Night 55: M41-M50 Hallway
.....Ow. Okay, uh. Was all that static really necessary? If that guy was hoping to give everyone a migraine, he was certainly on the right track. He excelled at being annoying as much as he did delivering creepy, cryptic messages. Alright. Good for you, whoever you were.
But no matter. The strange speech over the intercom was the least of the ( Read more... )
But no matter. The strange speech over the intercom was the least of the ( Read more... )
It seemed that the two lived in the same place, then, if Snow was talking about running into her while on patrols. That certainly made sense, and Zack nodded along with the explanation to show that he got the picture.
Although then Snow dropped a bit of a bombshell. He was dating Lightning's sister? Zack hadn't even realized that she had a sister, though it wasn't as if there had ever been a chance for something like that to come up. He wondered why it was any of her business who her sister dated, but if Lightning was the older one...
Zack was an only child, but he realized how older siblings could be. Lightning seemed like she would be the protective sort if she ever actually found a reason to care for anyone, and with family that was more or less a given. He was assuming a lot, but still, it would also explain why the two of them were working together now. They probably both wanted to get out and get back to this girl. "Talk, huh? What about?" That would be the easiest way to sort this all out.
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Snow crossed his arms and looked like he was actually pondering this over. "Serah said Light was always away from home and stuff with how much she worked. So it's not like there was ever a good time to swing by and introduce myself. Probably just looked weird."
That was what he told himself, anyway. He and Lightning hadn't spoken at all before that chance meeting, so it's not like he could have gone and done something to make her all unhappy about the idea, right? I mean, yeah, she had seemed kind of irritated during that exchange, but then again, Lightning always kinda looked irritated or mad or something.
And with that thought, he realized how this whole thing might have sounded, and he uncrossed one hand long enough to wave it dismissively. "Ehh, Light's just a workaholic. And she's a soldier. So she prolly worries about all kinds a' things all the time, you know? Her kinda work must just put people on edge, I guess."
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Either way, it sounded like a bit of a mess and yet the fact that Snow was acting so casual about the whole thing made it seem like it had been resolved at this point. "Well, I guess that's true," he said in response to the last comment. "Soldier work can be pretty tiring, but it doesn't have to be all bad." He'd gotten high up in the ranks and he certainly didn't act like Lightning. Nor had he completely ignored his friends and family because of his work. He'd regularly written to his parents and had gone to visit Aerith pretty frequently after they met. It was true that a lot of his friends had been fellow soldiers, but still.
"So what happened after that? She told you to stay away, and then..." He tilted his head to the side, wondering if he was being too nosy. But Snow wasn't acting like he was, so he thought it was probably fine. He was just trying to get to know both of them a bit better. And maybe part of it was also that Lightning had learned some pretty big secrets about him, stuff he wouldn't share under most circumstances, and so he kind of wanted to find out more about her in return. This had already been very helpful in that regard.
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In any case, Snow knew he wasn't exactly the world's greatest storyteller, but Zack seemed to be following along and seemed interested. Which was better than boring him. Personally, he didn't consider any of this as worthy of hiding at all. The 'what happened next' part, though, was a little different.
He hesitated for a moment before answering. Had the story been limited solely to what was going on between the three of them, he'd have been fine to continue but... now that he thought about it, it was shortly after that when everything started taking a turn for the worse. Everything got so complicated so fast. It all just... went wrong. All wrong. ...Well, no. That's not right. It wasn't all wrong. There was still plenty more good than bad during the days following. Those were the parts he should be focusing on. ... Kind of hard to though.
Either way, Snow wasn't a complete idiot. Sharing a story and sharing details that could possibly turn both him and Light into walking targets to the other patients here were very, very different things. He liked this Zack guy, but he didn't know him enough to be sure he wouldn't freak and decide to try making use of whatever weapon Light might hand to him. And last thing Snow wanted was for there to be a fight amongst new friends. So he knew enough to keep his big mouth shut regarding certain things.
Of course, the pause probably made it obvious he was questioning voicing something. He was really no good at hiding things, huh? Whoops. Well, he still tried, the grin getting a little awkward as he continued on. "Erm. Well, uhhh. Lightning was gonna be takin' a day off for her birthday a little after that anyway, so... we figured that'd prolly be the best time to tell her everything. Best bet, right?" Here, he beamed brightly. "Actually, the day before, I finally asked Serah to marry me! I mean if we're gonna tell Light everything anyway, might as well have as much good news as possible, right?"
Actually, there were many different reasons why he'd chosen right then to propose. Some deeper reasons. Others... not so deep. But it didn't matter when the end result was the same, right?
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That was really the last thing he needed to be thinking about then. It was a good thing that the two of them ended up wandering off into their own minds around the same time. Zack didn't know what he'd said that had put Snow in a contemplative mood, but it hardly seemed fair to ask when he wouldn't have wanted to talk about his own sudden silence.
Thus far, everything that Snow was saying sounded mundane enough, and Zack was willing to accept that. It wasn't like everyone got kidnapped, experimented on for years, and then chased by the very company that had employed them.
"Wow, so you popped the question, huh? And so how did she react to that?" It was just a hunch, but he got the feeling that Lightning hadn't exactly jumped for joy upon hearing this "good news." Still, there had to be a reason that she was teaming up with Snow now, and it was probably because of that common ground: they both cared about Serah.
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"She said yes!" he said immediately, looking absolutely ecstatic for a few moments before the context of the question sank in. Then he blinked. "Wait. ...Aha. You mean Light, don't you?"
Mmm, that one was a bit more complicated of an answer. They'd both ended up losing their tempers then, hadn't they? Even though it had only been a few weeks ago, Snow honestly hadn't thought back to any of this. After his anger fizzled out, he'd just kinda forgotten all about it. Plus he'd gotten all occupied by more important things. It hadn't seemed like anything worth brooding over though. But with Zack asking about all this, it was forcing him to think about it.
"Well, she wasn't all that happy, I guess. I mean yeah, she was pretty mad but she just kinda seemed more... upset. Or confused. I guess you could say we had a fight, kind of?" He scratched his head. How exactly was he supposed to explain this without Lightning sounding completely crazy? Cause in his opinion, she kind of waaay overreacted.
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... Whatever Lightning had planned to do or say once she'd left Kibitoshin's room with her three new weapons, it went out the window immediately the moment she heard Snow's loud voice, talking about something that she thought he really shouldn't have been- it wasn't hard to piece together, even with the scant few words she was able to hear while coming out of the door.
Alarm rose up in her instinctively, instantly, making her chest and throat tighten in involuntary response. "What are you talking about?" she demanded, and though her own voice wasn't that much more raised than normal, it was undoubtedly just as sharp as the varied blades now on her person, cutting through the darkness in the hall as if she'd gone and thrown one of the things at the two men.
She wasn't thinking particularly clearly, despite the coolness she'd been showing just moments prior. Any mention or allusion to Serah right now was bound to cause a hasty reaction, and her surprised agitation was evident as she approached them, glaring up at Snow.
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The real question was why she opposed so much to Snow and Serah being together. If it was a problem that she had with Snow personally, then why was she associating with him now? Maybe it was to keep an eye on him? But as far as Zack could tell, Serah wasn't even in this place, so what did she care?
These were all questions he might have asked if Lightning herself hadn't stalked through the door then, looking like she was on the warpath. Part of that was due to the two short swords she was holding, and part of it was simply through her demeanor and tone. It was clear she hadn't accepted the proposal as time had passed, if she was still this worked up about it.
Knowing that he was in no position to comment on any of that, though, Zack decided to try and change the subject. "Hey, so it looks like you lucked out," he said with a nod to the weapons. Short swords weren't really his style, but it'd beat a pry bar any day. "How'd you talk your way into getting those, anyway?" If it turned out that Lightning had a silver tongue underneath all that anger, then he at least wanted to know what her method had been.
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Still, there was an awkward feeling like he'd just been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to, which was stupid. A mix between guilt and defensiveness. Snow actually wasn't sure how he should respond. Could he even say anything that wouldn't result in yelling and more glaring? Probably not. So he probably shouldn't even bother trying.
Zack, on the other hand, seemed to have a better approach in mind and changed the subject entirely. Thankfully, he didn't answer Lightning's question or anything that would dig this any deeper. Whew... He kinda owed the guy one now. Changing the subject of focus to weapons while Lightning was all mad didn't sound like a great idea in general, but hey. Whatever works, right?
So Snow nodded and went along with Zack's question, all smiles like he was oblivious to Light's rage. "Heh, you didn't go and use your 'interrogation' skills on the poor guy, did ya?"
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... Nothing, of course. It seemed Snow just never thought about that kind of thing unless it was specifically thrown right in his face. How he managed to stay so chronically empty-headed escaped Lightning entirely... and it was jarring for her to face it full-force right then when, before she'd woken up in the institute, he'd been noticeably different....
With how stressed this whole entrapment deal was making her, the young woman was working with a lot of pent-up, negative energy- having found a sudden target, her demeanor was on fire-- until something, a voice of logic in the back of her mind, the return of realization over Snow's plight, finally got through to her again. It was a reminder that she needed to remain calm, because unlike Snow and his inexplicably reversed Brand, Lightning didn't have much time left.
An odd look passed over her face, the forcibly-suppressed anger turning to something else entirely contradictory for just a moment before she smoothed it out and pushed herself into trying to move on. Deliberately ignoring Snow throwing out yet another useless comment, of course.
"Luck," she answered shortly, and spun the plainer of the two swords into a reversed grip with conspicuous ease, holding it away from her body and with the hilt towards Zack. That was probably all he'd come for, wasn't it? "...And a promise," she added a beat later, and with a quick glance aside meant it in a bit more pointed manner at Snow than she'd originally been intending. Just how many promises had they made so far, being broken just by remaining here?
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Luck and a promise. To who, about what? What did it have to do with getting weapons from a random stranger? As curious as Zack was, he had to focus on the main point, which was that regardless of how it had happened, he was now being offered a short sword. Both of his eyebrows raised when the blade was extended to him, but he grabbed the hilt firmly. It wasn't nearly as heavy as he was used to his weapons being, nor did it seem to be particularly well-made, but it would cut through some of the monsters here and that was all that mattered.
"Thank you," he said with a nod as he looked Lighting in the face, wanting to make it clear that he appreciated the favor. They barely knew each other, after all. She may have witnessed his death in some weird sort of way that he still couldn't explain, but that didn't mean they were friends. Not yet, at least. Though he got the feeling that with this one, he might be working at it for a while.
In any case, it seemed that it was about time to dispel the tension and get moving, and luckily, Zack was good at that. "So! Now that we're armed to the teeth" -- he said it jokingly, since this really didn't count for him -- "were we going to head outside?" He still didn't know what it was that Lightning wanted to do out there, but he was willing to wait and see.
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The way she finally did answer Zack, though, definitely struck a nerve. He actually wasn't 100% sure what specific promise she could be referring to either, but that word -- promise. He'd made a lot of those over the last few weeks. To Light, to Serah, to others and himself. He hadn't forgotten, of course. He never could. But seeing Lightning hand the sword over to Zack and fulfill whatever vow it was she'd taken was reminder enough of his own. He would see all of that through. But before he could, he needed to get out of this place and back home.
So when Zack went and suggested they go outside and deal with The Eagle already, Snow was all too eager to agree. He balled both hands into fists and held them up before him enthusiastically, nodding his head with a determined grin. "Yeah! Let's do this! Place won't know what hit it!"
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After all, she'd seen him doing the 'required' jumping jacks during lunch. During dinner there had been that metal possessions box that promised things wouldn't be returned if their owner didn't behave. If, unlike her, Zack would bend a little, that kept a weapon still in the mix if something happened to her or the two weapons she was keeping herself. It deeply irritated her to think like that, applying reason to some things but not to others and having to have to set out her plans twisted around the whims of the military goons trying to run the place, but there was little other choice. Strategies were rarely under ideal circumstances, and she was definitely at a disadvantage.
The joking comment got a frown out of her, though- clearly, this was pretty far from her idea of 'armed to the teeth' too. Again, she could have kept both swords, but a short sword paired with another, the use of 'twin blades,' was something she knew only vaguely out of old legends- fanciful things you might hear about a l'Cie barbarian from Pulse... or hero if they were from Cocoon. Primitive. They definitely weren't anything a young enlisted officer from modern times would use. Lightning's training with a blade made her pretty unusual in the first place, but not to the point of arming herself in that way and to that level.
As for Snow's words... make no mistake. She was still mad at him for sure, so that when he switched on the enthusiastic act again, she had to swallow down another swell of negativity. She realized that she desperately needed to have a talk with him, no interruptions, away from the ears of any other potential curious listeners entirely. It had passed the point of getting ridiculous. It was downright absurd, now.
Heading outside, though... Lightning tried to hide it, but she wasn't sure that she even wanted to lead the way into that now that Zack was with them and Snow had once again proven incapable of keeping his mouth shut. For a long moment she just stared downward, eyes moving back and forth in thought, before inclining her head and finally turning sharply on her heel to move back down the hall.
[ To here. ]
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