driftfleet | [Open Moons Mingle Log]

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.

[he understands possessions better than most would think. he's still not nearly as skilled with soul-magic as Crow was, but he has... an unusual amount of investment in that sort of thing. the dead should stay dead. human bodies should stay their own. evil creatures have no right, digging into the hearts and minds of innocent people.

so he understands. things get left behind. Riku is scared; he'd be stupid if he wasn't. Robin nods again, showing comprehension--but says nothing, waiting for him to go on.]

[ riku stalls for a moment or two, and while he's scared, he doesn't look scared of what he's going to say, his eyes darting away from robin and tot he ground, focused.

how can he say this? he doesn't want to scare robin, but there's no delicate way to put this. ]

If he ever possesses me again, I need you to destroy me.

[he says nothing, at first. his words are not so important as the intent behind them. most people would think that sort of thing horrifying, but not Robin. not Riem.

he pads closer to him again, stepping over his circle, standing at the last minute. he doesn't have to meet him face-to-face... he's so tall that he can simply hunch over, looming, bringing his long, spider-like fingers up to hover around the edges of his friend's face.

he doesn't touch him. never touches him, but observes. the focus is... familiar, a very Robin-like trait. he sounds sure of himself when he answers:]

I will.

[ all of riku relaxes, the tense shoulders and the pained face and relief just washes over him like a wave. robin doesn't need to touch him--riku reaches out instead. ]

Thanks.

[he smiles. it's not the look he should have, perhaps, but this is what he was made to do--help carry people's suffering. it brings him joy. he likes seeing Riku's weight lifted off of his shoulders.]

I have dealt with a number of possessions in my time. I may be able to help you, first, should such a time come... But I understand the danger. I won't let you hurt anyone like that.

Good. [ he exhales again, lower this time as he presses his heels against his eyes. ] Good...

S--sorry for interrupting.

This is my business. I do not mind.

[against his better judgement, he ruffles the back of Riku's hair--an oddly human gesture, compared to everything else. with that done, he disappears from immediate view, slinking back to the inside of his circle.]

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