View source for 2022-04-03: What a Strange Xander I Have Made

*'''Log:''' 2022-04-03: What a Strange Xander I Have Made
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Xander Lovell]], [[Character :: Riley Arwell]]
*'''Where:''' Outside Harmonde
*'''Date:''' April 2, 2022
*'''Summary''': ''Riley and Xander patch up after their fight with Mystere and jokingly contemplate the implications of his accusation that Riley brainwashed Xander into service.''

----

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
A splash into a cold ocean thankfully brought Xander back to all of his senses, if unkindly. Once he and Riley managed to drag each other out of the sea and onto shore, he immediately found the most reasonable area to spring camp, grabbed Riley, and yanked him down to rip off his wet shirt and vest to began tending to the wound on his side. The burns from the blaze of light sorcery will have to wait their triage turn.

The ocean washed off the blood splattering Xander, but his own open wounds -- his thigh and his shoulder, courtesy Mystere's blade, and his arm courtesy himself -- continue to ooze red, running thin in the water still clinging to his skin.

"Hold still," he demands, whether Riley is doing any fussing or not. "I think this needs sutures, but I need to clean the ocean out of it first." He presses a medicinal candy to Riley's mouth before rummaging in his bag for his supplies.

He is decidedly trying not to comment on anything that was said during the battle. Maybe if he continues not to say anything, Riley will get distracted by something easier to process than a masked vigilante attacking them while determining Xander to be Riley's brainwashed slave.

(...Surely that's not what this looks like, right?!)

An idle twitch in Xander's brow hints that, unfortunately, the mystery of Mystere has planted himself in Xander's thoughts whether he wants him there or not.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
Riley has been a bit out of sorts since their flight and subsequent plunge, and he has mostly been passive so far, except to squint at Xander searchingly as Xander goes to work tending his stab wound. Finally, he says, "...Did that really happen?" and then, "Ow," before he is momentarily silenced by a delicious medicinal candy placed into his mouth.

That encounter was inexplicable and crazy, which isn't exactly new for them, lately, except that it was inexplicable and crazy in an entirely different way than any of their other inexplicable and crazy encounters.

"There was a masked justice hero who wanted to take me in for music crimes? And then he kicked us into the sea? I didn't hallucinate that or something?"

They certainly got into a fight with ''somebody,'' since he can still feel the consequences in his own injuries and see them in Xander's.

He reaches toward him slightly, not enough to actually touch the injuries, but to point them out. "Right, this is where he tried to cut the evil out of you..." His gaze goes distant with disbelief at the memory of being ''repeatedly'' accused of hypnotizing Xander into serving as his hapless thrall. "...It didn't work, did it?"
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
That Riley isn't speaking isn't doing anything good for Xander's gnawing concerns. The masked man didn't seem to be aiming to kill, which was saying something, considering how rough the battle still was. Xander would not look forward to this 'Mystere' trying to take them down in earnest. Maybe they wouldn't have to deal with it.

But violence still did take place. Xander searches Riley in turn, looking for the clarity in his eyes and anything amiss with his complexion. A wound could still get infected (probably not ''this'' fast), or shock could set in, or any number of unexpectedly worrisome things. Hell, swallowing enough ocean would make for evening of feeling sick.

"It happened," Xander says, sighing heavily as he begins to apply his cleaning salve to Riley's wound. Something this potent always has a small sting to it despite Xander's practiced machinations, and he tries to offset it by squeezing his grip to Riley's opposite arm, redirecting his body's attention elsewhere to mitigate it. "I ''told'' you doing that in public was going to cause a problem for us!"

Xander, don't pretend there's any reality where you predicted that the consequences of Riley's siren songs would be a masked vigilante.

But as Riley reaches out, Xander suddenly goes still, voice softening. "No," Xander says. "It didn't. It just introduced me to a new category of pain." Not necessarily in intensity, but in flavor.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
The medicinal candy seems to be helping to sharpen Riley's alertness. As does, in its own way, the sting of the cleaning salve. Riley makes a hiss paired with a tight smile to reassure Xander that he's all right even if he's incapable of making it through a healing session without some form of complaint. His eyes linger with a little softness on Xander's hand on his arm.

''I ''told'' you doing that in public was going to cause a problem for us!''

"I'm sorry," he says, and he means it. Xander did get hurt on his account. Very directly in this case. But Riley can't quite manage to leave it at that. "...It was totally unjust, though! Music is ''supposed'' to make people feel things! He was out of line! He should have taken the trouble to learn about our real crimes before going all out like that!"

''It didn't. It just introduced me to a new category of pain.''

"Oh..." Riley winces, his heart twisting for Xander. There's a special kind of disappointment when hope of an escape from their situation is dangled and withdrawn. He can imagine it would hurt all the more, coming out of nowhere like that along with an actual physical attack. 

"Well... at least that means I can keep you as my loyal thrall..." he offers, as if to be conciliatory, brushing his fingers against Xander's cheek with the most hesitant of evil smiles. 
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
Xander flinches with the sincerity of Riley's apology. He looks up at him, hesitant and wondering if a fever really has gotten involved on top of everything else. Or, sorcery can cause a number of ailments, and that hero had variety of spells to spare.

Thankfully, Riley get a bit more ''Riley'' in him, and Xander's sigh ends up with more relief than the exasperation he intended. "You can't say we didn't deserve it," Xander says, given their real crimes. "And it didn't seem all out ''to me''. We got off so easy even I'm barely angry about it. Seems bandages alone are going to do it for you."

The bar of human interaction has fallen that low.

Riley winces, and Xander wishes he hadn't opened his mouth to say anything at all. It's stupid. It's so stupid, the way he'll clutch onto any shred hope despite telling himself he knows better. Arriving on Lunar. Dean's proposal. A random masked man with too much conviction in his voice. Even, at the start of this, trying to alchemize a purifying elixir... (And they'll still say yes to Dean later. He knows that already, too.)

Xander grunts, non-committal, like it doesn't hurt and he doesn't care. But Riley's touch makes him stop, and then that hesitantly appearing smile makes all of Xander's working thoughts evaporate.

Some moments pass before he begins to realize time is still moving without him. Xander wraps his fingers around Riley's wrist. His grip is gentle at first, but then tightens until it's just ''slightly'' uncomfortable. "That being the case... ''hold still'' so I can finish patching us up from the trouble ''you'' caused us, ''my lord''."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
Riley harrumphs as Xander points out that they ''did'' deserve it, and that the masked hero probably ''wasn't'' going all out. He isn't ''wrong'' but... Riley has to think a moment to decide what it is about the interaction that bothers him so, besides the obvious fact that it left both of them bleeding.

"...He didn't seem to like me," Riley says at last, with an air of tragedy about it. It would be one thing if he had come upon Riley murdering someone. But the fact that he came upon Riley more or less just ''being Riley'' and worked himself up to a horrified frenzy of justice about it is stinging a little in Riley's heart. "I wasn't being ''that'' evil, was I?"

Then there is some teasing about Xander being an enthralled servant, and instead of getting embarrassed, Xander tightens his grip and hits him with, ''my lord,'' and suddenly Riley is crimson. "H-honestly, I don't know what possessed me to make you so snarky when I was brainwashing you," Riley stammers out with an embarrassed smile, attempting to recover. "I must be some kind of a masochist..."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
Ah, so ''that's'' the real problem. Xander's lips quirk into a wry smile before he can help himself. "Pity. You seemed quite fond of him." There was no missing that Riley was enchanted by the theater of it. "Yes, yes, he misunderstood," Xander concedes, petting Riley's hair in halfhearted consolation. "He got caught up in his own fiction of it, trying to rescue -- ugh -- an innocent in distress. We both know the real story."

It'd be dangerous to clarify what the truth is supposed to be between them. But Xander already confirmed he's not here because of mind control, and he caught that obnoxious smile from Riley when he said it. It's not a siren's song that keeps him here.

(The songs are just a bonus.)

Xander releases Riley to get to work on those bandages, using his teeth to cut them. "I know how we can find out," he says instead of ''you eat poison for fun'', because he's enjoying this color on Riley's face. He doesn't make good on the joke -- or threat, or whatever it is -- keeping his work as efficient and gentle as he's able.

Once he finalizes the bandage, he looks up at Riley. "Not that it matters. You won't be getting rid of me."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
Riley is the sort of person who will happily accept being petted in consolation for any minor slight, and he leans into it and nods sorrowfully. "You ''are'' an innocent I shamelessly ensnared into my ways of evil, though." This seems to be caught somewhere between a tease and further lamenting. 

Riley endures his bandaging, making a few faces. "Do you want me to do yours?" Xander might be more skillful at tending himself even for the parts he'd have to do one-handed, but Riley can offer additional fussing, and perhaps redeem himself a little in the process from having gotten them into this mess.

''I know how we can find out.''

This is perhaps not specific enough to make Riley nervous, and he finds his composure and gives Xander a silly grin. "You always know how to threaten me with a good time." Xander's comment about how he isn't going anywhere adds a further spark of warmth to that smile.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
The conversation continues to threaten that delicate line between acknowledging the weight of everything that's happened and making a joke out of it. Say the wrong thing, and Riley's light mood crashes all too quickly to an unfortunate stop. And Xander's never been good at joking.

"The evils of dancing, maybe," he growls instead, because it turns out that's the easiest thing to be annoyed about at the moment. Recalling it makes his face heat up. "I can't believe you ''actually'' made me do that!"

He absolutely can believe it. It was inevitable from the start. Shut up, he reserves the right to complain!

Riley makes his offer, and Xander pauses before shrugging and offering Riley his supplies. "If you feel like it." He can bandage himself just fine, but it ''is'' nice to be fussed over. The wounds are relatively minor, but the nick in his shoulder and thigh are enough that they're still bleeding gently. Always safest to be cleaned and bandaged, regardless.

"Later, then," he says, as if Riley's comment were an agreement. "As one ''enthralled'' into your ''loyal'' service, I can do no less than be ''completely thorough'' in granting you the suffering you so obviously beg for." At least Riley ''does'' seem to be feeling better from the disappointment of not being instantly loved by one of the only other people they've met who matches Riley's over-the-top energy.

Ugh, this is why they have to be friends with Magilou, isn't it? Whatever.

Brainwashed... If Riley ever enchanted Xander with such a song, there wouldn't be any appreciable difference for anyone to notice. Least of all Xander himself.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
"You ''like'' to dance," Riley argues, pretending not to notice how there might be a difference between dancing as the spirit moves him and following Riley's choreography in the middle of a fight. "Besides, it was amazing. He'll probably remember it for the rest of his life." Saying that isn't going to help, Riley. "...Unless he was so caught up in his narrative that the dance didn't register, either." So tragic not to have his weirdness seen and appreciated by another weirdo.

Riley takes 'if you feel like it' as more than enough permission to begin tending to Xander -- it's not the neatest or most efficient bandaging job ever, but it comes with a softly hummed tune and little noises of sympathy as Riley inspects each injury.

''I can do no less than be ''completely thorough'' in granting you the suffering you so obviously beg for.''

The humming goes up in pitch a little, as Riley begins to redden again.

"I've created such a strange Xander for myself..." he says with an embarrassed smile.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
"I ''do not!''" Xander growls in what is a clear and blatant lie, and the quickness of his reply suggests it's one of those contrary-by-reflex responses. But maybe it's partially, retroactively true when Riley says Mystere will remember it ''forever'' and no, no no no that's ''probably'' true. "No." If he says it, maybe the universe will listen. Except the universe has ''never'' listened. "No, no he ''won't'', it's that thing you said. The narrative."

But his rising panic is soothed by forcing himself to sit still so Riley can tend to him. He scoffs with Riley's sympathy, but does not protest, letting his eye fall half shut with the humming. Xander never did get that nap...

He half wonders if he'll be able to fall asleep without some shout of ''HALT, VILLAIN'' snapping him back awake. Even the garden at its hungriest would be better.

Fine, that's hyperbole. ...Maybe.

Xander huffs at Riley. He opens his eye and brushes at Riley's hair with his fingers, fixing it from his earlier ruffling. ''It's not really your fault,'' he doesn't say, the words sure to dim the mood, and maybe too dishonest. True from one angle, false from another. But there's an uneasiness in knowing he's not who he once was.

"Well," Xander finally manages, averting his gaze again, "...There are worse things to be."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
The fact that Xander appears to be relaxed by the uncomfortable process of having his wounds dressed just because Riley is singing to him makes Riley feel powerful. He is tempted to try to put some actual magic into the song, but if Xander tips over, that might hurt him.

''...There are worse things to be.''

Riley pauses, sensing a bit of the sincerity even if Xander shied away from more literal wording. Did Xander just... say something positive about himself? Riley wonders for a heady moment whether it might be possible to trick Xander into self-acceptance by going all-in on the joke that Riley personally designed his current personality for his own benefit.

His evil smile may seem a bit incongruous under the circumstances.

"I'm glad it's not a burden to you to be tailored to all of my weird desires. It's certainly very enjoyable for me."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
Xander's already threatening to tip over as it is. There's a reason he doubted Riley's first declaration his songs were somehow ''more'' magic than they already were. Unfortunately, Riley was correct and this new toy is going to be yet another source of absurd scenarios in Xander's life. Mystere is but the start of a horrible chain. Xander can sense it.

But it only becomes easier to settle with the wounds taken care of, whatever sting they had dulling to a forgettable ache -- just like every other pain that continues to loom in orbit. Riley's words hit him first, and Xander looks to him as if ''startled''. The smile makes it worse. Xander's being teased. He ''knows'' he is. Knowing doesn't help. His arguments fall apart in his mouth. Riley is clearly, if diabolically, enjoying himself.

Xander stills like a baby fawn, color flooding his face. Unlike before, when he realizes the seconds are ticking by without him having regained function, he's out of important tasks to latch onto to make his thoughts start again. It's another one of those terrifying moments where he wonders if their tangled souls allows Riley to reach into him and pull out his thoughts to know exactly how to play with him.

That fear collides with his indignation and they both trip over something vulnerable along the way that prevents anything caustic from making it to the surface. All that ends up coming out is the start of a broken syllable that does not communicate a single coherent thing.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
Riley watches Xander panic so thoroughly that he begins to emit a single, incoherent sound.

"Yes, that's a good example, like how you freak out when I compliment you. I was so cruel to give you that trait."

He plants a supposedly apologetic kiss on Xander's forehead and goes to get a blanket to wrap around them, offering Xander a brief reprieve from eye contact.

Maybe Xander is not ready to be tricked into self acceptance after all... but in the meantime Riley is wicked enough to find it cute when his ability to retaliate breaks down.</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
"In... In what world was that a ''compliment?!''"

In this world, where the words were somehow exactly what Xander didn't know he wanted to hear.

As if Riley has somehow willed this whole joking fiction into reality, Xander finds himself too weak to muster any token protest or fussing as he's kissed and blanketed. He pliantly draws in, trying not to come off as too eager to hide his line of sight under the delusion Riley isn't well aware of it by now.

"As long as you know it's ''your'' fault," he mutters against Riley, taking back his thoughts from earlier.

Besides, this part of it is. This angle. The one where he starts to think he might even miss these 'broken' pieces of himself if he could take it all back.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
"It's a compliment because it means I like you!" Riley grumps. Is it a compliment to be liked by Riley? He resents this question for arising in his mind.

He doesn't make any particular embarrassing fuss about Xander hiding from him (at least not yet), snugging him into a side hug as they sit beneath the warmth of the blanket.

''As long as you know it's ''your'' fault.''

"I accept all blame for this, and any and all other things, yes," says Riley. "Unless you'd like me to brainwash you differently? I could certainly try to sing some new thoughts into your head if you wanted."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
"You like everyone!" Xander complains, but his face is redder and he hates everything. "Including plenty of people you ''shouldn't like!''"

But at least hiding under the blanket and settling down appeases him. Somewhat. He's exhausted -- more than he thought. He wanted a nap ''before'' the fight started, and now that everything feels finally quiet, his body is content not to move.

Riley makes a dangerous offer, and all Xander has is a dangerous answer. He hesitates, risking looking up at Riley and searching his face again and finding as as many new secrets as he usually does: none.

"...Whatever you want is fine."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
''You like everyone!''

"And you are my ''favorite,''" Riley says, in a singsong way that hints of doom.

''...Whatever you want is fine.''

Hmm. That sounded like a Yes, please!! in Xander speak. But this joke is kind of dangerous territory.

"I would not dare to just make random changes to such a perfect and adorable Xander. But perhaps I can improve your mood..." And with that, Riley begins to improvise a teasing song of all the cute animals he can remember Xander becoming enraptured by, trying to will the images into his head. Without the use of his Blood Garden guitar, any magic in the song is thin to nonexistent. It may very well work anyway.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
At the mention of ''favorite'', Xander very suddenly, by what is surely a coincidence, desperately needs Riley to not see his face.

"Lucky me," he says, trying to lace it with as much sarcasm as possible. The best he can manage letting it out as a sigh. He is the ''last person'' Riley should like.

It is a dangerous joke, and it's not a joke, and Xander wonders, again, how much Riley is teasing him. Always, and not ever, but it's too dangerous if Riley ''isn't'' joking. It's dangerous if ''Xander'' isn't. But he couldn't even convince himself he's setting up some sort of challenge or a test. Well, no, maybe it is, just not for ''Riley''. Riley could sing anything, and Xander doesn't breathe for a moment, awaiting something like judgment.

Then Riley, of course, picks the most Riley song imaginable.

Xander groans like Riley is the worst person he has ever met and buries his face into his Riley's shoulder. He presses his palm against Riley in a pretend shove that doesn't actually push him anywhere.

"I take it back," he protests, but there's a horrible catch in his breath verging on... laughter? Shut up, it's awkward relief laughter. Wait, is that worse? And then it doesn't matter because he's forced to imagine a bunch of stupid animals that should never have been authorized to exist looking like they do, and if he growls it's because he can't pet them.

It would never occur to Xander that this song is hardly any magic at all.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
Riley gives a grumble at the sarcastic response to being his favorite. "It's great to be my favorite. It's an honor."

Then he sings, and Xander complains and hides and tries to take back his offer. And maybe laughs a little? There is a glow of pride at the thought.

"Xander," Riley chides, once his song is complete, "You said I could do ''whatever I want!'' How am I supposed to take you at your word if you say something like that and then balk at the mildest and gentlest of hypnotisms? If you were hoping for something specific, you're going to have to tell me what it is!"

There is absolutely no bite to any of this; Riley is just extending the joke to encompass all it touches.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
"Yes, yes, I'm honored," Xander says, relying on the idea if he keeps saying the truth sarcastically, it does not count.

But being the favorite has earned him the privilege of this special torture, where Riley sings a silly song ''just for him'' and makes the world feel like a place where he's loved despite everything and his smiles haven't died completely. Utter hell. Absolute agony.

"There's nothing mild ''about'' you. And you weren't going to listen to me." As if knowing his actions have no meaning excuses his sins.

''Did'' he want something specific? Xander's forced to chew on the idea. Was he expecting something, ''hoping'' for something? ''Could'' Riley bring out old broken pieces the way they were? What would that look like? What would it take?

Forgetting too many things. Things neither of them can afford him forgetting. Things he doesn't want to forget.

He's looking at Riley a little too intensely for a little too long before he huffs and tosses the fragile moment aside.

"Why are you even complaining? If I balked, it's because you wanted me to." If Riley's going to extend the joke, then so is Xander... while lacking all the awareness necessary to mean it with any actual accuracy.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
''Was'' there something? Xander looked a little like he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to... well, there's probably a lot of changes Xander would like in his brain. He probably doesn't feel like he's allowed to have any of them. Maybe Riley will have to pay closer attention to him to see if he can guess it.

"That's true... but maybe I wanted you to balk so I could enjoy complaining about it... this is a very complicated and layered evil enthrallment relationship we have"
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
That's true enough without the joke in play.

Xander heaves out a sigh as he lets his weight sink in against Riley. "I can't keep up," he says.

"...But I don't hate it."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
''...But I don't hate it.''

Riley smiles and picks up the song again, adding cute animals from further back in time.

"Xander met the roundest sparrow, and his gray eye grew so wide...

And once he saw a tiny goat, and I could have sworn he cried..."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
Xander abruptly sits up to give Riley a red faced, panicked look.

"I didn't ''cry'', I was just -- you saw how small it was...!"
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
"You were moved to tears by its cuteness, there's nothing to be ashamed of, Xander!"

Riley gives him a nuzzle. "I am often moved to tears by your cuteness, so I understand..." Is that even true? Perhaps tears of gleeful laughter.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
Xander growls at Riley, but remains long enough to receive the traitorous nuzzle before ducking back down into the blanket.

"The last time I saw you cry was over a mango!"

That's not ''at all'' true, but the other times Riley cried aren't scenarios Xander wants to bring up.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
"Was it...?" Riley pretends to seriously consider this possibility. He is equally happy to pretend he hasn't cried over anything more serious than a mango recently. "It ''was'' an extremely delicious mango..." He smiles in wistful remembrance of the mango. Is that the twinkle of a tear in his eye...?!

"I'll have to make sure to cry over your cuteness and beauty more often, Xander, I don't want you to feel like you're losing out to fruit."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
Xander only barely peaks up from under the edge of the blanket this time and ''is Riley actually crying at the memory''. Xander's groan is muffled when the blanket falls again.

"It's too late for that."

The war against fruit was lost long, long ago. He accepts it.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
"Noo, Xander, I love you more than fruit, I promise," Riley says, addressing this down into the blanket as if Xander is unrecoverable from within until he chooses to emerge. 

"Would I enthrall a mango to serve my every whim??" Riley, that doesn't even make any sense, your only whim would be to eat it.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
As little sense as it does make, Xander is quiet, as if actually taking the time to consider this.

Slowly, he peers out of the blanket again. "Riley, were it possible, we both know you ''absolutely would''."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
Would he? Riley is not sure he can prove he wouldn't.

"Well," says Riley, "You would still ''outlive'' the mango. So you would win."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
Xander gives Riley a long, silent look that tries to communicate all of his ire through his one remaining eyeball.

Then he emerges from the blanket again in earnest.

"Give me a whim."

Is he getting competitive with the imaginary mango?

(He's getting competitive with the imaginary mango...)
</poem>


 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
Xander wants a whim...! 

Riley considers. There are many fun and ridiculous things he could order Xander to do, but perhaps the humor of Xander immediately refusing to do them would not be worth spoiling the joke.

"Hmm. Tell me a secret. Something I don't know about you, yet." His smile becomes more evil, and he leans in closer to add quietly, "A mango could not do that."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
That request knocks the irritated determination right off of Xander's face. It isn't immediately embarrassing, like he expected Riley to hit him with, it's ''actually difficult''.

"Riley, you ''know'' all of my secrets!"

There are probably plenty of things Riley doesn't know, just by the nature of people being ''people'' -- too many layers and too many changes and too much going on. Xander doesn't know everything about Riley, either. There's the pieces of the gap of time they were separated, or simpler things neither thinks to ask and haven't come up... the things time may eventually have exposed to both of them, if they had enough of it. Those aren't the same as secrets.

But Riley is giving him ''that smile'' and Xander's mind scrambles for something, because otherwise he's about to lose to a ''piece of fruit''.

"... Give me a second."

A deep breath to stall, thoughtfully chewing on his lip, fang showing... Riley knows this and Riley knows that, and Xander's never ''said'', but Riley ''definitely'' knows that all the same...
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
"There must be ''something'' I don't know!"

Xander asks for a second. And the seconds begin to tick by.

"Could it be that this is something that neither Xander nor a mango can do...?" Riley asks with feigned concern.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
Xander bristles. "I said give me a second!" But it has, indeed, been more than a few seconds.

He begins looking urgently around camp, like there's something that will give him an idea. What ''doesn't'' Riley know...? His gaze lands on his supply bag. Xander narrows his eye at it.

Slowly, he looks back at Riley.

"I bought you a ring in Spira in case someone made us prove your honeymoon claims."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
Riley's mouth forms an o. This is quite beyond the realm of Xander secrets he might have imagined.

"You were going to back up my honeymoon claims?? With a whole entire ring? Did you get one for yourself, too? If we have secret wedding rings I never knew about, does that make us secret married?"

...It isn't hard to work out the reason why Xander might have decided not to tell Riley about this.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
"Don't get excited," Xander warns. "We didn't have ''that'' much excess funds after the treasure hunt. It's simple."

Two rings ''would'' have made more sense... Instead of looking away, Xander has a blanket he can conveniently sink back into. It's cold, that is definitely why. "...And it's just the one."

He may be hiding, but Riley can feel Xander tense up under the blanket. "''You're'' the one who goes around saying we basically already ''are!''"
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
"One ring..."

It sounds more like a secret engagement purchase than a secret marriage one. Could Xander have been considering...? But -- no, they've been over why it wouldn't make sense to get married for real. There are no families to join together. No one to come to the ceremony. And there is... all of the everything that he's done to Xander. Stealing his future. Ruining the memories of his past. Despite all Riley's jokes, he feels a little embarrassed for thinking it.

Riley is quiet for a bit. He nods a little at Xander's exasperated reminder that Riley is the one who goes around telling everyone they're basically already married. ""Hm... so it's like we're... ''half''... secret married. That feels right."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
Xander's ears burn as Riley echoes the number of rings. No one can see that. He is safe in the darkness (of a blanket).

Just kidding, Xander is never safe.

"''Half'' married? What does that even mean?!"
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
"Half married is like basically married, except you've got one ring." Riley clearly decided this on the spot, but delivers it with steady assurance. "Don't you feel half married? I think it describes our situation very well."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
Xander pops his head out to stare at Riley incredulously. That describes the situation perfectly while still managing to be nonsense. Incredible.

And yet ''don't you feel half married?'' makes an ''uncomfortable'' amount of sense: living as if they were, or were going to, yet never able to fully have what all of this was supposed to be. Xiumei and Eleanor may have argued for why it could still matter, but that implies a future that Xander and Riley are all to aware doesn't exist.

"...Fine, we can be half married."

As if Xander's agreement means anything.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
<poem>
"We're half married!" Riley echoes happily, leaning a little more onto Xander.

Unfortunately it seems to have meant something to him.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
<poem>
Xander brings his arms around Riley with a sigh and no further protest.

At least Riley's happy.

(Take that, mango.)
</poem>

[[Category:Logs]]
[[Category:Chapter 2]]
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]