[CLOSED] Just a chance that maybe we'll find...

[kunsel]

Who: Kunsel (kunsel) and Zack (colorofthesky)
Where: The mansion's entrance!
When: After this brief conversation.
Rating: TBA but likely no warnings or anything!
Summary: Zack feels guilty for brushing Kunsel off and wants to apologize. :')
The Story:

[Zack doesn't need to speak for Kunsel to know something is bothering his friend. (If that something is solely to do with recent events, or if it reaches into the realm of things Kunsel hasn't yet been informed of, he's not sure, but he knows when Zack's not feeling himself—he'd boast knowing better than anyone if it wouldn't mean having to explain how he knows.) In any case, the disquiet was evident in the cinched responses Zack had given, not at all like the talkative SOLDIER First Class Kunsel is used to engaging. It worried Kunsel more than he'd been willing to let on during the conversation; he'd opted to remain cheery (as much as one can across a text forum) in hopes of alleviating some of the weight that Zack was shouldering, but how successful he was, he'll never really know.]

[After the call has ended, Kunsel tucks away the Wonderphone (what else do you call the thing, anyway?) and leaves his quarters. The designated meeting place, the entrance hall, is a mere hop, skip, and a jump away. Not so close that he doesn't have time to first think of what he'll say upon seeing his friend or what may follow, however. And he's grateful for that time. He's under the impression right now that avoiding long, awkward silences between them might be in their best interest. Or Zack's, at the very least.]

[As he heads down the stairs and catches sight of his friend near the front doors in the entrance hall, he raises his hand in a gesture that is half salute, half wave.]

Hey, Zack! You weren't waiting too long, I hope. Tried to be quick, but would you believe I had some trouble with my laces?

[What laces, you dope. SOLDIER boots zipper up, probably to avoid that being an eligible excuse for tardiness of any kind.]

Comments

[colorofthesky]

[ He's sitting on one of the steps, the Buster Sword resting easy in his hand. Though there isn't a true need for it at the moment, it's more of a comfort thing than anything else. Angeal's blade symbolized a great many things, all of which had meaning to him, and it was rare that he left it behind.

He looks up at Kunsel, the faint smile he offers more subdued than his usual. He's been doing a lot of thinking these last several days, and it's only right that he address a matter he could have handled better. ]

Not too long.

[ Truthfully, he's been sitting here a while, but it wasn't that long ago that he sent his friend a text. ]

I'm surprised you didn't trip.

[kunsel]

Me too.

[He grins, extra broad to make up for Zack's subdued smile, then joins his friend on the steps, legs stretched out, hands planted behind him as he leans back. Unlike Zack, Kunsel left his weapon behind in his room. He's come physically empty-handed...but not unprepared.]

So, you look like a guy I know who tends to carry around too much weight on his shoulders all the time. Need to unload a little? I'm an expert listener.

[colorofthesky]

[ Leave it to Kunsel to know something's wrong, even if he doesn't know exactly what.

Zack's smile fades, and for a moment, he just looks at the blade balanced so perfectly in his hand. Dreams...and honor.

He owes it to his friend to, at the very least, try to be honest with him. ]

...I'm sorry about the things I said. On mirrorside.

[ There's a brief pause before he qualifies that. ]

I was short with you. You didn't deserve it.

[kunsel]

[Kunsel shakes his head.]

Thanks, Zack. But you know...I already knew you didn't mean it. Everybody's been on edge because of the things that have been happening, so how you acted...it's understandable.

[Some are taking it better than others, of course, but that just serves to make Kunsel wonder how much Zack is keeping pent up inside. How much is eating away at his best friend?]

You gonna be all right?

[colorofthesky]

[ It's not an excuse. Stressed or not, he still shouldn't have been like that with Kunsel -- not when his friend has gone out of his way so many times to help him.

He doesn't feel especially mollified or better about himself in general, but he does manage a faint smile. ]

Yeah.

[ Zack bottles up a lot (more than he should, maybe), but he bounces back regardless. He always does. ]

It was a stressful couple days.

[kunsel]

It was. For everyone, I think.

[Maybe even for the Mirrors in some ways. They might not seem to care as much, but who said they didn't care at all about their own? And it's certainly hard not to care about them completely when so many wear the faces of friends you know and love.]

It's over now, at any rate.

[But for how long? That was the question.]

[colorofthesky]

For now.

[ His chat with the Red Queen didn't leave him feeling especially optimistic. He just hopes they'll have some warning next time. ]

It seems like a war could break out here at any time.

[kunsel]

Well, is that really any different from what we're used to, Zack?

[The question has to be asked, because...well, is it different? The names have changed, and the faces that own them, too, but in the end, it's still the same ol' upheaval, the same opposing bodies of power vying for control, and all the little people in the middle paying the consequences.]

[colorofthesky]

[ Maybe it isn't different. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part, believing that he was finally free of such things. He's a SOLDIER through and through; he still works out and practices, not so much out of a conscious decision to be prepared, but because those things that he learned are comforting habits.

He used to want to go to war and make a name for himself more than anything. Now? Not so much.

Again, his gaze finds the Buster Sword, and his silence lasts a few seconds too long. When he does answer, there's a thread of weariness in it. ]

I got tired of it.

[kunsel]

I'm not surprised. It was tiring.

[No part of being in SOLDIER was quite like what they'd thought it would be, and Kunsel realizes that now. Rather, he realized it back then, too. Before Zack disappeared. When things were falling to pieces all around them and the perfect illusion that had been erected, the Firsts in all their glory, the Director all prim and proper, all of it...all of it shattered.]

[Noticing where Zack's gaze lingers, Kunsel sighs and plants a hand on his friend's shoulder.]

Maybe we can make a difference here, though. Somehow. Or...we can try. It's better than sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves, at any rate. And...besides, if you keep sitting around, I might catch up to you in squats. I can do quite a few now, you know.

[colorofthesky]

[ Tiring, draining....everything about SOLDIER turned out to be a messed of lies and corruption. It's discouraging to think about, knowing that an institution purported at an instrument of good could be so twisted in conception.

Still, Kunsel's comments bring a faint smile to his face. ]

I'm really falling down on the job, aren't I?

[kunsel]

I don't know about falling, but you're sitting, and sooner or later that leads to lying about, and you know where that leads, my friend? No longer needing suspenders for one, and for another, needing another size up in your uniform.

Come on.

[Kunsel pushes himself up, stretching with his arms held high above his head. For a moment it feels like he could touch the sky, like if he just uncurls his fingers...]

[But it's right here where he belongs, with Zack. His arms fall back to his sides and he smiles such a content, pleased smile, not one that's bothered at all by the words his friend spoke in the past. There isn't an ounce of blame in Kunsel; he really and truly would forgive Zack for anything.]

Has anyone bothered to do a sweep of the mirrors since we got back? To make sure everything's as it should be and there are no, I don't know, cracks? And so on?