[ AUDIENCE: BRADLEY BAIN ]

[dormheads]

Comments

[darksubverted]

They really don't give you anything but daycare snacks?

[Damn. He should have brought more.]

[battling]

Yeah. [A sigh] I haven't had an actual meal in a while.

[There are vegetables, but he does not consider them food.]

You okay? How're the other Falls?

[darksubverted]

I'll have to bring you something then.

[Wow. There is just something so fucking sad about that second sentence.]

I'm... alright. Better now that I'm... me. Riku. The others are managing. Caleb moved to Winter.

[battling]

[Just like wizard prison.] I'd appreciate it.

Back to who you really are? [Concern, worry.] Is whatever had the hold over ya... is that gone?

[darksubverted]

[No stop. No wizard prison.]

Okay. I'll remember for next time. What do you want?

[He nods. There's some reassurance brushing back against the worry.]

Back to me, yeah. I don't know. So far, it's been a day, and that's longer than I've had before. I'm hoping it's for good.

[battling]

Thanks. Fried chicken.

[There's a certain longing there. Sometimes you have been deprived of food more than once in your life.]

I fuckin' hope so. Memory shit like that- it ain't my area, but it's sketchy stuff. [A slight bit of relief, hope that Riku stays as himself.] Nice t' finally meet ya as yourself. Remember everythin' that's happened so far?

[darksubverted]

Friend chicken. Got it.

[Glad they went to Golly-B's that one time.]

Yeah. A little glad, so I wouldn't be confused.

[battling]

[A nod. Still some lingering worry.]

Do you know how long you've been here? Or what happened t' you guys?

[darksubverted]

Not very long before you guys. I don't know what happened. One moment, I was stuck in the darkness with Sora, the next I was here at a weird school.

And then I immediately became Luke.

[battling]

Stuck in the dark?

[What does that mean... Turn a light on. Damn.

He really doesn't like the sound of that.]

Immediately... so whatever got ya was somethin' different.

[darksubverted]

Yeah. After Sora and I defeated Xemnas, we were stuck behind. We kept walking, and ended up... at the end the road basically. The dark shore.

[He nods at the last part.]

Yeah.

[battling]

[Bradley internally just. He knows some of these words but they mean nothing to him in this order.] Were you safe there?

Any ideas on what's happenin' here? I dunno how much we can help from this side.

[darksubverted]

[Mood.]

It... Not entirely. It's not a place you want to spend a lot of time in unless your heart can withstand the darkness.

[He shakes his head.]

We don't know. But we plan to figure it out.

[battling]

[Bradley, quietly trying to piece these bits together. Okay, so the darkness... if the spirits of the land were trying to devour you? Is that it?] What happens if your heart can't? [Are these things... related?]

I can't speak for everybody, but I'm damn sure we ain't happy about this mess. I'll do what I can here. Just let me know what you're learnin', okay?

[darksubverted]

It gets consumed by the darkness. You turn into a Heartless.

[Haha.]

I'll let you know. You guys sound like you have a lot on your hands, too.

[battling]

[What the FUCK does that MEAN.

There are bigger problems for now.]

Uh... Who told ya that? We're locked in here with the bear, and we just got access to the admin buildin'. Can't access most of it.

Besides... The two people with amnesia, I guess.

And we do some weird tasks for the bear. Like makin' cake with an "easy bake oven".

[darksubverted]

[YOU KNOW! Haha.]

That's what I meant. You all helping the principal. It's keeping you busy here.

[battling]

[No! No he DOESN'T KNOW.]

Only on Wednesdays.

[darksubverted]

Still... I'm not trying to get out of sharing information, or letting you help us. But don't push yourselves if you end up having to...

I mean... Principal Bear isn't a bad guy, but he can be a handful sometimes. Accidentally.

[battling]

If I think I can't handle dealing with it all, I can prioritize.

[ he reaches out to pat Riku's shoulder. ]

He did lose all his keys and his phone. [ it's not malicious, just incompetence! ]

[darksubverted]

...Yeah.

[PLEASE. HE STANS MICKEY MOUSE, HE CAN'T NOT STAN PRINCIPAL BEAR!!]

How's... [A pause. There's some worried uncertainty there.] Caiman?

[battling]

[He doesn't need to stan EVERY talking animal!!]

... Still not himself. "Aikawa", he says.

[There's a strong sense of concern there.]

Talked t' ya at all?

[darksubverted]

Aikawa...

[He's quiet for a long moment. He's feeling pensive, unsure. Confused, too.

And then he slowly shakes his head, lips pulled into a tight frown.]

[battling]

... D'ya wanna?

[A muted sense of worry on Riku's behalf.]

[darksubverted]

[Hmm. Again, he's quiet for a bit.]

A little. Just... to see, I guess. What he's like.