Feral
Chapter Nine
Cid Raines had gotten up fairly early today, but that was par for the course when you had things to do. While he had yet to return to the office, he had resumed his daily duties from the comfort of his study. It had barely been two weeks since the...incident, so it wasn't like anyone was expecting him back just yet. That was all well and good.
If he wasn't on the phone with his broker or the vice president acting as the temporary face of his company, he was touching base with several certain someones about something far more pressing. His dog was missing, and he needed to find her as soon as possible. If she was still alive, that is. Part of him was half fretting that Jihl had decided to keep her, which, if that was the case, meant that he would never get Lightning back. He would surely be exposed.
And Cid Raines would not stand to be ruined by that busty bitch.
All of these people he was calling were not listed, but he didn't exactly need a phone book. He knew the numbers by heart. His mind was like a roll-a-dex when it came to numbers. He dialed each one in turn over the course of an hour, offering money, threatening blackmail, excusing outstanding debts, whatever it took to get them on his side. The last of these said calls, I believe, you'll find somewhat due your attention.
Cid waited through the typical buzz of the call going through.
"Hello?"
"Joshua, how are you?"
"That you, Mr. Raines?"
"It is."
"What can I do for you today, sir?"
"Actually, Joshua, I have a rather large problem I'm hoping you can help me with."
"Of course, sir, what do you need?"
"Well, you're already aware of what actually happened last week, yes?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'm afraid I lost a lot more than my money. My dog disappeared as well. I would deeply appreciate it if you could keep a look out for her."
"I can do that, sir, be happy to."
"Naturally you'll keep it quiet."
"Naturally."
"But do try and get as many officers involved as you can. I want her found as soon as possible."
"Of course. I'll be sure to contact you as soon as I have news."
"Thank you. Get this done quickly for me, Joshua, and you can consider an early retirement."
"Thank you, sir. I'll get right on that."
And the call ended.
(II)
It was once again Saturday, nothing of much note having occurred throughout the week.
Yun hadn't arrived home until very early this morning after having pulled another all-night watch on the other side of town. She had stumbled into the house, dog tired, feet dragging as she made her way upstairs where she kicked off her boots and slumped into bed. There wasn't awareness enough for her to care even for a second that she was having to share the bed with another body. She wouldn't move at all throughout the night, lying on her stomach until she steadily drifted out of sleep some time around eleven.
Also, Yun had a tendency to talk to herself.
She mumbled into the pillow, "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Eden City Special Olympics. We'll open today's festivities with the national anthem," which constituted of a rather grandiose yawn. "And there you have it."
Her legs stretched, toes pointing in socks that were half pulled off. Baha lifted his head, the tips of his ears and blue eyes visible just above the dip of Lightning's waist beneath the blanket.
"Our first event is me getting my sorry ass out of bed." and she said the last bit with an exhausted shrug. "This is an extremely difficult maneuver and needs the utmost focus to accomplish. And...here we go,"
But what she did resembled absolutely nothing any fully conscious person would attempt to rouse themselves from bed. She didn't sit up, she didn't attempt to push herself to her hands and knees. Yun, for lack of a better word, simply rolled over, slipping out from beneath the corner of the blanket she had pulled over herself in the night as she hit the floor.
Yun groaned. "Oh...crushed a tit...that could cost me a few points." and this is when she finally decided to open her eyes, finding herself on the floor between the bed and the file cabinet. She reached for the handle on one of the drawers, starting to get to her feet. Once she was upright and stable, she stretched the rest of her body, arms over her head and reaching.
Yun slid into her desk chair, aiming to check her messages as she snatched a half empty bottle of bourbon that was sitting beside the laptop. One large swig had her eyes wide open and she was now fully awake. The only thing of mention in her email this morning was a reply from a university professor in Sanctum, a city some two hour drive away. He didn't have much to say, apparently, only that he would have a look at anything she could show him. She read the message over a couple of times before letting out a tired shrug and taking another swig of bourbon.
Maybe Tuesday, she thought. And maybe she would convince Vanille to play hooky so she could go along. They didn't do so much together these days.
With that business done she turned off the computer, spinning the chair around.
"Oh, mornin', sunshine," Yun greeted once she realized Lightning was awake.
She was sitting up in the bed, Baha having migrated to the furrow of her crossed legs as she scratched her head. "Hi."
"How ya feelin'?"
"Okay." and she nodded slowly.
"That's good. Oh, I dunno if anyone's told ya yet, but we're having some folks over today for dinner. You don't know them, but it'll be alright, they're very good friends of mine."
But even with that assurance, Lightning seemed to fret. Yun could almost feel her tense. But the tension changed after a moment to something else. Curiosity.
"Friends?"
"Yeah, you know, buddies? Pals?" and Yun's amusement turned to inquiry. "Don't you have any friends?"
"No."
"Come on, everybody has friends," Yun dismissed with a small laugh.
"What's a friend?"
"Really?" she almost couldn't believe what she was hearing, but the honest look on Lightning's face was proof enough of it. "Well," she paused to think just a moment, "I guess if I had to put it into words...a friend is someone who looks after you, who you look out for."
Lightning was hanging on every word.
"A friend's someone who'll cry with ya, laugh with ya, get ya outta trouble." and Yun slowly nodded. "Yeah, that about covers it."
"And...you have friends?"
"A couple." she nodded again.
"...How?"
Yun made a strange face, seemingly still amazed at the subject of their conversation. "You can make friends just by talkin' to someone, sometimes. Other times...I dunno...other times there are those folks that just...happen. They come into your life and change it in such a way that ya can't imagine what it would be like without 'em. Though usually it's the first kind."
Lightning's brow inched together, though not too tightly, showing that she was thinking as her eyes lowered to the cat in her lap. "I could...make friends?"
"Sure you could. Anyone can. Less you're just a total asshole."
"Am I an asshole?" she asked innocently.
Wow, her first swear word. It made Yun laugh a little. "Good heavens, no. At least I don't think so as it stands. Then again, we've only just gotten to know each other."
"Oh." and Lightning nodded just a little, like she had just realized something she had previously missed. "Am I...your friend?"
"So far, yeah. I like ya well enough." Yun then smiled at her, her eyebrows raised in an almost hopeful fashion. "Can I be yours?"
Lightning seemed surprised. Did dogs really have friends? Wasn't Master all she would ever need? Isn't that what Master had said? Then again...Master was dead...
"Um...okay...yes."
"Yeah? Well that means a lot to me, sunshine."
Lightning smiled just a little when she realized how pleased Yun seemed and sounded. Perhaps this would be the foothold she needed to find a place in this family, this pack.
"In fact, I'll do ya one better and be your best friend. That is, if it's all right with you."
"Huh?" Lightning cocked her head to one side, seemingly unable to decipher the difference.
"Basically it's the same as bein' friends, but instead of just gettin' ya outta trouble, I'll get into trouble with ya too. I'm sure you'll get it eventually."
"Oh, okay." and you could see that she really didn't understand, but she was still trying.
"No worries." Yun dismissed, taking another sip of bourbon. "And I bet the others would be friends with ya if you'd give 'em a chance."
"Okay." though that uncertainty turned to tension once more. "I...I have a question."
"Go ahead."
"Where did you go last night?"
"Oh, what's wrong? You weren't lonely without me, were ya?" Yun watched as she nodded with some reluctance, almost childlike in her countenance. "You're so sweet. Still, you felt all alone in a house full of people? Well, I don't suppose you're so keen to talk to them as ya are to me, huh?"
"No."
"Well, that's all right. But you remember when I said good-bye to ya yesterday, said I was goin' to work?"
"Yeah."
"That's where I was. Sometimes my work keeps me out late at night."
"You were...catching the bad guys?"
Yun chuckled. "Yeah. Where'd you hear that?"
"Vanille." Lightning had been talking a very small amount to the younger sister, only when she felt her curiosity to be too great and Yun was nowhere to be found. "I have another question."
"Sure."
"What makes them...bad guys?" the concept of bad and good was vague at best for Lightning. All she really had a grasp of is what master said to do or not to do.
"They break the law." the answer came quickly, with absolution. "Cops uphold the law, criminals -or bad guys- break the law."
"How?"
"Well," she nursed the bourbon again, "often times it's when someone steals from someone else, or they buy something they shouldn't. But most of the time its people hurtin' each other."
Lightning felt herself shudder. She had hurt people. A lot of people, countless dozens. The onset of the realization became evident on her face with the widening of her eyes, worry creasing her features.
"What's the matter?"
Am I...am I...bad? But...I only did what I was told. Master said I was good...
"Lightning?"
She looked up at Yun, meeting her gaze and looking rather afraid. "I'm a bad dog."
Yun didn't respond to the comment directly, instead her brow furrowed with consideration. So she really said dog. Not that I thought Vanille was lyin'...
"What do you mean?" she finally asked.
"I've hurt people. Lots of people." and Lightning's shoulders sank, she seemed to shrink.
Another stretch of quiet. "Why?"
"Because Master told me to."
Yun felt a small shudder in her gut. She wasn't liking the sound of this, it was fitting in too well with too many theories. "Well...is that the only reason? Did you do it because you wanted to?"
Lightning seemed to wince as she shook her head, her face scrunching. "No. I don't want to."
"Did they try to hurt you too?"
"Yes."
"That doesn't make you bad, Lightning. The law says you're allowed to protect yourself."
"It does?"
Yun nodded, noticing how her quiet response seemed to soothe her, but only just so. "Do you want to keep talking about this?"
"No." Lightning shook her head, her expression still seeming severe.
"Okay, that's fine. But I'll tell ya, whenever you want to tell me the rest, just say so. And I hope that in time you would. All right?"
"Because that's what friends do?"
"Yeah, that's it." Yun smiled. "Friends talk to each other about the hard stuff."
"The hard stuff...okay."
"Though I've got one more question. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
Lightning was quiet, thinking for a long while. A few minutes actually. "Okay."
"Who told ya that you're a dog?"
"Master did."
"Ya ever ask him why?"
"No." Lightning shook her head, then looked at Yun in peculiar way. "I thought you said just one."
"I know, I know, I'm sorry." Yun put up her hands in surrender, caught. "I'll stop. But there is something I'd like to show ya."
Her curiosity piqued, Lightning watched closely as Yun reached across her desk, grabbing a framed photograph. She felt rather excited when Yun handed it to her. She inspected the image closely for a moment.
"That...that is you?"
"Yeah, it is."
"And...what is this?" she was pointing to the hairy black shape beside Yun's image.
"That's Wedge. He was my dog, my best friend for a long while."
Lightning made that telling expression, the one when the gears were turning in her head. Something was trying to click, her thoughts fighting to fit together. Wedge was Yun's dog, okay, she could accept that...but she was a dog, and she didn't resemble Wedge at all. Not by a long shot. She found that she looked much more like Yun, but Yun wasn't a dog. So, by all rights...
I'm...I'm not a dog. I can't be a dog. But...why would Master call me that? Master isn't so stupid to...
"I'm...not a dog." it was a quiet whisper of admission, maybe even realization. But the look on her face, the expression of awe slowly died. It darkened into something resembling discouragement, maybe even disappointment. And she said nothing more as she gave the picture back to Yun.
"You okay?"
"No."
"Do you want to talk it out?"
"No."
"That's fine. Maybe later." Yun wasn't about to push, not with something like this. These sort of things you sort out for yourself sometimes, or let someone sort it out for themselves. "Just know you can talk to me, alright? No matter what."
"Okay."
"Hey, I got an idea, what's say you and me go downstairs and see if Loony Toons are on?"
"I would like that."
The two left the room together, though as Yun made for the stairs, Lightning turned the other way, headed for the bathroom. Everybody has to take a leak when they first wake up right? But after that, she spent several minutes looking in the mirror, staring. Perhaps consciously questioning, for the first time in her life, what exactly she was looking at.
What am I? Who am I?
Lightning was feeling decidedly down in the dumps as she made it to the foot of the stairs, her shoulders hanging as she settled on the sofa next to Yun, who was flipping channels in search of something to watch. Bugs and the gang weren't on at this hour, so there was a need to find something else.
"Why don't you find something more enriching to watch, like a documentary or something?"
Yun twisted in her seat to look over the back of the couch, spotting Serah as she walked to the dinning room. "You want her to be educated, or bored to death?"
"How do you know it would bore her?" Serah was now in the living room, hands on her hips. "Maybe she would like to learn something new. Wouldn't you, Lightning?"
Lightning turned her head and looked at Serah, finding her body language and pressing gaze a little intimidating. She found herself shrinking away from her.
"Oi, could ya stop bein' a mom for five minutes and just let her decide for herself? Don't ya have a paper to write, or a husband's face to suck or somethin'?"
Serah's gaze narrowed as it settled coldly on her roommate. "You're lucky you said face."
"What? To think I would utter an obscenity such as cock around her innocent ears? Honestly, Serah, what kind of a brute do ya take me for?" and all the while she was smirking, fighting back a chuckle.
Lightning looked back and forth between them during the exchange, not entirely sure what was happening. Serah left the living room, rolling her eyes and shaking her head with an exasperated shrug, and Yun finally saw fit to let the laughter go as she continued through the channels.
"Though I suppose she has a point, albeit a small one." Yun partially corrected herself. "I guess we gotta expose ya to more things. But if we're gonna watch anything like that, it's gonna about somethin' cool." and the look on her face was very determined.
"Did I make her mad?"
"What's that?"
"Serah...is she mad at me?"
"No, no, sunshine, she isn't. If anythin' she's mad at me. But that's normal."
"Why?"
"Dunno, really."
Lightning thought about it quietly, only half watching as the channels continued to change. Maybe the Alpha Female and Beta were simply natural rivals. It was just routine power checking. Maybe Serah just didn't like having her authority challenged, though it was clear that Yun was taking responsibility for Lightning, not her. But to be honest, Lightning just didn't get it, and didn't bother to try for very long.
"Here we go," Yun nodded with a smile of satisfaction.
"What is it?"
"About two hours showcasing the second greatest invention in all of history." It was a documentary titled "Rolling Thunder: Live to Ride".
Lightning looked at her, innocently curious. "What's the first greatest?"
"Me." and response came without hesitation, and a bit of a smug giggle. "I'll be right back,"
Lightning leaned to and fro to see the screen as Yun passed in front of her on the way to the kitchen. And while she wasn't sure what she was looking at, the images on the TV held her attention. At first Lightning thought the machines in the program were cars, but that didn't fit at all. They only had two wheels, and all their innards were exposed instead of protected beneath a hood. And they made such a noise! There was footage of one of the motorcycles idling, and the chrome pipes shook with the loud puttering of the engine. Though she had a little trouble with it, being that she couldn't decide what was more deserving of her attention; the machines, or the riders they interviewed with long hair and equally long beards. Good gods, she'd never seen that much hair on a man's face!
"If nothin' else, it's somethin' you haven't seen before," Yun was back from the kitchen, a can of soda in one hand, and bowl of sliced fruit in the other. "Here ya go, sunshine. Thought you'd be hungry."
"Oh, thank you."
"You know, my dad builds those," Yun mentioned as she sat down, this time much closer to Lightning. "He might actually be on this program."
With a mouth half full Lightning looked at her, surprised. "Dad?"
"Yeah," she chuckled a little, "I think you'd like him. But he makes a livin' buildin' motorcycles."
"That's his job?" and she smiled, somewhat proud when Yun nodded at her inquiry. She felt like she was finally starting to get it. As to what "it" was, was anyone's guess. "Does he ride them?"
"Sure he does. Kinda hard to do what he does and not. Got me hooked on it too."
"You can ride them?"
"Yeah. Dad gave me one for my big twenty-first, though I hate to say I don't take it out much." she sipped her soda, surprisingly enough it didn't have any liquor in it. "Maybe I'm due..."
Lightning let what she said stir in her mind for a while as she continued to watch the documentary and systematically putting pieces of fruit in her mouth. Her thoughts were momentarily disturbed when the program started talking about the early history of the motorcycle, and had to do so through black and white footage, something Lightning had yet to see before. Right away she could understand the seemingly innumerable changes the vehicle had gone through over the many decades since its invention. This subject was captivating her somehow, making a tiny bit of her glad that Loony Toons weren't on.
Lightning was distracted from her thoughts once again when she felt the sofa shift with the weight of another body. Vanille had plopped onto the couch on the other side of Yun, still in her pajamas and seemingly still tired, her hair untamed and out of the usual pigtails to twist and curl everywhere. With just a mumble of a greeting the younger Oerba curled herself into a bit of a ball and tucked against her sister, head on Yun's shoulder.
Yun grinned with a contented sigh. "Well ain't this swell? Layin' about on a Saturday afternoon with two of my favorite people," and she put an arm around both of them.
Lightning didn't know how to react, so she froze, her entire body tightening, her eyes wide and her eyebrows reaching for her hairline. She was holding on to her bowl of fruit for dear life. What on earth was Yun doing?
"What's wrong, did I hurt ya?" Yun asked with concern once she noticed Lightning's stiffness. "Too tight?"
"N-no," and it was an uncertain, mousy breath of an answer.
"What," she laughed, "never been hugged before either?"
"Don't think so." but maybe that wasn't the real cause of her reaction. It wasn't lack of contact, it was a lack of genuine affection. Tenderness wasn't something she knew, wasn't familiar.
Again Yun was in a state of disbelief but finding only honesty in what Lightning said. But then she smiled gently. "Well what do ya think of it so far?"
"Um...don't know."
"It helps if you relax."
Slowly, little by little, she managed to do so, and sank against Yun's side. And it was warm, almost welcoming, natural in how the contours of their bodies matched together.
"It's...it's nice."
"Thought so." Yun felt appropriately smug. This girl was growing by leaps and bounds every day and it was mostly due to her careful -term used loosely- direction. Who wouldn't feel a bit full of themselves. "Hey, there he is! Vanille, wake up, dad's on TV."
Vanille rubbed her eyes and sat up slowly. "When was the last time you talked to dad, anyway?"
"About a month ago," her sister responded with no qualms.
"We should talk to him again sometime soon," she paused long enough to yawn, "maybe have him over."
"Sounds good. I'll call him later this week."
Lightning didn't know what to make of Yun's dad straight away. He looked rather odd. He had dark hair, just like Yun, but it was arranged in a sort of mullet, the tail of it going behind his shoulders. And he had facial hair like most of the other men on the program, but it wasn't a full beard. He had straight, longer than usual mutton chops. There was a big scar on his chin. What Lightning found most peculiar about him was a piercing, a ring of silver in the middle of his bottom lip. However he seemed like a nice enough guy. He smiled a lot.
"Yeah, we need to have him over sometime," Vanille reiterated with a slow nod and another yawn. "Mom too." and then she stood up, heading to the stairs to go enact her morning grooming ritual. There would be no waking her up entirely until then.
Lightning had been watching, listening, thinking. With her eyes down at her now empty bowl, she thought to ask. "What are they like?"
"Who? My parents?"
"Yes."
"Oh they're all right. My mom's a bit uptight, but hey, I love her anyway. And I'm sure you can see I take more after my dad."
"I do. But..."
"But what?"
"Are they...apart?"
Yun took a big drink from the soda can and grumbled a bit as the carbonation burned her tongue. "You picked up on that, huh? Yeah, they are. Have been for some time, but it's not such a big deal."
"Why not?"
"Well, they separated when Vanille and I were younger, we've had time to understand...to adjust I guess."
"Oh." and Lightning nodded slowly, as if she understood as well. Though, in reality, she didn't. Not right now.
"Do you remember your parents?"
"Hm?" Lightning lifted her head, meeting Yun's gentle yet curious gaze.
"Your mom and dad, you remember 'em?"
"No." there was no forethought, no pause for contemplation.
To be honest, Yun actually felt a little sorry for her, more so than she did already. It was bad enough she found her on the street, trashed from head to toe, but without a friend in the world and no one to miss you? Gods above, how tragic.
The two of them watched the remainder of the program uninterrupted, even by each other. Well, Lightning watched it, as Yun had seen it at least a dozen times already. She more so watched Lightning, as had become her peculiar habit of late. Something about her innocent curiosity was...fascinating. Her reactions were so simplified, yet so honest. It was almost hard to believe she was real; you just don't meet people like this. Anywhere. Ever.
This girl's somethin' special. The musing was quiet, belying its presence only by a slight upturning of the edge of her mouth.
The day lingered on into the afternoon, and then into early evening, and that's when the strangers showed up. Hope was the first one, though he wasn't really a stranger. Yun met him at the door with a severe look until he presented his mom's potato salad as a peace offering. It seemed like she forgave his apparent intrusion, if just for the time being. Hope smiled and greeted Lightning once he knew she was there, still on the couch, to which he was pleasantly surprised to receive a timid wave in response.
Jeremy and his wife were next to arrive. Snow greeted them, giving the other man a hug and fawning over the young baby his wife was holding. Lightning stared for a long moment, marveling at the presence of another giant. There are more? The lot of them went into the kitchen. And shortly thereafter, Sazh had let himself in, knocking as he opened the door and announcing himself. He had brought Dajh along.
"Hey there, old fella, glad ya could make it." Yun shook her partner's hand.
"And I didn't come empty handed." he had a rather large, rectangular container in his hand.
"If that's fried chicken and watermelon I'm going to very disappointed."
"You're half right," Sazh shook his head and chuckled. "It's some of my barbeque wings. I didn't think you would object."
"Heavens no," her tone of voice changed considerably. "Please, come in, get comfy, everybody's waitin'."
Though Sazh paused when he felt a tug on the tail of his shirt.
"Is it all right if I hang in here and watch some TV?" his son asked.
"Sure, kiddo, sure. Just be polite, okay?"
"I will." and the kid, somewhere between eleven and twelve, sat in the recliner as his father disappeared into the dinning room.
It was quiet for a moment, Lightning remaining perfectly still and Dajh shifting his gaze between the television and her. "What are you watching?" he asked after a while.
Her eyes shifted to him nervously, and then away again. This happened several times before she answered him. "I don't know."
"Can I change the channel?"
"Okay."
In the dinning room, the table was already littered down with foodstuffs and other things. But that wasn't so bad as they were planning to have dinner out on the back porch. The sliding glass door was open and the delightfully unique smell of charcoal was coming in from outside. Snow was tending the grill, which wasn't as precarious a situation as you would think.
"So that was her?" Sazh asked quietly as he watched Yun mix a screwdriver. For him, not for her. If you can believe it.
"Yeah." Yun nodded.
He nodded, stroking his chin, taking the drink when it was offered to him. "What are you thinkin'?"
"Don't know just yet. Still tryin' to work it out in my head, really."
"Well...if she's involved with the fights, you need to tell the chief. Someone needs to know."
"I know, I know," she shook her head, "but I just have this feelin'...like that's a really bad idea. And you know how I am with my gut,"
"I do. Though as much as you drink I'm surprised the two of you are still on speaking terms. So what do you plan on doing about her?"
"Don't know that either. I was hopin' the lot of us could talk it out tonight. I mean...if I take her to the station...she doesn't have anybody else, they'd just put her in a cell. That wouldn't be right."
"But you're withholding evidence, Yun. That's just as wrong. You could lose your badge for that."
"Well," she paused, took a breath and let it out in a heavy sigh. "If helpin' someone in need, doin' my job, gets me into that kind of trouble...I could always go build bikes with dad."
Sazh waited for her to turn towards him, to meet his eyes which were set with both mild concern as well as cloaked surprise.
"You're serious about this, aren't you?"
At first it seemed like Yun didn't have an answer for him, her eyes drifting away as she leaned against the kitchen counter, her arms crossed. Then she nodded her head.
"As it stands, yes I am. Like I said, she's got nobody...if we don't look out for her, who will?"
In the end, Sazh took a long sip of his drink. "I'm gonna need some time to think about this."
"That's just fine, but do me a favor and keep this to yourself, yeah?"
"I will...until I think you've gone and gotten in it over your head."
"Fair enough."
And Yun would receive very similar warnings and ultimatums from everyone else in the house as they sat at the table on the back porch. Even Snow had some reservations, such as the possible criminal involvement, though no one was in total opposition to the idea of allowing Lightning to stay. The house was big enough, and it wasn't like their guest was posing so great a burden.
"I think we should look for her family. I mean, she didn't just appear out of thin air." Serah said. "There has to be some relation of hers somewhere, like an uncle or something. At the very least we need to know who she really is."
"We can test for that at the hospital, though it'll take a few weeks to get the results back." Vanille answered. "So long as someone in her family has had a blood test, we should get something."
"Okay, okay," Yun nodded, "and if we get a hit? What then?"
"I would imagine that to be something you take as it comes." Jeremy added. "I mean, for all we know at this point, her family could've gotten her into this mess. That's to say if we find them at all."
"True. And what if we don't find anyone? Let's just address the idea that she really is all alone."
"If you want my opinion," Snow tried to talk over his shoulder and tend the grill at the same time. "I kind of like Jeremy's idea in regards to that as well. As far as I see it, I don't mind her staying, but on the other hand most of us hardly know her. Maybe the time it'll take for those test results to come back will be the perfect trial period. After that...who knows, right?"
"That's all well and good, but," Sazh had been relatively quiet until now, "what if someone comes looking for her? We can't just pretend she doesn't exist."
"Why not?" Yun was failing to see why that plan wasn't valid.
"Lyin' could get us all in big trouble." he answered as he shook his head.
"Not so long as we can prove it as defense of a third party." Hope added, much to everyone's shock. "At least...that's what I read somewhere. It's true, isn't it?"
"I think he's actually got ya there, old man." Yun almost laughed. It would have been in spite of herself if she had. "I might just dislike ya a tad less now, kid."
And judging by the look on his face, you would think Hope had just won the lottery.
"You seem awfully generous this evening." Vanille smirked, saying so under her breath. "How much have you had to drink?"
Yun laughed, but she was wondering the same thing in the back of her mind. If she was right, she hadn't had a single sip of firewater since she had gotten up. It felt like a new record.
"Somebody needs to go gather the stragglers, the food is ready," Snow announced proudly. "And a couple extra chairs."
"I'll get the chairs." Jeremy stood up.
"And I'll wrangle the kids." Yun followed him inside.
Dajh was quick to jump out of the recliner when Yun appeared in the living room with the good news of dinner being served. Lightning didn't seem so eager, in fact she didn't move at all. Yun quietly advanced and knelt down, one arm propped on the arm of the sofa.
"You all right?" she asked gently, though without any noticeable worry.
"Yes."
"Did ya hear me? Dinner's on."
"I heard."
"Why don't you come and eat then?"
Lightning was quiet for a moment. "Those people...I don't know them."
"I know, and we talked about this before, remember? They're friends of mine, so they're okay."
"But I'm not their friend."
"Have you given them a chance yet?"
"...No."
"Then why don't you?"
That she didn't answer.
"Well, I hate to tell ya this, sunshine, but I'm not bringin' ya a plate. If you want to have dinner you'll have to come and sit with us."
Lightning gave her this look, it was something Yun hadn't seen yet. It was almost that of contempt. Her brow was level and low over her eyes, which had narrowed. As if to say "how dare you tempt me so, you sneaky butt-hole."
"Don't get all grumpy, now. If it helps, you can sit by me, and you don't even have to talk to anyone if ya don't want to. How's that?"
Choices, choices. Safety zone, or food...safety zone...food...
Why did life have to be so damn complicated?
"Fine."
Author's Note: Honestly, I feel like this chapter is total crap. Then again, I've been wrong before. I suppose this would mark a transition. From this point, as you can see hinted in the dialogue, Light's thoughts are becoming more complete, and her questions a bit more profound. Things aren't so simple in her eyes anymore, and it's only going to continue from there. Next chapter will be a collection of excerpts, much like in Blood Tithe, lots of complete and pivotal events that don't occur in the same time space. This is also where we'll start to see the beginnings of Light and Fang's...thing. Please excuse my evident timidity, maybe I can pull through it to come up with a believable love story yet.
