residentflorist

[ cloud looks distractedly at the baby chocobo with a brow furrowed when she shifts it, because. genuinely where did that come from. anyway, the thing about the constant full body pain is that cloud kind of is used to chronic pain? so the longer it goes on the easier it is to kind of... ignore it and bear through it. so despite still looking Like Shit he seems better than he did even two minutes ago. ]

Wasn't so bad. [ it's said in a soft tone, because he's aware she's worried ] I'll be okay after some rest.

[ this isn't like the benches cloud you can't just sit down for fifteen seconds and be better. but if she won't take the first step to go back he will, walking a little more steadily than before. ]

[are they still holding hands. she's not letting go if he's not because she's unaware that she's the one who's causing him pain to begin with, but she lets cloud step forward first and trails along after him to head back to their apartment.]

You just sayin' that because you scared me? [she will call him on this, and also maybe tattle on herself a little.]

[ well he does not know it's her fault so he's not. pulling away. he just does not have the strength to hold her hand very strongly right now he is. so fucking tired. he is Not walking fast here. ]

Not just because of that. [ he'll be honest that it's part of it? but: ] I woulda been fine if it wasn't for the lung thing.

[ yes. only the lung thing. he's like i was only at red hp i was fine ]

[it's fine, she will hold his hand loosely and walk at his pace and they'll make it to the apartment by sundown. but they're walking along and she shakes her head a little with that.]

I don't think you got that good of a look at yourself. And without my materia or being able to use any magic, the only way to help is that pool. [a little sigh.] Aqua and I talked about it last week. I'm glad it came through so soon.

[ he did not get any look at himself, tbh, but he would still say this because he is stubborn. he doesn't have a lot of feelings about the spring right this second even though it did stop him from. drowning in his own blood. so all he does is hum a little. ]

...So Aventurine's... [ alive? ] Okay?

[hm...]

He's alright. Caelus, Aqua and Nehan were looking at him. They're taking him to the spring, too. [...] He lost consciousness, but he's breathing. He's going to be okay.

[ hmmm. cloud keeps walking in silence at that for a bit, before: ]

Yeah, I know. [ he sounds like he believes aventurine will be okay without any hesitation, which probably makes the follow up a little weird: ] I saw him die.

[ah. so there's that. it probably makes her own follow-up sound equally weird.]

Just the once?

[ animal crossing ? over his head, but, good news: ]

Yeah. [ only once! yay! but after his pause he squeezes her hand ] I...

[ he trails off a little, but he's very obviously staring at her. ]

[a little sigh.]

That's good. Once was too much, but...I'm glad it was only that. [sometimes people die a few times. she has had this conversation with ashlyn. but she's aware he's staring and for a moment she's not sure where his head's at. she doesn't squeeze back, but she adjusts her hold on his hand just to give him something to feel while still being unaware she's causing full-body pain.]

...I'm okay, too. [she says it softly because she thinks something probably happened out there that's worried him, too.]

[ the silence probably stretches out too long again. he's staring at their joined hands, feeling the weight of the day and of the pain. when the thought hits, it's loud even if he doesn't know it:

i killed you ]

I know. [ it's soft, especially compared to. well. that. ] No one actually died, did they?

[

ah. she is just...not going to address that thought right now, packing it away in a nice box to privately deal with later. this is about cloud and things that have obviously disturbed him, so she shakes her head to his question.]

Everyone's okay. No one died, and we're all still here. Just like this morning before you left.

[ STOP DEALING WITH THINGS PRIVATELY HIS BRAIN IS TOO SOUP TO REGISTER HER REACTIONS ]

... None of it was real. [ he sounds a little unsure about that but that's fine let's not get into reality and not reality right this second. they are now at the apartment building because they have walked enough ] That's... good.

[unfortunately she is going to count on his soup brain for a moment. we will head up to the apartment and she's unlocking the door to let them both in, closing it behind her.]

It's good. Everything that happened out there wasn't real. [...] You're safe.

[and with that she lets go of his hand, and she's moving to the drawer in the dresser she's designated for some of his comfier clothes. she's not making him sleep in whatever he's currently wearing, and she frowns briefly at the way his hair isn't perfectly blonde right now.]

...let's get you cleaned up and settled, okay? [offers clothes.]

[ well, he doesn't need the reassurance that he's safe, because he spent zero minutes worried about himself in that place, but before he can respond to that she lets go and--the pain's gone? he's staring down at himself in bewilderment, flexing his hand as if to flex it. there's pain elsewhere, sure, the wounds aren't fully healed, but... it's not as bad.

is it over...?

it takes him a bit to register the clothes offering because of that and he looks at them dumbly before looking at the remains of his stupid white outfit. it is mostly pink at this point. from blood and water. ]

Right. [ he grabs the clothes ] Wait, my--

[ HAD A SUDDEN THOUGHT BUT-- there's the buster sword. nicely left behind in aerith's bedroom. he immediately relaxes ]

[the sword is there and she sets the baby chocobo down to let it explore the apartment, listening to it wark and ruffle its feathers. she catches that stray thought and again she thinks this is a question of making sure that nightmare's over rather than the weird pain.]

Looks like everything's here and accounted for. Good thing, too. I wouldn't have been able to carry it back my myself.

[the implication being she would not let him do it either.]

[ once again looking at the baby chocobo like Seriously How Did This Get Here, but he lets it happen and he turns away ]

I didn't have it. Back there. [ so it is. wild. that it's just waiting for him here, but it's fine. he is not going to question his good fortune. he kind of stands there holding clothes uselessly forgetting that he is supposed to shower ]

[byebye baby...it wanders off to go hop up on one of the chairs in the room. aerith is also suddenly forgetting that cloud's supposed to go shower because now she's just frowning.]

You mean at all? [how the hell do you fight then?]

... Yeah. Woke up without it. Kanda didn't have his, either. [ there's a pause ] I managed to get one.

[ i shouldve let him keep going without one it would have been funny ]

Well that probably pissed him off. [an idle thought, but she shakes her head.] I'm glad you got your hands on one later. But let's get you rinsed off and you can tell me more about what happened, okay? [we have remembered cloud should shower.]

... Right.

[ he still stands there staring blankly at her for a While before he seems to shake himself out of it and trudges off to shower. probably he won't drown in it, right? right??? ]

[he will not because she's just following him to hoist herself up on the counter and make sure he doesn't pass out, honestly. to her credit, she's not looking at him! she seems to be watching their new baby scrounge around and peck at the bookcase. but she's mostly here as a physical presence for him unless he kicks her out.]

[ probably normally he would at least make a comment about it, or feel embarrassed, but he barely seems to be registering her presence when he shucks off his clothes to shower, movements stiff and mechanic. just gotta wash off the remaining blood, right? this is tragic.

the good news is that he seems able to go through the motions of washing himself without any incident beyond some mild hisses when he has to wash off some wounds. they might be closed but that is about it, they are still kind of garish and could probably open again if i was feeling evil. i do not.

also he apparently decided to take this shower to near boiling levels going by the amount of steam aerith will have to contend with before he comes out. luckily it's not too long! he is a clean boy. a clean boy who comes out and gets dressed up ALL by himself, too. i mean he did a piss poor job of drying but by god is he clean and dressed. ]

[yeah she figures he's too out of it to care, so she's on the counter and letting her legs swing idly, heels kicking back into the cabinet softly. is it partially also so cloud can hear she's still there while he's showering? yeah. she doesn't mind the steam so much, and when he comes out and dresses himself she hops down and grabs a towel to gently dry his hair a little. you...tried.]

That's a little better. Come on. [let's go back to the bed. she's not going to sit on it, but she gestures for cloud to lay down.]

[ well. the towel isn't direct physical contact so no pain! just cloud blinking dazedly as he lets her do it. it's gentle, but it... feels like someone else did that not too long ago, and that weirds him out a little. let's not delve into that too hard maybe it is just nostalgia. ]

Feels better. [ it's not like the spring is more than Magic Water, but it felt cloying. (it was the blood not being washed off.) he follows her back to the room and sits down on the bed, though he doesn't lay down yet, staring up at her with his big ol' too glowy eyes. hey is his hair like. a little lighter right now? surely that's her imagination. ] You weren't there at all?

[ he's asked this before earlier, but he-- wants the confirmation again. just in case? ]

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