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expiationmeme2023-02-27 01:04 am
TEST DRIVE MEME #2
Welcome to the TDM for Expiation, a pan-fandom adventure game with fantasy, science fiction, and sometimes subtle horror elements. We ask that top-level comments are reserved for new characters and players looking to experience a taste of the world and overarching storyline. Characters already in the game, however, are free to use TDM prompts in their own catch-alls and logs. Feel free to submit any TDM / prompt-related questions to the corresponding comment below.
New players / characters looking to app are free to use TDM threads as samples in their application. Preexisting players / characters may use TDM threads as part of their AC proofs (with the stated limitations).
You may find the below links helpful in getting to know themes of the world, locations, the people, and so on.
BE OUR GUEST
You may possess any number of questioning thoughts as you traverse the blindingly white room and are dropped into a darkness beneath your feet, but perhaps those same thoughts will be replaced with an awe and curiosity as you come to. Expiation has you now and you have joined the ranks of the Chosen, a seemingly select number of individuals who have arrived with parchment either in-hand or near them, detailing physical and mental statistics in addition to a particular crime to which you have been accused.
How you choose to spend your time here is largely up to you...
IT'S A WINDMILL, NOT A GIANT
As you begin to acquaint yourself with the lay of the land about you, you'll find that not too far from where you've woken there's a rather grandiose tower windmill. Its blades rotate at a casual pace as it faces the ocean and its accompanying shoreline. It appears to be in relatively pristine condition, implying that it is cared for well and often, likely by the locals of the town of Aldrip, which can be easily spied from the elevated level of land upon which the windmill sits.
Outside of the main structure is a collection of wooden crates in various display. Some of these are closed. Some are open. If you observe for long enough, you'll eventually find that a few relatively muscular sorts arrive on the scene to retrieve some of these crates and take them back the distance toward the town that lingers at the base of the mountains. If you choose to inspect the crates, you'll find some of them filled with heavy canvas sacks that contain flour. If you choose to ask the town locals retrieving them about this, they will explain that the windmill companion you have woken near is just one of the many implements that the locals use to provide sustenance to dining tables, festivities, and more.
You have the option to help the locals carry crates back, potentially to curry some favour with them, or simply take some sacks of flour yourself. Crates require more than one person to carry due to the weight, but two able-bodied adults should be able to handle the job quite well. A sack of flour can generally be carried by one, but perhaps you'll find yourself needing some assistance anyway. Maybe ask one of the others who've woken up near you. It certainly seems you're not alone in this new endeavour.
WHERE ONLY THE BRAVE MAY GO
If windmills and manual labour aren't your thing, you may find yourself drawn to the seemingly mysterious cave at the foot of the mountains, not far from the windmill in question.
The locals refer to this cave as Lorentia. Jagged rocks poke out around the entrance and have been sculpted and shaped to resemble what appears to be the massive sharp-toothed mouth of a dragon. It is possible you may be momentarily stopped by one of said locals who will explain that the Lorentia Cave is a passage system that leads through the interior of the mountains, though due to some collapse of the inside, the passageway does not go in far and is currently blocked off for the safety of local citizenry. In other words, proceed with caution.
If you're still feeling brave and care to take a peek inside, by all means. No one's going to stop you.
The interior of Lorentia Cave consists of both narrow passageways and some larger, more cavernous like rooms. There are assorted mining implements scattered along the ground, propped up against the walls, and carts that are filled with various ores, rocks, crystals, and more. The locals of Aldrip use Lorentia Cave for largely mining purposes and many of the things that are retrieved can be used for the smithing forges, the crafting of weaponry, or fashioning into jewellery and other accessories that are sold locally and taken to other towns on the continent.
There are some crudely designed signs that note to take care and depict simple skull drawings, indicating that certain paths may be a little more dangerous to traverse than others. If you are especially lucky (or unlucky, as the case may be), you may even spot some skeletal remains from some less-than-fortunate souls who got caught in a dead-end path and simply never made it out again.
If you listen closely, sometimes you hear the flutter of wings and a distant roar. Maybe it's best not to linger...
NO SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
MAXWELL'S SILVER ROCK-HAMMER
The townsfolk are welcoming to newly-arrived, something that has largely been met with a fair amount of scepticism and wariness from prior arrivals. That said, they continue to be hospitable, eager to share stories and songs about their land, their people, and their traditions.
A jewelcrafter is displaying their work today, putting their various wares out for locals and members of the Chosen to admire, or perhaps to purchase. Part of their demonstration is opening geodes with rock-hammers and showing off the impressive inside of colour and masterful natural works of art gifted to them by the land's bounty. They may choose to speak a little on how they revere the land, the resources they've been given, and how all of this has been bestowed upon them by the very gracious Those Who Were There, a mysterious and seemingly celestial higher power.
For those who are interested, they have the opportunity to offer some assistance to the jewelcrafter by opening some geodes as well. There's plenty of rock-hammers to go around and the most recent retrieval from Lorentia Cave's mining appears to have been very successful. The jewelcrafter is so moved by the offer of help that he's more than happy to let those who aid him keep one opened geode for themselves at no cost.
Congratulations on your new piece of decor!
FORGING BONDS IN THE FIRES OF PASSION
If you were a brave soul who made visit to the Lorentia Cave and came back with some weapon or armour crafting materials (including skeletal remains), you'll find that the smithies of Aldrip are eager to do business and many of them enjoy their craft for the sake of being passionate about what they do.
They'll waste no time in starting the forge and should you have a specific piece in mind you are requesting, as long as they have the materials on hand, they'll even be willing to show you the general process from start to finish on a rough draft of the piece in question. If you're feeling especially keen to help, they may offer to let you work directly on your project, though they will express apprehension and a wary eye for those who fail to have prior experience with such gruelling tasks.
Once your piece is finished, you can either wear it immediately, learn the best way to maintain and keep your equipment, or put it out on public display to show the rest of Aldrip and its residents, new and old alike. If you choose to let the smithies keep your piece, they'll pay you the cost of the materials you've brought them, plus a small percentage markup depending on how much personal effort you put into the craftsmanship personally.
Better yet, you may have just come out of the situation with a permanent bond. The smithies have an appreciation for those who share similar interests and may be willing to provide future discounts to those who purchase their wares.
FEEDING THE MASSES
YOU'RE A REEL CATCH
Aldrip locals always have a need for food and with many Chosen having recently arrived, that need has increased exponentially, for now they have a larger number of mouths to keep fed and stomachs to keep happy. To help inspire this retrieval of food, Aldrip is hosting a fishing competition and anyone who's interested in participating may do so, provided that they follow the guidelines set in place.
All participants must use local fishing equipment and this will be provided by the various merchants in town free of charge, save for those who wish to keep their fishing tackle. All fish caught within the local rivers, ponds, and the nearby ocean are acceptable for submission. Citizens (local or Chosen) are forbidden from using magic or technology as a means to catch their quarry. Anyone found breaking these rules will be disqualified and will be fish'd (that is, they will have raw flopping fish thrown at them).
The winner of the competition is chosen by having caught the largest fish (determined by size and weight) and will be announced at the end of the competition. The applicable winner may keep their fishing tackle free of charge and have their winning fish cooked in the style of their choice by the locals, which can then be shared amongst the people if they so choose (a fantastic way to make friends). The winner will also have a mediocre fish sculpture awarded to them with their name chiselled into the details in honour of their glorious victory.
OOC Notes:
Both TDM participants and characters already in the game may participate in the fishing competition. Please use the designated comment if you wish to partake. On the 13th of March (after applications have closed for the cycle), the winner will be announced and drawn by RNG. We will announce who the winner is on this TDM post (in these notes), the moderator plurk, and the OOC community.
I'M A [X], NOT A FISHER
If you're not a fishing kind of individual yourself, there's still plenty for you to get involved with.
Aldrip has need of people who are capable of preparing meals, especially seafood. It is probable that many participants of the fishing competition will end up fishing up things that are not fish or eligible for submission, but still edible. These include crabs, lobsters, jellyfish, octopuses, clams, and other related sea life. If you have experience with cooking or simply want to help out, the Aldrip locals will welcome you with open arms and may even pay you for your assistance.
If cooking isn't your forte, you'll find that some of the Aldrip citizens enjoy a betting pool from time to time. If you have some coins or something else you don't mind putting up for gamble, you might just come out with the whole pot if you put your currency on the winning fisher. Anyone found to be attempting to rig the betting pool and competition, however, will be returned their bet. We don't take kindly to cheaters here.
At least not openly.
Fishing can be a sometimes dangerous pastime. You may find a fisher who has gotten themselves accidentally hooked on their line or perhaps when they were freeing a fish, the hook got lodged into their thumb. Aldrip welcomes those who have healing abilities to help assist those more unfortunate situations, so fishers can go back to casting out their lines to make the most of the competition. That said, there's nothing in it for potential healers, just the notion that you've done a good deed.
Windmill!
It's a good way of occupying herself. It's an even better way to use a lot of that time to observe the people. To listen to their conversations. To understand their way of life and how to better appeal to them and what they might need. A good rapport might give all of them, those like her, the information they so dearly covet.
When Zack addresses her, it's as she's leaned over the side of a wooden crate, hands on a sack of flour, probably with the intention to lift it right up. That's obviously not something she'll be able to do on her own, but evidently she is a brave enough soul to try.]
Hm? Oh, that'd be—
[A nagging voice in the back of her mind prods at her. There's recognition there. A voice she knows quite well. A voice she feels intimately familiar with. Relenting her hold on the flour sack, Aerith looses a sigh, lifting a hand to sweep back across her forehead.
She's pooped!
But when she gets an eyeful of him, her breath lightly catches. At first, she isn't quite sure what to say. He's the loveliest thing to see in those moments. Could she really be so fortunate? First Cloud, now—]
—great. [She manages to say, not quite breathless, but on the verge of it.] That'd be great.
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Besides, he'd know that hair, that pink ribbon, those grass green eyes, that easy, cheerful smile anywhere. He's dreamed of her for years, missed her every time he was dragged to some corner of Gaia that didn't include her.
He sees the way she stops and stares, and there's a pang there because it's been so long since he went on his last mission and never returned. And thanks to Tseng, he knows that it's been long enough for her to send 88 letters that he never got until the very end of them. He'd been on his way to find her, tell her he loved her, run away from SOLDIER and ShinRa so that he could be with her when the cleanup crew found him and Cloud and he never quite made it all the way back to Midgar. So close, and yet so very far away from the one person he'd ever wanted.
And even though he feels that pain, he gives her an easy smile that he reserves just for her.]
Well, how can I say no to that? I'm your guy if you need something heavy lifted. [He curls his bicep, showing off all those lovely muscles he gained going up the ranks of SOLDIER to become First Class. If he's lucky, she'll play along and laugh, lightening up the mood and earning him her beautiful smile again.] Point me where you want me, Aerith.
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How.
Why.
When.
A plethora of them that sit upon the tongue and she is either unwilling to give them voice, or she simply understands that now is not the time. It hadn't been so long before that she had that gentle realisation. That she could feel when he wouldn't be coming home to her. Or his mother in Gongaga. She thinks of the younger version of herself that was so uncertain about the world. The version of herself that didn't think admiring a real blue sky was necessary. The world had seemed so very small in comparison to what she really grew to understand.
She has Zack to thank for so much of that. She is the way she is now, in large part, due to him and his influence in her life. He has defined parts of her in so many ways that there is simply no denying that. To see him in the flesh, her heart is both bittersweet in its happiness and aching. A part of her wants to reach out to touch him. Just to see if he's real. Another part of her is too cowardly to do any such thing.
And yet when he speaks, when he jokes around with her, he still sounds like the same member of Soldier who came crashing into the roof atop her flowers. She stills all of the uncertainty that wants to creep into her voice and issues soft laughter. Maybe it won't hurt so much if she can laugh. Maybe, if he's simply a daydream, she can look back on memories made instead of promises unfulfilled.]
I'll make it up to you somehow. However you'd like. [She grins through it all, her insides not fully representative of what she wears on the outside. Gently her teeth hold her bottom lip for just a moment as she moves aside for him and beckons him over.] I was trying to get this out. Help me take it back to town. I can show you around. Or we... can get something to eat? Or we can just talk.
[She isn't sure what he might want to do. If he wants to do any of those things at all.]
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His arm falls down to his side and he hesitates. He's nearly never been so unsure around her.... No, that's not true. She's always kinda thrown him off his game, but she's also made his world brighter. He rubs at the back of his head and then gives her an awkward smile.]
What do you have to make up? I'm the one who didn't come back. [The urge to touch her is back and he pulls at the short hairs at the nape of his neck. How do you talk to your girlfriend that you were forced to stay away from for five years and who has probably moved on?] I... Uh.. I'd like all of that, but let's first get this done. You can wait here and I'll take care of it.
[He picks up one of the massive crates with one arm easily. All that experimentation by ShinRa is worth it if he can show off a bit for Aerith and get this done quickly.]
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There it is. It's worthy to call into question how Aerith has felt about any of that. A younger, bright-eyed version of herself writing letters to a guy who never actually wrote back. Wondering if he was too busy to. Wondering if maybe he never saw them. Five years is a long time not to see someone. She's certainly not the same girl she was back then. She can't imagine that he's the same guy either.
There is so much that he doesn't know. About her. Her circumstances. About the things she's seen, heard, and experienced. Maybe she's kept so much about herself a secret from him. She can remember so many times trying to learn more about him and the world he'd come from. How he came to be the man she knew him as. Charmed by how much he just wanted to truly help others.
A light in a world where there was so much darkness. A breath of fresh air where she'd not known she needed it.
Aerith shakes her head. She won't address that. Not now. Again, it's just not the time. She doesn't know when the time will be, but now is not it.]
What, you're just going to do it without me? No, no, no. I can help!
[Indicatively, she lifts her arms and she flexes. She's not nearly impressive, but maybe it's the spirit that counts.]
I'm pretty strong! I can't carry one by myself, I could probably help! [Probably. Although the way he just lifts it and makes it look so easy is enough to coerce a laugh out of her.] Or you can just do that and I'll come with you as pretty decoration or something.
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He smiles through the pain as he watches her try to mimic him, but that comment about her being a pretty decoration has him setting the crate down so that he can pull her in a hug. It takes him a while before he can let her go. He doesn't really want to, and, yeah, they probably need to talk, but going without touching her again was never going to work for him.]
Y-yeah, let's get this moved. [He picks the crate of flour up and just starts walking, trying really hard not to think about what he just did.]
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A sombre understanding of reality and just how cruel it could be. How she could not let everything he'd been to her stand for nothing.
As quickly as it's there, however, it's gone just as quickly. She doesn't have the time to utter more than a minutely surprised 'oh—' and little else. But he reaches back down for the crate and with a little pink flush in her features, Aerith's smile turns soft. Not quite sheepish, but perhaps something akin to.]
Gosh, that was nice.
[Because it was. They've both probably been overdue. She doubts either of them ever expected to see the other.]
Are you sure I can't help?
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Especially since that day that she'd told him that all her wishes boiled down to wanting to spend time with him. All he's wanted to do is help her bring them to life. However, life has done everything it could to keep them apart.
He's not sure how long he held her, but it's nowhere near enough for him. And for her, if that dazed look on her face is any indication. Once they're done carrying all these crates, he'll make sure he has a chance to hug her again for as long as she wants.
And then, then they'll have that talk that they need to have. And if she still wants to move on, he won't stop her. He can't.
He turns to look at her over his shoulder and gives her a smile that could light up a city with its power.]
Of course you can. Pick up as many of the sacks as you can carry and it'll make this go faster.
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Neither of these things are going to help her pick up a sack of flour. But maybe some fierce determination might.
Her nose scrunches up. All right! He's asked for it! Drawing in a breath, Aerith balls up all of her courage, all of what strength she has in those arms of her and she backtracks just enough to bend down for a sack of flour, before very dramatically hoisting it up into her arms.
Okay. It's less dramatic and more that she should probably not be carrying that by herself. But she's going to do it! Now it's a matter of pride! She waddles after Zack a bit like a bird. Slowly. But she's coming!]
You make it sound so easy! Were you planning to carry all of it back? You know there's other people who might want to help too, right?
[But since when has Zack ever wanted to share the glory? He's just too eager to help. There are worse ways for a guy to be.]
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Right?
He looks over his shoulder again to watch her nearly topple under the weight of one sack and he sort of frowns. Are they really that heavy?]
There's plenty for others to help take these over to the town. But, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can just spend time with each other. Besides, I want to know what you were doing before I showed up.
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What I was doing? [She asks somewhat distracted with her sack. Looking ahead to him, she raises her eyebrows.] Oh, I was just trying to help the people in town. Making a good impression. Trying to keep the peace. Keeping myself busy. Trying... to make some money?
[Because Cloud doesn't want her selling flowers. Yet.]
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So, he slows down so she can catch up to him. It'll be easier to help her if he's close by.]
Trying to keep the peace? Are there a bunch of troublemakers running around here? Do you need a bodyguard to help you out?
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Aerith offers him a grateful look as she manages to make way to his side, though not without a fair amount of wobbling. She hardly seems like a tower of stability.]
Well, I wouldn't say that. Just that people have different ways of handling things. Not everyone is very patient and some people just want time to be angry and upset. That's fair. [He makes mention of a bodyguard and she pauses for some moments. She has one, of course. What will Cloud think when he meets Zack? Their resemblances are uncanny. And Aerith...
Well...
She knows more than both of them, she wagers.]
I guess I kind of have one of those. He's certainly helping, but I think he'd prefer it if I didn't get myself too involved in things. He doesn't mind me helping, but I think he's just worried something will happen to me.
[She smiles a bit sheepishly. She wishes there was a way to not give Cloud too much cause for concern.]
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Yeah, I know all about people like that. I've met a lot of different people working for SOLDIER, but the grumpy ones... Like Tseng, right? He's so serious.
[But he's been a good friend to Zack. He knows that the Turk kept an eye on Aerith while he was away. And he's pretty sure that he has all of the letters Aerith wrote him. It's just common sense.
He notices the way she stops and thinks things over, but he's not sure what it's about. He'll ask, but later.]
I'm glad you have someone like that. And he's here, right? He's been keeping an eye on you?
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[She can remember in her younger years not being fond of him in the slightest. Or really any of the Turks. Nowadays, they seem like a permanent fixture in her life. Wanting her to return to a place she has no interest being a part of. Except of course it wasn't that easy. If it hadn't been Marlene, it's entirely possible it would have been something else that coerced her to turn herself in.
Before all of that, however, she knows her relationship with Tseng has been an interesting one. Eighty-eight letters went to him. Eighty-eight letters that were never delivered. But there is one constant. Tseng has been watching her for years. He could have brought her to Shinra at any point. So why bide his time? Why wait for so long? What has been Tseng's true aim?
She wonders how much Zack knows about the man at all.]
He sure is something.
[Aerith nods rather quickly, trying to pick up her pace a little bit, which is more a mistake considering it just makes her more unstable.]
And yeah. He's making sure I'm taken care of. But when you say it like that, you make it sound like I'm a problem. [Grinning ear-to-ear, she shakes her head at him.] I've been on my best behaviour!
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And yes, he kept the letters, but what else could he do when Zack was literally in a tube in Nibelheim, being experimented on by Hojo? And... well, he got the last one, didn't he? Better later than never.
A thought that is ironic but it crosses his mind.]
I know a lot of people don't like the Turks, and with good reason, but Tseng has been a pretty steady guy.
[Cissnei's been a big help, but he's not stupid enough to bring up another girl in front of Aerith when he's still not sure what the hell is going on.
He turns his head and sees her wobble and quickly puts his box down so that he can turn and put his hands on her hips to help her get her bearings.]
Hey, careful there. [There's a bit of a jolt of memory of the way she fits against him as he touches her, even through the fabric of her dress and his gloves, but just being this close to her makes him give her a small smile that reaches his eyes and seems to make him remember what it was like meeting her as a clumsy sixteen year old in her church.] I'd never say you were a problem, but you sure do attract trouble.
Maybe you need two bodyguards.
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[She wouldn’t put it that way at all. She may not know necessarily what to make of him, but ‘bad’ isn’t really the word for it. Self-interested? No. That’s not quite it, either. It might be interesting to have a conversation with him. One that didn’t involve who or what she is. Or that Shinra has wanted her for a decent amount of years. Come to think of it, knowing who any of the Turks are outside of their work would be interesting. What kind of lives do they live outside of their roles? What kinds of things are they interested in?
The same could be asked of anyone in Soldier, honestly. How much, after all, could she say she knows about Zack? Surely there is more to him than what she’s learned. Just like there is likely so much more to her. People are so complicated. In a good way.
Zack steadies her, gloved hands curling over the curve of hips to keep her in place. She looks up at him with a grateful smile. Of course, he wouldn’t have had to do it if she wasn’t insistent that she try to help him out. He likely would have wanted to help her anyway, though.]
Is that how you’re putting it then? It’s not like I do it on purpose. I’m just trying to be a flower girl.
[He makes mention of two bodyguards and Aerith laughs.]
People here already think it’s weird that I have one. When I was explaining that, they asked if I was a celebrity. If I was a princess? Someone even told me that only important people have bodyguards. That’s not really true, right?
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[He'd have been in trouble long before that cliff overlooking Midgar if it hadn't been for Tseng and Cissnei. And he's grateful for their help and friendship when they gave it to him. It wasn't perfect and probably could have been better, but they had their orders and he had his.
The only thing is that after a while he realized that his orders were wrong, especially since everything with Genesis and Sephiroth and Angeal never needed to happen. And, yeah, he's resentful that his life went belly up because of the Science Department's creepy desires to one-up each other, Hollander and Hojo having pissing contests to be the craziest monster.
All his thoughts are out of his head when she smiles up at him. Just like that, he's taken back to the first time he saw her. His angel in a field of forgotten flowers.]
You are a flower girl. I just hope you're putting that cart to good use. It was a lot of work to make, you know.
[It wasn't. Not really. He only regrets that their time that day was cut short. All of their time was cut short by SOLDIER and Shinra in one fashion or another, but he's treasured what they could have like bright stars in the blackness of his world.]
It is sometimes. President Shinra has a few bodyguards, last I checked. I don't think Director Lazard ever had any, but he could have used one. [Although, Hollander was a monster, so not sure how much good that would have been for Lazard.] And it's only weird if you let it be weird.
[He looks at her face for a minute before asking the question he really wants answered.]
Who's your current bodyguard?
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Assuming she wants to. She respects people like Zack. Like Cloud. And once, she imagines she could have respected Sephiroth, too, but surely being in a field like that changes people. How do they ever integrate back into society? Do they ever find themselves again or are they just shells of their former selves? Her feelings, she realises, remain pretty uncertain when it comes to the concept of soldier work.
Perhaps it is just a necessary evil in the eyes of the world. Or it’s a concept that is too far out of her grasp to really understand.
Her attention whips back onto the present, of pleasant flower carts as opposed to dark days and looming overhead thoughts.]
Of course I am! Or, at least I was. Before I came here, of course. [Maybe not in the same way that she had when he first made the cart for her.] What I mean is that I was definitely selling flowers back home. Trying to, anyway. Not all of Midgar is taking to them quite the way I’d like for them to.
[It’s a work in progress…
What he follows up with, however, causes Aerith to pause for just a moment. Her head tilts and she wonders how to put it. What she can get away with saying.]
Oh, uhm. I think you know him? You’re both in Soldier. His name is Cloud. Ironically, we met when he fell through the roof of the church, too. The plate must have broken again.
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But he knows from Cissnei and Tseng that they handled so much more than that and that they got a shitty rap with everyone by doing their jobs. They weren't good guys, but they were pretty decent people outside of their jobs. Or some of them tried.
But it's probably better that they talk about something else. The Turks aren't really a "first conversation in five years" topic anyway.]
Well, something worth doing isn't really easy. It generally takes a long time for it to really catch on, but if it's you, I know you can do it.
[The sound of Cloud's name makes Zack stop where he is and nearly drop the box of flour sacks. One falls out and lands on the ground between the two of them, covering them in the white powder, but that's hardly important.]
Cloud's here?
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It's one of those things that Aerith has never really asked, whether that's because she's trying to be respectful, because she already knows, or simply because that's the way she is, is all up for debate. As ever seems to be the norm, it's left up for ambiguous interpretation.
She takes a moment to assess the situation in her own way, using opportunity to carefully lower her own sack of flour and she lifts her hands, trying to dust it off her face or shake it out of her hair, which only seems to exacerbate rather than help.]
Mhm! He showed up around the time that I did here, but as I said, we met back in Midgar. I haven't known him very long, though. He said he's Soldier First Class, so I figured you two knew each other. Sounds like I was right.
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He sputters some flour out of his mouth as he puts down the crate and starts to wipe at his face and hair to get some of it clear. He's not paying attention to his clothes, but luckily he just looks like a guy in black, covered in flour as he stares at the girl next to him, also covered in flour. Thank goodness.]
Yeah, I know him. [But he isn't First Class. Not unless he returned to SOLDIER after Zack's death. Because, honestly, Zack was the last of the SOLDIERs that had reached First Class.] I'm glad the two of you met up. He's a good guy.
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[Says she who also looks like a right mess. As she raises her hands to his face and his hair, she's trying to help dust him off, which is also just piling up more mess atop of preexisting mess. At least the intention is good, though. Maybe. Anyone else looking at them will likely only find it laughable. Or conclude that Aerith and Zack are utterly irresponsible.
Both possibly accurate assessments.]
He is a good guy. [She agrees with an immediate smile.] A little hard to know, though. I'm pretty sure I'm wearing him down, though. When we were first, he wouldn't even make jokes with me or give me a high-five. Now, he's at least trying. You haven't seen him yet, I take it? I should track him down for you.
[Although probably not covered in flour.]
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[He stops trying to get it off when she helps, but he does bat at her bangs to try and get some of the flour out, not that it does any good. He laughs a bit, feeling light for the first time since waking up.
It's her magic.]
I think we're not getting out of this without a hose down.
[When she talks about Cloud though, his face falls. That doesn't sound like the Cloud he knows and that worries him a bit.]
No, I haven't seen him. I'm sure it's just a matter of time, right?
no subject
Irresponsible is the right way to describe her.]
You're right. Let's give you a proper welcome!
[Play first, work later!]