dualislogs | [Closed] Catch-all

[It's not that he intentionally left Boko with Cloud for longer and longer periods. He's just been preoccupied. And by the time he remembers, it been a week. He really should be more responsible but he's grateful for Cloud all the same. The man has been incredible at raising Boko. Far better than Squall would have done on his own. His only complaint is how spoiled Boko is getting.

... And how huge.

One moment he's let into Cloud's room and the next he's staring at the ceiling again. He's gotten far too familiar with this ceiling.

Also he can't breathe.]

Boko. Get off.

[He grunts and shoves at the bird sitting on his chest like he's still a baby, nuzzling him affectionately. Boko is no where near fully grown yet but he's about twice the size as he was before. It's... startling how life works.

He's not having any success convincing Boko to get off him though. Help.]

[Boko's certainly bigger now. The chicobo doesn't really have any right to be called a chicobo any more, as he's about waist height when standing. ...Or, in this case, a height enough that even a low canter (not like the space provided in here can afford anything else. The two beds at either side of the room have been turned around and even shoved together to provide more space, but it's still claustrophobic) is sufficient enough to knock Squall right on his ass.

Boko squeaks and squeals, raising his short wings up and down in excitement at today's disaster, before promptly sitting his feathered rear up and on Squall's chest as he gives him a frantic series of headbumps. Cloud, sitting in the centre of the two beds, gives a curious glance over.]

Hey, Boko. Quit it. You've made your point.

[Ignored of course, in a particularly happy 'kweh'. So, he gets off the bed and walks over- pulling at Boko's head and neck.]

Come on...

[And off. Boko fluffs himself up, still straining to get to Squall. And, mid-wrangle...]

Thanks for coming.

[The sudden freedom from the fluffy weight (how could a bird be that heavy?) has Squall sitting up with a relieved breath. He gives Boko a disgruntled look as he rubs at the back of his neck and picks himself back up... to reluctantly go over to affectionately pet and stroke Boko's head and neck. It earns him another excited kweh and series of happy wiggles, no longer bothered with fighting Cloud now that Squall is close.

Squall nods at Cloud in turn.]

Thanks for watching him.

[He looks back down at Boko, who's chirping as Squall rubs under his beak.]

He's gotten bigger...

Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm gettin' kind of worried about him.

[It's... too cramped, the both of them standing, and Boko sort of hopping from one foot to the other between the both of them. So he lets go of him, moving back to the beds, and sitting. He brings his legs up to cross them underneath his body, pausing before he continues.]

I don't know that much about 'em. Everything I know, I picked up at this place near Midgar, on my world. It's a chocobo farm on the plains. [But anyway...] One of the guys working there said that the farm's there 'cause they need open space. They need to stretch their legs on fields and plains, or they'll wind up lame. A city's not gonna do him any favours, let alone a place like this.

[He looks to Boko, who gives him a clueless wark.
...And then steps on Squall's foot.]

He's happy enough like this. [...Really happy, actually.] But like you said, he's getting bigger- and he's only gonna get bigger. I don't wanna turn him loose- nothing out there's good for him. But I think he's going to need to develop his legs before he stops growing, or he's going to wind up miserable.

[Squall picks a far corner to sit and draw Boko over for continued pettings. He (Squall)'s been well trained.

... Or not enough because ow? His foot? He makes a face and shoots another stern look at the happily chirping chocobo.

What Cloud is saying is concerning though. He hasn't really given it that much thought. He assumed keeping Boko fed and happy would be enough? Apparently not.]

They live in forests where I'm from. [He rubs his chin thoughtfully.] There's one north of the city. Or we give him the run of the park. [Everyone else will just have to learn to get out of the way.] He can follow us to the forge too.

[Forests? That's weird. But it's much less weird than keeping one in a city. He nods, more or less wordlessly, his head inclining shortly afterward and the shock of his eyes moving to the side- as if he's considering something.]

You think he'll be happy away from people?

[The forest north of the city. That's probably a bust. And it's their fault, more than likely. Boko's spoiled. He doesn't even sleep in the stable on the roof, let alone somewhere miles away.]

The park... might be alright. For now. But an adult chocobo can run 90km and upward. Fastest I've seen is around 120, but I've heard they can get even faster. [More (previously thought useless!) information from his brief stint as a jockey.] M'worried that when he's grown, that's not gonna be enough for him. If he gets that fast, anyway. Doubt it.

[Growing up here, confined, enclosed, will probably mean Boko would never get as fast as a wild one. But that's done. There's no going back from that. More importantly, he's concerned about Boko being comfortable. He's an animal. He'll want to stretch his legs, so to speak.

He moves his gaze to the thing...
Which still hasn't got off Squall's foot.]

I was thinking about building something, on the grounds outside the forge. It's wide open enough, anyway.

[Trust him, Squall's been trying to shift his foot out from under Boko with not much success since Boko keeps following his movement. He looks surprised by the information about how fast they can go. They were great for traveling while he ran around the world but he hasn't pushed them that hard.]

He doesn't need to go that fast. He can already outrun both of us. [Which is enough for him, except for when he actually needs to catch the bird.]

We can show him the forest later. See how he likes it. [Would Boko even have memories of being born in chocobo forest? They'll have to find out.]

Build what? [It's already wide open space, isn't it?]

[He's still a little cautious but he's not sure if it shows. Cautious but trying to go about things as normal too, even though there's nothing normal about Dualis, about their situation. What he does know is that he loves Rinoa, he's her knight, she's his sorceress.

And beyond what he tries to achieve as her boyfriend, he has a duty too. So looks up from where he's sitting on her bed once he's finished a game on his phone and asks plainly.]

Can you see my thoughts if you wanted to?

[It is a little bit strange. That he still comes and visits her. That they still seem, on the outside, to be the same as they ever have been. The truth in Rinoa's sentiments is complicated. She's still thinking about everything that's happened, all that's been said and done. She's the same person, but she doesn't feel like she is and she knows that's because she lets it affect her like so.

Still, she doesn't turn him away. He's free to spend time with her as much as he should like to. With her face buried in another book, this one not a graphic novel about racy relationships, but rather a history of princes, kings, and their dynasties, she looks up from it.

What a strange question.]

...Er. I guess it's possible? I don't really understand the relationships between sorceresses and knights fully. It's not like it came with a how-to book, really. But I know we have a bond different from that of other people. I think considering what happened with Ultimecia and the Time Compression, seeing your thoughts is a mild way of putting it.

[...Sometimes it's like she could genuinely get into his head if she tried to. She had to, in some fashion, in order to guide him back, after all.]

[They're different. It should be impossible to change so much in such a short span of time but here they are. Squall is doing things the him in the past wouldn't dream of. Chief among them latching on to love and friendship as much as he has.

He doesn't have any memory of her saving him in the Void. Only that she did and her presence ever inducing a feeling of warmth in him.

He nods.]

Try to read what I'm thinking or feeling right now.

[Mostly he's trying not to think about her, or the threat looming over them. He's trying to focus his thoughts on being hungry (which he is) and the dessert shop he found a few days ago.

He probably could have introduced the idea of testing their bond in a better way but it's a start?]

[This seems silly and for a moment, that transparent crosses her expression. She understands why he's doing it. Why he's testing her. Rinoa is, to be fair, a little afraid of her abilities. The issue with that is that as long as she possesses fear and uncertainty over them, she can't control them. That makes her a liability. A danger. To herself and to others. She might not always be lucky enough to have Squall, Nida, and Seifer to pick up where she can't complete. Still, if something should happen while she's trying to figure everything out...

She's afraid of hurting them, too. That was the whole point behind being sealed. Squall rescued her, but there are times, like the present one, where she wishes he would have left her there.]

You're impossible, you know that?

[Closing her book, she sets it down on her desk. Turning to more properly eye him, Rinoa lifts her hand and rubs her temples with a melodramatic hum. It's not that she isn't taking it seriously. She is. Kind of.

And after some intense concentration, her gaze locks onto him. No. She doesn't know how any of this works. She doesn't know where the divide is between her own feelings and Squall's. She doesn't even know if there is a divide.]

...Rrrrmmm. I don't know, Squall. Annoyed? I mean, that's a natural state of being for you. [Maybe she's the one annoyed. Maybe it's harder to concentrate when she's swept up in the ocean of feelings she doesn't feel are particularly resolved. Because well. They aren't. It would have been better not to say anything at all. Ever.] Oh, wait. Uhm. Ice cream, maybe?

[He almost did leave her there. Would have listened to adults and their authority. It was the stupidest near-mistake he's ever made on top of the many that he did. He's trying not to repeat it.

He keeps a serious expression even when her face and movements tell him she thinks otherwise. Mild annoyance colors his features but he just looks silly sitting in bed crossed legged, dressed casual and looking quite comfortable honestly.

He opens his mouth to retort before it gives way to a look of surprise. Is it that easy? He nods.]

What flavor?

[Chocolate but now he's thinking about the first time he met Connor. The android who learned to be human. How odd it felt to be able to relate to a robot. Made to follow orders until they realized how important everything else was.

And that Connor couldn't eat ice cream at the time.]

[...Wait. She's right? She supposes it wasn't exactly completely an educational guess, really. Or even luck of the draw. Yes, she knows she can sometimes detect things from Squall and she supposes it's entirely possible she can dig into him for information, but the thing is...

It seems morally wrong to do that. It would mean that they could have no secrets from one another and while she advocates for openness between them, Rinoa also understands that sometimes someone needs a secret or two. Something to feel safe. It's nothing personal. She couldn't fault Squall for not being entirely open with her, because it's a falsehood if she claims she always is with him.

All the same, considering she's largely tried to avoid actively digging for his thoughts, that she's now doing so intentionally is jarring and disorienting.]

Ah. I thought I knew, but...
I don't know. Are you distracted by something?

[Because she... still isn't completely comfortable reaching for something that might not be any of her business.]

Cloud

♥

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Rinoa - backdated to mid-late Dec?

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Seifer - mid-late Dec also?

Works for me!

awkward conversation time

Seifer is not prepared

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squall B|

don't you line face me

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That's Squall's job!!

tidus's full time job now

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