In any case, Xanth is walking the halls. He turns a corner and there someone is - someone tall, someone imposing. He does not recognize the cloak or the figure beneath it, but he recognizes the stride as purposeful.
(And perhaps slightly familiar.)
He steps aside to let the man pass, but Xanth doesn't take his eyes off him. He's just a little wary.]
[At first, Riku doesn't even slow. He passes the other boy without hesitation.
But then he feels Xanth's gaze.
Riku slows, stops, only halfway turns to glance back at him. His face is still hidden in the shadow of his hood, but when he speaks, Xanth may hear a certain resemblance to somebody else he used to know...]
[As Riku passes him, Xanth relaxes, but he does not take his eyes off him. And then he speaks. The familiarity is shocking and Xanth's jaw literally drops.
Xanth knows that voice.
Xanth very nearly hates that voice.]
R-- Riku!?
[Immediately, Xanth feels bristling anger rear its head. It's a gut reaction; in a moment, he'll realize that this cannot be the Riku he knew.
[Kairi is returning to her room from the barrack's small kitchen, a stack of slightly scorched toast on a plate, when she rounds the corner and sees the figure in the black hood.
She stares. She knows those hoods. Saix and Axel and Xemnas were all wearing them. But this can't be any of them, can it?
[Riku isn't expecting to see Kairi come around the corner.
He'd just come from the islands. Even as he'd been working for DiZ, he'd been keeping an eye on them, watching over her from afar to make sure she was still safe. The last he'd seen her, she'd been there and she'd been fine.
And now she was here, carrying a plate of--was that -toast-?--looking as comfortable as if she'd been here for months.
[She stays put for all of two seconds before her feet carry her forward. It's not really a hesitant few steps, just uncertain and a little surreal. They've done this before. Why is he dressed like that again?
She stops just out of his reach and tries to peer into his hood to make sure it's him.]
[For an instant, Riku looks away--it's instinctual, by this point. But it's Kairi, so he looks back to her, looking into her face for just a moment to confirm what his heart already knows--that -yes-, it's -her-.
It's Kairi, and she's right in front of him, and she already knows that it's him. There's no sense in hiding. Riku reaches up, pulls his hood back.
You've done this before, Kairi, but he hasn't. His eyes are covered by that familiar blindfold, and he stands in front of her, reluctant.]
Comments 119
Or is it the either way around?
In any case, Xanth is walking the halls. He turns a corner and there someone is - someone tall, someone imposing. He does not recognize the cloak or the figure beneath it, but he recognizes the stride as purposeful.
(And perhaps slightly familiar.)
He steps aside to let the man pass, but Xanth doesn't take his eyes off him. He's just a little wary.]
Reply
But then he feels Xanth's gaze.
Riku slows, stops, only halfway turns to glance back at him. His face is still hidden in the shadow of his hood, but when he speaks, Xanth may hear a certain resemblance to somebody else he used to know...]
What is it?
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Xanth knows that voice.
Xanth very nearly hates that voice.]
R-- Riku!?
[Immediately, Xanth feels bristling anger rear its head. It's a gut reaction; in a moment, he'll realize that this cannot be the Riku he knew.
But that moment is not now.]
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That in itself is alarming. Riku is immediately on-guard, though the change in demeanor likely isn't a visible one. Still, he's wary now.]
What's it to you?
[He's sure he's never met this person before. But there -is- the matter of his waking up with no idea what had happened to put him there...]
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She stares. She knows those hoods. Saix and Axel and Xemnas were all wearing them. But this can't be any of them, can it?
She freezes.]
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He'd just come from the islands. Even as he'd been working for DiZ, he'd been keeping an eye on them, watching over her from afar to make sure she was still safe. The last he'd seen her, she'd been there and she'd been fine.
And now she was here, carrying a plate of--was that -toast-?--looking as comfortable as if she'd been here for months.
It slips out, incredulous:]
Kairi?
[Well, there went his cover. Whoops.]
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Riku?!
[She stays put for all of two seconds before her feet carry her forward. It's not really a hesitant few steps, just uncertain and a little surreal. They've done this before. Why is he dressed like that again?
She stops just out of his reach and tries to peer into his hood to make sure it's him.]
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It's Kairi, and she's right in front of him, and she already knows that it's him. There's no sense in hiding. Riku reaches up, pulls his hood back.
You've done this before, Kairi, but he hasn't. His eyes are covered by that familiar blindfold, and he stands in front of her, reluctant.]
Yeah. It's me.
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[You'll have to forgive the Samurai for bumping into you all willy-nilly, Riku.]
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[For a moment, Riku keeps going. But then he stops--turns, looks at the Samurai.]
Hey... what all do you know about this place?
[Why is he asking the Samurai this? He doesn't really know himself. But the guy looks as though he may be able to help him.]
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Not much, I am afraid. I am new to this place.
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That makes two of us, then.
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