asgardgenesis | {4th Key; Video}

[Sora seems as happy as ever, probably excited about something or other again going by his usual timing of using the bracelet like this.....]

Hey guys! So, if I'm still figuring the timing about right, Valentines is coming up! I'm gonna make chocolates!

[No. Not just for his friends from home, either. Knowing Sora he probably faces that same thing with Christmas with wanting to do this for Everyone.......

Someone should really tell him to learn to calm it down. If that's even possible for him.]

Oh, right. Not everyone might get it. But, uh, Valentines is like a celebration of friends! Or more. If you have someone special! You get them flowers or chocolate and show you appreciate them! It's not as huge a thing as Christmas or anything, but. I still like it! And if I make too much chocolate, just means I can save some for later!

[So this is clearly just a win all around, right? Obviously.]

On the other hand, with my training lately, I figured I can do something else too! I don't think Riku was too thrilled though.... but I can help in fights by taking hits for others!

[......this is decidedly probably not something he should seem as thrilled about? But he is anyway. Because of course he is if it means he can help keep his friends safe.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's the idea with this power though? For me to get hurt instead of others. If we could figure if it works with dummies, that'd be better than me needing to try this with others.

[Either way, practicing with people or dummies, it's Sora that will be taking the damage. In theory if he has this figured rightly. Which she is right to still be concerned about.]

I just want to be sure I know how to do it. I won't practice too much with this that I wouldn't be able to help if I needed to, don't worry.

Yes, but...

[ Him getting hurt is precisely why she has a problem with it. Still, he seems to really want to get better with the new power, so she struggles against the urge to advise him against using it at all. He ought to at least learn to control it, so as to avoid unnecessary harm. She holds her breath a moment, then lets it out as a quiet sigh. ]

It's not about that, Sora. [ Him being unable to help if needed, that is. She stops short of telling him how worried she is, though, and replaces it with, ]

I think someone should be there to look after you, that's all. Someone who can make sure you're not hurt too badly.

I hadn't thought on that. I guess it's a good idea though. Just in case I overdo it when I'm practicing....

[It's possible. And more likely, given how much more helpless and vulnerable he feels here, especially after the battle against the Night King and all. He can't help but to be excited at any new ability to try help somehow, even if he can't do all he could back home.]

Is it okay if I let you know when I'm gonna practice? I just mean, you know. You can heal me up if I get that bad?

Exactly.

[ Although she's more than willing to attend to any manner of wound, even the ones that aren't that serious. Whether he gets carried away or not doesn't really matter; the implication is that some harm will come to him one way or another, and she can't exactly be comfortable with that in and of itself. That being true, she perks immediately at his request. ]

Please, [ she says before she can help herself. The next moment she only manages to look slightly embarrassed about it, and even that doesn't stop her. ] I'd -- prefer it, actually. I'd hate to think of you practicing something like that all by yourself.

Alright then! Next time I practice I'll let you know!

[Having her there isn't a cure on him getting hurt in the first place, but it is probably the next best strategy he could manage in this situation. At least, he tries. In letting her know and watch out for him like this.]

Okay.

[ She agrees to it with no small measure of relief. It really isn't a cure for the risks that he's taking, but it feels like the most she can do without overstepping. ]

I'll come running.

[ Not... actually, but what she really means is that she'll be there. ]

Alright. I'll let you know then.

[He assumes she doesn't mean literally running. If she might trip and hurt herself and all.]

Alright.

[ There's a little smile on her face for a moment, but it's short-lived as her expression grows serious again. ]

And-- Sora? When you do start practicing... please, take it slow. We don't know yet just how much your new power can do.

[ That is to say, how much damage it might be able to transfer. ]

Yeah. I'll try.

[He's still figuring it. To be sure on the limits. To know what he can do and handle. Sora's gonna try start smaller. Build up to it. As frustrated as he is with his comparative lack of abilities here.]

[ Perhaps she can sense or surmise his impatient - or maybe she just knows he has a tendency to be careless with his own well-being at times. Either way, she almost lets that be goodbye, even starts to lift a hand like she might end the feed before long, but she hesitates. Her eyes switch back to the screen, angling at each side of his face in turn. Then, ]

… Will you promise?

[ She sounds reluctant to ask it of him, yet-- she can only hope it'll help him realize how important this is to her. ]

Promise. I won't start without you. And I'll start off easier while I figure this.

[At the least, this time it was just a bleeding nose. Nothing all that major. Eventually he'll probably want to figure the limits but for now, he's still figuring it out.]

[ Even with that one simple word, he puts a smile on her face. Her expression eases almost immediately, softening with a clear relief. ]

Thank you, [ she says, and it sounds like she means it. ] In that case - I suppose we'll talk again soon.

Right! I'll let you know!

[With that, a smile and wave. He can catch up with her another time, of course.]

Until later, then.

[ She returns the smile and wave both in kind, and the warmth lingers on her features even as she reaches to turn off the feed.

She'll still worry over him, but - at least they have an arrangement. ]

{4th Key; Video}

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