Day 01 - Fish Out Of Water

[notquiteanobody]

Characters: AU!Roxas, AU!Xion and YOU(Yes, you)!
When: Early to Mid-morning
Where: Starting in what's now an abandoned subway station
Rating: G to PG-ish? No swearing, but mild horror undertones.
Summary: Guess what Nesreca people. You've got some fresh meat.

Comments

[seasaltblues]

Despite the way he tried glance off her worrying too much with his words, that crack was pretty distinct, Roxas. And the way he breathed only further encouraged her to finally draw her hand to rest on his shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze as she let her head hang slightly. Exasperated. Her feelings inside her coiling with a sickness that was easily making her somewhat nauseous from how distressed she was from the situation at hand.

When he finally took to recover back to his feet, Xion followed along with him. Her hand removed from his shoulder, she instead extended her arm to come about his torso, clamping down on the adjacent shoulder instead until he found purchase up against the train car itself. She leaned with him there, slipping her arm out from behind him then but sticking close as she quickly caught on to the peculiar attention he was giving to his own hand and wincing at the sight.

Blood. Not darkness but blood. Xion felt a shudder trail down her spine at the very proof itself. That he still remained in Lucen's body... Part of her perhaps had quietly hoped that at least he had been given his own... but then fate was far too cruel with them. Shakily, she directed her hand over above his injured fingers and tried her hardest to concentrate. Really concentrate on the spell she was about to cast. A soft green glow touching the injuries lightly. But it cut itself short before she could do any justice to much of anything. She was just too rattled, her emotions getting in the way. And so she did the next best thing, pulling the sleeve of her jacket up over her one palm, clutching it with her fingers. And then placing that palm over his injured fingers. Only after she was certain that the sleeve would remain there then did she curl her fingers around him, applying a cautious pressure.

"I'm sorry." The all too familiar phrase left her lips as she looked up at him.

[notquiteanobody]

Frankly? This was modestly annoying, if he'd just spoken up instead of trying to protect her, this wouldn't have happened. But really, he was wondering what he'd been trying to protect her from. Just like a combination of both her and Axel's efforts couldn't protect him from their reality back then, his efforts to try and play along with her own notions about the situation they were in couldn't protect her from their reality now.

When she spoke up after doing her best to tend to his injuries, he found he really couldn't blame her. Xion was frightened -probably a lot more than he was. To him this was just another bind to figure out, something that his feelings told him he could surely overcome with time and some hard work on his part. But to her, he was willing to bet that with the outlook his friend often nursed, this was a potentially inescapable fate that rode atop the fact that she still often seemed to express discontent over having someone else's body. That combined with how she seemed so certain that their ultimate fate was to return to who they once came from just struck him as one of those less appreciably nihilistic traits she had.

"Don't apologize." Roxas' statement was blunt, though the undertone seemed sincere enough, "I got a little careless up there." The exercise wasn't without its upsides though. He now had enough indisputable proof to believe that their more active abilities were restricted here; magic, probably Keyblades... he'd still need to test if he could Glide, but most of his acrobatics seemed to work. Just they were a little rusty again.

Giving her a glance sided with a tired smile, he opted to see if he could get some kind of straight answer from his friend, "How about you? If you saw what I saw up there, it's probably at least a little jarring."

[seasaltblues]

Don't apologize, he said. But with how she had just acted- So focused was she on the matter that was now at the forefront, that of which had been proven further true by his bleeding fingers, Xion hadn't really thought of what had been on Roxas' own mind. Had just been so caught up trying to get back, fighting a losing battle of a belief that there even was one. And now her reckless behavior had prompted this to happen and with her spells flimsy as they were, what help she could give him was limited.

But yet, there he was, asking that question instead. That that same old smile from before. Roxas, why did he...? Xion lowered her head, nearly pressing her forehead against his shoulder in the process. Just standing there for a minute, quiet. But then her free hand was timidly reaching up to her chest to rest where she could feel Anne's heart beating recklessly in her chest from all the strain of the situation. She felt sick. Really sick. Worse than she had ever felt before save the day she had forced Roxas to put an end to her. In those times, she wondered why she had ever wanted a heart in the first place.

"It's... I don't know." Her head sunk a little further, her bangs brushing up against his sleeve. It didn't matter how she felt right then. Her mind was ping ponging between the situation at hand and Roxas.

"But it doesn't seem like we'll be... Let's just..." She paused before taking in a careful breath. "We should do some recon." Or rather find some place that might have something that would ease the pain that she was pretty certain Roxas was it. That loud crack from before pronounced it pretty well. And she remembered how he brushed off his tiredness before back in Agrabah a long time back during the Organization. This time, he wasn't getting off so easily.

[notquiteanobody]

It was a strange mood-breaker as the way she seemed to droop into what wasn't exactly his embrace at the moment. Were the situation different, if things weren't quite as serious, if they didn't seem so grim or maybe even if he felt like it would help their collective mood, he would consider trying to hug her. But while some part of him wanted to reach out and literally seize the closeness he'd been looking for, something he couldn't quite place just took away his drive to do so.

No. While he wouldn't lie to himself that he wanted just a simple little gesture to remind them both of how close he'd dreamed that they once were, he wanted to earn that reminder, that feeling. So for now, he just listened as Xion seemed to struggle with making sense of what was going on. Honestly, he didn't have any better of an idea, but finding some shelter and living supplies were matters at least a little more pressing to him right now.

Which made him feel all the better when he heard her suggest doing a recon. He remembered what that meant, Roxas had seen how the whole deal worked in the dreams of his memory and really, he'd come to learn that normal people did that a lot too. They just didn't call it 'recon'. To the people that Lucen lived around, it was getting a feel for a place or something like that -apparently people on vacation in unfamiliar places did that a lot.

So he nodded at first, most of his pain dulling to an ignorable throbbing sensation. It wasn't a nice feeling by any stretch, but it was merely a discomfort rather than something that would slow him down too much. "Yeah, I know we've snacked today, but we'll need to find something decent to eat and some water."

Soda would've been nice, but he'd gotten a look at the state of things top side. He wasn't going to expect to find a can or vending machine anywhere here.

[seasaltblues]

A lot of things would have been nice then, but preference was the last thing on Xion's mind at the moment. Although she couldn't ignore the thirst now that Roxas had mentioned it. Eating probably wasn't something smart to do with her stomach twisted in knots as it was, but to at least quench her parched throat. It was still a little weird to her to consume as frequently as they did now, but it was something she had become accustom to as months went by. Nodding carefully, she finally took a step back, raising her head. Her hand still linked over his for now. Whether it was because she wasn't quite ready to look that reality in the face once more or the matter that she was still worried over his bleeding she wouldn't say. Most likely a bit of both. But she was holding onto him at least for a little longer, regardless.

"...Come on then."

Taking the initiative was hard. But staying there as it was- It was harder. Facing the reality. That they couldn't go back. She took uncertain steps away from it, heading back towards the way they came. Ever attentive of Roxas, watching him out of the corner of her eye. She had been the idiot that had run off so focused on the impossible, after all, and in the end, that had cost him rather than her. So, she would look out for him. And make sure to at least set that right.

[notquiteanobody]

Wordlessly as he let his own train of thoughts wander, he seemed to content himself to letting Xion lead their way out of the abandoned subway station, nonchalantly grabbing the handle of his guitar case as they passed where he'd left it. Thinking about it, the way the matter of her getting the point he'd wanted to make himself through his own injuries was something that Challo would've called 'passive-aggressive' and that was normally a term she didn't tend to use in good context. At least for now, it was a lesson to bear in mind and just hope that in the future, he'll be able to make a stand and at least get his own thoughts and feelings out.

It didn't take too long before their path took them back up the stairs she'd descended, his line of sight slowly sweeping about as he once more took in their new surroundings. Honestly, it was off-putting to say the least; to go from a city so full of life to one so almost senselessly desolate was an exceptional shock. And while the thought of giving Lucen back his life was concerning, more immediate worries came in the form of the basic essentials. They'd need to find food, water and shelter on a reliable basis if they were going to stay alive long enough to get to the bottom of this and hopefully, find a way to their new home... where yet more troubles awaited. But that was something he'd concern himself with later.

As their steps settled to a stop, he gave another quick study of their area before he speaks up again, "So where should we check out first? It's a whole city and I doubt we'll be able to cover it in one day."

[seasaltblues]

She considering carrying the guitar case for a moment when Roxas took to picking it up himself only to reconsider shortly afterward. She was worrying too much about him. A worry that he might feel a little alien to yet even if he was slowly regaining his memories. And even though they had been through a fair bit back at Haven. She didn't want to smother him. Which might have been the only reason in the end that as they came to a stop, the first thing she did was finally relieve the pressure she had put on his hand and see if she had quelled the bleeding.

Seeing as it had eased, she left up the rest of her hold. But that didn't stop her from looking around, trying to find some place near by that might hint towards what she was looking for. A little more focused on that than the conversation at hand, it took her a second to really hear what he had just asked and another couple to actually process it. But finally, a dumb blink and then a nod. "-Yeah. ...Yeah, I know. ...We probably won't be able to, but..." ...She finally glanced at the building that seemed to be the least damaged of the ones in the surrounding area. "...Let's start there maybe?"

[notquiteanobody]

Some part of him admittedly felt a little disappointed when she let go, but thinking about it practically -it just probably wasn't the best of ideas to go around hand-in-hand with the two of them in such a strange new place. Plus no small amount of the obstacles presented to them seemed to require both hands to climb over properly. So he didn't make any comment, just spared a glance to the hand she'd been tending to and feeling modestly content that the bleeding had eased up. His other hand hadn't been injured nearly as badly, so while it stung, he didn't think it was too important to have it tended to.

When Xion points out a particular building, he nods and takes the lead. Old habits kicked in as a study of the area and comparing it to what he knew of started allowing him to draw conclusions. Though heavily damaged and overgrown in some places with untended greenery, he was willing to hedge a bet that with all the taller buildings that they were in some kind of business district. From what he could tell of the structural remnants, they stood in the intersection near an office park.

Roxas watches his step as he approaches the shattered glass doors, nothing but metal frames outlining where the panes had been and stepping through the opening carefully. The lobby he'd entered seemed as devoid of power as the rest of the city, so he was willing to bet that they'd need some proper flashlights or at least a torch to see what the deeper parts of the building had.

"Watch your step." He warned, sounding somewhat distracted as he was busy trying to think of where they'd be able to procure the supplies he knew that they would need.

[seasaltblues]

If he was that insistent on keeping lead, she'd let it be. But all the same, she scuttled close to him at least. While their hands were no longer joined, she was still within arm's reach just behind him. So, if anything happened, she was right behind him. Literally. This time, she would keep better tabs on him. Alert, she saw the glass before the warning had even left his mouth. Keeping her steps careful and measured, she managed to cross through the door after him with little trouble though bar she was a few paces behind than she had initially planned.

Her eyes trailed what could be seen so far of the building. Fortunately, there were enough windows at the front entrance that the lobby could be made out clearly, but as the main hallway stretched out before them, it was finally swallowed by darkness. A darkness that made her uncomfortable without any manner of light to manage. She tried for a moment to contain a fire spell in her palm, but it was useless. With a quiet sigh and a shake of her head, she studied the rest of the layout, noticing two doors, both located on opposing sides and still likely on the outer perimeter of the structure. And that meant more windows.

She headed over wordlessly to one of them, assuming he'd follow, and tried the knob. It gave easily... but then when she made to push it open... "It's stuck. I think something's blocking the way." She frowned as she rattled the door.

[notquiteanobody]

It felt awkward between them -after making as much progress as they had back in Haven, whatever circumstance had led them to this place also seemed to have set back any particular comfort they'd established by no small amount. But then, with the memories he did have, Xion didn't seem like an overtly talkative or open person. What he could recall always had her being quiet and as she was now, always thinking of something. Not like their sudden uproot didn't give them enough to think about, just the silence between them wasn't giving him much of a distraction from his own worries and concerns.

When she started toward the door, he followed without saying anything further, observing as she was met with little success in getting the thing open. Taking a moment to run a few of his own thoughts through his head, an idea finally came to mind.

"Do you think this place could take it if we used a Firaga to blast through?"

Roxas knew she'd bring up the potency of their spells, but the grim smirk on his face said that he already had an idea of how they'd circumvent that obstacle.

[seasaltblues]

Awkward was one way to put it. Distant. Uncertain. Uneasy. Vexed. Torn. Second-guessing. All those and more. But all the same, she wouldn't abandon him. And her determination to mind that had only grown ten fold. It was just... that at the moment, her focus was so divided, too. Between the stress of the new situation, what it meant, it was... It was stretching her pretty thin. Not that she would outright admit it to him. Instead, she'd channel it. The door was one of those- an obstacle she could focus on removing, something she could do right. Or so had been part of her thought process among her worries in his regard.

She had been in the middle of shaking it a bit more when Roxas offered up that suggestion. She looked back to him, skepticism undoubtedly clouding her expression for a moment. Hadn't he seen what little her spells had done back on the subway platform? But as she studied him, she slowly collected that look to him. That perhaps her first thoughts weren't exactly what he was hinting at. And that made her raise a brow. "I'm not sure, but... What do you have in mind?"

[notquiteanobody]

It would've taken some significant lapse in his observations for him to have missed Xion having difficulties with her magic, but that combined with perhaps a livelier imagination than he needed was what put the idea he had in his head. Setting the guitar case off to the side, he approaches the door and gives it a careful inspection. With any due fortune, if his idea ended up working and not blowing them both to kingdom come, whatever was blocking the door on the other side also wouldn't spill out and bury them.

"You remember how not long before we came here, I remembered how we were linked?" At this point, he's expecting an odd look or some question as to the relevance of that to their current fix, but whenever the look or comment comes, he'll explain as soon as he sees or hears it.

"It's a stretch, but I was thinking that if I just kind of relaxed, started that part of a spell where I'm gathering power for it while holding your hand and you did the whole motion of casting, you might be able to channel both our power and that just might work."

[seasaltblues]

That suggestion... For a moment, all she could do was stare at him. Just letting it click that he had actually offered it in the first place. And then she stirred. Her footing shifting from one to the other. Finally pausing in her motions, Xion took to just staring at the floor. Just how much of a good idea would that be? What if it set off the same inevitable path from before where one or the other would have to be destroyed? It had been a fear slowly quelled over her time in Haven- It wasn't like it was something that seemed to be on the replay after spending months there with no sign of imbalance on either end -but it wasn't something someone could just easily forget and wave off.

So, she stood there. Simply biting her lip and letting a minute pass. But she knew the more time she relented on the idea, the more suspicious Roxas would become. And so, finally, with an air of reluctance, "Let's... Let's try it." Her voice came out soft, but the hand had that came out to grip his less injured one was firm as if she were grounding herself to this idea. Her glance falling back on the door.

[notquiteanobody]

Roxas waits for a moment, studying her expression he found himself modestly surprised that she agreed. Not that he had any intention of backing down, but it was almost welcome to have her accept his notion so easily. That acceptance was something he just responds to at first with just a tempered smile -his determination mixed with the ideas of vigilance that he'd learned from her.

When her hand gripped his, he paused a moment. "Let's just change this real quick..."

He shifted their grip so his hand rested over the back of hers, his fingers loosely intertwining in hopes that somehow the gesture made it all work better. Besides, he figured that if she was casting, her palm would need to be clear to provide a 'firing point' of sorts to release the spell from.

Taking some comfort in that contact, he doesn't say anything further for a moment, letting his breathing come in slow and measured breaths as he went through his trained motions to draw power for their spell.

"I should have enough power in another second or two. You can start your part of things whenever you're ready."

[seasaltblues]

For a moment, Xion just stood there. Caught between uncertainty and an underlying sick feeling. Working with Roxas as she was. While to him, the link was useful, to her... She knew its true nature. Knew why and that was what made her... slightly relieved when she gained those few precious extra seconds where he was readjusting his hold on her hand. It made her blink and then a meek, sheepish smile rose to the surface of her features. Brief but still there.

But then her attention was back on the task at hand. Listening to him, how he settled. And then... Then she felt something. Like she was starting to channel her own strength, but the thing was she hadn't even been concentrating on it even a second ago. And then realization hit her right then and she wanted to pull away. But instead her hand tightened around his fingers roughly as if to anchor herself. Just this once. Just this once. And with that thought, she narrowed in on the situation at hand, hand flexing before a fire spell, noticeably stronger than any of the ones she had cast before, tore from her palm and nailed the door. The force of it caused it to fling forward, whatever had been blocking it rolling back from the explosion that crashed the moment the spell had impacted.

Xion kept her hand tightly bound to his a moment longer, too caught up staring at their work to mind the taxing handle on his fingers.

[notquiteanobody]

The resulting conflagration was admittedly more impressive than he'd expected. Maybe his original guess that they were at less than half-power was wrong -perhaps the capability was unchanged, just something about their new environment kept them from focusing the spell right. It was all a bunch of random guess work. Truth be told, he honestly had just the bare minimum understanding of their magic so that he could get it to work. The rest of all this was largely educated guesses combined with stuff read in comic books and background stories to some of the video games he used to play.

Either way, the result and the fact that the blast didn't set the building on fire was something he took as a positive note, allowing himself to grin at what he looked at as their momentary victory.

The tight grip Xion had on his fingers didn't escape his attention, Roxas offering her a reassuring smile, "Not bad, huh? Must've been one of the reasons why we were such a good team back then."