[Text | voice- locked from baddies]

[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

[And with one simple video, Celes' world has turned upside down again and she's not sure what to think. Gaia is messing with her now. Time was, she'd have rushed straight over to see him, but now... that's just what she needs: time. So she does the natural thing and high-tails it out of Figaro on foot in the middle of the night.

She doesn't leave without shooting off a couple of locked text feeds first, though.

Edgar:
Something's come up. I'm leaving for a few days. Don't try to find me. I won't be gone long.

and Terra:
I'm not in Figaro right now, but can we talk? Text, voice, or in person, I don't care. 

After that, she flicks on her Sky Phone to announce her departure to the rest of Gaia via voice post.]


If anyone needs me, I'm leaving Figaro for a few days. Call it cabin fever. I won't be gone long.


[For the early hours of the morning, she will be getting herself beaten up in the Sunleth Waterscape, as per her usual coping mechanisms. Once the sun starts peeking out, she'll head off somewhere else where she won't be found as easily, tucking herself among shelves of books and actually reading to pass the time.

After a while, she gets up the nerve to text Balthier.
We need to talk. Phone or in person, it doesn't matter.]

Comments

[Action]

[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

[At least he understands her position.]

That's what I'm worried about. I guess... at least this way I know he's safe.

[That's... one good thing to come out of all this. She glances at him and frowns slightly. How has she not noticed this before?]

I wasn't aware you wore glasses.

[Action]

[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

[He lifts a hand to gingerly touch the frames, as if he'd forgotten he was wearing them. Ah, right.] For reading, mostly, or working with small parts.

[He gives a bit of an embarrassed smile.] Since you chose to hide out in a library, I thought I might come prepared.

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[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

They're nice.

[She's not used to people wearing them anymore. But they really are nice.]

I'm just not used to people wearing them.

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[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

I'd noticed they don't seem popular on Gaia. [He straightened them a bit before lowering his hand, letting it fall benignly into his lap.]

I used to dislike them when I was young, before I realized how much of a help they were.

[Action]

[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

That would change an opinion, wouldn't it?

[Her lips might be attempting to curl upwards. Distraction: she needs one so much.]

Like I said... they look nice.

[Action]

[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

[He smiles again in reply, this one a bit more genuine than the last.]

Perhaps I should wear them more often.

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[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

That's up to you entirely. I won't tell you what you should or shouldn't wear.

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[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

I like the reaction they get. I'll take this into serious consideration.

[He smirks, leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed over his vest.]

I suppose I should be giving you your space before too long, however, much as I am loathe to leave your company.

[Action]

[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

[She ducks her head in embarrassment, letting her eyes fall to the books on the table as she avoids his gaze.]

I...

[She pauses to give this serious thought.]

I won't tell you when to leave. ["Stay as long as you like. I enjoy your company." Somehow, he's helping to keep her calm.]

[Action]

[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

My only fear is overstaying my welcome. [However, that said, he makes no move to leave, only leans forward and reaches to put a hand over hers, even as she avoids meeting his eyes.]

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[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

I'll let you know if you do.

[She doesn't pull away from his touch, but neither does she make any move toward him. Which, honestly, is as much admission that he's welcome to stay and do what he likes to comfort her as anything.]

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[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

[He assumes as much -- Celes has never been shy about letting him know when affection is unwarranted during their previous meetings, and he doubts very much that such behavior would change now. He lightly squeezes her hand, pulling his own chair a bit closer.]

What were you reading?

[Action]

[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

[She either doesn't notice his move or is simply ignoring it for now. Her gaze turns to the book, which she nudges toward him with her free hand.]

Nothing really, just comparing technological advancements between this library and home. It's interesting. Passes the time easily enough.

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[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

[He accepts the book with genuine interest, pulling at it so that it rests between them on the table, rather than directly in front of either one of them. He examines the open page, eyebrow quirked.]

Fascinating. I'll be honest, I hadn't taken the time to visit this place until now. Seems a shame. I could easily spend days here.

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[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

I'm not much of a book person usually, not like this. [Which is why she chose this place.] I figured a change of pace might be nice.

[she glances at him.] You're a library person?

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[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

[He smiles, making an effort to appear enigmatic for effect.]

I was quite a lot of things before I became a sky pirate. A science person, as well as an avid book person.

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[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

[She squints at him for a few moments, as though sizing him up.]

I know we've... talked about our respective pasts, but... I still feel like there's a lot about you that I don't know.

[Gods all curse everyone for making her so soft and caring... and curious about other people.]

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[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

That night was about you. I thought it might not be the best time to share all the details of my colorful history. [He wasn't quite prepared to talk about it openly yet, either, but he leaves that much unsaid.]

I don't mean to sound conceited, but I was considered quite the prodigy in Archades. My father wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I rather wanted the same, until he went mad.

[Action]

[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

And we both had our reserves by then. [Meaning she had her own problems with explaining everything if it didn't tell him she wasn't someone to mess with.]

Sounds like being prodigies is another thing we have in common. [His father, hm? She tosses him a cautiously curious look.] Though I can't say I ever really knew my parents. I grew up in the Empire, deep in the Empire.

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[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

As did I. [He pauses, carefully considering his next words.] And Dr. Cid made sure I stayed deep within the Archadian Empire every step of the way.

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[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

[That makes her eyes widen in surprise. Well... that explains a lot. But she can't really fault him. After all, look what she grew up with.]

...I never would have guessed, though I never did know him personally. He... had some of the same qualities that made Kefka so dangerous, but I think Kefka was a bit more off his rocker than Dr. Cid.

[Action]

[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

That was part of what made him so dangerous. He was mad, to be sure... but he had enough control to continue to pursue his lust for nethicite with a single-mindedness that was... truly frightening. [He frowns.]

He sold me into military servitude to gain himself leverage; had me made a Judge. I was sixteen.

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[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

Kefka was too mad to care what he was doing. [He was bad enough.]

But you didn't stick with that any more than I stayed a general of an Empire that slaughtered its people. [Being forced to lay fire to Maranda had changed her.]

[Action]

[theleadingman.livejournal.com]

[He shakes his head.]

I couldn't stay there. I had watched his steady descent into madness over a matter of years. It was the last straw. I abandoned the Judges less than a year later and stole the prototype of a ship I had helped design when I had worked in aeronautics. Redesigned the ship so it wouldn't be recognizable, changed my name and took to piracy instead. It was about as far from being the star of Draklor Laboratory as I could get.

[There's another long pause as he questions whether or not to go further.]

I didn't see him again for four years or so. Not until I found myself a part of Princess Ashelia's struggle to reclaim Dalmasca from the Empire. He had fallen even father than I had expected, willing to go to any lengths to...

[He frowns again, discreetly fussing with his shirtcuffs.] We were forced to confront him more than once. In the end, I put him down.

[Action]

[magitekrune.livejournal.com]

[She listens silently, taking in what he's saying in quiet support. She understands what it's like to admit things, to show weakness like this. She doesn't prod him when he pauses, glancing back at the books to give him space until he continues. When he starts messing with his shirtcuffs, she hesitates... and then places a hand on his wrist. For comfort. Because she understands.]

I wasn't lying when I said I'd laid waste to innocent people before. [At least his hadn't been innocent.] But when I turned against the Empire, I turned against everything and everyone I'd grown up with. I know what that's like... to lose people important to you... to be unable to save them.