Sixteen: Silence is golden

[mach_kick]

[Zell has hit upon an innovative way--sort of--to counteract the effects of the JD plot. He's taped his mouth shut. Occasionally he will make "Mmm-ing" noises, but so far has not blurted out anything he doesn't want known to either Dante or Selphie. There is a pad of paper next to him with notes jotted down--the two on this page say "Shut up, Dante

Comments

[booyaka_baby]

.....Zell, is something wrong?

She wasn't quite sure what to think of this. At all. This whole business didn't seem that bad, but it looked like she was the only one that didn't seem to mind. Which puzzled her, to say the least. Why was it that it didn't bother her, while everyone else was having problems? She'd have to investigate this...

[mach_kick]

[Zell writes his answer on the notepad]

Selph, even I have secrets and issues I don't want to blurt out.

[booyaka_baby]

Oh! Well that's totally understandable.

Although saying that made her stop and think, then she began to worry. Issues? Zell had issues? Oh no! This was terrible! Something must've happened when she hadn't been there, and now...

No! She mentally slapped herself to focus. They'd get to that one thing at a time.

You can talk to me whenever you need to Zell, you know that right? .....Right?

[mach_kick]

[Zell smiles, although under the tape it's hard to tell]

Of course. I just haven't been able to ramble your ear off yet during one of our mutual bitch sessions. It's nothing really serious, so don't worry too much. Most of it is I'm not sleeping well lately.

[with_liiiiiight]

[Dante grins at Zell cheekily, darting in close faster than any human would have been able to do. He pulls off the tape in one swift yank, obviously highly amused]

Fixed it! It was getting too damn quiet around here.

It wasn't like Dante needed a reason to tease Zell---no, he didn't need a reason other than he liked the way he flushed from cheeks to ears and shifted around like a child that had to pee when he was embarrassed---but this was special. How often did he get to hear what was going on under that blond mop, straight from his mouth?

Zell's lips were worn red and puffy from the tape, giving Dante's normally scattered mind something to concentrate on. Oh, and concentrate he did, waiting for whatever wisdom or filth was going to pour out of his meek little friend.

This was like Christmas!

[mach_kick]

[Zell jumps to his feet, looking both shocked and pissed off]

Have you no concept at ALL of privacy?! There are things I don't want to share, okay? Not with you, not with ANYBODY.

Zell hadn't been this angry since, well, the last time Seifer had been an ass to him. He was actually shaking, although from anger or the fear of what he might say, he wasn't sure. Everything was boiling over--the lack of sleep, his denial of the fact that he definitely had post-traumatic stress disorder, and on top of that all his confused feelings about Dante.

Hitting him would do no good, but he really, really wanted to. As it was, he was pretty sure something was going to break in the next few seconds.

[with_liiiiiight]

Grew up with a twin, remember? There were no personal boundaries, not until we got split up, at least.

Aww, c'mon. You know I don't judge. We're friends! Share and share alike. I'd tell you anything you want~♥

The teasing was easy, fluid and right. Worry stuck to his ribs, though, because Zell honestly looked pissed at him---and what was being said didn't exactly set well with him. Dante was great at playing stupid---had spent most of his teen years perfecting it---but he was far from being stupid. He understood what hard times did to shape people, understood in a way that only a kid who had seen his brother and mother murdered in front of his eyes and had been left to cope and grow up on his own could understand. Dante wanted to tousle his hair, distract him and make all that tension seep back out of him, but he was helpless to say anything right.

Zell deserved him not to screw this up, even if his honesty was compulsory.

Seriously, though? You can hit me if you want. You can hit me a lot, if you'd just cheer the fuck up.

[mach_kick]

[Zell drops his hands, not even realizing he'd put them up]

Okay. I'll talk. I'd rather say this when I have control over it.

So, I haven't told you a whole lot about me. Went through a war, kicked a lot of ass, fought two or three Sorceresses, depending on how you wanna define it. Here's some other quick stuff: I'm a war orphan. I spent a year on the street on my own, when I was four or so. And where I come from, demons are just myth, really.

[takes a deep breath] I'm scared, Dante. Like I said, I fought insane and maybe evil Sorceresses a few times. That last one, I barely came out alive. The stuff she put on us was horrible. But I've been reading Sam's books, and a lot of them mention what happens to good fighters that fight real evil without taking any precautions. Stuff... stuff can get into them, little fragments of that evil, and it starts growing.

[Gestures expressively] All of this. The nightmares, the manic energy, the not-sleeping. I thought it was just PTSD, because I beat a lot of soldiers who were just doing their