edgeoflife | 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!

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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."

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?

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?"

"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.

"Well... No. Not yet," he admitted sheepishly. "It's not like I came here expecting to get a pet. But I'll find what I need." Maybe a literal glass bowl if he had to, but it seemed you could find anything in Edge these days so he wasn't too worried about it.

"Motion sickness still?" Not that he'd expected anything to change. He accepted the bagged fish with a grin, giving the woman a mock salute before removing his arm from Cloud's shoulder and picking up his staff to leave the booth.

"Oh, did you?" He glanced sideways at the blond, looking for any sort of negative reaction from the teen. "And how did that go?"

"Yeah," Cloud said with a little grimace, frustrated. At least there would maybe be something he could do to mitigate it more than just taking something for it and hope for the best every time he ended up on a vehicle. It was a little unfair the Lifestream here had spat him out with even that intact, though...

"Oh... um," glancing to Zack and then away, Cloud ducked his head and shrugged. How had it even gone? It hadn't been nearly as overwhelming as meeting Zack again, or his older self or Tifa, but... "Okay? I think?"

Frowning at the ground he thought the whole thing over. He could admit, now, that maybe (definitely) he was a bit jealous Riku had got to spend all that time with Zack, but as for Riku himself...

"... or at least after I got over all the similarities," he said, feeling a little ashamed over his reaction still, even if he had been literally unable to help it and Riku hadn't held it against him.

"He seems... okay." Cloud's voice softened at the last word and he shrugged again, finally looking back up at Zack.

It was, in fact, pretty reassuring someone else around was awkward and hesitant as well. It'd weirdly enough made things easier, which was probably just as well, considering the things they'd ended up talking about.

There was something intensely frustrating about Cloud not being as enthused about Riku as Zack himself was. He knew, internally, that it was silly. Cloud had been killed by Sephiroth, and Riku was a clone of Sephiroth. He wanted to snap at the young soldier, tell him Riku and Sephiroth were nothing like each other and he shouldn't judge so quickly. It almost hurt that someone Zack valued as much as Cloud wasn't eager to get to know Riku.

But he schooled himself, took in a subtle breath to get himself under control instead of just flying off the handle like he would have when he was younger. No one understood Riku like he did. No one would in this place for a long time, if ever. He couldn't hold their ignorance against them.

"He's a good kid," he said a bit more curtly than he meant to. "I've done my best to raise him to be a good man." He didn't look at Cloud. He simply watched where he was walking, the smile gone from his face. He was a protective parent when it came to Riku, and he wanted only the best for the kid he called his own.

"Are you hungry?" He asked suddenly, changing the subject. "Should we find something to eat? My treat."

Wincing at the tone, Cloud suddenly wished he hadn't said anything. Maybe it would've been better to let Riku bring it up first. Or maybe he should've written it down... yeah, that's what he should have done, because then it'd have been easier to get out all of what he wanted.

It was always easier that way, whether it was for more embarrassing reason or something like... this. He hadn't even meant it negatively, but, well... it probably sounded that way. If anyone had asked him what he'd thought of Zack after that first mission to Modeoheim, the response would have been similar, if hesitant for other reasons.

Startling at the sudden question, Cloud tightened his arms around himself - was surprised to realise what he'd done, really, and stared at the ground. He could just stop walking and there were enough people here they'd be separated quickly...

"... like Junon?" he asked softly, his stomach twisting uneasily - though whether that was the memory of the motion sickness, the offer of food, or something else, he wasn't sure. "If... you want."

Closing his eyes for a moment, Cloud bit his lip.

"Zack... I know." Not what he wanted, needed(?) to say; there was a half-formed thought that had to do with what Zack had said earlier but with the urge to stop walking and go hide somewhere was still there, that was the best he could do.

Summer Solstice

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