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Entry tags:
TDM 002
| TDM 002: IF FOUND PLEASE RETURN TO |
( 1 ) Around mid-morning, a message from the Augur appears on bracelets all across the city. "New organisms discovered. Domestication in progress."  The wark of a chocobo rises up from the outskirts of the city. Several more join in, forming a charming chorus. And, strangely, this is when new arrivals begin to show up. Beamed in one at a time, scanned en masse, they are processed just as the first wave was. There's one major difference: whereas the old guard was given their bracelets and ushered into the City, the new folks are also given... collars. Buckled, snapped, or otherwise fastened around their necks, a variety of colorful collars with some rather unusual novelty pet tags. (These are just a few suggestions. The typical “If found, please return to ____” is also very much acceptable.)  "You are new organisms. Domestication in progress. Compatible Eros energy will complete domestication." No matter how hard they try, characters cannot take the collars off by themselves. They need a partner's help - but not just anyone will do. It very well might be the first person they find, or it might take several tries. The robots grow bolder as the day grows on, targeting characters who aren't new, as well. "Y̶o̶u̴ ̸a̷r̸e̷ ̵o̵r̵g̶a̴n̷i̷s̶m̸s̶.̶ ̶D̷o̶m̴e̴s̶t̶i̶c̵a̸t̶i̸o̴n̸ ̷i̵n̸ ̴p̸r̶o̵g̷r̵e̷s̵s̷." Their antics die down by nightfall, but for the next day or two, the occasional malfunctioning 'bot may accost someone in the street, so stay on your toes!  ( 2 ) An abandoned racetrack lights up the night. That's right: place your bets, folks, because these birds are about to run around a track while robots sell synthetic, overpriced aphro-popcorn. ...Did you say priced? That’s right! If you participated in the orgy earlier this month, you'll find you have a stash of credits accessible in your app. You've fucked money back into the world, so why not waste it? (Opportunities to earn credits will come up periodically and won't always be sexual in nature, so don't worry if your character wouldn't have any yet.) And if you don't have credits to bet with, why not get creative? N A V I G A T I O N |
Angeal Hewley | FF7: Crisis Core
Ｔｈｅ Ｒａｃｅ Ｔｒａｃｋ
Ｗｉｌｄｃａｒｄ
hey,
[he's heard of the race taking place as the sun starts setting, so he figures he might as well see how the birds are doing. it's the country boy in him, perhaps, but there's nothing quite like that smell of farm animal going about its business—and it's entertainment too, right? who knows when it'll be taken away from them, so he might as well enjoy it while it lasts.]
[broad shoulders and a sharp jaw stop him though, hands pulled out of his pockets in surprise.]
[something wretched tightens in his chest, and zack blinks and shakes his head just to make sure he's seeing things right. the man a few feet before him, it's— it's—]
Angeal!
[zack calls out, but doesn't move, hands curled into fists at his sides. it's — angry? his tone, like whenever he's annoyed or petulant or not quite getting what his mentor is telling him. but he's not; he's... confused, and perhaps a little upset, seeing a ghost show up like this, uncertain of what to make of it.]
why hello there!
He knows that voice. Of course, he knows that voice. Angeal doesn't even need to look to know it's Zack. After all, the two of them were virtually inseparable back in the day but how did the pup end up following him here? That's the question he has he peeks over his shoulder.]
...Zack.
[Zack looks a little older than he remembers but there's no mistaking that bird's nest he calls 'hair' and those bright cerulean eyes. It's him. It's really him. Angeal turns around slowly to face the boy, his expression as stony as always but there's a hint of regret lingering within his eyes. He never expected to see Zack again.
There's so much he wants to say but he hasn't found the words yet. ]
all aboard the pain train
[there's a look in angeal's eyes that catches him off guard, the unexpected storm of something. but hadn't it been like that before? when they had fought, one final time, so long ago?]
Angeal.
[gritted teeth, zack pushes forward—as he always does—bridging the rest of the distance between them, stopping solid before him, just at arm's length away.]
Are... Are you okay?
[what's the last thing he remembers? zack wants to know.]
choo choo!
Did he really make the right choice?
Despite how resolute Angeal was in his decision, an inkling a doubt lingered within the back of his mind as they fought. He didn't want to live anymore. No, not as the monster he became. Like he told Zack, he became the instrument of misery. A monster like him had no right to live in the first place, so dying was his only option.
That's why he urged Zack to do it. That is why he urged Zack to kill him. He didn't have much time left after all. Much like Genesis, he was degrading just as quickly. Everyone is destined to die but his time came sooner than expected.]
I'm fine. [He answers once the youth stands before him.] Of course, I'm fine.
[Without any hesitation, Angeal reaches over and affectionally pats Zack's shoulder. A ghost of a smile appears upon his lips as he moves his hand up to pat that nest of messy hair. When did it grow this long? The poor pup looks like a fern.]
You need a haircut.
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It's... what's in now, y'know.
[his words are choked, barely held together by shuddering breaths and sniffling. his chin touches his chest, one hand reaching up to grab at angeal's, atop his head, a strong hold, like he's afraid of letting go and angeal disappearing entirely.]
[so much happened, and zack just wanted to uphold his honor and dreams, to make angeal proud.]
I — really tried, Angeal. I...
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That's why he doesn't admonish Zack for crying. Instead, Angeal brings his other arm around the pup and gently pats his back.]
It's okay. [He whispers into his ear.] You did your best.
[Angeal states honestly with a hint of affection in his tone. He knows Zack did his best. He knows that but does the pup know it? Probably not.]
I'm proud of you, Zack.
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[he just nods, the words more healing than what he could give them credit for.]
[and amidst all this, zack can't help thinking that there's so much that angeal doesn't know about; nibelheim, sephiroth, cloud, genesis, his own death. should angeal know? would it be his burden to bear, if he knew? and yet, the amount of times that angeal was there for him, years after his death. it's enough to get zack to wrap his arms around his mentor, one tight embrace before he lets go.]
[regaining his composure, zack takes a step back and puts on a brave face; he still bites his bottom lip to keep himself from speaking before he's ready. a gloved hand reaches his eyes and rubs at them, and while the rims are glossy, he remains decidedly determined.]
You've — just arrived, right? Was the last thing you remember... Modeoheim?
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At the question, Angeal is quickly interrupted by an angry wark from one of the nearby chocobos. It seems they have a bit of an audience in the form of these upset yellow-feathered fowls. Angeal lets out a light chuckle as he reaches over to pat the bird's beaks.]
Yeah, that's...what I remember.
[He answers before offering the chocobo in question a nice hardy leafy to chew upon. It's feeding time for these birds and they're getting quite impatient. While they're a few hours off before the big race, Angeal needs to make sure every one of these race birds are well fed.]
Is it safe to assume that much has transpired since then?
[He asks cautiously as if testing the metaphorical waters.]
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[the chocobos distract zack little, thus, but he steps closer and grabs at one of the greens, offering it to another approaching bird. standing side by side with angeal feels surreal, but he hides the minute shake of nerves by pushing his hand through the soft, feathery neck of the chocobo.]
It's been more than five years since.
[to say that much has transpired... is an understatement. he glances at angeal, then his gaze returns to focus on the yellow feathers before him.] —Sephiroth's here, too.
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[Despite how much he tries to conceal his surprise, Angeal can't help but look a little shocked. Then again, it does explain why Zack looks older now. While the pup hasn't lost all of that boyish charm, he can tell the kid finally grew into that jawline of his. Hell, Zack is even a little taller than he remembered him being. While he still has a few inches to cover, he's almost as tall as him. For some odd reason that makes him smile.]
Time really goes by quickly.
[He says with a slight shake of his head as he offers the noisy chocobo before another leafy green.]
That would make you...twenty-three, right?
[If Zack was only sixteen back then and it's been about five to six years since then...wouldn't he be twenty-three now? That sounds about right, doesn't it? Angeal gives up on his musings once Zack mentions the following. It's then that he turns to the boy with a worried gleam within his eyes.]
He's here?
[Oh boy. Talk about a reunion. Angeal can't help but look a little tense now.]
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[he nods at the question, trying to keep his expression locked in some semblance of neutrality. he can't say he feels that much older than nineteen, really, not quite having noticed the flow of time until he had read it in aerith's last letter. but it really has been that long—and amusingly? he's older than sephiroth, now.]
[sephiroth, who is a whole complicated mess in and of itself, for more reasons than one.]
[and one thing is for certain: angeal doesn't need to know the details of the nibelheim mess. the idea of reuniting might be a lot for him, right now, and zack understands.]
Him and every single inch of his long hair, yeah.
[with a final pat at the chocobo's neck, zack steps back. if he focuses hard enough, he can take grab the forming connection between them due to jenova's cells—just barely, but just enough to know.]
He's not around here, so you can hide for a bit longer. [he grins, teasing.] You'll shock him.
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You know, Sephiroth used to wear his hair relatively short much like Genesis.
[He mentions idly with a humored smirk. They were young back then, young little soldiers drafted straight into hell during the height of the Wutai War. It was no place for a rookie but somehow, they survived.]
He'll find out eventually, Zack.
[Angeal comments as he guides the chocobo back into its stables with a full pail of greens.]
Knowing my luck, he'll probably spot me somewhere in the crowd tonight.
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[zack feels that feeling compressing before it crashes, as angeal guides the chocobo back. he follows, too, as if compelled by the greens he carries with him.]
[he feels out of breath—]
[angeal doesn't know about what happened to sephiroth. to angeal, it's the awkward reunion between two friends, one dead while the other remained. angeal didn't get to see, what happened in nibelheim. should he say something? but he'll tell sephiroth eventually (he has to), so it wouldn't be right to keep angeal in the dark. would angeal see sephiroth as anything different?]
[—and his breathing is ragged as he drags himself towards the stable, a hand reaching up to hold onto the door of the stable, swinging it closed once the chocobo gets settled inside.]
Something happened to him. [alarmingly, he can't keep his tongue in check.] But he doesn't know about it. I'll have to tell him, and I don't know how to do that. He's... from five years before me. [and perhaps, hilariously] I'm older than him, Angeal!
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[Judging from the pup's tone it sounds if Sephiroth had an accident or something but that's rather unlikely since the man is damn near indestructible. So what could've happened? Before Angeal could inquire further about that, Zack drops the following bombshell.]
You're older than him?
[He blinks his eyes owlishly at Zack as he does the math. If the Sephiroth they know is only twenty-one, then...wait.]
Well, shit.
[He accidentally swears as he lets out a laugh.]
That means your older than me too! You do realize the three of us were born all in the same year, right?
[Sephiroth, Genesis, and he were all born in the same year due to the start of both Project G and Project S. The masterminds involved planned it all much to their displeasure. It's not something that Angeal ever really thought about but he did find it rather coincidental that they're birthdays were so close together.]
Don't you get any ideas, Zack. I'm still the mentor around here, got it?
[He's teasing of, course.]
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Good, 'cause I don't want to be the adult!
[how it rips through him, the unfair certainty that he's had to be the one to make decisions that are beyond him—or that he's had to do what others push onto him.]
[the silence that follows is awkward, as zack curls onto himself, shoulders hunched and chin dipped downwards, an uncomfortable tightness to how his hands remain frozen where they are; as if he realizes that his outburst was highly uncalled for, and he turns his gaze away, unwilling to look at his mentor.]
[the three of them. they're meant to be dead. is genesis going to show up, next?]
[he breathes heavily, this ugly thing still budding within him. the shuffling of the chocobo and a sharp chirp serves him as a cue. he says what he says because it's scalding hot in his tongue, and if he hesitates now, he'll hesitate forever.]
You're not the only one who got brought back from the dead, Angeal.