[One of Violet City's main attractions is the Gym, and that's where the feed turns on now. Lightning is standing on one end of the field with Falkner on the other, facing his Noctowl down with Odin the Rapidash. The camera is being held at such an angle that Serah, Hope, and Leon can be seen in the stands on either side, along with Strike sitting
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Leon, meanwhile, sits in silence for a bit, taking in her words. She's speaking to a man, who was once a boy--a boy who wanted to grow up to be a knight. Where he comes from, disrespecting a woman...really isn't done, if you like not being frowned at by every old woman on every street corner the next day. Men respect women, women respect men--they're equal, simple as that, although perhaps it doesn't always translate in practice. ]
I have a hard time imagining you letting anyone get...fresh. [ In fact, all he can imagine? Is someone getting their nose broken. ]
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I didn't. I left a few of them in the clinic with broken noses or bruised ribs, but they kept trying. Men outnumbered women in active duty by nearly fifty to one, so we either got used to fighting them off or got out. [Or went to the superior officer and hope they were willing to help.]
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...Strike's logic is great. ]
What got you to join the army in the first place?
[ He knows her parents died when she was a teenager, and that she took it to support her sister, but...wouldn't the government have taken them in? Foster care? Weren't there other jobs? ]
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Lightning is quiet for a moment, eyes distant as she remembers.]
Desperation, mostly. There were no other places hiring when our parents died, and if I didn't get work Serah and I would have ended up in different places. I'd promised her that wouldn't happen.
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You know, I was expecting you and Serah to be more alike.
[ Strike, meanwhile, is just rolling her eyes at Sen, before clambering up into Boss' lap. ]
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Surprised you, didn't she? Serah's always been the innocent one on the family, and that's not going to change anytime soon.
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[ Glad that the mood is better now, he relaxes a bit against the back of the couch. ]
I was expecting her to have your-- [ He doesn't really have the words to express it, so it just comes out as ] --attitude.
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She was never in the military, or any combat situation. Serah focused on her studies and didn't need to have my attitude.
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So you're saying you weren't a tomboy, as a child?
[ Because he has a hard time imagining any incarnation of Lightning, even a five-year-old one, doing anything but kicking ass and taking names. ]
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I was. Serah once called me her knight in a skirt.
[Kicking ass on the playground if anyone hurt her baby sister, that is.]
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'Knight in a skirt', huh? That's a good way to put it.
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I'm not the type to wear armor anyway. Can't move well with it on.
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[ Besides that pauldron she occasionally slips on, he's never spotted her in anything beyond tough leather and canvas. ]
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You don't seem the type either. Too heavy for you to move the way you do. [The leather is probably his normal wear, as well. It's just the way he moves that tells her that. He still has the range of motion that armor takes away.]
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The leather I wear protects me enough, and against the heartless, magical protection serves me better than armor. [ Like the belts he told her about: spells and charms to ward off the annoying Blue Rhapsodies and Yellow Operas that got in the way of taking down the heavyweights like Large Bodies. ]
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