maskormenace | 7th dawn → video

7th dawn → video

[Riku's face, when he appears on the network today, is a little exasperated, and a little apologetic. Behind him, something tiny and black moves, and he picks his hair up and away from it, pulling it over his shoulder for lack of anything else to do with it. A sharp-eyed observer will note that the black thing is a wing. It's small, but it's clearly a pointy, leathery bat wing. Presumably, there's a matching one.]

So... I guess I was ported out.

[His very first port-out after a year and a half. What a strange experience. Riku pauses. He's pretty sure he... owes some people an apology.]

Uh -- sorry. From what I can tell it hasn't been very long, though...? A day or so tops, I think. I saw Kagami made a post, so I thought I should clear things up.

[He's surprised you all panicked, honestly...]

I guess I should thank you all for worrying, though.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Riku hears it and knows it must be someone who replied to Kagami's post -- who else would be showing up here right now, almost immediately after his reply to the network? It's either someone he knows or it's a door-to-door type thing, which he doubts, simply because it's about ten PM by this point.

As he approaches the door he identifies the scent, but it's weird. It's Aerith, certainly, but... off somehow. When he opens the door and sees her face, though, then he realizes what's wrong. She's salty as hell.]

... Hi.

[She stares at him for a moment, thinking of what to say...

... And instead launches into a hug as her eyes well up.]

[He's startled for a moment, as she does something he's not expecting (he was bracing himself), and then, sighing, hugs back gently.]

I'm sorry.

[Realistically she knows it's not his fault. Porter glitches happen, though they've only been something she's heard of and never seen firsthand with anyone close to her. But, still, what comes out is:]

You'd better be.

[Because she was WORRIED and LONELY and those types of things care little for sense.]

Mm. I guess... it was about time, though. This is the first time I've ever been ported out, did you know?

[He lets her go, so he can step back and look at her.]

It wasn't very long, was it?

[Oh no. He let go. Now she can't even hide how flushed her face is and that she's totally crying. Oh no.]

Um.

[Well, there's no salvaging this, so she quickly wipes her eyes and shakes her head.]

[He smiles, quietly, pulls her back toward him. He knows she's probably a little self-conscious of her tears, after all. He'd be.]

It's okay. I'm sorry.

[It's one of her sillier guarded secrets, among the hundreds of others - Aerith is very, very bad at handling her emotions. She's not even the type to cry much and she's always been sort of proud of that. THIS is so many kinds of unacceptable for her.

She's happy to be pulled back into a hug and have extra time to calm down, and she wraps her arms back around him and-- what?]

Riku? Do you have wings?

[She sniffles, pulls back just enough to look him in the eye as she pokes and pulls on the weird leathery thing on his back.]

... Yeah.

[This is one of those things Riku knows he's going to get a lot and is already feeling awkward about. He makes a face when she pulls one wing in a direction it's not meant to go and then stretches them out to the sides, turning so she can look at them a little easier.]

They're kind of dumb, really... they're not actually big enough to be useful for anything.

Oh, sorry! I'll be more careful.

[She hadn't meant to pull it weird, but it's kind of hard figuring out how they're supposed to work.]

Is, um... Is this normal where you come from... ?

[Poor guy didn't need any help reminding her of Sephiroth.]

No, that's okay.

[Riku shakes his head, frowning gently. This is the complete opposite of normal.]

I didn't have these at home. This is -- I'm a Dream Eater now, so... I guess it's to match.

Dream Eater? What does that mean?

[Could he really not be human anymore? They might actually both be nonhuman? She'd like that... Kanaya's support group has connected her with tons of new people but none of them are as close as she is with Riku.]

Basically -- there's two types. Nightmares spread bad dreams, and Spirits banish them. I'm on the second team. Mostly they look like animals. Except for me, I guess. So -- [he wiggles the wings] -- I guess they're so I fit in?

[That answers Nothing for her.]

So... Are you still human, or...?

[...]

... I don't know.

[That's a good question.]

Maybe half...?

[Predictably her eyes light up.]

Me too! Now you can come to Kanaya's group meetings with me!

[Remember very long ago when she said she was "different"? Well, there you go. The anticlimactic conclusion to that. She's told so many people now in so many dramatic ways because it's hard for her to admit, but evidently Kanaya's support group has done her a lot of good.]

What, you want me to?

[He feels like, as someone who was previously all human, it's a little bit presumptuous of him to go. But if she'd be more comfortable with him there, then...]

I'm sure Kanaya wouldn't mind!

[Well, and also--]

There's not many people there I'm very close to. Kanaya is probably the one I know best. But... I really trust you.

Do you?

[He sounds surprised. Why?]

[A very slow blink.]

... Because. You and Kel and my best friends here.

[Was that not obvious?]

[what

He looks a little startled -- not averse to it, just surprised. It's weird to think of someone feeling like that about him, despite the fact that he knows logically he's probably considered that by a few people. He certainly considers her that close, but he doesn't like to get his hopes up about mutual feelings.]

Oh...

[A pause.]

Really? I'm glad.

["Oh?"

"OH?"

What the hell, Riku?]

Why did you think I was so upset?! Obviously I like you!

Sure, but...

[How does he say this in a way that doesn't sound rude? He wonders about this for a moment, then decides that he'll probably put his foot in his mouth no matter what, so he'll just go ahead.]

... I didn't realize it was that much. I guess I don't hear it often, is all.

[He's kind of an idiot, isn't he? Though there's probably a sad story back there somewhere. There's a lot of personal things they haven't shared yet and so she wouldn't be surprised if she eventually gets some explanation for that.]

Well... I care a lot about you. Without you here, I wouldn't have settled in anywhere near as well.

[It's just his self-esteem issues at work. There are less of them now -- he's come to terms with some things, even in just the short amount of time he was in the dream, but he still has things to work through, things that might take hundreds of weeks as opposed to just one or two.]

Really? I think you're not giving yourself enough credit, though... you're tough.

ACTION;

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject