[open] if you could only see

[exsoldier]

Who: Zack & YOU, plus some closed prompts!
When: Throughout Aguril
Where: Throughout Aefenglom and the Wilde
What: August catch-all: quests, Zack going feral, red string spell stuff
Warnings: Violence due to going feral

[ prompts are in the comments below! if you want a specific starter for anything, you can pm me or hit me up over at demonology! ]

Comments

[exsoldier]

[ All of the chimera's attempts to fight his way from the harpy's grip turn out to be in vain. Maybe if he remembered more, a story from Sephiroth about how he'd broken his collarbone, he might have been able to leverage that to his advantage. Then again, if he remembered that much, it's likely he wouldn't have been fighting back this much in the first place. Not just because he'd recognize how outclassed he was, but also...

They've done this before. It didn't end well. He doesn't really want to go through it again.

In a split second he's seized and flipped around so that his back is pressed into the forest floor. His own weight crushes his wings against the hard ground, and he snarls and thrashes, but then he's pinned by his neck.

The orders come, but he has no interest in listening to them. Even as his airway is closed and he struggles to breathe, still he fights to get free. He can't lose, not to this creature. His vision begins to blur, and he expects not the assistance of a friend but the cruelty of a fellow predator who's putting him down.

A memory flashes in again. The reactor, thick with the heady scent of mako, and the gleam of an impossibly long sword. More than that, though, it's the memory of those eyes, wide with madness, that haunts him as he loses consciousness.

Finally, he goes still. ]

[supersoldier]

[It happens rather quickly, when it's all said and done. For all the thrashing and furor, Sephiroth forces Zack into an unconscious quiet, and as he falls into the dark, he hums a note of approval.]

There.

[Looking at him now, lucidity and rationale are hazy things, but there was a point to this, wasn't there? Yes, he recalls it, now that buzz of conflict is bleeding out of his nerves. All for Zack's sake, all to calm him and bring him somewhere safe. Eyes lift to the forest around them, the canopy hanging overhead, the sound of wildlife still shifting and calling out even in the black of the night. He cannot keep him here, but there is one place that he might ferret him away until the morning comes.]

— — —

[And morning does come, filtering in through a window with the blinds only half-drawn. A beam of sunlight fixes itself firmly upon Zack's face, refusing to budge, and maybe that's enough to stir him back into awakeness. Regardless, whenever he does come to, he'll find himself neatly placed on the mattress of an unoccupied bed with clean sheets, amid a room that seems rather spartan for its lack of decor. There's an end table, an unlit lantern upon it, a desk in the far corner, and a chair.

Upon that chair sits Sephiroth, a book in his hand, his form far less feral-appearing than the night before, eyes cuttingly cogent as glances at his friend as he stirs. The book, still half-open, finds its way onto his lap.]

It's late.

[A very Sephiroth-esque greeting, less a greeting and more an informative remark -- someone slept in.]

How do you feel?

[exsoldier]

[ It is that persistent beam of light that falls right over his face that ends up rousing Zack from his deep, deep sleep. At first, as his eyes flutter open, the night before feels more like a very strange, very vivid set of dreams, rather than something that actually happened.

He doesn't know where he is, can't remember how he got here, and in a confused haze, turns his head to see the side table and the lantern sitting atop it. He blinks a few times, shifting in the bed and then groaning when the slightest of movements brings any number of aches.

Then, a voice, and suddenly he's wide awake.

Zack stares across the room and finds Sephiroth there, sitting with his perfect posture in a chair, a book laid in his lap. He's been waiting there, hasn't he? Waiting for him to wake up. And he's the one who...

Who chased him down, knocked him out, and brought him back here. Safe and sound, before he could hurt anyone.

It's a lot to process all at once, especially when Zack is still trying to sift through the series of confusing memories from the night before. He doesn't feel the weight of wings at his back, or the addition of a tail. His fingers feel stiff, but other than that, he seems to be back to normal. (As things stand, he's unable to see or feel the feathers that have grown in around his neck and into his hair.) ]

Uhh... like I got run over by a truck. [ He's managed to prop himself up on one elbow as he looks around. Not that there's much to see. ] Where are we?

[ He has an idea, but he wants to hear the answer all the same. ]

[supersoldier]

[He seems whole and hale enough, though no doubt experiencing the heavy weight of a post-full moon hangover that hits hardest when one isn't used to the experience. Sephiroth, too, feels a twinge at his temples, a dull throb that he's learned to ignore with willful stubbornness, but he can only imagine that Zack's assessment is a correct one. He probably does feel like he's been run over by a truck.

Still, better than the alternative. Better than finding himself in trouble, having torn someone else to shreds in the thrall of his feral form; Sephiroth remembers the thrashing and fighting and snarling, such a stark contrast to what he sees now. Now's it's only Zack as he knows him, with a few feathered changes subtly dotting his form.]

The guest room. This is the house that I live in now.

[So strange, still, to say the word "house" and claim it as his own. But ever since his prior housemates have disappeared, the space has been fully his to claim -- not that he's done much with it. What a barren and spartan place, with no sense of personality or personal touch. Then again, it is only a guest room, impeccably neat and beyond reprimand, at least.]

Do you remember what happened last night?

[exsoldier]

[ The house that Sephiroth lives in. For as strange as it might be for Sephiroth to say those words, it's almost just as strange for Zack to hear them. Despite the friendship they'd forged while both in SOLDIER, never once had Zack seen Sephiroth's quarters. He's pretty sure the same could be said for any other member of SOLDIER, save for maybe Genesis and Angeal. And even then...

With a grunt, Zack pushes himself up until he's sitting rather than half-laying. He sets his hands in his lap, curls his fingers and then stretches them out again. The skin there is just a little harder than it should be.

The question Sephiroth asks snaps him out of it, and his head tilts up as he tries to think back. A lot of it is a confused mess of a blur. He remembers smells (lilacs and gooseberries) and sounds (a low, wolfish growl) more than actual details, at first.

Thinking back on it makes his head feel like it might split open. ]

I... bits and pieces, I know I...

[ Lost control. Fell prey to the very thing he'd been warned about, because he hadn't been careful. More jolted memories flash into his mind, causing a groan to escape from between his lips as his head dips forward. He lifts up both hands to his temples, draws them back through his hair and —

Over feathers.

Zack freezes for a moment before he lets his hands fall back to his sides. His eyes open again and he sends a piercing stare across the room to where Sephiroth sits. ]

How much has changed?

[ It's not like he's got access to a mirror. ]