video (feel free to move to action)

[losthere]

[The screen flicks on to reveal a serious faced young man with hair that has little interest in the laws of gravity and eyes that glow a faint, eerie green. The background behind him appears to be a fuzzy lime green.

Except for the velociraptor sitting at the table wearing a top hat and monocle and delicately sipping tea from a very fragile looking cup, one claw carefully extended.

Cloud seems to be ignoring everything but the screen.]

I need a motorcycle. If anyone can help me find one, I'd appreciate it.

Comments

[tomboytendo]

[ .... nice hair and what te hell is that on the table. What. Just. What. ]

.. I don't think they have things like that around here. At least I've never seen one.. [ It's possible in one of the other districts, she guesses. ]

[ Y e p. Akane just. Rolls with the weirdness. ]

[losthere]

[Rolling with weirdness seems to be a habit on the other end of the feed too so they're going to be buddies in this. Cloud doesn't even react when the dinosaur carefully dips a cookie in its tea. There's a very steady determination to Not Acknowledge going on on his part.]

I've seen some people that seem to be in a pretty advanced area. If they don't have it, maybe they've got what it takes to build it. Which sector are you in?

[introductions? what are those? don't ask Cloud.]

[tomboytendo]

[ ... she never knew dinosaurs ate cookies. . .with tea. Very weird. ]

No luck here - I'm over in Highcrest. It's pretty low tech - I mean, I'm talking horses and carriages and things.

[losthere]

[Cloud's learning a lot he didn't know about dinosaurs as well. Whether he wants to or not. At least Fred's fairly quiet. Most of the time.

Cloud's distracted though. He's been studying up on the surrounding areas more than he'd admit. Highcrest. That's - ]

The knights. Good guys or bad guys?

[tomboytendo]

[ There are worse roommates at least, right? ]

A little of both, I guess. I haven't had much dealings with them, to be honest - but the people here seem to think they're all right for the most part.

[defaming]

[Kristoph is drinking a cappuccino from his own cup and appears to be sitting in a café somewhere in Orlea.

He's just going to ignore the velociraptor himself, as it's far too ridiculous to acknowledge.]

I would try Orlea or Crystalden, if I were you. I find the people of Orlea quite friendly and accommodating, though I can't speak for Crystalden.

Here in Orlea, they were kind enough to give me a concert violin.

[Not just your average everyday violin.]

[losthere]

[The unacknowledged velociraptor proceeds to gently dunk a frilly cookie in his tea. Cloud, halfway through opening his mouth for another question gets distracted enough to change it. It's not the dinosaur that does it though.]

You play?

[why yes. He was considered a master of the obvious where he was from before this too.]

[defaming]

[Kristoph continues to smile pleasantly while continuing to ignore the velociraptor. He's glad he isn't in such a disorderly place as Astralfield. Orlea is much better.]

Yes, that's correct. I'm no professional, but I like to think I'm moderately skilled. I've played since I was a boy.

[losthere]

[There... hadn't been a lot of music in the Cycles. There's a tug inside Cloud, something that wants to ask if he can hear it. Something that says played music is something precious and rare and sweet and... I jammed a little

But that would sound childish and Cloud's beyond that, something deep inside rebelling at the idea of sounding that way. SOLDIER... Soldiers don't do things like that. Back to facts.]

Did you have to trade anything for the violin?

Video;

[reno4prez]

Well well well, if it isn't everybody's favorite chocobo-head. [The video feed opens on a close-up of Reno's trademark grin (his new favorite way to start any video discourse) before he zooms out to let the rest of his face be seen.] Come to save the day? Tifa's gonna flip her shit.

Video;

[losthere]

[don't step on the flowers!

Cloud's thumb moves to the disconnect button on the feed before the picture even zooms out or the words register. It's an instinctive, knee jerk reaction and - and he has no idea why. Or why he feels both defensive and irritated. Not understanding an emotion has never stopped him before though so he's prepared to just go with it when - Tifa. Everything in him seems to freeze up for a second before the flat mask drops back into place and he's scowling at the screen. What comes out is a carefully guarded:]

You know Tifa?

Video; omg I lol'd so hard at Cloud's immediate urge to hang up

[reno4prez]

[He pulls an exaggerated face.] Uh, yeah, no duh I know Tifa. You been swimmin' in the Lifestream again or somethin'?

[He shakes his head; Cloud always had been kind of a weirdo. Must be some tortured hero thing.] But yeah, she's here too, yo. Been lookin' for you.

[Okay, so he doesn't actually know this for a fact, but hey. It's Tifa. And though they might not be friends exactly, Reno knows the pair of them well enough to know that Tifa's pretty much always looking for Cloud's mopey leather butt so she can bring him home and kick his ass into gear. Honestly, he's never really understood why Cloud seemed to spend so much time brooding and riding around on that damn bike like he's such hot shit. Sure, the bike was fierce as fuck and all that, but as far as Reno's concerned, Tifa's is an ass-kicking he'd be willing to take any day of the week.]

Video; lol - but Cloud's got all these FEEEELS! you don't even know! and no idea why

[losthere]

[All right. He didn't understand a lot of that and something deep inside him says that's a good thing. What he does pick up on is the fact that Tifa - she's looking for him. Despite the fact he warned her off the last time they talked. Has she remembered him? It causes an uncomfortable jumble of emotions inside his suddenly too tight chest that he doesn't want to deal with and so instead all that happens outwardly is that his eyebrows come down even more over narrowing eyes and it's not a friendly look he shoots the stranger on the screen.]

You're with Cosmos?

[leave Cloud's well-toned leather butt out of this, Reno]

[ video ]

[coruskate]

You need one?

[ Not that he disapproves, of course. Given who this is - the one and only starter of HEDGEHOGS ON MOTORCYCLES - he is admittedly fascinated. He's never properly ridden a bike before, given he'd arrived here after having fallen from the ARK, but boy, has he ever wanted to? ]

Why would you need one? [ A flick of the tail. ] Mm. Curious.

[ video ]

[losthere]

[That's... well, not as strange as it should be considering the tea sipper behind him. Still... something about the face on the screen...

I'll talk as much as you want later, miss]

I - [hang on, he's going to frown and focus on the conversation again. Need and want aren't too different in his book. Who asks for things they only want?]

I'm getting tired of walking. And the monsters.

Mostly the monsters.

[ video ]

[obfuskate]

So you want to try to outrun the monsters.

[ A click of his tongue. Normally, he'd jab about how that's cowardice compared to combating them directly, but he can't say he entirely dislikes the plan. Better to be a coward in style than to be just a plain coward, huh?

To put it simply, Shadow's bias for motorbikes knows no bounds. ]

A motorcycle is a very fine choice. To escape them, however, you'd need a very powerful motor. 1000cc motorcycles may be your best bet. Although...

[ He licks at his lips. That sounds like a hell of a ride. Oh, how he'd kill for one. In fact, if Cloud finds an ample way to obtain one here, he could make use of that information, right? Better get into good cahoots here. ]

I don't know where to find one. If you find out, you should let me know.

I really like bikes.

[ video ]

[losthere]

[alllllright. The tongue licking over the topic of bikes is a little disturbing. And Cloud's hung out with some disturbing people in the past. Some of whom he even remembers. Still, the information about the type of bike is helpful and for all he knows licking might be the normal kind of thing when it comes to mechanical topics for the... yeah, he still doesn't know what he's talking to. And he's okay with that.

As for escaping the random encounters monsters in the area, he's fine with that. They're more an annoyance than anything and they don't level build.]

Yeah. [and he really can't help but ask considering what he's talking to.] ... You ride? [because that would be a bike he'd have to see.]

video;

[clusteringhopes]

[ Oh look, a man who shares similar facial expressions with Yuusei. And with just as wild hair. ... And in need of a motorcycle, at that. What a coincidence.

... Seems like Yuusei's pretty content with ignoring what's going on as well. ]

How soon do you need one?

video;

[losthere]

[Hello fellow 'physics? what are physics?' hair expressionist. Cloud's all about the ignoring. Except for this. His focus sharpens and without moving he seems to straighten just a fraction.]

Sooner's better than later. How long would it take to get one?

video;

[clusteringhopes]

I can build you one in three to five days, depending on how easily I can get the parts.

[ Did he just say build? Why yes, yes he did. And he seems pretty serious about that timeframe, too. ]

Is that soon enough?

video;

[losthere]

[Cloud has no problem rolling with tea drinking dinosaurs. In fact, there's something strangely comforting about something that spends its time roaring and guzzling tea that he'd rather not analyse too closely. Building a bike from scratch in three to five days though...

it doesn't make sense to him to say it without being able to do it.]

If you tell me what parts you need, I'll see what I can find.

[sounds like a mini-game job to him.]

[7theavenbartender]

[There's a small hesitation in her viewing. It looks so much like Cloud, but something is slightly different about him. She's happy to see him at first, but a curious expression overtakes her.]

Cloud. . is that you?

[ She speaks softly observing the camera. She misses her emo boy. :|]

[losthere]

[He'd hoped - honestly believed - that she wasn't here. She shouldn't be here. Not anymore than she should have been trapped in the Cycles. He'd - done everything in his power to free her from the Cycles... And failed. Yet here was her face, right in front of him on his screen and he can't tell whether he's glad she's here and not there or if he's silently furious she's been dragged into yet another world that isn't hers, trapped somewhere that isn't hers. It freezes him, for that long moment, with wide blue eyes and face otherwise a blank mask.

Are they - enemies here too? Is that safer for her? Regardless, she'll see him as the enemy. That's what he told her he was. He doesn't say her name. He already knows he'll give everything away if he says her name. What comes out is a voice that's intentionally flat to hide what's going through his mind.]

You're here too?

[7theavenbartender]

Y-Yeah, I've been here for a while now trying to get use to the country here.

[There's something different about Cloud. It's as if he isn't responsive--more pensive than he usually is. She can see the face of someone whose hurt--almost as if he was stunned by something. She knows something is eating him up, so she tries to dig.]

..Are you okay?
[She asks in a simple tone. The way he gazes into the camera is a bit abnormal. His mako eyes shows what he's feeling.]

[losthere]

[Except she doesn't treat him like an enemy and it makes everything harder. She didn't treat him like the enemy the last time they met either, even though she should have. He'dtold her to. But she'd just looked at him with those bemused, concerned eyes and never once seemed to believe him.

She makes him weak. He loses track of who he's supposed to be when she watches him with those dark eyes.]

I don't want to fight. [Blunt, his mouth works without a filter. As usual.]