Originally just a one-shot, Alpha T. Sigma lit the plot bunny in me as I lay in bed, sick from a head cold, bored out of my mind and unable to sleep. So here I am, typing this up to pass the time. A part of this was going to be the ending of what is now 'part 1' near the ending, but I was unable to think of a way to incorporate into the story well enough so it was cut out. However, with this second chapter and change of point of view, I feel I'm able to expand it and end the story well.

Once again, thanks to Alpha T. Sigma for inspiring this second part of the story and I hope you all enjoy. :3


The Surprise – Part II

"Huh?" Hope asked, perplexed. He didn't know what else he could possibly say to the older man, who still held him over the shoulder, filled with a smirk that seemed to say "You know what I'm talking about". Too bad the silver-haired youngster didn't have a clue.

A look of disbelief replaced the sinister-looking grin, before quickly returning to its rightful place on the face of the blond-haired fighter. "Oh you know what I mean," Snow laughed, straightening himself out as he began nonchalantly walking around the current workshop patting the backs of his fellow NORA members and admiring each of their work. To Hope, it felt like he was buying time, as if he was trying to find the right words to continue. Confirming his suspicions, Snow gradually returned to his side and finally saying in a hushed tone grin still plastered to his face, "I saw the books you were reading at my place, so I bought you some of your own that I thought you'd appreciate more."

The combination of the look Snow was giving him with that knowing smile, and his statement just beaming full of confidence was too much for the younger boy and despite still not quite understanding what was going on (but suspicion starting to light up in his mind), Hope felt his face heat up just slightly. Before Snow could act on this clear opening to start (or continue?) teasing, Hope shot back "What's wrong with trying to read more about the history between Pulse and Cocoon?"

Which was true. He had spent the better part of his spare time these past few weeks reading everything he could about the quarreling two sides of their world. But the only texts he could find belonged to Cocoon's side and any archives from Pulse had been so badly destroyed over hundreds of years spent unprotected that Hope had been unable to glean much of anything from them. Hope silently prayed that was what Snow had been talking about.

Unfortunately, Snow skeptically replied, "That's not what I caught you reading last week."

And with that statement, Hope's already rose-tinted face became a shade deeper. He had forgotten about last week. Or rather, he had busied himself enough to lock that embarrassing memory away. He didn't want to remember, but Snow didn't have any intentions on letting him forget and he felt the memories of that shameful night return to the front of his mind.

Serah, sharing Hope's interest in history, had allowed him to look at her history books and so Hope had spent many days reading in the spare room which had become a small library. The particular day in question Hope had been spending the night relaxing in that very room after a long day of the usual construction work.

He had just finished another one of Cocoon's historical records about the War of Transgression, and Hope had written down a few pages in his trusty notepad for future reference. If he could find a book of Pulse origin in good condition, he wanted to be able to compare the two for differences with ease. Recording down pages and titles would speed up the process of searching for them later.

With a yawn and a quick stretch of the arms, Hope took a passing glance at the electric clock hanging on the wall. It was well past midnight, and the young former l'Cie knew he had another long day ahead of him, but Hope could not bring himself to tuck into bed just yet. Getting up from the comfy chair he had just spent hours in, he started pacing around the room weighing his options.

Serah, despite her generally sweet and upbeat personality, had a side to her personality not unlike the older of the two Farron sisters. Hope himself had learned this the hard way when she found him sprawled on the chair one morning, open book on the floor, his grip loosening as the boy had fallen into a deep slumber through the night. Quick to realize Hope had fallen asleep in the room, Serah had abruptly woken him up and jumped into a near hour long lecture to him about how foolish he was being, her azure eyes blazing with an intensity he had never expected to see from her, instantly quieting any protests her charge was trying to come up with. When all was said and done, Serah had threatened to revoke Hope's privileges into the library if he fell asleep in there again.

So now Hope was torn. He wanted to read a bit more, but he wasn't too thrilled with the idea of not being able to step foot into the room again. Not to mention another dose of a "Serah Lecture" as Snow had laughingly called it. Taking one last glance at one of the bookshelves mid-yawn, he decided to compromise. Hope had to admit he was tired, but he also wanted to start another book. However, he hadn't decided which one he was going to start after the last, so making the decision would be his compromise: decide on a title, then go to bed. Maybe skim through the pages really quickly to make sure he was still reading about the War of Transgression. Maybe read a page or two. Maybe even a chapter if he read he it quick enough.

And with that, Hope marched the short distance to the last bookshelf he had yet to explore, rapidly scanning the titles, hoping to find one that would pop out at him first. But none of them grabbed his attention. In fact, they didn't even seem to be of the same genre as the others. There were sports books, various books on cats (Hope had to do a double-take on that one), and what seemed to be various record /strategy books for NORA before they all edged themselves into graphic novel territory. Looking at all the evidence, determined he had stumbled upon Snow's personal bookshelf. He had no idea how he hadn't noticed it before, but he had discovered it now. Too bad he didn't share many of Snow's interests.

Sighing to himself, Hope was about to give up and head off to bed when something caught his eye. On the bottom shelf amongst was an anomaly - a navy-colored, leather set of books stood proudly between the paperbacks as if beckoning Hope to read them. Kneeling to get a closer look, he read the a few of the titles when one caught his eye: The History of the Hanging Edge.

Hope smiled. He had found a diamond in the rough. Taking the book out and standing up, Hope started flipping through the pages ready to scan for some key words that would show involvement in the war. But instead, he found himself staring at yet another graphic novel. And graphic it was. His young eyes caught the women all throwing themselves at (or on) the main characters if they weren't already busy throwing off their clothing. His face heating up, Hope slammed the novel closed. The leather hardcover was a phoney cover-up to hide the contents!

Ready to shove the book back among what Hope was sure to be similar contents on the bottom shelf, he did a double-take. He wasn't actually sure he saw what he thought he saw, right? Yeah, no way. He must've imagined it. Hope would have to make sure that he saw what he thought he saw. Scanning the room quickly to ensure that he was really alone in the room, he opened the graphic novel again and starting reading the contents. The real cover to the comic said 18+, and while Hope was still only 14, he had to admit he was curious.

All was well for awhile until Hope was startled out of the fourth short story when he heard someone clear their voice across the room. Looking up meekly, his face already redder than the tomato salad they all had as part of dinner that night, Hope found himself staring into the all-knowing gaze of the older man he had been living harmoniously with those past few months. Leaning against the wall near the door and arms crossed, the silence between the two seemed to last forever in Hope's mind, but he was sure it was only mere seconds before Snow finally spoke up, "You've got good taste. That's my favorite one."

To this very day, Hope still couldn't remember what happened to the graphic novel in hand. He didn't remember dropping it, he didn't remember shoving it back in the shelf, he didn't remember passing it off to Snow. All he remembered was running from that room in humiliation, desperate to escape. He hadn't said anything, he just ran. The boy had been terrified the next day about the jokes or the lecture or the 'man-to-man' talk he was sure to endure but it never came. Instead, Snow had gone about his day and the rest of the week acting as if the situation had never happened and Hope was more than happy to play along.

Eventually, the consequences of that night had to come back to haunt him, and they finally did, just not in the way Hope had been expecting. "It wasn't like I was looking for it, I-I just happened to find it!" the boy clumsily explained.

Laughing, Snow waved him off. "Hey, hey it's normal alright? I really don't care how you found it. I just figured you'd want some of your own to 'read' during downtime. And books more your style to suit your situation."

Hope silently wished that a hole would open up beneath him and swallow him whole. When a few moments had passed by and it became obvious the laws of physics were not going to bend in his favor anytime soon, he finally spoke up. "Well, I hope you hid that stuff where Lightning won't find it. She went home awhile ago."

Snow visibly paled. "Oh uh...I put it in a place you'd find easily. In a paper bag in the kitchen. Maybe if she didn't look inside it...aha ha..." Turning around in a bid for a fast escape, Snow added "Well, I gotta go, can't keep Serah waiting! Tell me how you like them tomorrow!" And with that, Snow ran off knowing full well what fate he had possibly led his young friend to.

Watching the retreating figure, Hope let off one last retort, "You know Serah's going to find your books one day!" knowing Snow either couldn't hear or didn't care. He sighed as he prepared himself to head home and face the inevitably embarrassing music. He slowly walked to his new home, his feet dragging along in an attempt to stop him. If Snow had put the 'present' by Hope's other belongings, there would have been a chance Lightning would not have come across it. But in the middle of the kitchen? Staring at the ground, he started mumbling excuses to himself looking for one that would come out halfway plausible.

As he edged closer to the home, Hope found his mind wander and dive into the hope he was named for. Lightning wasn't the type to go snooping into other people's property, so she may not have even gone through it. Or maybe Snow didn't put the bag on the kitchen but amongst his belongings so Lightning wouldn't have noticed it at all. He just thought he did. Or better yet, Snow actually bought him history books instead of the...genre...he was caught glancing at that night. It was all just a misunderstanding, Snow was just joking around like Snow likes to do, and really just bought him some history books telling him it was something else to make it a real surprise! Hope was worrying for nothing.

And the Behemoth King just wanted to be friends.

Sighing once again, Hope looked up to find himself just footsteps away from the driveway of his new home. As he was about to convince himself to make one more short walk around the block before finally entering the home, something on the driveway caught his eye. A black mass of something lay on the new pavement. Approaching the suspicious mass, Hope felt a wave of heat hit him and it intensified as he edged closer. It smelled like something had been burning. The black mass must have been the charred remains of something. Looking closely, Hope noticed a faint red glow. It had been on fire just recently, he surmised. Checking the remains once more, he also recognized the bound side of a book. It was his first red flag. He couldn't identify what type of book it used to be, but it didn't take a genius to come up with a few guesses.

Bracing himself, Hope stepped through the front door, not quite knowing what to expect, hoping his mentor was not in the room, hoping she had not seen the contents of Snow's 'gift', hoping that was really some other book that ended up a charred mess for whatever reason he did not know. But he knew his silent wishes would not be answered, just like every other one had been ignored for the past week.

And of course, there stood Lightning, her back to Hope her ears a bright shade of red, very clearly frozen in place indicating she had heard him step into their shared residence. Red flag number two. "H-hi, Light..." he said aloud, breaking the silence.

Still refusing to look his way, the strawberry-blonde haired soldier raced her way to her bedroom. "Sorry, Hope. I tried to make dinner but things got out of hand and I burned it and accidentally burned some other things. I think some of it was yours, since I didn't recognize it and it was too late to save it when it caught fire. I apologize. Well, night." Slamming the door behind her, the younger housemate knew the mere glimpse of a furiously blushing Lightning would be all he'd see for the rest of the night.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Hope felt the screams of 'Red flag number 3' sirening off, warning him that it was all over, but he still looked around for the target paper bag hoping beyond hope that it actually hadn't been set aflame. Maybe, just maybe, the stars had aligned and a miracle had happened.

Alas, it was not meant to be, as Hope could not find the culprit of this massive misunderstanding. It was nowhere to be found. And with that, no doubt remained: Snow had unintentionally embarrassed him to the one person he looked up to unconditionally.

What a way to start off as roommates.


Well, what started off as the second part of two of something that was originally just supposed to be a one-shot has now bloomed into a short story. There is going to be a third chapter.