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

[residentmerc]

......

I'm hoping they don't.

[ HE HAS NO MORE FAITH FAITH IS OVER ]

[residentflorist]

They have to stick to the math. If they stick to the math, then there's only two more people to bring it down to five when they're ready. If they repartner, it's only buying them a few more days. That just feels kind of cruel.

[residentmerc]

And what they did to Ashlyn wasn't?

[ no that's unhelpful he shakes his head ]

... It's up to them. If they want a bigger say in how they die. [ if they want to force a friend to do it or do it themselves? he guesses? damn. ]

[residentflorist]

I didn't say it wasn't, Cloud. [the fact that she snaps at him is both a little bit of a testament to how mad she is and also it surprises her because she did not mean to.]

...sorry. I know. They'll figure it out. There isn't anything for us to do right now but prepare for everybody who does show up tomorrow. That's our job.

[residentmerc]

[ it's fine he thinks he deserves it for saying that anyway so he shakes his head ]

... Don't be. [ sorry he means. ] Right. They'll have quite the welcome committee waiting for them.

[residentflorist]

All of us and each other. It's almost everyone who started out here. [which is insane. it's entirely insane.] Cemetery's going to be crowded tomorrow, but we should probably still be there once we find out the results of the ritual.

[residentmerc]

You sure crowding them that much is the answer?

[ he's not objecting he's just. god if he'd woken up to 25 people he'd have pulled a vincent and closed his coffin ]

[residentflorist]

No. But you know people are going to do it anyway. [herself included.] Everyone wants to be prepared, and sometimes they don't know how else to show support.

[residentmerc]

Yeah.

... We'll see. Nothing we can do for now but ... wait.

[ THERE'S BEEN. A LOT OF THAT. ]

[residentflorist]

[just...frowning at that.]

...I think I'm getting tired of only waiting. I want to be able to do something.

[residentmerc]

... Yeah. [ just. yeah. ] Maybe when that ritual is complete, we'll have our part to play.

[residentflorist]

Maybe. Nehan and Scien both have said we have to stop worrying about their side so much and focus on ours. [she's still leaning against him because now she's sulking.] And I understand that. I get it. But it's still hard not to when all of that just happened.

[residentmerc]

Not like we've got much on ours in the first place. Rocks and parts to a machine we don't know how to build.

[ she can lean and they can both sulk together smh ]

[residentflorist]

The rocks at least finally changed last week. And Scien's here, so he and Nehan can work on the machine. Essek might not know as much but I'm sure he can help them, too. But that's something for them to do.

It's us that I'm not sure about. [...and because it's cloud, and because she really is trying to get better at talking to him about her feelings, she continues.] I'm glad Yuffie made it and got to us safely. But I'm worried about her a little, too, and the lasting damage this might have on her.

[residentmerc]

[ he nods at the first part because. yea. they have stuff to do. meanwhile!! they!! keep just staring into the void!!!! ]

... Yeah. Being over there hasn't been easy on her. And I think she really wanted to finish things herself.

[ the thing is. he gets that? intimately? but also fuck that stay here yuffie ]

[residentflorist]

I know. Her letters always made it sound like she was really struggling after everything happened. And I know she wanted to finished things herself. She told me she was planning to take care of Ashlyn on Friday, but Laudna got to her first. She's been taking on so much responsibility when she really should not have to be the one doing these things.

[fuck off from being responsible!! you're a teenager!!]

...I'm also worried that this is going to change her relationship with Laudna, too, after everything. Not necessarily damage it forever, but change it to something harder to handle for a while.

[residentmerc]

She's taking on a lot of responsibility back home, too. She would've done it no matter what.

[ the difference is she has the rest of them but like. he is at least not TOO annoyed at the responsibility falling to her. and. ]

... Her relationship with Laudna's gonna be affected, there's no way around it. But they're both tough, and they're close to each other. They'll work things out. Yuffie knows Laudna wasn't in control.

[residentflorist]

I know, but the difference is that we were at least with her back there. [she'll outright say it? but she seems to realize this is a losing argument the whole way down.]

...yeah. That's the way it's been this whole time, right? Logically knowing that nobody was in control of themselves, but these things still happened. I just hope there's enough time for them. There're some people here who still haven't been able to reconcile, I think.

[residentmerc]

There's some people who haven't wanted to reconcile, either. But they... care about each other. They'll work it out. Probably with a lot of apologies.

[residentflorist]

[there are some cases she's less sure about, but that's...well. can't argue that either.

maybe the things she's worried about really are kind of stupid, aren't they. for a moment, she nods to that to show that she heard him, but not long after she goes silent and settles to latch onto him instead of anything useful.]

[residentmerc]

[ ... holds her hands. whenever she goes silent he thinks he has said something wrong and maybe he has!!! WOOPS ]

... And they won't be dealing with it alone. Right?

[residentflorist]

[oh. handholds. she will allow that, and maybe someday cloud will realize that when aerith goes quiet it's because she feels stupid and not particularly because of something cloud said.]

Mmhm. That's right. All of us are here to support each other through the end.

[residentmerc]

[ HE DOESN'T WANT HER TO FEEL STUPID!!! ]

Yeah. Whatever that ends up looking like.

[residentflorist]

[busy looking at their hands.]

Ideally it ends up looking like all of us getting out of here in one piece and free to go where we want, and able to do what we need to do. That's probably changed for some people, too, by now.

[residentmerc]

[ well he meant more what the ritual and the god summoning will look like but that part is. hm. squeezes her hands as he also looks down at them ]

... What do you think it'll look like for us, then? Back home.

[ cloud is not sure if he should be worried about The Reunion because hes like. ummm has it like... happened... about it ]