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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Lea blinks. "And you got roped into speed dating against a teenager. Wow. That sucks."

She didn't point out that when Cloud and Marlene were left alone together it was really a question of who was babysitting who but it was only because it was obvious that Vincent just wanted her to come up with a reason for Cloud to avoid Mideel. Which she still didn't understand because Mideel didn't sound any more dangerous at the moment than Edge.

Unless he was missing something.

And she could only think of one thing she might be missing.

Vincent's turn surprised her but more for its suddenness than because she wasn't used to his abrupt departures. She did have one question before he went and she didn't try to catch him or catch up to him. Instead she simply asked:

"Do you think Sephiroth is coming back?"

She looked at the stuffed dog and nodded.

"I think yours looks cuter. Lea's very talented. That ring toss was harder than I'd expected. Do you two have anything planned for the rest of the day?"

Tifa hadn't thought of the world's tones here as dark but she supposed someone with hair that color - and people of all colors - would consider Edge a bit drab. She smiled.

"If you get the chance, you should visit Wutai. It's much more colorful there. You like working with machines?"

[Somehow she isn't surprised in the least that Rude would ask for a ying yang mix of flavors and she starts packing an ice cone as she listens to the rest.

His succinct answer makes her smile again. You don't have to be verbose to get things across and Rude's a scientist at brevity. Ying yang in his partnership with Reno that was sure.

Turk business and all. She doesn't ask for elaboration.]

Doing well. Just hired a few helpers for Seventh. Kids are doing great. [Something she holds him partially responsible for after last year's conflict with the clones. She hasn't forgotten that. She won't. Past differences aside, he'd helped save her children.] Cloud too. And so far the only streamers I've run into seem safe.

[Her head lifted as she swirled the two flavors into the ice. Met his eyes as much as anyone could through his sunglasses.] If they're not, let's not take so long doing things separately again this time, okay?

She watched him mull it over as they walked and maybe she took a bit of a longer way around to her bar's stand just to give him time for that. There was no rush and besides - he had a lot to work through. More than just the average streamers who were at least coming into brand new lives. Cloud was coming into one that had already been lived in a way and she imagined that only added another level to the difficulty.

She thought he was up to it though. It wasn't his life after all. Not anymore at least. His life was unwritten for him now and he could make it anything he wanted, now that there was no mad scientist to interfere, no insane general to jerk him like a puppet, no world ending around him and a fractured mind and memories. Cloud, she very firmly believed, could take on anything, do anything he set his mind to even if it took some trial and error and side trips. She didn't know what this one would do - but she thought it would be something to be proud of.

She hoped she could help, even just a little.

His smile, and his little summary, brought her own smile washing back over her face and some of the tension she hadn't realized had snuck into her shoulders at old memories slipped loose and relaxed again.

"Well, maybe we'll stick to fresh air and control for that one," she gave him a teasing answer, happy, and then stopped walking to hand him the giant stuffed chocobo. They were at the stand.

"Hold this, please? I'll get you something to cool down. You want a drink or flavored ice or both?"

It was a bit drab, true, but Sunset was also looking forward to finding color elsewhere.

"Wutai, got it. And yes, I do. I've built several machines to analyze the effects of Equestrian Magic a while ago, and I made my motorcycle from spare parts I restored from the junkyard."

That - was pretty impressive. Tifa made a soft noise to show she thought so. Then she asked:

"Have you got a job yet?"

"Not yet," said Sunset, shaking her head. "I wanted to get some place in a mechanic shop or whatever, but I haven't figured out what I wanted to do yet other than a mechanics or magic research job."

Tifa hummed to show she was listening and then gave a short nod.

"You could try Highwind. It's an airship service but I'm sure they're always working on new things as well. The owner is a little - rough around the edges but Shera is the most put together, no-nosense woman you'll ever met. WRO might have something as well. I know they're always looking to develop new technology. Reeve - well, you have to meet Cait Sith one of these days." She gave a smile so it was obvious she wasn't talking about right at that minute and they were suggestions only. "I'm sure wherever you end up, it'll be good. And no matter what, I hope you stop by my bar anytime you like." Sunset had paid for her drink and ice cream today and Tifa knew that WRO gave the streamers an allowance but still - "First meal is on the house."

"I see. There's a lot of options then, not just working at some random shop too," said Sunset, relieved that Tifa knew of a few people that could potentially help out after all.

She made a mental note of the three places, WRO, Reeve and Highwind and committed it to memory before adding, "Really? That's very nice, thank you. I'll promise I'll swing by every chance I get."

The whole thing really was weird, and felt both like a reassurance and that somewhere he'd failed to be quite strong enough to hold out. Cloud tried to not think about the implications so much, but he was Cloud Strife so of course he did.

Right now, though, he was mostly thinking about the possibility that he might actually be able to ride something and not get motion sick. Or at least have it mitigated...

And then Cloud was staring into that huge and very ugly plush chocobo as it was pushed at him and he grabbed it reflexively, giving it a small frown. It was so ugly... Well, at least he wasn't the one who'd get stuck with it.

"Yeah," he said softly, drawn back into an anticipatory little smile, "he... um, your Cloud suggested that too." It was kind of funny both his older self and Tifa had suggested it, but that just seemed to cement the possibility that it might work.

"Oh... flavoured ice? Please." Cloud swayed on his feet, then had to stop, because while the huge plush wasn't really heavy, it was unwieldy.

Cloud, you most definitely didn't inherit anything of Zack's. Ever. That 'scary' look only proved that much. Of course he wouldn't be warded off by anything that Strife shot his way - looks included. Instead his grin seemed to fold tenfold at that withering glance.

"Twenty-three going on fifty-two maybe," he said. Maybe he did want Cloud to try to punch him in the face!

Yes, he did love to eat. Zack knew he wasn't the only one here either. Lightly batting at the hand that poked him, he couldn't help but laugh a little. The hospital wasn't any fun, no. He understood what Aerith meant, being unable to leave when they were fine more or less. Zack never did do well, just being still.

"It was," he admitted. "They were just doing their job though, right? In the end, it's better that they did check us out instead of finding out something was wrong later."

Zack was going to try to look at it in a bit more of a positive light. In the end, they were fine. They were alive and able to connect to the people that they had left behind. If it meant that they were holed up in a hospital for a few days, then that was a pretty small price to play in the end. So instead his focus was on the corndog in Aerith's hands.

"Oh yeah? I think I should inspect it..."

"Well... You know who else you should probably consider..."

It sounded ominous, because it was. If the Livestream was kind enough to spit out the friendly dearly departed, that was fine. However, they needed to think about the ones that, well... weren't so friendly.

"Oh, trust me, we are already watching for him in particular, as is the WRO. No one wants to be caught off-guard and wind up in the same place we were three years ago." No matter what Cloud thought.

"But with age comes experience!" Zack countered, wagging a finger.

...Alright then.

[Don't say he didn't warn you, Aerith. He fidgets a little, the smile disappears, takes a deep breath and... sort of dives in.]

I'm what a lot of people are calling a... a "streamer". But where I come from, things aren't completely different. It's a different version of the Planet. That's pretty much how I know you... or a different you.

"It.. wasn't high up enough to cause too significant of damage, thankfully..."

Devastating the entire world was certainly significant but in the long run, people were alive, people she loved were alive. Cities still stood and people were recovering bit by bit.

She starts to gently wipe the dust off the table, erasing her world away. It was depressing, to talk about it when she couldn't be there to help repair it.

"Bad things happen.. and the ones left pick up and continue forward. I want to continue forward and be strong for the people around me. And.. while I lost everything by ending up here.."

She pulls in a breath, closing her eyes before looking at Cloud and smiling.

"I just need to keep going."

Vincent's hand slips into his cloak and out snaps three pages. He sets it on the table in front of Rufus.

"Its been some years. But I still understand the concept of a resume."

He clearly had been expecting that type response from Rufus.

Rufus, eyebrow raised, glanced down at the papers. He had no interest in hiring Valentine, of course.

"Sorry, but the Turks aren't hiring."

"I technically never resigned in the first place. My email still works."

And still had a lot of messages. That he still didn't know how to actually access.

"I'd like to take a look at the Lifestream myself. I'm sure you can understand how much I'd like to do that since I just threw a resume on the table for a company that resulted in me dying."

Vincent pauses as she makes that jump. It was a fair assumption for her to make and it was the basis of why Vincent wanted to tend to Mideel himself.

Cloud had defeated Sephiroth twice. Third time didn't need to be the charm and considering people were talking about coming out of the Lifestream sick then it would be an opportunity for Vincent to take care of him before he could actually do any damage.

"I think anyone can come back and he is a concern. I intend on keeping it short lived.'

"We are no longer my father's company, Valentine. And your email no doubt is defunct, since those servers quite literally exploded." Just how technology-dumb was he? "You have friends in the WRO, why not ask them to hire you?"

Well. Its not like he'd actually tried it. He lacked the access.

"Regardless of who is heading the company..." His eyes became a bit stormier, glancing away from Rufus.

"I have friends that would frown on my method of execution. And the WRO hired ShinRa scientists. I have little interest in scientists."

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Summer Solstice

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Tifa ships Vincent and cape swishing. OTP

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short tag but i can't think

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