deal_me_in | TRP // Inbox <<

[ Cloud tilts his head at the 'I'm decent'. Cayde's a robot man, does that mean he still had certain parts? His eyes widen a bit at even remotely thinking about it. He covers his mouth with his hand. Cloud waits a moment to come into the room and glances over at the tally marks. It makes more sense as to what Cayde had said about the knives not being able to make a dent.

He shuts the door behind and looks around the room first. Cayde would seem pretty dangerous with just having all of those knives out. Cloud presses his lips together as he starts to walk over towards the Exo. ]

That's a bit hard to answer. It is right now. [ For the moment. ]

[He'd made the comment offhandedly, but if he knew it'd given Cloud that much pause he would have laughed. So much.

The Exo makes another couple of passes along the blade before holding it up to inspect it. A brow lifts as Cloud makes his reply, glowing blue optics shifting towards the blond then.]

Well that's a loaded answer.

[Sighing a bit, he pats the bed beside him after he's placed the knife with the others. He finally draws out the largest, the one as long as his forearm. Like all of the blades he has here, it lacks the nicks and signs of wear, but he wastes no time in setting to work with the whetstone as he waits for Cloud to speak his mind.]

[ Cloud's going to be awkwardly minding his own business on his thoughts. Cayde can openly ask him about Cloud taking a bit to even come into the room.

He looks away from Cayde knowing that his answer wasn't exactly a full one to begin with. Cloud waits a moment but goes on the side of the bed next to Cayde. ]

How many knives do you really have?

[ Because that's not really why they're here right now. But he can't help but realize that the one Cayde pulled out is longer than the others. ]

I know that everyone is going through their own stuff right now. This is hard for me to tell anyone. I didn't tell my friends but it's a bit different here. [ And his friends currently are a bit further into his future. He knows a good thing happens but it doesn't really help him here. ]

I came here with a disease from my world. [ He looks at Cayde while placing a hand on his left arm. ] It's a disease that kills you. But there's a lot to it than that.

[ Cloud doesn't say anything more but he will wait to listen to Cayde out on what he might say. ]

Just the six. You won't believe the weird looks you get on a resort planet when you're hogging the replicator asking for blades.

[He pauses, grinning.]

And I figured six was as good number as any.

[Settling back into the rhythm with the methodical scrape of metal, but he listens as Cloud works his way into whatever it is he wanted to talk about.

The scraping slows and stops for a moment once it's said. Slowly Cayde picks up again, another couple of sweeps across the blade before he relaxes his arms over his thighs and looks at Cloud.]

The whole part about it killing you isn't enough?

[He seems to frown as he continues to give Cloud his attention.]

That's...a big load, either way. Do you need some kinda specific treatment that's not here?

Weird looks, huh? I bet they all thought you were some freak trying to break their machine.

[ Since Cayde was asking for blades. Cloud could try to keep the mood a bit light while knowing the conversation is heavy. He slowly looks over at Cayde and he reaches out to place a hand on his shoulder. Cloud licks his lips while huffing out air. ]

That's the final stage. Hallucinating, seizures, where the wound is can grow and do some other stuff. My world never has things be easy. This type of disease kills you from the inside.

[ He moves his hand away while placing his hands on his lap. Cloud looks down at them while shaking his head. ]

I never found a cure back at home. I do know there is one, I know that I do get healed. [ He shrugs. ] I'm not contagious. My friends are trying to figure that out too. If there's another way here I would be willing to try. My worry is that this planet could decide to do this to us if we're not careful.

[ He scoots a bit while clapping his hands together and threading his fingers. ] I wanted you to hear it from me. Because things are starting to happen. I'm not going to be able to hide it.

[ He didn't want to burden his friends on going to people that they don't know or having to answer people that they don't know about Cloud's condition. Reeve is right about him needing to tell people. But he needed to at least try to tell people that he trusted in some way.]

Hey, I wasn't the only one shopping around for knives.

[Although come to think of it, he hasn't seen Cipher Nine about. Blue guys ought to stick out as much as he does, unless the man's stuck to his room this entire time.

But with the real matter of the discussion at hand, Cayde's expression seems to darken as he takes in the information Cloud imparts. Other stuff doesn't really explain much, but the thought of something that whittled away at you from the inside out is a disturbing one. He shakes his head.]

That's there and not now though.

...this is different to or related to that whole mako poisoning? I think I'm missing the part where the planet taking revenge fits in.

[He hesitates, seeming to have more to say but at the moment he holds off. He can understand how difficult it is to admit something like this to anyone, and it means something to have Cloud telling him as much right now.]

I'd feel better knowing what to do whenever that something happens. How bad has it gotten?

I would be right in there trying to get a much longer, flatter type of blade.

[ He would be able to use a knife but at the same time it's still not his choice of weaponry. Cloud didn't know who else would be shopping around for knives. Would they have good intentions with them? Would they only use them out of self defense? He could protect himself with self defense in disarming them. ]

This deals with the Lifestream and when Meteor happened. The symptoms can make you think it's mako poisoning. But you know it's not by the disease being on you. It can be on your face, your arm, your whole body... [ Rufus Shinra lived but at what cost, the planet took it's revenge heavily on him. ]

Some days are better than others. [ The typical some days are worse and other days are fine. He looks at Cayde and reaches out again to put a hand on Cayde's arm. ] You can stay with me during anything you might see that's off. I've been dealing with this alone for quite sometime. Recently I've been experiencing heavy pain. I feel as if something else can happen. But that could be... an overall feeling.

[Cayde digests that a bit. He flips the knife in his hand with just a twirl of his fingers so the length of the blade won't be facing outwards and instead rests against the inner part of his forearm where it won't accidentally cut anyone.

He sighs again, his body shifting under Cloud's hand, and he shakes his head again, snorting in a weak laugh.]

Sure, give me the easy job.

[That's hardly an easy job and he knows it. Having to watch someone suffering and being unable to really do something about it. Moral support's a tough thing to offer under such circumstances. But he's not saying no.]

So what I don't get is that you said the meteor thing was the planet's doing. But I found out recently from Reeve that the whole meteor deal was caused by someone. Now I am trying to work out how those two details align.

...also I am no stranger to stubborn bastards who won't stay dead.

[ Cloud grips his hand against Cayde's arm while looking at him with a serious determined stare. ]

I know it's not an easy job. I found a child one day out by the church I always go to. He needed help, he was in bad shape. There's not much you can do but be there for them. They'll end up remembering it even when they might not be quite there.

[ He can't really explain it. Cloud sighs while moving his hand away from Cayde. ]

Sephiroth summoned Meteor not the planet's doing. If that's how it sounded, that's not right at all, and not what I meant. The Lifestream is found within the planet. But there's another factor within this that helped to stop Meteor. Holy plus the Lifestream were able to ultimately stop Meteor. I was able to stop Sephiroth.

[ He bites his bottom lip while looking away. ] As long as I'm alive, Sephiroth will continue on living. It's not only mako infusion.

[The Exo meets that stare evenly. For all Cayde says, Cloud would still know he'd be there if he was needed. But he doesn't look crazy about it either. He hates the suggestion that things could take a turn for the worse. His hand tightens around the grip of his knife.]

Don't you go dying on me.

[He means it. He's not losing anyone here. He can't. Because here's the only place he'll know these people.

That note of seriousness only eases in tension just a touch as they shift to another focus.]

...okay, so my mistake for hoping that getting that cleared up would mean less questions.

[ Cloud can hear that Cayde means what he is saying. He didn't really doubt the other but he wasn't completely sure how he felt. Opinions could still change even with the appreciating. ]

I'll try hard not to. It's not what I want and we're looking into options here.

[ He shifts on the bed to where their knees almost touch and he looks at Cayde this way and will hold any gaze or stare. ]

Go on. I'll try my best at answering what you need to know.

Good.

[That's about the best he can expect, he supposes. He wonders how invested in their survival the Agrii really are that if they found out one of their 'he-rows' were dying, if they would be able to help. Given how much anyone seems to trust them, Cayde figures that's a last resort if anything.]

Okay. So let's skip Sephiroth and go to the part where the planet fought back. That's the Lifestream bit?

[ They could use it against the Agrii but they should be smart about it. Cloud would need to know when that might be. Cayde could always leave him out of the actual timing and drop him a signal instead. It may go unnoticed and wouldn't look planned at all. ]

Yeah, the Lifestream came out from the planet to merge with Holy to fight back against Meteor. The Lifestream flowed throughout Gaia, the planet. Everyone that it touched got sick. I got infected a bit differently.

[Pff, plans. Right now, it's just a thought. It might stay that way. He'd rather hope they can deal with this matter somehow and before things get too bad, either way.]

But the Lifestream isn't normally...poisonous, right? Or is it that how it is in its raw form?

...how different's different?

[ A thought is a start of a plan. It might not be a full plan it might not be a full thought. It can start something later on if they ever need to play that card. ]

We can filter it's power into mako energy. We know that people die and they go into the Lifestream. There's theories that we might see things that the dead might be doing. I-- I've seen those things before. It's hard to explain.

[ Kind of like spirits, ghosts, there's a lingering presence for those that die too. They may not make it fully into the Lifestream or those that do can channel it. ]

I was meant to become a clone of Sephiroth. So I have certain cells within my body.

[ He's not going to stop there for a moment to see what Cayde reacts to. ]

[He mulls this over, nodding. Pieced together with what he'd talked to with Reeve much earlier on, he now has a much better picture of how things are back in the world Reeve and Cloud have come from. Using some sort of supernatural resource for power just seems to be asking for trouble.

Maybe it's the same way with the Light and the Traveler, in a way, but then they hadn't necessarily asked for that intervention. Where that puts them in relation to the Traveler he still has no idea.]

-wha.

[Cayde lifts his head, looking at Cloud to make sure he'd heard right.]

That... Wait, how's that supposed to work? I thought cloning was like...a different process. Were they meaning to turn you into that guy?

[Because that's just a whole new level of No.]

Yeah. I didn't believe to be myself. [ Cloud sighs while looking at Cayde. The Exo did hear him correctly. It's not exactly easy to talk about. ]

I had been a failed experiment. I've been injected with the same cells as Sephiroth as well as mako infusion. I was meant to become another him.

[ It is a whole new level of no, Cayde. He's not sure what Cayde or anyone would have seen with picking up the feather. ]

Zack had been part of that too. He... He saved me as best as he could. I lived his life not really knowing everything that had happened. I don't know anything from Nibelheim to Midgar. All I can remember is Zack talking to me. But only bits and pieces.

I told you that my story is long and I know that yours is too. I've been through... [ He shrugs while making a slight gesture. ] enough to know things. I'm just bad at explaining them.

[ Cloud looks away while feeling heat rising from his neck, maybe he's a bit embarrassed by all of this. Maybe he's holding back some of those emotions he had already shown Cayde once before. But this wasn't dreamland but reality. ]

[The Exo stares at him a moment longer before finally shaking his head as he once again flips the knife about to resume running the whetstone along its edge.]

Don't needa explain 'em. Hard enough explaining things you don't want to.

Anyway, you're you. Maybe you got Sephiroth bits floating around in there but you topped out. But then that's what's part of what's complicating this disease thing for you... So how's that part?

Yeah, I know. Strong will. But with this disease I may not be at times. I ended up getting it because of the cells within me. I was never touched by the Lifestream.

[ He looks at Cayde while relaxing his gesture a bit and putting his hands onto his knees. ]

From what I've seen of people going into their flare ups, their eyes changes. My eyes will look more like Sephiroth's. Do you remember how they looked? I don't know if that means anything with the disease but...

[ He doesn't know. Cloud shakes his head. ] I really don't know what it means. I went on a path that avoided people. Maybe I felt I could become him again or be controlled by him. I'm not really sure what can happen here.

[Cayde stops scraping stone on blade again, looking back at Cloud quietly before his eyes shift away, thinking back to those strange dreams.]

...I think I only saw him from behind, that time. And then a younger version of him- from Reeve.

So.

What do you want me to do?

[He's meeting Cloud's eyes again, setting aside the knife and the whetstone.]

Just stick with you? Sit on you?

[ Cloud frowns knowing that this is probably the reason why he's not really wanting to tell people. He knows it's better if they knew. But he doesn't really know what he wants from them. Cloud locks eyes with Cayde's while biting his bottom lip and moves his hands up his thighs. ]

I don't know. What do you want to do?

[ He gives a shrug. ]

You can stick with me if you want to. I'm not going to force you. [ He smirks a little at the sit on comment. ] What kind of sitting on are you suggesting?

That's not the most reassuring response.

Or maybe it is, because it just means it's something that hasn't happened yet.

[He gestures vaguely.]

Look, I'm the last person to be telling anyone they needa be babysat. Now if you want me to come by where you are every so often to check up on you, that I can do. If you figure something might be off, you let me know. Let someone know. But if it might be really bad, you tell me.

....

[Then he sighs, rolling his eyes as he shakes his head.]

I will sit on your face if you get smart with me, kid. I already gotta put up with that crap from Stark.

I'm not really asking for a babysitter. I already have two friends that I'm going to be staying with. I really don't want to be myself but that's already somewhat handled. I'll let you know if it gets that bad. But I'm not quite sure when the really bad might happen.

[ He presses his lips together. He puts up a finger while pointing it at Cayde. ]

I'll let that one slide. He doesn't really know about personal space.

[ Cloud tilts his head at Cayde. ]

I have other pressing matters to worry about. Attachments isn't really on that list.

Didn't think you were, but good. So long as you got others aware of the situation. ...it's been bothering you already?

[He gives a nod toward the other's arm, considered the timing of the request, of everything. He's not even sure how long Cloud's already been dealing with this disease, or if his special condition alters the usual time period of when things get worse, if there's even a set period.

Touching on the brief mention of Tony does make him smirk, however.]

No, he does not, and don't you forget it.

[Not that Tony will likely let anyone.

Cayde nods. Priorities are important. Maybe easier in such a case, when you've got an immediate focus that isn't something to do with the whole alien kidnapping situation.]

Yeah, they already know about it. It's been acting up a little bit. Mostly pain for now. But that's usually the start. It's been different since I got here.

[ There really is no special condition that he could see. Everyone started the same way. Before they ended up getting to the worse of it all. ]

I won't forget it. He was making it very known at the common table.

[ He moves a hand up to fiddle a piece of hair while looking at Cayde. ]

Are you keeping yourself busy? Besides for card games and sharpening your knives?

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