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

[abgrund]

[ It is indeed just Add ]

I have time.

Where are you now? I can come.

[cloak]

[Roxas takes a moment to verify, examining street signs before copying the cross streets for Ain's reference]

There's a candy store here.

[abgrund]

I'll be there.

[ About a minute later Ain discreetly steps out from an alleyway, having teleported there using the pliable nature of the void. He is careful to avoid being seen while he materializes from a shadow and reapplies his illusion.

When he meets Roxas, he looks surprisingly human, lacking the unraveled limbs and hollow chest of his original form. The only clue to his inhuman nature might be how his hair flutters a little despite the lack of wind ]

Hello...

[cloak]

[Roxas can't help but think Ain looks a little strange, like this. Unnatural, in a way. But he's long since been accustomed to his shadowy, ethereal nature.

But so long as he's the same inside, the rest is unimportant]

Hey Ain.

[He lifts a gloved hand for a small wave]

[abgrund]

[ The wave is returned in kind, Ain coming to a stop a comfortable distance away. ]

I watched a lot of humans and copied how they look.

[ He gestures to himself. While these are only illusions, they serve the same purpose as clothes ]

[cloak]

[Roxas peers at him, tilting his hooded head]

Does it feel different?

[He doesn't know whether it would. His coat seems as much a part of him as Ain's usual attire]

[abgrund]

Not really...

[ But then again, he's doing it via a glamour. Maybe it's different for Roxas ]

Can you change your appearance without using clothes?

[cloak]

I haven't tried before, but I guess I got out of my coat without taking it off once.

[Because a headless girl would've dragged him around by his hood otherwise]

[abgrund]

Do you mind showing me how you did that?

[ He's never seen Roxas without his coat. Then again, he didn't think it was polite to ask ]

[cloak]

I don't know if it's much to look at, but I don't mind if you want me to.

[But he waits, just to be sure he really does. Being without his coat is a strange level of exposure he's unaccustomed to]

[abgrund]

I do.

[ It'll help him decide if he can teach Roxas about transformation or he really needs clothes. Once Roxas removes his cloak, he'll walk around the youth a little to examine him ]

I think you can try to wear human clothes...

[cloak]

[It's nothing but a flurry of zeroes and ones. Roxas disappears, his coat dropping to the ground, and reappears beside it. Minus a girl dragging him about by his hood, it's what had happened before.

He waits for Ain's assessment, although he feels oddly bare without his coat, as he always does]

And that'll help?

[abgrund]

Yeah. It blends you in.

[ He thinks the biggest issue is Roxas wearing a hood, but a man in a conventional hood is less frightening than a man in a black, full-body hood ]

We can go look at what humans wear and then you can pick what you are comfortable with wearing. Then if you need to talk to humans, you can put that on.

[cloak]

[Dealing with humans sure is complicated, but he trusts that Ain knows what he's talking about]

Alright. [And, following a pause to consider] Have you done that too?

[Trying on clothes, as it seems he doesn't strictly need to]

[abgrund]

I did.

[ It's not a lie. He tried it on, observed himself, and copied the result. ]

What sort of clothes do you think you would like?

[cloak]

I've never thought about it before.

[If only because it never seemed relevant before, what with having his coat]

Something with a hood though.

[abgrund]

[ Hoods are relatively common on the Near Shore, so it's not hard to find something fitting for Roxas. Maybe a more out-of-the-way establishment will let them browse without being bothered... ]

I saw a place selling those a while back. We can go there.

[ It's a store catering to teens, which also happens to be Roxas' size. They'll be there shortly. ]

[cloak]

Okay.

[Roxas follows just behind Ain as he leads the way. When they stop in front of a small store, he peers at the window display rather than walking inside]

Do you wear things like this too?

[He turns to Ain, pointing at the window]

[abgrund]

Not very often, but I don't mind wearing it if it's necessary.

[ Once he settles on a type of clothes, it's easy to just copy it and wear that illusion for a long time. ]

We can both wear it if you like.

[ Ain pushes open the door and walks in. The attendant doesn't notice them, which might be more beneficial, as he thinks it's faster for them to browse without being questioned. He makes a beeline straight to where the hoods are shelved. ]

There should be one fitting you around here....

[cloak]

[Roxas trails after him, glancing around the shop. The prospect of matching has a comforting sense of vague familiarity to it, though he doesn't understand why.

Still...]

Are there types of clothing you like?

[The way he'd liked the color green. Ain surely remembers himself now, as a deity, and so maybe he knows more of himself than he once did. It's a subject Roxas has been hesitant to broach, although he wouldn't mind knowing more about Ain, given the opportunity]

[abgrund]

[ Technically, he doesn't need to wear clothes. However, thinking about it is quite interesting. He supposes he can see the merit in it, especially for humans who need more distractions than one. ]

I like long things.

[ By that, he means not really showing skin. It seems rather weird. ]

[cloak]

Long things...

[Roxas weighs that notion, surveying the clothing around them]

So you prefer being covered too, then.

[It's not a question, but rather a statement of something he believes he understands]

[abgrund]

I do.

[ Glad that they're in agreement on this fact. It seems more comfortable, somehow. ]

There's no shortage of that in this store.

[ They have a lot of jackets in various colours, as well as long sleeves. It should be okay. ]

[cloak]

[Although they came here to address the matter of his own apparel, Roxas spots something that catches his attention and veers right toward it. Familiar as he is by now with the way Ain's crystal changes his appearance, the similarity of certain details in an outfit on display is something he can't ignore.

And once he's halted in front of the display, he points right at it and looks Ain's way]

Do you like that then?

[abgrund]

I do.

[ — without hesitation. He tilts his head a little - he doesn't need to turn his head to watch the store attendant, who still has not noticed them. A moment later the illusion over the top half of his body changes to mimic one of the items on the stand. ]