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

[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.

When Conan spoke up again, his voice seemed to be enough to yank the Nobody's attention away from the unique skateboard. "Sort of. It's a long story. You see, according to them, I've been here before -even though I've been someplace entirely different during that time. Cutting it short, mismatching memories and some stuff they say happened between us has made things a little awkward."

In truth, it was more that he should've been saying 'stuff Xion said' because Axel seemed to refuse to talk to him since he'd arrived.

[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.

[holmes_fanatic]

"I'm definitely glad to see the last of this particular winter." More than he let on -- Conan wasn't exactly keen to mention the hypothermia incident. He tucked his hands in his pockets as he nodded towards the skateboard. "Go on. The paving stones take a bit of getting used too -- since the original inhabitants would have been pedestrians it's really not designed for it."

To be fair to Roxas, seven-year-old's aren't high on most people's threat list. "--ah. It's -- you've been told about the differences in time?"

[notquiteanobody]

Roxas nodded eagerly as he hopped on the skateboard, his body remembering how to ride and balancing on its own. One foot on the board and the other ready to push off, he gave an experimental push -while he had plenty of experience on pavement, asphalt and concrete, he usually made it a point not to ride on stones just because of how head-jarring his first experience was.

Ah, but first to address that little question. "Yeah, but it's a lot more than that. I'll explain more in a minute."

And that was all the warning he gave as he gave another push -this time, more following to bring him up to his usual speeds. It was bumpy, the the larger wheels seemed to handle the stone edges better than the smaller wheels and lower truck of his favored stunt boards. He just wished that the wheels might have been made of a softer material to absorb the shock better. Of course a few details like that weren't going to stop him from enjoying himself.

He flew down a good hundred feet, displaying the casual grace of someone who'd been doing this for far longer than he actually had. Seeing the next intersection come up, he found himself grinning wildly as he realized how he was going to make his return trip. Roxas shifted his angle toward a nearby lamp-post... waiting, waiting. And at the last moment he kicked the tail of the board, launching it into the air. His feet shifted position as he angled the trucks to land completely vertical on the post. Then, almost like he was enjoying his own personal field of gravity, he kicked the tail again, launching back the way he came.

As he came within about twenty feet, he bled off his speed before coasting to a stop not some ten or so paces past Conan, stepping on the tail and grabbing the board -still grinning happily.

"Wow, I can't tell you how good it felt to ride one of those like that again."

[holmes_fanatic]

Conan nodded as Roxas set off. He certainly handled the board like one with experience, he thought as he watched the other boy skate down the road picking up speed and easily adjusting to the bumpy terrain. He nodded, impressed by the effortless jump, smirking at Roxas' greeting as the other rejoined him.

"I think I can guess. You look pretty happy!"

[notquiteanobody]

He had to laugh at the reply, honestly, he felt pretty happy. Mood-wise, this was probably one of his high points since he'd arrived in the city. "Yeah, I guess sometimes all you need is something pretty simple to make you feel better when you're down."

Remembering that he was still holding the board, he offers it back to its original owner, "Thanks again, I think I really needed that."

[holmes_fanatic]

Conan smiled as he took the board back. "Let me know if you need to borrow it again. Now I have it, I want to explore the places I couldn't get to before, but I can't do that all the time so ..."

[notquiteanobody]

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, thanks." He pauses a little as part of that sentence catches up with him, "Wait, places you couldn't get to without a skateboard? What kind of places?" That was something that struck him as interesting there.

[holmes_fanatic]

"The rest of the city. It's easy to get around the centre on foot, but it's a long walk to the walls and the towers ... I've only really explored the city centre and the area around the station."

[notquiteanobody]

He nodded -that did make a lot of sense. Though the way he'd interpreted that comment, he'd expected that Conan had found some place that needed the speed of a skateboard in a narrow place in order to pass.

But considering just the size of the city, a mode of transport like this was important on that front too.

"Yeah, I could see that -at least in the last place I was from, we had a train that went between the different sections of town. I'm guessing the one here only brings new people in"

[holmes_fanatic]

"That's right. It's not here most of the time and it leaves quickly. Plus, if you try following the train tracks, you end up in the forest instead."

[notquiteanobody]

"Huh, I didn't even know about that. Thanks for the tip off -I know that Aqua did mention that the forest has some fairly mean wildlife."

[holmes_fanatic]

Conan nodded. "Monsters," he said bluntly. "They're pretty dangerous." He paused thoughtfully. "You're friends with Aqua-neesan?"

[notquiteanobody]

He made a mental note that he should expect more trouble than just some of the animals he'd read about in books before. If nothing, some part of him had been hoping to see if his old panda was in there somehow -but actual monsters would pose one of those problems he wouldn't want to go chasing after needlessly.

When Aqua's name was mentioned, he gives a cheerful and enthusiastic nod, "Yeah, I'm actually living with her and Ventus now."

[holmes_fanatic]

"Ventus?" Conan looked enquiringly. "I don't know him."

"Did they tell you about the times?"