driftfleet | [Open Moons Mingle Log]

[ a sharp noise of frustration escapes him before he yanks off that shirt. ]

This smells like oil and grease. Don't you wash your clothes?

Yes I wash my clothes. I just don't love that one as much as the others....

[he gets quiet for a little bit, finishing up his circle--quickly scribbling the last bit of syntax into the dirt with his finger. he steps out of his boots, carefully, placing them outside the circle's circumference, and then...

...hesitates, because he is shy. secretly, under his stupid smile, he was being honest. no one ever likes seeing him in his true form. back home, most people wanted to kill him over it. it's only ever been a horror to other people, regardless of how he feels about it, so he's not exactly racing over himself to peel himself back another layer.

but he's got to. so he... relaxes, lets his illusion finally slough away. there's a sound... or maybe not a sound, but a feeling, a very soft sort of whisper through the air as his energy spills out, hits the edge of the barrier, and is quickly gathered up under his conscious effort.

...there he is, all pale skin and white hair, long limbs and claws and sharp teeth. he stays crouched up in a little shape, bizarrely collapsible, with his arms tucked in close and his knees up near his face. he almost looks small, hardly a threat at all. he keeps his gaze away from Riku, nervous.]

...You can look, if you want.

[his voice sounds different--really nine distinct voices, all speaking quietly at once.]

[ riku's hit by it all at once--he staggers when he feels his energy pour out like water, and he clutches onto a tree. ugh, his senses are going haywire. it's funny, he can tell if most energy is light or dark, but he can't pinpoint this. what is this? he doesn't understand. it's like explaining the color red to someone who's never seen it before.

he breathes in slowly. count to seven, hold your breath. count to seven, exhale.

eyes gazing over trees and shrubs, he makes sure he can neither see or feel or hear anyone coming, eyebrows knitted together and focused.

he hesitates when robin calls to him, and he keeps his eyes on the path for a few seconds before he looks over his shoulder, speaking-- ]

But what if somebody--whoa.

[ he can't help but turn all the way around when he catches sight, eyes wide and lips parted in surprise. surprise, not fear, not horror. no, robin's true form is nothing he's ever seen before, but it's not... scary. it's interesting. ]

You look... cool. [ yep. ] --you hurt? You look hunched over.

[and to someone who isn't trained to think this way, he doesn't look monstrous. he looks alien and bizarre--but his sharp teeth are small and he looks much too thin, and his blood-red, unblinking, featureless eyes reflect the light in a way that almost makes them look kind of childlike.

he reels in what's left of his aura. after a moment, he barely feels like anything. just a weird creature surprised enough to finally look up at Riku with those giant eyes of his.]

...No. I am... fine.

[the voices all sound a little unsure, but he reaches up to show... unfolding, standing and easily grabbing one of the branches up above them. he must be nine feet at his full height, before he pulls himself up into the tree like it's nothing.

and then he comes back down again, happy just to be moving. he returns to a crouching shape, though he leans forward onto his knuckles this time, for balance. ]

Geez... how tall are you?

[ robin's true form was huge. there was very little scary about him, in riku's opinion--then again, riku had a penchant for horror movies and found them more intriguing than anything. he raised a hand to touch before pulling back. no, what if that hurt? he didn't want to do anything. ]

Should I get you anything?

I don't know.

[an honest answer to an honest question as he shrugs down into his shoulders. he settles into looking at Riku (probably, since his face is pointed just a little bit wrong and his eyes have no point of focus). maybe he's thinking, maybe he's... looking at something.]

...You really aren't scared of me, like this.

[the hope of it swells in his chest... makes him feel light, and a little scared.]

What?

[ his brows crease, and his lip presses into a smile. incredulously, riku shakes his head. ]

No way. I'm not scared of you, why would I be? You haven't hurt me, and you're still you. I can feel it--this [ he gestures to him, up and down. ] doesn't change anything.

Mm...

[he hesitates a moment before padding the short distance closer--walking on his arms as easily as if they were legs, his feet elongated like a proper quadruped. it's no wonder he took off his shirt and his shoes; they would have been ill-fitting at best if he'd kept them on.

he is now very close. he stays crouched, shorter than Riku, but lifts his hands. his fingers are long, bony. clawed on the end. very, very pale.]

What do I feel like?

[ when riku tenses, it's just like normal. it's tiny and only noticeable if you're really paying attention--a moment's flinch when his hands are lifted, and riku exhales afterward.

he takes a hold of him and closes his eyes. breathe in for seven beats, hold for seven beats, exhale... repeat. riku focuses on robin's being, on his presence. it's a little more difficult now, somehow--riku has to wonder if it's because he has to get past all of this energy buzzing around him, or because he's still slightly wobbly himself.

but robin shouldn't feel any different... ]

[he doesn't, really. he is still Robin, with his light and his dark and his strange, grey core. his energy is very strong... he's just short of a god, after all.

Robin, meanwhile, sees the battle in Riku's fingers and the tenseness of his shoulders, the way something stems from his heart and spreads through the rest of him like tangled tree roots. he can see scars and threads, but says nothing of them. not yet.]

[ there's, perhaps, a minute difference. riku knows there's a slight tilt between his darkness and light, something changed, but it's not so much to assume a complete personality change. his heart is still the same--and riku is still not scared.

he finally exhales lowly and opens his eyes. ]

You feel normal. Nothing really changed--except what you look like, I guess.

[ he ventures a little smile. ]

But you knew that already.

[he blinks. which wouldn't be worth noting if it was not the first time he's blinked this entire time. his thin lips bend into a little, shy smile as he lowers his hands back to the ground.]

How did you learn to do that...? [he turns, moving back to the center of his circle. he starts focusing on swiping away the old design.] Is it common where you are from?

[ the more time robin spends in that form, the more riku is calmed by it. he's actually kind of cute this way--like a little kid with his big eyes.

the questions have him pausing, and he rakes a hand through his hair while the other one slides into his pocket. he stares at the ground. ]

... I don't know. I didn't know I even could until a friend helped me do it the first time--and then, I started training myself to use it.

[he busies himself with drawing a new circle in the ground. it's very intricate. it'll take him a while.]

I see... It is a good skill, all the same.

Yeah... it's helped me.

[ he hesitates when robin starts to draw another circle. ]

You changing back?

I am. The spell is very complex, it will take time to cast.

[so he's got maybe fifteen, twenty minutes to enjoy living in his own skin. even hunched up like this, it feels better for his reach to go so far, for his fingers to be so sharp... his vision is perfect and everything smells better, and he misses it often.]

Oh--right. Sorry, I'll let you focus.

[ he turns back to the path, straining his ears and nose for any sight or intruder.

right, he was supposed to protect the ship and its crew. that's why he was there. ]

[he continues working, for a while... drawing concentric circles, writing in an old script in the ground. he's got to work out height, weight, shapes, colors, textures, everything that goes into a human body. no one comes to find them, but he is grateful for the extra set of eyes, all the same.

when he finally finishes his work, he sighs...]

Thank you, Riku... [it is bizarrely easy to pick out the voices of children from his mass of sound.] I don't think I say that enough.

[ minute after minute, riku relaxes, but he doesn't pause in his vigil.

he glances over his shoulder at robin, and then shakes his head lightly before he looks back to the path. ]

I don't do a lot of stuff that's deserving of thanks, you're fine.

I don't do many things that deserve someone's kindness.

[it's funny how, even with this alien face, he can manage a self-deprecating smile.]

You don't have to accept it, just know... that I am very thankful for what you do.

I...

[ he starts to argue that no one has to do anything to deserve kindness, that everyone should be given it, but it's funny how robin makes him quiet.

he sighs softly. ]

Okay.

[he likes that better. he stretches up one more time, just letting his arms go up twice as far as they do in a normal human body... and then laughs, a little, very strangely, all of those voices at once.]

I've been so depressing lately... But I think it'll work out. Do you think I could ever walk around on the ship, like this? I could reach everything on the high shelves without standing up...

I think if you changed into this form more often, people would get used to it, so they wouldn't be as surprised to see you like this.

[ and then, he chuckles. ] At least Sora would appreciate it.

[ after a moment or two, riku sobers, not looking at robin at all. slowly, he speaks again, the tone in his voice changed. ]

You warned me once, that you could be dangerous to everyone if something happened. You told me to keep everyone away from you. Could... you promise me the same thing? If...

[ he starts, and then he sighs heavily. he doesn't know what to do here. that illusion from the forest still shakes him up--master xehanort, claiming his immunity to darkness wasn't strong enough to offset his possession...

what if it was true? what if something happened? ]

Normally, I'd ask Sora to, but... he'd be the one most in danger.

Hm?

[he looks up, staying very still while he thinks or observes or whatever happens behind those giant eyes of his. this is... a shift he wasn't expecting, but he can see the way that it hurts him. it really speaks to something in him, in this form--the suffering of others.

strange... he can't imagine Riku has "another form" or something like that. he nods, slowly, before he speaks.]

I could. What is the danger?

[ this feels so strange to explain. he breathes out slowly, like he's steeling himself--like he's slowly working out something stabbing him in the stomach.

after a moment, he clears his throat. ]

Back home, I was possessed by someone. He took over my body, I couldn't control anything. I almost killed Sora--when he controlled me, he almost hurt Kairi, but I held him back. It... took everything I had.

[ riku doesn't like going to this place--his shoulders are tense, his eyes shut like he can ignore it. if he didn't know it was utterly childish, he'd almost want to cover his ears.

but you can't do much when you're the one retelling it, can you? ]

I got rid of most of him. But... there's still a shadow of him inside of me. They told me I was immune--that he couldn't possess me again. But it's not like they haven't lied before. If... [ he sighs shakily, hating how his hands are trembling--he grips his hands tightly, as if to stop them, and looks at robin over his shoulder. ]

I don't know what he could make me do if he possessed me again. I'm stronger now--a lot stronger than I was when I was fifteen. I don't wanna hurt anyone.

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