on reserve @ onepassingnight

[anonfantry]

But I– Don't think I want anybody else to see what I'm dreaming about. That's kind of... Personal. Not to mention, hearing voices–

H-Hey, I mean it! Stop laughing!

...I guess it figures this'd be the one time you don't change your mind. It's not like it's too late, if I haven't even given that back...

Comments

[waterfell]

Are you saying you don't want to come to see your friends?

[anonfantry]

My... Friends?

[ as in, like. more than one? DOES NOT COMPUTE ]

I don't know if you've got the right guy.

[waterfell]

[Well, there's Zack. Aerith. The older Cloud. A Sephiroth ready to be... alright, maybe that's not friends.

She uses the term pretty facetiously anyway. So by way of answer, she simply gives his name.]

Cloud Strife.

[plotdeviceturk]

Strife.

[gardeningaia]

Friendly voices. [ Aerith, maybe that doesn't help as much as you think it does... ]

[anonfantry]

[ Oh hey this is new. Strangers knowing his name without having to be told (sometimes more than once) merits a little stop-and-start hesitation, confusion obvious in the look he gives her– ]

Um, (I guess I was wrong...) do I know you?

[anonfantry]

[ OH CRAP time to snap to attention and attempt to look professional like he didn't just get caught acting his age complaining like a kid in front of a Turk. ]

Sir!

[waterfell]

[Her grin spreads; she enjoys having the upper hand, even though she has no ill intentions.]

Mizuno Ami.

[And the clincher.]

Not yet.

[It's a funny story, really, and an unbelievable one, of other worlds and other selves and timelines that can meet.]

/dies of cute

[seventhfist]

[Oh wow. This brings back memories.]

That's not nice of your mun, laughing at you.

[anonfantry]

'Friendly voices'?

[ NOPE. He's already thinking of all the psych evals he's going to be failing, if he starts talking to himself. ]

[anonfantry]

[ Wait. What.

Grown Up Tifa is agreeing with him; he needs a moment to collect himself.

Okay. ]

Uh– Y-Yeah. It's nothing new.

[plotdeviceturk]

[Pffff, they've had their eyes on you for like ever Cloud. You just don't know it.]

At ease.

[Tseng's also like... a decade older than the one who trolls talks to you in Midgar.]

[gardeningaia]

That's right. Like this:

Hello, Cloud. How are you?

[ Aerith will very thoughtfully remind him to be quiet before rambling away at him in his head, then. Because she's considerate like that.

Also that is an actual question he can answer. ]

[seventhfist]

[Grins! She may be getting a little bit of amusment out of confusing him.]

Really? Maybe you should try and get a new mun.

[anonfantry]

So, we meet... Later?

[ Not trying too hard to contemplate the potential ramifications of future people (just yet, anyway, because there'll be plenty of time for doing that when he actually has to), Cloud is momentarily disarmed.

Friends. Even with the prospect of everyone in the real world thinking he's lost his marbles, once disembodied voices start living in his head, it's kind of difficult to hate on the fringe benefits.

Or the thought of going somewhere where... People might actually welcome him? ]

[anonfantry]

[ Yes, he sure does look a little different – but one does not candidly mention such things to superiors (regardless of department).

So he'll just awkwardly shuffle his feet, instead, and try not to stare as he settles back into a pretty bad parody of ease. ]

Thank you, sir.

[waterfell]

We'll meet in the future, and when you come here.

[The weirdest part about this for her isn't any of that. It's the fact that she's grown close to the Cloud she knows, so much that she sees him almost as an older brother, who accepts her flaws and sees the person she is behind so much she uses as a front and a shield.

To see this younger form... the relationship changes. Or maybe they just need to start fresh and create their own.]

For now, let's start from the beginning. I'm pleased to meet you.

[When did she become capable of looking forward to a new start...?]

[anonfantry]

[ It's going to be a steep learning curve; he can tell already.

And though he thinks for a few seconds that question might've been rhetorical, he manages to recover smoothly (except not even remotely so). ]

Oh, uh. I'm okay, I guess.

[ Except for everything. BUT PFF DETAILS ]

It's kind of strange to think about going to a place where everybody already knows me. Or... Sort of me.

[anonfantry]

[ Tifa, you are evil in its purest form. ]

I'd like to, if I could, but... I think we're pretty much stuck with the ones we get.

[gardeningaia]

You guess? [ Mock dismay. She supposes a young Cloud really couldn't be expected to give a sure answer, but still! ]

...Ah. We're not scaring you, are we?

[plotdeviceturk]

[Oh Cloud, if only he could have saved you.]

Have you been deployed to Modeoheim yet?

[anonfantry]

[ Scaring him? ]

No way!

[ And that's a pretty sure answer, which totally counts. ]

It's just– Weird. That's all.

[gardeningaia]

[ Laughing at that certainty. Oh, Cloud. ]

What if I didn't know you, then? Maybe sometimes I'll be a little younger. [ ...no, that's probably just trading types of weirdness. ]

[anonfantry]

[ The beginning? That sounds safe enough. (If anything about this strikes him as safe, strictly speaking, but – right. Not over-thinking it. Not the time to ask all the questions he's dying to.)

He nods, still looking decidedly unsure in all of this, but maybe a small part of him can concede that it's perhaps not quite going to be the worst possible thing, after all. ]

Thanks. It's– Nice to meet you, too. Or I guess it will be, anyway.

[waterfell]

[Oh, he can ask. She is, after all, the goddess of Knowledge. Who better to answer him?]

And your mun? Is your mun making progress?