{ unfold your wings and take off into the sky }
Who: Kunsel Reinhardt (iluphone) and Zack Fair (neverwinged)
When: ...uh. Some time after Zack wakes up.
Location: Sion's house.
Rating: PG-13 for language.
Summary: All Kunsel has ever wanted is for Zack to be okay. Why the hell is that so much to ask?
When all was said and done, Kunsel knew himself to be a coward and very little more. Even right now, he was running away. He had left the house hours ago despite his better judgement, because he knew he needed something to do with himself before he drove himself completely mad. He had taken one of Sion's old swords from his cadet days from the basement and gone out to practice his swordsmanship, something he hadn't attempted in at least three years.
Every hour that crawled by ate away at him, filling him with such a deeply seated sense of frustration that he hacked at a lone wood post until it was practically nothing but splinters. Something had come and nearly killed Zack, and where the hell had he been? Where the hell had he been? He couldn't remember, even now. Angeal had told him that he had found Kunsel outside the house about a dozen yards out and that he'd had a seizure, but Kunsel couldn't even remember waking up that morning or how he had come to leave the house. He knew it was stupid to blame himself, but he did. How could he not remember? What if whatever attacked Zack had to do with the reason he suffered a seizure out of he blue? And the Geostigma he had contracted, a disease which had been completely wiped from the planet for years now--
Why couldn't he remember? Choking on his breath at the thought, Kunsel tightened his grip on his sword's hilt and swung it at the wood post with all his might. Angeal had come to the aid of Kunsel and Zack both, and Sion had saved Zack's life with his parents' materia. Cloud had been here for Zack when Zack first woke. And Kunsel--
'Don't you think he's better off with that friend he escaped Nibelheim with? At least the kid he was with did something for him, was there for him and shit--'
Kunsel had done absolutely nothing.
A jolt of pain spiked through Kunsel's back and shoulder, causing him to grit his teeth as he dropped his weapon, having learned by now that there was nothing to do but weather the pain. He had not contracted Geostigma when it was infecting the earth, so this was all new and troubling to him. Especially the visions, the vague and indistinct flashes of light that he never quite remembered once the spell passed and the distorted whispering that filled his ears. As soon as it was over, he let himself drop to his knees, beset by the sheer extent of his uselessness.
Useless. That had always been one of his father's favorite terms for his only son. All these years later, he was still his father's son after all. All these years later, he was still--
Without warning, a song began to play, disrupting the downward spiral of self-loathing Kunsel had fallen into. Kunsel realized it was the alarm on his phone as he dug it out, reminding him it was time to start his afternoon chores at the ranch. He had forgotten to turn it off in his hurry to leave.
For a long time, Kunsel found himself staring at the face of his phone, at his own reflection in the device's glossy black screen. He then surprised himself with all at once smiling, albeit in a bit of a self-depreciating manner.
"If this is all you're good for, SOLDIER," he muttered to himself, "might as well give it all you got." He laughed softly at his own words, then shook his head before he pressed a small, appreciative kiss on his phone's case before tucking it back into his pocket.
"Thanks, old friend."
With that, Kunsel shouldered his borrowed sword and walked back to the house, because there was someone there who could probably use a friend. If nothing else, even if he was good for absolutely nothing else, Kunsel knew he could at least be that. Wordlessly, he made his way to the room Zack was recovering in, knocking lightly on the door frame to warn Zack he was coming before he let himself in.
"How you holding up, Zack?" Kunsel asked lightly as he pulled up a chair, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. Which took some trying, actually, given that his friend was currently sitting on the bed with his knees drawn up, blanket pulled over his head. In spite of himself and all of his earlier troubling thoughts, Kunsel couldn't help but think that when he'd mused to himself how nice it would've been to have gotten to grow up with Zack, this wasn't quite what he'd meant. The thought eased the pain in his heart, just a little.
No matter what happened, Zack had always been able to bring Kunsel a sense of peace. And to a soldier like Kunsel, it might as well have been said that Zack offered Kunsel the entire world.
At some point, Zack had become the world to Kunsel.
Right now, the world was falling apart.
When: ...uh. Some time after Zack wakes up.
Location: Sion's house.
Rating: PG-13 for language.
Summary: All Kunsel has ever wanted is for Zack to be okay. Why the hell is that so much to ask?
When all was said and done, Kunsel knew himself to be a coward and very little more. Even right now, he was running away. He had left the house hours ago despite his better judgement, because he knew he needed something to do with himself before he drove himself completely mad. He had taken one of Sion's old swords from his cadet days from the basement and gone out to practice his swordsmanship, something he hadn't attempted in at least three years.
Every hour that crawled by ate away at him, filling him with such a deeply seated sense of frustration that he hacked at a lone wood post until it was practically nothing but splinters. Something had come and nearly killed Zack, and where the hell had he been? Where the hell had he been? He couldn't remember, even now. Angeal had told him that he had found Kunsel outside the house about a dozen yards out and that he'd had a seizure, but Kunsel couldn't even remember waking up that morning or how he had come to leave the house. He knew it was stupid to blame himself, but he did. How could he not remember? What if whatever attacked Zack had to do with the reason he suffered a seizure out of he blue? And the Geostigma he had contracted, a disease which had been completely wiped from the planet for years now--
Why couldn't he remember? Choking on his breath at the thought, Kunsel tightened his grip on his sword's hilt and swung it at the wood post with all his might. Angeal had come to the aid of Kunsel and Zack both, and Sion had saved Zack's life with his parents' materia. Cloud had been here for Zack when Zack first woke. And Kunsel--
'Don't you think he's better off with that friend he escaped Nibelheim with? At least the kid he was with did something for him, was there for him and shit--'
Kunsel had done absolutely nothing.
A jolt of pain spiked through Kunsel's back and shoulder, causing him to grit his teeth as he dropped his weapon, having learned by now that there was nothing to do but weather the pain. He had not contracted Geostigma when it was infecting the earth, so this was all new and troubling to him. Especially the visions, the vague and indistinct flashes of light that he never quite remembered once the spell passed and the distorted whispering that filled his ears. As soon as it was over, he let himself drop to his knees, beset by the sheer extent of his uselessness.
Useless. That had always been one of his father's favorite terms for his only son. All these years later, he was still his father's son after all. All these years later, he was still--
Without warning, a song began to play, disrupting the downward spiral of self-loathing Kunsel had fallen into. Kunsel realized it was the alarm on his phone as he dug it out, reminding him it was time to start his afternoon chores at the ranch. He had forgotten to turn it off in his hurry to leave.
For a long time, Kunsel found himself staring at the face of his phone, at his own reflection in the device's glossy black screen. He then surprised himself with all at once smiling, albeit in a bit of a self-depreciating manner.
"If this is all you're good for, SOLDIER," he muttered to himself, "might as well give it all you got." He laughed softly at his own words, then shook his head before he pressed a small, appreciative kiss on his phone's case before tucking it back into his pocket.
"Thanks, old friend."
With that, Kunsel shouldered his borrowed sword and walked back to the house, because there was someone there who could probably use a friend. If nothing else, even if he was good for absolutely nothing else, Kunsel knew he could at least be that. Wordlessly, he made his way to the room Zack was recovering in, knocking lightly on the door frame to warn Zack he was coming before he let himself in.
"How you holding up, Zack?" Kunsel asked lightly as he pulled up a chair, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. Which took some trying, actually, given that his friend was currently sitting on the bed with his knees drawn up, blanket pulled over his head. In spite of himself and all of his earlier troubling thoughts, Kunsel couldn't help but think that when he'd mused to himself how nice it would've been to have gotten to grow up with Zack, this wasn't quite what he'd meant. The thought eased the pain in his heart, just a little.
No matter what happened, Zack had always been able to bring Kunsel a sense of peace. And to a soldier like Kunsel, it might as well have been said that Zack offered Kunsel the entire world.
At some point, Zack had become the world to Kunsel.
Right now, the world was falling apart.