voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post August]

A New Platform [Intro Post August]

PLATFORM STOP: MONTH 19
(SYMPHONY)

BEFORE ARRIVAL

"Good morning Voidtreckers, it is day sixteen of the month of Symphony. Points have been updated on the system."
The voice of the Voidtrecker Express welcomes passengers at the same time as always, sometime after breakfast. With points updated, everyone can spend the morning shopping. Most people will be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later, as the colours of the void outside the windows blur more and more.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. The weather is sunny with a cool breeze. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."
A lurch and a jolt, and the windows fill with the fog that means they are at a platform.

ON THE PLATFORM

1. THE ARRIVAL

At first, all your character can see is steam billowing around them as they come to their senses. But as their eyes adjust, they find themselves on a platform. The stones are cobbled beneath them and there are small stone shapes lining the edge, decorative in nature. The sun is shining but there is a cold wind, blowing through the platform at intervals, almost biting in its chill.

They stand in clothes not their own, in a style they might not even recognise. They're carrying a rucksack on their person, and for a moment it seems to just be them, alone on this platform. Before the fog starts to subside, and they'll see they're one of Twelve figures: all facing the tracks, and all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies, the latter in one of four colours. Purple, red, blue or orange.

But then there's a roaring sound to get their attention, and out from the fog arrives a train. A sleek black, it reads The Voidtrecker Express in gold lettering on the side. Every one of the doors hiss as they open automatically, and out pours a strange assortment of people, over a hundred at least. Some are human, some less so, with a majority wearing the same hoodie of four colours as they do, though some sport outfits in a variety of styles.

The train doors close behind them, and the vehicle is cloaked in the same fog that hides the world beyond the platform. A group of people head towards the gates of the platform, their expressions blank and unaffected by their surroundings. Danielle Phantom, Fai. D Flourite, K'zeka Tia, Ruggie Buchi and John Connor They disappear through the barriers, but no one else can - all people can do is wait until the train re-emerges, finishing whatever changes it's making.

2. BOARDING THE TRAIN

After a short time, about ten minutes or so, the fog clears and the doors hiss open again. Everyone will feel a pull when they do, a need to board, and those from the train may encourage new arrivals to board. This feeling grows into one of apprehension and turns worse the longer they stay off-board.

For those that do board, they may find themselves in a few different carriages, but most likely the standard coach. A row of seats sit available, with a few tables between each. More likely than not, some cookies have been set out with jugs of drink, and cups available for pouring.

For those that don't, however, they're likely to attract attention if they're spotted. And if that fails... an unfortunate end will await them.

a. New arrivals will notice a screen and console in every carriage sharing the same message, and a stack of leaflets in holders by them offering further information to the curious (see 'Publications'). There are lavatories available on each carriage on one end, with another console with a deposit box under it at the other. This is the train shop.

b. It'll take some time for newbies to figure out the layout, even if there's only two directions to go in. Go one end, and you'll find the food stores and washing utilities. This month's key ingredient is broccoli, and you're sure to bump into others curious about what's in the stock.

c. Go to the other end, and you'll find the sleeper cabins. Plaques sit on the wall by each door with the names of their occupants, and one of these will be yours - hopefully, they'll figure out that swiping their ticket against the doorpad will open it up to them. In most rooms, the occupied beds are obvious, leaving the spotless, empty spaces for the newcomers. Room is tight, but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and, the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches full of spare blankets and pillows.

d. At the farthest end in this direction is the luggage carriage, where passengers who have bought items from the train shop will find their purchases. These are scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags, but there's also a small fridge and kettle here with bottled water, for those who want a quiet drink.

e. Of course there are the new additions to explore. A fireplace has been added to the library, complete with a rug and plenty of soft reading pillows. For those less inclined to sit still there is a swimming pool carriage, complete with foam fish. Plenty of fun for all.

DEPARTURE

Spend your time exploring, if you will. But people will have half an hour before a second horn sounds, encouraging any stragglers taking advantage of the fresh air to board. After five minutes from this, the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train begins to rumble with activity, and the platform starts to disappear into a fog as the voidcraft moves. A female-coded artificial voice echoes throughout the train.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express. Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points, and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog-filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady itself. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours.

Welcome to the Void.

NAVIGATION ~ GAMEPLAY ~ SETTING ~ CHARACTER INITIATIVES ~ QUESTIONS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Roxas heard about the pool, and while he knows next to nothing about swimming pools (he figures it might be like an inside beach), his curiosity compels him to check it out. When finds it, he doesn't immediately jump in like most. (Probably because he's not in swim trunks yet). Instead, he just seems kind of baffled by the whole thing. It's like a beach but with a hard floor made of tiles instead of sand. And there's no waves either or any shells to be seen.

He watches the people who seem to be swimming along just fine either way. Especially the guy who just dived in. Before approaching the edge and leaning over to feel the water. It doesn't seem any different...

It's still calm yet while everyone is still making their way back inside the train, their casual approach leaving the pool for now semi-deserted. There's some splashing as Esteban darts in and out of the water, reveling in the change, the simple excitement of swimming, when he hasn't seen a flood in so long. The water is strangely not salty, but it doesn't ruin his mood for so little, and instead, the half-elf swims in that odd-way of his, spine bending instead of his feet kicking at the water.

He spends a few minutes in the pool, breath sweeping in and out of his lungs through the strange device, when he catches sight of newcomers, hesitantly closing in on the water, so slow and careful, when it clearly won't bite. Mischief narrows his gaze when he spots a head of blond hair leaning, his hand creating ripples as he dips it in.

Well, now, that's a dare.

His ambush is ready when he manages to peer at the stranger from the water, blue eyes meeting with his own. His gaze narrow, the gills making it hard for anyone to see the grin on his lips, before Esteban surges upwards, a warm, wet hand reaching out to grasp at the teen, meaning to pull him into the pool. Quick reflexes would easily dodge his attack, with the warning that he's given, but anyone too slow is getting pulled in!

Edited 2022-08-07 02:37 (UTC)

Roxas does have some pretty nice reflexes. But he also doesn't have shoes designed for pool adventures. So while he does manage to jerk back at the hand, with a shout, his attempt to scramble to his feet goes terribly awry, as he slips on the pool's edge and stumbles back into the water. Possibly right into Esteban's face.

... Alright, so maybe it did bite.

His companion smashed into his side before Esteban can quite understand what had happened, but he's quick to recover, having expecting it. The water cradles them both, soothing the light sting of a flailing limb, and the half-elf skims up to the blond, an arm wrapped around his torso as he kicks away from the edge. He's holding Roxas firmly, but his hold loosens when he's less likely to crack his arm or worse, his head against the edge of the pool.

Esteban threads the water for them both, supporting his newfound companion until he gets his bearing, hand ripping off the gills from his mouth as he watches the other with obvious concern.

"You alright?" he asks in a rush, carefully looking at his companion in case there was any obvious telling signs of pain.

Roxas is both soaked, confused, a little sore from the crash and also kind of pissed. And sort of treading water, he's still working on his swimming skills but has enough latent ability from Sora to not immediately drown). He rough pushes away from Esteban and does his best to stay afloat, though trying to swim with shoes probably isn't the best idea. He flounders for the edge, still a bit dazed, as he glares daggers at the other person.

"What's with you?" he snaps, clutching at the edge and shaking his wet hair to the side. "Do you always try to drown people like that?"

"No? You don't know how to swim?" the redhead replies immediately, half-confused and half keeping an eye on his new companion. He might have been shoved aside, but he's quick to surge next to him again, watching his progress. He offers a hand to the blond after a breath or two.

"Here-- I'll give y' a push, so y' can make it to the wall, okay? Didn't want you gettin' hurt worse on it, is why I dragged you further." He's genuine when he offers his help, even though he only meant it as a lighthearted prank. Are all his pranks doomed to fail today? That's it, he's going to prank Sunshine next and he'd better appreciate it!

He still only holds out his arm to Roxas, instead of dragging the blond away again-- as he words spill out without much care or reason, trying to ease his companion into trusting him. Well, he sort of deserves that, but he's really not trying to be mean!

"I learned t' swim from my aunts when I was jus' a sproutling. Didja notice the water's not salty here? I expected it t' be salty, like the sea, but it's jus-- water. Did y' ever see the sea?" he asks instead, before realizing he's sort of blabbering, and not giving much room for his companion to answer. Alright! Quiet now! Best behaviour from now on! Or, well. As best a behaviour as Esteban can ever have!

Roxas winces from the onslaught of words. He's used to a lot coming from Axel, but Axel at least takes a breath between sentences. Even Hayner isn't this bad when he's excited. He wishes he could rub at his face, but he needs both hands to stay afloat.

"Yeah, I need you to stop talking. I can reach the wall on my own. I definitely don't need help from the weirdo who was going to drag me in a second ago." Though yeah, he has to admit he's a little confused at why the water isn't salty now that he has a moment to think. Is that just a swimming pool thing?

He tries another kick to push himself closer to the wall. It feels like his wet clothes are trying to drag him under. No wonder Axel said people wear special clothes when they go swimming.

"Mmkay. That's fair." That's not silence, but at least he's not going off a mile a minute anymore. Esteban sweeps through the water, without too much of a mind, still watching his companion to make sure he's alright. There's a furrow between his brows as he considers the blond, but he really doesn't seem to be going anywhere fast.

And... well. He's already in trouble. How much worse off can he get into?

"... Let me help. No funny business." He can't not try. It's not in his language. So he's bound to mess up and make mistakes, but as long as he tries, one more time. Give another gift, another push, another attempt to fix things... Then he can say he's done his best.

"Please?" He's still trying to ask, but he doesn't really want to stand back when Roxas seems to be having so much trouble. What did he fill his pockets with? Rocks?

Roxas wants to refuse again. It's in his nature to be stubborn. But swimming is still not something he's mastered, and it's made worse by him barely knowing how to work with these new clothes. He doesn't want to exhaust himself on something as silly as this and have to explain to Axel later.

So he stops kicking and goes back to treading water. "You better not try anything dumb again. Axel got me this outfit."

The first words that come to Esteban's mouth at that have to be kicked, punched, and violently thrown at the back of his head for good measure to make sure that they don't cross his lips. Somehow, he doubts that telling his new fried that 'he can't make that promise, it's physically impossible' would go well, just yet. Best keep it quiet or even better, cover it up with a wide grin.

"Alright, here we go~" he encourages instead, kicking at the water until he can lift Roxas a little higher with an arm around his chest. It keeps the blond higher than the small waves, and Esteban is confident in the water, which makes for an easier swim. Roxas does have some pretty heavy garments, though, what does he have in his pockets, really, but it only takes a few seconds for Esteban to guide him to the nearest wall, so he can cling to it on his own.

"There we go!" he manages brightly when they get there. There's a ladder nearby if Roxas doesn't feel comfortable pulling himself up on the tiles, and Esteban is conveniently settled on his other side, so that he has an easy access to it.

"Sorry for givin' you a scare. I won't do it again." To Roxas at least. Tidus is still free game. It lifts his spirits when he grins at his companion, the easy chatter coming back to his lips.

"I'm Esteban, by the way! What's y'r name?" There's a startled glance, before he suddenly realizes-- "hey, d'you have a towel?" Welp, that's another part of his plan that is most likely to have gone awry. "Y' can use mine 'f you don't." It's really the least he can do. "Bright purple, next to the showers. I haven't used it yet. D'you want me to get you more?"

Is Esteban going to run along the hallways dripping wet and in his swimsuit from the pool all the way to the spa carriage and then back for some towels?

Don't dare him, please.

Whatever he can find honestly. He picks up things constantly to keep as memories.

Roxas isn't thrilled to be guided along, especially by someone he doesn't even know and very much doesn't trust. So he snatches for the ladder as soon as it's in reach, yanking himself flush with it and catching his breath.

"I wasn't scared," he snaps back quickly. Surprised maybe. But definitely not scared. This guy isn't remotely scary. "I just wasn't planning on getting in yet. That's why I wasn't wearing one of those swimsuit things."

His glare is still present when Esteban grins at him. Much more hyper than Axel and a lot more silly. "Roxas," he replies evenly.

Esteban's question reminds him that, no, he didn't bring a towel. Since this had originally just been supposed to be about gathering information. He could always come back later with his friends once he had a better idea of what the swimming pool actually was. So much for that plan.

"Yeah, I could use one." He starts climbing up the ladder so he can locate the promised item.

That is... a fairly good point. Unfortunately for him, 'observant' is so far down the list of Esteban's qualities that it seems to have slipped off entirely. An oversight, surely. He hadn't even noticed the clothes at first, oops.

But! He has a name now! Perking up at the small gift Esteban had managed to ~~bully~~ wrangle from his blond companion, his grin grows even wider just before he kicks himself out of the water, heaving his chest onto the cold tiles before he manages to set a foot on the rim and pull himself up. Water drips from him in puddles that linger where he steps, his stride enormous as he goes off to grab the promised towel and bring it back to his new friend.

"Here you go!" he prompts, rolled up towel offered between them both just before he seems to be on the edge of running off yet again. "I'll go an' get you more from the spa carriage. Maybe a spare bathin' suit? That way y' can get y'r clothes dry 's fast as possible," he offers, and for his mistake and prank, he is doing his best to at least fix the damage he might have done before he'd even introduced himself to the blond.

The only thing keeping him relatively still and not bouncing off entirely is just watching to make sure the stranger is actually taking the towel and starting on drying himself. Once there seems to be some progress, the half-elf beams a wide, sunny smile before he promises he'll be 'back in a tic--' and he goes to leave without much care or worry, water still trailing behind him and leaving footprints in his wake.

"Thanks," Roxas mumbles, as he takes the towel and starts to dry off his clothes first. His hair is dripping water everywhere, but making sure his clothes are all right is more important. He doesn't want all the currency Axel saved up for them to go to waste.

He hears Esteban mention something about a "spare suit" as the guy scrambles off and wonders if he should bring up the fact that they're very different in height (something Roxas is very used to by now). But the guy is already off. So he continues to towel himself dry. What's with this guy? He must feel pretty bad for that prank.

Good. Who does that to a total stranger anyway? It would've been different if it were Axel (Xion probably wouldn't ever try something like that). He might even accept something like that from Tidus. But it seems so bizarre to go for someone you don't know. Is that something people did to each other?

It really doesn't take long for him to come back. Sheer height gives him an advantage when it comes to speed-walking, and the Spa carriage isn't that far from the Pool, right? Just the Dance Studio, Stables, Art, Laboratories, Hired Rooms and then the Spa! And back again!

In retrospect, maybe he should have used the Gates, but he's never, ever liked using the Gates, so Esteban's just done the usual and walked the entire length. The spa carriage does not, in fact, have spare bathing suits-- he can't remember where the notion had hit him that there would be. Maybe the armory? But it has spare towels and Esteban grabs four or five without much of a care-- he's promised them to Roxas. And he'll come by and replace them in a minute.

Back down the treck again, Hired Rooms, and Laboratories, and Art, and Stables and Dance Studio, back to the swimming pool where he can carry his kind-of-apology back to the drenched Roxas. At least Esteban is sort of mostly-ish dry by that point, so he doesn't really need a towel himself other than for the bathing suit that retained the water.

"Here y' go! Didn't get a bathin' suit though; I was sure there'd be some," he adds with a light shrug, unable to really wonder more deeply about it. Still, Roxas would have a hard time moving in completely drenched clothes, and he feels pretty bad for him. Blue eyes widen, round as coins as he realizes what he cando.

"Here--" At this, Esteban reaches out into the shelf he'd used; one of the tallest ones seeing as it was easy for him to access, but not everyone could. Most of his clothes would definitely be out of place on the teenager, due to their sheer difference in height, but the half-elf always, always carries around his hoodie, specifically to lend it to other people.

"Not the best, but it'll get you to the sleepers so y' can get a change of clothes." He'd kind of offer to go with him and wash the now wet clothes, but he's pretty sure the less he imposes on his new companion, the better off he'll be. But he can still kind of do something, right?

"D'you like apple pies?" That is definitely an apology at least.

Roxas is probably just about done toweling off and wringing out his clothes by the time Esteban returns, half-convinced that the guy got distracted by something along the way and ran off after it. He seems like the type to do that. He's actually surprised to see the familiar head of hair jogging toward him.

"I was wondering if you got lost," Roxas replies, as he stares at the now mostly pointless towels. Yes, he's still wet, but he's fairly sure that all the towels in the world won't do much for that.

He blinks at the hoodie, taking in how much it will likely dwarf him. It won't be as bad as wearing Axel's clothes, but he's still going to be drowning in cloth. But Esteban is probably right in that it will allow him to bundle up the rest of his new clothes until he can grab a change. That should help them dry off a little faster.

He takes it after a moment. "It's something." And then promptly starts to strip off his shirt, eyebrow lifting at that last bit, eyes showing a hint of shine. "Pies?"

Esteban has half a notion that he could help wring out the water from his clothes before he decides that he's gotten into enough blunders so far today. Maybe another time. Roxas' mention that he might have gotten lost gets him snickering however, shrugging an easy shoulder.

"Lost how? There isn't any other place to go th'n ahead or back," he mentions brightly, and if there was meant to be a small thorn in the blond's words, he doesn't seem to have noticed at all. "B'sides. I travel; that's what I do! I'd be a horr'ble trav'ler 'f I got lost in somethin' like this!" He's still so bright and bubbly, genuinely enjoying his time, even if it hadn't started on the best of circumstances.

Oho~ The mention of pies seems to get the desired effect, and he grins, nodding proudly.

"I only learned how t' make apple pies here, but I can bake some pretty good ones! W'ld you like one? 'S an apology?" There. An action to fix his mistake. Esteban's not much for empty "I'm sorry-s" after all, and though he's not quite about to change his playfulness, he can at least recognize when he went too far.

Yeah, he might as well call it a bribe at this point.

"Some people can get lost really easily," Roxas mumbles to himself, not entirely surprised that Esteban missed his jibe.

But the mention of "travel" does pique his interest. "What sort of traveling?" The only traveling Roxas has ever done before arriving on the train involved the Dark Corridors, and those don't work here. If they'll ever work again, given his new allegiance to the Light.

"Would I be able to bring some back to my friends?" It would seem unfair to just eat all the pie by himself without sharing his good treat with the rest of them.

Sunshine pours from Esteban's grin as he beams, delighted to share this little shard of himself with a new friend. It's as much part of his soul as his greed and his enthusiasm-- the movement, the horizons, the long stretches of quiet between loud and explosive city festivals.

Oh! But first, they should settle on making the pie; and Roxas really should get his clothes sorted out before the water from the pool damages them. He nods at the blond's question and request, before shrugging easy shoulders for him.

"'f course! The more the merrier!" He's not against sharing his meager skills after all, and making food for the sake of many is always just a little... easier, a little less of a hassle. He starts shepherding the blond somewhat towards the door, so they can get started as he answers his previous question.

"The fun sorta travellin'!" he replies eagerly, hands gesturing aimlessly as he starts on his easy chatter. "B'tween the Moon Moutains, where I'm from." There's a short pause as he considers how best to move along with this, seeing as he always seems to trip himself up when trying to explain things to newfound friends.

"'Cause of the three moons in our skies, the saltgrass seas get flooded every two months, an' ev'ry village an' city gets isolated. It's a buncha days where no one c'n get in or out of the mountains, 'cause the tides 're just way too strong!" He grins again, taking a breath.

"So. We celebrate! We cheer for new life an' dance after harvest, an' mourn those lost. It's a big, big festival with ev'ryone involved, an' I'm an entertainer that travels b'tween mountains t' spin for diff'rent cities an' bring somethin' new an' diff'rent for each festival!"

"When the floods die down, an' the saltgrass sea's dry-- or 't least dryer-- I pack my things an' go on t' the next city. An on an' on. So! Lotsa travelin'." See? He won't get lost! "I ev'n learned star charts t' help orient myself!--" there's mischief in the scrunch of his nose and the blue of his eyes as he adds "-- Not that it's real useful here."

"So you just keep waiting for the water to go down to move to the next town? And what do you mean by spinning?" Is this guy a dancer? That's Demyx had told him once that his special Nobodies were named for the types of moves they performed. Those usually involved spinning around people. Roxas always used to get a little dizzy watching them.

But he's ever more curious when Esteban mentions star charts. "You can use stars to tell where you are?" Not that he'd been too used to seeing stars anywhere outside his fake bedroom in the datascape. It's not like the World that Never Was had them.

He aims for the sleepers first, with a grin, pointing out to the blond "we sh'ld get you new clothes," as they trudge down on their way. Esteban tosses a plain purple shirt over his head just before they begin walking, his pack and items held loosely in one hand once they start down the winding hallways of the train.

"Yep! It's a pretty common thing in my world! There's all sorts 'f 'ntertainers that do just that. We get contracts in cities for their festivals, work 'round town for a few days before an' after, an' then we move on. Sometimes we travel with news from 'nother town, or letters, but that's pretty rare, now that horses an' pegazi an' wyverns 're more common." As for the spinning--

It takes Esteban a few quirky movements to tug at a ribbon caught in the pants he hasn't bothered putting on again. His swimming trunks are mostly dry at this point, and he rarely bothers with shoes to begin with, preferring to carry them in a hand, but not on his feet. With a final yank, the red poi pops out from the tangle of cloth, and Esteban is quick to settle it at his knuckles, and start spinning it lazily by his side.

"That sorta spinnin'," he points out with a grin. He's pretty sure noone on the train has heard of flow arts before he'd joined up, and he's getting used to give concrete examples before he confuses anyone with his words. "I spin an' stall--" an easy twist of his wrist has the circle come to an abrupt stop-- "an' make patterns with my poi while I dance." There's a toothy grin that rises all the way to his cheeks as he adds the next little tidbit.

"I like spinnin' with fire best, personally." It makes for a much better show, in his opinion.

As for the stars--

"Usin' stars t' navigate works pretty well," he nods lightly at Roxas' question, "but they don't... work on other worlds. Diff'rent worlds, diff'rent stars, so I can't find my bearin's." He mentions, a bit mournfully. "I wish we got more time with locals on missions t' ask them 'bout their own stars, constellations an' all. They tend t' have stories an' legends that come with th'm." And, a bit by extension; Esteban's found himself collecting these, slowly but surely.

Roxas watches with keen curiosity. It's completely different than Demyx's Dancers, almost like the way Axel plays with his fire but with even more finesse. It's almost mesmerizing.

"Wow, you can make patters with those?"

Roxas considers that explanation, a familiar phrase flits through his memory. "One sky, one destiny... Maybe they're not as different as they look." Especially the part about legends. He knows for sure that the worlds had their own legends about the stars. He remembers the ones from Olympus, regarding Hercules, Sora and his friends. Well, maybe "remembers" isn't so much the word as "shares the memory of." It's Sora's memory after all. He wasn't there.

He's glad that his awkward, one-handed attempt is enough to impress the blond by his side. With a pack and some of his clothes under one arm, it's not the most poised he could have been at this-- but it still worked!

"Yep! Tell y' what, after the apple pie's done baking, I c'n show it to you better? Or maybe later today. Sometimes. Whenever works with you!" It's not hard to get Esteban to show off his dancing after all, as he's always happy to do so.

As for the sky... he's not so sure himself. He's seen the stars from Jema'gerthy, seen them from the Earth that was assailed, and they were not familiar at all. But he's not unwilling to contradict his companion on that. And besides, the gentle sentence--

"Was that somethin' from your world?" he asks quizzically. He's not too sure if he's reading too much into this, but it seems an odd thing to think all the skies are the same. For the few Esteban has seen, they were so foreign that he couldn't look away.

Three moons notwithstanding. 'Dians, he misses the moons.

"Okay. I wonder if I can learn how to do it." Not for any particular reason. Roxas just likes trying his hand at whatever he can. His way of experiencing the world and catching up to the years distance between him and practically everyone else.

He shrugs at the question about the mantra. "It's just something my friends used to say. A way to stay connected to each other, no matter how far apart they were." Saying it aloud makes him wonder what sky Sora must be viewing now, wherever he is.

Oh? All he had to do was ask!

"I c'n show you!" Esteban grins cheerfully at the blond as they step along the sleeper carriages. He lets Roxas guide them from there, because he's not sure where his new friend might be bunking up at, but he keeps the easy conversation going still. "The dance carriage's got spare poi so we c'n dance together! It'll be fun!"

Blissfully, Esteban isn't too aware when his suggestion became a plan, but he fully intends to follow it through. His smile is infectious and he has to keep himself in check before his eagerness lengthens his stride-- Roxas really doesn't need that on top of everything else.

"One sky, one destiny?" he adds with a curious tilt to his head again. It would-- it would make sense, if these friends were from the same world. Esteban doubts that this little charm could be carried home and still hold water. But it's cute that Roxas has friends like these.

"Tell me 'bout your friends?" he asks eagerly instead, before realizing this might not be the best question to ask. "If you want." He won't push and prod; some people might suffer in the nostalgia of things they can't have. Esteban loves talking about the things he loves; even the places he misses, but people... People is another story.

"All right. Give me a second."

Roxas dips into his cabin to swap his still somewhat wet clothes for something fresh and dry. Which leaves him back with his usual Twilight Town ensemble of whites and khaki pants. He lays the damp outfit over a chair to dry some more since that's the extent of his understanding of the clothing process. Then he returns to Esteban.

"Don't you have sayings like that? Anyway, Kairi is the one who came up with that one. She wrote it in a message to Sora when they were apart. They've been friends since Kairi showed up on the island one day. She's nice but also very brave and eager to help her friends. Sora is..." How do you even begin to describe Sora. "He's really different from anyone I know. I guess you could say he wants to see the best in everyone. He just needs to help."

A New Platform [Intro Post August]

Swimming Pool

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