genessia | (no subject)

She had been waiting on the terrace, and came into the apartment to see what the surprise was. She was expecting sea salt ice cream, she was hoping it was Roxas. She had no clue what to do, mentally, with huge stuffed dog.

Or... why she kind of wanted to.... touch it.

Lea plopped the over-sized plush on the couch for now; it was too big and floppy to sit on a chair. "You know those little puzzles in the newspaper?", he explained. "Well I sent in an answer to one and it turned out to be right; this is the prize from that." He looked at it and scratched his head thoughtfully. "Not really sure what I'm actually gonna do with it, though. I'm a little old for cuddling with plush toys."

He glanced in Xion's direction. "Do you want it?", he asked. Young girls tended to like plushies as far as he knew, and even if Xion was a Replica, maybe that would hold true for her too?

Oh let's be serious. Gender had nothing to do with it. Sora would have thrown himself at the thing and giggled like mad. And... Xion was part of Sora. Her eyes might have watched it as he set it down, and might still be on it even when she replies.

"I... don't read the newspaper," she admitted. Maybe... Maybe she should? At his question, she hesitated. "How... does someone know if they are too old for...." Cuddling.... was not a word she knew, yet somehow she had a guess... maybe... what he meant?

"You should," Lea said. "Even if you don't send the puzzles in, some of them are interesting, and some of the news itself is too. Plus it helps you keep up with what's going on in the other worlds here."

"And there's really no hard and fast rule," he said with a shrug. "Just that adults don't usually cuddle with stuffed toys. Not because anyone makes them stop, they just kind of... lose interest in doing it after awhile."

"Wouldn't I just get the information I need when I get assignments?" she still intended to be a bounty hunter. "What more do I need to know?" and why?

"So.. you don't want to..." Okay, she was just going to ask. She finally looked away from the large plush to look at him. "What does cuddle mean?"

"You'd get some information yeah," he said. "But there could easily be things that are unrelated to the immediate job going on in the city that could affect things, and knowing about them would give you an edge. Plus the paper has a weather forecast for all the cities, so you'd have some idea what to expect on that front; always good to know if you need an extra layer on under the coat to keep warm or if you'll wanna bring your sunglasses."

"Not really," he said. "And cuddling is like hugging something and nuzzling it and stuff like that. You're small enough that you could probably even just lay on a plushie like this to cuddle it if you wanted."

"How would that give me an edge?" she asked, confused.

"Hugging and... ?" So confusing, but... but it looked so soft......

"Well say there's something going on in the city that might cause some of the streets to be blocked off, like say an outdoor festival or a big construction project," Lea said. "Chances are there'd be a notice of that in the paper, and you'd be able to plan a better route. Or say there was supposed to be a big thunderstorm on the day you were planning to go out. There'd be a weather forecast in the paper and you'd know to either go out prepared or to pick a different day. And lots of other stuff too; you never know what information is going to come in handy."

"Nuzzling," he said. "It's kind of... rubbing your face against something, usually because it's soft and cozy? It's really not as weird as it sounds; you've probably done it with your pillow before, even if you didn't know there was a word for it."

Edited 2017-09-29 01:16 (UTC)

"Couldn't I just use a dark corridor to get around the blocked off route? And if the weather is bad, wouldn't I just deal with it?" She'd never changed plans because of weather before, and her jacket was all the protection dhe really had or needed.

"So.... Cuddling is like... sleeping on something...?" She was still so confused.

Edited 2017-09-29 07:29 (UTC)

Lea shook his head. "If you don't know the area well, teleporting in the middle of a chase can be dangerous," he said. "Full corridors are safer, but take too long to form when you're in a hurry. And besides, there's generally a lot more people around her than in most worlds back home; you could end up teleporting right on top of someone if you're distracted."

"As for weather, I don't know what sorts of weather you've dealt with before, but I don't recall any sort of serious rainstorms or the like ever happening on missions," he said. "And I don't think we ever went to worlds where ice and snow could be an issue. I mean sure, a little spring shower won't hurt you, but severe weather is serious business. It can make it hard to see or keep your footing, and can damage things like buildings and trees, creating even more hazards, and that's not even accounting for the kind of harm extreme heat or cold can do to a person after awhile. Basically, serious weather can cause serious harm and its best not to mess with it."

"And sleeping can be involved, but it's not..." He trailed off, trying to figure out how to describe it. Finally he opted to demonstrate. "It's like this." He picked up the stuffed dog from the sofa and hugged it, nuzzling his face against its soft fur. He found himself smiling despite himself; it really was soft and cuddly.

But soon he put it back down on the sofa and turned back to Xion. "See? Nothing to it," he said. "It's nice and kind of relaxing."

"Then... shouldn't I just be practicing my teleporting, to get better at it?" That was what it sounded like to her. "and maybe shield magic?"

She watched him cuddle the dog, wondering why seeing that made her smile, and why it made her wanted to laugh. the smile happened, the laughter, she resisted.

She walked over to Lea and the dog, giving the large plush an odd look still... But that had kind of looked like maybe it might not exactly be terrible....

"Well if you want to do everything the hard way you can," he said. "But really, it's way better just to be prepared and have the right information; saves you a ton of time and effort."

Lea smiled right back and stepped aside slightly, giving her better access to the plush. After a long moment of her just standing and staring at it, he said, "You know, nothing's going to happen just by looking at it."

There was anything other than a hard way?

"I suppose I could try reading it," she said, reluctantly. He wanted her to, so she would. But she still didn't really see the point. "And then I can go out on bounties?" Might as well try to win that debate while she was at it.

"Something will happen? If I touch it, it'll do something? It didn't do anything when you did...." now she was apprehensive...and curious.

"No, it's not gonna do anything," Lea said. "I meant you can't cuddle it just by looking at it. You have to actually do something."

"And as for bounties, there was something in the last issue of the paper that I thought might interest you," he said. He went and retrieved the most recent copy and opened it up to the proper section pointing out the job listing to her. "See here? There's a job listing for a beast hunter in Fayren. A lot more reliable than just doing bounties, and you'd still get to fight monsters. Instead of fighting paperwork, which is what I seem to do more often than not."

"Oh..." she said, stepping slightly closer to it.

"What... is the difference between a beast hunter and a bounty hunter?" Both sounded like something she could do at least. "More Munny?"

"Not necessarily more," Lea said. "But definitely steadier munny. With so many people out for the same few bounties, there'd be a fair bit of luck involved in claiming one. This way'd be a much surer thing, even if it's less munny per monster. And you'd have something to do most every day, instead of just sitting around here twiddling your thumbs, so less boredom too."

"I don't mind staying here and waiting for you. But if you want me to, I can be a monster hunter." It sounded like it was still basically missions. She knew how to do missions.

Lea fought the urge to sigh. How to explain this? "What I wan't doesn't matter as much as what you want in this case," he said. "You'd be the one doing the job, after all, not me. Do you want to be a monster hunter? Or are you just agreeing to it because I suggested it?"

She shrugged a bit. "I want to not make things harder on you, to help you since you're always helping us."

"You do that already, just by being my friend," he said. "Knowing that I have a friend around is a lot more helpful than any extra munny could be. That's why I want to make sure you're able to do something you actually want, rather than just what someone else told you, even if that someone is me."

How...could that really be a help? Well, if it was, she was going to do all she could to be the best help to him, to be the best friend to him she could.

"I don't really want or not want it. I just do not want to be a burden, and that sounds like something that I could do."

She summoned her Keyblade. "Fighting is one of the few things I do well."

"Is there something that you really do want to do?", Lea asked. "I know you're a good fighter, but... well I was hoping that you'd have the chance to be something more here, you know? To really have a life of your own."

"What I really want to do is have sea salt ice cream with you and Roxas, watching the sunset," she said simply. And she meant it.

"Well I know that," he said. "I meant besides that. There's more to life than just work and ice cream with friends, ya know."

Have a look of genuine bewilderment. "Like what?" she asked, startled. She didn't think he meant fear of being turned into a dusk and missions... but... maybe she was wrong?

Lea was caught up short for a moment; he couldn't recall anyone ever responding to such a rhetorical statement quite like that. "Well... lots of things," he said. "I mean even just in Genessia City, there's a lot. There's movies, parks, a library, a research center... all kinds of things to do and learn. And that's not even counting the things you could learn about magic and stuff in Fayren, or all the cool things to do in Nova City."

"It's just... I don't know how you can be content to just sit around the apartment and wait for me, or even just with work and ice cream," he said. "Not when there's so much more right at your fingertips, and no Organization to tell you that you're not allowed to have it."

And the look on her face made it very clear she had no clue what most of that was... Though learning more magic might be useful, to help her protect him as he always protects her. She finally shrugged. She didn't have memories from before like he did. "It's better here than it was there." Wasn't asking for more than that too much?

Lea rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. How to say what he wanted to say without sounding condescending and insulting? He knew she was like Roxas, without memories from before the Organization, though the reasons why were different. But being in that state had only made Roxas more curious; as soon as he got past the zombie-like phase, he was always asking questions, especially at first. So why wasn't Xion curious? Or maybe she was, but didn't know how to voice it?

"Well, yeah," he finally said. "What I'm saying is that it could be even better. You could have a real life here, as a person, not just the Organization's puppet. The kind of life you deserve to have. But you don't even seem to want to try. It's like... you're not even curious about it, and I can't understand why."

Roxas didn't spend his whole existence afraid that any shown deviation would get him turned into a dusk. Xemnas and Saiix did a number on Xion. "Deserve?" she asked, looking at him, confusion in her eyes, and pain at the back of them. She shook her head. "I didn't do anything to deserve even this much. I didn't earn more."

She thought about how to say it.

"I'm not their puppet here. I'm free. So are you. That's more than I ever would have dared allow myself to want. And I already want more. I want Roxas to be here. To want even more than that..." Would be courting disaster. Would be far too dangerous. She didn't dare to want more....

Because she HADN'T earned it.

Lea shook his head. "But that's what I mean," he said. "You don't have to do anything to earn the right to more. You already have that right, just by being a free person. And no one, not Xemnas, not Siax, not anyone, has the right to take that away from you."

"The Organization made you think that you only had value if you did what they wanted, but that's not true," he said. "You have as much value as any other person, just by being Xion. And you deserve the same amount of respect, and the same opportunities as any other person too.No one has the right to make you feel like you're less than anyone else. Do you understand?"

He honestly wasn't sure if she would. It was a concept that he'd been taught as a child in Radiant Garden and had taken as a given. Even as a Nobody, he'd understood, logically, that to treat someone otherwise was wrong, even if he hadn't been able to care. And now that he could care again, the concept struck him as so basic that even having to put it into words was strange.

But Xion only knew the Organization, and in the Organization, things had been very different. He just hoped that he could help her understand the world outside it, despite his repeated failures up to this point.

"Other people... deserve..... to want things?" she asked, confused. She knew how hard Axel had worked, how hard Lea worked now, and he protected her and Roxas, so to her mind he had earned everything and anything. But earning and deserving... just for being a person? She frowned a bit.

"But... I am less than other people. You for example." she was less than him, she was less than Riku... She wasn't a full person. She was a shadow of a shadow. Even if she was developing a heart, she was still the copy of a memory, part of Sora, not a person herself. Not like Lea. He had been a full person, became a nobody, and was a complete person again.

Hesitantly... she reached for the stuffed dog, and closed her arms around it, not sure why she suddenly wanted to, or why,.. why once she was holding it, she found her arms clenching around it, the way her hands might have around her Keyblade if she had called it in.

"Yes," Lea said. "And so do you. No one has to earn the right to want a better life than the one they have. Now, chances are that unless someone's ridiculously rich, they'll have to work at it to get the life they want, but you're always allowed to want something better."

"You're not less to me," he said. "And you won't be considered less by anyone else whose opinion actually matters. So here, you're as good as any other person. Got it memorized?"

When she reached out and hugged the dog though, he could see that he was upsetting her and sighed, reaching out to rest a hand on her shoulder. "Hey..." he said and pulled her gently against his side in a one-armed hug, plush and all. "Sorry. Guess I'm not too good at this mentor thing, huh?"

It was such a hard concept, being allowed to want more. Being allowed to try to get more. But not being less than Lea? Of course she was. Lea was amazing! He could do ANYTHING. So... did that mean that her opinion didn't actually matter? She wasn't sure what to think about that one.

She looked up when he put a hand on her shoulder, that was familiar enough, but when he pulled her close, she dropped the og, startled, and put her arms around him, burying her face in his side. She wasn't sure why she did it... and it seemed a little odd... but somehow it also seemed a little right. Like a sunset, but indoors.

"You are," she said, her voice mumbled. She meant both, better than her and good at this, But it just came out as those two words.

Lea was a little surprised when Xion hugged him, but smiled softly. He'd forgotten how long it had been since he'd last had a proper hug.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he said. "But if I was good at it, I'd be able to help you understand what I'm trying to get across. Heck, we probably wouldn't even be in this situation, because I'd have figured out something better for both of us already."

He sat down on the sofa carefully, so as to allow Xion to move with him and not break the hug. "I guess... I just see you wanting to do things just because I do them, or thinking everything I say is a great idea just because I said it, and I know you're stronger and smarter than that. I don't want to see that strength and those smarts go to waste, you know?"

She moved with him and found herself curled up against his side. Which felt odd but somehow also... comfortable.

"But you know better," she said softly, and simply. "You always have. You had a heart and a life before, Roxas and I didn't. You've been with the Organization longer. And your ideas have saved us.. saved me... before. Of course I listen to you."

Lea settled himself comfortably as Xion curled up against him. The last time he'd done something like this... he could barely remember. He'd been in Xion's position, curled up against his mom's side. The context had faded, but the memory was as warm as ever, though a little sad now too, given everything that had happened since.

He hesitated slightly before he continued, finally giving voice to the reason he'd been trying to avoid. "But you need to be able to stand on your own too," he said, "since there's no guarantee how long I'll be here. I mean, if I have any say in the matter I'll stay, but the way this place works..." He trailed off, leaving the obvious conclusion unsaid. "I want to know that you'll be OK without me here if it comes to that. Not just munny-wise, but... with people. You'll need to be able to put yourself forward, at least a little. Make new friends, speak for yourself with potential employers, all that."

And the thought if him leaving before her - not dying, not attacked, not imprisoned in some way she can defend against or protect him from or rescue him from - had clearly NEVER occurred to her. She sat up, staring at him, dead pale and wide eyed. She had just presumed that when Stopgra ended, it ended, they'd all be put back where and when they blonged simultaneously.

She couldn't even form words, not even mentally. Her brain just completely stalled.

Xion was clearly shocked by the idea, and Lea allowed it to sink in for a moment before continuing. "Yeah," he said. "I don't like the idea either. But it is a possibility we have to consider. We arrived at different times, we could just as easily be sent back at different times. We're not in control of it."

"So do you understand why I'm pushing you now?", he said. "You can't always rely on me. Or on Roxas, if he eventually shows up. I'm pushing you to try to become your own person because someday you might need to be."

"But...that would only be here... right?" she whispered, still trying to...to cope with that, mentally. "I mean...when I go back, I'm part of Sora. And even if you can get Roxas untangled without hurting them..." There wasn't really ever going to be a way for her to live again, right?

Lea shook his head. "I made a promise," he said. "I said I'd always be there to get my friends back, and I meant it. Why do you think I went to Master Yen Sid to try and get myself a Keyblade in the first place? I don't know how, but I know Keyblades will be critical what's coming next. And any attempt to fix the mess that the Organization caused."

"I'll get both of you out, somehow," he said. "And then... then we can figure out what to do from there. We'll have great wizards like Yen Sid and Merlin on our side; I'm sure they'll know some way to sever whatever the connection is between you and Roxas that caused you to drain his power."

"Both?" she asked in a whisper. He was going to get her out too? Was that even possible?

"Do....do you still want Keyblade practice with me?" she asked, softly.

"Now that I can remember you again, yeah," he said. "Though... I think some part of me always did. And always will." He grinned slightly. "You might say, I've got it memorized."

"And yeah, I do," he said. "Though right now, just sitting here like this is nice."

She grinned a bit, at his 'got it memorized, and nodded against him. "I'm not sure it's possible, but if it is... you and Roxas will figure it out. Especially if you can find Namine."

And she nodded again. "Yeah. This is." Kind of like sunset.

"Heh... well I don't know about me and Roxas," he said. "Neither of us are experts. But people smarter than us ought to be able to do it."

"We'll have to get up and get dinner eventually," he said. "But for now..." He settled himself slightly more comfortably. "How was your day?"

She let her head just rest there. "No one else would care as much as the two of you," she pointed out softly. "That's why I know you'll be able to do it."

She shifted when he did, so he could be comfortable. "It was fine," she said. BEcause elaborating would only upset him.

Lea smiled, chocing not to counter her vote of confidence. It'd be a lot more complicated than that, he expected; things like this usually were. But they'd at least keep everybody trying.

He gave her a bit of a doubtful look when she claimed it was fine. The fact that she didn't elaborate probably meant that she was trying to spare his feelings. But he didn't call her on it. Right now was too pleasant a moment for that.

"Good to hear," he said. "You won't believe what happened to me, though..." He launched into a story- only mildly exagerated- of a particularly interesting case he'd been working on that day as they snuggled on the sofa. And at least until their stomachs interrupted them, all would be right with the world.

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He is totally going to have to cuddle it (or her) to demonstrate.

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And that set up the Arelene thread well.

It does indeed. :3

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Think we can get this wrapped up in a tag or two, if that's cool with you. :3

Awww okay.

And wrapped. :3