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.
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. ]
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?
[ 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. ]
[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.
[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.
[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.
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?
[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.
[ Zell's first words hurt. It's an old ache - sympathetic - and Jim remembers what Zell'd said back when he first joined them. For reals? You want me to stay? Like he could believe someone would.
There's no denying the happiness in his voice, though, and Jim offers him a weak little smile that turns back into a thoughtful little frown as he listens. ]
You were adopted, weren't you? You said your mom home schooled you, until you went to...
[ Oh. ] You trained to become a mercenary just to fight that sorceress?
[He's pretty unaware of what Jim is feeling, but he does hear something might be up. He lets it go the moment Jim starts asking.]
That's right. I was adopted by my parents and moved to Balamb. It's a town by the sea famous for it's fish. [There is a pause here.] Eventually it wound up being just Ma and me.
[How many aches can Jim's heart take?
He shakes his head, even if Jim can't see.] They keep that part of Garden a secret. I joined because I want to be like my Grandpa. He was a hero that played a big part in the last war. He wasn't just strong, but he knew how to keep his cool on the battlefield. He lived a life full of battles and died protecting those he cared for. That's what I wanted to do. [And how he imagines his life will end.]
[ -Oh. Jim clutches the tablet a little tighter; he hadn't known. Zell seemed so much more together than he is; maybe he just dealt with it better. He had other problems, apparently. ]
I think -
[ He hesitates, unsure if it'd be welcome, if he's assuming too much, but: ]
-I think he'd be proud of you. Rank-A, saving the world...
[Thump-thump. No one really said that to him. Usually he gets told that his grandpa sounds the complete opposite from him. He's quiet as he stares at the tablet with Jim's username on the screen. Then he slowly smiles big.]
Thanks, Jim. That-[A pause.]That means a lot. [Warmth and fondness seeps into his tone. Why couldn't they get to Jim faster?] I can't take all the credit. I had help from my friends. [Just like here with Jim and everyone else.]
It's just the truth. [ Jim shrugs, but he's got that faint little almost-smile again. ] You grandpa wasn't in the army by himself either, was he? He's still a hero.
[ And so is Zell, if he really did save a planet from witches of all things. ]
So you joined the Garden and became a mercenary...
why am I trying tags now the world may never know- hi i'm a seed want a little seed in you ;D
[Nodding, even if the other can't see. Getting used to him being blind is going to take a while.
People tend not to hear about the other guys in a war. You just hear about the ones who died in combat.
He'll be Jim's hero] Right. I joined Garden and became a mercenary. It hasn't been that long since I became one, you know. [Feels much longer. Like a year ago but it's only been a few months.]
We had our first mission helping out a resistance group. This mission was to follow the client's orders until Timber gained it's independence. It wound up going south and we had to lay low in Galbadia Garden until things cool down. [Going south was putting it lightly.]
It was there we were asked to go to the Galabadia city to assassinate Sorceress Edea.
a little SeeD? is the giant hotdog compensating for something?
[ Good, since Jim's holding out for a hero in the hospital.
Anyway, Jim can't see the nodding, but he hopes Zell took his point anyway. he's leaning a little closer to the tablet to listen, interested in the story. It's a little shocking to hear Zell talk about assassinating someone - his eyebrows shoot up - but he doesn't comment. He's not naive, he knows what a mercenary is, and Zell told him he was one before they even met in person. Anyway, it seems like Sorceresses are bad people and this is all so distant.
So he doesn't comment on that, just nods for Zell to continue. ]
[Complicated might be an understatement. Zell was on gate duty, while their leader and the sharpshooter were on take out duty. He remembers the tang of magic in the air as the bullet was blocked. Remembers seeing the fight and Squall falling...
He makes a slight sound as his voice drops a bit.] You could say that. She was much stronger than any of us could really handle. The mission failed. Our leader was hit and we didn't know if he was alive until after we were locked up.
[Not only assassinations but jail time. Good times, right?
He's going to skip the getting the crap kicked out of him because it wasn't important.] We broke out and learned that the Sorceress ordered an attack on all the Gardens. They shot missiles to one, and had Balamb as their next target. [He stalls a moment.] The youngest you can enroll at Garden is five years old. We had to split up to stop the missiles and warn Garden before it was to late
[ Jail time is at least old hat to Jim! ...the police brutality not so much, but clearly he doesn't need to know about that. He's already worried enough by the drop in Zell's voice, and... ]
She was jut going to kill a bunch of little kids? [ Yeah, assassinations, fine, but murdering a school full of children not so much. ] You got there in time, right?
She wanted to eliminate all SeeDs, which included future SeeDs.
[He's going to skip the chaos they came back to.]
We got there, but didn't have enough time to organize an evacuation. The Headmaster did share another way to save everyone. You see, the Gardens used to be evacuation ships from Centra. A school the size of a frickin small town can actually fly. We had to rush around to get it operational, but we did it, baby! We managed to move it just in time to avoid the missiles. [They were very close to not making it.]
We were left alone after that. They probably thought they took care of us and turned their attention to finding Ellone. [Rubbing the back of his head.] This is where it gets pretty weird. Ellone has the ability to send people's consciousness back in the past. It only works for people she knows. Before she came to the orphanage, she was kidnapped by a different Sorceress and used to make a machine that copied her powers. A sorceress in the future found the machine and used to it control other Sorceress' in the past.
WHOOPS DIDN'T THINK THIS ONE THROUGH DID I? it's all good
[ Jim can't help but grin at Zell's excitement over having moved the entire school. He's proud on his friend's behalf - it sounds like they saved a lot of people, and doing it by flying their school doesn't sound all that strange to Jim.
The rest of it, though... he feels like his brain may be melting out his ears, because none that made any sense. He goes quiet for a minute, in fact, a look of concentration creasing his face. Finally, slowly, he says: ] ...so the witch from the future was making all the other witches evil? She was the one controlling the witch attacking SeeD?
[Sorry Jim, even Zell thinks it's pretty nuts.] Yeah, that's pretty much it.
[There was another evil one, but he's not going to get into that.] She was pretty crazy, man. She wanted to basically end everything until she's the only thing left. She was hoping to fine Sis to use her powers in order to do this. We came up with a plan to let her find Ellone and let her start time compression. Then we'll send her back to her own time and follow her back to kick her butt.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[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?]
no subject
[ 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. ]
no subject
[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?
no subject
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.
no subject
[There is a bit of a pause here.] I wound up going straight into the women's restroom.
no subject
You - was anyone in it?
no subject
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.
no subject
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? ]
no subject
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.
no subject
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?
no subject
[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?
no subject
[ 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!
no subject
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.
no subject
There's no denying the happiness in his voice, though, and Jim offers him a weak little smile that turns back into a thoughtful little frown as he listens. ]
You were adopted, weren't you? You said your mom home schooled you, until you went to...
[ Oh. ] You trained to become a mercenary just to fight that sorceress?
no subject
That's right. I was adopted by my parents and moved to Balamb. It's a town by the sea famous for it's fish. [There is a pause here.] Eventually it wound up being just Ma and me.
[How many aches can Jim's heart take?
He shakes his head, even if Jim can't see.] They keep that part of Garden a secret. I joined because I want to be like my Grandpa. He was a hero that played a big part in the last war. He wasn't just strong, but he knew how to keep his cool on the battlefield. He lived a life full of battles and died protecting those he cared for. That's what I wanted to do. [And how he imagines his life will end.]
no subject
I think -
[ He hesitates, unsure if it'd be welcome, if he's assuming too much, but: ]
-I think he'd be proud of you. Rank-A, saving the world...
no subject
Thanks, Jim. That-[A pause.]That means a lot. [Warmth and fondness seeps into his tone. Why couldn't they get to Jim faster?] I can't take all the credit. I had help from my friends. [Just like here with Jim and everyone else.]
no subject
[ And so is Zell, if he really did save a planet from witches of all things. ]
So you joined the Garden and became a mercenary...
why am I trying tags now the world may never know- hi i'm a seed want a little seed in you ;D
People tend not to hear about the other guys in a war. You just hear about the ones who died in combat.
He'll be Jim's hero]Right. I joined Garden and became a mercenary. It hasn't been that long since I became one, you know. [Feels much longer. Like a year ago but it's only been a few months.]
We had our first mission helping out a resistance group. This mission was to follow the client's orders until Timber gained it's independence. It wound up going south and we had to lay low in Galbadia Garden until things cool down. [Going south was putting it lightly.]
It was there we were asked to go to the Galabadia city to assassinate Sorceress Edea.
a little SeeD? is the giant hotdog compensating for something?
Good, since Jim's holding out for a hero in the hospital.Anyway, Jim can't see the nodding, but he hopes Zell took his point anyway. he's leaning a little closer to the tablet to listen, interested in the story. It's a little shocking to hear Zell talk about assassinating someone - his eyebrows shoot up - but he doesn't comment. He's not naive, he knows what a mercenary is, and Zell told him he was one before they even met in person. Anyway, it seems like Sorceresses are bad people and this is all so distant.
So he doesn't comment on that, just nods for Zell to continue. ]
Guessing it got complicated?
want to find out
He makes a slight sound as his voice drops a bit.] You could say that. She was much stronger than any of us could really handle. The mission failed. Our leader was hit and we didn't know if he was alive until after we were locked up.
[Not only assassinations but jail time. Good times, right?
He's going to skip the getting the crap kicked out of him because it wasn't important.] We broke out and learned that the Sorceress ordered an attack on all the Gardens. They shot missiles to one, and had Balamb as their next target. [He stalls a moment.] The youngest you can enroll at Garden is five years old. We had to split up to stop the missiles and warn Garden before it was to late
you know it
She was jut going to kill a bunch of little kids? [ Yeah, assassinations, fine, but murdering a school full of children not so much. ] You got there in time, right?
SOBS INFO DUMP SPOILERS
[He's going to skip the chaos they came back to.]
We got there, but didn't have enough time to organize an evacuation. The Headmaster did share another way to save everyone. You see, the Gardens used to be evacuation ships from Centra. A school the size of a frickin small town can actually fly. We had to rush around to get it operational, but we did it, baby! We managed to move it just in time to avoid the missiles. [They were very close to not making it.]
We were left alone after that. They probably thought they took care of us and turned their attention to finding Ellone. [Rubbing the back of his head.] This is where it gets pretty weird. Ellone has the ability to send people's consciousness back in the past. It only works for people she knows. Before she came to the orphanage, she was kidnapped by a different Sorceress and used to make a machine that copied her powers. A sorceress in the future found the machine and used to it control other Sorceress' in the past.
WHOOPS DIDN'T THINK THIS ONE THROUGH DID I? it's all good
The rest of it, though... he feels like his brain may be melting out his ears, because none that made any sense. He goes quiet for a minute, in fact, a look of concentration creasing his face. Finally, slowly, he says: ] ...so the witch from the future was making all the other witches evil? She was the one controlling the witch attacking SeeD?
/makes ears bleed more
[There was another evil one, but he's not going to get into that.] She was pretty crazy, man. She wanted to basically end everything until she's the only thing left. She was hoping to fine Sis to use her powers in order to do this. We came up with a plan to let her find Ellone and let her start time compression. Then we'll send her back to her own time and follow her back to kick her butt.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
/rolls
i think maybe this one is good here?
YEAH- additional dumb though
no YOU hang up the phone
no U