As some of you may know, Peanut and I are crazy about Roleplaying, and it's clear, since this is the second one on this site that belongs to us. And we aren't even done with the first one! Regardless, that won't stop us from starting this new roleplay, Rude Awakening!

 

Kinda dark and mysterious title, eh?

 

As stated in the title, this RP is one on one, no exceptions. Please refrain from posting in the RP. Instead, follow us on this new journey!

 

Peanut, my amazing friend, let's begin!

Riku rolled his eyes. "You've got to be kidding," he mumbled, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. He realized that he was to blame for this, but didn't Lightning see this whole situation from his point of view? He lowered his hand and looked to her. "Fine, it's my fault. A lot of what's happened to you has been my fault, alright? Don't think for a second that that doesn't kill me every day." Riku's eyes left Lightning's to stare at the coffee table. "First the paparazzi, then you get kidnapped, and then Ansem...." Riku closed his eyes. "You were brought into a war that you weren't meant to fight, and then I couldn't keep any of my promises... I get it, Lightning. I'm a failure. I know this is my fault, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna give up." Riku was going to figure this out and fix it. He had to.

"Self-pity. Attractive," Lightning said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "You say you won't give up, but I don't care anymore. Whatever promises you're going to make to me...Just don't. I don't want any more of your empty promises." They were just words that didn't have any meaning behind them. Good intentions--maybe on some occasions. But he didn't follow through with his promises so she wasn't going to waste her time believing in them any more.

Riku ground his teeth together, opening his eyes to glare at the wall. "Fine," he grumbled, rising to his feet. He approached the front door. "You don't like what I'm doing for you, fine. Leave." He opened the door and waved his arm for Lightning to go ahead and leave his home. But she knew she couldn't; she couldn't even walk. Riku was willing to help her with that, but if she didn't want his help, he wouldn't waste his time anymore.

He doesn't think you can leave. Prove him wrong. Lightning was so stubborn that she had to at least prove Riku wrong with this assumption: She'd make it out of this room. She'd leave. Her feet were already on the ground, so she pressed her hands deeply into the couch and pushed herself to her feet. She gritted her teeth and stared straight ahead, fighting off the intense pain. She was determined to do as Riku said and walk out. 

Riku crossed his arms as he waited, staying by the door. It was late, so at least the paparazzi wouldn't chase Lightning down. That is, if she could make it that far. With the way she had been portraying her injuries lately, she couldn't make it across the room. Riku wanted to see her prove it.

Don't you dare collapse, Lightning warned her legs. She learned her lesson from the gym: she couldn't take this slow and put the pressure on one leg for long. Sliding along the floor and not lifting her feet would work out better than walking. Moving towards the door was better than collapsing. She took a tiny step forward, and then another, and then another. She only made it to the end of the couch before she went down to one knee. 

Riku's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he watching Lightning fall to the floor, but he didn't move from his spot. She didn't believe in his promises, fine. But she still needed him, that much she had to admit. Didn't she realize how much he cared about her? Was she blind to that this whole time?

Lightning rose to her feet again after a minute. The pain was intense enough that she had to inspect her legs to make sure there weren't actually any wounds. But just like earlier, it was all in her stupid head. She made a pattern of it--walking forward a few steps, falling to her knees, and getting back up again. It took her over fifteen minutes to reach the door, and when she was right in front of it, she fell down to both knees. Okay, I made it. Now she just needed to get up and walk.

Riku looked down at Lightning as she remained on the floor. "...Do you plan on doing that all the way to the elevator?" he asked, frowning. It was down the hall, and if it took her fifteen minutes to make it to the door, it would take her thirty to reach the elevator. Riku didn't like witnessing this, but here he was. Maybe he shouldn't have instigated this whole thing...

Edited February 25, 201411 yr by Forever Love

Lightning simply ignored Riku. He was antagonizing her and she knew it. She grabbed the door frame and slowly rose to her feet, though she could barely rise. In fact, she couldn't get two inches off the ground. She sank back down to her knees and leaned the side of her face against the cool interior of the door frame, squeezing her eyes shut. If she still had tears to cry, they would have been rolling down her cheeks to express her pain. 

Riku gazed at Lightning for a minute, eyes softening. Seeing her pain...it hurt his heart, and he doubted she knew that. But even if she did, would that change anything? Deciding not to ponder it, Riku silently closed the door. Lightning was still in the apartment, and by him closing the door, it should have been obvious that he didn't want her to leave. 

Lightning hated that Riku shut the door. She hated that he didn't think she was willing to stumble all the way to that elevator just to get away from him. She lifted one of her hands and grasped the door handle, prepared to turn it so that she could continue on her way after she took a moment to compose herself and get over the searing pain.

Riku glanced from Lightning's hand to her face, lifting an eyebrow slightly. "...You actually think I want you to go?" he asked quietly, calmer than before. He was always quick to anger, a weakness of his that practically everyone knew about. But once he calmed down, he viewed things differently, with more clarity. Lightning should have known that. He never wanted to hurt her, so why would she think that he purposely set her up for jail time?

"I don't care...what you want..." Lightning said through her teeth. She squeezed her eyes shut more tightly, wincing at a sudden pain that came into her legs. She was forced to pull her hand away from the door and grip her leg, trying to make the pain go away somehow. But it was pointless. There was no injury to sooth--only brokenness that she didn't think could be healed.

"That's a lie," Riku said, kneeling down in front of Lightning. He looked from her to her leg, seeing how tightly she gripped it. "And so is that pain. You told me yourself that it's in your head, so why don't you convince yourself that it's not there? I healed you, but that's the most I can do physically for you." He shrugged. "The rest is up to you."

"If it was that easy, I would have done it already," Lightning snapped. She still felt breathless because of the pain, but the words were flowing out now whether she wanted them to or not. "Don't you get it? I don't know why it hurts either! I was shot up and forced to stand and was healed and shot and healed and shot and healed and sh--" She choked out a sudden sob, everything within her threatening to burst again. It hurts so bad. 

Riku wasn't sure what to say, so at first, he didn't say anything. He lowered his gaze to the floor and took in a breath. "...I saw some of it, and I felt a little of it too. It hurts, but I'll never know how bad it was for you," he admitted softly. "...But hearing you scream, and seeing you get hurt... That hurt me, Light. I couldn't stand it." He lifted his gaze to her. "I care about you so much. Why would I want to watch my girlfriend be tortured?" It was the first time he referred to her as his girlfriend, but he didn't regret it. As far as Riku was concerned, they were still dating, even if it didn't feel like it lately.

"To keep her from going to jail," Lightning said in a choked voice, lifting one of her hands away from the leg and realizing it was shaking because of the pain she was experiencing. That was why he should have watched it--to buy her freedom. Of course she knew it wasn't pleasant! But Riku said he'd watch it to keep her out of jail, and then he went back on his promise. It sounded like he never intended to keep it in the first place now. 

Riku saw Lightning's shaking hand, and he slowly reached for it, grasping it with gentle fingers. "...You're not going to jail," he said again. "Why don't you believe me?" Was it because of his empty promises? Maybe, but this one Riku was sure of. Lightning wouldn't be imprisoned. 

"I think you know why," Lightning responded quietly. Though she was severely ticked at Riku, she didn't yank her trembling hand away. Instead, she stared at it. "You can't even keep the small promises. You promised to be with me when I woke up and you weren't. How can I trust you to keep a big promise like that?" She couldn't trust him so easily anymore. Maybe he wasn't a person worthy of her trust like she first thought. 

Riku wasn't sure how to respond to that. He lowered his gaze from Lightning's face to her hand in his. "...I'm sorry," he apologized quietly. He knew he was terrible at keeping promises, but one of these days, he would fulfill one of them. He had to. If he didn't...he wasn't sure what would happen with him and Lightning.

"I don't want apologies." Lightning finally lifted her gaze to Riku's face, sounding more like her old self would have at least with bluntness in mind. "I don't know why I was drawn to you so many months ago. I don't know why you were someone I perceived as being trustworthy." No, that's not quite right... She pieced it together and spoke it. "You were trustworthy back then. But now...What happened to you?" Why couldn't he keep a promise these days? 

Riku had looked up at Lightning halfway through her explanation, eyes softening in sadness. Once she finished, he looked away, releasing her hand. What did happen to him? He wasn't even sure himself... "I don't know," he admitted lowly. It was awful that he wasn't sure, but how else could he answer?

Lightning frowned and looked across the room to the couch. "I guess we both changed for the worse, then," she said quietly. He wasn't a person worthy of trust anymore and she was a broken mess. And she didn't feel like sitting on the floor anymore... She set a hand on the floor and began to rise, but she was surprised when it wasn't her legs that gave out on her first. Her arm felt like jello and she fell gracelessly onto her side, hitting her head on the carpeted floor with a wince.

Riku frowned at Lightning's words, but when she hit her head, his eyes widened with worry. He wouldn't ask her if she was okay, because she clearly wasn't. But what could Riku do? In the past few weeks, he'd done nothing but make her life worse. Maybe Lightning was better off without him.