𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙤𝙣

      The thing about teenagers was that they were in a strange place in life, with body and mind rapidly changing and every emotion seemingly bigger than can be contained. It made sense that the blond would feel this way over something that could be taken as trivial; A skateboard meant newfound freedom, it brought a joy much like Honey Lemon’s own chem purse brought joy to her. Instead of the full thing, she had a hollow shell of a purse, identical on the outside but lacking any trace of the chem lab it had house once.

      ❝ Unfortunately, it’ll be a wait - I mean, I lost aaall my gear - but you’ll get it back soon, you’ll see. ❞ She held her hand out, as welcoming and friendly as ever. ❝ I’m Honey Lemon, and you? ❞

          “That’s fine.” Roxas concedes, still not pleased by the events, but ultimately accepting—for now. A little waiting time doesn’t bother him, even more so since it isn’t as though he’s being singled out for some reason or another. Everyone’s lost a bit of something since coming here, it seems. It’s nice to know he isn’t the only one annoyed by the turn of events.

[ ♒︎ ] – Rhetorical though his question might be, regrettably Aqua shook her head, a slight frown tugging her lips downward. It was peaceful at first glance, to be sure– After all, her own arrival was rather innocuous, mere weeks before chaos had descended upon the island. But such was the case with all worlds, in that even the most beautiful and stable ones could fall victim to strife and darkness.

        ❝It was hard at first,❞ She admitted, though the last thing she wanted was to worry the boy. ❝The invaders gave power back to the people who joined them, while the rest of us had to make do with what we had. It got easier later, once we all had our powers back, but… NULL had an army. They were relentless.❞

And it had certainly taken its toll. Aqua herself had slept for an exceptionally long amount of time after having made it back to her almost instantaneously-restored home. Lots of questions had arisen in its wake, not the least of which was the question of everyone’s safety. She and Sora had taken it upon themselves to protect the people of this island, and she was starting to realize how daunting of a task that was shaping up to be, especially when they had so little control in the face of the Island Stars. And what about the unsettlingly quick end, the turnover to peace which had happened in an instant?

But… Those questions could wait. What mattered now was ensuring that Roxas was okay– After all, his arrival in the aftermath of that very battle had likely been quite confusing… And Aqua knew well the difficulty in starting off here alone. Shaking off the doubt for another day, the Keyblade master instead smiled at him, placing a hand over her heart.

❝Don’t worry. Now that there’s three of us here, I doubt there’s anything they can throw our way that we can’t handle.❞ A pause. ❝But, be honest– Are you alright?❞

          Her explanation just places more confusion on his shoulders and a sense of worry he decides to tamp down for later. The give and take of powers so easily—it sets Roxas’s teeth on edge, not something he’s exactly comfortable with. After all, his power and Keyblades are his own, what does that mean when someone can block his access to them and such at will and unlock them whenever it behooves them to? It sounds like a mess of a situation, so who knows how bad any sort of aftermath will get.

“Three is better than two is better than one. Like you said, we’ll be fine together, at least.” That much he’s sure of. Faith in his friends is a nice thing to have, knowing that he has people at his back in case of trouble—in the eventuality of trouble; he’s trying to be realistic—makes it all the easier to deal with in the long run. Keyblade wielders, from what he knows from personal experience and what he’s seen, are a particularly stubborn sort of stock.

Is he alright though? He considers for a brief second before nodding. “I can handle it. I’ll be okay.” Not the exact answer to what was being asked, he doesn’t think. Not a specific enough one anyway, but Roxas still has to think past his initial negative feelings about the whole situation before he can properly assess anything and give it a definitive answer.

i know in my stats page i jokingly have “no one’s ever explained gender to him and he personally doesn’t care enough to ask at this point” but as a more serious sort of headcanon note: roxas is nonbinary, but more specifically agender. 

His admission made her stop before laughing rather bashfully. Cassy was known for being a motormouth when it came to technology and hearing if people were interested even a little bit always set her off- it was a bad habit. 

“Ah ha ha, sorry about that. I just can’t help it when it comes to things like this. Seeing the processors and how it runs on electricity instead of magic, creating an environment that doesn’t have to worry about the negative connotation of improper wiring along with the system built in itself- its all rather amazing. It would probably take 10, no, 20 years for Graffitti to catch up with this kind of tech since learning about how to install the correct Operator so that it doesn’t corrupt and- oh whoops, did it again!” 

“To put it in laymans terms, it would take a lot of sleepless nights to replicate this to at least 65% functionality not counting all the applications that can be installed. But less time to make a shell that won’t break from being thrown or dropped!”

          “Phones are pretty weird.” Roxas nods—finally, getting it; he likes to think he does anyway. But they are pretty amazing and do seem weirdly complex for such tiny things that can fit just in his back pocket, never mind going into all the other stuff attached to them. As it stands, he just more or less accepts them as one of those strange things that some worlds do and do not have for various reasons.

“is that so? the same as i then.”  she, obviously knew that her actions would induce wariness to a stranger but that was the type of person she was playing. the facade of a student who was infatuated with knowledge. she wasn’t going to stop, just because she was in a new world. besides, the role she played within sector seven was colder, more research-oriented. that wouldn’t work to gain data sources.  “i was only curious, that’s all. my apologies for the sudden questions.”  she had really hoped to find someone who actually knew what was going on.

          He quirks a pale eyebrow before settling on a shrug, hands shoved in the deep pockets of his pants. Strange how a weird sort of solidarity if enough to soothe frazzled nerves, but for all of Roxas’s temper and wellspring of emotions, it isn’t that easy to cause him a great offense. A barrage of questions is definitely one of the lesser evils he’s had to deal with over his—admittedly short—existence.

    “– and how is city life treating you?”

  Ignoring that lingering hesitation that welled up in his throat words found their way forth, drifting in a tone of calm curiosity. Not something of a normal greeting but, there was a pleasantness that came from speaking with a sense of familiarity. A rarity within a world such as this, but an opportunity he would indulge in, regardless.

  Pace slowed to a halt and the wheels of the bike pulled along with him followed suit. Intentions had originally been nothing more than to come for a short shopping trip, but a last minute detour to greet a – friend… it almost felt foreign to use that. Something to work on.

    “Well, I would hope. It’s no Twilight Town, but you have a tendency of adapting fairly well, Roxas.”    //    @nixkey​

          “Not like I have much of a choice.”

Words followed by a shrug and an almost sigh. Perhaps, a year or even a few months ago there would have been a bitter tint to them, but Roxas likes to think he’s gotten a well enough handle on his temper these days. He is tired though, of the moving and the uncertainty being dropped off somewhere new has caused to surface up in him.

“Good. Glad you had fun little man. I don’t like the beach though. The sand is rough and coarse.“

“I can’t remember….Were you ever able to go to the beach with your friends?“

“Awww c’mon Roxas I actually tolerated you. You remember the Colosseum? I still remember.“

“Yes. I fought whats his face thinking it was you to try and win you back.“

          “Sorry, I still don’t think I get it.”

The admission spoken a little bashfully, a hand resting at the nape of neck, and lips slightly downturned from the confusion. Roxas has never minded asking questions and for things to be explained, but he usually gets a handle on information quickly enough that he doesn’t constantly have to repeat the same thing just at a different tune. Then again, this conversation did suddenly delve into the realm of technology and as it stands, Roxas is lucky enough to get how phone works let alone anything overly complicated. Though even that’s a bit subjective given that he still likes to steer clear of computers if at all possible.

          “What do you mean I have to wait at least a month before I can get a skateboard.”

          Roxas adds another to the bounty scattered between them, a collection of colorful seashells on the sand a safe enough distance so they won’t get swept up by the steady waves. He likes beaches well enough even if they normally aren’t his first choice to spend time at alone. Gathering seashells to show off to friends seems like a nice waste of a day, however. Calming too, enough that his indignation at being caught and stuck somewhere is a low simmer at the back of his mind for now. The company he picked up along the way was just an oddly added bonus, but aligning interests are a good enough reason to stick around even if properly handling kids smaller than him is something he has zero experience with.

          It feels oddly ironic to spot the familiar figure close to the beach. A messy riot of brown hair that causes Roxas to doubletake and he doesn’t doubt himself once he gets a good look because he can never mistake anyone for Sora. Perhaps he should be at least a little wary before jumping to conclusions and making assumptions—a year of searching and false starts and dead ends should have drilled that much into him. But maybe it’s also that strange aftermath of a year that makes him push all of that to the back of his mind since the months did drag on in a slow march.

“Sora, wait!” Just a call to attention first, enough to actually make it over and not lose him in the interim however brief. Roxas makes it over with quick and efficient steps. Gently, he latches a hand onto Sora’s wrist, reassurance mainly, and since no one disappears in wisps of mist like an illusion or a fading dream, then it has to be real.