contempsi | 007 || {Video / Action} || BACKDATED to the 3rd, late morning.

[It's not cold at all - even in spite of the rain - but after a bit of shivering, disoriented wandering Hope will find himself stranded on the path, and even more confused than when he initially came around after being the unfortunate victim of routine experimentation.

He plops to his knees in the dirt before slipping in the haze and landing squarely on his butt, not caring at all for the muck that would inevitably stain his shorts.]

Ugh...

[With a groan, he first lifts a hand to wipe away the silvery bangs dripping in his eyes, then wraps both arms around himself with a shiver. The camera's view might catch a flash of chalk-white on the back of a wrist, stark even against his fair skin, if one were looking hard enough.

The journal's been recording all of this, but the boy doesn't seem to notice, drawing his knees up and resting his forehead against them.]

(ooc: Lightning and I think Gem are going to go find him, but anyone else is welcome to poke him through the journal too. :D)

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Oh, the rain stopped...

[His voice is thick with fog again. And then he notices the umbrella, ducking his head sheepishly.]

...thanks. [He wrinkles his nose and averts his eyes, not particularly enjoying the scrutiny even in his disoriented state. A steadying hand reaches to settle on her arm; he's still oblivious to the state of his brand, white and burnt-out on that wrist.]

I-I'm okay. Really, I'm fine.

No you're not. You've been doped, Hope. [ Blunt as ever, of course, though her face is crossed with worry. ] Let's get you--

[ -- And then her breath catches as she moves to ready him into standing, staring wide-eyed at the exposed Brand. For a second she almost thinks she's mistaken - he's a lot like her, in that his skin is pale enough to make the whited-out version of their l'Cie Brands difficult to make out unless you're actually looking - but she's put in enough thought and such to know perfectly well which arm it goes on, and it's right there in front of her...! ]

Ah...

Since when did you start rhyming things? [Hardy har har. Perhaps proving her point, Hope gives her a sleepy sort of smile that culminates in a yawn, and his eyelids flutter. He squeezes her arm a little, in an affectionate kid-like fashion.]

Um... what are you staring at?

[ Point proven, though right now Lightning's way beyond going over that any more at the moment. Usually, she's on top of things enough that it's notably difficult to cause her genuine shock, but... that's certainly what's happened here now. Silently, her hand pulls off Hope's shoulder to go right for his wrist instead, catching it in a firm grip for proper staring at. Her thumb slides over the skin the Brand marks.

It's real, definitely. ]

Your Brand...

[ Immediately, her mind shoots to how-- how they'd managed something like that, when it had taken her a trip down losing her humanity and dying to gain the same effect, but at the same time, relief so strong she can feel it washing through her in waves hits her, running up and down her spine and filling her head with quiet static.

It's hard to be very pessimistic. That seemingly endless, almost crippling stress she's been under for months and months...? Yeah, it was just nullified almost in entirety. ]

[The skin's a bit sensitized there, sore, like touching a bruise. He frowns a little, fingers twitching automatically in protest, though he doesn't jerk away. Lightning means safety, after all, and that's where he is. Even if they're seemingly out in the middle of nowhere.]

Why is it white like that? [That's when he'll tug his wrist away, lifting it to his face for a closer inspection.]

I don't remember when that happened. Isn't it supposed to be black? [Yep, still out of it... the implication, and what a great implication that would be, is completely lost on him. When he's in a better frame of mind he'll come to know exactly what it means, of course. But for now it's little more than a confusing inconvenience.

He points his hand at a random patch of grass, firing a weak little burst of water.]

... hm.

[ Does she even bother trying to explain while he's so obviously out there? She gives a quiet sigh, but it's lacking in the exasperation it could have- frankly, she's so relieved she could cry... and still might later, actually, when that and a hundred other emotional problems she's been pushing down for months have time to hit home... ]

Yeah. Don't worry about it now.

[ Turning her head back from watching the small display of magic, she shifts forward, holding out the umbrella's handle. She just really hopes he has it together enough to keep from dropping it, because she has a strong suspicion leading him home has the potential to be... interesting. She takes hold of his other arm again, urging him to stand. ]

Let's go home. Baldr's missed you.

[Wrapping his fingers around the handle of the umbrella, he attempts to stand again at Lightning's guidance. He nearly drops the umbrella when that same hand automatically goes to grasp at her forearm for balance, the thing sort of getting shuffled around in the process and ending up somehow balanced in the crook of an elbow. Once he's on both feet again, however, and without slipping and sliding around—he'll be grabbing at it again.]

I missed Baldr too. Um... he didn't track paint all over my room, did he? [Somehow, as soon as she mentioned home... that seemed to conjur up a distant memory of his paint can getting knocked over in whatever struggle he was going through. Oops.]

[ Lightning's got good reflexes, so she won't him - or the umbrella, though that's a whole lot less important - fall. Truthfully, she's pretty tempted to just pick him up and carry him back home by now, but drugged or not she does have some sense towards trying to preserve the teen's pride. ]

It's fine... Zack and I got it cleaned up. [ What fun that had been, but Lightning hadn't wanted Hope to come home to such a messy, blatant reminder of what had happened. ] The walls still need to be finished, though.

Okay... [He seems satisfied by that answer, stumbling after her, his little shoes squishing in the mud and wet grass beneath them.]

He can help me paint it. [Whether he means Zack or Baldr is left to be certain, but his voice is groggy enough that either way the statement's obviously a little out of place. Hope rubs at his forehead.] Lightning? How long was I out here like this?

[ Lightning falls silent for a few seconds more, genuinely uncertain whether or not to tell Hope just how long he'd been missing. She's been counting the days, of course, no matter just how counter-productive something like that is towards keeping her patience... but when he's out of it enough that he's acting like that and phrasing the question as if the entirety of his time away was... spent sitting in the rain for a little while, her knowledge is a little more guarded than her usual honesty with him.

Maybe he won't even remember any of his missing time. She isn't sure if that would be good or bad, though. ]

A while. [ And so she chooses to dodge a bit and answer only for what's happened today. ] Long enough to get yourself soaked, obviously.

[He blinks down at himself, idly plucking at his clothes. They're pretty much sticking to his skin, proving Lightning's point.]

So it's been like... a few hours or days or something. I can't really tell.

[Hope continues to idly slosh his feet through the mud and grass, enjoying the squishing sounds the motions make. Doing so also happens to be coating his shoes almost entirely. That's going to be lovely, tracked through the house when they get there. If Lightning doesn't stop him first.]

Let's jump in that puddle over there...!

[. . . .]

[. . . .]

No, Hope.

[ She just continues pulling him along doggedly, not even looking in the direction of whatever has caught his attention. This is better than that one experiment not very long ago, she reminds herself. It could be worse. ]

007 || {Video / Action} || BACKDATED to the 3rd, late morning.

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