edgeoflife | Summer Solstice

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Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice Fair

The sun is shining, the Mognet is working again, and the summer solstice fair is here! The WRO hopes to makes this an annual thing, but this is the first year they're doing it. Everything you could ever want from a fair is here and open to the public.

*Fair Rides: Ferris wheels, a mini rollercoaster, that thing that looks like an octopus and spins around--the WRO spared no expense to make sure everyone would have fun here today. There's even a gravity ride that takes you up to the top of a pole and then drops you!

*Food: So much food. So much unhealthy food. Funnel cakes, hot dogs, burgers, ice cream, you name it. And it's all fairly cheap too, since the WRO promised to pay for half of what the merchants sell!

*Carnival Games: And most of them aren't even rigged! The Gold Saucer donated games for the fair and there are so many games. There's your standard shooting games, some basketball games, a dunk tank, hoop tosses, you name it. A few are rigged, though, so buy beware! There's also a few card tables set up in a tent for those who like their games a little less wild.

*Speed Dating: ...yeah, the WRO has no idea. This came with the Gold Saucer stuff, along with a Cait Sith and Moogle mascot pair that will coax anyone they can into sitting down and participating.

*Job Fair: With the influx of new arrivals, both native and Streamers, some employers see a golden opportunity to get some jobs filled! In one corner of the fair is another, mini-fair fill with tables and presentations on various workplaces: the WRO, ShinRa Tech, the volunteer emergency services of Edge, and the Highwind Air Taxi Service, just to name a few. Anyone of working age is welcome to wander in and have a look around.

Of course, the fair is taking up the entire center of Edge, so there's lots more to see and do!

[[Feel free to make your own top levels! Welcome to Edge of Life!]]

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[Cloud really had thought he'd escaped this part of the fair after the first one, but the Cait Sith and Moogle pair were both distracting and hard to avoid. And he didn't escape the chair in time this time either, and when the second person is pushed into the chair opposite, Cloud is sunk rather low in his seat, staring at the table.

He looks up, hesitant, at the greeting, a mumbled one of his own on his tongue, and then just... stops.

Stops and stares and briefly his ears are thundering and his heart is up in his throat, adrenaline flooding - but Zack has warned him. And the clone is, obviously, far too young. Cloud slumps back in his seat, still staring.]

... hi.

I'm Cloud.

[Even if that might or might not be known already, how much has Zack said, yet? He feels like he's run a mile, now.]

[Don't worry, Cloud. He's used to this kind of treatment by now.

A quick glance at the blonde reminds Riku about how much attention he gains without much effort or desire. Shame starts to quickly replace his embarrassment as he looks away, breathing out a sigh through his nose and slumping back in his own chair. Go figure. This isn't going to end well at all and he should just leave before he ends up making things worse.

But somehow that little introduction grabs his attention, and Riku looks back up at the blonde. Cloud wasn't a name he's heard too often, but he heard it from Rufus only recently and from Zack's stories years ago.

They were stories about a great friend that died in his arms and their adventures prior to that moment.]

You're... Zack's friend?

[His voice is quiet and curious. Clearly different from the man that he resembles.]

Edited 2016-06-23 02:53 (UTC)

[Or maybe more similar to the man Sephiroth had been if, honestly, different still. But with the echo of a voice twisted into inhuman rage (and confusion, after he lifted Sephiroth up in the air), the difference is... good. Cloud focuses on that instead of the adrenaline that's washed away and the memory of pain.

The question makes him pause for a moment, though. That's absolutely what he would call Zack, and Zack has said as much as well, but hearing someone else say it too...]

... yeah. [It's not exactly a smile he gives Riku, but Cloud has relaxed a little.]

I mean, I---

[Stop. Cloud rolls his eyes and when he continues his voice is a little stronger and drier.]

I am. He'd frown at me if I said 'I guess so', even if he's not here, so I better not.

[Trust him, Cloud. He's heard you being referred to such a familiar sense that he believes it, regardless of whatever you say.

So that answer earns him a snort of a laugh, because he can see it happening. Zack would frown and pout and whine loudly if Cloud gave any other answer.]

He's not here, so don't worry about it. [A beat and he drops his gaze from Cloud to the table, still feeling fairly shy. He definitely wanted to meet people from Zack's past before, people like Cloud and Angeal, but he knows it just isn't easy.]

He just talks about you like that.

[The response is enough to make Cloud actually relax more properly in his seat and offer up a small shy smile, though he can feel his ears get warm at the words that follow, even if it is just a factual statement.

It's just... being talked about at all? Not something he's considered.]

I don't know... I'm sure he'd find out about it somehow. Even if neither of us say anything.

[Another little snort. This is weird. He's so used to not really be talking to other people about Zack, but it doesn't feel bad either. Glancing up, the flash of silver in his vision is unsettling for a moment, but that's fixed by actually looking up properly - sure, they look alike, Riku and Sephiroth, but there's differences too.

The age difference helps as well.]

... when did you--- [Cloud stops, looking away, feeling awkward and berating himself. He's pretty sure however Zack met Riku it couldn't have been good - his thoughts goes to his older self and what he said about Hojo - and while he wants to know, asking right now?]

Sorry.

[Come on, Cloud. Give yourself a little bit of credit here. You have a friend, a good one, who tried to save you and do his best for you. That counts for something.

But the laughs help, and Riku smiles slightly. Yeah, he can see it. If this were their home Planet he probably would have worked with the Turks to tail him on something like this. Here though, he wouldn't be so lucky but you never know.

Despite the apology, Riku waves it off with a hand. It might not be a good situation for most people to listen to, but he's at least somewhat open about his origins. It's not a topic that bothers him as much as it might bother others.]

When did I start hanging around him? [He guesses it's a question like that, and shrugs, leaning back in his chair and keepig his eyes on the table.] Couple of years ago I guess. Zack raided some of Hojo's other labs. Private, off-site locations for top secret projects. I was in mako stasis when he hit the location I was at and I guess... didn't think about getting rid of me.

[There are definite moments where he wonders why and what was going through the other man's mind. But most of the time, he is pretty grateful for it.]

Of course he didn't.

[Yeah, Cloud totally should give himself more credit, but here, Riku, have one where you should give both yourself and Zack more credit; Cloud's response is instant and he even rolls his eyes.]

He wouldn't. It's not... your fault. [It's probably obvious what Cloud's referring to, even if he doesn't even know everything yet.] So of course he wouldn't.

[He ducks his head then, shy again and feeling slightly awkward. The only thing he adds after a beat of silence about what Riku has said is;]

... I guess it's not surprising Hojo had more than just the Mansion and the labs in Midgar.

[Cloud isn't the only one feeling suddenly shy. The automatic answer comes with some shame and Riku almost immediately hides behind his bangs, cheeks getting a little hot. He does owe Zack more credit than that, and he's heard those lines a million times. That it's not his fault. Hell, he's told himself that numerous times.

But it's hard to accept that when he's dealt with the blame being directed at him by others, and himself. He sighs, his words weak.] ...I know.

Guy's like a roach. [There's always a part of him that wonders if he shouldn't talk so ill of his creator, but there's absolutely no love lost in his tone. Hojo created plenty of other monstrosities, including Sephiroth and himself. He got what he deserved.]

Yeah. We hit up a bunch of places, but there's probably more. Who knows if there's any other labs here too...

[Peering up at Riku through his bangs, Cloud feels like he recognises the feeling in those quiet words, but doesn't say anything, just nods. Partly because what else is he going to say? And partly because he's not Zack, so he won't - can't - underscore the confirmation with more reassurance than that.]

He is. [Cloud snorts softly, agreeing only by what he knows, but he doesn't feel bad at all about it. Hojo was... Hojo. He hasn't exactly ever been up close to the man, and he doesn't really want to. Especially not now.]

I'm sure you made him really pissed off at losing all that stuff. [It's almost funny, but then Cloud's expression darkens.] ... should've burned the Mansion down when... when Sephiroth tossed us out.

[If they had - pulling Sephiroth out before they'd done that, because before the end of that week, Sephiroth had still been... as he'd been before. He still wants to believe that, even as angry as he is at Sephiroth now - maybe then things wouldn't have happened as they had. The angry mutter ends in a softly drawn-in breath and Cloud shakes his head, swallowing against imaginary pain in his chest.]

[It isn't almost funny, Cloud. Or at least Riku finds it funny. In an attempt to not be completely rude, he tries to hide a smile behind his hand, but it is rather noticeable. Yeah, it would piss him off, and rightly so. The Planet doesn't need another man like that running around like that.

The darker expression and words snaps Riku back to reality and now it's Riku's turn to immediately respond. Cloud's definitely another one that he's hurt, in the worst way possible, and talk like that only makes him conflicted. Without Sephiroth, he wouldn't be here. But he did so much killing, tried to destroy everyone, everything on the Planet...

One of his hands is balled into a tight fist, but Riku calmly shakes his head.]

You had no idea. No one did... except maybe Hojo, about what was in there, or what would happen. I know it's not... not really all that comforting, but couldn't have known that would happen.

It's not your fault.

[He hadn't really minded the smile - it was Hojo they were talking about after all, and clearly that man deserved nothing but being taunted and killed. Maybe several times over.

Scrubbing his face, Cloud glances up at Riku from under his bangs before he drops his hands back on the table with a sigh, nodding.]

I know... It's just... if we'd made more of an effort, then maybe... Maybe he'd have been okay. Maybe all of it would've been. [Looking away to the tables around them and the people milling about further back, Cloud grimaces. Sephiroth killed his mother, the whole village... burned it down, and if he thinks too much about that, he wouldn't have minded if Sephiroth had died before he could do anything, but at the same time...

Before their trip to the reactor, before Sephiroth locked himself in the mansion... He'd asked him, quiet but apparently sincere, about what it was like to have a home town and had given him permission to go see his mom. Cloud didn't think that could've been a front.]

But we didn't. [Nothing to do about it. With a sigh and rubbing his chest, Cloud frowns and turns back to Riku.]

... Sorry for my reaction earlier.

Edited 2016-06-25 10:22 (UTC)

[As Cloud begins to look at their surroundings, Riku does likewise, glancing from the tables to the people to finally settling on his hands in front of him. Those words, the millions of "what if"s and possibilities and regrets, he understands a lot of that. Cloud must be having a rough time dealing with all those thoughts.]

There's no guarantee of what can happen. Even if you stopped him, it could have prevented a lot of suffering. It could have made things even worse too. [Not comforting whatsoever, but a part of Riku likes to be a realist, at least when it comes to other people. It's not always easy to do when you're a copy of a mass killer and psychopath, but he tries.

Riku lifts his head and as much as he doesn't want to, he ends up staring at Cloud's chest a little too long. There must be a wound under there, from Sephiroth no less.

And here he is just sitting down chit-chatting with him while he probably sent the poor kid into a panic. Riku just shakes his head slowly, looking Cloud in the eye and sounding very firm.]

You have nothing to apologize for. It's... normal anyways. I'm a bad memory and you have every right to react that way.

[Yeah. There really was no guarantee it could've changed anything, but he's not sure how stopping Sephiroth from staying locked in the basement might have made things worse. Still, having someone else, more than just Zack, say this felt... well, it didn't make anything better, didn't change anything, but was one more voice, at least.

Cloud pretends not to notice the stare, hesitating between keeping his hand there or dropping it, because to be honest, having someone that looks so much like Sephiroth staring at that spot is a bit... unsettling. Finally, he lets his hand drop, following the edge of the table instead. At least until Riku catches his gaze.]

... you didn't do anything, though. [Cloud shakes his head, fingertips gripping it hard enough to hurt for a moment.] Just because you look a lot like him doesn't mean you are him.

But it's... when I woke up here, it'd literally just... happened. [Cloud takes a slightly uneven breath, staring at the table for a long moment before he looks up again and shrugs a little.]

I mean, I guess I got him back, too.

[Cloud's smile is pretty pale, but there's an... attempt.]

[It could have changed Cloud's fate, but Riku's rather aware that the one on this world survived, so that's not entirely a bad thing. He's just still trying to figure out how to console with people. Socializing with strangers is hard, okay.

Not to dismiss his words, but Riku just lets out a hollow snort. He knows it, and he believes it, but sometimes it's just easier to take blame when you're scientifically close to a person.] It's not just looks. And for some people, that's just enough, so if it helps them...

[He'll be the scapegoat for other people's grief and anger.

He tries to return Cloud's smile, but his is just as weak and even more pathetic. Not comforting at all and he knows it.] From what I hear, you did. Maybe in some other world you finished him off then and there.

[Riku drops his gaze, but for a moment, his eyes stay on Cloud's chest.] ...M'sorry it happened.

[Socialising is hard. Unless you happen to be socialising with Zack Fair. Then it seems to solve itself pretty well...

Frowning, Cloud doesn't know what to say, mostly because he doesn't see it himself; it'd be like blaming Zack for Nibelheim because he was SOLDIER, because he was there. In the end he just wordlessly frowns, then drops his own gaze to his chest as well.]

... you don't really have anything to apologise for either. [He takes a slow breath and shrugs. The only one who could was dead and Cloud wasn't sure he'd even want an apology.]

Apologies won't... bring my mom or Nibelheim back, anyway. [He'd add Tifa to that as well, but she'd survived, here and on their Planet, and that's something; the only thing he has, at the moment.

Then the way Riku phrased that brings Cloud up short, and he looks up not even sure what he's feeling aside from a slow, unsettled turn in his stomach. He hasn't asked or gone looking what had happened yet, but something clearly had, since Midgar was in ruins - apparently in both places, since Zack had mentioned Edge as well.]

... he survived?

[He's startled to hear his own voice, mostly because there's nothing but quiet, flat determination that's not quiet anger in it.]

[Zack is the key to half-decent social life apparently considering that he keeps making friends with these shy, awkward kids.]

I... I know. [He looks down at the table. Loss like that is something he hasn't experienced. He's lost a friend before, someone that was close and almost a parental figure. But a whole town, people that Cloud knew and grew up with. That's even worse, and Riku's not sure he could ever properly understand or experience it.

Maybe Riku's used to hearing tones like that, but he responds with a wide-eyed stare. To get news like that, from someon-- something like Riku...

He can't look at Cloud anymore, instead focusing on his balled up fists on the table.]

I thought... Zack would have told you.

[Upset or not, now he feels kind of... bad, especially as he now remembers the quick comments Zack had made that first day. Rubbing his face, Cloud shakes his head.]

He... Kind of. Not in detail yet, I... forgot. [The expression is more of a grimace than the tentative smile he'd tried for and he just stares at the table for a bit, hands dropping to his lap and digging his nails into the palms of his hand.]

He mentioned it the first day but... [There'd been a lot that day, and not just Zack... But most particularly Zack.] I haven't really made an effort to ask yet.

[Which he probably should, because if he had done it earlier then this could've been avoided. Glancing up, Cloud winces at what he can see from Riku's expression, but trying to come up with something to say his brain is completely empty for several long, awful moments.]

Um... does Zack still use just the blunt end of the Buster sword..?

[Cloud winces again at the rushed, awkward tone, but that's better than nothing, right?]

[The grimace-like smile is met with a similar one of Riku's. He's trying, and his intentions were originally good, but it's obvious that this isn't the place or the time. And that Riku isn't the right person to tell that story either.]

I'm sure if you ask, he wouldn't mind telling you. [Zack has a way of explaining things the right way to people, and in a case like this, he's lived through it all. Coming from Riku, it would just be hearsay.] When you want to...

[If Cloud wants to at all.

The rushed tone doesn't quite register with Riku. Either that or he chooses to ignore it. The question itself makes him glance off to the side, not entirely out of nervousness, but the answer isn't going to line up with what Cloud knows.

...But the blonde's going to find out anyways, so he might as well dive in. With a deep breath, he looks back over at his companion.]

He used to. I've... seen him use it, but he hasn't used the Buster for a couple of years now. He picked up the weapon of someone we knew and has been using it ever since.

[Letting out a soft breath, he nods. He really does need to ask, if nothing else so he'll know better what to avoid or hopefully minimise stumbling into. He's just avoided thinking about the difference in years between what he knows and what both Zack and Riku knows and where this Planet is.

It's just a bit unsettling.]

... oh. [Cloud cocks his head, mostly curious and a little confused. The way Zack had talked about it in Nibelheim... He opens his mouth and almost asks 'why', but he changes his mind at the last moment. That's probably tied in to the question he needs to ask about what he's missed, and... and he's not dumb; he knows when Zack got the Buster Sword, and who had it before him, and 'picked up the weapon of someone we knew' was pretty telling.]

He put it away, then..?

Uh... no. Not exactly. [His lips quirk a little, and Riku rubs the back of his head awkwardly. Back on their version of the Planet, he might not be so shy about admitting his inheritance from Zack. But this Planet is so very different and certain people from it might be offended if they knew.

But then again, this Cloud wasn't from this world. Maybe he'd be okay with it? Riku fidgets a bit, suddenly shy.]

He... gave it to me to use. Just before we fought Sephiroth.

[Had he expected an answer like that? Maybe, somewhere, he had. Because while he's surprised, it's not by that much. Cloud stares for a few moments, silent and unsure what to say - what he thinks of it.

Then a thought occurs to him and he smiles, just a little.]

You know... that sounds pretty fitting.

[Not just the Buster Sword being used against Sephiroth, again, but Riku being the one to use it, considering what he was.]

[Riku just blinks at first at the comment. Fitting. Maybe he's right. Riku's never really thought too deeply into the meaning of it all (a monster like Sephiroth being destroyed by his own clone), but he's been told similar things before. At that point in time, Sephiroth wasn't just Riku's originator.

He was someone that just had to be stopped.

Riku ducks his head a little, but the relaxed and awfully sincere smile on his face is noticeable. When he received the Buster Sword, it wasn't a very high time in his life, but he was proud to carry it. Proud to have such a symbol be passed down to him.]

...He pushed it on me, actually. I didn't really want to take it, but he insisted.

[A mutter;] Stubborn old man...

[Cloud tries not to fidget, but when the smile appears, he relaxes, feeling relieved it'd been taken well. This will take a little bit to get used to, but... Riku's okay.]

He doesn't really take 'no' for an answer, no... [Cloud agrees softly, shaking his head and not noticing the small smile on his face.]

[The same sentiments can be said for Cloud. That and its nice to feel a little more relaxed. This place is virtually a planet full of eggshells and to feel at ease around someone he doesn't really know, it feels nice.

Especially for a topic like this. He only received it after he defected both Zack and Sephiroth, and Aerith was murdered. After he made all of his mistakes. It wasn't his finest hour.

He chuckles lightly.] What, has he conned you into stuff too?

Edited (...i suck at rping...) 2016-07-29 23:12 (UTC)

Nothing as big as taking the Buster sword. [He shakes his head, pulling at the scarf around his neck - it's getting hot, so he should probably just put it away soon for now... since he actually can do that. It's not a uniform scarf, after all.]

Though... I guess becoming friends count. [It's said quietly, Cloud not really looking at anything at all, eyes soft. It's not as if he really expected anything beyond that initial mission, no matter how well they seemingly hit it off. Or at least he'd thought so, he doesn't have much experience, after all.]

... he sort of got conned into paying for lunch for another couple infantry once, though. They invited themselves along. [He snorts, amused again at the thought, but definitely won't mention that Zack then turned that around to try and make friends for him.]

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Summer Solstice

unsupervised introductions, or speed dating

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