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

[Well. At this, Luke scratches his shaggy hair for a second before he looks up at the sky.]

Getting you to laugh.

[ ... ]

[ ... was all of that ... really just ... ]

[ ... just to make her smile? and laugh? and ... ]

[ ...

well.

then maybe he did win the real battle after all. ]

[ it's ... hard to know what to say to that. it helps little that she's visibly, obviously blushing, the gesture having, well, really touched her. and she hadn't even realized!

jeez, this feeling ... it's familiar, she knows it.

after a moment of just contemplating him in silence, Xion pulls her knees up to her chest, hugs them, and gives him one of the sweetest smiles she's ever given anybody. ]

... okay, I guess maybe you do win after all.

[... Well also he just really likes teasing and wrestling, but yes, that was the main reason for all of it.

But more importantly! HAHA, SHE ADMITTED IT. Luke grins and breaks his gaze away from the sky to look up at her from the ground.]

Ha!

[... Only to be caught off-guard by that smile. He hardly ever gets ones like that...]

[... Oh jeez, there's that little feeling he never figured out. DEFENSE MECHANISM GO: TSUNDERE MODE.]

O-Of course I do. I knew I was going to win!

[ they're both blushing. at each other. this is one of the few times Xion really realizes it. jeez, they must look really silly right now...

smiling crookedly, she edges out a toe to nudge him. ]

Did you really?

[Of course, the only thing Luke realizes is that he's plain flustered. gdit Xion.]

Yeah! I mean, I was...hoping I would.

[ that makes her laugh. he's so sweet. she stands, and offers him a hand up, still smiling. ]

... I do feel better. Thank you, Luke. I'm glad I asked you to come see me.

... Yeah. I'm glad, too. [He reaches to take her hand and help himself up, his blush clearing a little in favor of a smile.]

You should get some sleep, too. Do you have a place to stay for the night?

[ she nods, releasing his hand. ]

Mmhmm. I asked Sanji if I could stay with her. There I'll at least be able to get some sleep.

Okay. [Xion should be safe there; there are plenty of Straw Hats, after all. And it's right near his house, too, a house full of more capable fighters.] Just be careful.

... I will be. [ she looks up at him for a moment, thinking maybe she might hug him again before she goes--

--but that tight little twist of emotion in her chest has her act otherwise. on impulse, she leans up on her toes and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.

... and immediately turns crimson, and .............. leaves. promptly. managing only to call back over her shoulder: ]

I'll see you later!

[... WHAT WAS THAT

WAS THAT A...

Sorry, Xion, Luke is too busy holding a hand over his cheek and wondering how that happened to farewell in turn. Kisses on the cheek were always platonic; his mother and Natalia occasionally gave him a few... right?

So why does he feel so flustered again?]

oo30 [ voice // action ]

[Action] I bet it's nice and cozy in there :>

[Action] .... dammit Luke. hang on. 1/?

[Action] 2/ALL YOUR FAULT

[Action] 3/lalala

[Action] 4/5?

[Action] 5/5 also /ESCAPES FROM YOUR STOMACH AND LAUNCHES YOU INTO SPACE

[Action] 1/3 SEE NOW THIS ONE'S YOUR FAULT

[Action] 2/3

[Action] 3/3 also GOOD THING I LIKE SPACE

[Action] I HOPE YOU FREEZE OUT THERE.

[Action] SO KIND YOU ARE ;A;

[Action] damn straight I am. B) this is why you love me.

[Action] ... Yeah you're right B(

[Action] tsun tsun dere dere? :3 ... also /plans something terrible.

[Action] ...8[ What are you planning you

[Action] ... B)

[Action] ... OH MY