[Axel was just on his way to go confront the idiot who blew up the lake, actually, so he sounds a little annoyed at having been stalled, and he's in the woods instead of Harry's cabin.]
...you're kidding, right? Don't you have more important things to do right now than be a pain in my ass?
[Joshua's out pacing somewhere along the edge of the woods himself; he's been searching the village and woods and doing telepathic scans of the area pretty much since Neku disappeared, on the off chance that he's missed some trace of his "partner"; having picked up on a few stray thoughts from Axel, however, he's recalled that there was something else he wanted to do while he still had some measure of his powers back.]
Not really, no. Don't you feel special? [He chuckles lightly.] I won't keep you too long -- I know that memorial meant a lot to you. Just like the ones you used back home, and so on, hm? So far be it from me to get in your way, if you really want to go get yourself killed over it.
Like I said -- just a couple of questions, while you're still here.
[mildly] Though, you know -- I'm curious. If back at 'home' you were Nobodies, and had no feelings, what was the point of memorializing your fallen, exactly?
Ooh, nice line. Good delivery. Very dramatic. [Joshua grins.] But I'll take your word for it, shall I? It hardly matters now, after all, and I did promise I wouldn't take up too much of your time.
[He pauses, tilts his head to one side, and subjects Axel to close scrutiny through the crow's eye. He knows this conversation is likely to make his mind-reading very obvious, if it hasn't already, but he's tired and his powers are limited and it's simpler, under the circumstances, if he can get Axel to focus on what he's trying to see. And it's ever so much more fun this way, anyway.]
What I did really want to know, however, was what that memory was that you lost.
Thanks. It's good to know all those years of theater class have paid off.
[pause]
Didn't we have this conversation before? I can't remember. That's the whole, y'know, point.
[There are the edges around the memory, though, enough to define it as a person; flashes of the color blue, a sunset, a key, fire. Loyalty, confusion, regret, and an affection strong enough to be called love.]
[An even longer pause, as Axel struggles to keep his temper under control, but with his powers returned it's still visible when little motes of fire and cinders flare into existence around him and die]
I wouldn't, would I.
[He turns and looks over his shoulder, seriously torn for a minute between his need to fight the monster at the lake, and the desire to stalk through the forest until he finds Joshua and throw a chakram through his throat]
...you're very, very lucky to have such good friends. [quietly]
...you're kidding, right? Don't you have more important things to do right now than be a pain in my ass?
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Not really, no. Don't you feel special? [He chuckles lightly.] I won't keep you too long -- I know that memorial meant a lot to you. Just like the ones you used back home, and so on, hm? So far be it from me to get in your way, if you really want to go get yourself killed over it.
Like I said -- just a couple of questions, while you're still here.
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[mildly] Though, you know -- I'm curious. If back at 'home' you were Nobodies, and had no feelings, what was the point of memorializing your fallen, exactly?
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It's something people do, isn't it? Just like everything else. We're excellent pretenders.
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Indeed you are. And you wanted something to say you mattered, I think. Yes? Some kind of proof of your existence.
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I left plenty of proof of my existence. Just follow the trail of ashes.
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[He pauses, tilts his head to one side, and subjects Axel to close scrutiny through the crow's eye. He knows this conversation is likely to make his mind-reading very obvious, if it hasn't already, but he's tired and his powers are limited and it's simpler, under the circumstances, if he can get Axel to focus on what he's trying to see. And it's ever so much more fun this way, anyway.]
What I did really want to know, however, was what that memory was that you lost.
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[pause]
Didn't we have this conversation before? I can't remember. That's the whole, y'know, point.
[There are the edges around the memory, though, enough to define it as a person; flashes of the color blue, a sunset, a key, fire. Loyalty, confusion, regret, and an affection strong enough to be called love.]
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[pause, soft laugh]
What -- watch the sunset together, did you? My, my. You wouldn't have struck me as the type to appreciate that sort of thing.
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I wouldn't, would I.
[He turns and looks over his shoulder, seriously torn for a minute between his need to fight the monster at the lake, and the desire to stalk through the forest until he finds Joshua and throw a chakram through his throat]
...you're very, very lucky to have such good friends. [quietly]
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There is no 'deal' with me and Harry.
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