[ His expression is a complicated one, starting to answer and then deciding to get back to what happened to Sora later. It's not just because Riku feels like he needs time to collect his thoughts. He knows how difficult it can be to talk about the things that are closest to one's heart, the private things one might prefer to keep to himself.
It could be easy to push and make Quentin draw back, or to seem indifferent and discourage him in a totally different way. That he would want to bring Riku into his confidence could be considered an honor if they weren't both treating their clasped hands as a kind of life preserver in a storm.
I see. He was of the same age as you when you first embraced the Darkness. What insights into the heart could have been found had I but a foothold on his world, I wonder.
Riku disregards Ansem's phantom, something sharpening in his attention at mention of a knife, of wanting it to stop. ]
Your father cared about you very much.
[ Mirthless laughter sounds from somewhere behind him, he ignores that, too.
Magic - like it's something unique, was he from a world where magic wasn't known, the way it was on some worlds, like San Fransokyo, where technology and science could do things that were functionally the same to those from worlds that lacked those advancements? And nightmares, being trapped in one's own head... Quentin has loved and he's lost, he's felt betrayal and he's betrayed someone dear to him in turn.
He's been haunted by his own mistakes and regrets and inner demons. It's no wonder he's so wrung out by everything that's been happening. Quentin is exactly the kind of person who deserves a break and he's here, instead. ]
I wondered that myself.
[ His other palm covers over the part of Quentin's hand that isn't already wrapped by the other, eyes downcast. ]
When Kairi died, Sora took off. We set out in search of him, a few of us, but there was a terrible storm and we couldn't find him. Then there was all that business with the Lighthouse.
I spoke with Sora one last time. He was going to go away with the spirits, to try to find a way to bring Kairi back. A quest, you know? Like the hero he is.
[ He inhales and lets it out, slow. ]
But we were alone. Sometimes I wonder if I didn't... make that part up.
[ What other evidence, what other eye-witness account does he have to make sure that Sora had come back, that they had that conversation, that promise? No one saw them outside the Invincible by cover of perpetual night. He clings to it, because even if it's something his heart invented to hold all the broken pieces together, it's better than giving in to despair.
Hesitating, not because he doesn't want to, but because Riku so rarely initiates gestures like these for all that he needs these reassurances - he extracts one hand to put an arm around Quentin. ]
What you've been through, everything you told me, I'm not sure I know anyone who wouldn't break. But hearts are stronger and more adaptable than we know. We can get through this.
...Why don't we go back to town. Just to make sure we're not making up this whole talk.
no subject
It could be easy to push and make Quentin draw back, or to seem indifferent and discourage him in a totally different way. That he would want to bring Riku into his confidence could be considered an honor if they weren't both treating their clasped hands as a kind of life preserver in a storm.
I see. He was of the same age as you when you first embraced the Darkness. What insights into the heart could have been found had I but a foothold on his world, I wonder.
Riku disregards Ansem's phantom, something sharpening in his attention at mention of a knife, of wanting it to stop. ]
Your father cared about you very much.
[ Mirthless laughter sounds from somewhere behind him, he ignores that, too.
Magic - like it's something unique, was he from a world where magic wasn't known, the way it was on some worlds, like San Fransokyo, where technology and science could do things that were functionally the same to those from worlds that lacked those advancements? And nightmares, being trapped in one's own head... Quentin has loved and he's lost, he's felt betrayal and he's betrayed someone dear to him in turn.
He's been haunted by his own mistakes and regrets and inner demons. It's no wonder he's so wrung out by everything that's been happening. Quentin is exactly the kind of person who deserves a break and he's here, instead. ]
I wondered that myself.
[ His other palm covers over the part of Quentin's hand that isn't already wrapped by the other, eyes downcast. ]
When Kairi died, Sora took off. We set out in search of him, a few of us, but there was a terrible storm and we couldn't find him. Then there was all that business with the Lighthouse.
I spoke with Sora one last time. He was going to go away with the spirits, to try to find a way to bring Kairi back. A quest, you know? Like the hero he is.
[ He inhales and lets it out, slow. ]
But we were alone. Sometimes I wonder if I didn't... make that part up.
[ What other evidence, what other eye-witness account does he have to make sure that Sora had come back, that they had that conversation, that promise? No one saw them outside the Invincible by cover of perpetual night. He clings to it, because even if it's something his heart invented to hold all the broken pieces together, it's better than giving in to despair.
Hesitating, not because he doesn't want to, but because Riku so rarely initiates gestures like these for all that he needs these reassurances - he extracts one hand to put an arm around Quentin. ]
What you've been through, everything you told me, I'm not sure I know anyone who wouldn't break. But hearts are stronger and more adaptable than we know. We can get through this.
...Why don't we go back to town. Just to make sure we're not making up this whole talk.