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[she hesitates with a faint sound.

then, warily:] But...what if there wasn't a reason? That is, if those fate-goddesses are a big crock and this was all some...glitch or, or weird dice-roll? Would that bother you?

A weird dice-roll that called five of us into this world at the same time?

[Yea, he's counting all Keys here, because well… five Keybearers at the same time, that looks kind of weird… too weird to be entirely just coincidence.]

But even if it was… I don't think it would. Even if these goddesses of fate don't need me to do anything specific… I guess, I still want to help out, if I can.

[He can try that much at least, right?]

[huh...]

So that means you've...ditched the, uh, what was it? Bat-bathing job? That you'd been asking about before? On to the heroics and saving the day stuff?

Huh? No, not at all!

[He still goes to the bat sanctuary, when he can and they call him in.]

I'm not going to go looking for trouble!

[…At least, not yet anyway.]

[with a laugh in her voice:] Well, that's nice to hear; for a second, I was thinking I was going to have to reconsider my offer of friendship!

Hoo, so you strictly are only friends with the none-heroic type of people? That sounds like the hard kind of life, here.

[Considering that they all have been summoned to be super heroes.]

[a touch flustered, trying to hide it in a breathy laugh:] We-well, not that, no...I mean--I don't really have a lot of friends in the first place, but the ones I do have aren't...heroic so much as...foolhardy? And it's. It's pretty stressful?

Honestly, I wouldn't mind a proper hero; I hear they're quite handy. And...you know. All those heroic tropes.

Huh, I think I know three wise guys that would fit that bill pretty well themselves… so I know what you mean. It's definitely hard work to keep up with someone like that.

[Riku spent almost a year trying to keep them on proper track to save the worlds, that is really hard work, so believe him he knows.]

Oh? So, what would you say makes a proper hero? Aside of being handy.

Well, um...

[prrrooobably better to play it safe here, she thinks. chatter too much, and it's the exact awful situation he was just apologizing for.]

I would say someone very compassionate. Mindful of others, you know. Maybe not always putting others first, but at least...knowing how to find time to tend to others' needs as he sees fit?

Historical ones I've read about often had to make very tough choices, but did so anyway, even to their detriment. Not...not so much flinging themselves all willy-nilly into the fire so-to-speak, but just...able to accept a risk for the sake of a good cause if it can't be avoided.

And...yeah. Things like that.

[Riku leans back where he sits in his room, humming faintly as he turns that over in his head.]

So… a hero is someone who is looking out for others… but not to the point of being utterly self-sacrificial. They take on the heavy decisions and the risk of maybe never returning home, though not thoughtlessly so… not just for their own good or that of their friends… but for the sake of everyone.

[He pauses there for a second, before he just shakes his head and grins to himself.]

Being your hero sure seems to be a tall order.

[He says that last thing with a laugh, a teasing edge to his voice. Whoever that turns out to be, sure must be a pretty great person though, Riku thinks.]

Shouldn't it be? I mean, to be one on the regular; even a coward or criminal can do something heroic once in a while. It's very different to have that mindset carry you through life.

Fair point.

Being an actual hero definitely is a good piece of work, I'm sure.

[This is nothing that Riku has experience with, but he imagines that Hercules and other people that have actually have earned the tag "True Hero" didn't do by accident. There is a reason why Sora is just a 'Junior Hero' as far as the people of Olympus Coliseum are concerned.]

I think it's more than most people would think it is? I mean, if you hear someone, like, rescued children from a burning barn or something, you'd say, "oh, they're a hero!" And not think much into it, right? And that's fine! It's...a heroic act and all, it's an easy thing to conclude, especially if you know nothing else about the person!

But...you know? I've been told there's people here whose entire careers focus on waiting for, then responding to, fires and disasters. Like...like that's just what they do. Walk into fires, climb into crumbled buildings, the whole thing. For a job that, I'm told, doesn't really pay back the relatively deserved amount of monetary reward! So it's not like a bunch of mercenaries occasionally doing the right thing for coin, it's...it's heroic. To be of a mind that disaster looms, and you'll spend your time preparing for and eventually standing up to it.

[beat for breath.]

...

Er. Sorry. I...I think about this stuff...a lot. Is all.

Edited 2019-02-09 15:29 (UTC)

It's fine, I don't mind. Please, just don't forget to breath somewhere in between all that.

[It's a lot to think about really, and Riku finds her perspective really interesting… especially since he finds himself agreeing. He can't help but muse out loud:]

I think that might be exactly why Sora, Donald and Goofy never made full hero. They just showed up, did their thing and then moved on again… so all they did was a string of 'heroic acts'. Which is fine and was necessary at the time, but they didn't exactly stay around for the aftermath.

Those people you mentioned… the ones that work to fight fires and are ready to take those risks, especially if they don't have powers that protect them from that kind of danger… they are definitely real heroes.

[she makes a faint, agreeable sound before staying quiet a beat. that breathing thing, right?]

Sora's that...the other one. Right? With you and Kairi. You, you grew up together, right? It's what she said, I don't know. I don't know the other two so maybe I'm wrong?

Yep, Sora is my other best friend that I grew up with. He and the other two make up the "three wise guys" I mentioned earlier.

[So yea, a trio of slightly foolhardy people.]

[hm. and they're all out there, having had wacky adventures, kidnapping princesses, getting kidnapped, something something hearts and darkness. Cecelia has lots of little starting points of ideas about this, but not enough to visualize it properly. she can only speculate.

luckily, avid reader and fic writer that she is, she can do that! it'll be wildly off-target maybe probably, but damn, let her live. it's not like she'd share that shit anyway.

anyway.]

It...it sounds like it was nice. I mean, if you're all still close, even today. Despite changing and...and going your own ways, I assume? [unless Sora was capturing princesses, too? she has no idea.]

[One day maybe she'll get the whole story out of Riku. Hopefully without any TMI inducing powers involved.]

Well, you could say I needed a while on my own to find myself, but it was worth it. I think we are better friends now, then we were at the start of that mess.

[Their destinies are forever tied together, even without a paopu to share. Riku knows that now. But anyway…]

…What about you? You said your friends here are foolhardy… is it hard to keep up with, for you?

[there's poetry hiding in his words she can't quite parse, because she has no idea the scale of their bonds. if she did, she'd be incredibly jealous.

but the tide of topic is already shifting:] I, I did? Oh. [she doesn't remember. but if he says she did, then she did!]

Oh--here, you mean. Right. Yes, I...I guess it's more a consequence of me just...not really having good footing here? In a sense? So maybe they're perfectly fine to be as...as loud and straightforward with things as they are. I'm not used to that, is all.

So I guess it is as you say. Hard to keep up, I mean. I have to really get a move on with that, it's...it's already been some weeks!

Hmm, your home world is very different compared to this place then?

[That's what he takes away from her comments so far at least. Though that last bit throws him a little.]

…Some weeks since what?

[Since she talked to her friends, or what? He's kind of missing something here.]

Er, sorry... Yes. It's a lot different, and it's been some weeks since winding up here. So, uh, so much for adaptability, right? [she tries to push that as a joke, but it's a bit weak.

before that can really sink in, she hastily tacks on:] Not that I'm like--floundering or being a complete disaster or anything! I mean, I figured out the, uh, the microwave-thing? I can do that. So I'm pretty much set? Besides all the...nuances...and the noise and...stuff... [ergh.]

It's fine, it's fine. You haven't gone to any evil fairies for advice, so I don't think you are doing too badly on adapting to going to a new world at all.

[Which was what Riku did when he ended up in a new world the first time, so there's that – since she already knows some of that, he doesn't mind making fun of his initial reaction to ending up in the Outside World. Especially if it helps her calm a little again.]

In my experience, technology can be the most tricky thing about being in a new world. Don't worry if it takes you a while to get a hang of things.

...Is that you speaking from experience, or just trying to make me feel better? [she can make arguments for both cases, the second because he's just so kind in the face of her...herness.]

Well, the first thing is definitely my experience.

[Going to an evil fairy is definitely the worst reaction you can have, don't do it.]

Technology, well… I had a good teacher when I encountered computers for the first time, so I had it easier on that front, I guess, but I know that not everyone is that lucky or has the patience to try around with it.

[Insert a certain Somebody/Nobody pair he could name that resort to smashing computers in one way or another when they don't react the way they want them to.]

So no, this is not me just trying to make you feel better… but if you do feel better just a little, I'm definitely glad.

O-oh. Well, good. I mean--the teacher part. The glad part. Not the...evil fairies part. Gods, the fey are awful in real life? They're much easier to stomach in stories.

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