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[freshbreeze.livejournal.com]

Who: Aqua watersbound, Hope Estheim airwinged, Lightning Farron soggypastry, Rise restardom, Serah Farron wistfulfocus, Squall "Leon" Leonhart usedroar, Terra landbreaker, and Ventus freshbreeze. Pile on in if you're in town and want to celebrate Light-day!
Where: Lightning's room at the inn to start with, then a steakhouse called Elizabeth's.
When: Evening on March 9th
Summary: It's Lightning's birthday, time to dogpile her with love!
Rating: G
Log:
[It's evening when everybody's gathered together, hiding behind various pieces of furniture in Lightning's room. Everything's relatively still, except for the occasional startle-attempt from Lightning's Haunter, Fang. So far Fang's managed to startle a squeak out of Rise but the ghost's largely unsuccessful in antagonizing the crowd. They're all much too focused on waiting, watching for a sliver of light to indicate the door opening, listening for the telltale turn of the knob...

Any minute now, the birthday girl's going to return, and when she does, they'll be here to surprise her]



[ooc: Spam away, guys! Since we all have different schedules (and Terra-mun's without computer for a coupla days), just hit things up as you like. If somebody gets to moving things to the restaurant first, please put something in the subject line so others can follow. As a note, the employees at Elizabeth's have been made aware that it's Light's birthday and are prepared to serenade her over a slice of cake. For spamming purposes, action tags are recommended for this log]

Comments

[adamant]

[ He makes a hum of agreement, but doesn't contribute anything more. He leans agains the wall of the restaurant, hearing the chatter from inside every time someone slips out the door. There's still some stray snow on the ground, and his breath puffs in the cold air; but as he glances at the woman next to him, he can't help but think that he's...content. Right now, he's content with things.

Contentment is something Leon usually avoids: satisfaction means complacency, and he'd rather be dead than complacent. But just this moment, these few minutes out in the cold night, relaxing, full of delicious dinner and cake, enjoying the gentle silence; he can take it and wrap it up and hide it away in the secret place he puts his happiness. ]

[soggypastry]

[While Leon is looking at her, enjoying these few minutes of comfortable silence, Lightning is trying to hide just how tense she really is. There's something she needs to say, but she's not sure how and it probably shows on her face.

Hell, she knows it's showing on her face with the way she's biting her lip. Light doesn't show stress often enough to have a tell, but when she does it's downright obvious. So she opens her mouth to say something, anything, that'll get her meaning across but...nothing comes. She just can't find the words for it and she sighs, leaning her head against the wall to look up at the sky.]

[adamant]

[ Trying and failing. After months of sparring, Leon's more than learned to read signs of tension in Lightning's body, not just her face. He watches her for a few seconds, debating whether or not to interrupt her; she obviously has something on her mind. When she sighs, he decides to speak up. ]

Hey.

[ It's such a small sound, barely a syllable, but it feels loaded, with the telling gaze he's levelling her. He crosses his arms over his chest. ]

[soggypastry]

[It's a loaded sound, causing Lightning to look at him. She can hear her pulse pounding in her ears for a moment, just looking at him. What's changed? He's still Leon, she's still Lightning...what's changed?

Whatever it is, it doesn't matter now. She'll deal with it later.]

Yeah?

[adamant]

[ His eyes settle on the curve of her shoulder, before dropping to his own boots. He considers his options. Leon's never been good with words, but this is important and he wants to get it right. ]

Happy birthday. [ He looks up, gently meeting her eyes. ] ...and thanks.

[soggypastry]

[Caught like a Chocobo before a Lobo, Lightning can only blink in surprise. Why is he thanking her? She hasn't done anything that needs thanking, has she? It's not making any sense.]

What are you thanking me for?

[adamant]

[ She's done plenty that needs thanking, and not just for him--but that's beside the point. He wonders how best to phrase this, or if he even should. He's said, though, so it's too late to back out now. ]

For...putting up with me. [ A moment's hesitation, then-- ] For being a good friend.

[ Leon can count on one hand the people he considers true friends and true equals, and he knows he's not the easiest to deal with or to get to know. That Light's made it this far...well, it says a lot about the kind of person she is and the place she's carved for herself in Leon's life. ]

1/2

[soggypastry]

[For a moment, the surprise is completely visible on her face. For putting up with him? For being a good friend---he's done the same for her. They're on even ground with this, too. The moment passes and she shakes her head, not looking down at her boots but instead straight at him.]

I should be thanking you for the same reasons.

2/2

[soggypastry]

[She really should, but for some reason, the words catch in her throat. Her gaze drops down to her boots before she takes a deep breath and moves forward.

Slowly, almost hesitantly, she moves to stand in front of him. For a second, she just stands there. Why did she even...no. There's no backing down from this. Still moving slowly and like she'll spook at any moment, she carefully reaches forward and just...hugs him. She's never been the best at saying what needs to be said, or for hugging people, but this...this feels right. She just hopes it doesn't mess things between them up.]

Thank you, Leon.

[adamant]

[ He isn't sure at first of what she's trying to do, until he sees--then feels--her arms come forward and wrap around him. All at once, thoughts and logic seem to flee him; he has trouble thinking beyond the initial awkward rush of adrenaline and embarrassement. He just stands there, wondering brokenly how to react, a bit stiff in the shoulders. His hands were on their way up out of reflex, but now they're halted halfway. He looks down at her crown of pink hair, eyes wide, throat tight. What is he supposed to...? ]

It's...no problem...?

[ It comes out a bit more strained than he'd like, but that said, he lets her hug him, uncertain if he should respond to this unexpected burst of emotion from her. Maybe it's the cake? The glass of wine with dinner? Or just the reveling company--this could be a fluke, he tells himself. ]

[soggypastry]

[It's a lot of things. Things she doesn't even know how to piece together in her own mind, let alone aloud in a way that makes sense. But when she feels him stiffening in her embrace, something in her stomach clenches and she just...retreats. This may have been a huge mistake.

So she pulls back, unwilling to let whatever this is get in the way of their friendship. She...really values that too much to let it go.]

[adamant]

[ All of his nerves frayed and taut, he can easily feel her reticence when she pulls back. Almost immediately, he berates himself for being an idiot. It's been years since he's received a hug from anyone who wasn't Yuffie or Aerith, and he's not a demonstrative person by nature. He knows Lightning isn't, either, so that just makes rejecting her so much more of a strong statement. He needs to fix this.

Tilting forward, he catches her elbow, tugging her forward to he can slide an arm around her shoulders. If they're going to do this--and it seems like they're going to do this--they might as well do it properly.

She fits snugly into the crook of his body. For such a strong woman, she feels soft in his arms. If this turns out not to be a fluke, Leon thinks, he...wouldn't mind all that much. ]

[soggypastry]

[Having been nearly finished pulling back, Lightning is caught almost off guard by Leon pulling her back into him. He's not the type for displaying any sort of emotion, let alone something like this, so when he does...when he does, Lightning finds herself swept along with it.

One arm comes slowly up around his back as she leans her head on his shoulder, and Lightning sighs softly in contentment. There's a sudden feeling of being safe, something she hasn't felt since her parents died, and Lightning doesn't care what that could mean later on.

There's something more than just friendship for him in her heart now. That much she's sure of. But what exactly it is will require more thought. For now...right now is perfect. Serah, Rise, and Ven had promised that this birthday would be better than the last, and they were right.]

[adamant]

[ The embrace last for a few seconds at most, but it's more affection than Leon's given to anyone in one sitting...in a very long time. He tentatively breaks out of her arms, pushing back to wedge some space between them again. He isn't sure what to make of what just happened, or what it means, or what's going to happen after it--and isn't certain he really wants to. He doesn't want anything to change. Having Lightning as a friend...it's been good.

He breathes a bit, not having realized he'd been holding his breath in the first place. His eyes are downcast, his head ducked, but it's mostly a reflexive gesture to hide the softness on his face. ]

I'm not used to...

[ He trails off, not sure what words to say. Not used to hugs? He's had hugs before. To having friends? He's got friends, if not many. To expressing himself? Maybe that's the one. ]

[soggypastry]

[There's a part of Lightning that didn't want the embrace to end quite yet, but she still steps back when Leon lets go, giving him his space. She doesn't want anything to change, either. It's been too good, having him for a friend. She doesn't want to lose that.

So she doesn't try and make him look up, though she shakes her head faintly. She knows what he means. She's had hugs before; started a few of them. Friends? She's gotten used to those. Outwardly expressing emotion? Not used to that. Not yet.]

That makes two of us. [She looks to the side, then back at Leon. He's...something in her view of him has definitely changed. She needs to think on this. But now she just smiles softly, with the barest flash of teeth. It's a start, and it means something. He'll know.]

[adamant]

[ He tentatively looks up at her--and smiles, shy but sincere. He knows she understands him; it's been a hallmark of their relationship, after all. They get each other.

He tilts his head towards the restaurant. ]

We should head back inside.

[ He scratched the back of his neck, realizing his mistakes. He doesn't want to seem like he wants to...cut this off, either. ]

Otherwise the others might come looking.

[ And that thought is just too embarrassing to bear. Rise would skin them alive or something. ]

[soggypastry]

[They get eachother. And that counts even now; she knows what he means, and she really doesn't want the others to come out here and find them. Not after what just happened. So she nods, turning and walking back towards the doors.]

Yeah. Before they notice we've been gone too long. [But still she waits for him to follow, that smile still faintly showing as she turns to look back over her shoulder. Whatever comes after today, this has been perfect. That's what she knows, right here and now.]