[012//Audio & Commentlog?]
Oct. 21st, 2010 11:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oathbreakers[Well! Riku sounds rather flustered for once!]
Just whose great idea was this?
Oh, what, you can't deal with the truth for a change? Can't deal with someone who won't lie to make you feel like a better person?
Stop it!
Or what? Are you gonna--
[The rest of that threat doesn't make it to the network--Riku's muted the comm. He turns it back on a moment later, sounding both irritated and resigned.]
Is anybody else noticing something strange going on?
[Well, that's -one- way to put it.]
Just whose great idea was this?
Oh, what, you can't deal with the truth for a change? Can't deal with someone who won't lie to make you feel like a better person?
Stop it!
Or what? Are you gonna--
[The rest of that threat doesn't make it to the network--Riku's muted the comm. He turns it back on a moment later, sounding both irritated and resigned.]
Is anybody else noticing something strange going on?
[Well, that's -one- way to put it.]
[Audio]
Date: 2010-10-23 04:30 am (UTC)Who's that?
[Audio & Text]
Date: 2010-10-23 04:44 am (UTC)It's nothing! It's--
You can't lie to her, you know. Why do you keep trying? I bet you she already knows you--
[There's a loud sound, blocking out whatever it is the other voice is saying. It sounds like Riku just stomped on the floor.]
You're trying to stomp on me? Like that's going to do anything! But then again, that's all you can ever do, isn't it? You can never do anything useful.
[The shadow is still talking in the background, but Riku's ignoring it. He's very deadpan when he speaks, and Kairi can probably just -see- the unimpressed look on his face.]
It's my shadow.
[Audio]
Date: 2010-10-23 05:07 am (UTC)[Whoa. His shadow?]
Where are you, in your room?
[Audio + Text for reals this time]
Date: 2010-10-23 05:24 am (UTC)...Yeah, I am.
Hah! What now, are you hoping that--
[The feed cuts out, muting the rest of the shadow's taunt. Riku scowls at it. Obviously he'll have to resort to what many of the other passengers are doing.]
Don't listen to anything it says.[Audio --> Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 06:46 am (UTC)[It takes her a few minutes to get to his room; she wasn't in hers. But soon she's knocking.
Despite her cheerful tone, she looks a little apprehensive. Riku's shadow is talking. That... That can't be a good thing.]
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 07:16 am (UTC)But regardless, when Kairi knocks on his door, Riku's gonna answer it. But it's time for the mouthy shadow to start up again!]
You actually think something's gonna come of this? You really think you even have a chance? Come on, Riku, first Sora and now Xanth, you're never gonna have a chance, are you? Maybe you should just learn to accept it.
Shut. Up. Just shut up!
[Luckily, Riku's commands overlap the shadow's words, so if Kairi hears anything at all, it'll be garbled at best. He scowls at his shadow (which thumbs its nose back at him with a laugh), and then turns back to open the door.
He looks a little bit frustrated.]
...hi, Kairi.
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 07:22 am (UTC)[She waves, but immediately looks past him at his shadow spreading across the floor. There are no yellow eyes staring back at her, and no nauseous feeling twisting the pit of her stomach. It emboldens her, and she steps into the room, not smiling but not exactly frowning either.]
Well... It doesn't look so bad.
[She tries to catch Riku's eye.]
Are you okay?
[Commentlog] /WRITES BOOKS FOREVER
Date: 2010-10-23 07:34 am (UTC)Well, what'd you expect, princess? This isn't some Heartless scare. I'm him.
[Riku scowls at the shadow again.] No, you're not.
Oh, no? I know everything about him--deepest fears, most protected secrets, everything he's never told you and everything he hasn't told himself. Like how about the fact that S--
[Wait, is that--panic on Riku's face? Surely not! It disappears in an instant, hidden behind that same mask of irritation.] You don't know what you're talking about!
[But the shadow just laughs mockingly. He looks to Kairi then, expression turning a little bit -pleading-. He actually has no words for once!]
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 07:51 am (UTC)But just to make sure, she crouches down and runs her fingertips over a shady part of the floor; nothing.]
You don't know everything.
[It doesn't know the future. It's no real consolation, but it's enough to dismiss the claim. Kairi stands up.]
And if you're not a Heartless, then you're not dangerous.
C'mon Riku.
[They're going to need more lights.]
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 08:18 am (UTC)I know as much as you do and more.
All right, where to?
[Riku's still keeping a wary eye on his shadow, but he's also relaxing slightly. Kairi's as unwilling to listen to it as he could have hoped--and if it tries to spill anything, he can talk over it.
Right?]
Do you have some sort of plan?
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 08:36 am (UTC)[She sounds just the tiniest bit peevish.]
You're not my shadow.
[And she nods, and starts heading for the elevators.]
Deck twelve. If we get enough lights... Heh, well it's worth a try.
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 08:52 am (UTC)Stop it--stop talking. You don't know what you're talking about!
Or what? You're gonna try and stomp on me again? 'Cause that worked out real well last time. Just like that puppet you tried to--
[Riku slams the door of his room, his shadow still stretched half inside as he does so. But it doesn't help, and why would it? The shadow flows onto the door, just as it always would. But it distracts the shadow from what it had been about to say, and that was all Riku had hoped for.]
You think a door's gonna hurt me any more than stomping on me would? I'm your shadow, Riku, you can't be rid of me no matter what you do.
[Riku rolls his eyes as the shadow's laughter begins again, following after Kairi.]
Yeah. Anything's better than just sitting here listening to this.
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 09:20 am (UTC)[Kairi stops and looks over her shoulder as the door slams, but stops herself. It's just goading her. It could easily be lying. She's better off asking Riku about it all later.]
How long has it been like that?
[She calls the lift]
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 09:43 am (UTC)What do I mean? Why don't you give it a shot, princess? Think about it for a change. But I'll give you a free one--haven't you ever wondered what they're not telling you? All those dirty little secrets everybody else keeps hidden from you, how they're all determined to protect the precious innocent princess?
[Riku stomps on the shadow again, tries to do -something- to distract it, but this time the shadow won't be deterred.]
I know! Why don't you ask him about what happened to him and Xanth the night you died?
[His breath catches in his throat and Riku stops dead in his tracks.] Stop it.
Stop it!
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 09:51 am (UTC)Died.
The elevator pings it's arrival. Kairi stands taut, her mouth slightly open. Then she closes it, presses her lips together in a firm line. When she speaks, her voice is calm but low, and so very soft.]
What happened?
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 10:22 am (UTC)He's trying not to reach out to her; he doesn't know if it would be welcome or not right now.]
It was nothing, it--
If you call almost getting killed by the plague star "nothing."
It was nothing in comparison, I'm saying. [He glares at it, then looks back to Kairi, pleading with his expression for her to understand.] We went exploring, we went into the temple to see what was inside it. There were a bunch of doors in a hallway, and behind one of them... but we found shelter. We were fine, not a single scratch. That's nothing compared to what... what happened to you.
[He trails off lamely. What else can he say, and he feels horrible for the topic even having been brought up.]
Kairi, I'm sorry.
[For what his shadow's saying or for not having been there? He doesn't know.]
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 10:42 am (UTC)[She's barely heard half of what he said, and for the parts that she has heard... She wasn't there. She couldn't help them. But then she couldn't have helped them even if she had been there. She had been killed by a stranger with little more than a blow to the head.
Helpless.
In the way.]
It's okay.
[It isn't.]
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 10:52 am (UTC)Kairi, no.
I should've been there. With you.
You see? And that's only one time. What else aren't they telling you? How do you know when they're lying to you?
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 11:08 am (UTC)What would you have done? It was so fast. He would have got you too.
I'm glad you were somewhere else.
[She doesn't want to be protected all the time, especially if it puts her friends in danger.]
I don't know, when you're not tell me things. But I know that when I need to know them, I will.
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 11:21 am (UTC)I could have done something. Anything would have been better than...
[He can't say it. Someone else can, though!]
Than hearing that post on the network when you got back, he'd rather die a hundred times than see you hurt once, blah-blah-blah. This has gotten boring fast. Who knew it'd be so easy to break the princess?
[Riku succeeds in holding back the hiss of annoyance that had been threatening. But his arms tighten around Kairi
if they're there, silently urging her not to listen to it.]Any ideas on how to shut that thing up yet?
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 11:40 am (UTC)She ignores the shadow, though it's words lend a genuine edge to her smile. She may be hurting, but she'd far from broken.]
Light. Lots of light.
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 12:03 pm (UTC)[But Riku thinks he has a better plan. He loosens his hold on Kairi, though he doesn't let go entirely. His arm still around her shoulders, perhaps.]
Before we do that, I have an idea.
It won't work.
Wanna try it?
You're stupid if you think something like that's gonna work! Maybe Sora was right about you!
[But Riku's not listening, instead smiling back at Kairi as he nods his head back the way they'd come.]
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 12:11 pm (UTC)Mm.
[And she starts walking, following the direction he'd given.]
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 12:22 pm (UTC)And he smiles again.]
And I'll bet you never said a word to her about the--
Ready to see if this works?
--hiding for two full days. You were still you--you were just older!
[Riku snaps off the lights and plunges the room into total darkness. Darkness, where there's no light to make a shadow--not even a tiny one hiding under his feet.]
[Commentlog]
Date: 2010-10-23 12:39 pm (UTC)And then he flicks of the light and there is a moment of clear, wonderful silence.
Kairi sinks to the floor, smiling into the dark, her back pressed against the door.]
I can check the network, if you like. This could be happening to a lot of people. They might know when it's going to end.
[The communicator will make light. She could go into the bathroom though.]