Salvation
Title: Salvation
Fandom: FF7
Characters: Zack, Sephiroth
Rating: G
Words: 923
Note: This is a little dark, and is a smash of a couple bunnies.
Summary: Zack tries to convince Seph that binge reading in Nibelheim isn't required.
Zack had come in a flurry, bursting into the room and trying to distract, get his attention, anything to deter him from being locked away in dust and truth for hour after hour. He simply didn't grasp the significance, the fact that this was so, as it must be, and it would not change.
Zack, of course, was ignorant to that which he had learned, that which he knew, the revelations that clarified the long, restless life he dared call his own. Though perhaps dared would be wrong. He was given much, through his heritage and the way he had been raised, that he would never have gotten had he been anyone else.
He could perceive things that would leave others, even the other SOLDIERs, to the intense possibility of madness. They were not as he was, they did not see as he saw, and did not know as he knew. To them, when they became enhanced, their shape of the world became learned, their power something borrowed for the remainder of their lives. There was no chance of any of them being raised with the sense of the world as he knew it. They would always need to learn their new limits, and thus they were confined to the present. Their former lives would always handicap them in the most basic of ways, leaving him ultimately alone when none, it seemed, could do as he did.
And here Zack was, proving his ignorance and trying to distract him, trying to draw him away from explanations, files he'd longed to see for years. Confirmations and truths that he'd craved since he was but a child. All of these things, and he wanted to pull him away now? There was no time.
"Seph, man, seriously, this is not good for you. Please, just for a little while? Maybe dinner with Spike's mom? She'd feed you, I know she would, she offered and everything!" The words were quick as the dark haired figured darted forward, making a novel effort to get between him and the stacks of paper. It was still an act that proved rather futile as he moved an arm to bar his way.
"Zack. If you do not remove yourself, I will remove you personally." He made sure his tone was a quiet promise, no threat inherent as his expression remained flat. He wanted to give the man nothing to latch onto to continue this pursuit. He didn't understand, and really, he was rather incapable of the possibility.
"Seph. This isn't…. What's got you so caught up you can't come out for even a little while?" Zack met his eyes, hesitating slightly before giving him an encouraging smile, one that truly wasn't required. "I mean, it's kept this long right? It's not gonna vanish with a half-hour of inattention, right? I mean, you've slept. Right?"
There was a long pause in which he didn't move, merely stared the shorter male down, and he waited for the smile to falter before speaking, cutting off the repetition of the word 'right' before it could be finished a fourth time. "What are you trying to achieve?"
"I just- Look, Seph, you're not doing yourself any favors here. You haven't slept, barely been eating. I just wanna help you, get you all fluffed up and happy, okay, maybe not happy. Content? Yeah, content'd do until we got out of here and to somewhere that doesn't make you cranky. Spike's the same way with the cranky after all. Yeah?" He gave him an expectant look, but all he received in turn was a long silence.
"Zack?" He made his tone very soft.
In turn, the youth visibly perked, sharpening his focus back on the older man's face. "Yeah?"
"Get out."
"Seph?"
He turned his back on him, moving to another area of the room to check that the files were all out. "You heard me. I do not want you here."
"But Seph-"
"I said to get out Zack." He looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes though his tone didn't change. There was no time for this. "I said I would remove you if you failed to comply, did I not?"
"I just want to help you."
He was aware of that, but Zack simply didn't know what he knew. Informing him would change things that none of them could afford to change. Turning to face the teen, he slowly shook his head and moved forward. Hopefully, in time, Zack would understand that he had a purpose. He doubted he would, but for now this was all the warning he could, or would, give. Tipping the smaller male's face with gentle fingers, he met and held the worried violet gaze. "You cannot save me. Not now, not ever. I do not want you to try anymore. Understand?"
"Seph…"
His tone hardened as he tightened his fingers slightly, enough to make the other SOLDIER twitch. "Do you understand?"
"…Yeah. I won't bug you. For now anyway."
He released the teen with the frustrated words, and he was satisfied when the dark haired figured slipped out of sight. He wasn't pleased that he'd had to do that, nor had he really wanted to, but he needed to do what needed done and he could not accomplish the path he'd chosen if such points were not made clear.
Zack would never understand, and it was pointless to wish he could.
What he had planned was for the best, and personal investments had no place in that.
None at all.
Fandom: FF7
Characters: Zack, Sephiroth
Rating: G
Words: 923
Note: This is a little dark, and is a smash of a couple bunnies.
Summary: Zack tries to convince Seph that binge reading in Nibelheim isn't required.
Zack had come in a flurry, bursting into the room and trying to distract, get his attention, anything to deter him from being locked away in dust and truth for hour after hour. He simply didn't grasp the significance, the fact that this was so, as it must be, and it would not change.
Zack, of course, was ignorant to that which he had learned, that which he knew, the revelations that clarified the long, restless life he dared call his own. Though perhaps dared would be wrong. He was given much, through his heritage and the way he had been raised, that he would never have gotten had he been anyone else.
He could perceive things that would leave others, even the other SOLDIERs, to the intense possibility of madness. They were not as he was, they did not see as he saw, and did not know as he knew. To them, when they became enhanced, their shape of the world became learned, their power something borrowed for the remainder of their lives. There was no chance of any of them being raised with the sense of the world as he knew it. They would always need to learn their new limits, and thus they were confined to the present. Their former lives would always handicap them in the most basic of ways, leaving him ultimately alone when none, it seemed, could do as he did.
And here Zack was, proving his ignorance and trying to distract him, trying to draw him away from explanations, files he'd longed to see for years. Confirmations and truths that he'd craved since he was but a child. All of these things, and he wanted to pull him away now? There was no time.
"Seph, man, seriously, this is not good for you. Please, just for a little while? Maybe dinner with Spike's mom? She'd feed you, I know she would, she offered and everything!" The words were quick as the dark haired figured darted forward, making a novel effort to get between him and the stacks of paper. It was still an act that proved rather futile as he moved an arm to bar his way.
"Zack. If you do not remove yourself, I will remove you personally." He made sure his tone was a quiet promise, no threat inherent as his expression remained flat. He wanted to give the man nothing to latch onto to continue this pursuit. He didn't understand, and really, he was rather incapable of the possibility.
"Seph. This isn't…. What's got you so caught up you can't come out for even a little while?" Zack met his eyes, hesitating slightly before giving him an encouraging smile, one that truly wasn't required. "I mean, it's kept this long right? It's not gonna vanish with a half-hour of inattention, right? I mean, you've slept. Right?"
There was a long pause in which he didn't move, merely stared the shorter male down, and he waited for the smile to falter before speaking, cutting off the repetition of the word 'right' before it could be finished a fourth time. "What are you trying to achieve?"
"I just- Look, Seph, you're not doing yourself any favors here. You haven't slept, barely been eating. I just wanna help you, get you all fluffed up and happy, okay, maybe not happy. Content? Yeah, content'd do until we got out of here and to somewhere that doesn't make you cranky. Spike's the same way with the cranky after all. Yeah?" He gave him an expectant look, but all he received in turn was a long silence.
"Zack?" He made his tone very soft.
In turn, the youth visibly perked, sharpening his focus back on the older man's face. "Yeah?"
"Get out."
"Seph?"
He turned his back on him, moving to another area of the room to check that the files were all out. "You heard me. I do not want you here."
"But Seph-"
"I said to get out Zack." He looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes though his tone didn't change. There was no time for this. "I said I would remove you if you failed to comply, did I not?"
"I just want to help you."
He was aware of that, but Zack simply didn't know what he knew. Informing him would change things that none of them could afford to change. Turning to face the teen, he slowly shook his head and moved forward. Hopefully, in time, Zack would understand that he had a purpose. He doubted he would, but for now this was all the warning he could, or would, give. Tipping the smaller male's face with gentle fingers, he met and held the worried violet gaze. "You cannot save me. Not now, not ever. I do not want you to try anymore. Understand?"
"Seph…"
His tone hardened as he tightened his fingers slightly, enough to make the other SOLDIER twitch. "Do you understand?"
"…Yeah. I won't bug you. For now anyway."
He released the teen with the frustrated words, and he was satisfied when the dark haired figured slipped out of sight. He wasn't pleased that he'd had to do that, nor had he really wanted to, but he needed to do what needed done and he could not accomplish the path he'd chosen if such points were not made clear.
Zack would never understand, and it was pointless to wish he could.
What he had planned was for the best, and personal investments had no place in that.
None at all.