Summer Solstice

[lifemods]

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!]]

Comments

[backwaterpuppy]

I. - Fried Food Forever

A fair. WRO decided to hold a fair. Well, if this didn't bring back memories that made his heart ache like there was a fresh bullet wound to his chest. Memories of happy times with good friends, and lifelong bans from public intoxication for both Turks and SOLDIERs. Good times.

The games would come later. Right now, Zack had some gil in his pocket and nothing in his stomach, and the man was on a mission from the gods to find a deep fried chocolate cookie stack. They were his favorite, and this would be the true measure of whether or not this world had any worth.

"C'mon... someone has to have them," he grumbled in frustration after a half hour of searching the food stands. He was leaning against his staff,glaring at the nearest food stand as though it had done him a personal wrong.


II. - Let the Games Begin

Games of skill? Zack could handle these. He could handle them so well. The thing with the hammer and the bell? Rang every time. Throwing a ball to knock things over? Done. Shooting targets? Piece of cake. The only one that was giving him some trouble was this damn ring toss, and he really wanted to win because the booth was giving out really pretty fish as the main prize and wouldn't that look nice on the kitchen counter?

"Dammit... Is this ring even big enough to fit over the top of that bottle?" Zack finally demanded after it had bounced off for the twentieth time. "I think this is rigged. Prove it to me."


III. - Hello Ladies~ (And Gentlemen)

Speed dating. Well, why the hell not? Sure, Zack was taken back home and about to ask the woman of his dreams to marry him, but they had an open relationship, and who even did these things with the serious intention of dating anyone? No one, so there was no harm in any of this.

The ex-SOLDIER put on a charming smile and sat in his chair, reclining just a bit in his seat to let his legs stretch out. This was also a convenient excuse to rest for a moment. But more importantly, he might make some new friends, and friendship and networking were important.

He looked down at the card of suggested topics, trying not to laugh at some of them. "What was the name of your favorite racing chocobo? Really?" He asked out loud to no one in particular, unaware that anyone had come to be seated across from him.


III. - Wandering Wildcard

When he wasn't winning prizes to give away to cute girls or small children, stuffing his face, or humoring the idea of speed dating, Zack was wandering the fair grounds, looking to see what the booths had to offer, or watching the interactions of the people in this world. It wasn't home, but it was close.

Safety Speed Dating

[sworntoblood]

The Cait Sith mascot was there all of a sudden, steering a pointy-eared, wide-eyed female to sit across from the man. He wasn't noticing, yet.

Liadrin wasn't certain what to say. She'd had no time (and better yet, no interest) in these sort of things at home. There was a war to be fought, and hopefully won, and now, here.

She cleared her throat delicately, and decided to offer the fellow an answer. He deserved that, at least.

"I've never been owned by a chocobo, but my favorite mount is a horse. His name is Retribution, if you must know," she said, a low chuckle escaping her throat.

May as well make the best of it. The worst that could happen is she made a friend.

[backwaterpuppy]

The very first thing Zack noticed, when he looked up in reaction to the voice, was the ears. He'd seen some crazy body modifications in his time, and crazy creatures with crazy ears, but these? On this woman? They took the cake. After a moment he caught himself and did his best not to stare too obviously.

Owned by a... He mouthed the words, trying to figure out if he'd heard right.

"A horse. Oh right. Uh, huh. So, did you ever race Retribution?" What an intense name. Most of the racing chocobo names Zack had ever heard had been silly, like 'WatchMeFly', 'BuiltForPleasure', or 'BuyersRemorse'.

"I'm Zack, by the way." A hand was offered over the table to the woman. If they were going to be having this strange conversation, he might as well have a name for that face.

[sworntoblood]

"We do not have them, where I am from, but something like a chocobo," Liadrin explained, then. "They tend to be very possessive of those who they've bonded to...much like a bird of prey, or perhaps a cat."

She laughed, then, when asked if she'd ever raced her horse. "Not intentionally, but that was mostly because I didn't have the time. Racing him through Silvermoon City to get to the palace, perhaps."

She offered him her hand in return, then. "Liadrin. A pleasure to meet you. Or at least someone who isn't put off by the eyes and is over the age of eight."

The blood elf chuckled at that. She didn't really mind children and their fascination, but sometimes one just yearned for adult conversation.

[backwaterpuppy]

"Oh. Well, that's cool." What else was he supposed to say to that? He imagined he might hear a lot of strange things from other Streamers that were from worlds more set apart from this one than his. Maybe she had some funny or interesting stories to tell. This could actually be fun.

"Liadrin," he repeated with a friendly smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you too. And honestly the eyes weren't really the weirdest thing for me." People had glowy eyes sometimes, it just happened, though not usually to that extreme. The ears, though... That would take some getting used to.

"So, Silvermoon City... what's that like?"

[sworntoblood]

She quirked a brow at his comment about her eyes, but shrugged, still smiling. This wasn't so bad, at least. So long as it was mostly talking, and no one actually expected her to go on a date...

"Silvermoon? It was nicer before the war, but I suppose that's to be expected, eh?" Liadrin shrugged at that. "Lots of greenery and sculptures. Wide arches, cobblestoned streets. It's supposed to give a sense of openness, I expect. The smaller countryside villages, most of them echo its architecture, where and when they can. Pretty, save for where the Dead Scar lies. That is where the Death Knight, Arthas Menethil, drove his undead horde through our lands, and to the Sunwell."

If her eyes were a little distant, now, well. The memories weren't incredibly pleasant, but he couldn't be blamed for that. It had been a perfectly innocent question...

"So, if you're a native, or close enough, what can you tell me about...all this?" the elf asked, spreading her hands to take in their surroundings. "I am curious, but I'm not particularly sure where to start."

F O O D

[swordoath]

Hearing from Rufus and the two different Clouds sort of put Zack on a mission. He was curious, if anything, about the other guy wandering around that happened to share his existence. Who wouldn't be interested in meeting another version of yourself? Zack always did sort of wonder what life might have been like if he would have survived. Again, no real complaints other than the obvious. It wasn't like he bemoaned all that had happened.

Now it wouldn't be hard to find a guy that looked like yourself only with a walking stick, right? Zack also held the advantage of, well, the guy being himself. If he thought about where he would maybe like to be during the festival, it made it all the more easier to scope out potential places to run into one another. In the end? Zack wasn't disappointed.

"Depends on what you're looking for," he commented, maybe purposefully sneaking up behind the other. It was all in good fun, right?

[backwaterpuppy]

The voice behind him sent a chill up Zack's spine that caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. There was nothing creepier at the moment than hearing yourself from behind you, even if a moment later rational thinking settled in and told him it was the Zack of this world back from the dead. Yeah, rational.

He turned slowly, steeling himself for whatever he may see, and locked eyes with someone brighter and younger than himself. Obviously the world hadn't beaten this Zack down quite as hard, and for that the older Zack was happy. Well, as happy as he could be that he'd died. Which wasn't that happy, but he was here now so that was what mattered, right?

"What do you think?" He asked flippantly, folding his arms over his chest and resting his staff in the crook of one elbow, leaning on it slightly as he sized up his counterpart. There was no need to make this weird. Just play it cool.

[swordoath]

He knew that the man before him had lived. Zack didn't know quite what to expect when the older version of himself turned around. Obviously the walking stick was something he knew was coming. However, there was something else that was different. Zack wasn't quite able to put his finger on it, but something about this older man was a little more worn down than he was.

Briefly, Zack wondered about just how different things were for this guy. What was life like? Had any of the things that had happened here continued to happen for the older Zack? How much of what he was seeing was due to recovery from injuries or guilt? Well, he assumed it was guilt. He wasn't sure how he would have felt if Cloud wouldn't have made it and he had. It was bad enough with Angeal...

Mentally he shook himself free of those thoughts, hands on his hips. "Wellll. I couldn't really say! This is one of those weird things like 'do we like the same kinds of foods' or 'if I was me, which I am, what would I look for?' right?"

[backwaterpuppy]

"Exactly," He nodded, a grin forming over his lips. "So you obviously knew to look for me around the food. If you were looking for fair food, what would you look for?"

And then the weird thought ocurred to him that maybe there was some strange happenstance that made those cookies unavailable in this world, like they'd never been invented. Maybe, somehow, that was the huge butterfly effect difference between this world and his. Cookie stacks. That would be wild.

think they need something like this so; Games!

[backwatertrooper]

That thing with the hammer and bell was totally cheating when you've got enhanced strength, Zack. At least that's what Cloud would've made some noise about, if he'd found Zack while he was still there.

But he spotted the familiar (and he was still ridiculously relieved that it could still be that) hair and not quite as familiar staff and wandered over, unconsciously pushing the little chocobo plush he'd gotten earlier deeper in the pocked he'd stuffed it in.

Blinking at the demand, Cloud looked around, but Riku wasn't there and no one else seemed to be responding, so he silently took the ring, turning it over in one hand with a frown.

After a few moments, he leaned up to get closer to Zack's ear, glancing to the woman keeping the stall who was now staring narrowly at them.

"I think it's got a loose weight in it," Cloud whispered, gaze once again going to the woman and back, frowning, "so it'll be off after you toss it."

[backwaterpuppy]

The SOLDIER's expression lightened a bit when Cloud approached. His Cloud. It was a funny thought, but one that made him feel a little warmer inside when it popped up.

Zack locked eyes with the woman manning the booth, narrowing his a bit as he listened to Cloud and then took the ring back. He tossed it in one hand for a moment, feeling it up and testing the balance.

"Yeah, I think you're right. Which makes it nearly impossible. But only nearly." Knowing that he was at an unfair disadvantage, Zack took another moment to feel the weight of the ring before he lined up his toss, accounting for the misdirection the weight would cause, and threw. The ring hit the rim, spun three times, then settled on top of the bottle.

"Score! Alright, one of those fish is mine," he declared loudly, tossing an arm over Cloud's shoulders. "Help me pick one out? You're my lucky charm now."

[backwatertrooper]

Settling back on his heels, Cloud was all too happy to watch Zack feel out the ring and calculate what he needed to do to win, and couldn't help the little grin when the ring landed around the bottle on the first new attempt.

"Fish?" Blinking, Cloud looked around and spotted what Zack must be talking about, and glanced from the fish to Zack for a moment, a little distracted from the pleased glow in his gut. "... the calico one with the long fins?"

What was he even choosing fish for anyway? Thinking of Tifa and the giant, ugly chocobo plush she was giving to his older self, Cloud wondered if it was supposed to do be for Riku, though that seemed off, somehow...

"What do you want it for?" he asked after a moment of debating whether to ask or not, but well. If he was choosing the fish he should know what it was for, right?

[backwaterpuppy]

Zack peered at the assortment of fancy fish the game booth had to offer. He had no idea what to even look for in a pet fish. For all he knew these were all terribly unhealthy and would die in a day or two.

"I want it to live in a tank on our kitchen counter. I think it'll look nice, and add some life to the apartment." And he could convince Riku that taking care of it was a good learning experience. That was what good parents did, right? Probably.

After another moment of looking he nodded to the lady. "The calico one with the long fins." It looked pretty, and as healthy as any of the others as far as he could tell.

"Having fun so far?"

[backwatertrooper]

"You've got everything else for it?" Cloud asked, definitely not looking to the woman who was now getting Zack's new fish ready for him - wasn't like she could say anything since Zack had won fairly. Or unfairly, as the case may be. Cloud wondered if the fish were all rewards here because the game was rigged...

"Huh?" Looking up, Cloud blinked. Caught between nodding and shrugging, he let out a little noise, about as ambiguous as the gesture had been.

"I... wasn't gonna stay long," he admitted after a moment, "not like I can try most of the rides. But I guess so?" He'd relaxed when running into Tifa, and was doing so again, compared to earlier.

The whole speed dating incident with Riku had gone... better than he'd thought it would, basically. Glancing sideways up at Zack, Cloud bit his lip and then added, "I... talked to Riku. We ended up at the same table."

Zack would find out later anyway, probably.

[actuallypolite]

When he tried to leave after the rather unfortunate speed date he'd had with Lea, the mascots pointed him toward a different table. Rude would have turned right back around and left, but it was Zack Fair. He'd heard that he was back in the land of the living, but he hadn't encountered him yet.

Might as well make the most of this opportunity. He made his way to the table and sat down. The first thing out of Zack's mouth was an asinine question that he wasn't going to answer.

"Zack Fair," he said, in an attempt to get the ex-SOLDIER to look up at him and away from the card he was reading from.

[backwaterpuppy]

Oh, a familiar voice! Which, granted, wasn't too unusual in this place since it was a parallel of his world, but still.

"Rude of the Turks," he responded in kind, looking up from his card. Nothing seemed different about this Rude, so that was a plus. "Speed dating, huh? I didn't figure you for that kind of guy."

He wanted to make a comment about Reno, but after how awkwardly things had gone with Rufus after mentioning Tseng... Well, he might keep those things to himself from this point forward.

[actuallypolite]

"I'm not." He gestured over toward the mascots. "I was avoiding a scene." The last thing ShinRa needed was one of the Turks getting into an altercation at the speed dating tent. Not the sort of publicity they needed.

"How's life?" Rude asked.

As for Reno, if Zack did ask, he might find that some things aren't so different in this world than they are in his own.

[backwaterpuppy]

"Ah. Mmhmm. I see." He nodded in agreement. "They're very pushy, aren't they? But hey, I get a speed date with tall dark and handsome from the Turks, so I can't complain, can I?" He's teasing, of course. Rude is attractive, but Zack's not interested. Sorry.

"Life is fine. I woke up in the strangest place the other day and can't seem to get back home, but oh well. That's how life goes sometimes, right?"

[actuallypolite]

"Incredibly." He chuckled at the compliment. "Don't tell Reno, he might get jealous," he joked in return. Reno wouldn't actually be jealous of it, but Zack might not know that.

"That's life," Rude agreed. "I take it you're the one that asked Rufus about Tseng?" Gossip like that travels fast, what can he say?

[gardeningaia]

"Don't tell Cloud, but it was Teioh." Aerith sits down opposite Zack, looking at him with a goodnatured smile, but also with a natural curiosity. This is definitely not her Zack--looks very much alike, yes, feels very alike, but not same. A little older, judging by his face. "Nice to meet you. How about...nope, skip...what is your favorite color?" she reads off of her second card picked from the stack, flicking the first one aside. They may technically be meeting for the first time, but she feels relaxed already and leans back in her seat as she waits for his response.

[backwaterpuppy]

The voice made him jolt upright and left him staring at the woman across from him. She'd died here, he'd been told. So this must be the doing of the Lifestream. But was she this world's Aerith, or his?

Don't tell Cloud... So she was from this world.

He relaxed a bit, a small bittersweet smile melting slowly onto his face. The last time he'd seen her...

"Blue, like the sky," he replied once he remembered how to speak and be polite. "Are you still afraid of it?"

[gardeningaia]

She understands that smile--she's seen it before--and returns it with a gentle one before shaking her head at his question. "No way. There's too much I want to see. Besides, the flowers like the sun."

[backwaterpuppy]

"And the flowers... Are you still selling them? Because I was talking with my roommate about buying some flowers earlier," he stated casually, trying to keep this as normal as possible. He didn't need to be blurting out that he was glad she was alive, or whatever else. It might freak her out.

[gardeningaia]

"It's been a while since I've sold them, but they're still growing. I think I can give you a discount," Aerith said, hoping he wouldn't wonder too much about what she'd been doing in the meantime. She's aware this is an awkward situation, but she and Zack have been good about tap dancing around those before, so she'll keep doing it now. "You have a roommate?" Was there not enough room in the apartments? Not that she imagined Zack would mind much... "Who is it?"