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[There's only one wall and some of the adjacent one completed so far, but Hope's up bright and early this morning, eagerly dragging his brush across the surface before him and illuminating it in a nice calming shade of blue. Apparently he's been mostly good about avoiding unwanted guests around the paint in here, as there's only a few paw-prints scattered on the floor around him!
Well, that track record's about to be broken, because suddenly the door will be flying open. The clatter of a paintbrush dropped in shock and a little squeal of surprise is all the boy manages before two pairs of hands are grabbing him by the arms and shoulders.]
What are you doing!? Get off me! Let me go!
Lightniiiing!
[His thrashing manages to knock over the can of paint nearby, spilling it over the floorboards. Some of it splashes over his journal and obscures most of the camera, but the sounds of yelping and struggling can still be heard as they gradually fade off into the distance.]
( ooc: House Lucky is really... unlucky right now. :|a And with that, I'll be on hiatus for the next week or so! I'll still be working on any threads I have going on or planned from before today to the best of my ability though. ♥ )
Well, that track record's about to be broken, because suddenly the door will be flying open. The clatter of a paintbrush dropped in shock and a little squeal of surprise is all the boy manages before two pairs of hands are grabbing him by the arms and shoulders.]
What are you doing!? Get off me! Let me go!
Lightniiiing!
[His thrashing manages to knock over the can of paint nearby, spilling it over the floorboards. Some of it splashes over his journal and obscures most of the camera, but the sounds of yelping and struggling can still be heard as they gradually fade off into the distance.]
( ooc: House Lucky is really... unlucky right now. :|a And with that, I'll be on hiatus for the next week or so! I'll still be working on any threads I have going on or planned from before today to the best of my ability though. ♥ )
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Damn kidnappings... always messing with people.]
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As for where she even thinks she's going: no, she's not just wandering aimlessly, which should become obvious fairly soon- maybe even before her direction through the village solidifies. Certainly she's given enough hints towards just how enticing she finds the beach by now? Clear choice for something that throws her off so much.
And the good thing is: even if there's already someone there, there's also miles and miles and miles of more beach anyway- just pick of direction... ]
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Still, long silences doesn't suit him, so after a little while of following her, he picks up the pace to walk beside her instead, hands in his pockets.]
How'd you meet him, anyway? If I'm allowed to be nosy.
[Maybe it sucks to be reminded, and maybe she doesn't want to talk- but he finds it more cathartic to just talk things out. If she doesn't like it she can just punch him or stay quiet, whatever. He just... needs to talk to dodge his thoughts most times.]
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He and his mom were in Bodhum, when the government started the Purge- not living there, just on vacation. [ Her voice is low and quiet, angry and an odd mixture of tense and subdued when she finally answers. She stops suddenly, crossing her arms. ] But they were rounded up anyway- just because they found a Pulse fal'Cie, the Sanctum decided to get rid of everyone nearby.
Official story was that they were just going to relocate everyone to Pulse, but... [ Yeah, no. It was a bloodbath. She tilts her head to the side, approximating a shrug. Even if you seemed pretty indifferent at the time like Lightning had? It's still not something one really likes to talk about... which is actually why she's saying so much now- she's not really sure how much Zack's even been able to piece together. ] My sister's fiance started a rebellion, to try and save them - to try and save Serah. And... Hope's mom volunteered.
[ Yeah, the implications are probably obvious. ]
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not that he knows they dropped a plate on the slums, hurr hurr]...That's messed up.
[He wishes he had a better response to that, but... well. He'd had a feeling that Lightning and Hope hadn't had the best experience before coming to Luceti, but it's not a fun tale to hear.]
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The people of Cocoon are peaceful - the regular military just fights monsters and keeps the peace, not hurt other people. Not unless it's completely necessary.
[ In other words, no people fighting other people in any sort of organized fashion. The concept of 'war' is completely foreign, save as just stories about something that happened many centuries before anyone currently alive was even born- even Lightning had been pretty surprised, hearing about the sort of stuff people here have gone through... ]
But we were all raised in absolute fear. The idea of anything Pulse-related 'infecting' Cocoon... it's more than enough to make people completely panic. To everyone else outside of it, the Purge seemed necessary.
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[It's hard to be delicate about this sort of thing, but he wants to be sure that he's got his facts straight. It's hard to remember stuff from a completely different world than your own.
Still... it stings to say it, knowing what she's already gone through. Just thinking about it makes him angry.]
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As unpleasant as it is though, it's probably better if they're completely on the level; as weird as it seems, she does feel compelled to tell the truth- maybe because as necessary as some things are, she knows that a lot of what she's done isn't 'good.' No matter how much most of it isn't her or any of the other l'Cie's fault, it still feels cheap to her, that she and Hope live with these two other people who are almost stubbornly friendly, and they're carrying around this darkness that could tear apart their own world-- in her case, actively practicing it, even... ]
In a way. [ She shows a brief, bitter smile, averting her eyes, and though she keeps her other hand holding onto it, she raises her right arm, pressing fingers to where the l'Cie mark is burned onto her chest. ] Our Focus... was to destroy Cocoon. It's that that they're afraid of.
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Plus it's kind of obscure; destroying a secluded city doesn't necessarily mean that everybody has to die, right? ...Right?]
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[ Aaand she steps forward angrily with that, like she means to walk away, but then spins back around, glaring fire at the ground, then back up at Zack's face. ]
We ran. Trying to find another way: removing our Brands... something. Anything it took to save Cocoon... [ She pauses again, looking strained- yeah, having now done what she's about to say indeed makes it harder to voice. ] Even if it meant waiting for time to run out; turning Cie'th without ever going back.
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[ Which is even messier to explain, considering what all is involved. Her emotions are all over the place as she thinks on it more quietly. ]
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[Well. When are authority figures or governments fair?]
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[ She's not sure what else to say, and her body language loosens slightly in a sort of odd subjection; shoulders dropping, scuffing her shoes in the sand as she shifts her weight, she half turns away again. ]
You asked how we met, and... that's how it was. We look after each other, because... practically nobody else would want to.
[ And now they're in this place, where the only family she has here can just be stolen away without any warning or shred of dignity. She can't just pretend that doesn't hurt. ]
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[He's been there- in a worse situation than just here in Luceti, stuck in Nibelheim for those four years. It had been hard enough just being trapped there, and he can't imagine what it would've been like if he hadn't had Cloud around, someone to support and be supported by. Even if Cloud's mind had gone too far downhill by the end of it...
...Either way, it's both better and worse to have someone suffering along with you, but he prefers to think positively anyway, so.]
Thanks for sharing that with me, by the way.
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[ Lightning nods, but then just lets herself fall into silence once again. Kind of an awkward thing to respond to, but she also almost feels... disappointed about something? Like she'd wanted him to say something else too-- but what, she's not sure.
Honestly, it's hard to get her mind around just how lonely she suddenly feels with Hope gone, which is odder still when she'd been... well, not good, but okay at least in the few months before the teen had showed up here too. She frowns, looking out at the stretch of water reflecting the sun and thinking. ]
What about... you and Aerith?
[ Chances are she already knows at least a part of that story, but when it comes down to it, most of what she's heard about his past from him? Sort of came out of that one experiment a while back. The one they don't talk about much. That one. ]
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[It's not a sad story, really, so he almost feels guilty about that, but she did ask. Plus it might lighten the mood. And he feels like he missed something there, judging by her look - not that she's an easy read by any means - so maybe he can have another go at it this time.]
I got in a fight with someone I didn't want to, and I ended up falling off the plate. ...Ah, did Aerith explain the plates? It's- Midgar's on two levels, the lower slums and the upper city. The plates are what holds the city above the slums, and I got tossed through a grate and fell into the slums. Kinda crashed through Aerith's roof and landed in her flowers.
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Although that is far from mundane. Lightning nods at the mention of the plates, which she has heard of, but then just... looks over, her expression completely flat as she works through the claim of having fallen both out of the upper city and through a roof. Not that she hasn't taken a fall or two she had no business surviving herself, of course, but... there's indeed a long silence here as she processes. ]
... And she forgave you?
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[And good times were had by all. ...For a few years, anyway.]
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She almost goes and asks him straight off why they broke up then, although she's usually not that interested in hearing about others' personal lives. She's been curious for a while, though, since it's always omitted, for some reason...
However, she's also extremely sharp when it comes to piecing things together, and as awkward as it was... she hasn't forgotten what she was told previously... ]
That was before you were--
[ Oh, but then she stops, suddenly realizing her own bias of experience could be getting in the way of... recalling Aerith already told her they'd dated when they were teenagers. Which would have been a few years before the context actually makes sense, right?
Bad topic, too. GJ. She frowns, averting her eyes again. ]
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Yeah, that's right. We were dating up until then, but four years is a long time to wait, and... I think she met someone, after.
[The way she'd talk about Cloud... maybe it's taken him this long for it to really click, but she does, doesn't she...?]
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... She's never really told me anything like that.
[ No idea if she's helping him out or not there, but. It's true. Also, this is an awkward conversation already.
So she pulls out her Death Note and kills him on the spot.]no subject
[Though... truth be told...]
...Pretty sure she's hiding stuff from me, too. A lot of what I've heard doesn't really add up, but nobody wants to say it.
[It's a little scary, actually.]
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She really wants to ask what he's noticed, but also realizes she can't take the risk of showing much more blatantly that she knows more than he does... because she won't be able to lie if he bothers to scout her for any clues. ]
I think you're right. If you're not insistent and don't ask her things directly, she'll just keep dodging forever. [ A pause; she doesn't really want to cast a bad light on Aerith, so... ] She doesn't... want people to worry.
[ ... That might be a clue too, though. ]
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...but if it concerned him, he'd know, wouldn't he?]
So... maybe I should ask her, then.
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