selphie_t | 3 ♥ What a week... [voice; but quiet!]

3 ♥ What a week... [voice; but quiet!]

[To be frank, Selphie didn’t know what to feel. She feels like this has happened before but with different circumstances she can’t quite recall but the feeling of déjà vu is weighing heavily upon her shoulders. After the fighting and the fleeting feelings of panic were done running their course, Selphie merely sat down on the ground in the shadow of the rec centre. She knew that Ikki would find her sooner or later but for now, she needed to sort out her head.

She sat there for quite some time lost in thought. Having a family was amazing and she wouldn’t change a thing in the world for the time she got to spend with the people in her make-believe family. There was one little issue however that was churning inside her belly for quite some time. It was bringing up repressed memories of another time that she doesn’t want to think about. She went still as a statue, her eyes going wide in shock before her hands started to shake.

It was through sheer force of will that she managed to get them to stop. There was a turbulent storm brewing in her and she didn’t have much desire to be around a lot of people but knew that there were others who suffering far more than she was at that time. Childhood trauma aside, Selphie finally stands up and strides out into the light of the plaza with a look of resolution on her face. There were people she needed to find, others she needed to demand answers from and two particular grumps that she wanted to hug more than anything. She could lie down in the dark and have a pity party later on.

Right now. Right there and now, she knew she had to do something as she goes back into the daylight to help where she can. She’s not a recent High School grad working as a receptionist but a SeeD who has been neglecting her training a bit. There’s also the issue of her memories and something that she can’t shake no matter how much she tries to think that it’s all just a trick.

Still, there’s someone in particular that she needs to seek out. She’d borrowed Ikki’s journal for a couple days and had spent a fair amount of time listening to past entries hoping to jog her memory more than talking to people could ever do. All the friends she’d made and lost and some things she’d rather forget despite the shaky details on some of them. A couple of distinct things stand out to her though after going through Ikki’s journal.
It’s with these thoughts in mind that she takes to the journal. However, she keeps the volume down but cheerful none the less.]

Good morning Luceti!

It’s a nice day out don’t ya think?

[Or maybe not because nobody likes having their memories tampered with is what she’s thinking.]

Looks like a lot of things have happened since I was here last, huh? Sorry if I didn’t recognize anybody when I first got here but I think I’ll be all right now. Or… if I was too loud and clumsy.

You know how it is.

Anyway, a certain shameless flirt who knows who he is owes me ice cream. Good thing you work at a convenience store that used to be a pizza shop, right?

And yeah!

[Filtered to Frey.]

We need to talk. As soon as possible.

[/filter]

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[Selphie had a feeling that Ikki wouldn't be too far away from her. The arm wrapping around her waist however catches her off guard, has her almost kicking Hyoga before she looks up and let's the tension drain out of her.]

Jeez you two scared me!

[She eventually leans against him for a bit, her hands resting on top of the open journal.]

It's not the first time this has happened is it?

[He just rolls his eyes. Whatever, she will get used to it again sooner or later, and he's not going to apologize. It's not his fault she can't keep an eye on her surroundings and know who is wrapping an arm around her.]

What are you talking about? Us scaring you, sitting here like this, having our minds played with or given a fake life and family?

[He makes a differentiation between having their minds played with and being given different memories, after all there are more times their minds and hearts are played with that don't involve playing house.]

No.

[Round and firm negative, for all of the things he said.]

[She frowns at his eye rolling, knowing that he has no intentions of apologizing before wondering about what actually scares her more.]

Part of me is still feeling like that Selphie. That's not me at all so you caught me off guard is all.

[Her face takes on a pained look before her fists are balling and slamming against the book underneath them. She feels like a sitting duck inside Luceti and that's a feeling that she can't stand. She doesn't know what's going to happen next and that's another feeling that doesn't sit well with her. In the end, she lets out a slow breath in an attempt to centre herself.]

Right.

[Still feeling like that Selphie. Like the girl she was during that brainwashing invasion. If he allowed himself to be more honest with his own emotions on a regular basis, he would be able to relate. As it is, though, he's too used to throw back everything he doesn't need at the moment and drag it around without ever turning back to glance at it. He doesn't feel like that Ikki at all. And any need he may feel to contact those who had been his family, at least once, is just to show them who he really is. Whatever may happen after that, he convinces himself that he doesn't care about it.]

Guess it's too much to ask for the Malnosso to be competent at least once and do a proper wipe. With how much they love to play with our minds I would have expected them to be more efficient at this.

[He hugs her a bit more tightly, trying to comfort her, to show that he's there. He understands her, and what she's feeling, he knows it well, the initial feeling of being a sitting duck, the realization of being nothing, but a toy in the hands of people who have less morals and common sense than a kid. He doesn't tell her that she will get used to it, or at least that she will be feeling it so much that at the end it will reach a point in which it doesn't affect her anymore, because she has reached the limit and all she can do is to sit and wait for her chance to explode and take her revenge. It's pointless to tell her, after all.]

I don't suppose coming with me to the Battle Dome and smash some heads will help, right?

[Part of her understands without him even having to say a word, nodding at his comments about the Malnosso. She needs to focus on the here and now, do what she can to help those who need it. There's quite a bit that Selphie can deal with but it's nice knowing that at least there's somebody who understands. As she looks up at Ikki with a knowing grin and nods a bit.]

Kicking ass and taking names? Ikki, I never would've thought you to be that type.

What did you expect me to do? Sit in a flower field and make flower crowns?

[He... May have done that. With Kotomi. But Selphie doesn't know and doesn't remember. And if she does he will make her forget!]

[Said flatly:] I think I'd take you to a doctor if you were doing that.

[They got around to talking to each briefly before she disappeared from Luceti but sadly, they never got around to telling each other their names. Nothing was mentioned about Ikki however, so what's not remembered is best left forgotten.]

Hn. If I was in your place I would have taken the killing route because I would think it's an impostor, but I suppose that works just as well.

[It's hard to say how serious he is with that. Then again, when Marco returned in a state different from his normal one, he still acted like himself, just angrier and rougher. Ikki sitting in a flower field and making flower crowns after the Malnosso mess up with his mind and he's conscious of it definitively sounds like an impostor to him.]

Didn't get to ask, was the journal useful?

Okay! So if that happens, I'll just crack you upside the head, hopefully rendering you unconscious before finding somebody to help me drag you off to the clinic. Got it!

[Yay change of topic. She remembers quite a bit more than when she first arrived but there are still large gaps that only the voices of the other people she'd gotten to know could possibly hope to fill. She smiles softly in response.]

It helped quite a lot. Thanks for letting me borrow it.

Good girl.

[And he's serious about that. God forbid the Malnosso from altering him enough to go and do that.]

Nevermind, it's not like I have anything I care about enough to hide.

[Specially from her and if it helps her memory he has even less reasons to hide anything.]

Have you tried to call out for someone yet?

[He actually has a specific person in mind, he has never properly met Frey, but he knows of him, and how he and Selphie were good friends. However, he doesn't really know the guy's name so he leaves it unsaid.]

So you're not worried about that then?

[Selphie's just hoping that she never has to do that.]

Considering all those private conversations you were having with that girl in there but I didn't listen or read any of those. Those are private and between you and her.

[But Selphie can really only imagine how much Ikki misses Kotomi.]

Not yet but there's a few people I really need to speak to in more detail.

[Frey is actually at the top of that list.]

No, why should I?

[He would worry more about her or his other friends being hurt by an impostor, or by an Ikki not acting the way he should.]

Sometimes one has to be tough with people when they aren't being themselves, for everyone's sake.

[Just like it was with Marco when he returned with such a raw personality.

Kotomi's mention causes him to tense, and he doesn't bother to try to hide it, it would be impossible being so close to her. So instead he just... Pulls her closer a bit more tightly, moving his head so it rests above hers, not looking at her face.]

You would have been bored anyway. Most of those were just her reading out loud and me listening.

[The knot on his throat when he talks of her it's painfully noticeable, specially so in a man who often uses guarded tones. It's still guarded, but the emotion is big enough for it to be noticeable through that. His voice is back to normal when they talk about Selphie's other friends.]

I figured so. Don't exert yourself, though, no one is expecting you to remember everything in one go.

Just curious is all. I think between me and Smoker, we could handle an out of character Ikki.

[She can feel his tension through his actions, feeling that he only did this with those he truly trusted. She pats his back a little bit as he rests his head on hers. They were conversations between him and someone that he'll always treasure. It would be rude of her to intrude on something so intimate and personal.

When the conversation turns to something more comfortable, Selphie nods her head.]

It's taken this long to remember as much as I do. I'll figure things out. I always do!

I wouldn't trust in Smoker for that, to be honest. He will be too busy sitting and laughing.

[Because that's what Ikki himself has done whenever Smoker has been changed, sit there, deal with it and laugh a lot at him. Specially if Smoker was conscious of it all after it was over.

Best friends.]

Of course you will, you're a strong and smart girl. And if not, we will just find a Malnosso and give him a beating until they return you your memories.

Not for loooooong~

[Do you see that mischievous look? It's the one that Selphie's flashing at Ikki.

Best bossy little sister. Before long, that wicked look is one of approval.]

Only if I get to help.

[He tightens a bit the arm around her, yes he sees that mischievous look, and he approves of it. As much as he can complain and tsun he loves his adopted sister. He wouldn't call her that if he didn't, after all.]

Sure, of course we can't give them a beating without the principal affected one being there to get her just desserts.

[And here comes a thumb's up.]

And then we blow the place to smithereens!

With or without people inside besides the Malnosso?

[Uninterested tone, this is an important question, though.]

[What sort of question is that, Ikki? Have a sour look.]

Break their prisoners out and leave the jerks to their fate.

[He almost asks "all the prisoners?" but that look makes him reconsider.

But no, he has to ask.]

What about the prisoners that are jerks?

Uh...

[She hadn't quite gotten that far in her thought process. She gives it quite a bit of thought before responding. They could be released merely to commit the same crimes that landed them in prison in the first place. On the other hand, they could be willing to make amends for their past in an attempt to seek forgiveness from those that they've wronged. She wouldn't wish going to prison on anybody after spending time in one herself but even Selphie knows that there are some people who deserve to be there.]

Taking any lives is hard enough as it is but if they're willing to make amends, I say let 'em out.

[He hums at that, he doesn't really have many troubles taking lives. At least not that he lets be seen.]

Good enough.

Besides, [Comes the cheeky reply] somebody has to play the conscience.

I thought that was Smoker... Oh, wait, the conscience would have to be sober and mature, of course. That rules him out automatically.

[BEST FRIEND/SON EVER.]

[Selphie shoots him a sly look before shooting a retort back.]

Well, I suppose that counts you out too then.

3 ♥ What a week... [voice; but quiet!]

[Action] Ikki is suddenly a male model for L'Oreal?

[Action] If he is this is the first notice I have of it <.<

[Action] He's got the brooding look down then. ;)

[Action] He has had it since birth, he's a natural

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