[Action / Video] Day 94 - That Foolish Me

[notquiteanobody]

[Hi Ruby City. Take a look at that. The video image you're seeing is in one of the resting rooms of the clinic. Seems like someone's been out of the loop for awhile considering the indistinguishable groaning and grumbling that the microphone's picking up. Finally, the image somewhat jerkily pans around before a pretty beaten-looking Roxas comes

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[Action]

[seasaltblues]

[Xion had happened to forget her watch back where she had been currently staying. That place being... Well, it wasn't exactly her old home there in the city. She wasn't even yet sure where that was. But it wasn't like she really stayed in one place for long around there anyway at the moment, constantly trying to explore, trying to remind herself. Piece herself back together. Day by day, she had become more and more certain that there really were memories she had been missing. And day by day, things had slowly clicked, linked up. And she was becoming more and more confident, day by day, that everything else would line up the more time she spent out and about

[Action]

[notquiteanobody]

[Entertainment while bed-ridden seemed only to come in the form of the network today, so he'd more or less contented his interests for now to looking at what he'd missed either while moping. Hopefully, he'd be able to get a hold of Emil, Tenebrae or... well, Lucia would be smart enough to pick out a book for him if he asked for something to read. Well, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. She'd probably drool on it.

Still, the sudden knock on the door was something to raise his curiosity. It was a small clinic and he figured that the residents here had already checked up on him. But then, this was the first time in awhile that he was actually feeling up to being awake for more than a handful of minutes... maybe one of them even saw his post and decided to check up on him. If nothing, he still did have to say thanks for patching him up last time too.

Or maybe it was another friend in the area. With only one way left to find out, he propped himself up against the headboard and just yelled.]

It's open!

[Action]

[seasaltblues]

[Xion had been pretty set in backing off after even only a few seconds passed, pretty certain that she was just getting her hopes up and hearing things because of that. She had already taken a step or two back right afterward. But then she heard that shout. And that? That was definitely... Without a doubt....

She reached out for the doorknob, clutching it tightly. And then, after a hesitance. After pondering a myriad of reasons, she finally found herself slowly opening it, a solid creak signaling her entrance if not for the step or so she took into the room, very well in sight... and very well seeing the sight of him as well. She stood there, stock still. Staring at him from under her hood. And for a moment, she had forgotten how to breathe.]

....R-Roxas?

[Action]

[notquiteanobody]

[She wasn't the only one to freeze. Glancing at the door, he'd expected maybe Naoki, Emil, Conan or perhaps Hungary. Instead for a moment he just stared as that familiar hooded figure walked into the room. It was like seeing a ghost. And all at once he found himself crashed upon by so many different and in some cases, entirely conflicting feelings that he didn't know how to respond

[Action]

[seasaltblues]

[It took her a moment before she finally nodded just a little. Dumbly. It was so hard to believe... and yet it wasn't at all. Her head began to throb like crazy and she reached up, gripping to it slightly. But it only lasted briefly, just as the other times had and then she was refocusing on him. The hand that had been touching the one side of her head was accompanied by her other one. Unsure, unsteady fingers curling around the brim of her hood. But somehow, she was certain... That what he would see...

Slowly, finally. After being in the city for so long, she drew back that hood of hers. Looking to him with downright amazement and awe. Because she had been so certain that she wouldn't see him again. And yet... And yet there he... was... and what...? Her eyes widened. She hadn't been able to see it so well with the way she had her hood up before but now that she had a clearer view... Or perhaps now that the initial shock had worn off. Her voice coming off strained.]

W-What happened to you?

[Like she should be the one asking.]

[Action]

[notquiteanobody]

[It hurt to move, but some part of him was absolutely terrified that if he didn't verify that it was her and not some warped part of his psyche somehow making him hallucinate, that should would vanish all over again. His breathing was audibly strained as he threw his blanket off and eased himself out of bed

[Action]

[seasaltblues]

[She knew she should have acted, knew she should have done something immediately when he drew himself with painful breaths out of bed. Should have stopped him. But she was just so shocked by how beat he was. Sure, they had been through rough patches before, but she couldn't ever recall a time where he'd been this mauled. Most of that amounted to the fact that cure spells worked wonders. If he ever really had been in a similar state, now that she thought of it, like her, he probably had healed up before meeting up on the clock tower- so his friends wouldn't worry. But this state of his- Had he been rendered unconscious before he had even had a chance? Had he really been that reckless? All that bandaging... His shoulder, specifically.

And the way he was up and out of bed only magnified things. She took swift steps towards him to cut the distance shorter, stopping there and just... watching him. Opening her mouth. Closing it. Why couldn't she get herself to say anything? Her one hand twitching slightly as she started to raise it,

[Action]

[notquiteanobody]

[His steps were at least still discernible as such, still at a staggered, almost jerking pace -a clear sign that he hadn't been kidding when he said that he had been in bed for at least a week. It was the same kind of reaction that he had when he'd passed out for so long and now, just like back then, it seemed that his time spent resting had taken a toll on his motor skills and balance. But this was something he wasn't going to take lying down

[Action]

[seasaltblues]

[While Roxas had spent the time gaping over her, Xion watched him in return with a mixture of her own feelings. How had she not known he was in the city? If he had been there a while, why hadn't anyone told her? Give or take, she hadn't asked. She hadn't expected him to be there. But now that she had found him, part of her even had began to wonder why she hadn't looked for him sooner. Things were just slowly making a little more sense yet not because there he was all banged up and- and looking as mixed up as she was and the way he was so beat

[Action]

[notquiteanobody]

[Getting that answer from her; understanding if it was the Xion he'd gotten to know since arriving her, if she remembered their time together, if she remembered him not just after those fateful days with Axel back then -it was a thought that was something he was so focused on, he hadn't even noticed when she laid her hand on his shoulder

[Action]

[seasaltblues]

[While Roxas was scrambling to gather his own thoughts, Xion herself was still sorting out her own. How he had gotten that way, she was starting to guess, was probably due to the manner of the state the city had been in, she guessed. Knowing Roxas, he had probably run out into the thick of things if there was anyone else he had known in the city who were in need of a hand. She had already heard from Larxene that Axel had been around at one point

[Action]

[notquiteanobody]

[When she'd countered with an outburst of her own, he felt his arms give just a little, easing the force he'd mustered to keep her shoved against the wall. Her reply, the sentiment it carried matched with the more rational thought that was struggling to get him to come to his senses -to stop and talk instead of yelling at her like this. It was the same part of him that sat there, horrified when he watched Xion clash with Axel in that alley in Twilight Town seemingly so long ago. And now that part of him watched in horror at the exchange unfolding between them.

It made sense though. At least that's what he wanted to believe. But all he was seeing was just a repeat of what had happened before, the only difference was that this time, he remembered. He remembered their time together; the awkward situations, the attempts that each of them had put forward to try and reconnect... those precious few moments of calm between them. And yet despite that, she just chose to walk away, now claiming that she didn't want to make that decision

[Action]

[seasaltblues]

[As he relented a beat on the pressure, Xion finally moved one of her hands which had previously gone limp, slowly but surely reaching up to lightly grip under his one arm- as if trying to find a way find a piece of foundation, a hold onto reality for the both of them -but she reached no further than that. Not having a chance to, really. Because then he was reaffirming his hold on her, causing her breath to hitch once more. Her gaze meeting his again. Teeth clenched and eyes wincing from the way he was pushing her, how the trim was digging into her back and how he was shouting almost in her ear and that feeling of being cornered and frustrated and torn on how to explain and knowing that even if she did, it would just make things worse at that point. No matter how she many words were running through her head from.

Leaving was out of my control.

We don't know when we'll disappear here.

I really did want to stay here with you-And then he was giving again, and this time Xion did act. Holding his arm tighter as her other other arm

[Action]

[notquiteanobody]

[Outrage and frustration could only sustain him so long, the drive and will to push himself to even keep himself out of bed quickly burning off like coal consumed in a flash fire. He felt his body getting heavy -it wasn't like when he remembered her draining off of him, but rather it was because he ached. The sensation of injury spread throughout his body, reminding him that he'd pushed himself too hard. His shoulder especially hurt, it throbbed as a casual glance at the bandages revealed a few faint ebony wisps trailing off and vanishing into the aether

[Action]

[seasaltblues]

[In the end, it was probably a very good thing that Roxas had pushed her against that wall despite the painful circumstances that had been the entire reason she had been pinned there in the first place by him. Because when he began to fall, while his legs had given, it ended up being perfect leverage to help her uphold him from hitting the ground. There was still so much she wanted to say, too, herself. So many things she had held back, so much that seemed to pain him by her leave. But that was all backburnered by his condition. By his uneven breathing and his lost footing and the tears and the weakness she had seen in his eyes, a gaze she hadn't ever seen before. She had seen him desperate before. But nothing like that

[Action]

[notquiteanobody]

[It was nice this way. Or at least that's what he thought. So quiet, so calm. As he felt himself riding the swells of consciousness, he found a little more of himself coming back together with each ebb and flow. It made for a strange dream. As his consciousness drifted, he felt that movement come to an end, settling upon a hard surface. It wasn't entirely hard though... part of it had a certain softness to it. And that part felt rather nice the way it was cradling him as he rested. He was tired and he ached, but he found himself questioning just how it was that he ended up like this