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

[backoff]

Cloud reaches out to put a hand on one of Reeve's arm giving it a squeeze. "It was something that had to be done to see what Tifa was getting herself into. Aerith helped me along with it. I didn't really have a choice on the dress style."

He looks at the other man. "When I end up in your room, I'll ask first."

[plate_builder]

"I meant the prying into other's lives," Reeve chuckles. The dress, well, that went without saying. He moves toward it and considers the dress, taking care not to touch.

"How did you hide your weapon while wearing it?"

[backoff]

"Oh... it's better than looking through windows." His shoulders hunch down a bit. "You learn things and sometimes it's better to not touch items without asking." Cloud looks at him. "This could all be a dream and we won't remember anything."

He's not entirely sure how that worked or how any of this worked in general. "I didn't have my stuff at the time. We really didn't know the full scale of what went on at the Don's."

[plate_builder]

"It could be, it really could be. I'm..."

Reeve sighs.

"I'm sorry that it happened. I tried to keep them from doing it, but it wasn't... they don't listen to me."

[backoff]

"You did what you could. We found out and then had a delay in time to get to the pillar. It was a lot against us. A flow of time that we couldn't fight against."

Cloud gives a small smile at Reeve.

"You don't have to apologize. You helped us when we needed it. You took a risk when they could have found out about you."

[plate_builder]

"I kidnapped Marlene," Reeve counters. But that had actually saved them, so it's something.

"They DID find out about me."

[backoff]

Cloud looks at Reeve listening to him. He does feel as if his friend needs it. He's not trying to argue.

"Reeve, we're here now you know. But, I don't know what you really want from me."

[plate_builder]

Cloud... Reeve bites his lip and looks at the other man, hands shoved in his pockets.

"Forgiveness, for a thing you don't even know I did."

[backoff]

Cloud's eyes widen at the statement and he can't help but smile a little.

"This is a little funny to me. I've been seeking forgiveness myself." He looks at Reeve. "But I can give you that forgiveness if you can tell me what it is." Because Aerith can say anything in a Lifestream or in a dream about never blaming him. He won't get to actually hear it out loud.

[plate_builder]

But could Cloud forgive this?

"I managed the team rebuilding Nibelheim. I didn't know what happened at the time. Sephiroth and Zack had passed away, the city burned. Shinra was concerned and said that they had the people living in a temporary shelter nearby. That they were going to help rebuild. That many people were too injured to discuss things, so my team and I did our best to rebuild quickly. We were brought in by helicopter, so I couldn't see that there wasn't survivors. We built the shells of the homes. After that..."

Well, after that someone else took over.

[backoff]

Someone had to be the one to rebuild Nibelheim. They knew Shinra was behind it all, but who would had lead that team? Cloud bites the inside of his cheek while taking in the explanation from Reeve. He sounded so hopeful which is something Shinra wanted most likely.

"I'm sorry that you were the one that had to rebuild my hometown. You recreated it exactly as it looked. No one else would be able to do that or have paid that much attention to detail." Cloud gives a soft sigh knowing that he had seen his hometown again in the most weirdest of ways but five years.... anything could change.

[plate_builder]

"It wasn't my intention," Reeve sighed, reaching out to card his fingers in his hair. "I followed based on pictures they gave me, from back in Vincent's days. Anything detailed past there, someone else did."

But he still felt... terrible for it.

[backoff]

"It may not have been but... you still did it. I think I might be more upset if someone else started it. You were trying to help people too from the way you speak of it." He shifts his feet while rubbing his left arm. "You were doing your job."

[plate_builder]

"My job was not the best thing I could have done," Reeve sighs. "But I... I'm partially responsible for what you went through when you got there. What you saw. It... hurt. To see how the two of you reacted, you and Tifa."

To know that what he'd heard had been wrong. So wrong.

[backoff]

"I was confused by what I was seeing. I was so sure it had completely burned down. How were you supposed to know? From the way this sounds, Shinra kept secrets from you too."

He doesn't know what else to say. Cloud's still mostly angry over the company than his friend. Reeve had to take on the consequence without fully knowing the reason why.

[plate_builder]

"So many secrets. All of them. I was... I just did the work. And they didn't listen to me unless they wanted me to do something."

He was the one good man amid all the others. But that described a lot of his department.

[backoff]

"You already proved yourself, Reeve. You don't need to prove yourself to me." He carefully places a hand on his arm while gesturing over at the dresser.

"You're in my room, with my memories. I can guide you away from things you don't want to see.

[plate_builder]

"Do you even know what each would lead to? I'm not sure I can in my own mind," Reeve laughs. Then again, Cloud' shad to be more introspective over time.

"Something that doesn't involve Sephiroth, the fall of the plate, or Nibelheim I believe. Or... Aerith's passing."

[backoff]

"Some are obvious. Others are questionable. The Buster Sword could lead you there. Same with the helmet. Stay away from the feather. The flower... could be a first meeting." He sounded hopeful because it wasn't exactly sad but he does know he could become that way. Even if the memory was happy.

"If you want to know my life as my time as an Infantryman, you can ask about it."

[plate_builder]

"The flower then? Do we risk it?" Reeve asks. Because he doesn't want trapped here.

[backoff]

"If you want something easier, you could touch the dart board." Cloud points over towards it on the wall past the desk.

[plate_builder]

Darts? Reeve notices it and moves to follow.

"You play darts?" he asks, shocked.

[backoff]

Cloud smiles a little bit. "I don't run only deliveries for the business."

Sometimes he needs a bit of a break from doing the other side of it.

[plate_builder]

Well then, he smiles and reaches out to touch the dartboard. Time to see what his friend gets up to. No doubt he will tease later.

[backoff]

Reeve is in the actual office of the upstairs part to Seventh Heaven from Edge. Cloud seems exhausted as he pulls away from doing paperwork from the desk. Tifa doesn't appear to be around and the phone keeps ringing on his desk.

Cloud unplugs it with a loud heavy sigh. "Not right now." It's so rude but at the same time he seems to be doing everything. Deliveries, running the bar for a few hours each night just to keep it in business, watching Marlene. How does Tifa do it?

He couldn't really leave the office for a long period time to relax. So he had got a dart board to try to relief some frustrated feelings. Cloud does go to the dart board and plays a few rounds of darts by himself ignoring the paperwork.

"Tifa and Barret had an important mission to attend to. I disliked being there for a whole week by myself. But I managed the best I could." Cloud looks away from Reeve. He's not the best at handling everything at once like that. Paperwork isn't all that bad he just didn't know how much he could take of the piling up.