dualislogs | [closed] dreams must end

Squall remains tense for a while longer but he relaxes the more Tidus talks. What the hell... He lost someone? He's aware people disappear, or at least, no longer stay at the dorms. Clint, Wanda... But his closest friends are still here. Maybe he should be thankful for that.

He lowers his hands to his side, waves away the block of ice. He rubs at his even though he knows that's not how you get rid of the status effect. Still, it's fading, enough for him to see Tidus retreat.

"Hey." He calls out. "You're not alone." He doesn't know Tidus but he knows the fear of losing someone he cares about. "If you want to be useful, meet me at the roof of the dorm tomorrow night."

Tidus stops when the guy calls out, not unwilling to listen, even lingering for a moment after the invitation is given. But Tidus then continues his leave, not getting out the ’okay’ that’s on the back of his tongue.

He’ll just be there at the spot instead. His back to one of the rooftop walls, sat on the ground with his arms propped on his knees. Away from where the chocobo shelter and the door leading up, but Tidus doesn’t keep a watch of it. When Squall should appear, he doesn’t even look over right away.

But when he does, Tidus waits -- to see what the guy’s mood is going to be and what he might say, quiet in a way that's unusual for him. It's probably not okay to jump in with a ’sup’ to the guy you started a fight with for no good reason.

Squall doesn't even care about that once the morning arrived. He's fought friends for less reason, it's just how it goes right?

... right?

Either way it's not Squall who speaks first but a chirped 'kweh!' from the almost waist-high young chocobo (too old to be a chicobo now). It's shifting its weight from claw to claw, bouncy and happy that Squall has collected him for the day.

"Hey." Squall says in his weird monotone while giving Boko his petting tax, approaching Tidus from the side. Maybe he should introduce Boko? Most people haven't seen a chocobo before apparently.

"I didn't think you'd show up." Which is probably why he got here rather late. Sorry. Not sorry.

Of course Tidus is going to pick his head up for a chocobo--he's depressed, not heartless. The sight of the guy even twitches his lips, makes it seem he might be smiling a little. It's not something that sticks.

"Figured I owed you," he says, a trace of humour in an otherwise dull reply. He'd say he likes it up here, but it's more complicated than that. Still never stops him from coming up there to sit in place of his tiny room when he couldn't sleep, as if the open sky gave the illusion of freedom.

So he follows with a "Sorry about that" instead, rubbing at a hand where the two meet off his knees in an embarrassed gesture.

At least one of them is smiling. Not that Squall is as much of a hard ass as he used to be. He tilts his head with a confused frown.

"You don't owe me anything." They fought. It was mutual. The end. He nudges Boko with a hand. "Go to the stable, Boko."

Boko kweehs in protest and bumps Squall hand instead. Squall should be used to not being listened to by now, honestly. He sighs.

"You're not afraid of chocobos, right?" He's coming over to lean against the wall, arms crossed. One knee bent with his foot pressed against it.

Tidus won't argue the point, opting for watching the exchange between the pair instead. It's nice and normal. Reminds him of how few animals he sees around here on a daily basis.

"They're fine." As in, he doesn't mind the chocobo -- Boko -- keeping out. "Where'd you find them?"

Boko peers between the two and warks cheerfully at Tidus, flapping flightless wings. Hello.

Normal isn't normal for Squall though he has to admit having Boko around has been nicer than he thought it would be.

"He was delivered to my door one month after I arrived. He was given to me back home too, follows me around when I travel by chocobo."

Well, Tidus can manage a better tug of the lips for Boko, a better smile for the little guy. Though his arrival for this guy -- the human guy -- does ease it some.

"He was with you before you showed here?"

Did they pop here together, even if it took a month for them to reunite...?

Don't expect him to do any kind of comforting well, Tidus. He's historically very bad at it. Boko is going to go over and poke around Tidus's person with his head and beak, seeking out the pockets with expert precision.

"Boko." Which... goes ignored as expected.

"No. Like I said, he only follows me when I get a chocobo from the forest. He's independent." Pause. "Was. He lives with Cloud most of the time. He's spoiled."

Hope you don't have food in your pockets, Tidus. Boko likes junk food.

"Hey," Tidus warns Boko, but with no actual warning or intent to do anything to the hopeful chocobo. He just doesn't want him eating at the jacket he wears.

"That's nice." None of the stuff before it actually made any sense to Tidus, but he's not that invested in understanding, so the whole thing is simply nice, nothing else. He sees if he can give Boko a pat while he's over here, but otherwise decides to move them along.

"What did you want to talk with me about?"

He might bite at a collar and tug. Good luck with that.

Squall sighs and nods. Right, he got distracted. He takes out his phone and swipes to a music streaming app, picking a random playlist - top electronic music, lovely - and setting the phone aside once he's turned the volume up enough. Loud but not enough he'll have to raise his voice to be heard. The way his furrowed brows twitched may be a sign that he's not fond of such music.

"... You said you lost someone. How much do you know what's going on in this city? What the Head's true goal is."

Boko no!!

With some ongoing idle hand waving to hopefully distract the chocobo from further articles on him (is this what he gets for sitting on the ground, is this his life), Tidus looks and watches at what Squall is doing and, huh. Never thought about that one.

He returns to Boko, sees if the chocobo wants a pat to its side to be satisfied.

"I know about them swapping us for doubles. The chips. That we've gotta find a way to deactivate them or the Head can turn them on us in an instant."

That they were navigating the city with a threat always around them, their life always on the line.

Squall nods. That makes things simpler. He folds his arms tighter, frowning with thought again.

"He can turn us against each other too. Or worse. There's a resistance called the Heart but one of their members is a robot now. I don't think they'll be around for much longer."

Maybe it's heartless but he'd rather watch them crash and burn to see what happens than be involved while it's crashing and burning.

"My friends and I are working on our own ideas. We'll need food, weapons, shelter so we're ready when we can fight back." He looks at Tidus. "It'll be faster if more people chip in. We'll keep in touch with Hank. He's been the biggest source of all our information so far."

It was a growing list of people who didn't have any faith with the Heart, and not entirely unfair, the way they went about things. Put people in danger, as Tidus knew it, without any real explanation or goal beyond join us. He frowns at the prediction, but has nothing to add to it.

"What's your plan? You going down a different road from him?"

At least, maybe that's what the guy was implying. It sounded like it.

Squall shrugs.

"He has his own way of doing things. I'm a soldier. I don't want to put him in danger because we fought something we shouldn't have."

Does he actually care despite his cold exterior? Yes. A lot.

"I'm getting ready to fight. Attacking blindly would just bring unwanted attention so gathering supplies is my plan for now." And doing reckless things when he gets the chance to. His gloved fists are clenched, tension slipping into his shoulders and expression. "I'm making sure my friends go home."

Tidus cocks a brow, a low sort of curious, tips his head.

"So where do you two disagree? He wants people to go home. He wants to find a way to disable the chips too, right? We're gonna need to to stand a chance."

So it sounded like the two plans would have to align, if there was going to be no rushing in to fight.

He nods. "We don't really. We have the same goals." He doesn't know how to describe it better. "I'm still helping him so it doesn't matter in the end."

A pause.

"He doesn't want anyone to sacrifice themselves. I don't either but this could turn into a war." And, well, people die in wars. "Until then we'll get ready. The resources are for everyone who wants to fight.

Do you have a weapon?"

It did sound kinda drastic, or like some full out fight being described when the guy had brought up before shelters, food and drink. A bigger or more violent brawl than what Hank had got into, and he hadn't been sugar coating anything. Not when there was talk about scooping through brains, anyway.

Probably has to do something with the soldier thing, which Tidus can't relate to.

"I'm saving up. I can't do much either but fight," so it's not like his plans in the grand scheme of things didn't also align with what it seemed Squall was readying for, "but Hank wanted me to help find places 'round the city that're safe. That's all I've got to offer," he says with a shrug.

Everything's about fighting for survival when you're a mercenary. It's a mindset Squall doesn't know how to shake.

"Seifer can make you a weapon. If you use a sword, you can have one until you get your own. He'll probably want to push you around in exchange. He's an ass but he's not a bad guy."

He rests the back of his head against the wall, half stares up at the sky.

"Cloud works for the mafia. We might be able to get untraceable duos there. I can get things from Premium Foods if I ask. Another hideout wouldn't be a bad idea. There's the underground and the bars."

He holds out a hand and pulls up his sleeve to show off the ice symbol on his right arm.

"My friends and I bought the spell tattoos." He shrugs. "The Head took away our summons so we can't use magic. I wouldn't risk it if you still have yours."

"Woah woah woah..."

It's a dumbfounded way of asking for Squall to slow down, despite the relative calm he was going from one point to another. Still--

"I get what you're saying... kinda? I mean, this kind of stuff is pretty new to me."

Just because he knows how to fight doesn't mean he knows anything the untraceable lifestyle Squall was easily listing off like there was a checklist in his head. It really felt like he was being thrown into this idea, though it isn't like he's being forced or intimidated. It was difficult to fully understand just what he was getting involved in.

"How do you see all this going down? Other than collecting resources, what's the plan for going up against the Head?"

Oh. Is Tidus a civilian? Guess he'll have to dial things back a little, though that may not mean much by Squall standards.

"Hank wants to take control of the clones. Or deactivate the chips to give us an advantage."

"Right. If we do, they can't be used against us. That just leaves the uh...ritterations? Iterations?"

Something or other?

"The way Hank explained it, if we don't do those two things, we're outnumbered. A girl I met too... she says they aren't many non-clones around. About a hundred, maybe."

"Iterations," he confirms. "I'm not sure there aren't more with the Head's one-year timeline. There are a lot of people I haven't seen again since I arrived."

"But Hank's right. The whole city could be turned against us, so there's a lot we can't do out in the open."

Annoying. If that near-permanent frown is any indication.

Maybe it's the combination of the sour face and a hopeless situation, and soaking in a similar misery with a frown of his own, but Tidus gets sick of it before long. Straightens his back, makes his features firmer, more resolved.

"But we can do something. And if it isn't targeting people 'cause of what they're up to..." Considering how a guy like Hank could be working with David but still be around. But his thoughts switch gears, prompted by that mention about the one year.

"Do you really think it takes a year for it to make a new person?"

He turns his head slightly to look at Tidus, watching that shift. He hears him but it's hard to hold on to a resolve when he's just sitting here, hitting one dead end after another, left to his own thoughts every night.

He tilts his head curiously at the question.

"What do you mean?"

[closed] dreams must end

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