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 smirked, shaking his head. "Not possible," he commented. She may have done it once, but now that he knew her, she wouldn't get under his skin that deeply again. Lightning was....different than any other girl he knew, and that was why he stuck around so long. He wanted to get to know her a little better.

Lightning felt her expression change, the girl feeling like she was losing control of this conversation. "I can't do anything to get you annoyed enough with me that you want out?" she repeated, phrasing what she just said a moment ago differently. Was that a promise from Riku? Or was it a challenge? She wasn't lovable; he had to know that by now. She could find some way to tick him off enough that he'd never want to see her again.

"I dealt with Darkness for two years on my own," Riku said, looking over at Lightning again. His eyes locked onto hers, his smirk remaining. "I think I can handle a girl's teenage hormones." He then winked at her, expecting her to become flustered with the expression. Girls always had, but if she didn't, well...he would have to come up with a new technique. But there was something Lightning said that confused him. What did she mean by "want out"?

Lightning huffed, furrowing her eyebrows as she stared at Riku. "Hormones don't control me," she said. "I have my own kind of Darkness to deal with. If you think you can cope with me and my issues, you're wrong." She had her anger, bitterness, and sorrow. All kinds of things that the Darkness fed on. Riku may have dealt with the Darkness before, but not the kind of Darkness that dwelt within her. Not the kind that made her so unlovable.

Riku's smirk disappeared, his eyebrows furrowing instead. "Hey," he said, pushing himself away from the couch and starting toward her. "Calm down." He could tell her emotions were coming through, and he didn't want her stepping over a line she herself didn't want to cross. He could tell where this was going, and he didn't want to go there.

Lightning crossed her arms across her chest. A way of keeping to herself. "I am calm. No reason not to be. I know my demons and how to cope with them. I don't need you stepping into my life and trying to handle them for me." The day they met, he said the Darkness would feed on what was behind her mask and end up destroying her. Or something like that. Well, there was nothing there for the Darkness to destroy. She was hollow inside after everything that happened in her life.

"Oh really?" Riku asked, tilting his head slightly as he continued toward Lightning. "Then why have you let me?" He stopped right in front of her, waiting for her response. Lightning had let him do plenty pertaining to her demons, and one of them was handling a bully who tortured her any chance he had. And letting Riku take care of her. If that wasn't letting him in, he didn't know what was.

"I haven't," Lightning snapped, glaring at Riku. She didn't let him in, not really. He still didn't know about the things that haunted her constantly, with her emotions deep in her heart or the dreams she sometimes had. All he knew was that she was the head of a household who had to deal with some bullies. He knew nothing.

"So I don't know that you're an orphan trying to take care of your baby sister?" Riku asked, going toward a touchy subject but knowing it was necessary to get his point across. Lightning had let him in, she was just afraid to admit it.

"That's all you know," Lightning said, fiery eyes locked onto Riku's. If he thought that one thing defined her as a whole, he was wrong. Maybe being an orphan did define her a lot, but it was more the things that came as consequence of that. Riku had no clue what any of this was like, and hopefully he never would. It wasn't pleasant.

"I'm not saying I know more than that," Riku said with a small shake of his head. Lightning had her back facing the counter, so he leaned forward, placing his hands on either side of her and against the countertop to box her in. She thought he was leaving because this discussion got more heated, but he wasn't. "I'm just proving a point."

Lightning leaned back slightly when Riku got in her personal space. Yet her eyes remained hard. "The only reason you know any of that is because you overheard something you weren't meant to hear. If you think that's my way of letting you in, you're a lunatic." She didn't mean the insult, but it was the only thing she could think to say to get Riku to back off. No matter what he thought, he didn't want to get to know her.

Edited June 27, 201213 yr by Peanut

"Then consider me crazy," Riku said, his eyes boring into Lightning's. He wasn't planning on giving Lightning the argument here; she wasn't winning, because she was wrong. If she hadn't wanted him to be there, she would have kicked him to the curb a long time ago. He wouldn't have been able to be there when Zane picked on her the first time; she wouldn't have let him take her to the hospital, and she wouldn't have let him stay in her home longer than he was meant to. She was doing more than she thought.

Lightning blinked, unprepared for that response. It made no sense. "So you think overhearing my secrets from somebody else means that I let you in," she stated. That was what he just agreed to. Finally, a place where she could nitpick his logic. That, and try to get this topic further away from her. It was better to stay on the topic of Riku's sanity.

"No," Riku said, shaking his head. "You let me in by allowing me to protect you, and take care of you. If you felt as strongly about this then as you do now, you would have kicked me to the curb before I could have done anything." And Lightning knew that. He was let in. There was no denying it.

"Not like I had a choice," Lightning said coolly. "You forced yourself upon me that first night with Zane." And then with Snow, too. She had been on her way to leave but he restrained her. Then forced her to the hospital. ...Granted, she did allow him to stay in her house yesterday afternoon. But only because she thought he wasn't going to be willing to leave. Right?

"I was doing what I thought was right," Riku said, defending himself now. He didn't force himself upon anyone. He was protecting Lightning through instinct, not to boost his ego. A frown rested on his face now, upset with how this conversation was going. Maybe he should have left earlier...

Lightning glanced away from Riku. One second she wanted him angry, the next she wanted him happy. She knew by his defensiveness that she struck a nerve. She took in a breath, shutting her eyes for a second as she tried to calm herself. "...I appreciated it," she said more quietly, still looking to the side. But....But what? She didn't know where to go with this conversation now that she wasn't following up on her own argument.

Riku's eyebrows furrowed at the sudden expression of gratitude. What was Lightning's deal? One second she didn't want him helping her and the next she was thanking him for it? It didn't make much sense, and one thing Riku hated was being confused.

"But you've still forced yourself upon me," Lightning said in recovering, looking back up at Riku with furrowed eyebrows. "Forcing me to stay down after Snow's fight, forcing me to go to the hospital, and then forcing me to stay home from work. You've wormed your way into my life and left me with no choice to it." Lies. All lies. She had opportunities to tell him to back off. She didn't. That was why she lowered her gaze to his chest after she spoke.

Riku kept his position, his hands on either side of Lightning as he gazed at her, eyebrows furrowed for a different reason now. He was defensive, once again. "I did those things because I knew what had happened to you," he told her, remaining calm, though his voice was low. "I didn't want you to hurt worse. Sorry for being protective." But...why was he protective? Was it just his caring side coming to the surface, or was there something more to it than that? Was Lightning...special?

"You're just referring to the concussion, right?" Lightning dared to ask. Riku said he acted the way he did because of what happened to her. If he was referring to her childhood, he could go away. She didn't want charity or pity from anyone. Especially not him.

"Yes," Riku said, nodding slightly. His eyes stayed on Lightning's, not daring to look away. She had her mask up, that much he could see, but a part of him wanted her to let it down and be open with him. But...he wasn't acting like himself. Not anymore. Something about her made him different, and it was disorienting.

Though Riku's eyes were locked on Lightning's, hers weren't locked on his. They were down on the floor. Mentally, she was scolding herself for not lifting up her hands and shoving Riku away. For not spitting in his face for his audacity. But the walls around her heart were beginning to crumble. She knew he didn't pity her. He only wanted to help, and she wasn't letting him. Why? Why did she let him in?

Riku sighed a little, looking down at the lack of space between him and Lightning. He didn't realize how close he was until now. "Look, if you want me to go, I'll go," he said softly. He then lifted his gaze back to her. "If I'm making this worse, just tell me, and I'll leave you alone." He didn't want to make things harder. He thought he was helping somehow, but maybe he was wrong. If that was the case, he would go without another word.