[Locked to Residents]

[malnosso]

[The following message is written in typeset, like it was from a computer. It appears on the 25th, at roughly 1PM.]The following subjects will report to the tunnel system tomorrow at 9 AM to provide additional reinforcements. Failure to comply will be dealt with accordingly

Comments

[cakeblocked]

[There's one name on there that definitely makes him react.] What...

You bastards! Why didn't you say anything about this before?!

[poppetry]

[ it doesn't take more than a few minutes. she doesn't even knock when she gets there -- just tries the door and pokes her head in, looking around. ]

Luke?

[cakeblocked]

[At the sound of the door opening, Luke stands and takes a step away from the couch, leaning over to see who it is... then offers a tight smile as he gestures to the door.]

Hey... come on in.

[poppetry]

[ ... the look on his face. Xion offers a smile of her own, a sad thing, and slips inside, shutting the door quietly behind her. she doesn't really know what to say, so ... she doesn't try. instead she just moves over to him and takes his hands. ]

[cakeblocked]

[Luke just wants to say so many things at once: "Be careful", "Fight with all you've got", "I believe in you", "Come back safe", "Please watch over Tear", but all of them get caught in his throat from trying to come out at once. Instead... he takes her hands, pulls her in a little closer and presses a little kiss to her forehead.]

[poppetry]

[ all she does is shut her eyes, breathing out slow when he pulls her close. she squeezes his hands -- perhaps a little too tight.

she doesn't want to go. ]

[cakeblocked]

[Luke squeezes her hands, though not quite as tightly (coming from him, it'd probably really hurt if he did that), and lowers his head to get a look at her. Their foreheads aren't touching, not quite, but they're close enough.]

You're going to be okay. You've got a lot of people looking out for you.

[And he isn't one of them.]

[poppetry]

That's not the point. [ maybe she senses those unspoken words -- but even if she does, they're only part of it. ] It's not myself I'm worried about. There's just so much that can go wrong.... [ a beat. ] I mean... okay, I'm worried about what those Shift incompatibilities mean. But... this is the food source for the entire village. A lot of people are going to be relying on us not to mess this up... and it's just going to be harder with someone like Vanitas out there. [ she can't fight the rush of cold worry that rushes over her skin when she says his name, and she huddles a little closer to Luke without realizing it. ]

[cakeblocked]

[It's hard to look at her while she's this close, so Luke just rests his chin on her head instead and looks out towards the closed door. She was right... That was a lot to worry about. But it wouldn't do to just give in to those worries, not when she came to him for support. But it also wouldn't do to lie and say everything would be fine.]

... You're right. It'll be hard, and there's a lot that can go wrong. But you're going to fight with everything you've got, right? Everyone will. You, Sanji, Tear, Ven... All those people drafted with you.

I'm not saying you shouldn't worry, or that it'll all be okay... But you've got a lot of people who're fighting for the same reasons and worries you've got.

[poppetry]

... I know.

[ her voice is quiet, and there's a certain resignation to it. she does know. he's right -- but she's still not happy about it. ]

It's going to be a long few days.

[cakeblocked]

Yeah...

[She's the one going out to war, not him. He shouldn't sound so sullen... So, he tries to smile a little as he squeezes her hands.]

But you're going to give it your all, right? You'll make it, and come back... And after that, we can sit around together and complain about what a pain it all was.

[poppetry]

[ ... finally, that gets a smile. even a small laugh. ] Right. I ... I like the sound of that.