Sleeping is Giving In, No Matter what the Time is

[seasaltkeys]

Characters: Roxas and whoever he encounters
Content: One Nobody arrives in the dream world with a lot to think about.
Location: Traverse Town
Time: Early evening
Warnings: Crabby Roxas.

As he faded away into Sora, Roxas hadn't really be sure what to expect.

When he opened his eyes and saw the town around him, Roxas was pretty sure that this wasn't it.

He knew the town, at least, he knew it through Sora's eyes. But he figured that if Sora's heart was anything it was the island he'd grown up on, not Traverse Town. Though the place held a lot of memories for Sora, but none for Roxas. This was his first time here, and it was weird how much he knew about the town. It bothered him.

Although, it looked like that guy in red's plan hadn't worked. He was still here. Not Sora, but Roxas. At least, he was pretty sure he was still himself. He felt like himself. Maybe something had gone wrong, or they'd decided to let him go, but that seemed unlikely with how determined they'd been. It was more likely that this was just another simulated world and he was trapped again. He clenched his hand, feeling his anger rise again. He was so done with all of this and he just wanted to get away. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

He was about to run off, and at least try and find an exit. That big door behind him seemed like a good start, but it was blocked by a moogle, who floated over and started talking enthusiastically. Roxas tried to escape, but the moogle was very insistent, launching into a long lecture about what was happening here. Roxas missed about three quarters of it and was left standing in the road with a dog...thing staring up at him expectantly. Roxas went to ask the moogle but the creature had disappeared. He sighed, anger subsiding into frustration.

Roxas glared down at the spirit, who whined and rolled over on his back.

What was he supposed to do with this thing?

Comments

[skysmirror]

Xion would have said that it wasn't a matter of being worthy of it or not. No matter how little he remembered, her memories of that time were clear, and friends helped friends, right. Though it said something that she and he were two of the few in the Organization who would offer to help each other without strings attached.

"I know, and it's okay. It's not your fault."

[seasaltkeys]

Roxas nods, rubbing his eyes again. His dream eater whines, and presses himself closer, and the weight is comforting. He searches for the right words, but anything describing his feelings right now get caught in his throat.

"We should probably eat the ice cream. It's going to melt otherwise."

[skysmirror]

Even without words, Xion can get a pretty good idea of what's going on with him emotionally now. She also knows how draining this kind of conversation can be. The change of subject is welcome for the moment.

"Right. No use wasting it."

[seasaltkeys]

Roxas nods, grabbing one of the bars, and staring at it thoughtfully. Was this real ice cream? Or was it just some weird dream version.

"It's regular ice cream, right?"

[skysmirror]

Xion blinked in surprise at the question, then smiles. Of course he would think to ask about that.

"As far as I know, it is."

To demonstrate, she took off the wrapper from hers and started eating.

[seasaltkeys]

Well, if Xion enjoyed it, then it must be worth trying at least. He stares down at the ice cream, scrutinizing it before taking a bite. The salty-sweet taste makes his eyes sting, but he's smiling a bit now.

[skysmirror]

Well, they'd gotten that far at least. Xion smiled over at him, and if she noticed any evidence of his eyes stinging, she didn't let on. Instead she continued eating, letting companionable silence take over.

[seasaltkeys]

His Meow Wow whines, wanting to share some of the ice cream, but unfortunately Roxas is a bit selfish that way. Plus he doesn't have any dream eater treats, so he's stuck staring awkwardly at the spirit, who looks up desperately.

[skysmirror]

While food for people wouldn't hurt the Spirits, it wouldn't do them a lot of good, either. They had their own treats. Time to teach Roxas about that, since it wouldn't be nice to eat in front of them. Fortunately, Xion had enough to go around.

She pulled three Block-it Chocolates out of her pocket and handed one to Roxas. "Here, they like these."

Her own Spirits had perked up when the treats had come out. Barkley gobbled his quickly, while Axel moved back to his usual spot around Xion's shoulders before munching his.

[seasaltkeys]

Roxas took the treat and looked at it. The Meow Wow seemed to know what it was, and looked up, eagerly, practically standing on his hind legs to get at it.

Roxas held it out gingerly, and the Meow Wow chomped down, narrowly missing the boy's fingers. Roxas pulled his hand back quickly.

"What is that stuff?"

[skysmirror]

"That's a Block-It Chocolate. There's Ice Dream Cones, and some other kinds, too. The Nightmares leave them behind sometimes--the Spirits like them."

What Xion wasn't mentioning was that she'd almost eaten one accidentally before realizing that they weren't for people. The Ice-Dream Cones looked a lot like real ice cream...

[seasaltkeys]

"So they're spirit food, and you get them from Nightmares?" That struck him as odd. Usually enemies just dropped munny and shards. Food was a different story.

"I guess I'll have to remember that then." Especially if he had to keep the spirit fed like a regular pet.

[skysmirror]

Xion nodded. "Yeah, along with the munny and dream pieces. Not all the time, but you usually get a few out of every group." Come to think of it, maybe that's what was meant by Spirits consuming NIghtmares....

That was a thought for later, though. "You have to be careful not to get them mixed up with regular food, though. Sometimes they look a lot alike. "

[seasaltkeys]

"I'll try and remember that," Roxas nods, taking a bit of ice cream thoughtfully.

It was a lot to take in, this new world.

"I guess you have to fight a lot then?"

[skysmirror]

It was a lot to take in at first, but getting used to it took less time than might be thought.

"Almost every day, since there's a lot of Nightmares around town. You can make enough munny to live on that way--a lot of us do."

[seasaltkeys]

"I guess it would be easier than doing odd jobs."

But even then, how would he know that his money wouldn't get stolen once he'd earned all of it. And he didn't really have a way of voicing that concern. It was a bit difficult to understand.

[skysmirror]

"Some people have stores. Ienzo has the tea shop, and Namine paints peoples' Spirits when she's not helping there. Even makes Potions and things to sell--I help him out sometimes."

The munny was perfectly safe. Nobody here was the type to steal.

[seasaltkeys]

Ienzo and Even didn't really register with him, but one name stuck out.

"Namine...you know her? She's here?"

She said she'd answer everything.

[skysmirror]

If those names didn't register with him now, they would eventually. Though Xion didn't think Roxas would remember Vexen and Zexion much better than she did. She's a little surprised to know he knows Namine.

"Yes, we've met. She's here, and it looks like she's doing okay."

[seasaltkeys]

Any memory Roxas had of them was still fuzzy at the moment. And thinking about the time he spent in the Organization wasn't exactly high on the priorities list.

"That's good. I thought..."

That she'd met a similar fate as him. That DiZ had done something to her.

[skysmirror]

Time spent in the Organization wasn't exactly the thing good memories were made of. Xion would try to forget it entirely if it didn't include Roxas and Axel.

"I didn't know you two were friends."

Maybe it had happened after she left; she was pretty sure he would have told her otherwise.

[seasaltkeys]

"I don't know about friends. We've just met before is all."

Acquaintances. She's important to everything he went through, and he doesn't know if he's angry about it or if he sympathizes with her, or a mix of everything in between.

But she's here, and maybe now he can get some more information.

[skysmirror]

"I see." Considering Namine's own ties to Sora, it made sense that Roxas had met her at least once. Xion saw her fairly regularly at the tea shop, and they were becoming friendly. There were a few questions she had herself, but asking those would require explaining more than she wanted to at the moment

[seasaltkeys]

"She said she'd explain everything next time we met," Roxas said quietly. That was really all he knew of her.

[skysmirror]

That sounded like something Namine would say. "I'm sure she will, then."