open.

[cloak]

Who: Data-Roxas and whoever trips over him.
When: 1/18
Where: Near Shore
What: Being spooky and helpful, the usual.


A. Helping Hand
[When he isn't needed for any tasks in particular, Roxas aims to familiarize himself with his surroundings. And so for this reason, today he's wandering through a park in the living world. He happens to pass by a crying child, his mother trying to console him, and it doesn't take much to overhear that a favored toy fell into the nearby pond. The problem is straightforward, and it seems to him so is the solution.

So what does Roxas do? He vanishes in a flurry of luminescent zeroes and ones, gone from sight. It seems he's left, until he reappears abruptly several minutes later. His coat is drenched, shoulders hunched against the cold as he places a plastic truck near the child and his mother.

That's not all he found though, various objects clasped in his free hand, including a waterlogged wallet, a muddy ring, and a baseball. What to do with this junk? He has no idea]


B. Second Shadow
[Having helped out with one easily resolved problem, Roxas thinks it might not be a bad idea to see if there's anything else he can fix. Besides, moving keeps him from thinking about how cod he is, and warms him a little.

He quickly finds himself part of a recurring trend. Whenever the living do notice his assistance, they react in alarm. Whether it's an old lady who screams upon noticing him trailing after her with the purse she had forgotten, or picking up a dropped toy for an infant, the result seems fairly uniform.

And he's really not sure why.

After several such incidents, Roxas examines himself, looking at his hands and arms at different angles as he walks. Does he look that strange...? He's so distracted by trying to look himself over that he bumps right into someone. Unfortunately, he's wet. And it's cold. Fortunately (or maybe more unfortunately) his hand snaps up with mechanical precision to catch that person's arm and brace them]

Oh, sorry. I was... [Ruminating, but nevermind that] You alright?

C. Calling Backup: Closed to Ain
[After some time spent pondering why people respond to him as they do, and recalling even some other shinki have done the same, Roxas decides to seek some advice. And who better to ask than his fellow not-quite-human, with whom he's discussed matters of outside perspective before?

He's still not used to texting Ain rather than finding his limbs littered about the temple, but he'll have to adapt]

Can I ask you something?

D. Change is Hard
[The simple thing with Roxas is that no one has seen his face. He shares a name with someone, not that he's aware of it, but no one mistakes someone clad in solid black without a face for anyone else. Now, though, Roxas sits in a café with the results of his and Ain's joint clothing ventures and a cup of hot cocoa.

So for once in his existence, Roxas is dressed like anybody else. Well, sort of. He'd picked dark jeans and a black hooded jacket with a skeleton key for a zipper tab, and he's wearing the hood for comfort even now since people don't really notice him. Like this, he might pass for an average teenager, but for the way he keeps tugging the hood down as though he means to cover his face with it.

Maybe this will alarm people less (or cause confusion for anyone who knows Roxas Classic or Ventus), but he feels strangely exposed]

Comments

B

[notatyrant]

[It doesn't help that Terra isn't looking forwards while walking, instead, he's looking at the buildings and other locations around him.

He yelps loudly when he feels the wetness in front of him, and he steadies himself with the help of the stranger that caused him to trip.]

Ah! Y-yeah, are you?

[He looks at the stranger, staring from his hand holding Terra's arm to his hidden face.]

Why are you wet?

[cloak]

Why are you asking me?

[Roxas tilts his head, though the angle affords him no improved perspective on the situation. It seems to him that he's the one who bumped into this guy, so he should ask. Maybe he'll check that with Add later.

As for the second question, he shrugs]

I was underwater for a while.

[notatyrant]

Because I tripped you, must have made you lose your balance or something.

[He stares at the boy for a moment.]

Why did you go underwater all dressed up?

C

[abgrund]

Yes

[ Ain might not be there, bu the probably has a few eyes lingering in Henir's temple. Regardless, he replies promptly, especially since it's from a friend. ]

[cloak]

Do people ever act scared when they notice you're there?

[Notice being the operactive word, for he and Ain can both be around a good while before others make note of their presence.

And that's when they scream. Or throw things. Or summon overlarge farming implements.

...Sorry Celty]

[abgrund]

Yes

You too?

D. Let's do this

[missingache]

[Café's are nice and warm, and Roxas likes being warm. Clad in warm clothes, for once, he steps in and looks around curiously. He spies who he thinks is Ventus acting a little funny. That just means he has to go investigate!

So he walks over with a smile, pulling off the mittens Jakob made him to say hi.]

Ven? Are you okay?

[It's not like he knows there's a third person with his face here.]

Once more their time has come

[cloak]

[This is the first time Roxas recalls being greeted by someone with his face. He should be more startled, he thinks, but instead he finds himself occupied with another crucial detail. It's enough to make him abandon fiddling with his hood, just for a moment

The other boy is looking in his direction, but when he looks over his shoulder, he sees no one]

Ven...?

[He echoes the name. It rolls off his tongue with an awkward lack of familiarity, his flat tone on the verge of inexpressive but for faint curiosity]

[missingache]

[Hm? This wasn't Ven? That's... strange. Roxas isn't too worried. This place is weird, so this is fine.]

Oh. Sorry. You look like my friend Ventus. [.....] You also look like me, which is confusing.

[It feels like a bad thing to dwell on that too much, so let's roll with it.]

Are you okay? You look like you want to hide.

D

[brokenlight]

[Ven has taken to taking small trips to cafes like this. Somehow, it feels a little homey.

Though he can't help noticing the other person in the cafe.

A smile as he looks over at him.]

Hi there.

[cloak]

[Roxas pauses in his futile battle to drag his hood over his face when he's greeted, not for the first time, by a boy who looks strikingly like him.

This might be troubling, he suspects it ought to be, and yet somehow it's a muted sort of surprise he's left with. How very strange]

...Hello?

[The word comes stiffly, like he's uncertain whether it's the correct response]

[brokenlight]

I'm Ven.

[Ventus peers at him curiously.]

Nice to meet you.

A

[replicatedform]

[Yamanbagiri have decided to head down to the Near Shore for a walk, and maybe check out the stores. After his post, he might need some ideas in case people want to take up on his cooking offer.

He stops walking when he see someone suddenly appearing. While wet and carrying a lot of things. Well, that's... kind of new? He walks over, curious and a little concerned.]

Are you... [Okay? It's hard to tell.] ... What are you doing?

[He sounds more confused than anything.]

[cloak]

[If he wants strange answers, he's come to the right place]

Trying to figure out who lost these.

[He holds up his newly collected assorted junk, in case this guy needs a better look]

I was only looking for that kid's toy, but these things were down there too.

[Down where? He doesn't specify]

[replicatedform]

[He looks at all of the... assorted items. He take a step closer to look.]

If there's a name on them, we can find out who owned them. Like... is that a wallet?

[Yamanbagiri carefully reach out to pull the waterlogged wallet out. Hopefully without causing the rest of the pile to fall out.]

It might have an ID card in it.

d

[galrarm]

[ The kid sitting kind of off to the side catches his attention, though. He definitely looks familiar, as he's well-acquainted with both Roxas and Ventus... but there's something different about him. He's a little shyer, Shiro thinks. And the way he tries not to draw attention to himself reminds him of someone else.

(Someone, years ago, who'd stolen his car, then acted surprised when Shiro helped him.)

He orders a coffee and approaches him. ]

Do you mind if I sit here?

[cloak]

[Roxas pauses in grappling with his hood, first glancing up at the man, then at their surroundings. He supposes it is pretty crowded...]

I don't mind. [And he's not sure why he would, but maybe it's another thing he doesn't yet understand] I don't take up much space.

[galrarm]

Thanks.

[ Shiro sits, placing his coffee in front of him. ]

I'm Shiro. I'd say I've seen you around, but... that's not quite right, is it?

B

[gentilitea]

Roxas! [ He’d been about to yell at the offender to watch where they’re going, but catches himself just in time at the sight of a familiar face.

Or one of them, at any rate. ]

I am terribly sorry to have bumped into you. [ Wait, wasn’t it the other way around? ] Are you all right?

[cloak]

[His hood might be a dark void, but Jakob does know that face]

...I'm the one who wasn't watching where I was going.

[Roxas suspects that Jakob might be too polite, from the times they've spoken. It's disquieting, somehow. And perhaps for that reason his cold, wet hand doesn't let go]

[gentilitea]

Of…course. [ Why is Roxas very insistent on this point? Why is he clinging—wait. ]

Ah! My deepest apologies. You’ll catch your death and yet here I am, dallying when I should be escorting you home.

D.

[redmare]

[ Considering how many people almost sat on the guy, Chinatsu figured he was probably someone from the Far Shore. You don't normally ignore someone who looked like that. Not that there was anything wrong with his clothes per say. But his behavior? ]

You know, you look suspicious if you keep trying to hide your face like that. [ She points out once she has her drink and walks over to him. She knew another person who also tried to keep their face out of sight. ]

Good thing these people don't notice you right away. Otherwise, they'd think you were gonna rob them. [ She takes a seat across from him, placing her coffee down on the table. ]

Unless that's your plan. [ Resting her chin on her hand, she watches him for his reaction. ]

[cloak]

[Roxas pauses in fussing with his new clothing, glancing her way instead of frowning at a nondescript patch of tabletop]

What's covering my face have to do with that?

[Though his voice is flat, there's the faintest suggestion of confusion, his eyebrows pinching together. He wouldn't do something like that, both because it's something he understands to be bad, and the surety that it would cause trouble.

Do people expect something bad, if they can't see a face?]

im lAte

[subtract]

What's this junk for?

[Add peers around from behind Roxas, having teleported in just a moment ago. They're both pretty bad at this "giving proper warning before scaring the shit out of people" thing... but hey, at least Roxas probably won't mind.

He reaches out to grab the ring, holding it carefully with the tips of his fingers.] Ugh, it's all dirty.

[cloak]

[At least Roxas isn't the only one wondering about this stuff he's found.

He doesn't startle with Add's arrival, picking up on the mixture of darkness and light that accompanies him before he speaks. It's doubtful he'd mistake that particular balance for anyone else]

The bottom of the lake was all mud.

[Roxas explains with a shrug as he turns to face Add. Though some time has passed, it still seems unnatural to look down at his face instead of up]