Sometimes, Being Your Friend Hurts -- Traverse Town 2nd District [Open/COMPLETE]

[noster_nostri]

Traverse Town had changed a lot since he was fourteen. It had lost much of its innocence. The whole world seems to be geared towards fighting the war and defending the people who appeared everyday. It was supposed to only be a way-station, a place for people to learn about the different worlds and then travel to them, but more and more of the

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[crimson_apathy]

Yet the 'inevitable' had to wait another day to show its ugly head to the world

[noster_nostri]

Sora continued to sit dumbly as he slowly recovered from the cold. The appearance of the stranger in a now familiar (once familiar?) coat stunned him, but his mind was too foggy to really see him. He watched the weapon slice through the Heartless around him, destroying them in a violent but fascinating way.

It took him a moment to register that his left hand was still grasping his shirt and necklace and has the let go he realized he was still on the ground, Keyblade in his right hand and legs bent and open from the fall. It didn't seem to pop into his head that he should stand up though, instead he watched the Heartless around him disappear.

He shuddered, as the last bit of the frozen grip left his heart.

[crimson_apathy]

Violent didn't seem to be enough to describe how gruesomely they were mutilated; for a moment even looking like they were actual material beings instead of synthetic creations from the Darkness. But there they were, falling like flies as the figure danced to catch its weapon, only to let it go and begin the cycle all over again.

The act lasted for only a minute, and it almost looked like the very presence of this foreign body was enough for the leftover Heartless to disappear into the depths, no matter how disturbing the Keyblade Master's Light was.

The figure, who didn't bother to take a second glance at the fleeing Heartless, caught the chakram once more before it disappeared into the night, leaving it to just stand there awkwardly leaning back. The open end of its hood slowly twisted over to where the Keyblade Master laid.

It took a step forward. Another step. Another. Wandering.And when it finally reached the young brunet, it swooped down, quietly kneeling itself next to him as if to take a closer examination. The hood tilted

[noster_nostri]

Sora stared up at the figure. His blue eyes were wide, drinking in the sight of the way the stranger walked. He felt something like a headache slowly start to invade his skull. The death of the Heartless, despite how horrible it had been, didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. He had seen so many different types of the shadows torn apart by weapons and by magic that he simply had no reaction to the way they turned into smoke and faded away in the air. After all, why should he mourn them? He remembered what it was like to be lost in the darkness. Death was the better option. If that was even the correct term to assign to what happened to the mindless shadows after they blew away with the wind

[crimson_apathy]

… But what about those who didn’t have a heart to guide their emotions in the first place?

"Sometimes its hard to smile," The redhead frowned a little and looped his ankles together. " Not everyone is as strong as you. They might not have friends, loved ones, or anything of that sort to smile for. Beyond the light of your Keyblade, it can be a very bleak universe..."

His eyes were hazed for a moment, before they readjusted, and gave Sora an apologetic look.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I always have to ponder about the ‘Other Side’. It’s a habit."

Lea looked back up at the stars, reaching a gloved hand upwards and made a notion of grabbing a star from the sky, cupping it in his palm and cradled it to his empty chest.

"The sky looks beautiful tonight. I guess I should be thanking you for that."

[noster_nostri]

"Nah," Sora said modestly. "I didn't make the sky beautiful, I just try to keep it that way."

He looked up again and smiled to himself. It really did look very beautiful. Sora couldn't count all the stars and it didn't weigh heavily on him as it did the nights in Hollow Bastion. He wasn't afraid that one of them would suddenly blink out of existence. For a moment he was completely content just to look at the sky the same way he used to look at the ocean.

It was filled with promises of adventure.

He turned back to Lea, a slightly curious expression on his face. This man said strange things, and yet Sora felt oddly comfortable with him.

[crimson_apathy]

Lea smiled modestly back.

"You should take at least a little bit of credit. The sky wouldn't be as bright without you as its protector." As if to emphasize, Lea outstretched his arm to show Sora all the sky they could possibly gaze at from their spot in the fountain. Indeed, all the stars seemed to glimmer and show some kind of majestic appeal for all to appreciate.

When he caught Sora staring at them the nobody looked back and tilted his head, crimson strands scraping against his cheeks at the notion.

"Am I offending you...?" Lea asked humbly.

[noster_nostri]

Sora's eyes widened slightly at the question. Did he seem like Lea was offending him? He shook his head automatically.

"No!" he said, waving his hands slightly. "It's not that! It's just... I feel kind of relaxed around you." At least maybe that's what he meant. He felt like his body was kind of foggy and warm. If he had any idea what it was like to be intoxicated he might have realized that was what it was.

He smiled sheepishly. "Maybe it's because you just saved my neck, huh?"

[crimson_apathy]

Well, Axel had never really changed either from when they first met as enemies.

Lea enjoyed cryptic rambling just as much.

"Hm?" Eyes slowly locking at Sora's face, the redhead turned to face him with slight confusion himself. Most of the time he got some kind of form of 'shut the hell up' by someone, but at least the brunet was just trying to be honest.

"I'm just speaking nonsense, aren't I?"

[noster_nostri]

"I think you're just thinking too fast for me." Sora said. He grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Sometimes I can be kind of... well... slow." It was true and Sora knew it, sometimes he was a little dumb (okay, a lot dumb) but he never really let it bother him.

As long as he did what was right, what did it matter?

[crimson_apathy]

For fighting words, it seemed to matter a lot.

"I see..." Lea leaned forward, a few inches away but was still far enough to keep Sora comfortable if he worried about personal space, and bit the corner of his bottom lip in thought.

Well... the duck and dog didn't seem like a very enlightened pair, so it was no surprise that they probably only influenced Sora's thoughts about his role and other frivolous things. Figures.

"You should learn to mentally pace yourself. It might prove beneficial in the future."

[noster_nostri]

Everyone either told him to work faster, or to pace himself. If he had been a more uptight person, he might have found it annoying, but since he wasn't it was a little amusing. Sora chuckled just a little to himself. A small, amused sound.

"Maybe I should," he said, leaning a little closer to Lea as if he might share a secret. "Got any suggestions how?"

[crimson_apathy]

As much as emotions were useless to a Nobody, Lea had to admit that having someone genuinely interested with what he had to say was a refreshing change. Maybe that was the reason why he didn't dwell too much with the real experiments with Zack, because the possible cut of communication between them was just something he couldn't stand.

Kefka was a researcher, so it was a sin not to share ideas. And Riku only wanted to know about things if they were beneficial to him. Other than that, the only audible thing he'd be able to hear was the long string of curses that followed him around.

With Sora though...

"You'd think I'd be the type of person who only saw love as only an instinct to help with procreation and the like. But the truth is that it's the exact opposite." He frowned.

"Love is a privilege for only those who've earned it, and yet I've seen people mistaken it for something completely physical. Love's backbone isn't supported by hugs or kisses. Nor does it rely on the basis of sex to emphasize its purpose. That isn't Love's

[noster_nostri]

Sora had to think about this. He usually didn't analyze matters of the heart. He felt what he felt and touched what he touched. In fact, he was almost a little "touchy-feely". He had no qualms embracing Donald and Goofy and even found comfort in their willingness to hug him back. There were times when their interaction was almost comical. He never had thought about the reasons why one person might want to touch another. Why did Al and Jasmine hug each other after long periods of time apart? And why did Belle touch Adam when he felt gloomy? Why did he have urges to touch people to make them feel better

[noster_nostri]

"I think..." Sora began after giving the topic considerable thought, "I think that it's because people sometimes feel alone. Despite all the connections they have made, they still feel separated from everyone else. It's not that they don't trust the other person, because they do! It's just that no one person feels completely connected all the time. Their thoughts and feelings are still mostly their own. Even me," he grinned at the admittance like a kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "My head is my own and my perception is my own. I know that my heart is connected to others, that my friendships are strong ones, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to touch others, to feel them. We all have feelings, but we also have bodies, and we need some kind of... of... reality to ground us. It's possible to love someone and never touch them, but it's a real bonus to be able to find out that they are really real and be able to have your fingers sense their warmth. I'm not talking about, about, well, you know..." he coughed

[crimson_apathy]

What Sora thought may’ve been too much, Lea felt like it wasn’t enough. And it was always like that with him. Wants and needs were limitless, and while he absorbed all of it like some kind of shameless glutton, his belly always had the space to eat up a little more. He drank up all of the brunet’s words, maneuvering himself so that his feet were flat on the ground, elbows resting on his knees while his head was propped up in his palms. Those cat-like green eyes stared up intently at Sora’s body language, giving the other the impression that Lea had given him his undivided attention

[crimson_apathy]

When Sora confessed about it sounding a little funny, Lea shook his head a little in disagreement. There was something very simple with how he felt about the warmth that he described.

"Well, it's said that Home is where the Heart is." The statement tasted weird and bitter in his mouth, because it was something he'd rarely find himself saying. But there it was, laid out in front of Sora like the very blanket of warmth that he was conjuring up out of sheer will.

"Heh, I have an acquaintance that believes that home is where you eat, sleep, and have material possessions. And I disagree with her, of course."

[noster_nostri]

Sora titled his head slightly, almost quizzical. He wanted to ask so many questions. He was very curious about his new friend and the man seemed to have said a lot but kept himself a total mystery.

"Do you have a home?" he finally asked. It seemed like a simple enough question. He hoped it wouldn't make Lea sad or too thoughtful, but the quickest way he knew to find out things about someone was to ask questions.

[crimson_apathy]

Lea's answer was relatively simple and straight to the point.

"I have a place where I live, but not somewhere where I can truly call a home."

Because Nobodies had no Hearts. And without Hearts they had no right to belong anywhere.

[noster_nostri]

Sora frowned slightly. He fought with the idea that one day, eventually, he would be able to return home victorious. It was sort of the dream he had, and he didn't want to go back until he really accomplished the things he needed to. It would have been tough for him to survive without that.

"Maybe one day you will," he reassured Lea.