I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive

[virtualunknown]

Characters: MakubeX and Xion (closed)
Content: Seems Xion's been getting some attention this week. Someone's a bit worried...
Location: Here and there? Starting at Xion's room, at least.
Time of Day: Evening
Warnings: Potential for fluffiness.


Watching the networks the past week had been quite stressful. It was bad enough that so many had aged. Now so many were giving Xion looks that made him nervous.

He was still concerned about his conversation with Maes. That had been a major part as to why he'd been keeping quiet. Then again, his conversation with Zidane had been weighing on his mind as well.

Now, he realized, he had to act before someone else had the chance. It was now or never. And, besides, if he made a complete fool of himself, he could always say it was due to the transformation.

He took a deep breath and tapped on Xion's door...

Comments

[skysmirror]

Fortunately, Xion was in her room, looking at some of the first aid books Hughes had given her. After the...interesting start to the week, she'd been keeping to herself, mostly.

At least, she'd been trying to avoid situations that would draw Cambot's--and thereby the others'--attention. Riku and some of the other boys had been acting so strange this week, it made things awkward. The only change was that they looked like adults, right? So why did that warrant staring and everything else that had been going on.

The knock on the door was a welcome distraction, and she hurried to answer it. She smiled when she saw who was there. "Hi MakubeX."

[virtualunknown]

"H-hello..." What little courage he'd mustered up to get this far was rapidly dwindling. He swallowed and gestured randomly with his hands for a moment. Then, he took another deep breath.

"I was... wondering if we could talk," MakubeX said. He waved his hands again. "Th-that is if you aren't busy. I can come back later, if you are. I mean, I wouldn't want to interrupt anything, although I would really like to talk sooner rather than later, but if this is a bad time, I'll, you know, come back again some other time and..."

...oh, this was already going so very, very well.

[skysmirror]

When MakubeX started speaking, Xion's smile faded to an expression of surprise and then concern. Something seemed to be bothering him a lot. That on its own would have been cause for worry, but the recent strangeness was nothing compared to the threat from the shadows or Discord, and he'd remained calm then. Had something happened she didn't know about?

"Sure we can talk; I wasn't busy. Come on in." She shooed her Cambot out as she stepped back to make room for him.

[virtualunknown]

MakubeX took a deep breath and stepped inside with a nod. Compared to this, the shadows and Discord were nothing. He'd faced similar threats before and knew what needed to be done. This was something different. He'd never had many friends his own age, and certainly nothing like this. Oh, of course, there had been a crush or two, but those were completely unobtainable.

He somehow managed to compose himself and said, "I noticed some of the others have been... ah... paying closer attention to you lately. Are you managing okay?"

[skysmirror]

"I guess so." She pulled a face. "Mostly I've been trying to avoid being noticed. It's kind of awkward with them acting so different." Riku wouldn't even look at her now, though she thought that was more because he was embarrassed by his reaction than anything else.

She'd had--well, still had--friends; friends that she would give her life for, and that she thought would do the same for her. Riku, Sora, and even Namine were quickly becoming friends, and MakubeX...what they had was something different than what she had with the others. She couldn't put a name to it, but she thought it was a good thing.

Now a lot of the boys were acting in a way that she wasn't used to, for apparently no reason at all. She sighed. "It'd just be nice if I knew why."

[virtualunknown]

"Well, there's a very simple explanation for that."

MakubeX shifted from foot to foot and felt his face turning pink. Why was it that only a handful of words could be so difficult to say?

"It's because you've become so beautiful." He stopped short at the end of that sentence, waving his hands. "N-not that you weren't before! You've always been pretty, but now that so many of us are older, it... just..." He sighed. "This really isn't going as I'd planned..."

[skysmirror]

Xion looked hopeful at his offer of an explanation, then concerned when he started blushing. Was it really that bad?

She blushed a little herself upon hearing his explanation. "Oh! Um...Thank you." Riku had said something similar, hadn't he? Which led her thoughts back to the subject at hand. "Then this is all about how I look? But I don't even look like myself now." She cast a frustrated look at the mirror before sitting down on her bed.

Then the last part of what he'd said hit home, and she gave him a curious look. "As you'd planned?"

[virtualunknown]

MakubeX cleared his throat. "Well, for the most part. Many of us are dealing with... a number of changes and it's been... making people more aware of things they normally wouldn't."

He sighed at the question, looking down at his feet.

"That's right. I... wanted to tell you something."

[skysmirror]

"Oh. But we only look older, what else could..." Xion's voice trailed off as she thought. She still didn't really understand it, but MakubeX was looking uncomfortable. Maybe she could ask someone else about it, or look it up in a book.

Besides, it wasn't nice to bother him with her worries when he'd had something to talk about in mind. "What was it?"

[virtualunknown]

"Physical changes," he replied. It was something he could perhaps explain later. He wasn't quite in the right frame of mind at the moment.

MakubeX rubbed the back of his neck, staring down at his feet. "I realize that you're still learning about friendship and all. I didn't want to say anything for a while because I was afraid it would be confusing. But... seeing so many people taking an interest this week had me thinking that I really didn't want to lose the chance to ever tell you, but..."

He sighed and looked up. He knew it would sound childish, but it was the best way he knew how to communicate it. "...I really like you, Xion. As more than just a friend."

Poor Maku, trying to explain this all to her. Poor Xion, trying to figure it out.

[skysmirror]

Xion nodded at his basic explanation. She'd look into it more later. For now, she settled in to hear MakubeX out.

He needn't have worried about sounding childish; she had no basis for comparison. His concern about confusing her had been well-placed, though. As far as she knew, her concept of "friends" was solid, and what could he say that might be confusing that had to do with that? Everything else he'd said, though, was chased from her thoughts by his final comment.

"More than friends? But...Like best friends?" She paused, her voice quieter when she spoke again. "Or...love?

Best friends was something she was familiar with, but (mostly for lack of a better term) she already considered them to be a kind of best friends, if not the same as her and Roxas or her and Axel. Love, on the other hand...you needed a heart for love, or so Axel had said, and that was something she didn't have.

So much awkward...

[virtualunknown]

"I... was thinking something more akin t-to love." MakubeX looked away again, already dreading the worst.

"B-but... If it's too soon to be saying such things or if, you know, you don't think it is... It's fine. I just felt I needed to tell you."

Yes. ;_; Sorry to take so long with this BTW.

[skysmirror]

It was probably better, for the moment, that he couldn't see the mixture of emotions on Xion's face. There was a lot of confusion, along with some nervousness...even a bit of fear. How was she supposed to handle this?

(For someone who didn't have a heart, she acted awfully human sometimes.)

She needed to say something, though, that much was obvious. So she took a (quiet) deep breath, and spoke as soon as she was sure of being able to do so with a steady voice. Not a loud one, but steady, though it sounded as if she was thinking as she spoke.

"I don't know. I've only ever had friends, so I don't know if this is too soon. As far as knowing if I feel the same...I don't have a heart to understand feelings with." She paused for another steadying breath. "But, I can try. I do know that being with you is different from being around the others."

It might not be much of a response, but it was the best she could do at the moment.

No worries!

[virtualunknown]

"If you know that much, than I would say that you still can feel some emotion," MakubeX replied softly. To be honest, her response had been better than he had calculated. It wasn't a rejection and he hadn't scared her off.

"But I understand." He looked up and gave her a tiny smile. "Nothing has to change. I'm happy with how things are as is. I just... thought it would be less awkward in the future if I let you know now." Of course he knew such an admission would change things in some way. It was just the nature of it.

"If you find things change in the future... well, we can go from there."

((OOC: ...aaaaand I just realized I forgot to have him mention something in their "life stories" log. Gah.))

Yay.

[skysmirror]

It took more than this to scare Xion off, and as far as rejecting him went...She wasn't going to do that when she wasn't sure of her side of the equation. Not that it counted as a full acceptance of a change in relationship status, either. She just needed a bit of time to sort things out; anyway, even if she didn't (or couldn't) feel the same way, she'd still want to stay friends

His response got him a big smile of relief, tempered with a bit of wistfulness at the thought of possibly being able to feel. "It would be nice." Her cheeks reddened a little. "Thanks for telling me. I'll let you know if things change...Though I like the way they are now, too."

She didn't know if this knew knowledge in and of itself would change anything , but thought it was good that he'd told her. Thinking about it for a moment, she realized he'd probably been considering this for a while. "Was this what you were asking for advice about?"

[OOC: D: Something major?]

[virtualunknown]

MakubeX nodded, still relieved that things had gone so well. But at the question, he blushed.

"Ah... yes. It was. I didn't know what to do."

((ooc: Somewhat. D:))

[skysmirror]

She'd thought he'd know a little more about this than her. Oddly enough, she's a little relieved to know she doesn't have to play a lot of catch-up.

"So we're both new to this."

[virtualunknown]

"Yes," he replied. It was something that he never really had time for. His duties to his people had always come first. Even then, anyone he had ever taken any interest in were out of reach in some form. This was entirely new and not something he could easily calculate. It was terrifying, but... now he was looking forward to the possibilities. Even if nothing did come of it, at least he had tried.

"Something else we can learn about together."

[skysmirror]

Xion herself had always had to be concerned with ensuring she was useful to the Organization. Aside from that..the subject had never come up. She'd had her friends, and been happy with that. This was new, and while it was scary in that she knew both of them risked getting hurt, it was a little exciting, too.

She smiled. "Let's just hope it's an easy lesson, right?"

[virtualunknown]

MakubeX chuckled. "I'm certain it can't be that hard. Besides... It could be a fun journey."

Wrap up soon.

[skysmirror]

"It could be." She laughed a little.

Then her expression sobered. It was a lot to think about, too.

[OOC: D: Moar discussion over PM?]

k

[virtualunknown]

"I... suppose I'll see you around, then?"

((OOC: Sure.))

*Sigh* Meant that to be a question. Sorry. ;_;

[skysmirror]

Xion's expression cleared slightly. She hadn't meant to get lost in her own thoughts the way she had.

"Ah, Sorry! Um, yes." Then another idea occurred to her. "Unless...You want to get ice cream?"

Something familiar seemed like a good idea.

No worries!

[virtualunknown]

MakubeX blinked. He had planned on giving her time to think things over. But... well, ice cream did really sound like a good idea at the moment.

"I would like that."

w00t.

[skysmirror]

Time to think things over would definitely be appreciated, and she'd take him up on that. Right now, though, putting those thoughts aside for a bit seemed best. She'd return to them later.

She stood up and offered a small smile. "Ready?"

[virtualunknown]

He smiled back, moving to get the door for her. He'd resist the urge to reach for her hand, especially with the way things were at the moment. He'd let the next move be hers.

"Ready."

[skysmirror]

That was probably for the best, as Xion might be tempted to overanalyze such gestures at the moment. Had she known to, she would have thanked him for his consideration.

As it was, she thanked him for getting the door for her, and led the way to the cafeteria.