dualislogs | [Closed] Catch-all

[Have an incredulous look. That sounds really inefficient.]

Don't you have engines in your world?

Uhhh... [ Do they now? ] People back there weren't all that fond of machina -- machinery. [ Because he's not heard the word machina in any translated form. ]

They thought it was the reason all the bad stuff was happening. Really though, it had nothing to do with that. Things are probably a lot different there now.

[At least machina is easily inferred. He just raises his eyebrows. Why does it feel like Tidus just skipped a bunch of story in between.]

Were they attracting monsters from the moon?

[And he is not helping at all.]

The moon? [ The moon? Tidus just looks at Squall, eyes slowly narrowing....

until-- ] Oh, wait! [ He snaps his fingers and points at him. ] You know Nida?

[ The normal follow-up question to that. ]

[He blinks. Touche.]

He's a friend from home.

[Acquaintance. Subordinate. It's complicated.]

He told you about the moon?

Yeah, back at the NAPs I arrived around. That and about ... a port town.

[ And ships, but he couldn't get into that, exactly. ]

It's not like that though -- or wasn't. ...Sorta? [ Well, now that he thinks about it... ] Everyone was led to believe that using too much technology in the past was why something called "Sin" existed. It was a giant ... monster. [ To use Squall's term. ] They had a way of getting rid of it, but never completely.

That's over now though. It's gone, and we know that was all a lie. [ Oh, but- ] Nothing to do with the moon though.

[Port town? Balamb? Probably FH if it's Nida. Not that Squall is that curious.

Also giant monster that's impossible to get rid of sounds about right. Explanation accepted.]

Guess big lies like that happen everywhere.

[Depressing, really. Cause someone has to pick up the pieces in the end.]

You too, huh? [ Did he hear anything like that from Nida...? Not from what he can recall, but it doesn't sound that out there. What he does know about Nida's -- and Squall's, apparently -- world, anything could be possible.

He shrugs, lifting his food to his mouth, remarks before taking a bite: ]

Guess it's not that different from here either.

[ As poor of a lie it is -- it was all lies meant to deceive and control people. ]

[He shrugs.]

I was supposed to save the world but no one told me until it was too late.

[Stupidest protag life ever.]

Maybe it's the kind of thing adults and megalomaniacs like doing.

What, so your world is...?

[ Gone? is what he's leaving unsaid here. Kind of what 'until it was too late' implies, but he also doesn't want to jump straight into that either.

Not when they're talking about a world, here. ]

Huh?

[What did he say-- oh.]

No. My world's fine. They didn't tell me they 'knew' I'd defeat the sorceress from the future. Nobody at school knew we were training to fight sorceresses either.

[He frowns. He's still mad about it sometimes.]

But they still pushed all their problems on me.

[ He frowns at that, though not at the previous confusion. Maybe he should ask about this whole sorceress thing, but first-- ]

Why'd they keep it from you? Did they tell you?

[ Well, at some point. The 'end' of the ordeal, apparently. ]

[Squall shrugs.]

He was... a coward. Cid's the headmaster of Balamb Garden. His wife - our matron - is a sorceress. She told Cid to start the school because of me.

[It sounds self-important but he glosses over that like it's a minor detail.]

When the time came to fight, he ran. Left the school in my command because he couldn't fight his wife. She raised us in her orphanage before she was possessed. We didn't remember who she was until it was time to fight.

... He knew and he left it to us anyway. [To Squall. So he can lead his friends into murdering the closest thing to a mom they had.

The sandwich is getting abandoned now. Too annoyed to eat at the moment.]

... Eesh, I'm sorry. That sounds like it was a rough time.

[ Being trained to battle the woman who once raised you... he knew what Auron was doing by never simply telling him or anyone anything, but this was something else.

Half of his own sandwich still sits on the plate next to him, but he lets his arms fold over his legs for now, hunching some. ]

Is a sorceress something bad in your world? What do they do?

[Squall just shakes his head. It ended well, complicated though the whole thing was. But becoming favored and respected placed him in an awkward position that he still struggles to deal with sometimes. All while he's still working on figuring himself out.]

They're the only people in my world who can use magic naturally. Normal humans like me have to rely on summons or limit breaks. Sorceresses are very powerful and have the power to take over the world on their own. Not all sorceresses are bad but they tend to be feared.

Sorceress Adel took over Esthar and started a world war with Galbadia. Many died and a lot of kids were orphaned. 17 years after it ended, Sorceress Ultimecia tried to compress time. She's the one my friends and I defeated.

[Though he also fought Adel. He's fought a lot of sorceresses okay.]

A knight can keep a sorceress from becoming evil. Edea, matron's knight is Cid. And I'm Rinoa's. She's my girlfriend...

Dating someone keeps a sorceress from turning evil?

[ Wait. No. That's not what he's saying obviously, not with this Cid guy and Edea.

...Maybe? The confusion flickers from realisation and straight back to confusion as Tidus tries to work out the sense in this. ]

Uhh...

[ Please explain. ]

[Squall sputters as he startles himself from his wound up position.]

What?

[Hyne, he hopes he's not blushing. (He is.) He covers his face.]

No. That's not-- It happened at the same time! I don't know if-- [Aside from Ultimecia messing with Seifer, did Squall even know of other sorceress-knight pairs? Maybe they do all date. Hngh. This should not be awkward.]

There's no requirement to date.

[Nailed it.]

[ Okay, so it was more likely dating wasn't part of the Stop Turning Evil requirement and Tidus knew that, but with a reaction like that on Squall's part (he even covered his face), the truth doesn't matter so much.

Tidus keeps his smile from growing too wide on his face. ]

Uh huh.

[ Uh huh. ]

So holding her hand and making her happy doesn't help out?

[ It is so hard not to just break out into a grin right now. ]

[THIS WAS A SERIOUS CONVERSATION. BRING THAT BACK.]

... You're doing this on purpose.

[Even knowing this, he still struggled to answer with a straight yes. Which normally isn't hard but he hangs out with Seifer, he knows that look even if Tidus isn't overtly grinning.]

Yeah, [ he's not even going to deny it, and sounds chipper admitting to it, ] but am I wrong?

[ Okay, no, he's got to laugh a little. ]

Hey, she's still your girl! It's a good thing! -- Hahaha okay okay, alright. [ he makes a gesture, like waving down any disgruntled objections Squall might be having to his reaction here. ] So tell me what the difference is between being her boyfriend and her knight.

[ Grinning so happily. ]

[Note to self: Don't introduce Tidus to Seifer.

Urgh... He's not covering his face anymore but he sure is keeping it slightly ducked with thumb and forefingers pressed against his forehead.]

It's... I don't know. By the time I realized, I didn't want to be apart from her anymore. I wanted to keep her safe. I'd fight the world for her.

[ That's sweet. It does nothing to loosen the smile on Tidus's face, and he could so easily pick on Squall -- so is that a guardian, or a boyfriend?

But--he knows that feeling. It's the reason why he's smiling now, than at Squall's continued expense. A little sad, painful...but something important. He doesn't want to turn it into a joke too much, but only because it hits on an experience too personal.

So his voice eases, quiet a few seconds before he speaks up. ]

As a guardian to a knight? There doesn't have to be a difference. I would've given anything to protect-- ...Yuna, too, [ he adds with a small pause, a notch lower, as if nearly deciding not to say it.

But it's okay -- though his gaze drops briefly, but looks back over to Squall again -- to say her name in this context. ]

I was proud to be her guardian. ...And I was proud to be by her side.

[ And he would have given her everything, and did.

Except he can't say it like that. Not anymore. ]

[So Yuna is-- was his girlfriend too. He can't help but feel bad for him for that. It's Squall's worst nightmare when it comes to Rinoa and far too possible for it to happen in this place. Let alone at home where sorceresses aren't wanted at all.

He lowers his hand slowly but keeps him own gaze low. He should say something but he's never been good at that.]

Yeah. I am, too.

[And that has to be enough somehow.]

Sooo.... when am I meeting her?

[ hey hey not to ruin the mood (actually, yes), but introduce him you nerd ]

[A startled look. What's with this guy?

He folds his arms to look grumpy and annoyed but it could pass for sulking, really.]

Her name's Rinoa. You can find her at the dorms yourself.

[He's not letting them join forces!!]

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