fourteen | oo30 [ voice // action ]

( Sokka | Locked 100% )

... I need your help. And you can't tell anyone, okay?

( Aqua | Locked 100% )

Aqua... I know we haven't spoken that much, but I need to ask you a really, really big favor.

( Sanji | Locked 100% )

[ a long silence goes here. ] ... could I stay at your house tonight?

( Luke | Locked 100% )

I'd -- [ ... ] Can I see you?

[ Xion is out of the house today. Mostly because it's become almost impossible to stay there. She hasn't slept for more than a handful of hours since Vanitas attacked -- three days ago. She's so exhausted she can barely stay on her feet, but better awake and moving than a sitting target.

Who could sleep, knowing that at any minute someone stronger than you and your friends could break into your home and kill you whenever he wanted?

It's this question that drives her to address Luceti at large, once she's got herself settled on the railing of That One Bridge. Hey, it's like right next to her house and she wanted to sit on a bridge, so sue her. ]

( filtered AWAY from Vanitas and Saix | Locked 100% )

What would you do if you didn't feel safe in your own home anymore?

[ and this is to say nothing -- not a damn thing -- of how she feels about Roxas right now. He had no excuse -- what defense could you give? -- and Axel almost died -- for what? Why? Why had any of this happened? Does she blame Roxas, for extending the invitation, or Vanitas, for taking it? Even if she had something to say to him, she couldn't -- he hasn't been home in days.

It's a very numb Poppet that's sitting on that there railing, swinging her legs and staring at the water below. Please interrupt her thoughts -- for they are very grim ones. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

... he's better now. It was really bad, at first, but... we were able to heal him. He still needs rest, though...

Still, the fact that he will recover is a good thing indeed.

[He's quiet for a long moment, then, in a soft tone...]

... my uncle tried to have me assassinated three times while I was growing up. Even though he never succeeded, those experiences are things I will never forget.

[ a stunned, horrified silence ensues from her end. ]

Richard...

[ what do you say to that? she recognizes why he told her -- to show he understands the fear of being attacked in one's own home -- but even so... she's more upset for him than herself right now. ]

... I'm glad he failed. Your uncle, I mean.

Each time, I kept on living because there were things I needed to do. I wasn't going to let him take that away from me, because doing so would mean that he had won, even if I was still alive. He wanted me to live in fear, to back down and cede my right to the throne.

... I refused to let him have that satisfaction.

[ well. if you can't take courage from words like that ...

... what words can you take courage from? ]

Refused to let him have the satisfaction... you're right. I won't let him scare me. [ easier said than done, but. ] I ... I have to be strong. I will be strong.

For your friend, and for yourself.

[Not that he really needs to remind her of that - like she could forget - but sometimes it just helps to hear those words from another.]

... I know. Thank you, Richard. It really helped to hear that.

Of course, if you would like more security than just that, I'm sure it can be arranged as well.

That's what we're working on! [ sounds a little more cheerful, now, if only slightly ] I think we have a plan... we're going to hide the house using some powerful magic. Only a very small number of people will even be able to find it anymore... I think it should work.

Hide the entire house?

[He's amused.]

That's not what I would have thought of, but we can hope that means that this Vanitas won't be able to think of it either.

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