concoursec | Escape [Closed]

Characters: Grell and Marco
Location: Chocobo Ranch
Rating: PG?!
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed
Summary: Instead of burning everything to the ground, she'll take a trip.

The last time her son disappeared, she needed convincing to not set all of her sentimental possessions on fire. At the moment, they're still buried somewhere, but she couldn't be bothered with digging for them. This time, Grell decided to take a trip down to the chocobo farm. Sure, there was a new forest that popped up, but she wasn't interested in that. She did leave a note on her door. It had only one word:

LARK

The skies were clear as she walked with her precious chocobo that grew up in her absence. Under a tree, she sat with with Lark, feeding him his favorite wildflowers. Despite the large bird chasing her around when she first arrived because she had been gone all this time without visiting, they seemed to be in better spirits at the moment. It was peaceful, yet it would be nice if Grell felt the same inside.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lark had always thought this bird was odd. Ancient, but not. Strong, yet gentle. The chocobo looked at the new addition to their group, but did nothing in response. Somehow, he respected this blue, sparkly bird.

Grell, however, was glad the other joined them, and stroked the top of his head with a smile. Lark simply returned to eating the wildflowers Grell picked out especially for him.

"I didn't bring anything for phoenixes, you know." She had been expecting his human form, but this was just as nice.

Marco chirped in reply and rolled over onto his back to reveal his stomach and demand more gentle pets from his wife.

He gracefully reached out, and pet Lark's head with a wing. There wasn't much point in small talk yet, and when he needed to talk to Grell, he would. For now, he figured listening would be better than not.

Grell knew a certain spot on his belly that would make Marco melt, but she would eventually get there. In the meantime, she'll give him scritches with her nails, careful to not dig too deeply. Lark appreciated the attention from the phoenix, since he didn't have to.

Her fingers worked through the fluffy feathers, working over the warm belly with care. It was nice and distracting, letting the tuffs of blue tangle themselves between her fingers as she felt the heartbeat against the palms of her hands. After a while, she didn't even notice she was doing it as her thoughts wandered. Even Lark managed to doze off with the serene setting.

Marco was practically melting already. He let out some nonsense whistles to signify just the pure pleasure at her ministrations and reached up to nuzzle under her neck affectionately.

It was a measure of Marco's own trust for Grell that he started to let himself fall asleep as well.

Maybe she was too good at this...

Grell giggled softly while holding him close. He was almost like a living stuffed animal, which made Grell cuddle him all the more. She stroked his neck and wing idly.

"You can sleep a bit later, as I have a question for you." She hummed, pausing in her strokes as she thought. "Or perhaps two."

Marco nodded softly and forced himself to roll off her before switching back to human, offering his lap for her to lie instead.

"What's on your mind, love?"

A shame, really. She rather liked cuddling him. Grell happily climbed into his lap, while Lark took the sudden shift in form with much surprise. A few wing flaps and feathers floating about were the only reaction he gave before settling down again, this time keeping an eye on them both.

"First, how are you?" Grell wrapped her arms about his waist, nuzzling his neck idly. She was under the impression that not many have asked him that lately.

"All right," he seemed startled by her question, though he wasn't really. And he was all right either. But he wanted to be all right, and he needed to act all right if nothing else. For everyone else, and especially Grell. It was his job to be all right. "All things considered," he added after awhile, and that much was true. He'd spent a little while hiding with Toby before the kid went back home and he knew how to find him again at least, but Toby needed to go home, and Espio needed to grow up more for both their sake. It was a mess all around.

To say that Grell wasn't pleased to keep him on his toes like that would be a lie. His answer was...something she expected in a way.

"All things considered..." She nodded once, because it was how they were to be. All right. If they were anything more or less, surely someone would get hurt. She didn't get to spend as much time as she would have liked, considering both Espio and Toby were acting ridiculous. Thinking back, she wished she had. Perhaps she'll get another chance later.

"Good. Then onto my next question..." Yet there was a bit of hesitation for a short moment. "What do you think about moving?"

He thinks about it for awhile, almost feeling dizzy about the idea. He likes the Garden. The traveling, the adventure, the stupid kids and their classes. Hell, the only reason he was considering getting a job as a teacher was to keep better tabs on the kids, which he'd never do if he was off campus.

He'd do just about anything to please Grell, and wouldn't it be a good idea to infiltrate the rest of the world, to set up bases there? Wouldn't it be good practice for how he's going to protect the islands back home?

But....

"No," he already knows his answer, somehow. "It's not just Cid and my brothers. Those stupid kids need us to look after them there. However much we say we can do it better by finding our enemies abroad, we can't. We have to be there in person to do it." He leaned forward to kiss her head. "Sorry love."

"I could care less about them, really..." They weren't her children, and she doubted she would ever wish to get close to them enough to allow such a level of affection. Toby would be her only son. The Headmaster, however, was in her debt for allowing them to marry so quickly, along with his participation in their ceremony. She knows she doesn't have the patience to deal with being an instructor.

Not like anyone would pass her courses, anyway.

With a sigh, Grell shifted to sit between his legs and lean against his chest, noticing that Lark was pretty much asleep. Grell, however, felt agitated. Anxious. Becoming a SeeD and focusing on computer science was the outlet she needed to curb her rather murderous tendencies. But she was getting bored.

So for a while, she was quiet. It wasn't a foreboding silence. Just something she didn't do often.

He stroke her hair quietly and smiled softly to himself. "Would that I could say the same," he whispered softly in her ear.

It'd be nice to run away from it. From the responsibility entailed, but he can't, and he won't let himself.

He let her sit in silence for sometime, thought most of it he spent thinking on plans. "But I will say quite a few more vacations are in order, eh?"

Grell chuckled softly, playing with the hem of his shirt. "Trust me, it's best that at least one of us does." Even though the prospect of Marco going dark on her would be something she would love.

She glanced back to Marco with a curious smile. "Oh? Do you plan on stirring trouble between borders?" Not that she didn't want a vacation, but travel had become an issue for everyone, minus herself. Thanks, double citizenship.

Escape [Closed]

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