thestormishere | ☈ strike #04 (voice / action)

[ It takes a while before Lightning finally attempts getting in touch with those she interacted with the most (and who she assumes probably figured out who she actually was) while aged down and in Zack's body. When she does, it's filtered to those mentioned, but not particularly secured against hacking or anything, clearly having been 'posted' quickly and with a tone of voice that's very short and to the point. ]

Zack, Aerith, Cloud- we need to talk.

[ And after that's all been taken care of, well... all that's left is to gather up her dignity and try to move on from the whole damn mess, right? Get some fresh air and cool her head, pick up something from the grocery that isn't in a can and won't choke her with flavor....

Problem is... the experiments' effects are far from done with her.

One of these is what Lightning is this evening, instead of the pink-haired ex-soldier she should be. And as if suddenly finding herself as a chocobo isn't bad enough, that's when that oh-so-nice random teleportation kicks in too, sending her... oh, who knows. The middle of town? Your front porch? Who wouldn't want a massive eight foot tall yellow bird in their bathroom? Look at those long curly eyelashes ~~and huge killer claws~~! ♥ ]

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Be there in a sec. [And he just tosses the journal aside and pulls on his boots, not even bothering with a jacket or scarf before heading down to the first floor and out the doors. She said it wouldn't be long, after all.]

[ Well, she doesn't mean to waste any time, but the problem is she just got done talking to Aerith at the flower shop and has to sprint back to CH4 to keep him from waiting too long (which is actually pretty awkward with her gunblade with her). Curiously though, she's not winded at all when she trots up, and seems to have stuffed a pink rose into one of her pockets. ]

... Hey.

[You've been assaulted by Aerith, then.

Of course Cloud doesn't know that, so he just raises a brow at the flower -it doesn't really seem like her thing, but whatever- before nodding to her in greeting.]

Hi. So what's up?

[ Okay, how... to even go about this? Bring up Zack? Ask him if he really knew everyone he'd talked to in the past week?

No no no, screw it, that's stupid. Best to just cut straight to the chase. ]

I was Claire.

[Ohh. Okay, now the purpose of this talk makes a lot more sense.]

That little girl in Zack's body? [He pauses, frowning in confusion.] I thought your name was Lightning.

....

I changed it.

[ Sorry there Cloud, turns out her parents weren't as crazy as yours after all. ]

Oh. Okay.

[Cloud shrugs and shifts his weight, stuffing his hands into his pockets.]

Well, thanks for telling me. [He's not quite sure why she did, but at least he doesn't have to be worried about some little girl lost and alone in Luceti now.]

[ That's about why she did it, except... well okay, maybe Cloud's not even the type to care about that kind of thing anyway, as far as she knows. The other reason is totally petty too, but. ]

None of what I said then is worth repeating. That's all.

[Cloud is confused for a minute before it sinks in as to what exactly she's referring.]

Oh, yeah. I'm not about to go around rattling off stuff to random people, I don't care about that. You won't hear about it from me ever again. [Seriously, he's even forgotten half of it already.]

Didn't think you would. But- I just had to make sure we were clear on that.

[ Maybe if she sounds like she knows what she's talking about, she can ignore that so far the conversations she has with this guy all manage to be... some of the most stilted ones she's had in her life. ]

Yeah, we're clear. [He waves casually.] Was that it? You just didn't want me telling anybody? That's no big deal, I thought it was something serious.

... Yeah, that's all.

[ Oh, it's Very Serious to her, although for the sake of... avoiding making that clear by continuing to focus on it, she'll gladly go ahead and let him think it trivial. It's not like she's never made incredibly bigger sacrifices and all. ]

[Cloud seems like he's going to leave, but he pauses and shifts uncomfortably.]

...look, um, sorry if I was a complete jerk to...little you. It was just- Y'know, I'm not that good with little kids and it was Zack -his body anyway- and. Yeah. Sorry if I scared you.

[ Oh. She... wasn't expecting that. She stares at Cloud blankly a moment, a little wide-eyed, but then amazingly, the hint of a wry smile shows up as she shifts her weight. ]

It's fine. Can't say I would have done any different. Aerith... handled it well enough afterward.

[ Although yeah, she was sort of... scared completely out of her mind and you didn't really help much. It happens. Here, at least. ]

[Holy shit, she smiles.

The gesture -as well as her mention of Aerith- gets a smile out of Cloud, too. Thank Holy, because this conversation was feeling very tense for a minute there.]

Aerith handles everything well. I don't think there's a thing out there she can't handle.

[ It's like a Christmas miracle...! She gives a quiet sigh, putting a hand on her hip. ]

She seems like that kind of person. I'm not surprised.

[Why are you sighing, woman.] Is that a bad thing?

.... Far from it.

☈ strike #04 (voice / action)

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