First Journey // Video

[lockandkeyblade]

[Sora looks like he’s had a fist fight with a loaded paintbrush. White smears of paint are streaked down his cheek, all over his jacket and gloves. One of those paint-smudged fingers happens to be tapping the screen experimentally-probably what triggered the message to start.]

So all I gotta do is turn this thing on and ask everybody if they’ve seen

Comments

action; at some convenient later moment that's in time to block losers in helmets

[pullsheavendown]

[By the time Roxas finished working on the latest schedule for Kahve and checked out the latest network happenings, it's a little later, and a little later still by the time he manages to stop staring at the video.

It's Sora. He's back-again. It's not disappointment welling up inside him, but it's not exactly relief, either.

He could message him, but why wait? He might as well get it out of the way in person. With siren coming soon, he throws on his coat and opens a dark corridor to outside the starter apartments. Without thinking about it, he's put his hood up. It's so he'll be fully protected against the darkness, he tells himself, and not because he's unsure whether he'll be able to control his expression.

Right.

And there he is, alive and well. Roxas hesitates a little ways away. How's he going to explain things to him?]

action; /o/

[lockandkeyblade]

[It's the sound of darkness, soft and low, that catches Sora's attention. It's the sound that precedes danger, battles with the heartless, confrontations with the Organization. He's attuned to it. So when Roxas finally steps out, Sora's already on his feet in front of the stairs.]

[That coat- Organization XIII!?]

No way...!

[He draws his keyblade, ready for a fight.]

action;

[pullsheavendown]

[His eyes go wide at the display of aggression, but immediately he's groaning at himself on the inside. Stupid. If Sora couldn't tell that Ven wasn't him, how could he be expected to make a better judgment with just an Organization coat to look at.

He sighs and crosses his arms. No Keyblade, no weapon at all.]

You can put it away. I'm not here to fight.

action;

[lockandkeyblade]

[Sorry Roxas. Sora's been burned by these guys way too many times. Keyblade stays out.]

Yeah, I've heard that one before.

[Right before they started playing mind games. Before Kairi was kidnapped. Technically Axel did it before Saix, but hey. Before he found out the Organization was using him. ]

action;

[pullsheavendown]

[Roxas can't blame Sora for being suspicious. He would be, too. Heck, he still is, whenever he sees one of them.

There's no point in arguing this, though, not when visuals work better than words. So he lifts one arm, pushes his hood back and faces Sora directly.]

Hey.

action;

[lockandkeyblade]

[Sora's blood runs cold, shoulders drop and so does the keyblade. He straightens.]

... Roxas?

[He looks down at his NV- he was just talking to him a second ago, wasn't he? He'd called himself Ventus, but- it had to have been him.]

action;

[pullsheavendown]

Yeah.

[The look of sheer, unadulterated shock settles it, if he wasn't sure already. Sora doesn't remember. As far as he's concerned, this is their first meeting in Siren's Port.]

[The glance doesn't escape him.]

That wasn't me you were talking to with that, if you were wondering.

Re: action;

[lockandkeyblade]

[It was shocking enough to see his other on video. Or what he thought was his other. Seeing him in person is entirely different. He can't help but stare.]

He said... his name was Ventus.

action;

[pullsheavendown]

It is. And he's not me. We just look the same.

[It scarcely seems important enough anymore, though he knows it is. Important and confusing.]

[He feels the weight of Sora's stare like a physical touch and shifts uncomfortably, unable to fully meet his eyes.]

action;

[lockandkeyblade]

That's what he said too.

Roxas... [He doesn't even know how to ask this. He takes a long pause to sort out the words.] How come you're you again?

action;

[pullsheavendown]

[He flinches at that, and reminds himself that it's not Sora's fault he doesn't know.]

I've always been me.

[A lie, even from the start. He's never just been Roxas.]

Did they tell you about the time thing?

action;

[lockandkeyblade]

Yeah... Or at least Terra did. He said the Core pulled people from all sorts of times.

[Then that means..?]

action;

[pullsheavendown]

Okay. Good.

[Thank you, bigpants.]

I've lived in this world for over a year now. But when I came here, it was a day or so after I left the Organization.

I never met you before I came here. I've never been part of you since the day you lost your [our] heart.

action;

[lockandkeyblade]

So, if the Core took you before we met... does that mean we never merged?

[He keeps thinking back to Timeless River and the things Pete did to affect the future. And if Siren's Pull stole Roxas from that time, does it mean they aren't whole anymore?]

action;

[pullsheavendown]

I don't completely understand how it works. No one does. People get pulled here and the ones who come from farther on never remember them going missing. So maybe for you, we did. You remember waking up, right? But for me, we didn't.

[And never will, if he has his way.]

action;

[lockandkeyblade]

Oh...

[A pause. Then, peculiar change in tone?]

So... what you're saying is, as long as you're here in Siren's port, you get to be separate, right?