IC Inbox

[icingonthecake]

●●●●○ THESA

Axel
@Nobody (27), Not Telling

CONTACT

IGNORE

I WAS A: specialized gofer, professional smartass

I'M SKILLED IN: napping, setting stuff on fire

I'M LOOKING FOR: ice cream

ALSO, I'M: tired

Comments

[icingonthecake]

'Friend' might be a strong word, at this point in our relationships, at least as far as Riku thinks, but I'd deign to qualify us as personable allies.

[He won't bother asking any more questions; better to just ride this one out, maybe.]

[earthy]

[Allies. All right.]

but you don't wield the Keyblade

[...]

?

[icingonthecake]

[He pauses, frowning. According to Sora, he... does. But he doesn't yet, so...]

Not last I checked, no.

So is there a reason you're asking all this or are we just playing 20 Questions

[earthy]

[Terra's answer comes a little while later, after he's spent some quality time staring at his phone and thinking things over.]

haven't seen them around lately. or heard from them.

[And he wasn't sure whether to politely ask Axel if the kids have been hanging out with him or... you know, accuse him of kidnapping them for nefarious Organization purposes.]

[icingonthecake]

[The pause doesn't worry him, he remembers that Terra was kind of taciturn when they spoke that one time, but his words are a bit concerning.]

Last time I spoke with them was at the birthday party. I know Riku doesn't quite trust me, so I've been just kind of biding my time to let him come to me if he wants.

Have you tried contacting them?

[He hasn't, for exactly the reason he just named; while Sora is a little too trusting for his own good, Riku has been keeping a good arm's length, and Axel's fine with that. He can be patient. It hadn't occurred to him that something might have happened to them that he should have checked up.]

[earthy]

kind of.

[Kind of... sort of... not really. He did leave Riku a late birthday present and that's a form of contact, right? But things between them have felt strange to him since the rescue mission on the mountain.

That and, as responsible as he feels for the younger Keybearers, he's concerned about overstepping his bounds. It's not really his place to keep track of where they are and what they're doing and if they're okay and why haven't they called or posted to the network or something, is it? He's no Master...]

they could just be busy working. dealing with everything, settling back in.

[icingonthecake]

You wouldn't be contacting me if you thought that was all it was.

[Don't try that, Terra; Axel doesn't have to know you well to know you wouldn't seek out a relative stranger if you weren't worried.]

How 'kind of'? I can try and get a hold of them, but if you've heard something, you should probably fill me in, man.

about a minute and a half later

[icingonthecake]

Wait, I lied, I did see Riku once after that, when all that weird stuff was happening and people's memories were... manifesting physically and making everything super awkward.

It was awkward, sure, but he seemed fine, all things considered.

[earthy]

[Terra's slowly hunting and pecking out his reply when more text pops up and... wait, what.]

weird stuff with memories? when was that?

[He picked a good month to wander off into the wilderness.]

[icingonthecake]

Oh, you missed that, huh?
Trust me, you're probably better off. Some skeletons are better left in their closets.

[earthy]

[Let him just process that for a minute... Memories manifesting physically. Was someone meddling with hearts or what? Well, no, assuming Axel was affected... probably not a heart thing... This world is so strange sometimes.]

right.

[Anyway.]

i haven't heard anything. i'll just go ahead and send them messages.

[About the weather or the Natha or how they met this Nobody guy.]

or i could message one and you could take the other?

[Divvies up parental head count duties??]

[icingonthecake]

Going halfsies sounds fair. And possibly less suspicious if they compare notes. You take Riku, I'll take Sora? Riku would probably immediately think it was weird if I messaged him and would probably think something was up. Regardless of what the message consisted of.

[earthy]

okay. i'll let you know if i manage to reach Riku

[icingonthecake]

Likewise if I hear from Sora.

A few minutes later

[icingonthecake]

[After much hemming and hawing...]

Also, for the record, I'd be cool considering us personable allies as well. You know, if you're up for that.

[earthy]

[Heh. Kind of funny, how different he thought this conversation was going to go.]

I think I'm up for that.