chirurgique | Entries tagged with kh

Title: Role-Playing Game
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Character Focus: Xigbar
Rating: PG
Content notes: unreality, manipulation by an authority figure, threatened violence
Words: 1,011
Summary: Even with the petty concerns of the Organization rising and falling around him, there’s not much that can ruin Xigbar’s day. As long as he sticks to his role, keeps his secrets close, and doesn’t time-travel, then he has nothing to worry about. After all, he’s the only one who really knows his own heart.

Xigbar shoved his hands in his coat pockets and whistled tunelessly as he meandered through the old castle’s hollow halls. The Organization’s plans these days were moving along at a snail’s pace, and it was getting progressively harder to find his own fun. In fact, he was so bored lately that whatever he had been doing before this had already seen fit to eject itself from his memory.

What was he up to again? His most recent attempt at stirring the pot had been to provoke No. VI about the Keyblade heroes that had saved his skin as an anklebiter, so he was curious to know whether his needling was going to bear any fruit. The kid did seem to be more in the habit of skulking around the bossman’s business lately, so maybe Xigbar had succeeded in hitting a sore spot. He wasn’t sure if there was an agenda at play or just simple curiosity, but he had nothing better to do than pretend he had a problem with it either way.

( He rounded the corner towards the has-been king’s old computer. )

Title: Drive My Own Car, I Don’t Like the Valet
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Xigbar & Luxord
Rating: PG
Content notes: vehicular peril, threatened kidnapping
Words: 1,495
Summary: The city on the Other Side has been a great place to get some work done on the Master’s grand plan without having to worry about dealing with prying eyes. So great, in fact, that Xigbar has started to let his guard down. But all it takes is getting in the wrong cab once to remind him that he should really know better than to drop his poker face before the hand is called.

“Shinjuku Prince Hotel,” Xigbar offered, a little more gruffly than he would usually like, as he bent his head to enter the backseat of the cab. Normally he wasn’t above all kinds of schmoozing and small talk, but it was already a long night that only promised to get longer. Hanging out in the big city had its perks, but enough time spent standing in the rain, catching weird looks for the coat, was enough to make you miss fantasyland more than was probably reasonable.

Luckily the cab driver was a good sport, and took his payment without taking his passenger’s attitude personally. That was the life of the rank-and-file, wasn’t it. Keeping your head down and not letting the sour grapes of the unwashed masses get to you. Xigbar silently offered a prayer to the long-suffering working stiffs of the world.

He wearily opened his phone and started to scroll through his texts. It was kind of an aspirational motion, since none of his companions had really taken to the technology of the Other Side. Never mind that phones were apparently also a thing on the main side these days, anyway — those guys weren’t from “these days” and weren’t about to change. He was getting pretty sick of communicating only in visions and portents. ( And they wondered why the plan was so far behind schedule. )

Title: Trees of Green, Red Roses Too
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Brain & Ava
Rating: PG
Content notes: unreality
Words: 895
Summary: Daybreak Town is a beautiful world. The hill overlooking it is the perfect place to discuss any kind of destiny.

The wind ruffled the grassy hill as Brain and Ava sat there in silence. Brain laid back, his hat pulled down low and shading his forehead.

It was a beautiful day. There was quiet birdsong in the distance, and the air was just warm enough that the cool dew on the grass was welcome at Brain’s back. The tiered colours of the eternal dawn edged their way into his sight, visible beyond the brim of his hat as a slim crescent. By his elbow were Ava’s gifts — or maybe it was more appropriate to call them homework — the union leader book of rules, and the infamous Book of Prophecies itself. The one that was supposed to go to the ruler of this world’s chosen pawn, evidence of its destiny circled in red between its pages. Evidence that could stand to wait a while to be uncovered. ( Plausible deniability and all that. )

Title: Lost & Found
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Ventus & Lauriam
Rating: G
Content notes: discussion of amnesia
Words: 1,077
Summary: Despite regaining a few memories of training under Master Xehanort, the lion’s share of Ventus’s history is still one big blank. Even so, does that mean he should just believe anyone who waltzes into his life and claims to be his friend? Some would definitely say no. But Ven is an optimist.

It wasn’t yet morning when Ven found himself wandering, strolling with no particular purpose over the bridges between islands that branched out from the main Land of Departure castle grounds. He shoved his hands in his pockets and whistled a bit. The stars in the sky were still in the process of winking out, so it would be a while yet before anyone else would rouse for the day, leaving him with nothing to do. He hadn’t exactly gotten the longest sleep the night before, so the best use of this idle time might have actually been to go right back to bed. But there was no chance of that happening. These days, when he woke, he woke for good.

He rounded a corner, over the grass and past a crumbling old stone wall, and came upon yet another clearing, a little disc of green crowning one of the ancient rocky plateaus, floating high over the unfathomable mists below. This one was special for a couple reasons. First of all, you had a straight shot to the castle doors themselves from here — he could see the windows of his home peeking out like eyes through the predawn murk. But more importantly, this was where he and his friends had left their monument to Master Eraqus. Even as he approached, he could hear the soft clink of the Wayfinders against the metal of the old Keyblade as they were buffeted in the breeze. And most precious of all, this was a place where Ven and his friends had shared some of the memories that he kept the closest to his heart.

( But for today only, there was a fourth reason this place was special. )

Title: Subjectivity
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Character Focus: Skuld
Rating: PG
Content notes: unreality, abandonment issues, references to a canon war (the Keyblade War)
Words: 1,502
Summary: The Keyblade War is on, but Skuld can’t stay and fight. Chosen as a Dandelion leader, she has things to do, places to be. But not people to be with.

Skuld didn’t know what she had expected the transition to the new world to be like, but it certainly wasn’t this.

The streets of Daybreak Town were empty, or they weren’t. The ever-present haze of morning mist was growing into a thick, clean fog, or the air was choked with smoke. She walked on and on, through throngs of people that she couldn’t touch, across the paths of panicked kids running helter-skelter, anything they were trying to call out falling mutely into the silent air.

I’m sorry, she thought. I’m sorry. ( But they were beyond her help now. )

Title: I Have Burned Your Bridges
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Luxu & Ava
Rating: PG
Content notes: weapons, fantasy gun violence, manipulation by an authority figure
Words: 1,350
Summary: Ava and Luxu are the only ones left who haven’t learned the Master’s newest Keyblade Formchange, so they’re going to have to work on it together. Which is kind of unfortunate, because for some reason lately they’ve had less and less patience with each other. Luxu can’t think of why that could be... after all, he’s been following the Master’s advice on the matter so well!

Of everyone, Ava was the easiest to trust.

For one thing, she was so prudent. That careful thoughtfulness of hers was working to their mutual advantage even at this very moment. Luxu stood back watching as she summoned her weapon and ran her free hand over it, muttering to herself.

It was a pretty swanky Keyblade. All of the other apprentices had gotten these one-of-a-kind originals from the Master recently, all colour-coded and on-theme like little declarations of their identity. Luxu might have felt a little left out, had it not been for the fact that the Master had expressly reassured him that Luxu’s own Keyblade was on its way, and it would be the most worth the wait of them all.

It was hard to imagine a Keyblade nicer than Ava’s, though. The waves and soft pearlescent twists of its cloud-like surface glowed and undulated under her touch. She must be almost there. Sure enough, the Keyblade’s earthly shape suddenly collapsed in a blossom of light, and, with a burst of wind and glitter ruffling her robes, it reappeared in her hand, reformed.

( “Whoa,” whistled Luxu, impressed. )

Title: Supporting Cast
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Mog & friends
Rating: PG
Content notes: references to a canon war (the Keyblade War), references to death
Words: 892
Summary: Mog and his party wait for their newest recruit to join them before heading out together. Their new friend better hurry, though — this mission is too important to miss, and they can’t wait forever.

“So, exactly how much longer are we planning to wait?”

Mog’s party members all turned to look at him, and he half-regretted breaking the silence. His friend in the pink hat scoffed at him.

“Oh, so now you’re all about being on time?” Pinky rolled her eyes along with her shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. ( “I swear I’ve spent half my life waiting for you guys to show up to meetings and missions!” )

Title: This May Shock and Amaze You
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Elrena & Strelitzia
Rating: G
Words: 1,395
Summary: Making plans to celebrate a birthday can be a little difficult when you know as few people as Strelitzia does. Well, regardless of what Strelitzia expects, Elrena has some plans of her own.

Strelitzia inhaled deeply, and took the plunge. “So, today is my birthday.”

Elrena turned and looked at her like she had grown a second head. She knew she shouldn’t have brought it—

“Uh, duh? Hello? Why do you think we’re even here?”

Strelitzia blinked owlishly. After cleaning up the day’s Heartless target, she and Elrena were hiking up a hill on the outskirts of Daybreak Town, taking high strides to navigate the long grass. Elrena had insisted they do this instead of going home.

“I was, uh, just tagging along.”

“Hmph. Well, for your information, there’s a calendar in the party clubhouse with everyone’s birthdays on it. ( I can read, you know.” )

Title: Five-Dimensional Chess
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Brain & Ephemer
Rating: G
Content notes: trust issues
Words: 1,245
Summary: It’s Brain’s job to make sure no one but him sees inside the Book of Prophecies. Coincidentally, Ephemer is on record with just how much he would really like to see inside the Book of Prophecies.

Brain tapped his fingers against the dark wood of the Master’s desk, and heaved a sigh despite himself. He had expected this enterprise — scouring through the books that had been left behind when the Foretellers had exited stage right from the world — to be a bit more fruitful. The secrets he had uncovered so far were juicy to be sure, but what he really needed were the dry, boring details that would help him come to a complete understanding of Daybreak Town’s present situation.

Of course, he had another source of information available to him that could potentially shed some light on things. But pulling it out was easier said than done. When Ava had handed over the Book of Prophecies, she had stressed the importance of it being for its owner’s eyes only. Not that Brain was a huge fan of following the rules, but it was a good heuristic to at least figure out why a rule existed before tossing it out.

And pulling out the Book now was tantamount to consigning that rule to the garbage heap, considering that lately it was impossible to get even a few minutes of uninterrupted reading in before—

( “Hey, Brain! Working hard or hardly working?” )

Title: Monsoon Season
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Kairi/Xion
Rating: G
Content notes: unreality, identity issues
Words: 2,101
Summary: As the year grows long and her tenure as a member of Organization XIII grows more and more fraught, Xion is in need of some respite. Being sent on a mission to the Destiny Islands could be what she’s been wanting. It’s a good place to daydream, and a good place to run into new old friends that you’ve only met in daydreams before.

Being at the Destiny Islands always felt like a dream.

Dreams were hostile, sometimes, dark fractals of confusion and revelation. But this place was nothing so uninvited. This was one of those self-indulgent dreams, the kind that were an escape, a reassuring curtain over her eyes, where the coiled grit of waking anxiety dissolved into the shelter of unconsciousness. If she were to fall through the sky to the islands where her own self stood, then better to fall through the warm rain to warm arms outstretched.

And it was raining now, storm clouds bruising against the hibiscus sky, the sand of the beach flattened into a compact stage, springy under her step. The kids who normally frequented the play island would be staying home in this weather. Today, the dream was for Xion only.

She had long since finished her mission here, but lately the commands to RTC immediately were feeling more like suggestions. In this world especially, it was harder and harder to tear herself away each time she got a chance to visit.

( It wasn’t home. Home was where her friends were, where her heart was. )

Title: Part of Your World
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Skuld/Strelitzia
Rating: PG
Content notes: fantasy violence
Words: 1,807
Summary: As her party members flake on her more and more frequently, Skuld has been spending a lot of time looking for some company. Luckily, there might be a kindred spirit nearby who’s in a similar boat. After all, why else would Strelitzia be hanging around as if she wants to talk?

The rocks that broke the waves on the Daybreak Town beach were covered with salt. Layers and layers of meandering white lines lay flat against the craggy surfaces like sheets of an aurora. Skuld traced the patterns with her fingertips as she waited, perched.

It would have been more comfortable to sit in one of the chairs on the beach, or on the steps of the lighthouse, or even on the sand itself. The rocks that formed the beach’s natural bulkhead weren’t exactly a sustainable resting place. But that was kind of the point. Skuld hadn’t expected to be sitting here so long, and when her party members did finally arrive, she wanted to look it.

She was getting tired and impatient. But at least she wasn’t the only one loitering on the beach.

She had seen that girl around a lot, with the long pigtails and the shrinking violet shoulders, waiting around by herself in all sorts of places. Right now she was hanging back conspicuously by the copse of palm trees on the other side of the lighthouse stairs. The ferryboat had come and gone and come again, so she definitely wasn’t on her way to leave.

( Well, there was nothing for it. )

Title: Right of Way
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Kairi & Riku
Rating: PG
Content notes: potential vehicular violence, animal imperilment
Words: 1,946
Summary: After the defeat of Xemnas’s Organization XIII and the return of our heroes to the Destiny Islands, Riku and Sora have received summons to complete a vital task: their Mark of Mastery exam. But before leaving, Riku is charged with an even more vital task: teaching Kairi to drive.

The ambient sounds of the Gummi Ship’s normal operation chirped melodiously in the background. Riku found the noise soothing, like a reassurance that everything was moving along steadily, but any calming effect was probably bouncing right off the solid wall formed by Kairi’s knotted shoulders.

Kairi’s grip was firm on the oversized steering wheel. Her face was determined, her posture tense. The pilot’s chair was pulled much farther forward than even Sora’s preferred setting, making the pilot herself seem coiled like a spring. The silence of her focus was audible.

“So...” Riku said, leaning casually against the side of the massive driver’s seat. “Are we going to move? Or...”

“Shh,” said Kairi. “I’m thinking.”

Riku waited a moment, but there was no further elaboration.

( “You know, we don’t have to do this.” )

Title: Hearing the Falconer
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Kairi & Riku
Rating: PG
Content notes: weapons, fantasy violence, canon-typical peril
Words: 1,997
Summary: Riku is long since gone on his search for Sora, and Kairi’s training has sent her to the Realm of Sleep. But maybe if they’re lucky they can still meet, with usual words on a slightly unusual street.

As she dove through the abyss of space, Kairi fought the urge to shut her eyes against the vertigo. After lifetimes or minutes of careening past shadowy facsimiles of buildings, the glow of a nighttime cityscape finally started to come into view, stretching out over the world below like a blanket. Its scale seemed to shift rapidly as she approached, from panorama to playset to present surroundings, until she slowed her descent and softly alighted, boots onto cobblestone square.

She had been to Traverse Town before. She had been younger then, and smaller, and the looming layers and tiers of ramshackle buildings had made the ceiling of the night sky feel impossibly high above her. Tonight it seemed much closer, and prowling the empty city felt like walking the streets of an outsized diorama, cloistered and holding its breath.

( As she turned corners, Kairi kept her eye out for any movement. )

Title: Foxtrot
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Brain & Ava
Rating: PG
Content notes: weapons, fantasy violence
Words: 1,004
Summary: Before the Keyblade War, before the Dandelions, before the program that is this world’s future is written, Ava teaches Brain some moves.

“Wrong again.”

Master’s Defender clanged against Ava’s Keyblade, stopping Brain’s forward charge dead in its tracks. The figures of light that were supposed to have obscured his trajectory had apparently never materialized.

Brain let the momentum bounce him back onto the sand of the beach. He propped himself up by his elbows.

“Are you sure? Maybe I did it that way on purpose for a change of pace.”

Ava sighed and let her Keyblade drop, dismissing it. “Maybe we should take a break.”

“Nah, are you kidding? I could go all night.” He flung his arms up and let his head fall back. The back brim of his hat hit the ground and it slid forward, covering his face. “Put me in, coach.”

Ava stepped forward and kneeled neatly beside his prone form. She sighed again and shook her head.

“We won’t make any progress just trying the same thing over and over again.”

“Too right, boss.”

She picked up a stray piece of seaweed off the beach and contemplatively placed it on his hat. “Maybe I should re-explain the technique from the top. Or, do you have any questions?”

( “You know I always have questions,” he mumbled, muffled. )

Title: Indicator Light
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Character Focus: Aqua
Rating: PG
Content notes: unreality, revisiting trauma, canon-typical dark themes
Words: 1,557
Summary: In a forgotten room in the Land of Departure, an old possession of Eraqus’s lies broken. Now that its master is gone, it’s his students’ problem. Maybe Aqua can fix it.

At the end of the hallway that shared the door to Aqua’s quarters in the castle of the Land of Departure, there was a room that she had always assumed was a storage room. She had been in there a few times while tidying, and had settled for just sweeping what little floor there was between the door and the ceiling-height wall of cardboard boxes that were presumably none of her or Terra or Ven’s business. But now that they lived in a world without their master, all business was her and Terra and Ven’s business. And when she had dismantled what had seemed to be only the first of many layers of boxes, she had discovered that the makeshift wall had hid not more of the same, but rather an old computer room.

( Today, she pushed past the barricade of cardboard that still crowded the entrance and carefully picked her way towards the main console at the back. )

Title: Tagalong
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Elrena & Lauriam
Rating: G
Words: 913
Summary: After the prophesied clash between light and darkness, Marluxia’s memories returned. Larxene’s never left. How nice of him to finally join her.

“Do you remember why we’re here?”

It was kind of a shock to hear him speak. Marluxia — no, Lauriam, now — had been standing by the safehouse window for ages, tying his hair into a ponytail and untying it again, looking for the answers to the universe in the dust motes drifting in the sunbeams. There had been no sounds for a while but the dull roar of distant celebration, for the coronation of that princess, Rumpelstiltskin or whoever.

“Of course I do,” snorted Elrena, rolling her eyes.

“Really...” Lauriam still seemed lost in thought. He gave the twine in his hair one final pull.

“What, did you think I was that ditzy? I should be asking you if you remember.”

( She really should have. For ten long years, it had been the question of the hour. )

Title: Wake Up, Girl
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Elrena & Strelitzia
Characters: Elrena, Strelitzia, Lauriam
Rating: PG
Content notes: unreality, fantasy violence, implied mild injury
Words: 1,933
Summary: One evening in Daybreak Town, Elrena gets an opportunity to think about the nature of regret.

Elrena sighed as she sat down at the edge of the roof. It was a nice secluded spot, just one of many expanses of purplish clay shingles that made up this little causeway of shortcuts, high over the streets below. She stretched out her legs and let her feet dangle, a whole storey up above the overflowing window boxes that poked out from the stone and stucco beneath. After an exhausting mission and an obnoxiously long party meeting, the day was finally over. Behind her, in the distance, the lumbering mechanisms of the central clocktower stirred and chimed out the evening.

( “Oh... I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” )