rattlingthestars | IC Inbox

[ When Zell misses, Jim decides to just poke the side of his nose instead. That's affectionate, right? Right.

Instead of answering the question, Jim's paying attention to the map, trying to form the loops on his back into a coherent picture in his head. Later, he'll try to draw the place out into his sketchbook; it sounds huge, a lot different from Jim's school, though at least Jim recognizes all the words for the individual parts.

The poking of one of his ticklish spots makes Jim squirm and quietly object. ] Zell

Your school had a ba- [ No! Not the question he wants to ask, though seriously, what the hell? ] - How's a Garden Master different from a Head Master?

[ He'll take it as affection. Laughing at the poke as he starts tracing down Jim's back again. Going to the middle of the circle he drew to rub the center. ]

Jim. [ Kissing his ear. ] Garden Master is- was the proprietor of Balamb Garden. Cid didn't have the money to start up Garden, so he partnered up with this greedy Shumi named Norg. Man, he looked pretty weird. More frog than Shumi. He had this big throat pouch that went almost down to his frickin' knees! [ Exaggerating, but maaaan it came really close. ] He was a greedy bastard.

Pretty ugly guy, huh? [ Jim wants to know more, but he also doesn't want to give out any embarrassing secrets just yet. Zell has plenty of time ot figure out what a dork he is without Jim going and volunteering the information.

Not being a dork is kinda ruined by the way Jim uses his hand to make a little throat sack on Zell's neck and expand it with a little 'ribbit.' sound. ] Your turn.

[ He laughs at Jim's imitation. ] That's pretty close. He's very ugly. Man, I can still hear his voice yelling about colors. [ He'll get the embarrassing secrets some day. For now, he thinks about it carefully. Where were they?

Oh. Oh yeah. ] What happened next in your story?

[ It's BENeficial for Zell to know. He's hooked. ] You met Ben and then what happened?

Edited 2016-09-02 07:39 (UTC)

Colors...? [ Jim shakes his head and mentally adds that to the list as he clears his throat. ]

Then he took us back to his place. It was crazy looking - everything on the planet was. Weird shape and writing all over that Doppler thought an ancient species wrote. You would've figured it out. [ There was a lot of history there. Or, at least, a lot of stuff older than anything Jim could imagine. ] But it's all gone now, the whole planet is.

Anyway. [ Jim looks up to study the stars projected on the top of the tent. ] - After that, the pirates show up. Set up camp and start trying to shoot at us, until Silver wants to negotiate with me 'cause he thought we still had the map. Didn't know we'd accidentally left it up on the ship.

[ But that's enough for Zell for now. ] What did Frog Guy get out of founding the school?

[ He would have given him a freebie then he's thrust back into Jim's story again. Zell listens as he continues tracing shapes and designs against his boyfriend's back. Brightly smiling at the mention that he thinks he would've figured them out.

While he looks up, Zell's attention moves down Jim's neck.

So, they didn't have the map. Did it fall during their escape? It sounded like Jim was sure they had it. Mulling over these thoughts as the frog guy came back. Zell ducks down to press a kiss against Jim's pulse point in his neck. ]

All missions went through him and he kept a large part of the prophet. He was pretty angry when Cid took on some missions behind his back.

[ Kissing his chin. ] How did negotiations go? [ It comes out before he can really think it over. ]

Shouldn't you get most of the profits? They're not the ones out there risking their skins.

[ The thought of it's clearly annoying Jim, judging by the way his eyebrows scrunch. As far as he's concerned, Zell - and his friends - should get all of it.

He winces and buries his face in Zell's shoulder again at the question. It's comfortable there, he likes it. His answer is a little muffled: ]

Negotiations, uh. Negotiations went badly.

[ And he's tempted to leave it like that. Technically he answered the question, right? But it's not really fair to Zell, who wants to know all of this stuff. ]

That was when I realized how full of it he was, when he tried to convince me to join him again. Told him I was going to stick to it, just like he taught me, and walked away.

We still get paid pretty well.

[ Well, he does considering his rank. Jim has been angry for him, argued against Beckett for him, and is now annoyed for him. He shouldn't be as happy as he is, but he's really happy. ]

More money should have gone to the school instead of his frickin' grubby hands. [ They could have been closer to Galbadia for resources then. Even if he didn't really care about the place.

The motion of his hands went from deliberate designs to rubbing in a reassuring way as Jim buries his face against him. It's nice feeling him so close. He's still staying on him and he's glad Jim is still sharing.

And sharing when he became disillusioned by Silver. Zell could almost picture Jim telling the anomaly version of Silver to basically blow it out of his rear. It was likely a shitty moment for his boyfriend, but he still feels pride welling up inside of him. That Jim stood up to someone who tore away his trust and betrayed him. ] Good job, Stars. [ There is a clear note of pride as he adjusts his arms to hug his boyfriend tightly. ]

What happened after that? [ Cause Jim did ask a question. ]

[ Technically, Zell. He technically asked a question. His grip eases a little, and he's willing to come out of the safety of Zell's shoulder for this part. It's one of the better parts of the whole sorry mess, anyway, though that's relative. ] Thanks. [ He shouldn't be surprised by the 'good job,' but he is, and it makes him feel warm where before he was cold. It'd been the right decision to share all this with Zell. ]

- I went back up to BEN's place, Silver went back to camp. BEN ended up showing me a way out the back and we used it to sneak back on board the legacy, looking for the map. Would've worked, but Scroop was up there and he caught me.

[ Jim eases his grip, enough to climb out of Zell's lap and offer his arms instead. ] Lay down with me? And that's not the question.

[ He's going to take it. It's only fair, right? He's happy that Jim is coming out of hiding. Giving a quick cheek smooch at the thanks. No thanks is needed for telling the truth.

And Scroop again. He opens his mouth to ask if this is when he tried to kill Jim, but soon closes his mouth. Already missing the warmth of Jim being on him as he takes his arms. Instead of answering, he's going to pull Jim down as he lays back. ]

Better? [ Grinning as he waits for his boyfriend to get settled. ] That's not a question either. [ Snickering as he says that. ] Your turn.

Why was Cid taking missions behind Ribbit's back?

[ Jim asks as he settles in beside Zell, comfortable on his back where he can look up at the fake stars. ]

[ Shifting to lay on his side to face his boyfriend. Propping his head up on his elbow as he places his other hand on Jim's stomach. ]

Sometimes he took on missions for free because it's the right thing to do. [ Which means Ribbit doesn't get paid. ] My first job as a Seed was to help liberate a town for free. [ Drawing out the shapes of a train across Jim. ]

The other one was in collaboration with another Garden for an assassination mission.

Assassination mission?

[ Yep, Jim will totally spill an embarassing secret if Zell wants to hold that ~~or anything else~~ against him later. He twists and sits up a little so that he can get a good look at Zell. For all he knows that Zell's powerful and capable, it's still strange to think of him taking a life outside the heat of battle. His hand finds Zell's and strokes over his knuckles. ]

Edea?

[ As long as Jim is cute or doesn't remind him that he owes him, then he might get away with the extra questions. He nods his head as he looks down Jim's shirt to watch his own hand for a moment. ]

Yeah, that mission. There are a couple of things I skipped when I shared that with you. [ Feeling along Jim's ribs. Before, Jim was blind and alone in a freaky ass hospital. Now they are both safe inside a tent. ]

Edea is also my Matron and she's Cid's wife. Garden was actually her idea in the first place.

[ Jim has not yet learned that he has that kind of power over Zell, which is a good thing for all parties concerned. ]

You... had to assassinate Cid's wife? Or tried to? She was one of the witches?

[ This is already giving him a bit of a headache. Good luck, Jim. ]

[ Some day he might learn and then Zell will be doomed. Dragging his hand down Jim's back while giving a nod. ]

Yeah. She was one of the ones taken over by the one in the future, Ultimecia.

[ Is still another one? Who even knows. ]

Seifer was her knight.

Is that why he was such a jerk?

[ Jim kind of hopes he has a decent reason for bullying Zell, but honestly? He probably doesn't. Jim'll get fierce about that again if he has to. ]

He was actually easier to ignore as an enemy. You know, besides fighting against him. He wasn't really himself. Even his best friends didn't recognize him.

[ Yeah, a guy like that had best friends. ]

He ordered an attack on Garden and even tortured Squall. [ Much complicate. So weird. Whoa. Zell is frowning as he shares. It was a pretty crappy time. ]

[ Jim sees that frown. As important as the info Zell's sharing is, the frown's more important. For once they're comfortable and warm and togethere.

Rather than ask anothe question, Jim reaches to smooth out Zell's eyebrows and, after a moment's thought, poke gently at the corner of his lips. He knows he's being completely stupid, but he just wants to make Zell smile. ]

Probably helped that you got to punch him in the face.

[ He finds himself smiling at the poke. Trying to capture that hand with his own. If he's successful, he's bringing it up to press a kiss against the poking finger. ]

Yeah, I did. We eventually got him back after it was over with. Last I heard, he was out in Balamb. [ So even the asshole was saved. ]

What happened next in your story? Scroop caught you and then what? [ Back to you, boyfriend. ]

[ Oh. Right. That. Jim lets Zell take his hand and looks up at the tent. ]

Then I killed him. Kind of.

[ That requires a little more elaboration: ]

The gravity on the ship got turned off and he chased me up the mainmast. I was barely hanging onto the flag and he starts trying to cut it free, so I pulled hard enough to get some momentum and kicked him loose. He floated off into the Etherium.

[ Which is breathable - so he likely starved to death, or froze. ]

[ He's keeping this hand forever now. Opening up the hand to press light kisses along the lines of his palm. Going down to his wrist to kiss his pulse point.

There is only one thing that really sticks out in that whole thing as odd- ] Etherium? What's that?

[ Please elaborate. ]

It's -

[ Jim had this conversation with Tifa, and it was pretty confusing, so at least he's ready to have it again. Even if Zell is being distracting. ]

Back... where I'm from, my universe. There's a layer of space that you can breathe in and sail on. It's what we move through on our ships, there are animals living in it. Kind of like an ocean, but... everywhere.

[ Whoa! That sounds... pretty awesome actually. It doesn't make sense, but every world seems to be different. ]

Really? That's frickin' cool. [ Can they go back to Jim's world to check it out? ] We don't have that in my world. You have to wear a suit out there.

[ He remembers hearing from Rinoa how that little venture went. ]

Thanks for surviving that. [ Fighting against and ending murderous assholes was easy for Zell. He's not really sure if that was easy for Jim. He remembers it was hard for Rinoa. How she really wanted all the fighting to stop. ] Were- are you okay?

I hope you get to see it some day. There's nothing like it.

[ Jim still thinks it's a little strange that no other world he's heard about has an Etherium, but he can't wait to show Zell something new. ]

I was fine. Got the map, went back down to the planet surface. [ Jim's quiet for a moment. ] You ever - when you're on those assassination missions and stuff, you ever do something and think maybe you should feel bad about it, but you don't?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

he can make other things warm ;D

short sorry

it's okay <3

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

sorry this tag sucks

you're fine

<3

Re: <3

Wow Zell is dating a murderer what is he going to do : D

have a moral panic i assume

no subject

no subject