aerialassault | 000 [Action] 4th Walled

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4th wall

000 [Action] 4th Walled

[The mass influx of wingless people doesn't throw Cliff off his game. After the last few weeks of cleaning up messes and dealing with the natural fallout of the Malnosso's influences within the village, the flood of new faces is somewhat relaxing for a laid back guy.

He set's his sights primarily on helping out in the Welcome Center for the weekend, planning on spending his time pestering his friends while he was on the lookout for familir faces that he hadn't seen for a while. When he's not there he spends his time hanging out in the Battle Dome or Good Spirits in the evenings before returning to his apartment in the Ground Building at night.

All in all, it's a pretty normal day.]

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Gah!

[Cliff swerved to dodge Saizou and just managed it-- barely. Turning, Cliff rerouted his direction and bee lined for the other side of the plaza.

Sure, he could outrun a pig. No problem!]

[He can't help but laugh and barely turned away in time to put a hand up to hide it. For someone so big, he certainly was agile - and strangely afraid of Saizou hitting him. He waved goodbye to them both as Saizou skid to a stop and whipped around, speeding off after Cliff again as he ran to the other side of the plaza.]

If you can get back inside before he can, I'll keep him outside and you can come back in~

[Saizou freezes and turns back, eyeing Cliff. Can he outrun the pig to make it inside?]

[Cliff eyed the Saizou back with a sharp, determined look. He didn't know why the little pig disliked him so much, but he knew that he didn't want to accidentally hurt the little guy for any reason. Yet, at the same time, he didn't want to put up with being attacked...

Running was the best bet.

He took off, running as fast as he could across the plaza in hopes of beating a pig in a race.]

[Souji stepped aside and held the door open as he saw Cliff start running. Saizou squealed like an angry bear and started running too, hooves scrabbling over the stones and making a beeline for the door.]

[The clattering on the cobblestones and the angered shriek from the tiny creature was all the incentive that Cliff needed to move and keep moving. He lunged for the open door at top speed, intending to win this round even if it meant embarrassing himself to do it.]

[Aaaaand in by a nose is Cliff. Souji stepped past by him as he lunged for the door, graceful as always and put a hand up as Saizou thumped against his legs. The pig whined for a moment and Souji picked him up, dusting the wet snow clinging to his skin off.]

It's alright, Saizou. I'll be home in a few hours. Go back and head inside, you know where the blankets are. Make yourself comfortable now.

[He pat the pig on the head and put it down, closing the door behind him as Saizou gave at first a baleful glance at the door and then an enraged one at Cliff before he disappeared behind the wood.

With that business done, Souji clapped his hands, smiling broadly.]

See? That went well, I think!

[Cliff brushed the snow off the sleeves of his bomber jacket as he watched Souji speak to Saizou in a patient, almost motherly tone, and was simply grateful that he was free from any ire for the rest of the afternoon.]

...I wonder when he's gonna get over this, [he said, brows furrowed in contemplation.] I know he's just trying to protect you and all, but it can't be good if he's mad all the time.

Oh, but he's been grumpy since he was born. [Souji laughed and helped Cliff brush snow off his clothes.] It's why I named him Saizou in the first place.

So~ he might not get over it, but he should eventually stop trying to kill you every time he sees you.

[Cliff sighed at those words.]

That'd be much appreciated.

...

What does 'Saizou mean, anyway?

I named him after a friend of mine - in a way.

Why do you call your ship...what was it? Diplo?

Interesting way to honor a friend....

[Then again, Souji was interesting himself.]

She's a decomissioned diplomacy ship that we bought and fitted with our own tech. Calling her the Diplo's just a little bit easier.

Edited 2014-01-30 22:03 (UTC)

Heee.....didn't think it was much of an honor. [Souji giggled to himself, remembering the look on Hijikata's face when he first named the piglet.

And he had to hold back another round of laughter as he found out the reasoning behind Cliff's naming of his ship. Straightforward as ever, Cliff. Straightforward as ever.]

And yes, I think it's a name that fits Cliff-san's style.

Well-- at least I didn't piss anyone off by naming her after them!

[It was a bland retort, but he liked that ship. Oversaw all of the ~~semi-illegal~~ modifications that were done to her to make her worthy of being Quark's flagship, and she was his first really big purchase. She was registered legally under his name and everything.]

...What did your friend do when he found out about Saizou anyway? Complain and get grumpy?

[He raised his hands up in a sign of peacekeeping and smiled.]

I was just saying I thought it fit well.

[Moving to the side, Souji started the walk back toward the Welcome Center counter, laughing.]

And yes, pretty much. He told me to keep the pig away from him, but he let me keep him - so I know he's not really that mad.

[Cliff followed, hands tucked into the hands of his pockets, and grinned wryly at Souji's words. It was hard to stay mad at the man for any length of time...]

He probably just didn't like having a pig named after him. Maybe he'd have prefered a horse or something-- but, whatev. You got to keep them both.

[He stiffened slightly at the word horse, remembering what was to come - an involuntary response. He relaxed slightly as he took up his position behind the counter again, perching himself on the edge of the stool.]

Maybe, but yes, I did get to keep them both. [For just awhile longer.] Have you seen any familiar faces this time around?

[He caught that subtle reaction to whatever it was that he said, but this was no time to inquire about it. They needed to work, and keep the place flowing smoothly until the wave of newcomers abated until the next one.]

Just one, and she's not someone I ever expected to see come here, either. Right now she's resting until Fayt arrives-- he'd want to see her before we did anything else.

Why do you say that? [Souji leaned on the counter, tilting his head slightly.]

Resting? Is she ill?

[Cliff sobered at the innocent questions. It was a slip of the tongue, but it had shown his concern for the girl.]

She's someone we met on Albel's homeworld. We never fought alongside her, but we did have to save her once in the mountains...

She...uhm. [He paused briefly, pondering over how he would explain this.] She is...and she ended up passing away on us before we got in contact with the Diplo. There was no way any of us could have helped her with what we had available either, she'd been too sick for too long.

[A sigh.] I'm hoping the people who work in the Dome can help us come up with something for her, but I dunno about everything this place has to offer.

Edited 2014-01-31 02:18 (UTC)

[A girl, young apparently, who died before they could help her. Some sort of terminal illness, in the late stages, too. Souji looked up at Cliff with understanding in his eyes, no pity, just...empathy. He knew what that was like. And there was hope here at least. He reached out to touch his arm.]

They have advanced medical skills here, even magic. I'm sure you can find a way to save her.

[He knew that Souji wouild understand-- it was why he didn't hesitate.]

Yeah. I'm hoping that the doctors can do something, because Nel pulled her connections and got this girl help from some of the best Runologists in the kingdom...and that didn't even save her.

She's really a good kid too. Kind, polite. Sells flowers for a living.

[He squeezed Cliff's arm lightly and then pulled back. He wanted to say it was always the good ones that had the hardest lives, but he didn't want to include himself in that statement. He wasn't "good" by any standard, not with all that he had done. Instead, he chose a different phrase.]

When the innocent suffer, so does the world.

While the technology in this place may not be as advanced, I'm sure they can find a way to keep her in health. [He hesitated and then looked down at the counter.] They could have saved me, but I refused to go in. With you and Fayt-kun pushing for her treatment, I'm sure she'll be saved.

[He had already known those words, but hearing them uttered by someone else whom he knew had experience was reassuring. Smiling gratefully, he lifted a hand to Souji's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze]

I know-- but thanks. Seriously.

[Souji reached up and touched the hand on his shoulder, nodding. It's getting too serious, too close to home, so he smiles and lets Cliff's hand go.]

Does this mean you'll have another child to look after now? You seem to gather them like bees to honey, you know.

...I'm not trying to collect so many of them. It just happened.

[For a moment he looked flustered. Between his haphazard work with Fayt and Ion, and having Mytho, Aleos, Rei and Haru ask him for some help, and his keeping an eye on Bulla it really was starting to look like he was opening his own school. It was entirely unintentional.]