[Open]

[clumsyangel]

[There is a silver-haired girl kneeling in the gardens, wearing a sunhat, and gently patting down the soil. It's impossible to hear her from afar, but the movements of her lips suggest she's speaking... to the plants and earth, it seems, as there's really no one else there for her to be speaking to.

Care to give her company?]

Comments

[whysocirrus]

All of them. [ He shrugs. Aren't you supposed to ride all of them?

In any case. ]

There's a roller coaster, and a gondola that circles the whole place. When the fireworks go off, it's hard to see the view, though.

Mostly what they have is arcade games. Racing and fighting, too.

[clumsyangel]

I never rode a roller coaster. What is it like?

I think I'd like the arcade... I was good at video games.

But, do they get lots of customers if it's in the middle of a desert? [She thinks it'd be out of reach for most people, unless they live in the desert, of course.]

[whysocirrus]

There's a tram that takes people there. Next town over. It's always crowded.

[ Even if that town's pretty much the literal shitheap - but he won't say that, because that's a pretty crummy thing to say.

He lifts a shoulder, again. The gesture is more like punctuation or an involuntary tick, now. ]

The coaster's okay. Not really my style. There's a shooting game you play on it, too, though. That's better.

[clumsyangel]

[She goes quiet for a while.]

... so, you like guns.

[That gaze turns icy again. Seems like you've said the wrong thing even without meaning to, Cloud!]

[whysocirrus]

Not really.

[ If he'd been thinking about it, he would have realized that was a pretty cruel thing to say - given the situation she described, before. But a little plastic ray gun that shoots nothing but harmless lasers at holograms doesn't strike him as anything similar.

When things go sour, he doesn't seem to notice, still eating with the same casual air as he looks more at the garden than her. ]

But I get... Motion sick, kind of. It's just a dumb kiddy game, but it gives you something to focus on.

[... so, what's his opinion of crazy-spicy food?]

[clumsyangel]

[(Cloud, she can't read your thoughts to differentiate the guns as you do!)

She follows his gaze, because she'd rather avoid looking at him for now.]

... really? I had a weak heart, so I couldn't really go on many rides. [Her expression would be neutral again if he looks at her again, because by the time she answers, as she's no longer bothered by it, it seems.]

It's good to be focused in general... that way, you won't be dragged down by all the little things that you would become overly-invested in otherwise.

[She watches him and his vegetables.] You know, I gave you those for your travels... while you're here, I can get you a better meal. Something hot. You can eat raw potatoes and carrots on the road, while you're here... you might as well have something good.

given the food in Midgar is probably low-grade radioactive, probably neutral

[whysocirrus]

[ (Had? Huh?)

Oh yeah. She's dead.

That does get another sidelong glance out of him, silent and considering. It sounds too ordinary an ailment for her (already, he's decided, that's the case), but don't kids her age (and younger) die of ordinary causes all the time?

He wonders briefly if they all come here, or to similar places, too - but the thought dismisses itself as politely and swiftly as the rest of his deeper concerns about here. The where's not his, after all. Just a pit stop for the afternoon.

He shakes his head as the reverie breaks. ]

You don't have to. This stuff's fine.

[Good! Because then, he might be the only person aside from herself that can stomach this meal!]

[clumsyangel]

I insist.

[This seems to be one of the only things she's not passive about. That tone is practically demanding. Apparently, food is very serious business to her.

She fishes out two meal tickets and holds them out.]

I already have two meal tickets for Mapo Tofu, so it's okay.

I was going to eat with the Student Council Vice President, but he said he wasn't feeling well because he caught the stomach flu, so he passed on the offer... which is a rather surprising anomaly, admittedly, because nobody can get sick in this world.

[As convenient and patently unbelievable as all of that sounds, there is nothing in her manner of speaking that suggests she realizes he was just trying to weasel out of it. Who's worse, the one who came up with the unbelievable lie or the one who readily believed it?]

[whysocirrus]

[ ...It's the liar, obviously. Even Cloud has enough moral high ground left over to see the clear answer to that, though it's more out of empathy than pity that he decides not to put up a fight.

Nobody would've been polite enough to make up an excuse for avoiding him, back then. ]

Fine. I'll come back for these. [ And he sets aside his collection of vegetables, dusting off his hands in the process, because carrying them around with no pack to stuff them all into is not a fun prospect. (He doesn't juggle well.) ]

[clumsyangel]

[Satisfied with her little victory, she leads Cloud to the cafeteria. While she walks, she frequently looks back to check up on him to make sure he's still following, as if fearing she might lose him even while walking a straight line. Or maybe she just thinks he'll leave faster than expected.]

... you won't leave without the vegetables, right? [Now, she's trying to gauge the length of his stay, because his very presence here does not follow the usual rules governing this world. Maybe instead of lingering regrets, the only things keeping him here are potatoes and carrots? It was silly, but the best she could come up with so far.]

[whysocirrus]

[ While she looks back at him, he's looking around the place. It's nothing like the only (shabby, one-room) school he's ever personally seen the inside of, and strangely clean, in terms of architecture.

He only stops with the tourist-style goggling when she addresses him, again. ]

No. [ Not if he can help it, at least. He doesn't know the rules of this place any more than he does the rules of his temporary stay, and it's just as likely he'll disappear without warning as it must've been that he appeared at all.

But he's planning to make an attempt, just the same. ]

...I didn't catch your name. [ And if she's buying him lunch, it's probably prudent to know. ]

[clumsyangel]

[His words are enough to keep her from fretting too much, even if his guess is as good as hers about the mechanics of his departure. She will trust in his will, for now.

When he asks her name, she stops walking, looking surprised at the question.]

It's Tachibana.

... I don't think you told me yours either.

[whysocirrus]

Cloud.

[ It's significantly less of a mouthful. ]

[clumsyangel]

[She blinks, then smiles slightly.] It's strangely cute, your name.

[She carries on to exchange the tickets for hot meals. Two plates full of cubes of tofu, doused in a thick red sauce that's two different kinds of spicy.

The cafeteria is nearly empty, Cloud and Kanade being the only ones there, aside from staff (all adults, probably NPCs, they don't give the newcomer a second glance). The only other things that might attract attention in the place was a series of brightly coloured posters plastered to the wall, advertising a live concert for something called "GIRLS DEAD MONSTER," presumably, as the name's emblazoned across the top of the posters in bright pink.]