It’d be a lie if Yufi said she hadn’t seen him around before. He’s got a distinctive look... amputee, emotional support dog and all. There’s no classes they share together, but on occasion they find themselves in same common circles. Crafting, architecture, art. Not to say she’s been eavesdropping... but one grows curious and cares to listen when wanting to know who they’re surrounded by.
It’d be unfair to say he’s harmless-- his handicap does not necessarily mean he’s incapable. In fact, she knows little of what he does, what interests him besides the activities they share together. But she assumes, at the least, he means no harm to her, as he holds little interest in doing more than the absolute necessary.
But her curiosity does grow, and the opportunity to speak to him arises when they find themselves situated next to one another, painting ❛ the waves of their internal strife. ❜ Yufi wouldn’t have looked... that intensely, anyway... if it hadn’t been for the fact that they seemed to be out of brick red. She planned to use it for her sunset on the horizon... he had obviously used it for his own imagery. Not an issue, really, but she can’t help but ask, peering onward to his canvas. ❝ ...You want any other colors, besides this red? Seems like you’ve got a lot to unpack. ❞ / a starter for @endsought !
“ SO . . . i’ve heard you’re the boss around here. Nooj, right ? “ bare fingers would thread through jecht’s long, ebony locks, head canted to the side, somewhat, awkwardly. KILIKA had regained much of it’s former glory --- but the bitter memories had still remained. what he’d done ; whether he could’ve controlled it or not. How many families had he separated ? How many children had he-----
“ bah !! “ best not to dive down that rabbit hole ; he’d thought. opting to plant his blade into the ground, instead, bending at the knees a few time to stretch out his ligaments, before returning to proper posture and rolling his shoulder. his first thoughts upon resurfacing on SPIRA were, naturally, to find his son --- but he’d landed face first into some ‘ youth league ‘ nonsense. after all these years, it seemed jecht was still quite the magnet for trouble.
A sigh passed through her nose, and without meaning to, her head hung enough so that all she could see were the worn tips of her boots shuffling against the ground. The thoughts that seemingly never subsided had mounted to absolutely nothing when seeking out Nooj’s wisdom—he was right; no amount of complaining, wanting things to be any different from what they currently were, was futile. Still, for all their combined efforts, hadn’t they all deserved more?
“I only do what I can,” Refraining from letting her voice carry on alongside the thoughts that lingered; chin raising to bring the man within her sights, her lips could but only offer a sullen smile. “But I can’t take all the credit, you know. We all played our parts, right?”
@endsought | continued from the height meme thing.
❝ no, i don’t want a stool. i’m fine lookin’ at your shoulder fluff here ---- what is that, anyway ? ❞ she squints at it for a moment. ❝ you could bend down, y’know. ❞
if you haven't already, i implore you to write paine's p.o.v during her separation from the boys after the den of woe.
Paine could vaguely remember what was going on. Her head was a haze of so many things that the concept of her surroundings was the last thing on her mind. Her side throbbed. She was on the edge of passing out. The pain from the wound and the exhaustion from her activities prior to it were catching up. Shock was still coursing through her veins, to the point where it felt like her body was frozen with it. She gave a soft grunt at the pressure of fingertips on the bullet-shaped hole in her body. Someone was patching it up. More pressure. Pain flooded up and down her side and she wanted to scream. Instead she passed out.
When she woke, she was alone. In a room. Her eyes opened to stare at the ceiling and for a brief moment she panicked. “No!” She attempted to sit bolt upright, grab a weapon and move but as soon as she attempted it, pain shot through her side, replacing the panic that had previously washed over her. She groaned, hand going to her side as she lay back down. Her side was bandaged. When had that happened?
The pain slowly ebbed but the panic was still gnawing at the edges of her being. She looked around as best she could by only moving her head around the room. The panic subsided slightly as she took in her surroundings. She was clearly not in the den anymore. Her mind was playing tricks on her. The sparsely decorated room only told her so much and that it was an Al Bhed place. She didn’t bother trying to read the Al Bhed that was dotted around the room, something else had slipped into her mind.
Nooj had shot them. Had shot her. And Gippal. And Baralai.
A lump formed in her throat. The thought alone stung. She took a big shaky breath, feeling a rising sense of panic creep up her body. After several deep breaths she calmed herself. Why had he shot them all? Betrayal washed over her as much as the pain had earlier. After all that had happened, after all the time they had spent together, why would he shoot them? For a brief moment, she wondered how the other two were. Were they here with her? She doubted it. Kinoc was most likely hunting them down. Having them all together would be risky but whoever she was with didn’t know that. Despite the feelings of betrayal and panic, there was a rising sense of anger in her too. A hand was already balled at her side, though she barely noticed. Had he been working with the Maesters all along? Was this their final attempt at trying to kill them all off after what they had seen? No-one else had survived and Kinoc had been ready to shoot them mere minutes after they had escaped.
But even that thought niggled at her. It didn’t sit right. It didn’t feel like something Nooj would do. But, shooting his friends wasn’t something she thought he’d do either and he’d done that, so perhaps anything was possible. Her expression turned sad as she thought about it, her eyes stinging a little as tears threatened to build up. Suddenly, she had no energy to deal with it. To deal with the fact that she’d been shot by one of her closest friends. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep. To drift back into an unconscious slumber for a few days and not have to deal with it. A hand went up to run through her hair. She was thirsty.
Someone knocked on the door and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned as best she could towards in the door. “Come in.” The door opened. The Al Bhed who came through knew of the common tongue, which was soothing but she would have to make a conscious effort to speak in Al Bhed around here. “Ruf yna oui vaamehk?” It took Paine a few seconds to translate it and she shrugged, her head turning towards the ceiling. “Tu oui ghuf frana oui yna?” Paine sighed as she mentally translated it and formed a reply. All the while, the woman moved closer. She could see the woman inch closer, trying not to scare her. “Hu.” Her tone was bland, almost devoid of any emotion besides the slightly bored lilt that the single word took on. “Oui'na yd yh Ym Prat ahlysbsahd uvv dra Mi’ihen Highroad. Oui fana ehzinat.” Paine flinched as she translated again. She could hear the pity in the others voice and Paine turned her head towards the wall, her lips pulling down into a frown. Her chest still felt hollow.
All she wanted to do was sleep and cry and be left alone. “E haat du lr-” Paine cut her off. “Please leave me alone.” She couldn’t do with the Al Bhed anymore. She could hear the woman open her mouth and try to speak again. Paine pointed towards the door, her head turning towards the woman, the best glare she could muster up on her face. The woman got the message and she left. The door clicked shut and Paine waited a few seconds before she slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position. Her top was off, the bandeau she wore the only thing covering her chest. Her gloves were off too and for a few moments, she sat there staring at her hands while the pain subsided. Drawing in a shaky breathe, she turned to look at the room. She wasn’t greeted with much sitting up. There was a bed, a bedside table a chest of draws with bits and pieces decorating it. There was a picture on the wall with Al Bhed on it. Red eyes moved to the bedside table. There on it sat her recorder and a sphere. Her lips parted to take another shaky breathe. Dare she look at it? Which one was it? Kinoc took all of the other spheres she recorded, the only ones she’d had left on her person had been…
A cold sense of dread went over her, causing the hairs to stand up on her arms. Her breathing picked up as she stared, almost as if they would hurt her, at the items on the desk. She turned her gaze away quickly, glaring at her arms and her hands and the legs that were hidden by the blanket. The feelings of betrayal welled up inside her chest. She wanted to cry. She wanted to be angry. But all the while, all she felt was a strong sense of stupidity at trusting Nooj. She was just a stupid girl. She didn’t even realise her fists were clenched, what counted for nails digging into her palms and hot, angry tears started seeping from her closed eyes.
For a few moments, she sat there, letting the sweet release of tears wash over her as regret and stupidity and betrayal washed over her again and again until something clicked off. It was like someone flicked a light switch and all that ebbed away. Everything she felt and would feel ebbed away. Her fists unclenched, her eyes opened and revealed an emptiness she now felt.
She laid down, barely wincing at the pain that stabbed through her upper left side and lay there. Staring at the wall until she fell asleep again.
