You'll Always Be A Memory

[backoff]

WHO: Cloud Strife + You
WHERE: A room that's part office and part bedroom
WHAT: Calibration. Cloud has been in his own mind before to find his true self. This time it's different.
WHEN: During the event
WARNINGS: Sephiroth gets his own warning enter at your own risk (if you don't want any of scenes don't touch the black feather), cross-dressing, blood, alcohol, death, fire. (side note: you can touch the Buster Sword multiple times for different scenes if you want to avoid death scenes with it please state so)



The room is divided in a split, both rooms look simple and run down. The left side of the room is an tiny office space. A desk that doesn't have a lot clatter with a lone chair behind it. As if it was used rarely, there's an old style cord phone on the desk. A tiny vase with a yellow flower in it. A glass with red liquid partially filled on top of what would seem like bills. There's a dart board on the wall, right next to it is a calendar with scribbled notes. A window to look out of for the view of Edge.

The right side of the room is the bedroom. There's a dresser along the wall that has several objects upon it. A pair of long golden earrings carefully land on upon a folded up dress that appears to be black and blue. In the middle of the dresser is a infantryman helmet as if it was trying to be a center piece for something. Right at the edge of the dresser is a black feather threatening to topple off of it and flitter towards the ground. The object leaning on the dresser closer to the door is the Buster Sword.

There's a bed in the room under another window. This window appearing to be raining outside with dark clouds.

Cloud is leaning against the wall at the back right where the room splits down the middle. His arms are folded, his head is down as he stares at the floor. It's quiet, peaceful and boring.

Comments

[deal_me_in]

Boring isn't Cayde's jam. If he'd had the option or knew how he'd even gotten here, he probably would have skipped the space. It looks oh so very normal, and maybe, just maybe that's part of what sets him at unease. Maybe that's not the right word, but there's that something. Maybe it's the whole dream deal.

Seeing the blond there makes it meaningful. It also prompts so many questions, and yet something just seems to hint that a lot of the ones he'd like to ask would probably be rude and pointless.

"How we doing here?" he says, because he needs to say something. The quiet stillness is unnerving in its own way. Of course, that's called peace, but you go about in his world and even peace has some kind of yammer in the background. Peace is pulling the trigger and setting something else to rest.

It's probably unsurprising that he drifts over towards the oversized sword, sizing it up, finding it's not that unusual a size that he couldn't see some Guardian running around with the like. His fingers dance an anxious tattoo at his side as he debates pointlessly over whether to give it a heft or not.

[backoff]

Cloud looks up from his spot from the wall. The Exo being part of the room is a strange sight at first. He slowly peels himself away from that spot and walks towards Cayde. There's something in his walk that is less threatening, more relaxed, a little at ease. The clothing he's in is a long sleeved tight dark blue turtleneck, the same black military style pants and boots. It's as if this place wanted him to even seem relaxed.

"Waiting to see what might happen." He's not even too sure what would. His eyes focus on the fingers and notices what Cayde's looking at. Cloud knows that the sword has been through a lot. It has a ton of history.

[deal_me_in]

"Waiting's never any fun. I'm more of a doer," the Exo replies simply. "Nice room though." If kind of on the dull side. At least it was neat.

"So tell me about this oversized butter knife." It looks cumbersome, the balance is probably terrible, but Cloud wouldn't keep a thing like that if he couldn't wield it. Finally giving into curiosity, Cayde lifts his hands to grasp the hilt.

[backoff]

Cayde finds himself within a mako reactor. He's standing right behind a teenage Cloud, dressed in an Shinra Infantryman uniform. There's a man dressed in black with long silver flowing hair standing with his back turned in front of a large scientific tube filled with liquid covering what's inside. There's a lot of wiring inside and outside. There's all kinds of extra tubing and more scientific tubes.

The teenage Cloud stands next to the Buster Sword and reaches out with his right hand grabbing the hilt of it. Using all of his strength he pulls it out from the ground where the tip broke into ground. Cloud wields it the best he can. He charges right for the man in black. The Buster Sword stabs right into the backside of the man into the tube cracking it. Cloud pulls the Buster Sword away right after that. He turns and immediately runs out to go to Tifa.

Cloud remains quiet until the memory finishes. The reason why he was waiting he wasn't sure what this room had to offer. It had to offer memories. He didn't want to think about that. There's a lot of reason why his younger self did that. It's a lot of painful raw emotion, death and fire. "That oversized butter knife has a lot of history."

[deal_me_in]

The sudden shift causes the Exo to freeze, and it takes him a moment to figure what he's seeing. Even then he's still not sure, save that it's something from the past. From Cloud's past.

He has no idea what sort of bad blood was between Cloud and Silver there, but clearly the latter must have had it coming. Cloud didn't strike Cayde as the sort to just stab someone in the back so viciously, otherwise. Of course, given how young this Cloud looks, maybe he was more hotblooded in those days.

Perhaps the abrupt jerk of Cayde's hand is from earlier reflex once he'd felt something off, but the memory's passed, and his hand's pulled back as though discovering the hilt was on fire. He blinks a bit, looking around, finding Cloud there, the one he's met. He grimaces, apologetic.

"...yeah, I noticed. That was...something." He knows those emotions well. "Sorry..." he feels he should say.

[kallig]

Altair didn't want to play the Agrii's games.

Didn't want anyone poking about his head, nor did he want to poke about anyone else's. Especially someone he didn't know. And yet he was here, in a place that was not his own, among memories that belonged to someone else.

So when he found himself here, he crossed his arm, and ignored any desire to touch the things that immediately jumped out at him, trying to draw his attention.

Trying to focus on anything that wasn't awkward, he went to the window, watching the rain and dark clouds, "Does it often rain like this where you're from?"

It was as neutral of a question as he could think to ask.

[backoff]

Cloud's taken by surprise but wasn't going to make any kind of complaints on it. He looks at Altair first before following his gaze to the window with the rain falling against it. The water droplets roll down as if it's heavy rain.

Cloud slowly gets off from the wall to walk over to see if there was anything else about this window.

"Dark skies. Not often, but it does rain like this."

[kallig]

"I see."

Altair was pretty used to the kind of weather outside the window. On Dromund Kaas it had always rained like this, though on Dromund Kaas, the rain was always accompanied by thunder and lightning that could leave a grown man as a charred spot on the sidewalk.

"Do you like rain? Or dislike it?"

That black feather kept drawing his attention. He was trying to ignore the desire to go pick it up.

[backoff]

Cloud silently listens to the rain as it hits against the window. He never knew why he felt more at ease by the light sound it makes. There's a small startled surprise by the next question. Did he like or dislike the rain? Cloud brings up a hand to rest his chin on his fingers as he thinks. The question should be easy enough for anyone. It's a yes or no question.

For Altair it could feel as if it were several minutes before he finally decided on how to say it.

"Rain has a deep connection to the memories I have. Good and bad." Cloud moves closer to the window while placing his fingertips against the glass. "I find it comforting and soothing now."

"What item are you looking at on the dresser?" He did notice something over there was drawing the other's attention.

[kallig]

"I see."

It was a good answer. Altair's would have been similar, had he found himself on the receiving end of the same question.

"... The feather."

No reason to try and skirt around it. The feather was holding his attention, even as they spoke.

"Is it okay if I touch it or would you prefer I didn't?"

[plate_builder]

The room is about to be less quiet, less peaceful, less boring. If only because it has a friend now. one that has moved into the room form wherever they come from, clad in that truly unique commissioner's coat of his, hands tucked behind his back to avoid the urge to touch anything. Most of it he suspects he knows the importance of.

For a long moment his eyes linger on the flower, and there are unmistakably tears in his eyes, a whispered prayer on his lips. They all had spaces like that, didn't they? Places in their heart that they kept secret for her. Reeve knew his own space had it too, hidden away, a picture of the flower on the desk in his head that he's grown familiar with. But here...

He dares not touch it, not wanting to see that again.

So instead he keeps moving until he sees the dress, and stops, chuckling.

"How much trouble would I be in if I were to touch this? I've only heard what others have pried out of Tifa and Aerith about this, back when we traveled."

[backoff]

Cloud's relieved that it's someone he knows this time. Reeve would understand a few of the items that lingered around the rooms. He quietly walks towards the center of the room as the other wonders around.

The flower would be connected to Aerith, but to which memory? It would be hard to see any of them. Cloud shakes his head a little while chuckling a bit.

"What would happen if you touched it? Wall Market stayed at Wall Market." It always ended up being the "you had to be there" moment.

[plate_builder]

"I mostly just hope that were I to touch it, I would get to see how the dress looked," Reeve admits, chuckling to himself. Of EVERYTHING in the room, the dress is probably the lightest. The thing that he can most readily risk.

But instead he moves to stand in the middle of the room.

"Have you been okay? What with everyone prying?"

[backoff]

"That's up to you to touch it then." Cloud had to admit he wondered if Reeve actually would. But when the older man came towards the middle of the room near him. Cloud's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Well..." He rubs the back of his neck. "As okay as I can be. I could equally be prying on them." It's better than staring into windows.

[plate_builder]

"That does not strike me as your style," he mused, his eyes skirting around the room and catching sight of the flower. It made him shudder in disgust.

[afterform]

( Vincent comes into the room with a slow step across the threshold of his own personal room and Cloud's. His eyes scan the room before they settle on Cloud. A moment drifts by, it's quiet, and the air in the room is heavy with the smell of precipitation. Vincent is comfortable in the silence, and he allows his eyes to scan the room once more. He sees unfamiliar items as well as all too familiar ones. He pulls in a breath and holds it in his lungs.

His eyes return to Cloud. )

You're here... or I am.

( Was he dreaming of Cloud or was Cloud dreaming of him? )

[backoff]

[ Cloud's eyes widen at the sight of Vincent. He hadn't seen him come in at all. Reeve would be happy to see another friend. He shrugs while stepping away from the wall towards the other. ]

You're here.

[ They could go back and forth on that matter all day if Vincent wanted. ]

When did you get here?

[afterform]

( Vincent recalled the steps he had taken to get to this place. Well, the place where his body laid dreaming. The long hallway that eventually opened up into these rooms, the warning from the natives. He was able to recall these memories vividly, and this seemed less like a dream and more like a moment of consciousness. Yet, he was positive he was walking within Cloud's subconscious. )

Days ago, maybe a week.

( He focuses on the flower on the desk. Another vivid memory comes to him and his brows furrow. He looks across to Cloud, specifically his arm for the ribbon they both wear. )

Even in dreams, she is ever-present.

[backoff]

From my understanding of what I've been told. Time is a bit funny here. It lasts longer in hours.

[ Cloud can get others to give information. He can easily avoid them too but it seemed worth knowing certain facts if they were going to be here a while. Reeve filled in some blanks for being here for three months. Cloud's subconscious is not broken this time. He's wearing a long sleeved dark blue turtle neck, black military pants with boots. If he's wearing the ribbon at all it'll be hidden under the left sleeve. ]

I don't think she will not be on mind.

[afterform]

( Vincent's eyes leave Cloud to return to the flower. He's silent a moment as he thinks of Aerith. Guilt twists in both their lives, for things they have done and things they did not succeed in doing. Aerith's murder came from the stained hands of yet another victim, one who Vincent had failed to protect so many years ago. Sephiroth became a vessel for Jenova to work through, a puppet hung by its strings.

That wasn't even the end of it either. The remnants of Jenova sprouted new children to corrupt. Children who failed her again not only in actions but by birth for all of them were counterfeits of him.

Vincent pushes the thoughts and feelings down. The events were in their past, and they faced a new dilemma. He looks to Cloud once again. )

This world may call on others.

( Aerith or Sephiroth may come here. )

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve doesn't mind boring. He's had his fill of excitement in the last Calibrations and could do with calmness, now. He walks inside and immediately hones in on the man there. Steve walks in a little more and offers what he hopes is a disarming smile, hands up and palms forward. He saw the sword, already. He doesn't want to see it any better, in case this guy is defensive about his head.

"Hey," he greets with a short wave. Steve looks around once more and sees the dartboard against the wall. His smile widens as he walks toward it.

"This is a nice addition. Hoping people play a few rounds instead of searching the room?"

[backoff]

Cloud stays against the wall as he watches the next one coming in. For the moment he's getting used to the visitors. Steve putting up his hands made him tilt his head. The sword had been right in sight but he was no where near it.

"Hey...?" He says and questions back because Cloud wasn't expecting a reaction quite like it.

"Is that your way of asking to play a few rounds?" The blond gets off from the wall and walks slowly over towards the desk and a bit away from where the dartboard hanged on it.

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve relaxes a bit at the other man's easy demeanor and shrugs a shoulder. "More asking what is and isn't safe to touch. This isn't my first time in Calibrations so I am all too familiar with the fact that these places can be minefields of memories no one wants to share."

He can only guess what is going on in his own room.

"My name is Steve, by the way. I don't think we've met."

[backoff]

Not Steve's first time in a room in this way. How many others were there? Cloud wondered about that silently. "The black feather mostly. Everything on this side of the room should be safe. I know of another that recognized these rooms."

He leans against the desk.

"Cloud Strife. No, we haven't. I haven't been here long."

[brooklyn_boy]

"Steve Rogers," he rounds out. "From Earth. A version of Earth, anyways. There's a lot of different ones around here."

Confident that the room was safe outside of the black feather, Steve looked back at the dartboard and moved to go and get the darts out of it so that they could play. It was better to do that then just sit around staring at each other.

"When did you get here?" He grabbed the darts and started yanking them free.