fairly | [Voice / Action]

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[Voice / Action]

[Filtered to Brave Vesperia]

Hey, Brave Vesperia members- Zack here. I know that Estelle talked about disbanding the guild, but I think there's still a need for what we were here to do for the village. Karol left us all betters, and I got the feeling that disbanding isn't what he would've wanted. Maybe I'm wrong, but... it just doesn't feel like it.

Either way, I want to keep the group running, and I know I'm not the only one, either.

If you disagree and wanna bow out, that's fine- no hard feelings or anything. Just let me know which of you are going to stick around, so we can update the roster.

For everybody staying in the guild, we've got a commission job from the SOS Brigade! So keep your eyes peeled for the details, and I'll try to get them ASAP.

[Filtered to Lightning]

Light! Wanna meet in the Battle Dome this afternoon? Got a little surprise for you.

[Today (aside from, hopefully, a bit of afternoon fun with a certain lovely lady) Zack will be hanging out around Good Spirits, mostly, either working at the bar as usual or chilling outside, trying to teach the most wretched looking dog ever to live (AKA "Just Dog") how to fetch. And probably failing miserably. Why won't his dogs ever fetch 8| This is obviously Daisy's fault.]

[[ooc: AND AND AND guys you don't have to do a thread with Zack if you don't want to or would rather leave it assumed, but either way PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE everyone comment OVER HERE to say who is staying in BV. I'll have an ongoing roster for a while and announce it a few times, too. I don't want anyone to get accidentally kicked. Thank you!]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ At first Lightning traces out her usual shrugging gesture at that - she's hardly a reader herself unless it's necessary for some thing or another - but then, she actually STOPS WALKING for a second when he mentions there WASN'T A SCHOOL.

... WHA. ]

Seriously?

[ She draws even again, but is visibly quite boggled still from that, even after all the stuff he's talked about before. The torture upon childrens by schooling is just such a universal thing, though-- or so she thought... ]

Seriously! It was way too small, so most kids were home-schooled. Most of the families have businesses to take care of, and that's what the next gen is there for.

[Well, the ones that don't run off to cross a continent and become a SOLDIER, anyway.]

In Cocoon, the government wouldn't even consider letting you avoid schooling until you're sixteen or older. [ A huge source of annoyance for her, when she'd been fifteen and desperately needing more time to secure a source of income and for getting integrated with the Guardian Corps. ] I can't... imagine having to do what my parents did.

[ Not that kids following in the footsteps of their family members was unheard of, but... for the most part, Cocoon's youth were very much encouraged to follow whatever path they could manage to stay on. Her own choices had been restrained by necessity and stubbornness in refusing outside help, but in theory nothing was off-limits....

At least that sorts out something that had been bothering her, though, over Zack's apparent decision to run away from home. Pretty eye-opening. Her expression's kind of odd and thoughtful as she stares over at him. ]

I guess things work a little differently in rural towns. We didn't really even have a government where I lived- Gongaga wasn't even big enough to have a mayor. Everyone just sort of helped each other out and chipped in to look after the village. The only outside involvement we had was Shinra, since they owned the reactor that gave us electricity.

[In a way it's more and less restrictive. He'll have to ask her more about Cocoon, though, now that she's mentioned it.]

[ Lightning has to force her mind around that, but at least with everything crazy that's happened to her so far... it's starting to get easier to do so. People fending for themselves... it's a novel concept for a resident and soldier of a land as micro-managed as Cocoon is-- or would be, if not for... ]

Kind of like Luceti? [ She offers a slight smile with that- not entirely the same, obviously, but the superficial resemblance seems to definitely be there, right? ] Does pretty much everything run down to Shinra in the end?

Edited 2011-10-27 02:24 (UTC)

Yeah, basically. To both, actually- Shinra's in charge of Midgar, which is kind of in charge of the entire world. And the parts they don't run, they can easily just charge in with guns blazing and take over.

[This isn't usually considered to be great date conversation, but since it's them, this is probably just standard...]

[ Lightning's arms halfway cross as she continues to think, eyes unfocused on the theater surroundings. All of that has and continues to sound completely insane to her; it's hard to understand why they don't just seem to consider Shinra the government then, considering the power they hold, the squads of soldiers both lower- and upper-cased...

... The fact that it was fine in their eyes to imprison and experiment on people for years-- it's like something out of a weird science-fiction story, save that somehow it's apparently true here.

She lets out a sharp breath, then reaches out suddenly to grab Zack's arm, around the wrist. ]

That isn't okay.

[ See? Eventual physical contact. That means it's totally a legit date conversation topic. Just. Never mind the deadly intensity. ]

[Wow, okay. Maybe he should've kept that part to himself. Though on the flipside, she touched him. CHINSTROKE...]

Didn't say it was. But Shinra's been corrupt for a long time. Even before I joined - not that I knew back then - and from what I hear, long after we got out of Nibelheim. It's a part of my world.

[ Can't really say she doesn't really know what she's doing, though; her hand shifts down further to grab his, even though her face and tone... remain all srs the whole time. She shakes her head- she wasn't really saying he was saying it was okay, but-- ]

Something like that... it deserves to fall.

[ Yep, this is the girl who went and decided to destroy Eden, the nexus of the fal'Cie who control her world, because of what they did to her, her sister, and her home town.

... Although mostly to her sister. Sanity is kinda overrated. ]

[He's probably going to end up regretting this whole topic - it's not exactly happy peaceful date conversation - but he can't just nod and shrug it off. They're from very different worlds, after all.]

I'd rather see it go under new management, to be honest. A lot of people depend on Shinra, either to live, or to keep their houses and businesses running. If Shinra was shut down or destroyed just like that, it'd screw over the entire world. They're not monsters, Light- they're just people. Hell, most of them aren't even evil.

[ That's... actually not a problem Lightning is unfamiliar with. Taking out the fal'Cie could-- most likely would spell disaster for Cocoon. How are you supposed to get tens of millions of people to believe that the ones responsible for nearly every factor of their world's well-being are also the ones with no qualms towards sending all of them falling to a sacrificial death? What options are there when you're trying to get the sheep to escape from the shepherd who intends to slaughter them?

Unhappy, she ducks her head, though she still doesn't let go; the stubbornness in her voice remains. ]

But something has to be done.

[ For both his world and hers. What that's supposed to be, she's not sure of, but it's not something she can just nod and shrug off, either. ]

...Actually, I think something will be done, in the future. Cloud said that Shinra was dealt with in his time, and he wasn't from that far ahead of me, so I'm sure everything'll turn out okay.

[He's putting a lot of faith in Cloud, sure, but really? There's nobody that he'd trust this with more than his best friend. The world's in good hands, even if he himself is nowhere to be found.]

Anyway, don't worry about it. We're supposed to be having a good time!

[ Lightning's impression of Cloud is that he's kind of derpy, but whatever. She never really got to know him or Tifa very well when they were around, so her friends' trust in him is something she's just... gonna have to take their word on.

She sighs twice- once at that, still a little bothered though for a reason she can't even put a finger on, and again in sort of resignation to the fact that yes, this is supposed to be an enjoyable thing, not a time for getting all weird over how to solve world problems. She looks down.

... And down... and, uh. Are you going to let her let go, Zack? ]

[Damn, he was kind of hoping she wouldn't notice. But since it's her holding him, he gives it a moment's thought, then slides his hand down just enough to wind his fingers around hers, starting to tug her forward for the main theater so they can find their seats. It's nothing to fuss about if he's keeping up the contact, right?

Or maybe it is. But he figures it's worth the risk.]

[ Whoa there. Since when has she ever allowed him to get away with something like that? It's not like--

Oh wait, she's totally held hands with him before. Right before fumbling her way through making clear this sort of thing was okay with her at all. That was different, though. This time it's less aimed towards comforting and more--

Okay no, fffuck it. She's not objecting. And... like everything else she does, the fact that she's staring at him as he half pulls her along is nowhere near subtle. The new clothes are nice, yeah, but frankly... as much as she appreciates the virtues of cleaning up, she also deeeefinitely doesn't have a problem appreciating a guy who's not afraid to get his hands dirty... or program this entire freaking thing to drag her along to. Or you know, his appearance in general.

... She is appreciative over here, regardless of her kind of stunted ability to show it. ]

[Yay. Yaaaaaaay he's allowed to hold her hand! Words cannot describe his glee. So far, this has been an excellent day. He's got a date, he gets to hold hands, they're going to see Loveless- what could be bad about this?

And speaking of which, there's a dozen roses sitting on one seat in the center of the audience area, pink in colour. Gee, wonder who they could be for?]

[ ....

Are those rosehfdsgua--

Lightning is such a girl. And someone here has definitely gone and been caught by Aerith's tendency to share what she might like. But. ROSES.

Keep it cool, Lightning. Except wow this whole thing, and the clothes, and roses, and... it's not even a... ]

I'm not-- forgetting about some special occasion, am I?

[ Brief flash of a sort of nervous smile goes here. Good work Fair, you've finally managed to fluster her a little. ]

What, our first real date isn't special enough? [Because he thinks it is. He's holding her hand! He's allowed! And she looks really kind of very cute like that. Yes.

Roses. He'll have to thank Aerith later. With cake or something.]

[ Oh. Well. Uh. ]

You think that this is our 'first real date?'

[ ... Psh, like her confidence would ever take a hit like that without rolling right back up again. The way she lowers her chin and narrows her eyes isn't hardcore as it could be, though, and she's not entirely successful at holding in check the signs of a slight smile. ]

Don't you think so too? All we've ever done before now is spar. Aerith says that's not real-date material.

[Maybe someday he'll even graduate to getting her into a pretty dress!! ...Coercion and more roses may be required, though. We'll see.]

[ What's wrong with-- oh right, usually it's a bad thing for the members of a couple to attempt beating the hell out of each other. ]

Maybe... we should dress up nicer before going out to practice, then.

[ Because clearly, trolling Aerith is a priority. Especially if she's handing advice to her ex-boyfriend about dating her current best friend... ]

[ A moment later though, she huffs out a breath, her gaze dropping to slide from one side to the other. Finally, she gives in to the compulsion to force herself into admitting: ]

This is nice.

[ Almost overwhelming, actually, but as long as he doesn't pile on anything else, she... hopefully she'll be okay? ]

[Heeee. Hearing that makes it all worthwhile, hell yeah. With a cheeky grin Zack sits down, pulling aside the roses to indicate that she should sit as well.]

The show's about to start! Are you ready? Wouldn't want you to miss the opening number.

[ Don't touch those flowers, man! Those are her flowers now. >:T

She just... sort of shuts her mouth and bends to sit too though, eyes narrowing slightly in mild warning at said cheekiness, and yet hand settling to lay atop the roses because... yes.

What is knowing how to react? Because she's pretty stumped.

With luck she doesn't turn out to hate this play! Although... actually, that's probably irrelevant, as long as it's not outrageously offensive or nine hours long or something. That'd be a problem, regardless of her pretty commendable patience stores right now. ]

[He passes the flowers back over to her before the show starts, settling back to watch, though he's paying attention to her as well as the play itself. It's been what, five years since he saw it last? More than that? And it's easy to tell that he likes it.

Speaking of the play, it's a lovely musical set telling the story of a pair of lovers and a great hero, pushed together and then separated by circumstance, an emotional, character-driven drama. It's a little melodramatic and flashy, but that's probably why Zack likes it so much. And how can one forget the final scene of the play, an exchange between the two lovers-

"Do you really have to leave?"
"I promised. The people I love are waiting."
"...I don't understand. Not at all. But... please take care of yourself."
"Of course... I'll come back to you. Even if you don't promise to wait. I'll return knowing you'll be here."

....

Huh. Kind of ironic now, that he likes it so much.

I WILL NOT CRY I WILL NOT CRY I WILL NOT CRY...]

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