exsiliumlogs | ( open ) our ag wing's back and you're gonna be in trouble (hey now! hey now! our ag wing's back)

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( open ) our ag wing's back and you're gonna be in trouble (hey now! hey now! our ag wing's back)

Date & Time: October 31st, 3313, 11:59PM - November 3rd, 3313, ????
Location: Agriculture Wing, Moon Base to start. Cafeteria, warehouse, docking bay, VR rooms, Transport Pad, or Observatory later on.
Characters: Any & all!
Summary: Space Zombies are allowed out of the Agriculture Wing, slowly revving up their systems to try and infect and absorb as many of the Transports (or 12 Initiative Members) as possible.
Warnings: Log will be locked for potentially graphic violence. Please warn in threads should the violence or gore become graphic.
Notes: Specify a date and location in your top comment. You may specify multiple dates/locations. Specify a time if you wish as well.

Everything is a success at first, from the cool rush of air out of the Agriculture Wing once the doors are fully unlocked, to the heady sense of accomplishment for finally moving forward on something good for the long-term usability of the Moon Base. It's intended to remain a resource, after all, but not be a permanent home. Fraying tempers and the sense of cabin fever descending on Transports continues to showcase how important it is to get back down on Earth to regain some breathing room.

There's little enough dust between all the unmoving, unlit structures, many even supporting the barest dried husks of what once grew there. Upon the lightest touch, they disintegrate, turning into a dust that falls to the ground. The silent rows will be reclaimed and turned into functioning units, based on Transport efforts, and Transport time invested in the project.

There's just one problem. Something stirs in the reclaimed wing, among tangles of hosing and wiring. Skitterings and movements that make no sense for a long abandoned Moon Base. The further in Transports go, relying on magic or technology to generate light past the bare minimum maintained by the base, the more disturbing sights they may run into.

Of course, the most disturbing of all might be lying just around the far corner -- but don't worry, it's only a flesh wound. Try not to get surprised in the machinery, caught suffering from not looking up or caught making out with anything unsavory this holiday season, Transports. We need all of you to stay alive!

We can't bring you back right now!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[First he'd died. Then he'd gotten his heart back. Then he'd gotten a Keyblade. And that was all before he'd even come back to this nutty place! Now he's on the moon, instead of a rainy little island in the middle of a hostile sea, and... there are zombies.

[Great, just what he needs. He doesn't even get the chance to see if anybody he knows is still here? No happy reunions? Rude. Oh well, might as well make the most of things. If he's gonna be a Good Guy he might as well try acting the part.

[He's quietly grateful he spent so much time watching scary movies when he was younger, because it does give him a bit of an edge, he thinks. Or maybe it's just that zombies tend to be weak to fire and fire happens to be something he excels at. Lea isn't about to try wrangling with that carn sarn deviant of a Keyblade--it doesn't listen to him on a good day, and he's not about to risk trying to get it to cooperate in a decidedly dire situation like this one. Winging one chakram forward to cut through a shambling crowd of the grotesque creatures and then spinning to drive one of the spikes through the head of another, he snaps his hand up to catch the flying one on its rebound and then takes a moment to swipe the back of his hand across his brow.

[Never a dull moment.

[There's a flicker of light nearby, just enough to catch his peripheral vision, and he turns in time to see a gaggle of the creatures descending on what he has to assume is a Transport. A Transport with a type of magical ability he recognizes. A Transport who... feels pretty damn familiar. Axel had never had Zexion's flair for being able to recognize people by smell (and frankly he'd found it a little creepy), but every Nobody had been able to pinpoint the wisps of darkness in others. Axel had always sort of likened it to the way you could just tell when someone was watching you; he could just tell when someone was from home, because their darkness felt familiar, their magic had the same... sound to it. Lea was pleased to learn that this ability hadn't been incumbent on his lack of heart to work.

[Some darkness, some magic, he had come to know better than others, and if these zombies think they're gonna eat the brains of this particular Transport, they've got another thing coming.

[As the creatures descend upon the fallen figure, Lea sends a plume of flame toward the edge of the circle. Three of the encroaching zombies flail with the attack, catching their neighbors on fire, and Lea doesn't waste the distraction. Diving through the mass of flaming, rotting limbs, he snags a hold of Riku's stupid vest and rolls, sending them both tumbling free of the ring of fiery monsters.

[Well. That was nice and dramatic. Now all it needs is a good dramatic quote to seal the deal.]

Sheesh, I can't turn my back for five minutes, can I? [He gets to his feet and dusts himself off, doing his best to look extremely put out.] I should'a been more careful when I said Dark Rescue was my middle name; I'm gonna make you a list of stuff the offer doesn't cover, okay? And 'zombies' are going at the top of the list.

[He's not sure when exactly he started thinking of this place as such (since Radiant Garden wasn't... his Garden anymore), but moon or not, zombies or otherwise, it's kind of good to be home.]

Edited 2013-11-04 06:54 (UTC)

[ he sees fire, and it reaches his eyes and nose before he can even react, coughing into his elbow and trying to shield himself from the smoke. riku immediately yells, savage and angry and too exhausted to really realize who it is that's grabbed him, not until he's sprawled on the ground and staring up at him. immediately, stellaluna seems to realize who it is and chirps happily, screeching and whirling around his head at high speed in happiness. ]

I-- [ he started, hoarse, before red started to creep up his neck. he exhaled, bangs falling into his eyes as he shakily got to his feet. his hair had grown a few more inches, and so had he. ]

Thanks, Axel.

[ a pause... ] That's not right, though.

It's Lea now, isn't it?

[Lea allows Stellaluna to orbit his head a few times before reaching up to kind of shoo at her good-naturedly. Yeah, yeah, good to see you too, rainbow sherbet bat creature.

[He opens his mouth to correct Riku with a roll of his eyes, and then stops himself, but he can't stop the big stupid grin that splits his face when Riku corrects himself. He chuckles, shaking his head, then reaches out to poke the kid gently in the forehead.]

'Bout time you memorized it. [He puts his hands on his hips and watches the zombies' flaming death throes (can they really be called death throes? Aren't zombies already dead?) and then turns his eyes back to Riku.] I, ah... love what you guys have done with the place.

[ he looks back at the zombies with a grimace, and then back at lea.

at least he's happy. a little, anyhow. ]

Not our fault. [ a shrug. ] Even I've got better design ideas.

Anyway, we-- [ and then, a swallow. not 'we'. ] I... need to get back to the housing wings. How about I explain on the way?

[Not we? Lea scratches his head.] Actually that's where I was headed. And then I got lost. [He stabs a finger toward him.] Shaddup, I've been here for like ten minutes, okay?

[He casts a glance back to the zombies as well, frowns at Riku.]

But yeah, an explanation might be nice.

[Funny. The first time he'd shown up disoriented and lost, Riku would have been one of the last people he'd have turned to for direction. Now? The kid probably topped the list.

[Funny indeed.]

[ riku does open his mouth to make a smart-aleck remark--

but he jabs his finger in his face before he can retort, and he shrugs again, trying to bite back his smile. it's nice, to have him back. riku nods, shakily turning as stellaluna nuzzles up to him, drooping onto his cheek on his shoulder. ]

Alright. It's this way. Try to keep an eye out.

[ a beat; ]

Where's your Keyblade?

[It's kind of nice the way they just fall back into old patterns: jibing here, harassment there... He could do without the zombies and all, but really it's not the worst thing he's had to deal with.

[He makes a face like he tasted something bitter at Riku's question.]

Back pocket; where's yours?

[Can we not talk about this? The Keyblade hates him. His chakrams like him. He'll stick to those for now.]

You're looking a little worse for wear--do you need a potion or something? [He rummages through a pocket.] Pretty sure I've got a couple, though admittedly I'm not sure if they require high-altitude consumption instructions for use on the moon.

I can call it reliably.

[ lea's given a flat look at that, and a raised eyebrow. ]

You're the one having problems. At least try to call it on the way back.

[ his concern was touching, but riku couldn't help but nearly squirm under his gaze. ]

I'm fine. [ not really, but it wasn't as if riku would jump for a potion or help or even assistance, for the most part. ] I just need to rest. Save your potions for when you need them.

Well good for you, want a cookie? [Hey, come on, that's actually kind of a sore spot, leave off.] I have two perfectly good weapons that actually come when I call them, thanks; I'd rather use them on the horrible rotting undead monsters than wait for my newfangled Good Guy Sword to decide I'm worthy to wield it.

[It's a little more bluntly honest and bitter than he means for it to be, but... well, he's been working on that honesty thing anyway. He just rolls his eyes at Riku then, finding a potion and shoving it at him.]

Quit being a stubborn ass; you're not gonna rest here in the hallway, and I'm not piggybacking you again if you pass out.

You are worthy enough to wield it, or else it wouldn't have come to you in the first place.

[ riku exhales quietly. ]

You're thinking too hard. Happened to me, too.

Anyway, I'm not gonna pass out. I'm not that tired.

Well I--! [No. He's not having this conversation right now. Worthiness isn't really what he's worried about, anyway. If Xehanort was 'worthy' then surely he is, right? It's... more complicated than that. But this isn't a discussion for now. Maybe it isn't a discussion for ever. He takes a deep breath through his nose and exhales softly through his mouth, trying to bite back the sharp retort he wants to make. It's probably psychosomatic, but while he always had a bit of a temper, it seems a bit harder to keep it under wraps since getting his heart back. Somehow. He can't convince himself it's just residual leftovers of memories of anger anymore. He's lost his excuse, and he hates not having an excuse.]

Right. Thinking too hard. [Whatever. He'll leave it for now. Then he shrugs.] I'm not taking the potion back either way. S'yours now.

[It's strange, he thinks, that he kind of missed this. He had seen Riku plenty back home... before he'd come back here... Somehow it wasn't the same, though. It had been like that the last time he'd gone home, too: he hadn't remembered this place or the people in it, or the unexpected friendships he'd forged. He wasn't sure what had compelled him to sit in that chair and just wait for Riku to regain consciousness after he'd gone diving into Sora's dreams, it wasn't like he'd really owed the guy anything, right? ... Was it a residual memory of here? Of the friendship they had here? Locked away somewhere beneath a layer of lost things somewhere in the back of his mind? Was Xion somewhere in there, too? Trapped somewhere even his usually razor-sharp memory couldn't access?

[He raises a hand to his head, kneading his brow like he feels a headache coming on, and then turns to Riku.]

So did I miss anything exciting? I mean, aside from getting nuked from orbit and infested with space-zombies and all.

[ riku hates letting things go to waste. with a grimace, he shrugs. ]

Fine. [ he'll just... use it later. when he actually needs it. the question brings him to humming quietly, eyes closed. ]

... Sora's here. It's just him, Xion, and Roxas here.

[That catches him a little off-guard.] Sora's here? [He makes a bit of a face.] Does he... I mean, when's he from? [It's such a weird thing to ask and it feels bizarre even as it rolls off his tongue, but Sora's presence creates two very awkward situations for him: one, if Sora's from more recently, he was kind of there for the dorkiest Last Words ever, and Lea never got the chance to threaten to shave his head if he ever told anybody about it (especially Roxas! Oh my Light if Roxas ever found out what he'd said--oh crimony, did Roxas already know? Had he somehow managed to like... hear it from inside Sora? He hadn't thought of that. Oh jeez. Lea was suddenly pondering just crawling into a hole and never coming out.), and two: if Sora's from earlier than that, it might take some talking down before an understanding is reached. There was a time that he and Sora had been fairly bitter enemies, after all, even if he'd never legitimately wanted to hurt him.

[That's when the rest of what Riku says registers. Just them? That means Kairi and Aqua and Ven and the others went home? That's a pretty harsh rub; Lea knows how it feels to have one side of your triangle just up and disappear, and there's a part of him that hates himself for doing it to the kids, even if it was temporary.]

... Sorry. [He's not sure why he's apologizing, but that's how you get condolences across, right? He's... never really had much to, you know. Condole about.]

Right after the exam.

[ he watches lea carefully, still a little unsure of where he stands, with him. the apology comes as something of a blindside; he blinks and tenses a bit. ]

Uh--it's... okay. [ he looks away, to the ground, and shrugs. ] I was here on my own for a long time before anyone from our world got here.

[Oh, good, so there won't be any Keyblades embedded in his skull the first time they meet up again (probably), but that does still leave the issue of the headshaving threat. Well, hopefully there's still time.

[Riku's comment evokes an eyeroll though.]

There you go again. [He gives him a look that says he at least knows you well enough to know that's a load of bull.] It's easy to be by yourself when you don't have anything to compare it to, stupid. Before Roxas joined the Organization I didn't really have anybody to talk to. [Because Saïx had stopped listening a long time ago... and Isa had been gone even longer.] So it didn't really bug me, you know? But... after he and Xion showed up?

[He chuckles softly then, rubbing the back of his neck.] Those dumb kids completely ruined me.

[It's surprisingly candid, really, especially coming from him. There's a thread of solidarity here with Riku, though, that he doesn't have with anybody else: they both know how it feels to be the odd one out in the trio. The one who takes the bullets and bears the weight of the stuff they don't want breaking the shoulders of the smaller ones. Riku knows how it feels to be alone among friends, and he sure as hell knows the difference between being alone because you haven't found anybody yet, versus being alone because everyone left.

[And it makes all the difference. Kairi's departure is still obviously a fresh wound, given his posture. He knows that feel, bro.]

It doesn't have to be okay. [He doesn't look at him now, his hands in his pockets and his eyes just focused on the corridor in front of them.] You don't always have to be okay. [And then he gives him a stern, if brief, look.] Kay?

[He's pretty sure they've both already learned the hard way that pretending nothing's wrong doesn't actually make nothing wrong. In fact it makes everything worse.]

[ riku tenses his shoulders when he speaks, looking over at him with furrowed brows, hands pushed into his pockets. his confusion wanes into understanding, and he slowly nods, looking elsewhere. lea being alone as axel--he could see it in his eyes, when he'd first arrived here. ]

Of course they did. [ he's pretty sure there's a wriggle in his heart that tells him xion ruined him, too. god knows roxas did.

what he says next is what makes him flinch slightly, look at lea like he's grown an extra head, and he walks straight into a wall, smacking his cheekbone against it and grimacing. ]

I'm-- [ he tried to give a rebuttal, shoulders stiffening and raising. but all he could say was a flustered; ] I am okay.

[ he wasn't, but lea so bluntly looking past his facade to look straight at him made him feel exposed and vulnerable.

his 'you don't always have to be okay' hit xehanort's insistence that he was still as he was before--riku's own claim that he 'wasn't like that now' and xehanort waving it off with a simple 'yes, you are'. it didn't matter that it was nearly a year later; scars were scars. he had to try harder, try as hard as he could to be good. ]

Aa--! [By the time Lea realizes that Riku is too focused on him to notice the wall it's too late and he's crashed into it, leaving Lea with one hand outstretched uselessly and a somewhat abashed grimace on his face. Well. That hadn't exactly been the desired result, but he supposes if that's what it takes to knock a little sense into the kid so be it.

[Except it doesn't. He gets it, Riku... really, he does. He knows all about that feeling like you have to break yourself in half to make up for the things you screwed up. He knows all about knowing that no matter what you do it will never undo all the pain you caused.

[He shakes his head.]

Are you? [There's suddenly something so raw and ragged and despondent in his expression it's nearly tangible, but the look is gone as soon as it appears, replaced with an uncharacteristically obvious false smile.] I'm not. What's your secret?

[He never managed to get through to Roxas until he just laid his heart bare on the table... and he hadn't even had a heart at the time. It wasn't until he'd made the choice to lose to Roxas rather than to hurt him in that basement in that phantom Twilight Town that he'd realized maybe all he had needed to do was admit he had been lost all along.

[Riku isn't okay, any idiot can see it, and any idiot knows it's nothing to be ashamed of, to know yourself well enough to know you're not okay. Except the idiot himself, it seems.]

[ riku knows better than to keep walking and staring at lea, now--he stops when that expression reaches his face and he purses his lips together slightly, sad and ashamed. he didn't think he'd feel okay, not with isa there, not with xehanort's plan uncovered...

for a few moments he looks away and then walks quickly back to lea's side, turning towards the housing unit. it's one hallway down. his voice is quiet, hushed, unsure, like a child tripping over an answer pulled out of him by a teacher, awaiting the right words.

he doesn't know what the right answer is. he can only hope what he says is right. ]

Knowing that whatever you do isn't good enough, so you've always gotta do twice the work. [ it comes out in a flustered rush; the truth always tends to. ] And never expecting anything good's gonna last. Saves you the heartache of hoping.

[ an awkward glance over. ]

Sorry. Too soon?

[ he shakes his head to himself. ]

People are counting on all of us. Back home and here. I don't have time to not be okay.

[Ah, there it is. It's not the admission he was hoping for. Was he hoping, really? Why? Does it matter so much that the kid is honest with him? ... Or is it just that he wants him to be honest with himself? Lea's never been very good at that, and it's left him exasperated and feeling foolish far too many times. He sees so much of himself in Riku sometimes it's a little unnerving--the fierce pride, the stalwart desire to feel independent, that incessant need to be okay no matter how not okay he actually is. He can't decide who's had it worse, really: him with the loss of his heart his home and the fact that he destroyed the best thing he had in his empty life with his own hands, or Riku with his possession by Xehanort's Heartless and the all-encompassing guilt of everything he did during that time.

[It doesn't matter. It's not a contest. They've both screwed up, they both acknowledge it. Maybe the biggest thing they do differ on is how to handle it now.

[He clicks his tongue, shakes his head, then wags a finger at him.]

Pessimist. Nothing lasts, good or bad. That's why you've gotta take what you can get when it's in your reach, and hold on tight as you can; got it memorized? [He threads his fingers together and rests his palms against the back of his head.] I never expected to get this second chance, you know? I thought, well, that was it. [Death usually is it, and he'd expected nothing less, really. He had wanted to die with no regrets, but he supposed if he could die knowing his death had been worth something in the end, it would be all right to regret having never been worth much up until that point.]

So I'm gonna try twice as hard, maybe even three times... but I don't think pretending to be okay will make it any easier to help the people who are counting on us. [He glances sidelong at him, shrugging his shoulders briefly.] I lied enough in my last life to last three next lives.

Last time I tried that, a witch ended up using me and I got possessed. [ he shakes his head. ] Being a pessimist works for me.

[ and it's the only way he knows how to think anymore. ]

And so does lying... at least, about this. It's not like anyone needs to know, anyway. What's it matter if I'm okay or not, as long as I can fight?

[ he peeks into the housing unit; it's much more cramped here, and he passes a few rooms before opening one. ]

Sheena and I're here, with someone else. If you wanna meet up with her, you can have my bed.

True. Didn't last, though, did it. [It's not a question, because Riku knows the answer anyway. Another shrug and Lea just shakes his head.] Fine, you be a pessimist. I'll be a realist. I'm not sayin' you should look for the silver lining behind every mushroom cloud that blows up in our faces... I guess I'm just sayin'... maybe it's not such a bad thing to look for where the cloud starts to clear, that's all. 'Cuz they all do.

[Every cloud clears. Puffy white benign ones, angry black thundering ones... clouds of ash, clouds of fog... no cloud lasts forever, and that goes for the dark as well as the light. Lea would never call himself an optimist, not anymore. He used to be, long ago, before he knew what it felt like to lose everything all in one day, but he's far too jaded to be that happy kid anymore, and he's far too wounded to want to be. Optimism like Sora's is laudable, yes, but ultimately fragile and far too easily turned against its wielder. Lea doesn't expect a fatal wound from life, really, he just braces for a punch in the face. If it turns out to be a pat on the head instead, well... bracing never did anybody any harm.

[Morose navel gazing is pushed aside briefly at the mention of Sheena, and he brightens visibly.]

She's here? [What had started out as cautious and wary sharing of a roof had really turned into a close friendship, and he was grateful for it. If he'd ever had a sister, he would surely have likened Sheena to her, and for lack of one he would gladly relate her to what he should hope having a sister would be like. The happiness in his expression is as genuine as any, and he's still not convinced the influx of emotion isn't just psychosomatic now that he has no more excuses, but it's news good enough to make him feel a little lighter.

[The glee on his face quirks sharply into reproach then.]

Nope, I'm not taking your bed. You said it yourself that you need to rest, so you're not gonna exacerbate your debatable okayness on my account, you lunkhead.

It was meant to. I got lucky.

[ riku knows that for sure; clouds, he's not sure about. it's never been the sky that was a metaphor for life for him; it was always the ocean. island kids were just like that.

if there was one surefire thing you could count on, it was that the ocean had the darkest bottom you could think of. there was darkness everywhere, and riku knew that as it thrummed through his veins. darkness was a constant.

... but so was light. he wouldn't underestimate that, watches lea's face brighten and finds himself smiling a little.

it's contagious. like sora's. that's what he tells himself, anyway. ]

Yeah, I saw her a while ago. [ it was different, now--now everyone was run ragged, not just riku. as his face goes from hopeful to stern, riku rolls his eyes, almost puffing his chest out in defiance. ]

Look, I have someone I need to check up on, and I can crash over there.

I don't believe in luck. [Because if he does, that means everything really is out of his hands.

[He'll leave it at that, though. What he won't leave is Riku's next statement.]

What, think you're ditching me already? Rude, I just got here and you're gonna dump me in the room? Tch, some thanks for demonstrating my shiny new middle name and all--see if I rescue you from any more zombies.

Edited 2013-11-09 09:55 (UTC)

What, d'you have separation anxiety?

[ laughing tbh ]

I'm not leaving you yet, but that's why I don't need the bed right now. But since I didn't say it earlier--thanks, Dark Rescue.

Wh--no. [~~Yes. Hey, cut him a break, you'd have some issues too if all your friends turned into Norts or disappeared without a trace or got... stuck inside of other peoples' best friends.~~ He folds his arms and glowers.] You're just obviously in no shape to be fighting moon zombies by yourself, Mr. Big Keyblade Master. One person in the party should at least be at half their usual ability to kick ass. [He rolls his eyes.] So since that obviously ain't you, I guess you'll just have to settle for the idiot Keyblade rookie.

[He's still not gonna try and manifest it, so don't even ask. He'll flop down on a bed he hopes is Riku's though, when the door is opened, and threads his hands behind his head, bouncing one foot propped up on his other knee.

[The bouncing stops abruptly at the pointed articulation of aforementioned shiny new middle name, though, and he makes a big of a hangdog face.]

Gosh, I'm pretty sure some loser thought that was a pretty lame name once upon a time. Wonder who that guy was.

e!

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