cyclists | audience

So what is?

[ there's no pressure to the question, just curiosity. ]

...[Hm.]

Are you okay with what happened? How it was done?

[ ... he hesitates but sighs ]

Not a big fan of how they pushed the corpse into a volcano, North's idea or not. [ yucky soup juice...... he doesn't say anything else about the kill, though. ]

[...there's a slow nod, but he doesn't say anything else either.]

Does it count as risking themselves if they're the ones who chose to do this?

I don't know. [ he shakes his head ] They didn't seem to think there was any other way to deal with him. Even if it wasn't then... wouldn't it have just been postponed to this weekend? And then there's a chance someone else would've been dead at his hand.

I won't argue that it was right, but nothing about what we've been doing is.

There is that chance, yeah. And it'd be the same problem all over again.

[...] Would you be justifying it like this if it wasn't her?

[ he crosses his arms against his chest ]

I justified it like this all the way back when Tokidoki died.

[ he probably deserves that, but he's still-- is he even allowed to still be a little bit hurt about it? he sighs and looks out at the koi pond ]

[Of course he is.]

...you told me that I can't let things get to me, but I don't know if I can do that. Not when people blame us for things out of our control, and then make their own choices and their own messes. Not when they say none of this affects us, and they don't even try to listen.

[A beat.] I'm sorry.

[ ... he lets out a sigh ]

She's the one who said that stuff to you, isn't she?

[...he's holding out a hand to try and draw the attention of the cats.]

She was scared, and she was angry. I get that. But I don't get why it had to be like this. That's all.

[...] Shess said that, for better or for worse, people in a position with authority are beholden to a higher standard when it comes to managing their emotions. [The way he says it sounds like he's repeating it word for word.] I think Lune wanted me to lead the trial because he trusts me, but did I really even do anything yesterday? Or today?

[This is hilariously not Axel's problem.] ...there are things happening that I don't know how to to fix. And I don't know what to say. So that's it. [Please kill him.]

[ roxi is immediately distracted by a hand and goes straight for the attack. idk what you expected.

as for lea... if only he could pat roxas's shoulder without giving him a memory to share. he's quiet, as if he's not sure what to say for a while ]

Roxas... There's always gonna be stuff you can't fix. No one can do everything by themselves. [ said axel, with no hypocrisy. ] There's no easy solution to any of this. When I said you shouldn't let that stuff get to you, I meant... you can't get stuck on it. Not that you're not allowed to feel bad about it.

[It's fine, he's letting Roxi bite and attack his hand, moving it to let her play. Wednesday wanders closer to the pond, paw dipping into the water and flicking it.

But....Axel has a point, as usual.]

We fixed everything at home, didn't we? So what's so different about this place? What are we missing that isn't adding up? [He's not so much sad as he is frustrated again, and confused.] Tomorrow, we should have new information. From there, hopefully they'll tell you guys, and we can keep both sides up to date and try to come up with a solution. There's no corrupted left right now, so maybe now's the best time to start planning what to do.

[...] And this dumb memory thing will stop, too, I think. They never last longer than the week.

[ axel's not sure he'd go so far as to say they fixed everything back home, but he doesn't think pointing that out would help roxas. instead, he'll go ahead with the subject change, heaving a dramatic sigh ]

I sure hope so. It was bad enough when I only had to try and dodge that guy about it back then, but the entire village? It's a lot.

[Let him Believe. But there's an annoyed noise as a hand reaches up to tug at his hood.]

It's really a huge pain. And Lune and I aren't supposed to be involved but I don't know how to make it stop. I miss being able to take this thing off.

It's not like it's immediate, right? I haven't shared anything with Naminé.

Depends on how close you are to each other, I think. I didn't share with some, but when I held Xion's hand it was instant even with my hood on.

Touch usually triggers it pretty immediately, yeah. It's a real pain.

[ oh, that reminds him. he takes a peach out of his pocket and gives it to roxas. he already has ice cream but. fruit. ]

[He'll take the peach, careful not to touch Axel's hand.]

Trying to tell me something? [He doesn't seem to mind...he's been getting used to fruit instead of a diet of ice cream and take-out like in the manga ig.]

Yeah. Do you eat, outside of the stuff we give you?

...um...[So no, not really. But he has a peach now so that's nice.] A lot of the gateways have food, so I get stuff from there or whatever people give me. I don't like using my magic for things like that.

[In case it doesn't turn out perfect, then it's just gross and sad.]

[ ... he guessed it, but... ]

Man, you're a real mess.

[...there's a low laugh at that.]

Thanks a lot, Axel. [But like. He can't exactly say no so he just shrugs.]

[ it's not like he can talk but he's the mom so he has to ]

If you'd told me, I'd have been giving you a lot more than just ice cream and peaches, you know!

I like the peaches though. [That is a stupid excuse.] Anyway I'm managing and I know how to take care of myself. It's okay. Are you giving this same talk to Xion?

[=\]

Xion's already being fed plenty.

[ he points at Roxas ]

Don't think you can distract me! It's about you right now. I can look out for both of you, can't I?

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