[With Serah and Hope both gone and Snow... Wherever the hell he is-- The house is quiet. Yeul makes the best of things by trying to do this and that around the house to make it seem lively but... Lightning and Noel aren't exactly the types to add to it right now. (His jaw still hurts like hell from where Snow hit him, of course, he's not in the mood to be a homemaker right now.)
Coming down the stairs that morning, he intends to drown himself in more work getting the chocobos ready and working with Izana to get everything prepared. But the smell of fresh coffee is pleasant in his nose as he catches sight of her near the counter.
Guess he could make a pit stop.]
Morning. [He rounds to the counter and nods his thanks before picking it up. Nearby a sleepy Daisy trots along near the heels of Noel's feet.]
[Yup, this is as per the norm for the last month, save for the added coffee. Usually, she was already out of the house and elsewhere by the time anyone came down so it feels like she's seeing Noel for the first time in a week. It could be longer, for all she knows; she stopped keeping track around the second week after Serah and Snow left and now with Hope gone, Lightning stopped caring entirely.
She sips at her coffee, staring at his cup on the marble counter as he picks it up, rather than at him.]
Hey.
[Lightning falls silent for a while again, covering it up with more of her drink.]
[That's not exactly a question he can answer easily and he almost thinks about finding a way around answering it but he lets out a soft sigh and takes a careful drink from his coffee first.
Things are awkward. Things are in an upheaval around the house. Snow is off gallivanting in his own sorrow. Yeul is trying to keep things tame. Noel's face still hurts. Noel has a clutch of chocobo eggs to deal with.
[Things really are awkward, and Lightning isn't quite sure what she was hoping to have come out of them talking, but they're both here now, and he looks just as emotionally exhausted as she feels. She lets out a sigh into her cup.]
You don't look it. Your face alright?
[She had spotted the bruise on Noel's face not long after Snow had left the house, but didn't take care to question it much. Besides, knowing those two, she could figure it out on her own just fine.]
[Don't judge him like that, Lightning. Noel turns his gaze away so that she can't directly see the side of his face where his jaw is still slightly swollen and yellowish.]
... It's- ... [He's about to dodge again but then realizes that with Snow out of the house and everything else in disarray like it is that it would probably do him some good to talk to someone about what's going on. Maybe Lightning is looking for something like that too.]
I said some things to Snow that I regret. [He was just so ... angry. Still is.]
[Lightning's default mode is judgmental. She can't help her scrutinizing look. It softens when he does talk, because she hadn't really expected Noel to talk about it any more than what's already been said... and it's just as she thought.]
Yeah. I figured.
[No matter how good or heartfelt Noel's best man speech was, the two of them will never not butt heads about things. She's slowly come to accept that it's just who they are... begrudgingly.]
Better that he run around acting like some kind of martyr than keeping it bottled up.
[She has never seen what that kind of thing would do to Snow until she met him five hundred years later. He was a changed man, different from the one that she knew and had grown to forgive over time, and it was a change that she didn't like.]
And what about you?
[She may look pissed off (all the time, but whatever), but she's genuinely concerned for Noel's emotional well-being as much as she is anyone else's. If he's been keeping things on the inside too, then she's hear to listen if he wants to let them out. The Noel she remembers well from back home had been torn apart by grief, too.]
If he's going to do something stupid for it then he deserves to get punched in the face.
[That comes out in a bitter growl faster than he can stop himself. But, it's said and he decides to not take it back. His coffee starts to boil and bubble.]
... I'm dealing with things. With Yeul here I have to focus on her.
[It's mostly an excuse. He's hurting just as much as the rest of them but he'd rather focus on Yeul than run away with his tail between his legs.]
[The last part, at least. She kind of agrees with the former, since Lightning's done her fair share of throwing punches with Snow. But while Yeul has a lot to learn about this new world around her, it's not the girl Lighting is worried about.]
You can't focus on her and forget to take care of yourself.
[She realizes how harsh she must sound, so Lightning pauses to take in a breath.]
[Noel should be so happy that Yeul is here and she's alive and has a chance to live a life here beyond visions and rotting worlds. And he is- But with the turmoil between him and Snow and Serah's departure it has been hard. He's been trying to focus on the bigger picture while everything else just festers below the surface.]
What I need doesn't matter. [Noel says this quietly, eyes still watching his coffee boil in his cup.]
You should focus on getting Snow to come home. I'll be fine. I don't plan on going anywhere either if that's what you're going to worry about next.
[Her voice is firm, almost a little commanding, when she spits it out.]
I'm not going to sit here and watch you sweep how you feel under the rug like that. If you wanna go find somewhere else to stay, then I'm not going to stop you, and I don't have the power to stop Snow, either. But if you keep things in like that...
[Lightning trails off and it's her turn to look away now. Not only does she realize she's being a hypocrite, but she's afraid of what will happen if all of them continue to keep themselves closed off like this – either the house is going to come crumbling down, or they will.]
[Noel doesn't react much while Lightning goes on, only glancing off with a tired look in his eyes. Things were so much simpler with Serah here, she really was a glue that kept them all together. He frowns.]
I'm guessing she'd want us to keep on keeping on, wouldn't she. Holding it all together.
[His coffee stops boiling and Noel blows on it to take a careful taste.]
I'm angry at Snow. For being angry. I know that's wrong, but I can't help it. I don't want him hurting himself more than he already is. [And there's nothing Noel can do until Snow is ready to come back.]
I'm worried about you. You've lost enough people that have been important to you, here. [But how is he supposed to fix something like that? He can't.]
The only thing I can help is making Yeul happy and I'm worried I'm going to screw that up too.
[She means that. As much as she misses all of the people who are gone from her life now, there are a lot of people still here that matter, too. Noel included, which is why she fixes him with a rigid look.
Neither of them can do nothing to change the fact that all of them have lost people important to them at one point, so all they can do is keep moving forward, if not for themselves, then for each other.]
Yeul seems happy. She has you. If you're gonna go around being angry, then what's she got left? [A beat, and she takes a sip of her coffee.] Only way you'll screw that up is if you keep acting like this.
[He looks at her with an even look as well, though there's the slightest hint of a smile on his lips.]
What's the saying? Practice what you preach?
[Because he does worry about her. A lot. Of all the people on this entire island, she probably understands him the most. Their friendship has changed a lot over their year here. He's come to think of her well-being quite often. So, if he isn't allowed to worry, she's not allowed to worry either.]
You know. [He lets out a soft sigh.] You sound like someone else who told me something similar. Guess I do have to clean up my act.
[She's genuinely curious as to who else has told him that. Serah, maybe, but her reminder might have been a little gentler. Snow, perhaps? Do they even talk? She doesn't really know. Maybe with a fist? It's possible...]
[There's the hint of an amused glint in her eyes, somewhere between the concern and the firmness. Practice what you preach, he says... is he suggesting she, too, learn from a seven year old girl?
... Wouldn't put it past either of them.
There's a beat of silence, and while Lightning does agree with the sentiment, there's one thing she feels she needs to remind Noel and maybe, by extension, herself:]
Be happy for your sake, too. Else you can't be happy for hers.
[Kid seems wiser than her age, so...Yeah. He is. He was surprised at her simple but firm logic. And who has the heart to argue with a little kid, anyway?
He watches her as he gives a small smile and nods.]
I'll try. Thanks. Lightning.
[His coffee wafts up more gentle fresh coffee smell. Thank for more than just all of the talks over coffee or the prodding and/or scolding. For being able to relate and understand.]
[From where she's standing, Lightning has no idea what could even be the problem. As far as she's concerned, all she's doing is offering her family a shoulder to lean on when they need it, but when Noel averts his gaze from her, she can't help but crack a little smile. She gets it – it's difficult to admit these things; Lightning has enough trouble doing it herself, but she's glad that Noel is starting to open up to her, even just a bit more.]
Noel. You know that you can come to me for anything.
[Or if he ever needs an opinion that isn't coated in sugar.]
[Does he? Does he? Lightning isn't going to tease him for it, as much as she'd like to, especially with the way he glances at her and smiles like that.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Coming down the stairs that morning, he intends to drown himself in more work getting the chocobos ready and working with Izana to get everything prepared. But the smell of fresh coffee is pleasant in his nose as he catches sight of her near the counter.
Guess he could make a pit stop.]
Morning. [He rounds to the counter and nods his thanks before picking it up. Nearby a sleepy Daisy trots along near the heels of Noel's feet.]
no subject
She sips at her coffee, staring at his cup on the marble counter as he picks it up, rather than at him.]
Hey.
[Lightning falls silent for a while again, covering it up with more of her drink.]
How've you been...?
no subject
Things are awkward. Things are in an upheaval around the house. Snow is off gallivanting in his own sorrow. Yeul is trying to keep things tame. Noel's face still hurts. Noel has a clutch of chocobo eggs to deal with.
Hope is gone.
Serah is gone.]
I'm alive. You?
no subject
[Things really are awkward, and Lightning isn't quite sure what she was hoping to have come out of them talking, but they're both here now, and he looks just as emotionally exhausted as she feels. She lets out a sigh into her cup.]
You don't look it. Your face alright?
[She had spotted the bruise on Noel's face not long after Snow had left the house, but didn't take care to question it much. Besides, knowing those two, she could figure it out on her own just fine.]
no subject
... It's- ... [He's about to dodge again but then realizes that with Snow out of the house and everything else in disarray like it is that it would probably do him some good to talk to someone about what's going on. Maybe Lightning is looking for something like that too.]
I said some things to Snow that I regret. [He was just so ... angry. Still is.]
no subject
Yeah. I figured.
[No matter how good or heartfelt Noel's best man speech was, the two of them will never not butt heads about things. She's slowly come to accept that it's just who they are... begrudgingly.]
I think we all did.
no subject
There was a lot of resentment that day. Old emotions drudging up for Noel that he now can say he regrets. Not all of it- but ... Most of it.]
I can't stand the thought of him running around and acting like a martyr when he's not the only one hurting.
no subject
[She has never seen what that kind of thing would do to Snow until she met him five hundred years later. He was a changed man, different from the one that she knew and had grown to forgive over time, and it was a change that she didn't like.]
And what about you?
[She may look pissed off (all the time, but whatever), but she's genuinely concerned for Noel's emotional well-being as much as she is anyone else's. If he's been keeping things on the inside too, then she's hear to listen if he wants to let them out. The Noel she remembers well from back home had been torn apart by grief, too.]
no subject
[That comes out in a bitter growl faster than he can stop himself. But, it's said and he decides to not take it back. His coffee starts to boil and bubble.]
... I'm dealing with things. With Yeul here I have to focus on her.
[It's mostly an excuse. He's hurting just as much as the rest of them but he'd rather focus on Yeul than run away with his tail between his legs.]
no subject
[The last part, at least. She kind of agrees with the former, since Lightning's done her fair share of throwing punches with Snow. But while Yeul has a lot to learn about this new world around her, it's not the girl Lighting is worried about.]
You can't focus on her and forget to take care of yourself.
[She realizes how harsh she must sound, so Lightning pauses to take in a breath.]
... I mean that you've been quiet lately.
no subject
What I need doesn't matter. [Noel says this quietly, eyes still watching his coffee boil in his cup.]
You should focus on getting Snow to come home. I'll be fine. I don't plan on going anywhere either if that's what you're going to worry about next.
no subject
[Her voice is firm, almost a little commanding, when she spits it out.]
I'm not going to sit here and watch you sweep how you feel under the rug like that. If you wanna go find somewhere else to stay, then I'm not going to stop you, and I don't have the power to stop Snow, either. But if you keep things in like that...
[Lightning trails off and it's her turn to look away now. Not only does she realize she's being a hypocrite, but she's afraid of what will happen if all of them continue to keep themselves closed off like this – either the house is going to come crumbling down, or they will.]
no subject
I'm guessing she'd want us to keep on keeping on, wouldn't she. Holding it all together.
[His coffee stops boiling and Noel blows on it to take a careful taste.]
I'm angry at Snow. For being angry. I know that's wrong, but I can't help it. I don't want him hurting himself more than he already is. [And there's nothing Noel can do until Snow is ready to come back.]
I'm worried about you. You've lost enough people that have been important to you, here. [But how is he supposed to fix something like that? He can't.]
The only thing I can help is making Yeul happy and I'm worried I'm going to screw that up too.
no subject
[She means that. As much as she misses all of the people who are gone from her life now, there are a lot of people still here that matter, too. Noel included, which is why she fixes him with a rigid look.
Neither of them can do nothing to change the fact that all of them have lost people important to them at one point, so all they can do is keep moving forward, if not for themselves, then for each other.]
Yeul seems happy. She has you. If you're gonna go around being angry, then what's she got left? [A beat, and she takes a sip of her coffee.] Only way you'll screw that up is if you keep acting like this.
no subject
What's the saying? Practice what you preach?
[Because he does worry about her. A lot. Of all the people on this entire island, she probably understands him the most. Their friendship has changed a lot over their year here. He's come to think of her well-being quite often. So, if he isn't allowed to worry, she's not allowed to worry either.]
You know. [He lets out a soft sigh.] You sound like someone else who told me something similar. Guess I do have to clean up my act.
no subject
[She's genuinely curious as to who else has told him that. Serah, maybe, but her reminder might have been a little gentler. Snow, perhaps? Do they even talk? She doesn't really know. Maybe with a fist? It's possible...]
Who told you that?
no subject
A seven-year-old girl. Named Alice.
[A little girl that seemed a little more wiser and a little more clever than a lot of adults he knows...]
Told her I wasn't sure I deserved Yeul. She told me I should be happy for her sake or I wouldn't.
no subject
[There's the hint of an amused glint in her eyes, somewhere between the concern and the firmness. Practice what you preach, he says... is he suggesting she, too, learn from a seven year old girl?
... Wouldn't put it past either of them.
There's a beat of silence, and while Lightning does agree with the sentiment, there's one thing she feels she needs to remind Noel and maybe, by extension, herself:]
Be happy for your sake, too. Else you can't be happy for hers.
... I learned that the hard way.
no subject
He watches her as he gives a small smile and nods.]
I'll try. Thanks. Lightning.
[His coffee wafts up more gentle fresh coffee smell. Thank for more than just all of the talks over coffee or the prodding and/or scolding. For being able to relate and understand.]
no subject
Hm? For what?
[Why do people keep thanking her for things she doesn't think she needs to be thanked for? Far as she knows, she didn't do much of anything.]
no subject
... Thanks for being able to relate and be honest with me. It helps. There's not a lot of people I can talk to like this.
no subject
Noel. You know that you can come to me for anything.
[Or if he ever needs an opinion that isn't coated in sugar.]
no subject
Yeah. I know.
[He glances at her again and smiles.]
we can probably wrap this! ♥
Drink your coffee, before it gets cold.