NaNo2014 day 28

[shamera]

Despite various protests and intense disapproval, the ones who were decided for the interviews after everyone was informed happened to be Serah and Hope.

“They’re the most disarming of the bunch.” Rygdea claimed, hands up in surrender as glares were turned his way from the others. “Which is exactly what we need right now. The public needs to see that the former l’Cie aren’t threatening, and… well, I hate to break it to you, Sergeant Farron, but you are probably one of the most scary people I’ve ever met in my life, and I’ve lived most of my life in military service apprehending dangerous criminals.”

“Obviously not dangerous enough if you’re standing here spouting garbage.” Lightning retorted darkly, her arms crossed where she stood at the corner of the room, glaring at him.

Rygdea turned a pleading gaze to Serah, who was smiling calmly from her seat across from him.

“Don’t worry,” she reassured him. “My sister says things like that to a lot of people.”

“Well,” The soldier flustered, now shying away from both sisters, one glaring and the other still smiling at him. “The initial thought was audio interviews. That way, you keep your anonymity, but the audience gets to know you a little better. But if the trial escalates, there may be a chance that we’re forced to throw in actual witnesses. Of course, the chance of that happening is slim. We’ve got enough evidence to lock them away thrice over, but there are a lot of powerful parents supporting those kids, so we can’t eliminate the possibility.”

“And?” Hope questioned, sitting next to his father in the large meeting room the Guardian Corps had provided for this gathering. The walls were plain and bare, indicating this to be another building that would soon be demolished once the proper supplies and plans were provided for a better structure. Bartholomew was reviewing the records that the Guardian Corps had dug up in the past week, frowning at the tablet on his lap.

“And they’re going to do their hardest to paint the group of you as the scum of both Gran Pulse and Cocoon.” Rygdea told him. “Which won’t be hard for them with what people already think. The past half year might have mellowed them out a bit, but there’s only so much that the time can do, and hate is easy to reignite.”

“I still don’t see what my son has to do other than testify if that’s the case.” Bartholomew murmured darkly, and Lightning agreed with him from her corner, shifting as her worried gaze rested on her younger sister.

“Hope’s done well for himself so far.” Rygdea explained. “He’s smart, he stayed out of trouble, and now a good number of reputable people have spoken to him. It doesn’t hurt that he’s still a kid, too. And Serah’s a schoolteacher with a bunch of kids who not only love her, but will vouch for her. And if the kids vouch for her, so will the parents.”

“Shouldn’t I help somehow?” Vanille asked where she was sitting next to Hope as well, shifting restlessly. Her green eyes darted between Hope and Serah every few seconds, looking worried. “Isn’t there anything I can do?”

“You’re our back-up,” Rygdea explained, much to Fang’s displeasure. “We want to keep a policy of honesty. That means we need to show that we’ve got nothing to hide. Of course, introducing the former l’Cie should be a slow process. We’ll go a little bit at a time. First Serah and Hope, and then Vanille, and eventually the rest of you. Make sure the public is more accepting before telling them the story of how Mr. Katzroy got involved to save his son, and how Sergeant Farron and Snow here got involved to save someone they loved as well.”

He leaned over the central table, placing both arms on the smooth surface. “But we’ll have to go carefully at the beginning. It’ll be easier for the public to accept Serah, who wasn’t a part of the fighting. It’s easier to explain that she remained in crystal sleep until the Fall. And with Hope, people would sympathize easier with a child who lost a parent in the Purge, and was trying to get back home.”

“I’d rather they not know that.” Hope frowned, shoulders tense.

“It might not be up to what we want.” Rygdea explained. “It’s better to keep a policy of brutal honesty than try to keep secrets at this rate. The trial might dig up every secret you want kept. We need to get all the facts out of the way in advance, even if we don’t release the information until it’s necessary.”

“I didn’t know you were such a lawyer.” Snow groused, still not over the fact that Serah volunteered herself as one of the people to go public. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”

“I’m not, and I don’t.” The soldier ran a weary hand through his hair. “But I’ve had to learn a few things over the years.”

The group turned quiet, nervous glances to each other. None of them could forget that Rygdea had originally worked under Cid Raines.

“Look,” he finally continued. “You guys just keep being your sweet, charming selves. You’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about, Serah. People will love you. And Hope… maybe if you could stop frowning so much, you’d have that cute thing going for you.”

Hope glared in response.

“Yeah, okay, I didn’t think so. It was worth a shot.”

“I still don’t like it.” Snow groused, slouching over the table. “I’d rather we just go on with our lives like we’ve been doing. It’s not like we’ve really done anything worth noticing lately, anyway.”

“You knew about this plan.” Rygdea accused. “You agreed with me before!”

“I didn’t agree on Serah being exposed to this.” Snow insisted. “Or Hope, for that matter. Isn’t one kidnapping enough? If anything happens to my wife—”

“Do this interview, and nothing will happen.” Rygdea insisted. “People fear what they don’t know. Once they get to know you guys, you’ll be in less danger from random strangers. That’s what this is. Show them you’re just people like them — show them you’re the type of person they’d actually love to meet and befriend. I heard you tried doing that before in Palumpolum.”

“It didn’t work.” Lightning said flatly.

“And that’s why we’re going with Serah and Hope first.” The soldier paused. “Agreed?”

Eventually, there was an uneasy consensus.

—

“Are you nervous?” The woman across the table smiled at him, lips painted a dark red to match the color of her nails and the color of her hair. She had thick curls which fell in careful configurations down to her chin, and a rounded nose above extremely full lips and below dark, dark eyes. Hope had to tear his eyes away in case he was caught staring, because her makeup was thick and dark around her eyes, enough that it made his own eyes itchy just looking at it. “It’s okay to be nervous, you know.”

He wondered how he should behave. Like the fifteen year old everyone expected him to be? Or with the maturity be gained over the years? Should he be the teenager or adult in the scenario?

The interviewer certain looked at him like he was an innocent child beneath her gaze, dark eyes warm as she took his tense posture for nervousness.

He folded his hands on his lap and sat up straighter, wondering if he was a little bit of both right now. While he would like to claim the title of a calm and collected adult, his insides were squirming and twisting about in a manner they hadn’t done in years, and his palms were uncomfortably warm in his gloves. He felt tense and slightly achy and a little bit hungry all mixed in, and that was just physically.

“Okay,” he conceded to her, deciding that honesty, as Rygdea said, was the best key. He wasn’t just the teenager, and he wasn’t just the adult he had been in the past. Despite his knowledge, despite his experiences, he could still feeling the nagging boredom and irritation of adolescence set in as he tried to sit still in his seat and wait for her questions.

The woman before him softened her smile, the warmth she projected a drastic contrast the harsh color of her makeup.

“Don’t worry,” she reassured him in a conspiratorial wink and whisper. “I won’t bite. Just be honest, and this will be over quicker than a doctor’s appointment.”

Just how old did she think he was? Hope tried to smile back at her, although it felt strained as he watched her fond gaze. Likely, she had a child around his age… possibly younger. A lot younger. Suddenly, he felt far too conscientious of the baby fat still reminiscent on his cheeks, and his lack of height.

Rygdea must have chosen her on purpose, likely to make her more sympathetic to him. He really should have gotten that haircut earlier.

“My name is Cecelie Wingspur, and I’m going to be asking you a few questions, all right?” She smiled, and pulled forward a tablet in front of her as well a holographic interface that emerged from the center of the table to hover above their heads, liking recording both his reactions and hers, and then a third separate video that would feature the two of them together. “I’ve heard you had quite the eventful year.”

That was one way of putting it.

“It’s been busy.” Hope agreed tentatively.

“I apologize in advance if this interview brings back some bad memories.” She statement, honestly regretful even as she folded her hands in front of herself on the table and shifted to get comfortable, smiling afterward at him. “Now, let’s begin with some facts…”

Three and a half hours later, Hope stumbled out of the darkened interview room and glared viciously at Rygdea, who had been waiting outside for him.

“Please tell me that wasn’t your default expression talking to Miss Wingspur.” Rygdea told him first thing.

“I hate you.” Hope responded instead, still feeling shaken up by the amount of information that had been revealed about his life. He didn’t know how that woman managed to wheedle facts from him despite having just experienced it first hard. It was eerie and unnatural.

“Aww, come on,” Rygdea wheedled, “It couldn’t have been that bad! Miss Wingspur loves kids, you know, and she’s probably one of the nicest psychiatrists I’ve ever met in my life—”

He had half a mind to yell, but then thought better of it considering what he had just experienced, and decided to walk away altogether, leaving the soldier talking to air.

—

“Sooo…” Vanille drew out the word as he sat down next to her in the bright waiting room. The others were still waiting on Serah to come out, and Fang had a book over her face and her arms crossed as she sat silently in the chair next to Vanille’s, presumably asleep. “How did it go?”

“Awful.” Hope lamented, feeling particularly grumpy. He raised an arm to drape over his eyes as he slumped down in the chair until his neck hit the back rest. “Rygdea stuck me with a psychiatrist who prodded at me for hours.”

“Um…” Vanille sounded uncertain next to him. “I don’t really know what that is.”

“People who assess your mental state.” Hope explained quietly without removing his arm. “And mine is just fine, thanks.”

She made an agreeable noise next to him, but didn’t respond, instead letting him sulk even as she pushed a shoulder against his.

“Well, from what I heard,” she said brightly after a few minutes, “your interview went really well. Apparently your psychiatrist really, really likes you. Said you’re the cutest thing she’s seen in ages.”

Hope groaned next to her and sunk even lower in his seat.

—

Contrary to Hope’s experience, Serah came out of her interview with a relieved smile.

“I think it went just fine.” She admitted when Snow asked. Her hair was perfectly curled and she was wearing a knee length brown skirt paired with a flowing white long sleeved dress shirt with a bow collar, all prim and proper looking for a school teacher, even with the knee high brown boots and broach at her neck to complete the look. “I’m sorry it took so long. Mr. Adams asked me to take my time and say anything that came to my mind, and he had a lost of questions for me as well.”

“No bad ones?” Snow asked.

“Oh, no, not at all.” Serah confirmed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “He was very kind. Very patient. Even said he’d be interested in talking to Lightning. He wants to know more about our past and what we’ve been through.”

Lightning made a disgruntled noise from where she was standing. “Not likely.”

“I think he really has our best interests in mind.” Serah concluded, having already known her sister’s response.

“...At least Rygdea is picking people who aren’t biased against us.” Snow agreed reluctantly, rubbing at the back of his head sheepishly. “Maybe we shouldn’t have been so harsh on the guy.”

“Who did you get?” Serah asked Hope, who both flushed and frowned.

“Miss Cecelie Wingspur.” Vanille answered for him cheerfully from right behind Hope. “Psychiatrist. She really liked him.”

Hope’s frown just grew as more attention was turned on him. Thanks to the others having been waiting for Serah to come out first before questioning them, the only person who really knew anything was Vanille. He raised a hand to his head in remembrance, tugging on his hair. “...She wouldn’t stop patting me on the head.”

“She said he’s got very soft and fluffy hair.” The voice came from behind them, and Rygdea saluted with two fingers from his forehead in greeting, smiling at them. “Yo. Heard Miss Farron got out alive, safe and sound, so I wanted to have a talk to Dr. Gillian. By the way, Hope, your interview went spectacularly. I saw a few still shots — clueless is just fine, although you might want to widen your eyes a bit if you want to look more innocent—”

Hope dug in his pockets and throw a rolled up candy wrapper at the man, who laughed as the item didn’t make it far enough to hit him because it was far too light.

“But it’s a good thing you weren’t looking as frowny faced as you’ve been recently. Not very photogenic. You’re going to have to work on that.”

“He won’t if you do your job properly.” Lightning berated the grinning man, unimpressed with his teasing even as she stepped forward to stand next to her sister and just a little behind Hope, placing a hand on his shoulder. “One interview, and no more. The public doesn’t need to know anymore about us than they have to. We’re not open books to share our lives with them, and it shouldn’t matter if any of us frowns or smiles.”

“Well, okay, you’re right. If you want to put it that way.” Rygdea agreed pleasantly. “Let’s say we get the interview business out of the way and wham, bam, everything goes ideally. I still don’t mean for this situation, though — this little guy’s been attracting a lot of attention in the academic circles recently. Even if he doesn’t get around to smiling for an audience now, I’m pretty sure they’re going to know his face better when he grows up.”

The soldier grinned, and threw a thumbs up at Hope.

“Better get used to practicing your smile in front of a mirror now. Give the girls something to talk about in the upcoming years, huh?”

Hope just slunk back behind a grinning Fang as Lightning glared at the man, fingers twitching for her weapon.