synflux | ( open + closed ) catch all

( continued from tdm. )

( tomorrow. guilt begins to web through her, even with that insistent tug of his to begin to pull her along. honestly, the idea of getting out of there for a little while and out into the open air was a welcome one, and so with a final glance over her shoulder at the stagnant line of bodies, limbs give and follow with a quiet sigh. )

It's nice of you, to care so much. ( she doesn't feel like she's being naive — he'd offered her a sweater to cover up, stopped where she'd perched herself away from the crowd of bodies to check on her. she's at least had some time to get her bearings, so even if she is still feeling a bit out of her element, there was nothing wrong with allowing herself some form of comfort when it was offered.

so she'll glance up to his side profile as she walks with him, paying mind to the way he guides her through the base. )

And they're safe? ( the springs, she means. ) Back home we deal with monsters, too. You can't really ever be sure where they will or won't be.

( continued from tdm. )

( it's only ever been a far-away thought, for her — having the choice to not fight at all. had she ever really been given that chance? when she was young, maybe. naive to the monsters that prowled gaia, both human and inhuman alike. since that fateful afternoon she'd found master zangan in the spring, she's yet to sit still. it's part of the reason why she feels so out of place, beyond being pulled to a world that wasn't her own — but shouldn't she understand what it is she's fighting for, first?

a soft nod, gaze fixing on her fingers as they fidget about her shin, lost to thought. ) They're lucky to have you then.

Fighting for the people you care about is the best motivation you can have, really. ( something grips her heart, uncomfortable and sharp. a reminder that she was alone. )

It doesn't seem to scare you. ( a search for his gaze, tiniest furrow between her brows. )

( continued from tdm. )

you mean back home to... yourself?
i'm still trying to understand exactly how this all works

i'm sure if you feel that way here, they are being taken care of
guess it's kind of hard to be reassured when it feels like you're split in two places at once, though

[ For a moment, Kaito worries that Tifa will politely decline his invitation. He wouldn't blame her for it either, but...

But what? Would he be that torn up over not being able to help a newbie relax, or would he be torn up over being turned down?

Before he can properly think about that, she finally turns to follow him. Sigh or not, he flashes a relieved smile, making a beeline for the base's station exit. ]

Do you think so? I bet some would call me weird for giving a damn. Or creepy, for trying to take advantage of a pretty newbie trying to settle herself in a strange city. [ Kaito chuckles; if he was an onlooker, maybe he'd accuse himself of the same.

Their jaunt through base is brief. It doesn't take long to get to the singular train station entrance. Only LILITH employees are allowed onto this particular track, and at this hour the train is practically empty. Clean, sterile, and empty. A little unsettling.

Thankfully, the trip to the connecting station for regular citizens is very brief—but long enough for them to chat a bit. ]

The springs are as safe as it gets. As far as I've seen, kaiju are the only monsters that appear here, and they don't show up very often. It's not completely safe, but from what I'm hearing, you're used to the possibility of nasties popping out at any moment. So am I.

( continued from tdm. )

People can be cruel if they're desperate.

( and while it certainly seems as if that's the case, could any of them really be sure what it was they were fighting for? it's like he said, the lengths they must've gone through to get them here, to modify them into the role of what they needed most — she can feel the device implanted within her humming as if recognizing it's being thought of. )

Geto. ( a softly hummed note of acknowledgment, though she imagines he won't be difficult to forget. and for what it's worth, she appreciates that he doesn't try to sugarcoat it. she's been in dire straits of her own. trying to make it all something it wasn't wouldn't benefit any of them. )

At least this should be the least we'll know, right? Maybe those that've been here longer will have a better idea as to what's really going on.

( continued from tdm. )

( his fluster doesn't deter her, if anything in some strange way it's almost... nice to be met with someone so expressive, reminds her a little of each of her friends that waited back home — cloud in his pessimistic gloom, aerith in the way she unforgivingly over-brimmed, barret's rashness — all cocktailed into one individual. and so the subtle if not still uneasy smile that finds her lips isn't in amusement so much as it is softened fondly by memory. )

I think that might be a safe guess. ( as much as the organization might strive to create some sort of community between the outsiders, it's a bit difficult to forget that they'd all been brought here against their own will.

still, she can't shake the thought that they might be listening — she's yet to learn the full capability of the implants, but she knows better than to think they'd give them a full briefing, case and point being outfits they quite literally couldn't change. )

I'm Tifa. ( spoken softly, features shifting into a shade of empathy. she might not be able to take the circumstances away, but she could do her best to distract them from it for a little while, coudln't she? ) I'm guessing you're new here, too?

( continued from tdm. )

( a nod at his reply, following the twin shade of his hues to the long stretch of a street that serves to both beckon and deter. as much as she wants to keep at it, head and heart-strong alike, she's not so sure just how much further she can push herself without becoming even more of a potential burden. the last thing she wants is to cause anyone else any trouble. )

I, um. ( now that she feels a bit more steady on her feet, swallowing down the prick of nausea that threatens to swell once more, that touch that'd braced her relinquishes, choosing to hug the kit in to her chest instead. )

I planned to- ( go further, ) but, ah. Now I'm not so sure if I should. ( the words come a little breathless, but she offers a friendly smile nonetheless, still managing to spark her gaze despite how her body wars with her. ) You should keep going. I can get myself back.

( continued from tdm. )

( she doesn't keep his gaze from perusing her own form if that's what he's after, whether to check to see if she'd completed it — which she has, thank you very much! — or merely to be nosy, it's hardly offensive given everything else they're meant to deal with, including a set of paperwork that seemed to ask the same questions ten times over and luring them out in suggestive clothing. it's clearly meant to fluster them all, but... why? 'because they could' seemed too infantile for the likes of LILITH.

regardless, she'll take hold of the clipboard he's jarred into her arm, folding her own papers beneath, but a single glance proves she's not even capable of completing the very first blank waiting to be scrawled in with his name. thumb brushes across the space, the slightest furrow forming between her brows. )

Wouldn't you rather just fill it out than have me ask you all of these questions? ( most of them are innocuous, but she'd learned from her own that they do get a bit personal. )

( For a moment he seems to weigh something up, a flicker of thoughtfulness behind his eyes. It's there and then gone, Geto moving to take the seat opposite her without asking, sinking into it with his knees spread like the insolent youth he hasn't been for a very long time. )

People can be.

( Agreement, he's an old friend with it. ) That doesn't mean we have to like it. Nor sympathise. Though it makes you think - is there a correlation? What do we have in common? With each other, or the people already here? Why choose us? If they can pick anyone from any time then why not simply ... go back and take those humans that lived here before? Although clearly they weren't enough considering we're needed now. I'd take everything I'm told with a pinch of salt. Trust isn't easy to come by when you've essentially been kidnapped.

( continued from tdm. )

( there's more to the story she's sure, but she supposes this is hardly the place to get to lost to anything sentimental, and as it was, they'd only just met one another. the crooked smile that paints his brims earns one of her own, though it's something even and sweet, a curiosity kindling beneath the surface. she's had a few days to get something closer to settled since she'd arrived, but there's something to be said for the brief breath such a casual conversation allows, gaze straying from his once more to begin wrapping the gauze about his hand. )

I haven't been here long enough to know for sure, but it seems like this place offers plenty of that. ( of course, kaiju couldn't exactly be compared to the thrill of being in a ring. he manages to tug a playful quip from her nonetheless, dipping down to tear the fabric with her teeth. )

There's a rec area on base isn't there? ( the kit didn't have any sort of tape to keep the gauze in place, so she makes do with weaving the end into the many layers til it's snug. ) I don't know much about the ins and outs of boxing, but I've trained in martial arts since I was younger. Some form of it, anyway. If you ever wanted a challenge that wasn't... well, monsters. ( it's offered a bit sheepishly, and... there. once last look-over of her work. it'll have to do for now. )

That should hold until you're back, at least.

Why do that when I have a pretty girl right here who can do it?

_{[ Toji does, a lot of the time, speak his mind. Unless it’s something personal. He’s not against making the atmosphere weird, but that’s maybe because he’s socially stunted when it comes to actually behaving. That rebellious streak in him that always did the opposite of what the rest of his clan did bled into his everyday life without him realizing. He was born an anomaly; a defect from the start, so why should he even bother being normal anymore? ]}

Fushiguro, Toji.

_{[ Get writing, Miss Tifa, cause he doesn’t stop talking. ]}

Green. Black. 188cm. 95kg. 36. December 31st. A-Positive.

yeah, it was just like that
it was a night here, but weeks at home

i'm trying to take it easy because it's all we can do, but that doesn't make it easier?
but there are a lot of good people here.

I don't think it's weird. ( a part of her can understand where he's coming from, and why others might pass such judgment, but if she's proven anything time and time again it's her ability to look after herself. to think for herself, even with her back against the wall. brows tug into a tuft, hair rustling as she shakes her head, confident in her standing. )

You're being kind. I think a lot of people have forgotten what that looks like.

( when they make it to the train station, an eager draft bites at the exposed skin of her thighs, grateful once more for the sweater he'd lent her to cover up. it hasn't dawned on her just yet that she doesn't exactly have the attire to appreciate the likes of hot springs, but she hasn't exactly anticipated that they'd get into the water. maybe she'd dangle her feet in, savor being cloaked with a fresher air — the paperwork could wait until morning, like he'd said.

there's no denying how the tension knotted within her shoulders begins to dissolve the further they move from the base. )

Yeah, in a way. I've sort of had to be. ( palm still clasped to his forearm, she allows her sights to wander, taking in the world beyond the base, how different it was from her own. ) You have them, where you're from?

( a beat, and she clarifies: ) Monsters, fiends... there's lots of names.

[ Her reassurance prompts Kaito to lean back against the shut train doors. Some tension of his own releases from between his shoulder blades—maybe a bit faster as she continues to hold onto his forearm. ]

...Yeah. A lot of people are hurt, in this world or otherwise. They look at kindness and see something that isn't there. I can't always blame them... but I'm glad you appreciate it.

[ Kaito feels satisfied, even if it's an odd sense of satisfaction. As if he hasn't experienced it in a while. Maybe that speaks to the cruelty of this world. ]

There are many names, yes. My world has them, but their numbers are low. They're isolated to certain parts of the realm, and so they don't pose a huge threat to the general public.

With any luck, it'll stay that way. My world is a parallel version of this one, but set back two-hundred years ago and inhabited by countless races. Not just humans. We've had enough trouble just trying to get along with each other, y'know?

[ As he explains, the sights continue to fly on by. Unfortunately, most of what's out there is ruins, steel, and concrete. As they approach the next station, more and more fences crop up, and dilapidated buildings become replaced by steel spires.

Honestly? It might not look too dissimilar from Midgar. Or maybe a blend of Midgar and Night City from Cyberpunk 2077. ]

[ She's not wrong, and the comment earns a small laugh, his gaze lifting up to catch hers in approval before dipping back down to appreciate the rest of her handiwork. After so long with only Sigewinne to tend his wounds, it's strange to sit and have someone else patch him up.

But it's not unwelcome, and her personal touch is far preferred to that of the harried nurses in medbay. ]

I suppose you're right.

[ There's a further lift to his shoulders at her offer for a spar, clear interest evident in his eyes as he glances back up, assessing her build and weight, the strength to her grip and the toned muscles that lie underneath her skin. He's sparred with plenty of people here already, but he'll never say no to another. ]

Well, I can hardly say no when a young woman as charming as yourself is offering, now can I? [ He's (mostly) kidding, please don't report him to HR for harassment. ] More seriously, it would be my honor to meet you in the rec room once this is all healed up.

( she'll stand beside him, opposite arm fixed to one of the rails that juts before the glaringly empty row of seats. she has to wonder just how many people are left, if maybe her being drawn here was for some greater good, after all. it's hard to say so soon, but for the first time since she's arrived, not knowing doesn't feel so heavy. )

Maybe sometimes they don't deserve to be blamed. But I can't help but to feel like how someone acts when they're hurt says a lot about them...

( that, and how they act when others around them are. it's a lot to take in, it has been since she's arrived, both the world of his own he colors for her and the flickering of different scapes that pass them by. she decides that maybe it's a little easier, that this world wasn't too similar to her own. that it didn't hold the same aches in its rubble and rebuild, though she imagines plenty others. )

It's strange how they were able to pull so many of us not just from different places, but from different times. ( his world running parallel while her own flourished with its own fauna and fiends. ) Do you miss it?

( as if her voice was pulled back to the here and now, the city whirring on beyond his frame. ) Home.

weeks...?

( dread wraps thick and tugging around her heart. )

when you went back, how did it feel?
if you don't mind me asking.
since it'd been so long back home. did you have any memory of it all?

i didn't remember being here at all, if that's what you mean
but it was like no time had passed

( she's surprised when he makes to sit with her, but far from displeased. it'd seemed at first that he'd merely entertained her distracted murmur while he'd passed by, all too content to stir on to the shadows of the room or perhaps find himself elsewhere entirely. the conversation doesn't feel mindless, beyond just a means of distracting themselves from the reality they'd been pulled into.

she watches him as he speaks, the careful cadence of it all, turning the soft underbelly of the unknown up to glare back at them. )

I don't know that they would've been able to. Toying around with life and death like that. ( there's no way for her to know the state the others had been in when they'd awoken here, just the same as her. pulling from different timelines didn't necessarily mean the ability to go back into their own. )

I just keep thinking of what they'd said. Or what I can remember. They'd called me 'suitable.' ( her eyes seem to glaze over, as if trying to sift through a fog-ridden memory. ) If they're... repopulating, ( the word feels almost vile on her tongue, features twisting around it as if some rotten thing in her mouth. ) I can't imagine they'd do anything unintentionally.

( hues cast around the room again, settling momentarily on each individual before going to the next. ) Everyone's serving some sort of purpose.

I feel like you know people pretty well, [ Kaito murmurs, pondering the thought. His gaze tilts down for just a moment before peeking back to those rubies. ] Makes me so much more curious to hear your stories.

[ But they can wait. For now, the dragon closes his eyes and lets his vision swim in memories of streets not unlike what they're approaching, bustling with activity, pack from curb to curb with the living.

Their train groans to a halt. Two or three people stand behind the yellow line on the platform. As the doors hiss open, Kaito smoothly turns on his heel and guides Tifa into the station proper—and after climbing a single flight of stairs, the pair arrive at a garage level where a sleek, pitch-black motorcycle awaits.

He still hasn't answered the question. But the wait is over. As Kaito hops onto the seat, the vehicle's console illuminates. He locks eyes with Tifa again. ]

Not a single second passes without me thinking about how time keeps marching on back home. You'll have time to make your own opinion of Neo Japan, but for me...

[ A helmet is offered. Kaito smiles. It's small, it's resilient—but it's full of hurt. ]

This world is a prison.

( the way the compliment so casually drips from his tongue catches her off guard more than anything. it's not as if she isn't used to having those sort of comments thrown into conversation from countless nights spent behind a bar, but they're typically either laced with intent or slurred from a drunken tongue. before she can so much as utter a word his voice greets her again, something low and almost bored — it takes her a moment, but she catches on to the fragmented details, tugging the pen out from its place beneath the clip to fill in each respectively.

he doesn't look 36, despite his considerable size, but she isn't given the opportunity to linger long on such an innocent thought when the rest of the form glares back at her, squared off into different sections. somehow it feels as if the blush that's crept to her cheeks ignites all the further, clearing her throat only to flip the page that's still very obviously not complete, riddled with the likes of: how high is your sex drive? and coming home to find your partner in _____ would turn you on the most. )

I'll, ah, skip some of these. ( ~~does she spare asking him his marital status and if he has any children?~~ anyway, she'll just continue on, filtering through. ) Occupation?

i meant more if it felt like you missed out on all of that time, there
especially if you've been here for a few months
maybe i should just try not to think about it too much

( she lingers a moment on the words. she doesn't pretend to have it all figured out, but she's always been one to pay too much mind to how others felt, and there were often far too many willing to take advantage of that glimmer of empathy. little does she know how much the word alone resonates with him. )

I wouldn't know where to start, really. ( as if they weren't sprawling, countless she'd be happy to revisit, while others beckoned to be told even through their pain. she finds her own curiosity hardly sated from the likes of where he'd come from, but she knows asking those sort of questions usually leads to them being asked back.

almost as if to balm that ache, the train shrieks against the rails as it comes to a slow stop, thankful to be able to commit herself to something as thoughtless as the cadence of limbs, pausing only once he shifts to climb onto the bike, cradling onto one of the helmets.

his words rattle her. a glimpse of something other than the kind boy that'd taken to her side when she'd wanted to detach from the world that was that immigration line, a hint perhaps at his own experience here, a chill licking along her spine. her thoughts storm too raucously to grab on to just one, taking hold of the helmet offered to her with a glint of sorrow in her gaze.

he doesn't know her, and she doesn't know him, not really. but maybe she could help it all feel a little less like that, if only for a little while. her stare waits a moment longer before she tugs the helmet on, climbing nimbly up to sit behind him, arms wrapping about his front - a wordless 'ready.' )

_{[ His tone is low and bored because he is bored!! All of this is boring, and the desire to wander off and play pachinko after all of this is great, but Toji isn’t sure if he even has money for a few rounds. He must have spent it all sometime last week.

His keen eyes do spot those personal questions, no doubt a little unprofessional so Toji just assumes is Seok Dang messing with them again. The way she skips some and picks others is interesting, really.

Occupation, though. ]}

Entrepreneur.

_{[ He has no shame in stating to a stranger he’s an assassin, but he might as well try to make it sound like something business-like. Getting into gritty details of blood and murdering minors is hardly acceptable for a first impression. Suddenly: ]}

I was married. Twice. Not anymore.

_{[ He figured that would be a question on there. ]}

Widowed, then divorced.

[ Aha. Yeah, maybe that was a bit much. The tips of Kaito's ears flush with embarrassment, and that's only furthered by the wave of emotions that roll over him when she wraps her arms around his waist. Tifa's optics will blink once the helmet's on. Here comes a text message from... sugarcane?

Text flutters to the fore of vision as Kaito smoothly takes off towards the city limits. ]

Sorry about that.
I'm supposed to be helping you relax, not bringing the mood down.
I meant what I said, but.
This isn't the worst fate for us.

For some of the kids, this is objectively better than what's waiting for them back home.
Regardless of how I feel, I'm going to try my best to make life easier for other Outsiders—like you.

[ The roads are empty even in the middle of the day, but Kaito doesn't stick to them for long. ]

Hang tight.

[ A few seconds later, Kaito revs the bike into a wheelie before leaping it off the road! Ruined buildings, dead trees, and uneven ground awaits as the previously smooth motorcycle ride turns into something more appropriate for dirt bikes.

But the ride remains steady (well, as steady as off-roads can be), and Kaito tosses a glance over his shoulder to smile at his helmeted passenger. ]

Do they have bikes where you're from?
I can fly, y'know.
But riding around like this...
It's an exhilarating feeling that few things can beat.

( open + closed ) catch all

✧ — kaito.

✧ — choso.

✧ — yuji.

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✧ — geto.

✧ — yzak.

✧ — hunter.

✧ — toji.

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✧ — wriothesley.

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