itsjustagamerp | Mission 6

Maes was in his room, not really doing much. He still hadn't found any decent books to occupy his time, but he had found a deck of cards. Although he could only play solitare so many times before getting bored with that as well. When the knock came he was on the third tier of cards on his second attempt at a card tower. It was set up on his desk and away from any air vents.

Thankfully the knock did not startle him and thus his card tower was spared being knocked over. He pushed away from the desk carefully, not wanting to make it go flying and moved over to the door. He opened it and was only mildly surprised to find Xion there. Well, he HAD told her to come talk if she wanted to, "Hey, Xion. What brings you by? Did you want to come in?"

"Hi, Hughes. You...said that if I wanted to talk..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced at the room behind Hughes and saw the card tower.

She knew what cards were; Luxord had used them all the time, and had taught her a few things. She hadn't see him build with them, though, so this was something new to pique her interest. Her question as to how Hughes had done that remained unspoken, though, when another idea hit home. If He'd been building that when she knocked..."I didn't mean to bother you if you're busy. I can come back later."

"Of course!" He stepped aside to allow her the room to enter. She didn't step in right away and he glanced, following her gaze to the card tower. Had she never seen one before? He thought it was a pretty common game, but Maes did have a good idea of how sheltered Xion was and was starting to get the idea that even his idea wasn't completely accurate.

Her statement, however, took him off guard. "Huh? No, I was just goofing off. Don't worry about it. I mean if you want to talk somewhere else we can." He didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

Xion wouldn't have called herself sheltered; she'd been on missions to find and kill dangerous Heartless, after all. Her education and socialization aside from what was necessary for missions, though, had been neglected, though, so it was understandable if the effect was similar to someone who had been sheltered.

She relaxed at his invitation, stepping into the room. "Here is fine. I just didn't want to interrupt anything."

Though she also wasn't quite sure where to begin with what she wanted to say.

Maes shrugs, returning to his chair at the desk, "You're not interrupting, it's just a game really and not a serious one at that." He gestured at the card castle, "The point is just to try to see how far you can get without knocking it all over. It can be a bit difficult, but I've been making pretty good progress."

He flops into his chair, careful not to hit the desk. "So, what did you want to talk about? About the shades or...something else? How's Roxas doing?"

Xion nodded at the explanation, sparing one last glance at the card castle and wondering if Luxord had made them when she wasn't around, or if he'd like them.

The chair being taken, she decided to sit on the bed (hey, she and her friends had sat on each others' beds while talking their rooms sometimes). She decided to start with the last topic, as it was the most neutral. "He's getting better. I went to see him after...well, you know."

She paused, trying to figure out what to say next.

He didn't mind, it wasn't like he had a whole lot of furniture in here anyway. Come to think of it, this really wasn't the best room to entertain guests, but he supposed it would have to do for the moment.

"That's good. It's a little troubling that we don't have a doctor or a nurse on board who can treat injuries like that properly. I'm going to have to brush up on my basic first aid if I'm going to make sure you guys don't get hurt like that again," he replied, smiling slightly. It did worry him though. So far this was the only incident where people had really been hurt, but what if it got worse? What if something really bad happened and he wasn't able to help? He could only do so much with basic first aid after all.

Xion wasn't used to anything fancy, anyway. At least these rooms came with a poster.

She'd never been to the doctor's, but Sora's memories gave her an idea of what he was talking about. "It would be nice, especially since none of us can use magic here, and I don't know if we could make a potion."

Then she processed the rest of what he said. "Make sure we don't get hurt?"

Was that even possible? Sure, she knew friends worried and looked out for each other when they were hurt, but...

"Potions? That actually works?" Maes may have been used to Alchemy doing some pretty amazing and crazy things, but as far as he was concerned something like a potion was an herbal remedy or something the countryside used when they didn't have doctors.

He blinked, "Well, yeah. This place is pretty unpredictable and the Shades injuring people proves that it isn't all fun and games up here. I don't want to see anyone get hurt, but if they do I want to make sure they can be taken care of."

Xion smiled. "They do--at least, the ones that we got from the Moogles did."

She was more used to potions and magic herself, though alchemy may have reminded her of synthesizing things. Doctors and nurses were something she'd never had personal experience with--each member of the Organization had been responsible for taking care of themselves. Injury on missions had been the rule, not the exception.

"I never thought of it that way. Missions were dangerous, so we couldn't help but get hurt. That's why everyone took potions and made sure we always held back enough magic to heal ourselves. Even when we had partners." She paused for a moment. "My friends and I looked out for each other, though."

Maes had no idea what a moogle was but he wasn't sure he should ask right now. Based on the context of the sentence he would assume it was a group known for making potions and remedies like that. Perhaps a different race, like the Ishvalans or Xingese were to him? He decided it didn't matter and pushed it aside for later.

He couldn't help but frown slightly at the idea of "missions", because missions implied that this young girl was being sent off to fight or get information or something. He knew young people went to war all the time, but that didn't mean he had to like it or the idea of someone like Xion being put into that kind of mess. "Well, that's sort of what I'm talking about. Except we don't have potions here so we have to look out for each other by a different means."

The Moogles were more of another species, but a big help. It was probably best that Hughes put the race discussion aside for the moment; Xion was just beginning to learn that concept.

She didn't know what war was, either, but Hughes would certainly do more than just frown if he knew the details as to what had been asked of Xion and Roxas. It was good to that friends were friends everywhere, though. "So this first aid will help like potions and healing spells? I should learn some, then. Those shadows were dangerous."

"We can learn together if you like. I only know the basics but since we don't have a nurse or doctor I was planning to learn more," Maes replied. He stood up and pulled out a stack of books. He had found them in the media deck and he supposed most people would consider them bad because, well, they were just boring text books. He handed one to Xion, "Here, this covers basic first aid and shouldn't be too hard to read."

He shrugged, "First aid is a little more time consuming. From what it sounds like these potions and spells work instantly, but first aid is usually just a way of preventing an injury from being infected and working to help patch it up while the body heals itself naturally."

Xion accepted the book with a smile. It did look like something Axel would call boring, but if it would help in case someone got hurt she'd give it a try. She wasn't used to the whole 'learning from books thing'."That'd be nice. I'd like to know, just in case something else happens. I'll probably have a lot of questions, though."

She nodded at his explanation, hugging the book to her chest. "So it doesn't heal people, just helps them heal them themselves?" She also wondered what it meant for an injury to become infected, but she could ask about that later.

He nodded, "First Aid is more experience too I think, so I can show you some of the things I already know. But I have to say, I'm not really trained in it so I'm not sure how far I can take that." Still, if nothing else they could learn together. Maes wouldn't mind that and it would alleviate some of the boredom when things got dull around here (which surprisingly happened occasionally).

"Yeah, that's probably the best way to describe it."

"So you have to practice to get good at it." Magic was the same way. Her Cure spell hadn't been very good at first, but it had gotten a lot better over time, and she'd been able to heal a little more with each cast. Learning a new method of healing would be interesting, during the rare times of little activity.

She nodded at his confirmation of her thinking, then changed the subject a little. "Though, this doesn't do anything to help if someone just says horrible things. Like those shadows..."

"Practice and study a lot," he added. He was a little surprised by the girl's interest in the matter. He himself was only studying up on it because he didn't want to see people up here get hurt and then suffer because they didn't have a medical staff. He wouldn't have worried about it so much until this Shade business.

He sighed, "No. Emotional scars are something entirely different. They take way longer and can reopen with a moments notice." He leaned forward, giving Xion a sympathetic look, "Did you want to talk about what your's said?"

Xion was, possibly, more used to having to provide her own medical aid than Hughes. Not to mention that she was used to being able to heal herself or her friends if they needed it, and not being able to do so here was beginning to wear on her, especially after recent events. If learning first aid would help, she'd do it.

She listened to what he said about emotional scars with a thoughtful look on her face. It wasn't an idea she'd heard before, but it made sense. After he finished speaking, she was silent for a moment, considering what to say. "I guess so. It's...kind of a long story."

He thought about his own past and his recent conversation with Riku. He nodded, "I'm used to those. But listen, if you're not comfortable talking about it, I'm not going to force you. Sometimes it just...helps to talk and other times it is better to keep things to yourself if you're not ready."

Maes was a good listener though and he hoped that what Xion's Shade had said wasn't as bad as all that. Xion was a mystery though, she appeared very young and innocent about most things but he had seen her fight Harry's shade and knew that you didn't just pick that kind of thing up over night.

Xion mulled over what he said. She was getting more used to sharing her story with others--she'd told Sora, Riku, and Roxas, after all. Telling it to someone with no connection to the situation was...awkward. But if it would help him understand what the shadow said, she'd try. Maybe, like he said, this would be a time when it helped to talk.

"It's okay, I can tell you if you want." She took a steadying breath, and launched into an explanation of Heartless, Nobodies, her eventual creation, what had happened between her and her friends, and her decision to run away, to go back to where she belonged. She was careful to avoid giving names, but got the general idea across.

"But then we were interrupted. I ran to see who it was, but when I went through the door...I was here."

Maes listened quietly. He already had some idea of Heartless from his talk with Riku and some of the others on the SoL. It was still a little hard to believe that something like that existed, but he had been around the SoL for awhile, had seen some strange things, and was generally more accepting of the weird.

It explained a lot about her when she said she was created. How she could know so little, despite her apparent age. It made him think of the homunculi briefly, but she didn't seem the same as them and she certainly didn't have the tattoo. He was relieved at that, but decided not to bring that up right now.

"So let me guess. The Shade played with your doubts about your existence and your decision to go back to this person you're copied from, right?" Xion might not have used names, but Maes was smart enough, he had a very good feeling who this copy might be (though he couldn't prove it and if Xion had left out names, he wasn't about to ask).

"That, and wondering if we could really be friends if we didn't have hearts." Xion spoke quietly. Talking to someone about this was new for her, so she was grateful for Hughes's quiet attention and willingness to accept her dislike of naming names. If he put two and two (or one and one) together and figured out who she'd made to mirror, that was one thing. She just didn't feel right giving out the others' names without them even knowing she was talking to Hughes.

After a brief silence, she spoke again. "Your shadow said some nasty things, too, didn't it?"

It wasn't good to pry, but Hughes didn't seem like someone to get that angry for no reason. He'd been willing to listen to her; she'd return the favor, if he accepted it.

He couldn't say whether friends needed to have hearts. He didn't have the experience to say and while he liked to believe it was possible, Xion probably wouldn't "buy it" coming from someone with a heart.

His face darkened slightly, thinking back to that thing. "Yeah. It told me I had let my friends down. That I deserved to die because I was stupid enough to fall for that things' tricks back home. That sort of thing."

She probably would have taken any assurances as optimism meant to keep her from giving up. Which was nice in it's own way, but not solid fact.

"Deserved to die?" Xion's eyes widened in surprise. She knew Hughes could fight, which meant he might find himself in danger but..how did someone deserve to die?

Well, it had already come up in a number of conversations. Still, it was difficult to say it, admit to the fact that he wasn't supposed to be alive any more. Especially to a young girl.

"Before I got here...things weren't exactly the best for me."

Xion nodded, waiting for him to continue at his own pace. Or not continue, if that was the case--she was curious, but could contain that if he didn't want to say anymore for now.

Maes sighed. How to explain this?

"Remember when I said I ran into something like this before? Well, that thing was part of a group of other monsters that decided I had learned too much about their group's plans. They got rid of me before I could tell anyone else, which is how I found myself here. And that's what my shade focused on talking about while it was around."

"Got rid of you? You mean..." Her voice trailed off as she considered what he was implying. If her thoughts were right, then he'd been brought to the satellite the moment he died, and under those circumstances...No wonder he'd been furious with the shadow.

It seemed she did understand. Maes wondered if looked pale, even after all this time of being alive on the SoL, it made him uncomfortable. He may not have been a doctor, but as a soldier he knew a fatal shot when he felt one. The nightmares weren't helping much either but, so far, he had mostly kept those to himself.

"Yeah...that's what I mean."

If Xion were a more normal girl, she would have given him a hug, or done something more to react to this. She wasn't though, so after a brief moment of surprise at having her thoughts concerned (and realizing that maybe that was why he'd been a bit sad around Christmas), all she managed was a soft. "Oh, no..."

He would have seen her expression go from surprised to sad/sympathetic.

Hughes let out a sigh. Seeing her face become so sad was not what he had wanted. He had expected it to happen, but at the same time he didn't want to make others sad or worry about him. It was honestly his own burden to deal with and, well, he just didn't like thinking about it.

He forced a smile, he was good at doing that as he did it all the time, and ruffled Xion's hair, "But hey, I'm alive here and now and that's what's important. It means maybe I have a second chance if I can ever figure out how to get off this ship."

He wasn't that optimistic, of course, but he figured it's what Xion needed to hear.

Xion was surprised by the hair ruffle, but took the moment to get a good look at Hughes. She was getting the same vibe she'd gotten from Axel when he wasn't telling the whole truth. Which got a little annoying, because it wasn't like she needed to be protected, but if he didn't want to talk about it, she'd accept that. She understood not wanting to burden a friend.

"Maybe we both will. Sora mentioned using the time here to see if there was a way to keep me from fading."

"I hope he can. It doesn't seem fair that you've been dealt a fate like that." He replied. He knew very well that life wasn't fair, he knew two boys back home that could attest to that. Still, it was one thing when something happened to him because of his meddling, it was another entirely for a girl who had no say over her creation or existence to be treated and then forced to face into nothing.

"It's funny though...Riku said something similar to me in regards to my fate." He paused. "I can't say what will happen to either of us when we return, but we should both enjoy the time we have here."

"I guess we should." Xion gave a small, thoughtful smile.

It was interesting that he and Sora had both mentioned her situation not being "fair" to her. To her, it hadn't been about "fair" at all; it was about doing what was best for everyone. Not that she wanted to fade, but if her existence was causing trouble for others, it seemed pretty obvious who had to go.

Still, she'd been given more time than she'd thought she'd have. There was no sense in wasting it.

Mission 6

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Sorry so late.

no problem~

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Thinking you're failry in the know re: Xion's story--let me know if otherwise.

I am o7

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