[ M.K. isn't so different. People have to work to get into the confidence of people like them. Maybe M.K. has a looser tongue than Riku has, they put up walls around their most vulnerable places and are reluctant to let them down. They do so conditionally.

Actions have always been easier for Riku, who for so long lacked a vocabulary for the things he feels that didn't come framed as a challenge, a dare, a tease, something cocky and sometimes cutting. Riku is illuminated in two places - by the starlight in his pale hair and by the warm glow of the lantern hanging from his hip; these throw his face into shadow when he tips it, looking down. ]

I'm back. Had to see Dawn off.

[ No one answers and, unperturbed, Riku unhooks his lantern from his belt loop, carrying it with him as he moves to sit on the ground. When he speaks again, he's set it down, picking up twigs, stray leaves that have blown in over the two graves. The soil heaped over one of them is much fresher than the other, the soil is still dark and damp. ]

Not you, though. Sora thinks he can find a way to bring you back. And- maybe I'm not that into goodbyes.