melodiesoflife | Leaving a public query

Entry tags:

Leaving a public query

Characters: Cloud and Open
Where: At the Aqures Ixen bulletin board
When: 20th October
Summary: Cloud has developed a problem he's not sure what to do about. Medicine hasn't been helping.
Warnings: Icky skin problems

With things as they are, Mako didn't want to go delivering any letters so it was up to Cloud to post his query publicly and on his own. Well Mako was there, but mostly insisting that he has to supervise such things even if he couldn't deliver them on his own. Cloud rolled his eyes at his Moogle as he put up the notice, but deep down he didn't actually want to see the little fuzzbrain hurt either.

In fact, to make sure of this Cloud had decided to change his job. Those who have been used to seeing Cloud in mage gear will now find him wearing heavy armor and a gunblade slung over his shoulder.

To All Heroes of Light,

I know some of us are having problems with our jobs and some of us have also been getting sick. Has anyone else who was turned to crystal or got one of the new jobs also wound up with a black mark on their arms or any other part of their body?

I've tried using potions on it, but it doesn't seem to help. The doctors at the hospital don't think it's contagious but they're not sure what it is either.

If you know anything, I live at house A-13.

-Cloud Strife.

Cloud hung around the board for a few minutes after putting the notice up, just to see if anyone stopped by to read it. He stood by, ignoring Mako's griping about random things while absently rubbing his bandaged arm. After about 20 minutes he decided it was long enough and returned home.

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It was one thing being referred to as 'Sir' over a note sent via the Mognet, it was quite another being addressed that way in the flesh. It was familiar, comfortable, yet Sephiroth really didn't need the scab picked off how he felt about home. Strange indeed how such a title was noticed more, now that he wasn't referred to that way by most people around him. But then, a quick appraisal of Cloud didn't trigger any recognition at all; maybe this young man was just polite in that way - it was endearing for sure. Nice to see someone with some respect.

Same appraisal also quickly discovered the reason he'd been waiting at the door for longer than he liked. Sephiroth's expression softened a little where it had been starting to harden up through irritation at being made to wait, close to sympathy but not quite there.

"Cloud, right? You left a message on the notice board-"

Oh how it would hurt Cloud to know that Sephiroth had no clue who he was. It was completely reasonable of course; the only times he'd ever been close to the First Class he'd been wearing his helmet, but even so. Perhaps if he had more time to work alongside the man back home, then he'd register more properly in Sephiroth's memory.

"Yes sir. Do you know anything about..." He didn't finish his sentence, instead tugging a strip of bandage down to show the splotchy and sticky marks on his skin. From the look of it, it wasn't simply a surface issue.

Considering his busy schedule within Shinra, especially since the mass defection, Sephiroth could be forgiven for not memorizing the name of every infantryman going. The security dept and SOLDIER were separate after all, and he only ever briefly looked over the dossier for prospective troops they might dispatch with him on a mission. It wasn't his call, but the names that he did remember were probably not for good reasons.

Only if Cloud had made SOLDIER, it might have been a little different.

Cloud seemed to have Sephiroth's full attention right now, however. Especially as he tugged the bandage away to reveal the icky black marks that ailed him. The general was careful not to frown too deeply as he tilted his silver-framed head to one side while he inspected what he could see. It wasn't ideal, to have a real look just stood on the doorway.

"I don't, my apologies. Do you mind if I-" He gestured his head lightly upwards, indicating that if Cloud could invite him in - he might get a better look at the wound.

Cloud was baffled for a moment, his mind racing as he stood in front of his childhood hero. After a too long pause he jerked and stepped out of the way "N-no! Not at all! Come on in, Sir."

He walked back inside, letting Sephiroth in and leaving him free to make himself comfortable. Looking down at the bandages he realized he had messed this wrap up in his distraction, and with a sigh he began to remove it once more. "I woke up with this mark a few days ago. It's been spreading, slowly, but it's definitely bigger."

He hefted his now bare left arm, letting the general get a good look at the splotchy blackness. "Have you ever seen anything like this?"

Sephiroth first thought that he hadn't been clear, in the pause that Cloud took to register what he had said. It felt almost as if he might have something on his face that Cloud was staring at but before he could ask the question the blond snapped out of whatever daydream he had been in and stepped out of the way. With a light smile, Sephiroth followed Cloud into his home.

He took a brief glance around inside, though as far as types of housing went there wasn't much difference in this house to his own and it would be impolite for him to start inspecting it. Like picking apart how a person lived within their own space; he certainly wouldn't like anyone doing it to him.

He stepped closer only when Cloud began to talk about the strange black discoloration to his arm again. Looking down and over the bicep as he unwrapped it and then lifted his left hand to gently touch at it, running his leathered finger over the area. It looked rather bruised-

"Does it hurt to touch at?"

He hadn't seen anything like this before, but that was obvious.

Edited 2014-10-25 15:59 (UTC)

Cloud's home looked decently lived in. There were a few objects and arrangements that were Cloud's own. The telltale signs of a young man living out on his own for the first time in his life. There were also small signs of someone else living here. Possibly one of the more recent arrivals.

Cloud frowned at the question, wincing at the memory of pain more than actual pain as he looked back down at his arm. "Sort of? It comes and goes, but there's always this dull ache. There are times where it just feels like my arm is on fire though." In fact the throbbing was a bit worse than it had been.

The geostigma was reacting to Sephiroth's presence, reaching out for those singular cells, ignoring the temporal gap between them that meant they did not quite yet belong to the First Class. It was mindless in its reaction at least, not trying to do anything to mess with Cloud's body or mind beyond what it was doing now.

Those telltale signs of a first home alone were easily identified by Sephiroth. He was reminded of when he had first stood up on his own two feet at significantly younger than was generally acceptable and calmly informed the executive that he needed to have independence from the Science dept. Ever since they had conceded his independence had blossomed on it's own and turned him into the man he was even before meeting Genesis and Angeal. Lessons learned during this time would shape the young infantrymen for life.

The wince drew a moments hesitation from Sephiroth's inspection of the area. He didn't want to hurt Cloud, but he certainly wasn't a medic (or a white mage) either. Sephiroth tilted his head a little towards the wound and then set it back up straight as he stopped probing and stepped back one stride as Cloud explained. Still, there was something that kept drawing his gaze to the black, almost smudgy looking area. There was something about it that seemed to ping at a deeper attention within him; very much a sense that there were something he should know but doesn't - something obvious that he was missing. It was a rather odd condition, is all. Like anyone, Sephiroth could be excused for being curious and concerned - even if he had been staring a little, almost as if staring down a ravine from a great height and having second thoughts before leaping.

"I see." He reached inside the front of his jacket and produced a small metal tin. It was round, not so much deeper than a petri-dish; it had been something Angeal had hoped to grow herbs in to begin with. Sephiroth held it out for Cloud to take.

"I can't guarantee it will help but-" He stopped, not quite convinced of the reasons why he had even developed sunburn in the first place, but then nodded towards the smaller boy. "-it does help to take heat out of skin."

Edited 2014-10-27 18:45 (UTC)

Cloud didn't think much of the staring. Whatever he was suffering from it was unique. Most people had been reacting with disgust and alarm, but others had tried to give it a sterner gaze. Yet another puzzle to solve among all the others that had been thrown at them in this world.

Watching Sephiroth pull out the salve, his eyebrows raised in hope. "You were staring at it for a while. Do you know what it is? Is it something from Gaia?" If anyone knew, he was sure Sephiroth would. Or Genesis. But he always thought Sephiroth was cooler.

.....HOLY CRAP SEPHIROTH WAS IN HIS HOME. STAY COOL, CLOUD! STAY COOL!

He nodded and with shaking hands took the tin from his childhood hero. He winced again as he applied it, the mixture tingling against his corrupted flesh. He wasn't sure if it really was helping, but he greatly appreciated the help.

Sephiroth too had held a sterner gaze while inspecting the strange, blackly-decaying area on his arm. Or at least, he had to begin with, until that moment when he had stepped back and something about it seemed to have made him look again. It was almost as if there were a whispering going on but there was something in the way preventing Sephiroth from hearing it. Hence the staring; unblinking and trying to understand something that wasn't connecting.

He blinked a few times as Cloud took the salve from him, almost forgetting that he had extended it out for the infantryman to take and having to notably loosen his grip - almost as if he expected a further comment first.

"I- I don't know. Could be." He answered honestly, despite the fact he clearly detested not knowing, and tore his gaze from the black mark up into Cloud's face. "It seems familiar, at least." That was putting it mildly but he had to say something to the young man.

While Cloud applied the cream to his arm, Sephiroth retrieved the bandage that Cloud had discarded. Perhaps putting it out of sight personally would help to quieten the fact he couldn't stop thinking about the strange affliction now. He approached that side of Cloud once more and raised it to cover the inky blackness.

"Let me-" It would after all be easier to have someone else wrap it up.

Cloud nodded and his shoulders relaxed a bit. It was good to hear that Sephiroth might have a clue. Better than everyone else who was baffled by it. Maybe it was something from the ShinRa labs? Or something from Wutai maybe? No...Cloud hadn't been deployed there. He didn't like the idea of a scientist secretly running tests on him either. There always seemed something off about Professor Hojo.

When Sephiroth offered to bandage it up again Cloud couldn't help but balk at it, but he quickly nodded and held his arm out, "S-so...um...do you think I'll be okay? What should I do? Healing magic hasn't done anything for it." Generally though most healing magic could only go so far for more serious illness or injury. At that stage it was more treatment than cure.

The tension released in Cloud's posture immediately took the edge off a certain awkwardness Sephiroth was starting to feel as he'd watched the boy apply the cream to the infected area. It had almost felt like he were intruding for a moment there. Was it a lie, to lead on that he might have a clue what the affliction was when he hadn't much of a clue at all? No, something about it was familiar, he only needed to have more time to remember -however unlike him that was- considering how strange he'd also been feeling since arriving in Aqures, completely acceptable.

Surely it would be better as well, for Cloud not to worry about it so much.

Sephiroth focused on wrapping Cloud's arm, his expertise in field dressings becoming apparent at least -a basic skill as it was. He wrapped the bandage just right, not too tight so that it would soak up the cream but not loose enough that it might fall off either.

"I'm not entirely sure. It looks similar to a condition that I've seen before -unless my memory is failing me, but it seems more pustulous than I saw it before." It could be a kind of degradation, like with Genesis, after all. This seemed the logical conclusion to come to.

"I'm not sure if the salve will help or make it worse so, of course, if that ends up being the case - discontinue using it." Sephiroth finished off wrapping Cloud's arm and stepped back. Instantly, the mark didn't bug at him so much. He offered a curt nod to Cloud.

"I'd suggest to wash it thoroughly and change the dressing at least twice a day in the meantime. If it doesn't clear up- a trip to the Library might be in order."

Cloud flexed his arm, testing the bandage. Satisfied it was secure he looked back to Sephiroth with a smile. "Thank you, sir. I'll keep all of that in mind." This really wasn't the way he had wanted to meet Sephiroth in person, but at the same time it was great to meet the man so far away from the battlefield or ShinRa tower. He always looked so serious there. So cold and distant. This was proof he cared about others.

"What was the condition you saw before? Was it back on Gaia?"

"Hm." And there, job done, Sephiroth retreated some into that cold aloof shell that he presented to the world most of the time. The facade that Cloud and others across Gaia found so chilling and yet awe-inspiring at the same time. He stood back and seemed to straighten up a fraction, not that it were all that possible for him to, nodding to Cloud and then promptly turned to leave.

Cloud's further question met his back at the doorway to the hallway and he lightly grunted with a side-step back to half-face Cloud again. Silver hair flowing around his shoulders some with the motion, as always as if it had a life of it's own.

"Yes it was. But we're not on Gaia now, are we?"

Cloud opened his mouth to respond, but Sephiroth was already heading through the door before he could respond. This illness was plaguing him, but not nearly as much as the question of who he was to become here in this new world.

He wanted to be a hero, just like the man who he was just speaking to. But now that they were no longer on Gaia, did it still mean the same thing? The First Classes were on the same level he was now, but he couldn't help but see them as they were. They were still his goal just from memory and habit.

And then there was Tifa. Something was bothering her. Something about home maybe? It was hard to tell, but he wanted her to be happy. He knew that deep down.

He winced as another shock of pain ran through his arm. If he got through this, he'd have to work to stand up and protect his friends. They were all taking care of him right now. He'd have to make their trust in him worth it. He'd be the hero he always dreamed of. He could do it!

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Leaving a public query

aw Cloud lets try not to fan-gasm too hard! :D

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