03 Connection ✎ Text (backdated to late last night)

[linkings]

[Normally sleep wasn't hard for Namine. But since the arrival of a couple of... unwanted figures from her past, the stress and nervousness wasn't doing well for her at night. And when she actually could fall asleep, they just ended up being nightmares.

It's late, and she doesn't want to disturb any of her roommates with questions or talking out loud

Comments

[text]

[got_it_memorizd]

[Snort. What is sleep? He naps so much because he never sleeps.]

Walk, usually. Though I guess that wouldn't be recommended here after dark.

[text]

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[You're secretly a cat in Nobody's clothing, aren't you?]

no, it wouldn't. you would probably be okay going out though at night.

[Her? She's more likely to get eaten in fifteen seconds flat.]

[text]

[got_it_memorizd]

[Shh, don't tell anyone.]

Well, if you need a chaperone, I'm not doing anything.

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[linkings]

[Her reply is a little delayed; she thought about it for a while. She's pretty much wide awake by this point and well, she wouldn't mind seeing Axel in the flesh now.]

that's really okay? [It was a Friday night, so she didn't have classes to worry about the next day. Why not?]

[text]

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No, I was just yanking your chain. I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't okay duh.

Where you at? Need a pick-up? Or have you managed to figure out how those pesky corridors work?

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[FFFFFFFFFT Those damn Corridors. She's been trying to practice little by little ever since arriving, and using one and ending up in a cow farm :|]

i can do it if you tell me where you are. i just need a few minutes to get ready.

[text]

[got_it_memorizd]

[Hahah, here's hoping she manages this time; he doesn't want her to portal into the middle of a monster mash, as it were.]

Towers, 808. Take your time, I'm not going anywhere.

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[linkings]

[And she doesn't take too long, only about 15 minutes, most of which was spent tiptoeing around the room trying to find something more suitable to wear. Just a plain sweater, skirt and shoes will do, and it's far better than wearing her pajamas when it comes to a walk.

And the portal, well, that took a little while to generate in her sleep deprived state, but she got it right. In Axel's apartment, there's a portal that opens up and one small, young, tired looking blond steps through.]

[action]

[got_it_memorizd]

[He's seated on the couch, fiddling with his NV and reading over the information he's been linked to, and glances up when the telltale whoosh of a corridor whispers through the air of the room. He watches Naminé step hesitantly out of the portal, marveling again at just how odd it is to see his old comrades in street clothes, like real people. He barely remembers what it was like to wear normal clothing--he's been wearing the coat so long anything else just seems alien to him. Even now, just lounging in his apartment, he's wearing it, though he's discarded his boots by the door and his gloves are draped over the arm of the couch.

[Sitting up as Naminé steps slowly into the room, his eyebrows winch together a little. Man, she... looks awful.]

You all right there, Naminé? I know you said you couldn't sleep, but you kinda look like that's been a protracted situation. [He slides to the far side of the couch, a silent invitation for her to sit if she wants. She looks about ready to fall over, really.]

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[She's not exactly slow to react but takes her time to walk over to the couch, staying silent the whole while as she was partially unsure about the invitation. Like before on the network when he arrived, she's happy to see him here, alive, and she wished so much that she could prove that to him. But she didn't have it in her to smile tonight, even for a someone like Axel.

Instead, she just sits on the edge of the cushion, hands folded in her lap and her eyes cast down. She feels a little small sitting like that and beside him, kind of like how she used to sit in Oblivion. And it's a good minute before she does speak.]

I... haven't really been sleeping very well for a few nights, actually...

[action]

[got_it_memorizd]

[He just watches as she moves toward the couch, studying her posture. Something seems different; she looks too small, too frail, all too much like that fragile slip of a girl she'd been in Castle Oblivion. He doesn't like it much--he likes her better when she sits up straight and looks him in the eye, like she's not afraid he'll treat her the way Marluxia and Larxene did. Something about her movements almost makes him ache, and as she sits down silently he just draws one knee up and frowns at her.]

Somethin' you wanna talk about? [A pause and a watery half-smile.] I don't always have good advice, but I'm a pretty good listener.

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I... [Finding a point to start at was hard exactly, and she wasn't sure exactly how Axel would handle her explanations anyways. She knows he's not completely heartless, but too unpredictable for her to know how he would react.]

It's just... knowing that Vexen and Marluxia are here now... [She could handle the Organization well and fine; they've left her alone since she's arrived, but even the first few nights in the Port were a bit hard for her. But those two are from her past, one that made her create Joe and the other that had her ruin Sora's memory. Who knows what they could want to do here, and if it had anything to do with her, there were too many people in danger that she could effect.]

...I think it scares me that they are here.

[action]

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Ah. [That makes perfect sense. He folds his arms and leans back against the couch.] That's understandable; I wasn't too excited to see them myself. [Well, that's not entirely true; he did have a grand old time watching them both ragequit at everything he said. But either way, he'd be more than willing to forgo the harassment if it meant they weren't around to hurt certain people. Axel's no humanitarian--he's not going to bother to hope they don't hurt anybody--he's really only interested in keeping his own circle safe.

[He gives Naminé a sidelong glance.]

If they start giving you trouble, feel free to let me know. Those two are all just hot air--they don't scare me. [They both had some upper body strength on him, sure, but neither of them were quick enough to catch him, and as smart as he had to admit Vexen was, he was predictable. He was a scientist--it wasn't difficult to project the methods he would implement to carry out most things.]

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[She slouches a little, trying to relax a bit. Namine doesn't want to accidentally fall asleep over at Axel's place, but she's too tired to stay so uptight and sagging into the back cushions felt nice. She rubs an eye and looks up at him bleary.]

...Thanks. [A weak response. She's not ungrateful, but everyone could handle themselves whereas she just just about the only one that couldn't. It made her feel weaker than normal.] It's... not just that.

I'm scared... that something will happen like at Oblivion again. There's a lot of people here that I could hurt.

[action]

[got_it_memorizd]

[He furrows his brow.] You really think that'd happen? I mean, you'd never do anything like that for your own entertainment, and Marluxia's got no claim on you here. You're not his prisoner anymore.

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No, but... [She goes back to looking down, sighing and sagging a little more.]

I know a lot has changed since back then but I... I still don't feel like I'm strong enough. Not in the same way that you or Roxas or Riku... or even Kairi, are. There's... probably never going to be a right way for me to use this power at all. So, there's still the potential for me to be a danger.

[She's a liability and she knows it.]