driftfleet | (no subject)

[ riku's not hard to spot.

he's sitting in the pilot's seat, turned halfway away from the door. with his feet on the chair and curled up close with a cup of tea, it looks like his night hasn't been all that good either. it's not a secret to him that robin has nightmares--he feels him walking around when he's up, too. it's not usual they cross paths, though.

when he starts, he almost spills tea on himself, peering up at robin. funny, he'd been so lost in thought he hadn't even...

he shifts his gaze back downward. ]

Couldn't sleep?

Ah...

[he stops in the doorway, pressing the bony part of his wrist into his temple. he was so distracted that he... didn't even see that Riku was in here, didn't "look" ahead of time. it's no surprise to him that Riku has bad dreams either, but he usually tries to give him a wide berth when they're both up at the same time.

he'll pick at him for lots of things, but nightmares... it seems an unspoken courtesy to not dig too deep. he'd be a hypocrite if he expected anything from it.]

Yeah, I... Think the planet's got me a little rattled.

[he still looks anxious, at the corners of his eyes. his body language is... tense, which is usual for him. his gaze goes distractedly out the window... until he decides to walk in, further, take a seat in the captain's chair.

it's where he usually sits. just, you know, typically with more clothes on.]

Figures, the one night I get to sleep at a normal, human hour...

[ riku closes his eyes, not saying a thing at first.

there's something like static electricity in the air, he can taste it on his tongue and it makes him likely to sneeze. nervousness, anxiety... the darkness is good for pinpointing those 'negative' emotions. when he actually looks to robin, he can tell how tense he is. ]

Need a shoulder?

[ it's a quiet, earnest offer; as if to clarify why he doesn't need one, he speaks again ]

Nothing new here. I have the same nightmare every night, so talking about it doesn't help. Is this planet like yours?

Hm?

[he looks over at him. ...rather, he twists and slumps down until he's laying across the chair, feet up on a nearby dash readout, head tipped back over an arm so that he can look at Riku upside-down. ridiculous? yes. does the moving calm him down? some.

same nightmare every night...? he doesn't quite believe it, with an explanation so ready, but he won't touch it for now. Riku's being nice to him, which means he needs to work on looking less... weird and panicked.]

...Kind of, yeah. Reminds me of the little town I grew up in, actually.

[that part is true, at least. and it's bothered him. but it's a different metaphorical can of worms. --ah, he kicks one of his feet a little as something occurs to him.]

Hey, can I tell you something cool? A story, kind of.

[ huh?

riku looks a bit confused--how do nightmares lead to talking about something cool? but he refrains asking, because he's sure there's a reason to robin's madness. ]

Sure.

Okay. Well...

[he remains where he is, stretched out. having to put his thoughts into coherent sentences is good, grounding. he eases up as he goes.]

This all happened before I was even born, but... According to the myths, my world was created by the Gods, who also created all of the plants, animals, and humans. The Gods are infinite and ineffable--literally impossible for humans to understand, so... To bridge the gap between themselves and humans, they picked nine special people to become avatars and speak on their behalf. Each one of those nine was transformed and opened up to the universe, and given dominion over an aspect of human existence.

[he counts them off on his fingers.]

There was one for knowledge, invention, creativity, perception, courage, suffering, comfort, life and death, and the human soul. They became known as the Nine Kings, because each ruled their subjects and kept "children", people who came to them whom they deemed worthy of their gifts and blessings.

[ riku nods his head lightly as he goes along, taking sips of his tea. ]

That is pretty cool. [ the religions kept on destiny islands were much more... restrictive. ] Were you one of the children?

[...wow, way to skip ahead in the story, Riku. he looks surprised, for a moment, before deciding to continue.]

Not quite. I... [man, now his groove is thrown off. he thinks for a moment, ruffling a hand through his hair. while still upside-down.] Well, there was a big war where all of them fought each other. Eventually, humans rose up and killed them to stop the fighting. But...

[a vague... spinning gesture.] They reincarnated into new bodies. That's what I am. One of them born anew.

[ when he looks surprised, riku just raises his brows.

robin, come on. have you not noticed how perceptive he is? but when he keeps going, his expression evens out.

and then, he just looks baffled. ]

Wait--what?

... Just what I said. Surprise.

[he waves his hands a little. jazz hands. surpriiise.]

So you're the reincarnation of one of the children?

The Kings.

[he... is a little nervous to talk about it, but it's nothing compared to his anxiety earlier. if anything, he's very calm about it compared to how it usually makes him feel.]

I'm one of the Nine Kings, straight connection to the Gods, dominion over a part of humanity, the whole deal.

O-oh.

[ um.

uhhhhhhhhh. the stare riku gives him is definitely surprised. ... he struggles to come to terms with it, and finally just frowns, thinking. ]

Am I supposed to call you King Robin? I don't know if Captain King Robin would be easy to say...

[--he laughs. but it's kind of sudden and he's upside-down; it gets stuck in his sinuses, which leads to an unfortunately timed little choke, that gets him coughing--until he's sitting up again, laughing as he tries to clear out his lungs at the same time.]

Ow, shit-- [ungraceful--but at least he's got a smile on his face?] No, no, Gods, don't do that. I like my normal name.

[ eh?

he's just confused at first, wondering what part of that was so funny... before he just relaxes, and smiles a little despite himself. well, at least he doesn't have that gloomy, anxious expression on anymore. that's a relief. ]

If you say so, captain. [ ... huh. wait. ] So there were Nine Kings... which one were you?

Oh... [he sniffs, finally relaxing... he hesitates before giving his answer, but only because he's trying to decide whether making him guess which one he is would be better or worse.] ...The scary-sounding one. I am Riem, the King of Suffering, with dominion over pain.

... oh.

[ ... he scratches his cheek. ]

That's weird. Why did you fix my wrist, then? Wouldn't you like pain?

[there's a definite pause where he does not say the words, "oh, it was delicious."

good job, Robin. you're really a pro. he swivels his captain's chair towards Riku instead, bringing his legs up to sit on them.]

Yes, kind of... But there's more to it than that. My realm isn't just pain, it's... the lack of it, too. Apathy, numbness. One can't understand pain until they have felt joy, and one doesn't know true comfort until they have suffered. Pain can make people strong, one's person's pain can benefit hundreds of others, but... Sometimes people suffer needlessly. That's what I'm alive for, to give and to take.

[he shrugs.] But if I'm being honest, I fixed your wrist because it was stupid and you should have seen someone about it ages ago. I'm Robin before I'm Riem, here.

[ what does robin probably not expect?

riku making an offended face. ]

There were more important things to do, like save worlds.

[ but! he calms. ]

But... I think I get it. It's balance.

[he raises an eyebrow, just a bit, to that first part... but he'll save the argument for another day. the... main point is that Riku is being very calm about something that usually freaks people out. a lot.]

That's right. It's hard to do out here... I don't even know if there's a place for a creature such as myself out here. The void doesn't call out for me like my world did...

[his gaze goes out the window, of course, out into the black of night...]

I understand.

[ he frowns at him, and then looks down. ]

As a Keyblade Master, I'm not really... like you--I'm not like a force of nature. I guess... I'm more like a counterweight. But I can't do that here, either. I guess you just have to look at details instead of the big picture for now, since you can't do much about it.

What does a "Keyblade Master" do, if I might ask?

[it sounds pretty cool... but it could be anything. he'd been meaning to ask since Riku first mentioned it to him months ago.]

[ his shoulders scrunch before he just sighs; brushing his hair back, he shakes his head.

he's not supposed to talk about it. he was supposed to protect world order!

... but...

at the same time. what world order is there to protect, he suddenly wonders. everyone knows they're from different worlds... so what can he really protect but the people themselves? and isn't knowledge the best form of protection? he muddles on this, curling into himself a little tighter.

robin's given his story. he should give his. ]

A Keyblade wielder protects all worlds.

[ he starts there, quiet. ]

We're supposed to keep the balance between Light and Darkness, keep the worlds safe, and make sure the people of all worlds can live in peace. Masters do that, too, but you're supposed to pass a special test. If you pass, you get the title of 'Master' and you can explore the world for yourself, or you can teach... I'm pretty sure you can do both if you want.

Right now, I'm trying to learn everything I can, so I can help stop a war before it starts. At least, I was, before I was pulled here.

[he considers all of this for a moment, in that quiet way of his... but, whatever he's thinking, only one conclusion leaves him:]

That's a lot of responsibility.

[ riku mulls on his response to that.

he hasn't even told sora yet that he didn't really want this. the whole purpose of taking the test was to find out if he was worthy of wielding, not worthy of mastership. he'd never intended to pass the test with flying colors! when he'd passed and sora hadn't, it'd been a big shock.

yet, it's childish. it's so childish, and of all things, riku is terrified of letting others down. so, he stares at his cup, keeps his posture, and mumbles; ]

I guess.

[ he knows it is. part of him doesn't even want this responsibility, but he can't reject it. he knows he can't. he has to do what's expected of him. ]

bad day;

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