witchesreign | [ action ] Ϟ [ 01 ]

[ OOC~ Backdated to... a reasonable amount of time before the 'home' event start!

Regardless of the rather strange act of making sure to sneak in without anyone noticing at first, Claire Farron has now decided that she won't be hard to find any more- at least for now. There's a very distinctive, pink-haired presence around Balamb Garden again, and though most of what she's up to currently - making sure her rooms are in order, going through any changes that have taken place since her last visit before missions... make no mistake. The school's latest new Instructor is definitely eying up wandering students and anyone else who happens to pass her by as well.

And she's obviously, almost painfully tense, looking very severe in her dark, form-fitting clothing as she stalks the lobby, dorm, and classroom areas with broody purpose and a stack of various folders in-hand. Every time she bothers to take pause, her arms are crossed, posture stiff. Yes, she knows perfectly well that they are around here somewhere, and the idea that they've been allowed to teach and train here makes her blood boil. Time has done very little to fade the dark feelings she has towards the cursed Pulse l'Cie from her home.

Although "Lightning" won't really object to others coming to talk to her too, her sharpness is palpable- when it comes down to it, she knows that either she will find them... or they will find her. It's just a matter of when... and she might as well get it over with, in addition to 'greeting' those she'll be spending time near from here on in general. ]

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You ought to listen, Claire.

[He intends that as a surprise, a shock. After all, he had only found out Lightning's name from Dysley-as-Serah on Pulse; to a Lightning that hadn't experienced that, or even one who hadn't given Snow her permission to ask Serah way back in Palumpolum, his knowledge of the name ought to be outrageous. And would it make her mad? Of course it would, but maybe it would make her realize something was wrong.]

[Most likely, though, it would fall out the other way...]

You plan on making me, Snow?

[ Yes, the hand stays in place, her expression unwavering save for the slightest hint of a smirk at that. Honestly, she'd prefer some actual frustration aimed at her, over whatever emotions he was showing just a minute ago. She can deal with that because it's what she's familiar with. It's what she expected.

Considering she was just parroting his sentence form, she doesn't even notice the switch over in names until a moment later... and then she really only wonders internally what the reason for it is. ]

I--

[Why didn't she react to that? Maybe she thinks he heard it from Serah anyway -- she doesn't know that he wouldn't ask...]

[But her question, rather than provoking him, seems to drain the fight out of him instead. He slumps visibly, seeming to shrink just a little.]

I don't plan on making you do anything, Lightning. [But he sounds so sad, saying that. As if he'd lost a sister. Because really, as far as he knows, he has.]

But I'm not your enemy. Or Cocoon's. I swear that. On my love for Serah.

[ -- Again she's let down. By now she probably should have known better than to expect any sort of predictability out of this encounter, though. ~~Even if it's due to her own misconceptions.~~

She's also pretty embittered. Mentioning the whole ~love~ thing is about the worst way to get on her good side, you know, because as far as she's concerned, this man and Pulse took her sister away from her. The only way she can picture them not being enemies? Is in death. End of story. ]

... Stay away from me. [ She turns so that the line of her shoulders is perpendicular to him, eyes half-veiled as she looks at him from the corner of her vision. ] And learn to address me properly. It's Instructor Farron, now.

[ Just wait until he finds out all her records and such are in the name 'Claire Farron' too. No 'Lightning' in sight, considering that's just a nickname by word of mouth, here. ]

[Especially since the records previously had 'Lightning'. Especially since the records now show two instances of cadets with the same name.]

[Then it will all start to click.]

[But for now, he can't stand this any more. He needs to go find Serah, and -- warn her, as horrible as that is.]

[But, being Snow, he has to have the last word as he turns away.]

Angry because you can't keep moving, and you only want to keep moving so you don't have time to stop and think. I'll say it again, I'm not Cocoon's enemy or yours, no matter what Dysley wants.

[This all would have been a lot easier in the long run if Snow were the sort to use the fal'Cie's name instead of that of his assumed guise... too bad that just wasn't his style.]

[But he'll start walking off now. Any parting shots?]

[ The words mean very little to Claire, but her eyes narrow anyway- she's had time to stop and think, alright... but she hasn't been forced yet to question herself or her mission. This entire time she's been avoiding it; instinctively, she probably knows that doing so, acknowledging the clues that something is amiss, the words of the l'Cie here and back home that try to point that out, would require her to rip her entire worldview and purpose apart. ]

Only takes one of us to make us enemies... it's what the people want. [ She doesn't raise her voice at all... but the sting is still there if he manages to hear it. One has to wonder just how long it will take him to notice how reminiscent of a particular silver-haired man that line is, though.

And in any case, she doesn't waste any time either. Immediately she spins on her heel to leave in the opposite direction. She has other things to do. ]

[ action ] Ϟ [ 01 ]

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