Always

Rebekah’s jaw dropped. Was Felix implying that...? She felt her face turning beet red, and she threw her pillow at him with all her strength. “See if I buy you a new shirt now!” she said. Of course, it was an empty threat--she knew that as soon as her mood improved she would change her mind. “Well, are we ready to go? I heard Keilani ask you how we’re getting to Chicago, and you never answered.”

“Right!” Keilani said, saluting at Felix. She turned and started helping Mariah with the clean-up. Rebekah had started to put her shirt on when she saw the lean-to falling down on top of her. She squealed and rolled out from under it before it hit the ground. “Gee, thanks for almost crushing me!” she said, hurrying to pull her shirt on the rest of the way and hoping no one had seen her bra. There wasn’t a trace of grogginess left in her by now, but her mood still hadn’t improved much. She got up to contribute to the cleanup.

Awww, I just want to hug you right now! I'm so sorry you've been going through all this! Unfortunately, I don't feel like I can give good advice on this matter, mostly due to lack of life experience, but I agree with what everyone else has been saying on this thread, and I wish you the best of luck in overcoming your current situation. In the meantime, please accept my virtual hug and moral support. *hugs you* http://kh13.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/happy.png

Mariah grinned. “Ah, so you were the one who was honking the car horn yesterday,” she observed. She felt a pang of sadness as she said this. So much had happened since yesterday...she had woken up with James...Joy came back into her life...and now both of them were gone yet again. It seemed like her life was in complete chaos. She turned and started cleaning things up...and noticed Rebekah’s clothes laying by the fire. She looked at her cousin, who was still covered by the blanket, and tried to stifle her laughter. What in the world had possessed her to get undressed? Keilani jerked to a sitting position, startled by the noise, only to see that Felix was the source. She laughed despite still being groggy, and turned to Rebekah. “Your boyfriend there sure knows how to wake people up,” she remarked. Rebekah groaned. She should’ve expected another obnoxious awakening. Screw everything that had happened between them last night; she was not a morning person, and Felix was still annoying. “I hate you, Felix,” she mumbled grumpily, putting her face into her pillow and covering her ears with it. That was when she felt her clothes being thrown at her head. “Come on, get up and get dressed!” Mariah commanded good-naturedly. “Adventure calls, Rebekah!” Keilani shouted. “Gah! I hate you all!” Rebekah growled, grabbing her jeans and starting to dress herself from under the blanket. This only made Mariah and Keilani laugh. Keilani folded her own blanket neatly and skipped over to Felix. She was still worried about Troy, but didn’t want to show it--today was about Joy, apparently, and she knew that Troy would know where to find them all once he was done with Vanitas. She just had to think positively. “So, Felix, how are we getting to Chicago? Will we be able to bring any of this stuff with us?” she asked, gesturing toward everything she and Troy had obtained from the bus the day before.

(Yeah...I was just thinking that would mean several hours have passed at the campsite, but then several hours passing during the fight in the Sahara? That’s unrealistic. Oh well, I think time gets warped all over the place between different people’s scenarios in this RP anyway, so why not? Okay, morning it is! At the campsite, anyway... ) Mariah was the first to wake up, not long after sunrise. She sat up, surveyed the people around her, and spotted Felix and Elie, who were keeping watch. She then got up and walked over to Felix. “Alright, when’s the wake-up call, and how are we getting to Chicago? I’m ready to save Joy, and the sooner we can get to him, the better,” she said, unable to hide her impatience. Part of her wanted to apologize for sounding rude, but on the other hand, she didn’t feel a need to express remorse for her desperation to help the one she loved.

(Hmm...I kind of want to go ahead and say that it's morning now, but I'm wondering if we should wait until the fight between Ven and Vanitas is over... LOL but neither Not-with-a-whimper nor Number XV is on right now...)

Yeah...but you're not giving me enough to go off of, man! Rebekah/Aqua and Callum/Vanitas have only had one non-aggressive interaction. My character needs more to react to than just one invitation to hang out sometime. Besides, I was thinking more along the lines of the Inhabiters falling for each other in a weird way, and not so much the hosts. I can have Aqua start being attracted to Vanitas once he stops trying to attack Ven, maybe. Anyway, at this rate, I'm thinking Rebekah will ultimately fall for Felix, and the thing between her and Callum/Aqua and Vanitas will be more of a forbidden love thing that can't last...which is why I love the VanitasXAqua pairing. But who knows? We'll just have to see what happens. So has anyone noticed...the "Keep the Story Going" thread in Forum Games? http://kh13.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/happy.png

When Ven saw Vanitas throw his Keyblade at him, he quickly dropped to the ground to avoid the weapon, rolled towards his opponent to get closer to him, and performed Salvation, hoping to finally hit him.

So has anyone noticed...that it's Mother's Day??

Ven was thrown into the air when Vanitas jumped up and landed a hit on him. He fell back to the ground and groaned, then cast Cura on himself. When he noticed that Vanitas was trying to repeat the same attack, he jumped as high as he could and glided out of the way, determined not to get hit again. If he and Troy weren’t trying to avoid a powerful attack, they would have found the feeling of flying through the air exhilarating.

(Gah! Stupid move! Stupid Vanitas! Still one of my favorite villains, though. ) Ven realized with horror what Vanitas was doing, and when he attempted running from the dark circle where Vanitas was following him, Ven wasn’t fast enough, so he tried to dodge roll out of the way.

(Oh...I realized that Elie is alone somewhere. Yuffie, if you're still online, maybe you could have Elie return to camp and go to bed, or talk to Felix or something. I'm going to bed for real now. Good night! )

“Oh, he does,” Keilani assured Felix. She felt another pang of sadness as she talked about Troy. He hadn’t been gone for very long, but she hoped that he was alright. “Good night, Felix!” She went to her bed and finally fell into a dreamless sleep.

Keilani laughed. It wasn’t quite the answer she was hoping to hear, but Felix was probably right--there wasn’t a lot she could do. Troy would have to figure things out for himself. “Deal,” she replied. “Thanks, Felix.” She turned to leave, then paused and looked back at him. “And just for the record, I’m totally rooting for you and Rebekah,” she said with a grin.

Keilani smiled at the nickname. “Well, it’s this thing with...” she had to pause for a moment to make sure she kept her voice composed. “With Troy,” she finished. “I’ve gotten the feeling that...well, that he feels like he’s not good enough or something. For me, or for anyone. Like he thinks he’s too weak. I think something I said or did earlier today kind of set him off, but I can’t figure out for the life of me what it would’ve been. What can I say to him to let him know that he’s fine just the way he is, and he’s got nothing to prove with strength or whatever? I figured I could ask you because you’re a guy, and might have an idea of what’s going on in his head. I mean, maybe this won’t matter after...the fight with Vanitas...but I still want to know.”

As soon as she was sure the coast was clear, Keilani got up, grabbed the trash bag she had used to transport all the bedding to the campsite, and put it over her head to keep from getting wet. She then walked over to Felix. “Um, hey. Can I talk to you?” she asked.

When Rebekah was done with the first rag, she took each of the other rags, tying most of them around various places on her arms, one around each of her knees, and one around her forehead, which looked incredibly dorky, but whatever, she wasn’t worried about fashion choices at the moment. “Your poor shirt,” she said, shaking her head regretfully. “First chance we get, I’m buying you a new one. And don’t try to stop me!” She smiled as she said all this, then went over to her “bed” and got under the blanket. “Alright, watchman, go to your post. There’s nothing more for you to see here.” She then proceeded to take off her damp clothes, which turned out to be quite difficult while lying down and keeping the blanket over her. The jeans were especially a challenge as they clung to her and she had to struggle to peel them off. ------------------------------------------------------------ Keilani had smiled at Alex when he tried to comfort her. “Yeah...I’m sure he will be,” she said. Then her attention turned to Felix and Rebekah’s interaction, and though it made her ache for Troy, she couldn’t resist quietly witnessing all the cuteness. When Rebekah got under her blanket, Keilani realized what she was about to do, and sat in front of her, blocking the view of the others. Personally, she wouldn’t have cared if other people saw as long as she was under a blanket, because there really would’ve been nothing to see. But it was obvious that Rebekah was a pretty shy person, and she wouldn’t want others to see even that. She turned to look at Rebekah when she seemed to be done. “Want me to take care of those for you?” she offered. Rebekah nodded and handed her jeans and shirt to Keilani. “Thanks.” “No problem.” Keilani set the clothes near the fire to dry. When she returned, she found that Rebekah was already fast asleep with the blanket wrapped snugly around her up to her neck. She hadn’t even taken the wet rags off. Keilani smiled and went to her own bed. She was exhausted, but she was determined not to fall asleep until she had a chance to talk to Felix. Of course, by the time Troy got back, Keilani might not need to reassure him about his being a good/strong enough person anymore, but now she was curious above all else what a good thing to say would be should the need arise. She laid her head on the pillow and pretended to sleep while she waited for everyone else to fall asleep.

Rebekah sighed and couldn’t hold back a laugh. It was too late now, at any rate--the shirt was beyond repair, and she might as well put the newly-made rags to use. “Give me those,” she said playfully, and she took one of the rags, turned away from Felix, and lifted her shirt just enough to tie the rag around her waist.

“Felix!” Rebekah exclaimed with wide eyes. “I didn’t want you to do that for me! Besides, you’re going to get all cold!” She decided not to mention the fact that seeing part of his bare torso made her uncomfortable.

It was the weirdest thing. One moment, Aqua saw Ven and Troy running for the Corridor and apologizing to her and Rebekah, and the next, he and the Corridor were simply gone, and Felix was talking to her. She realized Ven most have cast a Stop spell on her. Aqua let out an exasperated sigh, too angry to talk to Felix or Axel, and let Rebekah take over again. Rebekah was worried about Troy, and she wanted to protect him, but she knew there was nothing she could do now. She accepted Felix’s help. “Thanks,” she said with a sad smile. “I think I’ll take you up on the cold rags.”

(Sorry...we're just an overeager bunch, I guess. We tend to leave each other in the dust sometimes if someone takes a while to respond, unless it's absolutely impossible to move on without them. But if you want, you can have someone else control your characters while you're gone and there's lots of action so you don't get too far behind!)

Aqua. No-brainer.

Fine, if that’s what you want! Ven growled. Troy allowed him to take over, and he rolled over and jumped to his feet. He held his Keyblade in the air and sent a Tornado in Vanitas’s direction.

Yeah, I've definitely considered that, and like you said, I've been hesitant as well. But I've never been much of a hypochondriac or anything. And honestly, if I were to go to a doctor, I would expect him/her not to diagnose me with anything. But there's still that small possibility that lingers in the back of my mind, you know?

Troy felt his legs go out from under him and fell on his back. He then held up his Keyblade in front of him to block Vanitas’s attack, tensing his muscles to roll away at the first opportunity.