[ he certainly deserves an arrow in his back for leaving her and putting her through all this!
she flinches a bit, almost nervously, at the way his voice fills with authority — a sort of instant reminder to any time he'd do it when she was a child. for a kid, it's difficult to shake the way one reacts to their parent taking a stern tone. she has to actively bring herself back into the moment, realize where she is, how old she is, and who she's with.
right, who she's with. the world over knows "cid", whether it be clive's version of him or his own, but anyone would be hard pressed to know this side of him — the side reserved for his daughter, for someone close to him. his authoritative tone, his softness, his intonations, his knowledge of her sleep—
she takes a shaky, cautious breath to keep herself from jumping out of her skin from all that she's feeling, looking him over as he speaks, discerning eyes scanning every inch of him and landing locked on his own. it's him. it's really, truly him. she can feel it deep in her bones.
and in a split second, she goes from sitting haphazardly on that chair, to practically jumping into his chest, arms locking around his torso tighter than her tiny arms ever seemed like they could — blink and you'd miss her movement. she's never been one to hold herself back from anything, and seeing him here in front of her was just... too much for her to sit by and merely "inspect". she doesn't think about her actions for event a moment, just does them. ]
Y-... Ya got three seconds to explain to me what's goin' on here. [ her voice is shaky, but there's a hint of forced authority back at him. she feels entitled to this information, thanks. ] And— to come up with a better apology.
[ because thus far it sucks. he might need to apologize to her every day for the next year for it to count. ]
[ On second thought, Cid would sooner take the arrow than the way she's looking at him. For a brief and ridiculous moment, he wonders if she'll find some part of him amiss — some blemish on his body or soul that marks him as something other than her father. It's not as if he understands how this magic works; it's not as if he can know that he's really himself, plucked from the lifestream by Clive's own hand, or if he's some sort of restless aetheric phantom, gone the moment someone sees him for what he—
And then she's thrown herself into his arms, her grip just shy of painful, and the world seems to set itself right again. She's gotten so strong, like he knew she would. Cid is too stunned to move for a moment, but then he holds her just as tight, turning to press a kiss to her temple. Her scolding shakes a laugh out of him, but it feels heavy in his chest, pushing a few stray tears from his eyes. ]
That's my girl... Gods, you're so big now. I'll be looking up at you before long, eh? [ He'd teased her before, about how they'd have to make statues of her before that happened. She'd been even smaller then, standing on his work table and barely reaching his face. Now look at her.
But she's right, it's a fair enough question. He owes her as much. ] I'll spend what's left of my life making it up to you — how's that, for a start?
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judgmentbolts) wrote2023-09-07 06:50 pm
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she flinches a bit, almost nervously, at the way his voice fills with authority — a sort of instant reminder to any time he'd do it when she was a child. for a kid, it's difficult to shake the way one reacts to their parent taking a stern tone. she has to actively bring herself back into the moment, realize where she is, how old she is, and who she's with.
right, who she's with. the world over knows "cid", whether it be clive's version of him or his own, but anyone would be hard pressed to know this side of him — the side reserved for his daughter, for someone close to him. his authoritative tone, his softness, his intonations, his knowledge of her sleep—
she takes a shaky, cautious breath to keep herself from jumping out of her skin from all that she's feeling, looking him over as he speaks, discerning eyes scanning every inch of him and landing locked on his own. it's him. it's really, truly him. she can feel it deep in her bones.
and in a split second, she goes from sitting haphazardly on that chair, to practically jumping into his chest, arms locking around his torso tighter than her tiny arms ever seemed like they could — blink and you'd miss her movement. she's never been one to hold herself back from anything, and seeing him here in front of her was just... too much for her to sit by and merely "inspect". she doesn't think about her actions for event a moment, just does them. ]
Y-... Ya got three seconds to explain to me what's goin' on here. [ her voice is shaky, but there's a hint of forced authority back at him. she feels entitled to this information, thanks. ] And— to come up with a better apology.
[ because thus far it sucks. he might need to apologize to her every day for the next year for it to count. ]
no subject
And then she's thrown herself into his arms, her grip just shy of painful, and the world seems to set itself right again. She's gotten so strong, like he knew she would. Cid is too stunned to move for a moment, but then he holds her just as tight, turning to press a kiss to her temple. Her scolding shakes a laugh out of him, but it feels heavy in his chest, pushing a few stray tears from his eyes. ]
That's my girl... Gods, you're so big now. I'll be looking up at you before long, eh? [ He'd teased her before, about how they'd have to make statues of her before that happened. She'd been even smaller then, standing on his work table and barely reaching his face. Now look at her.
But she's right, it's a fair enough question. He owes her as much. ] I'll spend what's left of my life making it up to you — how's that, for a start?