4th ♥ Plantfection [Audio]

[lightwithin]

So, is there a doctor here?

I think I need some help.

[And she does not really want to elaborate.]

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[snowtop]

[Xanth folds his arms and leans against the wall, resting his head upon it. Then, he sighs.]

Y--Yeah. I-I know... what-- what that's l-like.

[So much has happened. So much keeps happening. But talking this over so very casually, with the boy who was his enemy for so long, is surprisingly comfortable.]

D-Does she... kn--know?

[Because Xanth is quite certain she knows how he feels - or she will if she remembers any of their conversation tonight.]

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[heroinwait.livejournal.com]

[Riku gives a very small, mirthless chuckle.]

No.

[She only has eyes for Sora. By this point, Riku's sure that in spite of how much she'll flirt with him, Kairi will never see him as anything more. And it's not as though he's got any room to even wish for more; after everything he's done, it's nothing short of a miracle that Kairi even wants him around.]

She doesn't.

[He -couldn't- tell her.]

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[For a few seconds, Xanth is quiet and chews on his lip.]

Sh-She's... m-more perceptive th-than you-- y-you give her credit for.

[But even if she notices Riku's feelings, she'll dance around the subject until Riku forces the issue. That's just how Kairi is: as far as romance is concerned, she deflects and avoids her suitors.

Xanth suspects there is a difference where Sora is concerned.]

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[heroinwait.livejournal.com]

[Riku shakes his head.]

She doesn’t look at me that way.

I’m not sure she ever did.

[-That- admission is a little bit more difficult. But it’s also true: Kairi may flirt and tease, but there’s never been anything more behind it, never any glimpse of an idea that she might have considered it more than playful banter between two friends.

She doesn’t know.

And he can’t burden her by telling her. Not now.]

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[snowtop]

[This time, when Xanth sinks into silence, he doesn't pull himself out again. He grapples, instead, with a familiar emotion: pity. But he feels it for Riku - how terribly foreign.

And then he realizes that if Riku is correct, Xanth may have had nothing to worry about on the Elegante. As much as Riku fought for Kairi's affections, if she'd never felt that way about him at all, then all his feuds may have been more pointless than they already were.

It still doesn't excuse Riku's actions - Riku was beyond cruel - but it puts them in a new light.

Eventually, he speaks up again.]

S--Sorry.