Fear and hatred by association [Backdated to the 19th]

[attheclocktower]

Characters: Xion and anyone she stumbles upon
Setting: Floor 2 briefly, then floor 3, Floor 25, & Floor 1
Format: Action to start but I'll follow you
Summary: Given what happened the last time she got a collar checkup, Xion is not thrilled about her next one. This leaves her in an irritable and jumpy mood for the rest of the day. Also she may be keeping an eye out for certain people, given what happened. Castmates I'm looking at you
Warnings: Angst/self-blame, potential mentions of kidnapping and trauma, etc.

[ Floor 2 & 3 ]

[Xion doesn't hang out for long after her collar checkup is over, merely bidding farewell to Axel and heading upstairs to the library, where she finds a random book on some topic she's vaguely interested in, walks over to a chair and jams herself down in it, visibly tense and unhappy and frustrated.

It should be pretty clear that reading isn't helping whatever is bothering her, judging by the fact that here eyes aren't really moving around the page a lot. She also has a tendency to - every once in a while - shut the book, put it down, stand up, and walk back over to the shelves, where she pulls down another book seemingly at random.

It's pretty clear that - as much as she's trying - her mind is elsewhere, and not in a very happy location.]

[ Floor 25 ]

[She's horribly out of practice and she knows it. Between her arm being hurt, being asleep for so long, and all the other things the Tower's thrown her way, her movements feel so rusty... A part of her wonders if it wouldn't be better to do this on actual monsters, the way she used to fight Dusks back in the Hall of Empty Melodies in The World that Never Was. At the same time, it seems foolish to invite trouble in the Tower, and Floor 25 is one of the clearer, more open spaces that she knew about. Maybe there was somewhere on one of the new floors she could train better later.

But for now, she's on floor 25, Keyblade in hand, practicing a series of blocks and basic strikes. The movement helps burn off some of her frustration and unhappiness, and just overall there's a certain... feeling like she's missed this, strange as it may seem to her later. Plus if she ever runs into Vanitas again, she wants to be ready. She doesn't want to be taken by surprise, left for her friends to save and get in trouble for her sake. Maybe she should talk to Aqua about starting those lessons soon...]

[ Floor 1/Dining Area ]

[Grilled fish for dinner. She isn't quite as tired of it as she was getting of soup last month, but she still wishes there was more varieiy to the foods the kitchen provided sometimes. She picks at her plate halfheartedly, sitting in a corner of the dining area, occasionally glancing up and around to see if anybody else is nearby.]

Comments

[attheclocktower]

It's all right. I'm not sure fish is my favorite anyway.

[Not that she's familiar with all the different kinds of fish. Maybe it's just this particular kind... Or it could be the effect of the same general meals being offered. Maybe if she learned to cook she could try to make some of it differently...]

It's not bad though.

[Not terrible, not great. About normal food in the Tower if you don't go to the restaurant and you don't know how to cook yourself.]

[mamadonna]

[ Dolorosa herself isn't a bad cook, if the awareness that the option is offered ever reaches her. But provided meals or compelled preparation is what she expects from captivity, so she's never thought more on it yet. ]

It could be said to lack character. A naked entree with little in the way of garnish or other accompaniment can be a rather disappointing prospect, if one is accustomed to more.

But I suppose our circumstances do not tend to allow for such luxuries. [ She coaxes one of her little cubes onto the form and chews it discreetly. ]

[attheclocktower]

[It took her a little while to work out the meaning behind the sentences - or at least what she figured was the meaning. Disadvantages of being only a year old and raised where you only learned what was necessary to do your job.

The last part was easy enough, at least.]

I guess not. ...It seems like a lot of things here are like that. [Like not having extra blankets in sub-zero temperatures...]

[mamadonna]

[ She finishes chewing, her smile turning more thoughtful, a little sad. ]

I'm afraid that's largely the case when one is in captivity. The amenities are simplified dramatically to only the barest minimum.

[attheclocktower]

I guess so.

[She wouldn't really call being captive of the Organization, though at the moment she'd been brought to the Tower she certainly hadn't been brought back willingly. But how would Dolorosa know, unless-]

Wait... does that mean you've- [Wait that... probably wasn't the best thing to ask. She ducks her head.] Sorry...

[mamadonna]

Don't worry yourself over it. Do you know, I actually allowed myself to believe I'd found some kind of escape on my arrival here.

[ But, of course, she had certain people in the Tower that she'd lost at home, so it was more like transitioning to a very different kind of captivity. ]