It's weird, being someone else; even after months of practice and learning how to be Cloud Strife for this game, he still thinks of himself as Vanitas. He's never been very good at getting into the mindset of another person, so when someone says "Cloud!" sharply in his ear, it still takes a moment for him to realize that 'Tifa's speaking to him. (She isn't really Tifa though, is she? They're all just players in this game, virtual reality of an old as dinosaurs game that's been brought back just for use in some high profile game show. Hop in a virtual reality sleep pod, play a modified Final Fantasy 7 on 'live' TV with a pair of handlers 'controlling' the characters in game and whoever's standing when the game ends gets the cash.)
He flicks his gaze down, and then pastes a smirk over his (Cloud's, not his) mouth as he locks gazes with Tifa. She's got no idea he's Cloud--They've all been kept separated, supposedly to keep their "reactions" to each other as pure as possible, unrehearsed.
She has no idea who's behind Cloud's face, and the anonymity is the only reason he leans down to breathe in her ear, "Need something Tifa?" before he straightens up to peer around the Seventh Heaven.
'Barret's off in the corner ignoring them, which means he has absolutely no reason not to run a hand down Tifa's spine before reaching around her for a glass to pour himself a drink. (They only started a couple hours ago, it's not even time for the main plot of the game yet, but since it's TV and they need the game to be exciting enough for viewers, actors get a rather lot of leeway in how they progress through the plot. That also means any scenes before they really start playing get to go however they want, and he likes to take advantage to get Tifa riled up. It's something he's missed about her.)
The fabric of the universe could shift and meld into a variety of colors and sounds completely indistinct to the human eye. But when one was made up of these varying compositions, your eyes could see through it all, into the very deepest depths of life itself. Into secret pockets purposefully hidden.
And sometimes? Prying hands could reach in, and take something out.
Kingdom Hearts works diligently to recreate each being under his care. This one-- small and peitite. This one, dimples. This one was always tired. This one was always scared.
Piece by piece he builds each back from the very barest of particles, until they sing vibrantly to their own tunes. The only one who decided death in this universe was the universe itself.
After Nom steps away, after he's alone, he rushes to Ven so fast he barely notices the distance between. They're together. They're made for each other and he fucking knew it.
When he reaches the blond, his arms wrap around him and pick him up, spinning Ven around and laughing into his hair. Ven probably thinks he's crazy. Probably thinks he's way too excited to die in a few minutes.
But this is...beyond what they could have hoped. Vanitas was afraid he'd have to choose--Ven over the person he forgot, or the other way around? This--this is so much better.
"It was you," he breathes, happy tears stinging his vision. Because they feel so complete touching each other like this and how could they not have noticed? "It was you, Ven. You're the one I forgot."
And then he pulls back, staring into his eyes and grinning. "And you forgot me. Nom says...Nom says I was about to ask you to fuckin' marry me, can you believe that?"
Without waiting for a response, he kisses Ven. Hard and passionate. Murmurs against his lips, "All along we were right next to each other and now we can be happy."
[Send to: Player][Sender: Unknown] Clear the Noise! [Message Sent]
...Fuck.
Ven. Ven can't fight. Vanitas glances up at his partner, who finishes reading the text about the same time he does. And when that happens, the fucking Noise--they're everywhere, and Vanitas's heart jumps because Christ he has to protect Ven--
"Get behind me," he mutters, stepping closer and making sure no Noise can sneak up from behind and do damage. Their backs are to a wall right now, but later? They have to move.
He steadies a pin; 157, the one that creates fire. Burning everything in his path seems like an excellent plan right now. They need to find someone who can help them.
"You ready?" he asks over his shoulder, staring at the offending Noise. "I'll protect you. Just stick close to me and don't wander off and yell if something attacks you."
They make eye contact. "I won't let anything hurt you, Ven."
[11:18:41 AM] nomura: The trip through Pewter City had been about as uneventful as the trip through Viridian, save that Godi actually had a Pokemon to drop at the Pokecenter—even if it was just one Caterpie, one point was better than none. Nomura didn’t have much of a mind for cities at the moment; Shibuya had been plenty frustrating for him, and he welcomed the chance to walk around in nature for a while. Though he craved the company of others, the Dark Thing often needed silence—more often than not, he had more things screaming around inside his head and Heart than he could sort out every day. It was why he sometimes retreated into the maze of Dark Corridors; the silence there was absolute.
He preferred nature, honestly. He preferred to have the skittering of critters in the brush, to be able to hear footsteps crunching over organic matter instead of muffled by Nothingness. When he needed silence he needed silence, but he preferred to be surrounded by life. It put him much more firmly on the mental track that he desired.
So when he and Godi exited Pewter City, Vanitas was hoping for a bit of chaos mixed in with some leisurely walking. He was not expecting a howling Mankey to jump out of a clump of grass and bumrush him with fists waving.
Honestly, did he just have a target on his forehead that said “Aggressive Pokemon Attack Here?”
Once again, his training and reflexes proved more handy than any spell as Nomura sidestepped the rampaging primate. Pivot-turning on one foot, he tossed his second Pokeball—and it hit the Mankey square in the nose just as it was readying itself for another charge. It vanished into the Safari-like ball in a burst of red light. Nomura collected it with a smug grin.
“Well.” He looked over at Godi, more cocksure than ever. ”Guess being a trouble-magnet comes in handy sometimes, eh?”
He nodded towards the cliff-face in the distance, where a dark hole in the rock could be seen. ”C’mon Shitwaffle, our destination lies therin.” Diglett’s Cave.
[8:13:44 AM] God: "I'm going to start giving you stupidly instuling names," he warned irritably, tempted to shove the other and just continue without him. Unfortunately the rules said he couldn't do that--but oh, if he /could/.
The cave was dark, though he didn't mind that too much; at least, not until something moved in the darkness just past his sight--
At first, Vanitas thought it was a pokemon, maybe one of the diglett it was named for? He squinted into the darkness, palming a pokeball for a second before throwing it. In the beam of red energy that sucked up the pokemon (diglett as he suspected), he spotted two other human shapes moving in their direction. "Incoming," he hissed at Nommy.
[11:22:04 AM] nomura: The threat only made the Construct smirk wider. "Betcha won't come up with any /nearly/ as cool as mine," he teased. Really, the god was getting insulted by silly namecalling. /Really/. If that was the case, Nomura would /have/ to continue.
The darkness inside the cave meant nothing to Nomura. His eyes pierced through the blackness, saw everything as if it were bathed in a pleasent grey twilight. He nearly laughed at the sight of the god squinting through the gloom--but his mirth was cut short as he heard footsteps. Nomura's first thought was Reapers, and when Godi hissed at him, he put his back against the wall.
What the hell could he do? No pins, no Keyblade, no magic--wait. He had Nidoran. Hopefully the testy little critter wouldn't try to turn on Nomura--but he only had one shot. He grabbed a Pokeball from his pocket, leaped out from behind the corner, and chucked it at the oncomers.
Two problems with that. One, it was the wrong Pokeball. This one was empty.
The offending pokeball hit him on the shoulder, actually, and Kid let out a few curses before looking up, thinking Reapers were attacking. But really, it was just his brother and...shit. Avoiding that topic.
"Did you just treat me like a fuckin' Pokemon?" Kid hissed, chasing after his brother. "I swear to /myself/ when we get out of here I'm gonna kick your ass ten times over--"
...And then he accidentally ran into Van, stumbling in the dark. Uh. Awkward. He takes a few steps back and scratches his neck. "So, um. Long time no see."
[11:29:08 AM | Edited 11:31:59 AM] daine: After almost jumping out of his skin, he recognises the tone Kitten takes; it's that loose language he uses around his brother, that slight lilt of accent he must have picked up from him at some point and started to adopt subconsciously whenever the two interacted. "Nommy?"
But Nommy was partnered with--
"Godi? You asshole, you could've come and said hello!" He trots over in the dark, punching him in the shoulder.
Someone. In the shoulder. Who knows, really. "You drown me and then just ditch me when I get here? Real smooth."
How are you, kh is gonna kill me if you're banged up--
[11:45:46 AM] goditas: "I didn't exactly have time, I was running to cover my ass yessterday and the dealing with the slug," Vanitas replied, shifting aside and smirking a bit when the sound of a fist hitting flesh echoed in the space around them. Whoever it was, it wasn't him. He turned in the direction he was sure was right. "Can we go? I have five empty balls to fill and I'd like to get that done."
And possibly avoid all of the uncomfortable conversations he expects. "And anyway you're the one who agreed to drown, so don't blame me for that." He winces a bit at the unmentioned implication of the Heart, someone he hadn't seen in ages. If he found out Van had died again--
Ah, there was gonna be hell. Deciding to force them into moving, he started off. If they wanted to talk at him, they'd have to follow first.
[11:48:46 AM | Edited 11:51:33 AM] nomura: "OW." Nomura rubbed his shoulder. Ven may look like a twig, but with Nomura's guard down and being that it was a punch meant for a god--"Tate, you hit ME, you dork--"
Everything else in his head /stopped/ as he heard Ven rattle that one off.
No one else could see. (Really? Three Vanitas alts and he was the only one with Darkvision?) But that worked to his advantage, now--he whirled, whipped out one hand, and seized Godi's arm with it, yanking him back in a vicelike grip.
"We have time to discuss you /drowning Ventus/." Death had returned to his voice.
[11:52:17 AM] carrie: No part of Kid was really surprised with the information, but he still stared back, wide-eyed. How the /fuck/ could anyone kill Ven? Look at him. Small and lithe and cute and innocent. And Van /drowned/ him?
But they shouldn't be fighting. It wasn't, as much as he hated to admit, time to talk about how much Van had failed them in the last few weeks. "Nom, hey, stop--"
That wouldn't earn him points with his brother. He pulled them apart, and waved his hand around. "Shouldn't we be catching things and /not/ fighting? C'mon, let's work together or something."
[12:00:06 PM | Edited 12:02:08 PM] daine: "Woah, hey--" Nommy, no. Put the God down. Ventus pushes between them, scowling blindly, despite the fact that Nommy probably can't see his face very well either. "I said he could kill me, it's not like he did anything wrong. I told you it was a favor for some friends of mine."
Emphasis on friends, really. Thank god Kitten is on his side too; if he could, he'd smile gratefully...but he can't, really. "He's right, you know. It'll be way faster to work through this together than alone."
[12:13:14 PM] goditas: "We /don't/ have time actually," he informed Nommy darkly. "Especially not when we have a deadline and I have Sora on the line." He was not going to lose Sora; not for this. "If you wanna talk then do it while we move."
So saying, he ripped his arm out of Nommy's hold and stalked off again, kicking up rocks and hoping to bring pokemon running out so he could catch them. "And for your information, I /asked/ before I killed Ven, thanks." It was getting to be a hassle, and maybe he should have looked harder for Sora as a partner instead... At least then he'd know where his boyfriend was and how he was doing--
Another diglett popping out of the ground had a ball hurled at its face, and when it clicked, he shoved to away. "Catch stuff, idiots."'
[12:19:38 PM] nomura: "You ASKED?!" Okay, Godi had a point. He could walk and talk--walk and rant. He had no intention of conceding that out /loud/, but when he stalked after the god, he made his concession known nonetheless. "You could've asked ME when you RIPPED MY FUCKING HEART OUT OF MY CHEST, don't you think?! Or when you murdered Kid right after! What...the everloving..."
Get a grip, Van. Get a grip; Sora. Sora Sora Sora /Sora Sora/, you have to think of Sora, you're doing this so he stays alive. You don't have a choice anymore, not if you want to live, not if you want Sora to live. Focus on the mission, the mission, the mission...
Ven. Just the image of Ven floating in the water, blue and bloated, his eyes fogged over, fish swimming in to investigate--
"WHAT THE EVERLOVING /FUCK/?!"
A second Diglett had surfaced to investigate what all the commotion was about. What it saw was a livid Dark Thing chucking a Pokeball so hard that even after it ricocheted off the cavern wall, it came hurtling at the Diglett at the speed of a fastball. The Pokemon let out a startled squeak, submitting to the ball before the thing could actually collide with its face--it vanished in a flash of red light, and the ball rolled to a stop.
Nomura wanted to vomit. That mental image was too much to bear. The fact that Godi had murdered /all three of them/ was too much. He felt sick; sick. Sick in body and Heart; he was already sick in the mind. He didn't know how much more of this he could stand.
[12:24:57 PM] carrie: Kid hated Van just as much as he was programmed to unconditionally love him, so everything surrounding him was pretty conflicting. And when Nom let it slip that Van had killed them, too--without permission--he awkward glanced in Ven's direction.
...At least he didn't know everything.
"He's /never/ gonna give a shit about anyone but Sora, Nom," Kid grumbled. "Honestly, I'm not surprised. More surprised that I can be within a foot of him and not immediately vomit."
Another Diglett unfortunately made noise behind a rock, and without thinking, Kid threw his pokeball and captured the thing. It almost got out, but Kid thought that maybe all their anger and shouting and testosterone was scaring the little guys.
He turned to Ven. "Sorry you're in the middle of this."
[12:27:31 PM | Edited 12:31:08 PM] daine: Oh, this was awkward. Ventus ducks his head and keeps quiet, just relying on the vague figures in the dark to move forwards. Unlike them, he's not throwing a ball at everything that moves-- but there is one little diglett left behind in all this mess, and halfheartedly, he throws a ball it's way too.
He's fairly sure it only goes with him because it's heartbroken.
"It's not really any of my business." The blond says quietly. "So maybe it's better if I don't say anything at all...but I'm still here because I'm doing him a favor, and our friend-- they're important. I can't let them down, either."
He'd like to explain better than that. He'd like to show them all the knowledge of the universe, when he only remembers vague snippets. What it's like to actually understand that the god is just that; a god. That morals only exist when you're brought up with others of your kind, that you learn right and wrong from social interaction.
He can't blame a god when a god never had that.
[12:39:23 PM] goditas: He'd caught got six digletts and he was still angry. They had absolutely no idea about anything--Millions of years alone, with only himself, and even when they're made for him they never quite do it right--
"Shut up. All of you. You have no fucking idea about anything, okay? So just shut the hell up." Vanitas can see light at the end of the tunnel, very very faint. They're almost to the end, thankfully. He appreciates the attempt to defend him, but he's still mortal and really doesn't know much. "I didn't fucking ask you Nommy, because /you stole something of mine/."
[1:04:55 PM] nomura: He stopped looking after a while. He just listened, or smelled, and threw. Part of him felt bad for the poor skittish creatures--they were just popping out to see what the heck was wrong with the cacophony of footsteps and emotions thundering up their tunnels, and suddenly, they'd have a Pokeball bounced into their faces. Nomura grew to appreciate the /tonk/ of the ball whacking against the stone before it captured its mark. He needed the violence.
A favor, he'd said. Ven had sacrificed his own life to help a mutual friend. It churned Nomura's insides, made him sicker--because it was /just/ like Ven. It was an incredibly Ventus thing to do. To ignore your own safety--your own /life/--for the sake of someone else. To overlook the flaws in the plan, to overlook the malice of the deity hatching it, to overlook any number of other murders Godi had wrought--for the sake of a greater good.
For the second time that day, Nomura was glad that he was the only one of the four of them who could see in the dark. Tears escaped his eyes more than once. He kept them soundless...he was good at that. He used to have a helmet to hide them behind...the Dark was still the Dark.
"You're a child." After a long period of silence from the Construct, he finally spoke, voice grousing and full of quiet wrath. "Billions of years of life, and you're no more than a child. Throwing temper tantrums when someone takes something you think is yours. You never explain, you never apologize, you never /answer/ for /anything/. You can't just keep taking and taking and /taking/. The worlds don't work like that, and you should /know/ it. Eventually, things will require a balance." You'll be required to pay for what you've done.
He didn't expect an answer from the god. He didn't /want/ one. Godi had told him to shut up and he /refused/, but he knew that the deity wouldn't explain himself, either. It was like whacking a Keyblade against a steel wall; all Nomura got from it in the end was sparks in his face.
As the tunnel began to grow lighter, Nomura wiped his face on his sleeve--so when he emerged from the cave, his face was a mask of ice. He took a quick glance at his Pokeballs--one Nidoran, one Mankey, four Digletts, all full--and pocketed them again. He pulled out his phone to check the map, and let out a long, low sigh.
"Route 11." He turned towards Kid, trying not to look as exhausted as he felt. "It's...probably best if we split up, I'm sorry to say. We'll all catch Pokemon quicker if we're in smaller teams." He winced a little; while that was true, he didn't want Kid to have to be /near/ Godi, to be honest.
[1:12:27 PM] carrie: Kid knew Nom was right, but he also knew his brother wanted to protect him from the god. Man, this sucked. He was looking forward to spending time in the dark with Ventus, helping him stumble along and maybe getting to hold his hand--
But that thought was immediately cut off the second they left the cave and entered into a grassy area. Time to go? Sure. He'd managed to catch one more Diglett before they left the cave, just when Nom was ranting about how much Van needed to grow up.
But before that? He approached the god, still holding Ven's hand. "The funny thing is, I understand. I know what it's like. I spent a long time coming to terms with that and hurting people because of it and you're /turning into me/ when I went rogue. Remember that?"
Van remembered. Because Kid could still remember his face when the younger one set that island on fire and stepped out of his life.
"C'mon, Ven," he muttered, dragging the blond away. "See you later, Nom."
Everything got a lot easier from that point forward.
Maybe it was just the company or the fact that they were talking pretty openly about themselves, but Vanitas felt comfortable for the first time in ages. He was actually able to fall into a rhythm--especially with the amount of Pokemon they were going after.
Ven was...training? Or something. That's what he called it, anyway, and the two Pokemon they had caught were getting better at fighting. When they first stepped onto the next route, they immediate caught something that looked like a caterpillar. A Weedle, Ven had said it was. It was the easiest catch they made that day.
The second catch in the forest had been a little harder. Ven said it was a Nidoran, a female, and it had been pretty elusive. They had to chase it around a bush about eight times before it finally came out, and when it did, Ven had tripped over Vanitas's foot and they only just managed to throw a pokeball before falling to the ground in a collected heap of limbs.
So when they finally catch onto a third, Vanitas stays behind so he doesn't become an obstacle for Ven to hurt himself on. "So--just wondering and all, but--what was your toll?"
He finds Ven sitting on the floor of a bookstore, reading a shitty teen novel.
Probably trying to calm his nerves before the game, Vanitas thinks to himself. Something mindless would definitely be able to accomplish that much. Still, they couldn't avoid this forever. Vanitas crouches next to him, careful to make his footfalls apparent so he doesn't startle the guy.
"Hey," he starts off. Talking with Ven is easy, so far. This should follow suit. "Did you get that text?"
And then he clears his throat, hoping this works out. "I was thinkin'...maybe we should be partners. Light and Darkness, and all that."
...Wow, he sounded stupid. Vanitas flushes a little and glances away. "Sorry if you already have one, I just--I thought it might work."
