Room 421, Friday Afternoon

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa was reading. Okay, that wasn't true. Rinoa was trying to read, though. It was a book she already knew. It was one she loved and had read several times already, which was perfect for those times when it was hard to concentrate, because it didn't matter if your eyes kept reading the same sentence over and over again and not seeing it.

Which is exactly what hers were doing.

She tossed the book down with a sigh. Maybe she'd take a nap. Maybe she'd ... something.

(closed door, open post)

Comments

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay was sitting on her bed, leafing through a music magazine, when she glanced over at her roommate. She had been concerned about Rinoa for weeks now, and that didn't stop tonight.

"Hey. How are you doing over there?" she asked gently.

[angelo_wings]

"Oh," Rinoa glanced up, sharply, and then tried her best at a covering sort of smile. "F-fine. I'm fine. Just ... tired."

The dark circles under her eyes might have hinted to that one.

"I didn't like this book anyway," she lied, and not very well, at that. "What are you reading?"

(zomg sorry I crashed. am back. my sleep is insane right now wtf.)

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"Just a music magazine. Nothing important," Lindsay said, putting it aside. Noticing the dark circles, she said, "Still not sleeping well?"

[no worries!]

[angelo_wings]

"Not ... really," Rinoa admitted. Truthfully, very little at all. "It's ... nothing."

And that was such a lie. Which really wasn't fair, to her roommate, who she considered a friend at this point. And who also would be in the line of fire if anything went horribly wrong.

"I, um ... something ... bad happened," she said, carefully. "When I went home last time."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay didn't think it was possible to be more concerned, but she was wrong. Now Rinoa had her full attention. "The reason you've been stressed lately? Can I do anything? Even just listen if you need to talk?"

[nfb from here please?]

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa bit her lip. "I ..." She didn't want to subject her roommate to all of this. And yet, and yet, and yet it was bubbling up, and she didn't know how to stop it.

"Someone is trying to get into my head," she said, carefully. "All this ... horrible stuff happened, and I haven't even been able to ... to deal with any of it because she's sitting there. W-waiting. Trying to get in. She ... she wants to use me. To end the world. So she just chips away and --"

She closed her eyes, wishing there was a better way to phrase all of this. It didn't make sense to her, and she was living through it.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Y-you have to think I'm crazy."

Re: [nfb from here please?]

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay had to admit, this was a lot of information to take in. It was a bit scary, but she knew it had to be even more so for Rinoa. She lived on this island long enough not to question the weird things that were happening.

"I don't think you're crazy," she said, her voice full of sympathy and a little bit of fear. Fear for Rinoa, not fear of her. "Can anything be done...to stop it? Have you told anyone who might be able to help? Can I help?"

She really wished she could do anything. She certainly did not want some evil being taking over her roommate...or for the world to end. No matter which world it was.

Re: [nfb from here please?]

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa nodded, quickly. "Professor Skywalker," she said. "He's ... been helping me shield. Sookie, too. Squall's ... Squall's working on a plan but I don't think there is a plan. We can't make her go away. I can't --"

Okay. Having hysterics would not help anything. Rinoa was going to pull it together.

"She's in the future," she said. "I know someone who can send people into the past, but ... we don't know how to get to her, in the future. So we're kind of waiting to come up with something."

Re: [nfb from here please?]

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay let out a small sigh of relief, glad there were some people helping who were more equipped to deal with this sort of thing than she was. But she was still worried, especially since they hadn't, so far, found a solution.

"Just so you know, I am not going anywhere." Reassuring Rinoa she was not going to run away and request a new room was at least one thing she could do.

[I am about to crash now; sp?]

Re: [nfb from here please?]

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa glanced up, taken aback, and then smiled.

"Thank you," she said, gently. "That's .... it means a lot. People can be scared of Sorceresses. Even when we're not ..."

Under attack by psycho crazy future people.

"I need ... I need you to promise you'll run for it if I'm ... not myself," she said, hating that she had to even say that. "You'll know. She's not subtle. A-and I don't think it'll happen, but ... in case it does. Just ... get out. Please? And if you can, tell Squall, but ... but the important thing is not getting hurt."

Ultimecia wouldn't go out of her way to hurt Lindsay. She didn't care enough about most people to bother. But she'd destroy anyone who got in her way.

(holy shit, I thought I pinged back, and then I only realized it while drowning in last-minute plot flail. I am SO SORRY.)

Re: [nfb from here please?]

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay could tell this was very important to Rinoa. She was also glad to have her blessing to run. Lindsay knew her limitations, fight skills among them. "Believe me, if something goes wrong, I will not try to fight. I would find help, though. You have my word on that."

[no problem at all!]

Re: [nfb from here please?]

[angelo_wings]

"Thank you," she said. "I ... it won't come to that. I won't let it. But she controlled me once before."

She shuddered, trying not to remember how that had felt.

"You ... you're not in any danger," she said. She hoped, anyway. "It's all become so ... complicated. A year ago I was just ... I was someone else entirely. I was just me."

Re: [nfb from here please?]

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"I can't even imagine how frustrating this is for you," Lindsay said sympathetically. "But I know you are still you, even if someone else is there. You're still my awesome roommate."

[So sorry! This is the first chance I've had to get online. And I don't mind ending the thread here if you are drowning in plotty stuff. I totally would understand!]

Re: [nfb from here please?]

[angelo_wings]

"I feel like she's ... leaking in," Rinoa confessed. "There are times when I react to things and I know it's not me. She hates Squall. She hates most of the people I know. And she tries to make me think I can't trust anyone."

(no worries about being offline!! and actually plot seems to be almost done :O :O :O so plot-flail is over! but thank you for asking zomg!)

Re: [nfb from here please?]

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay frowned at that. The thought of something taking such control of anyone was frightening. "I'm glad she didn't stop you from trusting me enough to tell me what's going on. And you can always talk to me about anything, even if I can't do much to help. I can, at least, listen."