View source for Ducks Ate My Shoes

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/06/16
|Location=Manhattan - Central Park
|Synopsis=Will attempts to punch the Emo out of Riku. Sadly. It was not very effective. 
|Cast of Characters=Will Sherman, Riku 
|pretty=Yes
}}
:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riku is feeding the ducks. <br /><br /> He has a loaf of bread next to his hip as he sits on a park bench somewhere in Central Park. There is a small swarm of the ducks meandering around picking up the small bits and pieces he throws not too far from his feet by gloved hands. <br /><br /> The teenager looks worn down, a dark pair of mirror shades over his eyes --- the wispy black tendrils of darkness. The gordion knot has become a tightly wound series of white tendrils merged with the wisky black so tightly that is almost indistuinguishable to make either out from the other. <br /><br /> He sighs quietly, the duster over the back of his chair. It looks like he's been here for some time because the loaf is a little more than a third gone. He does not look like he's going to move anytime soon either. <br /><br /> He looks out at the park scenery, at the nearby pond. He looks down at the ducks.. and he throws another rind of bread.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Will falls out of the portal linking Central Park to the rest of the world. <br /><br /> He sighs...man his life is complicated sometimes... <br /><br /> Oh well. He puts his hands in his pockets...he hasn't fed the ducks in a while... and pulls his hat up, a piece of bread and heads to the... <br /><br /> Holy <GOOSEHONK> what the <GOOSEHONK> is that tang- <br /><br /> Oh hey it's Riku. Darn it Alma... <br /><br /> "Hey." he says, tossing some bits to the ducks as he sits down, looking back at his friend who seems to have more on his plate than a Ryan's buffet. He tosses some more, "So...wana talk about it, or shall we sit here feeding the ducks in silence for a few hours and then talk about it?" He pauses, "Or sigh exasperaitedly at each other. Oooo ooooh! I could siiiiin-" Will is sure Riku would cut him off there.

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riku snorts and shakes his head. "Hello Will. Thanks, but I think I'll pass on the singing. I don't want to start bleeding from the ears." he chuckles faintly, closing his eyes for a few moments and then throwing another rind to the ducks.<br /><br /> "I just needed to get away from the city for a day or two. There's.. so little that I can really do. So many people." he shakes his head. "I.. felt if I stayed there one more second I was going to hurt someone. Possibly myself. So--" he gestures fervently at the surroundings. <br /><br /> "So.. /ducks/." he gets out another slice. He smirks lopsidedly. "..so.. what trouble have you been poking around in?"

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "The Glabados Church." Will says, with a frown, "This Ramza guy apparently isn't wrong about something being foul there...and something is trying to grab a hold of Faruja Like, something eldrich and a <GOOSEHONK>ish. But well, strings aren't something I can prove.." He shrugs... and that old priest... <br /><br /> "I heard Alma did a thing." he mutters, looking Back at his friend... "And yeah...I know. Things will get better, I'm sure." They just might get worse first... "So.."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riku pfts. "Well aren't there just Eldritch Horrors coming out of the <GOOSEHONK>ing woodwork." he grumbles this to himself with his backteeth grit but rolls around one shoulder and settles back on the park bench and sighs. <br /><br /> "Yeah. She did a thing." Riku shakes his head. "But she didn't know any better. She just wanted to help me. It just.. didn't quite work out that way." he throws a rind of bread. <br /><br /> "She also is trying to find Destiny Island in the sky.. because.. she might be able to calculate where it fell.. somewhere." he snorts softly. <br /><br /> "So. Alma. The bringer of Painful Hope and oblivious embarrassment."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Who is crushing on you hard core." Will points out, finishing off his bread. <br /><br /> "Man, at this rate you're gona become king of the pond." he muses, thinking outloud. "Yeah, I know? Freekin' Eldritch things. They need to go back to the darkness and leave us good innocent folk alone, right?" Will gives a grin and leans back, trying to relax. "Yeah, she explained what happened...my initial reaction was what you'd expect...just...oy." He shakes his head. <br /><br /> "...So...you two have been spending a lot of time together." <br /><br /> Oh god that look. /That/ look.

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>You don't spent a lot of time with a confused immortal and not know THAT look. <br /><br /> Riku raises one eyebrow and now /pointedly/ tears up a piece of bread and throws them at the ducks. He then turns and throws a piece at Will. "/Quack/" he pronounces dryly. <br /><br /> He chuckles and settles back again. "Yeah. What of it?" he kind of has an idea where this is going, but it's so bizarre and almost normal that he'd rather take this embarrassment over the weird twists his life usually take. <br /><br /> Or ye gods.. the accelerated training. <br /><br /> That was kicking his ass more than a little.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Will sits back crossing his arms.. <br /><br /> "Don't take that tone with me, you're not king duck yet." <br /><br /> "Welllll...I think she is totally crushing on you dude. You should totally do a date thing with her. Take her somewhere nice, see if anything happens. You know, something /normal/ for a change. I think you could both use it...with what the Dennou thing and the Arcades thing and the...everything else going on." <br /><br /> "I'll avoid the soap box standing for now. I need to give it a rest...and I think Mercade is borrowing it."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riku nods but looks less than contrite. "Yeah... maybe." he says with a shrug of one shoulder. He looks distant for a few moments before shaking his head. "I mean.." he rubs the back of his neck. <br /><br /> "I.." he shakes his head. "Alma. I don't even know what to do. I haven't even /HAD/ a chance to be normal in so long. She jumps all over the place. One minute we'll talk about movies and the next moment some point of philosophy or trauma that's so sharp edged that it's pretty much like handling barbed wire. She's.. not been treated lightly, from what I can gather. " he huffs out a breath. <br /><br />"I'll work something out. I always have before." <br /><br /> Riku sighs. "Although.. I .. have no idea what I am going to do if people come after her. Especially.." he trails off and throws another crust. "You know it's pretty horrible when you have to factor in interruption by Eldritch Horror into plans like that."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "..." Will frowns... <br /><br /> "Riku. That guy. The one with the light that frightens her?" He says, "Don't engage him. Don't mess with that...just grab her and run, okay? I think you running into him for any length of time is a bad idea...that guy..." even Will shudders, "He's wrong. So very wrong. It's like looking at reverse...that thing we saw in Oblivion. Though that thing was defintely stronger." <br /><br /> Will shakes his head, "I can do what I can, but..oy...who is this guy and where did he come from?" <br /><br /> Then normal stuff... "Ha. That sounds about right for Alma. I dunno...There is something more than meets the eye there, that's for sure...that or maybe try and lead conversations until she gets passed being nervous. That just might be it, you know...she jumps around because she's /nervous/...normal people get nervous and stuff man, you know with the whole 'Oh my god does he like me' kinda deal."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riku chuckles faintly although there is nothing of humor in the sound. "Ah yes. I thought you'd tell me to run too, Will." He clenches his hands and shudders in reaction to the indirect reference, reaching up to push his shades up and rubbing solid yellow eyes for a moment. He looks suddenly tired as he resettles them on his face. <br /><br /> "Well. I did say I was going to warn you before I did anything stupid. So, consider yourself warned." he then laughs. "Yeah. Isn't that a trip. Well.. she shouldn't worry about things like that. She's got enough worries on her plate as it is." He pauses and then asks. <br /><br /> "So.. what's Mercade doing with the soapbox these days?"

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "I think he's using it to make one of the desks even." Will says, with a grin. He looks at the ducks and the pond and the...calm moment. <br /><br /> "Reminds me of the good old days...you know, before we really knew what was at stake.." he says, "Quiet...peaceful." he continues. <br /><br /> "We may never get the worlds back to what they were...but I think we can get peace back. We just have to hold on to hope and all...which means stopping to smell the flowers...meeting new friends, stuff like that." <br /><br /> "Going on dates.." he says, with a sly look towards Riku.

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riku looks out at the trees and the pond. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, slowly canting his vision down towards the milling ducks. "No." he says softly, crushing a piece of bread very slowly in his fist. <br /><br /> "No. We can never get peace back." his voice drops into a cold monotone. "Because at any time. That peace may be taken away. At any time, Malificent or Garland or the other Shadow Lords may rain down death and pain on the worlds. That's not peace. That's learning to live in the shadow of fear." <br /><br /> He snorts. "..and I refuse to have my friends do that. I refuse to do that."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "I said one day we will have to get peace back," Will says, "That means, after dealing with these threats..." Will continues, evenly. <br /><br /> "I'm not going to put up with getting bullied, and neither should anyone else. But..I don't think we should live to fight either."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"What else is there?" Riku counters. "I mean really, life is whatever I happen to be doing BEFORE it's interrupted again. After these threats. After Alberic. After Feige. " he throws a hand up in the air.<br /><br /> "After whoever the HELL was really behind the assault on Archades. It will always be someone else. Something else. The heartless will come back. Someone has to make it stop. Someone has to be the one DEALING with the threats as they show up, and I don't know how that's NOT living to fight. Because living to fight means other people don't HAVE TO."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "I think there is an end...that end is the Shadow Lords, because I don't see anyone pulling the Strings of beings like Garland and Malificent. Sure there might always be heartless...they might just actually be a thing...BUT, you heard what Merlin said. We can seal the worlds and protect them from the Heartless...it goes to say that the heartless can be driven back and that peace can be won for people...for those like us who are willing to make sure normal people get to live normally." <br /><br /> "Saying that it will never come...forgetting what we fight for...these are the same as loosing yourself." he leans back, "You don't get to blame yourself for Arcadies, Riku. You don't. You did everything you could, you did more, I bet, than you should. It isn't your fault, nor is it something you should shoulder yourself." <br /><br /> "Live Riku. Live, enjoy life.." he says, "I don't say words because I love my own voice. And I don't feel like going into old man story mode..."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Then why isn't he doing THAT!?" <br /><br /> Riku bolts up onto his feet and spins around to face Will. "Okay. Hey. We can do this. Or rather. SORA can. SORA who did nothing to earn it. Maybe it was because HE didn't go so far around the bend they came back around the other side. I saw it happen. I saw Manhattan return from that PLACE it was sent to." Riku kicks the bench.<br /><br /> "I saw what it did to Avira. How much it cost her. But even THEN-- we should have had more victories by now. More worlds made safe and Sora is the only one I know of who can do that. Sit there, and tell me to live my life when I Do Not HAVE ONE. " he laughs in exasperated frustration. <br /><br /> "What future is there for me if this keeps going out of control? I thought I could understand it. That I could live with it-- but the rules keep changing and I certainly don't want anyone if I just.. LOSE it someday." he throws the crushed pieces of bread to one side. <br /><br /> "I certainly don't want to hand over the keys of the responsibility for the damn universe to a MORON. You can sit there and be patient and the voice of experience and I'll just got out of what I laughingly call my mind."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Will stares at Riku, he listens, but he stares at him for a long time. <br /><br /> "What do you expect him to do?" Will asks, "To wave his magic Keyblade wand and make things alright? That doesn't happen..." <br /><br /> "No man is a mountain, Riku. Not Sora, not you...not me. We can't do this alone, so that is why we rely on each other to do it." <br /><br /> "He could make those worlds safe...IF he finds the world hearts. Of every world. EVERY. Single. One. Nevermind the shards of fallen worlds...how many people are out there, displaced?" <br /><br /> "My eyes can only see so much, Sorta can only swing that blade so many times, and you can only sass us and tell us how stupid we are so many times before your voice goes out." <br /><br /> "We can't live our lives like that. You don't think I want to go out there and solve every problem? You don't think, right now, I want to hunt Feige down, like the /dog/ she is, and /revoke her ability to exist/?" The words have power, but Will...relaxes.. <br /><br /> Will sighs...he finally just runs out of stuff to say.

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riku has also run out of things to say. <br /><br /> He stares at Will for a long time. A duck snaps at his foot mulishly for not being fed. (Riku may sass the universe, but he constantly sassed by ducks) and he looks down at the duck. His hands clench and then relax multiple times. "There has to be a way to end this." he says quietly and then turns away to start moving off.<br /><br /> "ANd I don't think you are the only guy in line for that, Will. I think that line extends halfway around the next few blocks."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "All I know, right now...that woman holds a person that is like a little sister to me...someone who's already suffered enough. She put another being through suffering..." <br /><br /> "But...yeah." He sighs, and sits back down. What else is there to say... <br /><br /> "There is...the problem is finding it."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Oh believe me." Riku says darkly as he leaves, teeth grit. "I'll think of /something/."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Do me a favor? Less extreme, less person destroy-y." Will calls after Riku.

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riku chuckles direly. "Oh come on, Will. You suck the FUN out of everything."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Look, SOMEONE has to be responsi-oh god what am I saying?!" Will looks in horror.