Let's be real, if you weren't as strong as you are, Hojo would've just thrown you away and started over. He's got no use for anybody who doesn't meet his standards. You probably would have been better off.
[It's a good question, though. What would he have done... what could he have been?]
I've had to think about that sometimes, here. Like- could I have been happy, living a different life? Can I be anything besides a SOLDIER now? I dunno. I think if I'd been stuck in Gongaga I'd be miserable. I wanted to do more than just farm mushrooms and chase swamp monsters. If SOLDIER didn't exist, I'd probably be a regular trooper. Probably have died anyway. I was never good at much besides fighting.
[And he was really, really good at fighting. Not like, Sephiroth-level, in his prime, nobody was that good. But he made a mark on his own. Everything else he does just ends up at best passable. Kinda mediocre. He really was a model SOLDIER: good at what he does, obedient, loves battle. How far would he have gone, if Nibelheim hadn't happened? How much would he have tolerated?
He doesn't want to think about that.]
I wouldn't change my life back home. If I hadn't been SOLDIER, I wouldn't have met any of my favourite people. [Not Aerith, not Cloud, not Angeal. Not even Sephiroth.] Here... I can do something else. I think I wanna do something else.
The professor isn't wasteful, I'd have been put to work in some other project I suppose. Many experiments need subjects.
[And yet the idea doesn't seem to bother him. His life would have likely been over long before he was able to form memories, and that ... would have been a far less painful adventure.
But he understood very well the desire to do something else.
Be something else.]
If it's true that there's a way to return the dead back to a life in their own time, then maybe it's something you can aim for, eventually. .. You could try construction. Who needs heavy equipment when the guy you hired can lift a car?
[Zack makes a derisive noise but doesn't comment further on Hojo. He's a waste of air, and he saw plenty of shit science in the four years he was locked up, but whatever. Maybe he just got worse at it as he aged and got more desperate, with his prized creation missing in action.]
On the way back to Midgar I talked about bein' a mercenary. That was the game plan: not just fighting jobs, but any job. Whatever came my way, whatever I wanted to try. How's that for variety?
[He pauses then, his hands clasping together in his lap once more.]
...Here... Sharon said I should try mentoring. It's been stuck in my head since.
You've got time here to learn how to do different things that might be useful for 'any job'.
[What kind of things besides violence would even be expected of an ex-SOLDIER? Especially one who admits he doesn't have much of a different skillset? Maybe all the schools here can be of use for that.
Everyone needs mechanics. Maybe he should suggest it.]
A teacher? [That's what mentoring is, isn't it?] ... If you think you'd like it, why not. Maybe you'll enjoy it.
[Makes him kind of think, he hasn't made the most of this borrowed time, really. He's been floating too much, slacking off. Maybe that's his right, since he died. No responsibilities, no duties, no job except "live". He could keep doing that, could go as long as he lives in this world, untethered from Shinra and everything he used to live for, besides his friends.
That's not really him, though. He's always needed more, more. And maybe it's time to channel all of his selfishness into teaching a kid how to be selfish, himself.]
Teacher's a little too formal for a guy like me. Mentor's more fast and loose. I share what I know and teach what I want. There's even somebody I've got in mind, if he's up for it.
[For a few silent moments this is considered, quite content to go back to ignoring his own problems to focus on someone else's.
... Probably Cloud. There's a lot of things that might have gotten lost or skipped over, with being years in a mako tank. It would be beneficial to both Zack and Cloud, maybe give them a new focus. That's ... good, isnt it? They could grow stronger together. Closer. Make up for lost years!]
When you're done here you should go suggest it.
[Maybe with a present to cool tempers if Cloud caught wind of where Zack's been.]
I'm.. I don't know if that's a good idea, I'm not really safe to be around. [He both hated and loved being alone, but after what happened, was it a good idea to actively invite anyone into his vicinity?] It might be best if I'm left alone for a while. Besides which, I don't think Cloud will be willing to allow our association, and reasonably given what happened.
Yeah, nah. Cloud doesn't get to decide who my friends are. Or who's safe. Or who I forgive.
[Because even if it wasn't him, really, the act itself would at least require something forgiveness-adjacent. And Cloud doesn't have to forgive what happened, but it's within Zack's right to decide for himself. They can both deal.]
[Always prone to extremes whether or not it's warranted, his mind immediately goes to the possibility that Cloud and Zack's stubbornness may collide in a spectacularly negative way. What if Cloud chose to draw a line in the sand and demanded Zack pick one? What if Cloud decided it was lingering influence and not choice?
It's terribly alarming.]
Don't relationships of ... um, that ... sort .... require some measure of input from the other party? I don't want you to damage what you already have.
[Either option is just as likely. But what's also likely is that they might actually manage to get through with with sensible conversation and minimal yelling or thrown furniture.
Zack does not actually look alarmed at all.]
This might sound fake to you, but no bullshit: you're worth the risk to me.
..You know it's going to backfire one day, don't you?
[He doesn't sound as if he's going to fight about it, that sounds more like surrender to a different kind of inevitable; Zack will do precisely what he felt he should.
It did sound wrong, not because he doubted Zack's sincerity but because he disagreed with the conclusion in a very fundamental way. There were steps he could take if confronted later to make sure Zack didn't take the brunt of the blame. Redirecting Cloud's protective anger should be easy.
I'm not good at gauging how far is too far on a lot of things, that could go for anything you want to try to teach me.
Most stuff backfires on me eventually. Hasn't stopped me yet.
[Zack shrugs his shoulders. It's not like he doesn't think things will go south at some point. It happens a lot, both during his life back home and in this world. But the direness of usual reality can't keep him from believing that, somehow, things will turn out okay. ...Eventually.]
Yeah, we can work on that. Shinra never taught that shit at all. [They sure loved it when he went bananas on Wutai. And everywhere else, mission-wise. Probably didn't even give a shit that Sephiroth razed Nibelheim, they were just pissed they lost their strongest alien assets.
Though that brings him to the really big thing he'd been mulling over. The taller ask that is not, in truth, entirely an ask on his end, though he knows Sephiroth can still refuse. He's prepared to push for it, though, since if mentoring is too much, this surely will feel even more so.] ...And... I wanna do the bond thing. The new one.
[The new bond thing is an instant distraction, head snapping around to stare at Zack in disbelief.
Now he hasn't bothered to read on the information supplied for Unfamiliar Bonds, as he hadn't known any Myths when it became public knowledge, so assumes it is pretty much the same as a Familiar one. It had been a lifeline even if Vincent wasn't often present in person, the balance it offered has been precious. He hadn't had to wonder what the Turk's views were, he could simply sense his approval or disappointment and used it as a guideline for months. But that was Vincent.
This is Zack. This is the person he'd inflicted hideous pain on, the one he'd given impossible orders to on purpose. The one he'd been able to control. It wasn't someone else, not really. If the bond worked the same way, it was giving him another way to exert his own influence. Who held the weight of affecting the other, when it's a legend and myth?]
I'd assumed you were free of my or Jenova's influence. You might not be. How much do you know of that bond?
Ehhh. [Zack makes a wobbly hand gesture, very unhelpful.] I read some, kinda feels more like an equal thing? Push and pull of power, not just one side supporting. It's also breakable. I'm not worried about being under anybody's control, I remember how that feels. It's not a thing anymore.
[It may not have been his life but he'd still experienced it. He knows what it feels like to be enslaved- it's how he knows for certain how he's free, now. Maybe if Sephiroth went crazy for real and dumped a bunch of extra cells in him, that's apparently how it worked in that alternate reality. But he's not concerned about that happening with this Sephiroth, either.
If he were updated to the mad version of himself... that would be a very different situation. He'd rather not consider it unless it happens.]
[That implied the other kind was unbreakable, and he wasn't sure that was a thing, he couldn't feel the Turk anymore. If it was supposed to be permanent in Folkmore alone ... Maybe he wouldn't have accepted that one either.]
I think it'd give me a choice. It'd go both ways, if something happens.
[Something similar but different from what just happened- there are no guarantees it'd only be Sephiroth who could ever go out of control. Zack may not be affected by Jenova, but the trials get him, too.]
... He was. It .. erased the ability to say one thing but feel another. I knew if something I was doing made him uneasy or doubtful, or angered or alarmed him, and the bond ... stabilized the emotional struggles I'd been having since arriving here. Beforehand, and then again afterward, it was .. [He made a small gesture with one sharp clawed hand, as if he could pluck the right words from the air.] Difficult to maintain the calm and control I am expected to have.
[Being a teenager meant mood swings were already a problem.]
He was an effective leash, for all that I was an ongoing violation of his privacy. I knew he'd interfere if I did something I should not.
[Expecting that from Zack seemed terribly unfair.]
I don't like the idea of calling it a leash. You're not a dog.
[It's all fine and funny if Angeal or whoever want to call him a puppy, it's in jest and to rile him up. He never thought anyone was actually calling him a dog. He didn't need a tether.
Seph doesn't need a leash, he's not a wild animal. He is kind of wild, sure. But no matter how serious Sephiroth means to be by using those words, Zack doesn't want to entertain dismissing his humanity. He's part alien, but also.]
If it's a bond, it's a partnership. Means we have something that'll make us work together- not just say we'll try and then fail. I wanna hold myself to it. [His lips quirk into an ironic smile.] Maybe the leash is for me.
[Aforementioned 'dog' materializes briefly on the beach as if to deliberately prove the point before dissolving away into smoke again. An association with dogs bothered him far, far less than the monster part did. Dogs were loved, served a purpose, dogs weren't human but were humanity's closest companions for eons.
So what if most of them didn't like him much on scent alone??]
You don't need one. You don't really have a reputation for just giving up. [A leash.] I .. don't know if I like the idea, after what I did. Making another link when the last one only just got severed seems.. manipulative.
[The accusation still hurts. He couldn't deny it though. What would change, if he said yes? Would anything? Would it just be the newest iteration of commiseration and then leaving him to contend with whatever came his way on his own?
What right did he have, really, to even want anything else?
When he speaks up again, it's quiet.]
...If I think a bond needs to be broken, then I want you to abide by that. It's your right to choose what price you're willing to pay, but I get to choose what I'm willing to in turn.
[Zack makes a thoughtful noise, crossing his arms. Hmm. Maybe he doesn't need one, but what if he kind of wants one? What if he wants to hold himself accountable, have something real and tangible to keep his attention from wandering off like it has before? Sometimes he just- forgets to check in. Like not replying to a text or email immediately after he gets it. It vanishes into the ether of his memory not because it isn't important or he doesn't care, but more like, that's just how his brain works. There's a word for it, probably. He doesn't know what it is.
You can't forget a bond like that. It's carved into him, a tether of love.
As for that condition...]
As long as I get one good chance to argue with you about it.
[Let him shoot his shot if Sephiroth wants it, in case it's for a dumb reason. Because he's predicting at least one dumb reason. But otherwise, sure.]
[A counterargument didn't mean he had to acquiesce, just listen. That.. was acceptable, he was sure he wouldn't change his mind if he'd already decided it was that important.
Sensible would be actually spending the time finding out exactly what an Unfamiliar Bond does instead of guessing and vague memory and likely a lot of very wrong assumptions.
He doesn't, even with his relic near at hand.]
... Alright.
[Zack was too quick to forgive. He didn't deserve that.
Huh. [Part of him kind of expected more of an argument, but you know what? He's gonna grab it and run with it. This is happening, now.
....How the hell does he do it again? He definitely read up beforehand. For once, Zack Fair did mission prep. It was that important.]
Let's see... it was something like... I think kinda the same as a familiar bond? So we just say: I dedicate myself to you as my Myth. ...Pretty sure that was it.
[He still doesn't like it. He can guess what'll happen when Cloud catches wind of it, what it will be twisted into, who's fault it'll be, one more reason to attempt to kill him again.
And not unreasonably. Even to him this felt like it was a bad idea, giving too many avenues to once more inflict terrible things on Zack and by extension, Zack's boyfriend. Other friends too. The hurt and anger's still there, buried deep. He wasn't a legend anymore, after all. He was exactly what they said he was, in that stinking fog-shrouded swamp. It had been deserved, even when they only knew part of the things he'd been doing. Were you proud of me then, Zack?]
Straightforward enough. I wonder why it's the same.
[Nothing feels different yet, but it had taken both him and Vincent agreeing for anything to set in before. Slowly he uncoils a little from the knot of scale and wrapped limbs he'd been in since Zack arrived. It's not quite resignation, this isn't a punishment. He's not being forced, he could have put up more resistance than he had. He'd fought everything else, he could fight this too. Bonds require both parties to be willing, all he'd have to do is ... not want to.
But some traitorous part of him absolutely did want to, in spite of how sure he is he knows the result. Didn't care enough about the opinions of someone who hated him to refuse on those grounds alone. Was so tired of having to do everything on his own. More than enough to make agreeing to an Unfamiliar Bond willing and deliberate.
That same traitorous part is also certain this should be to a bright eyed Cloud of about his own age with a rare and sheepish smile like the sun breaking through a storm, a Legend for certain, someone he really could dedicate himself to--
A person who doesn't exist and never would. But Zack did. It was different; the illusion and what was real. What was real was a friend who stubbornly wasn't taking a hint to leave him be.
Dreams never got him anywhere, they needed to be put aside. This offered hand was reality and not delusion.]
You are my Legend; I dedicate myself to you.
[It's immediate.
It's nothing like the Familiar bond he knew, a direct link not to mind and heart but power and energy, the live wire of another being's life, and the pull is instantaneous towards the Myth half of the factor, a sudden draining draw that hadn't been there before.
It cuts out almost as immediately in time to the teen's sharp inhale of surprise. Months and months and months of work in Exile under Baba Yaga's tutelage does have benefits; he knows his own power well now, knows outside power when he feels it and knows how to block it like dropping a boulder into a stream. The sense of presence still hums there, almost but not quite tangible. Push and pull of power, Zack had said, sounding not exactly entirely sure of that fact.]
[It's a strange feeling, initially, very unlike both soulmate and familiar bonds he already has. He always felt the phrasing kind of odd with this sort of thing. Dedicating yourself to somebody feels like a heavier commitment than any bond has actually been. Friendship has never been any sort of dedication, duty, or job, and that's what the bonds started out as, for him. A different way to connect to somebody he already cared for.
This one feels... well. Only at first. More fitting of the word. He can feel the draw from his end, towards Sephiroth, a gentle sap of strength he hadn't expected. It's not alarming, just an unexpected ebb that (in retrospect) he should have expected based on the bond's description. It's cut off just as quickly, but he makes a mental note of it, in case he feels it again. If that's the "pull" then he needs to learn how to push back. It'll be their job to learn the balance.]
That's... real different, huh. [His tone has no good or bad indicators, merely thoughtful. He's not sure what he'd expected, so different from what is unclear. It just is. Different.] You okay?
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2025-09-11 02:06 am (UTC)[It's a good question, though. What would he have done... what could he have been?]
I've had to think about that sometimes, here. Like- could I have been happy, living a different life? Can I be anything besides a SOLDIER now? I dunno. I think if I'd been stuck in Gongaga I'd be miserable. I wanted to do more than just farm mushrooms and chase swamp monsters. If SOLDIER didn't exist, I'd probably be a regular trooper. Probably have died anyway. I was never good at much besides fighting.
[And he was really, really good at fighting. Not like, Sephiroth-level, in his prime, nobody was that good. But he made a mark on his own. Everything else he does just ends up at best passable. Kinda mediocre. He really was a model SOLDIER: good at what he does, obedient, loves battle. How far would he have gone, if Nibelheim hadn't happened? How much would he have tolerated?
He doesn't want to think about that.]
I wouldn't change my life back home. If I hadn't been SOLDIER, I wouldn't have met any of my favourite people. [Not Aerith, not Cloud, not Angeal. Not even Sephiroth.] Here... I can do something else. I think I wanna do something else.
no subject
Date: 2025-09-11 09:02 pm (UTC)[And yet the idea doesn't seem to bother him. His life would have likely been over long before he was able to form memories, and that ... would have been a far less painful adventure.
But he understood very well the desire to do something else.
Be something else.]
If it's true that there's a way to return the dead back to a life in their own time, then maybe it's something you can aim for, eventually. .. You could try construction. Who needs heavy equipment when the guy you hired can lift a car?
no subject
Date: 2025-09-12 07:28 pm (UTC)On the way back to Midgar I talked about bein' a mercenary. That was the game plan: not just fighting jobs, but any job. Whatever came my way, whatever I wanted to try. How's that for variety?
[He pauses then, his hands clasping together in his lap once more.]
...Here... Sharon said I should try mentoring. It's been stuck in my head since.
no subject
Date: 2025-09-12 07:58 pm (UTC)[What kind of things besides violence would even be expected of an ex-SOLDIER? Especially one who admits he doesn't have much of a different skillset? Maybe all the schools here can be of use for that.
Everyone needs mechanics. Maybe he should suggest it.]
A teacher? [That's what mentoring is, isn't it?] ... If you think you'd like it, why not. Maybe you'll enjoy it.
no subject
Date: 2025-09-17 11:41 pm (UTC)That's not really him, though. He's always needed more, more. And maybe it's time to channel all of his selfishness into teaching a kid how to be selfish, himself.]
Teacher's a little too formal for a guy like me. Mentor's more fast and loose. I share what I know and teach what I want. There's even somebody I've got in mind, if he's up for it.
no subject
Date: 2025-09-18 12:19 am (UTC)... Probably Cloud. There's a lot of things that might have gotten lost or skipped over, with being years in a mako tank. It would be beneficial to both Zack and Cloud, maybe give them a new focus. That's ... good, isnt it? They could grow stronger together. Closer. Make up for lost years!]
When you're done here you should go suggest it.
[Maybe with a present to cool tempers if Cloud caught wind of where Zack's been.]
no subject
Date: 2025-09-18 03:36 am (UTC)I'll just do it now. The somebody is you.
[Hopefully it doesn't require a present. He didn't bring anything.]
no subject
Date: 2025-09-18 10:09 am (UTC)[The turmoil returns, almost instantly.]
I'm.. I don't know if that's a good idea, I'm not really safe to be around. [He both hated and loved being alone, but after what happened, was it a good idea to actively invite anyone into his vicinity?] It might be best if I'm left alone for a while. Besides which, I don't think Cloud will be willing to allow our association, and reasonably given what happened.
no subject
Date: 2025-09-18 11:58 pm (UTC)[Because even if it wasn't him, really, the act itself would at least require something forgiveness-adjacent. And Cloud doesn't have to forgive what happened, but it's within Zack's right to decide for himself. They can both deal.]
no subject
Date: 2025-09-19 12:19 am (UTC)It's terribly alarming.]
Don't relationships of ... um, that ... sort .... require some measure of input from the other party? I don't want you to damage what you already have.
no subject
Date: 2025-09-19 02:40 am (UTC)Zack does not actually look alarmed at all.]
This might sound fake to you, but no bullshit: you're worth the risk to me.
Car tag
Date: 2025-09-19 03:50 pm (UTC)[He doesn't sound as if he's going to fight about it, that sounds more like surrender to a different kind of inevitable; Zack will do precisely what he felt he should.
It did sound wrong, not because he doubted Zack's sincerity but because he disagreed with the conclusion in a very fundamental way. There were steps he could take if confronted later to make sure Zack didn't take the brunt of the blame. Redirecting Cloud's protective anger should be easy.
I'm not good at gauging how far is too far on a lot of things, that could go for anything you want to try to teach me.
beep beep
Date: 2025-09-19 04:43 pm (UTC)[Zack shrugs his shoulders. It's not like he doesn't think things will go south at some point. It happens a lot, both during his life back home and in this world. But the direness of usual reality can't keep him from believing that, somehow, things will turn out okay. ...Eventually.]
Yeah, we can work on that. Shinra never taught that shit at all. [They sure loved it when he went bananas on Wutai. And everywhere else, mission-wise. Probably didn't even give a shit that Sephiroth razed Nibelheim, they were just pissed they lost their strongest alien assets.
Though that brings him to the really big thing he'd been mulling over. The taller ask that is not, in truth, entirely an ask on his end, though he knows Sephiroth can still refuse. He's prepared to push for it, though, since if mentoring is too much, this surely will feel even more so.] ...And... I wanna do the bond thing. The new one.
More car
Date: 2025-09-19 06:12 pm (UTC)Now he hasn't bothered to read on the information supplied for Unfamiliar Bonds, as he hadn't known any Myths when it became public knowledge, so assumes it is pretty much the same as a Familiar one. It had been a lifeline even if Vincent wasn't often present in person, the balance it offered has been precious. He hadn't had to wonder what the Turk's views were, he could simply sense his approval or disappointment and used it as a guideline for months. But that was Vincent.
This is Zack. This is the person he'd inflicted hideous pain on, the one he'd given impossible orders to on purpose. The one he'd been able to control. It wasn't someone else, not really. If the bond worked the same way, it was giving him another way to exert his own influence. Who held the weight of affecting the other, when it's a legend and myth?]
I'd assumed you were free of my or Jenova's influence. You might not be. How much do you know of that bond?
[All he knows is the other kind.]
Re: More car
Date: 2025-09-19 07:08 pm (UTC)[It may not have been his life but he'd still experienced it. He knows what it feels like to be enslaved- it's how he knows for certain how he's free, now. Maybe if Sephiroth went crazy for real and dumped a bunch of extra cells in him, that's apparently how it worked in that alternate reality. But he's not concerned about that happening with this Sephiroth, either.
If he were updated to the mad version of himself... that would be a very different situation. He'd rather not consider it unless it happens.]
no subject
Date: 2025-09-19 07:55 pm (UTC)[That implied the other kind was unbreakable, and he wasn't sure that was a thing, he couldn't feel the Turk anymore. If it was supposed to be permanent in Folkmore alone ... Maybe he wouldn't have accepted that one either.]
Will it let you stop me, if I can't stop myself?
no subject
Date: 2025-09-19 08:16 pm (UTC)[Something similar but different from what just happened- there are no guarantees it'd only be Sephiroth who could ever go out of control. Zack may not be affected by Jenova, but the trials get him, too.]
Vincent was good for you, wasn't he?
no subject
Date: 2025-09-19 08:39 pm (UTC)[Being a teenager meant mood swings were already a problem.]
He was an effective leash, for all that I was an ongoing violation of his privacy. I knew he'd interfere if I did something I should not.
[Expecting that from Zack seemed terribly unfair.]
no subject
Date: 2025-09-20 12:39 am (UTC)[It's all fine and funny if Angeal or whoever want to call him a puppy, it's in jest and to rile him up. He never thought anyone was actually calling him a dog. He didn't need a tether.
Seph doesn't need a leash, he's not a wild animal. He is kind of wild, sure. But no matter how serious Sephiroth means to be by using those words, Zack doesn't want to entertain dismissing his humanity. He's part alien, but also.]
If it's a bond, it's a partnership. Means we have something that'll make us work together- not just say we'll try and then fail. I wanna hold myself to it. [His lips quirk into an ironic smile.] Maybe the leash is for me.
no subject
Date: 2025-09-20 01:21 am (UTC)[Aforementioned 'dog' materializes briefly on the beach as if to deliberately prove the point before dissolving away into smoke again. An association with dogs bothered him far, far less than the monster part did. Dogs were loved, served a purpose, dogs weren't human but were humanity's closest companions for eons.
So what if most of them didn't like him much on scent alone??]
You don't need one. You don't really have a reputation for just giving up. [A leash.] I .. don't know if I like the idea, after what I did. Making another link when the last one only just got severed seems.. manipulative.
[The accusation still hurts. He couldn't deny it though. What would change, if he said yes? Would anything? Would it just be the newest iteration of commiseration and then leaving him to contend with whatever came his way on his own?
What right did he have, really, to even want anything else?
When he speaks up again, it's quiet.]
...If I think a bond needs to be broken, then I want you to abide by that. It's your right to choose what price you're willing to pay, but I get to choose what I'm willing to in turn.
no subject
Date: 2025-09-20 02:10 am (UTC)You can't forget a bond like that. It's carved into him, a tether of love.
As for that condition...]
As long as I get one good chance to argue with you about it.
[Let him shoot his shot if Sephiroth wants it, in case it's for a dumb reason. Because he's predicting at least one dumb reason. But otherwise, sure.]
no subject
Date: 2025-09-20 02:44 am (UTC)Sensible would be actually spending the time finding out exactly what an Unfamiliar Bond does instead of guessing and vague memory and likely a lot of very wrong assumptions.
He doesn't, even with his relic near at hand.]
... Alright.
[Zack was too quick to forgive. He didn't deserve that.
He should refuse outright and he knows it.
He doesn't.]
no subject
Date: 2025-09-20 03:34 am (UTC)....How the hell does he do it again? He definitely read up beforehand. For once, Zack Fair did mission prep. It was that important.]
Let's see... it was something like... I think kinda the same as a familiar bond? So we just say: I dedicate myself to you as my Myth. ...Pretty sure that was it.
blah blah pseudonecessary introspection
Date: 2025-09-20 04:34 pm (UTC)And not unreasonably. Even to him this felt like it was a bad idea, giving too many avenues to once more inflict terrible things on Zack and by extension, Zack's boyfriend. Other friends too. The hurt and anger's still there, buried deep. He wasn't a legend anymore, after all. He was exactly what they said he was, in that stinking fog-shrouded swamp. It had been deserved, even when they only knew part of the things he'd been doing. Were you proud of me then, Zack?]
Straightforward enough. I wonder why it's the same.
[Nothing feels different yet, but it had taken both him and Vincent agreeing for anything to set in before. Slowly he uncoils a little from the knot of scale and wrapped limbs he'd been in since Zack arrived. It's not quite resignation, this isn't a punishment. He's not being forced, he could have put up more resistance than he had. He'd fought everything else, he could fight this too. Bonds require both parties to be willing, all he'd have to do is ... not want to.
But some traitorous part of him absolutely did want to, in spite of how sure he is he knows the result. Didn't care enough about the opinions of someone who hated him to refuse on those grounds alone. Was so tired of having to do everything on his own. More than enough to make agreeing to an Unfamiliar Bond willing and deliberate.
That same traitorous part is also certain this should be to a bright eyed Cloud of about his own age with a rare and sheepish smile like the sun breaking through a storm, a Legend for certain, someone he really could dedicate himself to--
A person who doesn't exist and never would. But Zack did. It was different; the illusion and what was real. What was real was a friend who stubbornly wasn't taking a hint to leave him be.
Dreams never got him anywhere, they needed to be put aside. This offered hand was reality and not delusion.]
You are my Legend; I dedicate myself to you.
[It's immediate.
It's nothing like the Familiar bond he knew, a direct link not to mind and heart but power and energy, the live wire of another being's life, and the pull is instantaneous towards the Myth half of the factor, a sudden draining draw that hadn't been there before.
It cuts out almost as immediately in time to the teen's sharp inhale of surprise. Months and months and months of work in Exile under Baba Yaga's tutelage does have benefits; he knows his own power well now, knows outside power when he feels it and knows how to block it like dropping a boulder into a stream. The sense of presence still hums there, almost but not quite tangible. Push and pull of power, Zack had said, sounding not exactly entirely sure of that fact.]
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Date: 2025-09-20 05:27 pm (UTC)This one feels... well. Only at first. More fitting of the word. He can feel the draw from his end, towards Sephiroth, a gentle sap of strength he hadn't expected. It's not alarming, just an unexpected ebb that (in retrospect) he should have expected based on the bond's description. It's cut off just as quickly, but he makes a mental note of it, in case he feels it again. If that's the "pull" then he needs to learn how to push back. It'll be their job to learn the balance.]
That's... real different, huh. [His tone has no good or bad indicators, merely thoughtful. He's not sure what he'd expected, so different from what is unclear. It just is. Different.] You okay?
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