Family Portrait [Fang]

[Hope Estheim]

Hope Estheim was dead.

Deader than dead. He was going to be so dead that no one could even tell how he died. If Fang wanted to meet with him - Hope specifically and apparently no one else - then he could only imagine that she'd finally decided the whole idea of Hope dating Vanille was completely unacceptable, and she planned to thrash him until he agreed. Or...he'd done something horrible that he hadn't been aware of at the time, and Fang had decided to teach him the hard way about his mistakes. Well...okay, so Hope was exaggerating the situation in his mind, and he knew it. Fang wouldn't do that to him...to such an extreme. But honestly, having Fang contact him and tell him to meet her at a specific place without explaining the reason? That had more than a few butterflies pounding at the inside of Hope's stomach. Hopefully Fang's lance wouldn't be pounding at the inside of his stomach before the day was over, either.

He'd told her he could meet after his classes, so once his last class of the day was over Hope had put aside his homework and made a beeline for the nearest shuttle headed outside of the city. Fang was a woman of nature, so Hope couldn't say he'd been surprised when she mentioned the entrance to the Archylte Steppe as the place they should meet. Hope obviously hadn't argued the point with her, since most of the monsters were cleared out of the near side of the Steppe now anyway. Not that said monsters were more dangerous than Fang. During the shuttle trip, his mind had come up with a million different reasons for Fang calling this little...pow-wow. Hope had been tempted to call Vanille on the way over, but ultimately he decided it was probably best not to do so. For some reason, he didn't think Vanille knew about this arranged meeting at all...which made him worry about the reason for it even more than before. Yeah...Hope had decided he should just stop thinking before the quick trip was over and had ended up looking at some scans about Steppe monsters that made Hope wonder how anyone could have survived on Gran Pulse if they didn't have any kind of training or l'Cie magic.

But before too long, the shuttle had come to rest on the very edge of the Archylte Steppe, and a solitary Hope left the shuttle station behind and started walking into the Steppe, across trails that hadn't been a part of the landscape during his first visit to Gran Pulse. The Academy, and before that, the remnants of PSICOM, had toiled endlessly to make places like the Steppe as safe as possible for travelers, researchers, or whoever else chose to pass through them, but they were still very much wild country. One might see a farmhouse here or there, but for the most part, it was just the ground below them, the sky above them, and whatever creatures - most of them chocobos or smaller monsters until one walked deeper into the Steppe - roamed nearby. Hope found himself alone for the few minutes it took him to walk towards the right landmark - the watering hole that Hope could remember as the first thing he'd seen when he'd walked into the Steppe for the first time as a boy of fourteen years old.

...And then he supposed he had to wait until Fang got there. He looked at his watch, noticing he was at least a minute or two early, so he trotted up towards the water and scratched at his arm as he looked at it. Hope kind of sort of wanted to get in the water...but then again, he was still kind of nervous about what Fang was going to throw at him (figuratively and literally) when she arrived. He ultimately settled on sitting down on the edge of the water, staring out at the expanse of the Steppe.

Words - 720
Tagged - Fang!
Muse - Excellent!
Place - Archylte Steppe
Outfit - Shorts, t-shirt
Notes - ANOTHER THREAD STARTER I DON'T THINK IS TERRIBLE. *passes out*[/size]

[Oerba Yun Fang]

With a final grunt, Fang slammed her lance deep into the skull of the fallen behemoth. Panting, Fang jerked her weapon back out and watched the behemoth shudder before laying completely still. Standing still for a few minutes, Fang watched to make sure it didn’t pop back up, before she turned to sit down on the beast that had attacked her. Damn, but that one had been mean. Wiping the sweat from off her forehead, Fang pulled her arm away, only to realize that she had a scratch on her arm that was oozing a little blood. Injuries were nothing new to her. It was to be expected by the lifestyle she lived. Free roaming, Pulsian huntress, Fang would have it no other way. If she wasn’t out here, feeling the excitement of the battle, that knowledge after the fight that you had won simply because you were tougher, smarter, or more agile then your opponent…there was really no feeling to match that. With a big yawn, she rested the lance on the ground and against the still warm hide of the fallen behemoth, leaned back against it, and yawned into her hand. This really was the life. No worries about Vanille or herself turning into cei’th, the sun on in her face, wind in her hair, the feel of her lance in her hand. Yes, it really was how life should be. She didn’t really give a damn that the rest of them wanted to be in cities, surrounded by their safety, their human contact, and the like. But sometimes, sometimes she did have to go and talk to them, or have them come to her.

The other day, Fang had been hanging out with her best friend, when something had slipped. Fang hadn’t overreacted at the time, just nodded along, but she was already two leaps ahead of Vanille in her mind. Oh Hope was a good kid, he really was, and for Vanille to date someone, she was glad that it was someone she could approve of. Or…had anyway. Other then that one date, -That Vanille had literally dragged her on- Fang hadn’t gotten a chance to speak with Hope at all. And that concerned her. Of everyone on this entire planet, Fang really only viewed one person as close as a sister. Yes, you had to be somebody to get her approval on this matter. Pushing herself back from the behemoth, she gave a little nod to show her respect for a fellow hunter, before picking up her lance and turning away. Glancing once at the sun, Fang decided that she should get a move on if she was going to make it to the opening of the Steppes in time to meet Hope. Hell, it had taken a lot of effort write that whole blasted note in the Cocoon language, since she wasn’t altogether sure just how much anyone knew her own language. There was also no damned way she was going to go to that blasted city, go into that damned building, and sit and chat over some desk. Oh no, she was most comfortable out here in the wilderness, and didn’t really care if Hope was uncomfortable out here. If he was, then he had lost all of the training from the time they’d all been together.

Luckily the behemoth had decided to attack her only about a mile from where she was to meet Hope. Glancing at the sun, she picked up her pace until her long legs were jogging. A few times she had to stop to dispatch a few gorgonopsids that prowled the land. Seeing his figure by the pond just ahead of her, Fang slowed her pace until she was swaggering along. No need to rush now, since he was there, and easily within shouting distance if she did need to get in contact with him. She had no doubt he’d be nervous, and was happy about that fact. If it weren’t for her promise to Vanille, after all, she would be a lot harsher on him. Because she had promised Vanille, however, she would stick to that word. Sure, she was gonna give him the father speech of all father speeches, but she wouldn’t hit him or anything, so that had to be a plus, right? Despite being more like a sister, since their parents were dead, and Fang was both older, and…less naïve, she had always been the leader of them. She viewed it as her position to do this. Hell, if her father wasn’t there to tell her boyfriend the boundaries, then she would.

When she was finally closer, Fang crossed her arms, “Heya Hope, miss all the bloodthirsty beasts on the way here?” Getting his attention that way, Fang moved to the water, bent over, cupped some in her hand, and splashed it on her now dried scratch on her arm, washing the blood off successfully, though it started to bleed a little bit again. “Damned behemoth, attackin’ me whoile I was comin’.”

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Words:; 1006
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Hope
Location:; Archylte Steppe
Outfit:; Click!
Notes:; \o/ Daddy!Fang
Listening too:;[/b] Soul Asylum - Runaway train

[Hope Estheim]

Seconds turned to minutes, and while Fang wasn't by any means late (not that he would have called her out on it if she had been), Hope still wished she would show up sooner rather than later. Thankfully, the Pulse wind and water served to calm him slightly. Hope really liked this wild planet, and he forgot that fact sometimes when he was in Academia, cooped up in between skyscrapers and streets that made Cocoon difficult to forget. The planet of Cocoon's refuge was starting to turn into the best of both worlds now, with the wide open air only a short shuttle's ride away from the cities or bigger towns. Hope needed to take that short drive more often. He was focused on his studies, yes, and he couldn't exactly explain why he happened to be so dedicated, but said studies definitely kept him away from the freedom of heading out into the wilder parts of Gran Pulse for a much needed vacation sometimes. In the back of his mind, he was thanking Fang for picking this spot to meet, since it helped him get away from the complete and total drive to complete his studies and start...trying to help fix things and gave him room to think about something other than engineering and science and history. Well...it would have given him time to think, if an angry Fang hadn't popped into the forefront of his mind every time he started to drift off. He tried thinking about Vanille instead. It...helped some.

Hope had taken interest in a flan sliding around on the opposite bank by the time Fang arrived. His gaze shifted quickly over to her when she spoke, and he had to take in the whole of her, since seeing her without her sari still seemed...strange to him somehow. Though she would have fit in most any Cocoon city with what she wore, Hope noticed she looked like she'd been through a rumble with it. Maybe that was a good thing...and her tone seemed pleasant enough, so he smiled lightly at her and responded. "Hey, Fang." He was working up towards a worthwhile answer to her question when he saw her bend over to the water and start splashing it across a reddened arm. His eyebrows knit at the obvious wound. "Are you all right?", Hope asked, rhetorically for all intents and purposes, because he knew open wounds for Fang were probably of no more concern than a scraped knee for the average person. Still, he never liked to see anyone bleeding, and thus pushed himself up a bit to inspect the wound closer. Fang mentioned a behemoth had attacked her. One woman fighting a behemoth with only an arm would to show for it. Years before, that would have been the most absurd story Hope had ever heard in his life.

In a flashback to his days as one of the main medics, along with Vanille, for their group of misfit l'Cie, Hope crouched down beside Fang and peered at the long scrape. Figuring he didn't have to ask her for permission, he moved his hand out over her arm, focusing on magic that he hadn't used very often lately and sending the aura of a successful cure spell down over the scrape. It was a task he'd performed on Fang at least three or four dozen times over the course of their journey, but the time that had passed and the fact that he was already nervous made the process more awkward than it needed to be, and Hope popped back up to his feet with a hand rubbing lightly at his neck. He still had access to his magic and, he assumed, even to Alexander, but honestly, how many times had he needed to use either over the past few years? He flexed his hand a couple of times to rid it of the old familiar tingling that magic casting caused him to experience and stepped back, giving Fang her room and preparing to have her drive nails through him over whatever it was she'd called him here about. At least they'd hit it off nicely to begin with...right?

Words - 748
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - I love this thread already. [/size]

[Oerba Yun Fang]

At his own greeting, Fang just grunted in return, figuring that was as good as anything else, besides, she’d already said her own hello, so that kind of cancelled out that. It was good to see him. Hell, he’d grown up to be quite a looker. She’d had her doubts that he would turn out to be much, but he’d sure proven her wrong. Then again, he’d definitely been able to throw that magic around like it wasn’t anything challenging even when just a boy. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she noted his height, the way he looked, actually commanding now, instead of a boy. Well hell, no wonder he’d caught Vanille’s eye. Still blasted young though. What did age have to do with anything though? He’d more then proven himself at fourteen, by seventeen, he really must have done even more. Quite the intelligent one, he’d always been destined for some great things. “Damn Hope, ya got tall, ya know? Some sorta heartbreaker ‘round tha’ damned city of yers?” Despite what she had come here to chew him out about, Fang couldn’t help but feel attached to the young man. He had, like the rest of their gang, wormed himself into her heart, despite having a shield up to keep them away. Damn, but it felt good to be back.

At his question about if she was alright, Fang waved a hand, showing she wasn’t concerned. “This? Ain’ nothin’ but a scratch. Damned behemoth caught me with it’s claw, knocked me ‘round a little bit. Tha’s wha’ ya get fer not payin’ attention. She’ll heal up proper though, no big deal.” Scrubbing at the wound, Fang wasn’t gentle, but did so roughly, ignoring the stinging that it was causing her. So was the way of Fang, rough and unpolished. Hell, there wasn’t enough time in the world to be ‘high class’ like those whimpy little Cocoon citizens thought they were. Tough? Hell no. She thought they were about as soft as a babies butt. That was exactly why she stayed away instead of adapting to the life of the city. Fang couldn’t begrudge them somewhere to stay and a life here, no, she wouldn’t do that, wasn’t that heartless. That didn’t mean, however, that she had to like them. No, Fang found that they annoyed the hell out of her, just talking about stupid petty things that nobody gave a damn about.

The next moment her thoughts were derailed when Hope healed her arm. Ceasing her scrubbing, she raised her brow and watched as the long cut in her arm started to heal. Sitting back on her heels, Fang grinned and rose to her full height, looking him in the eye. “Thanks kid, I owe ya one.” Giving him a heavy pat on the back, Fang turned and made her way over to where there was an outcropping of rocks, settling herself down on one and glancing over at him to see if he was following. “Roight then, Betcha want t’ know why I dragged ya all the way up ‘ere, huh?” Bringing a leg up, she rested her hand on her knee and raised an eyebrow, waiting on him to reply to her. She didn’t know what his thoughts were, but hell if he didn’t look a bit apprehensive about this. Vanille would be crabby if she knew Fang was actually giving him a speech, since she’d specifically told her not to. The hell with that. She was making sure he knew he’d better treat her damn well.

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Words:; 772
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Hope
Location:; Steppe
Outfit:; The one I linked!
Notes:; XD It's gonna be great
Listening to:;[/b] Soul Asylum - Runaway train

[Hope Estheim]

Chances were Hope couldn't even manage to look as sheepish as he felt at Fang's...compliment? Was it a compliment? Something of one, at least. Hope felt a little bit of pride every time someone told him he'd grown so much...because he'd hated being a short fourteen-year-old. Heartbreaker, though? He wished...kind of. But that was one of the last things he'd expected Fang to say about him. It pleased him...but boy, did he have a hard time looking her in the eye once it was said. "Not exactly," Hope said in reply, with his face as red as Fang's lance. Hope didn't exactly think women payed him that much mind, but his friends at the Academy informed him of the contrary. But really...Hope didn't want just any girl from the Academy chasing him around. He was a little too busy with his schoolwork for that kind of thing. And besides...a certain girl who had recently returned was better than anyone at the Academy, anyway. Hope...figured that was why her brunette companion was now standing here before him, preparing to cut out his eyes or something else horrible.

Yep, he'd been right about the rhetorical question. Not many people would brush off a wound delivered by a behemoth as a scratch, but nonetheless, Fang did so. Hope wanted to wince when he saw her washing on it so roughly, wondering how she hadn't gotten an infection at some point that had made her sick. Maybe she had sometime before Hope had known her...and maybe that was why Vanille was such a good healer. Hope often wondered what life had really been like for the two of them, growing up so alone in a world filled with war. He could say now that he'd been through a similar situation. It hadn't resulted in the near-destruction of his people, but looking back and knowing they'd all been led along like sheep by a fal'Cie that could have cared less if everyone died was really a scary thought. But at least most of those people hadn't been forced to see all their friends and family die because of some sort of foreign force fighting them from a world they didn't understand completely. That's why Fang could treat a scratch like this as if it was common, Hope figured - she'd been cut more deeply by life on Gran Pulse before, he was sure.

But now she had someone like Hope around to heal her. Hope didn't say anything after he'd performed the task and thanked him with a slap on the back, just smiling and nodding in response in order to avoid looking into her green gaze full-on. She seemed to want to carry their interaction elsewhere, so Hope followed behind her, remembering plenty of times that he'd trailed along in the back of the party along with one of the other l'Cie while Fang had taken the lead. Fang seemed to settle on a rock formation for the place they would stop, and Hope idled in place as she sat down, trying to pick out a place that he could sit, too. He finally plopped himself down on a set of rocks that looked like an armchair, putting his feet down on it and letting his elbows rest on his knees as he leaned forward, looking to Fang to start talking about...whatever she wanted to talk about. Hope's leg bounced a little nervously as she started. With a question, no less. Hope figured he would earn nothing from acting ignorant here. "Well...I guess it would be about Vanille, especially after that date we had recently. Was it too bold to act like he knew what was going on? Would Fang care? Hope was going to die from worry if Fang didn't kill him.

Words - 695
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Nothing. :3[/size]

[Oerba Yun Fang]

At his denial a hearty laugh came from her lips, eyes twinkling. “Ahh hell Hope, don’tcha be modest wi’ me or give me tha’ cheeky little grin hidden under tha’ sheepish look. What’re ya tryin’ ta be? Like tha’ damned sheep Vanille feeds fifty toimes a day?” Patting him on the back again, she appraised him once again. “Yer a good lookin’ chap, so I’m sure yer jus’ bein’ modest and ya really have the girls crawlin’ over themselves.” He needed a bit of an ego boost, because hell, had to be confident right? And aware of yourself. Then again, perhaps that was why she didn’t mind that he had showed some real interest in Vanille. Because he wasn’t some cocky devil of a teenage boy only interested in getting her into his bed. Yeah…probably the reason. So she probably shouldn’t encourage him when it came to this area. Instead she reached a hand up to affectionately ruffle his hair and set off to find herself somewhere comfy to sit on while she gave him the lecture of the century. Hope had been like a little brother to her before, but damn, he wasn’t little anymore. Still younger though, so she had that to hold over him anyway. By…oh, ya know, 507 years. Yup, more experience anyway.

Finally settling into the rock outcropping, Fang yawned and glanced over while Hope made himself comfortable as well. She fit in with the surroundings like she was meant to be here, and she was. He could keep his fancy cities and all their gadgets, she would rather be out here braving the wilderness anyway. Vanille had always liked cities more then her, then again, Vanille usually had a more open mind when it came to things. Fang liked the wilderness, liked Gran Pulse the way it had been before, and didn’t like the changes that they were bringing here. Still, as long as they let her have her wild land and didn’t change it all to look like Cocoon, left her the hell alone and didn’t bring up the subjects of the cities, she was fine with the Cocoon citizens. Hell, she couldn’t begrudge them a place to live just because she didn’t like the way they were making Pulse.

When he finally settled in, Fang opened an eye and asked him the question of if he was wondering why she had brought him out here. His answer surprised her, but it also satisfied her. So he wasn’t playing dumb. She figured he wouldn’t, because Fang didn’t like it when you did. Straightforward and to the point, she hated beating around the bush. Giving him a nod of approval, she leaned back against the rock and glanced over at him. “That’d be roight.” Pausing to rub her eyes, Fang glanced back at him again, a little smirk on her lips. “I tol’ ‘er I wouldn’t hurt ya or beat ya or anythin’, ain’tcha happy ‘bout that?”, she teased him. Then again, it wasn’t a joke, she had promised that she wouldn’t beat him, so she couldn’t do that at all. Not that she wanted to of course, but it never hurt to make them afraid of you. Where to start. “Alroight, well I haven’t done this before, but I want’cha ta know, tha’ if ya do ever hurt ‘er, I’ll have to forsake my promise a’ not hurtin’ ya.”, she warned, her face having gone from teasing to serious. “Our families both died hundreds of years ago in that damned war, an’ ever since then it’s been jus’ the two of us. I’d cut off moy roight arm ‘fore I let anyone hurt her, ya understand?”

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Words:; 804
Muse:; Stubborn XD
Tagged:; Hope
Location:; Archylte Steppe
Outfit:; Click here!
Notes:; XD Oh boy
Listening To:;[/b] Frontline - Pillar

[Hope Estheim]

Oh, wouldn't it have been nice if Fang asked him out here just to compliment him and simply tell him that just because he could have women "crawlin' over themselves", as she'd said, that he should still pay attention solely to Vanille? That would be great, because of all the things Fang could have been here to talk to him about, that would be the easiest one. Vanille had been on Hope's mind...a lot since the fall of Cocoon, and those thoughts had led to him being very happy for the...companionship they'd been building up since she'd awoken. For those three years, Hope couldn't really remember noticing any girls paying him any mind...friends had told him they were, but he'd never been looking for it so he'd never picked up on the attention of other women. Well, aside from that girl at the library who'd been extremely persistent and reminded him of Vanille in a small way...but that was still a credit to him that she was the only one he'd noticed, right? "Thanks, Fang," Hope said to her compliments after she'd ruffled his hair, feeling a little more heat rising to his face. Too bad it wasn't Gran Pulse heat. "But I'm not really great at noticing anything like that... I think I pay schoolwork too much attention."

The idea that women gave him attention was great, yeah, but Hope had flown through school so fast, most of the girls had mostly been a blur to him. Funny, because before he'd gotten back into school, women were all he could think about...he remembered his old friend, Irvine, and that strange girlfriend of his helping him meet Deuce in a park when Hope had been so...focused on meeting a girl. After that, it had only been here and there for him, never something he focused on. He fell into a thoughtful silence for a moment until a problem with his last statement occurred to him. "N-not at the expense of giving Vanille attention, though. She's...different from the schoolgirls. More important." Whew...

Okay, so mentioning he knew what their meeting was about had been the right choice. Hope gave her a slight smile once she'd nodded and said he was right...and the next comment she made was great, too. She was probably joking deep down about beating him to begin with, but yeah, he was sure happy that she'd told Vanille she wouldn't beat him to a pulp, because Fang did not go telling lies to Vanille. And then...it came. The threats. Or...more the promises of what would happen if Hope ever hurt Vanille. He wouldn't ever ever ever think of of doing such a thing, but he knew why Fang would want to make sure he wouldn't. So maybe...maybe this was just a confirmation thing, not a set of rules he'd have to perfectly abide by if he wanted to continue his...relationship with Vanille? Hopefully so. "I understand," Hope answered, again debating if he should just leave it at that or give Fang further reassurance. After a second or two of scratching at the rock he was sitting on, he looked back up at the Pulsian. "I promise I won't disappoint you. She and I have been through a lot together too, and..." Hope looked down at his hands. "...aside from Rygdea and my dad, you two are all I really have anymore. I wouldn't do anything to make bad blood between any of us, least of all hurt Vanille."

Words - 657
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Bad ending. u.u[/size]

[Oerba Yun Fang]

Fang gave him a knowing look and a grin when he finally thanked her for the complements. Well, sorta compliments. Fang didn’t want those damned girls crawling over him if he was seeing Vanille. And if it came down to tracking each girl down to tell them to stay away from the young man, then she would go to that level. Hell, no one needed the temptation of a million girls crawling over themselves to get to you. Not…that he had a million girls, but the general idea was there. Fang wasn’t going to have a bunch of half wit females chasing him if he was interested in Vanille like that. “Don’ thank me jus’ yet,” she cautioned. “Ya jus’ keep yer head buried in tha’ homework an’ the rest’ll be foine,” she said cheerfully. Fang herself didn’t know what having your nose pressed in a book even felt like, or the desire to do so. Her textbook, given the war and the fact that no one had time for book learning, had been the outdoors, and learning how to survive. Yes, the ability to use a weapon and provide protection for yourself, food in your gut and be productive to the war had been a lot more important then knowing the Pulsian language properly. If not for some of the older ones taking the time with the younger orphans, they’d probably all have no idea about any sort of book learning.

Though they had been taught more through stories and experiences then they had been with books. It was a rough age, at least when it came to the school, that of her and Vanille’s. Considering the circumstances, she thought they had done alright with themselves. Really, Vanille had put more stock in the learning aspect, and had drug her into it as well. She’d never really had time for that stuff, being more involved with learning to defend herself and being out every day with the other hunters, getting strong and as tough as they got. Still, Vanille would learn and then teach her just by talking in excitement over what she had learned. Being bright – despite the stubbornness – Fang had picked up on some of it as well. The biggest thing he had learned from all of that crap tied up in books, however, was that you did things your own way. She had done things her own way, and it hadn’t turned out so bad in the end. Perhaps it had been a rough road getting there, but the end result was alright. At least she thought so.

His hurried addition to the schoolwork comment did nothing but make her raise a brow. What was the boy tripping all over himself for? Surely she…wasn’t intimidating him already, was she? She hadn’t even threatened him at all! Perhaps Vanille was right. Perhaps she shouldn’t threaten him any. Yeah, that migh-…okay hell no, she was going to threaten him. She’d waited for one too many years, perfected exactly what she was going to say, and had looked forward to this day for one too many years to just let go of the idea of chewing some poor boy up one side and down the other. “I don’ doubt you’ll ‘ave toime fer ‘er. She’ll take care a’ tha’ herself, so I’m not concerned.” Yes, Vanille could dominate someones attention very easily, so Fang wasn’t worried in that area.

Thankfully, this was Hope, and he would know that she meant everything she said, despite the times when her voice had been teasing. The man that crossed Vanille or hurt her in any way, crossed Fang as well, and that wasn’t anything anyone wanted to deal with. One crazy Pulsian would be enough to contend with, but two? Well that was suicide. “Good! I’m glad ya’ realoize jus’ how serious she is, ya’ know? It helps, ‘cause I was feelin’ pretty damned lazy today. If I could not beat anyone, it’d be great.” Fang would have slapped him on the back again if she was close, but instead she just waved his comments off. “Hell, what’re ya tryin’ ta’ do? Make me cry? I’m gettin’ all choked up and fuzzy feelin’ insoide over ‘ere.”

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Words:; 885
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Hope
Location:; Archylte Steppe
Outfit:; That one!
Notes:; ...I hadn't noticed you had posted here either ;-; Forgive me
Listening To:;[/b] Clones - Chevelle

[Hope Estheim]

Fang didn't have to tell Hope to keep his nose buried in the books. Between his dad's quiet expectations, the intellectual call of this new society and Hope's own desire to get to the point that he knew enough to be able to make a difference instead of just being carried along with the tide, there was no risk he was going to suddenly abandon his studies because girls were paying him more attention than they had when he'd been...well...shorter. And if they only started paying attention now that he was more of a man than he'd been before, they were probably pretty shallow anyway, right? Right. Hah, it sounded like something Rygdea would tell him...and probably had been. Hope may simply have been in his...uh...previous state regarding women at the time and hadn't listened all that closely. Whew, he was glad he was past that strange state...and that Fang hadn't known about it.

..Okay, good, Fang agreed with him on the point of making enough time for Vanille. And Hope would definitely make sure to do it. He couldn't spend all his time with his nose in a book and hadn't been, either - he'd made friends at the university, mostly, and then aside from the little time he spent with them he had free time on the side that he usually...packed more studying into just because he didn't always have anything to do during the time. Actually, he'd even spent some of it gazing at the crystal tower and wishing the three women back from their frozen states. That space in his life belonged solely to Vanille now, and he was more than willing to give it. Well..if she wanted it, and only if. But...so far it looked as if she had, right? And Fang wouldn't have been here if Vanille wasn't...really interested in this kind of a dynamic. And she just said Vanille would be making sure he spent time with her. It all sounded like things were falling into place, if anyone asked Hope. "Great," he said, in genuine joy though he made sure he didn't act all...boyishly giddy. Heh, Fang probably wouldn't think too much of that kind of reaction... He scratched lightly at his chin, diverting his eyes for a moment.

But then there was that word, that caused Hope to draw a wide-eyed gaze to Fang when it left her lips. Serious? Serious... Serious. Hope...knew he shouldn't have had the word come as a surprise, but hearing it still half-terrified, half-elated him. So it was serious to Vanille, and it was serious to Fang, and that left Hope to feel like he could finally admit to himself that it was serious to him, too. Hope peered down to play with his fingers, a smile slowly forming on his face. Wow, things had really changed these past few weeks, hadn't they? And he was very, very glad they had. His eyes turned back up to Fang, laughing at her joke about his sappiness and suddenly thinking that boyish giddiness was starting to show through a little. Oh well...she could spare him a little excitement, couldn't she? "You know it's true, Fang!", he finally felt brave enough to say, determined he was going to think of Fang as the woman he trusted with his life back on their journey instead of...the scary "older sister" of the girl he was now serious with. Yep, thinking of her like that made this all easier. And that's what they were anyway. They were just a bunch of people that trusted each other. "Vanille would tell you the same thing."

And that was a fact he was proud of.

Words - 681
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Should we discuss where to take this or how to finish or something along those lines? :0[/size]