Where Are They Now.

[cardoperatedboy]

So the Replica's just finished his second month of camp -- and, er, life -- and things are still kind of strange for the little guy.

To start with, there's the living situation. Namine invited him to live in the gingerbread cabin, and that's not the sort of offer he is capable of actually saying no to. XD So he agreed, and he's nominally living with Namine (Try saying THAT ten times fast). But he's not there very often because he's not very happy with the situation. He feels like he's living in a situation that isn't his, that doesn't fit, that he hasn't earned, and he's waiting for the other shoe to drop and for it to be taken away from him. He hates the thought that he's as equally welcome to stay as some kid Namine had never met before and instead of getting up in Larsa's face about it, he's playing the avoidy game. (NOTE: THIS IS MY IC EXCUSE FOR AVOIDING HIM UNTIL I'VE HAD A CHANCE TO PLAY THE GAME :D; It's on my 'spoil me about ANYTHING and DIE' list, see.) As a result, although he does stay there now and then, he spends a lot more time wandering around like a lost puppy and stuff. The labs sometimes (though not as often as you'd think; he's more likely to harass Zexion in brief bursts, where he's more likely to get away with it), partially because he's comfortable being around Science. He's been known to nap in corners of the library too. (Where by nap I mean, you know, having a nice coma or two.) He ganks Imoen's floor space too, though he doesn't gank Sora's any more, not now that Riku's there. This has the upside, too, of getting him out and meeting people -- if he were comfortable or happy with living in the gingerbread house, he'd probably never come out. It's a good thing! So his home life is... interesting.

Then there's the whole. Other People thing. See, the replica isn't used to Other People. While at one point he'd of course believed he'd been around other people, those memories are all fractured and, you know, it's not like the Riku he'd thought he was didn't disassociate from normal dealings anyway. (Lol destroying the world in a fit of cabin fever.) The replica's life pretty much revolved around... seven, eight people? Total. And now there's ten times that amount (Twenty times?) and they mostly don't GET it and they want to NAME him and it's weird. ...He loves it. He's never had a chance to be a Normal Kid before, and a bunch of those impulses are rising up now. Mostly by fightingfightingfighting, because he's still a mid-boss, but he's also starting to engage in play, which is sort of weird and new. The naming thing still bothers him, though; he doesn't feel enough like he's got a self to roll with it, though he'll answer to most things that aren't insulting. (AND APPARENTLY SOME THINGS THAT ARE, WHAT THE HELL GUYS. XD) The big, big plus about meeting Other People is that slowly his life may stop being in such a tight orbit around Riku's. ....We'll see. XD

...Right now the only people who haven't really changed that much are the Castle Oblivion people, and that's comforting in one way and kind of sad in another.

The really weird thing about Other People, though, is meeting other replicas. In Kon's case, it's a clone, which isn't exactly the same thing -- but it's pretty close. While the replica doesn't think much of Kon's attitudes towards everything, he has a kind of shy weirdness about interacting with Kon, because Kon seems to understand the situation and is also so much worldlier. His goody-goody side grates on the (OLIOLIO DARKNESS) replica, but he ends up being kind of a brash kid (And actually FEELING young) around Kon.

....aaaand then there's Luke. The replica has only talked to him once, briefly, so I don't have much to say here, but the replica already feels weird about Luke. I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF THE REPLICA TRIED TO GET HIM TO FIGHT AT SOME POINT L-LOL. Mostly he's ... kind of defensive. He doesn't expect Luke to understand his situation because (as far as HE knows! and as far as I know) Luke never got completely brainraeped to think he was someone else. The replica sort of remembers what he was like when he was first made -- and he was a lot more confident, viewing Riku not as an interference to his *self*, but more as a way to prove himself, a standard to measure against. He sees Luke more like that after their admittedly brief interaction.

...which Riku isn't now, especially given the conflicts they've had in camp, which is *after* the replica's death and a year he only knows a little about and he's very defensive and upset and messed up in the head.

SO IN SHORT (...too late...) the replica: Three months old and very confused.