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004 || {Video or Action}

Okay, this is... kind of a dumb question, but—

[Hope leans back a little and sighs, adjusting the sling around his left arm with a slight wince. He's somewhat arched awkwardly over the journal's view, the book itself spread across his lap since he currently only has one hand to work the thing.]

I just moved into a new house, and I'm sick of this colour. [He shifts his upper body to the side, attempting to prop up the journal to show what he means. What the camera catches instead is a blurred view of the plain walls zipping past before it slips from his hand and falls to the floor with a thump.

Heaving an exasperated sigh, the boy stoops to pick the thing up, dropping it onto the bed next to him with a bit of a scowl.]

... forget it. But really, I'm going to paint the walls in my room this time, and I don't care if I get in trouble. So... does anyone know what would be a good colour, because... um... my favourite colours wouldn't look very good. [Day-Glo orange walls? No.]

[A pause.]

Can we... can we even get paint here?

--

[Very shortly thereafter, because he's stir-crazy after spending several days recovering from the battle, he'll be found either en route to or at the the plaza—which is essentially right next to his new home (House #41) anyway—journal tucked beneath his good arm.]

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Um... this kid I met mentioned them. He said they had to match the ceiling, or something. I... don't know if I can reach the ceiling to paint it, though. [He releases her just as quickly, looking a little confused by the information he just relayed, though it does nothing to stray his path.]

Maybe we can paint your room, too.

Are you sure he wasn't just trying to mess with you?

[ Not that Hope's too gullible, but... he is fourteen, and the two of them happen to be the only ones around who are from their particular culture. It would be awfully easy to take advantage of that, she thinks, and something worth pointing out... ]

It sounds like this might... turn into quite the project already. [ As someone's who never done or imagined doing something like that before, guess who is now stuck on picturing the total horror of trying to color a ceiling with a simple brush and paint that's too thin. Spots everywhere. They'd better make sure they can pull off one room's walls before setting their sights on anything more ambitious. ] Maybe. Let's just focus on one thing at a time though, Hope.

He seemed pretty sincere, Lightning. So I think I need them. [Yes. Accent pillows are VERY IMPORTANT, jeez. Lightning just doesn't have any sense of style, or something. Maybe he should have a ten-year-old give her room a consultation, too.] I've never even heard of an accent pillow before I came here.

[His thoughts are along similar lines. What if the paint dripped onto the floor from the ceiling? What if gravity is just too much? Maybe he can hire someone else to do the ceiling for him. Or get Zack to do it. He doesn't seem like the type to mind PAINT IN THE EYYYE.]

Okay, so... [As he's pushing his way into one of the shops, holding the door open for Lightning like the polite little Mama's Boy he is.] I forgot what it was that I was going to try. I think it was blue with... with green... accents? Or— or maybe it was the other way around...

[ Lightning briefly makes an odd kind of face at having the door opened for her, although considering she lived the grand majority of her life in a land of automatically-opening gates and entrances, it's not out of any concern about etiquette. She's just not the one with a gimpy arm at the moment. ]

... I think what's important is what you want. Not some kid you met over the journals.

[ She's pretty firm about that at least, turning once she's inside the shop to steadily regard the teen with her arms crossed. But this is coming from the woman who was sleeping in the living room and developed a tendency to horde blankets in response to the winter cold, so... ]

Edited 2011-06-19 02:46 (UTC)

[Once they're both inside and he's effectively released the door, letting it shut behind him, Hope muffles a laugh into the back of a wrist. His good wrist, of course.]

...Lightning. What if that is what I want? You're taking this thing pretty seriously.

[Not like he's one to talk about taking things overly serious. But regardless of their circumstances, and his still-healing injury, Hope's mood is light. He brushes past her, peering intently at the shelves that surround them, looking quite focused on his agenda.]

.... I take everything seriously, Hope.

[ And... she's actually aware of it! But she sports a brief, wry smile as she turns her attention to the store's offerings as well, though it's hard to say she knows exactly what they're looking for. Her own search is a bit... distracted, and it's not long before she's considering chasing down another topic. ]

Maybe we should figure out when your birthday is, too...

Oh... right. [That sobers him up a tad, pausing in the middle of the store, gaze drifting toward his shoes.] You know, it's easy to forget how much time passes here.

[A long sigh.] ...even so, I don't want it to be a big deal. No parties or anything. It's just another day.

Hey. Don't think of it as a bad thing. It's how you're growing up that's important, not dates and numbers.

[ Fifteen, though. She'd probably downplay her ability to drag someone through those tough teenage years, but... it's not like there's much of a choice, and she is trying her best despite what is undoubtedly a very hard situation here...

But frankly, Hope should be back at home where he belongs with his dad, and that's definitely not something she's going to forget any time soon. Serah might have turned out alright, but Lightning's really not a parent and probably never will be.

... That's certainly depressing. Time to lighten the mood. ]

You can't just ignore it completely, though. You'll definitely need a cake. [ Oh yes, she is a surprisingly-strong proponent of eating both cake and whatever the hell you want on your birthday. She gives a soft snort. ] And I'll probably have to punch Zack for trying to drag you off to the bar or something. It'll be alright.

Well, I guess a cake would be okay... [A slight grin.] Are you going to make it, Light? [It doesn't matter if she says no or not—too late, he's already picturing her wearing an apron and baking the way his mom used to, and that wrenches a snort from him, hand covering his mouth before he does something worse. Like giggle. Ugh.]

Would Zack really drag me off to a place like that? I mean... fifteen's still kind of young. How old were you when you first started doing that? Drinking, I mean. [Hope peers over at her now, the brief shadow over his mood seemingly dissipated once more, shifted back into curious-little-protege mode.]

Besides, if Zack really does do that... I bet it'll be me taking care of him.

[ And though she's usually not as visual as she's been so far during this conversation, in turn Lightning's already imagining exploded cake pieces everywhere amidst a soaked kitchen- soaked, because she just had to put all the fire out with Watera-- ]

Aerith might have to help.

[ And she blinks thoughtfully, but then the next question does catch her off guard a little; she's also not one to go about spilling things about herself except at certain times, but... ]

Seventeen or eighteen, I guess. Definitely not a habit- not worth the trouble, even if we'd had the money to spare for that kind of thing in the first place.

[ She doesn't sound down or anything over that particular limiter though - it's in the past and the wounds have mostly healed over. She turns toward him again seriously... almost like she has a sense for when they've suddenly entered the Zone of Potential Learning Experience. ]

Fifteen is a little young. [ Slight smile again. ] And you're right... it's probably up to us to drag that guy home every once in a while.

[ ALSO NO WE'RE NOT SPEAKING OF THE INCIDENT AFTER THE AU EXPERIMENT. THAT WASN'T HER FAULT. ]

Wow. [Is that a glint of admiration in her wee protege's eyes? He'll never tell. But it might be a little obvious that he's already picturing what it might be like drinking at that age - only two years to go, right? Some people don't even wait that long. Hell, he's heard stories of his own classmates bragging about getting into their fathers' stash and whatnot. Not for him. He actually liked getting good grades, and even if it's different here as far as schooling goes... well. Raising Lightning's ire isn't exactly territory he wants to venture on.

Although then again, it would most likely be Zack who would get the brunt of it... no, no. Hope's not that much of a schemer. ~~Yet.~~]

You're right. It's not really worth it, huh. I guess I'll wait until I'm seventeen.

[Hope laughs lightly.]

Besides, I don't want to spend my birthday dragging idiots home. Even if it is just another day. I guess I'll let Aerith do that.

[ No Hope, nobody really wants to see the likely whiny, weepy drunk you'd become at this age. It's probably good he waits, considering chances are the stuff here is probably quite a bit stronger than what you'd find mainstream back on Cocoon. Even if it's free she hasn't bothered trying it at all under her own will.

Her smile strengthens though. For now, mission accomplished, it seems. ]

Sounds like a plan.

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