Cloud

[residentflorist]

code

Lilium
Derived from Latin lilia, which may have come from a corrupted
pronunciation of a word from an extinct Eastern Mediterranean language
Humility, devotion, restored innocence after death

"Lovers used to give these when they were reunited."

Comments

[residentflorist]

[a hand comes up to her neck and she takes a step back.]

No, it's fine. [we will just grab clothes.] I'll be out in a minute.

[like. unless cloud plans on staying to make sure she remains upright, that's also fine.]

[residentmerc]

[ hmmmm. one concern. while he does kind of want to stay here to make sure she stays upright, she basically tells him to go so he nods ]

... Alright. I'll be right out if you need anything.

[ he will in fact be right beside the door like a loser until she comes out, thanks ]

[residentflorist]

[there's a nod and when cloud leaves, she's fairly quick to get dressed in her more comfy clothes which i am deciding are a cute tank and shorts pj set. she dries her hair halfway, and eventually she comes out of the bathroom and drifts back toward the main room.

the outfit does mean cloud can probably see a lot of fading bruises and the closed wound on her shoulder. but the one to her back is covered, and her arm's no longer broken. she pauses, dropping the old clothes in a pile in the corner to get rid of later before moving to grab a tiny vase out of a cabinet for that black flower. it can go on the window sill by the bed, and after that she's left standing like she's out of place.]

...okay. [okay?]

[residentmerc]

[ he watches her do these things while vibrating anxiously in place like a useless idiot, until she stops and he walks closer to take her hand again ]

... Okay? [ tugging her gently... towards bed... ] Everything's in place now.

[residentflorist]

[she goes along almost too easily, holding his hand and following him toward the bed.]

Yeah. Everything's...right where it belongs again. Including you and me. [okay.] And we were both here this morning, right?

[residentmerc]

[ how about we sit down while our brain is mush aerith isn't that good. just sit down and cloud will sit next to you and keep holding your hand so you stop losing it ]

Sure. We're back where we belong. [ he doesn't want to say they belong here, but he goes along with it, staring at her ] Yeah. We were both here this morning. Had that party yesterday.

[ it feels like a million years ago ]

[residentflorist]

[how does it feel being on the other side of this, cloud. she sits down, and even if he's holding her hand she's tipping over almost immediately to curl into his side with her eyes closing halfway.]

Right. That underwater dome. I remember that now. [amongst all of her bullshit, there is fondness.] Yesterday was nice.

[residentmerc]

[ it sucks. he hates it. okay, he's quick to catch her and curl an arm around her to hold her close, though he's still very gentle because he doesn't know what all... hurts. ]

Yeah. It was. [ she remembers and that's what matters, really. ] And today...?

[ please tell him what actually happened he's losing his mind ]

[residentflorist]

[she's shying away from leaning her back against his arm too much but otherwise she's close.]

And today...we came back in the fish tank. [yeah? they did do that. she's letting herself think.] ...when you were on the boat going toward the tournament island, did you remember this place?

[residentmerc]

[ is shoulders better. he is truly trying to navigate all the pain so she doesn't hurt but he can offer comfort he's not GOOD AT THIS ]

Yeah. That happened. [ an octopus was there. ] ... On that boat... On and off. I couldn't remember any details.

[residentflorist]

[honestly it doesn't matter, she currently seems to want to be held if the way she's nestling into him is an indicator.]

But it wasn't like...did you remember home? Us? The way things were supposed to be.

[residentmerc]

... Yeah. I did.

[ he brushes a hand through her hair delicately ]

You didn't?

[residentflorist]

[hairpets are safe and nice.]

...we lived on the island together. It was small and isolated, and there were things wrong with it, but it was home. We grew up together...you, me, Tifa and Zack. In an orphanage for years, but eventually we got older and started our own lives. But we were all still close.

[residentmerc]

[ MADE UP BACKSTORY CONCERNS RISING ... WHO WOULD DO THAT.. CHANGE SOMEONE'S HISTORY. MAKE THEM FORGET THE TRUTH......

anyway more hair pets ]

... That's what you remembered. [ okay. alright. ] It wasn't real.

[ she knows that, he thinks, but. just. reestablishing. ]

[residentflorist]

...but it could have been. That would've been kind of nice, don't you think? The four of us being together. [this is kind of cyoa brain and also aerith going "i think all of us would have been good together."]

[residentmerc]

... Yeah. I guess it would've been.

[ if he thinks too hard about that scenario--all four of them together-- he feels something like yearning and vertigo, like if he thinks too hard something terrible will happen, and this isn't about him, so he dismisses it. ]

So what happened to us there?

[residentflorist]

...Zack joined the Corps at one point. People who protect the public and keep the peace. And...later, he was killed in action. Murdered while trying to follow a lead on an investigation. So you and Tifa joined the Corps, too, in his stead. Yuffie came to us a little later. Self-defense instructor, the youngest and only on the island. She was from a nearby orphanage, but...the whole thing burned down. She and Kate were the only survivors. You two were co-instructors to teach people how to fight, and I...did what I always do. [a thoughtful pause, and brief melancholy.] "Coene full of flowers, wallet full of money."

We were all pretty close. Yuffie was one of the people helping with the investigation of the string of murders that had been taking place. You and Tifa were pretty caught up with business though. I didn't get to see you much in the last few days. [hilariously they did not show up at all, just established in her backstory. good for cloud honestly.]

[residentmerc]

[ again if he lingers too long on the line of zack killed in action he gets a headache, so wow, let's move on from this right away. some of this is. uh. weirdly familiar, but he doesn't question it too much. it would not be the first time people were dragged places that were familiar to others. ]

... Yuffie'd be terrible at holding down a regular job like that. [ coene full of flowers, wallet full of money. of course she still sold flowers. ] So what happened those last couple of days?

[residentflorist]

[pff.]

She was good at it. But...the six of us were working together to solve the murders that were happening around the island. The work of a serial killer. We spent the days investigating and talking to people. Finding clues. Some of them were strangers, but some of them were familiar friends. [a pause.] On the first day, we found Aqua's body after some investigating. She'd been killed the night before, but we didn't have clues to lead toward a culprit. So we split up for the day to go about our evenings. I...don't know where Karlach, Yuffie and Izutsumi went. I can guess now, but I didn't at first.

[...she knows he's not going to like hearing this, anxious energy in her emotions and a little uneasy fear.]

Tomizawa, Anisphia and I woke up in a lab though.

[residentmerc]

[ YES ACTUALLY HE DOES HATE IT, THANKS. his hold on her tightens a little and his reflexive emotion is-- well. it's anger. of course it's anger. why does she have to end up in a lab again. but he tries to calm himself down at her fear and anxious feelings ]

... Did they do anything to you?

[residentflorist]

[she's on and off disassociating a little while she's talking, glowing eyes occasionally drifting off to stare at something else in the corner of the room. if he hated this part, he's gonna hate this next bit, too.]

...they had us restrained for testing. Most of the tests were going to be run by this friend of Anisphia's. Euphyllia. She told me about her once, she's her assistant. But I didn't really think much of her when we were there. [faint confusion.] Zack was helping her. I don't think he was expecting me to be awake though.

[residentmerc]

[ he hates her disassociating with glowing eyes! that's his thing! stop stealing his horrible, horrible thing! and then she keeps talking and he hates that more actually. never mind. he is absolutely livid and then--confused right back. ]

... Zack? But I thought he was dead?

[residentflorist]

He told me he never died. And the first time we were in the lab he said...doing what he was doing was the only way I would live. That I wouldn't remember it later anyway.

[residentmerc]

[ hilarious that this is basically the one memshare he got from mathis but he's not thinking about it right now ]

What was he doing to you?

[residentflorist]

...I didn't know at first. We were connected to cables, and he just kept talking about how this was the only way. But the second night we woke up there...it was a little more clear. We were just a vessel for learning how to implement memories to a real body. He said...he couldn't risk doing the testing on my real one. So there were copies he used. He didn't die, but...he says I did.

[the hallucination zack in the corner says: "If you've felt alone, then I'll make up for it once this is finished, I promise you, but we still have to go a little further. I'm not letting you die again."

this is not comforting. thank you, hallucination zack.]