[open] waste time with a masterpiece, don't waste time with a masterpiece

[activatingcombatmode]

Who: Zack Fair & You
Status: Open
Where: Where these threads happen.
What: A catch-all log for closed threads for February! Includes a few Manta Board prompts as well. If you would like something specific please let me know.
Warnings: Tba.


[🐺 a. the edge of sleep: closed to crewmates & planned cr]

[Ever wonder what it's like to drown? It's a story of opposites. There’s peace in the water. Like it’s holding you. Whispering low tones to let it in. And every problem in the world will fade away... But then there's this thing. In your head. And it's raging. Lighting every nerve with madness. You have to fight. To survive. And all the while the question is before you. Have you had enough?

Zack can't breathe. He can't concentrate. All he can feel is the water cradling him like a vice and the strange invisable fingers around his throat that are both there and not there. He's drowning... He has to fight to breathe and swim. He has to fight to wake up.

This time he does manage to wake up. It's with a painful jolt, his body screaming in pain as he winces awake. His lungs gasping and his muscles screaming. The black mark on his hand pulsates with dirty murkiness, threatening to slide up his arm.

There can be a few places to find Zack when he wakes up. Either in his cabin aboard his crew's ship or on deck where he's failed to keep himself awake and has fallen asleep in a chair or even leaning against the wooden railing. Or at the worst passed out in some random storage room on the ship.]

[🐺 b. part of their world]

[When he's not suffering sleep deprivation Zack does manage to get some work done. Life goes on and he’s well enough during the day to go about his daily life. That means that Zack is getting back to work. And that means taking pictures of...]

Mermaids? Great, the last time I dealt with mermaids they wanted to drag me under the water.

[He sighs. But he clicks through his shellphone for the camera function and then nods.]

Let's just hope the mermaids we find today are a little less touchy-feely.

[🐺 c. wildcard]

[got something else? feel free to put that down here or find me at michrure for some extra plotting.]

Comments

[activatingcombatmode]

[Zack looks a bit alarmed when the kid says that.]

You got bitten by one before? How long ago was that?

[He pockets his phone for now.]

We might need some bait but for now, let's get farther out into the water. See what we can see. You ready?

[scooba]

A couple of weeks ago but I managed to get better afterwards...

[Not to mention that he got Tifa hurt too but he'll keep that to himself. But as he got his phone out, he gave a nod.]

Let's just say it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

[activatingcombatmode]

[Damn...] I'm glad you're okay now. Don't worry, this time I'm on the job and I won't let a mermaid get an inch near you.

[Meanwhile the ship starts to head out. Evenly sailing over the water.]

[scooba]

You don't have to do that, it was my fault that I got bitten since I got too careless.

[After all, zombie mermaids were definitely out of his league. Sea creatures from Fontaine were a lot of tamer than anything he fought in the water!]

They were...different from what I'm used to.

[activatingcombatmode]

[Zack leans casually against the railing on the ship.]

I doubt it was your fault, some monsters can get out of hand real quick. Don't be too hard on yourself.

[Zack can't blame the kid, he was also off running and fighting monsters carelessly when he was about his age.]

What kind of monsters are you used to seeing then?

[scooba]

[With that, he gave a mumble or two as he sunk his head onto his shoulders. He was right, it wasn't his fault. However, as a member of the House of the Hearth, his standards were a little higher than most....]

Some seals, fishes, and if I manage to find a temple, probably some Gardemeks. They're kind of like giant mechanical beings that guard around the city or other things....

[Which thinking about it now, also probably wasn't a normal everyday thing to fight for someone his age either...]

[activatingcombatmode]

[Zack can already tell this kid is a little too hard on himself about a lot of things. Makes Zack want to try and lift him up somehow.]

Gardemeks, huh? Sounds tricky. I've had my fair share of fights with mechanical robots too.

[But where does a kid go to learn to fight, "giant mechanical beings" like that?]

Where'd you learn to fight?

[scooba]

[And it was at that moment, Freminet found himself freezing up. He knew the topic would eventually come up but he never found a way to give an explanation. After all, how could he explain to someone he met that he was in an organization that did some dubious things?]

I…

[Pause]

…had to learn. If I didn’t, my siblings and I would be out trying to fend for ourselves…

[Despite his words, he was struggling to maintain eye contact. It wasn’t a complete lie but he also wasn’t completely honest.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[Luckily Zack just pats Freminet on the shoulder with a gentle pat.]

If it makes you feel any better about it, I had to do a lot of that when I was young too. The small town I grew up in always had a problem with wild monsters. It's what made me want to help people for a living.

[Would telling the boy about himself a little help ease his anxiety? He just wants to know the kid more.]

It sounds like you guys had it rough too.

[scooba]

[There was so much Freminet wanted to say and yet, he couldn't. He didn't know how he would react if he knew the terrible things he had done. Not only that, he didn't know how Lyne would react if he did say something....

Still, it didn't stop him from giving a flinch or two at said pat on the shoulder.]

...It's not easy because there wasn't much we could do. It's either we fight or we die out in the streets.

[Not to mention there was no home he could go to. All he could do was look down as still didn't dare look at Zack.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[Poor kid. Luckily, Zack doesn't worry about that response whatsoever.]

It's not fair, but sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do to survive. It's not your fault.

[He doesn't like it. Kids shouldn't have to fight for their lives. Ever. But once again he can remember how badly Midgar got. Orphans stealing and running in the streets all the time.]

The important thing is you're safe right now.

[scooba]

[Was he though? He felt safe under the House of the Hearth even though he had done questionable things. However, he was allowed to do however he wanted here with no fear of doing any clean up duties.]

If you say so...

[He couldn't bring himself to lie. Not when Zack was being so honest and simply helping him out. That and he wasn't like Lyney. He couldn't hide behind a mask. As he trailed on, that's when he spotted something in the ocean.]

Ah...is that the zombie mermaids?

[activatingcombatmode]

[There's probably more to unpack here but- It's time to take some pictures of mermaids. He turns to the railing to look out when Freminet points out his find.]

Seriously? Zombie ones?

[He was kind of hoping for the non-zombie ones today. They bite less. But they will have to be cautious with what they find either way. There in the distance is... a fish tail of some sort?]

... Well, it's something.

[scooba]

[As Freminet get a closer look and takes a picture, he hummed to himself.]

Do you think that would be enough? I think there would be some more if we looked around...

[Although, he hoped he didn't have to go underwater to look for some more.] See anything else?

[activatingcombatmode]

[Zack hums as he leans on the ship railing trying to get a better look.]

We should keep our distance but let's see if any more of them pop out. It looks like they're starting to gather up around that rock over there.

[There is a rock that's jutting out of the water just ahead.]

[scooba]

Uh...perhaps we can get some pictures of them? Maybe just not so close.

[All the while attempting to take pictures but staying afar.]

They didn't say that we have to get pictures that closely right...?

[activatingcombatmode]

That's right. Don't worry, kiddo. We don't have to go near them at all if we don't need to. We've got it right here.

[That's the joy of using a camera on a shellphone. These things should be good enough. And as the ship starts heading closer there is some movement in the water. Then soon enough some non-dead, very alive, very breathing, mermaids start to pop out to peek at them.]

There! See those?

[scooba]

[Of course, Freminet couldn't help but flinch. After dealing with some mermaids a while back, he was fearful of what they'll do next. Carefully, he tried to zoom in and take a few pictures but...]

...Are they going to jump?

[Because he was definitely prepared to fight if he had to.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[Zack hasn't forgotten that Freminet told him how he got bitten by a mermaid before. So, he holds out his hand protectively.]

I dunno, but if they do they'll have to go through me first.

[But luckily these ones just seem to wave and wink at them. Nice mermaids? ... Well. Nice-ish.]

[scooba]

[He was certainly surrounded by a bunch of big brother figures, wasn’t he? The moment the hand appeared in front of him, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.]

You don’t have to do that. I don’t want you to get hurt.

[Especially he knew how bad the nausea was!]

[activatingcombatmode]

[He winks at the kid.]

Don't worry, it'll take more than a mermaid attacking me to take me down.

[Luckily he's so sturdy that a mermaid bite probably wouldn't even affect him that much. ... Probably.]

On the plus side, it doesn't look like those ones are interested in much of anything.

[scooba]

Are you sure?

[Maybe it was his own upbringing but he knew that he couldn't trust anything. Even if they looked harmless, he knew that could attack at any moment.]

...It makes me wonder just what they might do next.

[activatingcombatmode]

[Zack nods. He does bring up his own shellphone to snap a few more photos of the lounging mermaids.]

You're a pretty careful kid, aren't you.

[It's not a bad thing. It's a good thing, really.]

[scooba]

[There was so much he wanted to say but he couldn't. Indeed, he was a very careful kid as he didn't know what might happen everytime he went on a mission. Was he going to get gravely injured or not? He didn't know.

Despite this being a rather light mission, it didn't stop him from being nervous.]

...Is that a bad thing?

[Because he didn't know how else to respond.] I'm sorry if it is.