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WHO: Vincent Valentine and Arkady
WHAT: Dealing with the executions
WHERE: Common room on floor 3 - Their dorm room
WHEN: Just after the broadcast
WARNINGS: Discussions of violence, more in necessary

The Shinra Corporation, even at its worst, had never sunk to public executions. He forced himself to watch as they proceeded, as they were allowed their rants and incitement, their calls for revolution. It was in this broadcast that the truth of this government was laid bare. He'd known for some time there would be a reckoning, but he hadn't expected it to be revealed like this.

He clenched his jaw, arms crossed as the proceedings concluded and Dualis TV network resumed its regular programming as though nothing had happened. It was sickening. He should contact Cloud, they needed to organize a response sooner rather than later, but first he needed to make sure Arkady was alright.

She wasn't the most stable, and he found he was more worried about her than he was his friends. They had managed for quite a time without him, and they'd survive this fallout without him also. She had a way of finding him when he was looking for her, but he started off to do so anyway, starting with their room.

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People had died. Maybe those had been the people she'd seen before. The flashes and the voices she'd heard of people begging. Or maybe this has happened before. It's happened before hasn't it? She's not sure. She's not sure about anything. Should they have done something to try to help those people? It was public. Blatant. A display to tell them that they should know there's nothing they can do. They're trapped here, powerless, and there's nothing at all they can do. The Head is the one that can do anything. That's what they're supposed to learn from that. It's the takeaway.

She hates this place. That's her takeaway from it. She hates this place and she hates the Head and there's nothing they can do. Except cry. That's what she's doing now. Crying by herself and hoping beyond hope nobody sees her. She'll be able to pretend it didn't bother her and hasn't gotten to her later. But not right now. Not after that. She's seen people die. She's killed people. She's helped to kill people. But that's somehow different than seeing a public execution like that. That's the moment true powerlessness sets in. Powerless. That's all they are here. At least Vincent wasn't in the room to see her.

But, of course he'd come in right then. She scrambles to try to wipe tears from her eyes and to force a smile as he comes in.

He stopped short when he noticed the state she was in. Tears could be wiped away, but the evidence of crying was more difficult to hide. He many not have been the best bodyguard Shinra had ever employed, but his attention to detail was still sharp. He didn't know what to do at first. It made sense she was crying, after all they'd been forced to see.

Inaction was something familiar to him, and those he'd cared for most had paid for it, and so he forced himself to move closer, and tried to make his voice sound gentle when he did speak, hesitantly.

"...Arkady?" It was equal parts inquiry and a request for permission to come forward, uncertain.

"Hello!" She tried to force some sort of happiness into her voice to hide how horribly sad she was. It wasn't an entirely convincing attempt but he can't say she didn't at least try, right? She swallowed hard and then looked away from him.

"I'm glad you're okay." And not there. Like there as it happened there. Or out there. Or somewhere it could happen to him at all. She hesitated for just a second and then stood up and wrapped her arms around him. "Did you see?" Yes. He had. She knew that. Everyone had.

"Yes." It was his only response for a moment, as he approached her slowly, carefully. He'd never known how to handle even his own emotions, let alone someone else's, but for her he'd try.

"So did you." It was a means to an end, pointing that out. "You don't have to lie." Whether or not his words would be comforting was yet to be seen. He doubted it. "...you aren't alone."

"Is it lying or just casually sidestepping?" The tone of her voice is still clearly forced. But at least she's trying? Or so she thinks. Perhaps hiding and trying isn't the best thing to be doing in such a big and bad time.

"Of course I'm not silly, you're here right now so neither of us are." More casually sidestepping. More hiding. Keeping the fear and confusion inside and pushing it down as far as it can go. It's not good or healthy but it is what she's choosing to do here. "We should get a drink. Would you like something?"

He didn't respond immediately, just watching her for a moment. She was evading him, that much was evident, but he didn't know how to prod her into actually talking about what they'd just seen. He shuffled his feet, looking down at this worn boots, frowning at them as though they'd betrayed him rather than his own awkwardness.

"You...don't have to be strong all the time."

"Yes I do. Someone has to be. I always was with the others. Mostly because someone had to seem happy and well, they left me alone a lot. I had to seem okay. I didn't want them to feel even worse." She says it before she even has time to think and immediately regrets it. Nobody needs to know the things she worries about.

"I think I saw parts of this." She looks off, away from him as she says that. "In my mind when I was looking. I think I heard parts. Or saw. Maybe I could have done something..."

He shook his head, inching closer but not reach out to touch her yet, even though he wanted to. "It doesn't always have to be you."

He looked thoughtful for a moment before looking back to her. "...the executions?"

"But it can be me. I can handle it." Could she really though? No. Not really. It's all starting to pile up inside. Bubbling to a surface of anguish, loneliness, and helplessness. The loneliness is the worst though. It stabs into her like a knife and twists deeper in the longer she's here. Now it's a constant pang that reminds her of how alone she is.

Back home someone would have told her to go somewhere safe by herself if something bad was happening. At first she'd thought there was a certain novelty in that not being the case here. Finally she got to do things! She got to participate! Nobody worried about her or fretted over whether she could really handle it. Novelty's fade. Now there's just this emptiness that's threatening to consume everything. She misses them. No matter what they had always been there for each other.

Tears sting her eyes and she blinks to keep them from coming out. Maybe he won't notice. She hopes he won't.

"I think that's what I saw." You've already said that. She thinks to herself and then shakes her head. "Yes. Maybe? I've been trying to see so much." And drinking a lot with it. Speaking of. "Do you want a drink?" She does!

Edited 2020-02-28 15:46 (UTC)

"But it shouldn't be." And she didn't have to. He glanced down at his clothing, removing his clawed gauntlet, his cloak. He looked so much smaller, tall and thin, without the bulk of the cloak hiding his narrow frame. He moved to her bed, sitting on the opposite end, far from her, but closer than he usually did.

He didn't say anything for some time, even after her question, wanting to comfort her and not knowing how to go about it. He shook his head gently in response to her offer, and instead offered commiseration. It was all he could think to say.

"It bothers me, too."

"A lot of things that are shouldn't be. But they are, sweets," she replies with a very brief, and very forlorn, smile. Too many things are that shouldn't be, but it's a situation that is what it is. What a horrible expression. Did anyone even like it?

She sighs and then scooches herself closer to him until she's leaning against him. "Does it?" She leans her head against his shoulder and then reaches for his hand. "They killed those people for show."

"I don't have to like it." And she didn't have to settle for it, either.

He stiffened when she leaned against him but didn't pull away. He liked it, and he appreciated her level of trust in him, even if he wasn't sure he deserved it.

"I know they did."

"No, you don't, but you shouldn't mind it. I'll be okay." She won't. She already isn't okay but she's going to try as hard as possible to make a big show of how okay she is.

"We can't do anything here." She intertwines her arm through his and squeezes his hand in an attempt to comfort herself more so than him. "It's like home. We couldn't do anything there for a long time and it just got worse. This is just getting worse." Worse and worse. Was it their fault too?