it's only his usual honesty, but it catches strangely in her throat, and she feels it going all the way down when she swallows. that same prickling heat, the way she's hyperaware of her pulse beneath her skin, and how there's gooseflesh on her arms now despite the warmer summer temperatures and the facility kept comfortable with air conditioning.
she knows what this is, raw nerves and fear, because before appointments became routine, she was no stranger to both.
so the fact that she's reacting in such a way to sephiroth, and finding she doesn't really mind it is, in essence, really weird. ]
Well, I've been missing you every single day.
And now you're so close, and I still can't see you. I hate it.
[ and then, because maybe it did bother her more than she'd let on - ]
[It’s as though the conversation has inverted itself, and suddenly Sephiroth doesn’t care that this exchange might be logged on an infantryman’s PHS, or eventually bounced around Shinra’s servers to be scrutinized a hundred times over. That, at least, would certainly be nothing new.]
I should have checked in with you more.
[Instead of being swept away, time lost to the company’s demands for his readiness in the war-to-come. He can always carve out space in the hours to attend her if he truly tries; at times, even Shinra and its grand, carefully-laid plans bow a bit beneath Sephiroth’s will. (His stubbornness.)]
I’ll make it up to you when I see you next. You can choose what we do together.
[ except... maybe the readiness with which that text comes offsets how quickly aerith had gone from hey-i-might-have-committed-theft to sorry-for-bumming-you-out.
but honestly, that's a lot of leeway to give her. ]
[ because, back then, she really had a lot of fun, frolicking in the flowers with him.
but... there's a reason why she was so boring as to suggest racing sephiroth across the facility and those random sectors halfway through that sim run. ]
[That admission comes with a slight delay, as though a knife slicing through the airiness of the conversation's prior tone.]
Scheduling fluctuates depending on war. And war is never as controlled as Shinra would like for it to be.
[Though perhaps with Sephiroth flung on the front lines, like a weapon of mass destruction, he might be the force to transform it into something deeply in their favor. That seems to be the hope, a buzzing promise that he seems to embody to all those who look upon him.]
When it's over, I'll have more time to use as I please.
it's ok, if we're both dead, then maybe they cancel each other out so we're alive, like in a remake
no subject
it's only his usual honesty, but it catches strangely in her throat, and she feels it going all the way down when she swallows. that same prickling heat, the way she's hyperaware of her pulse beneath her skin, and how there's gooseflesh on her arms now despite the warmer summer temperatures and the facility kept comfortable with air conditioning.
she knows what this is, raw nerves and fear, because before appointments became routine, she was no stranger to both.
so the fact that she's reacting in such a way to sephiroth, and finding she doesn't really mind it is, in essence, really weird. ]
Well, I've been missing you every single day.
And now you're so close, and I still can't see you. I hate it.
[ and then, because maybe it did bother her more than she'd let on - ]
It is childish.
I'm sorry.
no subject
[It’s as though the conversation has inverted itself, and suddenly Sephiroth doesn’t care that this exchange might be logged on an infantryman’s PHS, or eventually bounced around Shinra’s servers to be scrutinized a hundred times over. That, at least, would certainly be nothing new.]
I should have checked in with you more.
[Instead of being swept away, time lost to the company’s demands for his readiness in the war-to-come. He can always carve out space in the hours to attend her if he truly tries; at times, even Shinra and its grand, carefully-laid plans bow a bit beneath Sephiroth’s will. (His stubbornness.)]
I’ll make it up to you when I see you next. You can choose what we do together.
no subject
[ except... maybe the readiness with which that text comes offsets how quickly aerith had gone from hey-i-might-have-committed-theft to sorry-for-bumming-you-out.
but honestly, that's a lot of leeway to give her. ]
When do I get to see you?
no subject
[He won’t break his word to her. Not about this, something he would want just as much if pressed to truly admit it.]
Two weeks’ time. Can you be that patient?
tags from beyond the grave
[ but!! because she's getting tired of giving up - ]
What if I sneak out now?
Do I at least get to see your face? For two minutes tops!
same tbh <3
I wouldn’t tell if you did.
stick a fork in me i'm done
[ because, back then, she really had a lot of fun, frolicking in the flowers with him.
but... there's a reason why she was so boring as to suggest racing sephiroth across the facility and those random sectors halfway through that sim run. ]
How long do I have until you have to move again?
maybe I'M the done one
[That admission comes with a slight delay, as though a knife slicing through the airiness of the conversation's prior tone.]
Scheduling fluctuates depending on war. And war is never as controlled as Shinra would like for it to be.
[Though perhaps with Sephiroth flung on the front lines, like a weapon of mass destruction, he might be the force to transform it into something deeply in their favor. That seems to be the hope, a buzzing promise that he seems to embody to all those who look upon him.]
When it's over, I'll have more time to use as I please.
it's ok, if we're both dead, then maybe they cancel each other out so we're alive, like in a remake
😩❤️
why always that emote
But you'd allow for it? :)
does it not encapsulate the prevailing mood
I have no purview over you, but if I did, then yes. I would.
4 months later, and it's still definitely 😩
I think the trail of your outfit might be long enough.
[ which begs two very important questions:
1. how does she know what he's wearing? and,
2. long enough for what? ]
This is, in fact, the eternal mood
[Indeed.]
at what point does 😩 become 😫
You're going to be a magician's assistant today. Lucky you.