shiny canon update!

[got_it_memorized]

Who: Axel and anybody
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: On the Tourist, in quarters if you want
When: Thursday, 19March, afternoon

[Broadcast]
[He looks... really unsettled, like he just watched something awful happen and doesn't even know how to process it. In fact that's pretty much exactly what happened: he awoke with a start from a dream he's sure wasn't a dream--he remembers it like it happened, like memories... but it's been hours, not the year-plus he experienced in that dream. He's still trying to wrap his head around everything, and that's when it hits him: he died. And Roxas is gone. Not just gone from the fleet, he already knew that part, and it suddenly hurts a thousandfold more than it did before, because Roxas had been here and now he's not, and now Axel knows he's gone for good. Suddenly he feels like he wasted an opportunity, and he has no excuse other than ignorance.

[He rubs his arms--it's strangely cold in here, it seems--and regards the feed on his communicator. He just needs to get his mind off this.]

So, Fleet, I'm curious: is there ice cream wherever you come from? What's your favorite flavor? Gimme your best ice cream story, I'm bored.

Comments

[limitstorm]

Good.

[ ... wait. ]

S--sorry. I didn't mean it like... [ he flounders, and then just sighs. ] I didn't expect you to keep lying.

[got_it_memorized]

[He snorts a laugh.]

Don't be sorry. It is good. I wish I'd figured it out sooner, I might'a saved myself a world of hurt.

[He regards Riku coolly then.]

So... truce, I guess? Not that you were being belligerent or anything, that was all me, really. [He smears both hands down his face, kind of abashed, then presses one hand against his chest, over his heart.] Tell me something... after I, you know... get over being dead and all... [He gives him an uncertain look.] What, ah... what am I like?

[It's been so long since he had a heart. It's been so long since he let himself actually feel anything. Does he even remember how to be Lea?]

[limitstorm]

[ ... ah?

riku blinks once, and then looks off. ]

You're... kind of obnoxious. [ but, he smiles with a quiet snicker. ] Not in an annoying way, though. You're still you--I don't think that you having a heart suddenly made you a different person. If what Xehanort said is right, you were growing one all along.

[got_it_memorized]

[Obnoxious? Here he is, asking an emotionally vulnerable question, and you're gonna say he's obnoxious? Now who's got no heart? Sheesh.

[He snorts a laugh.]

How can you be obnoxious without being annoying?

[What he says next, though, gives him pause.]

Wait, what? [He shakes his head.] Growing? Are you pulling my leg? [A beat, and then he shakes his head again.] No, of course you're not, you don't do that. [He fiddles with the zipper on his coat and holds Riku's gaze a moment, before looking down.] If we were growing hearts all along, though... what were we collecting hearts for in the first place?

[It's less a question he's asking Riku specifically and more just something wondered aloud.]

[limitstorm]

What makes you think I know? You're the one that does it, Dark Rescue.

[ riku's about to clarify that he is not, in fact, pulling his leg--

when axel goes ahead and does it himself. riku looks briefly surprised before his gaze softens a little, and he clears his throat. ]

I don't know that. He wanted vessels, that's what all of you were supposed to be, but... he didn't mention anything about that.

13 darknesses and 7 lights... ugh, what a mess.

[got_it_memorized]

'Dark Rescue'? [His eyebrow inches upward.] Never mind, I don't think I want to know.

[He's still fiddling with the zipper as Riku speaks, and his expression grows darker with each word. Vessels? 13 darknesses? What does that even mean?]

I'm no one's vessel. I had a feeling Xemnas was full'a crap, but I never expected this level of crap.

[... Was this how Roxas felt, when he found out he'd been lied to all that time? About something so important as his life, his past? No, he'd probably felt even worse. Axel had been lied to, but Xemnas wasn't his friend; what he'd done to Roxas was inexcusable.]

[limitstorm]

I know you aren't, [ he's almost apologetic ] and it's a good thing you never got to be.

[ but then... isa. he knows there's something going on there... ]

It's a big mess, but we'll get to the bottom of it.

[got_it_memorized]

[He blows out a sigh and smears both hands down his face, then gives Riku a nod.]

Yeah, we will.

[He scratches the back of his head then.]

So... if you need a hand with something, just let me know, okay? I, ah. I mean, I'll do what I can. You helped me out when I really needed it, so... it's the least I can do.

[limitstorm]

[ he looks... almost amused, before he tilts his head to the side. ]

Sure. We're allies, so... same goes to you, you know?

[got_it_memorized]

Right. Allies. I think I like the sound of that.

[limitstorm]

[ a quiet snort. ]

I hope so.