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... Really?

[ Arden is genuinely shocked. He legitimately had not seen any difference in the way he saw Roxas and Sora interact around the house since the day he'd arrived, which included things like Roxas going off to hide in his room when Sora invited people over, or leaving the house entirely for awhile. They had the barbecues in the yard and Friday Night Fights, but all the same... he never saw all of the things that Sora asked of Arden reflected in the way he treated Roxas. That, more than being within earshot of Roxas saying 'friend' in reference to Sora, was why he gawked rather noticeably at Roxas's insistence. Sora and Arden had hashed out so much at Selenium the other night and a lot of it revolved around the enforced distance between them, which would now go away since they'd talked things out.

He wondered if maybe... was it exactly what Roxas was saying? That he thought of Sora as a friend, but maybe it wasn't... as obvious to anyone else. Perhaps even Sora.

As a result, there's a VERY long pause after Arden's surprised response before he asks again. ]

Well... maybe Riku's the better comparison after all.

[ After a moment, he adds quickly. ]

... And I didn't mean that I expected you to act like Sora, by the way. Apparently I'm still terrible at reading people, is all.

Edited 2019-02-28 02:27 (UTC)

Yeah.

I mean...He's kind of an idiot sometimes. Most of the time. But I wouldn't worry about him if I didn't think he was a friend.

[He yells because he cares.]

I guess I don't show it the best.

[ Welp. He snickers. ]

I mean... You're right about that much.

[ And he rolls his head forward a bit, his shoulders hunching as he tries to regain some composure. He wasn't TRYING to break the heavy mood, it just happened, with Roxas using those exact words. If anything, it was why he got obsessed with the completely ridiculous attitude Riku had gotten stuck in, by comparison with how "Got Himself Together" Sora seemed like as someone who could talk him out of his own poor moods. ]

I don't say this often, but I'm glad I was wrong, Roxas.

[At least someone agrees with him. ]

Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression or anything like that. It's just easy for me to get quiet if Sora gets loud...yeah.

But I guess I could be nicer to him to.

[ He tries to figure out how to say this... ]

I'm sure he'd appreciate that? But if it's not how you really feel, I bet faking it wouldn't be something he'd appreciate. ... Kind of like asking you to be nicer to Riku, I'm guessing. Since you said he's a different story.

It took Riku plenty long to warm up to me too, so I... get it.

[ He tries to arrange bowls and start to busy himself again. ]

So I guess imagine if Riku was coming up to you trying to get you to talk about how you felt about Sora after only a couple of months here in Verens. I figure that's what Vanitas might be feeling with me coming up to him to talk about his powers and Ventus and everything else about him.

That makes sense...for Vanitas, yeah. He's probably not used to someone trying to talk to him about that stuff.

[Now that he thinks about it. Maybe it changes things, maybe it doesn't. Roxas is undecided.]

...

Do you know, what happened between me and Riku?

[ Arden thinks back - a long way back. ]

'Roxas was with the Organization for a time...but when he left we needed to contain him somehow. He was put into a false Twilight Town and had false memories implanted, as if he had lived there his whole life. I...watched over him. For a whole year.'

Not exactly. The first time he was here, I asked him what happened since I died, so I think he glossed over a lot. He told me you left the Organization and got fake memories like I did - and he watched over you for a year. When Riku came back with that blindfold on, it was all I could do to figure out why he was from his own past again, and talk through the mess that was me all over again too.

[ He finishes his task, shrugging slightly. ]

I guess I was hoping I could wait until you two worked things out before I asked anything else.

Edited 2019-03-02 17:40 (UTC)

...

Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. I didn't really know he was there though, I was just working for the Organization. I mean, at least until I left.

[He shrugs, thinking for a bit.]

I don't really know how to approach him about it.

[ Arden is slightly confused. ]

Approach him about it? What for?

[ He's scratching his head. ]

That sounds like two completely unrelated things the way he described it and you just agreed with, other than watching over you for a year and... whatever he saw during that time?

[ He's grasping at straws here. ]

[There's a silence, as Roxas tries to organize his thoughts.]

I...there's more to it, I guess. Some of my memories are kind of fuzzy around then.

[Why he was going back to the Castle, his promise to Xion, it's all kind of messy.]

I left the Organization, and then I came back, hoping to stop it and destroy their Kingdom Hearts. I, don't really remember why. But I ended up fighting Riku instead. I beat him the first time...and then he took off his blindfold.

I didn't remember that any of that had happened until about a week later. They...Riku and the Guy in Red. They put me in a digital version of Twilight Town, and had Namine modify my memories. I just thought I was a normal kid, who had a bunch of weird things happen to him. At least until everything came back.

[He sighs.]

I guess, it's just...they wanted Sora back. He was asleep at the time. And they needed me to do that, but they didn't try to talk to me about it or anything like that. I wasn't supposed to exist, and because of that, I didn't matter. Who I was, my life, that didn't mean anything to them. It's hard not to be angry about that.

[And in a quiet voice.]

And I guess I'm scared that it could happen again.

[ The more Arden listens, the more he realizes just how accurate 'glossed over a few things' was in his estimation of what the original Riku told him. It'd seemed like such a simple response at the time, but Arden hadn't been as interested in hearing much more, he supposed. Not back then. By the time Riku came back, he wasn't in much of a mood to talk about that sort of thing. So many things happened and now here he is, trying to pay attention to what Roxas is saying, and coming up with even more questions.

For now, he tries to focus on the important things - he fought Riku. Riku took the blindfold off. Arden remembers hearing about what happened when Riku did that, how he was changed - and got more powerful, but also couldn't change back either.

And Naminé again... he lowers his head when she comes up. She held so much guilt for what she'd done to Arden... but he'd thought he'd been her only victim. At the orders of someone else, but still a victim.

He can relate to so much of what Roxas is saying. He'd always assumed they had things in common, but not nearly this much. ]

I... [ He swallows. ] I understand.

[ He felt like he didn't matter to certain people. Boy did Arden get that. And angry about it? Yeah... He starts to speak again, but quietly too. ]

Something like that... I'm still... I mean- I felt that way about Axel at first too.

[ Had anyone told Roxas about that? Maybe not... ]

When he came back as Lea, it wasn't easy either, my gut reaction was still to hate him, but... I told him I'd try. Because you were my friend, and because Sora vouched for him, I asked him to prove me wrong.

[Roxas balks when he hear's Axel's name come up. No one's really...told him the whole story, but he suspects it has to do with Castle Oblivion and what went on there. He's never asked because it was the past and he'd kind of put it behind him. He's not sure if he's ready to press that.]

Axel...he's good at that, at least. No one really told me about Castle Oblivion though...and I'm not sure if I'm ready to hear it just yet.

[He gives an apologetic look at that. Maybe one day he'll be brave enough, ready to ask.]

But yeah, that's why I'm not sure how to talk to Riku about it. We sort of just coexist.

[ Arden nods when Roxas says that he's not ready to hear it yet. Maybe if Arden had asked about it once or twice before, but no, this being the first time... it doesn't surprise him. Much like Roxas not talking about his past with Riku, Arden's kept his own situation with Axel quiet too. ]

Well... maybe some other time, when you're ready, we can talk about it some more. I don't want to be awkward around Lea... and maybe you don't want to feel weird around Riku either?

[ One less point of stress would be nice for anyone, right? ]

For now... want any of this breakfast before I wake up the others?

Yeah. The not being weird would probably be good.

[He's not sure if he'll ever like Riku though. Baby steps. He seems to brighten at the mention of breakfast though.]

Yes! I'll definitely take breakfast first.

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