dualislogs | ya gotta wanna be a battering ram

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ya gotta wanna be a battering ram

WHO: The entire dang city.
WHAT: Dualis Days, a week-long summer celebration.
WHERE: Central Square Park and the rest of the city.
WHEN: June 17-23.
WARNINGS: Terrorist violence, likely some blood and injuries. Please warn in individual threads!

June 17; Central Square Park.

Every year for as far back as anyone can remember, the start of summer is heralded by the week-long festival known as Dualis Days. This celebration officially kicks off at midday in the middle of Central Square Park with a commencement speech by the current mayor. This year marks Marcelina Dubanowski's third term as mayor of Dualis; she is an average-sized, middle-aged human-presenting woman with blonde hair styled in a short bob and a plastic, toothy smile that never seems to turn entirely off.

"Welcome, one and all!" she begins, with the practiced cadence of someone who is quite comfortable with public speaking. She invites all citizens, new and old, to spend the next week indulging in festivities in all districts of the city and getting to know their neighbors a little better. This is a joyous time of celebration, and the crowd responds with enthusiastic applause as the mayor finishes her speech and introduces this year's parade marshall, Peshtigo Tengfei.

Tengfei blows a whistle six times to signal the start of the parade - and this is where the celebration goes sideways.

A loud explosion tears through the air, and it's followed by panicked screams and the sharp screech of microphone feedback. A bomb has gone off at the platform where the mayor was standing, collapsing the wood and tearing it to splinters and dust. Chaos erupts in the gathered crowd, and as the people shift in all directions to get clear of any possible additional bombs, a loud siren cuts through the cacophony, calling attention to the sudden crackle of video feed present on all television screens throughout the city, including those set up in the park to broadcast the mayor's speech for those standing far from the stage. The picture is plain, a black background and bold white block letters filling the screen:

WAKE UP
WAKE UP
DON'T BELIEVE THE LIES

The final image is an anatomical graphic of a human heart, displayed for about three seconds, and then the feed goes black again.

Confused murmurs sweep through the crowd as citizens resume tending to the injured and evacuating the area until official first responders arrive.

June 17-23; aftermath around the city.

Dualis Days continues as scheduled, though Mayor Dubanowski is unable to enjoy the festival, as she is spending the week in the hospital recovering from her injuries. A team of Iterations guard her door - no visitors allowed - but the news media frequently report updates on her condition. Nothing to worry about, folks! Return to your celebrations, and don't mind the increased visible presence of the Hand as Iterations are stationed every few blocks throughout the city. It's only for your protection, after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I had a few GFs on me but they're gone. I didn't have them junctioned for the party." Trying to minimize memory loss and all that. Squall is staring down at the wood still stuck in him and exhales slowly. This is going to suck without magic.

He frowns as Nida continues. Multiverse? He doesn't voice that question yet, just nods in response. Best deal with all this one thing at a time.

"Do we have a first aid kit?" A pause. "If there's a clinic nearby, I'll go... I just didn't trust the medics on scene. They said they're peaceful and just want our DNA for a cure. Then a bomb goes off on the first day? That's too convenient." There's a lot to doubt. He expects the clinic will still pass on any samples to this city but at least he'll know which facility he ends up in while he's patched up.

Party. Two of those that make sense, he thinks. Graduation or end of the war. No SeeD uniform, probably the latter. Could he get away with calling Squall ‘sir’? Could he help it if Squall somehow managed a proper command? And where could he find a doctor at this one of night without blowing all his money.

When it rains, the saying goes, it pours. And Nida feels like he is drowning. Thought that time with Jason was the water finally lapping up over his mouth and nose. Now he’s deep enough that he can’t even tell which way is up. Hyne above he is tired. Can’t there be one easy thing today?

“There is a basic first aid kit down at the front desk,” he says as he slides his knife back into his boot. “And basic on a civilian level, not ours. As for the paranoia? Healthy, but not sure it’s useful. Last place I was before here? Had clones of people. We were attacked by them. Life gets fun when you run a boarspear through your own gut. I’m probably just being fatalistic, but who is to say they didn’t just take our blood while unconscious? Or won’t collect our hair from our rooms? And now I sound like a paranoid freak.”

Maybe he has been thinking about this a bit more than he had let on to his friends. Not that it matters. He’s learned to be a bit more pragmatic. Health before paranoia, even if the latter is warranted. And this place is paradise in his books. Or had been. And now he was going to help his not-boss to a clinic or ER and probably drop all of his money on that. There went birthday presents for the twins, and saving for weapons. Oh well. Rinoa would judge him harshly if he didn’t help.

Basic civilian first aid isn't going to help much. He remembers they don't even come with needle and thread. He touches a hand to his forehead before just running it through his hair. Fine. Fair. Nida's right. Whatever they wanted from them, they've probably already taken. And staying injured is just going to minimize his chances.

He sighs and levels a weary gaze at the older SeeD he barely recognizes.

"You're right... But I'd feel better if you came with me to a clinic." Squall definitely just asked a favor. He doesn't try to explain that he was worried they'd just whisk him away and make him disappear in this foreign world. They have already managed to do a lot of unsettling things. And more importantly,

"You were in another world?" And they had clones? He frowns deeply. Time travel and time compression already opened up a lot of questions but Nida has been saying some weird things since he walked in.

“Of course, sir,” Nida agrees, and he manages to keep the sigh out of his voice. He had come ere to sleep. But this would do instead. He pulls out his device and sends a quick note to his people to let them know he’s taking his new roommate to a clinic because they aren’t very bright.

“I was. With some people from home. Pretty much kidnapped, from a year after that party, more or less. It was all a mess. Do you want to add a headache?”

Because he doesn’t want to inflict one right now.

Hey, he totally knew what he was doing. :(

Squall eyes the device. The smartphone, they called it. Far more portable than anything he's seen before. But Nida's looked different from his. He stays seated for now. If there's anything traveling with the others have taught him is that he'd get nagged if he pushes himself too hard.

"What is it?" A pause. Might as well have all the problems out in the open. "And who else from home? I saw Seifer earlier." And that got him to scowl a little. That asshole getting a good laugh out of his predicament.

I saw Seifer earlier.

Nida didn’t know whether he wanted to call Seifer to shout at him because he hadn’t given Nida a heads up, or if he wanted to call to assure Seifer that he wasn’t going anywhere just because Squall had arrived. Of course while he debated that internally with himself he had gone more or less stuff at the mention of the name. Could be taken as him being angry that Seifer was there. Of course if it was, that was quickly corrected with the icy look he turned on Squall now.

“We’re going to make one thing abundantly clear right now. You may be my superior officer, my commander, but if you lay one hand on Seifer in an aggressive matter that he does not specifically invite as a sparring match or the like, and I will break you. You don’t have a gunblade here, you don’t have magic, in that set of circumstances I should be able to do it.”

Hyne, he doesn’t know that he’s been so serious about a threat before in his life. Sure, he has done it before to protect Seifer, but never against a threat that could mean so much as Squall. Last time, though, he had Rinoa as backup. Now it’s just him, glaring at Squall who needed medical assistance, trying to protect a man who wasn’t even there. But Squall couldn’t know that Nida had just about adopted Seifer, that the other man was Nida’s brother by choice. That Seifer was the most important person in his life.

Squall's eyes widen at the sudden shift in attitude. It turns into a disturbed frown a moment later. His hand instinctively clenching as if he had a gunblade around him.

Why the hell is Nida being hostile? Acting like Squall's going to hurt Seifer or worse? He hardens his gaze. Annoyed. Tired. Defensive. Barely a week has passed since Time Compression and now he's been thrown straight into the depths of something else with zero information.

"What I do with Seifer is none of your business. If he has a problem, he can tell me himself."

None of his business? Nida laughs and shakes his head. Then he stands and stretches. In a quiet way of showing that of them, one can move well. Keep that in mind.

“What you do with my brother that could threaten his life is my business. But, you’re my commander, and some of the same considerations apply to you. I can just hear Rin laying into me for not helping you, especially after you, some version of you, helped me when I got to the village. Which means health first. Come on, we’re going to find a clinic.”

Squall rolls his eyes and would continue to be huffy if Nida hadn't just brought up something weird.

"Some version of...?" The hell? He doesn't remember that. "And Rinoa was there too?" His frown deepens, too troubled to follow Nida's invitation to move. Nida called Seifer his brother too. He rubs his forehead. He just wants to curl up for a day or two at this rate.

He shakes his and slowly rises with a wince. "Forget it. Tell me later."

“Good news. Clinics have all the nice drugs to make your headache go away,” Nida reminds Squall as he gestured toward the door. “Or do you need me to carry you? Because I think if I tried I could manage it.”

For Squall’s own sake. Because, at last, he actually has a concerned look on his face. Note to self: do something nice for Squall not too nice, though. Maybe ask Billy to get the blood out of his coat. Maybe.

“Seriously, I am pretty sure if I let you suffer like this, a dog will find me and make it their duty to make me miserable.”

Squall makes a bit of a face at the thought of being carried. He's been in enough humiliating positions today, thanks.

"I can walk." He hesitates while reaching for his jacket, pulling his hand back when he decides against it. Better minimize unnecessary movement for now. He's done enough damage running around ground zero like this.

He's still able to huff at the dog joke though.

"Just give it a treat." And a moment later, and far more quietly. "Thanks."

Even if Nida did just threaten him with physical violence.

Good, because Nida's tired enough that he doesn't think he could really be trusted to carry Squall right now. But he does roll his eyes at the suggestion of giving a dog a treat.

"To do that, I'd a) have to have a treat, and b) risk getting close enough for my allergies to start killing me. Note for when you end up back home? Please ban dogs from the bridge. I'm sure young-Nida will thank you for it. Without saying anything. You were... can be intimidating."

And that's just that. He opens the door and holds it open for Squall.

"Don't thank me, Commander. I'd do this for anyone."

Squall blinks at that. Intimidating? Well, Nida's not wrong. Squall did maintain that unfriendliness for a reason, even if it backfired spectacularly. He sighs quietly and steps outside, carefully cradling the plugged wound on his lower left side.

"I'm still human." Just saying. "Dogs don't belong on the bridge anyway. I'll tell Rinoa not to bring Angelo." She shadows Rinoa so well, it's easy to forget she's there sometimes.

And what an unfriendliness it was. Almost palpable in the old days, could cut it with a knife. Though, after a moment, Nida does rush back to his bed and pull a small leather box from under his pillow case. The proper size for a Triple Triad deck.

If he is going to be in a clinic e is at least going to sort his cards and see what came with him.

“Thanks. At least Seifer’s Dog was hairless.”

No, no there will not be context there.

Squall is working on it. Baby steps. He eyes the box with interest but doesn't say anything. He'll be happy to find his own deck in the room later.

As for Seifer's Dog, he's just going to leave that there. He's had enough headaches for one day.

“You can have my shoulder if you need,” Nida lets Squall know as he closes the door. “I injured side of course. I don’t want to start you bleeding by bumping you weird.”

Seriously, was Squall like this in the war? Because Nida pities his teammates if it’s true. Martyr complexes, what could you do?

Squall huffs again. It's tempting to shrug off the offer, especially since Nida doesn't seem entirely comfortable with his presence. But with the way the injury is actively aching now, it doesn't take him long to move over and put a hand on Nida's shoulder.

He's no martyr really. Loner tendencies aren't all that easy to shake off when the friends he shed it around aren't here. He stays quiet as they venture out in search of a clinic. At least the city isn't lacking in signage and there's a sizable clinic nearby - one with a robot receptionist that quite cheerfully signs Squall in. There's barely a wait before he's seen either and the clinic itself is apparently capable of dealing with the kind of injury Squall has immediately.

For free.

There are a lot of things that Squall can probably get away with when Nida is around, much to Nida’s displeasure. One of those, though, is not hovering over Squall until his issue is dealt with. Instead he stays in the waiting room, flipping through cards and sending half-hearted text messages to people he already knows.

Frankly, it’s a shock when Squall is back out without this taking until morning. Nida is left to look up at him in shock.

“Did they kick you out? I can find another place. “

Squall is holding a hand to the side of his head. Everything has gone by so fast he feels a bit woozy. He blinks, almost missing Nida's question. He shakes his head and lowers his hand to pull up his shirt. A white square bandage is now over the wound.

"It's done. The doctor said I'll be fine in a day or two." He shakes his head again when his vision doubles and he covers his face again with a quiet grunt. "... with some side effects."

Wait, what? Nida stares. Even magic didn’t do that much that fast. Then he moves to Squall’s side. He looks a bit unbalanced.

“Side effects?”

Edited (Fuuuck young nida) 2019-06-26 00:39 (UTC)

He could still walk a straight line if he has to. If straight lines are wobbly. He's not complaining about Nida being close right now. He feels floaty.

"Painkillers?" Maybe. "There were needles. Everything else were machines. Nicer-looking than ours. Kind of like Esthar..."

Oh that is bad. Worse if Squall hasn’t eaten in a while. After a moment Nida nods to himself.

“Come on, let me get you something to eat. You need it.”

Edited 2019-06-30 15:47 (UTC)

"Okay." There's no reason to argue so he'll just tag along, especially since the nurse at reception will just wave them off without payment. It's almost like being back at Garden.

"I don't get you, Nida. You didn't seem happy to see me but you keep helping."

“You’re not wrong. I’m not sure just what you represent for people I care about here,” Nida admits after several minutes of quiet thought, still keeping a slow pace to help get Squall where he needs to be. Which is for food.

“At the same time, there is this part of me, call if SeeD Nomura If you want, that demands certain behavior. It’s a fucking hard balance.”

Squall frowns, but again, unfocused. Fun.

"You said Seifer's your brother now. That's nice..." Does he actually sound kind of wistful? Can he blame it on the drug haze later? "But I get it. We're soldiers. We obey the chain of command." A pause. "I didn't change that in the future, did I?"

CW: penetrative injury, likely blood and treatment ITT

CW: penetrative injury, likely blood and treatment ITT

CW: penetrative injury, likely blood and treatment ITT

Re: CW: penetrative injury, likely blood and treatment ITT

Re: CW: penetrative injury, likely blood and treatment ITT

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Possible wrap point here?

I don't mind but we might wanna hash out what he tells Squall later. He has questions

Could do a brief skip and then have Nida taking him to breakfast somewhere?

Sounds good!

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