edgeoflife | Hot damn! | OTA at your own peril.

Cloud hadn't forgotten what summers in Midgar (and now Edge) was like, after learning it that first summer. He had, on the other hand, never had to do without AC. That wasn't, of course, something which had existed out in Nibelheim, but Nibelheim's summers were different than Midgar's and this was utterly, awfully miserable.

It also wasn't until all that power went that Cloud remembered something important; suntan lotion. By that point he'd already started to turn pink.

That was part of the reason why he was sitting on the steps to a building, partly in the meager shadow thrown from the doorway. He'd gone out to get that suntan lotion but... he was also sitting there glowering at a shimmering green materia in his hands.

Why in Shiva's name had he wasted gil that he still didn't have lot on on a Blizzard material? It wasn't as if you could effectively cool off with it, but passing the little shop it'd seemed like a very good idea at the time...

Looking up, Cloud frowned at the man who was walking down the street towards him. He looked unfairly at ease in the heat, while Cloud felt like he was about to melt in a tanktop and shorts. Glowering, Cloud caught himself and blushed, ducking his head.

That was just petty; it was good if other people weren't suffering like he was, after all. Hopefully he hadn't noticed anything...

Oh. Laguna noticed. He actually found it incredibly funny that he was getting the stink eye for being comfortable in the hot weather. He grins easily, strolling towards the step and he leans against the railing--

"Ow, shit!" He pulls his arm back from the metal quickly, rubbing his arm. "That was stupid of me, wasn't it?"

He plunks himself down on a lower step, adjusting his pony tail.

"You seem to be suffering pretty terribly. I take it the power isn't back on--Hey there, what is that..?" He motions to the materia.

Oh.

Of course he had noticed. Cloud ducks his head but can't help but roll his eyes, because that was the weakest attempt at starting a conversation he's ever been exposed to. Of course, he could see Zack doing something similar as well, at least before... all this, here.

"... a little," Cloud says after a moment, peering at the man out of the corner of his eye, a little wary, before he grimaces at the comment. Yeah, he's definitely suffering, even with his best attempts at handling this and it not being too long since he's had to suffer through summer nights in stuffy barracks.

"It's not." A slow shake of his head as he turns the materia over, scowling at it.

"... a dumb idea, is what it is," Cloud mumbles, then holds it up a bit, more easily seen, "blizzard materia."

Then he pauses and glances to the man, looking for potential confusion, because if he's one of the Streamers who came from elsewhere, he might not yet know what 'materia' even is...

Laguna felt badly for those who boiling today. The boy looked absolutely miserable, with sweat sticking all over. To be fair, Laguna was boiling too, he was just enjoying it more. Being in the military meant he went to many hot places to sweat, so he was still used to it to some degree.

"Oh, so its like the one I have."

He pulls his phone out to show his phone charm. He sort of understood the concept. He was working out what uses it could have.

"You know, if its Blizzard, you could probably find a shed or a room or something. Just blast the walls with the snow and then relax, because ice puts off natural cold..."

The only thing that didn't seem affected by the heat when it came to Cloud was his hair, stubbornly sticking up like usual, though some of the bangs were stuck to his forehead or cheeks.

Exhaling, Cloud looks down and nods. Well, that's an... interesting place to put materia, at any rate. And seems potentially dangerous, to his PHS at least. The suggestion, though, brings Cloud up short and he blinks.

"... yeah. Not sure where I could do that but..." But something like that is probably why he'd gotten the dumb idea to waste gil now. "Thanks."

Nodding slowly, Cloud gestures to the phone, an eyebrow arched.

"You should probably not keep the materia so close to your PHS though... If you trigger it that close it might mess with it." Sure, Blizzard wasn't Thunder, but still.

Laguna's unfortunately was not Blizzard. It was, in fact, thunder. Laguna felt like he could find more practical uses for Thunder than for the other types. He didn't even need a strong one which is why it was as small as it was.

"Hmm? Oh, its alright. I know how it works. And these little wires here, they're conductive..." He hoped, he was pretty sure they might be the wrong color. They were silver... That was the right metal right?

"Anyway, we should go find somewhere to use that Blizzard!" Which is what he was doing on his phone at the moment. "There's empty apartments in the Streamer building still, we could set up a whole ice palace in there."

"... You should probably find a bracer with a slot or something, still," CLoud said, eyeing the little materia and then the man a bit warily. Sure he might not injure himself, but he might need to get a new PHS.

It was like listening to Zack talk, a little, and Cloud blinked, then frowned, turning the Blizzard over in his hands.

"But there's... furniture, in there. And even when the ice melts it'd leave damage or at least need to be mopped up." Was the man listening to what he was suggesting they do? "Shouldn't... outside somewhere be better? Or... an empty warehouse."

Aw, Cloud was concerned about him. It was nice, he was amused. Laguna was a soldier, he could figure it out though. He would be careful and really these phones could be fixed well enough, or he could get a new one. He wondered how much they cost?

But there was the problem of the Blizzard. He rubs his chin thoughtfully then he snaps his fingers, standing.

"I know exactly where. There's this abandoned building, they were going to renovate it but its not started yet. Come on." He motions quickly, starting a short hop skip up the sidewalk since he was half turned towards Cloud.

Of course he's concerned, that materia is technically a weapon!

"... um." Cloud didn't move at first, just staring quietly for a moment or two before he slowly stood up and fished out his own PHS and flipping it open to bring up the map, "where is it?"

He wasn't quite ready to go follow the stranger, even if it really was hot and the idea to just sit near a wall that had a Blizzard blasted at it sounded like a very good one.

Well, that's good you don't want to follow a 29 year old strange man who came out of no where to harass you for giving him the stink eye for enjoying the heat! Very responsible!

Laguna strolls back, one eye closed as he tips his head back. He needed to remember the street name..

"Aaah... ahm ahm... Next tooo theeee.... food shop!" He snaps his fingers a few times. "On.. on.. 6th! Yeah, put that in your ..." He waves his hand at it. "Yes, that."

Sorry Laguna you are pretty strange but Cloud can take responsibility for giving you the stink-eye. That was just plain rude!

Smiling a little now at the vague way he talks about the PHS, Cloud nods and even if that's a little vague of a description, there does seem to be a building right there according to the map, and at least not used for anything obvious at the moment.

"A PHS," Cloud says softly, that little smile still on his face even if he has to resist the urge to fan himself, for all the good that will do, "or just 'phone'. You know how to use it?"

Cloud wasn't sure he'd be the best teacher, but he'd do his best if it was needed.

"Sure I do, I just try to remember where things are without it. That way I don't get reliant or whatever." He grins, rocking back on his heels before tipping back forward. "So? You want to go? You're the one with the Blizzard rock."

He motions, starting off again though at a slower pace. The stroll would be nice and he could talk to this kid a little more extensively.

"So you're from this world? You seem to know quite a bit about it, but those were Streamer apartments you were around.. Just checking us weirdos out?"

Shifting on his feet, Cloud frowns... and, after a little bit, shakes and head and starts to follow. Should be okay, right? And he's hardly completely helpless ~~and yet pretty short and scrawny, if fit~~.

"No," Cloud says, scrunching his nose, "it's... complicated." Tucking the Blizzard materia away for now, Cloud turns the PHS over in his hands and frowns. Even if he was from this literal Planet he wouldn't have done like the crowds on that first day, hanging around and gawking.

"I'm... from the Planet. A Planet," he says after few moments, unthinkingly bringing up Zack's number and just staring at it and shrugs, "things happened... differently on mine. Otherwise it's the same."

"Oh so, parallel universe?" That wasn't too complicated if you didn't get into the metaphysics or whatever magical crap that was involved. At least Cloud had a leg up on everything here.

"Its relatively familiar then. That's good. You can show me some of the ropes, or at least give me travel tips."

His laughter was light. He was taller than Cloud, heavier set because it hadn't been that long ago he'd been a soldier. Maybe he'd have lapsed at some point, since he was against violence as a whole and the overall violence had ended.

"... I guess." Well, that did make things sound very simple, but he wouldn't have thought to use those words himself, at all. Nodding, Cloud turned his head, almost unerringly finding the silhouette of ruins in the distance, frowning at them before he turned back.

"Really familiar. Everything is the same until... seven or eight years ago..." Eight, or even seven years weren't even that much, on its own, but it was basically half his life so far. And some, or most, of the things that had happened in both places after that would've been familiar to him if he hadn't died.

But that was the thing, wasn't it. If he hadn't died, then...

"... there's monsters around, so if do you travel alone you should be careful," Cloud said, glancing up at Laguna. He reminded Cloud somewhat of someone who did have military experience - something in the way he moved, just a little - but unless he was familiar with the Planet's creatures, a warning wouldn't hurt.

Cloud didn't need to elaborate too much further than that. Laguna didn't force details. If the boy wanted to tell him more then he eventually would, though if he didn't.. Laguna wouldn't fault him for it. He wouldn't pry. Everyone was sensitive about this situation going on.

"I've heard about the monsters! I probably should pick up a weapon. I prefer long range, are rifles or pistols a thing here?" Not that he couldn't get physical, it was just a preference.

Laguna points a head at the building in question. "There it is! The fence is never locked, so no worries there."

He jogs ahead to make sure and gives a thumbs up to the teen.

"We're good! Lets find a good space."

He rolls his eyes a little at the cheery disregard, half expecting him to have climbed over the fence if it had been locked.

Rubbing sweat out of his eyes, Cloud grimaces at the feel and this idea is starting to sound better and better. It's not that he can't endure the heat - he's patrolled Midgar during the summer, for hours, in uniform after all.

But if he doesn't have to...

"... how do you even know the fence isn't locked?" he asks as he walks up, eyeing the fence and the street passing by, reassured by a small amount of people wandering down it and going into the store next door, all looking displeased and sweaty.

"And rifles and handguns exist. You'll probably get a better quality of that more cheaply than if you wanted a sword, really..."

Something which Cloud still wants, and absolutely intends to get, but a rifle might be a good stopgap measure for now.

"Good, I'm better with them. Was always terrible with hand weapons." Laguna reaches the fence first, turning back with a grin.

"And I know the fence is unlocked because I snuck in before."

He turns back, giving a little tug on the fence and yep. It opens easily. Laguna headed in first, just to make sure they weren't going to get mobbed by guards.

"You can work that thing pretty good, right?" Obviously, the kid was a soldier, he could probably use most things with some level of skill.

The front door to the complex was opened next and he presents the battered lobby to Cloud.

"Think it'll work?"

But why would he need to sneak in into an abandoned building? Cloud frowns, lips thinning for a moment, but the question of whether he knows how to use it makes him flush.

"Not... really," he mumbles, pulling the Blizzard materia out of the pocket he'd stuck it in for the walk, turning it over in his hands again. It was the other reason why he couldn't believe he'd wasted the gil to buy it.

"... I know the theory, but they didn't give regular Army materia... You only got the practice as SOLDIER." Hunching up a little as he speaks, Cloud's hand tightens around the green bauble at the mention of SOLDIER - the capitals in that can probably be heard loud and clear.

Still, he has a cheap, one-slot bracer to go with the materia and attaches it, taking a breath and raising a hand.

"I've seen them used, too." The only thing he doesn't know first-hand is how tired he might get from casting even once, and well... he probably shouldn't do that with only a stranger right beside him, but now he wants to try just to prove he can.

That said... a tiny block of ice does materialise and shatters against the wall, frost and a cloud of frozen air billowing out around the impact, and for what it's worth Cloud realises that at least just that once didn't make him feel any less tired.

Still, he stares - it wasn't very impressive, but it'd worked on first try.

Laguna wasn't surprised. It was pretty similar to Garden. They utilized GFs, at least Balamb did, but it had some bad side effects. Laguna had the opportunity to try it once when he visited Balamb but.. not an enjoyable experience, in his point of view.

To Laguna, knowing that Cloud had never done it before, it was impressive. He heads over to check it, hovering his hand over the icy spot on the wall. It put off a little bit of cold. They could really turn this into a fridge...

"Alright! We can work together if you want. I don't know how Materia works here but the GFs could be kind of bad for you. ... Well, very bad for you so let me know if you wanna switch out."

He moves to clean up some of the floor, being better with the heat than Cloud so he didn't mind sweating some.

"Using materia isn't bad for you, but it's mentally taxing, so unless you have ethers or rest between, you can't cast a lot..." pausing, Cloud reluctantly looks away from the spot of cold he'd created on the wall (still feeling so very pleased about it) and frowns up at Laguna.

"What's a... um, GF? And how are they bad for you?"

Mentally exhausting yourself if you didn't have access to ethers is, of course, not good, but all you need to fix that is rest or use the boost an ether gives, so Cloud wondered if these GFs were much worse than just casting magic with materia.

Cloud's also catching on to what Laguna's doing and just standing still doing nothing while the other works doesn't feel right, so he quickly starts to help as well.

Luckily there's not a lot to clear off, but Cloud can't resist walking over to the cold spot of melting ice on the wall and lean close.

"Well, GF is short for 'Guardian Force'. Its this.. essence of ancient creatures, really powerful and help you use magic and you can summon them as well though.. Well.."

Laguna stands up straight, wiping sweat from his brow. GFs seemed similar to the materia, besides it being junctioned directly to a person and not to an item of armor.. .

"It pulls its power from the memory section of your mind, so.. extended research as shown it causes issues with memory." He tosses a hunk of wood out the front door into the little pile he'd made. "So, that's why SeeD are the only ones allowed to actually use it. I think that's clean enough."

He turns and pats the wall. "Alright, lets ice this up."

"It does... what?" Cloud stares, pulling away from the quickly-melting ice patch on the wall that doesn't give off much cold anymore, quietly horrified.

Memories? They take memories? Sure, there's things he might want to forget - his home burning and everything that happened around that is a bright example - but.. no.

"We've got... we call them Summons. But they're called from materia like the spells and such and they don't do... that," Cloud says, voice low, still incredulous.

Taking a breath, Cloud considers what he's about to do for a moment, then slips off the bracer and offers it.

"Do you... want to try? You sort of focus on the materia and just... will it to work." That's a bare-bones explanation that's not very good, honestly, but maybe it's better he try with a properly slotted materia instead of starting out using the one he has attached to his PHS.

Like a phone charm. Cloud can't quite believe it, still.

Obviously the materia here didn't work in the same way since Cloud was so surprised. Laguna felt it was a good thing. The practice of using GFs was falling thankfully out of style for those exact reasons.

Laguna accepts the bracers, giving Cloud a little smile.

"So just.. focus and it'll work, right..?" That seemed easy enough but just in case he takes his phone from his poctet and sets that one aside.

Didn't want to risk it going off in his pocket and hurting hI'm.

He turns and focuses on a wall as he fits the Bracer onto his arm. "Okay so focus and.. "

He extends his hand n, focusing as he was told and.. ploff!

Snow puffed into the air like a sad wheeze from the materia. Laguna blinks the shakes his arm out.. except that just cast blizzard straight down and it spread around him.

"HA! Look at-- and I'm frozen to the floor. "

Nodding, Cloud steps back, hoping he hasn't made a mistake because if the guy hurts himself it's going to be his fault.

The little burst of snow is even less than what he managed, but maybe that's for--- Looking down at Laguna's comment, Cloud's eyes widens and he winces.

"Oh--- Sorry... Does that hurt?" Guiltily, he glances up as he approaches, kneeling down, shoulders a little hunched. Tapping the spread of ice around and over Laguna's feet, it's not very thick. But it's certainly thick enough and it's going to be awkward if they'll have to find a hospital because Laguna got frostbite in the middle of summer or something.

Sure, it could be worse (dropping a block of ice on top of your head isn't good at all), but that doesn't really mean much at the moment.

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