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[creator_man]

Characters: Flynn and Tron. And probably Axel. Let's say tentatively open overall.
Location: The kolto tanks -> apartment D-4
Planet: Coruscant
When: Week 43
What: Picking up Tron from the tanks and getting him home. Safely. Ahem.
Rating: Possibly PG for discussion of... death?

Comments

[tronja307020]

The first glimmer of "self" that filled the strange sense of oneness came quickly. First there was darkness and everything at once, and then there was light and sound and touch all invading his senses and forcing him back into a single point of being. Disoriented and confused, he felt as if he were weighed down, saw the world distorted and hazy, and for a moment ha panicked. He lashed out both physically and mentally, trying to find anything to help him get his bearings before he realized that he was floating, that there were glimmers of presence around him.

He stilled, focusing on the beings around him curiously until he felt two shining points of familiarity not far away, comforting and reassuring and calming him from the panic. Axel. Flynn. Safe.

He settled, the drugged, groggy feeling sinking back in where the panic had been, and even as he latched onto their presences, clung to them with everything he had, he felt himself slip back into a strange sort of sleep, if floating unconscious in a strange, glowing vat could be considered sleep.

He awoke some time later, no longer suspended in the strange liquid but laying on a somewhat uncomfortable bed. The first thing he noticed upon opening his eyes was that he had two to open, and that the lights above him were far too bright for the restored left. He shielded it reflexively as he rolled to his side, sitting up and looking around, bewildered.

The next thing he felt was Flynn and Axel again. Still there. Close. He reached out for their minds, his senses grasping onto their location and focusing on where they were in relation to himself before he was trying to stand, only to find his legs were still a little weak and he had to sit back suddenly or fall down.

"Flynn? Axel, where are you???" He couldn't help the slight fear that rush into his voice when he called out. Right in that moment, he wanted nothing more then to find them, to show himself they were ok, to reassure himself with touch and sight and sound that they were here, that he was here, and that everything was alright. There was a part of him, the part that realized where he was and still felt the vestigial sting of what had sent him here, that worried - were they here, too? Why? Had they come to find him, or had they been...sent here, too?

More then that, though, he simply wanted to just reconnect with them both, surround himself in their familiarity and companionship. He needed them there in that moment, needed them close. Needed the comfort of his closest friends. His family. He didn't want to be alone right now.

[creator_man]

Flynn nearly sagged with relief when the familiar voice called out his name. His mind had known that Tron should return and he had kept reminding himself of it.

But watching him dissolve in front of him in a manner so similar to the Grid deresolutions...

Tron had never been defeated except for that time by Clu. He'd lost him then, and he'd lost him because of his own actions, too, not only because of the outcome of the struggle. And he'd lost him now, again.

Until this moment.

Flynn shot a glance towards Axel, but that was the whole of the delay he permitted himself before sprinting, as much as his aging but toned body let him, half-stiff from the waiting this far. He didn't even blink at the repaired appearance of his friend.

There would be time to consider that after a hug.

[nobody_number_8]

Axel couldn't feel relief, but nonetheless, it was good to hear that now familiar voice again, even carrying a note of fear. Without Tron around, he had been far too aware of his own emptiness, just like he had when Roxas had left. And just like then, there had ultimately been nothing he could do to prevent it.

Unlike Roxas, though, he knew that this time, his friend would return. And now he had.

Axel grinned when Flynn glanced his way, then followed him when he took off running. He could've probably out-distanced the older man if he wanted to, but didn't try, hanging back just a bit; Flynn needed to see Tron more than he did. Still, he wasted no time geting to the room where Tron had been resting, arriving just moments after Flynn.

Unlike Flynn, he took notice of Tron's restored visage, though it was quite seconadary to the simple fact that he was there. Settling into a more normal pace as he approached, he gave Tron a smirky grin and a characteristiically snarky reply to his previous question as to their whereabouts. "'Where are we?'", he repeated. "Like we were the ones who went somewhere." He stopped next to Tron's bed, and next to Flynn, though he didn't move to interfere with Tron and Flynn's hug for the moment. His friend was back; that was enough for now.

[tronja307020]

The moment they entered the room, he felt his worry melt away into intense relief. They were right here, they were alright no matter why they were there.

He pulled himself to a stand and opened his arms wide seconds before Flynn was wrapping him up in a hug. He'd known it was coming, yes, but more then anything, it was something he needed and would have initiated himself if the User hadn't done it first. He clung to him tightly, and for a moment, he let his feelings show, giving a gentle, hiccuping sob into his shoulder. It was like right now, he was enveloped in a small, protective bubble, where letting his emotions show again was alright for just a little bit.

The fact that he could feel turmoil rolling off of Flynn in waves certainly encouraged it.

When he heard Axel's voice, that familiar, snarky, playful tone, he at once felt a moment of intense guilt and amusement and confusion all roiling together in his mind. He looked up just long enough to look at Axel standing close, but just out of the small huddle he and Flynn were in, and he reached out, hooking his arm around him and pulling him into the hug as well.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to leave. I couldn't stop it, I tried, but I couldn't get away!"

[creator_man]

After a moment, through their words, he could let go a little and pay attention again. When he did, he waved Axel to join them, rather than stand upright and away. Yes, he knew what the Nobody was and what he possibly wouldn't consider lonely, but it fit ill for him, and probably would for Tron, too.

"I know, my friend. You wouldn't go down without a fight, you never have and I'm certain that you never will."

Tron. The champion. Whoever it was...

"Whoever it was that did it, I want you to promise not to try going after him alone." Because he knew that it had to be established early on. "I think there have been more murders since. Some of them witnessed. All of Jedi, of people with the Force. None of them could do much against it. As reassuring as returning is, losing you again isn't the way to go about this."

His arm tightened around Tron's shoulders, and his look encompassed Axel, too. "And going about this we will. Just not rashly, hmm?"

[nobody_number_8]

Axel indeed wasn't worried about not being in the hug, but when Flynn beckoned him, to join, he smirked a little before taking a moment to figure out he best way to insert himself into it. The decision was taken out of his hands a moment later, though, when Tron looped an arm aound him, and suddenly, Axel was in the hug whether he wanted to be or not. Caught a bit off guard by the sudden gesture of affection, his facade of emotion faltered, leaving him wearing a slightly bemused blank look. This lasted only a moment however, and would be easily missed.

His expression then settled into a small smile, and wrapped an awkward return hug around the other two. Awkward both because of how out of practice he was at such things, and because the way he was being hugged partially trapped his arms. Not that he was complaining; it was... nice. He took a moment to just appreciate the unnaccustomed combination of physical and emotional warmth he found himself wrapped in before replying.

"Yeah, buddy, I know you're not the type to go down easily," he assured Tron, before his tone and expression shifted. "Just... seriously, don't you ever pull something like this again, or next time you come back I will personally rearrange your circuits, got it memorized?" His voice and expression were angry and grumpy, but most anyone could tell the intent behind them was anything but. He just... didn't know how else to openly express his desire to not lose his friend again. He figured the message would get across, anyway. 'Missed you, buddy.'

At the look from Flynn, he gave a soft 'heh', and a half-smirk. "Now, would we do a thing like that?", he asked with deliberate innocence.

[tronja307020]

The fight he'd given had been embarrassingly inadequate, considering the good it had done him. He was almost ashamed at the how weak his grasp on his abilities had been when he really needed them. But he knew that was beside the point.

He looked between the two of them, nodding gently and giving a small smile at Axel's attempt at feigning anger. He understood. And the fact that they had been so upset about his absence told him at once how much of a fool he'd been and how much he'd taken them for granted since finding himself here.

That was one of the first things he planned on changing.

He listened quietly as Flynn described the attacks that had occurred after his own, his smile falling to a frown. So there was more to what had happened then any of them knew, it seemed. He nodded in reply.

"I promise, Flynn. My own abilities are too weak to be of any use against him at this point, anyway. I don't plan on facing him on my own. I don't..." his voice caught gently, and he forced down the lump in his throat, shaking his head. "I don't want to leave again." Because saying "die" at this point was too hard.

[creator_man]

"Good," Flynn's voice grated, and his arm tightened around Tron again.

After a moment, he took a deeper breath. "Leia Organa made a broadcast a day or two after you--" He swallowed. "She may know best what is being done about the whole thing, and by whom. When you are ready, we can call her and you can tell what happened and anything that can help to identify him."

That seemed a reasonable compromise, to Flynn. Between doing nothing and getting dead again.

<--- Closest thing to hugging icon he's got... X3

[nobody_number_8]

Axel gave a small nod of agreement with Tron's statement about not wanting to leave. "Yeah", he said to Tron after Flynn had spoken. "Good." While he lacked the emotion needed to get choked up, his words were soft and serious. It was as close as he could get. "Cause we don't plan on letting you."

After that, he just listened for a few moments as Flynn outlined a course of action. He found himself almost unconsciously leaning into Tron's portion of the hug a little more when the older man's voice caught again on the word that all of them were carefully avoiding. Once Flynn had finished, he nodded his approval. "Sounds like a plan to me," he said.