IC Inbox

[rattlingthestars]

Leave a message.

Comments

[swatsflies]

We wound up crashing in the same place as Angel, Rhys, and Stephanie last night.

[And he might have upset Stephanie again. Whoops. Not sharing that. Jim was snickering, and he doesn't want to kill the mood.]
She found these sparkly tablet stickers. The next thing I know, I see Angel and Zack sneaking stickers on him.

[rattlingthestars]

Sounds like a party.

[ One Jim desperately wishes he could've been at, but he doesn't want to kill the mood either. ]

Can't believe I missed that. Tell me somebody got his helmet?

[swatsflies]

I guess it was. It was missing something important, though.

[Thinking about it.]

Yeah, I think Zack did? I have a couple stickers on my tablet if you want to help out later.

[rattlingthestars]

[ As much as he hates the separation, it feels good to know he was missed. That Zell missed him. ]

You know, a little while before we met you, me n' Hiro -

[ He stumbles a little over the name, but presses on instead of leaving it hanging. It was a funny story, or parts of it were. ]

-me and Hiro managed to paint a face on there. Made us scrub the whole thing down in the middle of the night, but it was worth it.

[swatsflies]

[It sounds a little familiar. His attention is moving to look at Zack’s backside a moment. He remembers the pranking video that ended badly for Hiro. He also recalls a familiar glow that he now knows as Zack’s and some times Kunsel’s eyes.

Did it show the helmet? It must have if he remembers their eyes, but at the time he was too caught up with the newness.

It takes a moment before he remembers the black face drawn on the helmet. It’s pretty funny now looking back at it and knowing them. Giving a chuckle as looks back at Jim’s name on his tablet screen.]

I remember. Pretty incredible considering who you guys were sneaking up on. [His tone of voice sounds a mix of awe and fondness for his friend.]

Man, I wish I knew you guys then. I got here the day after that.

[rattlingthestars]

[ Admiring Zack's nice pair of legs there, Zell?

Jim likes the sound of Zell's laugh. It's comforting to hear something happy in the dark, and he ... well, he'd like to make Zell laugh again.

Except then he's saying he actually did see that, and Jim's a little embarrassed. That was not their finest hour. ]

We, uh, didn't think it all the way through.

[ Jim shrugs, one shouldered. Zell should be familiar with Jim's planning abilities by now. ]

I wish you had, too, though. [ Was it messed up to be glad someone was here? Jim thinks it probably is, but he can't really help it. ]

[swatsflies]

[The view is blocked by dumb SOLDIER pants. Rude.

He understands not thinking things all the way through.]

Still amazing you were able to get one of them before waking them up.

[Stop being so great, Jim.]

We're together and know each other now. [That's all that matters, right?] Well, not together now, but that will change as soon as we get there.

[rattlingthestars]

[ SOLDIER pants are a menace ]

Felt pretty bad, freaking them out like that when we were just having fun. Zack almost -

[ Talking about Zack breaking Hiro's nose probably is a little too soon, especially with teh way thins were in the group. Instead of finishing the thought, he clears his throat and focuses on how glad he'll be to have Zell by his side again. ]

Right. You said soon. Tonight.

[ He looks like he wants to ask something, but then shakes his head and lets it go. ]

[swatsflies]

[DOWN WITH SOLDIER PANTS

He did see what that led to. Talking happier times isn't bad, but he could see why Jim might not be keen on it. Especially if what he feels is similar or the same as what they felt before Jim came back.]

Yup! Just a few hours more. [He really wants to just book it or use his metal to board there. But he knows that's out of the question Because the others suck due to safety concerns.

Placing the tablet between his shoulder and ear as he shifts around to get to to his bag.]

We ran into that Nathan guy.


[In case he needs noise ]

[rattlingthestars]

The - [ - Zell might not be able to see it, but Jim's making a jerking gesture with his fingers curled loosely. It's probably universal - ] guy?

[ Talk about terrible luck. But hey, imagining how that encounter went is at least pretty funny. ]

[swatsflies]

[It's probably a good thing he doesn't see it.]

Yeah, that guy. He's pretty much the same in person. I gave him something to use for his issue though.

[Only sharing as much because he's distracted with riffling through his stuff. Jim can probably hear it.]

[rattlingthestars]

Don't encourage him!

[ Zell missed that whiny voice right? It's charming. ]

He's gonna freeze it off and then complain to the network about that.

[ Also there's a chance that Jim might be just the tiniest bit distressed that Zell is helping someone else out with their issues.

The tiniest of bits. ]

[swatsflies]

Hey, if he's busy with that, then maybe he'll be on the network less. You know?

[Right? And yeah...he did miss that tone of voice. It's cute. He's smiling still even with the other not sounding happy.]

If he freezes it off then that's on him. Hopefully he keeps that message to the doctors here. Could you imagine him calling Epps or Hotstud up with that issue?

[Both terrible and kind of funny when you think about it.] Told him not to mention it ever.

[Not a big deal, right?]

[rattlingthestars]

Even-odds Hotstud would post it on the network for everyone to make fun of, and then we'd be right back where we started.

[ Clayton'd probably help him, from what Jim knows of the guy, but it's still pretty funny to imagine anyone having to deal with that. It gets an amused snort out of Jim, anyway. ]

I guess we should stop mentioning it, too, then. Less we talk about it the less we have to think about his ... business.

[ NOT THAT JIM HAS EVER THOUGHT ABOUT ANYONE'S BUSINESS. Certainly not at, ahem, length. ]

[swatsflies]

Then he'll some how turn it into taking shots at those who haven't been interested in that.

[Jerks who are interested in people's sex drive, man. Zell isn't upset, though. He still sounds like he finds this whole thing funny.]

You know, I like it when you sound like this. [The snort and the amusement in his tone is what he means. Jim sounding happy is nice.]

It's nice. [And for a change of topic, that will hopefully keep Jim happy. He's looking at the others for a moment to make sure they aren't listening.] Hey Jim? I'm going to share something and you can't repeat it, okay?

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim's a little startled by that pronouncement. He still feels hollowed out and restless waiting for the others, hungry, cold, but - yeah. Talking with Zell, he's happy, too.

He leans into the tablet a little, as if that might help him see whatever Zell is up to now. ]

-Alright. Lay it on me.

[swatsflies]

[Another look at the others.] So, one day I brought my T-board with me on campus. It's against the rules, but I figured if I was quick enough, no one would catch me. I was riding it down the halls when I had to make a sharp turn to avoid hitting someone.

[There is a bit of a pause here.] I wound up going straight into the women's restroom.

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim's quiet for a long moment and then something that's very much like Jim's usual laughter bubbles up, even if it's ragged. ]

You - was anyone in it?

[swatsflies]

[Making a face as he remembers it pretty clearly.]

Yeah, including one of my instructors at the time. [And Quistis would have to share the story again any time she was reminded of it.]

Normally she's my favorite instructor and she did give me back my T-board later, but man I thought I was I was going to die of embarrassment. I'm pretty sure she shared the story with several people.

[He's still amazed it didn't reach Balamb.] Well, she used to be an instructor. She's part of the group.

[rattlingthestars]

[ Yeah, sorry, Jim's still snickering a little. He never managed to get into any funny trouble on his surfer; the novelty's nice. ]

So after she stops laughing at you, how busted were you? Can't have been too bad if she's part of your ... group.

[ There's a question there, too; what kind of group is Zell talking about, exactly? ]

[swatsflies]

[Well, mission accomplished. Not sure how much it'll last with where their conversation is heading.]

She let me off easy, but probably because she thought taking my board and the embarrassment was enough.

[He pauses in answering the next part. He brought it up once before with Jim and things went a little...awkward for a second. It's the same thing with Cissnei. Sure, he was a little taken aback by the news when it finally sunk in, but he had bigger things to worry about and it became normal pretty quick like everything else.]

She's part of the kicked sorceress' butt to save the world group. She also went to the same orphanage. So, we didn't really remember each other at first.

[rattlingthestars]

Is she the one that did the ... possessing someone's body thing? [ Yep. Still weird to talk about. So's the orphanage thing, the one that sends a little pang through Jim's chest. He doesn't like the idea of Zell in a place like that without anyone caring for him.

Though... didn't Zell mention his mother, too, during that awful walk to the ? Maybe he'd been adopted. Jim hopes that's so, and not the alternative. ]

You were really serious about the saving the world thing?

[swatsflies]

Possessing someone’s body thing? [It takes a second before he remembers.] Oh! No, that’s Ellone. She was like our big sis before she left.

[There’s a lot he should probably explain, and they actually have the time. Jim came back. He smiles at the reminder that he’s waiting for them.]

Yeah, I'm really seriously about saving the world. Did you want to hear about it?

[rattlingthestars]

No, that sounds like a boring story.

[ Jim's voice is perfectly dry before he snorts and shakes his head. ]

Of course I want to hear about it, you saved a planet!

[swatsflies]

[His shoulders do slump a moment, but it's not the first time someone isn't interested in his stories.

The snort and next words from Jim's mouth has Zell perking back up.]

Yeah, I actually did something right. [He didn't mean to say it like that, but he is actually...happy? Pretty proud even if it didn't go down the way he imagined.]

There was a war happening when I was small. I don't remember any of it, in fact I don't remember anything from my childhood. [Which hopefully explains why he's totally okay with orphanage talk.] Most of us came to the orphanage because of it. Our Matron raised us until we were adopted or went on to train to become SeeD.

[This is the weird part. So, he'll pause to let that sink in before continuing.] After the war was over, Matron inherited powers from a dying Sorceress. It's then she knew that some day she'll be a threat to everyone and decided to create Garden to put an end to her and the threat to come.