( open ) i will never be

[supersoldier]

Who: Sephiroth and YOU!
When: Aereuer 13th
Where: The Looking-Glass House
What: Memshare event!
Warnings: N/A, will add when necessary.

[Sephiroth's mirror is framed in black, cut in clean, elegant lines that look as though they are sharp to touch. It is hard to perceive much else in such a dark color, not without peering closer, and strangers won't note anything odd. Those who know him better could see more: patterned lines interspersed throughout like the vanes and notches of feathers, and a long, curving katana carved into the bottom. The contour lines of a steely city, artfully hidden beneath the rest.

The wood is glossy, unmarred, and perfect to those uncaring. Spiderwebbing, barely-there hairline fractures are visible to closer CR. They shimmer at the right angle, so briefly that it might have been a trick of the light.]

((ooc; these memshare prompts are open to anyone unless specified otherwise! he'll just be more guarded about a few of the more personal ones if you're not close CR. if you want something specific, hmu at aurajen! thanks!))

Comments

[supersoldier]

[A part of him wants to ask him to leave, an innate reaction of the reticent when something personal has been put on display for all to see. He thinks that he should stand in front of his own mirror, now, instead of investigating the memories within — so that curious passerby’s like Riku do not wander in unattended.

But what’s the point, now? He has not seen anything out of the ordinary, nothing that he wouldn’t have admitted to. So many of his days were like this, and he thinks that this instance is only ingrained into memory as a lesson to himself — the words of others will always be present, always swirling around the extraordinary. There is no need to pay them heed. It is easier to keep that distance, let them wonder from afar.

He considers Riku’s enthusiasm for a moment, and how it skews his reply.]

I beat my old time, if that’s what you mean.

[Wryly, dismissive. A dull quip all the same.]

Every day was training. If there wasn’t visible improvement, that was a problem.

[shadowsthedawn]

[If Riku feels any discomfort over having invaded his mirror, and in turn his memory, he does a good job of hiding it. If anything what he's just seen has only made him more interested in learning about his current surroundings, and the man before him. If anything, the real Sephiroth showing up only gives him a chance to sate his curiosity.]

No. I'm sure it didn't take you long to beat that score with your skills. [A beat.] What's your current record?

And what were you training for? I saw a bunch of people in uniforms, talking about a war. I'm assuming they're soldiers of some kind. But you...definitely looked too young to be a soldier.

[supersoldier]

[He should find something amusing in how eager the other is to know about old records and the like, despite himself. Does he even really recall, clearly, what the timestamp would read now? Is that particular rotation of enemies-to-be-felled in the VR simulation even still active, years later? Sephiroth has gone through so many, all fashioned in the shape of angry creatures or enemy soldiers that he would be expected to cut down in the field, and in that way, they began to represent strategies more than enemies. Obstacles in which Sephiroth would have to puzzle out the quickest way to kill them, and very rarely was that puzzle very difficult any longer.]

I don’t specifically remember. Likely half the time of what you saw.

[A reasonable assessment, for a man who can cut down dragons in two swipes of a sword as he is now.]

The city this memory takes place in… It’s called Midgar. And Midgar has been at war with the nation of Wutai for some time now, thus all the whispering. [As for himself, he speaks plainly, a correction-] This is about the age when I was becoming deployed on the battlefield more often. So no, I wasn’t too young.

[shadowsthedawn]

[Half the time. And the time he had seen already was fast enough that he had had trouble keeping up with the younger Sephiroth's movements. He can only imagine how fast that must make the man before him.]

Maybe when we're back in the waking world you can give me some tips. My swordsmanship is mostly self-taught. I'd like to learn...if you don't mind?

[Despite being self-taught he's not self-conscious about his style. It's served him well enough in the past couple of years. It's his. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have to work to adapt and improve it.]

Midgar...[He shakes his head again.] That's crazy. You barely looked twelve or thirteen. Why would anyone send a kid into a war? [He's not entirely unaware of the irony of his question. But at least in the case of him and Sora, no one had expected they would need to step into Aqua and Terra's places so soon.]

[supersoldier]

[A beat of silence, considering him. Usually, he'd decline, having more on his plate than what allowed time to survey someone self-taught, but the circumstances are different here. On this planet, he is always seeking something to do; something to keep the listlessness at bay. Training was often the balm to that itch, and adding more of it -- even if it was aiding in sharpening the skills of another -- would not be anything new. He's already helped Tataru once.

What's one more?]

That would be fine. As long as you're committed to showing improvement.

[As for the remark about being too young to fight, it's a foreign notion, strange to hear someone question it.]

Why wouldn't they? [Though his tone is cool, his pride isn't sure if it should bristle.] If that "kid" wins them the war, it would be foolish not to.

[shadowsthedawn]

[A smile breaks across his face and he nods quickly. He's always taken his training seriously, but there's only so much he can teach himself through his own experiences. Having someone else to teach him will expand his abilities.]

Yeah, of course.

[His excitement is tempered a bit by Sephiroth's response. He hadn't meant to sound like he was doubting the man's capabilities, even at such a young age.]

That's just a lot of pressure to put on a kid. I know because I've been there. But I also had my friends by my side. But you looked like you were on your own.

[The gossiping soldiers didn't seem like great sources of support.]