rattlingthestars | IC Inbox

[ 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?

I want to.

[ Jim needs to show him a whole new world. To infinity and beyond.

The fact he has to actually think about it might be telling in it's own way. Reaching over to run his fingers through his hair. ]

I never gave myself time to think about it. For what it's worth, I think it's okay not to feel bad. [ The lobster dude was trying to kill Jim. Him landing the death he intended for Jim was what he deserved. Playing with the strands of hair as he watches his boyfriend. His boyfriend as of two weeks once tomorrow arrives. It's still new, but it's really nice. He can't really imagine wanting to wake up next to anyone else. ]

Were you scared when he was chasing you?

Terrified.

[ He wants to be a tough guy in front of Zell, but they've shared too much tonight to even try. Besides, Zell's already seen him at his worst more than once. ]

Thought I was going to die up there, and the Captain and Doppler and BEN would be stranded forever. But I wasn't.

[ Jim leans into the hand. Tomorrow may be getting pretty close; they've been talking for a long time. ]

What would you have done?

[ Smiling at the lean as he lowers his hand to cup Jim's cheek. ]

I'm not really sure. [ He's not sure if that's what Jim wants to hear, but it's the truth. He really doesn't know. ] I think you were pretty brave. You survived and did the best you could in the situation. That's really amazing.

[ He feels a surge of warmth as he says the words. He really is proud of his boyfriend. He lives through something he didn't have training for, and still made it out of that in one piece. ]

Still think about it? That time and him?

[ The praise feels unearned, but Jim glows under it anyway. ]

Sometimes.

[ And sometimes it's one of the dreams that Zell's probably familiar with by now, though it's rare enough that Jim welcomes that nightmare as a change from the usual. ]

Hallucinated him here once.

[ That Zell doesn't have an answer for what he would've done and doesn't pretend to is endearing by itself. He gets a kiss for it. ]

Was Squall alright?

[ Not going to touch the hallucinating part. He knows how that goes here.

He needs to praise Jim more often. Chasing the kiss with one of his own as he hums a note of appreciation. He could get used to this. Just laying around and pretending they are the only ones in the world for the night. No monsters outside or anything like that. ]

Squall? [ It takes him a moment to work back to where they were before talk of taking out lobster spiders. ] With the assassination or Seifer?

[ There are a number of other incidences where that question could also apply. ]

The torture.

[ Though yikes, poor Squall. Jim snuggles closer as he waits for an answer, content to get the attention off his own story. ]

Your life is kind of crazy, you know that?

[ Oh. The torture. He remembers seeing Squall there leaning against the thing that held him moments earlier. It was the first time Zell had seen Squall in such a state.

It was hell... ]

He met some friends that helped him out. It wasn't good, but we didn't have a whole lot of time. We had to move.

[ He thinks a moment if his life is crazy. ]

Huh. I guess it is.

You guess? [ Jim's a little disbelieving that Zell might ever think his life is normal. Dangerous and exciting and, if Jim' being honest, really cool, but not remotely normal. ] Sunshine, every time you talk about your job ...

[ 'It scares me' is a little too heavy, so Jim just shakes his head. ] You're really brave.

[ Giving him a quick smooch. ]

I'm just good with these. [ Lifting a hand for a moment. ]

It's all in these fists of mine, baby. [ Closing his hand and brushing along the side of Jim's face with the feather light touch of his knuckles. ]

I hope to show you. Not just my jobs, but everything.

[ There's nothing dangerous. Just ignore the giant t-rexaur and whatever else that roams the lands. ]

What happened next after you got back with the map? [ His turn, right? ]

I want to see it. Everything - your school, your house, the T-board, the beach...

[ Everywhere Zell's been. Everything that made him Zell. Jim kissed Zell's fist, still grinning about the idea of him being good with his hands.

Zell's question brings him back down again. ]

They were waiting for me. Silver, the pirates. Had captured Doppler and the Captain and snatched the map as soon as I got there. They were too stupid to use it, though.

[ Stretching his fingers out after the kiss to poke Jim in the lips lightly. ]

You will. [ He's sure they could find a way to hit up both of their worlds. If they can be brought here, then the reverse has to be true. Visiting back and forth should also work! ]

I'll even let you in my room.

[ He doesn't like people in his room normally, but the idea of having Jim there is special.

Now they were swapping gears again, thanks to him nudging for more story time. ]

You weren't. [ Too stupid to use it. He's seen Jim look over a car magazine they found at the gas station and figure it all out. There is a feeling of pride growing steadily bigger inside of him. It's similar to the pride he has in his fighting capabilities. Pushing himself up for a moment to plant a kiss between Jim's eyebrows. ]

I wasn't. [ Jim's eyebrows smooth out under the kiss as he preens under Zell's pride. He knows Zell knows what he's talking about, has the know-how to judge his abilities and still thinks he's good. ] They held me them gunpoint until I opened it, but... by then I wanted to know what would happen, too. We'd come all that way.

[ The puzzle'd been the important thing, then. ]

When the map opened up, this time it gave us a line of light to follow all the way to the treasure.

[ Jim walks two fingers up Zell's shoulder to demonstrate following the line. ]

Tell me about your house? I want to imagine you in it.

[ That look goes straight to the heart. Giving a kiss against the tip of his nose as he returns to focusing on the story instead of just the cute boy at his side. He does react with an animated expression at the held at gun point, but manages to keep his mouth closed.

He wanted to know what'll happen. That earns a smile. Relaxing as he tries to imagine the line of light to follow. His imagination fell towards something from Esthar with it's blue lights and it's moving platforms. Moving his fingers to meet Jim's walking pair to mess with them a moment. ]

My house? [ Snagging Jim's hand to trace out the street. ] It's down the main road. At the corner where you start heading down to the Hotel and the docks... [ He draws a curve. ]

It's right there. A lot of the stuff has a curve. The doorways, windows, and some of the furniture. [ Drawing the arches now and designs. ]

You walk in and to the left is the kitchen. To the right is a long table where Ma has plants and a large seashell to keep baubles in. Further in on the left are the stairs to the bedrooms. Mine is at the very top of the steps. [ He draws a small spiral for the stairs. ]

I have a smaller punching back and a closet to the left. Then my bed is against the wall. [He draws an "L" shape for the walls. ] Have a built in bookcase there at my bed. [ The he draws the slant for next wall, followed by a straight line for the one after that. ] I have a dresser here. My grandpa's guns, picture and flags are above that.

[ Then drawing his large punching bag followed by his curving desk. ] I have another punching bag then my desk.

[ Jim listens raptly, filling in all the little details with his mind as he imagines Zell running up adn down that street, showing off and getting into trouble. He watches as Zell sketches out the curve of the road and the shape of the buildings, imagines a kitchen not too different from his own.

Something Zell says brings a little grin to Jim's face, but he doesn't interrupt until Zell's totally done. ]

Two punching bags?

[ Yep, that's another question. Nope, Jim doesn't care. ]

Two. [ Drawing a two now as he grins. Time to share some knowledge! ] A smaller one hangs high on the ceiling. It's for speed. The other is a heavy bag. That one is used to help strengthen.

[ Moving to curl Jim's hands closed into a fist. Then he's bringing it to his lips to kiss the knuckles. ]

So, you were led to the treasure. What happens next?

Lots of training before you went to the garden, too, huh? [ Jim lets his knuckles be kissed, beaming, before he moves his hand to squeeze Zell's bicep. It is very impressive, and maybe Zell can pick up on the thought by the way Jim's mouth quirks and his eyebrows raise. ]

After that... it actually lead us right to the middle of a cliff, in the middle of nowhere. They thought I was lying or stupid, but it was just another piece of the puzzle. Lucky I convinced them of that before I got thrown off a cliff.

I had to shove the map into a slot on the cliffside, and it opened this enormous door that would take you anywhere in the galaxy. We had to go through it to get to the center of the planet - that's where all the treasure was hiding.

Yup! Did I tell you I'm famous back home?

[ For all of his training. Flexing under Jim's squeeze to let him really feel it as he beams with pride. He's pretty happy with where he's at physically. ]

Like what you see?

[ What do you mean pick something up? He does figure it's a positive reaction, but hearing it from Jim's mouth would be better.

And he really wishes he could have seen Jim solve it and showing those stupid pirates how great he is.

But he's going to focus on something pretty interesting. ]

Anywhere anywhere? Whoa. That sounds amazing.

Am I going to have to compete with all your fans? [ Jim's not really serious, though the thought that he really doesn't deserve this boy does flash across his mind again. ] Of course I like it. I like you.

[ Maybe that will settle any questions Zell has. ]

And yeah. Anywhere. We saw stuff that was across the entire galaxy - I even got to program it to show Montressor.

[ He thinks about it before shaking his head. ]

Nah. They just know me as a rambunctious rascal. I climbed up on this sign that hangs over town and did one hundred pull-ups on it.

[ Which is pretty impressive given the height. Zell is positively beaming at the liking it and that Zell likes him. ]

I like you, too. [ And he's finding he looks forward to waking up to find Jim there every morning. To be able to just reach out and touch him when he wants to. It's been pretty amazing. ]

Man, that must have been awesome. Being about to just jump any where in the universe. [ And he wonders for a moment if it's possible to jump between universes with it. ]

How did it work? How did you pick where to go?

Heh. Could't picture it.

[ Yep, Jim's teasing again. He can picture it perfectly clearly, the same way he can see Zell joining him in roof-climbing shenanigans. ]

The map was... [ Jim pauses, aware that he hasn't actually seen a hologram since he got here. ] Do you have holograms back home? Little light projections?

Re: <3

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

have a moral panic i assume

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wagging tail emote

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TEAL DEER

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whoops

Re: whoops

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