thoughtformed | [Voice]

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[Voice]

Uhh... hello?

[Terra's voice is a little quiet. After a pause just long enough to be awkward, he clears his throat.]

I'm... not sure what I should be saying here. They told me I would meet other... [Another pause, where he struggles with the word "fictionals".] ... people like me. I guess I should introduce myself? I don't think I'm doing a very good job here.

[Another nervous throat-clearing.]

My name is Terra, and I--.. [He hesitates. He's not supposed to talk too much about what he is or where he's from. Those are the rules, back home, and even if those rules don't apply now, he can't bring himself to break them.]

... I have no idea what I'm doing.

[The voice feed ends a little abruptly.]

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I remember him. It... hasn't been long, for me.

[With Riku's age, it's obviously been a while for him.]

I hope you two have stayed out of trouble.

[Well, that answers that.

There's a part of Riku that doesn't want to disappoint him. He knows that Terra's had his struggles, too, but he doesn't want to paint him the grim and honest picture that usually is the first thing that Riku puts out there.

This was the one who was supposed to be his teacher. He noticed his potential.]

Well, Sora's the type of guy who gets into trouble even if he tries not to. But we get out of it most of the time.

[There is a pause, and before Terra can respond, he speaks again.]

Where are you? Can I come find you?

I'm in the North building, first floor. You're welcome to drop by if you want to. I'd offer to come find you, but I'd get lost pretty fast. This place isn't as small as what I'm used to. I'm in room 103.

All right. I should be there shortly.

[It's not that it hasn't occurred to him since he met Aqua that this could be possible. With the additional unusual appearances of Xion, Naminé, and Roxas, he couldn't forget the idea, but the more time passed, the more he wrote it off. In fact, in the past month, it hadn't occurred to him once. Riku would never meet Terra. Things had gone bad in that direction, and if Terra ever turned up, it wouldn't be the same Terra he wanted to know.

But that's the funny thing about giving up on a fleeting hope. Sometimes the unexpected happens. In Riku's past, the unexpected hasn't always been a good thing. He'll take an exception to that for once.

The temptation to show off is strong as he jogs over to Terra's building, but given the fact that he's on the first floor, there's not much he can do. Sure, if his door is locked, he could always summon his keyblade to open it ... but that's pretty much the opposite definition of "showing off." And for all his humbleness these days, Riku still has that streak to him. Another opportunity will have to present itself.

As he approaches Terra's door, another thought does occur to him. This enclosed island without any signs of a way out is giving so many of the people he knows a second chance. He knows they'd find a way otherwise, but he's been glad for the good that they can have right now. He hasn't been too keen on the fact that he's stuck here with Sora, because it makes him suspicious, but this isn't the same thing. Even if all of this is strange, Terra being here, after so long, that's on a whole other level of "savor your time here" for him.

While he hates being idle, while he'd rather be outside getting things done, he can't pass up this chance. He kept this promise for so long, after all.

(It's rare, too, that Riku is so at ease, and so excited. Usually Sora's the only one who can keep him from worrying or jumping to the worst possible scenario.)

He raises his hand and knocks and takes a step back. Only in those seconds while he's waiting does it occur to him that if Terra could see his potential, that he'll be able to see what's happened. But he'll deal with it. He won't let his mistakes ruin this moment, especially since Terra seems glad to see him, too.]

[In the time Riku spends walking over, Terra manages to work himself up over the whole ordeal. He's excited to see him, if not a bit overwhelmed that the time difference between them has given him an extra 10 years to catch up on. He wants to know what Riku has done with his life, with the Keyblade, and... hopefully he's made some better choices with it than Terra himself has.]

[Hell, even if he hasn't, he's alive. He and Sora are both still kicking...]

[He wonders how Riku would view him if he knew how bad he's messed his life up messing with the darkness. Telling him would be hard... but maybe if it comes up, he can do it.]

[When he hears the knock on the door, Terra gets up from his place on his bed and moves to the front door of the apartment, opening it to see...]

Wow.

[They're almost the same height.]

You really are taller.

[Just seeing him, Terra feels... connected to him, like their hearts understand one another. It's saddening. With this, he knows Riku has struggled... but the look in Riku's eyes shows him that he's overcome a lot.]

[In his memories, even the made up ones he fantasized about for the first few years until he realized that maybe, just maybe, that mysterious stranger would never make his way back after all, Terra always seemed much taller. As he grew older, he adjusted, but Terra always seemed leaps and bounds ahead of him in that department. But that definitely isn't the case now. Riku rapidly self-corrects himself.]

Yeah, sure am.

[He pauses for a moment, glancing inside.]

Should we go somewhere else?

[He doesn't know if Terra has an apartment ... or how private he is, but Riku personally tries to keep his business out of his own. But as it comes to Terra, he doesn't know if he functions in any way similarly.]

[Terra glances over his shoulder at Wally's door, and then back at Riku.]

Yeah. I don't want to disturb my roommate.

[He offers a smile.]

Besides, I haven't seen much of the town yet.

We can go get ice cream.

[Even if it's not a thing Riku does, enough of the other people they knew did it, so it seemed like a good foot to start off on.]

It's enough of a walk that you should be familiar afterward.

Sounds like a plan.

[He slips out of the door, closes it behind him, and fumbles with his pockets to make sure he has the key to the place and his phone.]

Lead the way.

[They make it out of the apartment building—which isn't difficult, really—before Riku chooses to speak again. He doesn't want to pester Terra with questions, and he doesn't want to force him to deal with everything that's happened, but he knows it will happen sooner or later.

The temptation to tell him the edited version, the version with all the good stuff, is wrong, but he doesn't.]

What do you remember last? Before you got here.

[There's a beat, as he realizes that Terra might not know how much he knows.]

And don't worry, I know a lot already.

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