o1.

[nordr.livejournal.com]

[ Cloud's found himself at the Quad, for no real reason. The cafeteria's far too crowded, and he hasn't had much of an appetite, since arriving; it's quieter here, and far more open than the privacy of his dorm room. There's space to think, to try and make sense of all that he's seen and heard, these past few days. The people he knows, they're saying things that don't add up, because whatever they seem to remember, he knows didn't happen. It must be the time compression. They just need a few days, weeks, months, to get a proper grasp of their memories ]

[ sat on the stage, he idly plays with a few loose pieces of materia as he loses himself in thought. He recognises them all by feel, nowadays; his fire materia is old and cracked, and when he presses the pad of his thumb against the surface, it feels like a hollowed out cross. Holding it tight, Cloud casts the spell in his empty hand, causing a small flame to suddenly flicker into life in his palm. Ever since all the mako injections, he's had so much more control over his magic. He lets the flames burn in and out on the tips of his fingers, confident, until the magic spreads, landing on the stage floor in front of him ]

Shit—[ he quickly stamps out the flame with his boot, before using his thumb to rub against the wood. It hasn't left a mark ] … gotta be more careful.

Comments

[fierybluebird]

Maybe if you give him some time to get used to the idea, eh.

Yeah, it's a curse fruit. You eat one and gain a special power, but then you can't swim and you're weak to ocean. Almost all of my entire world is ocean so that generally deters some people. Others consider it well worth it.

[nordr.livejournal.com]

Huh. [ ] That's new.

[fierybluebird]

Most people seem pretty surprised the first time they hear about it.

[nordr.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised. You could be making it up, for all I know...

[fierybluebird]

[Simply lets his arms exude blue flames.] I could, yeah, but I'd like to think I could be more creative than that. Bananas in pajamas abducting little children at night and filling their heads with all kinds of stories about how bananas can't grow alone. Devil fruits are real though. It's why fire attracts me.

[nordr.livejournal.com]

[ ] ... right. So because of that, you can't swim?

[fierybluebird]

Yeah. Amongst other things, eh. It's not the same as the magic here though. With devil fruit, you only get one power. And only ONE person in the whole world can have that power as long as they're alive.

[nordr.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a bad deal. [ ] We just have these. You can find them almost anywhere, and anyone can use them, if they know how.

[fierybluebird]

[Shrugs.] I wouldn't change my devil fruit for anything. And I've never really needed to swim.

[nordr.livejournal.com]

Good thing the swimming class isn't mandatory.

[fierybluebird]

Hah, I'd actually like to see them try to figure out how to make me swim. Well, assuming they always got someone to pull me out at least.

[nordr.livejournal.com]

Do you just sink like a rock, or... ?

[fierybluebird]

There might be a few uncomfortable moment of flailing. I have no idea, I've never let anyone get close enough to being able to drown me before. And I never will. Even if I got an order. [Because when you can fly...]