[open] // it’s your blood that’s red like roses

[fionnuisce]

Characters: Waver and open
Setting: November 23rd
Location: floors 27, 15, and the dorm floors
Format: starting in brackets, I'll try to match.
Summary: Waver's having problems.
Warnings: Probably none?

[floor twenty-seven]

[Working usually took his mind off of things. Today seemed to be the exception; Waver stared blankly at his notes as though he wasn't really seeing them, pen hovering just over his paper. it seemed as though he was having trouble getting a train of thought properly started...or he was on a much less science-oriented one altogether.]

[floor fifteen]

[If the usual work on the collar fluid wouldn't hold his attention, maybe something more practical would. In the course of his day Waver found his way to the workshop floor; someone did need him to craft new swords. Film materials or not, he had every intention to do as much. So one could find him drawing up vague outlines for paired shortswords and collecting a pile of materials for them.]

[dorm floors]

[Maybe it just wasn't worth trying to do anything today. Not with the miserable mood that kept rearing its ugly, murderous, and nauseating head. Waver decided that perhaps just trying to actually accomplish things was best left for tomorrow. If he slept on the whole mess of Sephiroth and all that had happened for another night, maybe it would be less of an overbearing weight to handle.]

[Maybe.]

Comments

[Dorm Floors] (Note: He is still in puppy mode right now.)

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid turns a thin leather band over in his hands as he stands outside of Waver's door trying to convince himself it's okay to enter. He is worried sick about his friend and, normally, he would just walk in and fix what is wrong. Now, considering he is the cause of the problem, he's not sure if he can fix anything and that is why he is hesitating yet again--just like he has for the last how many days.

He's not sure if he's even welcome anymore.

Waver had seemed fine at Ryoji's party. Too fine. That is why, when they had separated, Diarmuid had watched his friend. Watched him bounce between far too happy and far too quiet. He had been withdrawn at the collar fluid meeting too. It was all wrong. Very wrong.

Diarmuid's hands tighten around the 'collar' he's holding. He had made it in the workshop as a joke in reference to their joking at the party. Perhaps something to raise Waver's spirits, but now he wonders why he wasted time doing such a thing when he should have just gone to him and waited to be dismissed.

Why would Waver want to be bound to such a monster?

Unlike before, Diarmuid remembers his slide into the rage now. He remembers what he said and how he said it. Not curses, but those words... Curses may have been better.

Finally, after taking a moment to shut his eyes, Diarmuid knocks on the door to Waver's room before stepping inside.]

Waver?

[Saying the man's name is not done to see if he is there. Diarmuid knows he is. Instead, it's done for another reason...

Diarmuid wants to see if his friend even wants to talk to him.]

what a doofus

[fionnuisce]

Huh? [Waver looked up as though he was so out of it that he didn't realize Diarmuid was there at all. He quickly covered the surprise with a small smile, though it was far more obviously fake than the one he'd worn the past few days. Falsifying a smile was exhausting, especially since he wasn't used to wearing one at all.]

Sorry, I didn't hear you come in. What is it?

They both are. X.x

[oathshackledbird]

Stop. Please.

[His voice is soft. Pained. Diarmuid stomach is twisting right now just as hard as his hands are twisting that leather band. It's surprising it doesn't break.]

If it's hurting you so much, just tell me to go. You don't have to keep forcing yourself like this.

[fionnuisce]

[It took a second, but the smile flickered off his face with a broken and quiet laugh. Waver sat down on the edge of his bed and pressed a hand to his face, shoulders dropping out of their stiff and forced line to something suggesting a deep exhaustion.]

...alright, you win that one.

[oathshackledbird]

Thank you.

[They are just two words, but Diarmuid's voice shakes anyway, fear adding to the unease he is already feeling. There is no way for him to know what exactly he has won on, since he had mentioned two things--Waver relaxing and if he should leave or not. Considering Waver suddenly looks so exhausted, Diarmuid can guess, but there is really only one way to know.]

Do you want me to go?

[fionnuisce]

Don't be stupid, of course I don't. But you could at least sit down, if you even want to stay here.

[oathshackledbird]

[It's like something just breaks in Diarmuid and in the blink of an eye he moves from where he's standing to kneeling on the floor near where Waver is sitting with his head pressed against the man's leg. At first, the only sound he makes is a soft whimpering, though slowly other words become audible.]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm...

[fionnuisce]

Diarmuid...please, don't do that.

[Almost automatically, Waver stroked Diarmuid's hair as he spoke in a quiet voice.]

I'm not angry--well, no, I'm angry you did something that stupid for my benefit. But that's all. You don't have anything to apologize for, and I would assume you won't apologize for acting like a damned shield.

[oathshackledbird]

No...it was something I had to do. Even what I feel about you aside, I couldn't fight anymore and you could. There was no other option. Not when I was already dyi--

[Diarmuid lets his voice trail off, raising his head and then his hands to present the much abused leather collar to Waver. A small smile crosses his face for just a minute.]

You're Puppy Servant was bad. You should keep him on a shorter leash.

dorms

[vermicompost]

[Lancelot is worried about him and reluctant to let him leave the dorms alone. Which is fine. At least Kariya has some books to read, but he is feeling restless, especially since he's so much better and so much more capable of traveling. But he's all but defenseless now, without his Crest Worms, and dying will almost certainly cause him to revert to his earlier state. He doesn't want that. So he tries to satisfy his urge to do something by walking the dorm floors.

The sight of Waver presents a welcome distraction, and Kariya smiles. He heads in Waver's direction, but as he approaches him, he's clear-headed enough to realize that something's wrong. The smile on his face fades.]

Waver--

Are you all right?

[fionnuisce]

Oh...Kariya? [His tone was one of faint surprise, like Waver wasn't quite registering the situation today.] Lancelot was right, you do look different...good to see you in better condition, anyway.

[Shrugging his shoulders, the lecturer merely folded his arms.]

Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?

[vermicompost]

Oh, yes. I'm not surprised he told you. Someone got rid of the Crest Worms for me. Thanks.

[He smiles at this, but he doesn't particularly like talking about himself, or having any kind of fuss made over him, so he's almost relieved when Waver's reaction is muted.]

You look upset, that's why.

[fionnuisce]

Right...he mentioned as much. It's nice to know someone's got one less thing to worry about.

[Shaking his head, Waver glanced away as though trying to shrug something off.]

...difficult week, that's all.

[wormless]

[He nods.]

It's nice.

[He agrees, but avoids the subject of himself.]

Does it have to do with Sephiroth?

[Generally no one tells him things, but Lancelot does. Also, he can figure some things out for himself.]

[fionnuisce]

...It does, yes. How much do you know about everything?

[It seemed like half the Tower already knew. Waver might have been annoyed if he had the energy to do so.]

[wormless]

Lancelot told me some things about it. Sephiroth's his roommate. I know the basic situation.

[fionnuisce]

Look, if you're about to launch into a lecture on morality and how we're all idiots, I'd like to ask you to save it. I'm really not in the mood for another argument.

Floor 27

[neverbeamemory]

[Being one of the more obvious floors for science work, Sephiroth infrequently sweeps the 27th Floor for anything his team may have left behind, or for any notes or equipment that might have found their way misplaced here. Better for him to find them and redistribute them around the movers of his Violet Team, than to let the Agents of the Tower find them.

He pauses as he comes into Waver's general vicinity, being as he's in an area near to where the Violet team performed their last series of tests. Keeping a cautious distance from the other man and sweeping the area with his eyes only.

The whole way he holds himself, in the momentary pause, makes it out as if nothing had happened. In fact, Sephiroth is steeling his own resolve against the natural pang for revenge just breathing the same air as Waver threatens to spark.

After a moment, though, Sephiroth strides past Waver and stops at one of the nearby work areas to give it a more thorough inspection.]

[fionnuisce]

[It took a moment for Waver to register someone else was in the room; when he did notice, his only initial greeting was a cold glare over his shoulder.]

Coming by for another cold shower?

[neverbeamemory]

Not today.

[Cold glare met cold glare over an armored shoulder only for a charged instant before Sephiroth went back to searching through some of the equipment nearby to his position. Systematically checking everything in the area before moving on to the next.]

No fluid today?

[He means collar fluid of course, but there isn't exactly a large ocean on this floor either.]

[fionnuisce]

Maybe it just isn't in sight of less trustworthy individuals. Our team isn't full of idiots, you see.

[neverbeamemory]

Never said that it was.

[Full of idiots, that is. Sephiroth keeps his own collar fluid out of the sight of all but only him and one other person. Meanwhile he's not so much looking around for something specifically as generally having a rifle around - it's calm, and methodological, not hurried as if he'd misplaced something.]

[fionnuisce]

Hmph. So what do you want, then?

[neverbeamemory]

Nothing from you. Relax.

[It doesn't look as if anyone had left anything behind in that particular area, and so Sephiroth crosses Waver's line of sight and starts looking through some equipment in a second area.]

I'm sure that we wouldn't want to lose anything, so I'm making sure.

[fionnuisce]

Certainly. [Hear that tone? That tone is dripping with a sentiment called 'go fuck yourself'.]

How incredibly thoughtful of you.