A/n: This was sitting on my hard drive for way too long, so up it goes. A simple conversation between friends. Hope is the best cockblock. Ahem, but yeah. Read on, and leave a review if you like!

"So, Serah, how's the journey been so far?" Hope asked her over twin cups of tea. They were sitting across from each other at the long table the Oracle Drive was balanced upon. The green light it emitted cast the tea a funny colour, not to mention Hope's usually silver hair.

Hope was as sweet as ever though. An eager and fast learner with a inclination toward the mechanical, she couldn't say she was surprised to learn he was the Director of the Academy. If the things she'd heard about him were true, he'd skipped several years of schooling and had been with the Academy since its inception. If the other things she'd heard were true, he'd also earned the undying love of at least five of the other scientists on-site, and was friends with megastar singer Elida Karmic. She wanted to giggle. Little Hope was a genuine celebrity.

He stirred his tea, the spoon musically clanking. "What's so funny?"

She directed her smile from her tea up to him. "You're just... amazing, now. I'm so proud of you."

These two sentences seemed to strip Hope of all formality, if his eyebrows rising and his throat clearing were any indication. His mouth turned into a bendy line. Uncomfortable with praise? He struggled to regain his composure, tugging at his tie. "I had a lot of help. From you, for instance, when you shouted at me not to make the proto fal'Cie," he said, nodding and gesturing with a gloved hand.

Her smile was becoming a permanent fixture on her face. Hope was a true gentleman, and she was so comforted by the fact that he'd turned out so splendidly in spite of all the loss he'd suffered. "Tell me something," she said, then leant forward, conspiratory.

In spite of himself, he began to smile. Her mood was catching. "What is it?"

She fixed him with her eggshell blue eyes. "Do you... actually know Elida Karmic?"

He almost fell back in his chair. But he was laughing as he answered her, "Yeah. We were classmates back on Cocoon."

Her eyes shone. "That is so cool!"

He laughed, and it was from somewhere deep, bubbling up and sounding out all through the tent. Then he took off his gloves, and she knew they'd made some progress. "She was always singing, Elida. But enough about her. How've you been?"

Before answering, she took a long sip of her tea. It was very good. "I've been alright. I'm... learning a lot about myself on this journey. Noel's been great," she added, knowing that it was he who was responsible for a large majority of her growth. He was off finding the remnants of fallen stars for a researcher, too antsy to sit still.

"You catch up," Noel had told them both, nodding and giving an easy smile. Then he jogged down the steps, Mog in tow. She kind of saw where her good mood had come from.

She was glad for a partner like Noel. He caught on quick to the Historia Crux and the labyrinths. He was hard-working and he expected the same from her. His energy was always encouraging. He shook his head and grinned at her bad jokes, he knew when she was tired with a simple look. He remembered his quest and he never forgot hers. He understood her implicitly.

"Noel's been great?" Hope repeated, hiding his smile with his cup.

"Yeah, as a partner," she said. "He's really helped me out. I think he- maybe it's not even on purpose, but- he understands me," she said, eyes and smile softening.

"Not like Snow," Hope said.

"Yeah," she answered absently.

It was only when she looked up at Hope that she'd realized what she just said. "I mean, no! Snow... he understands me," she said, and as she said it she felt something uncomfortable stiffen her spine. She knew what a lie felt like.

Hope put his cup down and was silent for a moment. Ungloved, she could see that his hands were well-kept. His fingers came together in a clasp. When he finally spoke again, it was not at all what she expected. "Serah, how old is Noel?"

She looked up at him, a bit doe-eyed. "Eighteen," she answered simply.

Hope just looked off into the distance and nodded, a smiling frown on his face. She wasn't sure just what had happened, but then Hope said- "You're a cougar, you know."

Very slowly, her eyes widened and her eyebrows lifted. Her mouth fell open in shock. And then there were tears welling in her eyes and she was suddenly chewing at her lips and looking at Hope, both of them struggling not to smile.

"Hope Estheim," she said lowly. "You did not just say that."

He conceded, losing the battle and smiling full blast. He held his hands up in a mocking surrender. "What didn't I say?"

She went on smiling, chin quivering now.

Hope cocked his head to the side in a way that seemed a bit uncharacteristic. But then he reached across the table to take her hands, and that was entirely Hope. "When I first saw you, I was simply glad that you were safe. But now, I'll be glad to listen to whatever you have to say."

That did it. She blinked, and two tears fell into her teacup. Still, she went on smiling. "You're really something, Hope. What exactly that something is, I won't say."

He laughed, and she instantly thought him younger. He was very gallant, considering the multitude of implications behind her words. He continued warmly, "Whenever you want to, know that I'm here."

"Whenever she wants to what?"

She looked up quickly, turning from Hope (who turned from her, too) to see Noel standing at the head of the table, clearly back from rounding up stars. His gaze was firmly locked on their hands intertwined on the tabletop.

Hope calmly pulled his hands from hers, and she pulled hers back a second later. Only then did Noel's eyes dart to their faces - Hope's first, then hers. She felt like she should be nervous at what Noel had surely misheard, but then he was striding over to her, pulling out the adjacent chair and sitting firmly down in it. "What happened? Are you feeling alright?" he asked immediately, examining the teartrails on her cheeks. His fingers came up to her face without hesitation, feeling the wetness there.

She blinked up at him, then over his shoulder, where Hope was sipping his tea. He wiggled his eyebrows and she had to bite back a laugh, but it made its way into her next words. "I-I'm good," she answered, smiling. She looked into her partner's concerned eyes, knowing how right he was for her and their journey. She said honestly, feeling it all the way to her toes, "I'm great."