Viral Love
folder
Final Fantasy VII › AU - Alternate Universe
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
42
Views:
1,680
Reviews:
9
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Final Fantasy VII › AU - Alternate Universe
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
42
Views:
1,680
Reviews:
9
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Final Fantasy; Square Enix does. I make no money from using these characters; Square Enix does.
14
“Hojo?” I prodded him with a claw. He didn’t move or even blink. He looked like a statue. “Hojo,” I said a third time, reaching out to shake him. The moment my hand clamped upon him, he gave a mighty flinch and drew away from me.
“I’m here,” he said distinctly. “Sorry.”
I didn’t know what his brief moment of being near-comatose meant, but I dismissed it. We had to keep moving. Saying nothing, I continued on. He followed, but almost noiselessly.
We walked without mishap or encountering monsters all night. I didn’t trust that. Nearly every step AVALANCHE took, we’d fought monsters of varying strength. This made two nights Hojo and I didn’t go up against anything stronger than our own weariness.
Roughly an hour to dawn we found another cave. This one looked terribly cramped. I hated the idea of trying to sleep in an eight foot long, four foot wide cave. It seemed like a large coffin. Since I no longer punished myself by sleeping in one, this seemed a step backward. Too, I’d have to lie nearly against Hojo.
He hadn’t spoken a word to me all night.
When I gestured for him to go in first, he merely nodded and crawled through the tiny opening. I waited for him to settle, then followed. He’d smashed himself against the sandstone wall, facing the opposite wall. I gingerly got on my back beside him and stared at the rock ceiling. I figured we had less than two feet of ceiling clearance in here. Claustrophobia threatened to unman me.
“It’s just a pocket in rock,” he whispered. “I hate enclosed places.”
We shared a fear, then. I felt like snapping at him, like denying I felt uncomfortable in here, but I didn’t. “We’ll have to take it,” I answered. “Moving about in the day is too dangerous.”
He sighed, but it sounded jerky and stressed. “Maybe I can pretend.”
“I often do,” I said before I could think better of it.
“You? How could you be afraid of this?” Hojo’s disbelieving tone set my teeth on edge.
“You locked me into a space much smaller than this, and I stayed there for decades,” I reminded. “Being in torpor doesn’t mean lack of awareness. I heard every drop of water, every squeak of every rodent. I even heard the spiders spinning their webs.”
Hojo drew in a long, shaky breath. “You weren’t supposed to,” he said softly. “I gave you something to prevent that.”
“I overcame it in days.” I closed my eyes. “I slept like a hunted thing.”
Silence descended again. Hojo’s breathing didn’t settle much. I drifted with my own thoughts for awhile, but jerked from them when I felt him touch my shoulder. “Using you for an anchor,” he said tightly. “I’m sorry, I really am, but if I’m not touching something real, I’m going to lose it.”
His touch didn’t feel unbearably intrusive. He didn’t grip hard, but he held me firmly. I relaxed and let him have that comfort. It didn’t cost anything, and it kept him from making an issue of himself. Too, after a few minutes I found it helped me slightly as well.
Touching something real…
What made me more real than the surrounding rock?
“I’m here,” he said distinctly. “Sorry.”
I didn’t know what his brief moment of being near-comatose meant, but I dismissed it. We had to keep moving. Saying nothing, I continued on. He followed, but almost noiselessly.
We walked without mishap or encountering monsters all night. I didn’t trust that. Nearly every step AVALANCHE took, we’d fought monsters of varying strength. This made two nights Hojo and I didn’t go up against anything stronger than our own weariness.
Roughly an hour to dawn we found another cave. This one looked terribly cramped. I hated the idea of trying to sleep in an eight foot long, four foot wide cave. It seemed like a large coffin. Since I no longer punished myself by sleeping in one, this seemed a step backward. Too, I’d have to lie nearly against Hojo.
He hadn’t spoken a word to me all night.
When I gestured for him to go in first, he merely nodded and crawled through the tiny opening. I waited for him to settle, then followed. He’d smashed himself against the sandstone wall, facing the opposite wall. I gingerly got on my back beside him and stared at the rock ceiling. I figured we had less than two feet of ceiling clearance in here. Claustrophobia threatened to unman me.
“It’s just a pocket in rock,” he whispered. “I hate enclosed places.”
We shared a fear, then. I felt like snapping at him, like denying I felt uncomfortable in here, but I didn’t. “We’ll have to take it,” I answered. “Moving about in the day is too dangerous.”
He sighed, but it sounded jerky and stressed. “Maybe I can pretend.”
“I often do,” I said before I could think better of it.
“You? How could you be afraid of this?” Hojo’s disbelieving tone set my teeth on edge.
“You locked me into a space much smaller than this, and I stayed there for decades,” I reminded. “Being in torpor doesn’t mean lack of awareness. I heard every drop of water, every squeak of every rodent. I even heard the spiders spinning their webs.”
Hojo drew in a long, shaky breath. “You weren’t supposed to,” he said softly. “I gave you something to prevent that.”
“I overcame it in days.” I closed my eyes. “I slept like a hunted thing.”
Silence descended again. Hojo’s breathing didn’t settle much. I drifted with my own thoughts for awhile, but jerked from them when I felt him touch my shoulder. “Using you for an anchor,” he said tightly. “I’m sorry, I really am, but if I’m not touching something real, I’m going to lose it.”
His touch didn’t feel unbearably intrusive. He didn’t grip hard, but he held me firmly. I relaxed and let him have that comfort. It didn’t cost anything, and it kept him from making an issue of himself. Too, after a few minutes I found it helped me slightly as well.
Touching something real…
What made me more real than the surrounding rock?