dark_slippy_thing | Room 206, Tuesday Afternoon

Valentine was sitting back on his bed, rather pleased with himself, indeed. ~~Rikku's Birthday~~ Fandom Chicken: The Chickening was now in the editing room, and he was fully intending to make more.
On a whim, he picked up the phone, dialed his co-director-slash-writer, and left a message. And then he sat back once again, quite pleased with himself, and waited.

Will (notawitch)	After getting a call from Valentine, she headed down to knock on his room door. The last three Fandom Chickens were ~~weird~~ bad enough; he seriously wanted to make another one of those? She seriously hoped she could talk him out of it.
Valentine (importantman)	The door opened and Valentine peeked out through it, a grin on his face. "Will! I knew you'd be by the moment I mentioned Fandom Chicken! Come in, sit down, let's discuss.... success." He made a point to insert that poignant pause. It belonged there. This was showbiz. "I'm thinking this time around, we need more doom and possibly shadows just to make the victory at the end that much more poignant. Oh, or better yet, a bittersweet ending where the heroine survives, but the tragic hero is left with a painfully uncertain fate as the world crumbles around him!" He was having way too much fun pulling this out of his arse.
Will (notawitch)	There was a man in a mask partially blocking the open doorway. Will weaved back and forth a couple times before ducking down a bit to go underneath his head and enter Valentine's room. Once inside, she leaned back comfortably against the edge of a desk. "You know, making too many sequels can totally ruin a movie concept. Look at that Region Before Calendars series; it started off as being a great movie about dinosaurs, and now they're down to like the twelfth direct to video sequel that everybody makes fun of. I'm just saying, why ruin a good thing? It'd be pretty jarring to be so darque all at once, y'know?"
Valentine (importantman)	"It won't be ruining anything. I'm sure the residents of Fandom can appreciate a good-old-fashioned end-of-the-world story." Valentine sniffed indignantly. "And I have enough experience in the doomed-worlds department to direct such a film. It would be shocking and leave the audience wanting more-- sequels!"
Will (notawitch)	She would have protested more against making more sequels, but the comment about doomed worlds captured more of Will's attention. Her expression got somewhat more serious, as her hero complex was piqued. "You're talking about your world, and the things that go on there, aren't you?"
Valentine (importantman)	"What other experience in the subject would I be referring to?" Valentine still had stars in his wee pinhole eyes as he continued talking. "Just imagine the look on the hideous, unmasked faces of the crowd as a giant wall of blackness descends upon the Chicken's love interest and there's no true clarification if he made it or not!"
Will (notawitch)	Her face darkened more. "Is that what happens to people on your world?"
Valentine (importantman)	It was fortunate for Valentine that he had such an inquisitive script writer, asking so many questions to make certain that the script was as accurate as possible, wasn't it? "Well, of course it is. The shadow creeps up from behind if it can, and then sweeps over you and turns your entire body into a mass of blackened coal before you crumble into the ground without any evidence that you ever really existed in the first place, except perhaps a streak of black left behind on the sidewalk."
Will (notawitch)	Will wasn't thinking of the script at all at this point. Her Guardian side was still concerned about what was going on. "Is that everything, or are there other threats too?" This wasn't script writing, it was research for a mission plan.
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine was blissfully oblivious. Silly Valentine. "Aside from the usual monkeybirds and sphinxes - tricky little buggers, sphinxes are - and gryphons. There's nothing quite like having to come up with a good riddle on the spur of the moment to keep from being devoured, bones and all, is there?" He seemed rather pleased with himself. "Fortunately, I have a good one. The answer is a secret."
Will (notawitch)	Will nodded at what he said, before looking back over at Valentine. "You know what I'm going to suggest we do."
Valentine (importantman)	The obliviousness was starting to lift now. He'd been through all of this with Will before. But wishful thinking was nice. "Include a gryphon in the next movie...?" Really. It was totally worth a shot.
Will (notawitch)	"That someone needs to go and stop those inky black tentacles so that they can't hurt any more people." And yes, she was looking straight at him.
Valentine (importantman)	Aw, crud. "Anyone in particular in mind for that? I wish them all the best of luck."
Will (notawitch)	"I'm willing to go, but I think I'd need permission first from Candracar. And I'm sure there's probably other people who'd be willing to help out too. But for the mission to work, there'd have to be somebody who knows that world well as part of the team." She was still staring right at him.
Valentine (importantman)	"Mission? Will, I just wanted to make a movie, here." He was staring straight back. He considered for a moment the possibility of slipping out his door and fleeing off into the dorms, but this was his room and he wasn't going to concede defeat so easily. "Nobody here knows the world well enough to come back out of it alive. Best of luck finding someone who can, hm? Tell me how it goes? Send a postcard while you're gone?"
Will (notawitch)	Will shifted her balance so that she was no longer leaning on the desk so that she was closer to him. "You're willing to just let a whole world die? Are you really that heartless?"
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine took a half a step backward. He was wanting his space right about now, possibly quite desperately. "Not heartless. I've had experiences with heartless, and I'll assure you, I'm not quite like that. I'm also not a hero. Or a fighter. And I might be from that world, but that doesn't mean that I have to go out of my way to get myself killed saving it."
Will (notawitch)	She finally looked away, to stare at a spot in space somewhere over Valentine's shoulder. "But if there was a chance to save your world, to save all the people in it from a terrible fate, ... why wouldn't you? Isn't it worth taking the chance to make things better for not just yourself, but for everyone else around you too? It doesn't mean necessarily throwing yourself out there to get killed, but at least taking some kind of stand on the chance that it'll make a difference and make things better." It was possible that she felt quite passionate about this.
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine's hand made a pretty impressive slapping sound as it collided with his forehead. Will was on a tirade. Will was not going to shut up. Will would just have to be humored, as Valentine really had no intention of getting himself killed. "Very well," he said, waving his other hand almost dismissively. "If you figure that my world needs saving and that you need me in order to do so, then fine, I'll do it." Anything to put an end to the heroic nonsense babble of a righteous and possibly entirely too reckless mind.
Will (notawitch)	Will breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't quite the heroic speech she'd ideally hoped for, but seeing as this was Valentine after all, she'd settle for at least going along with this. "That's good," she said, still staring off into space a bit. "We'll need to go talk to the Oracle in Candracar to see what he has to say about this, but I'm pretty sure he'll approve it once we explain what the problem is."
Valentine (importantman)	... If that didn't sound official and mildly foreboding, Valentine wasn't quite sure what did. "I'm free on Thursdays," was the best answer his suddenly overwhelmed mind could formulate.
Will (notawitch)	That was a good enough answer for her. "Great. I'll come back and get you then." She managed to pull a small smile. "And I'll even start brainstorming on the inevitable next Chicken movie if you want. Something upbeat."
Valentine (importantman)	"Yes. Brainstorming. Excellent. Thursday? See you then," Valentine pulled the door open numbly. What had he gotten himself into?
Will (notawitch)	With a last attempt at a friendly wave Will headed for the door and back towards her own dorm room. She had some thinking and planning to do.
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine stared after Will as she walked down the hallway until she was out of sight, and then proceeded to stand in his doorway a few moments more, for good measure. And then, all at once, he spun on his heel and made a frantic grab for the telephone, dialing a number and bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet until there was a click of the voicemail. "RIKKU YOU HAVE TO HIDE ME ON THURSDAY!!"

Rikku (the_merriest)	Okay, that was a weird phone message, even for Valentine. So maybe it was time for his friendly neighborhood Rikku to drop by and make sure he wasn't, you know. In debt to the mob, or running from the law, or something else that can put a crimp in your weekend plans. Knock knock knock!
Valentine (importantman)	"Come in!" It was entirely possible that Valentine had already edged his way back toward the bed and was making motions to wiggle underneath it when Rikku had knocked. "Unless you're Will! In which case, I'm not home and you've reached a very clever automated door-answering system, and may leave at your leisure, only sooner!"
Rikku (the_merriest)	Oooooohkay. Rikku popped around the door and shut it behind her. "Sooooo ... who's this Will guy and why do I need to beat him up?"
Valentine (importantman)	"He's a her," Valentine clarified, pausing in his clever getaway to the dark under-regions of his bed when he realized that salvation was quite possibly at hand. "And I've agreed to do something that I'm quite possibly entirely incapable of doing and this whole thing has gotten out of hand and I'm not made for saving worlds so please hide me and this can blow over before I have to go and see some oracle thing, alright?"
Rikku (the_merriest)	It took Rikku a minute to parse all of that out. "You ... said you'd do something, and now you ... can't, so you're ... gonna hide instead of ... telling this Will? And there's an Oracle that has to save the world." She raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you should tell me what's going on?"
Valentine (importantman)	"Really, I couldn't in the first place, I just wanted her to shut up!" Valentine pulled himself off of the floor and sat down heavily on the edge of his bed. "All this talk about how because my world is constantly suffering from the shadows, someone has to do something about it, and finally, I just told her that fine, I'd do it, but I said it to make her be quiet even if I don't want my world to fall apart and now she's going to be taking me to see some ... oracle... person. Thing. Person. And I can't do this. She's so full of these good intentions and this is entirely out of my league!"
Rikku (the_merriest)	"The shadows again," she said softly, nodding. "Does she think ... this oracle person can stop them? I mean, that'd really be something, wouldn't it?"
Valentine (importantman)	"No, not stop them, really." Valentine couldn't help but shudder at the thought. "I think she wants us to go and ask permission to do it ourselves. But it's going to take more than just her and myself for this. I can't do this. I'm going to die and it will not be pretty."
Rikku (the_merriest)	Rikku blinked a little, still confused. "Why do you need his permission? It's your world, isn't it? If you wanna go off and save it, you don't need some guy's permission, right?"
Valentine (importantman)	"I don't even know if I want to do this, I don't pretend to comprehend it all, on top of this." He shuddered again and wrung his hands together nervously in his lap. "So I need someone to hide me or talk me out of it or talk me into it or something. I'm quite fond of this thing that I've been doing for some time, now. You know, living. I'm no fighter."
Rikku (the_merriest)	"Okay," Rikku said, nodding. She pulled the chair out and sat down on it. "So Will thinks she can stop .. what's wrong with your world? I mean, that's what this is getting to, right? She wants to go to your world and fix it, before it's, you know. Too late."
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine nodded slightly. "She wants to stop the shadows," he said, managing not to shudder again. "The big swoop-down-from-nowhere-kill-you-before-you-know-it shadows that have been jumping out of the sky itself to devour people and their homes and nobody knows what they are or why they're there, but there's no way that just she and I would be able to stop them, anyhow. We'd be dead before she even figured out that they were there."
Rikku (the_merriest)	"It wouldn't be just you and her," Rikku said. "You know that, right? If you ... need people to go, then ... there are people who'd help."
Valentine (importantman)	"Are there?" He looked at her, leaning forward a little as though possibly it would help him make sense of whatever look she might be giving him at this point. No dice. "I don't know where to begin looking. Most of the people I've met here are rather still fond of living, also."
Rikku (the_merriest)	Rikku wasn't sure if he was being dense or just that scared. She bit her lip. "I meant me. I mean, not just me, I'm sure there are other people and all. But ... if you need someone, to go with you? I will."
Valentine (importantman)	It took a few moments of just staring at Rikku before Valentine could being himself to speak. He had suspected that she might offer something of the sort, but suspicions and actions were two entirely different things, and it was shocking to hear it said aloud nevertheless. ... "Thank you." What else could he say, really?
Rikku (the_merriest)	Rikku nodded. "Any time. So what do we need?"
Valentine (importantman)	"More than three people," Valentine muttered, looking downward again. "Anything else... is absolutely beyond me. I should know after Will and I talk to that Oracle of hers." He was not believing the words coming out of his mouth. Excellent job letting yourself be talked out of this, Valentine. Fantastic. Very well done.
Rikku (the_merriest)	"Weapons," said Rikku swiftly. "Armor. I know where to get some. Do you have any?"
Valentine (importantman)	"I have my juggling balls for weapons, but they're really quite harmless. There's that Holy Gem that you gave me and--" Valentine paused and looked at her for a moment. This was insane. "And I didn't really say I was going to do this, did I?"
Rikku (the_merriest)	Rikku tilted her head, thinking. "Not sure you did say. But hang onto that Blessed Gem, it's way useful. And I have more explosives and all that."
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine stared at her quietly for a moment, anxiously wringing his hands together some more. "More explosives are good. And I have that healing potion thing from Whatever Class, which might come in handy. All I really need now is for someone to inform me that this is not as absolutely suicidal as I believe it is. Or to talk me out of it."
Rikku (the_merriest)	"A ... healing potion?" Rikku made a strange face. "I though people in your world didn't have them? It's okay, I have a lot, too. I'll bring them." She looked at Valentine for a long moment. "Okay. Which of those do you want?"
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine shook his head and pulled out the little vial that Squall had handed out in Interdisciplinary Studies during their class on first aid. "I didn't feel much like cutting myself wide open to see if it works," he mused, looking down at the little vial and falling silent for a moment as he lapsed into thought. "This isn't suicidal," he said at length. "I need to believe that this isn't one of the most stupid things I've done in my life, or it is never going to happen."
Rikku (the_merriest)	Rikku stared at it wonderingly. "It's ... it's a hi-potion. That's ... is he from Spira!? I need ... what's his name? I need to talk to him. This is crazy." She shook her head. "Sorry, that's ... I was just ... it's not important." She set the vial aside and gave her attention back to Valentine again. "I don't think it's suicidal. I mean, if the worst happens and we can't stop it, then we come back here, right? But this ... might be your only chance, to save it. Your world. The shadows are just getting worse, right?"
Valentine (importantman)	"The situation certainly isn't getting any better," Valentine conceded with a shrug and a shake of his head. "The shadows don't have to get worse in oder to pick everyone off one by one, you know? I'm not thrilled about the prospect of going back there, but maybe people are right, and something has to be done about it?" There he went, talking crazy again.
Rikku (the_merriest)	Rikku stared for a long moment, then looked down. "It's your choice. It has to be, in the end. I can't say it isn't crazy, or dangerous, and I'm not sure it is a good idea. Maybe it's not." "What I do know ..." She folded her arms, still staring at the ground. "M-my home is gone. The whole city. I got there just in time to see it destroyed. Some people survived. Most didn't. W-we ..." She shook her head quickly. No crying. "I don't have a home any more. We live on an airship and Pops is being stupid and ... I don't. It's gone." "Maybe your home isn't like mine, and you wouldn't miss it at all. And once it's gone you can find a new place, I mean, I came here, and some of the Al Bhed moved to other places in Spira, now that people don't hate us so much. But ..." Her voice was wavering again. "I'll never get that back. It might not be too late, for you. That's all."
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine watched Rikku carefully the entire time she spoke. Her face meant nothing to him, but talk about having nowhere to call home hit him harder than he had thought it might. "The place is where I'm from," he said after a moment, "but I've never really had a place to consider 'home.' I should think that other people should have the privilege, though." He didn't believe he was about to say this. "Very well. I'll talk to Will's oracle, and then I'll let you know when we're leaving to save the world." In the meantime, he'd probably be doing a great deal of silently freaking out.
Rikku (the_merriest)	Rikku thought for a minute, then got up and sat down next to him on the bed, putting one hand on his shoulder. "Hey," she said softly. "I don't have a home, either. Maybe Fandom's supposed to be yours, yeah? It seems like it is for a lot of people."
Valentine (importantman)	"Perhaps," Valentine mumbled, looking down at the floor. "At least until I graduate next year? And then I'll have to go back anyhow." It was entirely possible that the smile that he was wearing when he looked up at her was very, very forced. "Might as well make sure that there's a place to go back to, hm?"
Rikku (the_merriest)	"Why?" asked Rikku, leaning over to look at him a little. "Who says you have to go back at all? I'm not going to. I already decided that."
Valentine (importantman)	... She held a very valid point. "Perhaps I could fail on purpose and repeat a year. For the rest of my life." Valentine cracked a bit of a grin at the thought. "I wouldn't know where else to go, really."
Rikku (the_merriest)	Rikku laughed, glad that he seemed to be cheering up a little. "Why fail? Why not ... I don't know. Move into town here, be a street performer, work at one of the bars. Or if you're tired of Fandom! Pick a city. Pick any city. Find a way to someone else's world and spend some time there. I'm not going back. I don't see why you should, either."
Valentine (importantman)	"At one of the bars?" Valentine smirked. "I never was the waiter type, really. But I have the feeling that simply standing on the roadside and juggling around here isn't going to get me by." He flopped backward onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling. "I'll tell you what. If ever I find a way to get to someone else's world, I'll take full advantage of it."
Rikku (the_merriest)	"Stranger things have happened," Rikku said. "I mean, how did any of us get here? I still don't know how I did. I didn't think any place like this existed. If it does ... there's gotta be more out there. Right? I wonder what they're like."
Valentine (importantman)	"I have no idea what they might be like," he shook his head, taking in the expanse of the ceiling thoughtfully. "I couldn't even imagine a place like this might have existed. But here we are. I think, someday, I should like to find out what other worlds are like." He glanced over at her, a nervous smile toying at his lips. "I think for now, I should like to make certain that what I've got is still there, just in case, hm?"
Rikku (the_merriest)	"It'd be something, wouldn't it?" She laughed a little. "Although I think I wouldn't mind if I never left this one. There's so much to see. And Bayla ... she was in Toronto, and she was happy there, so maybe I do that. You know? I don't know if she's my future, but ... maybe I wouldn't mind, I think."
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine rolled over and sat up again. It was entirely possible that he was a wee bit on the antsy side. "If you come with me to my world, yes, you'll see another one. But it's dangerous. You understand that, right? Very dangerous. And I'm not even sure there's a way to fight against it."
Rikku (the_merriest)	"Oh! I meant, other than that. Not like that." She flailed a little. "I'm coming, honest. And ... I do understand that. I've seen things that ..." Rikku looked away. "I've never seen the sky grow shadows to eat someone. But I've seen things that I think ... were just as scary, in their own way. I was a Guardian; I had to get Yunie to Zanarkand alive, at any cost. And it almost cost a lot."
Valentine (importantman)	"Hopefully, this won't cost nearly as much," Valentine said, looking downward with a sigh. "We'll all come back from this alive, then. Promise me that?"
Rikku (the_merriest)	"I promise," Rikku said softly. "I was -- I am a Guardian. This is what I do."
Valentine (importantman)	"Thank you." Valentine really didn't know what else to say. He was afraid. He'd be crazy not to be afraid. But he was thankful that he wasn't going to be doing this alone, too.