fourteen | oo24 [ voice // action for housemates ]

[ Xion sits down to make this post in her room, quietly unhappy about it, but knowing she has to persevere. He wouldn't want her to be sad, she knows it.

She'll have to find a new teacher.

But Xion finds she just can't sit still, and rises, speaking as she moves down the hall. ]

For anyone who knew him... Longshot has...

[ then she notices something. Sora's door is slightly ajar, and the inside of the room...

as if entranced, Xion slows, then moves towards it, giving a gentle push. ]

Gone ...

[ it's empty. the room is empty, completely bare of any sign that Sora was ever there. ]

... home.

[ and that's it. Xion has lowered her journal, giving an upside-down view of the wall through the journal's camera as she stares at this empty room.

it takes a moment -- a long, numb, endlessly empty moment that may go on for two or even three minutes -- for Xion to sink to her knees. only then does she finally, slightly, come back to her senses. she adds her final statement in a voice that, while even, is just barely above a whisper. ]

And ... and Sora ... Sora has also ... gone home.

[ if heartbreak had a sound, it would sound like her voice. for anyone who replies to her over the journals, it will be some time before she responds. housemates will likely get to her first. ]

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[ ... Ramirez. Xion recognizes his voice, too. Still so formal and kind of sad. But it's still roughly half an hour -- a little longer than it took for her to reply to Fenimore -- before she responds to him.

She's not exactly sure what a condolence is. It sounds sad. ]

... Ramirez?

[He's a bit surprised that she answered back at all, really. He wouldn't have faulted her had she chosen to forgo his sympathy. But he can't ignore a lady. Especially one as upset as she sounds right now.]

That's right. And you're Xion.

...I apologize if I interrupted you.

You didn't. It's... we're-- [ a pause ] I'm not really sure what's going to happen now.

[He pauses. He's not sure if this was an invitation to dig deeper or if she's just speaking out of despair.

...But he'll take a chance. Simply because he doesn't want her to think he's left her.]

...What do you mean?

... I just don't know what we're going to do without him. [ her voice sounds a little bit raw. ]

...

[Ramirez knows very little about Xion herself. He has no idea how truly unfortunate this situation is for her.

But he knows the feeling her voice seems to betray. The girl sounded so lost and aimless- like something that had been holding her together was cruelly torn away from her in an instant.

He's had that experience before. It wasn't his first and it wouldn't be his last, but the impact never seemed to lessen.]

...I understand.

[...And for all intents and purposes, it may sound like he does. His voice is soft and holds nothing but empathy. Ramirez doesn't like physical contact; he's not used to it and it makes him uncomfortable. But had Xion been in front of him when she had voiced that, his arms would have been around her in a moment.]

[ for what it's worth, Xion does pick up on it. she hears, echoed in his voice, the same pain she's feeling. her first feeling is to wish he didn't have to understand -- no one should go through this sort of thing.

her second feeling is a flickering gratefulness. ]

How did you get through it...?

[ she doesn't realize what a personal question that is, unfortunately. ]

[Equally unfortunately, this is not the person to go to when trying to figure out how to cope with grief.

He does not handle emotion well. At all.]

I had no choice. There's little you can do here.

[His tone is still soft, still sad...but there's a biting bitterness behind it now.]

[ ouch. but as harsh as that is, it rings of the truth, and Xion takes some comfort in it. ] I know. That's the worst part. And it still feels wrong to wish he'd come back, somehow...

[It takes him a moment to answer. Somehow, it was like talking to a mirror - one that was made the day Fina had left this place, leaving him behind in only the most poetic form irony had to offer.]

I know.

[The way Xion is speaking...he recognizes it. That tender, bruised tone. Sora...whoever that boy is, he was important to her.

And unless they meet here, she will not see him again. Ramirez can hear it in her voice, because all it brings to mind is how his last chance at seeing his childhood friend had only slipped through his fingers once again.]

...I'm so sorry.

... thank you, Ramirez. Really. It was nice of you to say something...

[...C-cough. He's not sure what he did. He's so used to things backfiring quite spectacularly on him these days.]

...I'm sure you know better people to comfort you.

[But her words manage to worm their way under his skin anyway. He does so miss his own little sister figure. :C]

...If you need something...I'm never particularly busy. It would be a welcome change.

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[voice] He is such a downer, I'm sorry.

[voice] It's cool, we are /all downers here./

[voice] It will only get worse. 8( THIS IS NO MAN'S LAND.

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