pumped: (Default)
ɢʟᴀᴅɪᴏʟᴜs ᴀᴍɪᴄɪᴛɪᴀ 🗙 ([personal profile] pumped) wrote2018-02-10 11:33 pm

INBOX


( text, voice, image, messenger bird, action. )
sparkstrikes: (055)

[personal profile] sparkstrikes 2018-06-25 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Whoa! That sends a tingle up her spine, but she looks confused all the same.]

... Our what? [A beat, then quickly:] Nevermind.

[It's not all that important, but she's pretty sure she gets the gist of what he's trying to say without knowing what the word means.

He isn't wrong about any of it – wanting to avoid his dad and the house altogether, if only to buy herself some time to reclaim some of the composure and poise she lost that day. Maybe it'll allow her to practice saying 'Clarus' instead of 'sir' in front of the bathroom mirror some more, too. (She doesn't do that. Her embarrassment hasn't gone that far! Not yet, anyway.)

Once Gladio's taken a mouthful of his drink, she waits for him to swallow it before continuing and even tilts her head to get a better look at him to be sure. She can't tell if he has, but the last thing she wants is to get sprayed with whatever it is they're drinking. It's one thing getting strawberry pieces to the face but another to be showered in alcohol, and if she can avoid one of the two tonight, it's the latter.

There's a bit of hesitancy in her voice, but Lightning powers through it anyway with the flattest tone.]


Would you wanna see him if you kept calling him 'sir' and then spilled coffee all over the damn place anyway?

[WELP. Lightning lifts her own bottle near her lips, but she doesn't take a sip. No, it's to shield herself in the event that he didn't swallow all of his drink down....]
sparkstrikes: (218)

[personal profile] sparkstrikes 2018-06-26 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
[He can't, and he shouldn't.

Lightning watches him in silence for a while, straight-faced except for the single eyebrow that continues to hitch. She throws back another large sip of her drink and sets it down on the counter, only so that she can swat a hand against his chest. Ineffective as always, and she was barely trying, but it gets the point across! ... She hopes.]


Stop laughing.

[!!!

It was unfortunate and another few coffees that had gone to waste, and that alone is no laughing matter. Pile that on with the fact that it was with his dad and... well... you get the picture.]


We got to talking, and... [A disgruntled 'ugh' under her breath.] Can't tell what's worse – spilling them or telling you that I did.

[She caaaan't taaaake the heeeat... Girl, get outta the kitchen! She flings another fruit at him, this time a strawberry (how daring!), but her aim is off no thanks to this and it whizzes past his head instead and lands on the floor with a soft splat. :( ]
sparkstrikes: (271)

[personal profile] sparkstrikes 2018-06-27 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[She would have to take him home. If it weren't for the risk of Ignis finding out that she broke into the Hearth after hours for their date (not that she thinks he would be upset about it), she might have left him here to pass out, sprawled atop the bar with lewd things drawn on his face — kidding. Lightning would never (unless she had a bit too much to drink herself, maybe) and would risk a hundred awkward encounters with Clarus before she left Gladio here to fend for himself against the Hearth's surly bartenders in the morning. That might be fun to see, though...

She would even prepare the ice buckets for them.]


Sure as hell feels like some kind of fantasy romance scenario.

[She follows his laugh with one of her own, gentler this time as her expression softens. There are a lot of things that she still finds hard to believe about this – about them – and often finds herself thinking about it.

Once he's done with it, her hand slides through his until her warm palm is resting on his cheek, and she runs her thumb along the line of his stubble. She enjoys the bristly sensation. There's some worry behind the crinkle of her smile as she offers a calm verbal nudge at first, because between all the smooches and their banter, there's been another thing on her mind.]


Hey... [She's going to try to catch and hold his gaze.] How're you feeling about all this?

[Lightning heard about what happened back home and knows well enough what it's like to be reunited with a loved one who had been lost and grieved — it's never easy, and... well, she wonders if he's had the chance to talk about it. Before he left, he never did, minus what he shared at Selenium with her over a year ago, but she's very aware that seeing them through the flicker of a lit magic candle is not quite the same as having them here, tangible and real.

From what she knows about Gladio, however much or little, he always struck her as similar to her in a lot of ways... one of them being having to be strong for others around them, but she wants him to open up to her more, and to trust her with those feelings if he so chooses. This seems like a good place to start.





... Also, her hands are NOT tiny!!!]
Edited 2018-06-27 20:32 (UTC)
sparkstrikes: (152)

[personal profile] sparkstrikes 2018-06-28 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[They're doing it. They're talking about feelings and "that emotion stuff", and whatever turbulence that comes out of it, let it. It isn't often they get this opportunity.

Lightning's eyes remain fixed on him, unmoving and intense as ever as they drill into his, while she holds on to every word he says. Few as they are, it doesn't make any one of them less important to her. The fact that he chooses to say so little about only serves to deepen her concern and in turn, her stare. At some point, her hand moves from his face to his shoulder where she gives it a light and reassuring squeeze – she may not be good at talking about these things, but she sure as hell can try to inspire.

She figured that that was the case – not grieving. Duty comes first, after all... but she knows now that the process is all a part of being human. Lightning had lost Serah twice and the first time, she gave into anger and the second, weakness. It was grieving, but not proper; it was done in all the wrong ways that she knew even at the time that it was the way Serah would have wanted.

For him, she can respect that he still had Noct to watch over, but that doesn't mean he isn't allowed to talk about it. Not that she's an expert on the subject of emotions, but she's learning too!

The mention of his sister puts a twitch in the corner of her lip.]


It's good that Iris is happy.

[That part is important and while she doesn't want to diminish that, if she wanted to know, she would have just asked Iris herself. Lightning's finger brushes against his jaw, and she shifts in her chair to move herself a little closer. Her voice drops low – not quite a whisper, but it's intimate.]

... But I didn't ask about her.
sparkstrikes: (194)

[personal profile] sparkstrikes 2018-06-30 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
Hm.

[The quiet hum is the only sound she makes at first. He has a point. She wouldn't know what to think or do if one of her parents showed up unannounced in a place like this, and it's been years... centuries since she's seen them that she can barely remember the warmth of her mother's smile or her father's laugh. It isn't herself that she'd be concerned about though, because like Gladio, Lightning has a sister she worries about instead.

Her eyes narrow, fingers loosening on his shoulder as she leans away. The deflecting of her question with one of his own hits her right where it hurts, and she can't help but doubt herself and whether she's overstepping any boundaries by asking.

As for Clarus...]


He seemed fine. Happy... even after I covered him in coffee before he could get through his first week. [She tries to laugh, but it's far from relaxed.] Talk about a warm welcome...

[Ha ha... get it... because coffee is warm... She tried. :/

Is that any consolation? She hopes so, but Lightning keeps thinking back to the first time Serah vanished. It's a reminder that she continues to live every day knowing that people could disappear from here at any given second, and she needs to live each and every one of these moments like it's their last. Would it be for her and Serah? Definitely not, but she has a feeling the Amicitias don't get the same chance she does...]
sparkstrikes: (160)

[personal profile] sparkstrikes 2018-06-30 05:57 am (UTC)(link)
[She's a bit taken-aback by the sudden shift, leaning away further when he comes forward, but Lightning falls into the playful mood just as easily as he does. The tension she'd felt within herself seconds earlier was taut, so there's a wave of relief that comes over her when she spots that smile of his. There's a split second where she considers flinging another blueberry at him, but rather than waste another fruit like that, she presses her hand against the side of his face and tries to gently shove it back. Go awaaaay!]

I've never had to meet someone's parents.

[Whether his approval would come in the way or not, she still wants him to like her!]

Or been in a... [a beat of hesitation] ... serious relationship before.

[Her doubt is clear across her expression. What they have – is she allowed to call it that? Although it's been over a year for her, it's only been months for him, and this is another line she's wary of overstepping while she learns to navigate what things mean. It's no lie, of course. This is the first time she's ever felt whatever this is.]
sparkstrikes: (268)

[personal profile] sparkstrikes 2018-06-30 06:31 am (UTC)(link)
[It's a surprise to her. That's the first time she's ever said it out loud, and her heart is racing like she's taken a double shot of adrenaline. Her free hand reaches for her bottle and she pauses the conversation to wash the feeling down with a large mouthful of her drink, ignoring the burn as it goes down.

And when she sets it back on the counter, her fingers reach into the bowl of fruits again and she finds another blueberry.]


There's a first for everything, I guess.

[Lightning leans in, not saying another word, and her fingers run down the line of his jaw until they curl around the back of his neck to keep him right where he is. Her lips brush against his, the kiss she lays on him feather-light, and as she whispers a sweet nothing under her breath...




... she shoves that blueberry up his nose. You little shit.]
sparkstrikes: (097)

[personal profile] sparkstrikes 2018-06-30 08:02 am (UTC)(link)
[Like two kids teasing each other in a playground, Lightning bursts into a fit of giggles when he gets up from his seat and shoots it into the garbage. What a guy. ❤︎ Although her initial thought was that she didn't want to waste it, seeing the look on his face made losing one more blueberry worth it.

She may also be under the influence, and the drink may be going to her head as fast as she's drinking it, and as she swivels her seat around so she can watch him, Lightning tips sideways and almost falls right off of it, but an elbow casually propped up on the counter stops her from tumbling. Whoooops!]


What can I say... five hundred years teaches a woman a lot of class.

[That's what he gets for making all the old lady jokes!!!]

I'm sure your dad'll appreciate me teaching you a lesson or two.
sparkstrikes: (266)

[personal profile] sparkstrikes 2018-06-30 08:40 am (UTC)(link)
[She's under the impression that he's coming in for a smooch and so she sits there and waits for it, her smile only widening further as he leans over the counter. She even shifts forward a little to close part of the breach between them so it's a little easier, because she's nice like that, but when his hands go for the bowl and there's the gross sound of something wet and squishy followed by a sweet smell, Lightning snaps herself out of her desire for that sweet, tantalizing contact. Alas, it's not fast enough to dodge and instead of a kiss, she ends up with a face full of blueberries.

SUCH DISRESPECT INDEED!

Give her a few seconds to compose herself. Lightning shakes her head and sprays the juice all over the counter and him, and wipes her lashes clean with her sleeve to reveal a glint of mischief in her eyes.]


Yeah? You're a fast learner...

[She'll give him that! She straightens so that she's standing and leans over to give him a blueberry-flavoured kiss.

Meanwhile, her fingers are in the bowl and quickly gathering a handful of plump strawberries. She squishes them between her hands and as soon as she breaks free for air, slaps her palms on either side of his face and rubs them up and down and sideways. She makes extra sure to smear them over his beard too, so that pieces stick to his stubble.]


... But I'm faster.
sparkstrikes: (165)

[personal profile] sparkstrikes 2018-07-01 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
[Boy, is he lucky that there's the obstacle of the counter between them because if it weren't for that, she would have given him a nice, hard shove at that. Instead, she settles for flinging a few more blueberries at him, some hitting and others flying right over or past his head. (STOP WASTING THEM!!!!) When he comes back up from whatever that was, Lightning is watching him with a scrutinizing brow.]

You call that a salute? You wouldn't last a day in the Guardian Corps.

[Tut, tut, tut. Disappointed, she shakes her head and waves her bottle at him before finishing what's left of her drink... she hoped he would have known better.]

Gotta make sure your back's straight.