Laziest...summer...ever. Awesome.
I don't own anything, anyone or anywhere you recognise. Sapphire, along with a few others who'll crop up every now and then, are mine.
Seriously, I've done nothing productive. Played a lot of Dragon Age. Yup, that was the entirety of the last month. I played the Awakening expansion for the first time, which was pretty cool! I always preferred Fenris to Anders in DA2, but I've gained a whole new appreciation for Anders now that I know his origins. Zev is still my favourite character, hands down, despite my incapability of romancing him...(it's so weird, it never works for me!)
I should've seen it coming. I should've known. Everyone has heard that Lost has the most terrible ending in all of television. But there ya go, I watched it, and I find myself wanting to go watch it from the start again to try to find out when the writers lost their minds. It was great when dead people were dead, when rafts and food and water were important, when a polar bear on an island was the weirdest thing you ever heard. And when Desmond blasted onto the scene, everything got so much more awesome! But then...ugh. Whatever. I'm still a little obsessed with it, it hasn't quite sunk in that it's over, but my brother's talking about Breaking Bad next. We'll see how little writing I can get done between now and then.
Did anyone else see Guardians of the Galaxy? I wasn't sure what to think from the adverts, but it was brilliant. Just my style of movie - awesome Marvel action, cool sci-fi, with some utterly hysterical moments no one else could get away with. The dancing...! Genius!
So close to 100 reviews! Eek! I haven't thought of anything special for it, so... any suggestions?
Now that I've been accepted into university (AAAAAGH YAY!) I've stopped refreshing the UCAS page and have been able to post chapter 29! This was pretty good fun, so enjoy it, everyone!
29 - Don't Overreact!
"Ugh, get OUT! GET OUT!" squealed Ash, though I couldn't be certain it was her; my arm was thrown over my face, covering my showering roommate from my eyesight as I rapidly apologised and staggered backwards out of the room, knocking over a few toothbrushes and whatnot from the shelf for good measure with my flailing limbs.
I slammed the door shut in my panic, and rubbed at my eyes, deliberately pressing painfully hard to punish myself for my idiocy. I was just glad I hadn't seen anything I shouldn't have. How hot does she shower? There was so much steam it might as well have been Christmas; white all around.
I did not know why I was thinking about that. Just be glad you didn't see anything. I reassured myself by repeating that in my head many times over, until I approached the sofa. More specifically, what was on the sofa.
In a tizzy, I reached up - and sure enough, nothing but empty air above my loose, long hair. I grabbed my helmet, and paused for a second. Had she seen? I thought she hadn't, but it was impossible to know for sure.
It seemed safer just to shove the helmet on, so I did just that, shovelling handfuls of horribly-treated hair under it. It could last until morning. It would have to. There was no way I'd be going into that bathroom again anytime soon.
Ash hadn't removed herself from the bathroom just yet, but the lack of noise was infinitely more noticeable now. Rubbing at the back of my neck, I knew there was a long overdue discussion waiting me.
After all, it was necessary. Ciara will be pleased, if no one else will.
I settled down on the sofa to wait. It seemed like Ash had no notion of coming out quickly, and I could understand completely. I don't know how I'd feel if a guy walked in on me in a shower - pretty awful, anyway. On the other hand, Zack's silly belief that she liked me was probably pretty well cleared up now.
I didn't know when it was Ash had come out of the bathroom, because the day had caught up with me again and I'd fallen asleep. I woke up with a jolt in the middle of the night, in nothing but darkness, but I could feel a blanket tossed over my bottom half, with my whole upper-body hanging over the side of the fairly comfortable sofa.
I paid little attention to the blanket, sluggishly staggering to my usual place and easing into position, my head and one hand keeping balance while the rest of my body instinctively went slack in place. I knew the habit would have to end...probably when we'd get our own rooms, which could mean any time at all.
With my final thought being on meaningless nonsense, I drifted off to dreamland yet again.
And the next thing I knew, I was standing upright. I staggered at the sudden change, tipping off to my right side, and then I was halfway to my sleeping position again - horizontal. Raucous laughter came from close by, which I ignored. A deep sigh came from my left, but I ignored that too.
"Amell, wake up," someone addressed me in a familiar way, and it was presumably the same person who started kicking at my left arm. "What happened here? You're generally awake in the morning. Did the infirmary give you SOLDIER-level sedatives, or something?" The kicking lowered to my side, and I curled up around it with a groan, arms covering my left side. With the movement came some more waking thoughts, and I remembered my conclusion that Michael preferred attacking his opponents' left sides.
"I never heard him come in last night," a voice mentioned, only very muffled. I thought it sounded like Zack, but I couldn't be sure.
"Maybe I left him in a worse state than I was expecting," sounded a sheepish but worried person who resembled Zack much more accurately, so I presumed the other was Will. With the kicking stopped, or at least paused, I rubbed at the crust and sleep in the corners of my eyes.
"I saw him," another voice spoke up. "When I was going to bed, I saw him zonked out on the sofa. Presume he got up in the middle of the night." That voice brought a rush of emotions - mostly panic - that brought me to a properly awake state of mind. I stretched out in every direction, exuding a huge sigh at the relief of the loud cracks of my bones clicking into place. The same person made a noise of disgust, and I presumed the footsteps that led away from the room belonged to them.
My eyelids lifted, and I first noticed Genesis towering over me, his eyes narrowed in contemplation as he seemed to examine me. I noticed two people by the table in the kitchen, and through my blurry eyes I recognised them as Zack and Will. Their breakfasts were forgotten about as they stared in my direction, though they seemed to lose interest in what was going on.
Genesis' gloved hand lurched forward, but when his face twitched it limply fell back into place. I cleared my throat, only adding to the awkwardness by emphasising that I knew the reason behind his twitch, and sat up.
Who'd have thought Genesis would have such a moral dilemma about helping someone up? I couldn't count how many times he'd refused to help me get to my feet, mostly because I spend far too much time on the floor or passing out nowadays.
Genesis didn't let his lack of social skills trip him up for too long, however. "We have training to do. Why aren't you prepared?" the Commander questioned, sounding irritable. I rubbed at my side, still quite unwilling to face the day despite knowing I had to.
"I got cornered when I left the infirmary. I was harangued by a certain two people into a late-night practise session during which I got whaled on and killed unmercifully several times," I complained, pouting. A splutter came from the kitchen area, and everyone immediately glanced at the spiky porcupine-headed Puppy, who thickly swallowed the cereal in his mouth.
"I'm pretty sure I only need one guess," he laughed. "Reagans?" Will chuckled, enlightened, and nodded. "They really have it in for you, don't they?" Zack continued, grinning as he took another spoonful.
Having stood up, I was now struggling with over-balancing on my right side, and I grumbled, "You're telling me..." while hopping over to them, helping myself to an extra plate of toast.
"That's Ash's breakfast," laughed Will, pointing to the food I was consuming.
I shrugged noncommittally. "She knows what happens in this apartment when food is left unattended," I proclaimed with a half-full mouth, easing into her abandoned seat while the blonde snorted in amusement.
I suddenly remembered my teacher's presence in the apartment, and looked over as he sighed and rubbed around his eyes. "I think I've had my fill for today," he claimed, and made for the exit.
"Hang on, I'll not take long! I'll just quickly eat my toast and I'll be with you!" I called, motioning him to wait, and got stuck with three massively confused stares. What am I doing?! He's taking off for the day, not training me, and I ask him to wait? Obviously Michael had hit me too many times. Far too many.
Genesis' arm rose to gesture at me vaguely. "You're not in good shape, not to the standard I'd be able to train you successfully anyway. And frankly, yesterday was long, for both you and myself." With that explanation, he allowed himself out. I scratched at the back of my head, seriously considering going back to sleep, when the door opened again. "Besides," Genesis called, his face appearing through the doorframe, "we're fine for now. SOLDIER treatment isn't for at least another month."
A short wave was the Commander's farewell, and I slowly turned back to the table, facing two of my roommates. "Wasn't that what was happening already?" I wondered aloud, scratching my neck as Zack shrugged and Will pouted. All signs that we were blissfully unaware of the huge favour that had been dealt to us the night previous.
We finished our breakfasts and were settled on the sofas and chairs around the television, Ash having joined us, when a swift knock came to the door. Instantly Will rose from his seat, gave us a quick salute while saying "That's me, see you guys later," and then he was out the door.
I looked after him for a second, and turned to my two friends. "You guys realise how weird it is he never talks about his lessons?" I wondered, receiving an uninterested eye-roll from Zack. Ash seemed to simply not care, having no reaction. "Makes me curious, is all. I mean, how secret-"
How rude, I thought, as my explanation was cut off by vibrating from my pocket. I wormed it out from my pocket, and noticed Zack doing the same for his PHS. What I saw on my own screen made me intrigued, confused, but mostly miserable.
'Cadets, swiftly make your way to floor 12, time for class!
–Edward Merowian, SOLDIER 2nd Class'
"That's...to the point," I commented, launching myself to my feet as the device was returned to its place. "I can't believe we have to be told about class rather than just going to it, now."
Zack was still staring at the message, looking perplexed. "His name is Edward?" he wondered aloud. With no indication he was moving, I said a quick farewell to Ash (who didn't seem to care either way) and grabbed my friend as we quickly left.
The puppy-dog giggled as we left, and I tilted my head at him.
"Whoo, was that tense!" he elbowed my side with a grin, and I jumped away with a yelp. Zack held up his hands in apology as I glared. "Sorry! But what happened? What did you do to Ash?"
I blinked - how did he know? "Uh, what? I think I missed something," I mentioned, a hand raised to scratch at the back of my head from where it had been rubbing at the sharp jab Zack had given.
"Come on!" he prodded, literally as he poked the side of my helmet. "You and Ash got on fine, and this morning she's grouchier than I've ever seen her. And then you were speaking, and she was all awkward and like pretending you don't exist...I'm gonna need some context here, bud."
"Don't know what to tell you," I confessed, as we slipped into the elevator, only just noticing now it was the first time we'd be going to this floor. I wondered what sort of training exercise we'd be going through, and what floor twelve would look like.
And after a short pause, Zack brought me back with a loud, deliberate sigh. "Ah, now I get you," he proclaimed with an unreadable expression sent my way, almost looking like a cringe. "You took my advice and told her you weren't interested." My mind flashed backwards...
Zack began to counsel me, "You're going to need to make it clear that you aren't interested. The sooner you do it, the less hurt she'll be, and the quicker you'll get back to being buddies without the weirdness."
Zack the Love Guru was back, apparently.
"Uh...no, no I didn't." Zack slumped, and then the Love Guru was gone. Hopefully forever. Just saying.
His bright blue eyes gave me a provocative look. Tell me what happened! That's how I translated it.
A quick few seconds of silent thinking told me that I wouldn't think of anything good to say, so as we emerged from the lift that I didn't even remember entering, I sheepishly admitted, "I walked in on her in the shower-accidentally!" Zack burst into raucous laughter.
That was abruptly cut off, both of us springing away in opposite directions as we heard the now familiar sound of materialised fire hitting the wall and dissipating, no doubt leaving a huge burn mark reminiscent of the 'Survival Training' room's walls.
"You're late," the forebodingly-familiar voice announced, and I craned my head up from where my face had ground into the polished floor (noticing Zack do the same in my peripherals) to glare.
Sure enough, there was Merowian in all his insane glory. The bright fire suspended above one hand might've looked menacing, but with the corridor fully lit by Mako energy, he failed to make the same dramatic effect as he was hoping for. I knew, because I'd be the same. If I wasn't decidedly petrified of Materia, that is.
That irritating smirk of his showed none of it, though. "Based on the context, I'd assume it was Ashley Matthias' shower you intruded upon," he announced loudly with a boisterous laugh, stirring up sniggers or outright laughs from all the Cadets already in the corridor. Merowian looked quite triumphant as I could feel every litre of red liquid in my body defy gravity and shoot to my cheeks and ears. "I'd say 'good job!' but the accidentally is such a turn-off," he continued, and aimed the hand in my direction, with a holler of "On your feet!"
I managed to just roll away from the blast as it scorched the floor, painstakingly rolling over my left side, and skittered to my feet and away from his line of fire.
"You should be more assertive," he continued, clearly loving the sound of his own voice that grated on my own ears. "Next time, break into the bathroom deliberately! Because you want to watch the girl scrub herself up and look gorgeous, am I right?"
His declaration was followed with another bellowing laugh, and further face-flushing on my part. Zack leapt to his feet, glaring at our teacher, to my surprise, and jabbed a finger in his direction. "Hey, that isn't right! She's our roomie, and we aren't creepers!" the Puppy defended nobly, sounding for all the world like a weird, totally childish version of Angeal.
I imagined myself in a big red coat reciting LOVELESS and refusing to help someone to their feet, and violently shuddered. I felt a hand on my head, and spun to see a grinning Jack Riley. "I was just wondering if there was ever a time you didn't make a dramatic entrance," he quizzed me, with a few Cadets I didn't know the name of nodding and chuckling in agreement.
"I think this place has that effect on people," I slowly decided, before offering a shrug and straightening myself up as Merowian paused his terrorizing to fix Zack with a look I couldn't identify.
After a moment, he deliberately slowly nodded. "Ah. Strange, I didn't peg you for a guy who prefers more familiar company," he pretended to come to the realisation with a grin, and though his words weren't specific, the meaning behind them was all too clear.
I found myself cringing as Zack jolted. "Hey, no, wait, I'm-I'm not-I don't-I, uh..." his floundering came to a weak end as he pouted. Merowian seemed to take pity, dipping his head forward and gesturing to the rest of us with a sweep of his arm, causing Zack to immediately launch himself in amongst the group and try to regain his composure with no time to do so.
Zack edged through the group to stand beside me, and I offered him a sympathetic glance but no more. I wanted to give him a comforting pat on the shoulder, or something similar, but I knew the gesture wouldn't make the situation any better so I left him to himself. He'd recover; this occurrence didn't have much comedic value, and wouldn't be remembered compared to some of my own...'events'. Plus I was pretty sure that Kawianinski wasn't in this class.
Merowian finally got down to our actual class, and started explaining what the idea was. "Pay no attention to the fact we're on a different floor; we're here because it wasn't being used today and it gave me a new playground to explore," he began, and then rubbed his hands together, a glint coming to his SOLDIER eyes. "Today's a bit different. Since this floor is a massive shopping floor, I really went to town and had fun. The mission is for you to get into my secret hideout on this floor. To do that, you need the right key, and to get the right key, you need to find it. There are booby-traps, so, you know, go for broke. Feel free to ask me anything; I won't be after you until I think you need attacking. If you get hit, you're out. Feel free to work on your own or together, it doesn't bug me either way. The winner gets a special surprise...yada yada. I think we're done here."
When the SOLDIER stopped, nothing really happened. This new game was a little unheard of. The idea was generally the same every time; hide, attack, get beat and go to the timeout area. This was bizarre, with a strange new adventuring and slightly more strategic element (presumably) so we were all a bit stumped. Merowian shooed at us and waved us all away, so with the weirdest beginning to a kind-of race I'd ever had, we all slowly shuffled away in near-silence.
I had never been on this floor, and by the bewildered looks on everyone else's' faces, I wasn't alone. No doubt if I ever revisited in future, I'd be jumping at even the slightest noises, expecting one of Merowian's 'booby traps'. I didn't know a single thing about them as yet, other than I needed to be careful, and even that was a presumption...but an educated one. Nothing special, the word 'traps' gave it away somewhat.
The floor was similar to most others in design, all metallic and brightly lit, but it was considerably more open with a large corridor and counters along the walls with loads of boxes-oh, the nostalgia! I pointed in that direction, and elbowed the strategist of the cardboard fort idea who had appeared at my side, Ethan Rensky. He followed the gaze, and snorted and rolled his eyes, falling back into the crowd with a few friendly knocks on the side of my helmet that made me panic for a moment.
Aside from the counters and boxes, there were a surprising amount of doors along the corridor, all with signs outside that indicated where each led to. The walls were otherwise filled with notice boards and the like, all completely covered with brightly coloured advertisements for sales and new items being sold. It was bizarre, like being the first person to arrive to a shopping centre in the morning. Completely deserted and silent, creepily so, knowing that on a different occasion it would be filled to the brim with eager hordes of people throwing their cash around.
A fair amount of Cadets boldly ran on ahead in pairs or triplets, the incentive of the surprise Merowian promised encouraging them. Zack and I shared a look, and took off after them, though we both knew we wouldn't be letting the other win if it came down to it. The closeness to the SOLDIER entrance exams was bringing out our competitive sides in the last few days, or at least it seemed like the only reason.
I was still stiff from my thrashing from the Reagans less than 24 hours previous, so it was understandable when Zack skidded to a stop outside his chosen door and started examining it before I selected and entered my own. At random, I walked up to a door, and with the pain annoying me, I roughly pulled the handle.
A roar of a laugh came from my left as I rubbed my bottom, which had taken the brunt of the force of my elegant landing. I glared at Zack as he nearly joined me on the floor, weak with his own giggles at my idiocy. I pulled myself to my feet with narrowed eyes, muttering to myself, "How was I supposed to know it was a pushing door?"
I reached for the handle a second time, intending to take it slow, only to realise that the handle was halfway across the floor behind me. Zack became all the louder as I gazed in wonder at the piece of now-rendered useless metal, and pushed the door slowly open.
I didn't have time to examine the room before something shot up in front of my face. I just managed to read it before the booby-trap followed through with what it promised.
'POW!'
I flew back through the doorway, skidding along the slick floor to a stop beside the thing I was responsible for flinging across the corridor. Pain exploded into my awareness from my face.
And just like that, I failed another one of Merowian's challenges.
As if Sephiroth wasn't enough of a golden boy...
Genesis was not pleased as he reviewed the events of the previous day. It had been a peculiar bunch of events shoved into a short time period, and so he barely had time to process what was happening before his attention was shifted elsewhere.
With the comparatively calm day that followed, the Commander found himself able to think through each occurrence, and it made him realise how it had finished.
Everyone was in disarray, panicking and worrying about what would happen to the unprepared children who were to be experimented on and sent to war while suffering from the after effects, and then Sephiroth calls and solves the problem with something so simple as that; a telephone call. It was like something straight out of a sickening movie. It was sickening.
Even though he was blatantly aware of why he was the only one taking this news badly, for his own peace of mind he didn't think on the reason. He fumed that it was the fabulous General who was the one to deliver the news that the Cadets would not be necessary, ignoring the jealousy and the thoughts that it should've been him.
Despite the long wait between Shinra and Sephiroth, which seemed just a little too much of keeping all involved in dramatic suspense, the news was only good. The troops had discovered a building filled with missing SOLDIERs and Wutaiian scientists, a sort of strange cross of a prison and a laboratory. After some days of planning (days he had neglected to mention to anyone, Genesis' stubborn mind pointed out sourly) Sephiroth and a small group of what were essentially the elites of the Seconds - and would presumably be Firsts when they got back - infiltrated the building and successfully rescued nearly all of the missing SOLDIERs, all that were in the building. It was unclear what the scientists were doing with the SOLDIERs as yet, but the group had taken photos and handfuls of files and had sent them to the professors for analysis.
Apparently a few had to be treated for the virus that Lazard had spoken of, quite some time ago, but unlike Sephiroth's previous failed attempt at this rescue mission, they survived. Each and every single one of them, and Genesis tried to convince himself that this was only a good turnout, but simply because Sephiroth was in charge made it impossible to bear.
Because the mission was such a resounding success, Lazard immediately reported the result to the President, who agreed that the SOLDIERs were handling things just fine in Wutai and would continue to do so until the newest troops were prepared. Truly, the day couldn't have ended any better.
He found that sarcasm was his only friend today. Angeal had spent a short amount of time with him earlier, but had left to see if Zack was available for a training mission.
Another annoying factor, to Genesis, was how miraculously Sephiroth seemed to pull it out of the hat (even though it was hardly miraculous any more for the 'best' SOLDIER). The mission couldn't have gone better, with every SOLDIER found in the building alive and well, the group possibly reaching into triple digits. The last time, with the previous building that was such a disaster that it had apparently slipped most people's minds, involved two SOLDIERs. Two.
Genesis couldn't bring himself to feel any pity for the two, who died within the miserable confines of enemy laboratories, and could only think about how convenient it was for Golden Boy to pull it off when it counted.
If only he could've been in Wutai instead of the General. If only Cobalt had been picked by Sephiroth, instead of him. If only he didn't get the first (sort-of) choice of student...
It was at this point that Genesis realised he was sitting sideways in one of the armchairs in the Common Area, fingering the edges of his beloved poetry book, and thinking that if he wasn't as selfish two-and-a-half months ago, then he could've been the centre of attention now. He blinked twice, and tilted his head to one side, staring at the ceiling.
"...This is not helping me accomplish anything," he decided aloud, and restarted what he had been doing. The First Class was partway through the second act when his dark-haired comrade returned and leaned against one wall. "The Puppy was busy then?" he softly questioned, a leather-coated index finger trailing beneath one particularly meaningful line.
"In with Merowian, I believe. He would have them jumping through hoops, so chances are Zack won't be joining me until tomorrow for a lesson," he explained, earning a faint bark of a chuckle from Genesis - who was paying barely enough attention to know if it was appropriate enough or not. Angeal continued with a smile, undeterred, "You let Blue off the hook for today, yes?"
A nod was the response, as Genesis' mouth miming the words started to mumble them aloud. "What of it?" the Commander questioned, carefully turning the page.
"I suppose he must've been in a bad state, then." Angeal's acknowledgement was confusing enough that Genesis felt the need to examine him in curiosity. "Oh, I just arrived at the floor Merowian was using to see Blue be the first taken out of whatever it was he was doing," he continued, a sly smile tilting up each corner of his mouth.
With a steadily growing glare taking over Genesis' face, Angeal wasn't certain whether he should share the details or not. After a moment, he shrugged and went for broke.
"He got hit in the face by one of those spring-loaded boxing gloves. According to Zack, who was taken out fairly early on as well," he explained, shrugging.
Genesis got a strange, cringing expression on his face that made Angeal want to laugh. "Did Cobalt confirm this?" he quizzed, despite knowing he wouldn't need the confirmation - after all, it was a First Class Commander asking for the truth from a Cadet or two.
"He couldn't," Angeal replied with a laugh. "The thing hit him in the jaw; he was holding ice to it and pouting the whole time I was there."
"Remember when you said that I was getting the best-trained student?" the red-haired SOLDIER questioned, and when Angeal chuckles filled the room, Genesis rolled his eyes and returned his gaze to his book.
Silence followed, as Genesis digested the precious syllables that formed the ending of the second act following the prologue. Angeal, sensing that the conversation was at a 'LOVELESS pause' (a small break for Genesis to catch up on his reading mid-chat) he headed off to the kitchen area for some healthy snack he hadn't decided on yet.
"Don't overreact."
Angeal's head jerked upwards the second he heard those two words. In the many years he'd known his childhood friend, he'd heard those words often enough to know that they would be followed by nothing but mayhem and disbelief and arguments both received by and delivered to the honour-bound man.
In reality, his only comfort was that Genesis always seemed to address him beforehand. Well, usually. And come to think of it, even when he didn't, Angeal always seemed to get mixed up in the crossfire at the end anyway, when Genesis was satisfied - and it never seemed to end any other way.
The dark-haired SOLDIER's reaction, then, was understandable. He approached Genesis slowly, a specially-imported Banora White apple in his hand, and in a soft but firm voice, he answered his stubborn, reckless friend, "Don't."
Genesis blinked, though the faint surprise soon turned into a glare of rebelliousness that Angeal recognised far too easily. "You haven't even heard what I'm going to suggest. Very impatient of you, Angeal; I'm disappointed," he nitpicked, snapping his book shut and folding his leather-coated arms across his chest with a somewhat irate flourish.
The responsible one pressed a hand to his forehead, wondering just when he'd learned to identify differing emotions in Genesis' displays and hand movements. "You know rightly, Genesis," Angeal started, walking towards the other SOLDIER with a stern expression, "that you say those words when you know I will disapprove, and you will proceed to ignore my advice even after making the suggestion to me in the first place." Honestly, he'd gone through enough of these stunts to last him a lifetime.
Genesis looked far from pleased, and for a second Angeal wondered if he'd been a little tough - after all, it had been a while since the last time he'd heard, but he knew Genesis too well. And yet, even as he said those stern, unfailing words, there was no doubt that whatever Genesis was thinking of would proceed as if Angeal had never said them. The redhead was reliable enough, and knew what situations needed his full focus at vital times, but in Genesis' troubled childhood - and his more-than-strained relationship with his parents - he never fully learned to listen or when to back down, even if his plans or ideas were a little askew or wouldn't work. He was stubborn, and was used to getting away with it.
So far it hadn't caused any huge problems, but while Angeal sought to change his behaviour, or at least tweak it partially, in reality he could only hope that Genesis' ideas and hunches were more right than wrong.
And so, with a shrug, he settled himself in a chair, took a large bite from the almost-forgotten dumbapple, and gestured Genesis to proceed. He swung his legs from the arm to sit normally, and rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward and beginning to explain with some slight hand gestures that didn't really seem to help the story.
"I took Blue's sword from him some time ago, attempting to train him so he'd be more acceptably skilled before he cut his own hand off," he began with a roll of his Mako eyes. "I gave the sword back to him, but some time before I did, I discovered something...intriguing about the blade."
Angeal's brow creased in confusion and slight worry, but nothing sprang to mind about the boy's sword that would stir Genesis' interest in such a way. Granted, the only reason for this interest was stirred up by his boredom, but the feelings only amplified his curiosity.
"After some casual examinations, I discovered that the blade was off-balance. Well made and kept, without a doubt; his father must know enough about crafting weapons to get by. I can't understand why, but there's something about the sword, something inside it that keeps moving and changing the balance. I only just noticed, but if Blue continues to use it, he may account for it without realising and will be unable to properly use another rapier of better quality."
With a heavy sigh, there was only one thing that Angeal could ask. He knew what the response would be, and knew there would be plenty of arguing to follow the redhead's reply, but he hoped that he would be able to convince him otherwise. He conceded with the soft question, "Your plan?"
"We have to crack it open." He grinned. And immediately the most important argument launched into Angeal's head.
"We?!"
D'awwh, wee Angeal getting roped into things. Meanwhile, another 'incident' to be added to the ever-growing list of 'incidents' Saphie has! What are we thinking, the 'boxing glove incident'? Or simply the 'POW! incident'?
...I don't know where Merowian got his hands on one of those. But I love the vision of Saphie getting punched in the face by it. Does that make me a bad person? XD
Much appreciation and thanks to my epic reviewers, grandshadowseal and destinykeyblade. You're both always there, it's awesome! I don't know how else to show how grateful I am other than my replies and this smiley face. :)
Hope you enjoyed it, and keep an eye out for chapter 30! Wow. It'll be a fun one, folks. :D
