With me disaster finds a playfield [Open]

[cadenbychoice]

Who: Riku Replica and anyone
Where: Plaza
What: Returning from Death #3
When: Friday June 8th (9 days after his death)

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His head was pounding as he blinked his eyes open. Oh no, he groaned inwardly, feeling completely drenched. At first he had to wonder if Demyx hit him with some powerful attack that had knocked him out. It was a possibility, given the the fact that much time had clearly passed in the day, all the way to another morning.

However, as he lay on his back, he started to mutter. "Can't believe I..." 'Fell for it' would have been next out of his mouth, but that was how he learned whose voice was coming out. His eyes darted all around, starting to panic.

"... Not again."

Comments

[cadenbychoice]

"No. I've been here over a year now. I just... haven't always looked like this."

How did he even begin explaining that part? Then again, maybe something similar had happened to her, as another replica, and he just hadn't known it. So he waited to see if she brought up anything like that.

[imaginarytides]

"You too?"

She never had been sure if her shifts in appearance were unique to her or just part of being a replica. Seems like now's the opportunity to find out.

"I call this my own appearance, but no one ever seems to see the same thing..."

[cadenbychoice]

"It's not quite like that for me. Everyone seems to agree on what I look like, I just can't control when it shifts all the time. This is how I started out, though. I can't show you what I normally look like."

Read: doesn't want to, but that was up to her to decide. He was picky about which details to divulge about his death. With another replica, he shouldn't have felt the need to hold back so much, but it was almost like he wanted her to have more hope than he did.

[imaginarytides]

"I don't have any control over it, either. It all seems to depend on the other person. You might even be seeing someone else if it weren't for this curse..."

She has a much easier time accepting that it's a thing that just happens rather than attempting to work out the logistics of it. None of it would be an issue if she weren't a botched replica anyway.

Xion hasn't connected that the person she found and the person she's speaking to are one in the same. Though, she doesn't fail to notice he seems to be holding back. The topic about appearances is an easy one, considering it's something they have in common, but is it distracting from something else? Xion's not forward enough to ask, especially in an initial meeting like this.

"Could you tell me, then? Maybe I've seen you around and just don't know it."

[cadenbychoice]

He stared uncomfortably for a moment, clearly debating about that answer. He put his hand to the back of his neck, gazed at the ground, and rubbed his nape for a minute before finally looking back up at her.

"You have to promise not to tell. Maybe if I try to describe myself to you again, I can try to look that way."

It was like summoning his keyblade, really - he always had to envision what it looked like, the weight in his hand, the length of the blade, the breadth of the hilt... if he wasn't concentrating, sometimes it didn't work. Especially if he was as mentally exhausted as he was at this moment.

[imaginarytides]

"...Okay."

It seems like an odd request, but it's one she's perfectly willing to concede to. After all, identity means a lot to someone whose been told they haven none, and it's a feeling Xion definitely understands. If he doesn't want her to say anything, for whatever reason, it's perfectly within his right to ask of her.

1/2

[cadenbychoice]

He closes his eyes. "Blond hair, that still falls flat like Riku's does. Not nearly as long though... it used to be about here..." He cups the nape of his neck. "Same colored eyes, though. A little shorter than he is, like the little brother he calls me... but a little taller than I am right now." He looks proud.

"And my body was thinner. I hadn't really built my muscles back up the way his was, training from a young age and even more lately..."

2/2

[cadenbychoice]

That was when his form started to flicker like a bad signal on a screen. Unfortunately for him, what he became wasn't his original form. This body was even taller and lankier than his description, with dark brunette hair and green eyes. He opened his eyes again and his perspective had shifted, so he took a minute regaining his balance.

"Well I know something happened... that's about all without a mirror, though. I had to use some power to make it happen, so I doubt it'll stick very long either."

[imaginarytides]

Xion shifts her gaze slightly to compensate for his increase in height. It wasn't quite what he had described at all, but the fact he even could change his appearance in such a way had her interest.

"I don't think you quite got there, you're at least as tall as Riku now and your hair is more brown than blonde..."

She certainly still sounds impressed, though, when she says, "How did you do that?"