AUDIENCE FOR: Butt Strife

[guestservices]

Comments

[skyagain]

... I don't think anyone'd blame you for being in a bad mood after all of this. [ first of all. important to note. he can't say no one expects them to make sense of things because he does know people do and that. sucks. when you don't. ]

[guestservices]

[they sort of stare blankly before shrugging.]

Are you allowed to complain when you're customer complaints? Is that a thing? [uggggh.] You guys have the harder job right now anyway.

[skyagain]

You ever meet anyone who worked for customer service? All they do is complain. [ it's a dry joke but also a real one. ] Also, pretty sure when we said stuff like that in the Realm, you were the first one to go on a speech about how it wasn't about who had it the hardest.

[guestservices]

Just Moogles. [what.] ...you're not gonna let it slide if I say it's different this time, huh.

[skyagain]

[ distracted for two seconds; ]

You have Moogles too?

[ anyway back to normal; ]

Nope. I'm not.

[guestservices]

They run the shops in the different worlds. [sage nodding. but also. making a face cloud can't see.]

...mm. Maybe that's still true, but...[...yeah they don't have an argument that isn't "i can't help the way i want to and i don't want to upset people by not being able to help and also i'm not myself and this is annoying."]

[skyagain]

... Don't think I've ever seen one be a storeowner.

[ he tilts his head. he might not see the face Gemini is making but he can feel the petulance, so; ]

But what? You gonna tell me you wouldn't make the same argument if you were on this side instead?

[guestservices]

They switched to being holograms a while ago and stuff, but they have all kinds of stuff for us to buy. [stop talking about moogles.]

I mean maybe I'd make the same argument, but...it's still different, Cloud.

[skyagain]

[ they need to stop talking about moogles for real and he has to shake his head to stop being ??? about it. ]

... They're different circumstances. I'm not denying that. Doesn't mean you can't still feel like shit about them.

[guestservices]

...[they think about this for a second.]

...okay. Then...I do. I really, really do. [for a multitude of reasons, but they let that sit for the time being.]

[skyagain]

... Yeah. I figured.

[ but he's glad they're at least saying that much, tightening his hold on them for a second ]

[guestservices]

[that actually makes them feel both better and worse, but they're doing fuckall to pull away and they mull it over.]

...I still have no idea what to do in this last week. [a pause.] Every time I talk to Clem it sort of feels like we're even further apart than the last time we talked. People I know aren't the same, and even though I know they are at their core I still don't know how to do the right thing when I have to be someone else.

[and there's another pause.]

...never mind, this isn't...["your problem."] One more week.

[skyagain]

... She mentioned she found it hard to talk while you were like this. [ it was brief, and he'd worried about it, but wasn't sure how to bring it up ] But she never found it that easy to speak to even her Leader, as far as I know, and Rabbit didn't have the same baggage. So you're both holding back. That might be the distance you feel.

[ he doesn't know clem enough to say that's why for sure, but he thinks that's probably. it? it is a guess. as for the rest... ]

... You say that like this stuff happening won't bug you past this week. [ with a frown ]

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I know. We used to argue a little about talking to you guys. She always felt like she was bothering the Leaders, but I don't think it's the same thing here. But maybe that's it.

[it is, a little. but that's just another problem on top of everything else.]

It probably won't bug me past this week because everybody will be out of here. It completes the cycle and whatever.

[skyagain]

You really think having to do this won't linger?

[ which is probably a depressing notion actually this doesn't help ]

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No, I know it will. I just don't know if I have time to let it.

[all squeenix protags need therapy, news at 11.]

[skyagain]

... Maybe not. But I didn't start us on the topic because it'd annoy me if you talked about it. [ he looks at sora with a raised eyebrow ] I think I make it pretty obvious when I'm bothered.

[guestservices]

Considering the amount of times you tried to walk away from me mid-sentence, yeah. You do. [dumb bitch. both of them. but they're still pressed into cloud's shoulder and should maybe move, but...they sigh.]

...it feels dumb to complain when it boils down to "I'm sad about circumstances I'm in." Like...that's everyone. But even if I don't know how, I'm still in a position I can try to make things better. We've had this conversation a lot though.

[squishing meow wow's cheeks, and the baby sort of whines.[

...can I ask you something kinda stupid?

[skyagain]

I'm not sorry about that.

[ despite the joke...he really does get that feeling, wow! it turns out being an npc fucking sucks. wild. he looks down at the whining meow wow ]

Go ahead. I'll tell you if it's stupid.

[guestservices]

[it's stupid because they think they already know the answer.]

Did Wolf ever feel like a different person than who you actually are?

[skyagain]

... Kind of.

[ he's pensive about it ]

Probably in a different way you've dealt with. But... I didn't know or remember anything about who I was. There's bound to be differences there. Getting everything back at the end felt... weird. Like some of it didn't fit anymore.

[ this is more because of his hilarious amnesiaception issues, but it did have that feeling even without it. ]

[guestservices]

[cloud your scrambled brain...but they nod. that's about what they thought because they talked to the leaders enough to understand the memloss.]

I know who I am. But I don't know how much has changed since coming here. [the disconnect is real.] It feels...harder to talk to people sometimes.

[and that's terrifying considering who they usually are.]

But that's it. Like some of it doesn't fit anymore.

[skyagain]

... You can't go through stuff like that without changing a little. No one stays the same forever. [ it's idle, but he's tightening his hold a little again ] ... Having to be whoever you are here probably muddles that up more.

[guestservices]

["Sora, don't ever change."

ha. ha ha ha.]

I know. [and they do? they do reasonably know that, and maybe that's why they feel like this whole...everything is dumb to worry about.]

...I have the worst headache. [which is probably code for "i am so fucking tired of having to pretend to be this dude i'm not and keep all of the facts and information straight.] But I'll figure something out. Pretty sure everybody will, whatever that means for them.

[of the guests, at least.]

[skyagain]

I've still got some aspirin.

[ it's a light tease. ]

... We've got the advantage of not having to figure it all out on our own. [ he is implying sora does not have that. he looks up at the ceiling ] It's normal. Being afraid you've changed for the worst.