[saba/jade/open] Midnight Noms

[Linai Faela]

"Speech." - "Quote." - Thought. - Action.

The scythe-wielding girl did not respond to Linai's question immediately; instead, the black-haired man replied, stating after casting a side-long glance at the girl, "I think she'll be find on her own." Linai blinked and turned her big, innocent brown eyes to look at the girl, as though waiting for her to respond. She didn't disappoint. "They won't target me, and if they do, I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle." That was highly likely and believable... she seemed completely capable of helping herself.

It took a moment for the first part of the girl's statement to sink in to Linai's pretty little head. Won't target her? Linai thought, admittedly a bit dumbstruck by this. Why not? What's so different abotu her...? Do the Heartless know she's strong enough to defend herself from them? I sure wouldn't mess with her if I was a squinky little Shadow... Honestly, Linai didn't know what to think or do. There wasn't much she could do... especially not now that these two adult-ish people had gotten their hands - well, weapons - on the enemies.

The crowd of at least ten or fifteen different Shadows and metal-clad giant-Shadow things had been thinned down surprisingly swiftly, and now what few had remained had scattered for fear of their... anti-lives. The black-haired man's voice broke into Linai's thoughts, and immediately she looked towards him, looking a bit surprised at his sudden speech. "My offer still stands if you're interested," he stated. "Not that you can't fight, it just might allow you to get home quicker."

His next words stung, if only a bit, and though she knew it wasn't his intention to hurt her feelings, she clutched the tubs of ice cream a bit tighter and averted her gaze, shuffling her feet nervously. "It'd be a shame if you ventured out tonight and dealt with all these Heartless only to have the ice cream you came to get melt." She hated having to admit that she really was that weak and innocent and helpless. If only she could defend herself better, maybe she wouldn't have been so upset by what he said.

He seemed to quickly move on, and Linai couldn't keep herself upset for long. She looked to him again as he introduced himself as Sentenza, a bit hastily, as though he'd only just realized that he hadn't said his name. Linai looked to the other girl who had decided to be the first to respond. "I'm Kiaxi." Linai tilted her head slightly, a faint pursing of her lips an apparent sign that she was interested and perplexed by that name. She'd never heard a name like it before.

A moment of silence and the teenager realized that she was the only one left. Quickly she managed to stammer, "I-I'm Linai." She looked at Sentenze rather hopelessly for a moment, then murmured, "I, um, suppose an escort would be a good idea..." She looked at her feet, now feeling quite ashamed. And to think that she'd always been so outgoing and felt so great about her talents... here she couldn't even display a single moment of confidence.

[Sentenza Hoshizuki]

Sentenza gave Linai glance, and saw the shame that seemed to radiate from her. "Being unable to fight is nothing to feel ashamed of." Sentenza said. He took Linai's hand and held it, trying to calm her down a little from being so shaken up. "It's a blessing." Sentenza said. "Fighting is ugly, even it's against Heartless. All it does it bring pain on everyone involved." Emotion never entered Sentenza's face as he spoke. "I wish I didn't have to fight, I wish I could just fly away from harm, like a bird, soaring towards a new future." Sentenza said. "But I'm not the only one that heartless target, there are others that could use the help." Sentenza let go of Linai's hand.

Hearing the woman's name, the statement about not being in harms way from the heartless made sense. Sentenza put two and two together and realized that Kiaxi must be a nobody, but didn't make anything of it, as she obviously had no intention of harming anyone. "Well, Linai, I'm sure Kiaxi must have other places to go." Sentenza said. "Why don't we get you home?" Sentenza stood ready for Linai's reaction.

[Kiaxi Snowe]

Her gaze darted between the two for a moment, lingering a tad longer on Linai before tearing her attention away from the girl and focusing on Sentenza as he spoke. It was true, fighting was such an ugly, barbaric activity but if it meant the difference between life and death then it was necessary to partake in the action, if only to prolong your own life. Though, she’d admit that her life was already pretty prolonged being that she didn’t have a regular human lifespan and would live until someone stronger than her came along and destroyed her.

“While I agree with Sentenza that fighting is an ugly thing—it’s also quite necessary for survival. I’m sure you wouldn’t have wanted to get caught out here with the heartless by yourself, if you know how to fight you can at least fend them off long enough to get to a safe place.” She didn’t mean to come off as condescending or mean in any way, and she didn’t realize that her words may have come off that way depending on how Linai took it. But it was true. Would Linai have been able to protect herself had Sentenza and herself not been there to do it for her? Would another life have been taken by the heartless tonight? It was an interesting thought, if not somewhat morbid, to think about.

“Perhaps you should think about learning to fight? Nothing too hardcore, at least learn enough so that you could easily defend yourself during an attack?” She suggested quietly. It was then that she remembered the icy treat slowly defrosting in the paper bag, discarded several feet away. Kiaxi had dropped it by the entryway as soon as the Heartless had shown up and had forgotten about it until now, shuffling towards the brown paper bag with the Market’s logo on it she retrieved her groceries.

[Linai Faela]

"Speech." - "Quote." - Thought. - Action.

They could read her like a book. Linai couldn't even argue with Sentenza once he began to speak, especially not since he was probably right. "Being unable to fight is nothing to feel ashamed of," he stated. The other girl - Kiaxi - glanced between the two of them, though her eyes seemed a bit more fixed on Linai than the man. There was a sudden sensation, and Linai found her hand held gently in the man's. It was odd, the feeling of having someone be so close that they could hold your hand.

Linai both enjoyed and feared the sweet, gentle attempt at reassurance. After a moment of simply standing there like an idiot and allowing him to hold her hand, she felt herself relaxing a little, and she felt her hand subconsciously close against his. Sentenze went on after his first statement, saying that being unable to fight was a blessing. "Fighting is ugly, even if it's against Heartless. All it does is bring pain on everyone involved." He took a pause to consider his words before going on.

"I wish I didn't have to fight. I wish I could just fly away from harm, like a bird, soaring towards a new future." It was strange to hear such wishful thinking from someone who appeared so confident in his own abilities to fight and defend helpless teenagers. Linai felt like a little girl all over again. Sentenza, however, seemed to feel nothing - at least, he expressed nothing. As calm and relaxed and wistful as his words were, it didn't show in his tone. It was like he was just going through the motions. Linai didn't really mind.

Sentenza went on, letting go of her hand, "But I'm not the only one that Heartless target; there are others that could use the help." Kiaxi seemed prepared to put in her own two cents as Sentenza finished. "While I agree with Sentenza that fighting is an ugly thing, it’s also quite necessary for survival. I’m sure you wouldn’t have wanted to get caught out here with the Heartless by yourself; if you know how to fight you can at least fend them off long enough to get to a safe place."

Linai looked at her feet, feeling a bit hurt by those very true words. She hadn't planned on getting caught by Heartless. So many things could have changed the outcome of this night; had she not bumped into the man, or the girl, or gotten out of her house, then none of this wouldn't have happened. She could've walked faster, or slower, maybe, or spent more time in the store, and then she wouldn't have met these Heartless and these people... Had she just been braver, then these people wouldn't be waiting for her to stop freaking out.

"Perhaps you should think about learning to fight?" Kiaxi suggested. Linai felt even more ashamed now. I know how to fight... she wanted to argue, but she didn't. "Nothing too hardcore. At least learn enough so that you could easily defend yourself in an attack?" Linai looked at the ground and scuffed one foot. Kiaxi walked away, going for her own ice cream that she'd grabbed. Sentenza seemed quite prepared to talk to Linai and take her home.

"Well, Linai, I'm sure Kiaxi must have other places to go," he said. "Why don't we get you home?" Linai nodded absently. She wanted to tell them she knew how to fight, but she didn't. They didn't need to know; it would just make her look more pathetic. Linai let out a sigh, beginning to walk back towards home with the cold tubs of ice cream held in her arms as though she were hugging onto them for dear life.

[Sentenza Hoshizuki]

"Fighting is necessary, and that's part of it's curse. I wish for a tomorrow where that isn't the case." Sentenza replied to Kiaxi. Sentenza could tell Linai was quite nervous, and he gently gripped one of her hands again. "It's okay, I won't let anything happen to you." Sentenza said. He started walking along side Linai back to her home. Sentenza was utterly quiet, he wasn't much of a talker most of the time. It took a while for Sentenza to speak again. "I could teach you to fight if you want." Sentenza said, somewhat quietly. He didn't want to. Words could not describe how little he wanted to, but Linai probably needed to fight. Sentenza, unfortunately, at least in his mind, knew how to fight, and he had a feeling Linai at least somewhat trusted him at this point. "You need to learn somehow, and as much I hate violence, I do know how to fight, and could probably get you a weapon if you don't have one already." Sentenza said. He somewhat wondered about Linai. There was something almost similar to a scared child to her. She seemed nervous, and her mannerisms were somewhat childish.