[Had the relentless desire to know things been properly honed he'd likely be a scientist just like his parents, constantly and endlessly searching for answers. It remains focused for now on Lore and its implications.]
I can get Mr. Valentine to work guilt-free too, and he might take instructions better.
Accuracy is IMPORTANT, and occasional evaluation of his relationship to one of his mothers' adoring fans is not a bad thing.]
A combination, I think. He knows when I really want something versus if I just sort of want it, there's an .. emotional connection in our link to each other. But even then he won't if I don't actually ask.
[Sephiroth is not good at big sad eyes. But he can do want pretty well, and hiding it from someone tethered to his emotions is difficult.]
But things like sniffing out mushrooms might take both. You should try it out. ..Um, not on him though.
[Zack laughs, caught off guard by the last comment. Probably would be a bad idea to make suggestions related to any of this in Cloud's direction, considering the source, but the mental image of trying on Vincent is extra comical.
Thankfully he has other ways of convincing Cloud to do stuff for him. (That's not a teenage-Sephiroth-appropriate conversation, though.)]
Is there a mindreader bond thing? That's not one I've heard of. But you should always ask when you want something! How else are you gonna say please?
[While teenagers are usually well known for their rampant hormones that seems to have completely given Sephiroth a pass. Probably for the best. He doesn't need to know about all of that.]
I think just emotions, in our case. I can feel it when he's feeling something strongly enough, but I know it's him still, and I think it goes in reverse too. It doesn't do much else, I don't know enough about Familiars to know if that's normal or not.
Haha, well, it's not skin off my back either way. If Vincent wants to be a gopher-chocobo that's up to him. I'd ask him what it feels like on his end, buuuut every time we talk he just gets mad at me.
[BIG SHRUG. Also probably an exaggeration, but that's how it feels to him.]
He doesn't get as mad as it sounds much. But it's very hard to tell just looking at him.
[He's got the benefit there! Empathic link helps a lot. With the snow and ice leveling a bit, he sidesteps to poke a bit between the jagged pieces to see if there might be a cave behind it.]
He just has ... one expression, and one tone of voice. ... For everything he does. And they're not very friendly.
Probably why we don't mesh so good. When people get mad at me it's usually either for a good reason or a really stupid one, no in-between. If he always looks mad how am I supposed to guess!
[His follow-up doesn't often sound fair, either, so that just riles Zack up. Really, it'll be a miracle if they can get through a whole conversation staying civil. Anyway, he's glad Vincent's good with the kid. Considering the rocky start, they're doing great.]
Whatever he was looking for isn't there, possibly because entirely wrong part of the mountain, but he checks anyway because this is Folkmore and a lot of things already never made sense.]
Maybe he should have been the Legend, sometimes they have eyes that change color depending on mood.
[..they're both Legends. Did that happen to either of them?]
me giving up on trying to remember if this came up before: zack also forgot
At the mention of the eyes, Zack looks hesitant for a moment, then shrugs.]
Mine don't get the mood colours, they just go all cat-eyed when my wings are out.
[Something something Thirteen has a sense of humour. He's not actively letting himself overthink it or get bothered by it anymore. Helps that he's on good terms with a Sephiroth again; it's one fewer negative connection than it used to have.]
[he didn't exactly spend a lot of time in front of mirrors to find out. Wings are out right now - but even at a short distance it's not so easy to tell pupil shape on Zack. Or color. The alienness is easily hidden, if someone was just never looked at directly..]
It's kind of nice to not be the only one like that. ..Nero had the same pupils but his eyes were red.
[But Nero was gone, and had been for a while. Thirteen's whims cut or mended with the same knife it seemed.
He hides any sense of loss well by now, it's fairly casual.]
And he barely had any alien in him at all.. I wonder if it's from more ... Standard tampering?
[He grimaces, thinking back. He was definitely a strange one. But he was also... a special case.]
I think he was part of a different project. There's more scientists than Hojo doing weird shit to people off the public record. Deepground was probably some secret underground stuff, similar to whatever Hollander was doing.
[Nero had been strange, and his abilities stranger yet, it did put into perspective how bizarre things would get in the future. How broken the experiments.
But he'd been family of a sort. That was enough. Of course in retrospect they were both monsters, everything Shinra touched wound up corrupted in some fashion. They were no different. Sephiroth hoped Nero got to remember things when he returned to his time. Maybe it would help.]
Deepground was, as far as Nero could tell me, one of his projects too. That's where they send wounded SOLDIERs who 'retire' apparently. And then they used what they learned on little children.
[Something ELSE he needed to dismantle--]
But they're together, at least. Nero spoke of a few others. His brother Weiss. Azul, Rosso. It's not a big family, but it's something.
Huh... I think he mentioned that he had a brother. That's kinda weird for Hojo, havin' a group kept together. I wonder why... it's good, though, yeah. If they have to go through that shit, better they don't have to do it alone.
[Meanwhile he wishes Sephiroth didn't have to endure all that shit alone. At least he got friends later, but not soon enough.]
There's strength to be found in hunting in packs, for some predators. It's reasonable to train some SOLDIERs for solitary missions, [like himself.] and others for cooperative group assaults.
[It is a little different, flying versus climbing. When the ice and cold levels out a bit he turns to look back out over Wintermute; there's plenty to keep climbing and the view would improve but even from here it's interesting.
Whatever he might want, solitude or otherwise, those choices have been made for him. This, as small as it was, was his own decision. It might only be a mountain, but it was something.]
But it does hamper Shinra's much favored loyalty and obedience. I'm reasonably sure Nero didn't care at all about the company, and only had loyalty for his family.
That's the vibe I got, more or less. I mean, if they had any kind of army ranking, I was kinda top level before I got swiped by R&D. He knew who I was, but I didn't see him saluting. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with that! But I just mean, he didn't seem like the type to fall in line by choice.
[Kinda reminded him of a feral dog on a short leash. The second Shinra lets go, they're likely to get rabies.
The next cliffside is even giving Zack trouble, and a handful of climbing holds break loose beneath his fingers partway up, forcing him to yelp and fall down a few feet. Nothing too challenging for a SOLDIER, mind you; he's able to catch on a ledge before he can fully drop to the level they started at, and despite the setback, he just laughs.]
[Falling off a mountain for a SOLDIER is a minor inconvenience, and when they had wings, barely even that. It doesn't keep Sephiroth from the immediate impulse to move to intercept, for all that it's proven unnecessary pretty much immediately.
And then he detours neatly around the spot that had broken free, ice bouncing down the mountain.]
From the sound of things, that method also bites Shinra later on too. After Midgar is destroyed, they just .. all come out. No loyalty, lots of power and lots of resentment towards those who tortured them all their lives.
[But by then, who's left of Shinra at all?]
When you get Nero away from ... all the things that upset him, he's nice. Strange but nice. [Sephiroth, calling someone ELSE strange--] I hope Thirteen let him remember things when he got sent back. Mr. Valentine says they all die by his time.
[More proof he's a good kid at heart, not that Zack needed it. The challenge is to climb without flying, so Zack's determined to get up there without even taking his wings out.]
I only saw him the one time, so I'll take your word for it. I hope he remembers too, though. If he and his bros picked up Genesis like he said, but they're dead by Vincent's time, that's like... what, a year and a half? Two-ish? Actually, I haven't asked what time Vincent's from.
[He just figures it's vaguely post-saving the world, since he's more in line with Cloud and Aerith's journey.]
I don't think he's really given anyone a timeline.
[It's surely coincidence that keeps Sephiroth in a position to make sure he can try for a faster intercept should the snow, ice and rocks win again and gravity try to make its claim too. Zack's perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but there really wasn't a need to.
He'll just claim if either of them fell off they'd have to start all over again.]
'After Geostigma did things' isn't a date, and neither is 'after Deepground got loose'. It could be years. Or longer.
[He works on getting onto an outcrop simply to get a better view of where they'd been and where they were going, feathers ruffling up against the bite of cold wind. It'd be hours yet before the cold was really a problem.]
I really should start getting timestamps for things, ideally in bullet format. Then I can just hand it around to anyone who asks.
[He wonders if it's beyond Cloud's time. Sure as hell is outside of his and Aerith's. If they don't know and he'd have no reason to ask Vincent, he can't see how it would've come up. At least it got resolved...]
If it isn't one thing it's another, huh? Problems back home sure are endless.
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I can get Mr. Valentine to work guilt-free too, and he might take instructions better.
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[For extremely nefarious things like 'can you get me cheese sticks'.]
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Is it a familiar thing or the puppy-dog eyes? I should try something like that.
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Accuracy is IMPORTANT, and occasional evaluation of his relationship to one of his mothers' adoring fans is not a bad thing.]
A combination, I think. He knows when I really want something versus if I just sort of want it, there's an .. emotional connection in our link to each other. But even then he won't if I don't actually ask.
[Sephiroth is not good at big sad eyes. But he can do want pretty well, and hiding it from someone tethered to his emotions is difficult.]
But things like sniffing out mushrooms might take both. You should try it out. ..Um, not on him though.
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Thankfully he has other ways of convincing Cloud to do stuff for him. (That's not a teenage-Sephiroth-appropriate conversation, though.)]
Is there a mindreader bond thing? That's not one I've heard of. But you should always ask when you want something! How else are you gonna say please?
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I think just emotions, in our case. I can feel it when he's feeling something strongly enough, but I know it's him still, and I think it goes in reverse too. It doesn't do much else, I don't know enough about Familiars to know if that's normal or not.
[He assumes it is. Seems normal to him.]
But I do ask! When it's important enough.
[When he wants it enough!]
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[BIG SHRUG. Also probably an exaggeration, but that's how it feels to him.]
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[He's got the benefit there! Empathic link helps a lot. With the snow and ice leveling a bit, he sidesteps to poke a bit between the jagged pieces to see if there might be a cave behind it.]
He just has ... one expression, and one tone of voice. ... For everything he does. And they're not very friendly.
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[His follow-up doesn't often sound fair, either, so that just riles Zack up. Really, it'll be a miracle if they can get through a whole conversation staying civil. Anyway, he's glad Vincent's good with the kid. Considering the rocky start, they're doing great.]
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[Sephiroth's tone is momentarily terribly dry.
Whatever he was looking for isn't there, possibly because entirely wrong part of the mountain, but he checks anyway because this is Folkmore and a lot of things already never made sense.]
Maybe he should have been the Legend, sometimes they have eyes that change color depending on mood.
[..they're both Legends. Did that happen to either of them?]
me giving up on trying to remember if this came up before: zack also forgot
At the mention of the eyes, Zack looks hesitant for a moment, then shrugs.]
Mine don't get the mood colours, they just go all cat-eyed when my wings are out.
[Something something Thirteen has a sense of humour. He's not actively letting himself overthink it or get bothered by it anymore. Helps that he's on good terms with a Sephiroth again; it's one fewer negative connection than it used to have.]
part of it did!
[he didn't exactly spend a lot of time in front of mirrors to find out. Wings are out right now - but even at a short distance it's not so easy to tell pupil shape on Zack. Or color. The alienness is easily hidden, if someone was just never looked at directly..]
It's kind of nice to not be the only one like that. ..Nero had the same pupils but his eyes were red.
[But Nero was gone, and had been for a while. Thirteen's whims cut or mended with the same knife it seemed.
He hides any sense of loss well by now, it's fairly casual.]
And he barely had any alien in him at all.. I wonder if it's from more ... Standard tampering?
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[He grimaces, thinking back. He was definitely a strange one. But he was also... a special case.]
I think he was part of a different project. There's more scientists than Hojo doing weird shit to people off the public record. Deepground was probably some secret underground stuff, similar to whatever Hollander was doing.
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But he'd been family of a sort. That was enough. Of course in retrospect they were both monsters, everything Shinra touched wound up corrupted in some fashion. They were no different. Sephiroth hoped Nero got to remember things when he returned to his time. Maybe it would help.]
Deepground was, as far as Nero could tell me, one of his projects too. That's where they send wounded SOLDIERs who 'retire' apparently. And then they used what they learned on little children.
[Something ELSE he needed to dismantle--]
But they're together, at least. Nero spoke of a few others. His brother Weiss. Azul, Rosso. It's not a big family, but it's something.
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[Meanwhile he wishes Sephiroth didn't have to endure all that shit alone. At least he got friends later, but not soon enough.]
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[It is a little different, flying versus climbing. When the ice and cold levels out a bit he turns to look back out over Wintermute; there's plenty to keep climbing and the view would improve but even from here it's interesting.
Whatever he might want, solitude or otherwise, those choices have been made for him. This, as small as it was, was his own decision. It might only be a mountain, but it was something.]
But it does hamper Shinra's much favored loyalty and obedience. I'm reasonably sure Nero didn't care at all about the company, and only had loyalty for his family.
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[Kinda reminded him of a feral dog on a short leash. The second Shinra lets go, they're likely to get rabies.
The next cliffside is even giving Zack trouble, and a handful of climbing holds break loose beneath his fingers partway up, forcing him to yelp and fall down a few feet. Nothing too challenging for a SOLDIER, mind you; he's able to catch on a ledge before he can fully drop to the level they started at, and despite the setback, he just laughs.]
Don't go that way!
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And then he detours neatly around the spot that had broken free, ice bouncing down the mountain.]
From the sound of things, that method also bites Shinra later on too. After Midgar is destroyed, they just .. all come out. No loyalty, lots of power and lots of resentment towards those who tortured them all their lives.
[But by then, who's left of Shinra at all?]
When you get Nero away from ... all the things that upset him, he's nice. Strange but nice. [Sephiroth, calling someone ELSE strange--] I hope Thirteen let him remember things when he got sent back. Mr. Valentine says they all die by his time.
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I only saw him the one time, so I'll take your word for it. I hope he remembers too, though. If he and his bros picked up Genesis like he said, but they're dead by Vincent's time, that's like... what, a year and a half? Two-ish? Actually, I haven't asked what time Vincent's from.
[He just figures it's vaguely post-saving the world, since he's more in line with Cloud and Aerith's journey.]
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[It's surely coincidence that keeps Sephiroth in a position to make sure he can try for a faster intercept should the snow, ice and rocks win again and gravity try to make its claim too. Zack's perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but there really wasn't a need to.
He'll just claim if either of them fell off they'd have to start all over again.]
'After Geostigma did things' isn't a date, and neither is 'after Deepground got loose'. It could be years. Or longer.
[He works on getting onto an outcrop simply to get a better view of where they'd been and where they were going, feathers ruffling up against the bite of cold wind. It'd be hours yet before the cold was really a problem.]
I really should start getting timestamps for things, ideally in bullet format. Then I can just hand it around to anyone who asks.
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I think you mentioned that before. [Sounds... vaguely familiar?] I dunno what Geostigma is.
[They probably should hash out a timeline at some point, though.]
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[Sounded like Nero's power with darkness to him.]
It took over a year to die down, but things do get better.
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[He wonders if it's beyond Cloud's time. Sure as hell is outside of his and Aerith's. If they don't know and he'd have no reason to ask Vincent, he can't see how it would've come up. At least it got resolved...]
If it isn't one thing it's another, huh? Problems back home sure are endless.