lightwithin | 3rd ♥ [Audio/Commentlog]

[Xanth is about to answer Kairi's question, but then Riku approaches. "Where we're heading", he says, as if it were a foregone conclusion. Xanth's grin drops from his face, but he turns away at the same instant to hide it.

He's judging the distance. Really.]

Y-Yeah. I-- I-I think we can m-make it, it's n--not that far.

[Kairi turns at the sound of Riku's voice, all smiles. She didn't known he had been following them. At the shift in her posture, her horse begins to plod lazily off course. It's still heading for the gate, but is not listing slightly towards Xanth's mare.

Kairi's yet to notice. She stares at the blindfold on Riku's face.]

Are you wearing that?

[Out of the corner of her eye, she catches sight of Xanth's horse and whips back around, reining her own mount in.]

Oh! Sorry!

[She's thinking that they can make it too. It isn't that far. But clearly, she'll need to be careful.]

[Riku clicks at his horse again, nudging him onward. For a moment the horse breaks into a trot, but slows back down as soon as Riku sits back in uncertainty. He does not know what he thinks about this horse, okay.

But the momentary pickup in speed lets him catch up to the other two, coming up on Kairi's other side. It's then that he finally responds to her question.]

Yeah, I am.

[Did she really expect that he wasn't going to...?]

[Kairi may not be watching, but Xanth is. He steers his horse away just as Kairi does the same.]

W-Woah!

[And with that, Xanth's horse comes to a stop. She's well-behaved and, in fact, following Xanth's unintentional command. She swishes her tail and snorts, awaiting further instructions.

Xanth clicks his tongue and moves her forward. He's watching Kairi's horse very carefully, but he's smiling, too.]

L-Let's, uh, not-- h-have any a-accidents today? That-- that'd b-be nice.

[You know. For once.]

Xanth's right!

[Kairi too readily agrees. She smiles at Xanth. LIke it or not, he just backed her up on this one.]

Which means you can't wear your blindfold, Riku. A blindfold on a horse is just asking for trouble.

[She shoots a triumphant grin at Riku.]

[Riku has to fight the urge to sigh. He should have known that Kairi would fight his wearing the blindfold while out riding. But while he was lucky enough the -last- time he left it off for an extended period of time, he's afraid that it was just that--lucky. Which means he probably wouldn't have that same luck again. And even if -Kairi- has seen him take Ansem's form, he still doesn't want to take that form if he can avoid it. He's not ready for the rest of the keep to know that secret.]

I can see with it on.

[At first, he just looks at her warily--he wouldn't put it past her to try and take it from him. But on a second thought, he lifts up one side of the blindfold so he can actually -look- at her, smirking like he might have done back on the islands before this whole thing began.]

Or don't you trust me, Kairi?

[She nods. Of course she trusts him.]

Don't you trust us? Your with friends.

[She turns and looks at Xanth, her expression only the tiniest bit uncertain. Xanth was her friend. She knew that. She didn't know if it was just because he'd known Namine or if it was for another reason, but that didn't really matter. He was her friend. But that didn't make him RIku's friend too. She tried to catch his eye, looking for some kind of tell or support that she wasn't sure she'd find.]

Xanth? Tell him.

He doesn't need to hide here.

[At the call of his name, Xanth looked up, and then he looked to Riku. He couldn't help overhearing Kairi's conversation with Riku - they were only a few feet away - but he didn't expect to be dragged into it like this.

Why Riku would wear a blindfold, or how he can even see through it, isn't something Xanth knows. But there is one thing he does know: Riku is not Xanth's friend. On the Elegante, they were anything but friends. Enemies was a much more accurate descriptor.

But this is not the Elegante.

Xanth cracks a smile.]

Y--Yeah. D-Don't worry, I-- y-you can-- t-trust me.

[Xanth is not his friend.

Not yet, at least. Riku barely knows him--but what he does know is that he can't win this battle. One day he'll be able to tell Kairi no. One day.]

It's not about that.

[Not about what--hiding, or trusting? Riku's not entirely sure which one he means himself. Maybe it's precisely that.

But after a moment, he sighs, pushing up the blindfold.

Time to try his luck.]

[Immediately, Kairi is all smiles.]

Well, are you ready?

[She squeezes the horse's sides with her knees and lets up on the rein a little. She's getting used to the motion and they're still going in the right direction.]

Come on, I'll race you.

[Part of her knows that it's reckless, that even if all three of them only go within a safe speed, they'll be pushing themselves before they're ready. But caution was never one of Kairi's strong points, especially when it came to fun.]

[Riku gets no odd look from Xanth, but Kairi does. Racing already? They just learned how to walk! They don't even know how to trot yet!

Xanth fidgets on his horse, but the horse takes no notice, just plodding along at a steady pace. Caution may not have been Kairi's strong point, but Xanth had caution in spades.]

A-Ah, um, are-- a-are you s-sure?

[It's hard for Riku to really relax; after everything that's gone on over the past several months, he's kind of taken on "silent and observant" as second nature. There hadn't been much time for joking and games from the moment Sora had shown up in Hollow Bastion. But at the same time, he knows he won't be learning anything about the keep today that he doesn't already know. He's been all over the grounds by this point, there's nothing new to find on horseback.

Not to mention Kairi's here, smiling at him and ready to race all over again, just like before they'd left the islands.

Riku can't force himself to relax entirely. It's just not possible any more. But he -is- able to keep himself from remaining frustrated over her insistence that he remove his blindfold, instead nudging his horse so that it quickens just slightly.]

You really think you can beat me?

[Yeah, racing might be a bad idea. But what's the worst that could happen? One of them falling off?]

[Xanth's comment does give her pause and she looks at him for a moment, her uncertainty plain on her face. She isn't sure. And while that's okay, she's not used to having someone point it out to her and make her stop and think about it. If she were back home, Riku and Sora would already have taken off by now and-

Riku's comment drives all uncertainty from her mind and she grins. That tone, she is familiar with. Still looking at Xanth, she nods. She's sure.]

We'll find out. Are you ready?

[She tries to coax the tiniest increase in speed from her own horse.]

GO!

[Xanth opened his mouth to protest - did neither of them have a lick of common sense? Then he remembered who he was dealing with.

The answer to that question was a sound no.

Resigning himself to his fate, Xanth pushes his horse forward. She shifts from an amble to a quicker walk and Xanth hopes that he can at least keep pace behind them.

Losing the race would be fine. He just wanted to be sure he could help whoever had some kind of accident, if they had an accident.

(Even if that someone was Riku.) ]

[At Kairi's "go," Riku nudges his horse forward again--he's got a fast horse, and it picks up the trot pretty quickly, surprising him again. But this time, Riku doesn't immediately sit back, instead trying to get used to the bouncing motion. It's. Pretty bouncy! And the tails of his blindfold are probably bouncing all over the place. But after a moment he feels comfortable enough (or as comfortable as possible) to take a glance back for the other two.

And then his horse decides that the shift in weight is a signal to drift thataways.

Riku twist back to front almost immediately, words forgotten as he tries to pull his horse back over. Horseback riding? Yeah no. He's going to have to devote all his attention to this now 'k!]

[Kairi's surprised when Riku's horse moves into the trot, but a moment later she's laughing. He's bouncing everywhere and it's sending his hair flying. He really needs to get that cut, but right now it just looks funny.

Keen to avoid making a similar mistake, Kairi snatches a series of quick glances over her shoulder to see if Xanth is keeping pace before urging her own horse forward.

And then she's bouncing too. The trot is bumpy. But it only makes her laugh harder as she tries to find a way to absorb the shock.]

Come on, Xanth! Let's get him.

[This is a terrible idea! But Xanth nudges his horse ahead and she, too, moves into a trot.

This idea was even worse!

He adjusts after a little while, though it's still not comfortable. Kairi and Riku have already gotten ahead of him, which he's okay with - he'd rather not be in front anyway. But he at least wants to keep pace with them, so he nudges his horse again.

And she shoots ahead!

Xanth quickly pulls her back and slows her down, but his heart is hammering.]

[Oh, hey Xanth! You decided to catch up? Riku chances a quick glance at the other boy as his horse suddenly puts on a burst of speed, the smallest hints of a challenging smirk on his face.]

All right, now it's a race.

[It's funny how the simple act of racing is helping him to relax--for a moment, it feels almost as though nothing's changed at all.]

[From the rear, Kairi misses the smirk and Xanth's reaction, but there's no mistaking Riku's tone. It's working! She knew it. Even with the blindfold and everything he'd been through, Riku couldn't resist a race.

She's so focused on the boys, she doesn't notice right away that her horse is taking her wide and it's causing her to lag behind. Only when they're about a length ahead of her does she dig her knees into her horse's sides. to try and catch up.

It slides into a canter, the gait much smother but so much faster. Kairi lets out a squeal that quickly becomes a whoop as her horse closes the distance, but she has no attention to spare for her competitors now. She's trying to master this new rhythm, trying to catch the sway and the pace.

It's not really working.]

3rd ♥ [Audio/Commentlog]

[commentlog] omg riku, interrupting their dance all over again B(

[commentlog] Except this time he brought a horse

[commentlog] look away, back again. RIKU IS NOW THE OLD SPICE MAN.

[commentlog] bitches love horses B)

[commentlog] And the horses love them.

[commentlog] ALL DAY ERRYDAY 8D

[commentlog] SPAGHETTI BOLOGNAISE

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