I tell you this, and I tell you plain... [[ Active / Open ]]

[wanderlustroad]

Characters: Riku, open
Time: Evening
Location: McCormick Tribune Ice Rink
Content: Riku is brooding. What better place to brood than...an ice rink? Riku, your logic does not work.
Warnings: n/a

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[ring_and_die]

Ryou knew that he really should listen to the advice Jennifer had given him about not wandering through the city alone. But he still didn't believe that he'd made any further progress in making friends than he had the night he helped (though it was questionable whether or not his contribution actually counted as "helping") break into the water tower.

He had eventually found his way to the ice rink where he had made the dubious decision to check out a pair of skates (renting them would have meant someone being willing to take his money, something Ryou still wasn't quite used to) and go a few laps around the edge. He had thought that maybe by learning not to fall on his behind while on the ice, he could improve his coordination on solid ground, too.

Well, at least he wasn't the only one who was having an awkward time slipping across the rink like Bambi learning to walk. Ryou really missed having a wall he could support himself against while he found his bearings.

As he picked himself up from yet another tumble, Ryou spotted another young man with hair like his standing off to the side. Recognizing Riku from the water tower escapade, Ryou gave him a friendly wave and somehow made his way closer without falling again. "Hello!"

[wanderlustroad]

Riku was absently watching a little girl with pigtails making her way around the ice, her father encouraging her along as he held her hand tightly. He wondered how something could be created that so remarkably mimicked real life - these people were no more real than dreams.

Crossing his arms, he continued his watch, only to be shaken out of it by someone cheerfully calling out a greeting. Turning, he noticed a boy with hair nearly the same shade as his, waving at him. Riku gave him a small smile and a nod. "Ryou, right?"

[ring_and_die]

Once Ryou managed to maintain his balance while standing still, he nodded. "Mmhmm. And you're Riku?" They hadn't had much time for normal conversation, but he was pretty sure he remembered the other boy's name, at least.

"What brings you out here?" he asked.

[wanderlustroad]

"Yeah..."

He glanced back out at the skating crowds, the smile vanishing from his face as he looked back out at the people who really weren't people at all. "Nothing much. Just thinking."

[ring_and_die]

Ryou glanced over his shoulder at the other people on the rink. It disturbed him to think of them as NPCs, just flat characters with a few lines of dialogue who existed solely to advance the plot at best. He had his other self to thank for ruining that for him. So Ryou tried to ignore the fact, which was helped somewhat by not seeing any of them melt away yet.

He looked back at Riku and blinked, noticing his distant expression. "Is everything all right?" he asked gently.

[wanderlustroad]

It was a loaded question. Considering where they were and what sort of dangers lurked in the city, Riku was anything but okay. Who knew when or if they'd be able to get home, and what sort of damage this place had done to his powers. He still winced at the thought of the strain it took to summon Way to the Dawn, and nothing was made better when he thought back to what happened at the water tower...

"Things could be better," he shrugged. "I just don't like it here."

[ring_and_die]

"That's understandable," Ryou agreed. "I don't think anyone here is really thrilled about the current situation. Well, aside from the vampires," he added after a moment of thought.

"Still, things could also be a lot worse, I suppose."

[wanderlustroad]

Riku nearly scoffed at the mention of vampires - he thought some things were restricted to only one world, but it looked like he was wrong. In fact, if he thought about it, this whole place was like some twisted version of Halloweentown.

He shrugged. "Maybe things will get worse. Calm before the storm, you know?"

[ring_and_die]

Ryou winced at the thought and rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, well, let's knock on wood and pray that they don't."

For his part, Ryou had only seen vampires and the like on Duel Monster cards and in his tabletop games. But that didn't mean that they couldn't become real, or rather, that they couldn't be brought to his world. All it took was the right magic...

[wanderlustroad]

Riku personally left that sort of optimism to Sora - at the moment, all he knew was that he had to keep both eyes open and always be ready for a fight. With all of their luck, chances are Heartless and Nobodies would start crawling along Chicago's streets soon anyway.

He leaned forward against the small wall that separated the park from the rink, continuing his observance of the skaters. "Why are you out here so late anyway?"

[ring_and_die]

Ryou's smile was embarrassed as he answered Riku's question. "I thought that maybe I could start to improve my coordination by practicing," he admitted. Riku could probably guess why this was so important for him.

"But you're right, it is getting late. I should probably start heading back to the hotel." Being slightly more graceful wouldn't do him very much good if he got jumped by a vampire, after all.

[wanderlustroad]

Riku snorted. "Yeah, well..." He remembered how clumsy Ryou had been at the Tower and wasn't going to try and convince him not to work on his coordination. "Suppose you're not any good with a sword, are you?

[ring_and_die]

"A sword? Me?" Ryou shook his head and smiled ruefully. "If I were, I'm sure I could have been more useful back there." He knew it wasn't his fault he'd never been trained in how to use a weapon back home, but it still made him feel sheepish compared to Riku, who had proven himself capable of handling himself in a fight.

[wanderlustroad]

Riku gave Ryou a quick glance before turning his attention back to the skaters. "You should probably learn how. Not the best thing in the world to talk around this place without knowing how to fight."

It was the closest he would come to actually offering his help, but it was certainly better than he had been a year ago.

[ring_and_die]

Try as he might, Ryou just couldn't picture himself wielding a sword without hearing an echo of his mother's admonition that he'd put an eye out if he insisted on playing with sharp, pointy things. It wasn't that he was a walking disaster area or anything, but there was a big difference between being able to use a blade for cooking or an art project without maiming himself, and being about to use one in a pitched battle while expecting the same.

"I think I'd be better off with something else," Ryou said, rubbing the back of his neck.

[wanderlustroad]

"Something else, huh?" Riku wasn't sure whether to suggest magic or not - so many people came from places where magic was used differently than what he was used to. It probably would have been a lost cause trying to explain the differences, a cause that, in the end, wasn't worth the effort. "Have anything in mind?"