catching up with the sad posts i have to make in three parts

[forceless]

Characters: Ven, Aqua, [OU] Sora, Roxas, [OU] Xion, and Open on the parts that are
Setting: Floor Two Infirmary, backdated to before the Labyrinth [CLOSED-ish]
Room 1-16, backdated before the Labyrinth
Floor Three Library during the Labyrinth Event
Format: Starting prose 'cause ~DRAMA~, but I can do whatever.
Summary: Ven deals with the aftermath of Vanitas' impromptu heart surgery not as well as he did the first time. And watching the events of the labyrinth on the monitors doesn't help much at all.
Warnings: Tower of Sadimus, sad blonde lump being sad.

[Floor Two Infirmary - CLOSED sort of to [OU] Sora and/or those involved in the Heart Catastrophe & BACKDATED]

Ven was laying on an infirmary bed. He'd been doing so for some time. He didn't feel strong enough to move. He didn't particularly want to. His chest didn't particularly hurt anymore. But he felt the same feeling of slipping away. Again.

His eyes were dull and glazed over in blue, half-lidded. He stared at the ceiling. He didn't feel up to moving much.

[Room 1-16 - BACKDATED & OPEN]

He hadn't left his room in awhile now. Sometimes he went on the elevator to go down to the Cafeteria to get something to eat, but sometimes he just didn't want to. Ven hated himself for being so down about this-- he wasn't slipping away anymore and he wouldn't, he wouldn't, but-- well. If he understood everything he was feeling, he wouldn't be as depressed. So for now he was simply sitting on his bed, staring at some book that was openo n his bed, but not really reading it or paying attention. He hadn't bothered to shut the door entirely, so if someone were curious or peaking in, he sure wasn't going to stop them.

[Floor Three Library - ACTUALLY PRESENT-DATED OH SNAP & OPEN]

So his spirits still weren't totally up to snuff, but Roxas had at least convinced (see: forced) him to get his butt out of his room, and so here he was, sitting at the computer terminal with a few companions, clicking and watching some of the video from the labyrinth.

And resting his head on the desk in front of him as if he were a mopey, tired, computer student. Man he hated this Tower so much.

Comments

1-16 backdated

[beknightedheroine]

Tap tap.

Sayaka knocks, and lets out an audible "oh!" when the door moves from the contact with her knuckles. She's uneasy and had felt rather too guilty to go to this room again _{(considering what happened last time)} before now. But she had kept an eye out for Ven around the tower and, guess what - hadn't seen him the once. So hey guess who's gonna peer in on you, because that's what friends do!!!

[forceless]

"--Huh?"

Ven looked up from the book he wasn't reading when he heard the knock and the gasp. He stared at her standing at the door for a minute. "Uh... hi."

He answered simply. He knew he knew her, but crap, what was her name again...?

[beknightedheroine]

"--Hi! I messed up my grand entrance. huh..! ..um. I hadn't seen you in the tower, so I thought I'd finally drop in."

[forceless]

"Oh." Right, she had come to check on him too when he was freaking out about Vanitas-- they were going to fight monsters together! Right, she had magical powers that weren't a keyblade and stuff.

Ven offered a sad smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "You can come in if you want. I'm fine, just... kind of tired."

[beknightedheroine]

"I'll take you up on that!"

Sayaka slips inside in a flash, bouncing on the edge of one of his roommate's beds in lieu of having a chair.

"Wow, these things are springy. No wonder you've slept bad."

TO THE LIBRARY

[attheclocktower]

[She was glad of the opportunity to hang out with Roxas and Ven. Hopefully it would get her mind off of things. The nightmares she'd been having were horrible - probably because of what she'd done to help her friends. And yet she couldn't bring herself to regret any of it.

Though it did make it awkward, looking at them. Especially Roxas.

The fact that Ven was watching the video feed from the labyrinth wasn't helping.]

Maybe we should watch something else?

[Or read or something. Just not... that.]

HOORAwait this is sad

[lamentless]

[Rox had been happy and surprised Ven had actually left their room, and the library was one of the safest places he knew. Plus, it was near the cafeteria, in case any of them wanted a fine dining experience of nutribars. But in retrospect, it had been a...pretty poor idea.

He'd been trying very hard to avoid the terminals, but he couldn't help looking on while Ven kept his head down. He was so burned out and tired, and he wanted to do something, but...]

...they're showing us this for a reason. I don't think it's just psychological, though.

[Sorry Xion, Rox is stuck in investigation mode. You may have to rely on Ven to agree with you.]

it'll....get.....better......????

[forceless]

[Ven didn't readily disagree with Xion; but he did look up a bit, and click away from the video feed. Given what was going on though, he wasn't about to drop the subject so readily.]

...Not psychological...?

[He shifted his head a bit to look at Roxas.] Like... get us angry...? Like after....

[....

Crap he couldn't remember the details of the other experiment he was thinking about. Don't mind him trailing off there.]

Hopefully. :'D

[attheclocktower]

[Xion can't help but turn her back on the screen, tense and upset. Sora had already died in that awful place. She'd had nightmares ever since the thing had started. Between all the people she'd spoken to, she had an idea what it was all about.]

... It's probably so people can sponsor their friends.

[No, she's not speaking from personal experience, what are you talking about?

Ven's words are a bit of a distraction, and she glances over at him.]

You mean... the thing a couple months ago? Or... have they been doing this longer than that?

[Not a cheery thought. Quite the opposite.]

i feel so horrible backtagging this after today and all

[lamentless]

If they were being that kind, they could have not done this at all.

[That crinkling sound is Rox tightening his grip on the back of Ven's chair.]

...I can't remember how many times they've done things like this. It's been ten months since we've been here. [He knows. He counted.] The teddy bears...the time people began to go mad...and the first experiments...

[In retrospect, this was the worst way for him to take this conversation.]

Room 1-16 SINCE I AM TAGGING ERRYTHANG

[lamentless]

The door, even if it was ajar, was awkwardly kicked in by a certain roomie carrying a tray with a dome-lid on it. Given it was not bar-shaped, in a weird wrapper, or smelling nutritious at all, ti was probably not from the cafeteria. However, the blonde also seemed a bit haggard as he set it on Ven's night-stand.

"I hope you're hungry, Ven."

YEEEAAAAH

[forceless]

Ven didn't seem to pay much mind to the movement until whatever Roxas had been carrying was placed on his night-stand. He looked up, a small look of surprise on his face, glancing back and forth between it and Roxas a few times before settling on Roxas.

"What's this...?"

WOOOOOOOO

[lamentless]

"Food."

No, duh.

"I wanted to cheer you up, so..."

Roxas pulled the dome up with a half-attempted flourish, displaying...a cheeseburger with fries. Classy.

"I got you something good, instead of those bar things."

/guitar riff

[forceless]

Classy or not, it did look pretty good compared to all of the other crap they'd had to eat lately. As much as crap he still felt like, Ven did muster up a smile and a chuckle.

"You didn't have to do that," He said, rubbing the back of his neck a bit. "I'm fine."

/drum solo

[lamentless]

"I did, because you're my friend." Roxas plopped down on the edge of Ven's bed, the lid still in his hands. There really wasn't enough room on the stand to set it down, so eh whatever. With his luck the restaurant would remove his...nose, or something, for smudging their metalware.

"Don't lie, Ven. I'm worried about you." Wow, he didn't want to have this conversation, but he sort of had to. "You're...well. You're my best friend here. I don't like seeing you upset like this."

Floor 2 Infirmary

[derping]

[He walked in quietly, trying to be careful in case Ven was asleep. Because...he probably needs rest, right? Even if this wasn't the normal kind of being sick. It was the first time Sora had visited his friend in since everything happened. He didn't know many of the details right now...just that Vanitas had done something really bad to him, and that he hadn't left the infirmary yet. But he didn't need to - he just wanted to see if Ven was getting any better.

Sora wasn't sure how he felt right now. Worried, definitely. But there was something else. It was as if something was telling him that he should have been there to help, somehow. Or that he should do something now.

And Sora had never been one to question his heart, even if he didn't understand what it was telling him.]

Ven?

[He spoke when he realized that the other boy was awake, and walked closer to his bedside. Or...he looked awake. But something really was wrong.]

Hey...Can you hear me?

[forceless]

[He didn't seem to respond to Sora's voice or movements. There was some part of him that was aware of who it was-- Sora, of course, the one that was-- more familiar? He wasn't sure what that quite meant even in a normal state of mind though.

His neck shifted as if he were trying to look, but that was about as much acknowledgement that Sora got.]

[derping]

[The fact that there was barely even a twitch in response made Sora worry even more. He wanted to help, but...what could he do?

To give himself some time to think, he glances over the room, spotting a chair. He goes to pick it up, taking it closer to Ven's bed so that he could sit. Somehow, he had a feeling he'd be there for a little while.]

What even happened to you, anyway?

[He couldn't figure it out. What could have happened that would make him...well, like this?]

Can you tell me what's wrong? Or...at least give me some kind of hint?

[Asking might not work, but it was worth a shot.]

[forceless]

[Maybe it was because of the close proximity, but for whatever reason, even though Ven didn't move much more, he began talking. The least he could do was a rehash of something very familiar.]

My heart...is fractured. [It almost seemed as if he was just going on autopilot at this point, and his hand came up to rest on his chest, over his heart.]

And now... the little I have left is slipping away.

[derping]

Your heart...

[There it was again - that strange feeling of familiarity. Hard as Sora tried to reach for the reason why he felt it, though, there was no way for him to find it. The source of this feeling wasn't memory.

Sora wanted to help, badly. But how does someone fix a fractured heart? He was sure he didn't know, but...

But part of him did.

He put his hand over his own heart, and he remembered something that Riku had said to him long ago, though he couldn't place the time, or remember why his friend had said it.

"Maybe they just need you to open your heart and listen."

Open his heart...

Sora wasn't sure when his hand moved from resting over his own heart to resting over Ventus'. He didn't even have the chance to notice - soon enough, he was sound asleep.

He wasn't sure where he was now, or how his voice was reaching Ven. But he talked anyway.]

I think there's a way I can help.

1-16

[justabignobody]

Riku has been checking on people all week now; Xion (both of them), his own double, the older Ventus... after what had happened with Vanitas, even those that had come out of the battle alright weren't really anything near okay. And really... most of them hadn't been alright.

He hadn't seen how the battle with Vanitas had gone or what had happened to Ven, but... given who they were to each other and that Ven had been the target of the attack... when Riku passed the half open room and sensed the other in there.... well. It certainly wouldn't hurt to check on Ven (...especially considering that he could sense that something... really didn't seem quite the same).

Pushing the door a little wider open, he knocks lightly against the door frame, head tilting slightly.

"Hey..."

[forceless]

Ven looked up with a bit of dull surprise when he heard the knock on the door frame. He didn't have anything against Riku, and he had appreciated his help when he was looking for Vanitas and trying to find Xion, but-- he didn't peg Riku for the kind to come and find him or anything.

"Hey," He said simply, looking off to the side and then back at the book that he wasn't really reading. "Uh, need anything...?"

[justabignobody]

Well, given possible connections between Ventus and Roxas (there is just no way there isn't one, not given how very much alike they look) and by that extension to Sora, he admittedly has some ulterior motive to seek out Ven... but it's not the only reason he was here. And certainly not the first and foremost one.

He crossed his arms, as he shook his head once.

"Not really." After a moment of hesitation, he added: "Just wanted to check on you."

[forceless]

Hey, if Riku could figure out what bizarro crap was going on with all of the facetwins, Ven would gladly welcome it despite ulterior motives.

"I'm fine," He said simply, looking back down and fidgeting with his fingers a bit. "Just tired, is all."

[justabignobody]

Riku will do his best to, at least.

He doesn't say anything at that, only keeps standing right where he is, an eyebrow raised as he keeps his eyes trained on Ventus. It's not that easy to get him to back off when he's concerned.