Ienzo and Kairi turned towards the door when they heard the great creak it made upon opening.
"Hel~lo, toots! Brought ya somethin'," Braig said walking in with two plates of food balanced in each hand.
"Zoey too!" Myde added, dragging a load of chairs behind him, "Look! Chairs!"
Kairi blinked, "Umm, what?"
Ienzo looked in slight disquiet at the food balanced in the two hands, "Why are there four plates?"
The gray-haired man grinned, "Why else? Me and Angelfish are gonna be dining with you and toots."
Kairi scowled faintly, "'Toots'? Which one of you are you anyways?"
"Yeah, I guess I didn't really introduce myself last time." He said heading towards where the other two were seated. "I'm Braig, lord of Castle Oblivion."
She lifted an eyebrow, "Am I supposed to be impressed enough to let it slide you were the one who put me in a cage and call me 'toots'?"
The gray-haired man laughed, "Sorry, but it was Even's idea to capture you, not mine. But I like your spunk, toots." He set the three of the plates down on the ground by Ienzo, grabbed the more plush of the four chairs Myde had lugged in, and towed it over to the cell door.
To Kairi's astonishment, he unlocked the door then opened it. Braig then pushed the chair in, set the food down on the cushion, closed the door, locked it, and strolled back over to where Ienzo and Myde were. Kairi opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it, shaking her head. These were the strangest Heartless. They probably knew she wasn't stupid enough to attempt escape with all three of them here, but still.
She sighed and dragged her chair to the place she usually sat. Picking up the plate, she sat down and watched their endeavor to fit three individual chairs of distinctly different designs into an area that would definitely not allow this.
"You know, you could have just gotten similar chairs."
"But where's the fun in that? Plus we have to cater to the personal preferences of the seats' occupants. That's why Ienzo-dono has a chair from the library."
"Really?" the scholar said with an eyebrow raised, "I was under the impression you just grabbed the closest thing. I'm actually surprised you didn't come in here pulling a couple of footstools behind you."
"'Cept with you, milady, we didn't know what kind of chair you liked." Myde said taking a bite of food, "So we just used the most comfortable one that a single person could carry by themselves." He finished, having yet to swallow.
"Myde,"
"Yeah Zoey?"
"Masticate before you articulate."
The brunet gave his friend a dumb look, "Huh?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Angelfish."
"Oh…" this caused the redhead to giggle; Myde swallowed before continuing, "Anyways, I wanted the swirly chair in the surveillance room, but Even said if I did take it, he'd cast-err, do really mean stuff to me." He risked a quick glance towards Ienzo, "Plus, it was bolted to the floor, so it would be hard to sneak in to get it quickly."
"That was good." Kairi said as she passed her empty plate through the bars, "Who made it?"
"Dear luck, princess, you eat fast."
Braig grinned, "That would be me, toots. Betcha didn't expect a guy like me to be a cook."
"Pretty much, yeah." She answered.
The gray-haired Heartless laughed. "I'm multitalented, chef and head of our little band of Heartless."
"Some name." the redhead commented drily.
He shrugged, "What can I say? We never got around to it. Plus, what would we name it?"
"Ooh, I know! Maybe…The Only Straight People Here Are Zoey And Maybe Rould Club!" Myde offered excitedly.
Kairi made a mental note to ask who Rould was later.
"Too long, Angelfish. How 'bout Braig's Brig?"
"How 'bout not?" Ienzo said flatly.
"Make it Myde's Minstrels!"
"Not a chance, Angelfish. What about Kairi's Crew? I'm sure Ienzo-dono will love that."
The scholar blushed dark gray, "S-shut up!"
"Sorry guys, that's already taken. How does The Darkened Hearts sound?"
"Kinda morbid, and like a garage band name."
"You got me there."
"What of the name Organization VIII?"
"No. Just, no."
"My apologies, but I could not resist, princess." Ienzo said with a roguish smile.
"Yeah, yeah. Maybe you should call yourselves Those Of The Belated Furnishing."
"It's undoubtedly fitting, but it's lacking that certain ring to it."
"Ienzo-dono's right, let's make it something like The Ones Who Stole Kairi's Crew."
"That does not seem exactly right, but I think you're on to something, perhaps Royalty's Captors?"
"No, the Princess Snatchers!" Myde said dramatically.
"I like that one, Angelfish."
"I don't."
"Really? I'm quite fond of it, actually."
"It only applies to me you know, your earlier 'Royalty's Captors' was more accurate."
"Well then, how do you like the sound of The Keyblader Kidnapers, toots?"
Kairi sighed exasperatedly, "Forget it. By the way, what did you mean earlier by 'Ienzo-dono has some bondin' to do.'?"
"I was wondering the same thing. I mean, you did leave me at the mercy of a woman scorned."
"Well, I won't exactly call it that…"
"It was close enough, Braig."
Kairi blushed slightly, "Yeah, sorry about that. I kinda lost my temper, didn't I?"
"'Kinda'? Milady, I'll have to disagree. You were absolutely pissed."
"Myde…"
"Oh right, don't curse in front of a lady, my bad."
"You know, Braig, you never answered my question about Ienzo 'bondin''."
"Indeed."
Myde exchanged glances with his boyfriend, "Are they oblivious to everything pertaining to that?"
The castle lord shook his head, "I just don't know, Angelfish, I just don't know."
"Oh, just tell us already!"
Braig grinned and picked up his and Myde's now empty plates, standing to leave, "Ya know, Angelfish, let's have them figure it out for themselves."
"Yes, let's." the brunet said grabbing Ienzo's plate and also standing.
"W-wait! What do you mean?" the young man called at their retreating backs. He was answered only with snickers.
— — — — — — —
Sora glanced concernedly at Riku; they had spent what felt like forever dodging Even's questions with ambiguous responses, and now…and now Riku frankly looked like hell. Sitting on the bed and rubbing his face with his hands, he seemed tired, even vulnerable. And it worried Sora.
"Hey Riku, you okay?" he asked gently.
The older teen jerked slightly as if he hadn't been fully in touch with reality, "Oh…yeah, I'm fine." He replied wearily.
Now that Sora could see all of his face, Riku looked even more fatigued. His friend had taken it upon himself to answer all of the scientist's questions; not wanting Sora to suffer inquiry. He'd even been standing between the brunet and the man, as if providing some physical barrier would protect the younger Keyblader from Even.
Footsteps could be heard, but they didn't sound like the platinum-blond's measured strides, they seemed more relaxed and exuded confidence. The source soon arrived in front of their cell, revealing itself to be a smirking man with pinkish-brown hair, though it was more like brownish-pink. "Well, hello Keybladers, how are you?"
"Who the hell are you?" Riku said irritably.
The man's smirk widened, "Temper, temper, silver-haired one, you look in no condition to fight. Or even stand for too long."
"Answer the question."
"My name is Lumaria. You should really learn some manners, my dear Ri~ku." The older teen sneered at how the man had drawn out his name. "Especially when I'm the one who has you and darling Sora's dinner." He pointed out showing the Keybladers the plates of food he balanced in one hand.
Riku grit his teeth but said nothing, only glaring. Lumaria's smirk turned patronizing, "Good boy."
The silver-haired teen subconsciously flexed his fingers, itching to beat the man to a bloody pulp. He told himself to not be goaded, that wrath leads to darkness and rage will get him nowhere. No matter how good it would feel to-
Fatedamnit! Stop thinking about that, you idiot! That's only going to make you fall into darkness. Again.Riku took a deep breath, reminded himself Sora was present, and said, "Fine, give us our food, please."
"That's better."
Vines suddenly shot out to wrap around both the teens' arms but Riku was the only one of the two whose feet were also bound. "What the luck did you do?"
Lumaria smiled wickedly and causally unlocked the cell door; letting it swing open, he approached the silver-haired prisoner, "We can't have you two attacking me," He set their dinners down on the bed next to its fruitlessly struggling occupant, "or escaping," He said running his fingers down Riku's cheek, gently pushing up his captive's face, "can we now?"
He was answered only with a ferocious glower. The man gave one last superior smirk as he patted Riku's head before exiting the cell and locking it back. Lumaria snapped his fingers and the vines released them, "Someone will come to pick up your plates in the morning." He said as he began walking away, "It's getting rather late; you might want to figure out the sleeping arrangements." Then he was gone.
Sora and Riku looked each other, both realizing what Lumaria had meant.
There was only one bed.
