SHUFFLE/WAY-STATION/ILLNESS/WHATEVER MINGLE POST

[save_the_souls]

Who: You! Me! Him! Her! Them! Everyone!
Broadcast: If you want!
Action: On your respective ships, or the Waystations!
When: After the shuffle over the next couple days! Whenever man!

[It's been nearly a week since the fleet's said their goodbyes to the planet full of skull face folks, and another Shuffle has come and gone. Despite what was mentioned on the last week's Shuffle about cannibalism, it doesn't seem like any crews has resorted to that, so maybe some of you have begun to relax.]

[Or maybe not. In fact, maybe you should do a crew headcount just in case1.]

[By now, some of you who handled any red stones from the planet natives may be feeling under the weather or even downright shitty. But hey! What's that to stop you from visiting the way-stations? These way-stations may be in the same crappy condition as the last way-stations - but at least they're people on these ones! Really...shady looking people! But that's not about to stop you from making friends right2?]

[Essentially, this is a game wide mingle post for this week's shuffle, November's way-stations anyone getting ill, or anything else you want to do but too lazy to make a post about! Please feel free to tag in and tag around! Just make sure to put your characters' location and communication methods (action/network) in the header and/or in the prompts!]

1. - This recommendation goes double for the SS Blue Fish.
2. - Warning: Attempts to make friends with extremely shady characters on the Way-Stations may result in heartwarming musical numbers, or much, much more likely - being kidnapped. Please use your own discretion.

Comments

[wilder]

[Oh- right. That was not subtle. So he'll just shake his head and shrug it off]

It's nothing.

[And he'll offer him a grin as he moves on to another subject]

So, want me to try again? I'll try to hold in any sneezing this time.

[limitstorm]

[ "it's nothing"?

you know what, he doesn't accept that. riku isn't usually so nosy, he doesn't pry into people's lives, he usually leaves well enough alone, but he knows that rebuff. he knows it way too well, he uses it, and he's not going to let kaneis do the same thing he does. he knows it's not healthy. ]

It's not nothing. What's wrong?

[ not even going farther, bro. nope you don't get to use that line on him. ]

1/2

[wilder]

[WHOA WHOA WHOA THERE. Did you just deny his "it's nothing"?? Can people even do that?? JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE??]

[But okay no really, Kaneis looks a bit surprised for a moment simply because yeah, so not used to people calling him out on that shit]

[wilder]

[Then he rubs the back of his neck, giving a little humorless "Heh" sound...]

Really, it's no big deal. Just...ran into someone I used to know. That's all.

[limitstorm]

[ YEAH THAT'S FUCKIN RIGHT HE'S OVER HERE SMASHING YOUR "IT'S NOTHING"

"it's nothing" that's the stupidest thing he's ever heard of course it's something you complete and utter idiot

says the person who'll remark "it's not important" at the slightest provocation

his eyes actually brighten--in gratitude, and in slight envy. part of him wishes he could have someone from his world, too... but no. ]

Someone from your world? That's good. What, you're embarrassed?

[wilder]

[DAMN RIKU YOU HYPOCRITICAL REBEL.]

[And ha...goddess, how does he even explain this mess]

Heh...I wish. It's, uh, a little bit more complicated than that?

[limitstorm]

Like? [ yeah, push push.

come on, kaneis. ]

[wilder]

[He sniffs as he rubs the back of his neck]

Like...we had a pretty rough falling out? [ "pretty rough" meaning "I was stabbed and killed" ]

Except he's from another timeline where things happened differently, so...he doesn't remember ever having a falling out.

[limitstorm]

[ ... hm. ]

So this is your chance to come back together.

[wilder]

[...]

What.

[limitstorm]

[ did he say it wrong...? ]

Be friends again. It's tough, but... if you were good friends before then, maybe you can understand him better now.

[wilder]

[He kicks at the ground a little, glancing away at Riku. He knows the guy means well. But...]

Ha-

Iiiii don't know if that's such a good idea, Riku.

[limitstorm]

... why not?

[ riku's brows raise. ]

What happened when you two fell out?

[wilder]

Uh-

[He crosses his arms. REALLY NOT SURE HE WANTS THIS CONVERSATION]

...I'm not sure I should say.

[limitstorm]

[ he look at kaneis carefully for a moment, and almost reaches out--before he exhales and lets it fall back to his side. ]

I'm not gonna make you, but when you say something like that, the people who care about you get concerned. Keeping quiet isn't gonna help anyone.

[wilder]

[There's a long pause from him. He knows Riku is right. That keeping secrets really doesn't help that much - not when he's in this deep. It's not like he can ignore Lloyd's existence, and it's not like he can just pretend he never died either. Too much has happened since then, and he's pretty sure even Lloyd could tell he was acting strangely.]

[But at the same time, he really doesn't want everyone to know. And most of all, he doesn't want people to blame Lloyd when he sure didn't. No. It was all his fault what happened.]

[At least Riku already knows some stuff. So...eventually, he gives a little sigh and his shoulders slump]

...Remember what I said about my past? [Wait. He said a lot of things] I mean, the end part anyway.

[limitstorm]

[ ... the end part?

wow, thanks for being specific there, kaneis. riku thinks for a moment before-- ]

You mean, you dying--you in Exsilium?

[ did it have something to do with that other world? had he actually known about this, back then, but didn't know now? if it wasn't incredibly personal, it would make sense as to why kaneis is being so... hesitant about saying this. who knows, maybe he doesn't want to repeat this kind of thing. ]

[wilder]

[Well frankly, he never told anyone in Exsilium how it happened. He always managed to avoid the subject, as best as he could while acting callous about his own death. He probably would've kept doing so too, if Lloyd hadn't showed up here and you hit him with logic]

[Thanks man]

...The dying part.

[limitstorm]

[ riku quiets; he knows this has suddenly taken a turn for the serious, like it hadn't before. ]

Yeah.

[ a pause; ] Wanna sit down? [ maybe it'd be a bit easier... ]

[wilder]

[He shakes his head. No, he doesn't want to sit. Sitting implies there's going to be a long conversation about it. He really rather not have that. In fact, if anything- suggesting that just seems to make him lose his nerve]

No, I-

Sorry, I shouldn't dump this stuff on you. It's my own mess. I'll- I'll figure something out.

[limitstorm]

[ his brows furrow together. ]

Kaneis, I'm asking you to talk to me. You're not dumping anything--I want to help.

[ he slides his hands into his pockets, shrugging his shoulders. ]

You didn't leave me behind when those thugs grabbed me. I'm not leaving you behind, not when it's important.

[wilder]

[he scoffs a little, but at least seems to calm down a little]

Jeez- I swear that tendency of yours to wanna help everyone is gonna get you in some trouble one day.

[Though his words don't really have a bite. Maybe he doesn't even see it as a bad thing- who knows.]

[There's another pause as he seems to be mulling over things, before he speaks again. His tone is one of slight detachment. It's probably his way to make sure he'll get through it]

...It was my fault. You know that bad crowd I said I fell in with? Well, Lloyd caused a lot of trouble for them. Intentionally too, he was really against what they did.

At first, they sent me to spy on him. Keep tabs on him, maybe sometimes do stuff to try to get the jump on him. Didn't think much of it at first. Not like I knew the guy.

So I traveled with him and his friends awhile. [He grew attached. They became his friends.] Stuff kept...piling up, kept getting more and more complicated. [He couldn't keep turning a blind eye to things. He started helping more and more] But there was just no stopping him. Everything that got thrown at him, he'd find a way to get back up and keep going. Never met someone so stubborn.

[It's what he always liked about him]

But eventually, they had enough. They ordered me to turn on him, wanted him to be taken out. Maybe they were worried about where my loyalties lied.

[...]

I forced his hand to make sure he'd actually fight me. Then I threw the fight.

[limitstorm]

[ lloyd? ... that name sounds familiar.

even so, riku listens intently, keeping his eyes on kaneis as he speaks, but not trying to pressure him. there's a little smile--he can understand what he means. everything that got thrown at him, he'd find a way to get back up and keep going. that sounds like sora... wait, could this 'lloyd' be the guy on the network--?

he's shaken out of it when kaneis continues, straightening and lips parting. ]

You died fighting him?

[wilder]

[Yes, well. You might know him better as "Sora v2.0". He lowers his head a little]

Yeah- well, more like from the wounds shortly afterwards.

... He sat by my side until the end. [And was willing to destroy his Cruxis Crystal like he asked.] Probably more than I deserved.

[limitstorm]

No, it wasn't more than you deserved. It was exactly what you deserved.

[ riku's surprised that he reacts in such a way, and then swallows before shaking his head. ... you didn't get to decide how much you deserved. ]

If he stayed with you until the end... doesn't that mean he cares about you?