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

"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.

"It only hurts my pride, to be honest." He crouches down carefully, undoing the laces of his shoes. Luckily they weren't entirely covered. Getting the shoes off were still a bit of a struggle but soon he's free, sitting heavily on the ground.

He turns to look at the bracer on his arm then gives Cloud a thumbs up.

"This thing is awesome! And that ice is cold, this is going to work great!" He gets himself to his feet, shaking his arm again.

"Alright! Let me try this again, I think I got it now."

Laguna closes his eyes for a moment,expression turning more serious before he extends his hand towards the wall. A far better blast crashes against the wall, ice spreading rapidly over it. But lord, that did take the breath from you.

"Your turn I think."

"... if you're sure." Cloud hopes so, but maybe Laguna's inexperience with handling materia really did help in this situation and ensure that the Blizzard hitting at his feet didn't do any damage. But, even so, judging by how his shoes are frozen to the ground, he's going to have to stay until they've melted out...

He snorts, reluctantly amused, at the enthusiasm Laguna shows after freeing himself and nods. It might work... Will probably definitely work, Cloud thinks, watching the second Blizzard slam into the wall.

"You got it quick," he says softly, taking his bracer back and snapping it on his wrist again, shifting on his feet and judging how he feels. Yeah, he should be able to cast another one without much issue - and it'll be good practice, too.

"Okay..." Nodding, he straightens up and stares, slightly off to the patch Laguna made, and focuses. The Blizzard crunches into the wall with a blast of cold air, and Cloud slumps a little, then stares at the actually pretty large spot they've now covered in ice, and that was definitely better than his first try.

Walking over, Cloud unceremoniously plops himself down onto the floor by the wall, closing his eyes as the cold radiates out from the frozen patch of wall.

"Must be talent."

Laguna was laughing though, not serious. It was difficult to focus, he wondered how efficient it was in battle? What other uses could the Materia have in a daily life? Why was it as uncommon as it was? Things he was going to look up.

As he moves to sit next to Cloud, letting his legs lay out straight. He taps at his phone, moving through the extranet.

"So this worked out pretty well. You going to invite anyone around to enjoy it or is this going to be your private spo--Hey! The bathroom!"

He nudges Cloud with his shoulder. "We could have done it in a bathroom, like in a bathtub! Lay out a towel over it and just lay all in it like... like a reverse hot spring."

Snorting softly at the laughter, Cloud shakes his head. This was a good idea, but it's not going to be very fun to move from this cool spot after it's all melted away...

Startled at the nudge, Cloud blinks his eyes open and peers up at Laguna, a soft noise of consideration slipping out.

"... bathroom with a tub would've been much easier," he agreed, smiling at the idea of a 'reverse hot spring'. That was a funny way to phrase it. "And I'm sure we're not the only ones who thought of something like this."

Couldn't be, Cloud was sure, but he'd certainly bring it up to a few people and help if they were interested. Either by just giving them the materia or after he'd rested.

Why did Laguna have to think of the best ideas after they already used the worst idea first? Oh well, at least Cloud would have something to keep in mind next time he wanted to do this to keep cool. Which, considering the heat, would most likely be relatively soon.

"Maybe, but they probably thought of the bathroom idea before I did." He sighs, leaning his head back against the ice. His eyes were closed, hands resting in his lap as he soaks in the cool against his tanned skin.

He was going to have to wait for his shoes to defrost. So he could sit here with Cloud for awhile.

"...Are you here by yourself? In this world I mean."

"You weren't with these hypothetical people anyway," Cloud points out, but doesn't look back to Laguna until the question. There's a small smile on his face now, one which he's not even aware of, even if he looks a little worn down too as he shakes his head.

"No... I thought I was, but I'm not. But..." he scrunches his nose, a frown replacing the small smile, "Zack's from several years into the future compared to me. Or... the present? I think it's the same date here as where we're from."

And he'd never catch up to that because he was - had been, whatever - dead. Cloud closes his eyes again and swallows down a lump in his throat, then shakes it away, determined.

"It's good you have people. Even if they're off set in time from you."

Laguna noticed the little frown, the internal struggle the boy seemed to have. It had to be hard, to be lifted out of the stream and see a different world and the same faces but far ahead.

He weighed a moment before bumping Cloud's shoulder.

"It's hard. I know. My... my son was just born. His mother passed away and he's waiting for me with his sister."

He's staring at his hands, touching where his wedding ring had been before the Lifestream robbed him of that too.

"We're both losing time with our loved ones. Or..lost time. But there's still plenty left right?"

His somber expression shifts into a grin again and he ruffles Cloud's hair.

Cloud has been silently listening, frown twitching deeper when Laguna mentions he has a child, and he would have said something if there suddenly wasn't a hand in his hair.

"Hey--!" Ducking away with a huff, Cloud shifts away a little before he settles back again, running a hand through his hair. Not that it necessarily does anything but get the spikes back into their former (dis)order.

"... maybe... they'll figure it out soon, and you'll be able to go back to them," he says quietly after a few moments, hoping, like for Terra, that whatever the situation with the Lifestream is, that it'll get solved and people could maybe... at least choose to go home or not.

He only technically has any time at all as long as he stays here, Cloud's sure. If he goes back, he'll doubtlessly not get out on the other end alive.

"Maybe! One can only hope."

He keeps his voice bright and hopeful. He sounded happier than he was. He wasn't depressed or anything but like many from the Lifestream he had been yanked from his life.

"In the mean time we should focus on the here and now. Try to enjoy what we have."

To distract from the reality of the situation because Laguna was good at avoiding things.

"I guess," Cloud frowns, but nods as well. Unfortunately, while he certainly is happy to be able to spend more time with Zack, he can't help but be very aware that Zack and Riku would, of course, rather be home, where they should be. And he...

He shrugs, turning the bracer with its slotted materia around in his hands. Probably shouldn't feel guilty about getting this much, at least, but he does.

"It's not so bad... But this is happening because something's wrong with the Lifestream, and that's... not good." None of them wanted to be here (Cloud was uncertain if he wanted to or not, unless he somehow could go back alive), but this Planet was suffering as well, even if the only symptom so far was people from other words and those who should be dead appearing.

Laguna looks thoughtful, wondering if he could find some bright spot in that. He hums, looking up at the ceiling then holds up a finger.

"Its full. That's all. Something terrible happened here, with the whole Meteor right? Maybe so many people like.. died and now the Lifestream is trying to spit the extras out. Right?"

He squints a little, trying to find a reason for the different worlds...

"....So... the other worlds is.. ... is the Lifestream ran out of options and is like, Oh no, Just grab whoever at this point. Giving this world like a ton of people."

Then a huge grin crosses his face as he leans his head back.

"So it chose the best of the best to come help bring this world to a new prosperous age!"

Hot damn! | OTA at your own peril.

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Cloud has a crush~

He admits to nothing!!

ACCEPT YOUR NEW FATHER FIGURE

... WELL OKAY what's one more

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