contempsi | 006 || {Video}

006 || {Video}

[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. ♥ )

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Yeah. It's... [Well, not a nice story, but-] I'm glad you both have someone here with you who understands. It's hard to go without that, you know?

[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.

... Yeah.

[ 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. ]

Aerith? Well...

[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.

[ Just because a good deal of the important people Lightning has made acquaintance with during her adult life were met during bad circumstances doesn't mean she'd be surprised to hear something mundane...

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?

Heh, she did a little more than forgive. We went for a walk to get the conversation going, and we started dating after that.

[And good times were had by all. ...For a few years, anyway.]

[ So nonchalant, Zack.

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. ]

[He catches that - it would be impossible not to - but he just shrugs his shoulders, smiling faintly in an attempt to not awkward-up the conversation. It's done, it's the past- there's no sense in getting all angsty about it. Not when they already have enough to be upset about.]

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...?]

[ Four years?! She hadn't caught that before, but... so... she was right, then? She struggles to keep the surprise on her face to a minimum, quickly smoothing it out to an expression with her brows simply drawn. A little more frowning enters her features as a few more pieces fall into place too, though: why he wasn't familiar with certain things in particular, as well as like he mentions himself- ...Cloud? ]

... 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.~~ ]

Aerith's kind of weird, she doesn't talk much about herself unless you prod her enough. I think she likes to live in the present, but... well, that's mostly a guess. She's changed since then.

[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.]

[ -- Aerith still hasn't told him she'd died- something Lightning pretty much knew already, but hearing that he's actually suspicious about something being hidden from him sharpens the frustration she feels due to her belief that he should be told.

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. ]

[Zack glances sidelong at Lightning, quiet for a moment, then at last nods his head, his pace slowing down a little. So she's hiding from Light, too? Or does Light...

...but if it concerned him, he'd know, wouldn't he?]

So... maybe I should ask her, then.

Maybe.

[ Lightning just hopes her preexisting mood is enough to hide whatever telling negativity this is causing further, though still, she almost looks genuinely sad as she regards him- if he finds out and then learns that Lightning knew too, will he be upset with her for helping to hide it? He's already proven himself exceedingly forgiving, but this is different, isn't it?

That's... really not something she wants. She glances aside, her mind turning over all of this. Yeah, it's way overly depressing, but... ]

... Hey.

[He looks up at her tone more than anything; this conversation isn't exactly the kind he expected when he'd asked her to leave the house with him, and now that they're on the topic he's pretty sure it isn't helping matters any. Not to mention he can't ask someone who isn't here.]

What is it?

[ She hasn't strayed too far in her mind from what sort of became the original topic- she shakes her head a bit, staring at the pale blue paint that stained her fingers earlier, then lifts it up. Defiant. Suddenly, protagonist!mode? ]

This isn't doing us any good, worrying about this stuff. There isn't much we can do about it now.

[ And besides, frowning is her thing... it really doesn't suit Zack at all. ]

No, that's true. We'll just have to wait, so why worry until then?

[He hesitates briefly, then adds, with a little smile crossing his lips-]

And... even if they're gone for a little while, we still have each other, right? So we're not really alone here, either. It's okay.

They won't get away with this forever... some day, they'll have to pay.

[ Her voice is quiet, and it's apparent from the unfocused glare she aims downward again that she's still angry, but it's also a lot more controlled than a few minutes previous, when she'd been busy almost trying to pull her dog's hair out... ]

[ ... After a moment, that last part really catches her attention, though. And the smile.

And before she knows it, her expression's softened too, JUST A LITTLE BIT... and then blanks as she looks at him. You know, really looks at him, almost as if she's seeing something she hadn't noticed before. ]

You're right... yeah.

[ Okay yes, that was one of her selling points for moving out of the apartments a little while ago, although admitting that now... suddenly feels a whole lot muggier, for some strange reason. ]

[...Yes, he sees that. And it just makes his smile broaden. Even if it was just a bit, what he said hit home for her, and that makes the effort plenty worth it. Maybe that's what he missed, earlier. Looking back, his remark could've been a little worrisome.

Yeah, glad he sorted that one out.]

That's what friends are for. We've kind of made a little family here, and... well, families should stick together.

[ Okay. Yeah. Turns out he's managed to stumble right into a major weakness of hers. Pulling the family card? He might as well have just signed his name on something important in her books. In big. Freaking. Letters.

And coincidentally, he's doing a pretty good job of confusing her now. The family she and the other Pulse l'Cie carved out for themselves... is it 'right' to add more into it? Does that even count? ~~You can't be satisfied with being just friends then, boy?~~

Isn't that kind of what she wanted, though? It's not like... she was expecting something drastically different when she'd suggested moving to a house, even if she hadn't really known him very well at the time. He'd just sort of been living with Aerith and all... so even though he'd already insisted they were friends before that-- ]

I guess... in a way we have. [ She sounds serious, and the odd look on her face remains, but ffff why is her chest all tight fgugufdsa oh nooo-- ] It's kind of weird, if you think about it too much, but...

[ What is she saying this is so awkward FFFFF. WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING WHEN HE COMPLIMENTS HER SOMEHOW. ]

You're not supposed to think too much about this!

[He can't help it- he laughs a little at that, giving her arm a nudge. What a silly concept, seriously.]

Friends are friends, and family is family. You don't have to categorize people into one or the other, just think about them however you want to. Take it all too seriously and it stops being about how you feel, you know?

[ Lightning automatically pushes back at the nudge, letting out a quick breath, a touch surprised, a touch exasperated, and then makes a face at Zack that's... actually, a whole lot like the one her commanding officer would get when he successfully managed to tease her. Sans the nervous laughter. She crosses her arms instead.

Still, it takes her a second more to come up with: ]

You're impossible.

[ As if this isn't occasion #39 he's heard that already. ]

[Which is exactly why he just grins again, like some kind of stupid puppy who's been given an excellent treat for... bad behaviour, apparently.]

I'll take that as a compliment.

[ Just... a quiet sigh from her- you would, Zack. You would. That said, she's definitely not really anywhere near figuring him out, after what he's said versus his attitude and actions. Maybe... ah... she has a lot to think about here too, if there proves any time for it during her usual obsessive mental rounds about Hope and related things. ]

Well... [ She sighs again, eyes mostly closed and using a hand to rub at the back of her neck. ] I think I'm gonna stay out here a while.

[He glances sidelong at her, then, after a moment, he nods. Maybe he's done all he can do for now- maybe she just needs some time on her own. But at least he got her out of the house and away from Baldr's fur, so that's a start. >_>]

I'll head back, then. See you at home later.

[It's not a promise - it's not like he could stop any kidnappers if they came for him, too - but at least he can reassure her that, barring disaster? He'll be there.]

[ Time alone is definitely what she needs- years of fending for herself and her sister and being on her own emotionally doesn't just go and disappear, after all... and she'd rather not have anyone there anyway, when she goes ahead and destroys a few things despite her now-calmer demeanor. ]

... Thanks, Zack.

[ She'll take the promise for what it is- even if he does walk home into kidnapping hands, it's the thought that counts (and... the hope that he'd at least manage to dish out a few shattered body parts on those damn droids if they tried anything). ]

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