that's how she felt his dokis would probably kill him. and wistful is fine, it's sadness that isn't allowed here in the fun friend zone. once he's basically through eating and wiping rib sauce off his mouth and hands, he's casually side-eyeing Riku's expression, just to make sure she's okay.]

That's so awesome you ended up with those photos on your phone here. Nothing like that's ever happened before.

It gave me photos, once— was it you that helped me pick them up?

[ She can't remember. Here, since she feels weird sharing this part of her with other people and it would probably make Kai sad. It's a selfie from above, with her and Sora lying on the bed in her room, just around sunset, their hair still damp with seawater. ]

I think I tried to, anyway, but it was way before you were even tolerating my presence.

[nooooooo cute. now he's gonna put his head on her shoulder for a minute, because he gets it, enough to really genuinely sympathize. he's never really had anyone apart from Riku that he had that sort of close friendship (and only friendship, except that one time) with, where he's sad if he's away from them for a long time, but the period of months Riku's ever gone isn't the same as the years she goes without seeing Sora. even his Roxas wasn't like that for him, and would probably just attempt to murder him on sight now anyway.]

Make sure you keep that photo safe, it's really good.

Mm. I thought about making it my wallpaper, but maybe I'll just keep it.

[ No risk of being sad at some point later on, or whatever. It is a very good photo, and one of the few that's just the two of them. There are a lot of the trio, and several more of just Kai and Sora, and some combo of Kai and her, but not many of Sora and Riku. It's a nice photo, and it's special. Her current wallpaper is somewhere nice on Destiny Islands. (The lockscreen is sunrise in Halloween Town, with some kind of green mist seeping in from the side.) ]

[something something lord of the rings quote about keeping things. anyway. Axel's gonna condense plates and heap the used napkins on top because he's finally in the habit after all this time.]

You won't be struck by the sads later, that way. Ready for ice cream?

[ What a good kid. Kai's done a great job with that, huh— ]

Definitely. Know what you're getting yet?

[yeah, he eats veggies now, too. time to stand up and stretch!]

Nope. Something fruity, maybe.

I want peanut butter.

[ It is her favorite. Fruit would be the better choice after all of that meat, but she's back in a place where she can get any food she wants whenever, for free, so it's time to indulge. She'll follow him, dusting her hands off on her jeans. ]

[off we go then, out of this meat palace, with Axel holding the door for Riku again.]

You might regret that, but okay. I'll carry you home if you do.

Piggy back, fireman, or bridal?

[ One would be bad, the other acceptable, and one ideal, but she won't say which is which. Ugh, walking in general. She feels warm after all that meat, and wants to tie her hair back. At least she doesn't have the dumb hairstyle the male 'kus ended up with. ]

Hmm, probably piggy back. Your stomach isn't affected that way.

[not that he's super familiar with such problems, obviously. also he laughed for like twenty minutes over Riku getting a haircut from Heartless in the game.]

Deal.

[ No, it's fair. It's awful. Her hair is a little shorter than it had gotten before she left, even though she's the right age, but it's not as short as her Dream Eater look. She's gonna bump her shoulder against his. ]

Thanks for taking care of things while I was gone.

[the Dream Eater look was worse, canonly, but iirc this Riku was pretty cute. Axel's oblivious, anyway.]

Which things? Besides your dog, I mean, before Isa adopted her.

Well, definitely Serein, but in general? I guess I feel a responsibility to this place, like any other world. I made peace with it, or whatever.

[ She waves a hand. Riku does her best to knock out heartless and get bad guys to fuck off, even know. ]

Nothing's exploded, no one took over, no one's in hibernation...

Oh, pff. Not like there was any trouble or anything. Isa and I came over to a different part of Radiant Garden and we saw one Heartless in that one sketchy-looking alleyway. It didn't even stick around to get beaten up.

[you know the alleyway, Riku, if you've followed Axel's advice and/or directions to that one place we've discussed in the past that everyone in a healthy physical relationship should visit periodically. also sorry, Riku's trying to be serious and grateful or whatever and Axel's being Axel.]