Facade - Sephiroth/Zack
Title: Facade
Authors: forgottenlover and icedark_elf
Characters: Sephiroth and Zack Fair (matched as above)
Fandom: Final Fantasy Seven
Theme Set: HW1
Theme(s): 20 Impressed
Warnings and Notes: Wait, the boys are less grumpy?
Zack: *gods, almost back to camp. He could smell the scent of the fires and catch the faint voices on the wind. Pauses, and then looks back at Sephiroth* Got a question for you.
Sephiroth: ::comes to a stop and looks sideways at him on a small noise of question::
Zack: *rubs eyes. Hadn't been getting nearly enough sleep lately* How much do you want to keep up your "Untouchable" image in camp?
Sephiroth: ::looks more fully at him:: I'd rather not deal with their doubt caused due to the knowledge I'm fallible.
Zack: *nods* Pretend you are escorting me to the medtent. Keep your infallible image, plus it makes you seem a little more approachable to people. I know you can fake it well enough to get there without too much of an incident.
Sephiroth: ::studies him, leaning in a little to study his face a moment:: That... I can do.
Zack: There. All settled. Let's get down there and get fixed, sound good?
Sephiroth: ::inclines his head, then shifts over, resting his hand on his back:: Then... I suppose a convincing facade on all points is advisable.
Zack: Well, given I know I look like shit, we should be good. *doesn't shift away from the hand. Contact was nice.* Let's get going, Seph.
Sephiroth: ::another small nod, and lets his hand rest, forcing himself not to pull it back immediately and just turns attention to tuning out the lingering aching pains as they started the rest of the distance for camp::
Zack: *heads in and, wow, didn't take long for people to swarm once they had been spotting* Back off, back off, I'm an injured man here. Crashes hurt. *swats faintly at a few more grabby people*
Sephiroth: ::ends up growling when someone jars him, letting the action seem vaguely protective of Zack instead of himself because of it, and glares:: Wait until he's attended to, if you would.
Zack: *wow, that growl really made people back up. And he was getting some speculative looks. Well, they wouldn't be the first, and just heads for the med tent. Oh, sweet potions, were coming to you.*
Sephiroth: ::moves a bit more quickly for the med tent, ferrying Zack along. He longed to be rid of the headache::
Zack: *gets into the shade of the tent and looks around, pausing* I do think we're alone in here....
Sephiroth: ::does another scan himself and makes sure nobody follows them in, moving away from Zack a pace and relaxing slightly:: Good
Zack: *goes digging and finds what he is looking for, offering up a potion to Sephiroth blindly as he collected a second for himself*
Sephiroth: ::moves quickly to his side to collect it, opening it and downing it without even pausing to glance which kind, closing his eyes on a shaky breath of relief. Oh, apparently his head hadn't been the only injury left::
Zack: *makes an amused sound at the expression on his face, then downs his own potion, hissing slightly at things fixed themselves* Ooooow.
Sephiroth: ::cracks his eyes open and peers at him:: Potions really are beautiful luxuries.
Zack: Oh, my sides still ache, but at least it's set up to go away now. *stretches slowly, feeling muscles, tight for too long, protest, but slowly give* Ow. And they are. If only the copter's supplies had lasted. Oh.... *remembered, pulls out the dog tags he had been carrying the entire trip and offers them over to Sephiroth*
Sephiroth: ::reaches to accept them, gaze flicking to look over the names before he nodded:: I think you might possibly be a rather decent battle companion. ::looks at him for a moment before freeing up the fire on his bracer and tossing it over, heading back for the entrance of the tent.::
Zack: *catches the materia and follows, making sure to sets the potion bottles in the discarded section as he did.* Oh, yes, a hot shower at last. *nods*
Sephiroth: ::tilts his head slightly and glances to him before slipping out to brace those waiting on the other side. He had much doubt he was about to get away from being fussed at from several corners::
Zack: *moves and takes a place just behind and too the side* It sure will be nice to get the grime off, won't it, General? *says it in a tone of 'let the man through to take his shower.' Doesn't know if Sephiroth was heading that way, but it might make him a path to somewhere*
Sephiroth: It would yes. ::tips his head slightly, eyeing the people hovering a little darkly::
Zack: *is amused as people scatter again. Not as far this time, but enough to move. Shouldn't laugh. Shouldn't laugh.*
Sephiroth: ::takes advantage of the gap and lengthens his stride to head for his tent to collect things. He could go another way out to the showers from there.::
Zack: *Is of the not happy when he ends up the focus of gawkers. Could he set them on fire? No, Seph would probably be unhappy with it. Ends up giving out tiny bits of what happened and using puppy eyes. Finally! Tent! Stuff, and then a run for the showers. Hot waaaaater*
Sephiroth: ::managed to get tot he showers without getting a new crowd, damaged things piled on the floor while he'd gone for the stall. He didn't care for warm and cold, just clean::
Zack: *takes the time to up the temp in the water tanks. Hot water. Oh, it would be hot and he would feel clean* I feel like there was gauntlet running out there.
Sephiroth: You were the closest they managed to get to me when they realized I wasn't coming back out of my tent how they thought. ::murmur and leans up into the showerhead as he tipped it on::
Zack: *snorts* Hot water. Will feel so nice after all those streams. And my sides only ache some now. *sheds the filthy things and goes for the closest stall* And that'll go away once the muscles realize that the ribs aren't damaged anymore.
Sephiroth: ::vaguely remembers to pull the door shut and does so, then turns back to the water:: It usually does. ::closes his eyes, fingers picking out the shampoo quickly::
Zack: *almost purrs under the water. Nice hot water, gooooood hot water.*
Sephiroth: ::scrubs at his hair, more than slightly intent on getting the char and blood out of it that their travelling hadn't dealt with::
Zack: *lets the water fall on him for a few minutes, soaking it up and just waiting for the aching to go down a little, then starts to get clean*
Sephiroth: ::distressed to realize how much gunk was in his hair. How utterly and completely disgusting. This was why he disliked being outside, it really was. It wasn't clean::
Zack: The best thing about mako is that it seems to drive the bloodsuckers off. *it was a random observation, but a very valid one. When he was a kid, a situation like this would have had him covered in things like ticks and such*
Sephiroth: ::has no idea what he's talking about and actually looks over that way:: what?
Zack: Have mako, with the whole SOLDIER thing. Most of the time, being in the jungle like that would have gotten us covered in ticks and other nasty things.
Sephiroth: ...... ::visibly shudders and shakes his head quickly:: Do not elaborate ::reaches for his soap instead, would get the rest, though he'd gotten most, out of his hair after::
Zack: *chuckles* They don't like mako, though. So we're safe from them. *sets about scrubbing his skin, trying to not think about how much dirt was coming off of him. Dirt and blood and general ew that had caked itself onto him.*
Sephiroth: Good. ::focuses on scrubbing anyway, clearing the imagery from his mind::
Zack: *laughs softly, and then dunks his head under the water before starting to wash it*
Sephiroth: ::eyes him and shakes his head, getting through the scrubbing quickly, being a bit rough on his skin, then turns back to his hair, giving it a last once over::
Zack: *is scrubbed and clean, and just settles to let the water run on him for as long as he could*
Sephiroth: ::works on rinsing his hair, finger combing it at once and eyeing Zack. He'd really had to deal with such nasty creatures before? He didn't even let his mind go further that way, instead just studying him a bit as he cranked off the water::
Zack: *sighs as it slowly starts to cool, and shuts the water off, running his fingers through his hair to squeeze some of the water out, and then grabbed a towel*
Sephiroth: ::hums, following him with his gaze, but snatches a towel to attack his hair with, aggressively getting at the water::
Zack: *dries off and starts getting dressed again* Gods, we're going to have to write a stupid report over this, aren't we?
Sephiroth: Report, copies, and I'm going to have to let the bloody camp doctor look me over to do a report. Then I'll have to deal with the disorganization that sparked off ::starts to brush his hair, wrapping the towel around himself:: It was less... intensely damaging for me to have an absence before the last of the longest running veterans were shipped to Midgar.
Zack: Doesn't seem as if the camp burnt down while we were gone.
Sephiroth: Quite astounding, that ::braids the mass back, tying it off, then gets the water off so he can put on fresh leathers without issue, relaxing once dressed::
Zack: Not that bad....
Sephiroth: Unlike you seem to be, most of the newest soldiers are incompetents who were never given proper or adequate self management instruction.
Zack: *wait, was that a compliment? It sounded like a compliment, but he wasn't sure. From what he had seen the man was very good at being insulting while not seeming it.* Incompetents don't tend to survive long enough to be issues.
Sephiroth: Exactly. Thus why they're all new.
Zack: Not all of them. Just...most. *nods* So, paperwork from hell, I'm sure the doctor will yet at me for taking a potion, well, two potions on my own, and we'll be safe from the next attack due to the shield of paperwork we will have built from all the reports we'll have to file.
Sephiroth: Mmm That seems the case ::settles fresh armor into place and reslots his materia into the cleaned metal, then looks to Zack::
Zack: *tosses him the fire* Here you got. Thanks for the loan.
Sephiroth: ::eyes him, then nods::
Zack: *grins brightly* We're back to what counts as civilization. Happy?
Sephiroth: I would be happier if we were back to real civilization.
Zack: You and me both. Sadly, that's still a while off.
Sephiroth: Yes. ::hums, then eyes the door of the shower tent::
Zack: *sighs* Though it was nice to not have to deal with paperwork. Not worth the pain and dead people, though. *sighs* Want me to go play distraction?
Sephiroth: ::hesitates:: I cannot help but feel that the horde out there is liable to undo all the work that potion did as soon as we emerge.
Zack: *reaches over and actually pats a shoulder. Well, shoulder armor* I'll go distract them. Give me five minutes. Should I try to make it to your tent so we can start of the pile of reports that have probably multiplied ten fold since we left?
Sephiroth: ::eyes him, then nods and lets out a deep breath:: Yes, I'll be along after I let the doctor here examine me so he can send off his reports.
Zack: *grimaces* Fun times. *goes out the door and slowly moves the mob away by force. Knew they'd be more likely to follow him than wait for Sephiroth.*
Sephiroth: ::waits until the crowd is far enough away and heads to the medical tent again. He would have preferred the paperwork::
Zack: *deals with people for a little bit before escaping into the tent that served as Sephiroth's office as well. Looking around and sighs.* Damn it. Even being MIA doesn't free you from paperwork. *starts sorting, scowling*
Sephiroth: ::is a while, but finally comes to the tent, having been detoured by people before managing to get back::
Zack: *has most of the paperwork sorted by then* Can we just burn them?
Sephiroth: They would send more, and additional forms about the cause of the blaze. ::looks over a few things quickly before signing off on things that shouldn't have been left to him in the first place::
Zack: *continues to sort* So, did the doctor proclaim you in decent health?
Sephiroth: Apparently, though he didn't actually say anything. ::shakes his head::
Zack: Lovely. *takes what can be filed without being signed off on and sets about doing that.*
Sephiroth: He never does, it's normal.
Zack: Still be irritating.
Sephiroth: I suppose. I'm used to it.
Zack: *hums softly* Those on your desk need signed off on. The rest of it is filing.
Sephiroth: ::nods:: I'll leave that to you then ::makes a pile of the signed things. How most of these were useful to war he'd never really determined::
Zack: *hums to himself as he works on the filing. Hadn't really joined up to be a glorified secretary, but could deal with it*
Sephiroth: ::quieting, he decided this worked, turning his attention fully to the paperwork. He would be far from stunned if the headache returned.::
Zack: *so going to bed after this. Well, if he could. Sleep was his friend, and he hummed more as he did the filing in a half-trance, putting everything away.*
Authors: forgottenlover and icedark_elf
Characters: Sephiroth and Zack Fair (matched as above)
Fandom: Final Fantasy Seven
Theme Set: HW1
Theme(s): 20 Impressed
Warnings and Notes: Wait, the boys are less grumpy?
Zack: *gods, almost back to camp. He could smell the scent of the fires and catch the faint voices on the wind. Pauses, and then looks back at Sephiroth* Got a question for you.
Sephiroth: ::comes to a stop and looks sideways at him on a small noise of question::
Zack: *rubs eyes. Hadn't been getting nearly enough sleep lately* How much do you want to keep up your "Untouchable" image in camp?
Sephiroth: ::looks more fully at him:: I'd rather not deal with their doubt caused due to the knowledge I'm fallible.
Zack: *nods* Pretend you are escorting me to the medtent. Keep your infallible image, plus it makes you seem a little more approachable to people. I know you can fake it well enough to get there without too much of an incident.
Sephiroth: ::studies him, leaning in a little to study his face a moment:: That... I can do.
Zack: There. All settled. Let's get down there and get fixed, sound good?
Sephiroth: ::inclines his head, then shifts over, resting his hand on his back:: Then... I suppose a convincing facade on all points is advisable.
Zack: Well, given I know I look like shit, we should be good. *doesn't shift away from the hand. Contact was nice.* Let's get going, Seph.
Sephiroth: ::another small nod, and lets his hand rest, forcing himself not to pull it back immediately and just turns attention to tuning out the lingering aching pains as they started the rest of the distance for camp::
Zack: *heads in and, wow, didn't take long for people to swarm once they had been spotting* Back off, back off, I'm an injured man here. Crashes hurt. *swats faintly at a few more grabby people*
Sephiroth: ::ends up growling when someone jars him, letting the action seem vaguely protective of Zack instead of himself because of it, and glares:: Wait until he's attended to, if you would.
Zack: *wow, that growl really made people back up. And he was getting some speculative looks. Well, they wouldn't be the first, and just heads for the med tent. Oh, sweet potions, were coming to you.*
Sephiroth: ::moves a bit more quickly for the med tent, ferrying Zack along. He longed to be rid of the headache::
Zack: *gets into the shade of the tent and looks around, pausing* I do think we're alone in here....
Sephiroth: ::does another scan himself and makes sure nobody follows them in, moving away from Zack a pace and relaxing slightly:: Good
Zack: *goes digging and finds what he is looking for, offering up a potion to Sephiroth blindly as he collected a second for himself*
Sephiroth: ::moves quickly to his side to collect it, opening it and downing it without even pausing to glance which kind, closing his eyes on a shaky breath of relief. Oh, apparently his head hadn't been the only injury left::
Zack: *makes an amused sound at the expression on his face, then downs his own potion, hissing slightly at things fixed themselves* Ooooow.
Sephiroth: ::cracks his eyes open and peers at him:: Potions really are beautiful luxuries.
Zack: Oh, my sides still ache, but at least it's set up to go away now. *stretches slowly, feeling muscles, tight for too long, protest, but slowly give* Ow. And they are. If only the copter's supplies had lasted. Oh.... *remembered, pulls out the dog tags he had been carrying the entire trip and offers them over to Sephiroth*
Sephiroth: ::reaches to accept them, gaze flicking to look over the names before he nodded:: I think you might possibly be a rather decent battle companion. ::looks at him for a moment before freeing up the fire on his bracer and tossing it over, heading back for the entrance of the tent.::
Zack: *catches the materia and follows, making sure to sets the potion bottles in the discarded section as he did.* Oh, yes, a hot shower at last. *nods*
Sephiroth: ::tilts his head slightly and glances to him before slipping out to brace those waiting on the other side. He had much doubt he was about to get away from being fussed at from several corners::
Zack: *moves and takes a place just behind and too the side* It sure will be nice to get the grime off, won't it, General? *says it in a tone of 'let the man through to take his shower.' Doesn't know if Sephiroth was heading that way, but it might make him a path to somewhere*
Sephiroth: It would yes. ::tips his head slightly, eyeing the people hovering a little darkly::
Zack: *is amused as people scatter again. Not as far this time, but enough to move. Shouldn't laugh. Shouldn't laugh.*
Sephiroth: ::takes advantage of the gap and lengthens his stride to head for his tent to collect things. He could go another way out to the showers from there.::
Zack: *Is of the not happy when he ends up the focus of gawkers. Could he set them on fire? No, Seph would probably be unhappy with it. Ends up giving out tiny bits of what happened and using puppy eyes. Finally! Tent! Stuff, and then a run for the showers. Hot waaaaater*
Sephiroth: ::managed to get tot he showers without getting a new crowd, damaged things piled on the floor while he'd gone for the stall. He didn't care for warm and cold, just clean::
Zack: *takes the time to up the temp in the water tanks. Hot water. Oh, it would be hot and he would feel clean* I feel like there was gauntlet running out there.
Sephiroth: You were the closest they managed to get to me when they realized I wasn't coming back out of my tent how they thought. ::murmur and leans up into the showerhead as he tipped it on::
Zack: *snorts* Hot water. Will feel so nice after all those streams. And my sides only ache some now. *sheds the filthy things and goes for the closest stall* And that'll go away once the muscles realize that the ribs aren't damaged anymore.
Sephiroth: ::vaguely remembers to pull the door shut and does so, then turns back to the water:: It usually does. ::closes his eyes, fingers picking out the shampoo quickly::
Zack: *almost purrs under the water. Nice hot water, gooooood hot water.*
Sephiroth: ::scrubs at his hair, more than slightly intent on getting the char and blood out of it that their travelling hadn't dealt with::
Zack: *lets the water fall on him for a few minutes, soaking it up and just waiting for the aching to go down a little, then starts to get clean*
Sephiroth: ::distressed to realize how much gunk was in his hair. How utterly and completely disgusting. This was why he disliked being outside, it really was. It wasn't clean::
Zack: The best thing about mako is that it seems to drive the bloodsuckers off. *it was a random observation, but a very valid one. When he was a kid, a situation like this would have had him covered in things like ticks and such*
Sephiroth: ::has no idea what he's talking about and actually looks over that way:: what?
Zack: Have mako, with the whole SOLDIER thing. Most of the time, being in the jungle like that would have gotten us covered in ticks and other nasty things.
Sephiroth: ...... ::visibly shudders and shakes his head quickly:: Do not elaborate ::reaches for his soap instead, would get the rest, though he'd gotten most, out of his hair after::
Zack: *chuckles* They don't like mako, though. So we're safe from them. *sets about scrubbing his skin, trying to not think about how much dirt was coming off of him. Dirt and blood and general ew that had caked itself onto him.*
Sephiroth: Good. ::focuses on scrubbing anyway, clearing the imagery from his mind::
Zack: *laughs softly, and then dunks his head under the water before starting to wash it*
Sephiroth: ::eyes him and shakes his head, getting through the scrubbing quickly, being a bit rough on his skin, then turns back to his hair, giving it a last once over::
Zack: *is scrubbed and clean, and just settles to let the water run on him for as long as he could*
Sephiroth: ::works on rinsing his hair, finger combing it at once and eyeing Zack. He'd really had to deal with such nasty creatures before? He didn't even let his mind go further that way, instead just studying him a bit as he cranked off the water::
Zack: *sighs as it slowly starts to cool, and shuts the water off, running his fingers through his hair to squeeze some of the water out, and then grabbed a towel*
Sephiroth: ::hums, following him with his gaze, but snatches a towel to attack his hair with, aggressively getting at the water::
Zack: *dries off and starts getting dressed again* Gods, we're going to have to write a stupid report over this, aren't we?
Sephiroth: Report, copies, and I'm going to have to let the bloody camp doctor look me over to do a report. Then I'll have to deal with the disorganization that sparked off ::starts to brush his hair, wrapping the towel around himself:: It was less... intensely damaging for me to have an absence before the last of the longest running veterans were shipped to Midgar.
Zack: Doesn't seem as if the camp burnt down while we were gone.
Sephiroth: Quite astounding, that ::braids the mass back, tying it off, then gets the water off so he can put on fresh leathers without issue, relaxing once dressed::
Zack: Not that bad....
Sephiroth: Unlike you seem to be, most of the newest soldiers are incompetents who were never given proper or adequate self management instruction.
Zack: *wait, was that a compliment? It sounded like a compliment, but he wasn't sure. From what he had seen the man was very good at being insulting while not seeming it.* Incompetents don't tend to survive long enough to be issues.
Sephiroth: Exactly. Thus why they're all new.
Zack: Not all of them. Just...most. *nods* So, paperwork from hell, I'm sure the doctor will yet at me for taking a potion, well, two potions on my own, and we'll be safe from the next attack due to the shield of paperwork we will have built from all the reports we'll have to file.
Sephiroth: Mmm That seems the case ::settles fresh armor into place and reslots his materia into the cleaned metal, then looks to Zack::
Zack: *tosses him the fire* Here you got. Thanks for the loan.
Sephiroth: ::eyes him, then nods::
Zack: *grins brightly* We're back to what counts as civilization. Happy?
Sephiroth: I would be happier if we were back to real civilization.
Zack: You and me both. Sadly, that's still a while off.
Sephiroth: Yes. ::hums, then eyes the door of the shower tent::
Zack: *sighs* Though it was nice to not have to deal with paperwork. Not worth the pain and dead people, though. *sighs* Want me to go play distraction?
Sephiroth: ::hesitates:: I cannot help but feel that the horde out there is liable to undo all the work that potion did as soon as we emerge.
Zack: *reaches over and actually pats a shoulder. Well, shoulder armor* I'll go distract them. Give me five minutes. Should I try to make it to your tent so we can start of the pile of reports that have probably multiplied ten fold since we left?
Sephiroth: ::eyes him, then nods and lets out a deep breath:: Yes, I'll be along after I let the doctor here examine me so he can send off his reports.
Zack: *grimaces* Fun times. *goes out the door and slowly moves the mob away by force. Knew they'd be more likely to follow him than wait for Sephiroth.*
Sephiroth: ::waits until the crowd is far enough away and heads to the medical tent again. He would have preferred the paperwork::
Zack: *deals with people for a little bit before escaping into the tent that served as Sephiroth's office as well. Looking around and sighs.* Damn it. Even being MIA doesn't free you from paperwork. *starts sorting, scowling*
Sephiroth: ::is a while, but finally comes to the tent, having been detoured by people before managing to get back::
Zack: *has most of the paperwork sorted by then* Can we just burn them?
Sephiroth: They would send more, and additional forms about the cause of the blaze. ::looks over a few things quickly before signing off on things that shouldn't have been left to him in the first place::
Zack: *continues to sort* So, did the doctor proclaim you in decent health?
Sephiroth: Apparently, though he didn't actually say anything. ::shakes his head::
Zack: Lovely. *takes what can be filed without being signed off on and sets about doing that.*
Sephiroth: He never does, it's normal.
Zack: Still be irritating.
Sephiroth: I suppose. I'm used to it.
Zack: *hums softly* Those on your desk need signed off on. The rest of it is filing.
Sephiroth: ::nods:: I'll leave that to you then ::makes a pile of the signed things. How most of these were useful to war he'd never really determined::
Zack: *hums to himself as he works on the filing. Hadn't really joined up to be a glorified secretary, but could deal with it*
Sephiroth: ::quieting, he decided this worked, turning his attention fully to the paperwork. He would be far from stunned if the headache returned.::
Zack: *so going to bed after this. Well, if he could. Sleep was his friend, and he hummed more as he did the filing in a half-trance, putting everything away.*