IC Inbox for Empatheias

[nofarplaneyet]

Messenger Bird/Voice/Image/Action

*If you want to harass an old man, feel free. Expect dry humor in return if you're trying to be smart.*

Comments

[nofarplaneyet]

Didn't have to. [Because of the tea Shinji had given him, he'd gotten a little better at preparing it. So there are now two cups of hot and sweet tea, along with anything a guy could want to add to it.]

As nice as this place is, it does that to me too. Lots of time to think.

[sonicblade]

Too much time, if you ask me.

[He took a cup and took a cautionary sip. It was too hot, but he didn't mind it much aside from the brief flinch. It still let him know that he wanted to add a little sugar to it.]

[nofarplaneyet]

[Auron nods and adds a little cream to his tea, giving it a moment to cool.]

I start thinking about mistakes I've made.

omg I never pressed post

[sonicblade]

[He nodded as he stirred the sugar into it.]

Mm. Without the usual distractions, it's hard not to let my mind wander.

Stop getting drunk on tea, Cloud!

[nofarplaneyet]

So what did you do in the world you're from, Cloud?

I do what I want!

[sonicblade]

I was usually busy trying to find Sephiroth, to defeat him and make the Darkness go away... otherwise I was fighting the heartless with Leon, keeping our world as safe as we could while it was rebuilt.

Sit your ass down and drink that goddamn tea!

[nofarplaneyet]

Hunh. Sephiroth? Somebody that kinda threatens the world you and Leon come from?

[With his tea cooled down a bit, it's now at the perfect temperature. Ahhhh, this actually is good on its own merits.]

OKAY FINE, stop being such a dad...

[sonicblade]

[Scoff] If only.

[He takes a long sip of the tea, the warmth and flavor soothing him a bit.]

Don't know how much Sora has told you about the Darkness, but where we're from, it can manifest into something physical. Usually, it's Heartless or those like it. In my case, it manifested into a man named Sephiroth. [His eyes grew dark here.] And it was all because I tried to exploit it.

[Thankfully, it didn't hurt anyone else. Cloud was the only one who suffered the consequences of his actions.]

I wanted to become stronger. To be... to be a hero. Now I'm fighting my literal demons. Or, I was, anyway. He's not here... and I'm trying not to have too much hope that our last battle was The Last Battle but... now I worry. I don't think I'll ever stop worrying.

I'm not adopting you, you're too old!

[nofarplaneyet]

[That is not anything Auron had expected. Cloud is a bit of a mystery, with a sword he kept wrapped along with an arm he preferred covering up. Quiet, brooding, but still he got along with Sora.

Auron might not have ever made a mistake like Cloud's but he knows very well what living with life-altering mistakes and their aftermath are like.

He sips his tea, trying to phrase his words carefully.]

This power of Darkness. This Sephiroth. If he's got you worried, then he's definitely something to worry about.

No, you're too old!

[sonicblade]

[He nodded, swirling his tea a bit in the cup.]

Nothing for you to worry about though. Aside from Sora, he really only ever fights me.

[nofarplaneyet]

So you're going to worry enough for everybody on the chance he might appear?

[sonicblade]

I...

[That wasn't what he meant but when put like that, he didn't really have much of an answer aside from a meek nod.]

He's not... anyone's problem but my own.

[nofarplaneyet]

That so? I think Sora and Leon would disagree with you. Not to mention the people from your world who aren't here. [Auron sips at his tea before placing his cup down.]

You're also forgetting the people here. If this Sephiroth started causing trouble, he might be strong. Probably stronger than I am. Doesn't mean I'd just let him do what he wanted here or let him take free shots at you if I could help it.

[sonicblade]

It's not that he might be strong. He is strong. 'Bout as strong as me, if not more so.

[He wasn't trying to tell Auron what to do, but he didn't want anyone involved. He felt like he was repeating himself at this point, given it's what he said to Aerith.

He sighed and sipped his tea.]

He would just mess around with you until he found me and... no one else needs to be involved because of my mistakes.

[nofarplaneyet]

[Don't get involved in a mistake? Oh, Auron's told himself that about a thousand times and more. However, he also knows that what he thought before was ultimately not true.]

So if he got here, he'd try to use all of the people you know to get to you and start a fight. That basically it?

[sonicblade]

Maybe... I don't... I don't know.

[Sora was the closest thing and that was because Sora just ran in.]

[nofarplaneyet]

So you're basically setting yourself up to be a target not because of what you know will happen, but because of what you think might happen.

I understand the guy is dangerous. That's why you face people like that in groups. Getting you to fight him one-on-one is what people like that want.

[sonicblade]

I've always fought him alone. You might understand he's dangerous but you don't know him like I do. He's me.

[If he gripped the cup any harder, he might shatter it, so he let it go in favor of bringing his hands up to his face, clasped together as though in thought.]

That's why only I can fight him.

[nofarplaneyet]

["He's me." Well. That would certainly leave a man restless and unable to sleep. He hasn't known Cloud very long, but he sensed they were a lot alike in some respects. Cloud must have felt the same way. Otherwise, why was he even here.

Auron finished off his tea, giving Cloud a moment to compose himself.]

You want another?

[sonicblade]

[Probably because, aside from Leon, Cloud did feel the same sort of kinship. But he wasn't as close to Leon so it wasn't as hard to discuss this. Although there was more to it than that and it was hidden underneath the sleeve he made sure to always have if a regular long-sleeved shirt wasn't available.]

...yeah. Thanks.

[nofarplaneyet]

[Auron sets both of them up with more tea and then sits down, letting it cool a little first.]

I made mistakes before. Very costly ones. We thought we were making the right decision at the time, but it wasn't. Because I didn't do enough to stop the decision made, we paid a terrible price.

[sonicblade]

You always think you're making the right decision at the time.

[Until it's too late does someone realize it's the wrong decision.]

[nofarplaneyet]

It's true. The thing is, with our kind of decision, other people would keep on making the same incorrect choice. Forever and ever in Spira, always stuck believing there was only one choice.

So I had to fix it.

[sonicblade]

Did you?

[nofarplaneyet]

I did but I wasn't really the one who came up with the idea. Between me and a friend, we realized that this problem was bigger than the both of us. So we had to get help and get more people involved to find a better way.

I'm not saying you can't solve your problem your way, Cloud. But I am saying that sometimes you can be so absorbed in how you see something that you make yourself think there's no other solution.