Into the storm

[youhearthebells]

Who: Hazardous Materials with special guest star Draco Malfoy
Where: the ship, and then Eternal Bliss (oh joy)
When: November 1-5 at sea, 6-? on land
What: sailing log, and then shenanigans on wedding island
Warnings: let me know if there are any
Style: as you please
Status: closed to "who"

[As soon as the sun did not rise on the 1st, like others had suggested it would, Gan Ning wanted off Isla Empieza. He put out the call to his crew - get on the ship, leave no man behind. Or woman, Cynthia.

The storm hit while they were two days out from the island. It would take all hands on deck to keep the Nightfury from capsizing, good thing they have a couple of solid dragons to keep things in check. Just watch out for Gaius and his fiery pendant! By the time the storm blows out in the wee hours on the 4th, the charts put them drifting near to Eternal Bliss. Are the residents still pissed at pirates for what Kodachi did? Who cares, they need to land to make repairs. And maybe score some treasure, if anyone wants to go through the marriage requirement.

Date your posts and mingle away!]

Comments

11/5 - onwards

[by_heart]

[A]
[Lea kept to himself throughout the nightmares that plagued the crew. He was so convinced he couldn't trust any of them anymore, that he was completely on his own, so it was easiest just to withdraw and not deal with it. Some hero, huh?

Well, thank goodness that mess is all over.

After the storm clears, he spends a long time in the kitchen baking, so he has a plate of butternut squash bread to carry around while he checks and makes sure everyone's back to normal. Makes the conversations a little less awkward, you know?]

[B]

[He's not big into the wedding thing or the treasure thing, so he's not really feeling Eternal Bliss as a whole. Maybe he'll get a haircut. Or someone could try to intervene.]

A! Gift time!

[anelegantmyth]

[The champion pokes her head into the galley the moment she caught a whiff of that butternut squash bread. She won't lie, she's been busy with inventory all day and food was something she really needed right now. Lucky for her, seeing Lea was something she also really needed to do right now. Mostly because she had a gigantic present for him, but also because she missed him...sort of.]

Hey you.

[She walks in with a smile. Her dragon trailing behind her with, what looks to be, a medium sized crate with "For Lea" painted in big bold letter on the cover.]

[by_heart]

Hey. Is it time for bribery? No one told me.

[It's not his birthday or Christmas and that's a big present right there.
A big present being carried by a rather sizable lizard. He sets aside the loaf of bread he's been slicing and washes his hands so they're not all crumby. You know, in case it's a nice present.]

[anelegantmyth]

I'm not here to bribe you. I'm just being nice.

[She motions the dragon to set down the crate on the table, and with one swipe if its claw, the top of the crate goes flying into some corner. Inside the crate was a crap ton of cook books.]

I ordered quite a few books from Margie and thought I'd get some for you too.

[by_heart]

[No, this really is like one of those scenes where a mob boss or something shows up with a briefcase full of money, complete with big mean-looking guy to do the grunt work. Except there's no money, only a lot of cookbooks.]

Uh...thanks?

[Seriously a lot of cookbooks.]

[anelegantmyth]

[Think of it more like, the amount of books equal the amount of love that she has for him. It sounds much nicer than "Whyyyy?"]

I'm trying to build us a decent enough library and decided to add a section in it for you and Gaius. I haven't actually checked the whole crate. But I'm sure there are some pastry books in there...somewhere.

[by_heart]

So it's homework.

[He starts poking through the box. Geez, who even needs this many cookbooks?]

Uh...thanks, I guess.

[Might as well be polite.]

stoopid compooper

[anelegantmyth]

[Typical Cynthia. Didn't know what she wanted so she just got one of each. She did that in Unova with the whole black bikini vs white bikini, she did that with the ice cream, and now she's doing it with books. But hey, at least it's not stuff to add to the library. Though she was hoping for a more...energetic reaction.]

If you don't like it, I could always give them to someone else.

[by_heart]

No, I mean, I'm the cook, so...yay cookbooks...

[He waves his hands weakly.]

I mean, if a bunch of them are for Gaius, anyway, we shouldn't go giving them away before he has a chance to, uh, see them.

A 11/5

[heartismyown]

[It isn't hard to find Roxas, but it's pretty clear Roxas is not in a very good mood. He's wearing his frustration close to the surface, enough that he's glaring at the sky or the sea, depending on where he happens to be looking when Lea finds him on the deck.

When he comes by he does glance at him, but doesn't say anything at first. He's quiet and brooding and he's had more than enough of the nightmare he experienced. He notices the food and realizes it's probably been awhile since he's eaten. It doesn't really matter though, does it?

He turns his attention away from Lea after a moment.]

No thanks, Lea.

[by_heart]

Geez, you really do have veggie issues. It's sweet, I promise.

[Lea leans back against the rail and looks down at him, trying to figure out what the problem is this time. He's clearly having a sulk over something, but that's about all he can figure out.]

[heartismyown]

It's not that. I just don't need to.

[He gives a sullen little shrug. He's not in the mood to pretend he's a normal person today. He's lost in his own mind about his nightmare, which the effects are lingering over him.]

[by_heart]

Since when do you turn down sweets? What's up, Roxas?

[He finds a crate to set the plate on, then walks back over and looks down at him with concern. Roxas is very good at being mopey, but it's usually easy to distract him if you have cake or cookies or candy. If he's sticking with the sulk, something serious has to be going on.]

[heartismyown]

I just don't feel like eating right now...

[He watches Lea walk around a bit and come back. He wonders if he can avoid talking about it but it seems like Lea wouldn't leave it alone. He rarely does when he wants to know what's going on with Roxas' head.]

Nothing really. I'm...just thinking about the...I don't know what to call it. Me disappearing.

[by_heart]

You didn't disappear, you know. It was another one of those curse thingies that happen all the time. I think most of us went through something like that.

[He's not exactly forthcoming with the fact that he did, but that's neither here nor there. Roxas needs to know this wasn't a "just Roxas" thing, as he tends to assume a lot of stuff is.]

[heartismyown]

[Roxas is quiet as Lea explains it. Of course when he came around here, he knew that Lea was right about it. It doesn't mean however, that he's any more relaxed.]

Yeah. I know that, I think.

[He lowers his eyes, staring at the sea.]

It's going to happen to me.

[by_heart]

Yeah, I know.

[Lea sighs and shakes his head. He hates having this conversation. It's not easy when he's the only one who'll even admit that it's true. Everyone else always tries to sugarcoat it or insist to Roxas that it isn't going to happen and it's not doing him any favors.]

It won't be like that, though. That's just what you're afraid it's gonna be like.

[heartismyown]

Do you really think so Lea? Because I...I can't do it Lea. I thought I could, you know? But that nothing...being trapped like that. I just can't.

[He finishes his words in a whisper. He's afraid. It has to happen and he's afraid. He feels guilt burning in the pit of his stomach, he hangs his head a little, almost ashamed.]

[by_heart]

[Lea reaches over to pet his hair (which is still too long, by the way). He can't really speak in absolutes about the whole thing and he doesn't want to give him too much false hope, but this is something he's fairly confident about.]

I don't think so, I know so. Do you really think it's gonna be dark and cold and empty inside Sora? He's pretty much the opposite of all that stuff. If anything, you're gonna be so warm and cozy you aren't gonna want to leave.

[heartismyown]

[Roxas looks up at Lea to meet his eyes, almost like he's reading him and he is daring to hope that Lea is right about that. Lea tends to be right a lot.]

I-I don't know what it's going to be like. He's not, he's good right?

[He's quiet before he leans over a bit to touch his forehead to Lea's torso, letting him pet his hair.]

I'll want to leave. I'd miss you too much Lea.

[He leans against him.]

I was so scared.

[by_heart]

[Lea looks away as soon as Roxas tries to meet his eyes. That look is a bit too intense for him to take right now, especially when he's only mostly sure that he's not lying out his ass.]

I know. It was pretty scary, I'll give you that. Anybody woulda be scared.

[He lets Roxas lean and keeps petting his hair, trying to be soothing.]

[heartismyown]

[Lea doesn't meet his eyes and Roxas lets out a small sigh. He can't try and read him, and he might be lying to make Roxas feel better. He probably doesn't know, Roxas realizes. How can he?

He could just stop existing, that's one option for what will happen, or he could be trapped in darkness alone forever, another choice. He doesn't know what it will actually be like and he can feel the ache already.

He's had a lot longer to think about this than he anticipated, considering he's supposed to already be gone with only a day or two of thinking about it. He's had time to speculate and fret about it.

Roxas stays quiet, but somehow Lea doesn't seem as soothing as he did a minute ago. He shivers. Whether he's gone or not, he's alone isn't he? He's incomplete, he's the only Nobody. He understands now what it truly feels like to be alone. He puts his hand to his chest, pressing it firmly.]

[by_heart]

[Lea looks down at him, worry clear on his face. Whenever Roxas does that "press your hand against the heart you don't quite have," it's never a good sign.]

Hey, stop that. What's wrong, Roxas?

[Somehow, these conversations always end up going this way...]

[heartismyown]

It hurts. [He mumbles softly, barely above a whisper.] Even if I know there's nothing there, it hurts.

[He drops his hand though, for Lea's benefit and puts his head in his hands instead. He's feeling a jumble of emotions at once, he's tired and he just doesn't know what to think.]

I hate this. I hate it so much. Why can't I just be normal?

[He's having a bit of a hard time coping today.]

Why can't I just be me? Or at least know who I am then? Why is it like this? [His vision is beginning to blur.] What's the point? I didn't ask for this! I don't even...Hoping you'd save me...what's wrong with me? That's not how it works, is it Lea? You can't be Axel again, right? So I'm just going to...

[He can't finish that thought, he lets out a little sob.]

[by_heart]

Hey...

[Lea sighs and hugs Roxas close.]

You and I are different, okay? Don't know how many times it's gonna take me explaining this for it to sink in, but things don't work the same way for you that they do for me. Me? Axel? Same guy. You and Sora? Different people. You join back up, sort things out between you, and I'll come pick you up later. We've got this.