#❏ 〔 RCSETORN 〕 : Half alive & haunted. “What’s left of me - a cavity - at least this space is mine.”

[grieverled-moved]

DYNAMIC TAG DUMP.

[grieverled-moved]

BOLD MOVE TO TURN HER BACK HIS WAY. Either one born of some small scrap of shared trust or a cocky gesture meant to taunt. Either way, he finds himself laughing softly in response, a tired sound complimented by the light bounce of a shoulder in unbothered nonchalance. She'd never been one to show fear before, never one to show weakness even when she was in a tight enough pinch. She'd been known to fight tooth & nail, more than having the skills of an experienced fighter to win whatever she'd found herself whisked off into as far as trouble went. Generally peaceful, at least her presence was seen as non-hostile since he'd become more familiar with her — it's why he's able to stay so calm in the moment even as she continues to speak.

Her disagreement doesn't exactly come as much of a surprise given . . . what she was. Though he's not sure just what she is. She's not entirely human, bearing abilities beyond what even keybearers or guardians held — a Nobody. Though she seemed lost, trying to find something important to her but in the process, she lingers around as if tethered by some form of almost innocent curiosity.

Memories, if he had to guess — a small set of hairthin triggers that made her latch on without really knowing why.

His expression falls a little, but remains present in the form of a gentle enough smile, wolf grey hues falling on her ivory clad frame as the silence continues to span. But she breaks it soon enough, explaining her side & her thoughts more to the silent gun-blader. All he can do is nod softly, logging the shared bit of information away to peruse through at a later date. His brows knit together, breaking his stare to look off to the side, over the Bailey's railing into the open canyons sprawling wide ahead. Thinking what he wants to say over a few more times, signing before eventually shaking his head as he moves to lean a hip against the stone ledge.

❝ I see . . . ❞ Comes Leon's quiet hum, near a rumble as the man cants his head. ❝ Well . . . that's a lot of loaded questions to ask. But, I'll always argue they're worth remembering. If only to learn the whole truth of a picture, to move forwards with all the pieces intact over having everything be so fragmented. Memories make up a lot of a person through the experiences they go through. What they survived, but the emotions tied to them can be strong, so strong sometimes, they can help you recall what you thought was long gone despite the odds. ❞

Shifting in place, he can't help the anxious sort of restlessness that peeks.

❝ In that case, I don't think you'll have much of a choice if you continue on searching for whatever you're looking for. ❞ Moving to stand straighter, he pushes off the wall he'd been leant comfortably against, one gloved hand coming to rest atop his hip, the other waving in the air between the pair. ❝ Truthfully, I don't know what to make of you guys. I hear a lot of big talk about getting those hearts back, so I think despite what anyone claims, there's humanity in there somewhere. ❞

╼ ༺ :||  Her curls and white cloak billowed in the breeze where she herself remained as a statue of stone and steel. She could only regard him with something that would be considered unreadable. Boredom, uncaring, curious, as if listening and actually taking his words to heart. If only those words were as simple to the abnormalities of Nobodies- those which should not exist. Incomplete as they were, maybe that was why it gave them their desire for a heart, yearning for that which was lost to fill their aching void. Precious memories that helps them give form to their mask of who they express to be.

Then there were the flaw few even among those. The "special" ones.

"Is that so?" she eventually hummed. "Can't say you're right." For whatever reason, the undisputed revelation only seemed another difference that would otherwise alienate her. Maybe it was confidence or something else, but Beatrix did what enemies should never do and turned her back to the other.

"Not sure how much you know about us Nobodies, but memories are what drive the desire for a heart. According unto what I've been told, that is." She paused, and her metal plated hand rose with a gesture of uncertainty for what Leon was most likely piecing together from those few words. "Without a heart, the emotions displayed are nothing more than a fabricated shell of who they once were. They cling onto the humanity they've lost."

There was nothing to even feign disappointment over, these were merely facts. "But erase the memories, and what are you left with? There are a few of us without. Marluxia, the Organization's assassin with rose-colored hair. He's one, I've learned." Though not one with a loose tongue, perhaps leaking information was just another reason they chased rogues down. Beatrix could only speak for herself and her own non-existent ghosts of happiness and sorrow, fear and anger, surprise and disgust. Without desire to retrieve them, she simply was and continued to be.

However, perhaps rather than admitting doubt of her own convictions, it is curiosity which prompts her to question one which by all definition is whole. "What do you make of our existence? Knowing not where nor how I should locate it, save through the Organization, should I still seek out my heart? Do you still believe remembering is worth it for me?"

[grieverled-moved]

                                ➤ @rcsetorn : ♫

I.             𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘 & 𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐄 [ ; ] 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄. Delicate in every way but one — the swordplay \ God knows we like archaic kinds of fun — the old ways \ Chance is the only game I play with \ We let out battles choose us . . .

II.             𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐀𝐆𝐄 [ ; ] 𝐌𝐆𝐌𝐓. Breathing in the dark,  lying on its side   \   The ruins of the day painted with a scar   \   & the more I straighten out,  the less it wants to try   \   The feelings start to rot,  one wink at a time   \   Forgiving who you are,  for what you stand to gain   \   Just know that if you hide,  it doesn't go away   \   When you get out of bed,  don't end up stranded   \   Horrified with each stone on the stage,  my little dark age

III.            𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 [ ; ] 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘. All your lovers,  no they're not your friends   \   Learned the hard way fast that every time you give someone your trust they throw it back   \   Another Sunday waking on the ground   \   Signal breaking down   \   'Cause every time you said they loved you   \   Left & took it back

Got you covered like a body suit made of lead & doubt   \   But you're still wondering why you feel too heavy to go out   \   People calling in a state for you   \   Think they love too loud & so you push them all away   \   But it's too damn quiet now

IV.           𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃 [ ; ] 𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓. Driving off the deep end   \   We swallowed up all of our grief & it's killing us gently   \   Drowning in the feeling   \   Why can't we give up the ghost that is haunting our memories?

V.             𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄 ( 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄 ) [ ; ] 𝐍𝐎𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀.

[grieverled-moved]

always remembering can be as dangerous as always forgetting

Now that was where things differed between them. Between the views they held. Just another thing to butt heads on, he sighs, but with the similarities that do stand between the pair, he knows it runs deeper than that for the woman. In a way, he can relate.

Even now, there were still times he wanted for nothing more than to forget it all, to leave it be & move on in blissful ignorance. But . . . it wouldn't be right. He'd come to that harsh realization long ago, though he knows better than anyone it's far from happy to accept. Some memories were important, the painful ones that hurt to reminisce back on especially, but in the very same vein, that was what made them all the more important not to forget.

For him . . . though he wishes he could forget the fear of falling to darkness, the helplessness that came tethered so close to it, it was also what spurred him to fight as hard as he did in the present. To avoid having to experience that again, to let anyone else experience that very same feeling. It was what drove him, inspired him to be better than to simply let those same memories crush & weigh him down.

With a shrug of his shoulder, he notes how it's strange for her to be out this close to town, how she normally kept far from the busy inner parts of it out of some distrust for Cid's defense system & the other committee members that roamed. They still treated her with an understandable amount of skeptical suspicion, not yet sure what to make of her motives. But in the short time he'd come to know her, though there was a lot still that left her shrouded in mystery, unknown in a way he should be joining the others in their staunch distrust in - he can't.

"Funny. I'd say the same about forgetting." He hums with a light glance over to the ivory-clad swordswoman. "Something's are too important to forget. You lose those memories, no matter how bad they were, you lose a part of yourself too."

Leaning back against the stone ledge of the Bailey, the chill it offers makes his skin prickle. But he continues, determined to try seeing if he could garner anymore info about the strange Nobody - see how chatty she'd felt & if she'd dare to share anything from her enigmatic past. Like a puzzle missing a bunch of it's pieces, he wanted to find something to connect to what he had already, try to make more sense of her motives.

"You sound like you've got some experience in that department. Remembering things you'd rather not."

                              ➤ @rcsetorn