nysalogs | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Roxas (

pullsheavendown) & Claire Fraser (

nineteenfortyfive)
What: A nice lady wants to know whether a sad orphan boy needs, like, cardiac care
When: A few days after this conversation
Where: Claire's clinic
Warning(s): Nah

[Roxas isn't sure what to make of this clinic visit. He doesn't need to see a doctor; he's not sick. He's never been sick, actually, or been to a doctor, which maybe means it's more important for him to see one now; he doesn't know. Doctors and checkups are normal things for normal people, and six days in DiZ's fake town aside, Roxas has never been in spitting distance of normal.

But he likes Claire, and she'd asked him to come, leaving the choice up to him. That's enough that he doesn't mind doing so, even if he doesn't know why. When he steps inside, it's only with some hesitation, and a small smile.]

Hi, Claire? I'm here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Hearts and memories and some mess with both of the above. It makes little sense to Claire--and she doubts Roxas will ever make much sense with the whole keyblade thing--but it concerns her, and so she figures she might as well check the boy out. Besides, he is very much a boy, isn't he? He's one of the younger people she's met here and that too concerns her.

Her clinic, now looking much more put together and less likely to fall onto any patients, does indeed contain one Claire Fraser. She looks up from the table where she'd been mixing something together with a small smile of her own.]

Roxas, you made it. Hello.

[Nothing spooky here.]

[Seeing her relaxes him—not a lot, but a little. There's something about her demeanor that's calming. Maybe it's a doctor thing?]

This is where you do doctor stuff? It's nice.

[Ish.]

Thank you, it is. I'm glad you came.

[She approaches him so that she can put a friendly hand on his shoulder. After the initial rush of returning to the city, and rebuilding, her clinic is back to being fairly quiet and empty. Most days it's just her puttering about and playing with medicines.

That hand on his shoulder guides him over to where she was working, to an open seat.]

Please, have a seat.

Sure.

[He goes along with her, not minding this much. There aren't any needles that he can see, so whatever a check-up involves doesn't seem too bad so far.]

Do you get all the new people in here?

[Claire pulls up another chair so that she can sit. She's sure he must be a little nervous, as most people are, walking into a clinic.]

Not as many as I'd like. I do have a few regulars, but most of my patients tend to be the people of Olympia.

Well, maybe not everyone gets sick. Or hurt.

[The second one is less likely, but it makes more sense for people who don't fight a lot.]

I've never been to a doctor before.

[He's not wrong. Some people here, she's pretty certain, are physically incapable of becoming ill. But his next comment makes her frown.]

Never? Your parents never took you for a check up?

[He blinks in surprise, like he can't make the connection between her words and himself for a moment.]

Oh, I don't have parents.

[Oh. She blinks back similarly. Of course. How many people here, especially the young ones, have parents? Even before the Storm?]

I see. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed.

You don't have to be sorry. I've never had parents.

[Not a mother and father. Sora's parents are Sora's parents, not his. And Sora might have made him, but he's not Roxas' dad.]

Don't worry about it.

[Good lord, this poor boy. Claire manages to keep her reaction to a small frown that she forces into a small smile.

Well, that settles it.]

All the more reason for someone to make sure you're in good shape then, isn't it?

I guess so.

[He's not against it, depending what it involves. But Roxas figures he'll be fine, regardless. If nothing ever got him down for too long when he was with the Organization, out fighting Heartless every day, what could happen to him here?]

What do you do in a check-up?

The main thing I'd like to do is take a listen to your heart.

[Might as well come right out with it.]

The things you and Terra have said are rather confusing, and frankly, a bit concerning.

[She's not sure what she's expecting, but it'll always be in the back of her mind if she doesn't check.]

Oh.

[He nods, somewhat hesitant now. What would listening to his heart tell her? Wait, can she even listen to it? If that's all it took, wouldn't the other Nobodies have figured out sooner that their hearts could be restored?]

Go ahead?

[Is she going to use her ear or...]

[If he's not gone to a doctor before, Claire imagines he might not know what a stethoscope is. She leans over in her seat to grab it off the table. After a moment, she hands it to him.]

Here. I'll let you try it on me, first. You put these ends in your ears.

[Hello, tactic of making sure small children aren't afraid. He doesn't need to know it, though.]

[He has fuzzy memories of the doctor from that week in the fake Twilight Town, but they're more of the concept of doctors than the reality. Programming the details hadn't been important, and his rewritten personality had never needed to think about medicine.

Obligingly, he takes the earpieces and puts them in, waiting to see how this works.]

[Scooting a little closer, Claire takes the metal end and presses it to her chest. And, sure enough, there's a steady heartbeat.]

Can you hear it?

[They might have a problem if he can't.]

Yeah. It's cool, that you can hear it through this little thing.

[Science seems like it should be big.]

And nothing to worry about. Shall we trade ends, then, so I can listen to your heart?

I wasn't worried.

[This is fine, right? He takes out the earpieces and hands the device over. His collar is loose enough that she can slip it under if she needs to.]

Go ahead.

Just making sure.

[He's calm, but she doesn't want thoughts to swim around in his head too much. The metal might be cold against his skin, but it's just a moment before it warms, and she listens.

Welp. There's a heart in there, at least.]

And you've been feeling fine?

[It's cold enough to make him shiver, but he's head worse. He's tough. He can take it.]

Should I not feel fine?

I don't, Roxas. This is all rather strange to me.

[She pulls back, frowning.]

Should I be worrying about your health or Terra's sanity?

Maybe just the second one?

[It's sort of a joke, but...sort of not.]

Why'd you want to listen to my heart?

I don't understand a lot of the things I've been hearing, Roxas. Losing hearts, losing memories... it's not normal, even for people who might not be... normal.

[He can't argue with any of that.]

I know. That's about all I know about normal—that I'm not it.

[He doesn't say it with self-pity or sadness. It is what it is.]

Um...Claire? That thing can't tell you anything about my heart. Not the one Terra probably mentioned. The one I lost is different from the, um, muscle.

[... all right, then. She tosses the stethoscope aside.]

Then explain it to me, Roxas, because I really have no bloody idea what's going on.

[He blinks in surprise before his shoulders slump a little. He feels...not exactly guilty, but almost like he should. Maybe he just wishes he were normal.]

A heart is what makes you...you. A vital piece of a person, but not something anyone can touch. It's what connects people to each other, and helps us make memories and feel emotions...and if you lose yours but manage to keep going, you can't feel anything. At all.

[Not the organ, but it's not really a metaphor, is it? Claire rests her elbows on her knees, listening, and trying to understand.]

Like a soul? [In the romantic sense.]

I guess it's something like that.

[Not exactly the same. Not that Roxas is an expert on souls. But if she's never known anything about hearts before, it's probably the closest thing.]

A couple of years ago, something happened to me, and I lost mine. And kept going.

And then what happened, Roxas?

[She doesn't mean to sound like a therapist--truly, she's curious. How does one go on without a soul, heart, or whatever it is?]

I met other people like me and joined up with them. Kind of a bad crowd, but they said we could get our hearts back if we worked together. And I met my best friend there, so not all of them were bad.

[He knows he's glossing over a lot, but he's pretty sure including all the details will just make it harder to understand.]

How exactly does one get a heart back?

[It's a detail she's morbidly curious about.]

It....grew back.

[After a moment, he laughs.]

That sounds crazy, doesn't it? It's not like I can just...open myself up and look inside. But I can feel things now when I know I couldn't before. I remember my first day as a Nobody, a little, and I couldn't feel anything.

I think it might have something to do with connections people make. None of the other members of the—of the group I was in ever really had friends. But me and Axel were friends, and both of us started to feel emotions again, I know we did.

[Well, it's a hell of a time to really hear Roxas laugh.]

I've hear some crazy things in my time.

[Like time travel. And giant, rotting dragons brought back from the dead.]

Is it possible something similar happened to Terra? Or... his friend, I suppose. The friend that's not you.

[Roxas can't tell whether she fully believes him or not, but at least she's listening.]

Terra? I don't think so. He acts like he feels way too many things to be a Nobody.

[Some members of the Organization had been good at pretending, but he doesn't think anyone's that good.]

I guess it could have happened to his friend. It's not that common, but all it takes is a strong will. If he lost his heart, he could have ended up like me.

So... it's likely, then, that this really is just one big misunderstanding?

[She'll have to dwell on this a bit, but she's following as best as she can.]

And I don't need to worry about your heart?

[He pauses for a moment, expression shifting into a soft smile. No one's ever worried about him who didn't have a reason to.]

You don't have to worry about my heart. But it's really nice that you would.

As for the rest...we'll figure that out, I hope. It's some kind of misunderstanding.

[Because no matter how much he looks like Ventus or why, he isn't him, and that's that.]

I'll leave that to you, then. But... if there's anything I can help with, please let me know.

[He seems like one of the younger people she's encountered here.]

And let's keep that heart where it's supposed to be. All forms of it.

I will.

[He hops to his feet, and pauses before walking out. He feels like he wants to say something more, but he's not sure what. Words have never been his strong point.]

Thanks, Claire.

[So, this was perhaps a bit of an odd mix-up, but maybe it's not so terrible. This one seems like a good kid.]

Of course. Let me know if you need anything, Roxas.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(no subject)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

For maximum Disney, this tag comes direct from the Magic Kingdom

I've never had a more authentic tag

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject