Sorry about the roof.
Hanging precariously by one hand from the snapped edge of a suspension bridge wasn't how Axel had envisioned the moments before his death.
It was of no surprise that his ill-thought-out actions --well, causing an explosion on a bridge wasn't exactly a fantastic plan, was it?-- had lead to the present scenario. With a veritable inferno roaring in ( Read more... )
It was of no surprise that his ill-thought-out actions --well, causing an explosion on a bridge wasn't exactly a fantastic plan, was it?-- had lead to the present scenario. With a veritable inferno roaring in ( Read more... )
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...
It didn't register that he was actually alive for a couple of moments. By the time the voice filtered into his consciousness, his head was swimming.
For one thing, there was no way he wanted to get up for school. His bed was comfortable and he'd been up all night practising his silly fighting games for the day when he'd eventually win a Vs. match. He tried to block out the voice and get that all important Five More Minutes before he realised that he couldn't open his eyes if he wanted to.
Huh. That was odd.
"Mom?" The word sounded fuzzy and distant, even to his own ears.
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She tried again, "Hel-loo?" A little louder, this time, and more drawn out.
She didn't know what she'd do if he didn't wake up soon. He was crushing the flowers, but he was almost definitely too big for her to move herself.
Maybe she should get her watering can....
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His voice sounded louder that time, clearer.
Not long afterwards, his eyes flickered open. The white edging his vision took a couple of moments to dissipate completely, but when he came to properly, he found that he wasn't actually in his own bed, at home, back at Radiant Garden and was instead lying on the floor, beneath a hole in somebody's roof.
It took a little while longer to register the lingering pain from hitting the floor and then, eventually, the memory of what put him in that position came creeping back.
The feeling in his hands didn't.
"...did I do that?" He asked, struggling to raise one arm to point to the damage he thought he'd done to the roof.
He wasn't entirely with it. He was conscious and aware of his surroundings, but he wasn't fully recovered and adjusted just yet. He'd had something of a bizarre ordeal, after all.
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She ducked into the back, leaving Axel on his own for a couple of minutes before she returned, a hairbrush in one hand, and some ribbons and elastic in the other. The ribbons were thick, silky, and white.
Probably an ominous sign, really, with the way things had gone so far.
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It was all terribly surreal. Nothing had really been what he expected or had felt normal since he dropped out of the sky within spitting distance of an empty city, but being dressed up like a girl to escape some insane government-run mafia with a penchant for shooting people who ran from them with a magic-inhibiting substance was really far out.
As such, he sat there and awaited his fate. The ribbons made him goggle, but he didn't say anything. Well, almost.
"I'm not sure white is really my colour," he commented with a bit of a smile.
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Then she tilted her head, looking at Timcanpy a little more thoughtfully, and asked, "What are you, anyway?" Though she wasn't expecting Timcanpy to answer.
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"The tank I broke him out of called him a 'golem'. It was written on the label -- his name was down as 'Timcanpy'." He explained, not able to tell her much more than that.
Well, he thought that was his name. He still wasn't great at reading this kooky Spiran language, but the similarities and a few months exposure to it had certainly helped.
"I thought he was an animal until he chewed a hole through the metal locker I had to get my license out of," he said, still looking and feeling disturbed by this fact.
He didn't know what a Golem was, but he hoped it might mean something to a native. Of course, he wasn't to know that the term was only generally used in history books as a word to describe a thousand-plus year old construct that tended to be used as a weapon. What powered them is a mystery by modern Spiran standards, but it's suffice to say that it wasn't magic given Tim's happy consumption of his Orbo covered gloves.
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Outside she told Axel, "Now don't forget to walk."
'Around the corner' was, naturally, further in practice than it had sounded, and the pair turned a couple of heads along the way.
More heads turned when they reached the outside of a gaudy building, bedecked in lights and bright in the gloom. It proclaimed itself to be "The Honeybee Inn", and there were quite a few men outside, pleading with the doormen to let them in.
From somewhere in the direction of the doors, there was a loud wolf whistle.
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The Honeybee Inn made him lineface, but only briefly. He managed to keep himself level and his expression pleasant, if apprehensive. He had an idea what this place was, but the wolf whistle pretty much confirmed it.
"Uh... Aerith?" He asked, his voice quiet to hide the masculine tone.
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The crowd were really starting to pay attention now, like vultures that have spotted prey. Or like animals in heat.
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"Yeah," he nodded, smiling at her slightly. "I can deal with it."
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She cocked her head, sounding rather chirpy considering the implications of her next sentence, "And if I can't, someone else will come for you."
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"... Okay, fine. Don't take too long, all right?"
It seemed a lot to ask of somebody helping him of her own volition, but he did it anyway. He didn't want to be stuck in a brothel, dressed as a very convincing girl, for longer than necessary. He'd have to charge the punters a hell of a lot of gil if any mistakes were made, that was for sure.
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Which left Axel under the care of Linzi and the other brothel girls, the former of whom nudged another and whispered something to her. The whispers led to giggles, and then a nod, before Linzi stood up again and addressed Axel. "Hey, you stay; you work."
She gave Axel a few seconds to start to worry before she said, "I have coffee."
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"Hey, I'd hate to put you all out of a job." He said, entirely in jest. "Coffee sounds good."
He could use it. He hadn't slept for the entire night. He'd put his plan to break out of the labs in the late evening and had spent the rest of the night wandering in the middle of the plate. It was just past dawn by the time he came up and almost mid-morning by the time he woke up in the Church.
He was running on empty and a little caffeine shot might just help.
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She cleaned up the mess in the kitchen, and put the remains of the pie back in the oven to keep warm, in case Axel wanted seconds.
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When he was done, he put the fork down and looked at her, looking quite sated and happy. "Thanks again." He grinned.
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She leaned against the kitchen counter for a moment, smiling at him. "Then you can tell me where you came from."
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"Maybe later," he said, his smile dropping a bit.
If there was a later.
As for where he was from, he frowned a bit. Aerith had come back with his license, so she might have looked at it. It did say he was Jyllandi and from Delgantua specifically, but if not... He sighed slightly. This wasn't going to be easy.
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