towerofanimus | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Characters: Anyone who stayed behind
Setting: 29th to the 31st, Anywhere
Summary: After the volunteers went below, what did those who stayed behind do?
Warnings: Usual Animus warnings, check for subject lines!

[Post your prompt and time in a subthread!]

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The rattling continued to work it's way up the spine of the Tower, crawling up the center of the staircase. Sephiroth stood permanently aware and ready for whatever it was that would be coming.

Perhaps he heard something of a hum beforehand, but in the next instant Sephiroth lurched away from Romeo as a spark of electricity crackled the air towards them.

Romeo blinked and jumped to the side, making a sound of fear as the electricity hit the wall behind them.

"Are you alright sir?"

"Perfectly fine."

He hadn't even stumbled, his wing apparently creating the perfect counter-balance to such a hasty evasive maneuver. Or more like his inherent power but Romeo didn't need to know that.

Sephiroth only glances in Romeo's direction once, couldn't care less if the kid was alright or not. In the meantime, carefully Sephiroth takes a step towards the damaged spine of the Tower once more and cranes his neck up to follow where the electricity might short out next.

Romeo however was worried about Sephiroth and hurried to his side. "We better go somewhere else, sir. There might be another one!"

He looks down and to the side of his face without even turning his head back down to look at Romeo. Watching him carefully, though forever perplexed by his mannerisms.

"There might-"

But Sephiroth doesn't look like he's going to move any time soon.

"I don't think it's something you can fight, sir." Romeo explained to him. "I think it will just hurt you."

And he didn't want Sephiroth to be hurt.

"Undoubtedly." The tall silver haired man replies.

"I wonder if there may be some sort of pattern to it."

And if so, it would help Sephiroth to understand just what was going on with the damaged spine of the Tower.

"A pattern?" Romeo blinked at him and back at the staircase, "What do you mean sir?"

"A pattern." He repeats, considering whether to enlighten Romeo further or not. Then apparently he decides it can't hurt; Romeo is not a threat in the slightest, in any way.

"Like thunder precedes lightning. For example."

"So you think there might be thunder?" Romeo blinked at him, "Like a big storm inside?" He looked up at the ceiling like he expected it to rain.

"Or inside- which is really outside-" Sephiroth pointedly looks up through the dangerous looking area in the centre of the stairwell, at the closest rip in reality, a few floors above them only for the time being. Thoughts pulling his frown as deep as it goes, not that Romeo can really see with his head tilted up that way.

Romeo might get the distinct impression that Sephiroth isn't paying him very much mind at all.

Romeo frowned, not understanding that at all. "What do you mean sir?" He tries to look where Sephiroth was looking, but couldn't see any outside.

"Those tears-" Hopefully Romeo will understand this time, Sephiroth raises a hand as well, to point at where he is looking. But then drops it shortly after. This will be his last attempt to see if Romeo might understand his reasoning.

"-they must lead somewhere. That isn't inside of the Tower. At least as we know it."

Romeo looked up, and saw the strange flickering in the air. "Oh... do you want to try and see what's through them sir?"

He peered upwards but he couldn't see anything through it.

Sephiroth can't either, but he's very curious nonetheless. It's similar to when there was a rip in the floor-they-can't-usually-access, and he'd made a note to stay away from. Those 'things' had come out of it eventually.

"I just wonder-"

Then as if something had brought him out of some deep thought, Sephiroth blinked, turned his head down and towards Romeo and shrugged in a smooth roll of shoulder armor.

"-just another thing to add to the list."

"We could try and find out." Romeo told him, "If you want to. Then you would know and it wouldn't have to be on the list anymore."

Sephiroth didn't much like the idea of going up the flights of stairs necessary to get a closer look at that flickering. If the last time was anything like this time, it wasn't safe by any means to do so.

It also seemed like Romeo wasn't going anywhere soon either, another thing he didn't want to have to tolerate for very much longer.

His gaze comes down to small child once more, then looks over instead to the nearby flight of stairs going downward.

"I need to get back into seeing how far this damage goes."

That is, if he didn't pop again out of reality on the way again.

"I'll come with you." Romeo told him with a smile, "I bet it goes all the way down."

This child is quite positively the most naive one in the entire Tower. Sephiroth doesn't know what part of his off-ish body language the boy doesn't understand, or how he doesn't understand the hints betrayed in long silences that Sephiroth has patiently been leaving for him to pick up on.

He will never understand children.

"I can manage it alone."

Idea.

"Don't you have friends you need to go and check on?"

Romeo blinked at him and then nodded, because he did have friends that probably needed help and Sephiroth was a grown up and quite powerful. He could manage on his own.

"Well good luck sir! Be careful!"

Sephiroth even tilts his head in a half-salute towards Romeo to encourage, before the small guy heads off on his own.

Leaving him to continue on his own patrol, alone.

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