fourteen | oo30 [ voice // action ]

Entry tags:

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

[Her tone isn't judging - yet]

How exactly? [Though just in case her blood pressure decides to hit the stratosphere, she pulls out a cigarette]

.... "Roxas said I could pick any one of you" ... that's what Vanitas told me and Axel. We confronted Roxas about it, and...

[ a silence. after their discussion was over, Xion had gone looking in the journals, to see if she could find what really sparked all this. and she'd found it -- somewhat to her dismay. slowly, she pulls her journal out, then finds the conversation Roxas and Vanitas had before the attack, and shows it to Sanji. ]

... Roxas said he didn't think Vanitas would actually ... do anything. [ another beat. her extraordinarily unhappy expression makes it clear what she thinks of that line of reasoning. ] Since Axel and I spoke to him, he's just ... been gone. I wanted to look for him, but... I needed to stay behind, to, to take care of Axel...

[ she finally trails off, realizing she'd been rambling a little. ]

[She heard the same story from Ventus, and couldn't believe it. Neither of them did. And Roxas had struck her as the one with actual common sense between him and Axel (biased opinion though it is) - someone she could trust with Xion's well being.]

This is...

[Sanji reads the conversation once, then closes the journal and slides it back to the girl, like she can't stomach it being open and polluting the air.]

But he knew what Vanitas meant. [That he'd hurt them]

[ immediately she shakes her head, looking up, almost a little ... desperate ]

He can't have! Or he would have... he'd never want us to get hurt. I just... I don't think he realized...

[ the look on her face is just -- it's a little something like heartbreak. the truth is that when she'd first learned this, the sense of betrayal had almost killed her. it felt like Roxas had thrown her and Axel to the wolves without even realizing-- without thinking--

she's so tired of people in her life just not thinking.

but she still can't help but -- want to defend him, or find an excuse, or -- or anything, because she-- ]

I just want him to come home.

[Sanji wants him to get home, too.

So she can find him and kick his stupid, sorry, piece of shit ass into the--

What if that had been Xion? Fuckin shit. And she knows the thought is a selfish one, when Axel nearly died and everyone's hurting, but it's still that difference which keeps the chef from hunting down the girl's best friend.

Damn it, she's pacing hard enough to put a groove in the floor. Abruptly she gets a hold on her limbs and stops]

... Do you have any idea where he is? [First things first. Him talking off because of his own guilt is selfish as hell.] His best friends need him right now.

[ thankfully, neither of them will ever know Xion was Vanitas's intended target in the first place.

she just curls up in her chair, watching Sanji pace. slowly, she shakes her head. Roxas, really, is being no more selfish than she herself has been in the past, in the many, many times she ran before she resolved to give that up altogether. ]

We haven't been able to reach him and I wouldn't know where to look... maybe out by one of the lakes, but it would take a while to get out there, and it's easy to hide in the woods... and it's-- [ she shakes her head. ] We need to make sure the house is safe before we can leave to try and find him...

Figures. [Hell, he could be by the mountains, the desert, the ocean... Luceti, for all its barriers, is a rather large prison.]

Guess there's nothing to do but wait for him.

... for now, at least.

[ yeah she's just gonna be over here curled up into a tiny and sad little ball in her chair. don't mind her. ]

[Looking like a sad, pathetic puppy doesn't make her wanna kick your best friend any less, dear]

... How is Axel doing, by the way?

Better. He's been sleeping a lot, but... [ a ghost of a smile ] That's not that strange for him. He'll be okay before too long.

So some good news. [She settles back against the kitchen stove, feet comfortably still again.

... But it unfortunately leads to another somber topic]

Will you guys move?

Oh... that's right! [ her expression clears a little as Sanji reminds her of one of the few good things right now ]

I don't think we'll have to. Here, let me show you something. [ she opens her journal again, and finds her thread with Hermione, and shows that to Sanji. ]

[Yet another conversation to read. She looks on with some reservation, expression turning more and more precise and thoughtful as she picks her way through the text.

A Secret Keeper -- house completely hidden -- but not invisible -- can he still walk into it? -- and if he were to stalk the area...

It sounds powerful, better than what they've got, but she sees holes that can ruin the effectiveness already. And that makes her nervous]

Have you thought of a Secret Keeper already?

[ Xion watches her carefully, trying to judge her reaction. Just what is she thinking, in that strategic mind of hers?

But when she asks that question -- well -- all Xion does is give her a tiny, hopeful smile. ]

[That's what she figured. Sanji gives the smile back, glad for more than one reason.

Better to give her questions directly to Hermione.]

Alright, when are we doing this?

Tomorrow. I think sometime in the early afternoon.

[ she sighs quietly, looking visibly relieved. ] ... thanks, Sanji.

Of course~! Anything for Xion-chan. [She means it, her reservations aside]

Is there a list of people you want to know?

[ smiles, because she knows she means it.

the question, however, makes her pause. right when Sanji asks it she actually blushes a bit, but remains silent, long enough for the blush to fade, as she considers. ]

... For now, just Luke. If anyone else really wants to know, I can think about it then, I guess. But Hermione said that the fewer people who know, the safer it is...

... Just Luke-kun, huh?

[ ... more blushing. ]

... um ... yes? [ WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPLY, MADAM ]

[Oh, you want it spelled out for you?]

You really like him, don't you?

[ that shuts her up. Xion turns beet red, but ... any and all expression also drops off her face, and she looks down.

slowly, there's a nod -- and perhaps a lack of complete recognition for what Sanji is really getting at -- but strangely, she doesn't seem too happy about it. ]

... Is there a problem with that? [Sanji can probably guess where the lack of enthusiasm comes from. Still, it's a little alarming how unhappy she seems]

[ of course, there's a fairly simple explanation.

... or a complicated one, depending on your perspective. but it can be summed up with just one word: ]

... Riku.

Do you still like him that way?

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