Open Interaction Post!

[chakramkeyblade]

[Permanent, open interaction post for Lea (and Axel). Let me know if you'd prefer me to do a starter, or just jump in with whatever!]

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[melodiouspacifist]

[There's no real reason for him to be there, it isn't like he's been burning to head back towards the Organization, that's not it at all, it's just that he's in need of a distraction and it seems like world hopping is a thing he can do that causes the minimum amount of disruption.

He isn't sure where he is going or why, or even if he wants to avoid people he knows. He hasn't decided. Long gone is the black coat, instead exchanged for baggy jeans, a pulled over blue hoodie with the hood up and his quiet weaving in and out of crowds through the centre of Radiant Garden. There's a lot of traffic and maybe, just maybe, he could make some change playing sitar. It might make for a good afternoon.]

[chakramkeyblade]

[Lea's patrol cycles usually take him into the market area. Aeleus and Dilan are still wary of mingling with Radiant Garden's populace. Worried about being attacked by people who might recognize them and know what they did, who they helped. Lea was never involved. Neither was Isa. With the two of them, it was wrong place, wrong time.

Except he's here. Isa isn't.

He can change his clothes all he wants, that red hair of his is recognizable from a mile away. But he has the added bonus of being far more observant than his fellow former Nobody. He has to be, if he wants to keep an eye out for Heartless or Xehanorts.

He looks up from the shop he's browsing to see an extremely familiar weapon...instrument...strapped to the back of a familiar silhouette. ...what, is the whole Demyx an idiot? He steps behind him, follows him almost to the main courtyard. Once there's far less crowd around he speaks up.]

Y'know...when you're human, the darkness is too dangerous to just go flinging yourself around to different worlds. You need a ship that bad, I can put in a good word for you.

[melodiouspacifist]

[Myde isn't surprised he's being followed, in fact, he's had that feeling for awhile now that someone is following him. He hasn't looked back, but he's felt like maybe someone is there. His instincts are pretty good, despite the casual demeanor.

He tilts his head in acknowledgement and stops walking. He seems to take a deep breath, of course, he isn't ready to meet anyone yet but he responds by turning around with a bright grin in place.]

Hey Axel! [Of course he'd recognize that voice anywhere. It's expected that he'd be cheerful, bubbly and friendly and he can play the part. It doesn't matter how he feels, does it?]

Nah, don't trouble yourself over me. [A sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck idly.] I was just doing some sightseeing!

[chakramkeyblade]

"Nah, I don't use that name anymore. It's Lea. Got it memorized?"

He's friendlier, too. More open with himself. No longer the trickster flitting around the shadows like a will o'the wisp, luring others to their doom. Sure, he's still got a mischievous streak. But he's not malicious about it at all.

"What about you? So long as we're doing actual introductions..."

[melodiouspacifist]

He gives Lea a bit of a half smile. "Myde, since you asked, but I guess it doesn't matter either way. I'll answer to either one."

Myde is friendly, but not feeling that cheeteful, it's just what's expected of him. He could just go back out of Lea's way, but he has to wait out his mood, lest the darkness get him again.

"What are you doing? Besides living here, I mean. Place looks, um, good. Better than when I was here last."

[chakramkeyblade]

"Myde, huh. Nice to finally meet the real you." He meant it, too. He'd been thinking a lot about the younger Organization members since he awakened. Where were they from? What we're they like? And now Myde was here, and it was a good opportunity to finally be interested in them as people.

"Yeah, they've rebuilt a lot. There's even this..."

He trailed off. Something about how Myde closed himself off, how he pulled up his hood, and the things he was saying...

"Know what? This calls for some ice cream. Come on...town's specialty. My treat!"

[melodiouspacifist]

"Yeah, I guess that's true!" He relaxed a little. How well did they really know each other? They hadn't been themselves.

"Ice cream huh?" He nodded. "Sounds pretty good. What kind do you have around here?"

It was a lot more difficult to hide things with a heart and he was oblivious to triggering any interest in Lea. He wouldn't have thought so, he was just passing through, right?

[chakramkeyblade]

"Sea salt." He grinned as he nodded toward old Scrooge's perpetually ice-covered stand, paying out for the two light blue ice cream bars, handing one off to Myde. "Go on. Try it."

He took a bite of his own, the salty sweetness melting on his tongue. Any time he was in a down mood, this was the surefire cure. No reason it wouldn't work for the guy he knew as Demyx the entire time he'd known him. Technically it worked with any flavor, but sea salt was nostalgic.

[melodiouspacifist]

He took the bar, trying to remember if he'd had it before. He gave up and just took a bite, letting it melt on his tongue. "Hey, that's good!"

Myde smiled at him and savoured it. It was sweet and delicious. It did help lift his mood a little.

"Thanks Ax-Lea." It would probably take getting used to. "I was hungry."

[chakramkeyblade]

He snorted. "If you're hungry, ice cream's not going to hold you out for long."

Lea took another bite and leaned against the wall of the little shop, appreciating the cold on his back in the hot day. "Me and Isa used to get this stuff all the time when it was summer. It was part of being friends." He stared off into the marketplace, distant, his heart aching at the memory. Sometimes having it back hurt worse than having it gone. "...You realize Xemnas lied to us, right? About what it meant to be a Nobody?"

[melodiouspacifist]

"Oh yeah? Friends huh...?" Myde mused lightly, sounding thoughtful. He took another bite. "Hmm, I don't remember what I used to get up to back then."

Myde frowned at the mention. Of course he did, and he'd fallen for it. Completely.

"I don't know much about that." He said lightly, playing dumb. Old habits died hard.

[chakramkeyblade]

He knew. The keyblade, whatever it had done to him... He could pick up on so many things, connect to other people on a level he'd never thought possible. Sora had taken to it like a glove. Lea still found it slightly disturbing. But hey, he wanted the thing, and it had come to him. He has to run with it. All of it.

"You do know," he said. "You knew the minute you woke up, didn't you."

[melodiouspacifist]

Keyblade insight was working against him at the moment. Myde sighed softly. "Yeah. I know. He lied. Should I be surprised?"

He couldn't keep all the anger out of his tone. That stupid, stupid kid.

[chakramkeyblade]

The main square was too crowded at the moment. Lea took another bite of his ice cream before gesturing to a more secluded spot. An alley that was blocked off, the district beyond currently being renovated. They needed to talk...and he needed to say some things, too. He'd been such a jerk, as Axel...

"He lied to all of us. Except Xigbar. I think that weasel knew the whole time..." He settled his back against the wall again. "And we all fell for it. Xemnas...Xehanort... Whatever he calls himself, he's a monster. We were kids, you know? Who says that to a bunch of kids?"

[melodiouspacifist]

A blocked off alley. Myde was a little nervous following him, honestly. He did though, nibbling at the ice cream.

They had all been jerks, even Demyx. It came without remorse.

"Look, I, I know he did it. Doesn't change the fact I believed him. I just..." He'd been a stupid kid. "He is a monster and I followed him." To the end, loyal to a fault. What did that make him?

[chakramkeyblade]

"You weren't the only one." He finished the last bite, holding the empty stick for now. "Don't kick yourself like that, man. I know it's hard. And I...didn't exactly help. But it wasn't your fault."

He didn't say that he partially blamed himself for what had happened. If he hadn't been caught when he and Isa went in the second time...

"...You still play, right? You've got Arpeggio with you, so..."

[melodiouspacifist]

"Not anyone's fault, I guess. But I think of what I did to get my heart back..." He shook his head mildly disgusted. That had been true, he never wanted to be evil.

At the mention of his sitar, he smiled. "Yeah, I still play...about all I can do." He shifted. No, he hadn't found his place back in the world yet.

[chakramkeyblade]

"That's good." He smiled. "It means you're still you. Even after everything that happened. You know what I think? I think on some level, you knew something was up. That's why you never wanted to do anything."

Lea hesitated. Should he...? If Myde wanted to do something good, he couldn't blame him. He felt the same way. The need to do something, anything, just to try to make up for the horrible things he'd done. Well, only one way to find out.

"Y'know... Sora and his group are more welcoming than you might think. They took me in, what does that tell you?" He shrugged, a nonchalant gesture, like it was a completely natural thing to suggest teaming up with the kid who'd solidly whipped them all in fights. "We could use someone like you. We're going after Xehanort. And getting Isa back."

[melodiouspacifist]

Myde smiled a little bit at that, he tilted his head curiously. "Still me, yeah, I guess. I mean I really do love music."

"I...knew a lot." He admitted. "By the end...I knew what I was walking into."

He snorted at that. "Me? I'm not strong, and Sora killed me. I am not sure you're right about that Lea."

[chakramkeyblade]

"Just because your body's not strong doesn't mean your heart isn't." He nudged Myde's shoulder. "You can do things with that sitar that makes people without hearts sit around to listen. That's pretty impressive. You've got quite a bit of light in you. ...And...Sorry. For treating you the way I did."

He tentatively stretched out his arm, flexing his fingers. It was all in the wrist, right? The warmth was there, building, like he was reaching out for an old friend. "I don't know about you, but I plan to make up for a lot of things. I missed out on ten years... I guess I don't really know who I am now, either. But I want to make up for everything I did. And I owe it to Isa to try."

[melodiouspacifist]

"You...think that's impressive?" He sounded genuinely surprised. He'd been teased a lot about his weapon and his flighty ways. It didn't bother him that much, sitars weren't for violence after all.

"I wasn't much nicer. You don't need to be sorry."

He nodded suddenly, eyes wide. Yes. Exactly. He'd missed out on much of his life and had no idea who he was supposed to be or how to go about doing it.

"Can I really make up for it though?" He mused softly.

[chakramkeyblade]

He made the last mental push, the keyblade manifesting in a rapid burst of light. The sun glinted through the translucent blade, casting yellow and orange onto his white shirt. "Dunno. But it couldn't hurt to try, right? I mean...if I can be chosen by a keyblade, who knows what you can do, right?"

[melodiouspacifist]

"You got a keyblade?" He asks, suitably impressed. Myde moved closer to peer at it carefully, holding out his hand like he might touch it.

"That's amazing, really...I'm not..."

[chakramkeyblade]

He caught the motion out of the corner of his eye and smiled. Lea adjusted his grip, angling the blade down, bringing it closer to Myde's curious hand.

"I should warn you. You take a keyblade in your hand, you're destined to one day have one of your own. That means all the responsibility that comes with it. But if you're really meant to have one, you'll have one. Up to you if you're committed to that."

[melodiouspacifist]

"What did you do, grab someone's?" He asked, amused at the idea, but it made him hesitate.

"Why would you think I could? I hate fighting... I don't do responsible, I can't be destined for that.*

Yet, the diligence he had to music, to practicing his instrument... He had potential. It was just a matter of applying in a way he liked.