Day 16 ~ I Wonder What Has Changed For Us

[notquiteanobody]

Who: Roxas and You
What: Shopping, trying not to mope
When: Late afternoon, early evening.
Where: The City Streets, varied locales
Warnings: Just the usual durp alert... plus possible angst.
Status: In Progress.

Comments

[holmes_fanatic]

Did you say skateboard? There is currently one -- that's right, one -- in Ruby City and that one is in the possession of one Edogawa Conan, currently test-driving his skateboard for the first time since the snow has cleared enough to make the paths viable.

He's taking it easy to start with. That is to say that Conan is using it like a regular skateboard and not accessing the solar powered turbo at all as he scoots down the road, adjusting to the texture of the paved path.

[notquiteanobody]

As a matter of fact, that was just what he was looking for at the moment. Yet he had't had the slightest bit of luck in finding one in a store. So imagine his surprise when the familiar sound of hard plastic wheels on the newly cleared concrete. At first he thought it might've been roller skates, but then he heard the very subtle following sound of ball-bearings with those wheels.

Excited, he glances around looking for the source, just in time to see a boy riding the board go right by intersection. Not wanting to let this chance get away from him, Roxas immediately broke into a sprint, waving his arms to try and get the rider to stop.

"Hey! Wait!"

[holmes_fanatic]

Conan started as he heard Roxas' yell, the shock causing his skateboard to wobble. As he caught sight of the other boy running after he stopped, catching up the skateboard lightly as he stepped down for the newcomer to catch up.

"What's happened?" It was too soon for their captors to have a new game -- wasn't it?

[notquiteanobody]

"Huh?" Roxas seemed confused as he approached the boy, a little uncertain about that reaction when it clicked in his head that he had come running from out of nowhere acting like that. It was enough that he mentally chided himself for doing that... of course, he wasn't sure how else he would've gotten his attention.

He cleared his throat though as his attention briefly went to the skateboard, pleased to find that it wasn't something else. "Sorry about that." The Nobody offered an apology as he turned to look at the rider, "I heard the sound of the wheels on pavement and I just need to ask: where did you get that? I've been looking all over for one."

[holmes_fanatic]

Conan blinked. Like Roxas, he needed a moment for the pieces to click and he looked at the skateboard he held in understanding before looking up with a grimace. "Ah -- bad news."

He cradled the skateboard more comfortably as he talked, sizing up Roxas' appearance and clothing against those of the inhabitants of the city he'd already met. "It looks like the inhabitants of this city never developed technology in transportation to the point where they had bikes or wagons, let alone skateboards. This one, I didn't find so much as it was left for me to find."

[notquiteanobody]

For a moment, he just stared dumbly at the boy. He couldn't help but wonder if he was serious, that somehow that was the only skateboard in the entire city. Yet, it wasn't entirely implausible and that thought really sunk his spirit a little. It seemed that if he wanted one of his own, he'd have to make it himself.

"Really?" There was an audible tone of disappointment in his voice. It was about then though that his old friend manners smacked him in the back of his head, prompting the Nobody to offer his hand, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I'm Roxas."

[holmes_fanatic]

"Sorry," Conan said. He meant it too -- he'd spent weeks looking for a bicycle, something to make up for the drawback of having such ridiculously short legs (thanks again, Gin) only to find nothing, not even a tricycle. "Occasionally people find things in the outskirts or at the stop of the towers -- our captors like to make things interesting for us."

He accepted the handshake. "Edogawa Conan. Ah, Conan's my name."

[notquiteanobody]

Roxas nodded, scratching his head after they finished shaking. That was certainly discouraging to hear, but then it was a big city and even if there wasn't one in the city, the mention of finding things in the towers or the outskirts sounded promising.

"Nice to meet you." He finally said, having shuffled those mental notes aside. Honestly, there was no small part of him that wanted to at least ride again for a little bit -it was one of those things he always remembered enjoying. But then, he figured it might be a little too forward to just ask like that.

"Huh, how long have you had that one?"

[holmes_fanatic]

"Agasa-hakase made it for me about a year-- ah, you mean in the city?" Conan laughed self-consciously. "Only a few weeks -- this is the first time I've had the chance to use it. Before the streets were blocked by snow ..."

Something of Roxas' desire communicated itself in his posture and Conan tilted his head, considering the other curiously. "How long have you been here, Roxas-niisan?"

[notquiteanobody]

As he listened, something about the boy's speaking patterns immediately struck him as a little off. And yet also they were familiar. His memory jogged back to the hours he'd spent in the library and by chance, he happened to recall some of the audio he'd heard. Well, that would provide something to talk about.

"Hmm?" Roxas' attention jumped back to the present as he scratched the side of his head, "Oh, a little more than two weeks." He figured that going into specific day counts wasn't important here -it seemed to be something only he really cared to keep track of anyway. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking... the way you're talking. You're Japanese?"

[holmes_fanatic]

"Two weeks," Conan repeated thoughtfully. That was short enough time to still be coming to terms with being trapped in the city. In those circumstances, anything familiar would be welcomed, valued ... "Ne, do you want a quick ride, Roxas-niisan?"

He blinked at the question then nodded. "Mm! From Tokyo. You?"

[notquiteanobody]

He was a little surprised when his new friend made that offer. Even if he'd tried, Roxas would've done a bad job of concealing his excitement. "Uhm, if I could, that'd be great! Can I take a quick look at it first? Just to figure out if this one's built for speed or tricks."

When Conan replied to the question he asked, he wasn't entirely sure how to answer at first. Thankfully, he lucked out and a proper answer came to mind, "I don't usually stay around in any one place for too long. But it looks like this place might change that."

Xion and Axel would've been proud of how he ducked that one.

[holmes_fanatic]

"Sure." Conan held up the board. "You'll notice it isn't your typical skateboard. Agasa-hakase's an inventor so asking him to design something straightforward is ... well." The solar panels and the engine were pretty tame additions compared to others that had been bandied around before being discarded, but the result was still a board that you wouldn't expect a kid to be in the possession of.

Conan blinked. "A traveller? You're not alone there. Do you have friends here or on your own?"

[notquiteanobody]

Roxas eyed the skateboard with curiosity, it certainly didn't take more than a cursory glance to realize that there were a number of things making this particular one far different from what he was used to. The truck height and wheel hardness told him that this particular board seemed built for speed, but the addition of the engine practically reinforced that. And when he finally noticed the solar panels, he at least got an answer to the question he'd been wondering about said engine's power source. It certainly was a piece of work. "It's amazing, really." His tone was a very obvious reflection of how much this new toy was distracting him

[holmes_fanatic]

"It's pretty good," Conan said off-handedly, not able to disguise his own excitement at having it back. "And now that the snow's gone ..."

He nodded thoughtfully at Roxas' explanation. "The same thing has happened to a few people here. At least you're not alone in that."

[notquiteanobody]

"It must be great with all that out of the way." He commented back with the mention of the snow being gone. And the whole of being offered to take a spin on it lifted his mood at least a dozen fold.

And then, he was almost taken off-guard by another of the boy's statements. Rather than shock, the news actually eased his worries a fair deal. "That's nice to know. I just hope I can get everything cleared up soon. I just don't like it when things are this tense between people I know should be my closest friends."

Thinking about it, he wasn't sure why he was being so open. But he had to admit that Conan was rather non-threatening and he seemed nice enough. Of course, the whole skateboard deal probably wasn't hurting Roxas' view of him either.