[log] Strip teasing gone wrong [closed]

Entry tags:

[log] Strip teasing gone wrong [closed]

Characters: Kunsel (

deus_ex_phs) and Zack Fair (

heroproceeding)
Location T01 in building 67.
Date: Day 033; early evening
Summary: House puts a crazy yet possibly reasonably, sensible idea in Zack's head (wow, House! for once, you aren't being a completely sarcastic asshole! fff!!). Zack takes it to the next level and decides to have a not so happy, happy naked time party with Kunsel to confirm or reject the theory.
Warnings: PEOPLE GETTIN' NAKED. Seriously, just implications of a strip search. And then pain. Angsty pain of Zack's woes with unfun torturous experimentation talk.

The excuse to stop early had come easily enough. Maybe not everyone said anything... but. He knew he certainly had slept very little the night before. That creeping sound of breathing had kept him up and alert most of the night, wondering if anything would jump them as they slept. It had been one thing back when it had been just him and Lancer. He'd trusted Lancer to be able to act quickly and efficiently. And trusted himself with the ability to do the same. But now with the group that had gathered, he left nothing at chance. ...Now, as for slipping off to another room for the night, he'd left that to Kunsel. Bad poker face and all.

Thankfully, the others seemed caught up in their own business for a little. ...Admittedly, asking Cloud to stick it out had ended up with Zack asking Tadashi to accompany him for a bit. Really though, that was just as much of a comfort to Zack as it was for the cadet. But with that taken care of, too... That had just left one tiny little problem. One that in all his haste to uncover the truth behind whether there was a potential for mircochipping, he had forgotten until it had just been the two of them in the bedroom.

But backing out by then would have been even more suspicious and he... They had both become SOLDIERs under the pretense of the horrors it could have. And while he didn't necessarily like the idea of subjecting his friend to the truth like this, suddenly refusing would make things worse and... in the bigger picture, knowing whether or not those microchips existed underneath their skin or not took priority. Especially if it meant being one step ahead of whoever ran this hellhole.

It probably didn't make the truth any less ugly to see. From the way his chest held strong evidence of once being pummeled with an appalling scattered mess of scarring from gunfire to the thinner ones that trekked along his arms... Not a pretty sight at all. Which might have been part of the reason why Zack had been quick to shrug back on his tattered uniform vest as soon as Kunsel confirmed seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Things had been far too silent since then, even as they swapped roles. But even that role reversal that only further disillusioned that theory didn't change the new atmosphere. Now, Zack sat on the edge of the bed with his hands on his knees and eyes downcast.

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As cold as it had been, Kunsel had forced himself not to ask about the scars while he'd done his search of Zack. Even keeping Zack partially covered during the process of examining every inch of his skin had only helped so much. They needed to get this over with as quickly as possible. Questions could wait until after.

So he waited. And then it was his turn. And Shiva, he was glad he hadn't made Zack suffer any longer than he had to, because having the tables turned sucked.

In the end, though, nothing turned up. Nothing but the scars and questions sitting like lead in his gut. Many of the scars were typical of injuries that every SOLDIER got. Claws, teeth, bullets, blades - Kunsel himself had run into his share of these. He knew how to recognize them on Zack. It wasn't their presence that alarmed him.

It was the sheer quantity of bullets wounds he'd seen centered on Zack's chest and back.

That...

And the surgical scars.

A somber moment of quiet passed, with Kunsel sitting on the bed next to Zack. Close enough to share warmth, and support. Gaia knew they probably needed both. After that moment passed, though, he finally broke that silence.

"Zack... Are you... alright?"

At first, it seemed like Zack simply hadn't heard Kunsel, even for as close as they sat together. About the only thing that hinted otherwise was the subtle nod of his chin- tiny and almost indiscernible. But then, abruptly, he took in a sharp exhale, pursing his lips and leaning forward to tuck elbows against his knees instead, hands now tangling in his messy hair.

"We got ambushed right outside of Midgar. I couldn't back down."

'Your warning came too late' never reached his lips. The fact that Kunsel warned them at all was more than enough for him. It had given him all the more courage to face down that battalion. He'd never leave a comrade. Kunsel knew that. ...Though, really. That was all but the tip of the iceberg and they both know it. Kunsel'd known about that attack. Just... Just one thing at a time.

Kunsel knew. Of course he did. He'd been so anxious and desperate to find any information on Zack that he'd latched onto anything that offered even the remotest hint. And if he'd blurred a few lines on the level of clearance he should have, well. It was only a problem if he was found out. He would have dealt with it when it came up.

But clearly the "mission accomplished" he'd intercepted had been wrong. Zack was living, breathing proof sitting beside him. He nudged his friend's shoulder with his own, just to remind him of that.

"You made it out, though, right? So at least there's that."

In the back of his mind, he had to wonder how. How had he made it out? From time to time, he couldn't deny he dreamed of that day. Felt the hot puncture of bullets ripping through him all over again. Of that last infantryman coming in for a kill shot that tore a scream out of him every time. Of the rain and the slick squish of mud as the cadet--

The nudge snapped him from those thoughts though. Kunsel's voice just as real as it had been seconds ago. He was there. Alive. That was what mattered in the end, right? He'd made it there instead... They'd taken him... Healed him up. He'd been sore and tired as hell the first week or so, but he'd been on his road to recovery quicker than anyone would ever expect considering.

He pushed himself up so that he was leaning back now, arms at his sides and straight to support his lighter weight. "...Yeah." A hint of an unamused laugh. The smile he tried for fell more grim than anything. "Hard to believe- we really were just as blind as 'em at one point. Following orders like that." ShinRa's finest hour right there. No different from Angeal. Or Genesis. Sephiroth, too... Betrayed in the end. All of them. And for what?

"Blind," Kunsel agreed with a murmur, though his expression was no happier. He hadn't put his helmet back on yet, so the pensive expression was clear for Zack to see. "Or with no better alternative. I knew something was rotten in the company, even before what happened to you, but what could I do? Quitting wouldn't have made things any better. It would have just cut me off from information." Information he'd needed to track Zack down later.

"Speaking of which, why exactly were they calling you 'escaped research samples'? Was that just a code name to keep from tipping the rest of SOLDIER off?" For all the good it had done. He'd still put the pieces together, and then later so had Luxiere.

'Or no better alternative.' Zack could... definitely agree with that. He couldn't have abandoned SOLDIER in the end. Once SOLDIER, always SOLDIER. Under the thumb of ShinRa and never to be released. He had seen what had happened otherwise... Had tried to do something about it. To understand and fix things in his own way. Just as Kunsel had desperately tried to find him, had put those pieces together and contacted him as he had. But in the end, just as it had with the previous generals, something had come to a head... and that time, it hadn't been due to his betrayal due to dirty curiosity. No, if nothing, he and Cloud had been the collateral and clean up. ...At this point, he wasn't sure what was worse though.

And speaking of worse... But really, he'd find it odd if Kunsel hadn't questioned things. It... didn't make things any easier to talk about, never mind he was one of his closest friends, but... Maybe in a way, that made it harder because he knew no matter how much SOLDIER had hardened them to harsh circumstances, this was still a story that should never have had to be told in the first place. Should have never happened.

Zack glimpsed out of the corner of his eye at his friend, watching his face a moment. Reminding him all over again that this was definitely Kunsel he was talking to and no hallucination. Kunsel, after all those years... still turning up no answers other than something he thought was a code name? He really didn't even know the half of it. Zack felt his stomach turning to water at that realization, but. He wouldn't lie, even if he had to fight to be honest.

So, after a minute longer than perhaps Kunsel would have wanted to wait, Zack finally shook his head slowly. "Heh. If only... But you know how things go when ShinRa needs a cover up." He couldn't hide the bitter tone he took on suddenly.

"Guess the science department had been so short on volunteers... they needed someone." And what better than people who they wanted to fall off the face of the map anyway? Two members who had seen too much... Zack raised one of his hands, palm up, staring down at what he knew was hidden by the long sleeve.

Considering it was a hell of a lot more preferable to considering that that name might have been chosen for more literal reasons. Kunsel would have been lying if he'd said that thought had never crossed his mind, but even as desensitized as he sometimes felt about the things he'd seen and dealt with in his time, there were some things a guy didn't want to think might be true. Some small kernel of faith in the company he worked for that he didn't want to die.

No one was so blind as the man who didn't want to see.

And then, too, there was the fact that information was just so scarce that he couldn't put stock in even what little he'd heard. Too easy to misinterpret. Too easy to speculate. Better to shelve such ideas until he had something more concrete.

Unfortunately, he had it now. Kunsel stilled, feeling his blood run cold.

"But- That doesn't make sense. You were a First. We don't have enough of those as it is. Why would ShinRa sacrifice one of its best?" But even as he questioned, his mind was already racing, slotting pieces into place. Which came first? The chocobo or the egg? "Wait. Were the orders to kill you because of what they did to you? Or was it because of what you knew in the first place?"

Edited 2015-09-13 14:21 (UTC)

Really, he couldn't blame Kunsel for wanting to have the faith he wanted to have in their company. Zack had... He'd really wanted that, too. But he'd seen too much now. Been at the forefront of it far too much. First, from the sidelines. Then, in the face of it. It didn't change his literal mantra. But it had certainly altered the underlying meaning since then.

Something in him still twisted when the other shoe fell. The realization that dawned in Kunsel's eyes. The way he raced to make confusing sense of the situation. If the roles had been reversed, they would have likely been the same questions he'd asked, himself. Why get rid of a First who'd been loyal to the company? But leave it to him to ask the right questions to piece the puzzle together. Even if they weren't... necessarily easy ones to answer.

Zack sat in silence for a time, flexing his fingers slowly. But then he shook his head again, admitting, "Both, probably." As in more than likely if the weariness in his expression was any indication. Letting out a slow breath to settle his nerves a bit, he continued, "I doubt anything they were doing there would have passed clearance back at HQ." And back there, he had always wondered why Hojo had always made those... off comments.

'This one will make a fine specimen.'

Those words alone, the cold hands and equally cold, calculating eyes on him... He subconsciously shuddered at the memory. Tried to will it away just as quickly. Getting caught up in that wouldn't do them any good now. It was in the past, he had to tell himself. But even there, the past hadn't left them entirely alone. Cloud's condition being a constant reminder, for one... But also... Zack grit his teeth. "Four years, Kunsel..." All that time lost- and for them to be deemed as failed experiments to waste away the remainder of their lives in that lab had he not broken out. Whether it was inspiration from that bizarre dream, his own strength, or maybe even due to Lazard's help? That was anyone's guess. But what mattered was that he had somehow managed to finally find the strength to break out of there.

But really... that wasn't the biggest bombshell to all this if the way he fidgeted was any indication, still avoiding eye contact.

Edited 2015-09-13 17:09 (UTC)

Zack was often twitchy, often restless, especially when he was feeling cooped up, but usually he channeled it better than this. Squats or horsing around, or animated gestures with his hands while he talked - not doing his best to struggle against the urge, to avoid drawing attention to himself. Not avoiding his best friend's eyes. Combined with what they've been talking about, something cold crept down Kunsel's spine.

"What did you do?" he asked, dreading the answer already, even though he'd asked the same question all those years ago. "How did you make that kind of an enemy in ShinRa, that they'd just give you into the Science Department's hands? What the hell did you know that they'd keep you locked up for four years?" He hated asking, hated the way it made Zack shudder just to think about it, but he had to know. He needed to know what he was dealing with here, if he wanted any hope of figuring out how to help his friend and somehow fix what went wrong.

As it was, all he could offer right now was a hand on Zack's tense arm. Whatever happened, he was here now, and he wasn't going anywhere. No matter what Zack told him next.

The questions hit him heatedly like the shots fired upon him back in the wastelands. He clutched his hand tight into a fist one moment, mentally recoiling, wanting to forget about this talk. Forget about this past. Just be two foolhardy cadets dreaming of an ambitious, heroic life in the line of duty as SOLDIERs all over again without the heavy hardships that had tried again and again to bury all optimism he had for being the hero he wished to be. Just be another day where a 'What did you do?' from Kunsel meant a sideways smile and a stupid story that would just make his friend roll his eyes and wack him across the back of his head. But the truth couldn't be avoided- and he couldn't lie to his best friend. Not the one who'd proven time and time again that he'd always have his back. The one who still had his back right then and there. That presence right next to him with that weight of that hand on his arm. Zack's hand slowly flexed open.

"I..." He started slowly. One moment not sure where else to go from there, still building up his thoughts into some form of coherency. The next?

"It was what I didn't- but then it was what I did and- I mean I knew something was wrong- Genesis, he put all sorts of ideas in his head and then he started getting this idea that he was this monster, he was so obsessed over it and no matter what, he just wouldn't listen and-" Kunsel, this might... be the time to say something. Unless he was looking to deal with a full feature ramble of nonsense.

Edited (whoops, clearly needed that addendum) 2015-09-18 10:35 (UTC)

A ramble wouldn't do either of them any good, really. "Breathe, Zack," Kunsel urged, nudging him in the side. "And start over from the beginning. What do you mean about Genesis?" Why Genesis? Given the suspicious timing of Zack's initial disappearance, he would have thought it was connected with whatever happened to Sephiroth, not the First that Zack had reported was dead.

On the other hand, Genesis copies were still surfacing even after that... He let that thought trail off with a frown. It had bugged him then, it still bugged him now, but this wasn't the time for speculation. He needed to listen to what Zack had to say.

And just as much as that, it was clear Zack needed someone to listen to him. How long had he been sitting on whatever it was he knew, unable to tell anyone?

Too long. Far too long. And at the end of the day, would it have been something he would have brought up to explain this extensively before? No... Probably not. Was it something he even felt all that comfortable explaining now? From the way his leg started to bounce... unlikely either. But he'd... There'd been... so much. So much that had gone so wrong so fast. Enough that his mind always seemed to race when he thought about it and the "What if?"s and that now bled into his speech-

at least up until Kunsel cut him off like that with a soft bump and a question. Of course. Leave it to his best buddy to know when to get him to knock it off and refocus. Zack took in a sharp inhale, letting it out slowly... Closing his eyes. Opening them again. His posture remained stiff, but his eyes at least seemed a bit clearer now.

"Me and Sephiroth- when we got to the reactor, he showed up there. Started talking about some project that Sephiroth was a part of just like Genesis was involved in one, himself. Something to do with JENOVA-" That strange pedestal of that woman crossed his mind- those cat-slit eyes -and Zack shivered slightly. "I should have told him different, Kunsel. I should have said something and stopped him right then and there." Why hadn't he? Part of him knew. But that part only made him tense all the more, angry at himself.

Because that part of him had been the part that had known the shock and horror of it... The all too familiar uncertainty and sense of helplessness. Angeal. Angeal all over again. And again, he'd failed. And that time, it had cost...

Edited 2015-09-26 03:54 (UTC)

"I take it Sephiroth didn't respond well." Kunsel's guess was sober, as much based on Zack's words and behavior as on what Kunsel already knew. Something had gone wrong on that mission. Sephiroth and Zack, both reported killed, none of the army members assigned to go with them ever coming back. Something bad had happened. Something that had been covered up, and so thoroughly that there wasn't even a peep from Nibelheim. Couldn't be a normal monster. ShinRa didn't bother to cover those things up. Usually only things that would make the company look bad, or would compromise operations somewhere. And in this case...

More pieces slid together.

"Did Sephiroth... do something?" It was almost unthinkable. Sephiroth was their General. But even Generals were human. They could slip. And what would ShinRa do if the shining star of SOLDIER, the Hero of Wutai himself, acted against ShinRa's interests?

His two best friends deserted. Both killed by the company - except Genesis wasn't, apparently? What if he...? A thrill of shock ran through him. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out incredulously.

"Wait, did Sephiroth desert?"

Did he desert... huh. There was a moment- a moment that struck him at that note. A reminder of a time when he and Sephiroth had spoken shortly that once. When Sephiroth had mentioned that depending on circumstances, his loyalties could change. But Zack... Zack had never imagined what had became of those words in the end. Because, yes- he had been their General. Hero to the war and a man of insurmountable skill. Where Angeal had been the heart and spirit of SOLDIER, Sephiroth had been their banner of the ideal strength and wit. And that very ideal had...

"He.... He did more than that." Even as Zack tried to keep his composure, tried to push through the rest of what he had to say but not necessarily ramble, his leg just bounced all the harder.

"Whatever he found out in that town, it changed him. Enough that he- Kunsel, he wiped the entire village off the map." It felt surreal to think about it let alone admit it, remembering the confusion when he had first left the manor after all that time. But he was certain. He could still remember the lick of flames and the ensnaring, thick smell of burnt pine. And there had been that poor cadet, watching his hometown burn. Watching all those people he knew- Zack winced.

So much he could have stopped if he had just been more persistent back in that old library... If he'd just...!

"What?" No. Stop. Rewind. Replay what Zack just said. Because Kunsel couldn't do anything but stare at Zack, because what he said just didn't make sense. Deserting the company, sure, that was one thing. It was something even Kunsel had considered at times. But there was a world of differences between deserting and wiping a town off the map.

Wait.

"Zack, that can't be right. Nibelheim's still there. All while you were missing, I paid attention to anything that came out from that area. None of it had anything to do with anything important, but the town was still definitely there."

Really, he didn't blame his friend's backpedalling. Had he not been there himself, that town... That new set up could have fooled anyone. The only exception would have been the residents, themselves, but considering the situation... with how backwater Nibelheim had been... Likely the majority of the natives either never lived to tell the tale or were questioned just as Zack was being now. But that just... he lowered his eyes.

"Kuns... You know I'd never lie to you. It's there now, but I'm telling you. He burned it. There was no one-" He stopped abruptly. Then paused to rub the back of his neck uneasily.

"They must have... It must have been another cover up. That's all I could figure."

"I know you wouldn't lie but..."

But this was Sephiroth. This was a whole town.

"How the hell could ShinRa cover up something that big? Shiva, I know they've swept a lot of things under the rug, but how do you pretend a whole town didn't burn down? And why would the General even do that to begin with?"

It was too much. He still couldn't wrap his mind around it all.

"I don't--" He cut himself off abruptly at that, jolting.

No- he... He didn't understand the whole of it. But there was something he did know. Something that dug deep into him, making him squirm in ugly ways when he ever thought to consider it. Made him want to shut it out because it hit so close to home all over again. Those words he'd shouted to Genesis-- 'You're not a monster! You're one of us!' Would they have been Angeal's salvation had he said those to him? Would they have saved Sephiroth from his descent to madness?

It was all in the past now though... But this was new to Kunsel. And a lot to take in at once, he was starting to realize. Zack shakily sighed. "Just... think about it, Kunsel. If people had known... do you really think they would have trusted ShinRa anymore? With me and Cloud not in the picture to tell it different... who was gonna say anything?" No survivors hadn't been an exaggeration. ...Save perhaps Tifa. Maybe she'd made it out... He didn't know.

"I'm not questioning the why." He can see that all too easily. ShinRa's always been big on public image, from making sure to paint themselves as heroes in the news, to suppressing information that might make them look bad, even right down to feeding the fan clubs that sprang up around the firsts. He's seen for himself what happens whenever a SOLDIER's deserted. Granted, in that case, there really was cause for concern, because a SOLDIER gone postal could deal a hell of a lot of damage and death if left to his own devices, but it doesn't change the fact that Kunsel understands why ShinRa wouldn't want something like Sephiroth flipping out to ever reach the news. Even beyond the damage it would do to the company's reputation, the sheer panic that kind of news might kick up would be bad.

"At least, I'm not questioning ShinRa's 'why.' I'm questioning Sephiroth's. I'm questioning how. Zack, this is huge. Either everyone would have to be dead or silenced somehow, and they'd have to make sure that everyone who ever visited the town thought that nothing had happened to it."

Edited 2015-10-27 23:26 (UTC)

...Yeah, okay. So, all things considered, especially considering how they had treated the former First Class SOLDIERs in the past... Explaining that had really been redundant, hadn't it? Especially knowing Kunsel's habit of digging up information. So, no, that hadn't been what he'd been getting at. It made sense.

"I don't know, okay." His tone came off quiet- almost sick with the thought. Really, did he want to consider how far they'd gone to eliminate any suspicion? Especially now that Kunsel was really starting to prod at all the pieces of the puzzles... How many people they had eliminated to prevent a momentous explosion of rumors... The thought alone made his stomach twist in ugly ways.

"Look, I don't really get it all. but... no matter how you look at it, Sephiroth... He betrayed us and we had to stop him. Something in him just snapped and..." Zack trailed off, clutching his fist tightly in the sheets again. His expression fell mixed. "I just wish I'd been strong enough. I mean, Cloud, he... I owe him big time. Kuns, you should have seen him..." The swell of pride for the cadet wasn't anything to miss. But it fell from the next words. "Just- If I had, Cloud wouldn't have..." At this point, he figured it wouldn't take much for Kunsel to link together the stories.

It really was pretty ugly, what the complete information blackout seemed to imply. Something in Kunsel's gut churned, because even though he has no hard evidence, he still knew the company he works for well enough to suspect.

It was just frustrating to him that suspicions made up of so much of what he had. He couldn't be certain without the whole picture, and without certainty, it was hard to act.

Not that there was anything he can really do. Kunsel blew out a breath, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

"So Sephiroth went nuts and slaughtered the town. You were there, and so was Cloud. You tried to stop him, but Sephiroth's still Sephiroth." The idea of anyone stopping Sephiroth was a little nuts. "But you survived, which means you were there when ShinRa moved in to cover things up. So they covered you up." By dumping them in a lab. The churning in Kunsel's gut turned into a low boil at the thought, and his hand clenched at his side. "Which would doubly explain why ShinRa wanted you dead after you escaped, and why SOLDIER was never brought in."

Because it was one thing for a SOLDIER to be assigned to bring down another SOLDIER gone rogue. It was something else entirely for news of something like this to reach a SOLDIER's ears. This wasn't Zack's decision. This was done to him. SOLDIERs could be fiercely protective of their own. Finding out that one of their own had been treated like this could well have led to mutiny in the SOLDIER ranks.

"But what happened to Sephiroth?" Zack never had actually said.

Edited 2015-11-01 13:47 (UTC)

Everything Kunsel paraphrased... It all lined up. Not that... It was the kind of story that was necessarily pleasant to piece together. But... The more he spoke with Kunsel, the more he could feel some of the weight lift from him. Maybe... Maybe he had needed to talk about this more than he realized. It certainly didn't change anything, but...

Perhaps it was just good to know that through all that hell, all those people turned against him, there was still someone who heard him. Someone willing to listen and hear his side of the story and be there for him.

But of course, he would. Just like, of course, he would pinpoint that one last important piece of missing information.

"Gone. I don't know how, but... heh." And this time... This time, there was a slight curl to his lips. Barely a sliver of a smile and definitely not one that made it to his eyes... but a hint of one, regardless, as his hands loosened its grip on the sheets. "Hard as it may be to believe, Cloud... He stopped him. Cadet's tougher than he looks."

"Cloud?" Kunsel echoes the name with surprise, letting an eyebrow tick up. "You're kidding. Or you're not telling me how badly you injured Sephiroth first." He wouldn't put it past Zack to downplay his part.

But either way, it doesn't hurt to let the conversation shift to something a little... 'lighter' may not be the best word, but it's the best he can think of right now. Because he saw that sliver of a smile, and it made him realize just how much Zack's been shaken up just talking about this that he's only smiled now, and such a small one that it almost doesn't count.

"Well... I did give him a run for his gil. But... He was definitely still up and ready for another round." And the thought of that alone sets another frown back in place of that ghost of a smile. But at least this time it's not in fear but in thought.

"I don't know how, but Cloud did it. He came back from the reactor core alone. I'm telling you... if things hadn't gone the way they did, he could'a been SOLDIER." There's a certain ring of sureness to those words at least. Not that being SOLDIER seemed to ever lead anyone to good things these days...

"Huh." He doesn't say it, but Zack can probably hear it in his tone, that Kunsel's going to have to adjust his estimation of the cadet based on this.

For now, though, he shakes his head, and finally moves away from Zack. "Maybe I'll talk to him about it sometime, if he's willing. For now, we should get back to the others." He cracks a smile, trying to lighten the mood. "They're probably wondering what we're up to in here."

That remark earns a light elbow to his ribs at that comment shortly after Zack stands. Because really, Kunsel. Really? He shakes his head though and another vague hint of what could be upturned lips casts itself across his expression. "Yeah.. No, you're right." It doesn't stop him from hesitating towards the door but maybe not for the reasons his friend might think. Zack claps a hand on his shoulder. Looks him square in the eyes.

"Hey.. Thanks for having my back." It might seem like a simple thanks for the here and now. But Zack's not oblivious. Even if he did make it out of that hell hole, Zack isn't oblivious to how he would have felt on the other side of things. How terrible and terrifying it would have been to find out so belatedly what happened and only be able to mail out a warning in the end when in reality, he knows his friend would have been there in the flesh, fighting there right beside him if he could have. Even if it'd meant dying right beside him.

And now with the new context, well. While he gets Kunsel knows better than to blame himself for what he can't control... Knowing what he has done has been more than enough... It doesn't hurt to be reminded of that. Can't change the past. But they can sure as hell do all they can to prevent it from happening in the future.

Zack's elbow gets a chuckle, but the hand on his shoulder and the words of gratitude earn a genuine smile, and Kunsel's hand reaching up to squeeze Zack's in turn.

"You're welcome," he simply says. Always and forever. "You've always had mine, too."

There's so much more that they could say. So much more that words can't express.

But they know, so this will do.

And anyway, it's time they stopped revisiting the past and deal with the here and now, so the moment Zack lets go of him, Kunsel slings an arm around his friend's shoulder as they both walk out of the room.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[log] Strip teasing gone wrong [closed]

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Let's judge plot holes, bro. JUDGE 'EM.

DARN RIGHT I WILL

GOOD. THEY SHOULD BE JUDGED.

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