[Insert witty, fantastic setting details here. Seriously, all you really need to know is that it's a festival. A MONTH LONG festival with Fireworks happening every night once Darkness falls.]
[A festival, huh? Stands with food and activities. People running around everywhere. Cloud isn't sure what kind of world he's in, but he sure doesn't mind it. Better than mindlessly fighting all the time.
Walking through the crowd, dodging people here and there as he passes, Cloud can't help but bump into others as he tries to squeeze by.]
[ She stumbles back a little, then stops as she registers who bumped into her and gives a huff. She's not even sure he stopped to see who he bumped into! ]
You should be! You almost made me drop these little ones.
[ She has goldfish in a bag. Be hittin' up alll the games. ]
You...? Looks like I caught you in headlights, Cloud. [ To be honest, she's surprised herself, but it's not like he's the impossible one for walking out and about freely. ] Hmmm... [ She holds up her plastic bag, watching the fish inside swim about. ] They're doing okay for a little jostling. I'll let you off easy, this time.
Mm. [ She turns and points. ] At that game over there. Are you thinking of getting some? It's a challenge. [ That last bit's said in a bit of dare, trying to get Cloud to play with her. Really, it's just one of those games where you try to scoop a fish in a bag: not too hard as long as you can be gentle and patient.
...Now the question is if Cloud can be gentle and patient in that kind of game. ]
I haven't tried it yet. ...Hadn't really thought about it, actually.
[ Guess what dead people don't do, oops. She'll probably have to fix that in a while, but for now she's flashing a friendly smile at the tank's attendant as they approach it. ]
See how many they have in there? You have to use a little scoop and try to fish them into your bag. It sounds simple, right? Give it a try!
[All right, giving this a try. Catching a fish shouldn't be too bad, he thinks. He takes a scoop and leans over the pool of fish. The moment he hovers over them, however, they scatter. Hovering over another school of fish makes them scatter as well.
So it's going to be like that, is it? Cloud pauses, waiting for a fish to come within range. Then, quickly, he swoops in to scoop it up.
[ She can't help it (or maybe she could, but it's Aerith)--she starts giggling at the look on his face, raising one hand to muffle it. But not really. ] Relax, no one gets it on the first try.
[Second try: another failure. At least this time it wasn't because he missed the fish. He actually had one— until it twitched and broke through the scoop. He took too long trying to get it into the bag.]
[Kuja is quite bewildered by the unfamiliar setting. For once, he finds himself speechless. Isn't he supposed to be dead? If he isn't, then where is he? He's so bewildered, in fact, that he doesn't notice Cloud until Cloud's shoulder strikes his own. He turns.]
Pardon me. [His tone doesn't exactly sound forgiving. There's still dust in his hair and on his clothes from his previous location beneath a gigantic, collapsing tree, and, realizing this, he brushes some of it off of his sleeves and jacket.]
[Cloud's first instinct is to ignore the sardonic response. He didn't want to waste his free time getting irritated over something so small. But the familiarity of the voice makes him double-take.]
Kuja? [The other man looked, well, slightly more unkempt since Cloud last saw him. Not knowing where (or when) Kuja came from, Cloud assumes it's because of a fight.] What happened?
[He's not precisely startled by the sound of his own name. After all, there are people he doesn't know who know him, considering all he's done, his sphere of influence.
Yet this is different, and this man genuinely seems to want to know what happened to him.] What happened to me... [He trails off, as he isn't precisely sure, considering where he is now. He also isn't ready to say I died.]
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Walking through the crowd, dodging people here and there as he passes, Cloud can't help but bump into others as he tries to squeeze by.]
Sorry. [He mumbles to whomever he just ran into.]
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You should be! You almost made me drop these little ones.
[ She has goldfish in a bag. Be hittin' up alll the games. ]
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I—
[He can't even sputter another apology. Find yourself in a different world, run into a surprise!Aerith. Not what he expected at all.]
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He takes a look at her fish.] You won them?
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Mm. [ She turns and points. ] At that game over there. Are you thinking of getting some? It's a challenge. [ That last bit's said in a bit of dare, trying to get Cloud to play with her. Really, it's just one of those games where you try to scoop a fish in a bag: not too hard as long as you can be gentle and patient.
...Now the question is if Cloud can be gentle and patient in that kind of game. ]
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...I guess I'll give it a shot.
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[ la da da leading the way back ]
This is a nice town, don't you think? Kind of like Costa Del Sol...the beach is so beautiful.
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It's not bad. The food here is good too.
[He might not admit it aloud, but he hit up a food stand pretty fast once he got his bearings.]
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[ Guess what dead people don't do, oops. She'll probably have to fix that in a while, but for now she's flashing a friendly smile at the tank's attendant as they approach it. ]
See how many they have in there? You have to use a little scoop and try to fish them into your bag. It sounds simple, right? Give it a try!
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So it's going to be like that, is it? Cloud pauses, waiting for a fish to come within range. Then, quickly, he swoops in to scoop it up.
....
....
...he caught nothing.]
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[That doesn't deter him, though. He's already leaning over to give it another shot.]
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....
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[ And she really does mean to encourage him. She's just also amused by his efforts.
It's been waaaay too long since she's gotten to see Cloud just doing ordinary things. Including getting worked up over something harmless. ]
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The third try proves to be a charm; now he knows how to scoop the fish and to quickly get it in the bag. He manages to snag a small, orange one.]
Got it.
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/I just like playing with her different cameos
you should totally do itadaki street special too
the sprites are so adorable in that
they really are. it's practically criminal.
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sorry for the late tag. ;;
no worries!
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Pardon me. [His tone doesn't exactly sound forgiving. There's still dust in his hair and on his clothes from his previous location beneath a gigantic, collapsing tree, and, realizing this, he brushes some of it off of his sleeves and jacket.]
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Kuja? [The other man looked, well, slightly more unkempt since Cloud last saw him. Not knowing where (or when) Kuja came from, Cloud assumes it's because of a fight.] What happened?
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Yet this is different, and this man genuinely seems to want to know what happened to him.] What happened to me... [He trails off, as he isn't precisely sure, considering where he is now. He also isn't ready to say I died.]
Who are you?
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Cloud.
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And how do you know me, Cloud? [There's a wariness in his tone. He would think most people who knew him would fear him or loathe him at this point.]
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We're from the same side. [Not friends, he knows, but allies in the sense they were forced to fight the same 'enemy'.] We fought for Chaos.