sephiroth, “tol alien boy”, SOLDIER first class. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
supersoldier) wrote2019-07-10 03:06 pm
supersoldier) wrote2019-07-10 03:06 pm
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[This is the craziest thing she's ever done, and she's done a lot of crazy things.]
Sephiroth?
It's me, Aerith. Gainsborough.
[...]
Are you busy? If you are, I can call back.
Sephiroth?
It's me, Aerith. Gainsborough.
[...]
Are you busy? If you are, I can call back.
[He isn’t busy, but there is a weighted pause before he replies — if only because social calls are utterly unexpected things, so foreign that he consciously makes an effort to speak before the silence drags on too long.
After all, maybe it wasn’t that. Did she need something from him? He can’t possibly imagine what.]
Aerith. I’m not busy at the moment. Did you need something from me? [—he asks, reflecting his thought process.]
After all, maybe it wasn’t that. Did she need something from him? He can’t possibly imagine what.]
Aerith. I’m not busy at the moment. Did you need something from me? [—he asks, reflecting his thought process.]
Oh — no, I don't need anything! It's only...
[She imagines the myriad ways in which this could go wrong. Did Vincent know he was here? Tifa? Cloud? Not a one of them would approve of this, she knows.
But as always, Aerith made her own decisions.]
I have a garden here now. I don't know if you're a fan of nature, but... I wanted you to know that you could stop by whenever you wanted to, if you do at all.
Zack always liked to see flowers — they're so rare in Midgar, you know.
[She imagines the myriad ways in which this could go wrong. Did Vincent know he was here? Tifa? Cloud? Not a one of them would approve of this, she knows.
But as always, Aerith made her own decisions.]
I have a garden here now. I don't know if you're a fan of nature, but... I wanted you to know that you could stop by whenever you wanted to, if you do at all.
Zack always liked to see flowers — they're so rare in Midgar, you know.
[He doesn’t know what to do with her clarification. It’s a polite invite — and Sephiroth isn’t so socially inept to not think of it as a friendly one, at that — and those are just as rare as random calls out of the blue from passing acquaintances.
And so he neither accepts nor declines quite yet, only pursues the presented topic further.]
I’ve never seen them growing freely in Midgar. If gardening was a hobby of yours, I can’t imagine the city was very accommodating.
[It’s difficult to know what to say about Zack, like he’s encroaching upon a subject where he has no room to tread.]
Did he help you grow them?
And so he neither accepts nor declines quite yet, only pursues the presented topic further.]
I’ve never seen them growing freely in Midgar. If gardening was a hobby of yours, I can’t imagine the city was very accommodating.
[It’s difficult to know what to say about Zack, like he’s encroaching upon a subject where he has no room to tread.]
Did he help you grow them?
It was.
[She speaks carefully.] And you're right. There was only one place where they'd really grow there. I bet you spent most of your time on the Upper Plate, huh?
[A pause. She fills the space between with a musing sort of hum, like she can't help but fill the gaps in their conversations with sound.] And not exactly — he did help me build a flower cart. It's pretty sturdy!
[She speaks carefully.] And you're right. There was only one place where they'd really grow there. I bet you spent most of your time on the Upper Plate, huh?
[A pause. She fills the space between with a musing sort of hum, like she can't help but fill the gaps in their conversations with sound.] And not exactly — he did help me build a flower cart. It's pretty sturdy!
Yes. Or stationed at HQ.
[There was little need for Midgar-sightseeing for a man like Sephiroth. But perhaps more importantly, there was little want. Though it was forest of dark steel, partitioned by sectors and lower-upper layers, the whole of Midgar might as well have been equated to that Shinra corporation’s interior for the SOLDIER.
Not much time to see growing flowers, never mind how rare they must be. ]
That does sound like something he would do. [Zack, ever helpful, ever eager. Probably doubly so for the girl he liked. If there’s a lilt in his tone, barely there, it’s gone as quickly as it appeared.]
So you sold them, too? [The flowers, he means — why else invest in a cart?]
[There was little need for Midgar-sightseeing for a man like Sephiroth. But perhaps more importantly, there was little want. Though it was forest of dark steel, partitioned by sectors and lower-upper layers, the whole of Midgar might as well have been equated to that Shinra corporation’s interior for the SOLDIER.
Not much time to see growing flowers, never mind how rare they must be. ]
That does sound like something he would do. [Zack, ever helpful, ever eager. Probably doubly so for the girl he liked. If there’s a lilt in his tone, barely there, it’s gone as quickly as it appeared.]
So you sold them, too? [The flowers, he means — why else invest in a cart?]
Just work then, huh.
... Did you ever get bored?
[Maybe she's being too forward, but she's genuinely curious. The idea of being on the Upper Plate made her anxious even now, years separated from it, brave enough to take the routes there to sell flowers. It's the knowledge of being monitored, knowing that she might be grabbed whenever Shinra deemed it necessary.
She had always avoided getting too close to their branded buildings. She could not imagine anyone thinking of it as a home.
She catches the amusement in his tone, brief and fond, and allows her own to soften a fraction. The thought that he might have genuinely liked Zack is not hard to imagine, though it saddens her, all the same.]
I did. One gil for one flower! I'd usually sell out by the end of the day. Everyone seemed to love flowers in Midgar, even people you wouldn't expect.
... Did you ever get bored?
[Maybe she's being too forward, but she's genuinely curious. The idea of being on the Upper Plate made her anxious even now, years separated from it, brave enough to take the routes there to sell flowers. It's the knowledge of being monitored, knowing that she might be grabbed whenever Shinra deemed it necessary.
She had always avoided getting too close to their branded buildings. She could not imagine anyone thinking of it as a home.
She catches the amusement in his tone, brief and fond, and allows her own to soften a fraction. The thought that he might have genuinely liked Zack is not hard to imagine, though it saddens her, all the same.]
I did. One gil for one flower! I'd usually sell out by the end of the day. Everyone seemed to love flowers in Midgar, even people you wouldn't expect.
It’s the novelty. People are always fascinated by the unusual, even enough to take it home with them for one gil.
[Would Sephiroth have bought a flower, starkly bright and organic against the metal and neon of the city, if he had seen her passing by with her cart? It’s unlikely, but he might have paused. Might have considered it for just a fleeting moment, before returning to whatever task pulled him through the rest of the day, as it often did.
He doesn’t know what else to say along those lines, though he supposes it’s more related to her original offer for him to see her garden than the question pertaining to boredom. Yet he answers it all the same.]
As for being bored, there isn’t that much downtime in SOLDIER. [Unless you’re Zack and you get a vacation to Costa del Sol but wHATEVER] But if there was, we’d— [He pauses. It isn’t so much ‘we’ any longer, not after what’s happened with Genesis and Angeal. And so— ] I’d sometimes pass the time in one of the VR training rooms. That was entertainment enough.
Otherwise, you're not often bored if you're kept busy.
[Would Sephiroth have bought a flower, starkly bright and organic against the metal and neon of the city, if he had seen her passing by with her cart? It’s unlikely, but he might have paused. Might have considered it for just a fleeting moment, before returning to whatever task pulled him through the rest of the day, as it often did.
He doesn’t know what else to say along those lines, though he supposes it’s more related to her original offer for him to see her garden than the question pertaining to boredom. Yet he answers it all the same.]
As for being bored, there isn’t that much downtime in SOLDIER. [Unless you’re Zack and you get a vacation to Costa del Sol but wHATEVER] But if there was, we’d— [He pauses. It isn’t so much ‘we’ any longer, not after what’s happened with Genesis and Angeal. And so— ] I’d sometimes pass the time in one of the VR training rooms. That was entertainment enough.
Otherwise, you're not often bored if you're kept busy.
I suppose so.
[Training rooms, missions. Always fighting, always struggling. No wonder. To her it seems like such a miserable way to live, and so sad. Never having the space to wonder at life, to enjoy anything it had to offer. And then later, to descend into a madness from which there was no return.
The "we" she is surprised to hear, and files it away for later. Zack, maybe? He'd seemed fond of him (which was still something she was wrapping her head around, that Sephiroth would be human enough to be fond of anyone.)]
Did you...
[How to word this.]
Did you ever do anything else, though? Outside of fighting — ah, I'm sorry if that's too forward. This is just my first time meeting someone so famous! So I'm curious.
[Training rooms, missions. Always fighting, always struggling. No wonder. To her it seems like such a miserable way to live, and so sad. Never having the space to wonder at life, to enjoy anything it had to offer. And then later, to descend into a madness from which there was no return.
The "we" she is surprised to hear, and files it away for later. Zack, maybe? He'd seemed fond of him (which was still something she was wrapping her head around, that Sephiroth would be human enough to be fond of anyone.)]
Did you...
[How to word this.]
Did you ever do anything else, though? Outside of fighting — ah, I'm sorry if that's too forward. This is just my first time meeting someone so famous! So I'm curious.
[It’s all he knew. What he was trained for, what he ended up being created for, though his knowledge of his origins certainly do not extend that far. But he always existed for a singular purpose — to be deadly strong, quickly efficient, strategic and never hesitating. Shinra's sharpest weapon in their vast armory, used as intended.
Sephiroth is very aware of this, but his vision so obscured by what he’s always done, what his role has always been, that he isn’t so aware to see why being unable to answer her question is… problematic to most people.
After all, to him it’s odd that Aerith believes training, fighting, clashing swords and sharpening skills can’t be enough of an answer.]
There were always mission reports to file. [That was the mildest sarcasm, please don’t take that for a sincere answer. He continues just so she doesn’t.]
Is it so odd to you that a man trained to be in SOLDIER for years would skew his interests towards combat?
Sephiroth is very aware of this, but his vision so obscured by what he’s always done, what his role has always been, that he isn’t so aware to see why being unable to answer her question is… problematic to most people.
After all, to him it’s odd that Aerith believes training, fighting, clashing swords and sharpening skills can’t be enough of an answer.]
There were always mission reports to file. [That was the mildest sarcasm, please don’t take that for a sincere answer. He continues just so she doesn’t.]
Is it so odd to you that a man trained to be in SOLDIER for years would skew his interests towards combat?
Well...
[Unseen, her hands twist anxiously in her lap.]
A little bit? Most people aren't the sum of their work. Like —
[There's the sound of her shifting around. Really she's just hanging upside down on her couch, letting the blood rush to her head. At a distance from him, she finds it easier to relax — it's as if he's less real somehow, or like she can separate the Sephiroth she knew and the Sephiroth this man appeared to be a little easier.] I love flowers! It's something I'm good at taking care of. If all I did was sell and grow them, though, I'd be pretty bored myself. Sometimes I'd do other things. Like haggle in the markets, you know? Or go to see that play that ran every year... Loveless? Read a book, or practice with my staff, or help my mother air out the linen... that part wasn't as fun.
I just wondered, that's all... if you ever felt restless, working all the time.
[Unseen, her hands twist anxiously in her lap.]
A little bit? Most people aren't the sum of their work. Like —
[There's the sound of her shifting around. Really she's just hanging upside down on her couch, letting the blood rush to her head. At a distance from him, she finds it easier to relax — it's as if he's less real somehow, or like she can separate the Sephiroth she knew and the Sephiroth this man appeared to be a little easier.] I love flowers! It's something I'm good at taking care of. If all I did was sell and grow them, though, I'd be pretty bored myself. Sometimes I'd do other things. Like haggle in the markets, you know? Or go to see that play that ran every year... Loveless? Read a book, or practice with my staff, or help my mother air out the linen... that part wasn't as fun.
I just wondered, that's all... if you ever felt restless, working all the time.
[Her end reveals shuffling over the audio, whereas Sephiroth is the opposite — quiet footsteps as he crosses over to his apartment window (where upon a stout table next to the windowsill sits a fishbowl, housing a little shiny goldfish that swims in lazy circles) but not much else.]
I think I would be restless if I wasn’t working.
[Which is how he feels now. Why he seeks out those who can spar with him, why he threw himself into the recent Moon Knight’s mission against zealous cultists even though he had criticized their desperation to her not that long ago.]
So you’re going to find my answer lacking. I didn’t make time for things like gardening, or have any inclination to see a play that’s already been drilled into my head. Sometimes I’d read, maybe, but if this boils down to asking what my hobbies are... I don’t know what to tell you.
I think I would be restless if I wasn’t working.
[Which is how he feels now. Why he seeks out those who can spar with him, why he threw himself into the recent Moon Knight’s mission against zealous cultists even though he had criticized their desperation to her not that long ago.]
So you’re going to find my answer lacking. I didn’t make time for things like gardening, or have any inclination to see a play that’s already been drilled into my head. Sometimes I’d read, maybe, but if this boils down to asking what my hobbies are... I don’t know what to tell you.
Hm.
[There's a lull on her end, wherein she tries to figure out an appropriate response that isn't too forward. Normally, she would not be so cautious, but it was Sephiroth. Some discretion was warranted.]
If you don't have an answer, that's fine. I don't mean to pry. I was only curious. There's a lot of downtime here, after all.
... You've seen Loveless before?
[There's a lull on her end, wherein she tries to figure out an appropriate response that isn't too forward. Normally, she would not be so cautious, but it was Sephiroth. Some discretion was warranted.]
If you don't have an answer, that's fine. I don't mean to pry. I was only curious. There's a lot of downtime here, after all.
... You've seen Loveless before?
[A pause, barely-there, his tone just a notch colder.]
No.
[Though it’s hardly any fault of hers that the associations run unkind.]
Another SOLDIER would always recite parts of that play by heart to me. Again and again, until I had it as memorized as him. I was more than familiar with it.
No.
[Though it’s hardly any fault of hers that the associations run unkind.]
Another SOLDIER would always recite parts of that play by heart to me. Again and again, until I had it as memorized as him. I was more than familiar with it.
[The drop in tone surprises her, makes her tense by wary instinct.]
Oh. ... An odd play to quote. It's a tragedy. Kind of overwrought, I always felt. But my mom, she loved it.
[She does not ask about the other SOLDIER. It seems wise not to press her luck.]
You know. I was wondering. Were you born in Midgar? SOLDIERs have leave too, right?
Oh. ... An odd play to quote. It's a tragedy. Kind of overwrought, I always felt. But my mom, she loved it.
[She does not ask about the other SOLDIER. It seems wise not to press her luck.]
You know. I was wondering. Were you born in Midgar? SOLDIERs have leave too, right?
[It’s best, maybe, that she not pursue it. Genesis’ name is marked in his mind by the sting of betrayal, a friendship severed in half without so much as a warning — he would answer her questions if she pressed, but the conversation would run drier, colder.
At least ushering it along seems to dispel some of that same tension.]
Yes. And SOLDIERs have leave if they choose to take it.
[The implication being that he doesn’t.]
Many take the opportunity to see friends and family, usually.
At least ushering it along seems to dispel some of that same tension.]
Yes. And SOLDIERs have leave if they choose to take it.
[The implication being that he doesn’t.]
Many take the opportunity to see friends and family, usually.
But you don't?
[Of course he wouldn't, she thinks. He thought that... thing was his mother, and that said mother was long dead. But surely someone most have raised him. The idea of a person having no home at all...]
[Of course he wouldn't, she thinks. He thought that... thing was his mother, and that said mother was long dead. But surely someone most have raised him. The idea of a person having no home at all...]
I’ve been with Shinra for as long as I can recall.
[He isn’t hesitant to answer that question, which is so obviously fishing. Upon entry to Nibelheim, he has told the others about his mother, even briefly beginning to mention what little he knew about his father. Both gone from his life, Sephiroth harboring no true memory of either.
Still, there’s no need to delve to deep into the subject at hand, else she start treading on shakier ground — easier to just reply in a generalized manner.]
My mother died shortly after I was born, and my father was never a part of my life. [Both of these are untrue, of course, but ignorance is it’s own form of bliss.]
Shinra is, as a result, a substitute for both friends and family in my case.
[He isn’t hesitant to answer that question, which is so obviously fishing. Upon entry to Nibelheim, he has told the others about his mother, even briefly beginning to mention what little he knew about his father. Both gone from his life, Sephiroth harboring no true memory of either.
Still, there’s no need to delve to deep into the subject at hand, else she start treading on shakier ground — easier to just reply in a generalized manner.]
My mother died shortly after I was born, and my father was never a part of my life. [Both of these are untrue, of course, but ignorance is it’s own form of bliss.]
Shinra is, as a result, a substitute for both friends and family in my case.
[ With most of everyone relatively unscathed after the trek beyond The Nothing, it's a comfort that Cloud takes in spending time by himself once he's caught up with the likes of Zack and Tifa. Wherever Marie and Sanson were, it was as simple as texting or calling either one of them. Or vice versa if his co-pilots needed him.
After spending so much time with his mind melded with other people, be it Weiss in the testing phases or in the thick of it all as they combated serpents and the menacing titan of before, this was one time that he was content with being alone with his thoughts. Leaning over the railing of a bridge, the blond's eyes are set upon the rest of the somewhat familiar terrain. The closest thing to Amegahara he could think of, be it this planet or his own...was Caihong, or Wutai.
Seems like everywhere he turns, there's something or someone that's reminding of what they all left behind.
At least Cloud wasn't feeling sick anymore! There's a plus. He'll stay here for a little while longer before calling it a night. Beautiful as it was here in this city, the day had been long and arduous. They were going to need to rest up before the return trip home. ...he tells himself as he shakes his head, subconsciously avoiding sleep. After the memories that he's shared with others unwillingly? He doesn't want to go back to that dark place. Not ever again.
Even if the reality was that it still hurt, try as he might to distract himself from the fact that she was gone. ]
After spending so much time with his mind melded with other people, be it Weiss in the testing phases or in the thick of it all as they combated serpents and the menacing titan of before, this was one time that he was content with being alone with his thoughts. Leaning over the railing of a bridge, the blond's eyes are set upon the rest of the somewhat familiar terrain. The closest thing to Amegahara he could think of, be it this planet or his own...was Caihong, or Wutai.
Seems like everywhere he turns, there's something or someone that's reminding of what they all left behind.
At least Cloud wasn't feeling sick anymore! There's a plus. He'll stay here for a little while longer before calling it a night. Beautiful as it was here in this city, the day had been long and arduous. They were going to need to rest up before the return trip home. ...he tells himself as he shakes his head, subconsciously avoiding sleep. After the memories that he's shared with others unwillingly? He doesn't want to go back to that dark place. Not ever again.
Even if the reality was that it still hurt, try as he might to distract himself from the fact that she was gone. ]
[The first few days will be filled with readjustment, an overarching task that would make anyone weary. Though Sephiroth is not the sort to experience it physically, the energy of an inherently anti-social mind drains swiftly, despite its military inclinations. It is simple enough to perform the tasks needed to reach Amegahara — viewing it as a mission to be seen to completion — but once arrived? The hustle and bustle of people, the strange sights, the odder experiences (why is this city obsessed with donuts?) on top of still not having adjusted completely to Lunatian life…. Well, they’re enough to even force Sephiroth to seek quiet respite.
Perhaps unsurprising to those who are close to him, privy to his personality and its reticent nature. Not that many of those exist on Gaia, much less this world.
He’s just shooed away the company of a crystal fox that kept, quite literally, dogging his every step. And now, finding a familiar figure leaning over a bridge’s railing but minutes later gives him pause — he considers, for a brief second, if he should walk in another direction to actually allow himself just a moment of solitude.
Yet Cloud has the advantage of two things: Sephiroth’s burgeoning curiosity concerning the other young man, and his propensity to share his aloof demeanor. Soon after, his distant footsteps become louder, heralding the SOLDIER’s approach.]
...You look tired. Have you been getting enough sleep?
[Sephiroth’s usual greeting, AKA the lack of any real greeting at all. It’s unneeded at this point.]
Perhaps unsurprising to those who are close to him, privy to his personality and its reticent nature. Not that many of those exist on Gaia, much less this world.
He’s just shooed away the company of a crystal fox that kept, quite literally, dogging his every step. And now, finding a familiar figure leaning over a bridge’s railing but minutes later gives him pause — he considers, for a brief second, if he should walk in another direction to actually allow himself just a moment of solitude.
Yet Cloud has the advantage of two things: Sephiroth’s burgeoning curiosity concerning the other young man, and his propensity to share his aloof demeanor. Soon after, his distant footsteps become louder, heralding the SOLDIER’s approach.]
...You look tired. Have you been getting enough sleep?
[Sephiroth’s usual greeting, AKA the lack of any real greeting at all. It’s unneeded at this point.]
Edited 2019-09-16 17:42 (UTC)
?
[ Trapped within his own mind as he was, the normally more wary blond had yet to even register the metered steps of their boots across the wooden pathway. So it's when that familiar voice disperses that fog of thoughts, Cloud turns over his shoulder with a broadened expression. Seeing the familiar face, the tension that'd usually follow his presence, for one reason or another...is dulled. Almost like it was nonexistent. Was Sephiroth's presence normal to him now?
That is a thought that inwardly disturbs him, but he does little to show it. Truth be told, even the silver-haired man who approaches with his usual militant disposition, wasn't immune from piercing Cloud's thoughts in their time spent here. What he's shared, what he's kept hidden from him, what he's lied about, the very real notion that all of it could be a farce to the man he attempted to cast this illusion over. Days and weeks passed by upon his arrival here, and he couldn't bring himself to care about the lies he's fabricated.
But the crystalline ring that accompanies the wake of Sephiroth's swings reverb through his conscience- not out of fear, but as a reminder of the night he and Tifa were held captive by the Sinless. While Cloud had no intention of letting himself get killed, his life was inconsequential compared to everyone else's. Compared to Tifa's, whose life Sephiroth saved. And seeing him here, yet again, as that very same man they all once knew, adds yet another weight to his heart.
He hates it. He hates him. And yet... ]
Not really. [ He fesses up, a hand resting on the railing as he stands upright, turning to face the man proper. ] Maybe I'm just overtired.
[ Technically? Not wrong. ]
[ Trapped within his own mind as he was, the normally more wary blond had yet to even register the metered steps of their boots across the wooden pathway. So it's when that familiar voice disperses that fog of thoughts, Cloud turns over his shoulder with a broadened expression. Seeing the familiar face, the tension that'd usually follow his presence, for one reason or another...is dulled. Almost like it was nonexistent. Was Sephiroth's presence normal to him now?
That is a thought that inwardly disturbs him, but he does little to show it. Truth be told, even the silver-haired man who approaches with his usual militant disposition, wasn't immune from piercing Cloud's thoughts in their time spent here. What he's shared, what he's kept hidden from him, what he's lied about, the very real notion that all of it could be a farce to the man he attempted to cast this illusion over. Days and weeks passed by upon his arrival here, and he couldn't bring himself to care about the lies he's fabricated.
But the crystalline ring that accompanies the wake of Sephiroth's swings reverb through his conscience- not out of fear, but as a reminder of the night he and Tifa were held captive by the Sinless. While Cloud had no intention of letting himself get killed, his life was inconsequential compared to everyone else's. Compared to Tifa's, whose life Sephiroth saved. And seeing him here, yet again, as that very same man they all once knew, adds yet another weight to his heart.
He hates it. He hates him. And yet... ]
Not really. [ He fesses up, a hand resting on the railing as he stands upright, turning to face the man proper. ] Maybe I'm just overtired.
[ Technically? Not wrong. ]
Edited 2019-09-17 03:26 (UTC)
[Sephiroth steps forward, close enough to carry on comfortable conversation. His own gloved hands place themselves on the railing, facing outwards to take in the view of the city, his demeanor stoic and his back straight. It does remind him a bit of Wutai, too — even if his own memory of that settlement is couched in the unflattering light of war. Masamune at his side, heading the front line, cleaving opposition away with so much ease it might have been a parody to an outsider’s eyes.
Even so, the reminder of home threatens to sink him into pensiveness, and he pulls these thoughts away to focus on the conversation partner that he approached, glancing at him sidelong.]
That wouldn’t surprise me. A body too exhausted, but a mind too overworked to allow for sleep. It isn’t uncommon.
[Even for military types. Maybe especially for military types, ex or otherwise.]
But it’s getting late. You would’ve retired by now if rest was something you actually cared about. Is something keeping you up?
Even so, the reminder of home threatens to sink him into pensiveness, and he pulls these thoughts away to focus on the conversation partner that he approached, glancing at him sidelong.]
That wouldn’t surprise me. A body too exhausted, but a mind too overworked to allow for sleep. It isn’t uncommon.
[Even for military types. Maybe especially for military types, ex or otherwise.]
But it’s getting late. You would’ve retired by now if rest was something you actually cared about. Is something keeping you up?
[ Instead of stepping away when the taller man closes that gap, Cloud holds his own as he watches him face the span of the city that sprawls before them. He's so used to seeing him unhinged, less stoic and more humoured by the "traitors" that were beneath him. But that stoicism brings him back, and once again, leaves him feeling that much smaller. ]
Mm. Between a bunch of Zolom-sized snakes and whatever that...thing was... [ A titan whose myth and legend evades him already. That was one hell of a showdown. ]
...
[ A cuffed breath surfaces past his lips. "Is something keeping you up?" What a loaded question; and yet Sephiroth hadn't foggiest clue, did he? The silence grows between them once more, and for a while, it seems like Cloud was content with leaving that question to die in the still of night. Or maybe he could flip it back around on the SOLDIER. If he were being honest, part of him still wants to- a biting impulse. But something's different this time...
In his eyes, no longer steeped in gold like before, conflict brews. And all he can think about are the words imparted to him by this very same man. None of them were subtle.
He realizes now the fleeting vulnerability that he's showing. All this time, Cloud has continued to shove everything down. Around Zack, around Tifa, around Weiss, even around his co-pilots whom became quite privy to some of his past sins. And just when it seems like tonight would be a repeat of their conversation over the network... ]
On our way here, when we were piloting the GIGA...my memories melded with my co-pilots. [ He meters himself, Cloud's gaze setting upon the town still. Why was he doing this? ] And I saw theirs too.
Can't say I didn't see it coming. [ They were told of the neural connection and what could happen at the start of the mission. His brow knits slightly. Cloud's scratching the tip of the iceberg, but...it's a start. ] Still...
Mm. Between a bunch of Zolom-sized snakes and whatever that...thing was... [ A titan whose myth and legend evades him already. That was one hell of a showdown. ]
...
[ A cuffed breath surfaces past his lips. "Is something keeping you up?" What a loaded question; and yet Sephiroth hadn't foggiest clue, did he? The silence grows between them once more, and for a while, it seems like Cloud was content with leaving that question to die in the still of night. Or maybe he could flip it back around on the SOLDIER. If he were being honest, part of him still wants to- a biting impulse. But something's different this time...
In his eyes, no longer steeped in gold like before, conflict brews. And all he can think about are the words imparted to him by this very same man. None of them were subtle.
He realizes now the fleeting vulnerability that he's showing. All this time, Cloud has continued to shove everything down. Around Zack, around Tifa, around Weiss, even around his co-pilots whom became quite privy to some of his past sins. And just when it seems like tonight would be a repeat of their conversation over the network... ]
On our way here, when we were piloting the GIGA...my memories melded with my co-pilots. [ He meters himself, Cloud's gaze setting upon the town still. Why was he doing this? ] And I saw theirs too.
Can't say I didn't see it coming. [ They were told of the neural connection and what could happen at the start of the mission. His brow knits slightly. Cloud's scratching the tip of the iceberg, but...it's a start. ] Still...
[Ah, yes. The neural connection and the threat of memories and thoughts melding together — shared across two likely strangers. Nothing could sound less appealing to Sephiroth, even if the extent of his experiences would reveal one glaring thing: his association with Shinra. How the megacorporation was less a headquarters than it was a home, knowing nothing else for as long as he’s lived. Tests, training, conditioning, warfare, strategy. A war hero (a weapon) to be deployed when necessary.
Nothing to be ashamed of, but still nothing he would want eking into the mind of another he didn’t know. Sephiroth keeps much to himself, and he often prefers it that way. He can empathize with the point Cloud is trying to make.]
Did you share a memory you would rather have kept to yourself? Or see something you didn’t like?
Nothing to be ashamed of, but still nothing he would want eking into the mind of another he didn’t know. Sephiroth keeps much to himself, and he often prefers it that way. He can empathize with the point Cloud is trying to make.]
Did you share a memory you would rather have kept to yourself? Or see something you didn’t like?
[ Cloud inwardly counts his blessings. However little there were, anyway. Had the two of them boarded the same mech, the fallout would have been nothing short of ludicrous. Anything that the blond could receive from the taller man was inconsequential. His memories, on the other hand... ]
Both...
[ A memory he would rather have kept to himself... He's very grateful that the images that were shared held a rippling distortion to them. Neither Marie or Sanson knew the identity of that blade. Only of what came next. His fingers curl tighter around the railing, flexing as he draws a breath. And exhales, the tension being cast from his shoulders by force. Knowing the fate of his Servant, how and who carried it out, leaves Cloud's hand itching beneath his glove where his Command Spells remain concealed. ]
Next time I'll just take the scenic route. [ And by scenic route, he means by foot. ...or via bike whenever he finally gets one. ] And what about you, Sephiroth? You're up late yourself.
Both...
[ A memory he would rather have kept to himself... He's very grateful that the images that were shared held a rippling distortion to them. Neither Marie or Sanson knew the identity of that blade. Only of what came next. His fingers curl tighter around the railing, flexing as he draws a breath. And exhales, the tension being cast from his shoulders by force. Knowing the fate of his Servant, how and who carried it out, leaves Cloud's hand itching beneath his glove where his Command Spells remain concealed. ]
Next time I'll just take the scenic route. [ And by scenic route, he means by foot. ...or via bike whenever he finally gets one. ] And what about you, Sephiroth? You're up late yourself.
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