[Fffffffffff. He just runs a hand down his face and seriously reconsiders chucking his amulet out the window. But he's got one leg trapped in hell, might as well dive in.]
It wasn't intended as a date, I was just taking her out to cheer her up a bit after Selenium. You know—as a friend. [And then it kind of turned into one, but he's not telling her exact details if he doesn't have to. Besides, it's not like he has to report anything and is it really any of her business??????] The "joke" was the original message meant for Serah, like an inside joke.
[Because the not-date turned into a date and whatever.]
[She and Snow may have had a rocky start, but she still respects him enough to punch any other guy in the face who might be overstepping their boundaries... Especially with Snow not here.]
[He can't really blame Lightning for this, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.]
I know she's engaged, all right? And there's nothing going on between us. [Voluntarily.] We just had some fun at the festival and dinner, that's it.
[And even if something else happened, like hell he would tell her. Just like they are never telling her what happened over Christmas and at Thras's hatchening, y e p.
A deep sigh.]
Date, not date, friend date, hanging out—whatever you want to call it, all I was doing was trying to cheer her up and let her have some fun. If you wanna be mad at me for that, fine, I get it, but I'm not apologizing for it.
[She doesn't need anyone's permission to be mad about things! She just is. Always.]
You can start by not calling them dates.
[And although he won't apologize for any of it, she hopes that he's at least taking her seriously. It might have been a harmless joke to him, but he's the only one in this conversation who's laughing, so to speak. Rokurou's picked the wrong baby sister to mess around with.]
Nice that you helped her out, but that's as far as it gets.
[It was supposed to be a joke between him and Serah, though! YOU WEREN'T MEANT TO BE IN ON THEIR SECRET AFFAIRS, LIGHTNING—
Just a very dry sigh.]
You're seriously thinking way too deeply about this. I get you're just protecting your sister and I respect that, but we're all adults here. Whatever we do for whatever reason is frankly none of your business.
If I do something that hurts her then by all means, rip me apart. But pretty sure she'll do that first.
[The little shock that's sent through then may or may not have been very much on purpose...]
You made it my business when you started hanging out with my sister, and again when you called me.
[Whether he was meant to or not, it's what happened, and the two of them are just going to keep digging this giant hole of theirs. Protecting might be a bit of an understatement here, but with everything that's happened and the number of times their family has been hurt or betrayed, it's hard not to be the overbearing older sister. She always has been, and it took Snow forever to get past the defenses she put up around the two of them. This conversation would have gone much more different if he hadn't initially called whatever they're doing a 'date', and if it hadn't been over the network, but now it's none of her business? It very much is, as far as she's concerned.
She bristles some more, and there's a very loud sigh from her end.]
I care a lot about Serah ... and Snow. [Bleh that felt gross to say.] He might not be here, but don't do anything to ruin that.
[Really he should have just left it a while back. Just apologize, make whatever placating statements to keep Lightning's rage levels as low as possible, and then just take off the amulet if it won't end on its own. Yet here he is basically on the defense and arguing instead, and he's not going to be all that sure why once this is over. It's not like he cares whether Lightning approves—there's nothing to approve.
And ruining things—the hell. A full retort is on the tip of his tongue, but he just holds it. It's not like he can't see Lightning's position here, it's just a little...]
I'm flattered you think I could, but I seriously doubt it. [Sarcasm, yes, but it's not said with malice, more like dry humor. Because come on, Lightning.] Unless you tell that to all of Serah's male friends.
[YEAH, she has no shame admitting to it and sometimes she feels like she has to. Her sister is a pure angel and doesn't need gross boys following her around like lost puppies (pun intended). She's just trying to protect Serah... how she goes about it is her own prerogative.
She sighs. Again.]
Just... don't do anything stupid. And make sure she doesn't, either.
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[Another crack. Yeah, better phrasing is right!]
This some kind of joke to you? [Wait...] What the hell're you doing taking my sister out on dates in the first place?
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[Fffffffffff. He just runs a hand down his face and seriously reconsiders chucking his amulet out the window. But he's got one leg trapped in hell, might as well dive in.]
It wasn't intended as a date, I was just taking her out to cheer her up a bit after Selenium. You know—as a friend. [And then it kind of turned into one, but he's not telling her exact details if he doesn't have to. Besides, it's not like he has to report anything and is it really any of her business??????] The "joke" was the original message meant for Serah, like an inside joke.
[Because the not-date turned into a date and whatever.]
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What did you two do?
[She and Snow may have had a rocky start, but she still respects him enough to punch any other guy in the face who might be overstepping their boundaries... Especially with Snow not here.]
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I know she's engaged, all right? And there's nothing going on between us. [Voluntarily.] We just had some fun at the festival and dinner, that's it.
[And even if something else happened, like hell he would tell her. Just like they are never telling her what happened over Christmas and at Thras's hatchening, y e p.
A deep sigh.]
Date, not date, friend date, hanging out—whatever you want to call it, all I was doing was trying to cheer her up and let her have some fun. If you wanna be mad at me for that, fine, I get it, but I'm not apologizing for it.
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You can start by not calling them dates.
[And although he won't apologize for any of it, she hopes that he's at least taking her seriously. It might have been a harmless joke to him, but he's the only one in this conversation who's laughing, so to speak. Rokurou's picked the wrong baby sister to mess around with.]
Nice that you helped her out, but that's as far as it gets.
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Just a very dry sigh.]
You're seriously thinking way too deeply about this. I get you're just protecting your sister and I respect that, but we're all adults here. Whatever we do for whatever reason is frankly none of your business.
If I do something that hurts her then by all means, rip me apart. But pretty sure she'll do that first.
[In other words, deal with it.]
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[The little shock that's sent through then may or may not have been very much on purpose...]
You made it my business when you started hanging out with my sister, and again when you called me.
[Whether he was meant to or not, it's what happened, and the two of them are just going to keep digging this giant hole of theirs. Protecting might be a bit of an understatement here, but with everything that's happened and the number of times their family has been hurt or betrayed, it's hard not to be the overbearing older sister. She always has been, and it took Snow forever to get past the defenses she put up around the two of them. This conversation would have gone much more different if he hadn't initially called whatever they're doing a 'date', and if it hadn't been over the network, but now it's none of her business? It very much is, as far as she's concerned.
She bristles some more, and there's a very loud sigh from her end.]
I care a lot about Serah ... and Snow. [Bleh that felt gross to say.] He might not be here, but don't do anything to ruin that.
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And ruining things—the hell. A full retort is on the tip of his tongue, but he just holds it. It's not like he can't see Lightning's position here, it's just a little...]
I'm flattered you think I could, but I seriously doubt it. [Sarcasm, yes, but it's not said with malice, more like dry humor. Because come on, Lightning.] Unless you tell that to all of Serah's male friends.
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[YEAH, she has no shame admitting to it and sometimes she feels like she has to. Her sister is a pure angel and doesn't need gross boys following her around like lost puppies (pun intended). She's just trying to protect Serah... how she goes about it is her own prerogative.
She sighs. Again.]
Just... don't do anything stupid. And make sure she doesn't, either.
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[Just another dry response, but again without any malice. But not do anything stupid, HA HA HA. But all right, he'll just acquiesce here.]
I'll try, but I can't make any guarantees on Serah. You should know best that she'll do whatever she wants even if someone tried to stop her.
[He's gotten a taste of it a few times, but he can already tell Serah's just that type person.
WONDER WHERE SHE GOT IT FROM...........]
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[She is a very busy woman... sitting in her room... reading... Yep. This conversation seems pretty over, anyway.]
Good talk.
[Except when she tries to hang up, the call doesn't end? So she tries again. Nope. And again? Nope.]
... Right. This is awkward.
[And now she's made it even more awkward by pointing out how awkward it is. Good job.]
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...Right, I'm just going to do what I probably should have done the moment you answered.
[And that is take off his amulet, set it down, AND WALK OUT OF THE ROOM TO GET A DRINK. SCRATCH THAT, LOTS OF DRINKS.
And so ends this very, very awkward conversation.]