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

[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.

[cloak]

[That was comment #13, Roxas Classic]

Guess that explains it.

[Well, insofar as mistaking him for anyone else, anyway. As to why they all look this way, well. If they're all shinki, and that's possible, they might never know]

I'm usually not this...visible.

[missingache]

[ :U

Only 2/3 of them are shinki. Ventus is the one with the answers and Roxas was told not to ask.]

..... [Does this guy mean literally?] Visible?

[cloak]

I cover up more.

[He gestures at himself, the sweeping nature of which suggests all of him]

But people get scared, when they can't see my face.

[There's just the faintest edge to his tone, bespeaking how odd he finds that]

[missingache]

[Hm. So not seeing someone's face is scary? He doesn't really get it. If people are more comfortable covered up, shouldn't that be their preference?]

I wouldn't get scared. If you like it more, you should stick with it.

[There's people who wear masks around here. It's fine.]

[cloak]

I don't know.

[He frowns, because he prefers being the way he was.

At the same time, he's seen how people react. His eyebrows pinch together, before he shrugs]

People act like I'm a threat, that way. [Which seems like a fat lot of nonsense to him] Not always, but it happened a lot today.

[missingache]

That's dumb. It's not like you're hurting anyone dressing the way you want to.

[Unless there's something that's not being told.

Come on, same face, he trusts you're not a bad guy.]

Just ignore them and do what makes you happy.

[cloak]

Happy, huh...

[There's a thought. It strikes him as an uneasy one, somehow. Is that something he really ought to apply to himself?]

Is that what you'd do?

[Even if it were a hindrance?]

[missingache]

Yeah! I like wearing cat shirts even if my god thinks they're weird, but my other god gave one to me, so I wear it when I can. They make me happy.

[So do what you want to do. Wear what makes you happy.]

[cloak]

You have more than one?

[He didn't know that was a thing.

Well, he won't dwell on it]

...Were you going to get something?

[missingache]

Yes. I have five.

[Cat shirts are great. Blame Keith for getting him into cats.]

Not really. I like how these places smell, and it's warm. Though I should probably get something.

[cloak]

Five gods?

[The problem when this Roxas oscillates between blunt and cryptic]

The cocoa's pretty good, and I guess it smells nice.

[Since aroma seems to matter here]

[missingache]

Huh? [Oh. Did he misunderstand that?] No, I only have two. I have five cat shirts.

[Yep. He misunderstood.]

Does it have marshmallows?

[cloak]

Must be difficult, protecting more than one.

[If they collect mortal threats like Add does, this other Roxas must stay pretty busy.

Here, his hands are full with just his one god]

I bet they have marshmallows. They've got sprinkles and whipped cream and all that too.

[missingache]

I guess? They have multiple shinki, so I don't get to do much...

[Roxas feels his looking young and size deters his gods from wanting to use him.]

.... [WHAT] You can put sprinkles in it?

[THAT'S A HUGE DISCOVERY]

[cloak]

Does that mean you're armor too?

[He'd doubted his own utility at first, because of that.

But more importantly...]

They even have star shaped ones.

[Surely as a sameface of culture, he'll understand]

[missingache]

Wristbands for one, a fire cat for another.

[They're called Moomba...

!!!!!!!!!!!]

I need those!

[Sorry, other Roxas, he's going to be fidgety as he waits for this conversation to be over long enough where he can get cocoa.]

[cloak]

Fire cat...

[Like those pocket critters on tv?

Roxas tries to picture it, and that's all he comes up with]

You should get some. They even gave me extra when I asked about them.

[He tugs a small bottle of the sprinkles from his jacket pocket, shaking it a little before offering it to the other boy]

You can have these too, if you want.

[missingache]

With a fluffy mane that's all spiky looking. Or so Shiro said.

[Let's just go with that.]

Really? [Roxas blinks, looking a little confused.] But they're yours. Why give them to me if you like them?

[cloak]

[So he does turn into a pocket critter. Noted.

Roxas doesn't budge, his arm remaining entirely still. Perhaps unnaturally so]

I don't know why. Do I need a reason?

[But still, the offer remains]

[missingache]

[... okay, maybe a little creepy, but it's fine. It's fine.]

Usually? I can get myself some so you can keep those. And then we both have some to take home.

[See? A much better option.]

[cloak]

If you say so.

[He shrugs, apparently unconvinced but accepting the response, and tucks the bottle back in his pocket]

[missingache]

[Good. Good. A small victory.]

If I get a drink, you won't run away, right?

[cloak]

Why would I run?

[It's cold outside and he has cocoa.

Also he is this bad at picking up on humor. Too literal, send help]

[missingache]

[..........]

Never mind... I'll be right back.

[Gonna go get cocoa with star sprinkles now. Which thankfully doesn't take long. This Roxas comes back looking very happy.]

I got some stars to take home, too. Though they looked a little confused and thought they served me before.