Xion bit the inside of her cheek. First day at the facility and she was already alone. Naturally, Zack had done the proper brotherly thing and dropped her off, helped her carry in her things and made sure she was settled in. But she knew he had been chomping at the bit to go see who his roommate was. He couldn’t exactly stay with her all night. He had things to do. Her roommate had unpacked her things and left the room by the time Xion got there. So she had quietly done the same, reassuring the older Fair she would be fine. That didn't really take too much convincing as he was out the door and off to meet his roommate too. However, Xion couldn't stay in that empty room for long. So she went up to the terrace atop the dorms to see the view.
What she hadn't expected was that there was already someone up there. A man, probably around Zack's age, was standing by the edge, with his hands his pockets, overlooking the crowd below as they too trickled into the building, followed by EVE-bots and hands clenched tightly around maps. She had tried to slip back downstairs but the door had already shut, with a loud click, attracting his attention. He swiftly turned to look at her. Xion couldn't meet his eyes. She looked down at the ground, as if it had become suddenly much more interesting than anything else around them. To her surprise she heard a light laugh.
"It's okay. You can come on over." He told her.
He patiently waved her over to him and went back to looking out over the edge of the terrace. She decided that since he was not making a big deal about it was a plus. Xion had deliberated it for a moment. She had anxiously clenched her hands together over her heart. But she had nothing to lose by going and sitting next to him. It beat being alone in her dorm room, despite how much work she could get done on her precious Wall-E project. And he seemed friendly enough. All logic aside, Xion walked over and stood next to him, both of them looking out over the top of the building until the man looked at her.
"Now would you look at that?" He said in awe.
Xion looked up to see what he was talking about but there wasn't anything odd. It was just a sunset. She had seen countless sunsets and they all looked just the same after a while of remembering them perfectly. There were people below, just milling around, bringing in boxes, totes and suitcases of their belongings. There was nothing odd about that. It was move in weekend after all. She wondered silently if her roommate was down there, mingling and getting to know other people. She didn’t know why that man was up there either. Unless he was waiting for his roommate too? It seemed likely, since it was still early. His roommate could come the next day?
"Panamnesia? Here I thought I was the only one with a good memory!" He exclaimed.
"Huh?"
He smiled kindly when Xion looked up at him, completely baffled. She didn't know how he knew of her power. It might have elicited some form of alarm but Xion didn't feel it. Instead she felt oddly comfortable around him. Which was saying something because she was still nervous and scared of this new place. She just wanted to fit in. At least he wasn't freaking out about what she could do. Most people were a little weirded out by what she could do, mostly because she remembered things better than they did.
"Sorry! I hope you don't mind that I took a look, little one." He said and he tapped the side of his head.
"I don't understand."
"I can manipulate memories. A mind like yours is… very special."
Xion recoiled, with half a mind to just flee back to her dorm room and not come out until training started but Buddy just smiled at her. She hadn't even realized he was looking! A horrid blush crossed her cheeks because of all of the terrible memories that came to mind, all of them far too embarrassing because someone else knew how unhappy she had been throughout the past few years, let alone throughout her life. But the way he said her name, with complete awe made Xion made her hope, at least, that someone could sympathize with her on some level.
Of course there would be people with powers around her. She just hadn’t expected anyone to be so forward about using their powers on other people. At least it wasn’t one of those awful powers in which someone ended up getting hurt, she supposed. Or there was physical damage to something or someone. Memories were special things, Xion had been told again and again by her mother. She should treasure the fact that she could remember so much. Her gaze slowly lifted until she met Buddy’s eyes. She didn’t see any judgment in his eyes for her ability, just respect and a certain level of awe.
"So since I know you, you should know my name is Buddy." He continued.
He offered her his hand to shake. She smiled shyly, returning the gesture. His hand shake was firm, but not uncomfortable like some people Xion knew. Slowly she pulled her hand back. Xion found herself smiling back at him, despite herself. It took a lot for her to be this comfortable around people. However, Buddy seemed to exude this sort of trustworthiness. She hoped she could count him amongst her first friends on the island though she was a little too nervous to ask just yet. Maybe it was a good thing she hadn’t gotten to meet her roommate just yet. It was so far working out in her best interest. And if she had me the other woman, she wouldn’t have gotten to meet Buddy.
"It's nice to meet you." She replied softly.
"The pleasure is all mine." He said.
That seemed a little odd of him to say, she wanted to remark on it but she just nodded along with a smile on her face. So many things had happened that she would have normally questioned. She was probably just tired. She and Zack did have a long trip to get to the facility. But it seemed that way for everyone. Some people had traveled even further than they did. She wondered where Buddy came from, where he had been or seen. She always did like traveling, though the means of getting there might not have been her favorite part.
"So tell me, pet, what is it like to have that power? I'm a little curious." Buddy said.
"I... Don't know. I don't really have a basis of comparison," Xion mumbled.
But it made Buddy laugh all the same. Xion's smile widened a little bit more. She just knew he wasn't laughing at her. The only person like that was Zack. Zack always laughed. He always understood or at least tried to. Same went with their mother but they were family, so Xion added them to her little list because otherwise, she would have had no one who tried to understand her. Buddy was the first person, aside from her family to make that attempt. So she giggled softly, shyly since she didn’t know if she really had a right to laugh.
"Do you mind?" He asked.
At first she didn't understand what he meant because he was just holding out his hand. But when the realization dawned on her she found herself nodding. He had already gone into her mind once already to see what was inside. He hadn’t tried to hurt her, or alter anything, despite what he said about being able to if he wanted. She was glad that he had been polite enough to ask and respect her wishes. And he was just so nice, a little voice whispered in her ear. He asked, so of course, it was okay, the little voice continued.
"Don't worry, pet, it will just take a minute..." he said in a sweet tone.
She closed her eyes when he caresses her head. His fingers gently brushed her bangs away before skimming to the skin of her forehead and temple. Buddy clicked his tongue disapprovingly. Worriedly she looked up at him but he offered her that smile again, the one that assured her it would be okay, which was odd because she normally associated that smile with her brother. However, the gesture was so soft, so tender it almost brought tears to her eyes. He was careful and meticulous when he peered through her memories, leaving everything as pristine and untouched as it had been.
"Hey, next time if you're up for it, we could try an experiment, I could take away one or two of those sad memories," Buddy suggested. "What do you say?"
"Really? You'd do that?"
"Of course. Won't hurt a bit."
Xion could almost imagine a smirk on that face of his but that wasn't right. It was a trick of the light. He was smiling, kind, warm and serene.
