Who: Cloud Strife and you- hopefully! When: February Where: Aefenglom, mostly. What: dietary revelations, full moon stuff. Warnings: (v gentle) body horror at the full moon thread. No warnings for anything else!
[Cloud had quite a lot on his mind. That could perhaps be an understatement- and honestly, between Sephiroth, Kadaj, Aerith and all of the complications that came with them (...Not exactly insignificant complications either...) plus the fact that yeah, he sure was in another world, plus the fact that people that seemed to know him and he was certain he'd never even met them in passing, plus the fact apparently he was a monster...
It was a lot. And it came with the most pressing concern of all. The knowledge that on Gaia, Meteor was to come down. That his friends, people he loved, were there. And he wasn't. He was responsible for it, and he wasn't there. They had to deal with it, and...
It really was a lot. None of it good.
There was something else, too. Because there was always something else. It was him, specifically. He's... really not feeling that hot. He hadn't eaten, not really anyway, since arriving. Not by choice. Everything tasted weird. Came up pretty quickly too- and as for the smell, everything smelled ...weird.
It's been what, a week? Maybe longer? He... could go longer picking at things and throwing them up a few hours later. He's about the same as any SOLDIER, really. Even though he's not one. He can withstand more or less anything longer than a regular person could. Extreme temperatures, falls. Starvation, even.
But... a week in, and it's starting to get uncomfortable.
As he walks the streets, the smell of something is... not. that. bad. Well, that's an understatement. Whatever it is, it's incredible- it makes his stomach growl and his mouth water, and his head spin. All at the same time, practically. So, of course, he follows it- eventually winding up...
[ Vanitas still has some really bad habits, especially when it comes to people watching. Those with erratic behavior? Well they immediately catch his attention. What can he say? He hasn't stopped finding enjoyment in making things difficult for other people. Just because Vanitas may have a slightly wider range of emotions - the majority of which he fails to understand - doesn't mean that he's exactly changed.
So of course he follows. Cloud is most definitely distracted isn't he?
Now Vanitas hasn't quite put two and two together yet when the blonde comes to a stop in front of the butcher's. That may yet take a moment or two and because he's seen it sort of happen with Sora but it is still an interesting choice, isn't it? ]
Someone's a little lost.
[ Or looks surprised to find himself here at any rate. ]
[His response is automatic, out of his mouth before he's even looked around to hear who's speaking. But when he does, he can't help but doubletake. A little. This person... it's Sora, isn't it? With a dyejob and- no. His eyes are different. His eyebrows furrow and he stares for longer than... what's really natural.
[ Given the fact that Sora is very social and Vanitas has been here for a little while? Vanitas can't say that he's surprised by the question. Rude or not, it is to be expected. He imagines that there are going to be quite a few people that are going to mistake them for the other.
This is why Van's lips lift into something of a smirk. ]
Maybe. Usually the question that follows is which someone.
He eyes the smirk, before he moves them away. Swiftly. He... doesn't like it. Vanita's smirk isn't exactly anything that could be considered pleasant, but... he shouldn't judge. He really shouldn't- the guy could be perfectly fine and making an immediate conclusion and judging people on it was... too like the past for him. So.
A concious effort, and-]
Not important. You're not- so I shouldn't have said anything.
[And. His eyes return.]
You been here long?
[Not quite a heavy-handed change of subject. But nonetheless, a change.]
[ Yeah... Van's smirks are pretty nasty, but really that's only to be expected isn't it? A being of Darkness can't be expected to be pleasant, right? Too bad Cloud's fumbling only makes Vanitas laugh. It's not really a "pleasant" laugh either. At least not this time. ]
I'm not Sora, right?
[ He's going to call him out on that one. Because it's fairly obvious. If he had even bothered to ask the question in the first place all it means is that he's met the other whose face he shares. It's logical. ]
I guess you'd at least be correct on that point. Somewhat. [ A shrug. ] As for how long I've been here? Approximately four months.
[Black pepper, salt, carrots, popotos(? potatoes, likely, he makes the mental edit), beef that's suitable for stewing, and stock.
The list is easily committed to memory, each a bullet-point in his mind to be crossed off as he peruses what he can only assume is a market square, lined with storefronts and street vendors, all noise and bustle. If he keeps focused on this task, Sephiroth can willfully ignore the surreality of the mundanity — never has he been relegated to what amounts to grocery shopping, list in-hand or in-head, and the myriad expanse of bright produce, freshly caught fish, red butchered meat hanging in clear, full windows, threatens to inform him of how he is but a stranger in a strange land.
Shinra provided their best with everything, with all they could; little to no expense spared for the strongest weapon in their arsenal, even if Sephiroth never asked for much. Meals were thus prepared often and to the point of expectation, and the process of starting from scratch — to wander about an open market in any given direction, seeking but not necessarily finding a handful of basic ingredients — had been neatly avoided for more than two decades of his life.
(The direction is not random. Pushing through the veil of his focused task is a tug at the cellular level, that awareness of someone in the rippling crowd. A drop in the ocean, found easily all the same.)
Cloud's shock of blond hair gives him away from a distance, second only to that incalculable feeling. Sephiroth reads his expression from the lines of his profile as he approaches, but the signals are mixed. Eagerness, or confusion?
He stops only a handful of feet away, near the butcher's shop.]
[The pull is tangible. It breaks through even the knots in his stomach that are evidently brought on by the display of varying processed meats (and non-processed. There's even a few carcasses hanging) in the window display- making his mixture of interest and (faint) revulsion meaningless.
He turns. And of course, he's surprised. Not by Sephiroth's presence. That's a given, nowadays, and the pull itself tipped him off enough so that before he's even turned the corner onto this street and came into view, Cloud knows.
The only surprise, per se, is that the pull, the presence that makes practically everything else unimportant is actually welcomed.
...Welcomed. It still sounds strange, in his head. But it's true. Sephiroth, the true one, at least, here, at least, is an ally. And he's grateful for it. Even if it sounds strange.
Well, there's another surprise. What he's doing. Sephiroth, of all people, doing anything as mundane as what he's presently doing is about enough to make him question- well- all of it, but it stands to sense. It wasn't as if the man had anyone diligently working behind the scenes for him now- but of course, he's not just sitting about and expecting someone to do so. Even if he had been spoiled throughout his time at Shinra, he was too resourceful, too practical to expect it here.
....And shit. He really shouldn't be seen like this, practically salivating over a window display, of all things. He acts, at least, like it was just a passing glance.]
Not really. More like working out what kind of jobs I've got to do to afford it.
[Cloud had looked hungry, which is reasonable given their surroundings. Sephiroth isn’t inclined to believe that he’s suddenly lost that appetite, either, dispersed like it’s made of air, and his eyes flicker over to the interior beyond the glass.
However, he also isn’t of a mind to contend with his statement.]
I’m ingredient hunting.
[Grocery shopping, without saying grocery shopping. With the gesture of a hand, he indicates the storefront.]
This is probably the last stop on the list.
[Meat spoils after an extended length of time. It is taking an extended length of time just to locate carrots. Thus, shuffling its acquisition to the last.]
...I’m looking for root vegetables. If you’ve seen them.
[But it's grocery shopping! Whether or not... it's said or not. But that's probably right... calling it something as dull as that really... doesn't fit the man that's doing it. Regardless. At Sephiroth's question, he crosses his arms at his chest, halfway looking down the street.]
Nope. The layout of this city's pretty confusing.
[Most of the villages they'd been to, tended to have a main square. Of course, there were item shops, materia and weaponry places, but more humdrum day-to-day things tended to be sold in the street if the place was enough of a shithole. In designated buildings sometimes, if the town was once not a shithole (before years and years of neglect had turned it into one). But other than this store, he hadn't seen anything similar. Aefenglom's practically a rat's nest of things, kind of like Midgar, but without familiarity, the layout and order of which is a mystery.
But what he does have... ...Is scent.
Something's happening to him, the closer and closer to the full moon it got. Certain senses are vastly increased. Scent is one of them. It's how he managed to find this place, after all.
His arms tighten a little as he keeps his gaze firmly away- should Sephiroth, somehow, be able to pull that little fact out of his head. Of course he couldn't. Cloud knew for all of the (real, alive...) one's talents, that kind of thing wasn't one of them. He was human. Mostly.
But regardless, he's wary. It's embarrassing. It's really embarrassing. He's taking no chances.]
I'll be able to find 'em though. C'mon.
[He follows the street for a few paces, focusing wordlessly as he attempts to make a series of spread out deep inhales less... obvious. There's a lot of smells in this city. Some of them interesting, most of them horrendous. And he can just about make out one that smells of the earth- but slightly different. Not fresh, outside earth with the rain and grass intermingled. Instead it's a dry sort of scent- of storage and dust.
He turns a corner, into an alley. Sharply. Yeah, it's stronger down here.]
This way.
[And. Since now's as good a time as any.]
You seem like you're settling.
[A brief gesture of his arm to the list. Well, it seemed he was keeping busy, at least.]
[The city is a web, a clustered infrastructure that should be familiar, if not in layout, then in how it breathes and writhes like its own organism alive, much like Midgar did. Sephiroth has not been here long enough to know the streets, the interconnecting alleyways, to make sense of how the districts bleed into each other. Some part of him muses, more than once today, how much more easily it would be to navigate utilizing a bird’s eye view. He finds himself glancing skyward, even as he follows Cloud’s sudden and assured lead.
Sharp eyes settle back to the path they take, down the street, ‘round a corner, and into an alleyway. He wonders at how he knows with such certainty, when Cloud had professed the confusing nature of these markets just moments before.
He considers the question, and for a brief moment, sounds almost amused in an edgeless sort of way.]
“Settling” is relative. [Very relative, because a quiet part of him does not feel it, feels restless and upended and directionless.] But there are some things that remain the same, no matter the world — the necessities of living. Clothing, shelter, food. Even I need to eat.
[For all his talents, incomparable strength, he is still human. (Insofar as he knows.) The list, though—]
Someone provided me with this. [He gives Cloud a measured look, assessing.] It’s as good of a place to start as any.
He can't say it. Sephiroth had no idea about the things he used to ask Zack about him, no idea that Cloud... well, idolized him to the extent that trivial, stupid information about being perceived as aloof and kind of a loner (of course he hadn't spoken of Genesis and Angeal. There was indulging a fanboy and there were personal things, personal to him too) was interesting to him, and the fact he held a list in general was...
... well, different. But a good sign.
Because going through his alone- far, far away from Gaia and everyone on it- would be a suitable punishment for what Sephiroth became. But... not what he was. So it's good. It's complicated. It sure is complicated. But it's good.
Down another alley, around another bend. Almost in a complete circle, even- his pace slowing and even some instances of him half turning into alleys before changing his mind apparently, and exiting, to proceed down another street or avenue.]
Got no choice in it. I get that. It's not like we can get 'em to send us back or anything. The answers we got were pretty meaningless too.
[In his mind, honestly? The randomly appearing here and no viable way to send them back Thing was bullshit. He'd seen the mirrors. Someone, somewhere, had to have assembled those things to call them. The people of the city themselves don't exactly seem like anyone to turn to. Especially given what happened the month earlier. And honestly, it leaves a bad taste in his mouth- but there's nothing they can do.
Speaking of bad tastes, they're close now. He knows it, the smell close enough to assume control of his other senses. Taste, especially.
....Yeah. He can't do vegetables.]
This one.
[Confirmation is brief and comes with his hands behind shoved into his pockets. He starts to walk down it, and sure enough- a grocer. As they enter...]
I found some things out from people that've been here longer than us. You probably know 'em already, but if you don't, it's worth knowing.
[He's cold. But it's not the temperature which makes him shiver. Instead, it's a tiredness, an exhaustion- a dull ache that's seeped into his bones, robbing him of his strength, and even keeping his eyes open is difficult.
Shutting his eyes results in visions. He's low to the ground, much lower- and he can hear something (him?) huff and growl as the ground just below him moves. Quickly. There's something- a... feeling? No. A sense? Something he's following. He can feel himself snort into the grass, into stones, into leaves, and his head raises suddenly. Then what's ahead rushes toward him. His whole view does.
The bellow of something sounds. He can feel it struggle against him, graze him with its tusks, but his jaws are around its neck. He sinks his teeth into fur, tough hide, muscle, sinew and blood. And...
What... was that? Did he?
His eyes snap open. He shifts. He's covered in blood.
He's not exactly sure where he is. He can feel the ground beneath him, the twisted, gnarled roots of an old tree- and it's... uncomfortable. His body's half-twisted between the roots, half-curled into a ball, and... he's bare. His clothes had been destroyed at his transformation, but he didn't know that. Of course, he didn't. His eyes move to the husk of the creature- a large, black boar- some distance away.
There's something around him. It's... strange. It's fur on one side. Thick fur- a strange sort of fur that's deep, bristly in places, shaggy in others. The reverse is slick, wet with blood, smooth and slippery. It's... a skin. And it has legs, claws, a long, bristly tail and...
A head. With teeth. Its mouth is open, and...
Pulling at the skin hurts. It's... stuck to his back? No. It's attached to his back. The small of it, anyway.
The rest of him is... him. Just wet. Sticky, slick with blood, from no conceivable injury. And pulling hurts. So he stops it, closing his eyes, and gathering the parts of the skin that had peeled from him closer toward himself.
the air is cool, and it washes over his skin, a ripple of energy slowly poring over his body. the glow of the moon is still foreign to him; he'd been used to the daunting heat of the sun back home. here, it was more of a threat than ever.
for a reason entirely unknown to him, his armor is more suffocating than it is protective in these moments. so he stalks through the grass in his tunic instead, eyes sharp and alert as he pursues his next meal. as the minutes pass, he finds himself growing more desperate — or more malicious would be the word.
nier makes do with a poor rabbit. of course, as he emerges from the bushes, he catches sight of something vaguely familiar to him. it's ragged and weary — there's blood matting down its fur, accompanied by an expanse of skin that shows through and reveals something more humanoid.
and then the features on its face gradually become recognizable.
so wordlessly, nier rushes on over; his haphazard transformation has made him even speedier than usual. the husk of the boar explains...most of what he needs to know, but nier crouches before cloud with care in each and every moment, his fingers hooking into the roots to pry them apart in some attempt to release him. ]
Cloud. It's me. Nier. [ a hand moves to smooth his hair out of his face — there's no telling whether it gets there or not. ] Let's go home for the night, okay?
[He doesn't remember how he got here. Nor does he remember the kill- not really. He barely remembers adjusting it as it lay there, chewing through its skin to get at its organs, its bones, or the soft, delicious, insides of said bones- nor even snapping off a limb to drag it back to where he lies, in the aim of taking his time with it and not being interrupted by other ranging Turnskins, or anything else.
He remembers, vaguely, waking. Finding himself half-transformed back (in his new mindset, a new transformation entirely and entirely horrifying- claws and fangs worthless, meaningless- replaced with delicate, blunt fingers and useless small teeth.) and worse- stuck in the roots- a fact that no longer stands as this human(?)- Nier(?)- pulls a particuarly large one from the earth.
He snarls. He looks human now- more or less- but his mind's taking its time in catching up. His eyes flash in the dim light as Nier's arm moves close- and he bares his teeth shortly before he's touched. He half growls- closing his eyes when he feels fingertips glancing against his forehead, pushing dirty hair back.
...His teeth wouldn't be any good. He knows it- but anyone else and he'd try to tear apart their wrist with what he has. Nier's different, though- he smells good, familiar, like soil and leaves and the apartment.
He trusts him. It's fine to be touched. But he has to stop himself, really stop himself, from protruding his tongue to lick at his wrist. Thankfully, he doesn't. Instead he coughs, turning his head away toward the earth in order to do so- tilting his head back to him.
Words? Yeah, he should try them.]
...Where'd you come from?
[He's slurring.]
Didn't hear you. Should've...
[Can he move his arms? Yeah. He takes advantage of the space provided by Nier's earlier effort with the root, to hook his hands around the others. And he pulls himself, moving a few inches out.]
[ the snarl doesn't faze him, fortunately. nier studies him, looking for any signs of injury; from what he can make of the blood patterns, there wasn't any conceivable way for them to have been from cloud's body. still, the exhaustion is present, as is the stifness in his form.
nier backs up to grant him some kind of space — just enough for him to pull himself back up. fingers curl around cloud's wrist, gentle in their touch. a finger rubs circles into his skin. ]
I was hunting. Needed blood in my system. The full moon's out — they say it makes Monsters act differently. [ nier flicks his arm to show him a patch of dark fur. the texture is different from cloud's, the hairs being much shorter and rougher, but the point is all the same. ] I noticed you left a few hours ago. But you seem tired, so I think this is our cue to head back home.
[ home. yeah. home was the word for it, he realizes. ]
I'll carry you. Okay?
Edited (sorry i wrote this while drinking a cappucino and listening to ameno and i think it shows) 2020-02-15 22:43 (UTC)
A pull. Shit. The fur's stuck on one of the roots, and he has to pause to untangle it from the roots and hold it close to himself to make another attempt at pulling himself out. Now he's free, and he shivers, pulling, and wrapping himself up in the fur at the waist, pulling the length of it up against his chest to drape the rest over his shoulder.
It's... disgusting. Well and truly- the non-furred side of the skin is slick and wet with blood from where it'd peeled naturally, and it's cold. It makes the night air even colder, and he suppresses a shiver as he listens.]
...Oh.
[He can't offer any more. All of this is surprising. He knew he was a monster, of course, but...
Nier's hand circles his wrist, and he half-wants to jump, pull away, everything monsterous in him takes exception to being held fast. But he doesn't- if anything because his own patch of fur is exposed. It looks bristly- almost like the fur he knows (somehow...) to be the top layer of his own. It's intended to keep rain off- to not allow moisture to sink within the follicle, or to move toward the skin.
And he touches it- his eyebrows furrowing as his index lightly scrapes against it. It almost feels like velcro, it's so rough. It's unlike his entirely- even the bristliest of his isn't that rough.]
[ there's concern brewing in the ice blue of his eyes. he notes the way cloud shudders, the way the night chill hits him at full force. so nier strips off his tunic without a word and promptly motions it towards him, beckoning him to accept it. ]
My blood's cold. So don't worry about it.
[ and suddenly, his arms sneak underneath his calves. nier's eyes rove back towards cloud, and with a nod he signifies the start of what's to come. ]
1...2...3—
[ and begins to hoist him up. the fur adds extra weight, but cloud himself had been thin enough that it isn't too much trouble. nier slowly shifts him into his arms, and as he does, the entirety of what cloud has...become materializes properly. a grotesque mesh of human and inhuman — the animalistic aspect of his form had been wolf-like, but his transformation was stunted and immature in what it was. ]
[It has been a wild ride for Sora in his first few weeks here in Aefenglom city. And one of the biggest things that he's noticed is that there are a few people from back home here that don't remember him at all. He's not really sure what is happening with all that but there are two dots he's really gotta connect when it comes to Cloud and a certain silver-haired man Sora managed to run into on his first few days.]
Cloud! Cloud!!!
[Hopefully it's not too hard to find the blond as Sora rushes up to the man and grabs his arm like an instant koala bear.]
Cloud. There's something really super serious I have to ask you.
[He's... definitely got a set of lungs on him, hasn't he? His yelling's enough to distract him from the shopfront, and he's half-turned before, suddenly, not!keyblade master. And his arm's being grabbed. He stares downward- his face a picture of (faint) disbelief before...
...Yeah, he's going to wrench his arm away. Sorry, Sora. Almost little brother figure or not, boundaries. And.]
What is it? Did something happen?
[He looks okay enough...]
[It must be important for this guy to launch himself at him like that, right?]
[Luckily he's not that bothered by the way Cloud pulls his arm out of his grasp. Honestly he's kind of used to it. Being around Cloud and Leon both in the past...!]
Uh! Sort of!
[Sora makes a face and frowns. He really can't keep this from Cloud long and so Sora pretty much blurts out.]
[That's... an interesting face. His gaze is almost cold as he surveys it, unsure of what exactly it means. Was he sick? Did he get some trouble from the upper class? Maybe he'd transformed, and something'd happened?
He shouldn't be concerned. This guys problem should've been his own, Cloud had more than enough of his own to contend with at the moment, and...
No. That's not him any more. He's concerned. Very much so- and the bright, synthetic chemical burn blue of his eyes darkens a few shades as he examines the face that Sora pulls, as his mind turns through misfortune after misfortune in some attempt to prepare himself for whatever Sora was about to say.
Fortunately, Sora's timely about talking. So.
...Oh.
This guy really must've known him well to know about him. Must've been trusted too, if he came right here. Must've been cared about enough to have been warned off, for the fact he did come and he didn't try to attack him.
He bunches up his arms at his chest, his gaze drifting away.]
I know.
[He keeps his eyes away. He should say something else, explain it somehow, but the words for this are difficult to find.]
He's... different to whatever I told you. This is...
[He doesn't know the context of whatever Sora knew. And he sure as hell didn't know anything about light and darkness, or how they had been where Sora came from. But...]
Look, it's complicated. This place controls time. He's from before any of it.
[That probably didn't explain a damn thing.]
Can't settle anything with someone that hasn't got any idea why.
[Cloud's expression certainly confirms that he knows of what Sora is talking about and the words leave Sora's mouth a little dry. It's hard to think of a Sephiroth from another time where he wasn't exactly who Sora knows him to be. This chaotic darkness that wants to wipe Cloud out without a second thought--
But he already had a chance to talk with Sephiroth, as tense as it was, about that space in time where Sephiroth wasn't all of that. It's still hard to believe but if Cloud confirms it how can Sora really think twice?
His lips press together and he frowns slightly, his arms crossing over his chest.]
So you know all about that too, huh? Sephiroth and how he has no clue about the stuff he's done. I thought maybe you hadn't run into him yet and I had to tell you.
[He looks up at Cloud, Sora's same gentle concern flashing in his blue eyes.]
I know time and stuff is all messed up but I was really worried for a second. But I guess you're right. He has no clue. What else do you think we should do? I mean... The Sephiroth I know was always trying to hurt you.
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★ open | food shopping
It was a lot. And it came with the most pressing concern of all. The knowledge that on Gaia, Meteor was to come down. That his friends, people he loved, were there. And he wasn't. He was responsible for it, and he wasn't there. They had to deal with it, and...
It really was a lot. None of it good.
There was something else, too. Because there was always something else. It was him, specifically. He's... really not feeling that hot. He hadn't eaten, not really anyway, since arriving. Not by choice. Everything tasted weird. Came up pretty quickly too- and as for the smell, everything smelled ...weird.
It's been what, a week? Maybe longer?
He... could go longer picking at things and throwing them up a few hours later. He's about the same as any SOLDIER, really. Even though he's not one. He can withstand more or less anything longer than a regular person could. Extreme temperatures, falls. Starvation, even.
But... a week in, and it's starting to get uncomfortable.
As he walks the streets, the smell of something is... not. that. bad.
Well, that's an understatement. Whatever it is, it's incredible- it makes his stomach growl and his mouth water, and his head spin. All at the same time, practically. So, of course, he follows it- eventually winding up...
Outside a butcher's.
Meat? That was it?
That's... weird.]
no subject
So of course he follows. Cloud is most definitely distracted isn't he?
Now Vanitas hasn't quite put two and two together yet when the blonde comes to a stop in front of the butcher's. That may yet take a moment or two
and because he's seen it sort of happen with Sorabut it is still an interesting choice, isn't it? ]Someone's a little lost.
[ Or looks surprised to find himself here at any rate. ]
no subject
[His response is automatic, out of his mouth before he's even looked around to hear who's speaking. But when he does, he can't help but doubletake. A little. This person... it's Sora, isn't it? With a dyejob and- no. His eyes are different. His eyebrows furrow and he stares for longer than... what's really natural.
And.]
Anyone tell you that you look like someone?
[Kind of rude. But.]
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This is why Van's lips lift into something of a smirk. ]
Maybe. Usually the question that follows is which someone.
no subject
He eyes the smirk, before he moves them away. Swiftly. He... doesn't like it. Vanita's smirk isn't exactly anything that could be considered pleasant, but... he shouldn't judge. He really shouldn't- the guy could be perfectly fine and making an immediate conclusion and judging people on it was... too like the past for him. So.
A concious effort, and-]
Not important. You're not- so I shouldn't have said anything.
[And. His eyes return.]
You been here long?
[Not quite a heavy-handed change of subject. But nonetheless, a change.]
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I'm not Sora, right?
[ He's going to call him out on that one. Because it's fairly obvious. If he had even bothered to ask the question in the first place all it means is that he's met the other whose face he shares. It's logical. ]
I guess you'd at least be correct on that point. Somewhat. [ A shrug. ] As for how long I've been here? Approximately four months.
no subject
Well, if he wants to know...]
Yeah. You've got the same hair. ...And the same face. You related?
[Or clones? Hey. Not exactly unimaginable.]
What's your name?
[May as well know that. Being here for four months might be helpful... If Vanitas is inclined to share information, at least.]
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The list is easily committed to memory, each a bullet-point in his mind to be crossed off as he peruses what he can only assume is a market square, lined with storefronts and street vendors, all noise and bustle. If he keeps focused on this task, Sephiroth can willfully ignore the surreality of the mundanity — never has he been relegated to what amounts to grocery shopping, list in-hand or in-head, and the myriad expanse of bright produce, freshly caught fish, red butchered meat hanging in clear, full windows, threatens to inform him of how he is but a stranger in a strange land.
Shinra provided their best with everything, with all they could; little to no expense spared for the strongest weapon in their arsenal, even if Sephiroth never asked for much. Meals were thus prepared often and to the point of expectation, and the process of starting from scratch — to wander about an open market in any given direction, seeking but not necessarily finding a handful of basic ingredients — had been neatly avoided for more than two decades of his life.
(The direction is not random. Pushing through the veil of his focused task is a tug at the cellular level, that awareness of someone in the rippling crowd. A drop in the ocean, found easily all the same.)
Cloud's shock of blond hair gives him away from a distance, second only to that incalculable feeling. Sephiroth reads his expression from the lines of his profile as he approaches, but the signals are mixed. Eagerness, or confusion?
He stops only a handful of feet away, near the butcher's shop.]
...Indecisive?
no subject
He turns. And of course, he's surprised. Not by Sephiroth's presence. That's a given, nowadays, and the pull itself tipped him off enough so that before he's even turned the corner onto this street and came into view, Cloud knows.
The only surprise, per se, is that the pull, the presence that makes practically everything else unimportant is actually welcomed.
...Welcomed.
It still sounds strange, in his head. But it's true. Sephiroth, the true one, at least, here, at least, is an ally. And he's grateful for it. Even if it sounds strange.
Well, there's another surprise. What he's doing. Sephiroth, of all people, doing anything as mundane as what he's presently doing is about enough to make him question- well- all of it, but it stands to sense. It wasn't as if the man had anyone diligently working behind the scenes for him now- but of course, he's not just sitting about and expecting someone to do so. Even if he had been spoiled throughout his time at Shinra, he was too resourceful, too practical to expect it here.
....And shit.
He really shouldn't be seen like this, practically salivating over a window display, of all things. He acts, at least, like it was just a passing glance.]
Not really. More like working out what kind of jobs I've got to do to afford it.
[Good thing there's plenty of work available.]
You?
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However, he also isn’t of a mind to contend with his statement.]
I’m ingredient hunting.
[Grocery shopping, without saying grocery shopping. With the gesture of a hand, he indicates the storefront.]
This is probably the last stop on the list.
[Meat spoils after an extended length of time. It is taking an extended length of time just to locate carrots. Thus, shuffling its acquisition to the last.]
...I’m looking for root vegetables. If you’ve seen them.
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Nope. The layout of this city's pretty confusing.
[Most of the villages they'd been to, tended to have a main square. Of course, there were item shops, materia and weaponry places, but more humdrum day-to-day things tended to be sold in the street if the place was enough of a shithole. In designated buildings sometimes, if the town was once not a shithole (before years and years of neglect had turned it into one). But other than this store, he hadn't seen anything similar. Aefenglom's practically a rat's nest of things, kind of like Midgar, but without familiarity, the layout and order of which is a mystery.
But what he does have...
...Is scent.
Something's happening to him, the closer and closer to the full moon it got. Certain senses are vastly increased. Scent is one of them. It's how he managed to find this place, after all.
His arms tighten a little as he keeps his gaze firmly away- should Sephiroth, somehow, be able to pull that little fact out of his head. Of course he couldn't. Cloud knew for all of the (real, alive...) one's talents, that kind of thing wasn't one of them. He was human. Mostly.
But regardless, he's wary. It's embarrassing. It's really embarrassing. He's taking no chances.]
I'll be able to find 'em though. C'mon.
[He follows the street for a few paces, focusing wordlessly as he attempts to make a series of spread out deep inhales less... obvious. There's a lot of smells in this city. Some of them interesting, most of them horrendous. And he can just about make out one that smells of the earth- but slightly different. Not fresh, outside earth with the rain and grass intermingled. Instead it's a dry sort of scent- of storage and dust.
He turns a corner, into an alley. Sharply. Yeah, it's stronger down here.]
This way.
[And. Since now's as good a time as any.]
You seem like you're settling.
[A brief gesture of his arm to the list. Well, it seemed he was keeping busy, at least.]
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Sharp eyes settle back to the path they take, down the street, ‘round a corner, and into an alleyway. He wonders at how he knows with such certainty, when Cloud had professed the confusing nature of these markets just moments before.
He considers the question, and for a brief moment, sounds almost amused in an edgeless sort of way.]
“Settling” is relative. [Very relative, because a quiet part of him does not feel it, feels restless and upended and directionless.] But there are some things that remain the same, no matter the world — the necessities of living. Clothing, shelter, food. Even I need to eat.
[For all his talents, incomparable strength, he is still human. (Insofar as he knows.) The list, though—]
Someone provided me with this. [He gives Cloud a measured look, assessing.] It’s as good of a place to start as any.
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[A small sound, at the list.
He can't say it. Sephiroth had no idea about the things he used to ask Zack about him, no idea that Cloud... well, idolized him to the extent that trivial, stupid information about being perceived as aloof and kind of a loner (of course he hadn't spoken of Genesis and Angeal. There was indulging a fanboy and there were personal things, personal to him too) was interesting to him, and the fact he held a list in general was...
... well, different.
But a good sign.
Because going through his alone- far, far away from Gaia and everyone on it- would be a suitable punishment for what Sephiroth became. But... not what he was. So it's good. It's complicated. It sure is complicated. But it's good.
Down another alley, around another bend. Almost in a complete circle, even- his pace slowing and even some instances of him half turning into alleys before changing his mind apparently, and exiting, to proceed down another street or avenue.]
Got no choice in it. I get that. It's not like we can get 'em to send us back or anything. The answers we got were pretty meaningless too.
[In his mind, honestly? The randomly appearing here and no viable way to send them back Thing was bullshit. He'd seen the mirrors. Someone, somewhere, had to have assembled those things to call them. The people of the city themselves don't exactly seem like anyone to turn to. Especially given what happened the month earlier. And honestly, it leaves a bad taste in his mouth- but there's nothing they can do.
Speaking of bad tastes, they're close now. He knows it, the smell close enough to assume control of his other senses. Taste, especially.
....Yeah. He can't do vegetables.]
This one.
[Confirmation is brief and comes with his hands behind shoved into his pockets. He starts to walk down it, and sure enough- a grocer. As they enter...]
I found some things out from people that've been here longer than us. You probably know 'em already, but if you don't, it's worth knowing.
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☆ closed | nier 「warning: light body horror 」
Shutting his eyes results in visions. He's low to the ground, much lower- and he can hear something (him?) huff and growl as the ground just below him moves. Quickly. There's something- a... feeling? No. A sense? Something he's following. He can feel himself snort into the grass, into stones, into leaves, and his head raises suddenly.
Then what's ahead rushes toward him. His whole view does.
The bellow of something sounds. He can feel it struggle against him, graze him with its tusks, but his jaws are around its neck. He sinks his teeth into fur, tough hide, muscle, sinew and blood. And...
What... was that?
Did he?
His eyes snap open.
He shifts.
He's covered in blood.
He's not exactly sure where he is. He can feel the ground beneath him, the twisted, gnarled roots of an old tree- and it's... uncomfortable. His body's half-twisted between the roots, half-curled into a ball, and... he's bare. His clothes had been destroyed at his transformation, but he didn't know that. Of course, he didn't. His eyes move to the husk of the creature- a large, black boar- some distance away.
There's something around him. It's... strange. It's fur on one side. Thick fur- a strange sort of fur that's deep, bristly in places, shaggy in others. The reverse is slick, wet with blood, smooth and slippery. It's... a skin. And it has legs, claws, a long, bristly tail and...
A head. With teeth. Its mouth is open, and...
Pulling at the skin hurts. It's... stuck to his back? No. It's attached to his back. The small of it, anyway.
The rest of him is... him. Just wet. Sticky, slick with blood, from no conceivable injury. And pulling hurts. So he stops it, closing his eyes, and gathering the parts of the skin that had peeled from him closer toward himself.
He'll find out where he is later...]
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the air is cool, and it washes over his skin, a ripple of energy slowly poring over his body. the glow of the moon is still foreign to him; he'd been used to the daunting heat of the sun back home. here, it was more of a threat than ever.
for a reason entirely unknown to him, his armor is more suffocating than it is protective in these moments. so he stalks through the grass in his tunic instead, eyes sharp and alert as he pursues his next meal. as the minutes pass, he finds himself growing more desperate — or more malicious would be the word.
nier makes do with a poor rabbit. of course, as he emerges from the bushes, he catches sight of something vaguely familiar to him. it's ragged and weary — there's blood matting down its fur, accompanied by an expanse of skin that shows through and reveals something more humanoid.
and then the features on its face gradually become recognizable.
so wordlessly, nier rushes on over; his haphazard transformation has made him even speedier than usual. the husk of the boar explains...most of what he needs to know, but nier crouches before cloud with care in each and every moment, his fingers hooking into the roots to pry them apart in some attempt to release him. ]
Cloud. It's me. Nier. [ a hand moves to smooth his hair out of his face — there's no telling whether it gets there or not. ] Let's go home for the night, okay?
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He remembers, vaguely, waking. Finding himself half-transformed back (in his new mindset, a new transformation entirely and entirely horrifying- claws and fangs worthless, meaningless- replaced with delicate, blunt fingers and useless small teeth.) and worse- stuck in the roots- a fact that no longer stands as this human(?)- Nier(?)- pulls a particuarly large one from the earth.
He snarls.
He looks human now- more or less- but his mind's taking its time in catching up. His eyes flash in the dim light as Nier's arm moves close- and he bares his teeth shortly before he's touched. He half growls- closing his eyes when he feels fingertips glancing against his forehead, pushing dirty hair back.
...His teeth wouldn't be any good. He knows it- but anyone else and he'd try to tear apart their wrist with what he has. Nier's different, though- he smells good, familiar, like soil and leaves and the apartment.
He trusts him. It's fine to be touched.
But he has to stop himself, really stop himself, from protruding his tongue to lick at his wrist. Thankfully, he doesn't. Instead he coughs, turning his head away toward the earth in order to do so- tilting his head back to him.
Words?
Yeah, he should try them.]
...Where'd you come from?
[He's slurring.]
Didn't hear you.
Should've...
[Can he move his arms? Yeah. He takes advantage of the space provided by Nier's earlier effort with the root, to hook his hands around the others. And he pulls himself, moving a few inches out.]
Should've... heard you.
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nier backs up to grant him some kind of space — just enough for him to pull himself back up. fingers curl around cloud's wrist, gentle in their touch. a finger rubs circles into his skin. ]
I was hunting. Needed blood in my system. The full moon's out — they say it makes Monsters act differently. [ nier flicks his arm to show him a patch of dark fur. the texture is different from cloud's, the hairs being much shorter and rougher, but the point is all the same. ] I noticed you left a few hours ago. But you seem tired, so I think this is our cue to head back home.
[ home. yeah. home was the word for it, he realizes. ]
I'll carry you. Okay?
haha, nothing compared to my fails i assure you
A pull. Shit. The fur's stuck on one of the roots, and he has to pause to untangle it from the roots and hold it close to himself to make another attempt at pulling himself out. Now he's free, and he shivers, pulling, and wrapping himself up in the fur at the waist, pulling the length of it up against his chest to drape the rest over his shoulder.
It's... disgusting. Well and truly- the non-furred side of the skin is slick and wet with blood from where it'd peeled naturally, and it's cold. It makes the night air even colder, and he suppresses a shiver as he listens.]
...Oh.
[He can't offer any more. All of this is surprising. He knew he was a monster, of course, but...
Nier's hand circles his wrist, and he half-wants to jump, pull away, everything monsterous in him takes exception to being held fast. But he doesn't- if anything because his own patch of fur is exposed. It looks bristly- almost like the fur he knows (somehow...) to be the top layer of his own. It's intended to keep rain off- to not allow moisture to sink within the follicle, or to move toward the skin.
And he touches it- his eyebrows furrowing as his index lightly scrapes against it. It almost feels like velcro, it's so rough. It's unlike his entirely- even the bristliest of his isn't that rough.]
You don't have to. I can walk.
[Bullshit.]
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[ there's concern brewing in the ice blue of his eyes. he notes the way cloud shudders, the way the night chill hits him at full force. so nier strips off his tunic without a word and promptly motions it towards him, beckoning him to accept it. ]
My blood's cold. So don't worry about it.
[ and suddenly, his arms sneak underneath his calves. nier's eyes rove back towards cloud, and with a nod he signifies the start of what's to come. ]
1...2...3—
[ and begins to hoist him up. the fur adds extra weight, but cloud himself had been thin enough that it isn't too much trouble. nier slowly shifts him into his arms, and as he does, the entirety of what cloud has...become materializes properly. a grotesque mesh of human and inhuman — the animalistic aspect of his form had been wolf-like, but his transformation was stunted and immature in what it was. ]
Just let me take care of it. Please.
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*shields your eyes* nobody look at my 7 typos
only if you don't look at mine
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★☆ obligatory wildcard!
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Cloud! Cloud!!!
[Hopefully it's not too hard to find the blond as Sora rushes up to the man and grabs his arm like an instant koala bear.]
Cloud. There's something really super serious I have to ask you.
[SEPHIROTH SUPER SERIOUS.]
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...Yeah, he's going to wrench his arm away. Sorry, Sora.
Almostlittle brother figure or not, boundaries.And.]
What is it? Did something happen?
[He looks okay enough...]
[It must be important for this guy to launch himself at him like that, right?]
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Uh! Sort of!
[Sora makes a face and frowns. He really can't keep this from Cloud long and so Sora pretty much blurts out.]
Did you know that Sephiroth is here?!
[THAT GUY]
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His gaze is almost cold as he surveys it, unsure of what exactly it means. Was he sick? Did he get some trouble from the upper class? Maybe he'd transformed, and something'd happened?
He shouldn't be concerned.
This guys problem should've been his own, Cloud had more than enough of his own to contend with at the moment, and...
No. That's not him any more. He's concerned. Very much so- and the bright, synthetic chemical burn blue of his eyes darkens a few shades as he examines the face that Sora pulls, as his mind turns through misfortune after misfortune in some attempt to prepare himself for whatever Sora was about to say.
Fortunately, Sora's timely about talking. So.
...Oh.
This guy really must've known him well to know about him.
Must've been trusted too, if he came right here.
Must've been cared about enough to have been warned off, for the fact he did come and he didn't try to attack him.
He bunches up his arms at his chest, his gaze drifting away.]
I know.
[He keeps his eyes away. He should say something else, explain it somehow, but the words for this are difficult to find.]
He's... different to whatever I told you. This is...
[He doesn't know the context of whatever Sora knew. And he sure as hell didn't know anything about light and darkness, or how they had been where Sora came from. But...]
Look, it's complicated. This place controls time. He's from before any of it.
[That probably didn't explain a damn thing.]
Can't settle anything with someone that hasn't got any idea why.
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But he already had a chance to talk with Sephiroth, as tense as it was, about that space in time where Sephiroth wasn't all of that. It's still hard to believe but if Cloud confirms it how can Sora really think twice?
His lips press together and he frowns slightly, his arms crossing over his chest.]
So you know all about that too, huh? Sephiroth and how he has no clue about the stuff he's done. I thought maybe you hadn't run into him yet and I had to tell you.
[He looks up at Cloud, Sora's same gentle concern flashing in his blue eyes.]
I know time and stuff is all messed up but I was really worried for a second. But I guess you're right. He has no clue. What else do you think we should do? I mean... The Sephiroth I know was always trying to hurt you.
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