Hey guys! Sorry it took so long for me to update - but here's the next chapter, a little longer as a bit of an apology.
Disclaimer: I don't own FFXIII :(
The next day dawned bright, sending a cascade of brilliant light through the uncovered window, across the mostly-tidy floor, up the side of the bed and finally across Hope's face. Groaning, he rolled over, burying his face between pillow and arm to block out the light that seemed so determined to wake him up. Content with his new position, he drifted off to sleep once more.
Light was downstairs, having woken before the sun rose – a habit ingrained in her after years of dawn patrols – and was pouring herself a cup of coffee when she heard a strangled yelp, followed by a thud and a stream of muffled cursing. Smiling to herself, she sipped her coffee, leaning against the counter as she watched the stairs.
Sure enough, Hope stumbled down them a few moments later in his pajamas – a t-shirt and flannel pants – his hair sticking up wildly despite his attempts to flatten it down into something resembling normalcy. "Morning," he grumbled, collapsing onto a chair and leaning his head on the table.
"Good morning," Light replied, pouring a second cup of coffee. In her peripheral vision she saw a small shadow dart down the stairs, and as she handed the cup to Hope and set a bowl of sugar on the table, the shadow twined around her ankles. She leaned over, picking up the small black kitten, earning an earful of purr. "Morning, Dark."
Hope snorted at that, dumping a few spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee before sipping gingerly at the hot liquid. Judging by what she had heard – and the dark glares Hope was now shooting at the kitten she held – the mischievous little cat had probably woke him up using the kitten's favorite method: a cold nose in the ear. "Blasted cat," Hope muttered, confirming her suspicions.
"I did warn you," Light reminded him, downing the last of her coffee. "I have to head off to work soon – will you be okay on your own for a while?" She set Dark down on the table, and the kitten padded over to Hope, nudging the hand that grasped his coffee.
"I'll be fine," Hope reassured her, momentarily glaring at the kitten before being overcome by its sheer cuteness and scratching its ears. "I figured I'll wander around town until Serah or Snow calls me, demanding help with planning the big day."
Light watched the boy-turned-man as he sipped his coffee, continuing to play with the kitten that had been the cause of his rude awakening, and debated her next words for only a moment. "I have an hour's break for lunch at noon. Why don't you pick up lunch somewhere and keep me company?"
Hope grinned up at her. "Sounds like a plan. I'll see if I can find something good during my wanderings."
Light smiled back, then set her empty cup by the sink and headed upstairs; she needed a shower before heading off to work, and putting on her uniform wouldn't hurt either.
She looked out over the obstacle course she was currently putting the new recruits through, making mental notes of every mistake to lecture them later. Ever since her promotion to lieutenant, taking Amodar's old place after he was promoted, her life had been full of paperwork and training – reading the reports of those Guardian Corps members on duty, and overseeing the training of new recruits. True, she could place herself on patrol duty whenever she wished – something she did quite often; she couldn't afford to get soft – but the majority of her time was occupied by paperwork, training, and more paperwork.
She glanced at the stopwatch in her hand, marking the time each recruit finished on a pad of paper – they were slow, these new recruits, soft from lives where their parents had provided for their every whim. But in the new Cocoon civilization on Gran Pulse, where they no longer had PSICOM or the fal'Cie to 'protect' them, the Guardian Corps were the only barrier between the vulnerable citizens and the violent monsters. As such, it had become an unspoken requirement of sorts for young men – and women – to join the Guardian Corps, to serve their stint and protect their friends and families.
Of course, that meant that many of the new recruits were not only unmotivated, but felt entitled to favorable treatment and undeserved favors - a delusion that Lightning would quickly relieve them of.
"Gather round!" she shouted, pitching her voice to carry across the course and drawing the tired recruits to her – they had been at this all morning, but the recruits grew weary far too easily. A tired recruit lost focus, and did not pay attention. Lack of attention meant fatalities in the field - and dead recruits did them no help. "Listen up, you lot. You're too slow – even the slowest of the full-time members can finish that course in a third of your time. Run two laps around the course, then you can take your lunch break." With that, she turned and left – they were scared enough of her to do as she said without question, and besides, there were older Guardian Corps members running laps to loosen up from hours sitting at a desk. They would have heard her orders, and would give the new recruits grief if they tried to skimp on their work.
She rolled her shoulders as she entered the Corps building; she had slept oddly last night and woke up to a sore back, something that standing around all morning had not helped. She opened the door to her new office – a 'gift' that came with her promotion – and paused on the threshold at the sight of a familiar silver-haired boy sitting in her chair, leaning back and tossing a pen up in the air, catching it, tossing it up once more. A paper bag sat on the desk, the top rolled down, with two to-go cups beside it; from the smell wafting towards her, coffee.
"How was work?" Hope asked by way of greeting, standing up and setting the pen he had been toying with back in its proper place. "Sorry about invading your office – the guards out front said you had a habit of running late with training and sent me here out of pity." His tone sounded amused, and he sat on a clear space on her desk as she took her usual seat.
"I do," she told him, sending him a look that showed how serious she was. "The new recruits are a bunch of softies; they wouldn't last five seconds in the field. The only way they'll ever toughen up is if they train seriously, and that means working constantly."
"You know half of them will drop out if you harass them too much," Hope scolded her, opening the bag to hand her a square container. "I found an interesting noodle restaurant nearby; they claim that their recipes are entirely Pulsian in origins, but we'll see." Another square container followed, then two forks, one of which he handed to her. Without ceremony, he popped open his noodle box, taking a bite.
She had to admit; she was amused by how at ease he was acting. She couldn't get the image of him at fourteen out of her mind, how shy he had been, stuttering and driven only by his hatred of Snow. Deciding to let it slide, she opened her own box, looking curiously at the glistening brown noodles with soft vegetables mixed in, and took a hesitant bite.
"Good, isn't it?" Hope asked, catching the flicker of surprise that passed over her face.
"It isn't bad," was her response. She took another bite, chewing and swallowing before responding to his previous statement. "Half of them will drop out either way – they only joined because after Cocoon fell, being part of the Guardian Corps was the new big thing, being the 'heroes' that defend us from the 'horrors' of Pulse."
Hope shrugged; he didn't seem entirely satisfied with her answer, but neither did he seem driven to continue that line of questioning. "So, to repeat my earlier question: how was work?"
"Can't you guess?" she said dryly, reaching for one of the cups and taking a long drink. "I've been training those fools all morning." She set down the cup and rolled her shoulder, hoping to relieve some of the tension.
"Here, let me -"Hope set down his food and stood, moving behind her chair and resting his hands on her shoulders before she could protest. As he pressed his thumbs into the muscles along her spine, hard enough to feel but not so hard that it hurt, she felt a funny tingling feeling sweep across her back – an odd, familiar warmth, but why it seemed so familiar danced just out of reach. As he continued to massage her shoulders, the tingling intensified, and the tension drained away. Finally, she pulled away; having another person so close to her, without her explicit permission, was weird.
"Thanks," she said, not wanting to seem ungrateful; she really was thankful, the stiffness that had been irritating her all morning replaced by a relaxing warmth.
"No problem," Hope grinned, reclaiming his seat on her desk and picking up his food once more. "You looked a little stiff this morning, and dealing with idiot recruits is not the way to cure that."
They continued to eat their food in relative silence, with little bursts of conversation here and there, but it wasn't the uncomfortable strained silence of near-strangers, like when she ate in the cafeteria, but a companionable, easygoing silence, one that did not need to be filled with words, because there was something else there – though what it was, she did not know.
Hoped you like it! Again, I'm sorry it took so long to update...I'll try not to be so slow next time!
iheartsnow: Thanks! This chapter was longer - I hope you enjoy that - but I don't think this story will ever reach the chapter-length of Negative...it just doesn't have the same inspiration, and the shorter chapters work better with the flow of this story in my opinion...I'm glad you enjoy them both though!