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[It's late Friday night, a little before midnight. Quite close to midnight, actually. Someone's restless.]
This whole thing with the harpies got me to think. Has anyone ever--
Huh?
[Roxas' train of thought is apparently derailed by the appearance of someone offscreen.]
"RIIIIKU! Where'd you go? Okay, you won, now come back! This isn't funny! No ( Read more... )
This whole thing with the harpies got me to think. Has anyone ever--
Huh?
[Roxas' train of thought is apparently derailed by the appearance of someone offscreen.]
"RIIIIKU! Where'd you go? Okay, you won, now come back! This isn't funny! No ( Read more... )
As to which was the result: freaking him out or impressing, well, both is most accurate because on the one hand Sora thinks that's kind of NEAT and on the other hand Sora is like ummmmmmmmmmm and having very vague and not very committed memories of his mom saying not to talk to strangers - which of course only gets uh usurped by the amendment of: but she never told me not to talk to strangers who know my name already!
Faulty logic in 3, 2, 1... ]
Oh so you do know him!
[ Riiiiight, Sora's doing that thing where kids just pick up on bits and pieces, you know, the ones they want to. ]
And yes. [ Sora says 'yes' so definitively, says it with his chest sort of puffed out if that's even possible at this age and his shoulders squared - or what he figures is squared, because he's proud that he's best friends with Riku. Eeeeeeven if Riku tends to kind of make him really work for it. That's okay. It's one of the things Sora likes best, when he's not, you know, lost beyond all reason. ] Best friends.
But.
[ .... ]
I think he ran ahead again.
[ IF he doesn't have to admit he was losing the race, he won't....of course he doesn't realize he already kinda did....oops. ]
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The shift in emotions is evident on Sora's face, but Roxas isn't entirely sure what each nuanced change of expression actually means, so he's content to wait until Sora settles on his own reaction. Besides, he's still sort of reeling. ]
Yeah. I do.
[ Uh...what now. He can't say that Riku's gone from the City, can he? He doesn't want to freak out a little kid. He doesn't remember ever being a little kid, but he's pretty sure that's bad. ]
He had to go help his family with some stuff. [...] He said I should look out for you while he's gone.
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Pardon a moment while Sora just digests that.
8(
Well then. Okay positive thinking. On the bright side, Riku did leave him someone else to hang out with, which is a darn sight better than being left to wander around on his own - not that Sora entirely minds exploring on his own but isn't Everything more fun with someone else? He is pretty sure that it is. Or so his life experiences up to the age of five dictate to him and thus he heeds, tilting his spiky haired head up at the other head of spiky hair and waffling visibly. ]
Stuff, huh?
[ He says it not as though he's suspicious anymore, just kind of a bright echo as he commits to the notion of spending time with this person - this Roxas. ] Well.....okay.
Why not?
[ Then he scuffs the toe of his sandal on the ground, leans forward and back in a precarious way that mostly only kids under 3 feet can manage and luckily Sora is more than qualified on that front. He looks around with a thoughtful expectation. ] What'll we do?
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Ugh, it's awful to lie to children. ]
Important stuff.
But he'll be back! And then...you'll finish your race?
[ It sounded like they were racing, right? ]
We could...uh...
[ Not remembering childhood can be a real problem sometimes. ]
What do you like to do?
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To the first thing, Sora beams - almost literally like you could probably posit coordinates for the sunlight coming from his smile for all of a few seconds there. ] Yup. I think we should start over. [ And if he's a liiiitle happier at the prospect of a redo than anyone who has actually ever won would be, well he's not thinking about it, not trying to hide it. If anything, when he finally does beat Riku, it'll be all the more impressive, right? Right.
To the last question, Sora swaps out his grin for something overly thinkative, not unlike a bear of very little brain - though arguably quite a lot of heart - who he will meet someday, who will also be his friend. ] Lotsa things....umm...well there's the racing - oh and swimming, and ice cream, and exploring, and---
[ Babbling, he stops, laughs a little sheepishly and decides now is a good time to invade Roxas' personal space. With the blond crouching down, Sora can bring himself nearly nose to nose, eyes wide with question marks. ] Buuuut what do you want to do?
I like a whole bunch of stuff. [ Repetition = he probably likes something Roxas likes, or so he figures. ]
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Yeah. You'll start over so no one gets a head start.
[ Best friends belong side by side, after all. ]
Me?
[ He's still figuring that out. ]
I like ice cream.
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WAIT A SECOND.
He halts abruptly, stares up. ] Um. Which way to the ice cream place?
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But that's a good question. Also, it's midnight. ]
You know, I'm not sure it'll be open right now. It's dark out.
I have some at home, though.
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Oh but wait, he blinks and looks around. ]
Ooookay but how will Riku know where we went?
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We'll come back later. Don't worry. If he gets back early, he'll come find me. He knows where I live.
[ All true, so he can say it with sincerity, though he knows Riku will not be coming back.
It's strange, feeling Sora's tiny hand in his. Maybe it's not an emotion-can't be-but he wants to look after him. Protect him. When he's like this, he needs it. ]
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[ Trust comes easy to Sora, and only a teensy bit less so later when he's much older; and even that's just a smidgen in comparison with other people. So his hand fits in Roxas not only with the size of it but with the full commitment of a person who's decided that the hand holding his own is safe and knows what he's doing, where he's going, and they're going someplace good. Nodding a few times, all the while looking around him, Sora is fascinated with the huge buildings and the general darkness broken up with bright lights. He's never seen anything like it of course. ]
This place is huuuuge.
[ Duh, Sora. Duh. But he's amazed anyway. ]
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Maybe both. ]
It is. But you learn your way around after a while.
[Oh wait-] But you'll be back on your island pretty soon, so you won't have to worry about that.
Um...what's your favorite ice cream?
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Maybe I'll get to come back an' visit! [ Looking up, Sora pauses as if waiting for confirmation of this before his brain catches up to the all important query of ice cream and he hurries on to answer that instead. ] Favorite? Ummm.....cookies'n creme? [ Sora dons a dramatically thoughtful face, almost pouting with it; this is serious business. ] Buuuuut I like all ice cream. [ AKA he doesn't want to miss out, so he's covering his bases! ]
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He wonders if he was that cute when he was small. ]
Maybe you will.
[ Cookies and cream...that sounds good. He's not sure whether he has it or not, actually. He's taken to buying an assortment at the store. ] My favorite's sea-salt ice cream. It's salty, but really sweet at the same time.
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We should get both! If you don't already have 'em.
[ He's at the age where shutting up sometimes is not on the agenda, so he barrels on. ]
Riku likes lotsa different kinds. He won't admit it but I know he does.
[ Of this, Sora sounds probably unnecessarily proud, like it's really hard to figure out what kind of ice cream your best friend likes, but chalk that up to the age maybe. ]
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We'll have to find out.
[ He doesn't mind. Even though part of him is...actually enjoying this, he's not a great conversationalist under the best of circumstances, and dealing with a kid is a brand new experience. ]
Why wouldn't he admit it? Ice cream's good. That's not a secret.
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