towerofanimus | A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week.

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A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week.

Characters: Elena (

provenworth ) and YOU!
Setting: Around the tower!
Format: Whatcha see is whatcha get, but I'll match yours. Anything goes!
Summary: Elena is taking some action items to prepare for the wedding and gets caught up looking at pretty pictures!
Warnings: None, except cute.

[Posting #1 | Anonymous]

Wanted: A tailor who can create and modify clothing. Discretion is needed. Please visit the Aquarium this afternoon at 3pm for further details.

[Because, to be honest, she was feeling a little more girly than she would ever admit and, while she could never see herself actually wearing an actual dress, she did have something in mind.]

[Posting #2]

H - Need to chat with you as well. Let's meet in the kitchen at 11am. - E

C - Need to talk to you. Please see me on the 19th floor at 2pm.- E

[Floor 22 | The Art Gallery]

The art gallery floor had been one she'd not taken time to visit, not finding great value in it or its contents. However after several passes during her time in the tower, she found her curiosity piquing. Of course, there was no way she could have stopped this accidental visit, especially when a painting of the city of Midgar seemed to grace a spot near the front, pulling her attention - and eventually her body - in. Feet took her slowly through the gallery, looking at all the various pieces of art, stopping at one or two that caught her interest further.

It was somewhat embarrassing how easily she had been pulled in, the landscapes and portraits of, what she could easily guess were, other places and times curious and mind-boggling. She's careful not to wander too far, she did have other things on her agenda and with Rufus in the building, she was being kept busy. Very busy.

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Shion quickly shook his head, "No, everything's fine." He blinked at her, "I'm sorry. About disturbing you... and..." He studied his hands again, but he couldn't leave it, now he had realised he had never spoken to her about it he felt guilty all over again.

"And for what I did..."

"Shion...I don't..."

This was bad. No, not bad. Worse. Even worse than his 'borrowing' of her firearm without her permission - Elena could feel it. Her hand pressed into his shoulder, letting the heat and warmth serve as a comforting presence to help ease the visible tension forming around him.

"You aren't disturbing me, I promise. You're a welcome treat compared to this - huh?"

Eyes narrow in obvious worry and she moves to stand in front of him, lowering herself so she was almost nose to nose with the recruit.

"Shion....I'm not following. What are you talking about?"

It might be supposed to come across as comforting but to Shion it just felt threatening. But he felt embarrassed when he realised that she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Oh..." Shion tried to think his way out of this, which was a bad idea because he started to over think and when he over thought things he couldn't come to a conclusion and he had to remember to breathe and that was difficult when Elena's hand was on his shoulder and Reno's lessons on pressure points meant that Shion knew just how many ways she could kill or injure him easily from where her hand was now.

Body language was everything, and even the faintest changes in heartbeat, in the way muscles moved, gave away what a person was thinking or feeling. Her mouth pulled into a concerned line, hand loosening on his shoulder before fully removing altogether.

"Shion?"

Thank Odin for little things - like her monumental patience. But if Shion kept this up, she was going to have to consider going a more...aggressive approach. "Shion, I need you to take a deep breath and calm down. I'm not mad and I won't be, so long as you just tell me what's got you so wound up."

Breathing, breathing was good. Shion took a deep breath and began naming types of beetles in his mind. He got to two hundred before he was calm enough to speak. Elena wouldn't hurt him, he thought... though he couldn't really blame her if she did.

"D...did Reno not tell you?"

In keeping with the passive, un-alarming posturing, Elena moved back a step to give him some room to breathe and calm his nerves. But as the silence progressed, it was hard to not become increasingly concerned. But her patience is finally rewarded with a question that does nothing but make the knot in her stomach tighten.

"Reno's not telling me a number of things, actually, though most of it is about the wedding. But is there something he should have?"

Oh... Shion wanted the ground to come and swallow him up, one of those hands to snatch him and deposit him in a crowd of monsters covered in blood.

But of course it didn't and he was left still staring at Elena.

"Oh..." Breathing, breathing, types of beetles. Three hundred. "I killed him."

"........"

Oh yes, Reno was certainly not sharing those sort of details with his future wife. Of course, there could have been a good reason. Like she might have gone off the handle or beaten Reno into a pulp for not telling her - and in this case the latter might still happen.

"Tell me what happened. Leave out no detail."

This wasn't good. More breathing, more beetles. Three hundred and fifty. Four hundred. It was a good job he had picked beetles. There were a lot of beetle species, even if most of them were extinct. Well perhaps not here. Perhaps he should try and see how many he could find in the forest.

Alright so perhaps his calming technique wasn't working because he was now on six hundred and no words had happened yet, he had zoned out pretty much completely.

"......Shion?"

This was no good. Her efforts to maintain a cool and collected calm had brought about nothing but silence. A very long and uncomfortable silence. Snapping her fingers in front of his face, she frowned, the lack of response pressing her to take more...drastic measures.

Hands clasped around his upper arms and she gave a quick little shake. "Gaia to Shion! You're not in trouble, just tell me what happened."

Shion snapped back to himself when he was shaken and blinked at Elena fearfully. "I... I... he... I thought he'd betrayed us..."

His eyes were tear filled and he tried to pull away from Elena, "But instead I betrayed him..."

"W-what? Why would you think that he'd-?"

Pieces were coming together, snapping into place where edges had been blurry. His warning to stay away from Ganon. The non-nonchalant attitude in being tortured and killed. His awkward response to waking up beside her and then the bleeding afterwards. Everything was coming together, yes, but the big picture. No, she needed a few more pieces.

"Shion, please!"

Fingers curled around his arms, tightening her told, refusing him of his release. If he was panicked - which he surely was - then she was worried. No, that wasn't it. She was afraid. Afraid of what Shion had seen. About what was being done to Reno.

It was the sight of those tears that threatened to fall that she went into action. She'd seen that look before. That feeling of failure. Of causing somebody harm and breaking their trust. She'd worn that a few times herself in her Rookie days. Giving a little pull, her arms wrapped protectively around his shoulders, resting her cheek lightly atop his head.

"Don't be afraid. I'm going to protect you, not hurt you, okay?"

More panic, more trying to pull away. More naming beetle types, and trying to remember to breathe.

But when she wrapped her arms round him and spoke something in him gave and the control he had been fighting to keep disappeared. He made a small sound and buried his face in Elena's shoulder, clinging to her.

"I read his journal... because Riku... Reno told me to ask him, what he meant. He said he had made mistakes..."

Breathing, sort of, clinging and mumbling. "Ganondorf had him under a spell... Reno was doing what he told him to... But I didn't know. I just thought he'd betrayed us."

So he had betrayed him back... No crime will be worse than yours

"I killed him... it broke the spell but I didn't know that... I just... I hurt him I couldn't stop and he died."

This was...heartbreaking. Sympathy for his situation and state had brought her to hugging the recruit, hoping that even the faintest of contact would help ease some of that pain he was holding it. And by the way that he clung to her, making that soft noise against her shoulder, it apparently had worked.

As he spoke Elena said nothing, letting the words, the pain, the guilt that had been clearly been building up be spoken, expelled like a bitter poison. One arm shifted, still protectively wrapped around his shoulders, while the other lifted, hand coming to gently stroke at the back of his head in a comforting touch.

"Shion...."

What could she say in this situation that would help release him of his miserable guilt? He had killed his mentor, thinking him a betrayer, only to learn a horrible truth. It was too cruel, too traumatizing.

"Ganon deserves a painful and miserable death for what he has done - to both you and Reno. And I can promise you, it will happen in due time..."

Her hand continued its slow, comforting petting of his hair, cheek just barely nuzzling the top of the boy's head. As much as she wanted to explode, to rant and rave, destroy anything nearby in her rage for this horrible truth, she remained steady and calm. She would later find that opportunity to release her own raging anger - she had felt something was off, damn it all, and couldn't prove it!. But for now, Shion needed her and she would be that necessary support.

"You did what was necessary of you - of a Turk. I know that Reno would actually be very proud of you... You were the one to prove that something was off and who was behind it. That's our job, that's what we do. As for killing Reno..."

At this she paused, putting the words in the proper order.

"When a Turk goes rogue or when its time to 'retire', another Turk is sent to kill them. Without realizing it, you followed an unspoken order for the Turks. I'm very sure that Reno understood what was happening - and felt horrible about what Ganon was putting you through and that that you had to be the one to kill him without knowing the whole truth..."

Once more silence fell, her hand stopping to rest at the back of his head, cheek resting a bit heavier than before atop the mop of white hair.

"From what I've seen, Ganon enjoys watching people suffer and will use anything to make it happen. Friends, family...they're just tools to break others. Reno knew what he was doing and knew that there was a risk that you, or Xion or I, would have to kill him if he was ever found out... You did nothing wrong, Shion. You did your job. And...I'm proud of you."

He shook against her, he had expected her to be angry at him, not to tell him he had done the right thing. How could it be the right thing when it felt so wrong? When it hurt so much?

Even if it was necessary it had felt wrong, and he hadn't thought it through, he had just acted without thinking.

Reno had warned him that being a Turk wasn't easy, but Shion thought he was only just beginning to grasp just how difficult it was. He tried to stop himself crying but clung to Elena, just glad she wasn't mad at him. Though uncomfortable with her being proud, no one should be proud of him, not for this.

"I lost control... I was just really angry I didn't think."

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A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week.

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/ALLTHEMORESOBBING

hes so bad at this

/crai

sobs

/lesniff

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OWW MY HEART

;;

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