courtings | to light the darkness.

[Renji reluctantly puts Sora down, then seems to realize that it wasn't the most manly thing in the world to be doing anyway. He coughs and looks around from under his hair, which is still mostly plastered to his face.]

Yeah, I guess? When we were leaving that damn place [He is not even going to name Landel's. Fuck that place. Seriously.] something kind of happened. I think someone screwed up their kidou. It all just went kinda... weird.

But you... I saw you...

[Sora pauses and tries to gather his thoughts. Should he even tell Renji about that? He's not dead now, and that's what matters, especially since Landel can't get to them anymore.]

We have to get you home! [Not that Sora doesn't want Renji's company. And he wouldn't mind having the man spend a few days here. But there's got to be people waiting on him back home, too.]

Huh?

[Renji looks concerned for a moment, mostly because Sora seems kind of worried, but then he continues on.]

Yeah, it'd be nice to get back to Soul Society. I'd like to... you know... check up on people and stuff.

[He hopes Rukia made it back okay. He needs to know she's all right. But he doesn't want to burden Sora with that worry.]

So how do we do it? Things are still weird, I guess, since you can even see me...

Well, I'm not exactly a normal kid, either, so I might be able to see you anyway! [Sora doesn't want to think about how frustrating it would be if he Renji was here and he wasn't even able to see him for some reason. Technically, he knows that the man is already dead, but it's not quite that clean-cut, is it?]

Either way, we'll need to find a link between worlds. That might be kind of tricky, since the place you're from is kind of like an afterlife, right? So it's going to be tough to find...

[Not to mention it's not like he has a gummi ship on hand, although he's pretty sure he could get a hold of the King somehow and get that organized. Sora realizes that the last thing he needs right now is another adventure, but at the same time, he has to get Renji back to where he belongs.]

That's true. You're definitely not normal.

[Wait a second...]

I mean like in the special way. So yeah, you probably got some strong reiatsu, so you'd see me anyway. [At least he can hope.]

It is the afterlife. I mean normally we just can open gates there, but I've never been good at that. And... I tried before. It didn't work right. At least I don't think it did. I can't remember.

[Renji scratches his head.]

But it's not a rush, right? So don't worry.

[Sora knew what Renji meant from the start, but he smiles at the clarification and then nods.] Yeah, let's go with that. [Although that means that some of the other islanders might not be able to see Renji, which could get strange...]

We'll figure something out! But... we should probably get you dried off first, huh? [Renji's still dripping wet, and while the man doesn't seem to mind that much, Sora does actually know a thing or two about manners. Whether it's a rush or not, they should take care of that first.]

But I guess we'll find out, right, if your friends start thinking you're nuts for talking to an invisible friend. [Great minds think alike, Sora.]

That would actually be... great. And I don't know what the shit is in my hair, but... yeah.

[He's far more vain than he'd ever admit.]

And clothes that aren't putting sand into the crack of my ass would also be great.

[Despite Renji's crudeness, Sora just laughs. For someone who's not used to living life on the beach, he can see how it'd be a serious pain.]

All right, all right, enough complaining. We can go back to my house and you can use the shower there, and then we'll try to figure out what you can wear. [They'll probably have to head down to the marketplace to look for something on sale, but Sora's not too worried about it.]

[Renji grins.]

You better like the complaining. It's how you can tell a shinigami is alive, right?

[A shower, that sounds glorious.]

Awesome. [He laughs.] Wow, and imagine, a shower I don't have to share with a bunch of other dudes, right? Moving up in the world.

[The reference back to the group showers at Landel's makes Sora pause, and then laugh.] Tell me about it! But that's only one thing that makes this place better than Landel's.

[It's been nice easing back into a more familiar kind of life, and while Sora's still got a lot of wanderlust to spare, he's been enjoying the time back home at a more leisurely pace. He's pretty shocked that an old friend has come along now, but he's all the more glad for it.

He starts leading Renji across the shore toward his home.]

No way. Impossible. [Renji grins at Sora.] Just gonna have to prove it, I guess.

[He follows along. Sure, he's lost, but he's not alone. And he's not even technically lost since Sora knows where the hell they are, right?]

How's Kairi doing?

I'll show you all the things that make this place great. [Well, other than it being an island paradise, which is pretty good on its own. But Sora can show Renji the markets and the play island and the paopu tree... It's pretty exciting getting to be tour guide like this!]

She's good! Riku, too. We've all been trying to enjoy the time off, hahah.

Awesome. [Grin.]

Time off? You guys on vacation or something?

[He does look a bit wistful.] They around at all? I'd like to uh... say hi to Kairi or something.

[He means hug her. But that's really not a manly thing to admit, he's pretty sure.]

Well, after we got out of Landel's, all of us wanted to take it easy for a while and catch up with our families. [While it's impossible to act like things are in any way the same as they once were, that doesn't matter to Sora. He's just glad that they're all together again, and that he doesn't have to worry about his friends constantly.]

And we'll make sure to find her! I just wanted to get you cleaned up first. [While Kairi wouldn't care either way, it still seems like Sora should take care of Renji's basic needs first.]

to light the darkness.

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