Haven't got a lot, I don't need a lot - Coffee's only a dime

[double_edged]

Who: Alister Azimuth (double_edged), Demyx (ninthserenade)
What: Beach trip! and alister getting over his phobia of fish shush
Where: The island
When: afternoon
Style: Action
Status: Closed

[He could have backed out of this. It wasn't too late. His last encounter with Ratchet, while he had been coherent enough, had been a failed trip to the island above for a day out. But... then he'd fallen ill, and when he'd recovered...

Ratchet wasn't there anymore.

Kevlyn wasn't here.

He should have come to terms with it. People disappear out of the bubble all the time. ...but this wasn't a normal scenario. His arrival alone had triggered an angered fit of 'you killed me!'s and some kind of horrible, horrible splinter in their timeline where his attempt to murder the other had been successful. And now...

If he went back to that...

Ratchet was never coming back.

So the Lombax arrives quietly via elevator, tail dragging behind him and still-whole ear drooping a little behind his head, looking as though he hadn't slept for a good while. He tries for his usual stern demeanor, hoping against hope that it wasn't obvious how he was truly feeling. Demyx was free to approach him as he would.

He won't push others away anymore.]

Comments

[ninthserenade]

<sub>[He would approach him any way he darn well pleased, indeed.

That's probably why as soon as Demyx spots Alister, the Nobody starts to run out of the water (and getting knocked over by a wave twice), frantically waving his arms while yelling Alister's name at the top of his lungs. Alister, sad? NOT ON HIS BEACH.]</sub>

Alister! Alister! Ali-- <sub>[...Okay, make that three times.

At least he's back up on his feet, picking up where he left off.]</sub>

Alister, hey! Over here!

[double_edged]

[Yes, yes, he heard you the first three times, Demyx.

The Lombax's ear perks up and he glances over, not bothering to move out of the way as the Nobody runs up. Blinking a bit at the reaction, his arms fold over his chest, and he tries for an amused smile.]

Congratulations. Now you know what a concussion feels lie.

[Twice, Demyx. You were hit by the same wave twice.]

[ninthserenade]

I already know what one feels like, man.

_{[A beat.]}

You ever try running out of an ocean with waves? It's kinda hard! ...Sometimes.

[double_edged]

No. But I wasn't the one with fins in a previous life.

[ninthserenade]

Believe me, if I still had my tail 'n stuff it'd be way eaier.

[double_edged]

Well, we can't lament over what we don't have, do we?

[The Lombax flicks his own ear stub.]

[ninthserenade]

I think the ear thing gives you more character, personally.

_{[He lifts a hand to rub the scar on his cheek with a light frown, then reaches out to grab Alister's wrist.]}

C'mon, I'll bring you out.

[double_edged]

[There was a deeper implication to that statement - one he won't elaborate on if Demyx hadn't caught it by now. So the Lombax just nods, allowing himself to be pulled along, trying not to bristle at the sudden, physical contact.]

Not... too fast.

[ninthserenade]

'Course. Just tell me if I bring you out too deep, okay?

<sub>[Come on Alister, we're going...




Into the blue.]</sub>

[double_edged]

...I thought you said you were taking me out to the rocks.

[ninthserenade]

I am, y'just gotta go in the water a bit to get up on it.

_{[He points out at the small ridge barely ten feet out.]}

See it?

[double_edged]

There's... fish in the water, though.

[ninthserenade]

...D'ya just wanna ride on my back 'til we get out there?

[double_edged]

Isn't... there some other way out?

[ninthserenade]

Uh... I could make it so you can walk on water?

[double_edged]

...and how would you go about that?

[ninthserenade]

Remember how I mentioned months ago that I can control water?

[double_edged]

But the physical mass of another?

[ninthserenade]

I mean making the water solid so you can walk on it, dude.

[double_edged]

It's... better than nothing, I suppose. I have no fear of water, but I would prefer not to be submerged.

[ninthserenade]

_{[He leads Alister over to the shoreline before he crouches down to dip his fingers into the water. A few seconds later, a portion of it solidifies into a makeshift bridge of sorts.]}

Try that, Al.

[double_edged]

...if I die.

You're getting a mention in my will.

[Though the Lombax hesitantly goes along with it, carefully putting a foot down in the solidified water, then another as he traverses slowly. He can see the little creatures swirling below, the General's lip curling in a growl when some of those creatures look a little too familiar.]

[ninthserenade]

Lemme guess 'And Demyx, I'll haunt your ass for the rest of your life'?

_{[He'll walk along side Alister, only in the water.]}

...You okay, Al? You've got this kinda... _{[He twists his face to mimic Alister's.]} Stinky-face going on.

[double_edged]

If this keeps up, I'll do a lot more than that.

[Though not really - he didn't much believe in the afterlife as it was. There were rumours, theories, that departed souls simply became Zoni, though he hadn't put much stock into them.

Call him a pessimist.]

...I don't... have comfortable memories regarding aquatic life, I've told you that.

[ninthserenade]

I wouldn't really mind that--having a ghost friend.

Just remember, I won't let 'em do anything to you, okay? Trust me. I might not be Aquaman, but I still remember how to talk to dolphins 'n stuff.

[double_edged]

...technically, you do.

[And that tone indicated that part of the conversation was to stop there. The point of this, any of this, was to try and take his mind of things for awhile, wasn't it?

He didn't want to think about--]

Look, I... know it's ridiculous. I just need some time, alright?

[ninthserenade]

...If it makes you feel any better, I've got some ridiculous fears too.

_{[He pauses to reach down and returns with a small, orange shell.]}

I'm kinda scared of flying. I mean, I'll do it? But on the inside I freak out. Sometimes I even get motion sickness.

[double_edged]

Hm... so does that mean you're adverse to hoverbooting? Technically, it's not flying, but if you're crossing certain chasms, the sensation is the same.

[ninthserenade]

I'd give it a shot, I just, ah... I wouldn't wanna go across chasms by myself. I used to freak myself out just by looking down one underwater.

[double_edged]

...you could ride on my back, just to get used to the feeling. Just as long as you weren't planning on trying anything back there, that is.

[It's not that he doesn't trust you, Demyx! It's just that old paranoia that never seems to go away with him. He likes being able to see what others are doing, after all.

Which is what he'll be doing on this rock - watching these fish. Because he doesn't trust them. Who did they think they were, swimming around as they pleased? How long would it be before they developed enough intelligence to develop their own weaponry again?]

[ninthserenade]

I wouldn't dude. I'd be too paranoid of losing my grip and falling.

<sub>[He climbs halfway up on the rock to rummage through the small backpack he had brought with him earlier and pulls out a pack of hotdogs.

At least eels didn't have lasers on their heads. Sharks on the other hand...]</sub>

Y'wanna see the eel I mentioned?

[double_edged]

Good. ...because you're not dying. Not when I have anything to do with it.

[Demyx would be one of the few people that Alister would go back for, if he ever had fallen off. Even if he was a Nobody, and even if they were from different universes entirely... Demyx trusted him. And he wants to be able to keep that trust, however he can.

It's all he has left.

But. Eels. Okay. Eels aren't giant space goldfish.]

It... can't reach me up here, can it?

[Because that, he doesn't want to have to kill in self-defense.]

[ninthserenade]

...You're an awesome friend, you know that?

_{[Then he shakes his head and drops into the water with the food in hand.]}

Picture a big huge water snake in your head. They don't got legs, so you'll be fine. I promise.

_{[And down he goes! It's not until five minutes later that Demyx resurfaces with something circling around his leg.]}

[double_edged]

I honestly don't feel 'awesome'.

[Though it's said when the Nobody's already submerging, that cold, creeping guilt beginning to flood back in. If he was an awesome friend, then why was another dead because of him? Why did he leave in the first place? Because he'd ruined the one chance of being social with him?

Because he'd scared him off in his delirium?

Why did he have to go?

What reason was there to return to death?

All of this becomes so overwhelming that he barely notices his companion resurface, curled in on himself upon the rock. The Lombax's face is buried into his arms, turned away just slightly.]

[ninthserenade]

_{[...Well, that certainly wasn't a good position to see Alister in.]}

Alister? You okay?

_{[He'd climb back up onto the rock, but eelbro.]}

[double_edged]

[The Lombax slowly lifts his head from his arms, though the sight of him next was... unexpected, to say the least.

His eyes lift, appearing red and puffy, though still staring cold at the Nobody. His breathing seems a little ragged as well, heaving his shoulders and causing small, rough little gasps that could easily be overlooked.]

[ninthserenade]

_Shit. Alister, what's wrong?

_{[He waves his hand in the water to create a temporary underwater barrier to keep the eel from wandering too far, and then he's climbing up the rock.]}

[double_edged]

...I shouldn't even be here.

[The Lombax's tone is low, even more distressed than after the realization that he would not have both of his ears for a long time. More than finding out he was a father, after murdering his own adopted son.

And it was exactly that which sent him into this spiral.]

He left. She'll leave. And you will eventually, too.

[ninthserenade]

...I'm not gonna leave, Alister. I've been here for two years, I'm not gonna leave.

[double_edged]

...that's exactly what he said. But now he's... not here anymore.