Seriously Misconstrued
Title: Seriously Misconstrued
Fandom: FF7
Words: 932
Note: Sequel to High Places. It features Zack!
He hadn't had the time to come up here in a while. Hell, he hadn't had time for much of anything in the last few months. Exams were coming up, and people who were just outright not suitable for certain services were getting weeded out to different areas. He didn't want to get caught unprepared.
So, he'd been studying, training, and just outright trying to better himself. He was younger than most of the others, he knew that, so we had to work twice as hard just to get the same consideration from the instructors. They weren't going to go easy on him just because he was young. If anything, he got a harder time for being in so early.
That was fine though, it kept him from thinking about things too hard. It also looked like life was going to conspire against him to keep it that way too, his eyes darting down as he heard a shout from below.
"Hey! Wait!"
Thinking on it, he knew the voice, it was a SOLDIER he'd seen a few times while out on the base, but what was he…?
"There are better ways! Just… Don't move. I'll be right there and we can talk it out, okay?"
Talk what out? The man was going to hurt himself. He certainly didn't look all that good at finding handholds. Okay, enough was enough. He shouted back down. "What are you doing?"
"I'm coming up there to get you. Just don't do anything until I get there. Please. I know life can be hard, but there are other ways!"
He stared as he registered what the man was saying. "Wait… Wait! I'm not trying to kill myself!"
The hard wind what kicked up from the storm clouds rolling in apparently made him harder to understand. "No really… until I get there…" It certainly made the man nigh unintelligible.
He twitched when the man slipped. He had gotten high enough by now even a SOLDIER would have trouble recovering from an uncontrolled fall. "Be careful! You can go back! I'm not suicidal!" It was clear the man didn't get all of that, and he grimaced at another less than solid position. Okay, he needed to get down there before the man killed himself.
He'd have thought a SOLDIER would be better at something as simple as climbing. He could see the man shouting, not to mention his alarm, when he swung to start down, but he couldn’t hear it, the wind had picked up too much.
He was faster to climb down than the man was to climb up, not being on the side exposed to wind, though he could see the worry in the lines of the man's face. No, on closer inspection it became clear that he was a teen, just an older one. "I'm fine! We can go back down now."
This time it was clear the teen could hear him fine, though he was irked at the dubious look. "What were you doing up there?"
"I like high places." He reached through the holes in the beams and grabbed the other teen's shirt when he slipped again, this time almost losing his hold completely. "Be careful! It's not safe to fall from here."
"I know that! That's why I was coming up here. I thought you were trying to kill yourself." When the dark haired teen proved he had a solid hold, Cloud let go and started back down properly. "Thanks for the save there."
"You're welcome. And, I wasn't. How did you even know I was up here?"
The black haired teen grinned, batting his eyes as the wind whipped hair into his face. "Good eyesight. Nice bonus, don't you think?"
"I guess so. You really didn't need to come up here though." Now that they were getting closer to the ground, he found himself studying the teen more than his hold.
"Yeah I did." His words were serious, though a smile stayed on his face when he spoke. He was far more cheerful than anyone Cloud had talked to recently. "If I'd been right, you would have fallen. And if I hadn't climbed up, well, I wouldn't have met you, now would I? See? No real alternative. My name is Zack by the way, yours?"
"Cloud Strife, sir." He jumped the last distance to ground as they hit the lowest crossbeams, eyes flitting back to the SOLDIER. He knew for sure that he was one too, because the growing dark made that telltale glow more than obvious.
"No need to call me sir kid. Just call me Zack. C'mon, I'll feed you to make up for my mistake and we can talk about it, deal?"
He nodded, eyeing the guy suspiciously when he gave him an expectant look. "Cloud, sir. Not kid."
"Okay, okay, you don't call me sir, and I won't call you kid." He tipped his head in a short jerk, the grin growing. "We should get moving before it starts to rain though."
A glance skyward proved the teen was right. "Of course, si-… Zack."
"See? That's not so hard." He draped his arm around his shoulder at that point, and the blond was less than relieved to see his eyeing went utterly ignored. "I can see us having a nice long friendship ahead of us."
Cloud couldn't say why exactly that statement filled him with unspeakable horror, but at least that wasn't the only emotion there. The other one would just take some getting used to.
At least he was getting a free meal out of this.
Fandom: FF7
Words: 932
Note: Sequel to High Places. It features Zack!
He hadn't had the time to come up here in a while. Hell, he hadn't had time for much of anything in the last few months. Exams were coming up, and people who were just outright not suitable for certain services were getting weeded out to different areas. He didn't want to get caught unprepared.
So, he'd been studying, training, and just outright trying to better himself. He was younger than most of the others, he knew that, so we had to work twice as hard just to get the same consideration from the instructors. They weren't going to go easy on him just because he was young. If anything, he got a harder time for being in so early.
That was fine though, it kept him from thinking about things too hard. It also looked like life was going to conspire against him to keep it that way too, his eyes darting down as he heard a shout from below.
"Hey! Wait!"
Thinking on it, he knew the voice, it was a SOLDIER he'd seen a few times while out on the base, but what was he…?
"There are better ways! Just… Don't move. I'll be right there and we can talk it out, okay?"
Talk what out? The man was going to hurt himself. He certainly didn't look all that good at finding handholds. Okay, enough was enough. He shouted back down. "What are you doing?"
"I'm coming up there to get you. Just don't do anything until I get there. Please. I know life can be hard, but there are other ways!"
He stared as he registered what the man was saying. "Wait… Wait! I'm not trying to kill myself!"
The hard wind what kicked up from the storm clouds rolling in apparently made him harder to understand. "No really… until I get there…" It certainly made the man nigh unintelligible.
He twitched when the man slipped. He had gotten high enough by now even a SOLDIER would have trouble recovering from an uncontrolled fall. "Be careful! You can go back! I'm not suicidal!" It was clear the man didn't get all of that, and he grimaced at another less than solid position. Okay, he needed to get down there before the man killed himself.
He'd have thought a SOLDIER would be better at something as simple as climbing. He could see the man shouting, not to mention his alarm, when he swung to start down, but he couldn’t hear it, the wind had picked up too much.
He was faster to climb down than the man was to climb up, not being on the side exposed to wind, though he could see the worry in the lines of the man's face. No, on closer inspection it became clear that he was a teen, just an older one. "I'm fine! We can go back down now."
This time it was clear the teen could hear him fine, though he was irked at the dubious look. "What were you doing up there?"
"I like high places." He reached through the holes in the beams and grabbed the other teen's shirt when he slipped again, this time almost losing his hold completely. "Be careful! It's not safe to fall from here."
"I know that! That's why I was coming up here. I thought you were trying to kill yourself." When the dark haired teen proved he had a solid hold, Cloud let go and started back down properly. "Thanks for the save there."
"You're welcome. And, I wasn't. How did you even know I was up here?"
The black haired teen grinned, batting his eyes as the wind whipped hair into his face. "Good eyesight. Nice bonus, don't you think?"
"I guess so. You really didn't need to come up here though." Now that they were getting closer to the ground, he found himself studying the teen more than his hold.
"Yeah I did." His words were serious, though a smile stayed on his face when he spoke. He was far more cheerful than anyone Cloud had talked to recently. "If I'd been right, you would have fallen. And if I hadn't climbed up, well, I wouldn't have met you, now would I? See? No real alternative. My name is Zack by the way, yours?"
"Cloud Strife, sir." He jumped the last distance to ground as they hit the lowest crossbeams, eyes flitting back to the SOLDIER. He knew for sure that he was one too, because the growing dark made that telltale glow more than obvious.
"No need to call me sir kid. Just call me Zack. C'mon, I'll feed you to make up for my mistake and we can talk about it, deal?"
He nodded, eyeing the guy suspiciously when he gave him an expectant look. "Cloud, sir. Not kid."
"Okay, okay, you don't call me sir, and I won't call you kid." He tipped his head in a short jerk, the grin growing. "We should get moving before it starts to rain though."
A glance skyward proved the teen was right. "Of course, si-… Zack."
"See? That's not so hard." He draped his arm around his shoulder at that point, and the blond was less than relieved to see his eyeing went utterly ignored. "I can see us having a nice long friendship ahead of us."
Cloud couldn't say why exactly that statement filled him with unspeakable horror, but at least that wasn't the only emotion there. The other one would just take some getting used to.
At least he was getting a free meal out of this.