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lowkeySo apparently, mako_lies has been writing porn ALL DAY. And by "porn", I mean "a thoughtful masterpiece that culminates in a sexy, sexy threeway." And by "culminates", I mean "climaxes several times."
Or so I've heard. <cough>
ANYWAYS, in a further show of support, I decided I'd through up another excerpt from my timetravel WIP. We fanfic writers gotta support each other how we can. <SOLIDARITY>
ALSO: I'm now at 5600 words, and I don't think I'm halfway done. SO.
Snow grabbed his hand. "Don't touch it."
Hope glared back, unable to suppress the juvenile anger that suddenly bubbled up. I'm a big man now, Snow. Fuck off. "Why?"
Snow glanced down -- not as far down as another Snow had had to, but for the time being, this Snow was still two years older and three inches taller -- and flashed one of his stupid, stupid, stupid "I can save everyone!" smiles. "The touchpads have a built-in fingerprint analysis protocol; one wrong touch, and we're locked out."
Hope jerked his hand out of Snow's grasp, his anger worse for having been so foolish, for being so childish.
"You alright, kiddo?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just get this over with."
"Alright! Now, if you'll just give me a moment..." Snow pulled out the small datastick Fang had prepared, the one that would disrupt PSICOM's communication network, and started to feel around for a dataport. "It's gotta be somewhere... ah-hah!"
Hope waited in tense silence, trying to ignore the bandana-wearing idiot's humming. Finally -- "How's it going?" Hope snapped.
"Okay! I think I'm hooked in. NORA: 1, PSICOM: 0! Now let's..."
The screen flashed red, and somewhere a klaxon began to blare. "What did you do?" Hope asked, reaching for his gunblade as he turned toward the door.
"I don't know! Everything should be... oh no. No. No. No."
And then Snow was smashing the monitor with his fists -- "No!" -- the spiderweb cracks spreading across the screen -- "NO!"
Hope touched his earpiece. "Fang, what's going on?"
No reply.
"She set us up, Hope," Snow said, breathing heavily. "The code, man. It didn't disrupt the communication network. Whatever was on that datastick is killing the Euride Gorge fal'Cie from the inside out."
On cue, a mechanical voice interrupted the klaxon: "Warning, warning. Meltdown imminent. Please evacuate immediately. Warn--"
With a yell, Snow pulled the monitor off of the wall and sent it flying into the loudspeaker. The voice stopped.
Hope rubbed his forehead, calculating. He had seen the fal'cie Kujata go critical before. Major collateral damage. Potential damage to Cocoon's exterior shell. Long-term ecological impact. Political and social destablization...
Oh, and apparently Fang was still an unreformed terrorist.
Nope, this timeline was dead. He started to program another jump, far enough back that he could prevent this... but how far back? Maybe if he...?
"You bugging out?" Snow rasped, interrupting Hope's thoughts.
The younger man didn't look up. "I told you when we first met, Snow. This was always a possibility."
And because he hadn't looked up, Snow's fist connecting with his chin came as a total surprise.
There was a moment, ever so brief, where Hope realized that he didn't have to swing back. But then he realized he wanted to, and fuck it all, this world was dying anyways.
Snow had just started to shout something -- "You're a coward, H--" -- when Hope's retort slammed into his face, and the fight was on. Hope blocked Snow's counter, but didn't see Snow's headbutt; knocked down, Hope kicked up and out, right into Snow's knee. And then Snow was down, too, and they were rolling on the ground, punching and kicking and biting.
It was the sort of fight that no one really won.
"Fuck," Snow finally said, sliding down the wall across from Hope. The adrenaline mixed with the hopelessness of the situation, and he started to laugh.
But Hope wasn't laughing. "I hate you, Snow," he said, blood and sweat dripping from his face as he shook.
Snow kept chuckling. "Oh, come on already. Just what the hell is your problem with me?"
"You make promises you can't keep, Snow. You want to protect everyone, and you always fail. Always."
"Look, man. This place is going to blow any moment. You need --"
"I was your groomsman, once," Hope spat. "What a happy marriage that was, for the two months it lasted. You made a promise to your new wife --"
Snow had stopped laughing. "Hope."
"-- that you'd always love and protect her, and never leave her side. And guess who ended up having to cradle her while she died, Snow? Wasn't you, you bastard. There she was, gored by some king behemoth --"
"Hope, please."
"-- and she was coughing up blood, begging for you to come. And here I am, lying to her, telling her that her husband is going to be there any minute. Of course, you were late. And then you couldn't even attend the funeral. Oh, no --"
"Stop it, Hope."
"-- you'd think you were the only person that's ever lost a loved one. Fuck your responsibilities, fuck the fact that you have people who are counting on you, you go out and find the damn behemoth that killed your wife, and you beat it to death with your fists."
Snow had closed his eyes.
"You were crippled after that. Splintered fingers, broken wrists, the works. Brain damaged for good measure, too. Whatever made you you, just... wasn't there any more. And guess who ended up having to shoulder the burden, Snow? But you didn't have the grace to die. Nooo, you just kept hanging around, a complete waste of a man, always reminding me that, no, I'd have to be the one to lead the patrols, and help recover supplies, and build homes, and kill wildlife, and be strong, and..."
"... and volunteer to go back in time," Snow quietly finished.
"It should have been you, Snow. You're the hero. You're always the hero."
Hope leaned his head back. "You couldn't even show up to tell me good-bye."
After a moment, Snow started to pull himself up. "So... was she Serah?"
Hope wiped the tears off of his face. "... yeah."
"Makes sense."
"Of course it makes sense. You love her in every damn world I visit."
Snow started to limp across the room, toward the sitting Hope. "And let me guess. I probably called you 'my best little man'?" He laughed at Hope's reaction. "hahah, that'd be just the sorta of thing that I'd say."
"You're a prick in every timeline, Snow."
Snow offered a hand down to Hope. "I can't help who I am."
Hope took it. "I can't keep doing this, Snow. I can't."
Snow slapped his hands on Hope's shoulders. "Look at me. Look at me, kiddo." That got Hope's attention. "Oh damn, that's going to swell."
And then he was deadly serious. "You're the only man that can do this, Hope. I never could have. You told me yourself -- the first time I lost someone I cared about, I cracked immediately. You, you have to live with everyone you love dying again, and again, and again."
"But..."
"Look. What have we learned here today?" Snow paused, continuing only after it was clear that Hope wasn't going to speak up. "Unless you do something drastic, Fang's loyalties are always going to be suspect."
"Seriously. What a bitch."
"That's the spirit. And I'm always going to be a patronizing bastard."
"I knew that already."
"Well, try this one on for size: whether you like it or not, I'm always going to be there for you, kiddo. Whatever timeline you end up in, we're in this together. You're never alone. And that's a promise I can keep."
mako_lies has been writing porn ALL DAY. And by "porn", I mean "a thoughtful masterpiece that culminates in a sexy, sexy threeway." And by "culminates", I mean "climaxes several times."Or so I've heard. <cough>
ANYWAYS, in a further show of support, I decided I'd through up another excerpt from my timetravel WIP. We fanfic writers gotta support each other how we can. <SOLIDARITY>
ALSO: I'm now at 5600 words, and I don't think I'm halfway done. SO.
Snow grabbed his hand. "Don't touch it."
Hope glared back, unable to suppress the juvenile anger that suddenly bubbled up. I'm a big man now, Snow. Fuck off. "Why?"
Snow glanced down -- not as far down as another Snow had had to, but for the time being, this Snow was still two years older and three inches taller -- and flashed one of his stupid, stupid, stupid "I can save everyone!" smiles. "The touchpads have a built-in fingerprint analysis protocol; one wrong touch, and we're locked out."
Hope jerked his hand out of Snow's grasp, his anger worse for having been so foolish, for being so childish.
"You alright, kiddo?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just get this over with."
"Alright! Now, if you'll just give me a moment..." Snow pulled out the small datastick Fang had prepared, the one that would disrupt PSICOM's communication network, and started to feel around for a dataport. "It's gotta be somewhere... ah-hah!"
Hope waited in tense silence, trying to ignore the bandana-wearing idiot's humming. Finally -- "How's it going?" Hope snapped.
"Okay! I think I'm hooked in. NORA: 1, PSICOM: 0! Now let's..."
The screen flashed red, and somewhere a klaxon began to blare. "What did you do?" Hope asked, reaching for his gunblade as he turned toward the door.
"I don't know! Everything should be... oh no. No. No. No."
And then Snow was smashing the monitor with his fists -- "No!" -- the spiderweb cracks spreading across the screen -- "NO!"
Hope touched his earpiece. "Fang, what's going on?"
No reply.
"She set us up, Hope," Snow said, breathing heavily. "The code, man. It didn't disrupt the communication network. Whatever was on that datastick is killing the Euride Gorge fal'Cie from the inside out."
On cue, a mechanical voice interrupted the klaxon: "Warning, warning. Meltdown imminent. Please evacuate immediately. Warn--"
With a yell, Snow pulled the monitor off of the wall and sent it flying into the loudspeaker. The voice stopped.
Hope rubbed his forehead, calculating. He had seen the fal'cie Kujata go critical before. Major collateral damage. Potential damage to Cocoon's exterior shell. Long-term ecological impact. Political and social destablization...
Oh, and apparently Fang was still an unreformed terrorist.
Nope, this timeline was dead. He started to program another jump, far enough back that he could prevent this... but how far back? Maybe if he...?
"You bugging out?" Snow rasped, interrupting Hope's thoughts.
The younger man didn't look up. "I told you when we first met, Snow. This was always a possibility."
And because he hadn't looked up, Snow's fist connecting with his chin came as a total surprise.
There was a moment, ever so brief, where Hope realized that he didn't have to swing back. But then he realized he wanted to, and fuck it all, this world was dying anyways.
Snow had just started to shout something -- "You're a coward, H--" -- when Hope's retort slammed into his face, and the fight was on. Hope blocked Snow's counter, but didn't see Snow's headbutt; knocked down, Hope kicked up and out, right into Snow's knee. And then Snow was down, too, and they were rolling on the ground, punching and kicking and biting.
It was the sort of fight that no one really won.
"Fuck," Snow finally said, sliding down the wall across from Hope. The adrenaline mixed with the hopelessness of the situation, and he started to laugh.
But Hope wasn't laughing. "I hate you, Snow," he said, blood and sweat dripping from his face as he shook.
Snow kept chuckling. "Oh, come on already. Just what the hell is your problem with me?"
"You make promises you can't keep, Snow. You want to protect everyone, and you always fail. Always."
"Look, man. This place is going to blow any moment. You need --"
"I was your groomsman, once," Hope spat. "What a happy marriage that was, for the two months it lasted. You made a promise to your new wife --"
Snow had stopped laughing. "Hope."
"-- that you'd always love and protect her, and never leave her side. And guess who ended up having to cradle her while she died, Snow? Wasn't you, you bastard. There she was, gored by some king behemoth --"
"Hope, please."
"-- and she was coughing up blood, begging for you to come. And here I am, lying to her, telling her that her husband is going to be there any minute. Of course, you were late. And then you couldn't even attend the funeral. Oh, no --"
"Stop it, Hope."
"-- you'd think you were the only person that's ever lost a loved one. Fuck your responsibilities, fuck the fact that you have people who are counting on you, you go out and find the damn behemoth that killed your wife, and you beat it to death with your fists."
Snow had closed his eyes.
"You were crippled after that. Splintered fingers, broken wrists, the works. Brain damaged for good measure, too. Whatever made you you, just... wasn't there any more. And guess who ended up having to shoulder the burden, Snow? But you didn't have the grace to die. Nooo, you just kept hanging around, a complete waste of a man, always reminding me that, no, I'd have to be the one to lead the patrols, and help recover supplies, and build homes, and kill wildlife, and be strong, and..."
"... and volunteer to go back in time," Snow quietly finished.
"It should have been you, Snow. You're the hero. You're always the hero."
Hope leaned his head back. "You couldn't even show up to tell me good-bye."
After a moment, Snow started to pull himself up. "So... was she Serah?"
Hope wiped the tears off of his face. "... yeah."
"Makes sense."
"Of course it makes sense. You love her in every damn world I visit."
Snow started to limp across the room, toward the sitting Hope. "And let me guess. I probably called you 'my best little man'?" He laughed at Hope's reaction. "hahah, that'd be just the sorta of thing that I'd say."
"You're a prick in every timeline, Snow."
Snow offered a hand down to Hope. "I can't help who I am."
Hope took it. "I can't keep doing this, Snow. I can't."
Snow slapped his hands on Hope's shoulders. "Look at me. Look at me, kiddo." That got Hope's attention. "Oh damn, that's going to swell."
And then he was deadly serious. "You're the only man that can do this, Hope. I never could have. You told me yourself -- the first time I lost someone I cared about, I cracked immediately. You, you have to live with everyone you love dying again, and again, and again."
"But..."
"Look. What have we learned here today?" Snow paused, continuing only after it was clear that Hope wasn't going to speak up. "Unless you do something drastic, Fang's loyalties are always going to be suspect."
"Seriously. What a bitch."
"That's the spirit. And I'm always going to be a patronizing bastard."
"I knew that already."
"Well, try this one on for size: whether you like it or not, I'm always going to be there for you, kiddo. Whatever timeline you end up in, we're in this together. You're never alone. And that's a promise I can keep."
