@hoperaievent Day Three - Fireworks
Lightning Farron did not get embarrassed easily. She did what had to be done, everyone else's opinions be damned. After all, someone in the Corps had to be steady and not so easily flustered, able to put aside emotion for the task at hand.
So when she felt like this was her most embarrassing moment ever, surely it wasn't an exaggeration.
“This is humiliating,” she muttered as Serah brushed some powder on her nose.
“Oh, come on sis!” Serah grinned, clearly enjoying this far more than Lightning ever would. “It's for a good cause, right?”
“If I wanted to support the cause, I'd make a donation.” She narrowed her eyes. “I wouldn't have signed myself up for charity auction for someone to bid on me for a date!”
“I'd do it if I could!” Serah claimed, to which Lightning rolled her eyes. Like hell she'd ever let her sister go up there, even if it was for charity. “Just be your charming self. Maybe someone really handsome will bid on you.” She waggled her eyebrows for effect.
Lightning rolled her eyes again, breathing a sigh of relief when the makeup was put down. The charity auction started in about a half hour, but Serah had wanted plenty of time to prepare her sister. This apparently included hair, makeup, and putting her in a suitable outfit.
The whole thing was completely insane.
She’d never understood the appeal. Every year, each city that held a branch of the Gurdian Corps – Eden, Palumpolom, the Whitewood, to name a few – put together some sort of charity to raise money and awareness for whatever cause that was needed at the time. This year it was for Pulse refugees. Each city also had their own way of doing such a thing. Eden, she knew, held a fashion show, which was almost as silly as Bodhum’s tradition.
Auctioning off dates with members of the Corps.
For the past couple of years, Lightning had managed to avoid being a part of this whole ridiculous thing by ‘coincidentally taking that weekend off, or coming up with some other dire emergency. She never skipped out on work, so that was a true testament to how insane this was.
Unfortunately for her, Serah had gotten to talking to Amodar – Lightning’s boss – one night when everyone went out for drinks. A grin and a couple of giggles later, and soon, a certain traitorous younger sister had put her older sister on the roster for dates.
It was embarrassing enough to be paraded around. It was even worse when your own sister was the cause.
What was also unfortunate was that Lightning had a very difficult time saying no to Serah – not to mention that now Amodar was counting on her. She tried to think of it as just another mission. Some things in life you just do.
Ugh.
“Don’t make that face,” Serah chided, hands on her hips as she looked over her handiwork. “You want to get the highest bid, right?”
“Any bid would be humiliating enough.” Lightning glanced in the mirror, resisting the urge to do a double take. It looked like her...yet it didn’t. Serah had admittedly done a beautiful job with the makeup. She still looked like herself, but just better.
She took a step back, ignoring the way Serah was grinning. The outfit was nice, too – Serah had made her put on a deep blue scoop-neck top and a short black pleated skirt. Since it was summer, she’d put on some strappy black sandals. Her hair was a bit more curled than usual, and her trademark lightning bolt pendant completed the look.
“...Not bad.”
“Oh, hush. You look great.” Serah’s grin grew wider and she looped her arm through her sister’s. “Whoever wins the bid for you tonight is gonna be sooo lucky!”
“Right.” Lightning knew it was pointless to argue any further. Besides, it was getting late and they still had a ten-minute walk to the main Corps office, where the auction was being held.
This was going to be the most embarrassing evening of her life.
–
The one good thing about this silly auction was that you had to preregister and go through a number of security checks, plus a background check. This drastically reduced – if not outright eliminated – the amount of weirdos that could bid on you. She’d heard that anyone with any sort of criminal record was immediately turned away.
At least in that respect, she didn’t have to worry. Not that she couldn’t defend herself, but it was a relief that she didn’t have to think about it.
Though maybe that would’ve been preferable to the humiliation.
“Up next is Sergeant Dymond!” Amodar, who was playing the auctioneer, gestured to a pretty dark-haired woman whose smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
You and me both, Lightning thought.
“Dymond enjoys reading, writing, and playing video games in her spare time. Her friends say she’s very kind, but she can hold her own in a fight like no one else! Let’s start the bidding at a thousand gil!”
As people started raising their hands and calling out increasingly high numbers, Lightning discreetly wiped her palms on her skirt, staring out at the crowd. A surprising number of them seemed to be around her age or younger. She wondered if this sort of thing didn’t appeal to someone older, since they’d probably be married or something by now.
Before she turned her head away, she caught the stare of sea-green eyes.
She’d never seen that face before in her life. Never seen that person. But something about him made her stare, their eyes locked despite the dozens and dozens of other people across the room. He quirked the slightest bit of a smile and smoothed out his silver hair.
Lightning reflexively smoothed her own hair out, although dropped her hand since fidgeting could imply that she was nervous. And she was not.
“ - And that’s twenty-eight thousand gil to the lady from Eden!”
A woman with light brown hair jumped out of her seat and grinned. To Lightning’s surprise, Sergeant Dymond smiled as well and the two of them headed down the hall so that the winner could pay and they could discuss the upcoming date.
Which meant that now...
“Up next is our first-timer! Despite that, she’s been loyal to the Corps for many years and always makes sure her missions are successful. Please get your bidding arms ready for Sergeant Lightning Farron!”
Lightning side-eyed Amodar, who was clearly having way, way too much fun with all of this, but she obediently stepped out of line and towards the cleared out area so people could see her. When she saw Serah’s huge grin, she tried to relax what was probably a scowl on her face to something more neutral.
“Sergeant Farron enjoys kickboxing, fine dining, and long walks on the beach – which sounds perfect for a date around here, am I right?” Amodar chuckled and Lightning wondered what the hell he was reading from. Probably something Serah had filled out, ugh. “I’ve got it on good authority that she can pack away a steak like nobody’s business. Let’s start the bidding at a thousand gil!”
“Eleven hundred!”
The instantly familiar voice made Lightning narrow her eyes and glare into the crowd. It wasn’t hard to miss Snow, Serah’s idiot boyfriend, who was waving his arm with a stupid grin on his face. To her surprise, Serah was grinning too.
At least someone was having fun.
To her absolute utter relief, Snow was immediately outbid. On the flip side, she was surprised that anybody would bid for the chance to go out with her, even if it was just some silly stunt for charity.
For a little while, the bidding went between a redhead woman and a black-haired man, though occasionally others would pepper in bids as well. Lightning had never seen any of these people around Bodhum, which probably meant they were tourists. No wonder they were bidding for a chance to date her.
Throughout the night, she’d been paying attention to what sort of amount the winners paid. Final bids seemed to average out at around twenty-five thousand gil, though some were a bit more or less.
So when bids to date her crept up to thirty-five thousand gil, she was more than a little surprised.
The bids kept on coming, typically in increments of five-hundred or a thousand gil. Lightning wondered how long she was supposed to stand there – surely Amodar would cap it off at some point? - when an unfamiliar voice broke in.
“One-hundred thousand gil.”
A hush immediately fell over the crowd. Lightning’s gaze darted around, wondering who would be insane enough to bid so much when they probably didn’t even know her.
She saw his sea-green eyes before the raised hand.
Amodar was blessedly silent for a few seconds, probably processing the whole thing, but when no one else spoke up, he finally shouted, “A hundred thousand gil to the gentleman from Palumpolum!”
Even though she knew she had to move so the next person could be presented, Lightning just stood there in shock, her heart pounding for reasons she could barely comprehend.
One-hundred thousand gil?! Who the hell spent that much on a charity auction?!
Still dazed, she finally walked off when Amodar cleared his throat to announce the next person, who was muttering something about not being able to top that. As though she’d actually come here to set a record or something!
The mysterious bidder met with her before they walked down the hall so they could pay. Up close, he looked a bit younger than she’d initially thought. There was a faint smattering of freckles across his nose and his hair looked ridiculously soft.
But it was those damn eyes that kept her rooted to the spot.
“Um...” To her surprise, the man began to blush a bit as an on-duty Corps member appeared to escort them down the hall. She still didn’t move.
“So you’re from Palumpolum?” Maybe that explained the gil amount, considering that was one of the more well-off cities.
“Oh, um, yeah. Yes.” He cleared his throat with a sheepish little smile and held out his hand. “I’m Hope. Hope Estheim.”
She stared at his hand for a second before taking the proffered handshake. His hand was soft and warm and she was suddenly ridiculously aware of the calluses on hers. “Nice to meet you. I’m Lightning...though I guess you know that.”
He chuckled. “For all that gil, I sure hope I was paying attention.” He seemed to realize a second later that they were still holding hands and quickly dropped hers. She instantly missed it.
Their escort cleared his throat and they finally started down the hall. “What the hell possessed you to bid so much?”
Hope’s blush deepened. “I...I don’t know. Call it a compulsion, I suppose. I was planning on just making a donation, but a friend talked me into attending this. And then I saw you and I just...”
She wondered at that. Lightning wasn’t sure if she believed in fate. She lived according to her own rules, everyone else be damned. But she couldn’t deny...this, whatever it was. A spark. It’d been set off from the moment she met his eyes in the crowd by chance.
They reached the room where the payments were processed. A couple more Corps members were sitting at desks, tablets in their hands and papers scattered about. One of them glanced up when Lightning and Hope entered the room and laughed.
“Sergeant Farron! You’re the talk of the auction! Nobody’s ever gotten such a high bid in all the years they’ve been doing this. Closest was Sergeant Blaze a couple of years ago!”
“Right.” She hoped no one else would make a big deal of this. After all, she’d simply stood there. It was Hope who had made the bid.
“Good to hear we’re setting records,” Hope said, suddenly sounding a lot less nervous. “Where do I pay?”
“Right here.” The Corps member typed a few things on the tablet and spun it around to show Hope. Lightning caught sight of the screen, her heart lurching in her throat at all those zeroes.
Hope, however, didn’t flinch and simply took out his card, pressing it against the tablet until a little ding! indicated that the payment had gone through.
He had just paid one-hundred thousand gil for one night with her! That was more than some grunts in the Corps saw in a year!
“Those charities sure will appreciate this.” The tablet was turned back around and the Corps member typed a couple more things before looking up at them. “Now, we’d like you to discuss where you’re going to go on this date. It’s a safety precaution for all the winners. Nobody’s going to spy on you or anything, but someone’ll be checking in at some point just to make sure nothing’s going wrong.”
Hope nodded. “Understandable.” He glanced at Lightning, his cheeks dusted with red again. “So, um, any suggestions? I’m a tourist, after all.”
At first she drew a blank. After all, she didn’t get out much due to work, and she didn’t really want to bring a stranger to the one restaurant she and Serah frequented. At least whoever had written that stupid description of her at the auction had gotten the ‘fine dining’ part right.
But then it came to her. Of course.
“There’s a fireworks show in town tomorrow night,” she said. “It’s a yearly tradition. Kind of a big draw for tourists like you.”
Hope quirked a little smile. “I was actually meaning to see that. I’d love to go with you, if that’s okay.”
“Fine with me.” Lightning turned to the Corps member that had processed Hope’s payment. “Got that?”
“Date at the fireworks festival,” he said, making a note on the tablet, and something about the word date made Lightning’s face flare. “Got it! Like I said, we’ll have someone check in. But otherwise, enjoy the show!”
“Thanks,” she muttered, turning to leave, if just so she could hide her face. Why the hell did she suddenly feel nervous?
“So, um,” Hope said once they’d walked out. “Should I meet you somewhere tomorrow or...?”
“There’s a bar near the dome where they show the fireworks called Lebreau’s. I’ll meet you in front of there, say, eight?” The show didn’t even start until nearly nine, after the sun finally went down.
“Lebreau’s at eight,” he repeated, then smiled. “I’ll see you then.”
–
At seven-thirty the next evening, Lightning was frantically tearing apart her closet for a decent outfit.
She’d figured she could just throw on any old thing, but for some reason, none of her clothes seemed nice enough. And of course Serah had left an hour ago to meet up with Snow, so she was on her own with no little sister to give her fashion advice.
It didn’t help that Lightning never really thought much of her wardrobe. She usually wore some variant of her Corps uniform and then more casual clothing around the house. What did someone wear on a date?! She wouldn’t know! She’d never been on one!
Oh god, her first date ever was going to be with a relative stranger who’d paid six figures for the privilege.
She glanced at the clock. It was a good twenty minute walk down to Lebreau’s, and it was now past seven-thirty. Time was running out and the temptation to just wear her Corps uniform was becoming more and more, well...tempting.
At seven-forty, she finally just threw on the same skirt and sandals she’d worn at the auction and paired it with fitted blue tank top and a cropped black jacket she’d stolen from Serah’s room. Without another glance in the mirror, she raced out of the house, not wanting to keep Hope waiting.
The walk took a bit longer than anticipated because of the crowds heading the same way to see the fireworks. When she finally reached Lebreau’s, however, it only took her a second to spot that familiar mop of silver hair.
“Hope?”
He jumped a bit when she touched his arm. “Lightning! Hi. Glad you could make it. Um, can I get you a drink or something...?”
“I’m okay.” She needed to keep her wits about her. “Plus, that line is a little...” A quick glance over her shoulder revealed the crowd practically out the door.
“Must be all us tourists,” Hope said. He seemed a little fidgety, but not really in a way that made her wary. It was the familiar kind of fidgeting.
Nerves.
“Most likely.” She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Oh geez, had she even remembered to brush it? And why the hell did it matter? “I honestly didn’t expect it to be this crowded.”
“Fireworks are a big draw, I guess.”
“Especially these.” Luckily, a lot of the crowds seemed to be condensed in the bar, likely getting refreshments before the show. “Come on, let’s go find a spot before everybody else does.”
“Lead the way.”
They moseyed their way between groups of people – some clearly friends, some couples, some families – until they found a spot close to the dome. “Prime viewing,” she said.
Hope looked up at the dome, a thoughtful expression on his face. “They’ve been doing this a long time, right?” “Yeah. Fifty or so years, I think.” She leaned against at railing – put there to keep people from getting dangerously close to explosives. “It was designed to bring in tourists. A lot of other cities don’t have the means or space, so it was perfect.”
“Definitely. You wouldn’t be able to see much over all the buildings in Palumpolum.” He paused before glancing at Lightning. “...Is it true there’s a local legend about the fireworks?”
She hummed in agreement. It was a pretty silly ‘legend,’ she thought, but a lot of people took stock in it. “Apparently these are wish-granting fireworks. I’ve heard it started because someone won the lottery the day after one of the first times they did this show, but nobody seems to have any record of that.”
“That’s why it’s a legend, I guess.” Hope smiled. “Do you usually make a wish?”
Lightning shrugged. “Usually I’m here working. It doesn’t really seem right to indulge in something like that when you have to be alert.”
“You’re not working now, though,” he pointed out. “Are you going to make one tonight?”
“...I don’t know.” She sighed and stared up at the empty dome, watching the sky grow dark. “Maybe.”
There was a long pause before Hope spoke again. “...My mother went to see these fireworks before I was born.” He spoke quietly and she had to lean in to listen. “She said that she always wanted to take me so I could have a special wish, too.”
A familiar feeling squeezed Lightning’s heart. “Did you two ever get to go?”
He shook his head, leaning against the railing as well. “My dad always had to work and she wanted it to be a family trip. She died when I was fourteen, so we never had the chance.”
She was respectfully quiet for a moment. “I can relate. My mother died when I was fifteen.” She felt rather than saw Hope look at her. “Ever since then, it’s just been me and my sister.”
“Was she at the auction last night?”
“Are you kidding? She’s the one who signed me up in the first place.”
He laughed. “I ought to thank her.”
“Why?”
“Because of her, I get the pleasure of your company.”
Geez, what a far cry from the nerves he’d been emitting earlier. That sort of confidence always piqued Lightning’s interest. Maybe it was because of that that she found herself asking the question that hadn't gotten a real answer last night.
“Why did you bid so much for a date with me?”
Instantly, Hope’s face erupted into a blush. “I, um...”
“Yes?”
“I...I wasn’t planning to,” he finally said after a long pause. “I wasn’t planning on bidding at all. A friend of mine convinced me to go. The charity this year was for Pulse refugees, right?”
“So I heard.”
“My grandparents on my mother’s side were refugees, so I wanted to help. I went through the security and background checks just with the intention of going in there and making a donation.” He ducked his head for a second. “But then I just...”
“...Yes?”
Hope was quiet again, and when he finally spoke, it was in the same quiet voice she had to lean in to hear. “...When you looked at me. It sounds crazy, because I don’t know if you were actually looking at me, but there was just something about you. It was like...like...”
“A spark,” she whispered, her heart thudding wildly.
At this, he fully looked at her in surprise. “Yes. That, exactly. And I heard those other two bidding for a chance to go out with you and I – I don’t know, my hand just moved by itself.”
She grew quiet. It wasn’t much of an explanation, and yet…
Impulsively, she took his hand. Lightning was not a touchy-feely person by nature, so how she knew that this felt strangely right, she couldn’t say. Hope must have felt the same, because he didn’t hesitate to lace their fingers together, although he looked shocked at himself for doing such a thing.
“...I was looking at you.”
He’d been staring at their joined hands, but when she spoke, he met her eyes. “You were?”
“Yes.” Vaguely, she heard the crowd’s murmurs grow a bit louder, the thrill of anticipation suddenly in the air, but all she could see was him. “I don’t know how or why, but I spotted you in the crowd, and for a second, it was just...”
“...Sparks,” he echoed.
She merely nodded. The two of them stood there staring at each other, their hands joined. Was this fate, brought on by a chance stare across a crowd and one-hundred thousand gil? Lightning wasn’t sure.
But the more she stared at him, the more that spark began to ignite. It was like nothing she’d ever felt around anyone before, and while there was something terrifying about it, it was also thrilling. This wasn’t the thrill of battle or a successful mission, but something soft and human.
And when they got closer, it was pure -
“ - Fireworks,” she murmured, right before there was a long whistle and a colorful blast lit up the dome.
They both looked away for a minute to watch the show, each second more colorful than the last, but soon their eyes met again.
“Are you going to make a wish?” she asked.
Hope looked back up at the dome, the colors of the fireworks reflected in his eyes. He was smiling nervously when he looked back at Lightning. “It seems selfish of me to wish for anything more, but there is one I’d like to make.”
“Oh?”
She wondered if it was the same one she wanted to make. When he lifted a hand to her waist to pull her closer, she knew they were one in the same. They didn’t even have to wish for it.
Even though she had no practice with anything like this, Lightning somehow instinctively angled her head, her eyes fluttering shut just as Hope’s lips pressed against hers in a sweet, amazing kiss, one that was a promise worth far more than one-hundred thousand gil.
And with it, those sparks between them exploded like fireworks, beautiful and perfect.
In the midst of it all, the Corps member assigned to check in on Sergeant Farron and her date finally found the two near the dome. The fireworks exploded in picture-perfect formations behind them, but the two were lost in a world of their own. He almost interrupted, just to follow protocol, but then backed away with a grin. Someone had to hear the good news!
Surely Sergeant Farron’s sister was around here somewhere...
