literature

Chapter 18 - Defenestration

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It had been at most, two hours, three tops, not very long in her opinion, but long enough for words to fly.  There were murmurs and rumors of a thugs being beaten up.

CRASH.

Shards of glass cascaded and propelled it selves’ outwards.  Shouts of profanities were heard as a figure rolled onto the ground, the crunching of the crystalline fragments accompanying them.  The person lay momentarily on the ground without so much as a twitch or move of a muscle, relishing in the sudden silence.  The steady rise and fall of their chest was the only needed indication to reveal that they were still alive.  Slowly after the span of silence soon became fettered with whispers, the familiar dark-haired, blue-eyed mercenary pushed herself up.  

She really wished the people in the area weren’t so nosy and gossipy.  

Groaning, Elliot brushed off the dust on her clothes and picked off the glass shards that clung to her.  She hoped she wouldn’t find any unnecessary “prizes” that would make themselves known when she wanted to sleep.  Feeling somewhat satisfied, the tattered mercenary turned around, only to freeze in her tracks.

There, standing only a few yards away was Zack with an expression filled with shock and…horror?  It was hard to tell, he seemed to have a myriad of things flickering in his Mako eyes.  

“…Hi?”

Instead of replying, Zack simply continued to look at him.

Elliot’s shirt looked even worse than before, shallow cuts crisscrossed his arms, a bruise formed a splotchy discoloration on his jaw, blood was dripping down his chin, he had an eye patch on his left eye, and there were bandages wrapped around his knuckles that were staining and unraveling.

Elliot shifted uncomfortably underneath the SOLDIER’s scrutiny.  Her uninjured eye flickered nervously around the area, avoiding looking directly at him.

What was she supposed to say exactly?  She never imagined that he would suddenly find her looking like such a mess.  It was just her rotten luck that Zack would find her so quickly and unexpectedly after her ordeals.  Elliot couldn’t really predict his reaction either.
 
The situation was made more awkward by the unsettling silence that hung over them.

Elliot wondered if he was ever going to say anything.  She was starting to crack a little under the sudden and wordless confrontation.  Zack was supposedly a friend, but what was she to do in a situation like this?  It wasn’t like she actually knew him.

The silence seemed to stretch forever.

Would he be angry?  Would he just laugh it off?  Would he abandon her?  She couldn’t help but fret, struggling to find the answer and proper response she should give him.  She felt the need to pace and move around while she was thinking, but refrained from doing so.

After what seemed like an eternity even though in actuality had only been a moment, Zack let out a long drawn sigh.  It seemed to be hinted with…Disappointment? Annoyance?  Exasperation?  

Elliot couldn’t really tell, but she felt a sting nonetheless.

She wasn’t really sure why she said it, but it felt like she had to.  Her mouth opened and blurted out the words that the sigh had compelled her to say before she could think about the after effects.

“…I won.”

Realization flooded her and her mind went into overdrive, questioning her own sanity.  Was she expecting some sort of praise for her accomplishment or something?  Embarrassment washed over her.  She grit her teeth as her emotions roiled in her stomach and gave a quick peak at Zack’s reaction.

Zack was looking at her with a strange expression on his face.  Surprise was the most evident, but she couldn’t really pick up on the other ones.  Elliot was unsure of what to do again.  She expected the silence to once again roll into the atmosphere, however was responded with something else entirely.

“Ahahahaha!!”

Zack’s laughter filled the space as it bounced off the walls of the alley and echoed slightly into the air.  Elliot watched him in a mix of confusion and worry at the rather sudden and strange change of personality.  He continued his full-blown laugh as she watched him awkwardly.

He couldn’t help it.  He had felt the urge to laugh.  Elliot had said those words so resolutely and tinted with pride even though he looked so terrible and beat up.  His expressions and words just didn’t seem to match up at all.  It reminded Zack of something that had happened before too.

“Why are you laughing?!”

Elliot’s patience had finally come to an end as she struggled to wait for him to calm down, but realized he probably wouldn’t until she said something.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s nothing!”

She watched him skeptically as he tried to calm down.  Zack still seemed rather on the verge of laughing again as he had a wide grin stretched on his face, but seemed to control it.  Elliot heaved a sigh of her own as she faced him again, a little sour with her pride offended.  

“So, how’d you find me?”

“…You left a letter remember?”

“Oh, right…”

“So, what are you doing exactly?”

Elliot kicked a pebble as she thought about what to say before replying.

“On my way to buy more bandages…?”

“Oh, well I can help you out with my cure materia and—wait!  You know that’s not what I’m asking about!”

Elliot sighed in annoyance and looked away from Zack.  He watched his friend expectantly, waiting for a reply.

“…I met some…friends earlier today.  Later on though I hadn’t realized these friends of mine had even more friends and I was greeted by them.”
   
Silence once again permeated the air.  Elliot wanted to hit herself for the terrible explanation and obvious lie.

“Elliot…”

She faced him again, exhaustion starting to settle in.

“That doesn’t explain why I saw you get thrown out a window!”

Elliot put a hand to her face.
Noun.
The action of throwing someone or something out of a window.

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